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Flash Movie Review: Locked In
I KNEW HIM BEFORE AND AFTER. We were acquaintances; he was a friend of a friend of mine. He had few filters, so he shared more information about his life than most people cared to hear. However, because he was fun and engaging, many folks just went along with whatever he was saying. I am not a mind reader or psychic, but after hearing about several of his dating exploits, I had a sense he was not as interested in the person as he was in what they did for a living. The more time I spent with him socially, the more I felt I was correct about my feelings. He was looking for someone with a large bank account who could take care of him. It was not my place to judge him; if there was someone out there who wanted to take care of him, then I had no issues with it. When he talked about a recent date he was on, he did not mention some key words like fun, enjoyed, kind. He would make mention of their fancy watch or expensive car or large residence. For me, these were not important things that I cared about when dating a person. These types of comments were mentioned over and over during his “before” years. THE “AFTER” YEARS WERE THE ONES where he found what he was looking for in a date and they settled down to form a couple. The person he found came from money, something about a family company in business for a few generations. If you care to know; yes, they had an expensive watch, a fancy car and a huge home. They had traveled all over the world and as far as I could tell they loved him. My friend’s friend started coming to our social events dressed in the latest fashions, talked about the places the two of them traveled, flying to New York City for the weekend to see a Broadway show, the expensive restaurants they had visited; you get the idea. This is why I refer to him as “before and after” because there was such a drastic change in him once he found and dated someone who could provide him with all the things he had been searching for. I could not tell you if love was involved on his part; I have only heard him express his love for inanimate objects. Through my life experiences, I have never met anyone else like him except possibly one of the main characters in this dramatic, mystery thriller. LINA, PLAYED BY ROSE WILLIAMS (MRS. Harris Goes to Paris, A Quiet Passion), was grateful for the kindness her mother’s friend showed her by taking her in after her mother’s death. The kindness began to wear thin once Lina found the woman’s son attractive. With Famke Janssen (X-Men franchise, Redeeming Love) as Katherine, Alex Hassell (The Tragedy of Macbeth, Violent Night) as Doctor Lawrence, Finn Cole (F9: The Fast Sage, Peaky Blinders-TV) as Jamie and Anna Friel (Limitless, Land of the Lost) as Nurse Mackenzie; this film had the trappings of a good suspense story, but the script kept getting in the way. The characters were never fully developed, and the dialog lacked authenticity. I was drawn by the scenes with Nurse Mackenzie, but there were not enough of those good scenes to make up for poorly done ones. The twists and turns offered seemed more done to provide a shock value than giving them some added weight to make sense. I enjoyed the look of the movie and the settings, but again, I did not feel a connection to the characters. This film was more like a jigsaw puzzle, where the writers took bits and pieces of other films and recreated them for this one without giving much thought to the fact, they made no sense.
1 ¾ stars
Flash Movie Review: Violent Night
LATELY, I HAVE BEEN GOING THROUGH several resumes, looking to fill a position at the office. The first thing that will make me discard a candidate is when there are words misspelled. I figure if they cannot take the time to proofread their work, what quality of work will they provide for the department, in turn the company. There was one resume where according to the candidate, they started at their first job before they started high school; they did not catch the error in the start dates they listed. For those that pass the first step in the interview process, I look for stability; would the candidate be a good fit into the department and would they enjoy the position/work. I firmly believe if a person doesn’t like what they are doing at work, then they need to look for a new position either at the company or at a different one. I cannot tell you how many times I am at a store and see at least one employee who looks disengaged or bored. Worse is when you have to deal with an employee who is not happy a/k/a rude. Asking a worker where an item is in the store and they just motion with a head nod and say, “over there,” is rude and shows poor customer service. They obviously do not care about the company that employs them. I DO REALIZE THE PERSON WHO is employed could actually be a great worker; but they were not the right person for the right job. When I do a face to face interview, I want to learn if the candidate is a visual or audio learner, is a self-starter or prefers being told what to do, along with their ideal work environment. If a person is not capable of multitasking and the job requires it, they would not be a good fit. In turn, they could become frustrated or annoyed and that is not a path to becoming successful. The employees I hire I want to be the best they can be and to be happy. For many of us who work in an office or plant, we sometimes spend more time with our co-workers than with our own families. And speaking of families, I have worked at a couple of family owned businesses and in my experiences they have their own set of unique challenges. Sometimes you get next generation personnel who love their family business and want it to be the best. Other times you get individuals who feel entitled and rest on their family’s name. I think the main character in this film, Santa Claus, is at a crossroads regarding his position in this comedic, action crime movie. A GROUP OF HIGHLY SKILLED ROBBERS descend on the estate of a wealthy family just when Santa is there to leave presents. With the thieves on Santa’s naughty list, this Santa is going to leave them something more than just a lump of coal. With David Harbour (Black Widow, No Sudden Move) as Santa, John Leguizamo (Summer of Sam, Moulin Rouge!) as Scrooge, Beverly D’Angelo (National Lampoon’s Vacation franchise, American History X) as Gertrude, Alex Hassell (Suburbicon, The Tragedy of Macbeth) as Jason and Alexis Louder (Copshop, The Tomorrow War) as Linda; this was a fun, twisted spin on the Santa Claus character. David was the standout of the cast, with John Leguizamo close behind him. The story is a mix of Bad Santa, Home Alone, and Krampus in a way, but had some differences too. Several characters were close to cartoonish, with some delivering cheesy lines. I liked the sweetness factor in the script and appreciated how the writers mixed those scenes into the violent ones. Make no mistake, there is a lot of blood and violence on display in this picture; however, the craziness factor acts like a salve to smooth out the contrasts. And to tell you the truth, I think this Santa would be fun to host someday.
3 stars
moviejoltz 