Urmarli bez internetu (Nobody sleeps in the woods tonight 2020)

276.

Nobody sleeps in the woods tonight

4/10

Once again, Netflix had other plans when it came to watching the next movie on my list. I was looking to watch No Escape but with it being taken off and not much choice, I went for a horror movie, simply because I love the genre. Nobody sleeps in the woods tonight took my eye from the 'bloody' poster and after a quick read of the synopsis, I was willing to spend a relatively short time watching the movie. At first glance, it had a 'Hills have eyes' vibe with possible a family of hillbillies turning to cannabilism to survive and therefore we are ready to watch a gang get picked off whilst trying to guess who is going to survive. 

For 90% of this movie, the storyline was everything that I expected. There is a little bit of action to start, a killing as someone is dragged to the basement and not much is actually revealed. We then switch to a few years later and a camp is set up for youngsters who rely too much on technology. Always a good start to a movie when you know that they won't be able to call for help. We focus on a few youngsters to start, a quiet girl, geeky guy, a girl full of make-up and two other lads.

 They all get put into a smaller group and are sent off camping with one of the counsellors. We get the usual awkward sex scene that comes with a horror and then finally people start getting picked off. I've already assumed that the quiet girl is going to be the one who survives and so far she is doing well. With three people left in two separate groups, we know that one has to die at least. It's just the way it goes. The girl and the geeky guy come across another cabin and inside is the guy from the first scene that we saw dragged to the basement. He has lost his legs but he also has a story to tell. He knows the origin of the twins and this is where the movie gets a little too ridiculous. I can get on board with the creepy storylines of cannibals and people so far out of touch with normality, that they just cause carnage. This movie seemed to be heading in that direction until it took a step in the complete opposite direction. Their twins' story begins as they are innocently playing in their garden with the dog as their mother hangs out some washing. They are a poor family, no father but are happy all the same. As it turns dark, they see an explosion in the sky and something hit the ground a little deeper into the forest. It was an asteroid and after collecting a big piece, hiding it under their bed, they fall asleep. The little asteroid then cracks open and out pours some black ooze. Now the closest I can compare this too is how Venom entered the movie in Spider-man 3. This ooze gets into the two boys and turns them into possessed versions of themselves. Their mother wakes up to see them eating their dog in the basement and she locks the door on them. They age very badly, boils over their body, deformities and superhuman strength makes them the most dangerous things in the forest. 

The other camper, who is now alone, stumbles across a church with a wicked priest inside who is ready to abuse this lad. He ties him up before a wood chipper is turned on outside by one of the twins and suddenly all that's left of the priest are his shoes. The twin then makes his way into the church and opens the confessional box where the young lad is hiding, just as the screen cuts to black.

 We then cut back to the remaining two who are hiding back to the twins' house. They know their mate smuggled a mobile phone and it's still with his body. The return ends with the geeky guy's life coming to an end and out quiet girl taking a step into killer's territory as she finds a machete and drives it through one of the twins who is sleeping in his bed. The other twin as gone walkabout and we head back to the old guy in his hut, sitting with a shotgun and listening to the noises outside as his handle starts to turn and we think the last remaining twin is about to open a can on him. A shot is fired but instead of the remaining twin laying on the floor, it's actually the kid who has somehow escaped from the church. This time he's dead for sure. This leaves us with one camper from the group. The girl has now escaped and we cut to a policeman giving a prostitute his life story before she leaves and he's shocked as our remaining camper runs into his car. He's happy to drive her into town and listen to her story but doesn't keep his eye on the road and runs over the final killer. In true horror fashion, he leaves the girl in the back of the police car and heads off to investigate the body. She screams a warning but it's too late, the brother is back standing and drives and axe from head to arse through the policeman and heads over to the car.

 Wrestling herself to the driver's seat, she pulls away before stopping, reversing into the guy and putting him under the wheels a couple of times. Back at the twins' house, it's now night and we find out that although he's been repeatedly stabbed through the chest, this brother is still alive as he walks to his front door and we see police lights outside. Two drunks guy are walking down the road celebrating Hitler and stubbled across the other brother, still lying after being run over. The movie ends without giving us an answer as to whether this one is still alive.

