The Princess Review
By Paul Anthony
Late last month, I heard about this film and went on vacation and nearly forgot about this film. It was on my radar because it starred Joey King, Though King is still young she has proven that she can act and has over 30 films to her name and has been nominated for a golden Globe and primetime Emmy for acting in the drama series The Act. The film also stars Dominic Cooper as the villain in this film. The film was released on july1st on HULU and was rated R and for good reason. Now this movie won’t confuse you if you miss a few seconds of it or not but for good measure let’s break down the plot.
The film is set in the medieval times and the princess (King) awakes but is handcuffed to her bed though she doesn’t fully remember what happen the night before, but she sees two men entering the room and she overhears them that they are preparing to rape her, which when they uncuff her, she basically begins to kick their ass and even as more men enter the room, she still wins the fight. At this point she does remember being ambushed the night before. At this point we meet Julius who seems to be the one that planned this sacking of the castle. We see the King and the queen and the younger princess Voilet, being controlled by Julius’s men. Still, we don’t fully know what is going on and why he is taking over the castle. Though we would learn through more flashbacks that The King doesn’t have an heir apparent to the throne because he has two daughters, and the princess knows how to fight because she was trained by his top advisor’s niece based on the approval of the queen who wants her daughter to prove to the king that she should be the heir as the oldest child. The King refuses to see this and wants her to wed Julius. well, the wedding is planned but she refuses to say I do which leaves Julius mad of course and that is why he sacked the castle and plans to force marry the princess to become king. However, the princess keeps working her down the castle with the help from her trainer Linh and slowly they keep getting the upper hand. But they do take their share of bruises as well. The princess now has her back against the wall when Julius tells her his plan but being a strong fighter, she reveals that if she is forced to marry him, he will have to worry about his life, so a one-on-one fight between them begins with the princess slowly winning and cutting off his head and the King realizing he was wrong about his daughter, not only does he knight her but names her the heir apparent, all ends well on a high note.
Now I knew Joey could act but I did enjoy seeing her become an action star in this film, sadly Joey’s performance and action scenes were the best part of this film. You really didn’t even have names for the king, the queen and King’s character the princess, they do show more effort to avoid their names rather than just giving them their names. Cooper’s character doesn’t stand out either he falls into that category of an evil being who is a wimp in the end. The story was weak at best and half the characters you could care less about. Heck even the king is two face he’s a peaceful king but doesn’t believe women should be a leader, which doesn’t make sense to me. In the end Joey can’t carry the film by herself, so in the end I am giving the film a D+ or 65 percent for the rating.
Fire Island Review
By Paul Anthony
Today’s movie I would have to say has caught me off guard, because I swear this was a thriller but when I selected the movie and was reading about it, I thought to myself, what am I getting myself into! Nevertheless, the show must go on. Fire Island is a Romantic Comedy based on the 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice. Now I am say based on and that term is used loosely because this is a modern adaptation and on top of that, the names are changed and so are the genders of the characters and the sexuality of the characters as well, honestly this should just be an original idea. The Noah character is based on Elizabeth Bennet, Howie is based on Jane Bennet, Will is based on Fitzwilliam Darcy, Charlie is based Charles Bingley, Erin is based on Mrs. Bennet, Luke is based on Lydia Bennet, Keegan is based on Kitty Bennet, Max is based Mary Bennet, Cooper is based Caroline Bingley and Dex is based on George Wickham. Hopefully that helps you understand everything. This movie was released on HULU and stars Joel Kim Booster as Noah, Bowen Yang as Howie, Margaret Cho as Erin, and James Scully as Charlie. Now as the movie called Fire Island, which is a real place and is the famous gay village off the south shore Long Island. The film was 105 minutes long.
