Category Archives: Thriller
Thriller
Flash Movie Review: The Darkness
My feet could not completely fit on the stairs; I felt like I was walking on tiptoe as I made my way up the spiral staircases. The echoes from my steps reverberated off the stone walls so it sounded like I was climbing with a crowd of people around me. I had left the outside of the centuries old structure with its marble panels of white, green and red; to slowly make my way up the inside of its dome. The fact that this building was completed in 1436 did not escape me; I could not stop taking photographs of everything that came into my sight. It was almost hard to process that I was making my way through a building that had been standing already for over 500 years; if it was not one of the oldest things I had seen, it had to be pretty close then. My goal was to reach the top and venture outside to look over the city of Florence, Italy. This building is known as the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flowers aka il Duomo di Firenze and to this day its dome is the largest brick structure in the world. As I finally reached the top and ventured out into the daylight, the sun flashed into my face. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the brightness and when they did, I was horrified to see the walls of the observation balcony had spray painted graffiti all over them. I felt it was incredibly disrespectful and plain old ignorant; why would someone do such a thing? Just watch this horror thriller and see what could happen when someone is disrespectful towards ancient objects. AFTER returning from vacation the Taylor family began to experience odd occurrences around their house. Husband and wife Peter and Bronny, played by Kevin Bacon (Cop Car, Black Mass) and Radha Mitchell (Finding Neverland, Man of Fire); noticed their son Michael’s, played by David Mazouz (The Games Maker, Touch-TV), behavior was being affected. What I liked about this horror film was the use of suspense instead of using graphic and bloody props to scare the audience. It also helped that the characters were placed in a typical setting and reacted in a way that was easily relatable. However, the script did not do anything new or different from the multitude of horror films I had seen before. I did not mind the acting but I felt there could have been more opportunities to increase the tension level or even scare factor if the writing was better. This production came across with a connect the dots story line that incorporated bits and pieces of stuff that had been done before; sort of like the writers were following a recipe where you add a little of this and a little of that, if you know what I mean. Even the briefest of an extra scene at the end of the credits essentially provided nothing for the viewers, so why did the writers add it? They should have left well enough alone in more ways than one.
1 ¾ stars
Flash Movie Review: Money Monster
No one wants to ever lose money. Look at all the apps that are available that try to find you the cheapest price for an item. I am all for trying to save some money on a product I am going to purchase; heck, I even cut out coupons before I go to the grocery store. Now when it comes to trying to increase the funds in my savings I tend to lean more towards low risk ventures. There are a few people I know who buy and sell penny stocks on a daily basis; if they can make a few cents more each day they are satisfied. I do not have the temperament for this type of trading. The same could be said when it comes to gambling. Being a people watcher, I am always stunned by the amount of money people gamble away at casinos. Gambling is not only limited to casinos though; you probably have heard the saying, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is not true.” Let us face it, there is no easy way to make money; I firmly believe this which is why I gravitate to low risk methods of earning interest on my savings. But there is another component that needs to be factored in regarding the methods we use to earn money. Here is another important saying, “Never put all of your eggs in one basket.” This is so true; the key is to have variety. Even if one is only comfortable putting their savings in an interest bearing bank account, I still would use at least a couple of banks to hold my money just in case something goes wrong with one of the them. If I had my retirement fund held by only one institution and they lost it I would be just as upset as the man in this crime thriller. BELIEVING what financial TV host Lee Gates, played by George Clooney (The Monuments Men, The Ides of March), was saying was true; Kyle Budwell, played by Jack O’Connell (Unbroken, Starred Up), was willing to take a risk with his money. The move would lead to dire consequences. Directed by Jodie Foster (Carnage, The Brave One) and also starring Julia Roberts (Mother’s Day, Secret in Their Eyes); I thought the direction was tight and kept the suspense going throughout this drama. The acting was exceptionally good which helped me because the script was far-fetched in several spots. There were a couple of times I sat in my seat and thought no way could that have happened in real life. In addition, there were a few predictable scenes that played out for all intents and purposes like standard plot twists. In my opinion it took away from the suspense. The story itself could be considered timely and I certainly could understand the frustration level for the circumstances. I am sure there will be some viewers who will be able to relate to this story and if they do they have my condolences.
