(trailer review) - Cherry

I heard about this movie a little while back and I thought to myself, "that Tom Holland is getting some work!" Rumoured to play Nathan Drake in the 'Enchanted' movie (based on a video game), also 'Chaos Walking' with Daisy Ridley and not to mention the recently released movie 'The Devil All The Time' on Netflix, he is really doing some different roles than Spider-Man and hopefully something that can show us how much of a diverse actor he is.  Strangely enough, he has been in some other films such as 'In the Heart of the Sea' among many others, but nothing as stand out as what Enchanted might be able to do for him...another franchise, is what I mean.  This trailer was nice to see.

Cherry seems to centre around a young American man who meets the love of his life and then joins the Army.  I'm guessing by the events of the movie from what is shown in the trailer, once Cherry leaves the Army, he descends into a downward spiral which involves him robbing banks for reasons unknown at present.  Maybe his girlfriend (now wife) is pregnant, maybe the army hasn't paid him enough money for living, could be many things.  As this is based on a novel of the same name and I have not read it, it would be nice to have this visualised on screen as it does look like quite a good, entertaining and captivating story and the lengths a man would go to either provide for his family or what war has done to him.

Directed by Anthony Russo, Joe, Russo and starring Tom Holland, Ciara Bravo

(trailer review) - The Equalizer

To say this trailer took me by surprise is definitely an understatement.  I was taken more about by Queen Latifah starring in something as I've not seen her in anything of recent.  I believe it might have been two days ago or a day ago when I saw the thumbnail to this.  I didn't get to watch the trailer until now and to be honest, colour me very intrigued.

For the most part, The Equalizer is a very old show from back in the day in which I believe my granddad used to watch. Some white guy, I'd need to Google it, but I remember he used to stand by his car in a black coat.  I may have even watched a few episodes, it was cool.
A few years ago, Denzel Washington was in a film of the same name and I enjoyed it.  There was a sequel, but I didn't get to watch that one as it didn't seem it had the same spark as the first one as seen in the trailers, however, this on the other hand, has a nice trailer.  I'm just hoping it's just as good.

I'll tell you something though, let this be within the same universe as the Denzel Washington film version and I'M ALL THE WAY INVOLVED.  Something like a John Wick and the rumoured 'The Continental' series.  Come on, let's have it!!!

As long as it is good of course.

Directed by Andrew Marlowe & Terri Miller and starring Queen Latifah, Chris Noth, Lorraine Toussaint, Liza Lapira, Tory Kittles & Adam Goldberg.

(series review) - Gangs of London

I kept hearing about this show, Gangs of London.  "Have you seen Gangs of London?", "Are you watching Gangs of London?" And my reply was always a no.  I feel I saw a trailer to it, but if I'm really honest, some UK TV shows are simply pants.  And maybe it's because I live in London, I feel anything centred around London would be far-fetched or just silly.  Or, some shows are just not for me!

Having seen Blue Story and how that film made me reflect on my life growing up, gangs and all that, and having watched Luther, a show I've really enjoyed in the past and also Top Boy, I decided to give this one a chance.  The buzz around it was incredible and Gareth Edwards directed one of my favourite films, The Raid, so his directing and action had to come out in some way during this show, right? And it did. And I loved it!

Gangs of London is about a guy named Elliot Finch (Sope Dirisu) who has a past that haunts him.  Undercover police officer, he is assigned to infiltrate the Wallace family and bring them to justice once he has gathered enough evidence of their crimes.  However, when the head of the Wallace family Finn Wallace (Colm Meaney) dies, his family's business within the seedy underworld, their relationships with other business partners are passed down to his unpredictable heir, Sean Wallace (Joe Cole) who becomes an immediate target.  No-one can be trusted and everyone wants a piece of the pie to become the Top Dog in London.  It is up to Elliot to do whatever he can to bring the criminals to justice and not get caught while doing so OR get in too deep and lose himself within this crime family and the world that they live in.

This show grips you.  It starts off a bit crazy with the intro, but as violent the intro is, sets you up for the entire season, because not only is the show violent and gritty, it's not necessarily gory persay, but it is ruthless in respect to how people are offed! People are mercilessly getting mowed down violently and in some cases these may have you squirming in your seat, but they do not shy away from it.  A little graphic but not too much.  If you have seen, The Raid, The Raid 2 and the violence in the action scenes, this IS definitely that but with less martial arts and maybe a bear glass to the face or jaw.

