I SPOTTED SOMETHING DARK, BURIED UNDERNEATH a pile of blankets that were on the top shelf of a closet. I was using a stepstool to reach the blankets and spotted something that was barely peeking out from underneath. Sliding my hand under the blankets, I felt a stiff leathery cover; I thought it might be a book, except it felt bigger. Having to use both hands, one to hold the blankets back and the other to drag the item out from underneath, I pulled it to the edge of the shelf and had to use both hands to lift it up, so I could finally see it. To my surprise, it was a large, leather covered album or binder. There was gold tooling on the cover that had cracks and wrinkles. I carefully stepped down off the stepstool with the album and sat down in a chair so I could place it on my lap to see what was inside. From underneath the cover as I was opening it, fell out fragments of yellowed paper. There was writing on them, but it was so faded I could not make out any full words. Turning over the cover page which was just a sheet of tissue or wax paper, there sealed onto the stiff page was a handwritten recipe. The handwriting was not familiar to me, nor was there any type of date written to give me an idea of how old the album could be.      EACH BLACK CARDBOARD PAGE HAD ANYWHERE from one to several recipes. Because I had been teaching myself how to cook and bake, I was fascinated with this find. Maybe it was a book of family recipes; I needed to find out. Page by page I scanned each recipe until suddenly, one recipe stuck out from all the rest. The name written on top spelled out a word I had not heard since I was a little boy. Was it possible this desert bread recipe was for the one we used to have when I was a small child? I was determined to make it and find out; however, the recipe listed only the ingredients, not the amounts, oven temperature or time for baking. From the ingredients, I only needed one item that I ran to the store to buy. Keeping a piece of paper nearby, I listed what amounts I was guessing, while judging how the batter looked. My first attempt was dry with no taste. My second attempt only filled up the loaf pan halfway, but it came out hard with still no taste. In four weekends, my seventh attempt was a success; the dessert loaf was in fact the one I used to eat when I was a kid. I was ecstatic with the results. From this experience, I must wonder if writer and director John Woo felt the same about doing this updated version from the original one, he did thirty-five years ago.      ON ASSIGNMENT TO KILL HER TARGET at a nightclub, along with any witnesses, a feared assassin backs off from killing a blinded woman at the scene of the massacre. The assassin’s “good deed” would not go unpunished. With Nathalie Emmanuel (The Invitation, Game of Thrones-TV) as Zee, Omar Sy (The Book of Clarence, Jurassic World franchise) as Sey, Sam Worthington (Avatar franchise, The Exorcism) as Finn, Diana Silvers (Booksmart, Space Force-TV) as Jenn and Said Taghmaoul (Wonder Woman, Three Kings) as Prince Majeb Bin Faheem; this current version still had John Woo’s trademark bloody violence. The action/fight scenes were beautifully choreographed as well as edited. I enjoyed Nathalie’s and Omar’s performances to the point I would not mind if they starred in a sequel. With so much action and chase scenes, I thought the script was shallow; I did not feel connected to the characters. There were times, I felt I was watching a video game instead of a movie. Despite what I have said and because I was in the mood for a steady action film, I still enjoyed watching this remake. Once again, there were multiple scenes with blood and violence.

3 stars