The movie revolves five friends doing their year weeklong vacation of having fun and living it up. Noah narrates their adventure and the lessons he learns from, but his main goal is to be a good wig man to his closest friend Howie. Things get kicked off in a hurry when they are having drinks and noticed a few other guys checking them out and one of them Charlie keeps his eye on Howie which Noah sees as well and gets them to talk. Boom next night they go to Charlie’s party and have fun there and Noah sparks and up and down relationship with Will but Than Dex enters the picture which complicates things to say the least, even though Will Warns him about Dex, Noah and his friends learn the hard way when Dex’s makes a sex tape with one of Noah’s friends, but Will helps Noah save the day and Howie and Charlie become a couple ending the vacation on a high note.
Now if you are looking for a family comedy, please don’t watch this film and if you are looking for a good laugh, please don’t watch this as well. Look I get the emotional points of the story with the rich and the poor. Now adding for of a modern touch is a great touch as well but that is where it ends with the positive words. The comedy fell way short and the typical stereotype of being gay became more annoying than funny and stretching this to 105 minutes made it even more to watch. Acting was below average at best and therefore this film was below average well for a rating. You guessed it, I am giving it a D for a rating and labeling it as please don’t waste your time type of movie
No Exit Movie Review
**SPOILER WARNING**
So, this one kind of snuck up on me. Despite the fact that streaming services have been putting out some banger movies. I have continued to overlook them. Like an idiot that I am. Fortunately, saw a trailer for this one and marked it on the calendar. What I saw was very enticing. Snowed in group, with one of them being a kidnapper, and one of them is Dennis Haysbert. That is all I needed to see. Now, let’s dive in and talk about it, shall we.
**SYNOPSIS**
The movie kicks off at an Inpatient NA Meeting. Fellow Jade telling a story that Darby is uninterested in. Having heard this story from her already. This is Darby’s 11th day on seventh stint through Rehab and she is having doubts about being there, but is here on court order. The meeting is interrupted by a phone call for Darby. Telling her that her Mother is set to go into surgery for a brain aneurysm and that she should call her Sister, Devon, but they won’t let her call because of facility rules and that she has lied about reasons to call people before. That night she goes to Jade and blackmails her to use her cellphone. Getting ahold of her sister, who will not help her get out. Not having time to deal with her issues at the moment. Telling her to stay in rehab, but Darby breaks out. Stealing Mike’s car and find a baggie of cocaine in the car. Trying to get ahold of Devon, but she isn’t answering. After awhile and the storm getting worse and worse. She pulls aside to check the phone that keeps going off. Finding texts from Devon telling her to not come. Taking a moment to fantasies over taking the drugs she found. When a cop snaps her back to reality. Informing her that the storm has shut down the roads up ahead and she could either go back or stop at the rec center that a few others have gone to. When she gets there, finding an old couple, Ed and Sandi. Lars who is playing with matches, and Ash who is asleep. When Ed says that he had a bar for a moment out by the tree. She goes back outside to try her luck. When she is outside, hears a loud sound and a scream. Finding a child tied up in a van. Promising to come back for her. Darby slowly makes her way back inside, after Ed comes out. Looking around the room. Can’t get a signal to call for help. Up to her to try and figure out whose van it is and how to get the girl to safety and that is where I will leave it for now.
**REVIEW**
I really enjoyed a lot of the aspects this movie had to offer. It wasn’t some action spectacular, but focused on psychological components and human character. Everyone feels like they are grounded in reality. Darby is a flawed person who is doing the best she can to overcome her struggles and fears of losing her Mother. Finding herself in this situation and doing what she is capable of to try and save the girl and that bad people can come in different shades. Spoiler on that aspect in three. Two. One….
Okay, so this movie, both got me and didn’t get me in both senses of the word. I thought at first they were making Lars way to obvious. Playing with the matches and outburst during the card game. So, bit of a surprise when they revealed him first. Ash, not so much. Way to early and Lars was not going to be a lone wolf by any means, and of course his partner would be the first one she talked to. Only to turn it around and have a shocking surprise in that Sandi was involved as well. Seemingly coming from nowhere. Poor Ed, I feel so bad. Not only because I suspected him from the trailer, but was such a good guy. Believe he could have won their money back. I would have played Poker with him. Speaking of which…
I really liked the Idea of the playing BS instead of Poker. Being a game with the same deception reads that poker has. Darby’s addiction issues, allowed her to be apart of the game without having to gamble and focus solely on her mission of trying to figure out whose van it is.
