Pasckie Pascua's Nerdy Squirrel Reviews: Movies.

“Restless” (2024, Amazon Prime) British thriller dark comedy. A mild-mannered care worker's peaceful existence is disturbed when an intimidating party animal moves into the house next door, a property that her parents inhabited for decades before their recent passing.         This movie had a simple or not-so-unusual plotline. But from sequence 1 to the end, I am glued. The major reason? Lyndsey Marshal. She won Best Actress at the Manchester Film Festival for her performance; the movie, Best UK Feature Film.        As Nicky, who is tormented no end by her next-door neighbor, Ms Marshal is a sight to watch. I got so engaged and involved in her character's sad situation that I wanted to confront the asshole myself!         And this urgent reminder or warning to one and all: Piss someone off all you want. But you don’t mess with their cat or dog! They’ll go John Wick or Nick...

“Timestalker” (2024, Amazon Prime) British historical science fiction romantic comedy . Agnes falls in love with the wrong man and then gets reincarnated and falls in love with him over and over again, travelling through 1680s western Scotland, rural England in the 1790s, 1980s Manhattan , and a post- apocalyptic 22nd century.         A few sequences kind of worked but the entire movie is a dull, tired and ho-hum derivative of the usual sitcom obligatories. What shows promise is comedian Alice Lowe, who also directed from her own script. Try again next time? 🎥💻📽 “Drugstore June” (2024, PlutoTV) crime comedy. After the pharmacy in her small town is robbed, June, a wannabe influencer Gen-Z twenty-something girl who still lives at home with her parents, takes matters into her own hands to solve the crime. The film stars Esther Povitsky in her first starring role, who co-penned the script with the director Nicholaus Goossen.    ...

“Pleasure” (2021, Tubi) drama based on director Ninja Thyberg's 2013 short of the same name about a young woman from a small Swedish town who moves to Los Angeles to become a porn star.         Anchored on lead star Sofia Koppel as Bella Cherry/Linnea, defiance and vulnerability, this little movie jars that many other big productions didn't. Ms Thyberg's direction verges from straight-up documentary courage to one-camera film school inventiveness. And what I see is a winner.        I haven't seen a fine movie about the porn industry since big studio's “The People vs. Larry Flynt” (1996) by Milos Forman and “Boogie Nights” (1997) by Paul Thomas Anderson. 🎥👍📽 <>“Her Body” (2023, Roku) Czech drama film, based on a true story of Andrea Absolonová , who was a Czech diver and a member of the Czech high diving national team. She injured her spine when she was 20 years old in an accident when training for the...

"Trail of Vengeance" (2025, Hulu) Western action/drama. Rumer Willis as a widow seeking justice for her murdered husband. Set in 1875, the story involves her crossing paths with a former Pinkerton agent.         Yes, Rumer is the daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore. And I must say, she can act. But not in this kind of trite or hackneyed project. Wasted, promising talent.        Supposedly woven around a controversial or significant historical plot point by writer Daniel Backman and Johnny Remo (who is also the director), the background story is rendered useless to this bore's plodding pace and flood of cliché dialogues. And we know Jeff Fahey (as the boss villain) is good at mouthing those. 🎭👎🎬 “The Outlaws” (2023, Roku) Western/action. A group of outlaws discover their empty train heist bag and begin interrogating each other in the wild west, trying to convince each other, clear their names, and avoid bei...

“The Maid” (2009, Tubi) Chilean comedy-drama . For over 23 years, Raquel has worked as the maid for the Valdes family. She shows utmost loyalty and respect to her employers, Pilar and Edmundo. Etc etcetera.        This movie won numerous awards since its premiere at the 25th Annual Sundance Film Festival . The story is ordinary; a typical family drama. But no one was hurt, nothing was hugely destroyed (except a tiny ship model) and no one was murdered. Not that sort.         But “The Maid” engaged me with interest and relish because of the stellar performance of Catalina Saavedra as Raquel, the maid. She didn't weep, scream, or break a plate. Her eyes did most of the “talking,” if you know what I mean. 🎥💻📽 “Gutland” (2017, Tubi) German/Luxembourgish drama thriller. A drifter escapes to a village in Luxembourg and decides to lay down some roots, but the seemingly idyllic country settlement may not be all that ...

“The Commitments” (1991, Sling) Irish musical comedy-drama film based on the 1987 novel by Roddy Doyle ; directed by Alan Parker . Set in the Northside of Dublin , the film tells the story of a young music fanatic who assembles a group of working-class youths to form a soul band named The Commitments.         At the 1992 British Academy Film Awards , the film won four of six BAFTA Awards for Best Film , Best Direction , Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Editing . It also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Film Editing . The film has since gained cult status .        I saw this movie in the year it was first globally released. In those years, I was into putting together bands and managing them. So this movie hugely inspired me.         I think I bought the cassette tape of the soundtrack first. Although all covers of soul/blues standards (1950s-1960s), the s...