Mohana, 2016

Moana, also known as Vaiana or Oceania in some markets, is a 2016 American animated musical fantasy adventure film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, co-directed by Chris Williams and Don Hall, and produced by Osnat Shurer, from a screenplay written by Jared Bush and a story by Clements, Musker, Williams, Hall, Pamela Ribon, and the writing team of Aaron and Jordan Kandell.

TRAILER

PLOT

On the Polynesian island of Motunui, the inhabitants worship the goddess of nature, Te Fiti; a living island who, long ago, brought life to the ocean using a pounamu stone as her heart and the source of her power. One day, Maui, the shape-shifting demigod of the wind and sea and master of wayfinding, stole Te Fiti's heart to give humanity the power of creation. This caused Te Fiti to disintegrate, and Maui was attacked by Te Kā, a volcanic demon. Maui lost both the heart and his magic fish hook to the depths of the sea.

A thousand years later, the ocean chooses Moana, the daughter of Motunui's chief Tui, to return the heart to Te Fiti. Tui and Sina, Moana's parents, try to keep her away from the ocean to prepare her to become the island's chief. Sixteen years later, blight strikes the island, killing vegetation and shrinking the fish catch. Moana suggests going beyond the island's reef with her pet pig Pua to find more fish and find out what is happening, but Tui forbids it. Moana tries conquering the reef, but is overpowered by the tides and shipwrecked. That afternoon, Moana's grandmother Tala shows her a secret cavern of ships and reveals Motunui's people were voyagers until Maui stole Te Fiti's heart; the ocean was no longer safe without it. Tala explains Te Kā's darkness is destroying the island, but can be cured if Moana finds Maui and has him restore the heart of Te Fiti. Having been given the heart by the ocean, Tala gives it to Moana. Tala later becomes severely ill and tells Moana to find Maui before she dies.

Moana sets sail on a camakau from the cavern along with her dimwitted pet rooster, Heihei, who stowed away on it. They are caught in a typhoon and shipwrecked on an island, where she finds Maui, who boasts about his achievements. She demands Maui return the heart, but he refuses and traps her in a cave before leaving on her boat. She escapes and confronts Maui, who reluctantly lets her on the camakau. They are attacked by Kakamora, coconut pirates who seek the heart, but Moana and Maui outwit them. Moana realizes Maui is no longer a hero since he stole the heart and cursed the world, and convinces him to redeem himself by returning the heart. However, Maui first needs to retrieve his fishhook in Lalotai, the Realm of Monsters, from Tamatoa, a giant coconut crab. While Moana distracts Tamatoa, Maui retrieves his hook, only to find himself unable to control his shape-shifting. He is overpowered by Tamatoa, but Moana's quick thinking allows them to escape with the hook. Maui reveals his first tattoo was earned when his human parents abandoned him as an infant, and the gods, taking pity on him, granted him his powers. After reassurance from Moana, Maui teaches her the art of way-finding, regaining control of his powers, and the two grow closer.

They arrive at Te Fiti's island, only to be attacked by Te Kā. Moana refuses to turn back, resulting in Maui's hook being badly damaged. Unwilling to lose his hook again, Maui abandons Moana, who asks the ocean to find someone else to restore the heart and loses hope. The ocean obliges and takes the heart, but Tala's spirit appears, inspiring Moana to find her true calling. She retrieves the heart and sails back to confront Te Kā. Maui returns, having had a change of heart, and buys Moana time to reach Te Fiti by fighting Te Kā, destroying his hook in the process. Upon being unable to find Te Fiti, Moana realizes Te Kā is Te Fiti, having become corrupted without her heart. The ocean clears a path for Moana, allowing her to return the heart to Te Fiti, who heals the ocean and islands of blight. Maui apologizes to Te Fiti, who fixes his hook as well as Moana's boat before falling into a deep sleep and becoming an island. Moana bids farewell to Maui and Te Fiti, returning home and reuniting with her parents. She takes up her role as chief and wayfinder, leading her people as they resume voyaging, accompanied by Maui.

