Final Recovery

Addiction can destroy humans lives, no matter if you are addicted to drugs or alcohol. I have witnessed this myself when i lost a childhood friend of mine called Marcus who i went to school with for many years. He had a well paid job at Volvo Trucks, a nice apartment and a lovely girlfriend who i met several times. But just before Swedish Midsummer weekend in the year of 2010 i got a phone call from my mother. She was completely devastated telling me that Marcus was found dead in his apartment from a drug overdose. I remember i completely froze all of me, i could not believe a word she said. My childhood friend gone just 32 years old. I knew Marcus had tried drugs in his early 20´s but i didn´t know he got deeply addicted. You see he was good at hiding it in public, at least the moments we were seeing each other in our youth. But i still remember all the good times we had and i do miss him, he was my friend. Sometimes i wish i could have done something to help him from his problems but he never showed any signs of addiction. He must have learned how to hide the addiction like Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, 2 different personalities. Addiction is not always easy to see and some people learn how to try and hide it. There is a perfect example of this in the 2012 film called Flight with Denzel Washington playing air pilot and Captain William "Whip" Whitaker. He uses both cocaine and drinks alcohol in his private life. While he is supposed to fly a SouthJet Air flight, co-pilot Ken Evans ( Brian Geraghty ) takes over while Captain William discreetly mixes vodka in his orange juice and takes a nap. William wakes up as the airplane is crashing because a mechanical fault and he still manage to land the plane in a field. As he wake up in a hospital he finds out 96 passangers survived out of 102 aboard the plane. An investigation begins on the crash and they find out his alcohol level during the flight. This is a very well made film about addiction, but also the damage addiction can cause not only to yourself but also to people who care about you. A must see from legendary director Robert Zemeckis. Speeking of director´s who keep making quality films we have to talk about director Harley Wallen. I have seen so many of his quality films over the years such as Eternal Code, Ash And Bone, The Devil´s Left Hand, Beneath Us All and of course one of my personal favourite TV series known as Tale Of Tails. He have a new film out called Final Recovery that seems to be connected to the subject of addiction as well as rehabilitation for addicts. A very interesting plot indeed. Is this another quality film from Harley Wallen or did i have too high expectations for Final Recovery?

Drug addict Rodney ( Jasper Cole ) have a long history filled with bad decisions. He checks into the secluded Sage Treatment Center, hoping for a second chance. After a while he sees something isn´t right. Patients vanish without explanation and the facility´s matron Louise "Nanny Lou" Stamey does not want to answer any questions. Rodney begin to dig deeper into the truth what is really happening at this facility.

If you think that this film is only about the subject of addiction this film actually have a diffrent twist included into the plot. We do have people struggling with addiction which is a very important part of this film, but the surprising twist actually have to do with how the people working as this rehabilitation clinic if they really are helping the patients or perhaps damage them instead. This is the most interesting part of Final Recovery where you see that these addicts are not in a safe place, while this is supposed to be a place where they should be getting the right treatment. The medical treatments is clearly something that doesn´t look serious in this facility. There are several interesting characters in this film i feel that i should mention so let´s start with the addict known as Rodney ( played by actor Jasper Cole ). You can tell that Rodney have been a drug addict for many years, where his only hope is to get high and everything else doesn´t really matter. I feel that this is a strong acting performance from Jasper Cole who manage to portrait an addict with facial expressions, body language and sounds like an addict. The facial wounds also capture the rough life of an addict, where you can tell he´s gone through some really rough moments. Actress Cherish Lee as the wild and loud character Tonya is another great performance that captures the personality of an addict. Cherish especially capture that personality through her wild body movement. The most powerful acting performance comes from actress Charlene Tilton ( legendary actress from iconic TV series DALLAS ) playing the disturbing character Nanny Lou. This is clearly a woman who should not treat any patients and the performance definetely capture her evil personality. Actress Kaiti Wallen just keep getting better and better for each film i see her acting in, and i really appreciate her realistic performance as the character Cindy. Harley Wallen have a role as well and of course he deliver as officer Jacob Cramer ( Harley always look cool on the big screen ). Final Recovery is a cleverly put together medical thriller that tries to show the dark side of addiction but also the dark side of medical treatments as well, how easy it is to use humans who are already struggling with their lives. Who cares if some addicts dies, who would miss them? Harley Wallen proves once more that he is a talented film maker who knows how to tell realistic stories and captures the dark side of humanity. If you are going to see a good thriller this summer i can tell you right now Final Recovery is a great choice. Addiction is a subject that needs to be talked about and this film might help people to see different angles of addiction.

