Monthly Archives: August 2020

Flash Movie Review: Waves

WHEN THE MIND DESPERATELY WANTS TO do something, it does its best to avoid listening to the body. Images of the task at hand briefly pop up in the brain like bubbles, keeping you distracted from reality. I cannot tell you how many times I have found myself in this situation. Through the past years I have taught a fitness or yoga class, knowing in the back of my mind I might not be able to finish all the way through it. There was the time I was inflicted with a rotator cuff impingement, which in plain language is a pain in my shoulder. I knew there were several yoga poses in class that I would not be able to handle without causing more pain to myself. The only way I was able to get through the class was to do a quick demo of the completed pose and when I had the class join in, I did a modified version that took pressure off my shoulder. To the class, I explained what I was doing, but framed it as an option for those who might be feeling pressure/discomfort in their shoulders. No one had to know I was partially incapacitated, which I know is silly; however, I have it in my brain that I need to always appear 100% healthy to the members in my class. I have this fear that a member might assume any infliction I might have was due to exercising, causing them to stop. I know, it is ridiculous on my part to think of such a thing.     ONE OF THE HARDEST CLASSES I HAD to teach was my first cycle class after suffering a bout of E coli. My doctor had recommended I take more time off from work and teaching to recover, but my mind was telling me I needed to get back to work and teaching. The members in my cycle class knew I had been hospitalized; there was no way to pretend I was perfectly fine. Getting onto the cycle bike took more effort than I had ever needed. My thoughts of “will I be able to get through class” were clashing with my brain telling me I had to teach. The music started and off I went into the warm-up phase of our ride. I got through it okay but when I told the class to pick up speed and come off their saddles, I immediately could tell I was going to be out of breath in no time. With sweat building up and my breathing becoming labored, I had to dial down the tension on the bike’s flywheel. Almost every challenge the class and I went through on our ride; I had to modify or simply sit down and take a breather. It was the hardest class I ever taught; but the members were so supportive and appreciative, I felt good for the first time since contracting the E coli. Because of what I had gone through, I understood why the main character in this dramatic sports romance kept going.      HAVING PUSHED HIMSELF TO THE LIMITS to get to the level of competition he needed to be at, there was no way a pain in his body was going to stop Tyler, played by Kevin Harrison Jr. (It Comes at Night, Monsters and Men), from playing the sport he loved. He also did not want to disappoint his father. With Lucas Hedges (Boy Erased, Ben is Back) as Luke, Taylor Russell (Escape Room, Lost in Space-TV) as Emily, Sterling K. Brown (The Predator, Black Panther) as Ronald and Alexa Demie (Mid90s, Brigsby Bear) as Alexis; this film festival winner provided an absorbing viewing experience for me. I thought the acting was excellent from the whole cast because with a story we have seen before, they took the words in the script and turned them into something new and fresh. Also, the directing and filming made a difference for me in this movie. There was such authentic meaning ringing out in all the scenes, that I found myself experiencing some of the emotions that were taking place with the characters. This was a moving and emotional experience about family, pain, honesty, grief and forgiveness.

 

