Sept. 9, 2022

Both Sides of the Blade; Orphan: First Kill; The Outfit; 3000 Years of Longing; Hit the Road and Tuesday Club (reviewed)

Both Sides of the Blade; Orphan: First Kill; The Outfit; 3000 Years of Longing; Hit the Road and Tuesday Club (reviewed)

Movies First with Alex First
Episode 995
Answering the big question...should I see these movies?
Movies reviewed in this episode:

Both Sides of the Blade
Orphan First Kill
The Outfit
3000 Years of Longing
Hit the Road
Tuesday Club

New:...

Movies First with Alex First
Episode 995
Answering the big question...should I see these movies?
Movies reviewed in this episode:

Both Sides of the Blade
Orphan First Kill
The Outfit
3000 Years of Longing
Hit the Road
Tuesday Club

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Transcript

Movies First Episode 995 AI Transcript

Booth Announcer:  54321 gear music this is Movies First with Alex First,

Alex:  A slow moving family drama about lost interconnected people, people trying to navigate their lives. Angst is the common thread in Both Sides of the Blade. Divorcee and ex prisoner Jean Vincent Linden has been with Sarah Juliet Binoche for nine years. He's a former rugby player who retired as a result of injury. He has a 15 year old son who's been brought up by Gene's Mum, and he's proving to be quite a handful. The pair live 3 hours from Paris, where Jean used to live. Sarah is a radio host. Jean and Sarah are, uh, married and very much in love, if still somewhat insecure in that love they're constantly asking for acclamation. Their relationship is about to be sorely tested when Jean goes into business with Sarah's former romantic partner, Francois Gregory Colin. Francois has formed an agency to recruit junior football talent at Jean say so. Even a decade on, from when Francois left her, sarah still holds a torch for him, and when he sets eyes upon her again, it's evident the spark is still there. Both Sides of the Blade becomes a messy love triangle where each of the trio feels they are in the right and are being sold short. Written by Christine Angott and Claire Dennis. Based on Angot's book and directed by Dennis, the movie is an intriguing look at the human psyche. We all have our own take on matters, whether or not that correlates with others views. That goes to the heart of one's definition of truth. Is truth reality or open to interpretation? Jean often doesn't give clear answers or talks around issues. Francois is a narcissist, while Sarah somehow thinks she can satisfy both men when clearly she can't. But Notion Linden are the main players in this production and they acquit themselves well. Their characters are well formed, their vulnerabilities exposed. I was somewhat concerned that the story took a long time to develop. The script could readily have been tightened to have heightened the drama. That would also have strengthened audience involvement. Still, Both Sides of The Blade manages to make its mark and it scores a seven out of ten.

