Antonio Banderas – STREAMING MOVIE NIGHT

2022 Sony Pictures

Rated: PG-13

Length: 1 hr 56min

Action ~ Adventure

Starring: Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, Sophia Ali, Tati Gabrielle and Antonio Banderas.

Fortune Favors The Bold

FROM SONY PICTURES:

Street-smart Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) is recruited by seasoned treasure hunter Victor “Sully” Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) to recover a fortune amassed by Ferdinand Magellan and lost 500 years ago by the House of Moncada. What starts as a heist job for the duo becomes a globe-trotting, white-knuckle race to reach the prize before the ruthless Santiago Moncada (Antonio Banderas), who believes he and his family are the rightful heirs. If Nate and Sully can decipher the clues and solve one of the world’s oldest mysteries, they stand to find $5 billion in treasure and perhaps even Nate’s long-lost brother…but only if they can learn to work together.

FROM SONY PLAYSTATION:

From award-winning developer Naughty Dog, the UNCHARTED series is a cinematic action-adventure experience uncovering historical mysteries while traveling through varied and stunningly rendered environments. Join Nathan Drake and Chloe Frazer across the globe as they confront warmongers and mercenaries, unite with former colleagues, uncover forgotten histories and tackle their deepest fears to forge their legacy.

Nathan Drake

A renowned man of adventure – and mystery – Nathan Drake is a roguish explorer who’s perpetually lured by the irresistible promise of adventure, fortune and glory. Although his past is far more complicated than his carefree approach to the world (and his own safety) implies, he’s an undeniably dynamic adventurer capable of immense greatness, no matter what challenge he faces. However, is Nathan able to make peace with his past and determine what he’s willing to sacrifice in order to find happiness in his future?

Chloe Frazer

If you need someone who can talk, shoot, act or drive her way out of a sticky situation, the notorious and charismatic treasure-hunter Chloe Frazer is the one to call.

Renowned for her resourcefulness while under pressure and vast archeological knowledge, she’s an intelligent survivor who’s unafraid to acknowledge her limits. Although Chloe is remarkably pragmatic and resilient in the face of danger, she must conquer her greatest challenge: confronting her past to forge her legacy.

Victor Sullivan

Nathan Drake’s partner, oldest friend, and father figure, Victor “Sully” Sullivan is a seasoned explorer who’s well-connected in the illicit antiquities trade. Although he’s a consummate conman, Sully becomes progressively kinder and more compassionate throughout his adventures. When he’s not hatching plans for the next adventure, he’s known for cracking jokes, reminiscing on his romantic exploits (we’ll take his word for it) and protecting his loved ones.

THE REVIEW:

I have seen this quite a few times since it came out. I re-watched as it just showed up on Amazon Prime so I could review it. I have never seen the PlayStation Games that this movie is based upon, so I can’t judge it from that perspective. Judging it on it’s own merits, I think it is a fun Action Adventure Movie in the same vein as The Indiana Jones Movies. It reminds me of Red Notice with Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot.

Honestly it falls right into that category with Indiana Jones, Red Notice, The Lost City, National Treasure, Jumanji, Tomb Raider and Romancing The Stone. I liked Tom Holland as Drake, again I can’t compare him to the game version of Drake. I liked Mark Wahlberg as Sully and I really liked Sophia Ali as Chloe. Antonio Banderas was a good evil Rich kid shutting out his father over money. Tati Gabrielle as Jo Braddock was well done, this was her movie debut and I really liked her in this. Have to look for her in the future.

The way the movie ends it completely sets itself up for a sequel involving Sam, Nathan’s brother. And there are two more scenes as the credits start rolling. If you quit watching when the credits roll, you’ll miss them. The other one shows Nathan and Sully dealing with another Treasure Hunter over a mysterious map. Another Adventure? That scene ends with a complete cliff hanger…Who did they run into?

