Category Archives: Fantasy/Sci-Fi
Flash Movie Review: Ice Age: Collision Course
There are these sayings I have heard most of my life that I do not know if they are based on some tradition or folklore. One of them is counterintuitive to what most people wish for on their wedding day. It goes something like this, “May rain fall on your wedding day and be the only tears the two of you will ever have to shed.” I bet this sounds weird to some of you; but to me, it makes perfect sense. Granted all of the weddings I ever attended were indoor ones. The gist of this saying is a hope that the two individuals will stand together and never have to experience sadness in their marriage. I like the sentiment in that saying. Another saying is used during a sad occasion; it goes, “May it be better times when we meet again.” I have heard this said mostly at funerals. After coming together to share in sadness, the hope between individuals is to share happiness the next time. There is an underlying theme I see from these types of sayings; there is strength in numbers. This brings to mind that phrase that goes when the going gets tough, the tough get going. I believe this to be true because I have never met anyone who prefers to deal with some form of hardship on their own. It does not matter whether it is helping someone move, lending an ear to a friend in crisis or being someone’s advocate when they go for a medical procedure; I feel everyone needs some type of support system. When you see the band of characters in this animated comedy you will understand what I mean. PURSUING that ever elusive acorn Scrat, voiced by Chris Wedge (Robots, Epic), finds himself in outer space. One wrong turn would set in motion a series of events that could put Earth at risk for total destruction. This latest installment in the Ice Age franchise had the usual cast of actors back to voice the characters such as Ray Romano (Rob the Mob, Everybody Loves Raymond-TV) as Manny, Denis Leary (Two if by Sea, Rescue Me-TV) as Diego and John Leguizamo (The Infiltrator, American Ultra) as Sid. The voices were fine and the animation was colorful in this film festival winning adventure. As for the humor maybe young kids would enjoy it but I did not find anything funny. If one is fond of the old Road Runner cartoons, I found this film to have the same type of humor which is laughing at someone’s misfortune. As a kid I enjoyed Road Runner; as an adult I do not find them so funny. Some of the jokes in this movie I felt were inappropriate for young children; it made me wonder what target group were the writers trying to reach. To me this whole picture was a money grab by the studio. The script provided little entertainment; it was just a series of events strung together. I am uncomfortable saying this but based on this latest film I would not mind if this franchise became extinct. There was an extra scene at the end of the credits.
1 ¾ stars
Flash Movie Review: Lights Out
It was a sliver of light no bigger than a pie slice, just long enough into my bedroom to see. I never had a night light as a child; probably because all the electrical outlets in the room were hidden behind furniture. Instead the bedroom door was left ajar, allowing the light outside to cast a calm glow into my room. It wasn’t like I thought there were monsters under my bed or someone could come through the window and steal me; we lived on a high third floor. I just wanted to see the silhouettes of all the things in the room with me. Darkness did not necessarily scare me, but for some unexplained reason I knew I had to be more careful. Where this thought came from I honestly do not know; what was it about darkness that made people leery? I can remember going to the city zoo and walking through their animals of the night exhibit and immediately thinking the animals were “scary.” The bats in particular I thought were evil and this was before I even knew about Dracula. Seeing them fly around their enclosure lit only by black lights, they not only were scaring me but the visitors around me. This type of fear is not exclusive to just nocturnal animals. I knew some people who did not like cats as pets because, as they would say, they slink around in the dark and you never know what they are thinking. What is it about the darkness that scares so many people? This horror film will give you the answer. MARTIN, played by Gabriel Bateman (Annabelle, Checkmate), was falling asleep in class. School officials needed to call in and talk to his family to find out why Martin was not getting enough sleep. The answer was not so simple. This picture was a surprise for me. I found the bare bones script and lack of CGI effects refreshing. The reason I say refreshing is because the movie had an old fashioned horror film vibe to it. With a simple premise and good acting from the cast which also included Maria Bello (Prisoners, A History of Violence) as Sophie and Alexander DiPersia (I am Legend, Forever) as Bret, I enjoyed the way the director built up tension throughout the scenes. Simply using darkness as a tool, the anticipation and shock value provided me with some fun “cheap thrills.” I thought Teresa was perfectly cast in the role of big protective sister to her little brother. Maybe it is just me but I liked the idea of having a strong female lead since many horror films tend to cast women as the helpless victims. There were a few scenes that showed blood but there was not the gore that sometimes comes with it. I think this film would have a wider appeal because most people can relate or understand the fear so many associate with darkness. As I said earlier this had the flavor of an old fashioned horror film; but do not take it for granted, you may think twice about turning off the lights tonight.