Rating: DDD

High Rollers

Even though i appreciate seeing brand new young actors on the big screen there is something special about iconic Hollywood actors. There are so many legendary actors we could mention and all of their classic films so let´s talk about some of them for a moment. Michael Douglas as an example who have not seen classics such as Romancing The Stone, Fatal Attraction, Wall Street, Black Rain, Falling Down ( one of my personal favouite films with Michael Douglas ), The American President, Wonder Boys and so many other titles. Let us focus for one moment on one of his films that i feel everyone should see at some point and that is the 1997 psychological thriller The Game from director David Fincher. I can not tell you how many times i have watched this film over and over again ever since i watched this film in cinema back in the 90´s, i have watched this film in different formats such as VHS, DVD and on blu ray. This film tells the story of investment banker Nicholas Van Orton ( Michael Douglas ). A very rich man but is living unhappy and lonely, no matter how pretty his house is and have a home maid. He is still struggling with the suicide of his father who killed himself on his 48th birthday jumping of the roof of the family mansion. So Nicholas is not looking forward to his own birthday. However, on his birthday his younger brother Conrad ( Sean Penn ) suprise him with a special gift, a voucher for a "game" offered by a company called Consumer Recreation Services ( CRS ). Doubtful at first he decides to visit the CRS office. This is a very clever twisted psychological thriller with really good acting performances that should be seen on physical media. Another big Hollywood star who have been in so many classics is of course John Travolta. Who have not seen him in classics such as Carrie, Saturday Night Fever, Blow Out, Pulp Fiction, Face/Off, The Thin Red Line and of course the 2009 remake of The Taking Of Pelham 123. Last year he was in a heist action film called Cash Out and i have seen this film. It wasn´t anything special in this genre and i almost forgot about it, until i noticed that a sequel to this film have been released. I didn´t review Cash Out last year but i decided to review the sequel High Rollers anyway since i have not reviewed many heist films. Is this a perfect movie to enjoy this summer or is High Rollers even more forgettable than the first film Cash Out?

While Mason Goodad ( John Travolta ) and his partner Amelia Decker ( Gina Gershon ) and their friends attend the beach wedding ceremony of Link ( Natali Yura ), a boat suddenly explode out in the ocean. 2 helicopters with armed soldiers drop them off to take Amelia as a hostage. The kidnappers demand that Mason and his team pull off a casino heist owned by Zane Black ( Demián Castro ). Mason have no other option than to accept this mission.

If you have seen the 2001 heist comedy Ocean´s Eleven from director Steven Soderbergh you know this is one of the best heist films ever made. The casting of this film is brilliant with actors such as George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Andy Garcia, Julia Roberts, Casey Affleck, Don Cheadle, Elliott Gould and many others. What made Ocean´s Eleven work so well as a heist comedy was the characters of the heist and the heist itself was told in a very effective way. The other films in the Oceans Eleven franchise are enjoyable but the first film is definetely the best. High Rollers tries a similar path as Ocean´s Eleven since this film is also taking place in Las Vegas, where the gang from the first film Cash Out is told to do a heist in a famous casino. This could be a fun idea for a film if you know to make an effective heist action film. Unfortunately i have to say this is quite a boring heist film to be honest. The action scenes ( when they finally happen ) are not very exciting. This is pretty much a very basic heist film you find in High Rollers with no surpises at all. It would be one thing if this film had some charming moments during the heist operation and we could enjoy ourselves that way. This film does not have that either for the most part. To the positive i will say i enjoy the heist gang at least in certain scenes played by actors John Travolta, Lukas Haas, Quava, Natali Yura, Noel Gugliemi and Swen Temmel. In a way it is nice to see them all return in another film, too bad they could not get a much more fun mission to do. John Travolta does a very standard performance with no surprises. Nice at least to see actress Gina Gershon ( especially good in the 1999 drama The Insider with Al Pacino ) in a role as former FBI agent Amelia Decker. At the end of the day this is a very predictable heist film that is actually worse than Cash Out. Not the worst film in John Travolta´s career ( that would easily be Battlefield Earth ) but still a very forgettable heist film. Director Randall Emmet is making a third film with the same gang, i hope it will be much better than this one.

