The Devil´s Left Hand

As long as we can go back in history almost every culture on Earth believe in a battle between the good and evil. No matter what religion or faith you have, you will most likely find scriptures about events in the past where evil creatures or demons have tried to destroy humanity. Luckily some humans have thought back and refused to let any evil take over. I remember on New Years Eve in 1997 i was invited to a mansion to celebrate New Years Eve with family members out in the countryside. There was barely any snow just a cold wind, and late that night after the clock striked 12 to a new year, my uncle suggested we should try and summon a spirit at an old table in the living room. So we all sat down and he put out a glass, hoping that the glass would move if we could get connected with some entity. At first i wasn´t sure if this was a good idea but i went along with it. I never felt the glass moving but apparently my uncle did feel it. If he really felt something happened who am i to say that it didn´t. All i remember was that i personally did not experience anything that night at that old table. There are a lot of horror films out there to choose between that take on the subjects of contact with evil entity or demons, and i have seen so many films that it´s easy to forget some titles. Not because they are all bad it´s just that so many films are made every year that perhaps it´s easier to remember the horror films that might be more interesting. So let´s bring up one film that i do remember because i enjoyed it called From A House On Willow Street. Directed by Alastair Orr, this film tells the story of a gang of criminals who break into a house to kidnap a young woman named Katherine ( Carly Burchell ) to try to get her rich father to pay a ransom. What they don´t know is that Katherine is actually possessed by something very evil. From A House On Willow Street definetely does something interesting, turns a typical kidnapping story into a fight against something demonic with some twists along the way. It is a film that you might appreciate if you enjoy horror films with possessed people, that doesn´t follow the usual plot. If you have a chance to check it out on VOD or physical media i suggest you give this film a chance. Director Harley Wallen is by now a very well known name in the independent film industry who have directed several films and of course the brilliant TV series Tale Of Tails. I was given a chance to see his new film The Devil´s Left Hand and of course i was excited. How can you not be knowing it´s Harley Wallen back as a director. So the question is, does this film live up to my expectations or is this unfortunately not as good as i was hoping it would be?

At a housewarming party arranged by Richie Stann ( Kris Reilly ) and Cassidy ( Kaiti Wallen ) with friends, they invite Medium Miss Vessna ( Aphrodite Nikolovski ) to hold a seance. Miss Vessna manage to contact some entity, but it seems that this entity may not be so friendly. When the seance is over the people who were at the seance will begin to notice strange things happening in their ordinary day life where Miss Vessna contact her friend Zebula ( Harley Wallen ) for help to understand what they are dealing with.

One thing i have always noticed when it comes to director Harley Wallen is that in each film he makes, he always tries to give the main characters enough space so they can show who they really are. We saw that in his film known as Ash & Bone and especially in the TV series Tale Of Tails. I appreciate that he makes sure that the main characters become interesting because it helps the story become more fascinating as well. Harley have digged into horror films in the past before, especially in the film called Ash & Bone and i enjoyed that film. But The Devil´s Left Hand is a completely different kind of horror film than Ash & Bone. You could say that The Devil´s Left Hand is more of a possession horror film with clear influences of historical demonic figures. A perfect example of that is when we face the true side of evil and learn what the evil entity really wants. This is where The Devil´s Left Hand definetely hit the right spot especially for fans of horror films that are fascinated by evil spirits. How do you deal with the situation when an entity enters your home? Do you try to ask for help or deal with it yourself? The film does dig into this especially with the character Miss Vesna ( played by actress Aphrodite Nikolovski ), where you wonder did she open a door for an entity through her seance? The performance of Aphrodite Nikolovski fits the character of Miss Vena and she is able to give us a mysterious approach. One of the most interestining characters in The Devil´s Left Hand is without a doubt the character Zebula ( played by director Harley Wallen ) who fights against evil spirits and demons. You get a feeling that Zebula have a troubled past and knows how difficult life can be. I love the scar look as well on Zebula, it helps his character look unique. I have to mention wonderful actress Laurene Landon as the character Mother Stann. This is definetely one of the stronger acting performances in The Devil´s Left Hand. Laurene really goes all in for her character and that leaves a strong impact. Lovely actress Kaiti Wallen is here as well and she´s just so natural on screen as always. Of course we have to talk about legendary actor Yan Birch who plays the character Father Stann. Since he is playing an evil character i feel he knew exactly how to make his character feel really evil, as if he stepped right out of hell. The fight against evil in The Devil´s Left Hand is also a story of dealing with your past, and director Harley Wallen manage to construct the story effective without making the plot too complicated. There is no doubt that The Devil´s Left Hand is a well made horror film and i especially enjoy the atmosphere of this film with beautiful cinematography from Michael Kettenbeil. If director Harley Wallen keep making quality films such as this one, i have a feeling he will find himself in cinemas across Sweden in the future and im hoping that The Devil´s Left Hand will give him that respect.

