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Reviews
Debug (2014)
Jason Momoa makes it worth it
As usual, Jason Momoa is a definite, compelling presence. His performance makes you want to keep watching. He sure knows how to play creepy! The script needed a lot of help. The action was kind of slow. The characters needed some backstory to make them interesting and to understand their motivation, and there was some questionable action that strained credibility. Diondra going into a weird access tunnel after she discovers a dead body is the weirdest. And stripping down to do it seemed unnecessary and gratuitous. There was more of that. The premise of the movie was good, but not new. Some have mentioned 2001 and Event Horizon as influences. But I think the episode in Star Trek: Voyager where Belonda has to fix a "sick" (i.e., homicidal) medical hologram on a stranded ship was closer. And scarier. (Can't remember the title.)
IMDb on the Scene - Interviews: Aquaman (2018)
Pretty friggen awesome
This was a phenomenal undertaking. I've seen this movie many, many times now and usually after doing so you spot major problems and errors. Not so with Aquaman. James Wan did a fantastic job of realizing a new (to us) world. Mostly he served his actors well, although there is only so much you can do with a superhero script. The pacing was good although I started getting battle fatigue after Orm started going after the Brine kingdom. The cinematography and effects were fantastic. And there are scenes that are really memorable, such as a younger Arthur swimming with a pod of dolphins, jumping in and out of the water with them. For the most part the cast did well. I was especially impressed with Momoa. He had many "money shots," although, again, there's only so much you can do with a superhero script. I kept thinking to myself, 'Why isn't this guy expanding his range?' He certainly has the acting chops to do more. I suspect people automatically see his physique and assign him to a dismissable category of actor. Pity. I hope he tries to branch out, and he should definitely stay away from others' franchises. He doesn't need to play second fiddle to anyone.
Tempted (2003)
Seven degrees of Jason Momoa
Emma (Virginia Madson) and Kala (Jason Momoa) share an attraction. While on Kauai to bury the ashes of the woman who raised her (Lily), he teaches her to slow down - the islander way. She begins to see an alternative to her unfulfilling married life back in Boston. Enter her husband and kids who just fly in from Boston because, um, why? her husband can't handle the kids on his own? Kala asks her to stay with him. She decides to go back to Boston with her family. The way the movie was made, it sure wasn't convincing. Along the way, she meets her birth mother and Lily's sister, and her daughter learns how to dance hula. I would like to see the sequel to this movie. Emma finally does leave her husband, her kids are off at college, and there's nothing keeping her from going back to Kala. But it's been 15 years. What changes has he gone through in the intervening years? The seven degrees? Madson played the Princess Irulan in the 1984 Dune movie. Jason is playing Duncan Idaho in a new Dune movie, which is due out in 2020.
Wolves (2014)
Momoa makes a compelling villian
This movie wasn't on my radar until recently so I didn't see it on the big screen. Still, it was a pretty good horror film even though it was a B movie. The story is simple but relatively unique in that it involves a whole town of werewolves, the townies and the crazies (my terms). The townies live normal lives and don't kill. The crazies, well, they revel in killing. Headed by Connor (Jason Momoa), they kill whoever wanders into their territory and celebrate with BBQs (eewww). When the teen hero of the movie (Cayden) finds Lupine Ridge, he stops in a bar where he unwittingly learns too late that he's found the object of his quest: to learn about himself after he started to become a werewolf at random times (and killed his parents in a blackout). He quickly learns that Connor is leader of the crazies and everyone in town is afraid of him. Terrified law enforcement doesn't even investigate the people who turn up missing anymore, not willing to end up as entrees. Cayden is taken in by a townie couple in exchange for his working on their farm. It is from them that he learns that Connor is his father (and that his mother, unknown to Connor, had actually lived long enough to bear him before she died). The townies tell him that Connor has his eye on beautiful Angel the bar owner, and wants her to be the mother of his son. To save the townies from the increasingly more menacing crazies she agrees. But of course, enter young, cute Cayden and we have the story's conflict. Being in essence a "young adult" (i.e., teen) movie, Cayden has to be the hero, but it's Momoa's Connor you want to watch. At once menacing and charismatic, he dominates in every scene. His bloodthirstiness is chilling, yet there is something about him that makes him a little sympathetic, especially when he clarifies that he didn't rape and kill Connor's mother as the townies had told him, but rather that he loved her. Her death, and with her his unborn child, is what tipped him into full-blown crazy. The inevitable battle ensues. In the end, the bad guy loses and the good guy literally drives off into the sunset with his girl. I would have preferred a more adult story that could have taken full advantage of Momoa's simmering sensual presence, but that would not be this simple story. More interesting, though.
Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
Best Star Trek movie
This is the best of all the Star Trek movies, including the reboot movies. A movie having the ultimate bad guys Borg has the fright factor. It also has a softer side. Situs's drunk scene was with the price of admission. Bravo Frajes!