wintersliam

This movie is basically THE JUNGLE BOOK meets THE BFG meets DRAGONHEART. I know I'm not the target audience, but it's boring and I don't get the point of making Elliot act like a stupid giant dog. I also found it weird that he doesn't talk. I really don't remember the original movie (saw it about 30 years ago), but I don't think it's worse than this movie, with all the modern CGI. Speaking of CGI, the dragon in DRAGONHEART (1996) felt more realistic. I know doing CGI of fur and hair is difficult, but I don't think you can tell there's a 20 years difference between those two movies.

Robert Redford looks older than ever, but honestly he looks amazing for an 80-year old guy.

It's very appropriate that they cast Bryce Dallas Howard as a park ranger because her acting range in all her movies equals to that of wood.

Also, I don't usually recognize an actor wearing a wig, but the one Pete wears is pretty obvious.

The Green Knight (2021) is a movie we saw in theatres the weekend it was released. The storyline follows the queen's nephew on a mission to prove his valor and partake in an adventure as a newly anointed knight. When a strange mythical tree-like creature arrives at the kingdom and offers a mission he jumps at the opportunity to prove himself without fully understanding the perils that go with it. Can the young knight overcome the mission and become a hero within the kingdom or will his first adventure be his last? This movie is directed by David Lowery (Pete's Dragon) and stars Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire), Anaïs Rizzo (Rain), Sarita Choudhury (Lady in the Water), Erin Kellyman (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) and Sean Harris (Mission Impossible). The storyline for this picture had a lot of potential with a great build-up, settings, back drops and special effects. The acting was solid and the cast fit the characters well. Unfortunately, the storyline and characters never evolve. There's no real point to the story. You hope the main character learns from his mistakes and circumstances...he never does. You hope the storyline has a good point and conclusion, it doesn't. After 125 minutes you're left with a whole lot of "why did I watch this" feelings and faces within the audience. This was a huge disappointment and nowhere near better films in this genre like Pan's Labyrinth, The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings.

Vengeance is Mine makes it look so simple and effortless. Maybe it's because it is in fact simple and effortless. Con O'Neill the lead looks like a blend of a lawyer and an accountant and he is an inept protagonist that the film explores in all its consequences that other movies skip with an archetype that's usually hugely muscled and wielding machine guns on both arms.

It's subversive and the ending pays off with a gorgeous finale. While some would get tired of the spare and simple plot, it allows the stakes to rise in a true way and the only thing that is missing is a little more juice on all the cast of characters as the film chooses to not speak unless it really has to which I actually liked. However, the authentic leads acting wins you over where the writing is deliberately minimal.

Vengeance is Mine reminds me why I have always loved looking for more obscure and smart indie cinema.