Dan's Movie Report: 2020-06-07

Saturday, June 13, 2020

Gundala (2019) Movie Review © Dan's Movie Report – Danny Templegod

Above: Poster for Gundala taken from IMDB page.

Greetings valued Dan's Movie Report & Action-Flix.com readers, across my desk today comes a radical new flick out of Indonesia called Gundala. Gundala is a superhero type flick, but rooted in strong, stylized Indonesian action. The movie, which has a running time of over two hours looks to set up a multiple film story line about this a superhero, whos name translates to the word thunder. His powers seem to be derived of lighting and he does harness the lightning for power.

Rather than spoiling the film I will point my readers to this link on Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gundala_(film) this DOES spoil the plot line, so only read after you have watched it, will clear up things about the movie. Essentially, a young boy who is orphaned due to his father being killed and his mother being sick, has to find his calling, Many forces are telling him not to get involved when he sees injustice, but as he gets older he realizes that not only must he fight for good, but he needs to awaken his superpowers to fight.

Usually Asian films do not have the longer run times beyond an hour an forty minutes or so, but this is an origin story and I appreciated the time taken to learn about the character prior to getting his powers. In addition the people in his life including Wulan played by Tara Basro, who plays not only the love interest, but she has to impress upon Gundala how important it is to take up the fight.

The story line is a bit detailed and may be a trifle confusing, thus warranting a second viewing. The action fans here are really in it for the fights, and here is where Gundala shines like a lighting bolt! With a story line behind them, the detailed fights partially coordinated by Cecep from The Raid, are really amazing, and creative. Here we have multiple one vs many fights, in which Gundala has to avoid and react. The fights are longer and often not completely resolved, IE people come back to fight after being seemingly down for the count. In a superhero type film though this is not an issue as it happens.

There is a gang style fight on various levels of railings and stairs at an industrial factory that is a bit interested as some of the thugs are deposited down what appears to be a deep opening, only to re-appear later in the fight. Suspend belief, as this is downright comical level violence, with a middling level of blood, it is not deadpool, but not Avengers. The subject matter though is mostly for adults and people over 15 or so. I discuss this, as although the film is no where near as violent as the raid it is close and has some very somber tones.

Though I enjoyed most of the cinematography most of the film is shot in a bland sepia tone, that said it looked dark and dreary outside for much of the movie anyway. The nighttime scenes were not as well lit as they should be, but actually in this case it gives the movie more of a mysterious feel, and you still could see what was going on.

Director and writer Joko Anwar handles the adaptation well and keeps the story flowing, never getting bogged down in unecessary filler. Dialogue is important in superhero origin stories to learn about the character and their flaws and strengths. Gundala is a slow build, and his original suit is made up of common household items including a woman's handbag! A man of the people and Anwar makes sure we see this, there is no fortress of solitude here, Gundala is a humble often reluctant warrior. Once though he realizes his power, there is no stopping him and even a powerful villain like Kelly Tandiono's character of Mutiara is ultimately no match for his strength and harnessing of lightning!

Above Kelly high kicks Gundala in one of the near ending fight scenes, (Note to self Kelly is sweet, she kicks high and is somewhat dangerous ha!) Image (C) 2020 Well Go USA

Speaking about Kelly, Thanks to her for telling me about this movie last year, or else I may never have heard about it, even though it will be out in the US on Well Go USA on July 28^th. Kelly plays a very bad girl in the film and is hot and hell bent on killing Gundala, and she shows off some cool moves, I like her lines and style in action, and hope she gets in on some US film asap as we here need less tiny fragile girls in action and more taller rougher ones!

Look for a new interview with Kelly, in the meantime check out our 2018 interview where she talks about working on the project: http://dansmoviereport.blogspot.com/2018/12/actressmodel-kelly-tandiono-interview.html

Overall, I really enjoyed Gundala, and am of course looking forward to either a sequel or even better perhaps would be an 8 or 10 episode Netflix or HBO series, with the characters even more fleshed out so to speak. I rate Gundala a buy and 7 out of 10!

