Watch Martin Freeman Star In Trailer For Netflix Zombie Movie ‘Cargo’

You probably know Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins from ‘The Hobbit‘ trilogy, or maybe you know him from his hilarious scenes in Love Actually. Either way, it doesn’t matter. You are about to know him for something else.

Freeman is headlining his own zombie movie. He stars in ‘Cargo‘ as a father trying to save his child during a zombie apocalypse. This movie is actually based on the 2013 short film of the same name. The short, which can be viewed right below the trailer, has over 14 million views on YouTube.

ComingSoon provides us with more information:

“Stranded in rural Australia in the aftermath of a violent pandemic, an infected father, Andy (Freeman), desperately seeks a new home for his infant child, and a means to protect her from his own changing nature. The trailer provides a first look at the terrifying new world Andy and his child are struggling to survive in, as well as a reason for hope and why we remain human in a world overtaken by the dead.”

This film will be released in the United States on Netflix May 18, 2018. Check out the trailer below…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gryenlQKTbE

Movie Review: Captain America Civil War

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So this was probably one of the most anticipated movies of the spring, despite the fact that it was up against some intense competition, with Jungle Book and Mother’s Day being strong performers. However, I was pretty sure this one would take the number one spot, as it’s already set records outside the US. And for once, a big budget blockbuster is pleasing critics and hitting all the right notes with audiences.

And it had a lot of notes to hit.

The film opens in 1991, with a frozen Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) being thawed out for another in a series of murderous missions. One after another, the code words needed to activate the killer are spoken: “daybreak … furnace … homecoming … freight car …” Flash forward to present-day Lagos, where an Avengers squad made up of Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Falcon (Anthony Mackie), and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) is foiling the theft of a biological weapon. There’s a shit ton of casualties and it all goes downhill for the Avengers from there when they have to submit for government oversight.

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There’s a lot going on, but they managed to balance it pretty well. I never got too confused, despite a cast of what feels like millions. They go through ever doggone country in the world and tie in every other franchise that Joss Wheaton ever read a comic on, and they never stop moving. All the actors blended into their characters, and there’s a lot of characters to keep straight.

But for the most part, I still knew what was going on, because the plot’s pretty straight forward. They don’t want to deal with United Nations regulators telling them what to do, despite the wake of destruction they often leave. It doesn’t become a one sided argument, because it argues the point from both sides. I mean, when you see what they leave behind when they’re being heroic, you can kind of see the government’s point.

“Yeah, guys, you got that lady’s purse back from a mugger, but there were 45 civilian casualties and your caused $85 billion worth of damage to the city. Maybe next time, don’t start with the nuclear option?”

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It all eventually culminates in one of the best battle scenes I’ve ever seen. It should have been confusing, or too much, but it wasn’t. The direction is subtle but the action is perfectly choreographed, which is why I never felt like it was too much, when this movie should be the definition of too much. There’s a method to this madness, and I didn’t even resent the over the top ads for future movies.

The latest offering of Captain America is a misnomer, because it’s got just about every other character you can think of. But it’s extremely well-done to the point where you can follow it easily. It’s controlled chaos and worth the watch. It’s one of those rare movies that’s critic and audience approved and should not be missed.

WE GIVE IT: 4.5 STARS!

four and a half stars

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Movie Review: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot – Like a Stylish Documentary with no Narration and No Insight.

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The more movies that Tina Fey makes, the less I like her. It’s not that Whiskey Tango Foxtrot was bad. I’d say it was a middle of the road effort. I just think like with many things Tina Fey put out recently, it could have been better.

In this, Tina stars as journalist Kim Baker, who takes a change of career covering the war in Afghanistan in the early 2000s. The movie is based on Barker’s own memoire about being a correspondent in Afghanistan when the world’s attention had already turned to Iraq.

While I often complain that many Hollywood movies based off of memories go too far off script (American Sniper, anyone?) my main complaint in this one is it didn’t seem to have a script. It felt so disjointed, like a series of vignettes with no unifying theme, other than ‘war sucks’ and ‘no one cares about Afghanistan anymore.’

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Well, I’m sorry journalists, but by the time Iraq came around, I was all warred out. Sue me.

Even Tina Fey’s talent can’t really make this live up to the hype that it got. It really just feels like a war correspondent’s diary where they complain about all the scary work they do, while everyone ignores their stories to blow up the internet with pictures of Kim Kardashian’s ass.

