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Reviews
The Union (2024)
Wahlberg and Berry in an entertaining action-comedy.
When this movie starts, and the first scene shows a special ops assignment go bad, we really didn't know how to take it. Was this going to be a serious MI or Bourne story?
Pretty quickly we realized that this was not made to be a serious movie, instead an action-comedy movie. One of the producers of this movie is Mark Wahlberg, here he is a New Jersey construction worker Mike, the kind that climbs and works on high beams in a building being built. The kind of guy who after work hangs out with his buddies in the pool hall and bar.
Halle Berry is Roxanne, she and Mike had a thing back when they were very young, he had not seen her in years when she shows up at the bar. They make small talk, they leave, and the next thing Mike knows is he woke up in London.
Roxanne, it turns out, is a highly trained agent with the Union, and they needed someone with no visibility, no trail, to help them carry out a special ops recovery mission and Mike was the one she recommended.
I always like J. K. Simmons, here he is part of that special ops group, as Tom Brennan. The other character I enjoyed is played by
Jackie Earle Haley as Foreman, a computer and data expert. I first saw him when he was a teenager in "Breaking Away."
Evaluated as a totally serious movie it would get a poor rating. But it isn't, it is more of a comedy and my wife and I were entertained. My only complaint is they portray very much shooting and killing with about as much concern or remorse as swatting a fly and that just isn't very funny.
At home, streaming.
The Principal (1987)
Enthusiastic new principal tries to reform his school.
This movie falls in the genre of teachers in difficult schools, as with the 1955 'Blackboard Jungle' starring Glenn Ford, or the 1996 'The Substitute' starring Tom Berringer. In each a well-meaning teacher has to deal with not only misbehavior but also crime among small bands of students.
One difference here is Jim Belushi is a "softer" actor, not as menacing as either Ford or Berringer, as a result the whole story is harder to take seriously. Here he is Rick Latimer who has a run-in with the law and as a result is assigned as Principal of a "last resort" high school, filled with students who in general had been expelled from other high schools.
Then there is the one "student", played by a 30-year-old actor, who considers the school "his school" as he runs drug operations with the younger students. He resents the new principal and all he is trying to do and naturally the closing of the movie involves a reckoning between the two of them.
Interesting but just a mediocre school angst movie. It is just not realistic that so much misbehavior could be going on in a public school without swarms of police there too. I found it streaming on the 'Movies!' TV channel.
Uglies (2024)
'I don't want to be free, I want to be pretty.'
This movie just became available and judging by some of the 'reviews' here many watched it (or didn't) just to leave a negative review.
While it cannot be considered a masterpiece it in fact is a fairly entertaining parody of modern society. The idea that people place an inappropriately high value on "how someone looks." When friends meet at an event or party a common greeting is "You look really good in that outfit." Or "I love your new hairstyle." I suspect being "pretty" or "handsome" helps people get jobs or elected for public office.
Some reviewers point out that the actors, including Joey King, aren't really ugly. That misses the point, in this society they are considered ugly because they are ordinary. When we see those who have turned 16 and undergone their transition, their beauty is about what you get when someone has a glamor makeup session. Or the usual makeup movie stars get for the role they are playing.
But that is only part of it, they also are brainwashed to believing that "Free thinking is a cancer" and conforming will make everyone happier. (Shades of 'Pleasantville.')
So Joey King plays 'Squint", she is about to turn 16, her mantra is "I want to be pretty." But there is a rogue world outside her city where rebels are living the old way, children with their parents, growing their own real food. And the movie ultimately gets the 'Rusties" as they are called pited against the establishment.
Movies like this are made to entertain and my wife and I were entertained, watching at home, streaming. As the movie went she said she thought maybe she had read the books some years past and later found out she did. They are considered 'Young Adult' books and that fits with the themes here.
Wicked Little Letters (2023)
August 1920, based on real people in rural England.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about this movie is the story which for the most part really happened in England in 1920. A lady is receiving the most vile, "wicked little" letters you can imagine and she suspects it is the somewhat vulgar lady next door. This leads to an arrest and eventual trial heard all around England through the newspapers.
Jessie Buckley is Rose Gooding, the vile lady next door, but always in a direct, spirited sense. Someone starts an argument in the pub and she head-butts him. That type of assertiveness.
The lady next door getting the vile letters is Olivia Colman as Edith Swan, a very religious spinster women that some refer to as "The Nun." She is a spinster and even at her age of late 40s still lives at home and sleeps in a bed in the same room as her parents.
