Flash Movie Review: The Book of Clarence
I WAS HESITANT TO GO, BUT my friend did not want to go alone and asked if I would go along. My friend had been following an “entrepreneur” online, who claimed to have found a pathway to success. The few videos I was forced to sit through showed a man talking in front of these impressive backdrops like a stately mansion or at the edge of a line of dramatic cliffs. He was pitching a series of courses that would teach an individual how to become a successful entrepreneur like him. I knew this was just a sales pitch and honestly could not believe my friend was buying into it. However, they were convinced they could succeed and make money from it. We had to leave early for the hotel where the entrepreneur was conducting an all-day seminar because my friend wanted to get a seat up close. I was surprised by the amount of people filtering into the ballroom to essentially listen to a sales pitch. Over half the room was filled with people; I could not believe it. When the lights dimmed and he walked out onto the stage, everyone stood up out of their chairs and cheered him. Based on the videos I watched, in the room at that moment, I felt as if I was in the middle of a cult. THE DAY WAS LONG AND BY the time everything was done, I was exhausted. Listening to his sales pitch and instructions on how one could earn money, it was clear to me his business model was like a pyramid scheme. Not to disrespect companies that use such a tactic, but this man was telling everyone they could double their income solely by signing up enough individuals who would then work for them. If I understood correctly, there really was no business plan except to get other people to sign up for the courses. I could see my friend was excited and “revved up” from the seminar but I had to express my concerns. They listened but always had a rebuttal to anything I said, so I eventually dropped it and let them go on talking about their plan of action. They listed the things they would need to buy despite having already spent close to three thousand dollars for a variety of DVD’s and “sales tools.” I honestly hoped I was wrong with my thinking, but I could not see where my friend could make a living out of doing this thing. Of all the people my friend could emulate, I did not think this entrepreneur was the best choice. Maybe they needed to have higher aspirations like the main character in this dramatic, comedy adventure. SEEKING A BETTER LIFE FOR HIMSELF, a struggling man decides to act more like the rising messiah everyone was talking about. With LaKeith Stanfield (Sorry to Bother You, Judas and the Black Messiah) as Clarence, Omar Sy (The Strangers’ Case, The Intouchables) as Barabbas, Anna Diop (Us, Something About Her) as Varinia, RJ Cyler (The Harder They Fall, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) as Elijah and David Oyelowo (Selma, Role Play) as John the Baptist; this history film confused me. Yes, there was a mix of comedic and dramatic scenes, and I enjoyed the well-versed cast; however, nothing stood out for me. Most of the scenes lacked punch; it felt like everything was on one level. I did not feel connected to any of the characters which, at times, led to boredom. With the idea for the story being outrageous, I thought the script would have gone all in to either the comedic or dramatic side. The best thing I can say about this movie is that it had some amusing moments.
2 stars
Flash Movie Review: Alien: Romulus
THE THREE OF US MET AT a restaurant housed in an historical building, dating back 1 ½ centuries ago. The structure was huge, originally built to house and store train locomotives. My friend and I were going to meet a childhood friend of his who I had only met a couple of times; they had a much longer history together than I did with my friend. Once we were seated at a table, we marveled at the original brick and limestone making up the walls. Huge wooden rafters crisscrossed above our heads, like a multi highway interchange, supporting the roof. I took a couple of photos while seated, using the wide angle setting to capture the vastness of the cavernous dining room. We caught up with each other on our current state of being while the waitstaff politely checked in wondering if we needed anything to start before ordering our meals. Each of us ordered a drink and decided to order our food choices as well because we were hungry. While we waited for the food to come, my friend and his friend began reminiscing about their childhood homes that were next to each other, wondering what they must look like now. Their conversation quickly became filled with memories they shared; I simply listened and enjoyed hearing about some of their antics. ONE OF THEIR STORIES WAS ABOUT the time they ran away with a shopping cart from a store and took turns riding it as the other one pushed. They went to a short side street in their neighborhood that was on a decline. Using the cart like a sled, without the capability of steering, each of them would sit in the cart and ride it down the street until it either tipped over or crashed into the curb. Their story triggered a memory of mine; a time where my friends and I took the lids off garbage cans and used them as saucer sleds down a hill we had in our neighborhood. We did not have to own sleds, the garbage can lids worked just as well, at least the metal ones. I shared my memories