For further information please go to the Well Go USA site @ https://www.wellgousa.com/films/gundala

Full Trailer @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1Oxxyc7o0c

Wednesday, June 10, 2020

The Fanatic (2019) Movie Review - (C) 2020 Dan's Movie Report- Danny Templegod

Greetings valued Dan's Movie Readers, across my desk today comes a new film starring John Travolta called 'The Fanatic'. Hard to put a finger to be honest what this film is trying to accomplish, the promotional materials make it seem like it is a mixture of 'Rain Man' and 'Taxi Driver'. Sadly it is no where near either of those films. Travolta plays Moose, an autograph seeking man who is on the spectrum, meaning he is autistic, but has some cognoscenti reality of being.

Making a film where the centralized character is flawed is a difficult task, director Fred Durst from Limp Biskit misses the mark do to the fact of his stark portrayal of Moose and his interactions. John Travolta does an amazing job channeling the character, yet his surroundings and people that he meets are just not dynamic enough, and when there is emotion, it is almost always negative. The 'oh whoa is me' character gets rather stale after 30 minutes into the film.

To be quite honest, I really like Travolta as an actor, and this film shows his range, but the audience just does not get the full character, and the self deprecating, down trodden look is fine if you are looking for sympathy, but in 'The Fanatic' is rarely comes. A particular bright spot is the interaction in the beginning when a shop owner is being nice to him and offering to sell him a rare jacket at a discount. That aside, the look and feel of the film is dreary, and rather depressing, yes Rain Main was sad, but sad because of his circumstances, not the people around him. 'The Fanatic' tackles a very difficult subject matter, yet sadly is barely worthy of a watch for Travolta fans, his acting is great, the movie is very lackluster, and rates a very bland 4 out of 10.

If you live in the USA and have Amazon Prime, the film can be watched for free: https://www.amazon.com/Fanatic-John-Travolta/dp/B07XHTY5VN

U.K. Fans the film is available on Dazzler Media for pre order ships July 20th: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fanatic-DVD-John-Travolta/dp/B089CLZNZ8/ref=tmm_dvd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1591800229&sr=8-1

Tuesday, June 9, 2020

Money Plane New trailer! New Poster! (C) 2020 Dan's Movie Report - Danny Templegod

MONEY PLANE

Written & Directed By | Andrew Lawrence

Starring | Adam Copeland with Denise Richards, Kelsey Grammer and Thomas Jane

Available on Digital and On Demand on July 10, 2020

Greetings valued Dan's Movie Report readers an exciting new film will be unleashed soon! Money Plane is a Heist film set on a plane!

SYNOPSIS:

A professional thief with $40 million in debt and his family’s life on the line must commit one final heist - rob a futuristic airborne casino filled with the world’s most dangerous criminals.

The film seems like a mix of Casino and Oceans 11! Interesting casting of Kelsey Grammer, and thomas Jane! Watch for a review in the coming weeks!

For more information check out the IMDB page @ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7286966/
Check out the trailer below!

Yessenia Cossio Chats Marvel's: The Punisher! (C) 2020 Dan's Movie Report - Danny Templegod

Above: Poster for Season 2 of Marvel's: The Punisher (c) 2019 Netflix all rights reserved, used for promotional purposes only not monetized.

Update June 14th, 2020 Yessenia has a way to connect with her fans through personalized messages! https://starsona.com/yesseniacossio her Starsona account allows fans to connect direct and have a greeting!

Greetings valued Dan's Movie Report and Action-Flix.com readers. In part two of our three interview series, actress and stunt performer Yessenia Cossio chats Netflix series Marvel's: The Punisher. Yessenia had the opportunity to double actress Floriana Lima (Christa Shaw) and work as a stunt driver on a second episode. Yessenia chats at length about how she got involved, the stunts she had to work on, and her various training. Time to relax and get a little spicy, as the Latina heat is turned up to punishing levels, Yessenia, the stage is yours!

For our earlier interview on Ultimate Tag: https://dansmoviereport.blogspot.com/2020/05/yessenia-cossio-chats-ultimate-tag-on.html

DT: Chat about working on the Marvel Netflix series 'The Punisher', and how you got the gig.

