Sunday 31 December 2017

Okja (2017) - Movie Review


www.thegaia.org
The plot: For the past ten years, South Korean girl Mija (Ahn Seo-hyun) has looked after Okja, a “super-pig” that is one of 26 specimens sent out by the Mirando Corporation to different farmers all over the world. However, when Mirando CEO Lucy Mirando (Tilda Swinton) takes Okja away to take part in a competition in New York, Okja finds herself in the middle of an open battle between Mirando and a group of animal rights activists led by Jay (Paul Dano) as to what Okja, and the other super-pigs like her, will become.





Downsizing (2017) - Movie Review


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The plot: As a means to combat overpopulation, a group of Norwegian scientists have come up with a ground-breaking solution: Literally shrinking the population down to a height of only five inches. Suburban couple Paul (Matt Damon) and Audrey (Kristen Wiig), unsatisfied with their current living conditions, decide to take part in the procedure… only for Audrey to back out at the last minute. Now shrunken and alone, Dave takes part in this brand new miniature society, only to discover that even this scenario has its drawbacks.




Coco (2017) - Movie Review


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The plot: Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez) wants to become a famous musician like his hero Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt), something made difficult by how Miguel’s family have expressly forbidden any of them getting involved in music. However, when Miguel finds himself in the Land Of The Dead on the night of Dia de los Muertos, his struggle between his dreams and his family is about to get even more complicated as he discovers that he and Ernesto might have a lot more in common than he first thought.





OtherLife (2017) - Movie Review


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The plot: Programmer Ren (Jessica De Gouw) and her business partner Sam (T. J. Power) are less than a week away from launching their product OtherLife, a breakthrough in biotechnology that allows them to create and administer virtual experiences; in the space of a minute, a person lives out an entire day’s worth of memories. However, as they are trying to iron out the bugs before the big launch, it seems that Ren has been some work of her own with the tech… and if she isn’t careful, she could be stuck in a virtual nightmare.




Breathe (2017) - Movie Review


www.thegaia.org
The plot: Tea broker Robin Cavendish (Andrew Garfield), after being stricken by polio and rendered paralysed from the neck down, has been given only three months left to live. However, between his wife Diana’s (Claire Foy) words of encouragement and his own resolve, he plans on being around for a bit longer than that. As he adjusts to his new living conditions, his friends and family all chip in to help him out, starting a movement that would lead Robin Cavendish to become one of the most famous advocates for the disabled in history.




Call Me By Your Name (2017) - Movie Review


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The plot: While living with his parents (Michael Stuhlbarg and Amira Casar) in Italy, Elio (Timothée Chalamet) strikes up a friendship with Oliver (Armie Hammer), an archaeology graduate who Elio’s father is helping with his academics. However, as Elio continues his relationship with his girlfriend Marzia (Esther Garrel), he discovers that he has certain… feelings towards Oliver. He begins to explore these feelings with Oliver, whom reciprocates, but just how long can this affair last?





Saturday 30 December 2017

The Belko Experiment (2017) - Movie Review


www.thegaia.org
The plot: For the workers of Belko Industries, situated in an office building in Bogotá, it started out like any other work day. That is, until a mysterious voice rings out through the building posing a terrible ultimatum. All the doors have been locked down, and every window has been shuttered; the workers are trapped inside. The mysterious voice tells them that, of the 80 workers in the building, 30 must be killed in order for the rest to make it out alive. If not, 60 of them will be randomly selected to die instead. With their options running out and tensions running high, it seems that some are more willing to play along than others.



The Most Hated Woman In America (2017) - Movie Review


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The plot: Atheism activist Madalyn Murray O’Hair (Melissa Leo), her son Jon (Michael Churnus) and her granddaughter Robin (Juno Temple) have been kidnapped by Madalyn’s former work colleague David Waters (Josh Lucas) for a ransom. As they try and find a way out of their situation, Madalyn reminisces about the events that led her to this point, from working with her other son William (Vincent Kartheiser) to ban in prayer in public schools to founding the organisation American Atheists to her frequent clashes with the Christian populace. It seems that no good deed truly goes unpunished.



1922 (2017) - Movie Review


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The plot: Farmer Wilf (Thomas Jane) has holed up himself up in a hotel to write down a confession. In 1922, in response to his wife Arlette (Molly Parker) inheriting 100 acres of framing land, he decided to kill her and take the land for himself. However, as he and his son Henry (Dylan Schmid) try to cover up their crime from their neighbours, the weight of Wilf’s actions starts to bear down on him. In an attempt to have more, he is about to lose everything.