There is officially a sequel in the works and word has it that Sony intends for Uncharted to be a Movie Franchise. There is an Uncharted 2 in the works and as of right now the script is in development. The biggest obstacle to seeing the sequel anytime soon is that Tom Holland is currently filming Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and then he has another Spiderman Movie to film before he can film the sequel. So it might be a couple of years yet before we get to see it, but it is coming.

I would recommend this if you haven’t seen it, it is a great action adventure movie full of Treasure hunting. I’m a fan now and I look forward to seeing the rest of the franchise. Bring on the sequel and the popcorn!

Red Notice

The Lost City

2024 A24

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 54min

Drama ~ Romance ~ Erotic Thriller

Directed by: Halina Reijn

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Harris Dickinson, Sophie Wilde and Antonio Banderas.

This Christmas Get Exactly What You Want………..

Nicole Kidman stars as Romy Mathis, The High powered CEO of a Robotic Process Automation Company in New York City. Antonio Banderas plays her husband of 19 years Jacob Mathis who is a theater director in the city. In the opening scene we see Jacob and Romy having sex, and then Romy leaves the bedroom and goes into another room. She grabs a laptop, lays on the floor and pleasure’s herself while watching porn. This sets the stage for the movie. Romy and Jacob have been married for nineteen years and as we hear later in the movie, Romy has never experienced an orgasm with Jacob.

Enter Samuel…..

As Romy is headed into work walking down a busy New York Sidewalk, an angry dog runs towards her. Frightened she stops in her tracks as she sees a stranger take something out of his pocket and calm the dog. Romy heads into work and a little while later her assistant Esme (Sophie Wilde) brings in a group of Interns and Romy sees the stranger who calmed the dog outside in the group. During a break Romy sees the stranger, who’s name is Samuel (Harris Dickinson) in the breakroom and approaches him, wanting to know what he had in his pocket to calm the dog. He replies, “A cookie”. Soon Romy seems to see Samuel everywhere and he tells her he wants Romy to be his mentor in the Intern program.

What follows is a confusing game of attraction, sexual fantasies and fetishes between Romy and Samuel. It is an awkward relationship and is never really clear who started it. It leaves you wondering what is really going on the whole time. They seem to be playing a game exploring certain roles, but it isn’t clear who initiated it. It could be Romy, not being satisfied at home and seeing an opportunity to explore her deep sexual desires and fantasies with a young intern, pays Samuel to help her explore those fantasies. Or it could be Samuel, seeing an opportunity to take advantage of Romy’s interest in him and move himself up the company ladder.

Or is it Jacob? I find it hard to believe that for nineteen years, Jacob didn’t realize that his wife and sexual partner was not really fulfilled and living a lie sexually. It seemed odd that Samuel would show up unexpectedly at the house twice and Jacob just didn’t appear that surprised. And the fight that Jacob and Samuel have just didn’t seem that intense to me, it seemed staged. Jacob is a Theater Director and stages plays and works with actors. It is possible that Jacob staged the whole scenario to give his wife a controlled affair to explore her fantasies with someone Jacob trusted to keep their marriage together.

Or was the whole affair staged by Esme who knew Romy and concocted a scheme using Samuel to move herself up the corporate ladder? You could go in any direction with those theories, but it did seem as though Esme approaching Romy to, in essence, blackmail her for a better position at the company was only after Samuel told her about their affair. That kind of rules out Esme having orchestrated the affair.

Whichever way the plot was intended, it does come across as very awkward. I didn’t really feel any great chemistry between Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson, either because there wasn’t any or the whole affair was staged to begin with. I have seen Nicole in better sensual erotic movies with more chemistry and feeling. Dead Calm, Birthday Girl and Eyes Wide Shut come to mind. Babygirl also reminds me of Unfaithful with Diane Lane and Richard Gere, although I think Unfaithful is a way better movie.

So to wrap it up, for me it was just ok. The sensuality and fetishes were a bit over the top, I get they were exploring the power and submission thing but it just didn’t feel that real to me. Like a badly staged play. I didn’t think much of Harris’ Dickinson’s acting but then I haven’t seen him in anything else so perhaps it was just the awkwardness of the role in this movie. So yeah, meh……..