REVIEW: A Small Fortune (2023) - Starring Stephen Oates and Liane Balaban

A Small Fortune, written and directed by Adam Perry, is a crime/drama film that was originally released in Canada a few years ago and has finally been released in the UK. Although I don't review many films in this genre, I was intrigued to watch this one.

The story revolves around Kevin Doucette (Stephen Oates), a simple and desperate man who lives an unremarkable life on the remote Prince Edward Island. Despite his modest lifestyle, Kevin is burdened with worries as his wife, Sam (Liane Balaban), is pregnant with their first child, and he doesn't earn enough money to support their family, let alone a baby. Kevin's income comes from harvesting sea moss on the coast, but Sam urges him to leave the province to find more stable and well-paying work on the mainland.

However, Kevin resists his wife's pleas and fate appears to be on his side when he discovers a large sum of Canadian Dollars on the beach and decides to keep it for himself. But his luck quickly runs out when a man named Troy (Joel Thomas Hynes) arrives on the Island searching for his money. Kevin makes a series of bad decisions, and the situation spirals out of control, turning the once-peaceful fishing village into a crime scene.

This is a beautifully shot film, although Canadian, there is a strong Irish influence, and if you didn't know it was a Canadian film, you could well be mistaken into thinking it was an Irish one.

Full Review at

http://www.beentothemovies.com/2023/05/review-small-fortune-2023-starring.html

REVIEW: Formula Retro Racing - World Tour on Nintendo Switch

"Players can drive, drift and draft their way across 18 unique tracks, including Japan, London and Paris. Multiple gameplay modes provide hours upon hours of replayability, with corners to master and endless lap times to overcome through the online leaderboards. This expanded sequel also adds new vehicle types to the mix, each with their own distinctive feel and handling properties.

Low-poly models and assets now look crisper than ever before thanks to 4K visuals and 60fps performance. Every aspect of the game has been designed with performance in mind, ensuring a consistent feel as players dive headfirst into corners at breakneck speeds. It's retro gaming as players remember it, but with a modern twist.

Relive the glory days of sharing the settee with 4-player split-screen in Formula Retro Racing: World Tour's multiplayer mode. Players can take the clean driving line, draft behind competitors or take the chaotic route and push friends into the wall  - just remember, the only place that matters is first.

For those looking to add an additional dimension to their racing experience, Formula Retro Racing: World Tour is also fully playable in VR. Incredibly immersive, and not for the faint of heart, this mode allows players to experience the thrill of racing from the most authentic point of view, the cockpit."

Read Review at

http://www.gamingcouchpotato.co.uk/2023/05/review-formula-retro-racing-world-tour.html

REVIEW: Dogfight: A Sausage Bomber Story on Nintendo Switch

If you follow my reviews, then you will know I love me a retro style action shooter, and boy do we have a great little game in Dogfight: A Sausage Bomber Story on Nintendo Switch.

You play as a member of the Sausage Bomber Corps, your job is a simple one, defeat wave after wave of enemy fighters, and then destroy the boss, before you can progress to the next level. Action comes by way of a classic side scrolling adventure, as you control your little plane against seemingly unsurmountable odds that come from Vega Nation.

The game is nonstop action, with some great humour thrown in between levels. The graphics are outstanding and of the cartoon variety.

As mentioned, the game is a side scrolling action shooter, you will collect power ups, to make your weapons more powerful, you can also drop bombs as you are flying. A nice touch is the ability to switch the direction of the plane, so that you can defend yourself better from attacks coming from behind.

Super easy to pick up and play, hectic levels that never become confusing. Cracking sound track and all-round good fun, multiplayer is also available, but alas I never had chance to try that.

Full Review at

http://www.gamingcouchpotato.co.uk/2023/05/review-dogfight-sausage-bomber-story-on.html

REVIEW: Evil Dead Rise (2023) - Starring Lily Sullivan and Alyssa Sutherland

With all these horror remakes and reboots, it is time for another attempt to resurrect the Evil Dead franchise. Unfortunately, this is not a Bruce Campbell film. Nor does it seemingly have anything to do with the awesome Evil Dead TV series. It is also not a horror comedy. It is a straightforward horror film about demons and the undead.