Rating: DDD

Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny

If you look back in the history of cinema there are some iconic movie characters that will never die, no matter how old the films are. If you have a very strong character that movie lovers worldwide feel a connection to, chances are that a younger generation may discover what made that film so unique as well. There are several iconic movie characters that we could talk about in Hollywood history but let´s stick to especially one of them for now. And that is the character known as Indiana Jones played by legendary actor Harrison Ford. When we first saw Indiana Jones for the very first time in Raiders Of The Lost Ark in 1981, you could tell that there was something unique about him. Not only his personality but the way he handled different dangerous situations fighting nazi soldiers and leaders. Directed by legendary director Steven Spielberg, Raiders Of The Lost Ark starts off with archaeologist Indiana Jones ( Harrison Ford ) in the year of 1936 where he recovers the Golden Idol from a booby-trapped Peruvian temple. Rival archaeologist René Belloq ( Paul Freeman ) corners him and steals the idol. Dr Jones manage to escape with a waiting seaplane. As he returns to the United States, Dr Jones finds out that Nazi German forces are excavating at Tanis, Egypt. The nazis are hoping to find the Ark Of The Covenant, wich Adolf Hitler believe will make his army unstoppable. Dr Jones have no other option but to travel to Egypt and try to stop the nazis from taking the Ark Of The Covenant. There is no doubt that Raiders Of The Lost Ark is one of the greatest action adventure movies ever made and have so many classic scenes. In 1984 Indiana Jones returned for the sequel Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom with a much darker approach than before. I really enjoy this film for what it is a very majestic action adventure in India. In 1989 we got a third film called Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade where legendary actor Sean Connery played Dr Jones father. Also a really good sequel and worthy the franchise. 19 years later in 2008 professor Indiana Jones returned once more in Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull. A good sequel but perhaps not as strong as the previous film. So here we are in 2023 with the final Indiana Jones film with Harrison Ford in the lead role one last time. So the quest is, does this film hold the same quality as the films from the past or did they fail with this final sequel completely?

In 1944, Nazis capture Indiana Jones ( Harrison Ford ) and Oxford arcaheologist Basil Shaw ( Toby Jones ) as they try to retrieve the Lance of Longinus from a castle in the French Alps. Astrophysicist Jurgen Voller ( Mads Mikkelsen ) informs his superiors that the Lance is fake, but he has found half of Archimedes´ Dial, and Antikythera mechanism built by the ancient Suracusan mathmetician Archimedes ( Nasser Memarzia ). It is said that the Archimedes´ Dial can be used to do time travelling. Dr. Jones escapes from the castle and manage to jump on the train where Basil is being kept prisoner. They both manage to escape as Dr. Jones grabs the half of the Archimedes´ Dial and they jump off the train from a bridge into the water. Moving on to the year of 1968 and Dr. Jones is not retired from teachning archeology. While enjoying a drink at a local bar he have a visit from his godddaughter Helena Shaw, who is now an educated archaeologist. She bring him indormation on where she believe the other half of the Archimedes´ Dial might be and wants him to join her on an expidition. Dr. Jones agree to show her the half he found of this artifact but they are suddenly attacked by people working for Jurgen Voller. They manage to escape and realise that he wants to find the other half, so once more Dr. Jones has to do do what he can to stop nazis from changing time.