3 ½ stars

Flash Movie Review: Griffin & Phoenix

IF I WERE TO PLACE A GROUP of people into a room and ask them what one thing, they think is important to have in one’s life, the majority of answers would be for money and love. These answers are perfectly valid; I would not disagree with them. However, I do not know if either of those answers would be mine. Now I certainly hope to always have love and money, but the other thing I want to have in my life is time. Yes, time. There is so much I want to do and see that I want to have as much time as I possibly can available to explore what I want to experience. I read a news article about an elderly couple, who are close to 90 years old, getting married and I am happy for them; may they share many years together and that is what I mean. How many wedding anniversaries do you suppose they will get to celebrate together? Not that I am trying to be morbid here; but I think about how many years will my relationship get as I have more years behind me than in front of me. This is why I believe time is a precious commodity.     FOR BEING A NON-SPONTANEOUS PERSON, I am constantly aware of time. When I was working three jobs, I had to function like clockwork. Even today people who know me can set their clocks based on what I am doing or where I am at; this is absolutely true. Some of you may remember my childhood dream coming true when I traveled to Hawaii; it was the last state I had to see before I could say I have been to all 50 states. I have so many other dreams I wish to fulfill, but I need time to make that happen. When I was just starting out in the world on my own, time did not seem as important as it does now as I have grown older. I could stay out until 4 in the morning, get home to sleep a bit then eat breakfast and go on with the day with no problem. Now, I hope I can stay up some nights just to hear the news. Looking around my house, I have all these projects I want to tackle; but I never have enough time to sit down and really focus on them. Instead, I have space being taken up on tables, chairs and shelves with these unfinished tasks. It seems like I never have time to just sit down and relax; I worry that I will fall further behind in trying to accomplish what I have set out for myself. The couple in this romantic, dramatic comedy would understand what I am saying.      WITH A POOR PROGNOSIS FROM HIS doctor, time was not something Griffin, played by Dermot Mulroney (The Wedding Date, August: Osage County), wanted to waste on thinking about his future; he wanted to spend time doing what he felt like doing right now. With Amanda Peet (The Whole Nine Yards, 2012) as Phoenix, Sarah Paulson (Glass, Carol) as Peri, Blair Brown (Altered States, The Astronaut’s Wife) as Eve and Alison Elliot (Wyatt Earp, The Spitfire Grill) as Terry; this film festival nominated movie played around with my emotions and I was okay with it. Despite the story following a generic blueprint, I enjoyed the chemistry between Amanda and Dermot. And if nothing else I thought the script’s message was both important and relatable to me. There were a couple of scenes that seemed farfetched but watching the characters’ trajectory kept me fully engaged. As you may imagine, a true test for a movie is not making the viewer feel like they wasted their time watching it; I did not feel like I lost a second of time by sitting down to watch this emotional picture.

 

2 ½ stars 

Flash Movie Review: 1922

ONE THING I HAVE ALWAYS FOUND puzzling is the wide range of guiltiness that resides in each human. I am talking from one extreme to the other; where one person shows no guilt for doing something that is morally wrong, to someone else who feels guilty over something that has nothing to do with them. There was a period, earlier in the year, where it seemed as if every time I watched the news a domestic crime took place. A father and son were arguing and the father stabbed his son with a knife, two cousins were at a family dinner where they got into a fight and one of the cousins shot the other, and a son killed and chopped up his mother because she would not give him money for cigarettes; these were some of incidents the news was reporting. In all cases I could not see the slightest inclination of a sense of guilt from any of the perpetrators. I was dumbfounded; where in the world did these individuals think their behavior was acceptable? When I see or read about such things, it makes me wonder if the ability to feel guilt is a learned thing or part of a human’s genetic makeup; I find it baffling.     TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHY THE differences, I now will question someone when they apologize for something where they had no part in the cause and reaction. A friend of mine was always saying he was sorry whenever I was talking about something that happened to me. We could be walking side by side and I suddenly dropped something I was carrying in my hands. He would apologize to me. I asked him why he was saying he was sorry; did he slap the item out of my hands? Each time he apologized for something unrelated to himself, I would question him on it. It took some time before he broke the habit and as a result, I found out why he was doing it. He told me when he was younger, he felt there was nothing he could do that would win his father’s approval; it caused him to constantly feel bad about himself. We talked about this for some time as I tried to help him see the goodness inside of himself. Unless he did something that caused a person distress, he had nothing to feel sorry or guilty about. I explained it was one thing to feel empathy for a person, it was another to say you are sorry. If you are curious about the levels of guilt then you might be interested in watching this film festival winning, dramatic crime movie.      EARNING A LIVING WAS GETTING HARDER for Wilfred James, played by Thomas Jane (The Thin Red Line, The Mist). There was a way he could solve his problems; however, his wife was standing in the way. With Molly Parker (The Wicker Man, Deadwood-TV) as Arlette James, Dylan Schmid (Horns, Once Upon a Time-TV) as Henry James, Kaitlyn Bernard (The Professor, The Healer) as Shannon Cotterie and Neal McDonough (Timeline, Captain America: The First Avenger) as Harlan Cotterie; this horror film based on a Stephen King story provided a steady pace of gloom and doom. I thought Thomas did an excellent job of acting as his story unfolded. There was more suspense than horror in my opinion, though there were a couple of icky scenes. What I enjoyed about this picture was the avoidance of the usual scare tactics; the script and direction really focused on the main character’s decline. Also, the sets and location shots helped in creating a sense of isolation for the viewer. Guilt is certainly something that can have an affect on the human mind and body; this movie proves it.

