Coming Attractions- Megalopolis (2024)

  

Director- Francis Ford Coppola

Cast- Adam Driver, Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Fishburne, Aubrey Plaza, Nathalie Emmanuel, Giancarlo Esposito, Talia Shire, Kathryn Hunter, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Jason Schwartzman, Grace VanderWaal, Chloe Fineman, James Remar, D.B. Sweeney, Haley Sims, Romy Mars, Balthazar Getty, Isabelle Kusman, Bailey Ives, Madeleine Gardella

Release Date- September 27, 2024

It’s a Francis Ford Coppola film, so Megalopolis should naturally generate some buzz. A big and extravagant speedy trailer full of some really nice awe-inspiring visuals, and it’s a lot to digest in less than two minutes. Still, Megalopolis’ trailer does a wonderful job of hyping up the movie. 

Adam Driver consistently delivers good and great performances. The ensemble cast is full of potential, with a handful of strong veterans. Potentially a wild and dazzling spectacle, but my only concern is Megalopolis might devolve into an incoherent mess.

The Colony (2013)(Minor Spoilers Review)

**This review contains MINOR spoilers, no major twists, reveals or surprises are included in this review**

In the future, survivors of the next ice age are forced to live in an underground outpost. Led by a former Army solider named Briggs (Laurence Fishburne) with the help of his lieutenant, Mason (Bill Paxton), Colony 7 is running low on resources, while trying to contain the outbreak of a deadly flu.

But Briggs focuses his attention on another problem, when Colony 5 doesn’t return daily check-up calls. After numerous failed attempts to receive a transmission, Briggs assembles a team including Sam (Kevin Zegers), Graydon (Atticus Dean Mitchell), and himself to investigate the problems with Colony 5. In his absence, Briggs leaves Mason in charge of the colony. With no one to control or put a stop to Mason’s tirades, Sam’s girlfriend, Kai (Charlotte Sullivan) fears the worst for sick members of Colony 7.

At Colony 5’s outpost, the team finds a frightened survivor, and things only get worse, when Colony 7’s team uncovers the horrifying reason behind Colony 5’s decimated population..........

Capable cast at best. Bill Paxton delivers the best performance, as the grizzled and pissed off veteran, who seemingly hates everyone. I got the sense Fishburne was just phoning it in for the most part, but Zegers and Sullivan do their best with strong efforts. Can’t say too much about the leader (Dru Viergever) of the cannibals, because his character doesn’t receive any spoken dialogue, just a lot of growling and screaming.

Usually, I’m willing to overlook predictability, and The Colony features a handful of scenes with nasty, bloody, and gruesome gore, but The Colony is a pretty lousy film. Tedious pacing, predictable and anticlimactic character deaths, too many plot holes, too many boring moments, and the action sequences are mediocre at best. Unfortunately, The Colony is a formulaic and generic sci-fi/post-apocalyptic thriller, that’s void of any guilty pleasure fun. And the premise isn’t bad, but it’s something you’ve probably seen a thousand times over (i.e. a band of small survivors fighting an unexpected and malicious threat in the aftermath of an apocalyptic disaster).

Rating: 2/10


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The Colony (2013)(Spoiler Review)

**This review contains spoilers**

In the future, survivors of the next ice age are forced to live in an underground outpost. Led by a former Army solider named Briggs (Laurence Fishburne) with the help of his lieutenant, Mason (Bill Paxton), Colony 7 is running low on resources, while trying to contain the outbreak of a deadly flu. Briggs believes in a more diplomatic approach to handling the flu, including a sealed quarantine ward for the sick, and if the sick don’t show any signs of improvement, Briggs allows the choice of execution, or a long walk in the endless snowstorm. Mason on the other hand, believes in more drastic measures by skipping straight to the execution without any discussions, and no questions asked.

But Briggs focuses his attention on another problem, when Colony 5 doesn’t return daily check-up calls. After numerous failed attempts to receive a transmission, Briggs assembles a team including Sam (Kevin Zegers), Graydon (Atticus Dean Mitchell), and himself to investigate the problems with Colony 5. Reluctantly, Briggs leaves Mason in charge of the colony. With no one to control or put a stop to Mason’s tirades, Sam’s girlfriend, Kai (Charlotte Sullivan) fears the worst for sick members of Colony 7.

At Colony 5’s outpost, the team finds a frightened survivor, and things only get worse, when Colony 7’s team uncovers the horrifying reason behind Colony 5’s decimated population: with no more food left, Colony 5 turned to cannibalism to survive. Briggs, Sam, and Graydon try to escape the gruesome scene of the messy killing floor, but the odds aren’t in their favor, as they outrun and fight off the attacks from Colony 5’s mutated cannibals.

Capable cast at best. Bill Paxton delivers the best performance, as the grizzled and pissed off veteran, who seemingly hates everyone. I got the sense Fishburne was just phoning it in for the most part, but Zegers and Sullivan do their best with strong efforts. Can’t say too much about the leader (Dru Viergever) of the cannibals, because his character doesn’t receive any spoken dialogue, just a lot of growling and screaming.

