Guns Akimbo (2019)

Sometimes being a part of a major franchise can be both a blessing and a curse for an actor or actress where some have prospered with a career outside said franchises while others have perished. Some of the major players to have found careers outside their big breaks were Zac Efron (High School Musical), Robert Pattinson (Twilight), and the man at the center of today's film Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter). The film of his that I chose for today is 2019's Guns Akimbo which is an action comedy that was written and directed by Jason Lei Howden (Deathgasm). Radcliffe plays Miles, a computer programmer who thinks that it's cool to troll people online while drunk inside while the subject matter is of a real life game where people are pinned against each other to the death. To get even on Miles, the creators kidnap him, bolt guns to his hands, and force him to face the best player in the game or they will kill his ex-girlfriend. The film also stars Samara Weaving (Mayhem) as Nix,  Rhys Darby (What We Do In The Shadows) as Glenjamin, Ned Dennehy (Mandy) as Riktor, Mark Rowley (The Last Kingdom) as Dane, Natasha Liu Bordizzo (Hotel Mumbai) as Nova, Grant Bowler (Killer Elite) as Degraves, Racheal Ofori (Artemis Fowl) as Effie, Edwin Wright (Turbo Kid) as Stanton, and Milo Cawthorne (Deathgasm) as Hadley.

This was a bad ass film and I love some of Howden's work cause Deathgasm was a bad ass film in it's own right. This one is taken to a whole other level with all of the bad ass action scenes especially when Samara Weaving is on screen being a total bad ass who snorts drugs to power up like in a video game. I love all the little things that they added in editing like the bullet count in the guns that Miles has and some of the scenes where people are watching has a very Death Race look and feel to it and why shouldn't it since this is almost the same thing. The stories are almost very similar in which there is something to be won, but the forces that be want to keep taking from you to hope that you don't win. I feel a film like this with the right kind of promotion behind it could have done very for itself in the box office cause I feel it had everything action fans would want and Daniel Radcliffe is a name that so many of his fans would show. Hollywood needs to realize that there is great material out there being made, they just need to take a chance and Samara Weaving is proving to be a household name. I have loved her in everything that I have seen her in as she has not disappointed me yet. A part of me is wondering if a sequel is being made because I would love to see them continue the story for sure and with that being said I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade. By the way, Rhys Darby has an awesome cameo as the homeless guy in this film, lots of great stuff there.

30 Day Movie Challenge: Day 26- Mandy (2018)

Everyone knows that Nicolas Cage's (Gone In 60 Seconds) career has taken an interesting turn over the years with the kinds of choices he has made over the years as far as what films, but there was a huge buzz about one of them. Today's challenge for the 30 day movie challenge was to watch either the film that won the Saturn Award for best Independent film or to check out one of the nominees in case you had seen the winner. Unfortunately, the awards show for 2020 was canceled and I had to go with the winner from 2019 and that is 2018's Mandy which was written and directed by Panos Cosmatos (Tombstone) with Casper Kelly (Too Many Cooks) as well. Nicolas Cage plays Red Miller, a regular guy who enjoys his house in the woods with his girlfriend Mandy Bloom (Andrea Riseborough). One day there life is rocked upside down when they meet a mysterious hippy cult with very bad intentions that will send Red on a hunt for revenge. The film also stars Linus Roache (Batman Begins) as Jeremiah Sand, Ned Dennehy (Peaky Blinders) as Brother Swan, Olwen Fouéré (This Must Be The Place) as Mother Marlene, Richard Brake (The Sisters Brothers) as The Chemist, Bill Duke (Deep Cover) as Caruthers, Line Pillet (Little Black Spiders) as Sister Lucy, Clément Baronnet (La colle) as Brother Klopeck, and Alexis Julemont (Raw) as Brother Hanker.

By the time I was done watching this film, all I could think to myself was what in the hell did I just watch? Why was it so awesome? Why is this the first time I watched this film? Take the film for what it is and analyze the story all you want or just say that it's your typical revenge story with a family that reminds you of Manson or better yet the Firefly clan from The Devil's Rejects. The fact of the matter is that the film was beautifully shot and I know it's weird because of the type of film, but once you start watching it's like one giant trip of LSD from beginning to end with all of the vibrant colors whether they are warm colors or dark colors. The film is so full of color and it's absolutely beautiful to the point that it kept me hooked and the cinematography itself was well done. The cinematography department and the editing team deserve an A+ for the work they put into this film and I love the mixture of animation which I believe are either hallucinations or dreams that Cage's character has in the film that connects him to Mandy. I absolutely loved the biker gang which definitely was a nod to Hellraiser and the Cenobites and while there are theories behind who they really are, you just have to click on this one if you are on the Shudder app and sit back and relax. They are going to take you on one hell of a ride especially when Nic Cage gets started. I am honestly going to give this film an A- for a final grade because I absolutely loved it.