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Flash Movie Review: The 355
WHEN I WAS YOUNGER, THE INDIVIDUALS I did not like knew it. I do not know why, but I felt it was my responsibility to put them in their place. If someone was a braggart, I would find a way to knock them down a couple of rungs. Not that I was proud or that it was an achievement on my part, but I used to be the best when it came to holding a grudge. So, if I encountered someone who I had a negative interaction with previously, they knew along with everyone else in the room that I would have nothing to do with them, to the point of completely ignoring them. No so much as a hello or the nod of my head for acknowledgement, I would purposely hover around them without engaging them into any of my conversations with the other guests. Even if they added a comment to the conversation, I would simply talk over them or remain silent. Of course, the other people within the conversation would realize I was ignoring the individual; but they never would make a comment, let alone try to push me to engage with the unwanted person. Out in the real world this was easy for me to do and maintain; but in the work world, I knew I could not act out in the same fashion. MY GUIDING FORCE WHEN IT COMES to dealing with conflict between employees is remembering that the company comes first. There is nothing more important to me than maintaining a company’s good name. I used to work with a miserable individual who felt everyone around them was stupid, that he was the only smart one. I had a couple of run-ins with him where he tried to get me in trouble. From that point on I decided I would totally ignore him. He got the message quickly when he tried to engage me in small talk; I just looked at him, got up from my desk and walked out of the room. With that being said, when it came to asking anything about company business I would cordially respond. That was the only time I would interact with him, company business. Let us face it, I do not think there is anyone who likes and gets along with every person they meet; there always will be someone that is disliked. I have learned in the work environment to put personal opinions to the side, work with whoever you need to work with, to get the job done. This is the philosophy one can see in this action thriller. THE BEST WAY TO CAPTURE A top-secret weapon for CIA agent Mace, played by Jessica Chastain (Crimson Peak, Molly’s Game), would be to join forces with her counterparts from other international agencies; but would she be able to trust them. With Penelope Cruz (Pain and Glory, The Counselor) as Graciela Rivera, Bingbing Fan (X-Men: Days of future Past, Lady of the Dynasty) as Lin Mi Sheng, Diane Kruger (In the Fade, National Treasure franchise) as Marie Schmidt and Jason Flemyng (Deep Rising, From Hell) as Elijah Clarke; this movie’s selling point was having a strong female group who could act, leading this story. The fight scenes were bloody and violent, with an authentic look to them. I did not mind the story’s plotline, but there really was nothing new to it. I have seen similar films that were a lot better in dealing with the spy stuff. There was a nice twist to the story; however, the script did not add to the characters. Personally, I think the writers could have gone to a deeper intensity level which would have made this picture more engaging. There was only a mild curiosity on my part, that got dulled by the poorly written script.
2 stars
Flash Movie Review: The Old Guard
I REMEMBER BEING TOLD IT WAS a difficult delivery. Who told me I cannot say; but I can recall hearing about the length of the delivery and the loss of blood involved with it. Despite the difficulties, a baby boy was born who was the couple’s first child. The infant boy had the best of care since both of his parents were doctors. As a result, rarely did the couple ever have to second guess their decisions; any health issue that cropped up and they immediately knew what needed to be done. In other words, there was never any lag time between symptoms and remedies. Not that the child had a sickly constitution; he simply had his share of coughs and colds, along with the other kinds of kids’ ailments. Through his school years, the boy never missed more than 2-3 days of school at one time. Every assignment was turned in on time; each getting a high grade. One could say the boy’s good grades were a direct result of having 2 doctors for parents; however, that would be an erroneous statement. The boy was naturally smart, besides being a good learner who studied hard. What did not surprise me was hearing about the doctors’ son going into the scientific field. AFTER HE HAD FINISHED HIS SCHOOLING, the now grown man had taken a job with a company involved with auditory systems. He did research, studies and experiments that earned him respect from his colleagues and superiors. He was awarded by being named the project lead for a new division in the company. His major responsibility was figuring out how to mimic the sense of hearing for those who could not hear. He was excited with the opportunity to make a difference for those who were either severely hard of hearing or completely deaf. It took a few years before he created a prototype that might work in providing sound to the deaf; he referred to it as an artificial ear. His parents were beyond excited and proud of their son; their boy was making his mark in the world. Though his project never created a workable artificial ear for the average consumer, his work did play an important part in many other areas of scientific research around the world. Imagine back years ago, at the time of this man’s challenging birth, if things had taken a different turn that resulted in him not being born? The world would have missed out on his important contribution. I have thought about this for many years, though not as long as the main character in this action, adventure fantasy. DURING A RESCUE OPERATION THAT WENT bad, the operatives’ special abilities were revealed. It was only a matter of time before people would take advantage of them, unless they could find the culprit and destroy the evidence. With Charlize Theron (Atomic Blonde, Bombshell) as Andy, KiKi Layne (If Beale Street Could Talk, Native Son) as Nile, Matthias Schoenaerts (The Mustang, Red Sparrow) as Booker, Chiwetel Ejiofor (The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, Triple 9) as Copley and Luca Marinelli (Martin Eden, Rainbow: A Private Affair) as Nicky, this film’s strong suit was the action scenes. Well-choreographed with both women and men on equal footing; I was impressed with the cast, especially Charlize and KiKi. The story was not unusual for this genre and the script was predictable; but the fact that the action was not the prime focus made this picture an enjoyable viewing experience for me. I loved the historical aspect to the story; it played right into my thinking about differences caused when a person’s life is cut short or becomes non-existent. I understand this movie was based on a graphic novel. Whether there are sequels to the book I do not know; but I certainly hope this movie gets a sequel, because I think there would be a lot of ways the writers could take this story.