Booth Announcer: You're listening to movies. M first for more like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Alex: Looking every bit like a ten year old girl, Lena, played by Isabel Furman, is in fact 31 and the most dangerous patient in an Estonian psychiatric institution. Particularly devious, manipulative and opportunistic, she's also deadly. So it is that she escapes from the facility and poses as the long lost young daughter, named Esther of a wealthy American family, reunited after four years. Father Alan Albright, played by Rossip Sutherland, a gifted artist who lost his mojo when his daughter disappeared, is particularly ecstatic. They bond, but not so the mother, Tricia Julius Styles, nor their 16 year old son, Gunnar Matthew Finland. Lena tries to keep up the charade, but there are cracks in the stories that she weaves. Also suspicious is the policeman detective Donin, played by Hiro Kanagawa, who handled Esther's disappearance. Of course, Lena's sinister impulses have not dissipated. When she acts upon those, a significant twist occurs, for all is not as it seems. It appears that Lena isn't the only one hiding a dark secret. Often, First Kill is better than I imagined it would be. It's an intriguing, well woven horror with surprises aplenty so plaudits to the scriptwriter david Coggeshall, who worked on a story from David Leslie Johnson McGoldrich and Alex Mace director William Brent Bell ensures there's never a dull moment with action unfolding at a decent clip. I appreciated Isabel Thurman's performance as evil incarnate. She certainly acts the part, the demonic tag seemingly sitting comfortably on her shoulders. The other standout was Julia's Styles as the society wife with decided smarts of her own. The game that she and Lena play is mighty dangerous and fun to watch. The diverse setting in this movie provides alluring light and shade. Regardless, the constant is the inherent darkness in the lead character. Coming 13 years after Isabel Thurman assumed the centerpiece role in Orphan, both she and this prequel have bite. Orphan first. Kill scores a, uh, seven and a half out of ten movies. First with Alex first a deceptively clever period crime drama. The outfit is a slowburn mesmerizer. Set in Chicago in 1956, all the action takes place at the premises of a bespoke tailor. Leonard Mark Rylan's is a wellspoken, nondescript British cutter who takes great pride and pleasure in his work. His narrative about what goes into making a suit underlines the piece. Rolls of fabric, tape, chalk and cutters shears are prominent throughout. The shop employs a receptionist, Mabel Zoe Deutsch, who dreams of traveling to Europe while she and Leonard go about their business. The place is a front for Irish mob boss Roy Boyle Simon Russell Beale. He uses the premises as a stash house for dirty money. Boyle's son Ritchie, Dylan O'Brien and his chief enforcer, Francis Johnny Flynn visit the shop daily. Ritchie's noddenplus that he has to play second fiddle to Francis, who once put his life on the line for Boyle. One day the pair make their way into the place in desperation, richie having just been shot in the abdomen. It's only some deft craftsmanship from Leonard that helped save him. Mind you, it's all downhill thereafter, given there's a stool pigeon in their midst who's ratted them out. Behind the goings on is a turf war, but the primary focus is on the tailor and, to a lesser extent, the receptionist, whose lives are on the line. Written by Graham Moore, who was responsible for The Imitation Game and Jonathan McClain and directed by More, the outfit features a whipsmart script. It's minimalist setting gives it the feel of a play. I could well see the action unfolding on stage. Much of the credit in terms of the movie's success lies in the measured performance of Mark Ryland's as the unflappable cutter. Leonard's ability to remain calm under pressure and to reach people in delicate situations is what elevates the outfit. Above, the ordinary violence displays spectacular restraint inhabiting Leonard's razor sharp mind. I also appreciated the feistiness in Zoe Deutsch. She comes across as a character with much life to live while Leonard is someone who's been there and done that as Francis. Johnny Flynn is mercenary while Dylan O'Brien, playing opposite him as Ritchie, is a hothead still wet behind the ears. Clearly, nothing is as at first appears in the outfit. We're all better off for that fact, as a series of spectacular reveals late in the piece really sets the cat amongst the pigeons. There's much to appreciate and savor in this picture if you stick with it. The outfit scores an eight out of.

Booth Announcer : Ten movies first with Alex first.

Alex: I believe it was the highest grossing film of 1992, namely Aladdin that gave us the story of the genie in a lamp. Fast forward 30 years and now you have the tale of a gin in a bottle. Dr. Alice of Binney, played by Tilda Swinton, is a fated scholarly storyteller. A creature of reason who's having vivid and alarming visions. On a conference in Istanbul, she purchases an old misshapen bottle but when she tries to clean it, something extraordinary happens. Her rubbing triggers the appearance of a gin who's been trapped inside for a great many years. He proceeds to relay to her, uh, how on three separate occasions after he was freed forces conspired to see him trapped again. These fantastic tales involve love, war and betrayal. To remain free, the jinn implores Alethea to make three wishes. Mind you, in so doing, there are rules. For instance, Alethea cannot, uh, wish for eternal life. She's suspicious she may be being taken on a ride but the more she hears, the stronger her connection to the gym. Still, there are sounds in this modern world that don't sit comfortably with him. 3000 Years of Longing is an engaging, if decidedly farfetched, fantasy about connection. It's proof positive that Tilda Swinton has credibility even when she plays a creative, if lonely soul in a story of makebelieve. Throughout, she maintains the intelligent visage that's her, uh, hallmark idris. Elba adds big ticket gravitas as the gin who weaves many a colorful story. The picture painted is that of an adult fairy tale co writer with Augusta Gore. And director George Miller is, of course, quite at home with the genre. He was responsible for Babe and Happy Feet. Not to overlook Mad Max. Miller and Gore have certainly let their imaginations wander. Their writing is based on a short story the Jinn in the Nightingale's Eye by as byet. The picture is colorful throughout, the production design by Roger Ford being a feature. Visual effects, too, are allowed to flourish with plenty to admire. So 3000 Years of Longing is a pleasant, lavish distraction. It scores a seven out of ten.

Booth Announcer: You're listening to movies first with Alex first.