Her dad, a demanding and difficult man, is played by 65-yr-old Timothy Spall looking more like he was 85. He is always good and creates a superb character in this role.
Buckley and Colman are two of the best and they are both really great here. About the middle of the movie we learn where the letters really are coming from, the second half to show how it was all sorted out.
It contains lots of the most vile language and descriptions imaginable but it is never gratuitous, it is part of the real story. It is a very entertaining, very British comedy-drama.
I watched it at home on DVD from my public library, it contains several short "making of" extras that are very interesting. My wife skipped, she is not a fan of British movies.
Eden (2024)
Ron Howard project.
Set in the Galápagos Islands, but filmed in Australia.
I was able to see the press conference that Ron Howard and the four main stars gave. Howard explained that he had the project in mind for a time, worked on it some during the recent COVID pandemic and lockdowns. He knew it would not be a project that a typical studio would go for so he went at it his way.
The movie is a fictional drama based on real people and their attempt to find their own Eden in the Galápagos Islands (filmed in Australia). It doesn't work out as hoped because, in the end, people are people and they can cooperate together for only so long.
This is the same theme that played out in the year 2000 movie, "The Beach" with Leo Dicaprio. As I wrote in my comments for that one, "Even though these 20 or 30 men and women all went to the island for "pleasure seeking", ultimately roles need to be taken, duties accepted, not everyone agrees, jealousy starts to erode relationships, certain people seek power, and when some get seriously injured, "out of sight, out of mind" is the remedy so as not to upset "paradise." In other words, they end up creating on a smaller scale the same world that they sought to escape from. Eventually this "house of cards" starts to fall down, and ultimately everyone realizes paradise is internal, not some idyllic place."
Good for Howard to bring this story to the screen.
The Perfect Couple (2024)
'Anything that feels this good, must be illegal.' (closing song)
I chuckle at the handful of very negative reviews here, along with a "1" rating. One guy even says he would give it a zero if he could.
These kinds of people have no clue how to evaluate a show, I suspect some of them have not even watched it but for some reason only they know want to trash the show.
Let me give a balanced perspective.
The story revolves around a wedding, one of the three sons of this wealthy family is getting married the next day. There is a rehearsal dinner outside, overlooking the bay. It goes late, the next morning a female is found dead in the water, the close friend of the bride to be. Was she killed, or was it just a tragic accident?
The show has a fine cast, better than some made-for-streaming shows. The dialog, while not groundbreaking, is fine, except the whole family members have a fondness for F-words in normal conversation. That characteristic does not add anything and in many cases seems strange and unwarranted. To me it represents poor writing.
So, how good is it? I'd say about equal in interest and entertainment to a weekly TV show with a murder mystery theme with some infidelity thrown in. It has elements of an Agatha Christie mystery. When it is all revealed it makes perfect sense but hard to guess as the story unfolds. I'd say a rating of 5 or 6, maybe 7, which is a very "average" rating for this type of show. (Keep in mind, the midpoint of a 1 to 10 rating scale is 5.5.)
My wife and I watched the whole six episodes and were entertained, often in a 'dark comedy' sense. Kidman, playing a well-known novelist, and Schreiber, a wealthy man who never worked, are perfectly imperfect as the parents of this diverse clan. It is set in Nantucket, I am a bit surprised there wasn't "I know a girl from Nantucket..." poem because it would have fit with all the sex between every eligible "of age" character.
When it was all done I had a better appreciation for the show than I had at the mid-way point. And the closing, several months later in London was a really good way for the key characters to move on.
At home, streaming.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)
Alternate title, 'The 40 day wasteland war', according to Furiosa.
I had watched trailers for this movie from time to time and my main interest in seeing it was because of Anya Taylor-Joy, she is one of my favorite young actresses. She has exotic looks with her large, wide-set eyes and perfect lips, but she is also a fine actress as she demonstrated in the miniseries "The Queen's Gambit.'
Here she takes over the role Charlize Theron played in the 2015 movie, as Furiosa. This is a prequel to that 2015 movie, for the whole first hour in this 2024 movie Furiosa is played by a young girl of 11 or 12. Then the last hour+ is approximately 15 years later and Furiosa is grown up.
The cast is very large and varied but the other actor of note here is
Chris Hemsworth as Dementus and it is clear that he is having fun with the role. There is a thin story, for the second half of the movie Furiosa is on her own special mission to get back to her home and the people there. But you don't watch this movie for the story, you watch it for the action and the fantastic visuals, and they run through the whole movie.