While this movie is seeing some early good reviews from critics, I have to say that its far more likely due to Tina Fey’s likability rather than the likeability of this movie. It’s not a particularly hard hitting film for such a topic, which is fine. If you want to parody, go with parody. If you want to be serious be serious. It feels like they were going for half and half ala MASH but wound up with a mishmash.

Terrible jokes aside, it’s a clichéd movie about a journalist in a war zone learning about themselves at the same time they can’t learn that the American public has the attention span of baby goldfish. It doesn’t matter if you’re covering Godzilla attacking the Empire State Building, we stop paying attention after awhile.

It just felt like there was no real point to this movie. Much like Bakers “white lady reason for being there” this movie feels like a halfhearted effort to put out a female empowerment/self-discovery movie.

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It fell flat for me, despite Fey’s best efforts. Even her character seemed poorly managed, transforming overnight from a wide eyed new kid on the block to a hard bitten journalist is a bit far-fetched. You’d assume that anyone electing to go to a war zone would be a bit worldly to start.

This is more of a watch it at home because you love Tina Fey movie. With no real point, and such a disjointed timeline, this movie felt like a very stylish documentary with no narration and no insight. Yes, the war in Afghanistan sucks. What are we going to do about it? I’m sorry, but I don’t think the message we should be getting from Afghanistan is “it’s a great place for middle-aged white chicks to find themselves.” Seems irresponsible.

WE GAVE IT: 2 Stars – Watch the Official Trailer and Official Movie Poster below!

2 Stars

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Movie Review: The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies – An excellent end to the Series

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As a massive nerd, I’ve been waiting for this movie to come out for years. I literally have been in line, dressed as a hobbit, since 2011. Ok, well that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but I wanted to see if the final installment of the Hobbit trilogy was as good as the first.

In this final installment, we meet up with Bilbo Baggins, Thorin Oakenshield and the Company of Dwarves shortly after they reclaimed their land from the Dragon Smaug. Of course, as it’s never a good idea to peeve off a fire breathing dragon, this has had some totally foreseen consequences. Smaug is taking his anger out on the innocent villagers of Laketown. On top of that, Thorin is going just a bit nutty and obsessed with his treasure, which drives a wedge between Bilbo and him. Toss in some Gandalf, a whole bunch of Orcs and Elves, and you get to end with a bang.

The movie was extremely well done and an excellent end to the series. They lost none of the power of the original. In fact, I think this might be the best installment yet. CGI, good makeup and fantastic settings created a mystical, beautiful world with heart pounding action and breathtaking scenery.

Martin Freeman plays Bilbo Baggins with the same humor and honor, creating a multifaceted conflicted character that we want to see win. His Everyman character is one that most people can relate to, even though they know hobbits don’t exist.

The battle scenes are impressive and well choreographed, and director Peter Jackson clearly found his forte in filming battles. The scenes are convincing without being overtly gory and the strategies involved are a bit more realistic than in the first two films.

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What this movie could have used was a bit of comic relief. Compare the Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings, and you’ll always find the Hobbit lacking. That’s probably because in this installment, we don’t really get to know the characters as well. The scenes are a bit more battle heavy and there is less humor or emotional connection to the characters.

Not to say that it’s bad. In fact, it might be one of the best fantasies I’ve seen, aside from Lord of the Rings. I think that’s the problem with this franchise entirely. The Hobbit would have been groundbreaking if they hadn’t already raised the bar with The Lord of the Rings. It kind of makes me wonder what would have happened if they’d started with the Hobbit and done Lord of the Rings afterwards. Would the franchise have gotten the same momentum?

Of course, as with the Lord of the Rings, I did have some problems with the under-representation of female characters. Yes, I know Tolkien didn’t write it like that, but he also didn’t write much about the Battle of Five Armies in the books either, and they’ve turned that into the focal point of this entire movie. Would it have hurt to throw in a decent Liv Tyler elf or something like that?

Again, I have to say, this is worth the watch. Heck, I might even watch it twice. I’ve barely gotten any wear out of my hobbit costume.

WE GIVE IT: 4.5 STARS!  Official Movie Trailer and Movie Poster Below.

four and a half stars

 

 

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