Whenever you have a sequel to a classic franchise you always wonder if they will be able to make a film worthy the previous films. In the case of Indiana Jones And The Dial of Destiny i understand if some people have some opinions considering lead actor Harrison Ford is very old still playing this iconic character. But you know what, you tell me how many people at the age of 81 who can pull of a performance such as this if not Harrison Ford. He may be older and may not be able to do what he did in the 1980´s but i am still impressed over his performance in this film. Not only because it´s nostalgic to see him back with his hat and whip, but Harrison Ford have such a uniqe screen presence that we don´t see in modern actors these days. Let´s get into the other characters in this film in a while and let´s talk about what i enjoy about this sequel. I do feel that the beginning of this film where they used a special filmining technique called De-aging to make Harrison Ford look younger looks pretty cool. Considering this is supposed to take place during World War II i understand they had to try to find a way to make this work and i think they did a good job. The train scenes are old school classic Indiana Jones with punches, guns and dangers just like we remember from the 80´s. So the De-aging scenes actually set the right tone for this film with plenty of action. When we move forward to the year of 1969 where Indiana Jones is now retired from teaching we see a completely different man. But i do think it was a good idea to show that even a hero from the past can go through rough times and not always live inside an adventure. They capture the time period of 1969 very well will costume design, hair cuts and of course the set designs. Speaking of characters earlier on we do have actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge here as Indiana Jones goddaughter Helena. At first she seems very nice but i like the fact that her character changes later into the film, as if she´s more interested in money than archeology. Her performance fit well with the character and some of her dialogue is actually funny. Mads Mikkelsen as the evil character Jurgen Voller does have some interesting scenes, especially towards the end when he shows his true nazi personality. Some other actors from the past shows up as well which is fun and nostalgic of course. Any problems with this film? The length is perhaps a little bit too long, over 2 hours and 30 minutes is hard to make a really good adventure film unless you really have put an effort in making it spectacular. Unfortunately this sequel doesn´t work as well as the 80´s film as an action adventure. That doesn´t mean i didn´t enjoy this film, i just feel that the length should have been trimmed down a bit. With that said is this a worthy final film for Indiana Jones? I would say yes since the ending does feel like it paid respect for the character and the fans as well. Director James Mangold may not be Steven Spielberg in film making but he did a good job bringing Indiana Jones back on the big screen, and he managed to keep some nostalgic details along the way to make you feel like this is an Indiana Jones film. If you love the previous films in this franchise, what are you waiting for? Go buy tickets to Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny and you will most likely have a good time, just like i did.

Rating: DDD

Malum

I have worked night shifts ever since 1998 and it all started at my first night job at a company called Odal. My first night job here was to check so there were no leaks from wheat, corn and other cereal being transfered in so called silos. When there was a leak we had to take a shovel and remove the leaks by hand, we could not use any machines. So there were times we had to fix it, i suppose the good thing was that we could keep ourselves busy at least. I would also run samples of wheat and corn in a machine to check water levels in the product. It was at this night shift work i started drinking coffee because an older gentleman called Nisse who have worked there for over 30 years said:- If you want to stay awake i suggest you have a couple of cups at least. I really didn´t mind working night shifts since it was more calmer than daytime shifts and you could also walk more free in the industrial building. If nothing happened during night shift you could just check leaks and see if there is anything else that needed to be done. I do remember one night when an old elevator got stuck with me in it and i could use the elevator phone at least and luckily Nisse answered my call and helped me out. It turned out that this old elevator have had problems before in this old part of the industry and Nisse just said:- Well, i don´t think the boss will fix another one, we already had this elevator since i started working here. So after that night i never went into that elevator again, i took the stairs instead even if i had to carry heavy bags. Speaking of night shifts there are plenty of horror films that have taken on the subject of working during night. One of the films i am especially thinking about is an independent film called Last Shift from director Anthony DiBlasi. I remember when Last Shift came out and i found myself a DVD copy and i was really surprised. Last Shift turned out to be a very effective religious horror film that takes place in a police station that´s getting closed down. Police Officer Jessica Loren ( Juliana Harkavy ) accept to take on the last working shift at this station during night. When she begin to see strange things happening, she will find out that this police station have more than just one secret hidden from the public. For an indepenent horror film i have to say Last Shift was more effective than i expected. Not in my wildest imagination would i have expected a remake of Last Shift to be made almost 10 years later, but here we are with a film called Malum. When i first heard this film was coming out i had my doubts since i am a fan of the original film, but i decided to give this film a chance in case i would enjoy it. Is this one of the better remakes we have seen in recent years, or is Malum a disaster from start to finish?