Rating: 10 Stars

Emoji, 2017

The Emoji Movie is a 2017 American animated science fiction comedy film produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film was directed by Tony Leondis from a screenplay he co-wrote with Eric Siegel and Mike White, based on a story by Leondis and Siegel. It stars the voices of T.J. Miller, James Corden, Anna Faris, Maya Rudolph, Steven Wright, Jennifer Coolidge, Jake T. Austin, Christina Aguilera, Sofía Vergara, Sean Hayes, and Sir Patrick Stewart. Based on emojis, the film centers on a multi-expressional emoji Gene (Miller), who exists in a digital city called Textopolis, for a smartphone owned by Alex (Austin), embarking on a journey to become a normal emoji capable of only a single expression, accompanied by his friends, Hi-5 (Corden) and Jailbreak (Faris). During their travels through the other apps, the trio must save their world from total destruction before it is reset for functionality.

TRAILER

PLOT

Gene is an emoji that lives in Textopolis, a digital city inside the phone of his user, a teenager named Alex. He is the son of two meh emojis named Mel and Mary and is able to make multiple expressions despite his parents' upbringing. His parents are hesitant about him going to work, but Gene insists so that he can feel useful. Upon receiving a text from his love interest Addie McCallister, Alex decides to send her an emoji. When Gene is selected, he panics, makes a panicked expression, and wrecks the text center. Gene is called in by Smiler, a smiley emoji and leader of the text center, who concludes that Gene is a "malfunction" and therefore must be deleted. Gene is chased by bots but is rescued by Hi-5, a once-popular emoji who has since lost his fame due to lack of use. He tells Gene that he can be fixed if they find a hacker, and Hi-5 accompanies him so that he can reclaim his fame.

Smiler sends more bots to look for Gene when she finds out that he has left Textopolis, as his actions have caused Alex to think that his phone needs to be fixed. Gene and Hi-5 come to a piracy app where they meet a hacker emoji named Jailbreak, who wants to reach Dropbox so that she can live in the cloud. The trio is attacked by Smiler's bots, but manage to escape into the game Candy Crush. Jailbreak reveals that Gene can be fixed in the cloud, and the group goes off into the Just Dance app. While there, Jailbreak is revealed to be a princess emoji who fled home after tiring of being stereotyped. They are once again attacked by bots, and their actions cause Alex to delete the Just Dance app. Gene and Jailbreak escape, but Hi-5 is taken along with the app and ends up in the trash.

Mel and Mary go searching for Gene and have a very lethargic argument. They make up in the Instagram app when Mel reveals that he, too, is a malfunction, explaining Gene's behavior. While traveling through Spotify, Jailbreak admits that she likes Gene just the way he is and that he should not be ashamed of his malfunction. The two start to fall in love and Gene silently debates his choice to change himself. They make it to the trash and rescue Hi-5, but are soon attacked by a bot upgraded with illegal malware. They evade it by entangling its arms and enter Dropbox, where they encounter a firewall. After many tries, the gang gets past it with a password being Addie's name and make it to the cloud, where Jailbreak prepares to reprogram Gene. Gene admits his feelings for Jailbreak, but she wishes to stick to her plan of venturing into the cloud, unintentionally causing Gene to revert to his apathetic programming out of heartbreak. Suddenly, the upgraded bot sneaks into the cloud and captures Gene, prompting Hi-5 and Jailbreak to go after him with a Twitter bird summoned by Jailbreak in her princess form.

As Smiler prepares to delete Gene, Mel and Mary arrive. Mel reveals to everyone that he is also a malfunction, prompting Smiler to threaten to delete him as well. Jailbreak and Hi-5 arrive and disable the bot, which falls on top of Smiler. Alex has since taken his phone to a store in hopes that a factory reset performed by technical support would restore his phone's functionality, which would entail total destruction of Gene's world should such operation complete. Out of desperation, Gene prepares to have himself texted to Addie, making numerous faces to express himself. Realizing that Addie received a text from him, Alex cancels the factory reset just as it nearly finishes, saving the emoji and finally getting to speak with Addie, who likes the emoji Alex sent. Gene accepts himself for who he is and is celebrated by all of the emojis.

In a mid-credits scene, Smiler has been relegated to the "loser lounge" with the other unused and forgotten emojis for her crimes, wearing numerous braces due to her teeth being chipped by the bot, and playing and losing a game of Go Fish.

Rating: 10 Stars

13 Reasons Why, 2017

 13 Reasons Why is an American teen drama series developed for Netflix by Brian Yorkey, based on the novel from 2007. Thirteen Reasons Why by author Jay Asher. The series revolves around high school student Clay Jensen (Dylan Minnette) and the aftermath of the suicide of fellow student Hannah Baker (Katherine Langford). Before her death, she leaves behind a box of cassette tapes in which she details the reasons why she chose to kill herself as well as the people she believes are responsible for her death.

