Pasha's Film Reviews Etc.

6/10 Veterans Of Foreign Wars (VFW) is a club where veterans come to drink and forget about an outside world riddled with violence and drugs. But the violence is never far away, and when a young woman stumbles into the pub, pursued by zombie-like gang members the old blokes start a fight they cannot win. When the whole city underbelly comes knocking at their door they choose to take a stand... let the bloody battle to the death begin! The overly dark VFW is a 80’s throwback, highly stylized with an electronic soundtrack and electronic camera work. Oozing with tension, the movie takes itself too seriously, splashing buckets of fake blood, throwing body parts and human insides all over the screen. There’s no time for a joke or self awareness and this is as much of a disadvantage of VMF as it is a plus. In this film where charismatic heroes are fighting cardboard villains, one will enjoy its style more than its story. VFW is a great homage to what had come before it, but...

7/10 Henry Cole (Patrick Stewart) is a world famous concert pianist who is facing the biggest challenge in his life - stage fright. Enter Helen Morrison (Katie Holmes) a journalist who once upon a time wanted to be a concert pianist as well. She becomes Henry’s only connection to the music, the sense of it Henry started to lose... But with a significant age gap between them and the shadow of Henry’s previous loss, can they ever be together? Slightly melancholic and beautifully shot, CODA is a nuanced love story that takes its time to unravel. With a classical piano soundtrack the movie switches between the  Swiss alps and the streets of New York, and is inhabited by a few well fleshed out characters. There’s wonderful chemistry between Patrick Stewart  and Katie Holmes and the film wouldn’t have survived without it. The script has a few interesting episodes, even moments of greatness, but the deliberate slowness and tragic content of the film will turn some viewer...

8/10 Welcome to the world of Keigo Higashino, one of the Japanese most prolific writers. His books always feature multiple story lines, complicated relationships and heart wrenching drama.  Mostly interested in how and why rather than who, this is an unusual  approach to crime mystery writing, but it doesn’t make it any less entertaining.  The plot of THE CRIMES THAT BIND is practically indescribable, it starts with a decomposed  body of a woman found in an abandoned apartment. A homeless man is burned to death nearby. How are the two incidents connected? Switching between the past and the present and with the help of detective Kaga, whose childhood seems to be deeply entwined with the case, a tragic story of a family that was separated, but never truly lost the sight of one another, is unveiled. There’s a lot going on in the film, there are many characters, but the story never loses its focus. It is a rare case when the creator (Higashino) throws h...

8/10 Sheriff Greg Harper is plunged back into a nightmare he hoped had ended for good. The child kidnapper that he had seemingly caught many years ago had returned with a vengeance. But the strangest things happen at home, where he cannot get rid of the feeling that he and his family are being watched. Is there a stranger in the house? And how is it connected to the case he is working on?  Sometimes an interesting concept is enough to make a movie stand out. I SEE YOU definitely has an original take on a thriller plot structure, making us wonder what the heck is going on, but the surprises regarding the murder mystery or the identity of the kidnapper are easy to predict. Nevertheless it’s a tense little thriller and while it’s hard to care for any of the characters, it is an enjoyable ride. On the negative side, Helen Hunt is terribly miscast as the protagonist’s wife, and only there to raise the stakes. She doesn’t really do anything apart from looking scared, helpless and...

8/10 Alicia is new to her job. She is a rookie detective in a New Orlean’s police department.  And she is black. When Alicia witnesses a murder committed by her colleagues she has no one to turn to. Her predominantly white fellow policemen consider her a traitor and the black population doesn’t trust her blue uniform. All she has to do is run... Structured in almost real time, 24 style, BLACK AND BLUE is a relentless thriller about an underdog running scared with the world crashing down on her. Brushing swiftly on the grim situation of racism in America BLACK AND BLUE is popcorn entertainment at its best. A tad predictable, it plays its cards safely, nevertheless it doesn’t make it less of a guilty pleasure. Naomie Harris as Alicia is particularly good, playing her character on the subtle side but is believable when she has to make split second decisions. The baddies are a bit of a letdown, with Mike Colter (Luke Cage) in a supporting role owning the screen. It’s a shame t...

7/10 The sound expert Chanteraide holds the life of his fellow mates in his hands. Onboard high tech submarine Titan a small mistake leads to a confrontation with a mysterious submarine. As the danger of a next war becomes all too real, it’s up to Titan and its crew to save the day.  Wolf’s Call is the first feature from screen writer Antonin Boudry and it is a tense and inventive thriller where an approaching global disaster is played out on a smaller scale and rests on the shoulders of a few men. Handpicking his hot young stars, the trio of Omar Sy, Francois Civil, and Reda Kateb, Boudry builds on the relationship between the three men, throwing the characters into the crisis of a life time.  A minimalistic score by Tomandandy nicely supports the vast underwater scenes and claustrophobic in-cabin sequences. It is no wonder the film was snatched up by Netflix, it has an interesting concept, well written and acted.  WOLF’S CALL proves that a smaller scale underw...

9/10 Vlad lives alone on a huge government property that is shut down for winter. With no soul in sight his only companion is a dog called Bandit. When Bandit disappears Vlad doesn’t seem to have anything left to live for... until two strange guests appear at his front door. Yuriy Bykov is probably the most fresh thinking and focused director in Russia these days. Always examining serious issues of Russian soul or certain ways of life (including major government criticism) he remains true to his entertainment roots, delivering a plot full of mystery and suspense. It is not surprising that his indie film MAJOR had been adapted to the Netflix series 7 SECONDS. He knows how to design an unmissable pitch!  Bykov’s skills aside, THE GUARD is probably the most personal film for him. While there’s still a crime or a criminal storyline typical of his films, it’s a theatrical drama where characters face ultimate choices and struggle with the consequences. Revealing just enough to k...