I wrote of the 2015 movie, and I repeat it here because it is equally germane, "So whether one considers this boring or exciting depends on one's frame of mind. In the chases across the desert it is almost nonstop action. Chases, shooting, flame-throwing guitar playing, cars and motorcycles crashing, explosions. I have to give credit to the filmmakers, and the sound track has much deep bass to emphasize all the action, you need a home theater with a good subwoofer to really appreciate all of it. I watched it at home on DVD."
A bit long for my tastes at almost 2 1/2 hours but I enjoyed it as whimsical entertainment, not much of what goes on in this post-apocalyptical world is possible.
At home on DVD from my public library. No "making of" extras.
The Magic of Lemon Drops (2024)
Entertaining Hallmark movie, whimsy filled with life truisms.
When my wife and I look for a movie on Saturday evening after our usual steak and red wine dinner, of course with chocolate cake for dessert, we mainly want to be entertained and this movie is entertaining. We have lived long enough to know most of life's truisms but it is nice to be reminded.
Set in Minnesota and Ohio, but filmed in Canada, Lolly is a 30-something single woman who works with her dad's long time family restaurant. Lolly has a knack for food, she likes to experiment with new blends and tastes but dad is adamant, no new items on the menu. On that he is as stubborn as can be. So Lolly dreams of having her own restaurant.
There is also an old unfulfilled romance with Rory, now a sports team doctor. They grew up next door neighbors, had a romance some 10+ years earlier but parted ways. Now he is back in town for a time, fresh off a divorce.
All that sets the stage for the events that shape this movie. Lolly's old aunt presents her with an opportunity. She gives her four lemon drops. Right before falling asleep at night if Lolly will take one lemon drop and out loud say what she wants to see, she will get one day, only one day, in that reality. After doing this on three different nights, going to three of her alternate realities, she can take the fourth drop and say which one she wants, but she never returns from that last one.
This sets up a series of interesting developments and interactions, each alternate reality filled with surprises for Lolly. My wife and I both guess correctly what she would do in the end.
At home, streaming on Peacock. As with almost all Hallmark movies, there is exactly one "Hallmark Kiss" and it comes during the last minute of the movie.
The Gray Man (2022)
Lots of action in a common, recycled concept.
You know what they say when something isn't completely clear? It is referred to as a "gray area." That is the meaning here of the gray man, it is not completely clear who he is or what his missions are.
Ryan Gosling is the gray man, known only as 'Six'. As he says, "007 was already taken." There is a lot of whimsy in the script, including his being referred to at one point as a "Ken Doll" which of course Gosling played in the "Barbie" movie. The idea here isn't novel, it has been used in many movies, where an unofficial assassin has to go rogue when he becomes the target.
The really, really bad guy here is Chris Evans as Lloyd Hansen, a freelance security guy with zero morals and who has lots of assassins working for him. To eliminate Six becomes his mission. He has no worry about lots of innocent, collateral deaths in the process.
To add attractiveness we have Ana de Armas as Dani Miranda, an agent who ends up helping Six. And one of my long-time favorites, Billy Bob Thornton as agent Fitzroy who first gives Six the proposal, become an agent and his prison sentence will be commuted. Sounds a lot like la Femme Nikita, doesn't it?
My wife and I watched it at home, streaming. In places there is a lot of action overload with car chases and shooting, plus a few explosions. Excessive guns and shooting is not my favorite approach to a movie like this but we were entertained mostly. More so for the actors than for the story.
My Blueberry Nights (2007)
Smaller movie about one girl's quest for meaning.
My wife and I were looking for a 90-minute movie to while away the time before bed and came across this one, streaming on Peacock. We had not watched it when it came out 17 years ago.
I was already a fan of Norah Jones, I love her singing voice and her songs but had never seen her in an acting role. The writer-director apparently specifically asked her to be in the lead role, as Elizabeth, Liz, Beth, Betty, depending on where she was.
It starts out in NYC and she is trying to find her boyfriend who it seems disappeared. She goes to the small café which is run by Jude Law as Jeremy. She asks if he has seen him, she leaves her keys with him for the boyfriend if he shows up. Before going she has a slice of blueberry pie, thus the genesis of the movie's title.