with them and as the day progressed, they mentioned several other stories that triggered my memories as well. Though I did not grow up with them, I could easily understand how they felt reliving their times together because I had had similar experiences with my friends. While watching this science fiction, horror thriller, I once again found myself reminiscing about my time years ago sitting in a theater and being petrified. A SMALL GROUP OF SPACE COLONISTS see an abandoned space station as a way out. However, once aboard they make a terrifying discovery that could have far-reaching consequences. With Cailee Spaeny (Civil War, Priscilla) as Rain, David Jonsson (Industry-TV, Deep State-TV) as Andy, Archie Renaux (Morbius, The Greatest Beer Run Ever) as Tyler, Isabela Merced (Instant Family, Dora and the Lost City of Gold) as Kay and Spike Fearn (Aftersun, Sweetheart) as Bjorn; this latest installment of the long running movie franchise had slick production values, which created scenes filled with dread and tension. The music and sound editing were perfect accompaniment as well. while the cast also worked well together. As for the script, there were references to the original film; however, I do not feel one needed to have seen it to understand what was going on in this one. The story took a long time to kick into gear, where I was teetering onto boredom, but things finally picked up in a big way. With thrills and fright, I found myself tapping into my memories of watching the 1979 film. I felt more connected to the past characters than the ones in this picture. However, the visual and audio stimuli kept me engaged along with my memories.
2 3/4 stars
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
I SIMPLY SAID, “HOW ARE YOU doing,” then spent the next ten minutes cringing. Looking for a housewarming gift, I went to the nearby shopping mall. I knew there were a couple of stores that could serve my purpose. While walking to the store after finding a nearby parking spot, I crossed paths with a former co-worker. What had caught my eye first was seeing a woman walking towards me with a black eye patch over one of her eyes. I then realized we used to work together. Part of me wanted to ask what happened but I did not want to make her uncomfortable; so, I just said “Hi, it is so good to see you.” She replied in kind and then I said those four fateful words, “How are you doing?” and she pointed to the eye patch and asked me how I liked her new accessory. Before I could think of something to say, she began telling me what happened to her. She had woken up one morning and saw a halo around everything she was seeing around her. She knew that was a warning sign for a detached retina, so called the eye doctor immediately and they rushed her that day for an appointment. I stood there listening to every procedure the doctor had to do on her eyeball to correct her situation. From numbing this to removing that, with detailed descriptions of all the instruments being used, I was close to being nauseous. I have a thing about eyes. It was more information than I ever needed to know. I AM ALL FOR A GOOD story but sometimes people, like the co-worker I mentioned, share more information that people may not need to hear. On the other hand, I recently saw my neighbor at the grocery store. He is a recent widower. Going up to him, I asked how he was doing. He explained he was teaching himself how to cook. I offered my help, though I am a novice. He said he wanted to make one of his wife’s favorite dinner meals. He shared with me his memory of his first time eating it while they were dating. By listening to him, I found out they had been married for 50 years. They met in high school and through those years they dated on and off on a casual basis. When they discovered they were accepted at the same university, their dating became serious. It was such a beautiful story; I teared up and was grateful he shared it with me. So, you see, sometimes hearing about the background to a story is an added plus. Unfortunately, we cannot pick and choose which stories we want to hear. For this prequel, I still am not sure if I needed to know all about it. YEARS BEFORE HE WOULD BECOME THE president of Panem, a young Coriolanus Snow, played by Tom Blyth (Scott and Sid, Billy the Kid-TV) was smitten by a young tribute from District 12. With Rachel Zegler (West Side Story, Shazam! Fury of the Gods) as Lucy Gray Baird, Viola Davis (The Woman King, The Unforlivable) as Dr. Volumnia Gaul, Fionnula Flanagan (Sight, The Others) as Grandma’am, and Hunter Schafer (Cuckoo, Euphoria-TV) as Tigris; this action, adventure, dramatic thriller left me with mixed feelings. There were some exciting scenes, but there were some that went flat. I enjoyed the sets and costumes, especially Viola Davis’s character which she made a real force on screen. From what I remember about the previous films, this one’s script lacked emotional punch and excitement. I do not want to say it is because they did not have Jennifer Lawrence, but I will say it was a combination of the cast and directing that created bland scenes. I also was not that thrilled with how the story turned out. I do not believe one needs to see the other movies to watch this one. Because this science fiction film is already becoming forgettable to me, I do not think there is a strong need to know the pre-story to the Hunger Games saga.