Havana Rose Liu stole the show here. Playing up every part of who Darby is. Seeing the struggles she is having with her addiction at the start. To how much she wants to just go home and be with her Mom. Powerful scenes of whenever she is handling the drugs in the car and bathroom. Seeing on her face a wealth of emotions. Both good and bad, Havana killed it here. Dennis Haysbert was great as per the norm. Dale Dickey was great. A great amount of chemistry between her and Dennis. For such a young kid, Mila Harris did a great job as the kidnapped Jay. Danny Ramirez had a a lot flair and charisma as Ash and David Rysdahl was good as Lars.
While this movie wasn’t loaded with action. The attacks were pretty brutal, especially when the nail gun started getting utilized. Darby getting her arm nailed to the wall and having top remove it with the hammer and Lars getting a nail to the head was brutal…Well done all around.
I don’t have anything negative to say. I know it is a shocker, but this was a really good movie. Psychological thriller that had a great pace. Loved how grounded it felt. Performances from a group of people who brought it all together perfectly. Would gladly suggest giving this one a shot. Final Grade – A
As always, I hope you enjoyed and….
Thank You For Reading!
Disney Plus review
By Paul Anthony
Here in this blog we are soon approaching the first full month of Disney Plus and I sat back thought man I should review this streaming service that had so much hype. This streaming service once had the nickname Netflix Killer just like how Netflix killed the rental industry. So did it really have that type of impact? My answer is no in the end Disney plus is great but never lived up being the so called Netflix killer. I’ll break it down for you.
Day 1 here we go people were so excited since we heard stories of all the shows they were going to have but the problem most of those shows weren’t actually finished just yet. Sure we had a few new shows and few movies, the biggest show that is taking center stage is the Star Wars show The Mandalorian with the bounty hunter who has no name yet and baby Yoda which isn’t his name but that is what everyone is calling him. When they bought Fox we knew the Simpsons would be on their way to Disney plus and sure enough they were on there. Yet Family guy wasn’t once again there is a fan base that is lost that Disney didn’t jump on. As a Marvel fan I am exciting for all the Marvel shows that are coming yet they were no where near ready which is bummer. We all know we love to binge watch shows on these streaming services and I get it Disney wanted to be different but not having resume feature at first was a joke. They did add this feature but only after the fact when the fans started to cry that this didn’t make sense and they were right. How could they could they miss something so simple, I’m not sure.
Last also go back to the launch and how it nearly crash the website, I get that certain things you can’t predict but you should have expected people would flock in the millions to sign up and log in and right off the bat watch their favorite shows, I mean Darkwing Duck was trending at one point and I loved singing the Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers song over and over again. If there is one thing Disney plus did was it brought back our childhood but that is all, no it is not a Netflix killer as many people called it, truth is as of right now it is another streaming service with great content at a cheap price and in the end its the cable companies that need to worry not Netflix.
Streaming Services
By: Justin Hopkins
It can be pretty intimidating huh. What started out as a few, allowing you to cut the expensive cord of cable. Has seem to grow into a monster. Even doing research for this list they just kept coming and coming. Every Channel and Brand and Sport all seem to be rolling out new one every month it seems and if you want to keep up with your favorite form of medium. You have to sign and pay up to do so, and of course, they can’t seem to share among themselves to help out, but we are not helpless. We have the power to go through and check them out ahead of time, and see which ones are best suited for our viewing needs and today we are going to do just that. I am going to go through them and talk about them in some detail and whether or not I would suggest it. Without further ado, let’s start with one of the originators, Netflix.
