Mark at the movies 14

 

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Amazon Prime.

Released

March 12, 2022 (SXSW)

April 22, 2022 (United States)

Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage is struggling with his career after being passed over for several major film roles and is constantly pestered and tormented by "Nicky", who appears to him as his younger (and more successful) self. His relationship with his ex-wife Olivia and daughter Addy is also marred by years of emotional neglect. Following an embarrassing and humiliating event at Addy's birthday party and losing a key film role, Cage plans to retire from acting. He decides to accept a vague offer of $1 million from his agent Richard Fink that involves going to Majorca to meet billionaire playboy Javi Gutierrez and to be the guest of honour at his birthday.

Upon meeting Javi, Cage is initially annoyed by his neediness and insistence that they create an improvisational movie based on a script he wrote, but is soon inspired by Javi's determination, and the two of them quickly bond over their surprisingly shared love of films such as The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and Paddington 2 (the latter of which Cage watches for the first time with Javi). Soon after, Cage is confronted by CIA agents Vivian and Martin. They suspect that Javi, who they claim made his fortune through arms dealing, is behind the kidnapping of Maria, the daughter of a Catalan anti-crime politician, with the hope that he will drop out of an upcoming election. Cage insists that his acting instincts would've detected if Javi was a criminal, but he eventually decides to help the CIA with the mission.

After successfully rigging the cameras in Javi's compound, Cage attends a party where he announces his collaboration with Javi on a new movie, as an excuse to stay in the compound long enough to find Maria. After a misadventure involving LSD, Cage and Javi decide that their movie should be about their relationship. Cage later discovers that Javi keeps a shrine room dedicated to all of his movies, including a wax figure of his character Castor Troy from the film Face/Off, complete with identical golden guns. Vivian suggests that Cage includes a kidnapping in their script, to get Javi's reaction to it.

Cage explains his new idea to Javi, who believes that Cage is distracted by his family issues. Vivian tells Cage to flee, or possibly kill Javi, as Javi has discovered their plot. But Javi reveals he's brought Cage's family to his villa. Cage tries to make amends with them, but they reject his appeal and accuse him of prioritizing his film career over his family. Javi privately goes to meet with his cousin Lucas, who is revealed to be the true arms dealer and the one who kidnapped Maria. Lucas warns him that Cage is working with the CIA and pressures him to kill Cage, or else Lucas will kill Javi.

Cage and Javi face-off, but neither can bring themselves to kill the other. Lucas sends his men after both of them, and they race back to the house to discover that Addy has been kidnapped. Cage takes Javi, Olivia and Javi's assistant Gabriela to the CIA safe house, only for the house to have been compromised; Martin has been killed, while Vivian sacrifices herself to kill Lucas's men before they can ambush the group. With Javi's help, Cage and Olivia pose as a reclusive criminal couple to get close to Lucas. He figures out their plan, but they still manage to escape with Addy and Maria.

Cage, Addy, Olivia and Maria race to the American embassy while Javi and Gabriela stay behind to delay Lucas's pursuit. Upon arrival, Lucas holds Cage at gunpoint, but Addy tosses him a knife which Cage uses to kill him—transitioning into the movie that Cage and Javi completed, presumably based on their adventure. Cage is applauded for his new film and congratulates Javi before going home with his family to watch Paddington 2, now with a better relationship.

This film showcases Nicholas Cage playing a version of his real self at level 11, he has a conscious which is also dialled to 12.

I liked the interaction between the main character, it made me laugh in parts, the action is limited but this makes the film have two parts, part one buddy movie, and part two action.

If you wish to watch something slightly weird this is for you.

Running time (107 minutes).

Rated(15)

4 out of 4.

Deadpool

Released

February 8, 2016 (Le Grand Rex)

February 12, 2016 (United States)

Plot

Wade Wilson is a dishonourably discharged special forces operative working as a freelance mercenary when he meets a prostitute named Vanessa. They become romantically involved, and a year later she accepts his marriage proposal. However, Wilson is later diagnosed with terminal cancer and he leaves Vanessa without warning so she will not have to watch him die.

A mysterious recruiter approaches Wilson and offers him an experimental cure for his cancer. He is taken to a laboratory run by Ajax and Angel Dust, who injects him with a serum designed to awaken latent mutant genes in his body. They subject Wilson to days of torture to trigger any mutation he may have, without success. When Wilson discovers Ajax's real name is Francis and mocks him for it, Ajax leaves Wilson in a hypobaric chamber that periodically takes him to the verge of asphyxiation over the weekend. This finally activates a regenerative healing factor that counteracts Wilson's cancer but leaves him severely disfigured with burn-like scars over his entire body. He escapes from the chamber and attacks Ajax, but relents when told that his disfigurement can be cured. In the chaos, Ajax subdues Wilson and leaves him for dead in the now-burning laboratory.