Police Captain Will Loren ( Eric Olson ) was respected at his job and people appreciated his good personality. Until one day when he went completely insane after rescuing three girls from a vicious religios cult, and killed two people before shooting himself with a shotgun. After the tragic murders Will´s daughter Police Officer Jessica Loren ( Jessica Sula ) want to honor the legacy of her father by working a shift at the same station where all of this happened. She knew he wasn´t a bad man deep inside, but clearly something went wrong. At the station she is not treated with much respect because of her father´s background but she decides to do the best she can out of the situation. This night is not only going to change the life of Jessica, but she will also understand why her father lost his mind.

I am going to be honest and say that Malum is even better than Last Shift for a number of different reasons. So let us discuss on what details makes this film better than the 2014 original film and let us begin with the technical level of film making. Malum is more professionally filmed than Last Shift with very well made colorful scenes, that matches very well to the religious cult influences that the story behind Malum carry all the way throughout the film. I also feel that this film works more effective as a horror film thanks to much more creativity in the horror influences that they used in this film. That does not mean i think Last Shift is a bad horror film, i still enjoy it to this day. But it becomes very clear that they really tried harder on Malum to make the horror story more effective and it really pays off. I really enjoy some of the practical make up effects in Malum where you can tell they really tried to make it look good. Especially the design of a so called demon ( if i can call it that ) towards the end and the practical effects in that scene looks gorgeous. There are some other scenes where the practical effects gets a chance to shine as well but let us move forward to what especially works better in Malum than in Last Shift. The acting in this ( remake ? ) film of Malum is much more powerful than in the original film. It is as if they understood that if we are going to make this film work we need to improve several details to please the fans of Last Shift. And they clearly did their job where lead actress Jessica Sula ( who you might recognice from Scream TV series ) does her best acting performance i have seen her do so far in a film or TV series. Her character Jessica does not only work very well with the story, but you can also see her as a realistic cop character. There are some other great performances as well but i might as well bring up one detail i think they could have done better. Since some scenes look very smiliar to Last Shift they could have tried to surprise us a little bit more. Other than that i am really surprised over how much i enjoyed Malum. Director Anthony DiBlasi ( who also directed Last Shift ) proves that you can make a smiliar film again almost 10 years later and make it work. Malum is one of the better horror films i have seen this year and im definetely picking this film up on physical media. If you are a true horror fan you definetely need to experience Malum in your living room.

Rating: DDDD

Walking Against The Rain

Even if a lot of people are worried about what the future holds, we have to try and keep us united and live a peaceful life. There will always be conflicts between different countries, and we will never be able to stop every war. Not only do we have to try and end wars, we also have to fight against environment issues as well as economical crisis. I may not agree politically with all the politicians worldwide, but i do believe we have to do our best to secure the safety for children and their families, no matter what country they are from. We may never know what lies ahead in the future, so in case something very serious happens we have to be prepared. What if you one day woke up and you don´t see anyone, not knowing what happened or why everyone is gone? This is exactly what happened in the now seen as a classic British horror film 28 Days Later. Released in 2002 by legendary director Danny Boyle, this is a very well made apocalyptic horror film that really capture the atmosphere of how one single person would react not knowing if he is the only survivor on Earth. What i especially think made 28 Days Later unique from most zombie apocalyptic films was how the film was shot. Director Danny Boyle used a very effective technique to make it look like this could actually be happening at this moment, and didn´t need CGI effects to capture the feeling of chaos or the apocalypse itself. Lead actor Cillan Murphy did a really good performance in this film as well as legendary actor Brendan Gleeson. If you have not seen 28 Days Later for any reason you should check it out now on streaming or a physical copy. The sequel 28 Weeks Later is also good, but the first film is definetely the one you should watch. Apocalyptic films have been quite popular for quite some time and not that long ago we had the very first season of The Last Of Us released on HBO Max, based on the apocalyptic video game on the same name. A really well made TV series with great characters and great looking CGI effects. Earlier this spring this year i heard about an independent horror film called Walking Against The Rain that looked interesting and i finally got a chance to check it out. Is this the perfect film to end the month of August or is Walking Against The Rain not worth spending time on?