YC: I would first like to start off saying being a part of anything from Marvel is a dream come true. I never imagined something like this would happen, but I hoped of course that at some point it would. I mean you dream of these things happening, but when it did I had to take a step back and say oh my God, I am on 'The Punisher'.

Actually the way the reached out to me surprisingly was through social media,v(Ed note: see what I mean this is 2020, keep your social game clean and strong, if you want acting and stunt jobs!) they were trying to look for a stunt-woman who looked a lot like the actress Floriana Lima who played Christa Shaw. I basically matched her stats and the coordinator like that, I was someone who was easy to work with. I had the required skills for the stunt they were trying to do winch was a fighting scene, a big action sequence. It was a fighting scene we did in the kitchen with the actress Amber Rose. Also I did a jump out of a window, I remember the coordinator said to me on set Yessenia how comfortable do you feel jumping out this window? I was like as long as there is a crash mat I am good haha. It was my first time doing a scene where I had to go through glass, it was of course sugar glass, it was a lot of fun. Thankfully I did not get any cuts, even though the probability of getting cut is a bit hi, think of breaking up a piece of hard candy and stepping on it, yes the cuts would be minor, but it would still hurt. I was a very enjoyable experience. Floriana could not stop hugging me throughout, she was such a sweet girl all the time, she was constantly thanking me for doing this for her. She looked out the window where I was jumping from and said “how do you do these things that is crazy.” She also said “Oh my god are you going to be OK?” She was so concerned for me. The Coordinator laughed and said to she will be fine this is what she does for a living. Definitely having a parkour background helped a lot with the stunt team feeling comfortable with me, and me feeling comfortable with the stunt. Discussing the stunt, I had to dive out the window, but there was a small ramp at the base that helped me jump out but there was this ledge that one could nip it with their feet if you do not jump up as you are flying out the window. One other thing is the glass itself if you do not go at it the right way there is a possibility of bouncing off of it and you will look awkward and not break the glass. The stunt team's biggest concern was to make sure that I broke the window, I remember looking at Amber, and saying you make sure to grab me and give it your all, I am tossing myself out this window, and if you do not toss me, you are coming down with me.. The are both very sweet girls, and caught up on the choreography quickly as well.

Above: Actress Floriana Lima on the right and Yessenia on the left on the set of Marvel's The Punisher. Photo: Floriana Lima and used from Yessenia Cossio's Facebook Page. All rights reserved Not monetized.

DT: Great insight on working on the show and working with the actresses. How long did it take to shoot the sequence on Punisher?

YC: I would definitely say we took about a month. It took a while due to the pre-vis putting it together. Working on the fight scene and getting it approved by the director. Actually once everything was done, the director wanted to make a few last minute changes. That part took about two weeks. Then after that we did a few shots for the window scene, the first shot was me outside rigged up on a harness, outside an actual building, We worked on a 15 to 20 foot descent, to a padded concrete type area. Either way though if you fell off that you would hurt yourself really bad. We did that shot first, then a few days later we did the actual stunt for the window scene. I did a few jumps out the window, to feel comfortable, to make sure they had the shot.

Above Yessenia and Floriana Lima- Image from Floriana Lima's Instagram Page @ https://www.instagram.com/florianalima/

Floriana had this to say about Yessenia: "Now this girl can do it all. Our stunt team on #ThePunisher is unreal. They work so hard to make us look good and stay safe. I couldn’t thank you enough @yesseniacossioofficial. You’re so sweet and mighty."

DT: Wow the work took a lot longer than I thought, but I am sure there is just so much prep as you say. Shifting gears, chat about your downtime, while you were not on the set of The Punisher.

YC: I had a decent amount of downtime as I was in New York for over 2 months. I shot another scene as a utility stunt woman. I was a driver, it was just a small crashing scene. I had the opportunity to see downtown New York, I went to see the Twin Towers memorial and the tourist spots around there. It was so beautiful to see all the structures and cultures. New York is such a melting pot, I also went to see the statue of Liberty. I remember growing up and seeing the statue on TV, it was so surreal. Here I am working for a Marvel TV show and seeing the statue in person. I was not even told actually what show I was working on, I would not be told until I got to the studio in person. I got the contract and was reading through it and it said Marvel, I was like oh my Jesus, what show is it, then further down, it said Punisher and I was like ok this is pretty amazing. Actually it was one of the dreams and goals I had, I wrote it down on my phone. I am a firm believer if your writing things down and work towards the goals you set they will become reality. To see it actually happen, I literally said “Oh Shit” that was a very cool experience.