She takes a bus trip, she ends up in Memphis for a while, she takes the bus to Las Vegas, in each stop she gets some sort of job and encounters unusual characters, each played by well-known actors. It isn't always clear what she hopes to accomplish, and she ultimately makes it back to NYC and Jeremy.
It is mostly an interesting study of human nature and the factors that influence where we go next. It looks and sounds like a low-budget movie but it also has visuals that at times are as good as anything I have seen in movies.
My wife and I enjoyed it, Norah Jones does a fine job in the lead role.
The Greatest Night in Pop (2024)
Wonderful documentary, fascinating all the way through it.
I have a vivid memory of 1985 and the "We Are The World" recording. I was living in S. Louisiana, going through a separation and eventual divorce, and living alone in a small apartment. Now, tonight, I learned the whole story.
The drivers were Lionel Richey, Michael Jackson, and Quincy Jones. The idea was to use the collective musical powers of the best in the business at that time to generate funds to help the starving millions in Africa.
The 1985 AMA awards show in Los Angeles also played a key role. How do you get 40+ of the biggest names in Pop together at the same time, in the same room, to do a studio session and record the song? You do it immediately after the awards show ends, and do a brutal 9-hour recording session starting around 10PM.
This documentary covers all that, the genesis, the writing process, the recording process, the final version playing over the end credits. It is fun to see musicians, singers, each famous in their own rights be in awe of other singers they knew of but maybe never even met before.
My own personal highlight came when the individual artists were recording their "solo." When it came to Bob Dylan, he didn't quite grasp what he was supposed to do. He was struggling. So Ray Charles, a gifted musician and maser imitator, sat at the piano and, doing a realistic imitation of Dylan's voice and singing style, demonstrated Dylan's part for him. Then Dylan went to the microphone and did what we hear on the final recording.
Artists working together, they checked their egos at the door, guided by the hand-lettered sign Lionel Richey posted on the wall.
Enola Holmes 2 (2022)
Follow-up to the 2020 Enola Holmes movie.
A neat thing about this movie is it provides a fictional story based on real events of 1888 London. The Match Girls' Strike of 1888 was a walkout by women and girls who worked at the Bryant & May match factory in London's East End. The workers were paid low wages for long hours and were exposed to white phosphorus while working and eating meals in the same room. This could cause bone cancer, also known as "phossy jaw."
All this is depicted in this movie, again starring Millie Bobby Brown as Enola Holmes, younger sister of Henry Cavill as Sherlock Holmes who is also her legal guardian. Here Enola continues to look for her mother but also establishes her own Private Detective business. Naturally potential clients are reluctant to hire her because of her age.
Most of the story is her working to find a missing match factory worker and to expose the criminal element that went along with it.
My wife and I watched it at home, streaming. Good and entertaining movie. It also has a very brief introduction to Dr Watson who would become the partner of Sherlock.
The Fall Guy (2024)
Manic and funny take on making action movies.
This movie is loosely based on the 1980s TV series "The Fall Guy" starring Lee Majors, in his 40s, as stuntman Colt Seavers who moonlights as a bounty hunter when movie work is slow. In a surprise of sorts Lee Majors, now in his 80s, makes a short cameo appearance in this movie as the credits are rolling.
In this movie Ryan Gosling is in the role of Colt Seavers, accomplished stunt man. As the story opens we see him in a dangerous stunt that goes wrong, requiring back surgery. As a result he goes into depression and abandons most of the familiar.
One of those he abandons is Emily Blunt as movie camerawoman
Jody Moreno. They were in a loving relationship but now, 18 months later, that is a distant memory.
The meat of this movie is when Colt gets a call from an old associate, they need him right away for a movie shoot in Australia. When he shows up he finds out Jody has graduated from camerawoman to director of this movie. That sets up a number of interesting and mostly funny interactions. And a way for Colt and Jody to rekindle their relationship.
As some reviewers state, this is not a movie to take too seriously nor to analyze too closely. It is a popcorn action movie, just for light entertainment. Gosling and Blunt are very good in their roles.
My wife and I watched it at home, streaming, on Peacock.
Gary (2024)
Did Gary Coleman think he was 'God's punching bag?'
Back in 1978, when Gary Coleman was 10 years old, author Scott Peck published his book, "The Road Less Traveled." One of his famous quotes is, "Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it."
Gary Coleman had a difficult life and he had a hard time transcending it. He once questioned if he was "God's punching bag." He had an illness requiring him to have a kidney transplant when he was only five, and medication which gave him a puffy face and an adult shortness of only 4 feet 7 inches.