2 ¾ stars
Flash Movie Review: Star Trek Beyond
Summer for me meant the typical things such as hot weather, no school and trips to the ice cream shoppe. There was one other thing important to me; it meant the television season coming to an end until autumn. Most of the major networks showed reruns and I was perfectly fine with it. But then something happened and some television shows had more episodes than others, while others started either earlier or later in the season. Since I do not like change this caused me undue stress. By the way when I say I do not like change, I really mean it. Having a mind set of not fixing things if they are not broken, consistency brings calmness to me. In fact, just hearing the word change gives me reason to pause (except when using it to describe the direction I am driving); this is why I prefer to use the word evolve. Now the reason I am talking about this is my way of explaining the sadness I experienced while watching this movie. It was hard to see Anton Yelchin (Green Room, Like Crazy) reprising for the last time his character Chekov. I could not help but think the crew I have gotten to know will never be the same. My other sadness was thinking about the passing of Leonard Nimoy, the original Spock from the TV series and Spock Prime in this latest movie franchise. A part of life is death, it is an absolute given; yet it is for the most part an unwelcome change. With today’s review I did not want to turn it into a maudlin piece; I wanted to express my dislike with change and the sadness it caused, so we can move on to the rest of my movie watching experience. RESPONDING to a call for help the Enterprise comes under a vicious attack that will change the lives of the crew members. This latest in the action, science fiction series saw the return of Chris Pine (The Finest Hours, Z for Zachariah) as Captain James T. Kirk and Karl Urban (Dredd, The Loft) as Doctor “Bones” McCoy. Brought into this adventure story were new characters Sofia Boutella (StreetDance 2, Kingsman: The Secret Service) as Jaylah and Idris Elba (Pacific Rim, Beasts of No Nation) as Krall. I have to say these two were a welcome addition with both their acting and action skills. It was needed with the fast paced fight scenes in this film. There was a lot to like in this film but I felt the script was the weak link. I never felt I understood fully the villain’s story besides the disappointing major battle scene, at least for me. During a middle period of the picture I felt I was just watching a series of fights and battles that did not have much thought put in to where the story was going. On a positive note I really liked the idea behind the story, especially the dynamics between Spock and McCoy. This installment may not be the best out of the series but it certainly was not the worst. Outside of the passing of Leonard and Anton, I was not sad with the outcome of this film and left the theater feeling happy.
3 stars
Flash Movie Review: Ghostbusters
The street festival provided an opportunity to relive the memories of the old neighborhood of my youth. Walking the residential streets was a revelation for the homes were now freshly painted in colorful hues. Old porches and stairs that previously yawned in tiredness looked confidently strong now; I doubt they would utter a peep. The biggest surprise was the amount of foliage everywhere. As a kid I remember flowers were something one would find mostly in a backyard, not many households had them in front. Bushes covered the bottoms of houses; some planted to form a straight hedge across, others looking like tossed green gumdrops. Now as I traveled down several streets, flowers and ornamental trees were blooming everywhere. The trees that remained from my childhood had expanded and grown as if someone had pumped them up with air to look like inflated balloons at a Thanksgiving parade. When I finally reached the heart of the business area there were a few stores I remembered though they were dressed up with new signs and banners. The grocery store was replaced by one of those dollar stores and the local drugstore was now a currency exchange. Sitting in the same place was the diner I used to go to at least once a week. I had to go in and though no one looked familiar to me, the furniture had not changed. I ordered my usual and watched the cook make it as I sat on one of the dark red stools at the counter. The food came in those same plastic baskets freshly lined with wax paper. I was excited as I took my first bite, taking in the earthy aroma wafting off the pile of fries. Sadly my memories tasted better than the actual meal. The same thing could be said about this version of a comedy classic. STRANGE occurrences started popping up around New York City but only two people understood what they could be. Scientist friends Erin Gilbert and Abby Yates, played by Kristen Wiig (The Martian, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty) and Melissa McCarthy (The Boss, Spy) were convinced there was finally proof to substantiate their research. After all the talk of this science fiction fantasy reboot having a female cast it all came down to the script for me. Kristen, Melissa and Leslie Jones (Trainwreck, Saturday Night Live-TV) as Patty Tolan were subdued compared to Kate McKinnon (Life Partners, Saturday Night Live-TV) as Jillian Holtzmann; she was terrific which is saying a lot since the story was bland. I did not have any laugh out loud moments and felt the story needed some caffeine. The villain of the story was so dull with a tired story line that I sat in my seat and wondered what the writers were thinking. Even the special effects were nothing special; after all these years since the original film, you would think the movie studio would want to dazzle the viewers with special effects. Overall this movie was not the worst; it just did not taste as good as the original I remembered. There was an extra scene at the end of the credits.
