Movie Review: The Christmas Quest Directed by: Dustin Rikert

March 17, 2025 By Leave a Comment


The Christmas Quest
Directed by: Dustin Rikert
Writers: Andrew Gernhard, Marcy Holland, Dustin Rikert
Starring: Lacey Chabert, Kristoffer Polaha, and Derek Ridell
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Rating: 4 Stars (8 on IMDB)
Reviewed by Dicentra

An archaeologist, her ex-husband who is a Norse language expert, search for legendary treasure in Iceland during Christmas. Others join the hunt, leading to a thrilling race to secure the treasure before the wrong people obtain it.

Lacey Chabert is one of the unquestioned queens of holiday movies, and her newest Hallmark release, The Christmas Quest, was a charming holiday tale that meshed the best of cozy movies and the Indiana Jones style mystery dynamic. The movie, which also stars Kristoffer Polaha and Derek Ridell, takes the characters on a trip to Iceland to find a hidden treasure before Christmas day.

This is the first time I’ve heard of the legend of the Yule Lads, and it’s such a fun tale. Each of the lads comes down from the mountain on their specific day to enact mischief and collect what they love most (i.e. candles, milk, etc.). They also drop off a potato to children who misbehave (I’m not sure if that’s better or worse than coal, haha) The Yule Lads story such a playful tale compared to some of the other holiday stories around the world, and I loved how the history bridged the gap between Lacey Chabert’s character and her mother (both archaeologists).

I also loved the setting of the story. A lot of Hallmark movies in the past have featured New England settings, but this has Chabert and Polaha traveling to an Icelandic locale. They make their way through the mountains, traverse caves, and even set off booby traps a la Temple of Doom. The Indiana Jones references were not lost on the writers, as the map detailing their travels mirrored the one from the movies and they subtly nodded at some of the most famous scenes.

Overall, The Christmas Quest was an entertaining and exciting movie. I’m excited to see the new creative direction Hallmark seems to be going in, and I’ll definitely be checking out more of their new movies as they release. Check out this movie if you like adventure and romance complete with mystery and folktales.

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Movie Review: 28 Weeks Later

March 10, 2025 By Leave a Comment

28 Weeks Later
Writers Rowan Joffé, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, and Enrique López Lavigne
Director: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Rose Byrne, Robert Carlyle
Publisher: 20th Century Fox
Genre: Science Fiction, Horror
Rating: 3 Stars (6 Stars on IMDB)
Reviewed by Astilbe

Six months after the rage virus was inflicted on the population of Great Britain, the US Army helps to secure a small area of London for the survivors to repopulate and start again. But not everything goes according to plan.

Nobody can run forever.

Surviving the first wave of the undead is anything but easy, but what I like to wonder about when I watch these sorts of films has to do with how the living might rebuild after things have calmed down again. About seven months is enough time to clear out buildings, beef up security, and start thinking about moving survivors back into town.

The military hasn’t always been shown in the best light in the zombie genre, so I was intrigued to see how it would handle the reclamation of London and the return to something that vaguely resembles normal life. People need more than food and water to survive. Having something else to live for is also important, although I’ll leave it up to other viewers to see how needs other than the most basic ones may have been approached in this universe.

One of the unexpectedly funny moments happened in one of the earliest scenes when a few NATO military forces realized that two children had been given clearance to move back into London. Existing in what until quite recently zombie territory wasn’t a problem, apparently, but a preteen and a teenager standing quietly in line were enough to send these hardened soldiers into a panic. I loved the way this scene played around with the audience’s and the soldiers’ expectations of what should and shouldn’t be frightening in a post-zombiepocalypse setting.

I did find myself wishing that some of the gory scenes could have been replaced or rewritten to include more character and plot development. While there were a few exciting twists in those areas later on, exploring those moments in greater detail would have made this a five star film for me. Yes, zombie tales in general are almost certainly going to be bloody and graphic as that comes with the territory, but I need something more substantial mixed in with all of the chomping and chasing in order to keep me hyped up for the next instalment.

With that being said, these developments did make me look at previous scenes in a different light and helped to explain what I originally thought was a massive plot hole involving a character who had some terrible luck in one of the earliest scenes. There’s nothing like being pleasantly surprised as a viewer just when you think you probably have everything figured out, and that’s a big part of the reason why I keep coming back for more.