Rating: DD

Silent Zone

In different cultures we show respect to the ones who have passed away. In Sweden for example we have a very traditional funeral since Christianity is our main religion. Did you know that the Malagasy people of Magadascar open the tomb of their loved ones every few years and rewrap them in fresh burial clothes? This may sound odd to some people but this is a way for the Malagasy people to both show respect to the dead plus speed up decomposition and push the spirit towards the afterlife. This ceremony includes dancing and music which is a part of this burial ceremony. I don´t know if i would want to watch someone i love have their coffin opened like this every year but i respect the burial tradition of the Malagasy people of course. I personally don´t fear death ( at least not at this moment ) because this is a part of life that no one can escape. But what if people suddenly woke up from the dead and how would we deal with that? This is something we have seen happened in a lot of horror films that brings up the subject of the undead, also known as zombies. I have seen so many zombie films over the years that i sometimes forget certain titles because there are so many similar releases. When it comes to zombie films you have a very big variety in this genre. You have the traditional zombie films that´s clearly inspired by legendary director George A. Romero and then you have zombie horror films that tries a different path such as the British horror film The Girl With All The Gifts. Let´s talk about another title instead that im sure not everyone have seen and that is the 2010 horror film known as The Dead. A well made British horror film from directors Howard J. Ford and Jon Ford. This film almost feels inspired by legendary director Lucio Fulci´s classic Zombie Flesh Eaters except this film takes place out on the wilderness of Africa. I like the practical make up effects, and i also enjoy the characters of this film. I suggest you pick up a DVD copy of The Dead if you want to watch a good zombie film during this summer. During spring time i heard that there was a German DVD and blu ray release of a zombie horror film calld Silent Zone. Since i am a big fan of this genre i was of course curious to check this film out just in case it would be something in my taste. Is this the best zombie pick of this summer or should they have skipped production of Silent Zone and made a completely different film?

In a zombie-ravaged world, a resourceful teen Abigail ( Luca Papp ) and her protector Cassius ( Matt Devere ) fight for survival, facing relentless dangers and testing the limits of hope and loyalty.

It would be very easy to say that Silent Zone looks very similar to a lot of low budget zombie films, and in some ways that is just the case. Even of there are films i could mention that reminded me of similar films there are some positive details about Silent Zone that makes this a solid film in this specific genre. For a zombie film that stretches almost 2 hours in playtime i have to say they have managed to make it work both when it comes to the plot, characters and of course zombie attack scenes as well. What especially makes Silent Zone stand out is the main two characters known as Cassius ( played by actor Matt Devere, who you might recognice in the 2018 film version of Robin Hood as the character Gerald the Crossman ) and Abigail ( played by actress Luca Papp who can be seen in MAX Tv series Dune: Prophecy as the character Acolyte ). Even if they are not father and daughter in this film they have a very close relationship on their journey through this fallen world. They argue like father and daughter, they deal with pain and sorrow together while at certain moments they manage to find smaller moments of joy. I think their screen chemistry matches the story and i would imagine especially fathers and daughters might recognize themselves. The plot itself of Silent Zone is very simple and not complicated at all. And that´s ok because you don´t need to make it complicated as long as the plot matches the characters. The zombie attack scenes are for the most part fast and effectfull, with plenty of shootings and violence. The zombie make up effects look ok i would say, nothing to complain about. One detail i noticed is that these zombies dies no matter where the bullet hit them. so they are far more easier to kill than the ones who only dies from head shots. We also get to know some other characters along the way who add some interesting scenes about survival. So to the negative i would have to say there isn´t anything special to be found here and no surprises. Perhaps they could have added a surprise twist into these 2 hours of playtime but instead they play cards a bit too safe. Still i feel that Silent Zone have enough qualities for fans of this specific genre who willl most likely appreciate this film. Director Peter Deak have made a full feature directorial debut film that looks good, included a good amount of effective action scenes and knows how to make zombie attacks scenes look good on the big screen. If you are a fan of this genre i see no reason not to pick up a physical copy of Silent Zone. This is a B movie old school throwback that reminds us of good times at the local VHS store.