A massively cliched movie of the horror genre if nothing further. The storyline followed every other cheaply made film and the only reason it ever got any different was when it strayed into the ridiculous on the origin side of things. We had the group of teens, nudity, a shack in the woods, the 'never split up' rule and even a useless policeman being killed. If you don't plan on being too surprised by a horror film and don't mind a predictable twist at the end, stick it on for a couple of hours but do not expect something new. It wasted some time for me sitting around during the lockdown but it also felt like a waste of my time because I could have been watching something great. I have to admit that I didn't know what to expect considering that this was a Polish movie, dubbed over with English but it felt like a cheap American horror, maybe a late installment to the Wrong Turn franchise, rather than something standalone and fresh. 

With the movie being dubbed, it was hard to gauge how well the cast was truly doing. Yes, you would see their actions, which played well and you know which stereotype each was playing but at the same time, it felt hard to connect with anyone of them. The closest I could get to anyone reminding me of someone would be the lead role of our female camper. Julia Wieniawa-Narkiewic played Zosia Wolska and once she started slipping into gear, applying medkits and using weapons there was the slightest hint of Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft in Tomb Raider. This then didn't come to fruition, as once an act of revenge was taken, Zosia went back to a helpless youngster for a while until then once again, slipping back to a killer. A lot of the time the remaining staff were either as predictable as the story or just plain awkward.

I am always willing to give foreign films a watch and even went into this film expecting to read subtitles for the duration. I'm not too sure whether I would have preferred reading the bottom of the screen as the predictability meant that I wouldn't have missed too much with my eyes not on the prize. The ending seemed to leave room for a sequel and maybe, just maybe if that comes about then I'll stick it on in the background but I wouldn't be rushing to find out whether Netflix has signed up for it. If you go down to the woods today, you're not going to get a big surprise. 

Well, everything you do is questionable (Murder Mystery 2019)

 275.

Murder Mystery

7/10

Back at it with the letter 'M' and it brings us two cast members that I've recently watched in another movie. Adam Sandler and Jennifer Anniston are going to be working together once again but unlike 'Just go with it', they are already married in this one. I have to admit this wasn't the movie originally on my list but Netflix forced my hand by removing 'Mercury Rising' from their streaming service. I'll have to watch that another time. I was pretty impressed with the chemistry of Sandler and Anniston in their last outing so I'm intrigued if they can keep it up. Additionally, I have just watching Law Abiding Citizen and am in the mood to fail at solving another couple fo murders, that's for sure. 

I had wondered how the story would play out from the moment I clicked go. There had to be a level of comedy with the first two cast members listed but there was still going to be a sense of seriousness considering the topic. I'm not going to try and reveal too much as I'd hate to read about the answers to a crime story before I had the chance to guess myself so let's keep it nice and simple. The main couple, Nick and Audrey have been married a while now and need a vacation. Audrey is a Hairdresser whilst Nick is a cop, who keeps failing his tests to be a detective. Instead, he lies to Audrey about his promotion and the spouses end up heading off to Europe for their very very late honeymoon. Whilst on the flight, Nick is outers whilst Audrey sneaks into the Upper-Class bar and meets Luke Evans' character, Charles Cavendish. Audrey even mentions that his name sounds like a bad guy from the novels she reads. He's my first suspect, even though nothing has happened yet.

 He invites them both to his uncle's yacht which will sail for Monaco and gives us a little back story regarding the uncle. He is worth $70 million or so and also stole Charles' fiance and 'wifed' her up. Once they arrive at the yacht they are introduced to more family members, an actress and Formula 1 driver, all who have earned their living with thanks to this old rich bloke. Problem is, he's now going to cut ties and scrap his will so that it now his new wife gets the lot. Obviously, it isn't going to go down well. As he is signing, the light pop off and once they come back on, he's got a dagger in his chest. We now have a race for the American couple to explain why they were ever on the yacht whilst everyone else claims it was them. 

