Epic – Page 3 – STREAMING MOVIE NIGHT

2022 Focus Features

Rated: R

Length: 2 hrs 17min

Action ~ Adventure ~ Drama ~ Epic

Starring: Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Björk, and Willem Dafoe.

“I will avenge you father!, I will save you mother!, I will kill you Fjölnir!”

Alexander Skarsgård stars as Prince Amleth who, after watching his Uncle Fjölnir(Claes Bang) kill his Father King Aurvandil(Ethan Hawke), vows revenge. Nicole Kidman stars as his mother Queen Gudrún who his Uncle now claims as his Queen. Amleth escapes and joins a a band of Vikings killing and plundering. Fueling his hatred and his desire for revenge. Several years later he finds out that his Uncle Fjölnir, now referred to as “Fjölnir The Brotherless”, has lost his father’s throne and lives as a sheep farmer in Iceland.

Posing as a slave he boards a boat taking slaves to Iceland to hunt down his Uncle and exact revenge. He meets an enslaved Slavic woman named Olga who claims to be a sorceress. Together they escape and head out to find his Uncle and free his mother from his tyrant uncle. This movie is based on an old Norse legend, Amleth, inspired by the character of Prince Hamlet, the hero of William Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.

The Northman is dark, brooding, bloody, savage and full of Viking lore and myth. It is hard to follow the story given all the Viking references that I do not know enough about. Some of the scenes were very strange and hard to understand, ceremonies and customs that I didn’t understand. Nicole Kidman has a very limited role, you only see her briefly in the beginning and towards the end.

It was a long watch at almost two and a half hours. It was very hard to follow the story as they went along. I didn’t really care for it, didn’t think it was that good. I definitely won’t watch it again.

Can’t recommend this one.

Two thumbs down.

2024 A24

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 49min

Action ~ War ~ Thriller

Directed by: Alex Garland

Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Sonoya Mizuno, and Nick Offerman.

“Citizens of America…….The so-called Western Forces of Texas and California, and The People of The Florida Alliance have suffered a very grave defeat at the hands of The United States Military. They will be welcomed back to these United States as soon as their illegal secessionist government is deposed.”

Kirsten Dunst stars as Lee Smith, a renowned War Photojournalist and Wagner Moura stars as Joel, a Journalist from Florida. The two are in New York City covering the ongoing Civil War in America when Lee helps a young aspiring photojournalist named Jesse Cullen(Cailee Spaeny) who has been injured while covering a group of rioters.

Lee, Joel, Jesse and Lee’s Mentor Sammy(Stephen McKinley Henderson) plan to drive from New York City across I-80 to Pittsburgh to avoid the fighting south of the city and then southeast to Washington D.C. where the Western Forces and The Florida Alliance are set to converge. They plan to interview The President before The Western Forces and The Florida Alliance get there and try to overthrow the Government.

What follows is a cinematic look at Civil War in our country and the horrors the group of Photojournalists encounter along their journey to Washington D.C.. War is not pretty, it is humanity at it’s worst. And that is fully portrayed in this movie. It is two stories rolled into one. The Civil War in America between a third term President residing over an Authoritarian Government he has helped create, and the nineteen Secessionist states that make up The Western Forces of Texas and California and The Florida Alliance. And the story of war photojournalists and what they experience in the course of their work.

It doesn’t take a lot of imagination unfortunately to see this film becoming a reality in The United States. It is graphic, again war isn’t pretty. “What’s so Civil about war, anyway?” It is thought provoking and it is a glimpse into a life I could never imagine living. Going into the middle of the chaos to document for the rest of the world to see, while knowingly putting yourself in grave danger.

I think it’s a great story and a great movie.

I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I will watch it again.

Two thumbs up!