2 ½ stars
Flash Movie Review: Green Room
The room was quiet and dark but I woke with a start as if someone had their hands around my neck, squeezing it tight. There were few if any shadows in the room yet everything looked crystal clear to me. I sprung out of bed as my lungs started yearning for air. My brain was bouncing off the sides of my skull as I ran into the bathroom to look at myself in the mirror. I do not know why or where that thought came from but I was quickly becoming frantic as I could not take a breath in. Looking at my reflection I opened my mouth wide to see if there was something that formed during the night in the middle of my throat that prevented me from breathing. I did not find anything unusual there. The past few days I had a head cold that I was just letting run its course; but I never experienced anything like this before. I was scared and all I could think of was if I collapse on the bathroom floor how long would it take for someone to find me. My ears were buzzing with noise as my lungs felt like they were about to rip open. As quickly as that vice around my neck appeared it suddenly disappeared, allowing me to deeply take in precious oxygen. What the heck had just happened? I could not go back to sleep after that and spent the rest of the night sitting up in a chair until I could call the doctor. This was the closest I had ever felt to death and it was frightening. PERFORMING at a bar in a secluded, off the beaten path, woodsy area; the band performing had no idea how tough the audience really could be. This film festival winner had a spot-on ominous look to it. With Anton Yelchin (Star Trek franchise, Fright Night) as Pat, Alia Shawkat (Three Kings, Whip It) as Sam, Imogen Poots (Need for Speed, Filth) as Amber and Patrick Stewart (X-Men franchise, Match) as Darcy; the cast did a solid job in lifting the script up in this horror thriller. The story had a generic base but the writer added on top of it a chilling crime flavored plot that kept my interest. Even when bloody violent scenes were being shown, I still kept watching because the two opposing sides came across truthfully. I appreciated the fact that this story did not have fantasy killers or bizarre characters; everything shown was plausible to me. Having been a fan of Patrick Stewart for some years, I especially thought it was brilliant to cast him for the role of Darcy and I do not want to tell you anything further about his character. I will say though I thought there could have been more intensity with his role; however, that is just my personal opinion. From watching this movie I absolutely understand why people will do anything to stay alive. Several scenes had blood and violence in them.
3 stars
Flash Movie Review: The Wave
We were sitting around talking about our ideal place to live when we all reach retirement age. The answers went from coast to coast, with the majority set in warmer regions. But even with an ideal location there was a caveat to each of our answers, the fear of a natural catastrophe taking place. For those who chose the California area there was the fear of earthquakes. Going to the opposite coast of the United States the concerns were hurricanes or rising sea levels. I already have enough to worry about on a daily basis, besides the violent storms that take place in my area. The idea of living in an area prone to devastating events would put me on edge to say the least. I guess it is a trade-off for those who want to live in a beautiful if not exotic area. What I am curious about is how the people who live in such places where earthquakes or flooding occur handle it all. The pictures I have seen of homeowners returning to their flooded and broken homes, even demolished ones, are just heartbreaking. I do not know what I would do if I came home one day and saw my house destroyed by fire or tornadoes. One of the reasons I am not a fan of July 4th celebrations is because of all the people in my neighborhood who shoot off fireworks. Many homes are made of wood products besides all the trees; it does not make sense to me, but then again not many things these days make sense to me. Though the area looked unbelievable to me, I do not know how the people in this dramatic thriller could live there knowing what could happen one day. LIVING in the area by the Geiranger Fjord was idyllic for geologist Kristian, played by Kristoffer Joner (The Revenant, The Monitor), whose job was to monitor for seismic activity. One day he noticed something different. This film festival winning action movie had some of the most beautiful outdoor scenes I have ever seen in a movie, possibly because the area is so foreign to me. I was grateful the subtitles were not distracting so I could really watch the story unfold. With Ane Dahl Torp (Dead Snow, Cold Lunch) as Idun and Thomas Bo Larsen (The Hunt, The Celebration) as Phillip, I thought the acting was pretty good, considering the script was somewhat weak in parts. One of the things I liked about this picture was its old fashioned feel; it reminded me of those disaster films from the 1980s. The story was simple and despite it being a bit predictable I really did not mind. This may sound weird to say about this disaster movie but I found it fun to watch with the dramatic harrowing scenes shot in a retro low budget way. I would have said I wanted to vacation here someday but after seeing this film I think I would be afraid the whole time. Norwegian language was spoken with English subtitles.
