He is on MERCY ROAD

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray writer/director John Curran and Well Go USA is the terror filled ride of a father for his child that leads down MERCY ROAD.

Tom (Luke Bracey) has just committed a brutal crime and someone knows every detail about it. Daughter Ruby (Martha Morgan) has been abducted and call after call from the authorities and ex-wife Terri (Alex Malone) have Tom on the verge of insanity.

Driving down a dark road, he is trying to understand what is happening as calls come flooding in, one in particular is about to explain what is next. The associate (Toby Jones) is making it clear that Tom is to keep driving and will be told what to do step by step. The voice also seems to know what has happened with his daughter and it is horrific.

Tom reaches out to anyone he can think of to piece together how he can get his daughter back. There is no reason to what he is being asked to do or why, only that he has no other choice than to listen to the calm voice coming through his phone.

The end of the road brings shocking realizations to a man caught up in a voice.

Bracey as Tom is a man totally out of control. He wants to help the daughter he has an estranged relationship with at any cost. The heinous act he commits is almost more than he can handle when driving frantically into the night. Bracey gives every spectrum of panic that one would go through realizing that the situation is in someone else’s hands.

Jones as the voice of The Associate is calm and does not react to Tom’s out of control behavior. Instead, he makes it clear that he is not motivated by emotion but, in fact, is motivated to do whatever any client wishes without emotion being a factor. Jones has a distinctive voice and, even though the character claims to have no reactions, that is the creepy element that is so well done here.

Malone as Terri is reacting to her ex-husband based on an incident that continually plagues her anger. When Tom tries to explain what is really happening, she wants to believe him but that doesn’t change her range of anger. Well done, Mom!

Morgan as Ruby is the reason for everything that is happening. A kidnapped daughter who is going through something in her life that has brought it all about is living on borrowed time according to The Associate. There are moments where we see Ruby but it is so quick that it adds to the already building tension of the film.

Well Go USA Entertainment is a theatrical and home entertainment company specializing in bringing the best Action, Genre and Independent films from around the world to North American markets. As a leader in independent film distribution, Well Go USA Entertainment’s titles can be seen across a variety of platforms including theatrical, digital, subscription and cable VOD, packaged media and broadcast television. Well Go USA Entertainment currently releases three to five films per month. To see more please visit www.wellgousa.com.

MERCY ROAD is a fast-paced film of a father trying to protect a daughter he is estranged from. Being away from her does not change the fact that something horrible has happened to her and Bracey’s character is going to do everything he can to fix it, even commit a crime. Once on the road, his life is no longer his own as he discovers that someone is watching every move.

Once the clock starts on her survival, Bracey’s character Tom tries everything that he can to reach out for help – but someone is listening and controlling everything. That’s what makes this film so intense is watching Tom try to escape a situation, reaching out for help and trying to figure out who it is that is watching and listening to every move he makes.

Keeping the cast small adds to that intensity because all eyes are on Tom and his reaction to the situation. Voices over the phone and short videos keep hope alive but barely. This is the type of film that you have popcorn in your hand and it’s almost in your mouth but just stops short and stays there for a long while.

In the end – one wrong turn can cost you everything!

THE ELECTRICAL LIFE OF LOUIS WAIN

 Jeri Jacquin

Coming from writer/director Will Sharpe, writer Simon Stephenson and Amazon Original Films is the unique story with THE ELECTRICAL LIFE OF LOUIS WAIN.

Louis (Benedict Cumberbatch) is an Edwardian artist and illustrator living in London who can in a moment’s notice create art work drawings of animals. Taking care of his sisters, he has to deal with the bossy and emotionally undermining sister Caroline Wain (Andrea Riseborough). When Sir William Ingram (Toby Jones) offers Wain a position of illustrating for his paper.

Accepting the position, he has time for little else. When governess Emily (Claire Foy) becomes part of the very busy household, it is the first time that Louis feels something so strong for someone outside his family. His world changes when he decides to marry the lovely Emily and they move into the country to be together.

Still taking care of his family in the city, Louis is continually working. When he and Emily discover a young kitten in their garden and name it Peter, something wonderful begins to happen. Louis finds inspiration and everything changes as the drawings become an instant sensation.

When Emily becomes ill, his life shifts once again. The emotional turmoil sends Louis through a period where nothing feels right. Even his theory about electricity going from person to person transforming them was not helping him or his sister who is eventually confined to an asylum.

His own personal spiral is filled with pain, anguish and cats.

Cumberbatch as Wain manages to, with ease, give his character the right amount of innocence mixed in the emotional instability. The pressures of being entirely responsible for a family, it is clear that there were issues in the family as seen with his own sister. When Cumberbatch is on the screen with Foy, something amazing happens. There is a spark that is joyous because Wain had the one thing he did not get at home – love and acceptance.

Foy as Emily is delightful, pragmatic and knows exactly what it is that her husband needs in the way of support. There life away from his family is filled with smiles, love and even laughter, especially when a little ball of fuzz makes its way into their lives. Treating Percy like a child, they lavish all the love and affection parents would.