Even though I never met him I had a connection. Back when IMDb still had discussion threads Coleman and I ended up commenting on the same thread and we also directed comments to each other. Nice comments and I remember thinking how unusual it was to be trading messages with a famous actor.
Now, seeing this biographical sketch streaming on Peacock, I understand what was happening to Coleman during his 30s and beyond. No longer the childhood star he found it increasingly difficult to get acting roles. He had living expenses, he resorted to several things including working as a security guard, a job that landed him in court after punching someone who made a rude comment.
Coleman's difficulties were compounded by the people around him, even though by one count he was paid $18Million over his glory years several people skimmed money, including his parents, and as a struggling adult saw most of the money gone. With good financial management he should have been set for life.
Coleman was smart and articulate but in many ways also immature. He put too much trust in others and did not take enough interest in his own business until it was too late.
This program uses many old clips of Coleman himself, some on TV shows or movies, some as himself in interviews. Plus clips from interviews with his parents, agents, and friends. I found it interesting and a worthwhile viewing.
Fast Charlie (2023)
Interesting movie for its cast but overall just a B movie.
Part of the fun watching this movie is that it was shot in New Orleans and the Mississippi coast, areas that my wife and I are familiar with and fond of.
Pierce Brosnan is Charlie Swift, he has been a long time "fixer" and enforcer for his long time boss Stan played by James Caan. He is very loyal to Stan and when someone ambushes and kills all his associates he systematically sets out to avenge their killings.
Morena Baccarin adds beauty to the cast as taxidermist Marcie Kramer, formerly married to one of the bad guys. But really, except for her character they are all bad guys.
We watched it at home on DVD from our public library. The actors are good but there isn't much to the story, it is basically a B-movie script with lots of guns and shooting plus one inventive way to killing someone.
Somewhat below average movie, we were disappointed.
Romance at the Vineyard (2023)
Family-owned winery struggles for survival.
The story is set in Santa Barbara, California, but it was shot in Queensland, Australia. Because of that almost all the roles are played by Australian actors that few of us outside Australia have ever heard of. Just a point of interest, all are fine in the roles for this type of movie which follows the Hallmark formula very closely. Including the first kiss during the last minute of the movie.
The American actress is Susie Abromeit as Allee. Her parents are deceased, we never learn why, and she and her younger brother stay with their grandparents. Who, incidentally, own a small but very high quality winery. Their award-winner is their Pinot Noir. Allee feels she will take over some day but she has a big issue looming. The current vintage of Pinot is over-oaked and it is the wine they were going to use for a nationwide distribution deal.
Meanwhile, Australian actor Tim Ross as Ethan Blake works for a company that takes over small wineries. In fact they own all the other wineries in that region and Ethan is given the assignment to travel to this one and make a deal.
There really isn't much novel about this story and the attempt at depicting authentic winery operations fails badly. It comes across as a low-budget movie just for light entertainment. And it accomplishes that, just light entertainment for those of us looking for a clean 90-minute movie.
Its rating seems a bit high, probably because so many Australian voters gave it a "10". I'd say more like 4 or 5 is appropriate.
My wife and I watched it at home, streaming on Prime.
Dogfight (1991)
It was the 1960s and Marines were about to ship out.
This movie, filmed in 1990, pretty accurately recreates the 1960s. The story starts in 1963, when I was a freshman in college and winds up in 1966/1967 when I was a senior. So for me it brings back memories of my own growing up and learning how to function effectively in the real world outside my small home town. Near the end I also spotted a close twin to my red 1965 Mustang.
The title is a reference to an unsavory activity, each serviceman attempts to find the ugliest girl to bring to a party, they each put up cash for the prizes. That is how the two main protagonists meet.
River Phoenix who was still 19, about to turn 20, is the young Marine Eddie Birdlace. He is a good-looking guy with almost zero social skills, always seems angry at something. But he spots Lili Taylor, about 23 during filming, as Rose. She is the daughter of her mother Rose and works in their small San Francisco Cafe'. Rose isn't actually ugly but very "homely" as we used to say. She dabbles with the guitar and aspires to be a folk singer, very 1960s.
The story is mostly about Eddie and Rose learning to appreciate each other, Eddie finds out she has more substance than he thought. The next morning all the Marines go to Devil's Island to ship out.