2 ½ stars
Flash Movie Review: London Has Fallen
There are people who live to work; there are other people who work to live. I fall into the latter category. The jobs I have are only a portion of who I am; they do not completely define me. The top 2 responses I get from people when I tell them I am a credit manager is either I must be a mean man or they would be afraid to show me their credit score. Neither statement could be further from the truth; it just so happens this is what I do during the day as is teaching cycling and yoga at night. There is much more in my life besides theses jobs. Now I know there are individuals who define themselves by what they do for a living. I find it humorous when someone announces their job title as if they are landed gentry or royalty. On the other hand I recently was talking to someone who was under stress because they could not let go of their job once they clocked out for the day. Their sleep was being affected, grinding their teeth to the point of waking up with severe pain in their jaw. The lack of sleep was making them sluggish throughout the day, causing their work to back up to the following day which was adding more stress and so on. It was becoming a vicious cycle. I do understand for some folk they love what they do, so their career shares the same space as their life. However, if one begins to lose their identity this could lead to the breakdown of boundaries between personal and business dealings. To see this all you have to do is take a look at the occupation of the main character in this action thriller. FLYING to London to attend the prime minister’s funeral President Benjamin Asher, played by Aaron Eckhart (My All American, Thank You for Smoking), and his team found themselves in the middle of a world catastrophe that was planned especially for him. This sequel had returning cast members Morgan Freeman (Dolphin franchise, The Dark Knight franchise) as Vice President Trumbull and Angela Bassett (Malcom X, American Horror Story-TV) as Lynne Jacobs. The chase and fight scenes were intense; I especially enjoyed the one involving the President’s helicopter. When it came to the script I found it dreadful, filled with ridiculous prejudiced comments and generic catchphrases. For a crime movie all this picture provided was fight scene after fight scene for the most part. And something that I found to be the most unrealistic about these scenes were how in the middle of all these bullets flying around only the “bad” guys were getting hit but none of the good ones. It adds phoniness to the film in my opinion. The idea behind the story was interesting; unfortunately it just turned into a lame action picture. To tell you the truth the whole thing felt like the writers went on automatic to create this script.
1 3/4 stars
Flash Movie Review: Triple 9
Once upon a time I had only known police officers to be friendly and helpful. There was a relative’s relative (you know, from the other side of a marriage) who was in the police force. The few times where we would be together for an occasion they were simply kind and quiet. I was told they were tough at work but I never witnessed it. In high school there was a narcotics officer who stationed himself in the cafeteria during all of the lunch periods. I remember him kidding around with the students as he patrolled the large lunchroom. He was always at the entrance first thing in the morning to greet all of us; though I always wondered if he was looking for something in particular. There was only one time where I saw him interacting with a student in a forceful way. It turned out the student was high on something and tried to resist the officer’s request to come with him to the principal’s office. That was my only contact with police officers. Sadly when you hear people talking about the police these days it tends to be with disdain and mistrust. The use of video cameras, installed on the officers and in police cars along with bystanders’ cell phones, has changed the general public’s opinions about the police. With the altercations that have been recorded and shown on the news these days, I cannot imagine someone not being affected by it in a negative way. The one reason I am not surprised by the things I have seen is because I have always had this philosophy for every occupation: someone has to graduate at the top of the class just as there has to be someone who graduates at the bottom. UNDER pressure to commit a criminal act a group of crooked officers have to set up a code 999, which means an officer is down. This crime thriller had an amazing cast of actors that included Chiwetel Ejiofer (The Martian, Z for Zachariah) as Michael Atwood, Casey Affleck (Tower Heist, Gone Baby Gone) as Chris Allen, Anthony Mackie (Ant-Man, Our Brand is Crisis) as Marcus Belmont and Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs, Titanic) as Irina Vlaslov. Now you would think with such a group of actors this movie would be stellar, wouldn’t you? The action scenes were absolutely intense but the story went nowhere. I felt no connection to any of it; none of the scenes flowed together, it was disjointed. Sitting here and recalling the characters reminds me I knew nothing about them. It felt as if I had only seen a portion of the film; the part that had the blood and violence in it. The actors did what they could with the script but the only one that stood out for me was Casey. Kate was wasted on her role and I felt I had wasted my time watching this picture. Maybe the people involved with making this movie graduated at the bottom of their class.