Riseborough as Caroline has emotional issues of her own ranging from anger at her brother’s lack of financials to anger of his marriage to Emily and just general unhappiness with life. Consistently putting pressure on Louis, Riseborough does not pull any punches in her performance to the point of even having me wide eyes and jaw dropped.

Other cast include Jamie Demetriou as Richard Woodville, Indica Watson as young Felcie, Cassia McCarthy as young Claire, Sophia Di Martino as Judith, Taika Waititi as Max Kase, Dorothy Atkinson as Mrs. DuFrayne, Nick Cave as H.G. Wells, Daniel Rigby as Bendigo,  and Oliva Colman as the Narrater.

Amazon Prime offers television shows and original content included in its Amazon Prime subscription. Original programs such as CARNIVAL ROW, THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE, and THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL are hit shows. Coming soon is the next series with GOLIATH starring Billy Bob Thornton and it promises to another successful and intense series.

Wain did not only do drawings of cats, he also did country scenes and drew for Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News to The Illustrated London News. It was in 1886 that the later published a drawing called “A Kittens’ Christmas Party”. Over his lifetime he would illustrate children’s books and did work for magazines, papers and postcards.

Cumberbatch is able to capture the financial problems that Wain had throughout his life. Constantly exploited, he was unaware of the financial losses he would take because of no copyright. Even going to the United States, he was met with an audience who did not understand his way of thinking.

Eventually he would be hospitalized where he would spend his days trying to find the peace that had avoided him in life. H. G. Wells said, “he has made the cat his own. He invented a cat style, a cat society, a whole cat world. English cats that do not look and live like Louis Wain cats are ashamed of themselves.”

THE ELECTRICAL LIFE OF LOUIS WAIN is beautiful done with costuming and set designs that adds to the story. Cumberbatch gives the performance of a man who had an amazing and stunning talent but hindered by a condition that clearly could not be accurately diagnosed or treated correctly.

Adding Foy into the mix, even if her performance could be considered brief, gives us a look at the life Wain could never have imagined for himself. These two on screen brought a chemistry that is mesmerizing to watch.

For anyone who knows the work of Wain or even loves cats – just remember that this is the man responsible for giving cats a homelife, for becoming more than mice catchers but instead becoming furry and purring members of our families.

In the end – he saw something no one else did.

 

Prepare for an ATOMIC BLONDE to Shatter on Bluray

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray/DVD and Digital with a kick and a bang from director David Leitch and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is the ATOMIC BLONDE.

It is Berlin and the Cold War as Lorraine (Charlize Theron), a British agent with MI6 and a mean set of skills. Interrogated by Gray (Toby Jones) and Chief C (James Faulkner), they want to know about the mission to retrieve information stolen from another agent.

It is a list of top secret information that can hurt agents everywhere hidden in a watch. Landing in Berlin, Lorraine makes contact with Percival (James McAvoy), a twisted agent living a life more like a bohemian who is good at getting things. Under the cover of retrieving the agent killed, Lorraine begins to poke around given bits and pieces by Percival.

One thing she learns is that there is someone named Spyglass (Eddie Marsan) who has memorized the information. That brings more curiosity to Lorraine and she wants to know what other secrets everyone is keeping from her. Meeting Delphine (Sofia Boutella) might be the key to so very much more.

It is a game of cat and mouse with a high body count when dealing with an ATOMIC BLONDE!

Theron as Lorraine is not anyone I’d ever mess with. Focused, strong, smart and highly aware of her surroundings, she takes a beating but gives just as much in return. Theron doesn’t need tons of dialogue to get the job done. Her eyes and face are expressive until they are not. I love seeing her tear up the screen, not just physically but her intense presence.

McAvoy gets the chance to be sleazy once again. Trying to fit into the scene of Berlin he buys information with Jack Daniels and Jordache jeans (if you don’t know that name kids, ask your grandparents). McAvoy gives the slick chain-smoking character the right amount of angry charm that I enjoyed watching. He’s getting good at being bad!

Jones as Gray wants to know every detail of what happened to the mission yet doesn’t seem shocked at the answers. Goodman as Emmett gets the suspicion of Lorraine from the moment he steps into the room yet there is more to it than just being American.

Marsan as Spyglass is a timid man who knows a little too much about everything and uses it to try and save his family. Boutella as Delphine is the mysterious woman who captures Lorraine’s attention as she watches the chess pieces move all around the board.

Other cast includes Roland Moller as Alekander Bremovych, Bill Skarsgard as Merkel, Sam Hargrave as James Gasciogne, Johannes Johansson as Yuri Bakhtin, Tig Schweiger as the Watchmaker and John Goodman as Emmett.

Universal Studios Home Entertainment has just added an amazing film to their library and making it available for us all to experience and re-experience in our own home theatres. There are films of every genre available from scary to drama to family films. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.uphe.com.