As for the action, I'll go into that a little, because this film tells a story with action peppered in the action does not take away from the story and does not seem forced.  Albeit, there are moments where the violence may seem unnecessary, but the world these characters live in and the seedy underbelly of London, it is nothing to bake a cake just to place a pretty flower on top, because baked into that cake might be half of someone's head or a hand, served to you because you double-crossed them.  The action is fast, very visual and in some cases eratic.  Needless to say, the directing and direction is simply superb.  Gareth Edwards knows how to tell a story through fight scenes and action.  And with this, knows how to tell a story whilst not solely being dependent on the action.

Not to take away from The Raid and The Raid 2, but the raid was a simpler story and if I'm honest, for me at least, the action carried those movies every step of the way.  Not necessarily a bad thing because the story came second place and it didn't affect the movie at all.  Story-wise, Gangs of London comes first and the story is strong.  Think Game of Thrones, different "families" fighting to sit on the Throne, which is London.

Without going into spoilers, the series ends in a way where although narratively, this was possibly the only way to go (up for debate) BUT, I NEED a sequel just like I need another one to The Raid 2.  Maybe two, a prequel and sequel, I need something.  I want to know what happens next, maybe 20 years before or 20 years later.  I believe there are stories here to be told.  Keep them to 10 episodes and maybe we could have an "anthology" sequel or generational sequel, something, as I do not believe the story is over.
It goes without saying though, if this is not your type of show, London Gangsters, gritty and hardcore action, this crime drama is not for you.  Not quite Peaky Blinders as it is more hardcore and modern, but a definite must see.

(film review) [STREAMING] - All Day and a Night

It's nice to get movies like this.  Movies where people can relate to the characters on a more personal level.  Not to say I could, but I can understand why a lot of people like the main character would.  I knew from the direction, the music and style of filming, this movie reminded me of another.  Having looked up who wrote the movie, it then became clear.  If you haven't seen Moonlight you should.  An excellent movie and having now seen these two movies, I see the similarities.  Maybe they were going for a similar thing, but I don't believe this one quite hit the mark like how Moonlight did and for me, that was because of the ending.  I'll explain.

The film is about a young man named Jahkor (Ashton Sanders) who is now expected to serve life in prison for the murder of another man, Malcolm (Stephen Barrington) and his wife.  Once in prison, Jahkor reflects on his circumstances, his upbringing, his life at home, his friends TQ (Isaiah John), Lamark (Christopher Meyer) or the people around him Big Stunna (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and JD (Jeffrey Wright).  Through some self discovery told through flashbacks, we find out where Jahkor wanted to go in life, the trauma he has endored and the choices he made which led him to where he is.

This movie is intimate.  It's lovely but heartbreaking.  It's shocking but it is personal.  The story is told by way of narration by Ashton's character, Jahkor.  The film does a series of jumps backwards and forwards through time as flashbacks to help put the story together.  However, although this was great, I felt a situation in the movie flashed by soo quickly, that I didn't understand what was going on and why the next scene was happening.  Upon re-watching, it is marginally made clear, but I felt it could have been handled better because it is a blink and you'll miss it situation, leading to a scene which at first doesn't make any sense.

Other than that, I felt the movie did a great job explaining life's cycle and a corrupted system that doesn't help black men living in specific areas.  The racism, the lack of jobs, the hood life which is constantly thrusted in your face daily in which seems inescapable.  Even when you are doing well for yourself, sometimes you cannot move out of the hood.  I felt this movie, but I also felt that it just wasn't strong enough.  I felt it wasn't as impactful as Moonlight was as that was a powerful film, it even won awards.  And if you are paying attention, Sanders is also in that movie too.  It was the delivery of the last few scenes which led to confusion and could possibly be the reason (for me anyway) why this movie did not stick the landing.  Jeffrey Wright and Ashton Sanders are powerful and excellent.  Ashton with not many words, acts a lot with his face and what he doesn't say.  The actor who plays his mum, Kelly Jenrette, was also good along with Yahya, who seems to be on a roll in every role creating a name for himself as and doing very well, a superb actor.

There are some more things I could say about this movie, but it would give away some of the story beats leading us into spoiler territory, so it is best I be quiet.  Some nice quotes too.  What I will say though, this film can be thought provoking, so if anyone who watches this movie and feel they are in a similar situation as Jahkor, I hope this movie enlightens you and pushes you to also do more or do better.

