Pasckie Pascua's Nerdy Squirrel Reviews: Movies.

“Sid and Nancy” (1986, Plex) British biographical film , portrays the life of Sid Vicious , bassist of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols , and his destructive relationship with girlfriend Nancy Spungen . Gary Oldman is Sid; Chloe Webb is Nancy. Both performances are awards worthy though they had some over-acted sequences somewhere.         But definitely, Mr Oldman's Sid is the best Sid wasteland portrayal ever, especially if we compare his gig with the two others who channeled the punk icon: Ade Edmondson in 1982's “The Comic Strip Presents: Demonella” and Louis Partridge in 2022 “Pistol,” both TV series fares.        Gary's hilarious antics while onstage with the Pistols was better than Sid himself, LOL! Alex Cox's direction was point-blank cold as the fury and filth of the era but the impressionistic wanderings don't impress me.             But th...

“Metropolis” (1927, Tubi) German expressionist science-fiction silent film directed by Fritz Lang and written by Thea von Harbou (in collaboration with Mr Lang), from von Harbou's 1925 novel of the same name . Made in Germany during the Weimar period , Metropolis is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and follows the attempts of Freder, the wealthy son of the city master, and Maria, a saintly figure to the workers, to overcome the vast gulf separating the classes in their city and bring the workers together with Joh Fredersen, the city master.         The film's message is encompassed in the final inter-title : "The Mediator Between the Head and the Hands Must Be the Heart.” I must say that this movie, replete with astounding sets and well-choreographed pantomime (because it’s “silent”) was game-changing. The surrealist theme can be confusing or baffling but I did enjoy the elaborate black and white production design. 🎥💻📽 “The Last Man on...

“The Passenger” (1975, Tubi) drama thriller film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni . A disillusioned Anglo - American journalist, David Locke ( Jack Nicholson ) assumes the identity of a dead businessman while working on a documentary in Chad , unaware that he is impersonating an arms dealer with connections to the rebels in the civil war. Along the way, he is accompanied by an unnamed young woman ( Maria Schneider ).        Michelangelo Antonioni (d. 2007) was a hot property then after his globally popular “Blowup” (1962). His films substantially influenced subsequent world art cinema . But I am not very impressed with “The Passenger,” although it had a compelling and seemingly exciting plotline.         Jack Nicholson and Maria Schneider had magnetic chemistry but I find the pacing lumbering and the pursuit of the otherwise thrilling premise lost somewhere. 🎥💻📽 “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” (also ...

“Murdered for Being Different” (2017, Britbox) British crime drama , based on the 2007 murder of Sophie Lancaster in the United Kingdom. Two people from the goth subculture were assaulted by drunken youths in a skateboard park. The movie features the subsequent police investigation. The attack itself is shown in detail.         Director Paul Andrew Williams balanced the brutal violence with flashbacks of the couple's loving relationship. Shows that “hate crimes” are not just confined to offenses related to race and gender. “Being different” also invites misguided responses from “petty” heckling and juvenile bullying to gruesome violence and fatal attacks.         The movie, which won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Single Drama in 2018, tells it as it is. No moralizing, no sermonizing--yet it stabs deeply. 🎥👍📽 “Lost Girls” (2020, Netflix) mystery drama , based on the non-fiction book “Lost Girls: An Unso...

“Echo Valley” (2025, Apple TV) drama thriller, follows a woman who lives on a farm in Pennsylvania and discovers that her daughter has come to her in an alarming state.        Although the storyline is predictable, the tight script and sound editing offer an alluring suspense. Plus exemplary acting, as expected, by Julianne Moore as tormented and conflicted mom Kate. Fine supporting performance by Sydney Sweeney (junkie daughter Claire) and Domhnall Gleeson (bad dude Jackie).        But, again, why the dim lighting?!? Enough already. 🎥💻📽 “Riff Raff” (2024, Hulu) crime comedy . The life of a former criminal is thrown into turmoil when his old family appears for a long-awaited reckoning.         This movie is all about the performers: Ed Harris, Jennifer Coolidge , and Bill Murray. The director, Dito Montiel, working on a predictable and lazy script by John Pollono, simply...

“Please Don't Feed the Children” (2024, Tubi) psychological thriller. A group of orphans head south in search of a new life after the country's adult population is wiped out from a viral outbreak. Soon they discover a dangerous secret from a deranged woman.           This movie was directed by Destry Allyn Spielberg , daughter of the master, Steven, and Kate Capshaw. Alas, dad's filmmaking genes didn't do well in this debut work by Destry.  Yet somewhere there's promise in this dystopian nightmare until the nightmare got real. A creature showed up.        Dad Steven's first movie (which he also wrote), 1964's “Firelight,” made when he was 17, showed hints of the future genius. Destry is 28. 🎥💻📽 “Lazareth” (2024, Hulu) thriller film , starring Ashley Judd , Sarah Pidgeon , and Katie Douglas . Plot: A woman protects her orphaned nieces from a self-destructing world, raising them in isolation until...