Above: Yessenia and Floriana Lima look through the broken glass on the set of Marvel's: The Punisher. Photo taken from Yessenia Cossio's facebook page and credit to Floriana Lima, all rights reserved, for promotional use only, not monetized.

DT: What is your favorite Marvel character, who would you like to play in the Marvel Universe?

YC: Definitely has to be Deadpool, I love his sarcasm, and I love how he is a total bad ass. I feel like he is a character I identify with wholeheartedly, as a person and as a superhero, if I had to be a superhero, I would love to be the female version of Deadpool!

DT: I can see you as the female Deadpool! Chat about some of the stunt skills you have learned in the past couple of years?

YC: I definitely learned wirework, martial arts and weapon training, Wirework is the most enjoyable for me, I absolutely love learning so many different skills when it comes to wires. I love the feeling of flying on the wire. Martial arts is a completely different world from my background in parkour. Learning from many martial artists the way they think, their brain is tweaked different, It is a pretty awesome sport to learn and get into. The first martial art I started practicing a few years back was tae kwon do. I started after TKD into 'tricking' which is a combination of a bunch of different styles of martial arts. It has been a lot of fun and interesting at the same time. How your background on what you trained on, evolves and helps you on the next skill you try to learn. Weapon training is another skill I enjoy immensely. I have learned to work with short and long guns, I have a special preference with long guns and rifles, I like a heavier gun for some reason haha. Recently I have been working with bladed weapons, swords and knives. I felt more comfortable with knives than with the sword if I had to choose between the two. I am still learning the skills, and have much room and desire to improve.

DT: Do you have any strategic goal in mind when training? Do you have some skills you want to work on?

YC: I would not say I have a single goal, I have many goals, an agenda, skills I want to learn. I have a list of my strengths and weaknesses. I work on my strengths to refine them and make them even better. I work hard on my weaknesses to make them my strengths. This is the strategy I adhere to. I agree with that statement, the more you know and variety of action is very true. One day as a stunt person, you will get hired for a job and end up having to do a stunt that varies from what you were originally supposed to do, and may not know it, but a varied background will help in working through it. Your best bet as a stunt person is to learn to do a little bit of everything, even if it is not your forte. At least having that in your pocket in case you ever need it, at least your know the basics, thus learning the nuances of the skill quickly is easier from there on. Directors and stunt coordinators are constantly looking for performers that are well rounded with a variety of skills. Yes it is great to be a specialist at one particular stunt or action, but from my experience it is better to be good a several things, even if you are not great at something, if you are what I call good enough.. Actually I never learned so much in my life as it has a cascading effect constantly learning one thing after another. Something else in stunts, several of my jobs were rather last minute and even in the moment, I was asked on set, can you do this or that. Constantly training and adapting has really helped me hone my craft.

Thank you Yessenia for another amazing interview! Check out Yessenia now on 'Ultimate Tag' on Fox, and like her facebook page @ https://www.facebook.com/yesseniacossioofficial/

and follow her instagram page @ https://www.instagram.com/yesseniacossioofficial/?hl=en

Watch for a third interview later in 2020!

Check out Yessenia's shout out to Dan's Movie Report @

Sunday, June 7, 2020

Producer/DirectorActress Katrina Grey Interview Daytime Nightmare Chat! © 2020 Dan's Movie Report – Danny Templegod

Greetings valued Dan's Movie Report and Action-flix.com readers! Today I have a chat with Producer/Director/Writer and lead actor in Daytime Nightmare Katrina Grey, we have already completed several interviews, thus this new one will focus on Daytime Nightmare and her thoughts on being a first time filmmaker. Katrina Grey is refreshingly honest, humble, kind, and very knowledgeable about film due to her experiences. Sit back grab some tea and get ready to go behind the mind of a very cool Kat!

DT: Chat about Daytime Nightmare, I know you mentioned you are close to completion just needing final sound and end credits. Has the current Covid situation affected any of the post production work?