2 ½ stars
Flash Movie Review: Space Cadet
I WAS IMPRESSED BY THE WORK history she shared with me. She was a new employee at our company who was assigned to my department. At first, I did not know how to take her; she had a loud, animated way of talking that lent itself more to a personal, conversational level with friends or family, not in a business environment. Through the course of several weeks, I learned more about her than I really needed to know. In between conversations about her boyfriend, child, and various family members; she told me different stories about her accomplishments at her previous places of employment. At one place she told me there was a large account that stopped buying from them and she found herself talking to a VP, just by chance, which was charmed by her. By the time she ended the conversation, he told her he was going to authorize his buyers to give her company preferable treatment for purchases. Whether it was true or not, I did not know. I could only take her at her word. When I asked her why she left the company, she said she expected to get a bonus and more congratulations from sales and upper management. Again, I listened to what she was telling me but something about it sounded odd. HAVING HER SEATED IN MY GROUP area, and because of her loud voice, I was privy to her conversations with our customers. In my opinion, I thought she had a rough edge with the way she spoke. For example, she did not use proper English at times and even would throw in a “mild” curse word. What really sent a red flag up for me was one conversation she had with one of our larger customers, where she threatened and hung up on them. This was a situation for our boss to manage; I wanted to stay out of it. With this incident, I began to question everything she would say to me. My way was to just nod to her while uttering noncommitted words like really, wow and oh. What confirmed my suspicions was when a bouquet of roses was delivered to her on Valentine’s Day. She told us they were from her boyfriend. We all believed it until the next day, the florist stopped by demanding cash from her because the charge card information she gave them was fraudulent. Talk about embarrassment and yet she tried to tell us her boyfriend gave her the charge card info to call the florist because his phone had died. She soon was fired from our company; there was too much drama that was always surrounded her. She believed she was a good employee, but her actions told a different story. It turns out, the main character in this comedy had a similar situation. THOUGH REX SIMPSON, PLAYED BY EMMA Roberts (Madame Web, We’re the Millers) had always wanted to be an astronaut, her life circumstances did not give her the opportunity to reach that goal. Until her friend decided to fill out the astronaut training application with a few embellishments. With Tom Hopper (Place of Bones, The Umbrella Academy-TV) as Logan O’Leary, Poppy Liu (Hacks-TV, The Afterparty-TV) as Nadine Cai, Gabriella Union (The Inspection, Deliver Us from Eva) as Pam Proctor and Kuhoo Verma (Plan B, Murder Mystery 2) as Violet Marie Vislawski; the story for this film followed a generic template. The humor was lame and basic, while the script was predictable. I thought the cast did a decent job with what they had to work with, but there was no character development, and a majority of the movie remained on one emotional plane. Overall, I felt this was a lazy production that had potential but had too many missed opportunities.