Wilson survives due to his new healing abilities and seeks out Vanessa. He does not reveal to her that he is alive out of fear that she will reject his new appearance. After consulting with his best friend Weasel, Wilson decides to hunt down Ajax for the cure. He becomes a masked vigilante, adopting the name "Deadpool" (from Weasel picking him in a dead pool), and moves into the home of an elderly blind woman named Al. Over the next year, he questions and murders many of Ajax's associates until one, the recruiter, reveals Ajax's whereabouts. With that information, Deadpool ambushes Ajax and a convoy of his men on an expressway. He kills all of Ajax's henchmen, subdues Ajax himself, and demands the cure, but the X-Man Colossus and his trainee Negasonic Teenage Warhead interrupt him. Colossus attempts to convince Deadpool to mend his ways and join the X-Men, but Deadpool turns him down. Taking advantage of this distraction, Ajax escapes and regroups with Angel Dust. The two of them then head to Weasel's bar, where Ajax learns of Vanessa.

Ajax kidnaps Vanessa and takes her to a decommissioned helicarrier in a scrapyard. In response, Deadpool convinces Colossus and Negasonic to help him get her back. They battle Angel Dust and a group of Ajax's men while Deadpool fights his way to Ajax. During the battle, Negasonic accidentally destroys the equipment stabilizing the helicarrier. Deadpool protects Vanessa as the ship collapses all around them, while Colossus carries Negasonic and Angel Dust to safety. Ajax attacks Deadpool again but is overpowered. He reveals there was never a cure, to begin with, and, despite Colossus's pleas, Deadpool kills Ajax, though he does promise Colossus that he will try to be more heroic moving forward. Vanessa then angrily berates Wilson for leaving her, but she reconciles with him after she sees his disfigured face and learns the real reason why he never came back to her.

This is most definitely an adult version of a superhero/villain who often breaks the fourth wall by talking directly at the audience.

It contains action, humour, bad language and a great performance by Ryan Reynolds as the main character.

There is a Deadpool 2 and soon be a Deadman 3 which is going to be under the Disney banner.

Running time (108 minutes).

Rated (15)

4 out of 4

Kinky boots

Released

October 7, 2005 (United Kingdom)

April 14, 2006 (United States)

Plot

In Northampton, in the East Midlands of England, Charlie Price is attempting to save the family shoe factory, which has been floundering since his father died. While on a business trip to London to sell the company's extra stock, Charlie encounters a woman being harassed by drunken hoodlums and intervenes to his detriment. He wakes up backstage, in the dressing room of Lola, a drag queen performer and alters's ego of Simon. Charlie is intrigued when he sees that drag queens' high heels snap easily, and wishes to create high heels that can support a greater range of foot sizes and body types. Back in Northampton, while laying off workers, one employee, Lauren, gives Charlie the idea of looking for a niche market product to save the business. Charlie then recruits Lauren to assist him in designing a high-heeled boot for drag performers.

When their initial designs are met with scorn by Lola, Charlie and Lauren bring her on as a consultant. The road is initially bumpy: many of the male employees are uncomfortable with Lola's presence and the new direction, and Charlie's relationship with his fiancée, Nicola, begins to deteriorate as she encourages him to sell the factory building to a developer. Although things improve when Lola tones down her personality and starts making friends, matters take a turn for the worse when Charlie is invited to showcase the new boots in Milan; the strain he puts on his employees causes most of them, including Lola, to walk out.

Charlie's fiancée arrives at the factory, furious that he took out a second mortgage on their house to save the company. Nicola insists that he sell the company, but Charlie is determined to save it and the jobs of his employees. The argument (which ends with Nicola leaving Charlie) is broadcast on the factory's PA system, which is overheard by Lauren and Lola's bitterest opponent at the factory, Don, a chauvinistic male worker. Don turns over a new leaf after Lola had graciously allowed him to win an arm wrestling match, and rallies the factory workers to make the boots in time for Charlie and Lauren to get to Milan. When Charlie catches Nicola with another man, he angrily takes out his frustrations on Lola, causing Lola to quit. After arriving in Milan with no one to model the boots, Charlie is forced to go onstage and model the boots himself. After he trips and ultimately falls flat on his face, Lola and her posse of drag queens arrive, put on a spectacular runway show, and save the day.

In the film's denouement, Lola headlines her show and sings a song in honour of the "kinky boots factory" of Northampton. Most of the key workers are in attendance and enjoying themselves, including Charlie and Lauren, who have become a couple.

I loved the eccentricity of this very British film full of great comedy quips, I also remember the song, Kinky Boots.

I enjoyed watching all the interactions between the characters.

My favourite version of the song by the same name is by Honor Blackman and Patrick Macnee.

Running time(106 minutes)

Rated (12)

4 out of 4.

The Running Man

Released

November 13, 1987 (United States)

Plot

By 2017, the United States has become a totalitarian state following an economic catastrophe. The government pacifies the impoverished populace with ultra-violent TV programmes, the most popular being The Running Man, a gaudy game show produced by the Los Angeles-based network ICS in which criminals and political prisoners ("runners") are pursued by armed gladiators ("stalkers"); the few runners who survive are granted pardons.

Ben Richards, a military helicopter pilot, refuses to participate in an attack on peaceful demonstrators in Bakersfield, California. Sixty civilians are killed in the ensuing massacre, and Ben is publicly scapegoated for the incident and sent to a labour camp.