Blogger Note. I am going to skip Youtube and Twitch. I know you can get great material on both. Binge watch a lot of Youtube myself. Just don’t really count either as streaming services. No matter what they say about Youtube red. Don’t pay for Youtube. If you find a Youtuber or Streamer you like, give to their patron and help them out directly. Â
Netflix
I remember running to and from the post office. Eager to get my DVD from Netflixs. God, I feel old. Anyways, Hulu may have beat them to the punch on streaming, but in my opinion, Netflix seemed to perfect it. They had a good blend of movies we were looking for and their own original programing. House of Cards, Orange Is The New Black, Marvel, Castlevania, Disenchantment, Stranger Things. Even their movies deliver. They seem to be taking a lot of hits in the wake of Disney Plus and an even bigger one when HBO Max debuts, but for my money. Netflix is still a must have in my book. For their original content alone. Prices can bit much, but worth every dollar.
Hulu
I have never seen the appeal behind Hulu. Always just been kind of boring. Mostly, because what I watch I can find through other services. When there biggest selling point is based on catching up on shows you missed and those shows will soon be accessible through other means. Think Hulu may be in more trouble than any of the rest. There original content has never appealed to me and the prices range from cheap at 5.99 to the more crazy at 50. I understand going the Hulu route, but do yourselves a favor and combo them up with Disney and Espn Plus.
Disney Plus
The newest one to the table and one of the best. There is very little that I don’t enjoy about it. Mandalorian has been enjoyable and the clone wars cartoon. The world according to Jeff Goldblum has been a blast. The entire run of the simpsons, and can binge watch them over and over again. They have so many of the cartoons from my childhood. Multiple Spider-man ones. Some that I was too young for and Earth’s Mightiest and Avengers Assemble. There was an issue with episode order for the X-men, but that is such a minor problem that it is barely noticable and will probably be worked out soon. Then we go to Bug’s Life and Lilo and Stitch and we are talking my language. A steal for 6.99 a month or 12.99 if you bundle it. This is a must for streaming services.
Espn +
The third in the combo, and make it quick. If you don’t combo it, don’t. Even if you are the biggest sports fan. Can’t imagine this being worth while. You can always listen to the game on radio and stats almost anywhere. It is cheap, at 5 dollars a month, but still five dollars to much. Bundle or skip.
Amazon Prime
Had no interest in this till I got it for free and now one of my most used. Especially for B Movie Sunday. I am not quite sure the price, but seems you need a membership to Amazon Prime first which is 119 dollars a year, 12.99 dollars a year. As much as I love it, it drives me up a wall at the same time. While they have a massive selection of movies. Seems a large chunk of movies you want to watch, you’ll be paying to rent or buy. The buying part is nice, but when you are already paying for the service. Kind of feeling a bit ripped off paying again, but can understand why. The original content is solid, with the likes of The Boys and Good Omens. For what you get though, and the amazon benefits. It ain’t that bad of a deal. Especially for movie junkie.
Shudder
This is one I don’t have ad it infuriates me so much that I can’t get it, cause I want it so bad. It’s library consists of horror movies and the remake of Creepshow, but because they don’t accept my card. Shudder please fix this. Meanwhile, if you are a horror movie fan, this should be high on your list.
Basic Cable Channels
Alright, I am kind of cheating by combining them, but since only one is getting the nod here. It’ll be fine. Can’t imagine why I would want CBS Access or NBC and I don’t even think they cost anything. Peacock maybe when they launch to watch the new Psych movie, but that would be it. Would suggest The CW, because as far as TV programing. They have the best shows on television. Arrowverse is still going and getting better by the week. You can find older stuff on CW Seed, such as Constantine and the animated movie. Birds of Prey and Everyone Hates Chris and Whose Line Is It Anyways. The CW and CW Seed are the only one of the basic channel ones I would even bother with.
TUBI TV
Okay, here me out. I know, that it comes with ads, but it is nowhere near as bad as TV, and they really do offer so much. They got some really good TV shows and thousands of movies. From great ones in the past to some strange and bizarre ones. You can literally get lost in all of their content. It’s completely free so costs nothing to give it a shot. You’ll really enjoy yourself and if not, haven’t lost anything.