1 ½ stars
Flash Movie Review: It Ends With Us
I LEARNED QUICKLY TO STAY OUT of one student’s line of sight. To this day, I do not understand how I did not become one of his targets, but whatever was watching over me, I am thankful. There is no other way to say this, but he was truly a mean kid. He would pick on students during PE classes, in the school hallways, on the school grounds; it did not matter who was around him. He was a real “alpha male” with his group of cronies who followed him everywhere, acting as his audience and cheering section. Through my years at the school, I only suffered his bullying once; I was not the direct target but was with a group of friends who all suffered his nastiness. After witnessing a few of his pranks on students, I started imagining what could have happened that made him turn out so mean. It was “normal” for him to trip or knock students down in the hallway. Another of his acts was to grab an unsuspecting student’s book, lunch bag, or personal item and throw it down a staircase. I always believed he was hoping the item would get trampled on by students on the way to their next classes. ONE COULD CALL IT LUCK OR fate, but whatever it was I happened to be in the right place at the right time. One day at the grocery store, I spotted him standing with a police officer. I assumed it was his father because they looked so much alike. Also, a police officer would not be yelling and slapping a perpetrator’s face in the middle of a crowded store. I was not close enough to hear everything since I was trying to remain partially out of their sight. The thing that struck me was how our school bully looked so timid and fearful; his “tough man” persona was gone. They soon left the store after making their purchases and I was left processing everything I had witnessed. I understood our bully was being bullied/abused by his father, which explained where he learned how to become a bully. It was not until my college years that I learned what the other ramifications could be by being a victim of an abusive parent. Whether he was taking out his frustrations on innocent students or trying to temporarily beef up his masculinity, it still did not take away the fact he was becoming just like his father. If I were to venture a guess, I do not think he ever acquired self-awareness to his actions; I can only hope if he has children, he has not taught them what he learned from his father. WITH OPENING HER OWN BUSINESS AND being in a committed relationship, everything seemed to be on track for Lily Bloom, played by Blake Lively (A Simple Favor, The Age of Adaline). However, when an old flame enters the picture, Lily begins to question the path she has taken in life. With Justin Baldoni (Con Man, Jane the Virgin-TV) as Ryle Kincaid, Jenny Slate (Obvious Child, I Want you Back) as Allysa, Hasan Minhaj (Babes, No Hard Feelings) as Marshall and Brandon Sklenar (Midway, The Big Ugly) as Atlas Corrigan; this movie based on the best-selling novel was a perfect vehicle for Blake to act out in. She had the screen presence and emotions to make her character come to life. I became attached to the story, having been abused/bullied myself; but felt the script could have gone through a rewrite to tighten and improve the dialog. Also, one did not have to experience an abusive episode to appreciate this picture. I also thought Blake and Jenny worked well together. With an important story and message, this was a worthwhile viewing experience.
2 ¾ stars
Flash Movie Review: Trigger Warning
IT HAD BEEN A LONG TIME since I had been back in my old neighborhood. A friend wanted to see where I had grown up, so we took a drive to the north side of the city, where I was born. Our first stop was the apartment building where my family had lived. As I drove up to it, the building looked cleaner than I had remembered it. The windows were new with brown vinyl molding around them. How I remembered the old windows, where we would have to slide the screens off before winter and replace them with a storm winter window to keep the frigid cold out of our apartment. I noticed the front doors had metal boxes with the doorbells on them. When I lived there the doorbells were inside the lobby. On one of the front doors there was a for sale sign. I was stunned to the point I had to pull over and run out to see what was for sale. It turned out the apartments were converted to condominiums. And the price was a bigger surprise. I had to drive around the alley to see the back of the building and was confronted with another major surprise. What used to be the basement where we had storage lockers, washers and dryers was now indoor parking spots. The third surprise was seeing the back porches and stairways were all enclosed now. Wow, no more talking to the neighbors sitting out on their porches. AFTER I GOT OVER THE INITIAL shock of seeing the changes in my childhood home, I drove us around the neighborhood to show my friend places that held special memories for me. Passing first my high school, it looked close to the same except all the doors were now metal security doors and every classroom had a window unit air conditioner. There still was the asphalt baseball diamond with blades of grass spearing out of its cracks. As we continued to drive around, with me pointing out various places that had meaning to me, we wound up at the commercial street where we did most of our shopping. The area was unrecognizable to me. Gone was our grocery store, pharmacy, my favorite fast-food restaurant, and the clothing store where I got my very first suit. I could not get over the difference; there were various small, independent shops with handmade signs in various languages. I remembered a pristine-looking street but what I saw now was loose newspaper pages, empty cans and wrappers scattered about. I found it sad and tired looking, nothing that I remembered from when I was growing up. My memories painted a prettier picture, which led me to believe the main character in this action, crime thriller was experiencing the same thing when she returned home. RETURNING HOME AFTER HER FATHER HAD died in a tragic accident, a special forces commando riles up a violent gang when she starts looking for answers to the questions, she has about the circumstances involved around her father’s death. With Jessica Alba (Fantastic Four franchise, Sin City) as Parker, Mark Webber (Flesh and Blood, The End of Love) as Jesse, Anthony Michael Hall (War Machine, Live by Night) as Ezekiel, Alejandro De Hoyos (The Contractor, The Man from Toronto) as Harry and Tone Bell (Sylvie’s Love, The Weekend) as Spider; this film served my purpose. After being on vacation for a few weeks, I was looking for a short mindless diversion to all the built-up work that accumulated while I was away. That is the only positive thing I can say about this movie. Both the story and script were a cheap knock-off of other films from this genre that were done better. Nothing felt connected to me; the acting, the characters and scenes all seemed as if the cast and crew just wanted to get the picture done quickly. Plus, it was predictable. The only reason to see this film is if you have time to waste with nothing else to do.
