Reel Film Chronicles – Page 4

Wrath of Man

Picture this: You’re alone on a tropical island, basking in the tangerine glow of the setting sun, reveling in nature’s majesty. Then, out of nowhere, out jumps Jason Statham and twelve, burly men brandishing various weapons and implements of death, destruction, and torture. You whisper a silent prayer of thanks to Guy Ritchie who is hiding in a nearby bush with a movie camera, and lean forward to get a better view of the carnage to come because Statham has just saved you from another boring evening staring at the sun set while trying in vain not to end up with pants full of sand. Such is the power of Jason Statham to shatter the sense of boredom and malaise we’ve been conditioned to think of as tranquility. Wrath of Man is the latest of Guy Ritchie’s foray into the gangster underworld, teaming up for the fourth time with Jason Statham, arguably his greatest on-screen muse. So get ready to get wrathful with Nathan and Brian as they explore this perfect antidote to a lazy Sunday afternoon, and marvel as…

Species

You may not know it, but they’re always there. Lurking in the shadows. Lying in wait in otherwise abandoned subway tunnels. Standing by themselves in the corner at parties. Ghoulish freaks clinging to the tattered edges of civilization. Until you dare enter their dark domain, and they ask you the question you’ve feared your entire life, that query that fills your heart with an existential dread: Have you seen SPECIES? Episode 11 of the Reel Film Chronicles sees your intrepid hosts tackle this staple of ‘90s cult cinema and its host of sequels, which embody the very essence of the phrase “diminishing returns.” Join Nathan and Brian as they explore a personal favourite and do their best to spread the SPECIES love. So settle in and prepare to join the elite ranks of SPECIES fans. There are literally dozens of us!

Captain America: The First Avenger

Year: 2011 | Dir: Joe Johnston | Runtime: 124m If I didn’t care about The Avengers in my youthful comic book collecting days, then I cared even less for Captain America. I would write him off as a relatively flat, simple and boring hero that was completely boring to my younger self; it’s no secret that when I pictured myself as a Marvel hero on the playground and in my imagination, it was a Wolverine-esque indestructible mutant with cool cybernetics that pulled from my favourite sci-fi films. Or maybe that was a secret. Either way, I never once picked up a Captain America comic, allowing only his cameos in other books and his depictions in pop culture as my basis for my (poor) opinion. When the film was announced, I did not approach with any excitement save that this was the next entry in the great experiment that was the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a lead in to the properly gigantic Avengers film. So when I came out of the theatre, I gave my head a shake and realized this…

Jungle Cruise

Did we do a bonus episode? You betcha! With a backlog of episodes to edit, we felt it pertinent to give you a taste of a more “casual” (and I use this term lightly) episode that falls outside our usual routine. We’re here to talk about the 2021 film, JUNGLE CRUISE, starring none other than Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Jack Whitehall, Paul Giamatti and Jesse Plemons in another entry in Disney’s theme-park ride adaptations. This film falls suspiciously in line with PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, but is so much worse.

In the Earth

We cut right to the chase for IN THE EARTH, a movie shot during the pandemic about a very topical – yet vague – virus that has ravaged the world. Directed by Ben Wheatley, starring Joel Fry and Ellora Torchia (among others, of course), IN THE EARTH follows Martin and Alma as they head into a dangerous forest to find a research site. There’s a bit of intrigue, mystery and some quite horrific, gory special effects that finishes off in a pretty surreal climax. Nathan and Brian begin the show by giving their initial, spoiler-free impressions and recommendation on the film, then head into full spoiler territory to discuss the movie in depth.

Mank

Eight episodes in and I don’t think we mentioned David Fincher yet, so we’re going all in for our talk about MANK on episode nine! Nathan and Brian start the show by ranking all of Fincher’s feature-length films, which is no easy feat. In addition to our standard spoiler warning, this episode carries another warning: we might in fact be “Fincher Fanboys”, as we struggle to find anything negative to say about the director’s filmography. It’s all in good fun though, as we don’t take things too seriously and head into a discussion on the 2020 film MANK, released on Netflix and nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including best picture.

Mortal Kombat (2021)

The duo jump head first into the MORTAL KOMBAT reboot! Opinions are mixed but we find plenty to talk about for this 2021 fantasy action film. We get the discussion started with a bit of context as we both describe our experience with the video games, and finish off the episode with our ranking of the three Mortal Kombat films.

Tremors

The moment I saw that a new 4K, special edition of Tremors was announced and coming out, I was online securing my preorder. It’s not often a film announcement gets me excited, but here I was, plunking down a relatively serious amount of money for a boxed edition of a film that I had honestly kind of forgotten about. Obviously, my childhood love for the film rushed forward and took charge: sometimes there are just those films that spur you to action, and Tremors is – apparently – one of those. Does anyone remember Betamax? The alternative format to VHS in the 80s and early 90s, Beta certainly had a comfortable spot in my families home: the basement television. Along with that top, spring loading player came a library of verifiable 80s movies and dubs, including a deep library of Looney Tunes cartoons, random Godzilla movies, a few films like Firebirds, and of course: Tremors. When that package arrived in the mail the other week, I quickly took in the nostalgia of the films imagery as presented in a boxed…

2 Fast 2 Furious

What 2 Fast 2 Furious lacks in story, plot, and character, it nearly makes up for with swagger. 2 Fast 2 Furious marks the low point in The Fast and the Furious saga, which isn’t to say that it’s not without its certain charm. It’s a fun ride, even if it doesn’t nearly reach the heights of the first movie, and it doesn’t quite fit with the later evolution of the series when it truly came into its own as an ongoing story of mercenary spies / borderline superheroes on globe-trotting adventures to save the world and protect their “family.” 2 Fast 2 Furious does, however, add several important elements to The Fast and the Furious lore, including Tyrese Gibson as Roman Pearce and Chris “Ludacris” Bridges as Tej, who would become series regulars, and Eva Mendes as Agent Monica Fuentes, who would also show up for a cameo in a later entry. There’s just a hint of some of the technological ridiculousness that would be fully embraced by later movies in the franchise with the “electric darts” the police use to disable the electronics of speeding vehicles. (Or maybe this is real tech, and I’m…

Underworld: Blood Wars

So in the previous Underworld film (Awakening) we advance the story along by the fact that humans have now discovered that both vampires and werewolves are a real thing, and with that, a number of doors open to some interesting antagonists. But Awakening didn’t even fulfill that, instead using the human factor as a catalyst for the events that went down. That’s fine. What’s not so fine is that Blood Wars completely disregards humanity. With this being the fifth entry, I would have hoped that there was a little more focus and foresight into either ending the series or expanding the world beyond the “simple” war between vampires and lycans. With Resident Evil’s fifth entry coming out around the same time (I think it was in the same month as Blood Wars, actually) I can’t help but draw a simple comparison in our protagonists journey: Alice’s (Resident Evil) story starts off with a lot of mystery and is neatly (and I use that word dubiously) explained and wrapped up the literally titled Final Chapter. Selene’s backstory is seemingly explored to its extent within the first two films and diminishes thereafter in each entry. Instead, those later Underworld movies introduce Selene’s daughter and other…