The film starts off at a lakeside cabin, where cousins Teresa (Mirabai Pease) and Jessica (Anna-Maree Thomas) and Jessica's new boyfriend Caleb (Richard Crouchley) are attacked by Jessica. She scalps Teresa, decapitates Caleb, and then levitates above the lake. Now, quickly forget about that.

The day before this horrific event, Beth (Lily Sullivan), a guitar technician who has just found out she is pregnant, visits her sister Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) in a condemned Los Angeles apartment complex called Monde Apartments. Ellie is a single mother to teenagers Danny (Morgan Davies) and Bridget (Gabrielle Echols), and young child Kassie (Nell Fisher). An earthquake shakes the building while the children are in the basement parking lot, revealing a hidden chamber that contains religious artifacts, three phonograph records from 1923, and a strange book. Danny takes the book to his room, thinking he can sell it to help Ellie. The first record describes a priest's unsuccessful attempts to research the book, which is one of three volumes of the Naturom Demonto. The second record reveals that the priest continued his research in secret and performed an incantation that summons demonic entities called Deadites.

Full Review at

http://www.beentothemovies.com/2023/05/review-evil-dead-rise-2023-starring.html

REVIEW: The Adventures of Jurassic Pet 2: The Lost Secret - Starring Carolyn Josephine Wright, Sophie Proctor and Myles Currin-Moore

"The Adventures of Jurassic Pet 2: The Lost Secret" is a sequel to a film I never heard of, mainly because it was never released in the UK. That being said, when I was asked to review this, I was intrigued. Directed by Ryan Bellgardt and Chris Hoyt, the film follows adventurous teenager Wendy Jenkins (Sophie Proctor) and her wise grandmother Tadrina Green (Carolyn Josephine Wright), who are the protectors of a magical portal to the land of dinosaurs. However, the portal only opens once a month during the full moon period. After one such visit, Wendy winds up getting more than she bargained for when a baby dinosaur named Junior doesn't go back through the portal with its family and instead follows Wendy and her grandmother home.

They decide the best course of action is to keep Junior safe until the portal opens again. Wendy and her new friend Curtis (Myles Currin-Moore), who is an orphan and is being fostered by Wendy's family, must keep a watchful eye, but if only it were that simple. You see, the Mayor of the town played by Drew Pollock is evil, and with his henchmen Barney (LaRonn Marzett) and Clyde (Rahjzae Moore), they are running a factory producing a synthetic version of a poison created by an African Tsetse fly, which, if infected, will cause a sleeping illness - perfect if you want to, say, rob a bank.

Full Review at

http://www.beentothemovies.com/2023/05/review-adventures-of-jurassic-pet-2.html

REVIEW: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) - Starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Bradley Cooper and Pom Klementieff

Well, it's finally here, the swan song for the Guardians of the Galaxy. Possibly the most loved franchise of the MCU, which never felt like it should have been as popular as it does, comes to an end.

The Guardians of the Galaxy have set up their headquarters on a restored Knowhere (As depicted in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special from 2022).

One night, they are attacked by Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), a Sovereign created by their leader Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), seeking revenge for the Guardians' previous theft from her people. Despite his overwhelming power, Nebula (Karen Gillan) manages to injure Adam, who escapes. However, Rocket (Bradley Cooper) is left badly hurt, and the Guardians realize they cannot help him because of a kill switch implanted by Orgocorp. If they try to heal him, he dies. If they do nothing, he dies. Desperate to save their friend, they head to Orgocorp's headquarters, hoping to find an override code.

Meanwhile, as Rocket lies unconscious, he remembers his past as an experimental subject of the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), a scientist who sought to turn animals into anthropomorphic beings for his Counter-Earth project, an entire planet that is designed to copy Earth. Rocket befriended other test subjects, including Lylla (Linda Cardellini), Teefs (Asim Chaudhry), and Floor (Mikaela Hoover), but the High Evolutionary betrayed them, ordering Rocket's brain to be extracted and the other subjects incinerated. Rocket fought back, killing guards and escaping with Lylla, but she was killed, leaving Rocket alone. (This is a seriously sad part of the film, get your tissues out folks)

Full Review at

http://www.beentothemovies.com/2023/05/review-guardians-of-galaxy-vol-3-2023.html

REVIEW: Death or Treat on PC (Steam)

I do enjoy a good hack 'n' slash platform game, so when I was invited to review Death or Treat, I was definitely looking forward to the experience.

