Red Sparrow

For this weeks movie podcast, Alicia and I check out the new provocative Jennifer Lawrence movie "Red Sparrow".  Based on a novel but has been controversial based on the sexual content and the violence towards women.  We review this Russian espionage film.

Prima ballerina Dominika Egorova faces a bleak and uncertain future after she suffers an injury that ends her career. She soon turns to Sparrow School, a secret intelligence service that trains exceptional young people to use their minds and bodies as weapons. Egorova emerges as the most dangerous Sparrow after completing the sadistic training process. As she comes to terms with her new abilities, Dominika meets a CIA agent who tries to convince her that he is the only person she can trust

The Mantis (La Mante) Netflix (Subtitled)

Alicia and I go to our international series of foreign films and TV series.  This episode we got really excited by another Netflix exclusive mini series released in December 2017.  Another twist on the serial Killer genre that tells the story about a french female serial killer.   This female serial killer, nicknamed 'La Mante' decides to collaborate with the police when a string of murders that copycat her style suddenly appear. But she has some extraordinary conditions she request in order to help.  One being her son the police officer

A Wrinkle in Time

I would say we were looking forward to seeing this movie but after a few previews and pre-comments of the movie we became a little skeptical about this new Ava Duvenay release.  The big and magnificent Oprah (literally in the movie) centers a fantasy child like movie based on a book by Madeleine L'Engle by the same name.

Meg Murry and her little brother, Charles Wallace, have been without their scientist father, Mr. Murry, for five years, ever since he discovered a new planet and used the concept known as a tesseract to travel there. Joined by Meg's classmate Calvin O'Keefe and guided by the three mysterious astral travelers known as Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which, the children brave a dangerous journey to a planet that possesses all of the evil in the universe.

Murder on the Orient Express (2017) review

A lavish trip through Europe quickly unfolds into a race against time to solve a murder aboard a train. When an avalanche stops the Orient Express dead in its tracks, the world's greatest detective -- Hercule Poirot -- arrives to interrogate all passengers and search for clues before the killer can strike again

Alicia and I compare the 1974 version to this current version and sadly prefer one to the other.  great comparisons and acting between the two productions.  

Game Night

Alicia and I finally get to see a comedy worth going to see.  Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams are hilarious in this new comedy mystery about a came night murder /kidnapping mystery.  The only movie that came close to being a good all around comedy over the last year is "Girls trip".

Max and Annie's weekly game night gets kicked up a notch when Max's brother Brooks arranges a murder mystery party -- complete with fake thugs and federal agents. So when Brooks gets kidnapped, it's all supposed to be part of the game. As the competitors set out to solve the case, they start to learn that neither the game nor Brooks are what they seem to be. The friends soon find themselves in over their heads as each twist leads to another unexpected turn over the course of one chaotic night.

The Cloverfield Paradox (Netflix)

This Netflix movie was the third movie from the Cloverfield series.  But this one was rejected to Neflix from paramount as a major theatrical release.  This sci fi movie isn't really the creative sci-fi  movie you would think that would come with the Cloverfield series. not really what we expected.

The story, set in the near future, centers on a team of astronauts on a space station making a terrifying discovery that challenges all they know about the fabric of reality, as they desperately fight for their survival.

Annihilation (The Movie 2018)

This was a movie I kinda looked forward to seeing because of Alex Garland.  The Director for Ex Machina, an odd but amazing movie.  Annihilation is part one of a 3 part series that I started with the book and now watched the movie.  Alicia and I sit through a movie that is not quite what we thought it would be. Listen to the weird background music from the soundtrack we play behind us.

Annihilation is a 2014 novel by Jeff VanderMeer. It is the first in a series of three books called the Southern Reach Trilogy. The book describes a team of four women (a biologist, an anthropologist, a psychologist, and a surveyor) who set out into an area known as Area X. The area is abandoned and cut off from the rest of civilization. They are the 12th expedition. The other expeditions have been fraught with disappearances, suicides, aggressive cancers, and mental trauma

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Mother (Darren Aronofsky) 2017

So I sit down and watch this controversial movie on my own.  Because of the visceral reviews and back and forward opinions.  I knew Alicia would fall asleep on this one.  What I find is one of the most creative movies interpreted in a long time.

A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence. From filmmaker Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, Requiem for a Dream), mother! psychological thriller about love, devotion and sacrifice.

Molly's Game

The true story of Molly Bloom, a beautiful, young, Olympic-class skier who ran the world's most exclusive high-stakes poker game for a decade before being arrested in the middle of the night by 17 FBI agents wielding automatic weapons. Her players included Hollywood royalty, sports stars, business titans and finally, unbeknown to her, the Russian mob. Her only ally was her criminal defense lawyer Charlie Jaffey, who learned there was much more to Molly than the tabloids led people to believe.

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