30 Day Movie Challenge: Day 24- Death Note (2017)

After today, there are only six days left in the challenge and I am feeling pretty good about myself at this point so we are just cruising right through to the finish line. Netflix built itself to be a global powerhouse when it literally eliminated movie stores across the country as it took over with it's mailing subscription. Netflix literally changed the game again when they started the online streaming and then came the Netflix original films and that changed the game again. So, the task for today was to check out a Netflix original film and I chose 2017's Death Note which was directed by Adam Wingard (V/H/S). The film stars Nat Wolff (Stella's Last Weekend) as Light Turner, you typical everyday teen with teen problems whose problems are about to get a lot worse when he inherits a book that all he has to do is write someone's name down and they die. The film also stars Shea Whigham (Vice) as Officer Turner, Margaret Qualley (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood) as Mia,  LaKeith Stanfield (Uncut Gems) as L, Willem Dafoe (Murder On The Orient Express) as the voice of Ryuk, Jason Liles (Rampage) as Ryuk, Paul Nakauchi (Carmen Sandiego) as Watari, Jack Ettlinger (Good Witch) as Kenny Doyle, Chris Britton (The Romeo Section) as Peltz, and Christian Sloan (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 ) as Agent Franks.

I have seen these kinds of films before where someone is given ultimate power to choose outcomes, but there is always an ugly side to it like the film Wishcraft or even Wishmaster. This one definitely separates itself from the others, but that's because it's based off of a Japanese Manga series I believe. I know there were three films made from Japan that this film is also based off of. It's much of the same idea though, the book happens to land on him and after being tempted by the books keeper Ryuk, he gets a little out of control with it, but when he reaches the moral dilemma it's almost too late for him. Now the film has been accused of whitewashing as they literally removed everything that identified itself with Japanese lore and they set it in Seattle and made every major character lose it's touch with the original source material. I'll have to take the time to watch the original films so I can better educate myself, but one reviewer was right and that Light was kind of a stupid character as he literally set himself up for everything that occurred to him in the film. It does have a very high school feel to it because a lot of us make decisions based on gut and not logic which is probably what I liked about it, but again I need to watch the originals. There's nothing really special about this film as far as effects or kills are concerned and what I mean is that they don't really shock you that much. I would have loved to see Ryuk in action a little more than we got to, but I understand how he makes things happen. So, I am going to go ahead and give the film an B- for a final grade (when I watch the originals, this grade could change).

Uncut Gems (2019)

When you think of films hitting the theaters these days, Adam Sandler (Happy Gilmore) is not a name that comes to mind, but if we were talking mid to late 90's and on you couldn't have the conversation without him. He ruled the comedy world at one point before his career took an alternate route for a while, but he's back in the box office with a brand new film in Uncut Gems that has been getting quite the praise so I had to see it for myself. In the film, Sandler plays a jeweler named Howard Ratner, who seems to have it all, but underneath all of it lies a dark tale. The dark tale is the fact that Ratner has a little bit of a gambling problem that seems to get worse and bad people are after him. That is until one day, an uncut gem from Eithopia could be his ticket out of it all the problems. The film also stars former NBA legend Kevin Garnett as himself, The Weeknd as himself, Idina Menzel (Frozen) as Dina,  Jonathan Aranbayev as Eddie, Lakeith Stanfield (Knives Out) as Demany, Eric Bogosian (Boogie Nights) as Arnold, Judd Hirsch (Taxi) as Gooey, Pom Klementieff (Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2) as Lexus, Julia Fox as Julia, and the film was directed by Josh and Benny Safdie (Good Time).

This was definitely a good role for Sandler to take and while you can't help but have some funny moments in a film it was definitely something different for him. Unfortunately while he did a great job in the film, the definite break out star of the film was Julia Fox who in her first major role knocked it out of the park in my opinion. She plays Howard's side piece Julia who in one view may not be the most innocent character, but in the end like Fox said in an interview, "She's really ride or die... she's a trooper." It was a role that was apparently written for her which is no surprise to why she was so amazing in the film to begin with. Funny little stat for you guys out there, this film ranks seventh all time on the list of most F bombs in a film at 408 which is insane, but one film on the list has 935. The film at times is definitely a slow burn as things are developing over time, but they get real interesting when you realize that the threat is real and he is still an idiot that can't stop gambling. Believe it or not, the film is not based on a true story, but rather stories the Safdie brothers father would tell them of various guys in the diamond district. One thing is definitely for sure and that is I did not see the ending coming at all and it kind of delighted me because it was different than your typical endings that you always see. Check it out in theaters right now and I am going to give the film an B- for a final grade.