Natey & Katy: At the Movies
Natey & Katy are two friends who love movies and love talking about them. Join them on their cinematic journey!
Natey & Katy: At the Movies
Star-Studded Misfires and Mysterious Horrors
Ever wondered how a star-studded cast can still lead to a cinematic letdown? Join me, Nathan aka Natey, as I pull back the curtain on "Natey and Katy: At the Movies" with a special Saturday double feature. First, I tackle "Borderlands," the much-anticipated movie adaptation of the hit video game. Despite boasting talents like Kate Blanchett and Kevin Hart, this film winds up being a misfire due to its shaky script and complex plot. My review dissects why the movie couldn't live up to its hype and why it ultimately left me unimpressed, giving it a modest four out of six rating.
Switching gears, I then explore the perplexing world of "Cuckoo," a horror thriller starring Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens. This film takes us to a mysterious resort where a bizarre species can drive people insane. I break down its unsettling narrative and unique elements, explaining why, despite some intriguing concepts, it just didn’t resonate with me, earning a three out of six stars. Don’t miss out on this comprehensive analysis of two very different films, and be sure to join us next time as Katy and I discuss the timeless Charlie Chaplin classic, "The Kid".
SPOILER ALERT. Spoiler ALERT. Hey everybody, welcome to another surprise Saturday episode of Nadie and Katie at the Movies. I'm your host, nathan aka Nadie, of course, and it is another double feature episode. I'm taking two movies and I'm talking about what I thought about them. But before I can talk about my first movie, take a listen so you can officially find out what it is. We should do this another time. This has to happen now. Don't judge me. Keep it down. You don't want to attack. Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, help, hey, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh, here we go. Why? What are you doing? I needed a gun, so you asked for it. Tana, that works. I'm talking about Borderlands.
Speaker 1:This movie is based on the best-selling video game and it has an all-star action adventure cast that follows a ragtag team of misfits on a mission to save a missing girl who holds the key to the unimaginable power. This movie stars kate blanchett, kevin hart, edgar ramirez, jamie lee curtis, ariana greenblatt and jack black as Clap Trap. So let me be honest right now. The only reason I want to go see this movie is because it's already been getting terrible reviews, like I think it was 0% on Rot Tomatoes, which I usually don't trust. I don't trust critics that much, but to start off pretty low. I did not go into this movie with high expectations and it really wasn't that great. I think the biggest problem isn't necessarily the people that are in it, it's the script. The script is pretty bad. It's pretty cheesy, it's pretty lame. It's not that great at all. The story is convoluted and the whole premise of the movie ends up being pointless. Ends up being pointless because, like I said, in the synopsis it's about saving a missing girl who supposedly that's what they should say in the synopsis who supposedly holds the key to unimaginable power. Because, spoiler alert you find out that she doesn't really hold the key. She's not the answer. The answer is actually her, kate Blanchett's character and the whole movie. I'm not caring about these characters, even the action itself.
Speaker 1:I found myself falling asleep. I was bored. This movie was boring. The only part that was interesting was probably the last, maybe 10 minutes of the film that actually piqued my interest, but the rest of the movie itself was just boring. It was boring, boring, boring, which is unfortunate because video game movies have been doing very well recently and this is just another one that kind of fell a mist.
Speaker 1:I didn't like it. I actually wasn't that annoyed with Jack Black's voice for Claptrap. I know some people out there who are fans of the game didn't really like Jack Black doing the voice. But to me, a little bit of how much I've played the game, his voice kind of sounded similar to the video game. So it wasn't that big of a deal to me. It does make me want to go and play all of the games just to see if the stories match up or if they just made up this story. Because when I remember, borderlands doesn't really have that intricate of a story and I could be wrong again. I'm not one of those people who are like hardcore Borderland game fans, so I'm not one of those people.
