Pasckie Pascua's Nerdy Squirrel Reviews: Movies.

“Daughter of the Wolf” (2019, PlutoTV) Canadian action/drama. Clair Hamilton is a military veteran whose son Charlie has been kidnapped. She brings a bag of money as ransom for Charlie but at the exchange she is double-crossed by the kidnappers, leading to a shootout.         Gina Carano is Clair. This time, she had a chance to show some dramatic chops besides the ex-soldier brawn.   Brendan Fehr as Larsen showed some emotion, as well. Nika Agiashvili ’s script, with wolves thrown in, is interesting and the snow backdrop + campfire works for David Hackl’s sparse direction. And Richard Dreyfuss is here, too. 🎥💻📽 “Scorched Earth” (2018, Sling) Canadian-American post-apocalyptic science fiction/action. In the not-too-distant future, the world is ravaged by brutal climate changes, colloquially known as the Cloud Fall. The combination of pollution and relentless mining of Earth's resources through industrialism has left the environment nearly ...

“Regression” (2015, Plex) psychological thriller mystery . In Hoyer, Minnesota , in 1990, Detective Bruce Kenner investigates the case of John Gray, who admits to sexually abusing his 17-year-old daughter Angela but has no recollection of the abuse.        In a general context, “regression” is the act of returning to a previous, less advanced state or condition, such as a disease improving or a child reverting to immature behavior.        This movie by the cerebral writer/director Alejandro Amenabar (2001's “The Others”) tackles two interrelated subject matters. <>Day-care sex-abuse hysteria or the moral panic that occurred primarily during the 1980s and early 1990s, and featured charges against day-care providers accused of committing several forms of child abuse , including Satanic ritual abuse .        And <>Recovered-Memory Therapy (RMT), a catch-all term for a con...

“The Rental” (2020, Hulu) horror/drama . Follows two couples who begin to suspect they are being watched in the house they rented.         Fronted by fine enough acting ( Dan Stevens , Alison Brie , Sheila Vand , Jeremy Allen White , and Toby Huss ), the first half of this indie thriller was darkly provocative enough to entice longer interest. Actor Dave Franco (James bro) showed some promising directing chops with the flimsy but intriguing script that he wrote with Joe Swanberg, who is more known for writing screenplays for “micro-budget” movies.         But the salaciously sinister allure of this joint gets lost in the end game. The conclusion didn't make sense at all. 🎥💻📽 “The Endless” (2017, Sling) science fiction horror film directed, produced by and starring Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead . Justin wrote the film, while Aaron Moorhead was the cinematographer; both also acted as editors. This indi...

“The Silent Revolution” (2018, Plex) German historical drama that depicts the true story of a high school class in the German Democratic Republic , who have a moment of silence for the victims of the failed Hungarian Revolution of 1956 . Based on the book of the same name by Dietrich Garstka , who was one of the students.         The Hungarian Revolution (23 October to 4 November 1956) was an attempted countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the policies caused by the government's subordination to the Soviet Union .        Written and directed by Lars Kraume, the feature offers a more emotional than political take on the youngsters’ brand of dissent--by navigating how the families or parents react to their kids’ collective action. But not so much exploration of Hungarian reality in those years.         Still, the ...

“Topside” (2020, Tubi) drama. In New York City, a mother and daughter live in abandoned subway tunnels underneath the city. When events force them elsewhere, they flee aboveground where they confront a difficult night in wintertime. Out of adventurous curiosity, I embedded myself in NY’s below-subway “slums” years ago to find out, for sure, what’s up with those movies that I saw when I was in the Philippines. So I am somehow familiar with this little movie’s premise.        Lo-hi photography, single-cam close-ups. And sterling acting by co-writer and co-director Celine Held (with Logan George ) as a mom caught in a dead-end. I do admire the filmmakers’ commitment to show us another side of the Big Apple. But that’s all there is to it. “Poverty porn.” Still manipulative in its portrayal of big city misery. 🎥💻📽 “Burning Kentucky” (2019, Tubi) Appalachian folklore thriller about a young woman dealing with a traumatic family event and a dark community ...

“Tangerines” (2013, Plex) Estonian – Georgian drama film written, produced, and directed by Zaza Urushadze . Set during the 1992–1993 War in Abkhazia , the film's themes span conflict and war, reconciliation, and pacifism.        This movie was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film award at the 87th Academy Awards and the 72nd Golden Globe Awards . and won several awards in Europe.        “Tangerines” can be categorized as a war feature but we don't see a lot of armed hostilities, faces covered in blood, or cadavers strewn all over the place. No bloated rage, crying and weeping, and all the obligatories of war cinema.        Just four men talking. Yet the impact is huge, the noise is thunderous, and the redemption in the end--inspiring. 🎥👍📽 “Mesrine” (2008, Plex) French biographical crime film on the life of French gangster Jacques Mesrine . The first part, “L'instinct de ...

“The East” a.k.a. “De Oost” (2020, Amazon Prime) Dutch war film , set in the Dutch East Indies of 1946 during the Indonesian National Revolution . Twenty-year-old soldier Johan de Vries is sent to Semarang , where the Dutch army says it is to liberate the Indonesian people from the authority of the dictator Sukarno .         The direction of Jim Taihuttu is comparable with Oliver Stone's “Platoon” (1986) and Stanley Kubrick's “Full Metal Jacket” (1987). I am maybe exaggerating but this movie jolts and jars beyond what most “white as hero” war movies. That war is indeed evil.        And credits as well to the nuanced performance of Martijn Lakemeier as Johan. Conflicted, confused, desperate. 🎥💻📽 “Monster” (2019, Tubi) a.k.a. “Arracht,” Irish period drama , set during the Irish Famine in 1845. This movie tells the story of Colmán Sharkey, a fisherman and farmer, who is forced to go on the run after his he...