Rating: DDD

Everyone Is Going To Die

Home is where the heart is they say. A home you feel comfortable in is very important, where you get to show your personality and what kind of design you like to have. No matter what kinds of chairs, tables, even paintings, make your home feel like this is a part of you. I personally am a simple man when it comes to my home. My favourite room is my guest room where i have my DVD shelves where you can go through my movie collection. If you love classic films from legendary director´s such as Brian De Palma, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Michael Mann, Quentin Tarantino, Joel and Ethan Cohen and many more, i basically have all of their films on DVD ( and some blu rays as well ). The thing i love having a guest room this way is that if i have any guest over for a visit they can choose if they want to watch any of my movies at night from my collection since i have a TV set attached to the wall. I have some ideas making it into a movie room one day, i just have to figure out something good that matches the size of the room. I do feel comfortable in my apartment but what if your home was suddenly invaded one day by a stranger, someone you have never met before? What would you do? Would you try to force the stranger out of your home or would you call the police? This is a good setup for several films in this subject, there are plenty of good home invasion thrillers and horror films to choose between so let´s mention one that´s worth a watch. The 2008 psychological horror film The Strangers tells the story of James Hoyt ( Scott Speedman ) and Kristen McKay ( Liv Tyler ) are staying at James childhood home after attending a wedding. While they attempt to have sex there is someone knocking at the door. A young woman is standing there, asking if Tamara is home. None of them know any Tamara so the woman leaves. While James goes out to buy cigarettes the woman return to ask for Tamara, but what Kristen doesn´t know is that a masked person is already inside the house. The Strangers is an effective psychological horror film with great acting performances and is well made on a technical level. Worth a watch on streaming. During spring i heard about a British home invasion thriller known as Everyone Is Going To Die that looked interesting. Since i a am a big fan of British cinema in general i thought i should give this film a chance. Is this a solid home invasion thriller that you should see or would it be better to skip this one and watch The Strangers instead?

Wealthy entrepreneur Daniel ( Brad Moore ) lives inside a beautiful house and seems to have it all. Except a good relationship with his daughter Imogen ( Gledisa Arthur ) who´s coming over to celebrate her birthday at his house. Daniel is hoping to patch things up with his daughter during this celebration. Suddenly Imogen notice someone with a mask standing on his property, until they find out it´s actually two women who are forcing themselves into Daniel´s home. They are here to celebrate Imogen´s birthday and there are certain rules that needs to be followed.

When this film starts it looks like a pretty basic home invasion thriller at a very nice house with a rich father living there from his successfull career. But then after a while this film takes a completely different turn than i expected with some surprising twists. And this is where you find the strength of this psychological thriller that it actually have some surprises along the way. There is another detail i found myself appreciating but i will get into that later. When it comes to home invsion films there are several of titles that don´t have strong characters. This film actually manage to deliver two fascinating characters and they are Comedy ( played by actress Jaime Winestone who i recognized from the powerful British drama film Farming ) and Chiara D´Anna ( who is brilliant in the 2014 drama The Duke of Burgundy ) and the character Tragedy. These are the home invasion characters that causes chaos inside this home and honestly they match well with the plot. These are the kind of characters you want in a film such as this to make the plot more interesting. I feel that both actors Jaime Winestone and Chiara D´Anna developed their characters to be fascinating, where especially one of them is really mentally unstable. There is some violence in this film but i wouldn´t say it´s too much, i would rather say that the violence scenes works well for a good reason. To the detail i also appreciate about this film is that the dialogue is simple but effective. I could possibly find smaller details that could have been done more effective but in general this is a good home invasion thriller that actually works. Director Craig Tuohy deliver a thriller that looks good, have good acting performances and create a solid story for this genre that´s usually hard to do something different with. Everyone Is Going To Die should be appreciated this summer for those who enjoy British quality films so of course i recommend this one.

