Tag: Joseph Quinn

A Quiet Place: Day One Review: Another Solid Entry to the Franchise.

I love the first two A Quiet Place movies.
Directed by John Krasinski, the films depicted the emotionally thrilling story of a family’s survival in an apocalypse where the slightest sound could get you killed.
One thing these two movies did especially well was set up a world of potential stories about other survivors’ experiences. 
Well, we got the first of these spin off stories with A Quiet Place: Day One. 

We see society quickly fall apart when the creatures arrive.

This time directed by Michael Sarnoski, with Krasinski writing and producing the film, Day One follows Sam (Lupita Nyong’o), a terminal cancer patient who is caught up in the chaos of the alien invasion.
Sam presents a unique perspective to the world of A Quiet Place because, while everyone else is trying to survive, Sam is simply trying to last long enough to experience a joy she had in life prior to her diagnosis. 

Sam’s goal is surprisingly relatable, and Nyong’o plays her well.

Joining her is the cat Frodo, and a fellow survivor named Eric, played by Joseph Quinn.
Quinn had his breakout role in Stranger Things, and it is good to see him doing another great job in Day One.
He and Nyong’o have excellent chemistry, perfectly portraying the friendship that emerges between them in the apocalypse.
This results in quite a few emotional scenes, as well as some nail-biting ones, since I cared about both of their fates. 

The film follows Sam and Eric, as their bond grows while they desperately try to survive.

Although, nail biting is probably too strong of a word, considering that doing so would literally get me killed in the world of A Quiet Place.
Just like the previous two films, Day One finds creative ways to use sound, resulting in numerous tense scenes where you either wait for the creatures to strike, or hope that the sound the characters made were out of the monsters’ earshot.
Another thing taken from A Quiet Place Part 2 is Henri, played by Djimon Hounsou.
He plays a significant role in the beginning of the film, and it was good to see him again after the small role he played in Part 2. 

His appearance in Day One makes me hopeful we might see some characters from this film appear in A Quiet Place Part 3.

So, I have listed all the good things about Day One and now it is time for my criticisms.
They are pretty minor but still there.
The first of these issues is that I wish we got to see the characters realizing that the aliens respond to sound.
Sam is just knocked unconscious and when she wakes up again all the characters are immediately told how to survive. 

I would have liked it more if there was a slow build to the realization of sound being key to survival.

Another minor issue I have is Frodo.
Yes, the cat is cute, but it is pretty unbelievable that it stays quiet the whole movie.
Like I said, minor issues, but nothing that derails the movie.
Day One is another solid entry in the A Quiet Place franchise.
It has great performances from the two leads, incredibly tense scenes, and an emotional ending to boot.
I still cannot wait for A Quiet Place Part 3, and I am interested to see if Day One influences it in any way.  

Stranger Things Season Four, Volume 2 Review: Epic Prelude to the Final Season.

In my review for the first volume for Stranger Things’ Fourth Season, I called it “one hell of a return,” and even stated that it “may be the best season of the show so far.”
Well, after watching Volume 2, I can now state that Season Four is definitely the best season of the show so far, at least in my opinion.
The final two episodes of the season, “Papa” and “The Piggyback”, made for an intense first-time watch, with “The Piggyback” making me grip the chair arm I was sitting by tightly for the entirety of its two and a half-hour runtime.

“Papa” and “The Piggyback” are both nerve wracking episodes with plenty of highlights.

Picking up from Episode Seven’s cliffhanger, Volume Two sees our various groups of characters preparing to take the fight to Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower).
In California, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) decides to engage in this fight prematuely to save her friends, which Dr Brenner (Mathew Modine) is against, unaware that Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Will (Noah Schnapp), Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Argyle (Eduardo Franco) are on their way to rescue her.
Back in Hawkins, Nancy (Natalia Dyer), Steve (Joe Keery), Robin (Maya Hawke), Eddie (Joseph Quinn), Dustin (Gaten Mazzaro), Max (Sadie Sink), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) and Erica (Priah Ferguson) prepare for their own fight with Vecna, initiating a complicated plan in the hopes of killing the monster.
Meanwhile, Hopper (David Harbour), Joyce (Winona Ryder) and Murray (Brett Gelman) attempt to escape Russia, before realizing they may have to deal with the Demogorgons connected to the Mind Flayer’s Hive Mind. 

Almost every character has a part to play in Season Four’s epic conclusion.

These three storylines intersect as the plan to kill Vecna is put into action, with various excellent cases of editing connecting the characters in different locations together.
Speaking of these characters, there are so many standout moments from all of them, from Eleven confronting Brenner for his horrific actions, to Will’s confession to Mike through taking about Eleven, and Eddie and Dustin’s epic distraction that was teased so often in trailers.
The best scene by far, however, is the one I’ll call the  “Running UpThat Hill” scene and leave it at that.
Just as Volume One’s best scene centered around the Kate Bush song, so does Volume 2’s. 

It’s crazy how Stranger Things revitalized the song through using it in epic scenes twice for Season Four.

The aftermath of this scene even has some of the best acting of the entire series, with Caleb McLaughlin’s performance being so gut wrenching it brought me to tears.
This was not the only moment in Volume 2 to do this because there is another scene with Dustin that also had a similar effect on me.

There are a few scenes in the final episode that are tear inducing but McLaughlin’s scene takes the cake.

However, this is where my my one criticism of Volume 2 comes in and that is the character fates, some of them anyway.
A few of the saves characters get do feel a little too deus ex machina, though I do understand the Duffer Brother’s reasoning for making the saves happen.
I just think such moments could have been written a little better.
Otherwise, I would say that Volume 2 is excellently written, with so many scenes that made me feel tense, fearful, gut punched, overjoyed and extremely excited for what is to come in Season Five, which I think it has been said is the final season.
If it is indeed the last we get of Stranger Things, then I’m looking forward to it even more than I was previously because Iam now pretty confident that the Duffer Brothers can end this story right, after the greatness that was Season Four.