Friday 29 December 2017

Lady Macbeth (2017) - Movie Review


www.thegaia.org
The plot: In 1860’s England, Katherine (Florence Pugh) has been sold into marriage to Alexander (Paul Hilton), expected to conceive an heir for him. However, when both he and his demanding father Boris (Christopher Fairbank) leave the estate for a few days on business, Katherine is given a chance to exercise some personal freedom. She takes advantage of the situation, starting a passionate affair with estate worker Sebastian (Cosmo Jarvis), and she starts to like the idea of acting as her own person. And she will do anything to keep that freedom.




Miss Sloane (2017) - Movie Review


www.thegaia.org
The plot: Lobbyist Elizabeth Sloane (Jessica Chastain) has been brought before a congressional hearing under suspicion of violating U.S. Senate ethics law. She recalls the events of the last three months, specifically her involvement in getting a gun control bill passed into congress and the efforts of her and her team to secure the votes. However, in the process of trying to win the battle, her determination has led her to increasingly dubious choices that may show her to be the bigger threat than the people she’s fighting against.




Thursday 28 December 2017

Hounds Of Love (2017) - Movie Review


www.thegaia.org
The plot: On her way to a party, teenager Vicki (Ashleigh Cummings) is picked up by suburban couple Evelyn (Emma Booth) and John (Stephen Curry), who offer her a lift. However, they don’t take her to the party; they take to the same place they took the last few strays they picked up from the side of the road: Shackled to a bed in their home. Turns, Evelyn and John’s sexual tastes lean to the more… adventurous, and if she wants to make it out alive, she’ll have to figure out how to turn the tables against her captors.





The Beguiled (2017) - Movie Review


www.thegaia.org
The plot: Amy (Oona Laurence), a student of a Virginian girls school during the American Civil War, comes across a wounded Union soldier in the woods surrounding the school. Amy brings the soldier, named Corporal McBurney (Colin Farrell), to the school where the headmistress Martha (Nicole Kidman) agrees to bring him in and get him better. However, with Confederate soldiers frequently marching outside their gates, and the girls at the school not being sure how much they can trust the Corporal, they may have to come to a difficult decision about what to do with him.




Wednesday 27 December 2017

The Glass Castle (2017) - Movie Review


www.thegaia.org
The plot: Jeannette Walls (Brie Larson), now a successful businesswoman, reminisces about her childhood. Specifically, being raised alongside her sisters Lori (Sarah Snook) and Maureen (Brigette Lundy-Paine) and her brother Brian (Josh Caras) by their mother Rose Mary (Naomi Watts) and Rex (Woody Harrelson). As she recollects her family’s secluded and rather destitute living conditions, and sees her parents’ current living conditions, she has to come to terms with what they did to her and her siblings, both the good and the bad.




You Get Me (2017) - Movie Review


www.thegaia.org
The plot: After a messy break-up with his girlfriend Alison (Halston Sage), Tyler (Taylor John Smith) ends up spending the rest of the weekend with the seductive Holly (Bella Thorne). However, after he sobers up from the experience, he makes up with Alison. Holly is not happy about this, and she’ll do anything to have Tyler all to herself. Anything.







Tuesday 26 December 2017

The Greatest Showman (2017) - Movie Review


www.thegaia.org
The plot: P. T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman), after being laid off from his job, has stumbled onto an idea. He decides to create a show for children of all ages, comprised of the many peculiarities of the world. As his show gets off the ground and New York is shown such oddities as the pint-size General Tom Thumb (Sam Humphrey), the bearded lady Lettie Lutz (Keala Settle) and trapeze artist Anne (Zendaya), Barnum starts to lose sight of why he is in “show business” in the first place. Will he stick by his co-stars and his family, or will the spotlight drive to the very people he set out to disrupt?




El Camino Christmas (2017) - Movie Review


www.thegaia.org
The plot: Eric (Luke Grimes) has arrived to El Camino, Arizona, in search of his lost father. However, he soon finds himself in a bizarre hostage situation when he, local policeman Carl Hooker (Vincent D’Onofrio), mother Kate (Michelle Mylett) and her son, and town drunk Larry (Tim Allen) are stuck inside of a liquor store. The officers outside, particularly Sheriff Fuller (Kurtwood Smith) and Deputy Calhoun (Dax Shepard) have no idea what’s going on, and the situation inside is far from cut-and-dry. It’s going to be a long Christmas.