Rating: DDD

Captain America: Brave New World

When you think of certain actors for their most famous roles or movies it is very easy to pick what films comes to your mind. For example, when you think about legendary actor Al Pacino you might think of The Godfather, Dog Day Afternoon, Scarface, Heat or Donnie Brasco. And i can completely understand why you would think of his most classic films. But how often do you hear about his other films such as Serpico, ....And Justice For All, Cruising or even the 1999 drama film The Insider? He have done a lot of really good films that doesn´t get mentioned these days which is such a shame. The Insider for example is a film that was critically acclaimed back in 1999 and even if the film was a box office failure i feel it deserves more respect for telling a very important story. If you can´t find The Insider on streaming get a physical DVD copy, you can find this film very cheap. Let´s bring up another actor who a lot of you are familiar with known as Anthony Mackie who most movie fans have seen in 8 Mile, Million Dollar Baby, Eagle Eye, The Hurt Locker and playing the comic book character Falcon in the Avengers. But how many of you remember his performance in the 2012 action horror film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter? This is a film i really enjoyed and it managed to balance over the top action scenes combined with horror that almost felt like a tribute to B movies. Ok so some CGI scenes are a little bit over the top in this film, but i still feel Abaham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter hits the right spots. In this film Anthony Mackie played a character called Will Johnson, a very close friend to Abraham Lincoln ( played by actor Benjamin Walker ). Definetely worth checking out on physical media. Last year Anthony Mackie was seen in the post-apocalyptic action thriller Elevation and i actually enjoyed it. Not a favourite in this genre but i think if you enjoy films that brings on the subject of the apocalypse you might enjoy this one. This film have an interesting plot and i do like the creature design. So here we are back into the world of Marvel and we get another action release especially focused om the character known as Captain America. Anthony Mackie takes over the role as Captain America after actor Chris Evans decided to stop playing this character in a lot of previous Marvel films ( i enjoy them all, especially Civil War in this franchise ) . I decided to get myself a blu ray and give this film a chance. Is this another Marvel treatment for fans of comic boook movies or is Captain America: Brave New World a big disappointment that should have been a lot better?

Five months after Thaddeus Ross ( Harrison Ford ) is elected president of the United States, he sends Sam Wilson ( Anthony Mackie ) and Joaquin Torres ( Danny Ramirez )--the new Captain America and Falcon, respectively--to Oaxaca, Mexico, to stop the illegal sale of classified items stolen by Sidewinder ( Giancarlo Esposito ) and his mercenary group Serpent. Wilson and Torres recover the items, but Sidewinder escapes. Wilson and Torres meet up with Isaiah Bradley to train ( Carl Lumbly ), a super soldier who was imprisoned and experimented by the U.S. government. President Ross invites Wilson and Torress to a summit with world leaders at the White House, and Wilson accept on the condition that Bradley is also invited. During the summit, Ross ask Wilson to help him reform the Avengers. During the summit, Ross explains that a new metal, adamantium, has been discovered on "Celestial Island", which was formed when the Celestial Tiamut emerged in the Indian Ocean. To aviod an arms race, Ross proposes a treaty to govern adamantium´s mining and distribution. As he is talking, the song "Mr Blue", plays and causes several men, including Bradley, to begin shooting at Ross and other dignitaries. Ross is not injured but Sam is suspicious of who caused this incident. Who wants to hurt Ross that badly and for what reason?

This film have had some bad reviews since the world premiere back in February, not by all movie critics of course there have been a couple of exceptions. One of the big issues some movie critics have with this film is the political messages. If you don´t like political issues or politics in general i can fully understand why this would be seen as something negtive. However, i have no problems with the political messages in this film personally. In fact i am poltically interested in my personal life so this actually helps this film creating some interesting angles in this subject. I am on the positive side for Captain America: Brand New World and i will get into some of the details i appreciate about this film. Actor Anthony Mackie as Captain America works great and even if he is very serious in his role i do like his approach in this comic book character. I have always enjoyed the diversity of Anthony Mackie´s acting ability and he does fit in well into the Marvel universe. Legendary actor Harrison Ford as President Thaddeus Ross give this film some old school acting vibes. I would say i enjoyed his performance as President James Marshall even more in the 1997 action classic Air Force One, but considering his age i think Harrison Ford still got that magical screen presence in this latest Captain America film. Breaking Bad and of course Better Call Saul actor Giancarlo Esposito as the character Seth Voelker is definetely one of the more interesting characters i feel should have had more screen time. I do enjoy the scenes we do get to see him in, especially in the action scenes. Tim Blake Nelson as Samuel Sterns may divide Marvel fans considering his look, i think it´s ok but could have been made more effective. The CGI action scenes look good in general and deliver some enjoyable moments. Red Hulk is of course a highlight that reminds us of nostalgia memories of The Hulk. To the negative side i would say there are some side characters i just don´t care about. They are there to make the film longer basically and not much more. Captain America: Brand New World is definetely not one of the better Marvel films but is entertaining enough if you want hard hitting comic book action similar to The Avengers. Director Julius Onah ( director of the Netflix film The Cloverfield Paradox ) deliver a superhero film that may not give the audience anything new but this is definetely a worthy poporn moment. Worth a watch on Disney + or VOD unless you prefer physical media.