28 Weeks Later made me wonder what could possibly happen in 28 Years Later!

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Movie Review: Nosferatu

March 3, 2025 By Leave a Comment



Nosferatu
Writers: Robert Eggers, Henrik Galeen, Bram Stoker
Director: Robert Eggers
Starring: Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Bill Skarsgard
Publisher: Focus Features, Universal Pictures
Genre: dark fantasy, supernatural horror, vampire horror, horror
Rating 4 stars (8 stars on IMDB)
Review by Cholla

A gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire infatuated with her, causing untold horror in its wake.

Vampires have fascinated me since I was a kid.  I often say it all started with Count von Count on Sesame Street and spiraled out of control from there.  When I saw there was a new version of Nosferatu coming to the big screen, I knew it was something I needed to see.

The cinematography is simply amazing.  Beautiful landscapes, creepy old castle rooms, just everything is so well shot and lighted.  You can feel the difference when the scenes shift between life as usual in Wisburg and the ominous foreboding of Count Orlok’s castle.

In addition, the acting is excellent.  Lily-Rose Depp’s fear and helplessness are palpable, especially when she awakes from one of her many nightmares.  The possession scenes are terrifying as you can see and feel her helplessness in the grip of the mysterious Orlok.  Bill Skarsgard’s portrayal of Orlok is creepy, giving the character a real presence in every scene.  My favorite, however, was Willem Dafoe as the professor.  He’s both highly intelligent and completely nutty in this role, and it works so well.

While I know that the original Nosferatu was an unauthorized adaptation of Dracula, I was still surprised by how much it borrowed from the original source material.  In that sense, it made Nosferatu feel very familiar, while still being different enough to hold my attention.  The main difference is that in Dracula, you have a solid and driving plot.  Which is something that Nosferatu lacked.  There is a story there, and it’s enjoyable on its own, but it’s not as fully realized as it could have been.  However, the excellent acting and filming techniques are enough to make up for the more basic plot, in my opinion.

Nosferatu is a new and exciting take on an old classic.  It’s very atmospheric and creepy, although not scary.  I’d recommend it to any lover of vampire lore.

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Movie Review: 28 Days Later

February 24, 2025 By 1 Comment

28 Days Later by Writer Alex Garland
Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, and Christopher Eccleston
Publisher: Fox Searchlight Pictures (through 20th Century Fox)
Genre: Science Fiction, Horror, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars (8 Stars on IMDB)
Reviewed by Astilbe

Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the United Kingdom, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.

In anticipation of 28 Years Later being released later on this year, let’s see if fast zombies are scarier than the slow ones.

The opening scenes were among the scariest ones I’ve ever watched in this genre. Imagine waking up in the hospital, meeting a zombie a short while later, but having no clue what you’re dealing with! I was grateful to have started watching while the sun was still shining brightly outside because my heart was pounding as Jim had to outrun something that still didn’t make any sense to him. This is a theme that has been repeated multiple times in other zombie flicks, and yet it still grabs my attention every time.

One of the things I liked the most about this film was how clearly the origins of this outbreak were explained in the beginning. No, not every twist and turn was revealed, but there was more than enough information to understand what sort of illness the characters were dealing with and how it managed to spread so fast when the source of it was under such tight surveillance…or so the authorities thought.

Take note of these early moments because the information in them might very well come in handy later on. That, too, was exciting because it gave me something to puzzle over while also watching the characters run from one danger and, sometimes, straight into yet another situation that isn’t exactly what it appeared to be at first glance.

I would have liked to see more attention paid to the character development. No, I didn’t need monologues or anything, especially given how action-packed this was, but I found myself accidentally blending the main characters together in my mind because of how similarly they reacted to the same threats. Knowing more about the backstories of protagonists who aren’t named Jim would have helped me to keep them separate and connect to them on a deeper level.

The ending fit the characters and plot nicely, and that’s something I’m saying as a viewer who was a little confused by it at first due to how much the storyline needed to slow down in order for things to pan out. After an hour and a half of adrenaline surges, I needed a little time to adjust and try to figure out what might happen to the characters next. With that being said, it was worth the wait and made me eager to see 28 Weeks Later next which I will be reviewing here in the near future.