The world is no longer what it used to be. Only a handful of humans have survived since monster looking creatures have taken over the world. Blair ( Sophi Ellen ) have managed to survive in a specific spot so far, always on the lookout for these creatures in case they would find her. One day Blair is very surprised when she hears a voice on her radio, someone who claims to be named Tommy ( Reece Douglas ). They begin to talk certain hours each day to see how they are doing, as they travel through the countryside looking for supplies and a place to stay. But they are never safe as long as these creatures are out there.

Let me begin by saying that Walking Against The Rain doesn´t really show anything new when it comes to apocalyptic films since wee have seen similar films and TV series before. But the are some details that makes this film stand out when it comes to apocalyptic films and that is instead of zombies we have creatures that looks like some kind of alien instead that´s taken over the world. And i actually really like the monster design of these creatures ( even though they are costumes ), like they have been inspired by 80´s alien films. I actually think that was a good idea to skip the zombie genre completely and go for something different instead. I would also say that this is more of a drama horror film since there is a bigger story about survival than the actual encounter with the monsters themselves. Another important detail that i think was also a good choice is to have a lead female character to be the main survivor, and especially a young woman. How do you as a young woman handle this situation when you know you could be killed by these creatures, no matter where she goes? Lead actress Sophie Eleni feels very natural in her role as the character Blair and throughout her journey you have to admire her for being so down to Earth, even when she is struggling with the lonliness at times. Actor Reece Douglas who plays the character Tommy may not be as strong as a character as Blaire is, but i do appreciate his effort in his role. That they decided to make this film in the countryside was also a good deciscion with beautiful scenes as they go on a journey to safety. So anything negative to say about Walking Against The Rain? I do feel that some scenes have a little bit too much dialogue, especially with Blaire and Tommy talking on radio ( walkie-talkie ) quite many scenes. But other than that i actually enjoy this story and for doing a different approach on the apocalyptic theme. Walking Against The Rain may not be discovered by a large audience worldwide but is definetely worth checking out if you appreciate independent horror films, and accept that this film is more dramatic than scary as well. Director Scott Lyus have made a film that really makes you think about how important it is that we help each other in hard times, and also how survival may affect us mentally as well when we are forced to confront danger. You should definetely take the time and check out Walking Against The Rain, it is nice to see that there is still hope for a different take on apocalyptic films.

Rating: DDD

Space Wars: Quest For The Deepstar

Even though i experienced several sci fi films in the late 80´s it was in the 90´s i really discovered a lot of great science fiction films on VHS. I prefered to watch horror films and action films, but sometimes if i saw something interesting in the sci fi shelf i would have a look at it. I remember picking up titles such as the 1995 film Species with former model Natasha Henstridge in her first debut feature film. Now, i know some people are very divided about Species and if they appreciate this film or not. I personally enjoy the film even though there are plenty of sci fi films i could easily pick over this title. I also remember picking up the 1998 sci fi film Sphere from legendary director Barry Levinson ( the director of the Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman classic film Rainman ). Sphere was a massive box office flop worlwide so at least it managed to find an audience on VHS instead. I wouldn´t say Sphere is one of the films you need to see from the 90´s but if you enjoy sci fi films i do feel that this film is interesting. How many of you remember a sci fi film called Space Truckers? Some of you might remember this film while some of you have no idea what i am talking about. Space Truckers was a massive box office flop in America at the time the film was released and the critics wasn´t pleased either. But the film did manage to find fans on VHS and became something of a cult classic. Space Truckers tells the story of trucker John Canyon ( Dennis Hopper ), one of the last independent space transport entrepeneurs. Bad times have forced him to suspicious cargo to Earth without asking questions. During the flight, the cargo turns out to be a multitude of virtually unstoppable killer robots. Space Truckers feels like a combination of a Bud Spencer and Terence Hill film combined with a sci fi version of Big Trouble In Little China without the martial arts fighting. It is a cheesy fun sci fi film that doesn´t take itself very seriously and offer both fun characters and some fun sci fi scenes as well. Definetely worth picking up on the blu ray release from distribution company Second Sight Films. There are still sci fi films coming out every year and especially independent film releases, and since i am a big fan of independent films i try to check some of these titles out. One of them i have been looking forward to see is called Space Wars: Quest For The Deepstar, simply because the cast looked like a lot of fun growing up with names such as Michael Paré and Oliver Gruner. Not only that we also have wonderful actress Sadie Katz here ( who you might remember from Wrong Turn 6: Last Resort. Is this exactly what i was hoping for in a low budget sci fi action film, or is Space Wars: Quest For The Deep not as good as i was hoping it would be?