Rating: DDD

Queen Of The Ring

I can still remember one of the greatest TV moments in history of my childhood and that was back in the year of 1990 on April 1st. This was when one of the greatest wrestling matches of all time took place at WrestleMania VI between Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior where Hulk Hogan lost his title and that made Ultimate Warrior the new WWF Champion. I was only 12 years old at this time and that time period in wrestling was very unique. Not only this fight of course but you had so many great wrestlers back in 1990 such as André The Giant, Bret "The Hitman" Hart, The Bushwackers, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, Earthquake, "Macho King" Randy Savage, The Undertaker. WWE Wrestling used to be my Saturday watch and i would imagine myself running in the ring making wrestling strikes. In my adult life i have not really followed wrestling that much and know all the latest big names. I pretty much stopped watching wrestling around the year of 2003 when i watched wrestlers like Chris Jericho, John Cena, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and many others deliver great matches. The one thing i do appreciate is that a lot of wrestlers started their own movie careers such as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, John Cena and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Obviously Dwayne Johnson is the biggest movie star coming out of the wrestling community but i enjoy seeing others trying to hit the big screen. Speaking of movies and wrestling just 2 years ago in 2023 we had a really good drama film called The Iron Claw released in cinemas, based on the true story of the American wrestling family known as The Von Erichs. It´s a very tragic story knowing how much this family went through and the film does a really good job capturing the curse of this family. The acting in general is really good but the strongest acting performance comes from Zac Efron as Kevin Von Erich. If you love powerful drama movies you need to see The Iron Claw from director Sean Durk. It´s not very often you hear about female wrestlers unfortunately so when i saw a film have been released about the female Amercian wrestler Mildred Burke. I did not know about her story so i was very curious to see if this film would do a good job telling her own incredible story. Is this a film everyone should see this summer or is Queen Of The Ring a film that doesn´t really manage to make this story interesting at all?

Mildred Burke ( Emily Bett Rickards ) is a hard working single mother working at a diner. She visits a wrestling match one day and feel a big passion for the sport. At one moment she meets wrestler Billy Wolfe ( Josh Lucas ) and ask him to train her. At first he doesn´t take her seriously but decides to give her a chance. This is where the journey for Mildred Burke begin where she becomes one of the first women to win the world champion title in wrestling for women, while raising her son as a single mother.

I think it is very important that we have stories that are being told how women all over the world had to fight to get their respect. Just because you are a woman shouldn´t mean you are treated differently than a man, she deserve to be treated respectfully. And this is one of the reasons why this film Queen Of The Ring is an important film how women such as wrestler Mildred Burke made a big change in the world of wrestling. There is a charming approach in this film how it all started and why Mildred felt so much passion for learning wrestling. Speaking of wrestling we do get to see quite a lot of wrestling scenes and they do look good from a technical perspective. I also feel that we get to know the personality of Mildred and what her values are as a single mother ( this was seen as normal back in the 1950´s, you were supposed to have a traditional family ). Lead actress Emily Bett Rickards ( who i enjoyed in the DC superhero TV series Arrow ) does a great performance as Mildred Burke and i think she balance this character in a realistic way. I also feel that her wrestling performance ( yes she actually does wrestling in the actual film ) looks good in the ring. We have other great performances from actor Josh Lucas as Mildred´s manager and husband Billy ( who can forget him from the brilliant Russel Crowe film A Beautiful Mind ) and of course The Wire actor Waltor Goggins as the wrestling manager G. Bill. Not only is this a solid film in general but i do feel Queen Of The Ring manage to show what an impact Mildred and other female wrestlers made in the 1950´s. On the negative side i would say knowing this film is supposed to take place during the 1950´s i wonder why modern music is playing towards the end. They did a good job on costume design as well as locations taking place during this time period, so getting the music right shouldn´t be very difficult. Overall this is a well made biographical film and this film leaves an important message especially towards women. No matter what passion you have in life do not let any man tell you not to follow your dreams. Director Ash Avildsen ( who directed the controversial 2017 film American Satan ) is clearly inspired by the story of Mildred Burke making this film and you can feel that in the atmosphere of the wrestling ring. Worth a watch if you want a different story in the world of sports.