28 Days Later breathed fresh air into this genre and it something every zombie fan should watch.

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Movie Review: Deadpool and Wolverine

September 9, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Deadpool and Wolverine by Writers Ryan Reynolds, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Zeb Wells, and Shawn Levy
Director: Shawn Levy
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, and Emma Corrin
Publisher: Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Comedy
Rating: 4 stars (8 stars on IMDB)
Reviewed by Dicentra

Deadpool is offered a place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by the Time Variance Authority, but instead recruits a variant of Wolverine to save his universe from extinction.

It’s been a long time for hardcore Marvel fans waiting for the team up between Deadpool and Wolverine, but this movie made it so worth it. Honoring the death of the Wolverine in the Logan movie (2017) while also simultaneously introducing both characters to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s obvious that everyone involved poured their heart and soul into this movie.

With the Marvel movies following Avengers: Endgame (2019), it’s been a bit hit or miss for me on whether or not I enjoyed them and whether or not I felt they added something to the bigger Marvel cinematic universe. This movie gave a lot of love to the kids (now adults) who have grown up with these characters, the movies and the comics; I don’t want to spoil the surprise but there are a lot of fun expected cameos along the way. Shoutout to Ladypool, Kidpool, and Babypool (if you know, you know).

In terms of the actual cinematic experience, I don’t think I’ve cackled that much in a theater in a long time. I was practically bouncing in my seat at times and singing along to the soundtrack for more than half the time (side note: whoever curated that soundtrack did an excellent job). It’s still not a movie I would ever recommend for kids with the sometimes gratuitous amounts of swearing, very bloody fight scenes, and poorly veiled innuendos. However, it leaves me excited for the future of the Marvel Cinematic universe and how much levity Deadpool and Wolverine will add going forward.

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Movie Review: Big Crow

August 28, 2023 By 1 Comment

Big Crow
Director: Kris Kaczor
Writer: Inila Wakan
Producer: Kevin Bayson
Cinematography: Matt Lyons
Editor: Steve Nemsic
Rated: 4 Stars (8 stars on IMDB)
Review by: Astilbe

BIG CROW is a verité-style documentary that tells the story of how young Lakota basketball star SuAnne Big Crow became an activist, and how her message of hope continues to help her people reclaim their culture 30 years after her death. Part biography and part social commentary, BIG CROW is a story about the power of hope in the most destitute place in America, South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Found in the poorest county in America, Pine Ridge is plagued by rampant drug, alcohol, and sexual abuse which drives the highest teen suicide rate in the country. Access to healthy food and health care is virtually non-existent, and the Lakota there continue to experience the oppressive racism that outlawed their religion, language, and traditions 130 years ago. It’s possible that there has never been a people more in need of a hero than SuAnne’s Lakota tribe.

By age 14, SuAnne Big Crow had become one of South Dakota’s best basketball players, leading her Pine Ridge Lady Thorpes to become the first ever Native American state champions. By age 17, her social activism had made her a household name across the Great Plains. Thirty years after her tragic death, SuAnne’s pride in her people continues to galvanize the Lakota in their fight to save their language and reclaim their culture.

Heroes live in every community.

It was wonderful to explore modern Lakota culture in Pine Ridge. I must confess that I didn’t know a lot about this topic before I watched this documentary, so I appreciated how much effort was put into sharing not only the struggles of this tribe but also their triumphs as well. Everything was balanced out nicely, and it made me want to dive even more deeply into this topic. There were so many things about their culture that didn’t quite fit into the scope of this film but that I yearned to learn more about. To me, that is a sign of a job well done, indeed!

As much as I loved seeing how SuAnne’s legacy has positively impacted her tribe for more than thirty years now, I would have liked to see a little more attention paid to who she was as a person before she died. Her time on the basketball court was documented beautifully, but I didn’t get as much of a sense of who she was in other areas of her life. For example, she seemed to be an outgoing person who had a fantastic sense of humor, but it would have been helpful to have more stories about how she behaved and why she was so obviously adored by everyone who knew her.

One of the most difficult aspects of living through a tragedy can be finding meaning in pain and grief that feels meaningless. SuAnne’s family, friends, and community found so many incredible ways to honor her memory and continue her work to improve life for everyone in their tribe. Without giving away too many spoilers, they have excelled at remembering SuAnne and encouraging the next generation to follow her example. I especially enjoyed the last ten minutes or so that showed how far her influence has spread and how much of a difference she’s still making in the lives of people who weren’t even born yet when she was alive.