Space scavengers Kip Corman ( Michael Paré ) and his daughter Taylor ( Sarah French ) are always ready for a new adventure in space. But their latest mission might become their most complicated yet, where no one is really sure how it might end.

If you enjoyed Space Truckers from the 90´s then i have to say Space Wars: Quest From The Deep definetely feels like a 90´s inspired sci fi action film. If you love low budget special effects combined with monsters, space battles, weapons and cheesy dialogue then i have a feeling this is the film you are looking for. This is clearly a film made for fans of this genre and doesn´t care what´t trending on TikTok. This is a old school throwback to the 90´s and actually this feels like a film that might have been inspired by similar films such as Space Truckers. Ok, so let´s get into some details i appreciate about Space Wars: Quest For The Deep. First of all i appreciate that this film actually try to bring back old school space battles, where you see space ships attack each other like in Star Trek or Star Wars. Of course the budget is much smaller and a lot of CGI effects are used since they can´t build massive space ships by hand for a film like this. But i am ok with that since i still appreciate the effort to try and just give sci fi fans some classic ingredients. The monster CGI effects are not as bad as i thought it would be, so that´s a surprise for me. I really appreciate the chemistry between actors Michael Paré and Sarah French as father Kip and daughter Taylor. Their scenes together may not perfect in any way but i can actually see them as family in this film. If you want an evil character have no fear, because actress Sadie Katz knows exactly what this film needs as the character Elnora. You could say that Elnora is exactly who you would want to crash the Nobel prize dinner, because you know she would bring chaos and destruction there. And that is why Sadie did a great job on her character in this film, and i would actually like to see her to more evil characters in the future. So anything negative to say? When you are dealing with a low budget film you can´t expect the acting to be good. There are a couple of acting performances where you feel doesn´t feel very engaged. It´s something we have seen in several B movies over the years and i get it, some of these films may not attract bigger Hollywood stars. If you can accept that and just enjoy Space Wars: Quest For The Deepstar for what it is, i think you might appreciate what they were trying to do with this film. Director Garo Setian ( who also directed the independent sci fi film Automation ) is clearly inspired by old school sci fi films from his childhood. Considering the budget he had making this film and his vision of space that he gives us, i have to say he did a pretty good job. Space Wars: Quest For The Deepstar is a film made for true fans of sci fi and no one else, so if you appreciate this genre you might have fun with this film just like i did.

Rating: DDD

If you want to watch this film you can on the Youtube channel Flix For Free on the following link. Just copy and paste in your search engine:

https://youtu.be/Y9gSCe18HJs

The Out-Laws

One of the most difficult genres in films has to be comedies. There was a time when comedies actually were funny back in the golden days of comedians, and we have plenty of classics between the 70´s, 80´s and even the 90´s. I will be honest and say that i have not seen a lot of comedies from the 60´s simply because i usually have a certain limit of how old some films should be for me to accept them. Either way i can easily find some really funny comedies in the past that you should see for a number of reasons. One legendary director who have made several comedy classics is of course Mel Brooks who probably made the best Western comedy of all time called Blazing Saddles. You can find so many other classics such as Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie, History Of The World Part 1 and many others. But there is one specific comedy that Mel Brooks directed that i can easily return to just because there are so many funny scenes in the 1987 film Spaceballs, a parody of Star Wars basically. If you have seen the Star Wars films from the 70´s you are going to love this comedy. Spaceballs takes place on Planet Spaceball, where incompetent President Skroob ( Mel Brooks ) have squandered all of the planet´s fresh air. President Skroob schemes to steal the atmosphere from the neighboring planet Druidia by forcing its ruler King Roland ( Dick Van Patten ) to give him the code to the sheild surrounding it. Roland´s daughter Princess Vespa ( Daphne Zuniga ) fleeds Druidia in order to avoid an arranged wedding to the narcoleptic Prince Valium ( Jim J. Bullock ). The ship Spaceball One, commanded by Colonel Sandurz ( George Wyner ) and carrying Skroob´s enforcer Dark Helmet ( Rick Moranis ), is dispatched to kinap Princess Vespa and her droid servant Dot Matrix. Spaceballs does not only have a lot of funny characters but the dialogue in this film is really good. Whenever there are crazy things happening director Mel Brooks knows exactly where the dialogue needs to be to work with the plot. So many wonderful actors in here such as Bill Pullman, John Candy, Rick Moranis and even Police Academy legend Michael Winslow. A must see if you want to have a good time. Since i don´t watch a lot of modern comedies these days i decided to give a Netflix film called The Out-Laws a chance since the cast seemed interesting. Produced by legendary comedian Adam Sandler, is The Out-Laws exactly what we need to experience this summer or is this a comedy that has nothing to offer at all?

Owen Browning ( Adam DeVine ) is a young bank manager about to marry Parker McDermott ( Nina Dobrev ), whos estranged parents Billy McDermott ( Pierce Brosnan ) and Lilly McDermott ( Ellen Barkin ) contact her that they will be coming to their wedding. Owen is excited, that he is finally going to meet the parents of his future wife. One night while Owen is not prepared, the McDermott´s show up unexpected at their house to present themselves. To get to know them Owen spend the next day doing different activities with them, while not everything might go as planned. When the bank Owen works for is robbed the day after, he is trying to deal with the trauma while he becomes suspicious. Is it possible that the McDermott´s could be the ones who robbed his bank?

The Out-Laws proves exactly my point on what´s wrong with modern comedies released in modern day. Modern comedies suffer with great comedy actors and most films are very easily forgotten. This is one of the reasons why The Out-Laws will probably not be remembered on Netflix because it feels like we have seen this film so many times before. The story is another one of those bank robbery action comedies that we used to see in the 70´s and 80´s, and even if this film is not a disaster in any way it is very difficult to find any real comedy quality here. We might as well get into the positive about this film. I have to say that Pierce Brosnan as the father in-law Billy does deliver a couple of charming moments. This is in no way any of his better performances i have seen Pierce do in his career, but he have such a charamastic personality that fits well on the big screen no matter what character he plays. Legendary actress Ellen Barkin does not only look great but she will also charm you as well as the wife of Billy. I actually think this film should have been about this couple instead, and with a different twist and this could have been an enjoyable film. Their action scenes are at least ok. There is at least one funny scene where the wedding couple have dinner with each partner´s parents talking about sex orgies where actress Julie Hagerty actually deliver some fun dialogue. Ok so we have to talk about the negative for a while. One of the biggest issues i have outside of the lack of funny moments that this film offers, is the fact that they didn´t really try to make the story of a couple getting married funny at all. There are very few scenes where you will find yourself not laughing much at all as the main character investigate if his future´s wifes parents are the bank robbers, and it almost feels like they just threw in jokes there to see if they would match. If you are making a comedy about a wedding and a heist, try and find different situations that could be really funny instead of just throwing in any idea that comes to mind. Comedian Adam DeVine tries really hard to make a lot of different scenes funny and he just tries too hard. I think it would have been better if he cut down on the over the top acting and actually focused on making his scenes work. Director Tyler Spindel ( who directed the Netflix comedy The Wrong Missy ) doesn´t really do much at all to make The Out-Laws enjoyable for comedy fans. It is almost as if he just made this film thinking that the audience just want another wedding comedy without anything else to say. The Out-Laws may not be the worst action comedy i have ever seen, but it is definetely not as funny as it should be with such a great cast. Skip this one and watch Mel Brooks classic Spaceballs instead and i promise you will have a much more fun movie night.