Several bodies drop, some places are visited but the married couple are still the main suspects for the police, although we as viewers know differently. It's now all about them solving the mystery to prove their innocence and even when I realise it would be more than one person, I don't get one of them correct. The story actually becomes a little more complex than first thought. I was bamboozled once again. I'm losing my touch. The movie ends with a great car chase accompanied by some ACDC music and once all is solved, Nick and Audrey get to complete their honeymoon courtesy of the French Police Force. 

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie as it played out. The storyline kept my appetite wet for the crime genre but at the same time, was nowhere near as intense as Law Abiding Citizen was. The way the narrative continued, it definitely gave the audience red herrings throughout and just as you thought you had nailed it down, something else was in the mix, a confession or accusation entered the fold and even those didn't suffice for true evidence. As frustrating as it can be sometimes, it's never a bad thing to be wrong in these movies because rather than ending the movie with a, 'knew it all along', you can give it a, 'well shit, didn't see that coming!'. That's exactly what I sit down to a film to experience. 

Once again Sandler and Anniston bounced off each other throughout this movie with Anniston playing a pivotal role by the end. I have always maintained that I'm a big fan of Adam Sandler, especially the early stuff but there was something about this character that I wasn't a fan of. He was a cocky, over the top New Yorker and at times we'd see the old humour that made Sandler famous but it was too few and far between. I was a big fan of the collective cast too. David Walliams wasn't in the movie too long, the same with Terence Stamp but both started a chain of characters which were completely different from the last. Luke Evans and Gemma Arterton then progress into figureheads for the group of characters other than Sandler and Anniston. From the first moment I believed that Luke Evans was going to be our main antagonist, just by the demeanour that he brought from the off. Every single character was different, just like in a game of Cluedo and I don't have a bad word about what the added to the movie. 

This won't be the last movie that I have on my A-Z list which stars Adam Sandler but it will be the last time that I see Sandler and Anniston's chemistry on my screen for now. Just go with it was a good movie for the comedy and storyline bringing me back to some of the earlier Sandler movies, 50 first dates being a prime example. This time I enjoyed the movie more so because of the twists and turns of the story itself. This is far from a criticism of the cast but just shows that this was something a little different than a Rom-Com. It follows a pattern of movies that I have watched recently, where rewatching the film would be a very low percent. Again, not a criticism but I would hardly run back to a movie once you know all of the answers. The enjoyment level comes from trying to guess who is behind the kills and getting the truth by the end. If you like some crime movies with a 'whodunnit' aspect, this is one that could be easily missed but one worth sitting down and enjoying. 

It's not what you know. It's what you can prove in court. (Law Abiding Citizen 2009)

274.

Law Abiding Citizen

9/10

Back on to the Gerard Butler train for my 'L' movie but chuck in some Jamie Foxx and we have a movie that I've been waiting to get around to for a while. When telling people that this was on my list, they said it would be one of the better ones and others told me to watch out for the twists. From a short synopsis and excited friends, this story was regarding a guy taking the law into his own hands after being let down by the corrupt justice system. I'm actually excited by this one and it's going to get my full attention. 

The storyline begins at Clyde Shelton's house where he is working on contraptions whilst his daughter looks on and the wife cooks dinner.s Minutes later, there is a home invasion when he is knocked off his feet with a baseball bat and stabbed in the torso. He wife gets the knife too until there is an uncomfortable rape scene as their young daughter walks in before she is lead off by an invader. We flip to a scene in the solicitor's office where a distraught Clyde, played by Butler, is in a meeting with Foxx's character who is Nick Rice, the lead investigator on the case. He breaks the news that the lead invader is willing to give evidence to avoid the full sentence whereas the lesser invader, who everything is going to be framed on, will be sentenced to death. Shortly after the court case, the invader shakes the hand of Rice outside the court for the press to see whilst further in the background, an onlooking Clyde is far from happy. 