TRAILER

FINAL SEASON

Overview

Set in the fictional county of Evergreen, California, the first season follows Liberty High student Clay Jensen, who receives a set of cassette tapes at his front porch. These tapes were recorded by Hannah Baker, a former Liberty High student who killed herself two weeks prior and recorded thirteen reasons why she did so on the tapes. Each tape includes a reason for various people in Hannah's life – fellow students Justin Foley (Brandon Flynn), Jessica Davis (Alisha Boe), Alex Standall (Miles Heizer), Tyler Down (Devin Druid), Tony Padilla (Christian Navarro), Courtney Crimsen, Marcus Cole (Steven Silver), Zach Dempsey (Ross Butler), Ryan Shaver (Tommy Dorfman), Sheri Holland (Ajiona Alexus), Clay himself, Hannah herself, Bryce Walker (Justin Prentice), and school counselor Kevin Porter – and how those people are connected to her death.

In the second season, Hannah's parents sue the school district, during which Hannah's tapes are released online. The fallout from the events of the first season and the toll it has taken on the lives of Liberty High's students is further shown.

The third season takes place eight months after the events of the second season. Ani Achola, a new student at Liberty High, narrates the season as Clay and his friends struggle to keep Tyler's attempted school shooting a secret and to help him in his recovery. Tensions rise among the tapes' subjects after Bryce is killed, with Clay as a suspect. In the wake of his death, Bryce's past actions and the person he has become in the aftermath of the release of Hannah's tapes are examined.

In the fourth and final season, Clay's mental health deteriorates as a result of the deaths of Bryce and Monty, while the other students of Liberty High plan for their impending graduation and future.

Rating: 10 Stars.

The Crazies, 2010

The Crazies is a 2010 American horror film directed by Breck Eisner from a screenplay from Scott Kosar and Ray Wright. The film is a remake of the 1973 film of the same name and stars Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Joe Anderson and Danielle Panabaker. George A. Romero, who wrote and directed the original, served as an executive producer. It is about a fictional Iowa town that becomes afflicted by a biological agent that turns those infected into violent killers.

TRAILER

PLOT

In the town of Ogden Marsh, Iowa, resident Rory interrupts a local baseball game, entering the outfield with a shotgun. Sheriff David Dutton attempts to dissuade Rory but is forced to kill him when he raises his weapon. David's wife Judy, the community doctor, notices another resident, Bill, exhibiting bizarre behaviour, including lifeless and repetitive speech. That night, Bill locks his wife and son inside their farmhouse and burns it down.

Following the discovery of a pilot's corpse in a swamp, David and his deputy Russell investigate the area. They discover a military aircraft that crashed into the river a few days before. Suspecting a link between the contaminated water and the residents' bizarre behaviour, David urges Mayor Hobbs to shut off the town's drinking water supply. Hobbs refuses to authorize him, but David does so anyway. Responding to a disturbance at the morgue, David is attacked by the infected pathologist whom he kills with an electric saw and is then saved by Russell.

Soon after, all communication services are cut off and soldiers arrive to quarantine all residents at the local high school. The residents are examined for symptoms of infection. Due to her pregnancy, Judy has an elevated temperature, is flagged as infected, and separated from David. Escaping quarantine, David returns to his office, encountering Russell. The pair head for the school to free Judy. At the school, the military personnel are unable to contain the perimeter and evacuate, abandoning the civilians. Judy wakes up strapped to a gurney alongside several others. An infected enters with a pitchfork and begins killing the helplessly strapped people. David and Russell arrive in time to save Judy and Becca, her assistant.

The four make their way out of town on foot and witness soldiers killing Becca's boyfriend Scotty and his mother, then burn their bodies. David subdues a soldier and learns that the military has been ordered to shoot all civilians. They make it to David's house and begin fixing the patrol car in his garage. David enters his house and is ambushed by Rory's infected wife Peggy and son Curt. David kills Peggy, and Russell shoots Curt through a window. Russell enters the room and shoots the pair's corpses multiple times, disturbing Judy.

David, Judy, Becca, and Russell flee in a car. On the road, they are spotted by an attack helicopter and drive into a car wash for cover. The infected carwash employees attack the car and drag Becca out by the neck with a hose, breaking her neck. When the rest of the group leaves the car to help Becca, the helicopter destroys the car.