Funimation
My most neglected one. I really enjoy what little anime I have watched and am all ears if you want to drop your favorites in the comment section to guide me to the good ones. I definitely suggest it, for Dragon Ball Library alone and they have just, so much anime to pick from. I know Crunchyroll is a big one as well, but suggest Funimation over it, and will go more into why later down the line.
DC Universe
I love this streaming service. The access to Comic Books and there lineup is vastly Underrated. DC animated has always been the gold bar and you can find it all there. The Batman animated show in all its glory. Old School Justice League and Adventures of Lois and Clark. The animated movies are all spectacular and Their shows. Swamp Thing, Doom Patrol, Titans and Harley Quinn Animated soon to join the frey. There is no other streaming service I will pull for harder, than DC Universe. At 7.99 a month, you won’t be disappointed and hope they don’t merge with the next one on the list.
HBO Max
This one has yet to debut, but is boosting a powerhouse of a library. Rick and Morty, Friends, Big Bang Theory, Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, and Doctor Who. Movies such as Conjuring, 2001 A Space Oddity, Matrix. Looney Tunes, Sesame Street. They have TNT, TBS, Adult Swim, CNN, Max, And Tru. With TNT they can look to add AEW PPVS and rival WWE even more than they are now. Along with access to DC and Crunchyroll meaning they could very well combo CrunchyRoll and DC Universe into the 14.99 dollar price, which would be the only way I am going to sign up for this one. This may well be a massive hit, and do hope them the best, but for the asking price. Just don’t see any reason to add it on to my budget without Crunchy and DCU along with the mix.
I know I missed a handful. Probably some obvious ones, but has to end at some time. I know my opinion will not be shared by some, but that is the best part of this. Yes, there is so much streaming going on, but that means there is so much more for us to explore. New shows to discover. Old ones are back for us to reminisce and bring back memories of when we first watched them and share with friends.
Thanks for reading.
Rise of the Streaming Service!
By Paul Anthony
Netflix is the currently king in the streaming field of movies and T.V. but the question for how long? Since basically 2010 Netflix has been pumping millions into their streaming service but now just ten years later it might be a different story. We know Netflix always had competition but it more then ever. We Know their is Amazon prime and Hulu but even they are gaining more steam. We now are going to have Apple plus and Disney plus and HBO Max but another one is entering the game and that is NBC’s very own Peacock streaming app.
Okay Okay, judging from the name you think a Peacock wouldn’t be much of a threat but think about what NBC has to offer. I am going guess you will have current NBC shows on their not to mention they will have their original content including the reboot of Save by The Bell. The verdict will be out on their shows of course but the names should strike a little scare in Netflix. We have Apple now entering the business and right now there is no fear yet because once again they are making their own content so it is hard to say if it blow up so the verdict is out but Apple users will flock to get this service and oh yeah the price is only 5 dollars a month.
Disney plus when it was announced was already called the Netflix killer and that was because of all the content they will be pulling from Netflix and that is scary, if you choose the option of 12.99 per month you get Disney, Hulu and Espn plus, which is crazy amount of material and let’s not forget about HBO Max. No offical price has been given just yet but it has to be safe to assume that it will be around 12 or 13 dollars.
Now I know we are talking about the streaming service and we have yet to touch upon cable companies and satellite companies and how they are going to be getting affected as well. It has been getting annoying seeing prices go up and up and with the working class we don’t really watch cable much. However I do believe they won’t be hurt that much, so there is no need to focus on them as much as we want to. The point here is Netflix and how will they do.
Netflix may be losing a lot of content but they do have their own produced content that is actually good and get great reviews. Last few years they have been making both good shows and now Movies as well with some big stars including Adam Sandler, Ben Affleck and Will Smith. For them to stay on top, they need to keep producing their own good content and remain user friendly. I don’t see them changing their prices because in the end, they are already low 6 to 12 dollars a month is very cheap. In the end all these streaming services will be equaled in the end it will just depend on what you like and no one said that you can’t have all of them at once.
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