(series review) [STREAMING] - Better Call Saul: Season 5

Where the hell do I start?

First of all, I tried to start this show 4-5 years ago and I failed.  I tried again numerous times and kept failing.  Distractions. Falling asleep. Other shows. I need to get back to 'The Walking Dead' AND 'The Blacklist' but because I keep hearing of Better Call Saul and how good it is getting AND the fact that Breaking Bad had me clapping at the end in it's final season finale, I've forced myself to watch all 5 seasons of Better Call Saul.  It meant that a lot of the time I rewatched episodes due to falling asleep and losing my position in the narrative, but I've got to say, Better Call Saul is such an experience, you have to push yourself through it to understand how great it is.

You see, with Breaking Bad, you are given a school teacher who is getting basic pay, but isn't enough to support his wife and family.  He gets into making drugs to turn a profit and then becomes a Drug Kingpin over time.  James McGill aka Slipping Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) is the younger brother or Charles McGill (Michael McKean), a successful lawyer for a big law firm.  James is a con man turned Lawyer in order to clean his life up and do whatecer it takes for his clients.  James idolises his brother Chuck and inspires to be like him, but James aka Jimmy struggles with a lot of things in life due to the choices he makes.

Over the course of the series though, through season 1 to 5, we start to see the formation and change in James McGill to becoming the character he is in Breaking Bad as well as the characters around him and in his world, such as Mike, Hector and Gus (also characters in Breaking Bad).  As this is a prequel, you begin to bridge the dots in Breaking Bad from this show (of you have already watched Breaking Bad), however this show stands on its own two feet than relying on the predecessor.

We get a more in-depth look at Jimmy's personal life and his relationship with his older brother who has a condition leaving Jimmy to look after him and care over him.  What's funny though, I believe it was THIS relationship and the things which were said by Jimmy's friend, Kim (in which I'll get onto next) regarding his relationship with his brother is what caught me offguard and had me fully invested at this point.

Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) was a strange one for me.  She is Jimmy's friend and they really get on.  It's like an on-again off-again situationship where her character eventually grew on me, especially after what she had said in relation to Chuck and Jimmy's relationship.  It was at that point, I saw her differently because she saw Jimmy differently and that really mattered to me.  I didn't like how she would sometimes treat Jimmy, when he would have given her the world, but at the same time, Jimmy's influence is what makes Kim ultimately the tragedy of this story.

The earlier seasons focus more or Jimmy, Mike, Chuck and Kim but as their stories expand, the more the world opens up and more characters get introduced as well as story points, ie Gus Fring, a drug lord from Breaking Bad and his beef with the people he is in business with, the Salamancas or at least, their rivalry.

Needless to say, Better Call Saul is about the characters and the writers do an absolute amazing job in giving every single character some depth with scenes these actors can chew on.  Bob is amazing and I loved his voice acting work in The Incredibles 2, but where he takes his character and what he does with him are excellent.  Imagine I disliked Kim near the start, but she grew on me and Rhea does a real good job especially when she has those moments to shine.  I didn't really care for the relationship between Jimmy and Chuck, but then I started to dislike Chuck and felt sorry for Jimmy.  I mean, two brothers who are brothers but don't really see eye-to-eye, but one would do anything to help the other whilst the other just wouldn't.

Everything about this show is great and at times, moved me emotionally.  The way they build these storylines and the tension is nothing short of great.  If you have seen Breaking Bad, you'd be familiar with the odd usage of camera angles and extreme close-ups of ants on an ice-cream cone or a bird's eye view shot with a character doing multiples things in different locations within the scene over time, but it all adds to what Better Call Saul is.  The flashbacks and Flash Forwards can be confusing at times, but with the different levels these guys are playing on in telling us James' story, you will get there in the end and you will appreciate how they get you locked in.

Try not to compare or think too deeply about Breaking Bad though, as this show is just a prequel to it, but stands on its own two, neatly.  I believe what Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould do more than anything, is make you sympathise with specific characters and if anything, I could really relate to Jimmy.  Sometimes, things can be all messed up and nothing works, but you still put on that brave face and face the world.

When it's all said and done, I'd like to see the future of this character, if there is one, because the black and white Cinnabon moments must be after Breaking Bad and if you have seen that, you know what happens to Jimmy.

Get to watching.