While walking down the road, the group spots a black SUV speeding, which Russell disables with a police spike strip. The driver, a government employee, reveals that the cargo plane contained a Rhabdoviridae prototype and biological weapon called Trixie. It was in route to Texas to be destroyed when the plane crashed. Enraged, Russell shoots and threatens the Duttons. David confronts him about his behaviour, and Russell realizes he is infected. Russell begs to continue with them. At a military roadblock, Russell distracts the soldiers and is killed, allowing the Duttons to sneak past.

David and Judy arrive at a truck stop to search for a vehicle, discovering that the military has also executed those who were evacuated. After killing more infected, they escape in a semi-truck. As they drive away, a massive explosion destroys Ogden Marsh and disables their truck, forcing them to continue on foot. A view from a military satellite highlights the couple and then the city, and the words "Initiate containment protocol" appear.

A Cedar Rapids newscaster reports on the explosion in Ogden Marsh, stating a perimeter has been set and civilians are not being allowed into the area. An infected person appears on camera before the signal is lost.

Rating: 10 Stars

The Possession of Hannah Grace, 2018

The Possession of Hannah Grace (also known in some countries as Cadaver) is a 2018 American supernatural horror thriller film directed by Diederik van Rooijen and written by Brian Sieve. It stars Shay Mitchell, Kirby Johnson, Stana Katic, Grey Damon and Nick Thune, and follows a former policewoman who encounters the supernatural while working in a morgue.

TRAILER

During an exorcism ritual, the possessed Hannah Grace almost kills the priest by choking him while suspended in mid-air. Her father, Grainger, then suffocates her to death using a pillow. As her father sobs over her dead body, a fly lands on her hand and it twitches ominously.

Three months later, Megan Reed, an ex-cop with the Boston Police Department struggles with depression and an addiction to pills after her patrol partner was shot dead by a criminal whom she failed to subdue. Megan's friend Lisa Roberts finds her a nightshift job in the Boston Metro Hospital's morgue, located in an intimidating brutalist architecture building (portrayed by Boston City Hall). During Megan's second shift, a man (later identified as Grainger) aggressively tries to convince her to let him into the building, but she denies him and informs the two security guards Ernie Gainor and Dave. However, shortly after, Megan helps EMT Randy to move the corpse of a brutally murdered young woman (later identified as the one of Hannah Grace) into the building and the man secretly enters. Randy tells Megan a man stabbed Hannah to death and was then caught in the act trying to burn her body in an alleyway.

When Megan tries to fingerprint and photograph Hannah's corpse, the camera explodes and the fingerprints return as illegible by the computer. Other strange things occur and Megan becomes more suspicious of the corpse. Megan soon encounters Grainger trying to drag Hannah's corpse through the building. Alongside Ernie and Dave, Megan manages to subdue Grainger. The latter screams Hannah's corpse must be burnt because she isn't really dead, but they do not listen to him and have him arrested by the police.

Megan's ex-boyfriend, Andrew Kurtz, is still employed as an officer and responds to the scene. He agrees to help Megan identify the corpse. Soon after, Andrew tells Megan that Hannah Grace had died three months earlier and asked Megan whether the given finger prints was Hannah's. Megan confirms this, and Andrew thinks maybe there is some error in the computer data. Meanwhile, Hannah kills Dave by telekinetically lifting him across the ceiling and into her refrigerated drawer in the morgue where she breaks his body. Soon after, Megan notices that some of the wounds on Hannah are missing, as if it had healed by itself. Investigating the security footage, Megan sees a glimpse of Hannah's corpse crawling around in the building. She shows the footage to Lisa, who does not believe her and accuses her of having a relapse on her addiction to pills. Lisa is killed by Hannah soon after. When Randy returns to the morgue to deliver another corpse, Megan shows Randy the healing body of Hannah.

