Reviews

"Jo" and "Raissa" wake up one morning without a clue what happened the night before except that they had found a magical shell like object that had mysteriously transported them to the island of "Nakali". Before long they've befriended, well interrogated really, a dog/fox called "Raww" who suggests they visit a cat straight out of "Macbeth" - the only creature who can get them back home now that they've gone and lost their talisman. There is a price to pay, though, and that is their memory bracelets. They must sacrifice all that binds them together if they are to escape. Yeah, like hell they will so now they set about trying to find their lost totem - and that's easier said then done as this island has more than it's fair share of quirky characters for them to ally with or fend off. What are their chances? Well no, jeopardy isn't even on the list here let alone near the top of it;...

ONE OF THE BEST ANIMATION MOVIE FROM DREAMWORKS ANIMATION!! IT'S WORTH IT TO WATCH ON THE BIG SCREEN!!! Forgotten Island from DreamWorks animation is good especially if you watch it on big screen at the cinemas. The movie shows the Filipino culture and it's about friendships. The only problem of DreamWorks for this movie is it's fast paced, I hope their next animation movie is slow paced so that viewers like me can absorb much more of the story and lessons from the movie. But overall the movie and the animation is good, and the songs in the movie is good and so nice to hear.

Wapoosh! DreamWorks' *Forgotten Island* delivers everything I expected: Glorious animation with some really cool anime references, hilarious jokes and physical comedy, strong character bonds and interactions, powerful, tear-jerking emotional scenes, immersive world-building, and an upbeat soundtrack that rivals even the likes of *KPop Demon Hunters*. This movie's story-which is all about the fear of separation between best friends Jo and Raissa-reminds me of my own friendship with my best friend Christopher Kapoun, and how he moved away, but we stayed together as besties even after that moment happened. The Nakali island characters are also really fun and full of personality, although Manananggal and Raww are my favorites. And having the movie end with both Manananggal and Batiba redeem themselves by giving back people's items to ensure their memories remain intact really shows that...

Check out my full review @ https://www.manuelsbento.com/mutiny-2026-jason-stathams-die-hard-on-a-cargo-ship-sinks-under-its-own-predictability/ Rating: C MUTINY promises DIE HARD on a cargo ship, but it ends up at the bottom of the ocean. I hoped Jason Statham's action-star appeal, decent fight choreography, and a handful of nasty, well-staged kills would be sufficient to distract me from everything surrounding them, but these aren't captivating or creative enough to overcome the archetypal characters, a human trafficking plot treated as pure background noise, lack of humor, and a script that rushes toward its next beat instead of earning any of them. Utterly forgettable, just as advertised.

Disgraced British policeman "Cole" has landed on his feet looking after the personal safety of a kindly shipping magnate who runs an global operation from his home in Bangkok. Just as he is about to sell his company, though, "Tibu" (Ramon Tikaram) and his bodyguard find themselves ambushed, the former assassinated and the latter man framed for the crime and declared outlaw. One thing our hero does know is that some cops are in on the killing and that one of the now dead assassins was due to work aboard one of the company's freighters. Stowing away aboard the giant "Artemis", he quickly finds himself embroiled in some unsavoury nautical activites with only the recently drafted third mate "Ellis" (Annabelle Wallis) on his side. With the heavily armed crew under the command of the menacing captain (Roland Møller) bent on ensuring he goes swimming with concrete boots, what chance "Cole" can...

This is not Transporter. This is not the Beekeeper, but it is certainly better than the Mechanic and at least half a dozen other movies that are pretty much exactly like this. Jason does his Jason thing and he does so very proficiently and this time he's backed up by a functioning script and good antagonist and even a supporting cast that you can get behind. The action is good, the effects are decent and overall it's just a good time.

There was a time when I looked forward to Jason Statham films. He fits the action genre comfortably, mixing man of action with enough depth and thoughtfulness to remain interesting. It's a shame, then, to see his films become as formulaic as "Mutiny". This is a deeply superficial action flick that sets up a basic human trafficking at sea scenario, backed by caricature mercenary bad guys facing off against an ex-military/police hero in the form of Statham. What comes next is predictable, repetitive, and frankly rather bland. No true insights into anyone's motives, no witty narrative or general creativity. In summary, a superficially watchable but also wholly forgettable action romp.  

Told by way of an occasionally narrated retrospective, "Rocket" (Alexandre Rodrigues) tells us a story of his childhood in the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. Growing up in a community of newly built boxes, without power or plumbing, that reminded me of a row of concrete beach huts, the community is pretty lawless. The crime is largely to confined to pettier crimes, but as aspirations grow so does the scale of the criminality. A raid on a motel-cum-brothel is supposed to make everyone extra cash, but their inventive young watchman "Li'l Dice" (Douglas Silva) hates being left out and so does a little augmenting of his own. Brutal and attention grabbing. Next the cops crack down, bodies pile up and the societal order starts to change. It's this young man who grows up into the leading drug-peddling hoodlum amongst a now much more developed township where, tempered only by his more diplomatic...

I might not have enjoyed it as much as the first film, but 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers' is still a terrific film no doubt. Visually it still looks superb, I really do love the look of these films so far. The main plot is engaging and very interesting, while things like the costumes et al. remain at a high level. There is also top action, including some noteworthy battle sequences. There are, though, a few bits I found less great - still very good in the grand overall scheme, but just comparably with the 2001 release. I found the pacing to be slightly off in moments, while a few of the new cast members didn't connect to me - e.g. Bernard Hill. The side story, meanwhile, with Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan didn't interest me at all... they spend too much of the run time just walking through a forest. Elijah Wood remains good though. I did enjoy seeing the journey of Frodo...

