This Review Roundup consists of three releases coming out this week. First is Quicksand. It’s about a couple who are on the brink of a divorce, but take a trip to Colombia for a work conference. They get together with a friend who feels a little tension, but they try to make do with the situation. They go for a hike and end up stuck in quicksand. Once they are stuck it’s sort of a single location film with them struggling to get free. It’s sort of like Fall from last year. They find a dead body and a gun in the quicksand and have to deal with a snake. There are scenes of the friend trying to get help once he realizes they are missing and sees his friend’s backpack on someone else. I’m not familiar with anyone in the cast and they are fine. The ending can be interpreted in different ways to me, either everything works out fine or maybe it’s all a hallucination. I’m not sure if I’d watch it again, but it’s good for a watch this time of year.
Next we have Io Sto Bene out of Luxembourg. It was Luxembourg’s Official Entry for Best International Feature at the 94th Academy Awards. It’s about an Italian immigrant who moves to Luxembourg, works manual labor before starting a company with his wife. That story is told in flashbacks with the main story about him being a retired widower meeting a young woman who is a video DJ and finds out she’s pregnant. The flashback story was much more interesting to me. In fact, I could have done without the current storyline. That storyline doesn’t really finish because there isn’t much of an ending. I enjoyed the Italian immigrant story much more and wish the entire movie was that story with maybe a flashforward of his later life. It’s shot well and the acting is fine, but I don’t see myself watching it again.
Last we have He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: The Complete Series. This isn’t the original 80s series I grew up on nor is it the Kevin Smith version. Like Smith’s this is a Netflix series and is much, much different than classic MOTU. In this Prince Adam has no memory of his life as a prince, Skeletor is his uncle and all the characters know Prince Adam is He-Man once he gets the sword and transforms. They all watch him transform into He-Man and they also get powers thanks to him. His young female friend becomes a female version of Ram-Man, a young guy turns into Man-At-Arms, Teela is a thief magician who becomes more powerful thanks to He-Man. I think young kids who don’t know the original MOTU might like it, it’s certainly geared towards younger kids. It’s definitely not what I grew up on and didn’t like the jokes about the original version. But this complete series comes out this week from Mill Creek Entertainment and it’s safe enough for young kids to watch.
The Nerds Templar 