 

2 ¼ stars

Flash Movie Review: Her Smell

MOST INDIVIDUALS CONSIDERED HIM THE LIFE of the party and I suppose to the untrained eye he was; however, there was something about him that did not set right with me. If I were asked to describe him in one word, I would have used the word “manic.” When he was “on” there was no off switch; he would remain the focus of attention for the entire night. Whether it was a couple of people or a large party, he was always set to put on a performance. I will say he could be quite funny at times, but sometimes people just wanted to chill out and not be forced to play his fall guy or enthusiastic audience member. I use the word enthusiastic because if you did not play along to his style of humor, he would be quick to pounce on you; of course, in a humorous way just to get more laughs out of the situation. Whenever we were at the same event, I always made sure I was off to the side, somewhere on the edge of his peripheral vision. I discovered if I was not in his direct line of fire, which mostly was everything in front of him, I could get by without being pulled into his show.      THE AMOUNT OF ENERGY HE WOULD expend during his performances was not natural; I was convinced there had to be something fueling him on, because rarely was there anyone who could do such a feat without artificial help. In a period of 2-3 years of his over the top personality, I noticed a change taking place in him. His complexion had drained into paleness and his weight loss had become noticeable. You might recall my philosophy of there being no accidents, there is a reason for everything? I was at the right place at the right time when I made a comment to a close friend of his about the physical differences I had noticed. It was as if I had the key to open up her feelings because she teared up as she told me how concerned she was about her friend. It turned out my suspicions were correct because she said she was certain he was addicted to a street drug. I did not take any pleasure in being right; a coat of sadness enclosed me as I tried to comfort her. She explained she was trying to convince him to seek out help but all he would do is promise her then continue on with his day. I felt sad for her and him, telling her she could not do it alone; it would take a major near-death experience or sudden change in the way people respond to his antics. To give you an idea of what it felt like being around him, I was getting the same feelings I used to experience back then as I watched the main character in this film festival winner.      BEING THE FRONT PERSON TO A PUNK rock band required a great deal of energy. Luckily for Becky, played by Elisabeth Moss (The Invisible Man, The Handmaid’s Tale), she had an unlimited amount of help from the things she would ingest. With Cara Delevingne (Paper Towns, Suicide Squad) as Crassy Cassie, Dan Stevens (The Guest, Beauty and the Beast) as “Dirtbag” Danny, Agyness Deyn (Clash of the Titans, Sunset Song) as Marielle Hell and Virginia Madsen (Dune, Burn Your Maps) as Ania Adamcyzk; this music drama’s prime focus was Elisabeth’s performance. She was eerily excellent in the role which only made me uncomfortable to watch what was happening to her through the story. The script did not do her any favors because I felt many scenes were repetitive. It was not until the last third of the movie where I felt fully engaged with what was taking place. Honestly, there really were not any surprises in this story; but, with Elisabeth’s convincing performance I could not look away from the train wreck that was taking place right before my eyes.

 

