vj083 Reviews

Shadow in the Cloud (2020)

Monster movie meets World War 2 action film

[7/10 · 3 January 2022]

Considering the first half of this movie took place inside the gun turret of a war plane in which all cast interactions were done over radio, it managed to be entertaining.

The movie's story was simple as female pilot named Maude makes her way onto a B-17 to deliver a top secret package to the planes destination of Samoa. Once you get past the first act, the movie becomes a non stop action film with unbelievable Fast and Furious like stunts and fighting a bat like creature.

Chloe Grace Moretz shows she can be a true action star lead and turns in a pretty decent acting performance as she barely had any face to face interaction with the cast.

What hurt this movie was with the first act taking place inside the gun turret, you are introduced to the planes crew through Maude talking to them over the radio. It made it difficult at times to determine who was who and as a result, the rest of the cast became just characters in the background when you finally do see them.

Despite it having a B movie script with no recognizable cast outside Chloe Grace Moretz, the movie had great special F/X that sold the story. Even the bat like creature looked real and not some cheesy SyFy movie of the creature.

On the days of scrolling through streaming services looking for something to watch, Shadow in the Clouds is worth the 90 minutes of your time.

Stop and Go (II) (2021)

A realistic roadtrip movie with a pandemic twist.

[6/10 · 9 November 2021]

This movie which takes place during the height of the pandemic plays off the cliches, behaviors and fears during the pandemic and to my surprise it worked.

An indie comedy that shows its budget as a majority of the movie takes place during the car ride and makes up for it with the natural chemistry between childhood friends Whitney Call and Mallory Everton. The two play off each other creating hilarious moments off of simply situations from getting a penis pic accidentally texted to them to dealing with a parent of a student.

It was worth the rental as I did find myself laughing because I was able to identify with some of the situations I was forced to find myself in during the Covid pandemic.

Spiral (2021)

Couldnt believe this wasn't a parody

[3/10 · 9 June 2021]

The acting and writing is so bad, its like we a watching an SNL parody of a SAW movie be made into feature length movie. The performance of Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson are so bad, they had to be intentional.

Max Winslow and the House of Secrets (2019)

Willy Wonka meets coming of age Horror.

[7/10 · 28 March 2021]

5 damaged kids get an opportunity to win a rich tech gurus automated mansion. But the evil house A. I puts each troubled high schooler into their own scenario meant to deal with their personal faults

The movie resembles the plot to Charlie and the Chocolate factory. Not a bad film, nor is it a good one. Its something to watch when there is nothing else on.

The OA (2016–2019)

Boring and Went no where.

[1/10 · 2 January 2017]

After much hype by users on Twitter, I decided to give this show a shot. I watched the first episode and thought it was interesting enough to keep going. As I continued watching it I found myself bored as the story was going virtually no where and grew rather frustrated that nothing was progressing.

A breakdown of the show is about a blind woman who returns home after missing for 7 years and now has sight. She gathers a group of high school students and one of their teachers to tell them the story of how she was kept a prisoner with 4 other people who have one thing in common, they shared a Near Death experience.

I like to say there's a big pay off to the ending that puts everything together, but by the time you finish the season, none of the simple questions you have really get answered. The ending to me made no real sense and I laughed when I shouldn't have because it was so ridiculous. With the exception of the main character who refers to herself as the OA (something that is only explained as a blurb while also not being answered)not many of the supporting characters get much development. A scene or two in one episode.

A lot of this series takes place during the OA's time in captivity. And if I had to describe this series to friends I would tell them. Its like the old 90's Nickelodeon show "Are you Afraid of the Dark" where a group of teenagers gather around a camp fire each week and tell ghost stories. Only this one is about a group teenagers gather in an abandoned house and listen to a story about a crazy woman's time in captivity and how she needs to teach them a dance to open a portal so she can free her fellow captives, that was all a bunch of bullshit. That's how ridiculous this show is. Please avoid it, not worth your time.

Almost Mercy (2015)

Tarantino Meets Clueless

[8/10 · 12 August 2015]

If you are expecting this to be your typical horror film, then turn away because you will be greatly disappointed. Without spoiling anything, this movie is simply a revenge movie. The movie is narrated through the view point of the main character Emily. Starting from her childhood to her adult years telling the story of her and her best friend Jackson.

The best way to describe this movie is imagine if director Quentin Tarantino rebooted the movie Clueless and turned it into a revenge movie you get this film. There is a lot of blood in this movie and a lot of narration.

Netflix listed this film in their Horror genre, but this movie was far from it. Despite this fact I did enjoy it. If you like movies like Trainspotting, you will probably enjoy this movie.

Dark Matter (2015–2017)

Leaves You Wanting More

[10/10 · 2 August 2015]

I'm not going give spoilers about this show because anything I say will ruin whatever episode that spoiler came from. To sum up Dark Matter is about 6 members of a ship who wake up with no memories of who they are and are force to trust one another to survive as they learn things about themselves. Each episodes ends with a cliffhanger that leaves you wanting more. If you have the opportunity to binge watch this show, do it because it is worth it.

Dark Matter is a rarity among the Sci-Fi genre. It doesn't try to impress you with Special F/X, fancy costumes, science fiction jargon or even aliens. This show is completely story driven. They give you 7 people who all have different and conflicting personalities that are played well by the actors. Highly recommend it.