Let's first check out the official blurb for the game.

"Join Scary in the HallowVerse to make things great again!

You will play as Scary, the owner of Ghost Mart, the leader in manufacturing candies for Halloween.

Discover a huge world with lots of rooms, explore new maps in every run while you try to survive the hordes of enemies. It's not an easy task; every world is even trickier than the other. Starting with Darkchat, the Storyum lab, Riptok, the most used app sede, Deviltube, leaders distributing storyum, and last but not least, FaceBoo!, the ultimate epic frontier.

Will you overcome the challenge and dare to defeat Clark Fackerberg?"

Full Review at

http://www.gamingcouchpotato.co.uk/2023/05/review-death-or-treat-on-pc-steam.html

REVIEW: Renfield (2023) - Starring Nicholas Hoult, Awkwafina and Nicolas Cage

Who could ever have imagined that we would still be making films based on the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker? Well, we are, and the latest version of the tale focuses not so much on Dracula but on his deranged, fanatically devoted servant and familiar, Renfield.

In the early 1900s, a meeting occurs between Transylvanian vampire Count Dracula (Nicolas Cage) and English lawyer R.M. Renfield (Nicholas Hoult). Renfield aims to negotiate a deal for land and impresses Dracula enough to become his familiar (a human who was granted a portion of Dracula's power by Dracula himself). As a result, Renfield becomes immortal and gains superhuman abilities when he feeds on insects.

Fast forward ninety years, and Renfield has grown tired of assisting Dracula in his victim hunting and dealing with his abuse. After narrowly escaping vampire hunters, they relocate to New Orleans to recover. There, Renfield discovers a support group for individuals in co-dependent relationships and hatches a plan to seek out abusive partners of group members and offer them to Dracula as food. While tracking one abusive partner to a warehouse, Renfield is accosted by criminals and is later targeted by an assassin hired by the rival Lobo crime family.

Full Review at

http://www.beentothemovies.com/2023/05/review-renfield-2023-starring-nicholas.html

REVIEW: The Pope's Exorcist (2023) - Starring Russell Crowe

I have probably seen every single religious based horror film made in the last 40 years. I am a big fan of the genre, and I had been looking forward to seeing this as not only am I a fan of horror but also Russell Crowe, this film is based on a real person in Gabriele Amorth, an Italian Catholic priest and exorcist of the Diocese of Rome.

The film starts off in 1987, a man named Gabriele Amorth (Russell Crowe), who is the personal exorcist of the Pope, visits an Italian village where a man is believed to be possessed by a demon.

Gabriele Amorth is a simple, humorous, and practical man who rides a classic Lambretta scooter. Together with the local priest, he enters a room where the man is tied up, he performs an exorcist ritual and uses a Saint Benedict Medal to exorcise the demon, and trick him into possessing a pig, which is subsequently killed with a shotgun. However, Amorth's acted without permission from his superiors which gets him in trouble with a Church tribunal, which includes members like a sceptical American Cardinal Sullivan (Ryan O'Grady) and the friendly African Bishop Lumumba (Cornell John). Amorth defends his actions, stating that he did not perform a true exorcism but rather used psychological theatre to help the mentally-disturbed man. Amorth is not pleased with the tribunal and walks out.

Read More at

http://www.beentothemovies.com/2023/05/review-popes-exorcist-2023-starring.html

REVIEW: The Tank (2023) - Starring Luciane Buchanan, Mark Mitchinson and Matt Whelan

The Tank follows the tale of a young family who inherit a stunning, if neglected, stretch of Oregon coastline including a gorgeous old house. Ben (Matt Whelan) and Jules (Luciane Buchanan), a young couple and their young daughter Reia (Zara Nausbaum), are astonished to discover that Ben's late mother left them it all in a will because she never once mentioned the property. The property is next to the magnificent Pacific and has spectacular vistas, beautiful natural lighting, and of course, an overzealous agent trying to convince the couple to sell even though the house and infrastructure have been neglected for years. Unfortunately, there are some very old, sinister secrets attached to the property.