Alex: Just what's going on? That question characterizes the start of this whimsical family drama, written and directed by Pena Penaje, who makes his feature film Daboo. We're on a cross country road trip in Iran with a mother, father, elder son and younger son. Where we are going is not clear. What we can say is that there are many stops along the way. Dad Muhammad Hassan Manjuni has a broken leg and is on crutches. Apparently it's been that way for five months. The elder son, Amen Semia, who is at least 20, is at the wheel and says very little. In fact, he's not very expressive, although his driving skills are constantly being questioned by his father. The younger son, Ryan Sullac, perhaps aged four or five, is his antithesis, an energizer bunny who can't stop talking or sit still. The one instruction all have been given is not to bring any mobile phones, and yet Youngster has smuggled one into the car. Now he's distraught that his mother is making sure that the phone is buried. Also in the car with them is a sick dog that dad rescued and that the boy is attached to. He doesn't realize that the trip is really about taking his brother to a point where smugglers have been paid to take the latter across the border. To that end, his parents have sold their house to enable that to happen. While mum Pantier Panahiha uh, understands why her eldest has to do what he's about to do, she's highly emotional about it. This is a family that hurls insults at one another and yet cares deeply for each other. In the case of the parents, much of their thoughts and feelings are expressed in their eyes. There's a sense of yearning that accompanies this film. We long to learn more about the characters. Much is left unsaid, and it's up to each of us to interpret and read between the lines. What struck me immediately was the naturalistic performances. Muhammad Hassan Manjuni brings a comic gruffness to his role. Pantier Panahiha is empathetic and caring. A scene late in the piece where a single teardrop forms in the corner of her left eye speaks volumes. The real revelation for me was Ryan Selak. What a performance. What a fined, lively precocious. Immensely talented. Compliments, too, to the cinematographer, amen Jafari, who captures the expressions and landscapes magnificently. A Rocky Mountain range early on is particularly appealing and evocative as we reach the film's conclusion. There's even a sequence that's a knot to Stanley Kubrick's 2001 A Space Odyssey that occurs as the father's having a conversation with his son about the comic book hero Batman. Slow moving that it is, Panaha Panahi has crafted a thoughtful and engaging work which thrusts him onto the world stage. As a filmmaker to be watched. Hit the Road scores an eight out of ten.

Booth Announcer: You're listening to movies first. For more like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Alex:  From Babette's feast to bignight, from eat, drink, man, woman to chocolate and many besides, foodie movies have their own place in popular culture. Now along comes a Swedish offering. Tuesday club. Car and Marie Richardson and Stan Bjorn Kelman are about to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. They've invited friends over to mark the special occasion. Karen, who's a dab hand in the kitchen, has prepared some tasty dishes. And then, while Sten is skylarking outside, karen makes a shocking discovery. Confronting him about it ends with Stan in a bad way. In hospital after a fall, understandably upset by Stan's betrayal, karen bumps into a former classmate, monica Karina MJO. Hanson, whom she hasn't seen in decades. With an uptempo can do disposition, Monica has led an interesting and varied life. Having traveled and resided in many places, she's returned home to attend to her ailing 90 year old mother. She invites Karen to dinner. Although initially dismissing the notion, karen relents and is whisked off to a posh restaurant. It turns out the food there is. Being prepared by a Michelin star chef who is also running a public cooking course on Tuesday evenings. In no time, Monica has signed up the pair of them, and they're joined by Karen's best friend Peter Susie Erickson. While Karen's first impression of the celebrity chef Henrik, Peter's store mayor, is far from favorable, that soon changes. Meanwhile, Karen and Stens daughter Fredrika EDA Engval, is about to turn 40. Fredrika is close to her father and can't understand why her mum has distanced herself from him. Written by Anna Frederickson from her own bestselling novel and directed by Annika Apple, Tuesday Club is a feelgood comedic romantic drama. While the road map is fairly transparent, the movie is an easy watch the delicious culinary delights especially so the best performers are the three female friends. There's a dignity about Marie Richardson. Karina Mio Hanson has joined De Vivre in spades. While there's an earthy quality about Susie Erickson, I can't say I was sold on the representation of incredulity by IDA Engval, nor in the way the role was written. Neither did I believe there was chemistry between Richardson and Peter Stormer. Still, there's a friendliness and charm about Tuesday Club, which gives it appeal. Tuesday Club is best enjoyed if you simply let it wash over you. And don't try to dig too deeply. It scores a six out of ten.

Booth Announcer: You've been listening to movies first with Alex. First available at Apple podcasts, google Podcasts spotify iHeartRadio or your favorite podcast player. You can also stream on demand at bitesz.com. This has been another quality podcast production from bitesz.com