The movie is set in San Francisco but mostly filmed in Seattle. A young and unknown Brendan Fraser had a very quick part as a Navy man in a brawl. Plus it was nice to see Peg Phillips, one of the mainstays of the TV series "Northern Exposure." Her roles here was also very brief, sitting at a table in the cafe'.
I watched this at home on BluRay from my public library, it is a nicely restored version from the Criterion Collection.
Enola Holmes (2020)
Younger sister of Sherlock gets her taste of sleuthing.
I don't know the filming dates for this movie but star Millie Bobby Brown was either 15 or just turned 16. She plays 16-yr-old Enola Holmes, younger sister of Sherlock Holmes. Being the last child left at home she and her mother were very close. When her mother suddenly turns out to be missing young Enola (which is 'alone' spelled backwards) decides to strike out to find her. She takes a train to London after decoding something mom had left behind.
The movie is almost exclusively about young Enola getting her own taste of sleuthing, as such she has to carry the movie. It succeeds or fails on her performance, and I must say she does it very well. In addition to finding her mother, she also must help a young boy of nobility get to his proper place.
My wife and I watched it at home, streaming. Overall a nicely entertaining movie.
Night Swim (2024)
Definite B-movie, however it is mostly entertaining, in a dark way.
The movie starts in 1992, we see a young girl swimming in the pool at her house then something evil happens.
Switch to modern times, the same house, now with a dirty and neglected pool, is on the market. Wyatt Russell (Kurt and Goldie's son) is a Major League Baseball star Ray Waller with an injury, he decides to buy it, he figures the pool would help with his rehabilitation and his family would welcome putting down roots.
(As an aside, this is the first role I recall seeing with Russell, he carries it well. Although he resembles his famous father he has his own unique acting style.)
As soon as the family gets settled and uses the pool strange things start to happen. Is it the ghost of the missing girl all those years ago? Does the pool have some sort of miracle healing powers?
No, this isn't a very good movie and it has earned its rather low rating. Still, I watched all of it and it is entertaining at some level.
American Dreamer (2022)
As hard as dying is, living is a close second.
Peter Dinklage is Phil, a 50-something non-tenured professor of Economics at a college in Massachusetts (actually shot in British Colombia). As he tells a few of his students when they are in a bar for beers, a man just wants two things, to go home and a good sandwich.
Phil wants both, the sandwich he gets at the vending machine at work, it is sparse but add enough mustard and BBQ sauce from the small packets in the drawer and it fills the bill. Going home is a bit harder. He wants his own house with a strip of yard but can't really afford much.
That is until he sees the ad, an older woman has a very nice, expensive estate and will sell it for an affordable price with one condition - she is allowed to remain living there until she dies while Phil occupies the small adjoining apartment. Phil pools all his resources and takes the plunge.
I have long been a Shirley MacLaine fan, she is the same age as my older sister Sylvia, here she plays the older lady Astrid. Much of the fun in the movie is the interplay between her and Phil after he signs the papers and moves in.
My wife and I watched it streaming on Prime, a totally entertaining movie.
The Killer (2024)
Tired, recycled themes and a heavy focus on guns, guns, and more guns.
It is time that we viewers take a stand against this type of movie. It is made directly for a streaming service. For anyone who has not yet noticed, the great majority of movies made for streaming services are low-quality, recycled ideas. Like this one.
The director is John Woo. I can't fault him entirely, he is responsible for such fine movies as the 2003 "Paycheck", the 2000 "Mission Impossible", and a few others. He is a good director and needs work.
But this movie, "The Killer", features Nathalie Emmanuel as assassin Zee. She hesitates on a kill and therefore becomes the hunted. There is absolutely nothing novel in this story or the way the movie is made. It uses all the tired tropes of this genre of movie and substitutes guns and more guns for good story.
What is this obsession with guns, guns, and more guns in movies? Is this what the producers think audiences want? I say, let's all take a stand and demand better. Let's reject this type of movie, they are not entertaining and not worth our time.
IF (2024)
From the active mind of John Krasinski, a fable.
John Krasinski wrote and directed this movie, a modern fable. It is hard to describe but I will try.
The concept is that many (or most?) children growing up have an "IF", an imaginary friend. However, as they grow older they no longer have room for the IF and it disappears. But in this fable the IFs don't disappear, they still exist, the adult just cannot see them anymore.