1 3/4 stars
Flash Movie Review: 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
A switch gets turned on and the lights go on. A simple procedure that requires little movement and truthfully not much thought. The only time I think about it is when a lightbulb burns out. This action of little effort disguises the massive coordination needed to get the power to my home, through the house to the lamp. Fortunately I live in a place that has been reliable for the most part, except for when we have had violent storms. Every month I send a payment to the energy company for the use of their electricity, but I do not have much awareness on where or how the company acquires their energy for sale. I imagine the amount of people involved is staggering; whether it involves coal miners, nuclear technicians or service personnel who maintain solar panels and windmills, the mechanics of it all have to be precise and efficient. As I said, luckily for the most part things work smoothly here for me. Can you imagine if things did not? The chaos that would ensue would be monumental, effecting thousands or millions of people. Presently a city in Michigan is going through a crisis regarding their water system. For the little I know about it, the situation was caused by various agencies within Michigan; it was not like some outside force attacked their water supply. In other words it could have been prevented if everyone had worked together. Now when a breakdown occurs due to outside elements, things can go haywire. ARMED citizens in Benghazi Libya overpower a compound where the U.S. Ambassador has chosen to reside. Thirty miles away a small band of CIA contractors are witnessing the evolving destruction. Based on a true story this action thriller directed by Michael Bay (Transformers franchise, Armageddon) had intense, bloody fight scenes throughout the story. With John Krasinski (Leatherheads, The Office-TV) as Jack Silva, James Badge Dale (World War Z, Shame) as Tyrone “Rone” Woods and Pablo Schreiber (Vicky Cristina Barcelona, The Manchurian Candidate) as Kris “Tonto” Paronto as part of the cast; I was stunned by this film. Remove all the politics that have formed around this story; it truly was astounding to witness the amount of craziness that was billowing all around the characters. Let me see if I can explain the feeling. I went through drivers education class to get my license. Going through all the simulations and supervised driving lessons in the school’s parking lot did not prepare me to that adrenaline rush the first time my car slid across ice covering a busy intersection. The same can be said here; no one was prepared for the escalation of violence. Too bad the script was filled with cliches and simplistic dialog; how many times does one need to hear someone being called “brother?” The action was typical for Michael, fast action mixed with slow motion movements. Not to take anything away from these heroic people but their story needed a better script.
2 1/3 stars
Flash Movie Review: The Perfect Host
If you plan on serving one dessert per person then your dinner party will be a success. At least that is my philosophy when it comes to having people over for dinner. I am more confident with my baking skills than my cooking abilities; so I figure if the main course flops I can at least have my guests leave with full bellies from the variety of desserts out on the dining room table. The reason I am still timid with cooking is because my past dinner parties involved ordering in food, like pizza. Only recently have I ventured into creating home cooked meals. I do not know why things changed, but I know there is something special about sitting down with friends and family to share a meal. Preparing the meal and watching people experience a positive feeling from the things I created is a real trip for me. It stimulates my creative side and forms a memorable bond. In fact, I always insist my guests take food home with them because I believe when they go to eat the leftovers; the memory of our time together will solidify in their mind and heart. To me this is one of the foundations that makes for a successful dinner party. As host it is my job to conduct the party’s events, from appetizers all the way to desserts and snacks. I am a sucker for new products which means I always include something new for everyone to taste; it is sort of like having our own focus group. Even with all the things I do my diner parties pale in comparison to the one in this comedic crime thriller. CRIMINAL John Taylor, played by Clayne Crawford (A Walk to Remember, The Baytown Outlaws), needed to lay low and thought he found the perfect place. It was the house of Warwick Wilson, played by David Hyde Pierce (The Fisher King, Frasier-TV), who was in the middle of preparing a dinner party when John rang his doorbell. This film festival winner’s story was a bit off the wall in an odd sort of way. There was a mixture of whimsical and threatening scenes, some seemed implausible. Along with Tyrees Allen (12 Angry Men, RoboCop) as Roman and Megahn Perry (The Convent, The Gravedancers) as Simone De Marchi, the cast was fine. David Hyde Pierce did his best with the role, though the character had similarities to David’s previous acting roles. There was nothing great about this movie but I enjoyed the surprise twists and what I can only call the looniness in the script. It was that craziness that wore the action down in my opinion. I did not fine this film to be a true thriller; it was more like a light version. On DVD this film was okay; it certainly is not a must see type of thing to watch. I would not choose it for a dinner and movie night at my house. There were multiple scenes that showed blood.