KG: Finally I managed to complete Daytime Nightmare. Partly because I had more time and staying at home, things sped up. Took me over 2 years but I feel blessed and can say the movie is completed.

DT: I know you always tell me you like to learn new skills, what are some of the things you have learned in the past couple of years as a first time film maker?

KG: I have learned a lot, I took an acting course at Raindance film festival and improved my skills overall. Took online accent reduction courses and also American accent courses. I worked on myself while working as a model and actress. Also currently finishing my master degree in development economics. Only this year I wrote 3 scripts that are ready for production and now about to write 2 more scripts.

DT: I know it is very early yet, have you ever thought about doing with producer Rachel Ofori did with her film What Death Leaves Behind, bringing it direct to the masses. I know theaters are closed now, but she decided to go around the country and show it in various theaters during September and October, I think it is a solid strategy, when theaters re open. Eventually she sold direct herself to streaming services.

KG: I will definitely look into it. I am not opposed to anything that can only help to promote the movie. As independent filmmakers we have to do what it takes and do everything in our own ability. Thank you for recommendation.

DT: Chat about Daytime Nightmare, can you officially reveal the length, and an official synopsis?

KG: Yes, its little over 85 minutes long.

Outline:

“Lucy’s life spirals out of control when her own mind turns against her and her nightmares become her daymares.”

Short synopsis:

Aspiring actress Lucy finds her life crippled by intense migraines. The headaches develop into terrifying visions of friends and strangers repeatedly killing her. She finds herself in a loop of bizarre hallucinations, until she realizes that she’s now living inside her own worst nightmare, her daytime nightmare.

DT: Are you going to be doing a director commentary for Daytime Nightmare for a DVD release? A behind the scenes video?

KG: Most likely yes when it comes to it.

DT: Who are some of the Horror film makers you look up to and perhaps influenced you on Daytime Nightmare?

KG: My stories and creativity are influenced by Alfred Hitchcock, Stephen King, Darren Aronofsky, M. Night Shyamalan. And many more.

DT: Curious as you told me you have a producing partner, Randy Kalsi. Randy is listed as the Executive Producer, more often than not in US films the Ex producer is the money person, and person who handles the sales of the film. Is that the case in Daytime Nightmare?

KG: Both of us, we are equal producers on this movie. We self financed it. I took care of overall production and post production. Randy was not only an actor in the movie but also took care of the whole sound, original music, theme song and sound design. His creativity and what he has done with a sound is incredible, still every time I watch the movie it gives me shivers. Randy is incredible creative and help me with every single decision when it came to a movie since beginning, during editing, color etc.

DT: Shifting gears, I know you have been working more on your acting and action skills, chat about some of the new skills you have required since we last chatted. New action skills, and new acting classes and methods you have learned.

KG: Well I was taking acting classes at Rada in London, method acting course in London, then martial arts training in Thailand and online accent reduction course and American accent online course. It’s a constant work.

DT: Chat about working in various location on film Bangkok vs the U.K. Is there a difference in work ethic or is it more crew specific

KG: It is amazing to work in Thailand. In my latest project where I play a wife of a main actor in period series The Serpent true story producer by BBC ONE/NETFLIX I get to work with UK crew and they were just incredible. Next latest series I shot is from 18^th century Thailand called ENG and CHANG about first Siamese twins.

Chat about where the idea to do your own original script came from?

DT: Chat about the merging of genres, and perhaps what you learned from other film makers?

KG: love horror genre. I made this story as I would like to create a niche of psychological thrillers and drama. I started with this story because my other projects would require a large budget. Definitely I feel it’s a good start.

DT: Chat about some of the elements you learned from various directors you worked for.

IKG: definitely learned a lot on set working with different directors. Its all about all those small little emotions. Everyone has different style but I can say I was lucky to be working with amazing directors. Lucky and blessed.

DT: Wrapping up I look forward to Daytime Nightmare, I am thinking a September release as it is a horror film, are any territories sold as of May 2020? What are some of your desires for the film.

KG: I am now submitting the movie to film festivals so not sure when the release will be but most likely late 2020.