This is now the moment the story turns Clyde becomes our villain of the story and my interest increases. Every time I see Butler in a movie, he's there to save someone or even the planet. This is going to be a great change of pace. This is going to be a quick middle explanation as Clyde now uses a mixture of disguises and his own inventions to firstly kill his invader and send the video to Rice and his family and then turns on the people involved in the case. Even though the police attention turns to him, he cleverly words his answers in a way which doesn't incriminate himself. At the same time, a judge and lawyer die so Rice is distracted with who would be next.

 In the end, Clyde admits to the kills but this isn't the end of the story, not by a long shot. After being taken to prison, the killings continue and it gets personal for Rice as he starts to lose friends. He figures there has to be someone helping Clyde with the kills and suddenly my mind begins to race. We have a detective on the case who is a little quiet and grumpy, sometimes making eye contact with Clyde. Then we have a female junior detective who is, at one point, constantly looking at her watch and seems a little distracted but once they all die in multiple car explosions, my mind is blown too. 

There are only two more that Clyde is going after. These would be Rice, who people figure would be last as he is pretty much being made to watch and the other being the Mayor. Back in prison, Clyde is put into solitary for killing his cellmate but this is exactly where he wants to be. After some detective work and finding a lot of properties that Clyde has recently bought, one was right by the prison. Rice and his partner inspect and discover a tunnel that leads all of the way to a little workshop and a hatch into Clyde's cell. One issue, Clyde isn't home. Instead, he is out and about, ready to plant a bomb beneath the room where the Mayor is having a massive meeting about locking down the city until everything is under control. Clyde has been helping himself out and there wasn't an accomplice to the kills. Rice makes it to the bomb in time but the audience is fooled a little by the timeline. As Clyde makes it back to his cell, Rice walks out of the shadows. This doesn't stop Clyde pressing the button but it begins the countdown to the bomb that Rice has now put under his bed. Rice leaves, locking the hatch and leaving Clyde to his demise. The movie ends with Detective Rice watching his daughter in her school recital. Something he had put off whilst tied up in his work. 

I think the movie lived up to the hype that my friends had given it. Several aspects interested me throughout the movie which included the fact that this was a crime thriller in which the twists and plot turns could rival any. I found myself enjoying the movie a lot more watching Gerard Butler play the villain in this movie but somehow, a man that you could understand and maybe even sympathise with. Halfway through the movie, once they announced that there may be an accomplice to the crimes, I was on edge, suspecting everyone whilst never seeing the twist that was to come from the ending. For me, this is the sign of a great storyline as I like to think I'm aware of where a story may be going and who is involved. Sometimes I have an issue with a storyline this good and if the movie has the 'rewatchability' factor. Not that that's even a word but from where I'm standing, I would definitely go back and watch this, even knowing the twists. 

The successes of the movie then transfer into the cast members. I've already mentioned Butler and his role but I'm more than willing to mention it again. As a villain, this guy had the role nailed down and I much preferred seeing him playing Clyde than some guy in space in a storyline as far fetched as shit from China. There was a confidence of the killer and righteousness about what he was doing that could draw in the audience enough for them to understand his cause. Jamie Foxx, the main Detective on the case, seemed to have a sort of character arch which is well worth exploring. Going from a guy who was happy to follow the best deal of the court and simply doing his job to someone who things were made much more personal for. Once his family and friends came into the mix, his attitude changed and by the end, it's safe to say he didn't follow procedure. The role was portrayed really well by Foxx who went from calm and collected to somewhat desperate towards the end. This then ended with a sense of acceptance in his actions and maybe even a struggle with his conscience as to whether his actions were justified. I was even impressed with the little side roles by the end of the movie. With each facial expression and action, I truly believed that any of them could have been an accomplice to the murders.

It seems that this type of movie has become a lost art recently and I can't recall seeing a movie of this type in the cinema for a long time. Everything right now is relying on special effects, superheroes or remakes to sell tickets. This relied on a great storyline being told and the audience sitting and taking it in. This makes it even more effective as how little it takes to make the movie a huge success. I'm disappointed in myself for waiting so long to get around to watching the film and I need to track down some more within this crime/action genre. I would highly recommend anyone given this movie their full attention and although at times it can look a little dated, that only adds to the grittiness of the storyline.