Still probably my favorite of the three, while it's pretty streamlined and far more action centric with little development compared with Fellowship of the Ring and Return of the King, I always find this one really entertaining with the Helm's Deep battle. 4.5/5

That Damned Ring. RELEASED IN 2002 and directed by Peter Jackson, “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” adapts the second part of JRR Tolkien’s popular fantasy trilogy about adventures on Middle-Earth. The surviving ‘Fellowship’ of the first film has been divided into three small groups for this one: The Hobbits Frodo and Sam (Elijah Wood and Sean Astin) team-up with the mad Gollum (Andy Serkis) to make their way to Mordor, but are captured by Faramir (David Wenham), the brother of the deceased Boromir. Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas the Elf (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli the Dwarf (John Rhys-Davies) encounter the once-great King Theoden (Bernard Hill), who has fallen under the spell of Saruman (Christopher Lee) via his devious minion Grima Wormtongue (Brad Dourif). Meanwhile the Hobbits Pippin and Merry (Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan) try to enlist the help of huge tree creatures....

Peter Jackson has always maintained that The Two Towers is "the second act" of his epic undertaking, and perhaps the true greatness of the middle chapter will only be clear when viewed in context. As a stand-alone film, however, The Two Towers is not quite as good as Fellowship. (Nor, indeed, does it extend the universe or deepen the relationships in the manner of The Empire Strikes Back.) That it still merits the full five stars is merely an indication of how high the benchmark has been set. Picking up pretty much where Fellowship left off, this is a considerably darker film, with Frodo (Wood) falling further under the influence of the Ring (giving rise to some seriously spooky hallucinations), while Saruman (Christopher Lee) wreaks even more havoc. There's also the first appearance of Saruman's spy, the sinister Wormtongue (Brad Dourif), and the complex Gollum, a brilliant combination...

Magnificent. I saw this movie for the first time a good few years ago, but I only decided to talk about it now, after seeing it again. For me, it is one of the best Italian films ever made. It's like a modern fairy tale, showing us the fascinating side of cinema and reminding us why we love it. Of course, everything passes, and cinema has gone through many phases, it has undergone metamorphoses, and the end of the great classic movie theaters was one of them. And now? The pandemic has shown us that cinema can learn to survive without its theaters. And if we consider the manufacture of televisions and sound systems increasingly “cinematic” and economically viable? Will the living room one day be our own private movie theater, with all the comfort and quality of the big screen? The future is anyone's guess, and it's as wonderful as it is frightening, but let's put these digressions...

When you think about cinematography, nowadays you usually think about digital cinematography. But during the early '50s, '60s, and onward, there was a use of this thing called film. Film was what they used in cameras before cameras actually saved them into memory slots digitally. Projectionists actually had to crank the film projectors early on, before the automatic film projectors started coming in, otherwise the film would catch on fire. This movie is about friendship between a projectionist in a film watcher/altar boy, and the film watcher/altar boy was young, maybe 4th grade age. This movie is great! I haven't seen foreign films, in fact, this is the first foreign film I've ever seen. But I'm glad this is the first one to be a foreign film that is a first for me. Want to know why? Because this movie is phenomenal! The little soundtrack that there is has been greatly by whoever...

Soulful Why did it had to end... The movie was like a breath of fresh air.Every thing about it was so refreshing and soulful that you can never get bored of it.It's one of those movies that you can watch again and again and again...The music, the story, the acting, the direction, the editing, all of it makes this an absolutely beautiful gem of a movie. One of the best movies that i ever saw and will ever see not because it was any different from other movies or better written, directed or acted, but because it's MAGIC, it stays with you.The soul of the movie stays with you beyond the credits.It stays with you forever. I just can't stop smiling remembering the scenes, the smiles on the characters faces, the music... Everybody who wants to FEEL happiness must watch this movie.In one word it's just SOULFUL !!

Nice comedy-drama about the youth at the small town of an Italian kid.

'Life Is Beautiful' is certainly beautiful (in a sense), but is acutely haunting too. You can see where the film is heading from pretty much the get-go, though that only strengthens the grip that the film had on my mind. Evidently, it's an outstanding piece of filmmaking. I've, of course, seen plenty of flicks that feature this particular historical event, but I gotta say this one had a larger effect on me than is the norm. They are all saddening, obviously, but this one with the young family aspect hit a bit more, it felt more intimate. That's all despite the movie being infused with comedy, the mixing of which is supreme. Roberto Benigni is tremendous in the role of Guido, not only does he convey the aforementioned humour brilliantly but when it comes to the more sombre moments his acting prowess shines through just as much. Giorgio Cantarini shows up with an impressive kid display,...

The first half of the screenplay is better than the second and in particular the weak ending which is very commercial Oscar material. However, there is Benigni, who is an old school visual comedian, and some of his antics are a delight. The period setting details are also well done.

I was mostly neutral on this movie until the last third, when things turned psychologically thrilling and gave me American Psycho vibes. The "His name was Robert Paulson" scene specifically was where the film turned from 3 starts to 4.5 stars. Would recommend and I intend to return to this in some time as I feel it has higher rewatchability than many films of this style.

I didn't enjoy this, pretty much at all, but still kinda appreciate how it all comes together. It's a weird one for me. Overall, 'Fight Club' underwhelmed me. I actually knew very little before viewing it, despite hearing about it on a surface level for years and years; well, one 'regulatory' part of it anyway. It's much deeper than I had expected. Unfortunately, I didn't find entertainment with any of it - it was, to be honest, a slog to sit through. The only scene I can remember enjoying is the very last one, and I don't mean that negatively because the end shot is terrific. It's just everything that comes before didn't do anything for me. Yet, I still rate its intentions. It did keep me guessing amidst my, near, boredom and the 'event' is a good one on paper. It just failed to connect on me in actuality. Brad Pitt is good as Tyler, though the likes of Edward Norton and Helena...