2 stars
Flash Movie Review: The Secret Life of Pets
On the way back from vacation I was able to stop and have dinner with a long time friend; we go back many years. For all this time I never heard a word from them about wishing or wanting a pet. I cannot even remember them ever stopping to pet a friend’s dog or cat. So here we are sitting at a restaurant catching up on what was new in each of our lives when he tells me I have to see this video. Taking their phone out they click on a couple of buttons then hand the phone to me. I am watching a video of two dogs playing in a back yard. Without seeing the video, only listening for audio cues, they narrated the different scenes in the video. Not only were they telling me what I was watching, they were sharing the dogs’ thoughts with me. The dogs’ thoughts? I heard how one of the dogs runs outside and lets everyone know they are there, racing up and down while barking. The other dog was a thinker; he would observe everything around him before acting on it. I sat there in disbelief as my friend went on about these 2 dogs, placing human emotions and thoughts on them. Not that I am judging, being an animal lover I absolutely got it; but I was amazed I never saw or heard a clue my friend would be so in love with these dogs that they babysat 2-3 times a week. This is the power pets have over some of us. MAX, voiced by Louis C.K. (Turbo, Blue Jasmine), was living an idyllic life with his owner Katie, voiced by Ellie Kemper (Bridesmaids, Sex Tape), until one day she came home with Duke, voiced by Eric Stonestreet (Identity Thief, Modern Family-TV); who was to become his new brother. Max did not want this dog as his brother. This animated comedy had a well chosen cast of actors such as Jenny Slate (Obvious Child, Girls-TV) as Gidget and Kevin Hart (Central Intelligence, The Wedding Ringer) as Snowball to voice the memorable characters. I enjoyed the beginning of this family movie and thought the story was fun; the idea of pets having a secret life was brilliant. However when the story line changed and focused on Kevin Hart’s character I felt the story lost some energy besides the fun factor. Despite some fun lines and excellent animation I found myself getting bored during several places. Maybe my reaction to this picture was due to the high caliber of recent animated films, but this film was missing a sweetness to it. The humor was never at a laugh out loud type of level and not that I expect all animated films to have a learning moment in them, but I was left with just an okay feeling towards this movie. I will say the next time I am around someone’s pet I will be watching them closely to see if I can figure out what they are thinking. There was an extra scene in the middle of the ending credits.
