Slam! Movie Reviews: Y8 Edition

[SLAM!]

@4815162342 @Blankments @cookie @YourMother the Edgelord @Ethan Hunt @MCKillswitch123

 

Hi!

 

So I want to give you guys another chance to pick a film for pre-reading since it doesn't seem fair to offer you guys nothing for getting high placements on my list, winning challenges, what have you. I also tagged Ethan since I owe him one from last year. You guys can feel free to decline the offer to pre-read one of these since I gave you the option to decline, but, well, Studio Groundswell could use the feedback. MCKill, since you were the only other writer in my top ten, you can also choose a film to pre-read if you want. And the people choosing pre-read films don't have to worry about choosing a different one from others (unless you want to); just choose what interests you the most. 

 

So if you want the pre-read, please choose one of the films in this list. My goal is to refrain from surpassing a 5,000 word count for all of these, but they will all be substantial films.

 

Spoiler

ALAKAZAM! (dir. Chris Appelhans, Animation)

* A 3D-animated adventure story about an audacious stage magician named Remington Riffle (Benedict Cumberbatch) who swaps bodies with his mild-mannered talking rabbit Preston (Eddie Redmayne) after a magic trick gone awry, forcing him to travel through his top hat to the magical world of Alakazam in an attempt to reverse the trick's result. *

 

THE BIBLE THIEF (dir. Roxanne Dawson, Drama)

* About a college student named Rene Ruiz (Jason Genao)—the first of his family to attend college—who takes a Bible from a Christian student organization on campus, prompting tenacious student leader Darius Woolley (KJ Apa) to try and find out who "stole" the book in an attempt to get them to admit their guilt; the leader enacts his search to the bewilderment of his superior, graduate student Imani Rollins (Keke Palmer). Evangeline Lilly guest stars as a courteous Biology professor. *

 

BIKINI (dir. Kelly Reichardt, Drama)

* Based on a short story by Alicia Erian, the film follows a woman named Vanessa (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a grad student who enjoys strutting in her birthday suit any moment she is able to. Her free-spirited nature comes into conflict with the sternness of Middle-Eastern-American grad student Shawki (Riz Ahmed), whom she falls in love with. *

 

THE BONE KING (dir. Alan Taylor, Action)

* An action thriller set during medieval times in which an army's worth of skeletons rise out of the earth and start killing humans, convincing a party of soldiers (including people such as knights and mages) to travel to the source of the phenomenon in an effort to vanquish their undead adversaries. Actors with starring roles will include Tom Hiddleston, Henry Golding, and Claire Foy. *

 

FIRST VICTIM (dir. Josh Boone, Horror)

* Most slasher films kill off the immoral teens before showing the virtuous one(s) defeating the killer. But in First Victim, the most virtuous teen in his group of log cabin vacationers, Ollie Puckett (Timothée Chalamet), is murdered by a serial killer who calls himself The Beekeeper (Caleb Landry Jones). After realizing that he has been killed, Ollie brings it upon himself to aid his friends in escaping or fighting back against The Beekeeper as a poltergeist. Horror with a heart. *

 

THE MIRAGE (dir. Susanne Bier, Horror)

[Numbers selected this previously, but he can change his selection if he wants.]

* Glen Powell stars as Ralph Buxton, a rambunctious detective tasked with finding a missing girl named Allison (Margaret Qualley). His search takes him through the American southwest to a ghost town near a secluded canyon. The location looks unassuming, if inhospitable—but all is not what it seems. Horror without a heart. *

 

SUPER MONKEY BALL (dir. Karey Kirkpatrick, Animation)

* The people behind Groundswell are looking to continue the "one animated video game adaptation per year" trend previously perpetuated by NJP with Pikmin, Banjo-Kazooie, and Animal Crossing. The film will star the voice talents of Jimmy Tatro, Auli'i Cravalho, Alan Tudyk, Brian Tyree Henry, Isabela Merced, Domhnall Gleeson, Jordan Peele, and Keegan-Michael Key and will follow Aiai (Tatro) and his friends as they try to get their village's bananas back from Dr. Bad-Boon (Key), who stole them in an effort to force Meemee (Cravalho) to marry him. *

 

XENOBLADE CHRONICLES: POWER OF THE MONADO (dir. Wes Ball, Sci-Fi/Adventure)

* The gaming masterpiece by Japanese developer Monolith Soft is being turned into a feature film trilogy by the director of the Maze Runner films. The film takes place in a world of creatures living on the bodies of two giant titans, and it follows scientist Shulk (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), soldier Reyn (John Boyega), and medic Sharla (Jessie Mei Li) as young Homs (i.e. humans) who band together to save the townsfolk of Shulk's home, Colony 9, after mechanical beings known as Mechon kidnap the townsfolk with the intention of eating them. *

 

[Ethan Hunt]

I'll take thebible thief 

[MCKillswitch123]

I'll take Bikini.

[Blankments]

super monkey ball i guess for tatro