2 stars

Flash Movie Review: I Am Mother

SINCE THE MAJORITY OF MY FRIENDS started driving before I did, I discovered something interesting about parents. I had one friend whose father would always give a list of warnings before handing over the car keys to his son. Some of the things said by the father were, “don’t play the radio while driving,” don’t blast the air conditioning on high” and “don’t eat anything in the car.” Once we were able to get into the car and drive away, I asked my friend what was up with all the warnings from his dad. He told me his dad said the same thing every time he asked for the car, because his dad was always afraid the battery would die if the radio was on or if the fan was on high. I had no experience with cars, so I did not know whether his dad’s concerns were accurate or not. More importantly, I began to realize something else when the car did not die because we were blasting the a/c or the radio; parents may not know all the answers. At a younger age, I had no reason to question the things a parent would say; however, as I got older there were some things I would question. To me, this was all part of the learning process. How would I learn if I did not question things?      RECENTLY THERE WAS A NEWS REPORT about a father and his son who were accused of a hate crime. Besides it being a vile act, I had to wonder what was going on inside that family structure that allowed a child to act in such a way. I always thought the idea of raising a child was to help them grow up to think for themselves. Obviously, the son who participated in the crime had the same mindset as his dad. I understand children are like sponges when they are small, but I try to believe that getting an education and socialization provides the tools for the grown-up child to make hopefully responsible and rational decisions. I am reminded of someone I worked with who was a liar just like his dad. Anything either of them would say, I never trusted. Anytime I questioned them they would just make up some story to appease me, hoping I would go away. Because of my experiences growing up, I find nothing wrong with a child questioning a parent. Granted there is no rule book to child rearing, and as a friend of mine says, “Raising a child to grow up and be a decent human being is a crapshoot.” You just never know; which is what the writers of this dramatic, mystery science fiction movie wanted viewers to think about.      WITH HUMANITY EXTINCT IT WAS UP to one robot to care for the frozen, stored human embryos. For the robot to be successful it would have to teach the developing human how to be human, according to the robot. With Rose Byrne (Peter Rabbit, Spy) voicing Mother, newcomer Talilia Sturzaker as the child, Clara Rugaard (Teen Spirit, Good Favour) as Daughter, Luke Hawker (Blackspot, The Devil’s Rock) as Mother and Hilary Swank (The Hunt, The Resident) as woman; this film festival winning movie had a thought provoking script. As the picture continued the small twists and turns kept me wondering about certain scenes. Adding in Clara’s performance and I found this movie captivating. It was refreshing to have a science fiction film play out as a dramatic story without the battles and overwhelming special effects. I also enjoyed Hilary’s performance because the introduction of her character changed the flavor of the story for me. Since this film was never on my radar, I consider it a sleeper movie; one that packs more punch than what it appears to be. Even after watching this picture I kept thinking about it which is always a good sign for me.

 

3 stars    

Flash Movie Review: Mary and the Witch’s Flower

IT WAS THE FIRST TIME EVER getting such an answer to my question. All I could do was laugh and ask her why she wanted to be a mermaid. The little girl was my friend’s daughter, who said mermaid when I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up. She wanted to be one so she could swim faster and stay underwater for a long time. I wasn’t sure how to answer her because I did not want to be the one to tell her she could never be a mermaid. So instead, I asked her if I remembered correctly that mermaids had a large fin instead of feet; she said yes, I was right. Scratching my chin as I tried to put a pensive look on my face, I told the little girl that when she gets older she might be able to buy fins a/k/a flippers for her feet that would make her swim faster in water. She seemed pleased with the answer, so I decided to quit while I was ahead. My conversation with her reminded me of myself when I was her age because back then when people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I told them I wanted to fly like a bird and be a window washer.      THROUGH ALL MY SCHOOLINGS IF I did not know what I wanted to do after school for a living, I at least had some general idea of what field I could see myself in. There was one relative who always told me I should be an accountant because I was so good with numbers. Another relative said I should work in the arts because I had such an imaginative mind. I wanted to do something with animals because of my love for them. As I started the educational process towards that goal, there was a part of me that also wanted to start my own travel business because of my love for travel. I wanted to provide private tours for people, where they would be ushered through the city in a limousine. While driving them I would be explaining the different sights along with offering them restaurant choices for their meals. Though I always loved these 2 career options they never came to pass. Does that make me a failure? I never felt so; if anything, I felt there was something waiting for me to discover. The journey of discovery sometimes can even be magical as you can see with the main character in this animated, film festival nominated movie.      LIVING OUT IN THE COUNTRY WITHOUT any friends made the days boring for Mary, voiced by Ruby Barnhill (The BFG, 4 O’Clock Club-TV). However, the discovery of a rare plant in the forest was about to change all of that for Mary. With Kate Winslet (The Mountain Between Us, The Dressmaker) voicing Madam Mumblechook, Jim Broadbent (Dolittle, Paddington franchise) voicing Doctor Dee, Ewen Bremner (Wonder Woman, Trainspotting franchise) voicing Flanagan and Louis Ashbourne Serkis (The Kid Who Would be King, Alice Through the Looking Glass) voicing Peter; this family adventure story was based on the book, The Little Broomstick. The animation was beautiful and creative; I felt it blended well with the story as the cast did an excellent job with their characters. It was so enjoyable to watch the hand drawn animation for a change instead of the computer driven kind. There was a sense of familiarity as I was viewing this picture; as if bits and pieces of other stories were being incorporated into this one. However, the sweetness, fun and excitement overcame any predictability I was feeling from several scenes. In addition, I thought the message in the story was simple enough for youngsters to appreciate. Seeing a picture like this one makes me glad I write film reviews.