2 3/4 stars
Flash Movie Review: The Purge: Election Year
Their voice reverberated off the walls of the tunnel, greeting the passengers passing through to the train station. The song they were singing was familiar and their voice was good enough to be noticed by a record producer, if one happened to be walking by. The setup looked ideal with their scratched up guitar dangling by its strap off their shoulder, the bulky bright colored sweater they wore and their right foot tapping to the beat of the song. I thought it all looked like something I had seen in a movie. As I settled into my seat the train car doors slid shut and we started off to the next station. Sitting across the aisle facing me was a young couple; I just knew they had only recently started dating because of the way they were acting. The 2 of them leaned into each other as they would look up from time to time at each other which caused them to smile in a demure way. Again I felt I was watching a movie unfold since there have been so many times where art imitates life and life imitates art. There have been films I have seen where a few years later a news show is reporting on the exact same type of scenario that I saw in the movie. Sadly there have been individuals who watch a film that then becomes the catalyst for them to do something destructive. On the other hand there have been movies that used an actual event to spin a story to reflect back on society. I have been told timing plays a part in whether a story will have relevance to it; if that is the case then the movie studio that brought out this horror sequel must have a lucky star shining down on it. The timing could not have been any better. WITH the annual Purge close to commencing Senator Charlie Roan, played by Elizabeth Mitchell (Gia, Lost-TV), was convinced her campaign platform for ending the murderous rite would push her to the presidency. First though she would have to survive the Purge. This action film was something I actually was not looking forward to seeing since I was not a fan of the previous installments. Whether it was intentional or not, the fact that this film came out now during the current political landscape was brilliant timing. I found the story part satire, horror with a little drama mixed in. Including the tight direction I found myself getting into the story. Gratefully the script focused more on suspense than the killing of innocent citizens and I did notice the cast was not only diverse but had more of a substantial story for each of them than just relegated to secondary figures. Now I will say the script was somewhat predictable yet I did not mind it as much since the chase scenes kept me interested, besides getting a kick out of the playing off the good guy/bad guy characters. There still was a lot of blood and violence in this film but it did not seem as much as the others. I have to say this story gives a whole new meaning to letting our candidates fight it out.
2 ¼ stars
Flash Movie Review: The Legend of Tarzan
Two events stand out in my mind as pivotal moments that changed the course of my life’s path. The first was seeing the movie Tarzan the Ape Man with Johnny Weissmuller on television; the second was reading the book Doctor Doolittle. I already was an animal lover, enjoying the local zoos and relatives’ pets; but this book and movie sealed my affection for all animals. Seeing Tarzan’s companion Cheetah (did not know it was the name of a big cat breed at the time) the chimpanzee was extra special because I had a hand me down stuffed chimpanzee; the 2 of us would watch any of the Tarzan films whenever they were being aired on TV. When I saw the original Doctor Doolittle movie I was absorbed into it because here I had read the book and now I was seeing the doctor and his animals come to life, so to speak. Ever since then I have been fortunate to have a variety of animals around me. I do not judge but when someone tells me they do not even like dogs or cats, I tend to wonder if something happened to them earlier in life that swayed them away from animals. Looking into the eyes of a dog with their unconditional love, I do not understand how someone could resist such love. I can still remember when people would ask me why I wanted to become a veterinarian; I would tell them it is because animals never hurt me. It would be easier for me to give a shot to a human being than it would for an animal. I have to tell you I was hoping none of the animals would be hurt in this action adventure film. LIVING a comfortable life in England John Clayton, played by Alexander Skarsgard (What Maisie Knew, True Blood-TV), the Lord of Greystoke was persuaded to return to the Congo for what he thought were humanitarian reasons. John who was known as Tarzan would need the help of some old friends to survive what was in store for him. Joining Alexander in this big budget film were the actors Christoph Waltz (Spectre, Carnage) as Leon Rom, Margot Robbie (Focus, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot) as Jane Clayton and Samuel L. Jackson (The Hateful Eight, The Avengers franchise) as George Washington Williams. I thought Alexander and Margot were perfect for the roles and wished they would have had more scenes together. I know Alexander is a capable actor but I do not think the script and the director helped him for this role. As for Christoph and Samuel, I just want to say they have to stop; stop doing the same kind of characters they have done in previous films. Samuel was a distraction as were the flashback scenes throughout the picture. The script was an odd mix of different story lines that weighed down the pace of the film; I was bored in a few spots. As for the CGI effects they were not as spectacular as I would have expected for a Tarzan film. By the end of this film not only was I missing not seeing Cheetah, but also missing a good story.
