(film review) [STREAMING] - The Devil All The Time

When I finished watching this movie, I felt I had to watch it again.  I felt like I wasn't paying all the attention that I had needed to.  Possibly because there was narration, I wasn't fully focused, but I genuinely felt like I wasn't understanding what was going on although it was fairly simple.  Not to say it was difficult to understand but maybe it's all this streaming movies than going to the cinema.  Maybe I'm tired of it.  Maybe the film didn't really grip me, but...I enjoyed it!? So, I watched it again and this is what I have to say.

The film centers around Arvin (Tom Holland) whose father served in World War II.  After the war, Willard (Bill Skarsgård) meets a lady in a diner (Haley Bennett ) and also meets a couple who are dining there.  Willard eventually marries the lady and moves to Knockemstiff, Ohio where Arvin is born.  Being haunted by the war, Willard is somewhat troubled and tries to influence God to help assist him in a situation he is going through believing he has this power to do so due to his blind faith but the situation doesn't work out.  Some years later, Lenora's (Eliza Scanlen) father dies after he also thought he had power due to his blind faith and Arvin becomes her overprotective stepbrother.  On his birthday, Arvin is given his father's gun from World War II which ultimately gives him power.  The Reverend of the local church, Preston Teagardin (Robert Pattinson) uses his position of power to his own benefits and when Lenora tragically dies, Arvin goes looking for the reverend for answers.  Later Arvin is confronted by the same couple who were dining in the diner his father met his mother in where the two have their own ritual they often carry out which ultimately gives them power, although there is a power dynamic between them.

This film is really about religion, power, the butterfly effect and what would happen if certain situations happened how they were possibly "meant" to happen.  This film also questions faith and religion as well as the famous saying "absolute power, corrupts absolutely".  Where there are various story arcs that meet to create the over-arching story, there are a lot of people who use their "power" to control and/or influence.

This film is dark and most definitely not a kids film because young looking Tom Holland plays Peter Parker.  The cinematography is gloomy and dark.  The setting is lonely and isolating.  You are given the sense that although these people are very religious, some characters are loners and very much have their own battles they are battling regardless of having faith.  Some of the characters are predators in their own way using their power to get what they want.  The acting is great and couldn't be any better than it was from every actor in this piece.  Robert and Jason are very convincing that you may even despise them.  Tom Holland was also very good in this, especially his accent.  Along with Robert, both being British, their accents were great.  This film is also fairly slow paced with not much action so may come across boring as the story really revolves around these various characters and their life and/or actions.

I may actually watch it again as it is indeed a decent movie, but I just wouldn't rush to see it.

(trailer review) - The Devil All The Time

So, I remember hearing about this movie a little while back and then I completely forgot about it, now that I have seen the trailer, this movie looks great!  The cast alone is great from Robert Pattinson to young Luke Skywalker aka Sebastian Stan, but what really gripped me to the trailer, was the nefarious tone and vibe to it all.  EVERYONE seems a bit sketchy and untrustworthy.  Jason Clarke alone is a little creepy in this and Tom Holland looks as though he will be playing a much darker role than what he has been recently or wildly known for as Peter Parker, Spider-Man.  Oh and Pennywise himself Bill Skarsgård...nothing much more needs to be said, I'm sure.

I can't gauge exactly what is going on in this trailer other than some, what looks like murder and ritualistic, insane, barbaric, possibly sexual, killing type craziness.  Maybe another trailer will flush out the goings on a little better!

Directed by Antonio Campos and starring Tom Holland, Bill Skarsgård, Riley Keough, Jason Clarke, Sebastian Stan, Haley Bennett, Eliza Scanlen, Mia Wasikowska, Robert Pattinson

(film review) - Mad Max: Fury Road

I'd like to start off by saying, I do not believe I have seen a Mad Max film, ever! As you gasp in disbelief, I'd like to point out that I am completely aware of them and that I have a rough idea about the character's background, but I do not remember watching a single Mad Max film from beginning to end and remembering it. Maybe it was a touch before my time or maybe I just weren't interested, probably the latter. But this film, I will remember. This film is a spectacle.

Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) is a Main Force Patrol Officer, haunted by past memories and some may actually deem him as being mad/insane. He is a wanderer of a post apocalyptic wasteland where most of, if not all of the Earth is a desert and civilisation has collapsed. Water is hard to come by and the people who now live on this desecrated planet are fearless, ruthless and will do anything to survive or die for the cause.
Max unfortunately, is on the run and trying to escape a situation he got himself into and once he crosses paths with Furiosa (Charlize Theron), Max has to make a choice to trust this stranger or take her out as, you cannot trust anyone in these badlands as everyone has their own agenda.

This film is AMAZING. I haven't seen any of the previous films (and I will now, due to seeing this), but this film is a roller coaster ride from beginning to end. This film was like watching Gravity for me. At the edge of my seat, eyes transfixed onto the screen trying not to dip my fingers into the salsa dip as I lose my way trying to find the nachos by being too engrossed into this film. What a spectacle. Vibrant colours, camera angles and visuals, explosions, insane looking vehicles, characters and appendages. The film is soo insane with soo many moving parts, you can't help but follow Max in his journey. There were soo many 'Oh no' parts, where I was soo into this film, I was concerned more about the characters than how I looked once I left the cinema after spilling all types of dip onto my clothes because I couldn't find my mouth.

The only thing I didn't appreciate in this film was Max's voice. Tom Hardy is a brilliant actor and I felt maybe he was trying to sound like Mel Gibson ' rendition, but I haven't a clue. When Max spoke, it took me out of the film for a moment, but it was a good thing he doesn't actually say much. SPOILER ALERT, maybe?

They call him a mastermind, George Miller. But from watching this, I understand why. Charlize was perfect as she is a great actress and the story was plain and simple with little depth to it, but with soo much little things going on at the same time, this film is most definitely something to see, especially if you are a fan of the franchise. This film is a glimpse of what is inside George Miller's mind and it is, MAD!

Wait until you see the heavy metal rocker with the guitar and the guys playing the drums. This film is just insane from start to finish. Go see it.