Big Crow was a tear-jerker and a fabulous exploration of a portion of modern history I knew nothing about.

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Movie Review: Take the Ice

July 24, 2023 By Leave a Comment


Take The Ice
Director: Rachel Koteen
Producer: Rachel Koteen, Judah-Lev Dickstein, and Batya Feldman
Editor: Judah-Lev Dickstein
Rated: 4 Stars (8 stars on IMDB)
Review by: Astilbe
Find the movie on IMDB

Take the Ice is a feature documentary that tells the story of world-class female hockey players fighting for recognition and equality in their sport, and in the process, making history.

Ten-year-old Dani Rylan was obsessed with hockey and dreamed of growing up to play in the NHL. As one of the best players on the Florida state junior team, Dani saw no reason not to have the same ambitions as everyone else. But, as the only girl on the team, “at some point, reality sets in.” Seventeen years later, Dani decided to change the history of the sport by founding the first professional women’s hockey league.

Take the Ice goes behind the scenes as Dani creates the National Women’s Hockey League and 88 elite female athletes compete to win its first championship. As Dani struggles to keep the league afloat, the players must come together in the wake of an on-ice accident that leaves their teammate paralyzed. Take the Ice is a moving, intimate story of a group of elite athletes making strides for recognition and equality, and in the process, making history.

What could be better than making history and setting new records?

This documentary worked for dedicated hockey fans and those of us who virtually know nothing about that sport alike. I appreciated how the director was careful to explain certain aspects of this business like the difference in pay scales and marketing techniques between men’s and women’s hockey that many folks might not be aware of. While most of the screen time was dedicated to the games themselves, it was the player’s stories about the sexism they face that originally piqued my interest. Many of them were discouraged from playing hockey, especially as they grew older and were still the only girls on their youth teams. These early life experiences can discourage women and girls from pursuing all sorts of interests in life, and I nodded along as I compared their love of hockey to my interests in other things that girls aren’t encouraged to do. The joy of seeing young girls cheer for these teams and ask for autographs gave me hope that future generations will feel more comfortable pursuing all of their interests without discouragement.

I had some trouble keeping track of who everyone was. As cool as it was to get so many different perspectives on what it was like to be part of the first season of professional women’s hockey, including all of them meant that there wasn’t much time to invest in any one particular storyline. Taking notes along the way about who was part of which team helped, though, and I’d recommend that to anyone who watches this.

Some of the most interesting scenes to me were the ones that explored the private lives of the players. On the weekends, they were professional hockey players, but all of them had weekday jobs as well due to how little they were paid as athletes. This was in stark contrast to the millions of dollars men make in this field. The medical consequences of playing hockey were shown as well, and I was intrigued by how many risks these women were willing to take with their health despite all of the reasons they had to stop playing.

Take the Ice was a thoughtful look at the birth of the National Woman’s Hockey League.

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Movie Review: That Night

July 10, 2023 By Leave a Comment


That Night
Director: Zachary Trussell
Writer: Zachary Trussell
Stars: Julio Alexander, Oscar Mansky, Julie Gester, Maureen Azzun, Boogie Williams, Kendall McCarthy, Michael C. Hyatt, and Alexander Louis
Rated: 3 Stars (6 stars on IMDB)
Review by: Astilbe

THAT NIGHT tells the story of a young unknown artist who is forced to confront his career ambitions and win back his ex-girlfriend during a drunken night in Chicago with his irreverent friends. Any night out in a big city has the potential to be a good night, the risk of being a bad night, and typically ends up somewhere in between, but only some nights can claim to be “That Night”—the night where little choices lead to big decisions, chance encounters to second chances, Uber drivers keep themselves busy in the strangest of ways and taking the wrong pill can be really bad for the upholstery. For STACY, an artist with one eye on the future of design and the other stuck looking hopelessly at his ex-lover, that night is tonight—and the city, Chicago. So yes, there will be drinking.

Anything can happen overnight.

I loved this film’s varied sense of humor. There was something here for everyone, whether you like jokes about the pitfalls of accidentally taking the wrong medication or how one should properly milk an almond. All of the characters had a good sense of humour and weren’t afraid to gently poke fun at themselves or others if the conversation warranted it. There is definitely something to be said for that!