1 ½ stars
Flash Movie Review: Deadpool & Wolverine
DESPITE NOT SEEING ANY WHALES, THE trip was still amazing. My absence from publishing movie reviews was due to an extended trip, accomplished by land and sea, through Alaska. I have not seen so much massive untouched land in my life; the scenery was breathtaking. The tour group started in Fairbanks, and we made our way down via rail and bus. I did not realize I was going to be with the same group of people each day, but it was all fine. There was a wide mix of personalities, from a licensed Santa Claus actor to an auto mechanic to a lawyer. Normally, I prefer being anonymous on my trips, where I can come and go as I please. However, since this was part of the cruise package, I fell into the rhythm of greeting and bantering with my fellow passengers every day. Also, something I noticed in my fitness classes was taking place with the land portion of the cruise. Most everyone has a preferred spot where they want to sit; it did not matter if it was a bus or train, everyone tried sitting in the same place each day. This was not unusual for me and truthfully, I tend to act the same way regarding where I like to sit. There was a loud, boisterous family that sat in the back and a more reserved family of four that preferred the middle. AS THE DAYS PASSED, I NOTICED the reserved family started altering their seating arrangement. One day they would be in the back, the next day in front. It may not have been noticeable to many, but I found it curious. As it turned out, I sat with the boisterous family for lunch one day in the train’s dining car. During our conversation, they mentioned the reserved family did not like them. I asked them how they would know such a thing and they told me the reserved family complained to the cruise director that they were too noisy. I did not think they were noisy; they were just laughing and enjoying themselves on our travels. One of the family members told me to watch the facial expressions of the reserved family whenever the two families were near each other; the reserved family members always had a scowl on their faces, and they tried not to interact with them. I could not believe it. We were going to be together every day for over one week; why would someone want to make their true feelings known and create tension? The only time we were in a limited space was for transport that lasted at the most two to three hours on any given day. Gratefully, none of this affected me and I was especially glad the two family groups did not take their issues/dislikes to the level that the main characters did in this action, adventure comedy. WITH HIS UNIVERSE FACING EXTINCTION, ACTION hero Deadpool/Wade Wilson, played by Ryan Reynolds (Free Guy, If), believes the one person who can help him is Logan/Wolverine, played by Hugh Jackman (Bad Education, X-Men franchise). The problem would be convincing Logan. With Emma Corrin (Lady Chatterly’s Lover, The Crown-TV) as Cassandra Nova, Natthew Macfadyen (Operation Mincemeat, Succession-TV) as Mr. Paradox and Dafne Keen (Logan, His Dark Materials-TV) as Laura; this film is filled with non-stop “R” rated language. It was getting to the point where I was on overload with all the sexual references and such. Granted, the two main characters have these roles down perfectly and Ryan has a certain flair in delivering snarky remarks. What surprised me was the underwhelming special effects and script. I thought the script hardly made any sense and was simply used as a vehicle to feed more fertilizer into the cussing sessions. This is still a Marvel film, with its two extra scenes during the ending credits; but overall, I was disappointed with the whole production.