Kirby Johnson 

After Randy leaves the morgue, Megan notices that the lift closes by itself and is going down. Megan investigates the security footage and sees a glimpse of Hannah's body crawling inside the lift. She rushes down to the access bay to warn Randy, but Hannah has already killed him. Suddenly, Andrew calls Megan to warn her that Grainger has escaped police custody after killing the two officers transporting him. Moments later, Grainger forces Megan to take him to Hannah's body at gunpoint. Grainger explains to Megan that he is Hannah's father. He tells her that numerous exorcisms failed because the demon possessing her was too strong, and that it is able to possess Hannah's body after her death by killing people to heal itself. He tells her that Hannah had depression and it worsened until the demon was able to enter Hannah's body. The blue eye colour is the sign of the demon possessing Hannah. Grainger wonders why Hannah killed Dave and Lisa, but did not kill Megan. Megan agrees to help Grainger cremate Hannah, but she reanimates and pushes Grainger into the fire. Then she locks Megan inside her refrigerated drawer.

Andrew and Ernie come to Megan's aid. Hannah kills Ernie and then tries to kill Andrew, but Megan forces herself to be calm. She picks up Andrew's firearm and shoots Hannah, then drags her to the crematorium while Andrew calls for backup. After a brief struggle before the incinerator, Megan pushes Hannah into the fire.

Megan recounts how she has managed to stay clean for over two months. As she looks into the mirror at her reflection, a fly lands on the mirror's surface. Megan smashes it with her hand.

Rating: 10 Stars

October Faction, 2020

October Faction is an American supernatural drama television series created by Damian Kindler, based on the comic series of the same name by Steve Niles and Damien Worm. It premiered on Netflix on January 23, 2020. The series stars Tamara Taylor, J. C. MacKenzie, Aurora Dawson-Hunte, Gabriel Darku, Wendy Crewson, Megan Follows and Stephen McHattie. In March 2020, the series was canceled after one season. 

TRAILER

PLOT

October Faction follows the story of a monster-hunting couple, Fred and Deloris Allen, and their twin teenage children, Geoff and Viv. Following the death of Fred's father Samuel, the family decides to go back to their home town Barrington-on-Hudson, in New York, to arrange the funeral. Haunted with childhood memories of his brother's death and the incessant arguments with his parents over his inadequacy and his choice in women, Fred is repulsed by his childhood home. The children soon begin showing supernatural tendencies. During an Impromptu session Viv has visions of a creature with long hair chained to the seafloor, struggling to free itself. Her brother Geoff accidentally reveals a teacher's deepest, darkest secret about his wife in front of his classmates. Both are ridiculed by the popular cliques for being outsiders.

Fred and Deloris are members of Presidio, a secret organization tasked to protect humanity from various breeds of monsters. They must hide their identities from the townsfolk and appear to live a normal life. This proves hard from the start as strange things begin to unfold in the sleepy little town.

Rating: 10 Stars

I Woke Up a Vampire, 2023/2024

“I Woke Up a Vampire” is a delightful fantasy comedy television series available on the Family Channel and Netflix. Netflix split up the first season into two halves. The first released on October 18, 2023 and the second half (released as season 2) released on April 4, 2024. Let’s dive into the intriguing premise:

On her 13th birthday, Carmie Henley receives an unexpected revelation: she’s not just an ordinary human. Instead, she discovers that she’s half human and half vampire. To complicate matters further, she possesses mythical powers that make navigating middle school even more challenging.

Guided by her comic nerd best friend, Kev, Carmie embarks on a journey of self-discovery. As a Vampling (a hybrid of human and vampire), she grapples with questions about her identity, origins, and the complexities of adolescence. All this while juggling puberty, participating in the middle school musical, and evading a persistent Van Helsing.

The show combines elements of supernatural fantasy, humor, and relatable teenage experiences. So, if you’re up for an entertaining blend of mythical powers and middle school drama, give “I Woke Up a Vampire” a watch! 

TRAILER

Dylan and Gorgon

CAST

Kaileen Angelic Chang as Carmela "Carmie" Henley, a blended Vampling (half vampire half human)

Niko Ceci as Kev Gardner, Carmie's friend.

Zebastin Borjeau as Dylan Hesling, a hunter who work for The Collector in season 1.

Kris Siddiqi as The Collector, a mystic gorgon.

Jayd Deroche as Aiden Henley, Carmie's adoptive brother.

Delia Lisette Chambers as Jayden Henley, Carmie's adoptive sister.

Aaliyah Cinello as Madison Spencer, a blended werewolf.

Charlotte Legult as The Shapeshifter, a vampire who is Carmie's biological mother. 

Will Coombs as Tristan, a cunning warrior fairy who appears in Season 2. He despises and wants to eradicate the human race.

Rating: 10 Stars