1 ¾ stars
Flash Movie Review: Independence Day: Resurgence
A minute to me is just as important as an hour. For someone who prefers to have the day planned out, each minute has a place in my schedule. I have a friend who teases me about my planning things down to the minute but they do not understand what one minute can do to me. If I do not cross a set of railroad tracks by a certain time on Saturday morning, I will get stuck at the crossing gates for a good 10 minutes. Then I have to hustle to the fitness center to get to my class in time. Missing the start of a movie by 1 minute means I will not go in to watch it; I have a thing about walking into a movie late, which is why I know how many minutes each movie theater spends showing trailers before the start of the film. I suppose if one is okay or fond of surprises time is not a major factor; I am not a fan of surprises. With my current schedule I have little room for variance; in fact, I even have to plan down time for myself. To keep this whole process going I have to include some expectations. For example, I have to estimate how long grocery shopping will take me if it is one in a series of things I have to accomplish for the day. It is funny, it just occurred to me though I plan out what order I go see newly released movies I never think about my reaction to them. You know, allowing time to let them settle into me before going to do something else. Having just told you I am a planner, there was no way I could have planned what I experienced in this action adventure sequel. TWENTY years since the aliens attacked Earth and mankind has been working diligently on boosting its defenses in case of another attack. Would it be enough to save the planet if the aliens come back? This science fiction film baffled me. As I sat in the theater, repeatedly looking at my watch, I had to wonder who at the movie studio came up with the idea of making a sequel and then making a really bad one. First, one would have thought with the advancements in CGI effects this film would be filled with some dazzling effects; I am afraid that was not the case. Now for the script, it was so cheesy and filled with such repetitive blustering bravado that I felt I was watching a series of ads encouraging me to join the military. Uttering some of the ridiculous dialog were actors Liam Hemsworth (The Hunger Games franchise, Paranoia) as Jake Morrison, Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park franchise, The Grand Budapest Hotel) as David Levinson and Bill Pullman (The Equalizer, While You were Sleeping) as President Whitmore. There were multiple story lines taking place in the script and I did not find any of them well developed; everything was done in a basic, predictable way. The only thing I could think about after the movie ended was changing the word insurgence to regurgitate for the title.
1 ½ stars
Flash Movie Review: Finding Dory
The older I get the harder it is for me to remember the last time we were together. I at least remember where we met, it was in the city of Denver, I just cannot come up with the year. He met me at the airport; as I walked outside to the loading area, I saw them standing off to the side of the entrance. If I had not known he was coming to get me I might have overlooked him. He was an older version of the image I had of him in my mind. Perched now on his face were aviator style glasses, looking large on his oval shaped face. There was not a lot of hair on his head, but there never was to tell you the truth. However, what hair he still had now was all gray with wisps of white. Despite these changes as soon as we got in his car for the ride back to his house, it felt like very little time had passed since we last met. We picked up right where we left off as we talked about our families, jobs, health and everything else that was on our mind. This was the norm for our relationship presently since he moved to a different city. I felt fortunate that we were able to feel this continuation in our friendship despite the lack of time spent hanging out together. The funny thing about this is when we do finally meet up we are reminded how good it feels to share some time with each other. I felt the same way about this animated, adventure comedy. THIRTEEN years have passed and though afflicted with short term memory loss Dory, voiced by Ellen DeGeneres (The Love Letter, The Ellen Show), suddenly remembered she had a family. She had to find them. As I said just before I did not realize how much I missed Dory with Ellen’s incredible comedic timing. Along with Albert Brooks (Drive, Defending Your Life) as Marlin, Ed O’Neill (The Bone Collector, Married with Children-TV) as Hank and Kaitlin Olson (The Heat, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia-TV) as Destiny; many of the characters were memorable, aided by the magnificent visuals all around them. The weak link to this sequel was the script. I found the humor and drama did not have a lot of variance; there were only chuckles instead of laughs, with very few attention grabbing dramatic scenes. But what made this movie stand out was the way the writers addressed the characters with special needs. I thought this was a brilliant way to introduce children to the topic and showed it was not a scary or bad thing. Kudos to the writers for making this issue a part of the story. In spite of the few issues I had with the script, overall the film was well worth seeing on the big screen. Before the picture started there was a sweet, charming short film that I totally enjoyed. Then make sure you stay through the fun credits for the extra scene at the very end. After seeing Dory again I hope it will not be another 13 years before I see her again.
3 1/4 stars