2 ½ stars
Flash Movie Review: Back to Black
IF I AM DOING SOMETHING STUPID, I want a friend or family member to tell me. I am not so conceited that I think every action I do is the perfect response to the situation. If you do not believe me, just see how I always pick the checkout line that takes the longest. But seriously, I hope the decisions I make are sound ones that make sense; I hesitate to use the word “right” because I believe many situations can conclude with various answers, except mathematics. I park in a secure parking lot, where we are supposed to stop after entering and wait for the garage door to close, to prevent any unauthorized individual who does not belong in the building from entering in. I cannot tell you how many people continue driving before the door even begins to close. Now if I oversaw the property, I would send a notice to each person who is not following the rules for parking and let them know they may have to forfeit their parking space if they continue leaving before the garage door is closed. Since I am not part of management, I am not going to do such a thing, but I continue stopping to wait for the door to close whether I am coming or going. Plus, friends of mine told me not to confront anyone on my own because it is not my place; just set an example by following the rules. JUST AS I WOULD LIKE SOMEONE to let me know if my decisions are not the best, I have no problem telling someone that what they are planning to do may not be a good idea. A was out with a friend for dinner who spotted a former boss we had when we worked at the same company. He had a rough time in his dealings with the boss, so he wanted to go up and tell him exactly how he felt about him. With the man sitting at a table of six people, I told my friend though it might feel good for a moment, he would look like a crazy person confronting our boss in the middle of a restaurant, better to forget about it. I did not disagree with my friend’s assessment of our boss, but I did not think this would be the place to air one’s grievances or say something nasty that could have gotten my friend kicked out of the restaurant. I am all for expressing feelings/opinions in a constructive way. It is such a shame no one could do that for the musical artist in this biographical drama. FROM ADOLESCENCE TO THE CREATION OF her Grammy winning album, this movie will take you on her journey. With Marisa Abela (Rogue Agent, Industry-TV) as Amy, Eddie Marsan (Fair Play, Happy-Go-Lucky) as Mitch, Jack O’Connell (Unbroken, Tulip Fever) as Blake, Lesley Manville (Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, Let Him Go) as Cynthia and Juliet Cowan (Falling into Place, The Power-TV) as Janis; I was impressed with Marisa’s acting and singing in this film. I had no idea it was her until I saw her listed as the performer in the song credits. The cast was a perfect mix for the story, but the script was so underdeveloped that it whitewashed the drama and intensity out of it. My favorite scenes were the musical ones. And one of the re-creations done in this picture, I remember seeing on television and thought the directing of this scene was well done. Another issue I had with this picture was the fact there was no variation of drama/intensity, which left scenes with a more generic flavor to them. Unfortunately, if one wants to get a better idea of who Amy Winehouse was then I would recommend watching the documentary instead.
1 ¾ stars
Flash Movie Review: Atlas
ON A FINANCIAL STATEMENT, I NOTICED for the first time a deduction was taken for “other tax.” I had never seen this before and had no idea what it could be. I found a customer service phone number on the statement and called to find out. After a couple of rings, an automated message came on the line thanking me for the call. Thanking me?!?! I would have preferred there to have been an explanation on the form so I would not have had to make the phone call. The voice next began listing possible reasons for my call, such as if I needed to check on my account balances, dial extension 1102 or to open a new account dial extension 1150. I sat and listened to nine different options before the voice asked me to say in a few words the reason for my call. When I said, “questioning other tax deduction on statement,” the voice asked if I needed a replacement ATM card. I said no and the voice asked me to repeat my request. After trying again and getting the same response, I said “help” into the phone receiver. The voice tried asking something else, but I talked over it and repeated my request for help. Before connecting me to a customer relations representative, the voice said, it needed to ask me a couple of questions about my account so it could connect me to the correct party. I provided the information and was put on hold. A COUPLE OF MINUTES PASSED BEFORE a different voice came on the line and asked how they could help me. At first, I was not sure if it was a human or an AI generated voice asking me; however, after a couple of interactions I realized it was not human. It also did not comprehend my request. We went back and forth with a few exchanges where they would reply with an incorrect response until, I became so frustrated I blurted out, “customer service.” Of course, the artificial voice had to confirm that I wanted to speak to customer service, which I sternly replied, “Yes.” So once again, I was put back on hold but instead of hearing a list of options I had non-descript music playing in my ear. By now, I had been on this call for nearly 15 