Unanswered questions are a big problem for The Colony.  So the outbreak of a deadly flu is the main concern at first, but once they introduce the cannibals, the epidemic of the flu becomes insignificant? Okay, the remaining survivors at Colony 5 are cannibals, but they’re not ordinary cannibals. They have discolored pupils and fangs, so how did the mutation happen? Is the flu the source of the transformation? They never give the slightest effort to explain any of this.

Weather machines are used to control the climate in the future, but the vast majority of weather machines froze……but SOMEHOW there’s still one functioning weather machine left? At Colony 5’s outpost, Sam is able to find the video for a broken transmission about another colony’s operational weather machine (and you can clearly see sunlight in the background of the video). Using this information, Sam gathers some remaining fruit and vegetable seeds, and the remaining survivors of Colony 7 embark on a mission to join the other colony, so they can plant and grow the seeds. So during an ice age, when every other weather machine in the world is frozen solid, ONE weather machine managed to miraculously survive the cold, is working without any problems, and there’s plenty of sunlight in this specific region? Yeah, bullshit.

Usually, I’m willing to overlook predictability, and The Colony features a handful of scenes with nasty, bloody, and gruesome gore (with Sam literally slicing the cannibal leader’s head in half being the highlight), but The Colony is a pretty lousy film. Tedious pacing, predictable and anticlimactic character deaths, too many plot holes, too many boring moments, and the action sequences are mediocre at best. Unfortunately, The Colony is a formulaic and generic sci-fi/post-apocalyptic thriller, that’s void of any guilty pleasure fun. And the premise isn’t bad, but it’s something you’ve probably seen a thousand times over (i.e. a band of small survivors fighting an unexpected and malicious threat in the aftermath of an apocalyptic disaster).

Rating: 2/10

Looking for a change from Batman, Spider-Man, and Iron Man? Then get know the world's newest superheroine Freechelle Fantabulous for only $0.99 by following the link- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

Or take a trip into world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in my book of short stories, also only $0.99-  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

And remember Amazon offers free Kindle App downloads for various platforms. Follow this link to find out more- http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

Follow me on Twitter here- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1

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Predators (2010)

**This review contains spoilers**

Abducted and dropped onto the Predator’s alien planet, soldiers, a mercenary, enforcers, a death row inmate, and a doctor are forced to fight for their lives. Taking on the role of a leader, Royce (Adrien Brody) commands the group of Isabelle (Alice Braga), Stans (Walton Goggins), Hanzo (Louis Ozawa Changchien), Nikolai (Oleg Taktarov), Mombasa (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali), Cuchillo (Danny Trejo), and Edwin (Topher Grace).

After an attack from alien dogs, Royce figures out the puzzle of the kidnapping: everyone brought to the alien planet is live bait for the Predators to hunt and kill in a deadly game. The survivors eventually learn more about the blood feud between the bigger Predators and smaller Predators from a survivor of “ten seasons” named Noland (Laurence Fishburne). Royce tries to figure out a way to escape after Noland mentions a ship, but Royce is forced to use his grenade launcher to signal the Predators for help, when Noland reveals himself as a scavenger.

Adrien Brody is a competent leading man, while Topher Grace and Walton Goggins provide some great comic relief. Rest of the cast ranges from so-so to decent, but nobody is noticeably bad here. Laurence Fishburne’s appearance is limited to cameo status, but Fishburne is hilarious, as the paranoid and insane recluse, who talks to an imaginary friend.

Some people might think of Predators as a stand-alone film in the franchise, but it’s actually a sequel. Remember when Royce pushes Isabelle to tell the truth about the Predator tied up at the campsite? Isabelle recalls Dutch’s (Arnold) report of what he saw during his first and only encounter with a Predator.

Mentioning the 1987 original confirms Predators’ status as a sequel, and it’s a cool “remember that!” moment for fans of the franchise. They also reintroduce the gruesome “ripping the spine and skull from the back, and raising it in the air like a trophy” kill with Stans’ death. Plus, using themes and music from the original Predator is a great nostalgia touch.

Nimord Antal (the director) and the writers, Alex Livtak and Michael Finch do a good job of introducing their new vision for the Predator franchise, while paying homage to the 1987 original (I’d like to forget Predator 2 ever happened, and I’m glad they ignored it here). The final duel between Royce and the big Predator is reminiscent of  Dutch’s battle with the Predator, with Royce covering himself in mud to block the Predator’s heat sensors. And Hanzo’s one on one blade to blade duel with the Predator in the open field reminds me of Billy’s stand against the Predator in the ‘87 film. Billy was tired of running, and just said to hell with it, come and get me. Hanzo pretty much did the same thing after everyone else ran from Noland’s hideout. Hanzo stopped, took off his shirt, turned around, and drew his sword for the battle.

Predators is a breath of fresh air, that pays homage to the original, and gives Predator fans some hope for the future. A lot of bloody and gory action sequences with a hard hitting and nasty final battle between Royce and the large Predator. And I LOVE the twist with Topher Grace turning on Isabelle at the end, and revealing himself as a cold-blooded murderer. Truly a shock, and the twist made Grace’s character look like a real weasel after he played the innocent wimp, and Isabelle risked her life to save his.

Rating: 7/10