Tag: hollywood movie

The Little Things – Movie Review

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

The Little Things is a 2021 American neo-noir psychological crime thriller film directed, written, and co-produced by John Lee Hancock and co-produced by Mark Johnson. Set in early 1990s Los Angeles, the film follows two detectives who investigate a string of murders, which lead them to a strange loner who may be the culprit.

IMDB = 6.3/10

Rotten Tomatoes = 44%

Metacritic = 54/100

Starring: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto

Genre: Crime · Drama · Mystery · Thriller

Director: John Lee Hancock

Runtime: 2 hours 8 minutes

I watched The Little Things last night on Amazon Prime Video. It is recently added. I must say that I’ve wanted to see this for a while so when it suddenly appeared I was quick to put it on. Surprisingly interesting, captivating is a better word for it, dark, mysterious and somewhat noir in nature, the film offers crime thrilling at its best.

Firstly I want to address the acting, it is very much an acquired taste, the variety I have seen before in other movies. It involves some aspects on method acting. Jared Leto again has changed appearance and is very, very good at playing the ‘bad’ guy… if you can really call him that. On top of this the relationship between Malek and Washington starts off a little rusty, building and building until the two are fairly comfortable with each other. I find some of the dialogue challenging, but realistic.

What can I say of the plot? It starts off with a crime, murder. From there we have officers trying to track down the killer, looking for clues, following leads, looking for the little things that will help them catch them. Of course, about half way through the investigation and movie they have a lead, and it’s from there that the cops become convinced of their killer. To their detriment.

From a movie point of view; the lighting, direction, dialogues, acting, angles and scenes/aesthetic are very good. It reminds me of the older 90s crime movies. The plot is certainly tense and kept me wanting to see what would happen. There is a lot of questions to be answered and on that front, not a lot of answers. I suppose that is the point, they want us to figure it out ourselves.

When you see Malek and Washington discovering body after body of mutilated women – trends in the killers acts – and pursuing one lead, you do question what motif the cops have.. I say that lightly, as it’s like they have simply chosen a man based on a few factors and the fact that Leto makes the guy creepy as hell. Sure they have a few things that may connect him with a girl in question, but there is nothing else to go on. From there they simply follow him, determined to catch him.

It could be a case of one cop whose simply fallen off the edge and doesn’t care who it is, he wants someone to blame. There is the underlying dark and relatively strange Washington character, who is also a cop but who also does some questionable things. It makes me wonder if they could simply be looking in the wrong direction.

I don’t want to spoil anything, so go and watch it now. I do recommend this movie because it felt good, looked good, great cast and acting, the story was realistic compared to most other crime movies – reminded me a little of Silence of the Lambs for some reason.

This movie is rated: 5 stars

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Movies to come (summer ’22)

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

Luckily there is hope for cinema, we can expect some real blockbusters to finally grace our screens. It feels like a bit of a scam having to wait for movies which were delayed, when they could have released direct to home video. That could of been Prime video, Netflix and the multitude of channels and apps available. Take No Time To Die (2021) which was delayed over 2 years. A bit of a joke.

But then again the movie industry has also gotten into the ridiculous groove of advertising movies up to 2 years before planned release, sometimes 3. Yes you read that correctly. I remember when movies were advertised about a month or to before they were due to hit cinema screens. Honestly this is so pathetic of the movie makers and companies, desperate to build interest because they know they are pumping out either remakes or reboots. I have yet to see something original from them.

Jurassic World Dominion was something I’d looked forward to for some time, yet it’s been delayed for 2 years. Come on! I finally saw a trailer which stated it is coming to cinemas in June. About time!

Oh wait, can you hear that? It’s the sound of Tom Cruises bones breaking as he shifts his wrinkled ass into the cockpit of a fighter jet for Top Gun, Maverick. Yes, he’s not only continued in Mission Impossible, but decided to engage in the Top Gun series once again. Talk about reboot and sequels from hell. What is going on? Tom, you will probably see this, please for the sake of your dignity stick with Mission Impossible. Heck I loved The Mummy (2017) after having the initial reaction in the first 5 mins that it would be rubbish, it turned out to be a great film.

Prepare for the ego trip that will be Avatar 2. And wait, we’ll have a 3rd and 4th film too in a few years. Don’t you love originality? If you didn’t know, Avatar was the highest grossing movie of all time. Followed by Avengers Endgame (not seen this) and then Titanic (who doesn’t want to see that one scene?). I was hoping to see Ghostbusters Afterlife, but didn’t have a chance to.

There is a little hope, with Lightyear. Based on Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story. I am glad this is going to be a film. Expected to release in June. I watched Buzz in smaller shorter movies as a kid, but I think this will be worth it. I never watched all of Toy Story 4 as I just never went back to watch it after starting. I was happy saying goodbye after the 3rd movie.

And if you hadn’t got your fix of awful acting from Keanu Reeves, well brace for him to return in John Wick, chapter 4. As usual overhyped and coming out March 2023. What a joke. If the movie is complete, then release it. I wish people would stop paying to see this tripe.

One more which I think looked original. Ready? Bullet Train, expected to release in August! Starring sexy Brad Pitt (fight club, once upon a time in hollywood, world war z). “Five assassins aboard a fast moving bullet train find out their missions have something in common.” The most interesting looking movie! Based on the book.

What do you want to see this year? I’ve already watched The Batman in March. I honestly forgot I watched it, although I did appreciate the darker, more gothic tones than previous movies. Thinking about it, I’ve missed watching a few new movies.

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