Ben and Jules are welcomed by an estate agent with a sizable offer for the property before they even have a chance to recover from the hike out to the magnificent but dilapidated sight. Ben later finds a hidden hatch on the property that unlocks The Tank while he is trying to collect his thoughts as he is strolling the grounds. An intricate network of aqueducts, valves, and underground tunnels may be found inside. Ben, who tends to be curious of such things, observes that the tank is broken. He chooses to attempt to fix and restart the broken device because he quite skilled at the old DIY. By doing this, he awakens a dark power that has lain dormant inside The Tank for a while.

Full Review at

http://www.beentothemovies.com/2023/04/review-tank-2023-starring-luciane.html

REVIEW: Scream VI (2023) - Starring Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Hayden Panettiere, and Courteney Cox

Welcome to the sequel to Scream (2022), which was supposed to relaunch the Scream franchise but turned out to be a direct sequel to Scream 4. Now, we have Scream 6, meaning we never had a movie titled Scream 5. Yes, it's a bit confusing, but the Scream franchise was never too concerned about logic. It's just your classic slasher film with lots of blood and dumb teens.

One year after the Woodsboro killings orchestrated by Richie Kirsch (Jack Quaid) and Amber Freeman, a Blackmore University professor named Laura Crane (Samara Weaving) is catfished by her student Jason Carvey (Tony Revolori), who lures her outside a bar in New York City and murders her while wearing a Ghostface costume. Jason plots with his roommate Greg to kill sisters Sam (Melissa Barrera) and Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega) to finish the "movie" that Richie and Amber wanted to make. However, Jason receives a call from a different Ghostface, who has killed Greg and subsequently stabs Jason to death.

Full Review at

http://www.beentothemovies.com/2023/04/review-scream-vi-2023-starring-melissa.html

REVIEW: Peter Pan & Wendy - Starring Alexander Molony, Ever Anderson and Jude Law

In recent years, Disney seems to be only interested in remaking classic films based on 100+ year old books and giving them a "woke" overhaul. Well, a remake that no one asked for is here in Peter Pan & Wendy. Before I start, if you are actually interested in watching a Peter Pan film for the first time, go and watch the live-action Peter Pan (2003), or even better, go watch Peter Pan (1954), possibly the most famous version of the story. If you have already seen those films and, for some reason, want to watch yet another version, then read on for my opinion.

Wendy Darling (Ever Anderson) is spending her last night at home with her parents, George (Alan Tudyk) and Mary (Molly Parker), and her two younger brothers, John (Joshua Pickering) and Michael (Jacobi Jupe), before going to boarding school the next day. Wendy is unhappy with her departure and tells her mother that she does not want to grow up. Later that night, the ethnically ambiguous Peter Pan (Alexander Molony) appears in the Darlings' nursery. Having heard of Wendy's wish, he claims that he has come to take her to Neverland, where she will never have to grow up. With the help of Peter's companion and friend, African American/Native American/Iranian fairy Tinker Bell (Yara Shahidi), Wendy, John, and Michael all fly to Neverland.

Full Review at

http://www.beentothemovies.com/2023/04/review-peter-pan-wendy-starring.html

REVIEW: Kids vs. Aliens (2023) - Starring Dominic Mariche, Phoebe Rex, Calem MacDonald and Asher Grayson

I had this film ready to review a while back, but as usual I never bothered to read the synopsis, so I assumed that this was some kids film, boy was I wrong. As soon as it starts I see that glorious Shudder logo, and damn I know this just has to be a horror film. But hey what do I know, maybe Shudder are suddenly going into the kids market?

The film starts off with some fishmen in the middle of the sea being attacked by what we can assume are aliens.

We then cross over to a group of older teenagers, Billy (Calem MacDonald), Dallas (Isaiah Fortune), and Trish (Emma Vickers), are searching for a place to host their Halloween party. They come across young friends Gary (Dominic Mariche), Jack (Asher Grayson), and Miles (Ben Tector) who are filming a homemade fantasy movie in a barn with Gary's older sister Samantha (Phoebe Rex). At this point you will get major Stranger Things vibes, except all the kids are normal and without any psychic powers, anyway, Billy and his friends start bullying the boys until Billy shows interest in Samantha. Samantha becomes enamoured with Billy, but Gary breaks his arm during the filming, and Samantha's parents ground her for the incident. Moreover, Gary criticizes Samantha for giving up on her role in the movie to pursue an adult persona that may impress Billy.

Full Review at

http://www.beentothemovies.com/2023/04/review-kids-vs-aliens-2023-starring.html