Posts by Jeremy Butler

Unfortunately, this film was a little immature to gain the Nalyce stamp of approval. While Japanese animated films have been her bread and butter in recent years, her tastes venture more towards anime such as Inuyasha and My Hero Academia. When it comes to Panda! Go Panda!, it was just too kiddie for her. Had this been a year or two ago, she would have been all about it. Perhaps there will be such an opportunity with my son, but given that he is only a week old, time will have to tell. As far as I’m concerned, it was a cute story if impractical. I recommend a suspension of belief if you chose to watch the film. Given that a suspension of belief is a prerequisite for all animated films, that shouldn’t be too much to ask. While I understand the need for this suspension of belief, I’m afraid I wasn’t fully able to achieve it at times.

I would categorize this as a unique movie. Not only based on its premise, even though that did possess a measure of intrigue. Zero Contact has multiple things that make it unique, such as it is the first film from a major Hollywood studio to exist on the blockchain. According to my research, the film will premiere on new NFT platform Vuele, a premier platform for collecting, watching, and trading exclusive, limited edition feature-length films and collector NFT film content. However, while this is interesting and potentially could serve as a new frontier for cinematic releases, there was another factor that made the film unique in my eyes. To me, Zero Contact’s most unique quality is that the film was produced in 17 different territories entirely virtually during the 2020 global pandemic. Anthony Hopkins leads the cast and is supported by a cast of faces that I recognize, but whose names are not on the rolodex of actors that I keep in my head.

I’m coming in kind of midway through the story on this one, guys. While the film does provide a couple of flashbacks to the previous film, those flashbacks do very little to fully provide needed context, making my viewing of Fortress: Sniper’s Eye a bit of a rocky one. Based on what I gleaned, Bruce Willis and Jesse Metcalfe play Robert and Paul Michaels respectively, a father and son duo who live in and manage a top-secret resort for retired U.S. intelligence officers. The resort is attacked by a group of criminals led by a familiar enemy. It is evident that there is shared history between the Michaels and Balzary (Chad Michael Murray). As expected, the Michaels, aided by others, are able to thwart the assault despite being outnumbered and outgunned. Balzary is thought to be killed, but not before making a plea to Robert to rescue his wife from her captors, which is ultimately revealed to be the reason for the assault. This is what frames the basis for our second film. Second of a planned three, I should add.

“It’s simply his way of illustrating the misrepresentation of having quantum particles existing in two states. The cat in the box is either dead or alive. But we can’t tell until we open the box to observe it, so until we do so, the cat is both dead and alive.”

I’ve seen a lot of horror and thrillers in my time. This is my first one with mathematics at the heart of it. I applauded the film for introducing me to something new. However, the moments of intrigue are surrounded by periods where the plot seems to drag on. Also, I’m not sure that the characters’ reactions to particular events are sensible. For example, my daughter suddenly goes missing, and I suspect that her disappearance is somehow the result of my newly acquired residence. No matter how irrational that idea may be, the first thing I would do is get me and the rest of my family a hotel.

All is fair in the spy game. Or least that is the principle that this film embraces, as every character attempts to get the upper hand on the others. Though the film is not without its thrilling moments, it does take a bit of time to get to those thrilling bits. Told in a nonlinear fashion, it takes a moment to adjust to the constant shift between the two plots. It is only when things start to synch that I found myself completely engaged with the story. On the plus side, the film has a cast of recognizable faces, to include Arrow’s Katie Cassidy, The Cleaning Lady’s Adan Canto, Chicago Fire’s Annie Ilonzeh, Dermot Mulroney, and last but not least, Mel Gibson. While I would not categorize the film as box office quality, there are some elements that make for an intriguing story once things get into a groove.

I’m still looking for answers. I just don’t know the questions anymore. I just know there’s too much out there. Seas of filth. An endless onslaught of ugliness. Blight. Plastic. Cheap s#$t cloggin’ up our minds. Cloggin’ up the drains, poisoning our water, turning us to s@4t. Where does it all go? I’ve got blood on my hands. I’m stained. I’m dirty. No matter how hard I try, I can’t wash away the past.

With Adrien Brody’s picture-perfect delivery of this monolog, I was all in with this film. It was like Brody’s voice was made for this voiceover. And while the film did have some intriguing moments, it didn’t really break any new ground like I hoped it would. It reminded me of a couple years ago when Hollywood tried to remake Death Wish, and while I did enjoy this film immensely more than that one, Clean isn’t a film that I will feel compelled to rewatch anytime in the near future. The film essentially has more of a one-and-done feel to it.

It took me a second to get past the title of this documentary. I had a feeling that it had some kind of significance, but without that context, all it was for me was grammatically incorrect. With that to start off, I have no problem admitting that I wasn’t really looking forward to reviewing this documentary. I know shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but I was, and something about the title just rubbed me the wrong way. It felt ignorant. Now I must admit that I was actually the ignorant one given my lack of knowledge regarding the cultural significance of that title, the associated poem, as well as the prominent poet it came from, and the legacy of his prominent family. Why Is We Americans tells the story of the Baraka family, a family whose story is carved deep into the civil rights movement. It started with the family’s patriarch, Amiri Baraka (formerly known as LeRoi Jones), a poet/playwright/activist, as he shepherded his family through decades of social activism with poetry, music, and art.