2 stars — DVD
Flash Movie Review: Point Break
These machines were built for one’s enjoyment but if used in a certain way they would become torturous. I am not sure how many of you even know what a slide projector is but I have one in my possession. There was a time where people took pictures with cameras that used film; some of that film was meant to be developed into slides. A slide projector was used to display these types of photographs up onto a projection screen or a really, really white painted wall. I am a huge fan of photography having minored it in college. For me photos provide a visual history about a person. They have a way of letting us revisit a moment in time to re-experience the emotions we had back then. Whenever someone tells me they took pictures while on vacation I am the first to ask if I could see them. One of the reasons, besides seeing people enjoying themselves, is my being able to see places I have never seen or at least to see it through someone else’s eyes. A different perspective can enhance one’s own memories about a place. Now that I talked about the positive aspects, let me tell you about the unpleasantness one can encounter if the photo taker goes astray. You have been sitting for almost an hour while your host is showing you their photos from a recent trip. When you said you wanted to see them you had no idea there would be that many photos, photos of artificially flavored snow cones to their rental cars to clouds to benign forests to their motel room; you get the picture? If not, then try sitting through this action crime film. UNDERCOVER FBI agent Utah, played by Luke Bracey (The November Man, The Best of Me), needed to infiltrate a group of extreme sports athletes to solve an international crime case. The challenge would be to survive the death defying feats. The story for this crime film spanned the entire globe, offering spectacular outdoor scenes. I felt I was going through a collection of saved postcards from a world traveler. The action was intense, with stunts that were dumbfounding. With Edgar Ramirez (Joy, Deliver Us From Evil) as Bodhi and Ray Winstone (Hugo, The Departed) as Pappas being part of the cast, this movie was all about the visual experience; there was nothing else positive about the film. This remake barely resembled the original film; there was weak and cheesy dialog, bare minimum acting and a story that made little sense. Except for enjoying scenes from the different continents I was bored throughout the majority of this picture. It literally felt like I was being held hostage to sit through someone’s vacation pictures for however long was this movie’s running time. If I had a choice I would have preferred to stay home and wait for the characters to send me a postcard.
1 1/2 stars
Flash Movie Review: Legend
If memory serves me correctly there was an old movie I watched a long time ago that had one actress playing twins. One twin was boisterous while the other one was reserved. I remember I was curious how the film crew was able to capture the two characters in the same scene. As I grew older I found out there were several techniques the film studio used to create such an illusion. If one of the character’s face was away from the camera, the studio would use a stunt double. Other tricks used were split screens and filming the scene twice using one character for the first portion and the other for the second. With that last option the two characters never came together physically; it was a well orchestrated event where exactly each one had to navigate around the set. This brings to mind a television show from the 1960s called Bewitched. The lead actress had a dual role when she would play Samantha and then her mischievous cousin Serena. Now yesterday’s review talked about futuristic objects becoming real due to mankind’s technical advances. The same thing can be applied to the way movie studios can make CGI and real characters mingle together. Amazing strides have been made in this area. One recent film comes to mind where Arnold Schwarzenegger fought a younger version of himself. It was a fun trick, though the younger version did not look totally human. I have to say with today’s review what I saw being done was phenomenal. RONALD and Reggie Kray, played by Tom Hardy (The Drop, Mad Max: Fury Road), were identical twins who wanted to establish the biggest crime empire in London during the 1960s. The brothers could not have been more different on how they would go about to achieve it. Based on a true story this film festival nominee was all about Tom Hardy. His acting skills were stellar in this crime thriller. The magic of him playing twin brothers on screen was something to see. Their interactions verbally and physically were seamless. It was a good thing because the script was lacking substance. For two such extreme characters I never got a sense of their drive; they just came off crazy. There were times I felt I was just watching the highlights of the twins’ lives. In addition I had a hard time understanding one of the brother’s speech due to (for me at least) his thick, mumbling accent. Despite that the story was still interesting to me, appreciating as well the acting from the other cast members such as Emily Browning (Sucker Punch, Pompeii) as Frances Shea and Colin Morgan (Testament of Youth, Merlin-TV) as Frank Shea. The sets and costumes were perfect for the period in this dramatic biography. If you can handle the violence and blood, it is worth seeing the technical achievements and Tom’s acting in this movie.
2 1/2 stars
moviejoltz 