Thriller

The White Lotus – Same Spirits, New Forms

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: The White Lotus – Same Spirits, New Forms
  • IMDb: link

Mike White‘s HBO anthology returns for a Third Season relocated events in the exclusive White Lotus resort chain’s Thailand location. After opening the episode with a tease of things to come at the end of one week, “Same Spirits, New Forms” focuses on the arrival of the spoiled guests to the resort. Social satire mixed with psychological drama, one thing I say for the premiere, White has me rooting for the death of nearly every member of this group as soon as possible.

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Pretty Little Liars – Spirit Week

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Pretty Little Liars (Original Sin) – Chapter One: Spirit Week
  • wiki: link

Starting out with two suicides in the first 5 minutes and closing the episode with a grizzly murder, the first thing you notice about Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin is how strongly it leans into the freedoms offered on HBO attempting to be a bit more bloody and bold than the original. However, I find the set up for the episode a bit confusing. We get a young girl, ignored at a school dance by a group of popular girls, committing suicide in 1999. Flash-forward 22 years at that appears to be the catalyst for the mayhem that will occur, although our new “A” targets only one of the women from that party (our second suicide) and instead targets the rest of their daughters for reasons yet to be revealed.

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The Seed of the Sacred Fig

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Seed of the Sacred Fig
  • IMDb: link

While I quite enjoyed the movie, I have a strong suspicion that a documentary of the story behind the making of The Seed of the Sacred Fig would far more fascinating. Shot in Iran by director Mohammad Rasoulof while being sentenced to prison, the film was smuggled out of the country with the director to follow just hours before he would have been forced to surrender to authorities. Cut together with Internet footage of the Iranian government’s harsh crackdown on protestors, the thriller takes us into the lives of a single Iranian family which dissolves in front of eyes due to fear, paranoia, and oppression.

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September 5

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: September 5
  • IMDb: link

At only 94 minutes, September 5 is a surprisingly short and concise look back at the events of the terrorist attack at the 1972 Munich Olympics through the lens of the ABC Sports team who were on the ground and on the air when the incident occurred putting them at the forefront of the coverage. Director Tim Fehlbaum‘s film stays with our newsmen covering their actions and perspectives as events unfold in real time, fighting to stay on the air and keep the coverage, and not providing the audience any information not uncovered by the team.

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Canary Black

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Canary Black
  • IMDb: link

Even for a throwaway action flick, Canary Black stretches any attempt at credibility. Our plot involves Kate Beckinsale as super-spy Avery Graves whose husband (Rupert Friend) is kidnapped. Avery is then blackmailed into stealing a file so secret not even the President of the United States knows what it is. Knowledge isn’t a problem for our baddie (Goran Kostić), however, who apparently knows everything about everyone including having access to all kinds of CIA classified records such as Avery’s psych profile.

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