Posts Tagged ‘Adria Arjona’

Blink Twice

Director: Zoe Kravitz

Cast: Channing Tatum, Naomi Ackie, Christian Slater, Simon Rex, Adria Arjona, Haley Joel Osment, Geena Davis, Kyle MacLachlan, Levon Hawke

Running Time: 1 hour 42 minutes

Film Rating: 7 out of 10

The best decision that first time director Zoe Kravitz did, was change the title of this first time feature directorial from Pussy Island to Blink Twice.

Imagine trying to market a film called Pussy Island?

Actress turned director Zoe Kravitz casts Channing Tatum as mysterious tech billionaire Slater King in Blink Twice opposite an amazing Naomi Ackie (I Wanna Dance with Somebody) as Frida, a struggling Los Angeles waitress who along with her friend Jess played by Alia Shawkat are invited to his private island in an unknown location.

Like in director Mike Mylod’s The Menu, the audience knows that something terrifying is about to happen, but not sure what. Blink Twice is no different except lacking the charisma of Ralph Fiennes, this is a mystery horror thriller starring a host of ensemble actors including Christian Slater (True Romance, Interview with a Vampire) as Vic, Simon Rex as Cody, Oscar winner Geena Davis (The Accidental Tourist) as Stacy and Kyle MacLachlan (Blue Velvet, Dune) as Rich. There is also a fiery Adria Arjona (Hitman) as Sarah along with Levon Hawke as Lucas.

Frida and Slater and a host of guests arrive via private jet at the sumptuous yet creepy estate, a red villa amidst lush greenery seeping with poisonous snakes and shifty servants.

Blink Twice takes a while to get going, but the intensity of the narrative is held together by some inventive colour saturation and gaudy production design by Roberto Bonelli, which frames the anguish of the characters against stark primary colours as their social anxiety heightens. Zoe Kravitz’s decision to film most of the characters in Extreme Close Up adds to the psychological trauma of what is really occurring.

Amidst the lavish dinners and decadent pool parties, with all the ladies in white and the men looking lecherous, Frida’s friend Jess suddenly goes missing and soon all the luxury of their plush surroundings vanish when Frida tries to piece together what is really happening polaroid style.

Channing Tatum plays the sinister billionaire and steps out of his comfort zone as a quasi-villain. Blink Twice really belongs to Naomi Ackie and Adria Arjona as they soon discover that their drug induced dinners served an entirely nefarious purpose. The nasty characters get horribly messy very quickly amidst the pink mimosas and the champagne cocktails on this private island in which the men are catching more than just fish.

As a directorial debut Zoe Kravitz’s film Blink Twice is slightly challenging in places, yet the narrative doesn’t quite hold together and some of the extra characters are wasted. Fortunately for all its garish quirks, Blink Twice has a fascinating twist at the end.

Not for sensitive viewers, Blink Twice is a psychological thriller for the Instagram generation which gets a film rating of 7 out of 10. If you enjoyed Saltburn and The Menu, then watch Blink Twice.

Hit Man

Director: Richard Linklater

Cast: Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio, Retta, Sanjay Rao

Running Time: 1 hour 55 minutes

Film Rating: 7 out of 10

Oscar nominee for writing and directing Texan born film director Richard Linklater (Before Sunset, Before Midnight, Boyhood) collaborates with fellow Texan actor Glen Powell in his new film Hit Man about a philosophy lecturer at New Orleans State University Gary Johnson who moonlights for the local police department posing as an actual hitman but using his fake tough guy identity to trap would be potential criminals into planning a possible murder.

Based on a short story about the real life story of Gary Johnson written by Skip Hollandsworth entitled Hit Man which appeared in Texas Monthly, Linklater teams up with Powell to write the screenplay in which Glen Powell excels as the meek and mild Gary Johnson, a loner philosopher professor who tells his students to live dangerously and then does just that by creating a multitude of alter egos, posing as a professional hit man and landing a variety of people in jail when they try and pay him to take out someone significant in their life.

Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick, Anyone But You, Hidden Figures) is joined on screen by the gorgeous Mexican actress Adria Arjona (Father of the Bride, Pacific Rim: Uprising) who plays the feisty Madison Masters which proves to be Gary’s undoing as he presents to Madison his sexy alter ego Ron, a hit man which she wants to hire to kill her abusive husband. Once Gary meets Madison things start going horribly wrong as soon a dead body is found.

The trick with Richard Linklater films is to expect a lot of dialogue. All his films and storylines are dialogue and character driven. Linklater has never been a big flashy block buster director although he did prove his worth in his Oscar winning coming of age story Boyhood which earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Patricia Arquette as it skilfully chronicled a life of a young boy from early childhood to college and was shot over a 12 year period from 2002 to 2013.

Hit Man is no exception in terms of characters and dialogue particularly between the two lead actors, whose onscreen chemistry sizzle in this sexy, philosophical comedy about the potential of violence and the ability to create a successful alter ego. Both Glen Powell and Adria Arjona are easy on the eye and their eclectic supporting cast which includes Austin Amelio (Everybody Wants Some!!) as Jasper, Sanjay Rao as police colleague Phil and Retta as the police officer.

Unlike the zany, colourful film poster of Hit Man, this is not an action film but a cleverly written romantic comedy, a possibly true story about one man who decides to seize a new identity which changes his life when he meets the girl of his dreams.

Hit Man’s story line did need some action to increase the pace, but Glen Powell proves his flexible acting ability as the philosophically challenged Gary Johnson in this quirky romantic comedy which gets a film rating of 7 out of 10.

Hit Man is recommended as a quirky contemporary film about love with a dash of humour and a subtle hint of danger.

Pacific Rim Uprising

Director: Steven S. DeKnight

Cast: John Boyega, Scott Eastwood, Cailee Spaeny, Burn Gorman, Charlie Day, Tian Jing, Rinko Kikuchi, Adria Arjona

Film Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Successful sequels only work if they have a cinematic uniformity of vision.

Unfortunately the sequel to Guillermo del Toro’s highly original Pacific Rim (2013) called Pacific Rim Uprising is a paint by numbers sequel without much depth to it beyond massive creatures attacking Tokyo and Honolulu and the defensive Jaegers trying to fight them off.

Featuring rising stars John Boyega (Detroit, Star Wars: The Force Awakens) as Jake Pentecost, son of Stacker Pentecost from Pacific Rim and Scott Eastwood (Fury, Suicide Squad) as Nate Lambert, there are only few of the original cast in the sequel including Oscar nominee Rinko Kikuchi (Babel) as Mako Mori and Charlie Day as the crazed tech genius Dr Newton Geiszler.

Unfortunately no Idris Elba or Charlie Hunnam to light up our screens and make this sequel dazzle.

In trying to prevent another attack of the Kaiju on the Pacific Rim cities around the globe, Jake teams up with a young delinquent Amara Namani played by Cailee Spaeny.

Tian Jing (Kong: Skull Island, The Great Wall) plays Liwen Shao , head of a shady Shanghai Tech giant Shao Technologies which plays on introducing drones to control the Jaegers as a defence mechanism against another impending attack of the nefarious Kaiju.

Jake and Amara try to rustle up a team of young recruits but that is soon usurped by a sudden attack in Sydney of a rogue Jaeger. The action moves swiftly onto Tokyo in the most impressive CGI sequence whereby the roaming sea monsters are intent on attacking Mount Fiji while Jake and his team have to fight them off before they reach their volcanic destination.

As an effects laden CGI movie, Pacific Rim Uprising is fun to watch but lacks originality and the script is lacklustre coupled with the uninspiring direction by Daredevil director Steven S. DeKnight.

Pacific Rim Uprising gets a film rating of 6.5 out of 10 and is recommended for only those viewers that loved the first film. Otherwise this sequel, like many, is not going to have a broader appeal.