Title: A Writer’s Odyssey

Directors: Yang Lu and Zhuang Jie Qiong

Released: February 21, 2021

Runtime: 2 hours 10 minutes

Available to stream on: Tubi

Guan Ning (Jiayin Lei) has spent the last six years looking for his daughter after she was abducted by child traffickers. Unfortunately, because of his devotion to finding his daughter, Guan’s life has crumbled around him and left him a shell of his former self. When he sleeps, he can hear his daughter shouting out to him. After six long years, Guan believes he has tracked down the traffickers.

A misunderstanding lands Guan in police custody where he is saved by Tu (Mi Yang). Tu mysteriously knows everything about Guan and offers him the opportunity to reunite with his daughter. But of course, there is a catch. He must help the CEO of the company she works for. How difficult of a task could it possibly be?

Well, turns out that it’s not as straight forward as it sounds. Those dreams that have been haunting Guan…they aren’t exactly dreams. No, those dreams are actually a fantasy novel that is being live streamed as it is being written by the author Kongwen (Zijian Dong). The mysterious CEO is having visions of the novel as well and feels a connection to the antagonist evil overlord Redmane (Yi Yang).

Guan must navigate reality and the dream/fantasy novel world to assassinate Kongwen before Kongwen kills Redmane. If successful, Guan and his daughter will be reunited. But if he is unsuccessful…

Directors Yang Lu and Zhuang Jie Qiong, along with Director of Photography Qiming Han, gave us a feast for the eyes. A Writer’s Odyssey (2021) is big, bold, and colorful. A trio that is essential to any fun and engaging fantasy movie. In some scenes the CGI might not be as impactful as it could have been, but that didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment.

There were a lot of subplots and not all of them were wrapped up in a tidy manner nor did they all come together completely. Although my biggest issue wasn’t even the fault of the filmmakers. The version that is streaming on Tubi is an English dub and the dubbing is atrocious. It took me out of the moment numerous times throughout the film.

However, A Writer’s Odyssey (2021) still manages to be a captivating fantasy adventure. If you haven’t seen it yet and you enjoy the fantasy genre, I highly recommend seeking this out. Just do yourself a favor and try to find a version with original audio and subtitles.

If you’ve seen A Writer’s Odyssey (2021), let me hear your thoughts on it in the comments below or on social media!

Keep an eye on Threads, Instagram, and Bluesky this Wednesday for a preview of what’s coming next week for the letter “R”. And as always, see what else I’m currently watching on Letterboxd.

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Title: The Gift

Director: Sam Raimi

Released: Hollywood premiere was on December 18, 2000, limited release on December 22, 2000.

Runtime: 1 hour 51 minutes

Available to stream on: MGM+, Paramount+, and Prime Video

IMDb synopsis: A fortune teller with extrasensory perception is asked to help find a young woman who has mysteriously disappeared.

Annie Wilson (Cate Blanchett) is a tarot card reading clairvoyant fortune teller in small town Brixton, Georgia. When Jessica King (Katie Holmes), the fiancée of the local principal, Wayne Collins (Greg Kinnear), Annie has a vision. She can see that Jessica was killed and her body dumped in a pond.

Sheriff Pearl Johnson (J.K. Simmons) is hesitant to believe the story of her vision that Annie has told him. However, the Sheriff winds up searching a pond around the property of one Donnie Barksdale (Keanu Reeves).

If you’re asking yourself who Donnie Barksdale is, just remember that this is all happening in a small town. Everyone is tied up in everyone else’s business somehow. In the case of Donnie, he just happens to be the abusive partner of another of Annie’s clients, Valerie Barksdale (Hilary Swank).

But wait, there’s more.

We also have the angry Buddy Cole (Giovanni Ribisi). Why’s he so angry? Well, it takes us a bit to get to there because Annie is so wrapped up in the disappearance of Jessica that she keeps pushing off and ignoring Buddy any time he tries to have a serious conversation with her.

With all of her focus and attention on bringing Jessica’s murderer to justice, she begins to have more visions.

Will these visions bring clarity to the situation?

Can Annie’s visions continue to be trusted?

If that sounded a tad convoluted, you’re not alone. There’s a lot going on in The Gift (2000) and unfortunately for me, it never came together.

With an absolutely stacked cast, I kind of expected more. It seemed as if each actor had their own variation of a Southern accent that they were committed to. Some of the characters felt half-fleshed out, at best. There are tons of shaky jump cuts that take you out of the moment. And there are times where the runtime of an hour and fifty-one minutes feel like it’ll never end.

But that’s not to say that there wasn’t anything that I enjoyed here. Both Cate and Keanu were great in their respective roles. They made it worth sitting through. The overall premise is one that’s interesting and could be a lot of fun.

A lot of people put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into this project. Just because one random person on the internet didn’t particularly enjoy it doesn’t mean that it’s a bad movie. Whether it’s good or bad is up to you to decide.

Everything deserves at least one viewing.

Well, that’s what I thought of The Gift (2000), but what did you think of it? Hit me with your thoughts in the comments below or by reaching out on social media!

Next week we have the letter “F”. By now you know what to expect. Keep an eye on the Instagram and Threads accounts on Wednesday for the reveal of next week’s crew member and movie.

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Title: The Legend of Tarzan

Director: David Yates

Runtime: 1 hour 50 minutes

Watched via: VOD rental

IMDb synopsis: Tarzan, having acclimated to life in London, is called back to his former home in the jungle to investigate the activities at a mining encampment.

I would say better late than never that we finally get to The Legend of Tarzan, but that would be a lie.