 

3 stars    

Flash Movie Review: Project Power

DESPITE BEING TOLD NO TWO WERE alike, I wanted to see for myself. During the next snowfall, I tried to catch and see if each snowflake was truly different. My experiment was not really thought out completely; but in my defense, I was a little kid who wanted to see if the teacher was right. The snowflakes that landed on my gloved hand all looked similar to me; I just wished I had a magnifying glass to see up close the flakes. In our schoolbook, the pictures of the flakes were finely detailed and each one was unique. I remembered at the end of our lesson that day, the teacher had us take out a sheet of paper, fold it up and use a scissors to cut out different shapes along the edges. Once we were done, she told us to unfold the paper to see the snowflake we created. It was a fun trick that we enjoyed, as each of us compared our paper snowflake to the ones being held up around us. Though several flakes looked similar, none of us could find two snowflakes that looked identical; the teacher was correct. I liked the idea of each flake being different; my adult mind would say being unique.      I FOUND MYSELF RELATING TO THE snowflake because I felt I was different from my classmates. Overall, most looked and dressed in typical school wear, some even shared similar likes and dislikes; but there was no mistaking I was the only one like me. I say this because I felt my differences were something that no other student in my classroom had ever displayed in the slightest way; I felt completely alone in this regard. Growing up in a time where everyone looked like they were trying to match each other, both in fashion and thought, I found myself out of synch with the majority. As I grew older that chasm between me and other students grew wider. Some classmates started to ignore me while others started acting out with hostility towards me. I did not understand; I was just being me. There was nothing different I was doing in my daily routines at school; but for some reason, several students picked on me. If I had my grown adult mind at that time, I would have realized they were acting out with their own insecurities, wanting to be part of the herd and not stand out. That was not me; I started to embrace my differences once I was old enough to understand them. The idea of people reacting and being different in this dramatic, crime action story is what attracted me to watch this film.      A NEW DRUG WAS BEING PUSHED out by the drug dealers in New Orleans. Its claim was it could give you a superpower for 5 minutes; what you did with it was up to you. With Jamie Foxx (Ray, Law Abiding Citizen) as Art, Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Walk, Don Jon) as Frank, Dominique Fishback (The Hate U Give, Night Comes On) as Robin, Rodrigo Santoro (The 33, Ben-Hur) as Biggie and Courtney B. Vance (Office Christmas Party, The Hunt for Red October) as Captain Craine; this science fiction film’s story had a great premise to build on. Casting Jamie, Joseph and Dominique increased the chances for this pseudo superhero movie to succeed; however, the script did not provide enough power to catapult this picture into the top tier of this type of genre. The story had a level of predictability as it incorporated several themes that have been done better before. I still enjoyed watching this movie, mainly because of the acting and comic book flavor of the scenes. There were some scenes that were too dark visually for me. I wished the writers had dug deeper into the dark side of the characters, along with expanding on the uniqueness each of us possess inside.