Speaker 1:I would give Borderlands maybe a four out of six. It was somewhat entertaining at times but, like I said, the action, I was falling asleep and the script wasn't that great. So unfortunately this movie wasn't that great, but I'm still not giving it a terrible score with a four out of six. So my second movie. I saw this literally right after I went to go see Borderlands. So this is really a double feature episode because I literally saw these the same night.
Speaker 1:So take a listen to this clip of this movie so you can officially know what it is. Do you smell this? Yes, or are those molecules binding to a receptor in your nasal cavity Got me Mm-hmm? And are you right now, in this moment, are you putting your slashed skin back together yourself, and what makes you think you can take charge of the rest? If I were you, I wouldn't stay home until my body was done, growing back those cells. I wouldn't want to get hurt even more, as if I was stuck in a loop. Can you do this In a loop? Can you do this? Good, I'm talking about Cuckoo, the new horror.
Speaker 1:Thriller, mystery, teen horror, whatever you want to call this movie, and it is a weird one. Before I can talk about that, I'm going to talk about what this movie is actually about. The synopsis a 17 year old girl is forced to move with her family to a resort where things are not what they seem. Cuckoo stars, hunter schaefer, jan blunhart, martin, cisco, and actually it stars, see, I don't understand why sometimes these movies don't mention. I guess because they're not top billing, and that's why. But this movie has Dan Stevens in it. He's from Downton Abbey. He's from Beauty and the Beast, the live action one, which I didn't like. So I mean, he's a pretty well-known actor and he's in this movie. So let me just dive into my thoughts. This movie was weird Again.
Speaker 1:It's one of those movies that you don't know what you're getting into, which, at least with Borderlands, I knew what I was getting into, kind of because it's based on a video game. This is somewhat an original movie, which a lot of people want those nowadays. They want original films, they want original ideas, and then sometimes they come out with original ideas and it's just weird. And it reminded me of another movie called Don't Breathe. I don't know if anyone listening has ever seen that. It was a 2016 horror thriller movie about a bunch of teens who break into this guy's house who can't see, and so the whole movie is they can't breathe, so they can't hear. But then at the end of the movie, you find out that it's just weird. He's trying to impregnate this girl and it's just this weird ending of a movie, and then they came out with a sequel where he was supposed to be the good guy. Yeah, I never watched that.
Speaker 1:So this movie kind of has that similar premise a little bit. So I guess what they're trying to do is they're trying to create this perfect woman or this perfect, these perfect beings, and so they just take these people to this resort and impregnate them until they can get the right version of this species. Yeah, now I will say there were some interesting things that they did. I guess one of the side effects of these species people is that they can make you repeat things until you start to feel like you're going insane a little bit. Hence the name Cuckoo.
Speaker 1:But I don't know, I mean there's not really much I liked about it. Again, I thought some of the premise was interesting until it just went off the rails a lot and of course there was a check the box moment. If you've listened to the show, you know what I'm talking about right there, don't have to get into it. But yeah, there's just, this was just. This was just a weird movie. So, unfortunately, like this double feature too weird, not that great to me. Anyway. Now there are some people out there that I'm sure will go see this movie and they'll probably think it's interesting. They'll think it's very artistic, um, and things like that.
Speaker 1:I think maybe shot wise it. It was shot well, directing was good, but yeah, and then I yeah, I don't know what else to say it wasn't. It wasn't my cup of tea, it was not my cup of tea, I'll say that. So I'll give cuckoo a three out of six stars because it's just, it's just out there. It kind of reminded me of Long Legs a little bit. Not as demonic as Long Legs, but it was just this weird movie. It did have some sentimental moments that I guess was kind of sweet a little bit. Kind of sweet a little bit. But it just the the disturbingness, the weirdness just kind of overshadowed everything that I guess could have been good about it. It's one of those movies. So that is my surprise saturday episode. You can listen to katie and i's thoughts on the charlie chaplin classic the kid this tuesday Tuesday on Nadie and Katie at the movies.