Monday 25 December 2017

Pork Pie (2017) - Movie Review


www.thegaia.org
The plot: Struggling writer Jon (Dean O’Gorman), after a messy encounter with his ex Suzie (Antonia Prebble), is left struggling to figure out how to make things right again. By chance, he happens upon Luke (James Rolleston), who has stolen a car and hitting the road. He decides to help Jon get his ex-girlfriend’s house, picking up disgruntled fast food worker Keira (Ashleigh Cummings) along the way. As they go on their way, their antics on the road draw the attention of the local police, Jon’s family and even the national media, with them being dubbed the ‘Blondini Gang’.




Bright (2017) - Movie Review


www.thegaia.org
The plot: In an alternate present, humans have co-existed with elves, orcs and fairies since the beginning of time. Police officer Daryl Ward (Will Smith) has been paired up with rookie Orc cop Nick Jakoby (Joel Edgerton) against his wishes, and the rest of the force isn’t too happy with having Jakoby either. On a routine call, they find a magic wand, one of the most powerful artifacts in their world. With the help of elf Tikka (Lucy Fry), Ward and Jakoby set out to stop Leilah (Noomi Rapace) from using the wand to bring back The Dark Lord and return the world into a state of mystical war like it was 2000 years earlier.



Sunday 24 December 2017

War Machine (2017) - Movie Review


www.thegaia.org
The plot: With the U.S. government really wanting to put an end to their military campaign in Afghanistan, they send in renowned general Glen McMahon (Brad Pitt) to lead the charge and, more importantly, prepare an assessment on how to resolve the matter. However, it seems that McMahon doesn’t want the troops to leave before the job is done, and so sets out to “win” the War On Terror. Everyone outside of his main platoon look at him aghast that a single person can get so much wrong in so little time.





Wind River (2017) - Movie Review


www.thegaia.org
The plot: Wildlife tracker Cory (Jeremy Renner), while on a routine hunt, discovers the body of a dead Native America woman in the snow. As she alerts the residents of the surrounding reservation of Wind River, in particular the victim’s father Martin (Gil Birmingham), FBI agent Jane (Elizabeth Olsen) is brought in to help with the investigation. As she and Cory try to figure who was responsible for the death, they are confronted with just how dangerous this land can be.





Saturday 23 December 2017

The Space Between Us (2017) - Movie Review


www.thegaia.org
The plot: In the near-future, NASA has teamed up with Genesis Electronics, led by CEO Nathaniel Shepherd (Gary Oldman), to colonize Mars. Gardner (Asa Butterfield) is the first human to be born on Mars and for the past 16 years, it’s the only life he’s ever known. However, when he decides to leave for Earth, he soon finds himself having to adjust to life on this alien planet. With the help of teenager Tulsa (Britt Robertson), the only Earthling he’s had regular contact with, they set out to find Gardner’s father, his only living relative.




Raw (2017) - Movie Review


www.thegaia.org
The plot: Justine (Garance Marillier) is a lifelong vegetarian who has just started her schooling at a veterinarian college. However, during the hazing process, she is given her first taste of meat. As her stint at the college continues, she discovers that she has developed a real liking for flesh… and it’s not animals that she is hungry for.







Friday 22 December 2017

The Case For Christ (2017) - Movie Review


www.thegaia.org
The plot: Lee Strobel (Mike Vogel) is an acclaimed investigative reporter for the Chicago Tribune. However, he soon turns his investigative efforts towards a more personal agenda, when he discovers that his wife Leslie (Erika Christensen) has become a Christian. He sets out to find evidence that Jesus didn’t exist, interviewing experts all over the country, but the answers he finds may not be the ones he was looking for.






Their Finest (2017) - Movie Review


www.thegaia.org
The plot: Screenwriter Catrin Cole (Gemma Arterton) is asked by Britain’s Ministry of Information to make a film about two twin sisters who take their father’s boat out to help in the evacuation of Dunkirk. As she works closely with writer Tom Buckley (Sam Claflin) and actor Ambrose Hilliard (Bill Nighy), they put together a film that they hope will meet the Ministry’s wishes for a production that will bring the nation together. However, as a series of uncontrollable events and mandates fall their way, up to and including being forced to include American Carl Lundbeck (Jake Lacy) into the film despite his lack of acting experience, they’ll have to work hard to make a uniting film before it tears them all apart.