Eighteen months later, Ben leads a prison break with the help of two resistance fighters, William Laughlin and computer hacker Harold Weiss. The trio seek sanctuary with the dissident leader, Mic, who explains that his new strategy hinges upon seizing control of the satellite television uplink in the ICS studio. Given Ben's military experience, Mic is keen for him to lead the assault upon the studio, but he refuses to participate, planning instead to go into hiding with the help of his brother Sven. However, when Ben arrives at Sven's apartment, he discovers that it is now occupied by ICS composer Amber Mendez, Sven having been sent to a re-education camp. Ben forces Amber to take him to Los Angeles Airport, intending to use her travel pass to escape to Hawaii, but she alerts the authorities and he is captured by the security forces, though only after a lengthy chase across the airport apron.

Damon Killian, the creator, producer and host of The Running Man, sees a news report on Ben's arrest and concludes that he would be a perfect candidate for the show. Amber sees the same report, but notices that many of the details have been falsified, shaking her faith in the government's narrative. Remembering that Ben claimed to have been framed for the Bakersfield Massacre, she uses her access to the ICS archives to search for the original footage of the incident. Ben is introduced as a contestant on the next episode of  The Running Man, and Killian surprises him by revealing that Laughlin & Weiss have also been recaptured and will be competing alongside him. All three of them are then launched down a chute into the giant subterranean arena, which is located amongst the buried ruins of Inglewood. The first part of the game unfolds on an ice hockey rink, the former stadium of the LA Kings, through which the trio are pursued by the ice-themed stalker "Professor Subzero". After a bruising fight, Ben manages to garrote Subzero with a section of razor wire fencing.

Amber locates the raw, unedited footage of the Bakersfield Massacre, but is caught red-handed with it by studio security. She is promptly declared to be Ben's accomplice and thrown down the chute into the arena, and Killian deploys two stalkers, the chainsaw-wielding motorcycle-riding "Buzzsaw" and the electric-suited "Dynamo", to pursue her and the original three runners. As the latter make their way through the ruins of Inglewood they come across an ICS relay terminal, and the group halt so that Weiss can attempt to hack it, enabling first Amber and then the two stalkers to catch up with them. Dynamo electrocutes Weiss, but not before the latter has managed to decipher the ICS passcode (which is memorised by Amber), while Buzzsaw goes after Ben and charges him down. At the last second Laughlin pushes Ben out of the way, saving his life, but is killed himself. Ben knocks Buzzsaw off his motorbike and slices him in half with his chainsaw, and then overpowers and incapacitates Dynamo as well. He chooses to spare the stricken stalker's life, and his act of mercy wins over the previously hostile TV audience. Killian contacts Ben off-air and offers him a lucrative contract as a stalker, but Ben angrily refuses, instead vowing that he will get revenge on Killian.

A fourth stalker, the flame-themed "Fireball", is dispatched into the arena. While attempting to hide from him, Amber stumbles across the corpses of supposed past "winners", revealing yet another government lie. Fireball attempts to incinerate both Amber and this incriminating evidence, but Ben sabotages the fuel supply on his flamethrower so that he ends up burning himself alive. With the viewing public now cheering for Ben, Killian attempts to coax fan-favourite former stalker "Captain Freedom" out of retirement. He honourably refuses to fight armed against an unarmed man, but ICS technicians can use old TV footage of Captain Freedom to create a deepfake in which he hunts down and kills both Ben & Amber.

Ben & Amber find their way out of the arena and head to the resistance hideout. This time Ben takes up Mic's offer to lead the rebel forces, and under his leadership, they storm the ICS studio. Amber makes it to the control room, only to be confronted by Dynamo. He quickly overpowers her, but she triggers the building's sprinkler system, short-circuiting his suit and electrocuting him. She subsequently uses the passcode to gain access to the satellite uplink and broadcast the original footage of the Bakersfield Massacre and other evidence of the government's perfidy, triggering a general uprising across the country. Meanwhile, Ben bursts onto the Running Man studio set and confronts Killian, who orders his hulking, mute bodyguard to kill the intruder. However, the bodyguard simply walks away, it is revealed that he is Ben's brother, Sven Richards. Killian then attempts to plead for mercy, claiming that he was only giving the people what they want. Ben retorts that he is doing the same thing, and proceeds to launch Killian down the chute to his death.

This is very much a cult classic with a mixture of violence, political commentary, and humour and directed by the actor who played Starsky in the police drama Starsky and Hutch, Paul Michael Glaser

I think you can see that Arnold Schwarzenegger is very much having a fun time, I think it's one of his underrated films.

Running time(101 minutes)

Rated (18)

4 out of 4.

Slumberland

(2022)

Netflix 

Plot 

A young girl discovers a secret map to the dreamworld of Slumberland, and with the help of an eccentric outlaw, she traverses dreams and flees nightmares, with the hope that she will be able to see her late father again.

This film is a fantastic watch, I found it heartwarming and the interaction between the two main characters was.

It will be in my humble opinion a future children's film classic or at least a cult film as its story at heart is about loss and friendships.

The ending will bring you almost to the edge of tears so get tissue handy.

Running time(1hr 57 minutes)

Rated(PG)

 4 out of 4.