A young girl of 12, named Bea, loses her mother, then her father needs to go to the hospital for a procedure. Bea travels to New York city to be with her grandma for a while as dad is hospitalized. There in her apartment building she encounters a couple of strange beings, one of them a very large purple fuzzy and friendly creature called Blue. They explain that he was the IF of a child that was color-blind. Eventually Bea encounters many, many different strange creatures, all of the IFs that their former children could no longer see. Bea could see all of them, no one else could.
So as the story develops Bea realizes the value of an IF and works to try to reunite them with their adults as a way of helping the adults either be happier or more positive about their lives.
Bea is played by a very cute and accomplished young actress, and a large number of very accomplished adult actors voice the various IFs depicted. I can almost visualize John Krasinski contacting all his friends and asking them to do a voice recording for this movie.
My wife and I, retired grandparents, watched it at home, streaming on Amazon Prime. It is a very clean, entertaining movie with a good message.
French Girl (2024)
Entertaining food-based comedy set in Quebec.
I found the first 20 or so minutes difficult to get through. First there is the drug that Gordon's dad gave him to calm him down for the flight and it made him act like a total jackass on the plane and in the airport terminal. Then there was the gathering of French Canadian family, all talking too loud and over each other at the table during a meal. All more annoying than entertaining. I thought to myself, "If this is how the whole movie is then I am going to abandon it."
Thankfully it eventually redeemed itself, things settled down and a pretty interesting story developed for the rest of the way.
Zach Braff is New York school teacher, Gordon Kinski. He is pretty much a dull, ordinary guy. His girlfriend is French Canadian actress
Evelyne Brochu as Sophie-Jeanne Tremblay. She is a successful chef that soon gets extra notice. A person from her past contacts her, they are holding a contest of sorts and want her to compete for the job of Executive Chef at a new high-end restaurant in Quebec. That is the spark for the trip back home where her family runs a farm that produces superior lambs.
The person from the past is Vanessa Hudgens as Ruby Collins, a somewhat famous chef with a TV show and she is holding the competition for the new chef. Greatly complicating matters is she and Evelyne had more than just a professional relationship back in the day and Gordon does not know about it, as he is preparing to ask her to marry him.
My wife and I watched it at home, streaming on Amazon Prime. The streaming version includes English subtitles when French is spoken. In spite of its very rough beginning it turned out to be a better movie than my wife and I expected it to be. Its IMDb rating seems just a bit low.
The Instigators (2024)
Entertaining Boston crime caper but with waaaay too much filthy language.
My wife and I were looking for some light streaming entertainment. You can't go wrong with Damon and Affleck, can you? It is written as a mostly comedic caper but there is some shooting and a few people are killed, there is nothing funny about that.
Plus the script is written with waaaay too much filthy language, F-words and Muther-F references. Characters going out of their way to speak the most obscene things you could think of. Maybe crooks in Boston really speak that way but you don't have to put so much of that into a movie that is just supposed to be entertaining.
In spite of all those demerits we enjoyed it a some level although it is NOT one we would ever re-watch. Matt Damon is Rory, a delinquent father who says he can get even if he can come up with $32,480. So he takes a heist job that he is totally unqualified for.
His partner in crime turns out to be Casey Affleck (who also co-wrote) as Cobby. He is the smart one of the duo but predictably nothing goes as planned.
This is the type of movie where the crooks get into 4 or 5 situations that as the audience we KNOW they will never escape, but somehow they eventually escape. There is a fairly elaborate car chase scene, at least a couple of explosions, a crooked politician that has to get re-elected or his crimes will be exposed.
No, sorry, not a particularly good movie, I think its IMDb rating is a bit high.
Heart of Stone (2023)
Espionage action movie, in the style of 007 or M.I.
This is 100%, certifiably a "popcorn" movie. It has a fine cast overall but the main attraction is Gal Gadot as Rachel Stone. She starts out as a clerk in a secretive organization but in reality she is a highly trained and lethal operative for an unofficial organization that fights crime. In some respects it is like watching a female version of Tom Cruise, even the way she runs at full speed then jumps off a cliff into the ocean (although I suspect a stunt double was used for some of that) to escape the bad guys.
The movie liberally uses the types of scenes we are accustomed to watching in movies like the Cruise "M. I." series of movies, and even some of the older "007" movies. It also uses advanced (simulated) A. I. and visualization technology where via implanted chips can monitor and direct agents at any place on Earth. Nothing actually possible with current technology.
My wife and I enjoyed it as a "popcorn" movie after Saturday evening dinner. There is nothing novel or meaningful but it is entertaining for that type of movie.