Rating: DDD

In The Lost Lands

There are certain director´s who don´t care about movie critics and if they are disliked for not doing Oscar winning films. These director´s make movies with stories that they love to do and create them out of passion for movies. A perfect example of a director that have always been passionate about making movies of genres that he loves is the well known director Paul W.S. Anderson. I can still remember the very first time i watched his first full feature debut film Mortal Kombat ( based on the extremely popular video game franchise ) back in 1995 in cinema with my school friends. It was a cinema experience i really enjoyed and my school friends enjoyed it as well. Mortal Kombat the live adaptation had so much to be pleased about. Lots of martial art fighting, cool action scenes and most of all characters that matched well with the story. It is still today one of the better movies based on a video game and have been a best seller on VHS, DVD and blu ray as well. Paul continued making other great films such as the sci fi horror classic Event Horizon, sci fi action film Soldier with Kurt Russel and of course all his films based on the extremely popular video game franchise known as Resident Evil. I actually enjoy the Resident Evil films and even if i think the final film Resident Evil - The Final Chapter was the least good one ( it was edited far too much that it became hard to see certain action scenes ) i still feel director Paul W.S. Anderson did a good job on this franchise. Of course it is well known that his wife actress Milla Jovovich played the game character Alice in all of the Resident Evil films and i think she did a great physical performance. Speaking of Milla and Paul i am one of those who openly admit i am a fan of the 2020 sci fi action film Monster Hunter ( also based on a video game ). I think this film is far better than some movie critics said back in 2020 and i had a great time in the company of Monster Hunter. During the pandemic i heard that Paul and his wife Milla was working on a project called In The Lost Lands. At that time i didn´t know much more about it until i saw a picture from the set of the film. It did look like an apocalyptic story and this is definetely something in my taste ( i have seen a lot of films taking on different stories regarding the apocalypse ). This film was delayed for several reasons but i was finally able to check this film out on blu ray. Is this another entertaining release from husband Paul and wife Milla or is In The Lost Lands their worst collaboration so far in one of their movie projects?

In the apocayptic world of Lost Lands, the Church ruled by Overlord is trying to execute the witch known as Gray Alys ( Milla Jovovich ) by hanging her. She manage to use her powers to make a man release her as she is able to escape. While Gray Alys is back in her home she is visited by The Queen Melange ( Amara Okereke). The Queen needs a werewolf to be killed by Gray Alys so The Queen can steal the powers of the beast. Gray begin her journey to find a hunter to help her named Boyce ( Dave Bautista ) to face the werewolf in the Lost Lands location known as Skull River.

Imagine for a moment if you mixed the apocalyptic films of Priest, The Book Of Eli and throw in some western influences in there are you pretty much have the look of In The Lost Lands. This is a film that clearly have inspiration from a lot of different styles, and since i have not read the short story In The Lost Lands ( written by author George R.R. Martin ) that´s found in the anthology book Amazonas II, i don´t know if this film capture the look or feeling of the short story. So i will only give you my opinion of the film itself not knowing much about the source material. The film itself may not be original in any way and i have seen several films in the past that use certain similar details as this film, but one of the things i think this film does right is use the Christian church in a completely different way. In this version of the Christian church they send out deadly hunters to kill sinners, especially witches of course since they have never been approved by church. I like the idea of followers of Jesus arming themselves with guns and other weapons in a more modern version of Christian crusaders. The church palace itself looks pretty cool and different from a traditional church. The apocalyptic world of Lost Lands have some cool looking locations. Even though i will say some places do have bad CGI effects i do like the idea behind the locations and how depressing it looks, as if there is no hope there and just misery. The chemistry between actors Milla Jovocich as the witch Gray Alys and Dave Bautista as huntsman Boyce may not be perfect acting wise, they both have some issues delivering dialogue but i will say this. I do enjoy seeing them travelling together in the Lost Lands fighting against humans and beasts. Their journey together reminded me of western films in the 1960´s and 1970´s except here it is in a completely different world. I also enjoy seeing actress Arly Jover ( who played the character Mercury in the original Blade film ) as the Christian huntress Ash. On the negative side i will definetely say some CGI scenes look bad. I can accept bad CGI as long as the film is entertaining but in certain scenes it feels like they didn´t made an effort to make the scenes look good. There are some terrible acting as well from certain characters that you will soon forget about. In general i would say In The Lost Lands is worth checking out if you enjoyed the apocalyptic films of Priest and The Book Of Eli. This film have issues but i can accept that, i just happen to enjoy apocalyptic action films and i do feel this is something worth watching this summer on physical media. Not one of director Paul W.S. Anderson´s better films but enjoyable enough to recommend buying a physical copy. In The Lost Lands is a film that´s made for B movie lovers and im definetely a part of that audience.

Rating: DDD