 

2 stars     

Flash Movie Review: Perfect Sense

I WAS SO YOUNG THAT I cannot recall what my age was when I saw this Jules Verne movie for the first time. Funny, I can see myself sitting in front of the television and I know it was a Saturday afternoon, because there was a TV show that showed a movie every Saturday afternoon. It was rare I ever missed a show. Because this happened so long ago, I do not have a full memory of the entire movie; however, I have 2 vivid images in my mind that have stayed with me all these years. The first is a massive sea monster that traumatized me when it appeared in the film. I do feel this sea monster is the reason I have always been squeamish anytime I have seen an octopus or squid. The other image that has stuck with me is a vessel that could travel underwater. Because I had never seen a submarine at that age, this vessel fascinated me when it appeared in the movie. Seeing the passengers walking inside of it as it traveled under the water made me want to join them. You may be wondering if I ever played with toys in the bathtub and the answer would be yes. However, my playing mostly involved flying saucers, rockets and boats. I never thought about a vehicle that traveled under water.      THE REASON I AM TALKING ABOUT this memory is because soon after seeing that film, we went on a family outing to the science and industry museum in the city. One of the attractions there was an actual, full-size submarine. The connection was made; here in real life was the vessel that had first appeared in the fantasy movie I had just seen. I was beyond excited and pleaded to go inside the submarine. How did the film’s story know about submarines? It was some years later when I read the Jules Verne book that I realized he was aware of underwater vessels before most people. Through the years, I have seen movies where something in them had not yet entered the minds of the general public. When I come across situations like this it always amazes me how the writers can predict the practical use or the appearance of such an item or situation before it is part of our reality. You will understand better if you watch this dramatic romance considering what is taking place currently around the world. A few days before I watched this picture, I heard about a survivor of COVID 19 whose sense of smell and taste had not returned.      THERE WAS TROUBLING NEWS CIRCULATING ABOUT people losing their sense of taste. This was distressing for Michael, played by Ewan McGregor (Doctor Sleep, Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey), to hear because he was a chef at an upscale restaurant. With Eva Green (Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Penny Dreadful-TV) as Susan, Connie Nielsen (Wonder Woman, One Hour Photo) as Jenny, Denis Lawson (Star Wars franchise, The Machine) as Boss and Stephen Dillane (The Hours, Darkest Hours) as Stephen Montgomery; this film festival winning sci-fi movie was eerie and upsetting to watch because of what is going on around us presently. Putting aside the parallels between this story and present reality, I thought Eva and Ewan were well suited for each other. Their acting was excellent with its wide range of emotions. The story created this foreboding feeling that did not leave me; I kept hoping things would get better for the characters. I will say a part of me felt something was lacking in the script. There were scenes that did not feel complete for me and I felt unsettled by the ending. Of all times to watch this film; one must wonder if the writers had some inside knowledge or ability to see the future because I certainly felt the impact of this picture.

 

2 ½ stars 

Flash Movie Review: The Incredible Jessica James

UNTIL I STARTED BELIEVING THERE WAS a reason for everything, I found myself getting stuck in place many times over. Imagine being in a relationship, thinking all is good, then suddenly you get blindsided and you are alone. At that point you have a choice; either feel sorry for yourself and wallow in self-pity or reflect on your actions that led up to the moment, to see if you are following some kind of unconscious pattern or fear. There was a time where I had the same experience being repeated in my relationships. At first, I would only focus on my feelings of hurt and anger. Until I started looking at common traits between the relationships and believing there was a reason this was happening to me, did I start to understand what had happened. A change took place and I found myself reacting differently to dates and relationships. With this new awareness, I found myself being able to also see the patterns my friends were getting into in their relationships. There were many times when friends would tell me about something their date said or did where I would tell them not to take it personally; their date was playing out some pattern of their own making that had nothing to do with them.      ONE FRIEND IN PARTICULAR KEPT REPEATING the same pattern of behavior that caused her not to succeed in her places of employment. She wanted to do something specific that she felt she was best qualified to do. The issue was with each job, she did not take full ownership of her responsibilities. The result was she never got promoted. She would become resentful, letting it build up until she quit and looked for a new place of employment. This pattern was repeated several times and with each job she became more hardened and inflexible. I understood she wanted to do something different, but it did not make sense to me to be miserable in the meantime. It is like when I walk up to a store’s customer service counter and am met by a surly employee who is not helpful. I just want to say to the employee if they are so unhappy then quit. Being miserable and feeling bad will not get one to the place where they want to be; at least that is my way of thinking. Sure, it is easy to become cynical and disillusioned, but this is why I feel there are no accidents. Be present, be available and believe in purpose because once you do, you will have an easier go in achieving your dreams. I firmly believer this and think the main character in this comedy comes to understand this concept.     DESPITE THE CONTINUAL REJECTION NOTICES JESSICA James, played by Jessica Williams (Booksmart, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald), still believed she could be a playwright. She just needed to convince people of it. With Chris O’Dowd (The Sapphires, Love After Love) as Boone, LaKeith Stanfield (Knives Out, The Photograph) as Damon, Noel Wells (Mr. Roosevelt, Master of None-TV) as Tasha and Zabryna Guevara (Marley & Me, X-Men: Days of Future Past) as Mrs. Phillips; this film festival nominee at first glance appeared to be a typical rom-com movie. However, the casting of Jessica and Chris turned this story into something new and fresh; I thoroughly enjoyed these 2 actors’ performances. The interactions between them was fun to watch, which made this viewing easier to sit through for me. The script had its predictable parts at times, but again due to the writing and delivery of the dialog, I did not mind how the story was playing out. The added benefit in seeing this picture was seeing a little of my old self make an appearance; gratefully only a short appearance.

