Movies: Unsane, Ramen Heads, Ready Player One

Unsane

This is a unique film that bends the norm for mental/medical care facilities.  It is intense, creepy and more than a little unsettling.  Nightmare comes to mind!

The film’s Director and Cinematographer is Steven Soderbergh.  It is best described as a psychothriller.  The script is well written and helps tie the concept together.

Claire Foy plays the accidental victim in this story.  Juno Temple plays a scary threatening patient named Violet.  Joshua Leonard plays the stalker and crazy attending caregiver.

It is rated R for disturbing behavior, violence, language and sexual references.  It is listed as a Drama, Mystery & Suspense.  The run time is 97 minutes.

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Ramen Heads

Ramen noodles are one of Japan’s most popular comfort foods.  This film takes a deep dive into the history and cultural connection to the legions of customers in and outside of Japan.  The result is an interesting and entertaining documentary.

The story drifts a bit from chef to chef, slurping techniques, and a study on obsessive details. It ultimately succeeds in capturing the mania the perfect ramen noodle creates for its followers.

The cast includes leading chefs Osamu Tomita, Shota Iida, Kumiko Ishida, Katsuya Kobayashi, Yuki Ohnishi and Tom Takahashi.

This film is not rated with a run time of 93 minutes.  Japanese with English subtitles. (A yummy Vietnamese ramen lunch was on our agenda today as a matter of fact.)

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Ready Player One

It was just a matter of time before films start translating reality into science fiction, in this case video games.  Based on the novel by the same name, Steven Spielberg and Industrial Light & Magic bought the movie rights and created a film set in a very unappealing 2045 AD where the world as we know it is on the brink of collapse.  Technology has created a virtual reality alternate world called OASIS where gaming replaces almost every aspect of real life.  Overall, while visually fascinating, the constant special effects become a bit tedious.

The cast headlines Tye Sheridan as the gamer Parzival, Olivia Cooke as Samantha Cook, Ben Mendelsohn as the CEO of Innovative Online Industries seeking control of OASIS.  There are over 12 more actors rounding out the primary cast.

The film is rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi action violence, blood images, some suggestive material, partial nudity and language.  We do not feel this film is suitable for children.  The genre is listed as Thriller, Science Fiction & Fantasy.  It runs a long 2 hours, 40 minutes.

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