2 ¾ stars
Flash Movie Review: Extraction
I DID NOT UNDERSTAND MY INFATUATION with wristwatches for many years. My stable of watches covered any occasion. There was a black rubber banded watch I wore when I taught fitness/yoga classes, because it had a button to make the digital dial glow in the dark; so, I could keep track of the members’ time performing the series of exercises/poses I was leading. I had an expensive silver analog watch that I only wore on special events such as a wedding or black tie charity dinner. To me, each of my watches had their own personality. Putting on my oversized square dialed watch with the funky looking symbols for numbers made me feel like I was the face for cutting edge fashion. I know, it sounds so silly when I say it now. However, with all my watches I loved them but I was not attached to any particular one. While it was wrapped around my wrist, the watch had this strange hold on me. I cannot explain it but each watch seemed to embolden me; I was less fearful of the activities I was a participant in for that day. However, once I took the watch off of my wrist and put it away, I was done with it and back to my “regular” self. DURING A CONVERSATION WITH A FRIEND, I discovered a childhood event that seemed to be the catalyst for my attraction to watches. We were talking about bowling and I was telling him about the time I took the bowling ball in both hands and ran down the alley until I reached the pins, to throw the ball at them. What pins remained standing I kicked with my feet. That memory triggered another memory that took place a few years after that time, where I threw 3 strikes in a row. I was with a cousin and we had been bowling a couple of games. When I bowled the 3 strikes, I could not contain my excitement. It was enough where the bowlers around me noticed my cousin and I celebrating. When we finished up and turned in our shoes, we walked outside to make our way back to his house. It had only been 1 or 2 blocks but I had suddenly realized I left my watch on our alley’s table. Running back to the bowling alley, I ran to our lane only to find no watch sitting there. I looked everywhere but could not find it; I was devastated. It was my very first “adult” watch and I had lost it. For weeks I remained sad about it and if I remember correctly, I did not get a replacement watch for several years. This loss I believe triggered my desire to have multiple watches so I would not get attached to just one. Seeing this action thriller, I have to wonder if similar circumstances drove the main character to act the way he did. WHEN A DRUG LORD’S SON WAS kidnapped and held for ransom, mercenary Tyler Rake, played by Chris Hemsworth (Thor franchise, Men in Black: International) was hired to retrieve the boy. He thought he was only in it for the money. With Rudhraksh Jaiswal (Kosha, Mahabharat-TV) as Ovi Mahajan, Randeep Hooda (Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai, Highway) as Saju, Golshifteh Farahani (Paterson, Body of Lies) as Nik Khan and Priyanshu Painyuli (Once Again, Upstarts) as Amir Asif; this movie was all about the action scenes. I will have to say some of them were thrilling. Though the fight scenes were violent and bloody, they were perfectly executed. I think this might have been the hardest physically for Chris; it was that intense. The story was within the realm of other hostage films; there were not many surprises. However, it maintained my interest for the most part. Nothing earth shattering here; just an adrenaline fueled action film with a slight bend to it. There were multiple scenes where Hindi and Bengali were spoken with English subtitles.
2 ½ stars
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