 

2 ½ stars  

Flash Movie Review: Work It

THE DANCERS ON THE DANCE FLOOR looked to me like one large flower with its petals spreading apart to reveal its stamens; except in this case, the stamens were a man and woman swirling around each other. The people around them moved to the outer edges of the dance floor to give the couple plenty of room to “perform.” The event was a holiday party that was being held at a hotel’s ballroom; everyone was dressed up for the evening. This couple had been dancing together for decades and was not the least shy about being the first ones on the dance floor. Watching them dance, I had to wonder if they had either asked the DJ to play a certain song or hand him one that they brought along with them to the event. They were flawless as they let the music guide them around the floor, perfectly in synch at all times. Where some people dance to be seen; I did not sense that in this couple. They genuinely seemed to be enjoying each other as they ebbed and flowed into a variety of dance steps and movements, letting the music flow through them and come out of their feet. As I continued to watch them, I recalled a time when I used to go out dancing almost every weekend at a club.      THERE WAS A PARTICULAR SPOT I liked to stand in, at this one club, where I could see everyone on the dance floor. It was an elevated area that had a long ledge made of steel to match the walls around the dance floor. From this point, I had the crowded bar to my back while I could lean on the ledge to scan the never-ending flow of people coming on and off the dance floor. After a time, I was able to recognize certain “dancers” who stood out for various reasons. There was one guy who danced to be seen. Rarely did he ever pay attention to his partner because he was too busy looking for approval from everyone around him. There was another dancer who enjoyed themselves despite rarely being able to dance on the beat. This was a person that intrigued me because I wanted to find out what they were hearing that caused them to miss the beat. What I loved about the dance floor with its dancers was seeing the utter abandonment many displayed in just letting their bodies move to the music and enjoying themselves. They were not looking for approval, acceptance or acknowledgment; they simply wanted to dance. For those interested, you can see what that looks like in this musical comedy.      DURING THE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS INTERVIEW HIGH school student Quinn Ackerman, played by Sabrina Carpenter (The Hate U Give, Horns), saw an opportunity to increase her chances for acceptance. The only issue was she would have to learn how to dance. With Keiynan Lonsdale (The Finest Hours; Love, Simon) as Julliard Pembroke, Liza Koshy (Tyler Perry’s Boo! A Madea Halloween, Freakish-TV) as Jasmine Hale, Briana Andrade-Gomes (Suicide Squad, The Next Step-TV) as Trinity and Naomi Snieckus (Saw: The Final Chapter, Mr. D-TV) as Maria Ackerman; this movie’s motivation was all due to the dancing. Though I enjoyed the dancing scenes, the story was in step with better made dance films such as Footloose and Flashdance. There was some fun, humorous scenes; but overall, the story was predictable, and I am sad to say, the acting was only average. Now despite all of this, I would not say watching this movie would be a total waste of time; however, for those who are not interested in dance, you will find this film keeps stepping on the wrong beat and on your feet.

 

2 ¼ stars