minutes and my frustration level mixed with anger was rising. Finally, the music stopped, and an actual person was on the line. Hallelujah! Though she had to go through her list of security questions to confirm my identity, she was able to answer my question about the other tax deduction on my financial statement. I thanked her and quickly ended the call. Why couldn’t I have just started out with her instead of all the automated messages and the artificial intelligence exchanges. You can now understand why I felt the same way about AI as the main character in this dramatic, action adventure, science fiction film. A BRILLIANT DATA ANALYST WHO HAS a deep mistrust for AI joins a mission to neutralize a rogue robot who is threatening humankind. The only way she can help is to embrace AI. With Jennifer Lopez (Shotgun Wedding, Marry Me) as Atlas Shepherd, Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, One True Loves) as Harlan Shepherd, Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction, This is Us-TV) as Colonel Elias Banks, Mark Strong (The Critic, Shazam! Franchise) as Gen. Jake Boothe and Abraham Popoola (Cruella, The Marvels) as Casca Decius; this was all about Jennifer struggling and screaming through most of the film. The script was generic and did not offer much character development, besides the direction being poorly done. I also thought the special effects were rudimentary, nothing spectacular. Through most of this picture, I thought I was seeing bits and pieces of previous other films from this genre; the whole production was not very original. It was a shame because, as I have said before, Jennifer has a strong believable screen presence which with the right combination of script and direction would have made this movie a better viewing experience. Instead, I found myself being almost as frustrated as I was with my recent experience with AI.
1 ¾ stars
Flash Movie Review: The Bikeriders
MY FRIEND KNEW HOW MUCH I enjoy looking at photo albums which is why she asked me over to her place one day. After I arrived and showed me her latest art project, she led us into the dining room. I thought it was odd since most other times we spend time together in her studio or den. When we entered the room, I immediately understood her reasons; there placed in the middle of the dining room table was an old-fashioned photo album. I am not talking about the kind that has that sticky heavy stock paperboard, where you simply press the photo anywhere on it and it will stick; though as time goes on the photos can become permanently attached. I could tell this was an incredibly old album, even if it did not have its cracked and worn cover, along with a couple of loose pages sticking out. This album had black construction type paper pages where the photos were held in place by four little corners that were glued onto the pages. She must have seen the expression on my face because she said she thought it would be better lighting in the dining room, with the light fixture hanging above the table and the amount of sunlight coming through the windows, to look at the photos. I agreed with her. WE SAT DOWN AND SHE MOVED the album towards me. I did not even ask if she was sure about it, that maybe she wanted to turn the pages. Opening the cover, the first page had eight black and white photographs attached in a grid pattern. Most of the photos were standard size, but there were a couple of wallet sized ones as well. They were all people; one of a little boy bundled up in what looked like a wool and fur lined coat, with a fur hat. I asked where it was taken and who he was, but she had no idea. There were not any labels anywhere on the page. She added she looked on the back and nothing had been written there. I continued looking at the photos and turning the pages. The variety of photographs impressed me; there were outdoor activity shots mixed in with portraits and candid shots. Anytime I asked her about a photo, she could not provide any sort of details; she did not know anyone in the book. By the end of the book, I was disappointed because though the photos had the potential to tell a historical story I could not connect to any of them. As a result, I was a little bored just looking at random photos. I felt the same way while watching this crime drama. AFTER SEEING EACH OTHER AT A local bar, the soon-to-be couple see a change taking place around them and the motorcycle club where her boyfriend is a member. It could go either way on where the boy’s loyalty ends up. With Jodie Comer (The Last Dual, Free Guy) as Kathy, Austin Butler (Elvis, Dune: Part Two) as Benny, Tom Hardy (Venom franchise, The Dark Knight Rises) as Johnny, Michael Shannon (The Flash, A Little White Lie) as Zipco and Mike Faist (West Side Story, Challengers) as Danny; this film festival winning movie had a nearly perfect cast to tell the writers’ story. However, the script given to them had lifeless passages in it. There were times where I felt I was watching a short vignette or someone’s home movies without any sound or explanation. It left me feeling bored. I did like the sets and the filming of this picture and thought the actors did as good of a job with their acting as they could. I wanted to know more about the characters and what motivated them to be part of their motorcycle club. Without knowing it, the scenes felt lifeless at times. The mix of good and bad parts to this film never added up for me; I felt I was watching someone’s home movies.
2 ½ stars
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