It would have been helpful to have more character development. I don’t mind watching stories about people who may not be terribly likeable at first glance as those can often be the most interesting characters of them all, but I was hoping to see everyone mature a bit more as a result of their wild night. There were a few signs that the protagonist was going to work on his flaws, and I appreciated that. Had I seen it in his friends, too, I would have happily chosen a higher rating.

The romantic storyline was fresh and realistic, and I’m saying this as a viewer who was honestly not that impressed with it in the beginning. It’s always nice to be proven wrong, especially with something as creative as this. I loved the way the director included little hints about where he was going with the romance early on while still leaving space to interpret them in multiple ways. That’s a fantastic way to foreshadow the conclusion without spelling things out too directly, and it makes me want to see more from these characters and this crew.

That Night kept me guessing.

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Movie Review: Sunset

May 29, 2023 By Leave a Comment

Sunset
Director: Jamison M. LoCascio
Writers; Adam Ambrosio, Jamison M. LoCascio
Stars: Austin Pendleton, Suzette GunnJuri, Henley-Cohn
Rated: 3 Stars (6 stars on IMDB)
Review by: Astilbe

A diverse group of people grapple with the imminent probability of a nuclear strike on the east coast.

What would you do differently if you thought your life might be in danger?

Some of my favorite scenes were the ones that showed how complex relationships can be. For example, an offhand remark can really sting even if the person saying it was trying to be funny, and someone’s childhood experiences can still affect them decades later. The director and writers did a good job of exploring these topics in ways that also tied into the main storyline even when I didn’t originally think there would be much of a connection between them at all.

I would have liked to see more character development in this film, especially when it came to their pasts and how they all met. There were a few scenes that lightly touched on this subject, but I was still left with many questions about why certain characters behaved the way that they did. For example, Chris’ rough childhood seemed like it could have provided a lot of fodder for both the troubled relationship he had with alcohol that was obvious from the very first scene to how he ended up living with Henry and Patricia as their surrogate child.

The dialogue was fast-paced and topical. It was especially interesting to see how everyone reacted to the possibility of their neighbourhood being attacked by a nuclear weapon. Planning an evacuation is more complicated than it may seem, especially for people who are physically disabled or have other things going on in their lives that make it difficult to travel. The opening scene did a particularly good job of using dialogue to introduce everyone and share hints about what they were openly, or sometimes quietly, struggling with in their lives before the public service announcements began.

Sunset was a thought-provoking story.

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Movie Review: Know Fear

May 22, 2023 By Leave a Comment

Know Fear
Director: Jamison M. LoCascio
Writers: Adam Ambrosio & Jamison M. LoCascio
Starring: David Alan Basche, Amy Carlson and Mallory Bechtel
Rated: 5 Stars (10 stars on IMDB)
Review by: Astilbe

After the possession of his wife, Donald Capel and his family activate a dangerous ritual in a book used to identify and banish demons, a ritual forcing each member of the family to communicate with the demon in their own unique way: to see it, hear it, or speak to it.

If you’ve ever wondered what weird or even terrifying things the previous owners of a house might have gotten up to, this might be right up your alley.

I enjoyed the fast, plot-based storyline. All of the characters were given just enough time to introduce themselves to the audience before mysterious things began happening. The quick pace also helped to explain why the characters remained in a house that was possessed by such a dangerous entity. They simply didn’t have the time to consider other options, especially once things really began to escalate.

One of the many reasons why I chose a perfect rating for this film had to do with how it handled the demon. It left no room for doubt about just how malicious this creature was or how much peril all of the characters were in while it still remained in our world. There were a few scenes I had to watch out of the corner of my eye because of how much they made me shudder. That’s exactly what I love to see in the horror genre, and I only wish I could go into much more detail about it without giving away spoilers!

The ending couldn’t have been better. Not only did it tie all of the loose strings left over from earlier scenes together nicely, it made me go back to some earlier scenes and think carefully about how they were shared with the audience. Yes, many of the twists and turns were tropes that most fans of this genre would expect to see, but they were combined in ways that made them feel fresh again. It takes a lot of hard work to pull something like that off, and I tip my cap to the cast and crew for doing so well with it.

For readers who are sensitive to blood or gore, there were a few scenes that included both of them. I liked the fact that most of the focus was placed on the demon itself, but the storyline did need those elements to thrive.

Know Fear was deliciously scary.

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