ATOMIC BLONDE continues to get four and a half tubs of popcorn out of five on this stunning Bluray. Why? Simply put it’s a heck of a lot of fun to watch, the soundtrack is smokin’, the cinematography is fantastic and the action is none stop from start to finish. It truly is the reason we go to the movies!

The story isn’t geared toward any one demographic as it plays to its strengths and not the political correctness of it all. There just isn’t anything about ATOMIC BLONDE that I didn’t like. Theron is absolutely beautiful and coming off of THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS where she is a real bad gal, in ATOMIC BLONDE she is another type of real bad gal and this one I’d want on my side.

What can be said about the cinematography but wow, absolutely wow. Of course Theron makes the screen look amazing just by her presence but the dark, rough way the film is shot lends such an underworld feel I just loved.

The soundtrack includes a few awesome songs such as 99 Luftballons performed by Nena (remember that video?), Father Figure by George Michaels, Der Kommissar by After the Fire, The Politics of Dancing by Re-Flex, Voices Carry by Til Tuesday, I Ran by Flock of Seagulls and Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie. I spent a lot of time lip-synching while watching Theron drop kick a few bad guys!

The Bluray/DVD include the Bonus Features of Deleted Scenes, Welcome to Berlin, Blondes Have More Gun, Spymaster, Anatomy of a Fight Scene, Story in Motion with Commentary by Director David Leitch, Feature Commentary with Director David Leitch and Editor Elisabet Ronaldsottir.

ATOMIC BLONDE is taken from the Oni Press graphic novel series The Coldest City by Antony Johnston who also authored Wasteland.

In the end – she’s about to go atomic!

Prepare for an ATOMIC BLONDE

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to theatres this Friday with a kick and a bang from director David Leitch and Focus Features is the ATOMIC BLONDE.

It is Berlin and the Cold War as Lorraine (Charlize Theron), a British agent with MI6 and a mean set of skills. Interrogated by Gray (Toby Jones) and Chief C (James Faulkner), they want to know about the mission to retrieve information stolen from another agent.

It is a list of top secret information that can hurt agents everywhere hidden in a watch. Landing in Berlin, Lorraine makes contact with Percival (James McAvoy), a twisted agent living a life more like a bohemian who is good at getting things. Under the cover of retrieving the agent killed, Lorraine begins to poke around given bits and pieces by Percival.

One thing she learns is that there is someone named Spyglass (Eddie Marsan) who has memorized the information. That brings more curiosity to Lorraine and she wants to know what other secrets everyone is keeping from her. Meeting Delphine (Sofia Boutella) might be the key to so very much more.

It is a game of cat and mouse with a high body count when dealing with an ATOMIC BLONDE!

Theron as Lorraine is not anyone I’d ever mess with. Focused, strong, smart and highly aware of her surroundings, she takes a beating but gives just as much in return. Theron doesn’t need tons of dialogue to get the job done. Her eyes and face are expressive until they are not. I love seeing her tear up the screen, not just physically but her intense presence.

McAvoy gets the chance to be sleazy once again. Trying to fit into the scene of Berlin he buys information with Jack Daniels and Jordache jeans (if you don’t know that name kids, ask your grandparents). McAvoy gives the slick chain-smoking character the right amount of angry charm that I enjoyed watching. He’s getting good at being bad!

Jones as Gray wants to know every detail of what happened to the mission yet doesn’t seem shocked at the answers. Goodman as Emmett gets the suspicion of Lorraine from the moment he steps into the room yet there is more to it than just being American.

Marsan as Spyglass is a timid man who knows a little too much about everything and uses it to try and save his family. Boutella as Delphine is the mysterious woman who captures Lorraine’s attention as she watches the chess pieces move all around the board.

Other cast includes Roland Moller as Alekander Bremovych, Bill Skarsgard as Merkel, Sam Hargrave as James Gasciogne, Johannes Johansson as Yuri Bakhtin, Tig Schweiger as the Watchmaker and John Goodman as Emmett.

TUBS OF POPCORN: I give ATOMIC BLONDE four and a half tubs of popcorn out of five. Why? Simply put it’s a heck of a lot of fun to watch, the soundtrack is smokin’, the cinematography is fantastic and the action is none stop from start to finish. It truly is the reason we go to the movies!

The story isn’t geared toward any one demographic as it plays to its strengths and not the political correctness of it all. There just isn’t anything about ATOMIC BLONDE that I didn’t like. Theron is absolutely beautiful and coming off of THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS where she is a real bad gal, in ATOMIC BLONDE she is another type of real bad gal and this one I’d want on my side.

The soundtrack includes a few awesome songs such as 99 Luftballons performed by Nena (remember that video?), Father Figure by George Michaels, Der Kommissar by After the Fire, The Politics of Dancing by Re-Flex, Voices Carry by Til Tuesday, I Ran by Flock of Seagulls and Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie. I spent a lot of time lip-synching while watching Theron drop kick a few bad guys!

ATOMIC BLONDE is taken from the Oni Press graphic novel series The Coldest City by Antony Johnston who also authored Wasteland.

In the end – she’s about to go atomic on summer!