Rating: DD

Blood & Gold

Some people might not be interested in learning about history, simply because it won´t affect them in their personal life. But i personally believe it is good to learn about our past to understand that some of the horrible events that took place during different time periods, to understand that this could happen again in modern day. You never know if a sadistic dictator would try to repeat the horror of wars such as World War II, because there are people out there who look up to dictator Adolf Hitler and think he was a good man. How anyone can think that this man did anything good at all is shocking to me. Did he do something for the German people such as give them job oppurtinities? Perhaps, but he also forced german people to kill jewish people for no reason at all. So i have no respect for any kind of dictator who only think about power and don´t care about humanity. Adolf Hitler is a perfect example of a man who thought he was a master at everything that he did. When you look into his past and why he became the sadistic dictator, you could understand why he became the personality that the whole world witnessed. He was beaten by his own father Alois Hitler many times. I personally feel no child should ever be abused. and this never should have happened to Adolf Hitler as a child. But it might have been one of the reasons why Adolf became who he was as he got older, that the abuse from his father shaped him to become the monster he really was. I have always been fascinated about this time period of World War II and read books about it, and especially seen a lot of films that takes place during this time period. One of my personal favourite World War II films especially made in Germany is the 2004 war drama known as Downfall ( German title Der Untergang ) from director Oliver Hirschbiegel. It is the most personal biographical film i have ever seen telling the story of Adolf Hitler during his final days in Berlin. Lead actor Bruno Granz playing Adolf Hitler is so damn powerful in the role that you can actually feel like the real Hitler is right infront of you. Downfall really shows you how the nazis failed, and this film also shows when their biggest leader was desperate to do anything towards the end. A must see no matter if you watch it on streaming or on physical media. About 2 months ago i heard about a film coming on Netflix called Blood & Gold, a new German war movie film that takes place during World War II. Since i am always interested checking out films from this time period i decided to give this film a chance. Is this the film you should see on Netflix this summer or is Blood & Gold just as boring and predictable as the 2002 Christmas studio album Holiday Harmony by the band America?

In the spring of 1945, the Allied armies invade Nazi Germany as the end of World War II draws near. Heinrich ( Robert Maaser ), a decorated Wehrmacht veteran, is captured and hanged by Walfen-SS led by a fanatical lieutenant colonel, after a desertion attempt. He is rescued by Elsa ( Marie Hacke ) who brings him to her farm home that she shares with her brother, Paule ( Simon Rupp ). In the nearby village, the SS arrive to begin to search a destroyed home previously occupied by Jews as the seek a large amount of hidden gold.

You might think that Blood & Gold is just another World War II film that looks exactly like every other similar film. But the good news is that this is more like a Italian Spaghetti Western, almost like a tribute to legendary director Sergio Leone in some scenes but with a World War II scenario instead of the wild west. I think that was a really good choice to make this film more interesting to watch, since we have so many war movies that have told many different stories during this period of time. The action scenes are very effective with close combats and plenty of shootings, and it still feels like they tried to stau realistic to what the war battles could have looked like during this time period. Now, apart from the Spaghetti Western infleunces and the great looking action scenes we also get surprisingly good acting as well. As you know in war movies it is not always a guarantee every film has good acting but in Blood & Gold you can actually feel the actors trying to act as if they are in a real war. I especially enjoy the performance from German actor Alexander Scheer ( who was one of my favourite characters in the German horror film Blood Red Sky, also on Netflix ) as the character Von Starfeld. Not only does he deliver powerful dialogue but also show the real identity of a Nazi swine. Robert Maaser as the main character Heinrich does a really good job with his phycical action scenes, and you can tell he put a lot of effort to make sure that action audiences would enjoy seing him kicking nazi ass. Actress Maria Hacke as the character Elsa is one of those female empowerment characters who is not afraid to fight just because she is a woman. In fact she is more brave than most men in this film. I have to mention actor Simon Rupp for giving a very solid performance as Paule. Blood & Gold delivers more than i could have ever expected from a World War II movie with really good action, really good acting and the cinematic style of Sergio Leone in some scenes. Director Peter Thorwarth have made one of the better action movies i have seen taking place during World War II in recent years. Nowhere near as good as Dunkirk or Saving Private Ryan, but i am still impressed how well made this film is. Blood & Gold proves that you can still make high quality war movies with a different approach from western influences A must watch on Netflix if you like seeing historical action films.

Rating: DDDD