Tarzan is a character that you could build a million different stories off of and around. Yet somehow we managed to get a story with no structure. With a cast including the likes of Alexander Skarsgård (Tarzan), Margot Robbie (Jane), Christoph Waltz (Leon Rom), and Samuel L. Jackson (George Washington Williams) one forms a certain set of expectations for what they’re about to see. A very long one hour and fifty minutes later, you realize that expectations do not always equal reality.

With an estimated budget of $180 million, what we are given in terms of CGI is downright atrocious. It looks like a cheaply made video game and laughably distracts you from what is happening onscreen. Also, why is it that every other shot required a closeup? The camera work was borderline nauseating throughout. Add to that the wooden performance turned in by Skarsgård and you’re in for a rough ride once you hit play.

However, it wasn’t all completely negative. The last time we saw Margot in Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, she made the best of her limited screen time. Here as Jane she has a substantially larger role and, for me, is one of the two bright spots of the entire film. She is able to get you to invest in the character of Jane, even when everything around her is doing its best to get you to turn the movie off.

The other bright spot, which should not come as a surprise to anyone, is Samuel L. Jackson. While he isn’t quite the “comedic sidekick”, I’m not sure how else to describe him in this role. You could almost argue that his character was borderline unnecessary, or at the very least that he didn’t need to make the journey to the Congo. Although you wouldn’t be completely wrong, Jackson as George Washington Williams makes The Legend of Tarzan (2016) slightly tolerable. He brings just the right amount of fun and funny to the table to make you want more of him.

Overall though, this is a hard avoid. Since it is not currently streaming for free, save your money and wait until it is. Even then, maybe checkout something that’s been rotting in your watchlist instead.

So, what did you think of The Legend of Tarzan (2016)? Are we on the same page? Did you enjoy it? Let me know in the comments below or by reaching out on social media.

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What’s next? Next up in our Margot Robbie filmography watch through will be 2016’s Suicide Squad. I have seen it once before and remember it not being as bad as everyone claimed. Curious to see how it holds up on a re-watch. You can currently stream Suicide Squad for free with an HBOMAX subscription. It is also available to rent for $3.99 through most major platforms.

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Title: About Time

Directed by: Richard Curtis

Runtime: 2 hours 3 minutes

Watched via: streaming on Starz

IMDb synopsis: At the age of 21, Tim discovers he can travel in time and change what happens and has happened in his own life. His decision to make his world a better place by getting a girlfriend turns out not to be as easy as you might think.

If you are like me, when you saw “From the creator of Love Actually” in the trailer, you were immediately inclined to give this movie a watch. Then you add a cast including Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, and Bill Nighy and you definitely have my attention. Now, if you have not seen About Time (2013), be warned there will be spoilers ahead.

When Tim (Gleeson) is told by his dad (Nighy) on his 21st birthday that all the men in their family can time travel, he understandably has his doubts. He is told by his father that the women in their family are not aware of this ability. As for the rules, he may only travel backwards in time and only to a time in the past that he has a clear memory of. But what about the Butterfly Effect? Not an issue at all, says dad. At least it has not been an issue yet.

So how does it work? Well, just find a dark room or area, clench your fists, close your eyes, and picture the point you want to travel back to. When you open your eyes, you will be back in that moment.

One summer, Tim’s sister (Lydia Wilson) has her friend Charlotte (Margot Robbie) stay with the family for a summer. Tim is smitten and tries using the time travel ability to perfect his interactions with Charlotte. What he finds out is that time travel does not give you the ability to make people fall in love with you.

As the summer comes to an end, Charlotte returns home. Now, much like in Vigilante, Margot Robbie has a brief appearance on screen and then disappears. This time around though, she makes it to the 17-minute mark.

Flash forward and Tim is with a friend at a dark dining experience where he happens to be seated at the same table as Mary (McAdams). Once the dinner concludes, Tim waits outside to see Mary for the first time and becomes smitten. When returning home, his roommate Harry (Tom Hollander) is in shambles. There was an awful, botched performance during his new play’s opening night that ruined the entire show. Hearing this, Tim decides to try and help Harry out. He uses his time traveling abilities to give Harry a mulligan on his opening night. While successful, Tim notices that Mary’s number is no longer in his phone.

Remembering Mary mention Kate Moss, Tim goes every day to a Kate Moss exhibit in town in hopes of running into Mary. Eventually, he finds her and approaches her only to find out that she has no memory of every meeting him. In fact, she is a little creeped out that he knows her name.

Tim realizes that now he is going to have to win over Mary and use the time travel strategically to his advantage in order to keep the universe tilted in his favor with her. This is exactly what he does. He and Mary are happy together, they seem to have a wonderful life. Even when bumping into Charlotte at an event (55-minute mark for Margot’s brief reappearance), Tim is convinced that Mary is the one for him.

As I mentioned at the beginning, I am a fan of Love Actually. As for About Time, I knew I had seen it before but honestly did not remember a lot of the plot. After a rewatch, I can say that Richard Curtis is two-for-two with me. Yes, there are some issues with the explanation of time travel and a lot of questions surrounding the fall out of time travel use. But this film does not try and be a sci-fi film, it stays in the romantic drama lane. For that, I am willing to give it a pass to an extent. What helps is that the writing is relatively strong, and Gleeson and McAdams turn in fantastic performances.

What about you? What are your thoughts on About Time? I want to hear them, let me know in the comments or on social media!

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What awaits us next in the Margot Robbie filmography? Next up is a doozie. Margot portrays Naomi Lapaglia in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street. That post will be up next Monday!

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