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Flash Movie Review: Thelma
THOSE WHO KNOW ME WELL, KNOW I will not open any links they send me via text or email unless they have specifically called me to say they were sending it to me. Some may think my fear borders on paranoia, but I do not care. I have this inherent mistrust of electronics, specifically computers, which makes me overly cautious whenever I must use an electronic device. Not so much the phone unless I am forced to use it for some type of confirmation or step to complete a business transaction. Though I get made fun of, I do not have an ATM card, nor do I do any type of online banking. If I know I am going to be on an extended vacation during the time I know I am to receive a charge card statement or some other type of bill, I double pay the previous month’s bill so there will be enough of a credit balance on my account to cover the following month’s bill. This minor trouble is worth it to me for the price of not paying things online. When I must make an online purchase, I have one dedicated charge card with a small credit limit that I use. That same card I take traveling with me after calling the issuing bank to let them know where I will be. You may think I am too extreme; I simply feel I am protecting myself. THE CLOSEST I CAME TO MAKING an error of judgment and allowing a fraud to unfold was when I received an email from my bank, questioning me about some unusual activity they discovered on my account. The email instructed me to log in, which I did without thinking. When I set up the account, it was because the bank needed my email address to send me documents to approve. So, I created it but did nothing about tying my account to any banking information. As I typed my email address, I was wondering what kind of activity it would be since there was no trail in place to touch my checking and savings accounts. Suddenly, I became aware that this email had to be a scam; so, instead of continuing to enter my personal information, I called the bank to ask them about the activity on my account. They confirmed everything was normal and they had not sent me any type of alert. I was relieved and grateful I did not cause a fraud to occur. However, I know friends and family of mine were not so lucky; their stories are so sad. One of them had a similar experience to the one depicted here in this action comedy, film festival winner. FINALLY REALIZING SHE WAS THE VICTIM of a scam; an elderly grandmother vows to get revenge and justice. With June Squibb (Nebraska, About Schmidt) as Thelma, Fred Hechinger (New of the World, the Woman in the Window) as Daniel, Richard Roundtree (Shaft, Moving On) as Ben, Parker Posey (Dazed and Confused, Lost in Space-TV) as Gail and Clark Gregg (Moxie, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.-TV) as Alan; this movie inspired by true events was a real treat. The whole cast had so much fun, led by the amazing June and Richard with their performances. I thought the script created a simple fun viewing experience. There were a few predictable scenes but overall, the amount of enjoyment watching this cast was worth the admission price. I laughed aloud a few times and sure the idea may have been far-fetched, but I think because of that it works in this film’s favor. And I must make special mention that June is 94 years old and seeing her in some of the predicaments the writers put her through made this viewing experience even better. I appreciated watching, for a change, a good old-fashioned comedy that was not too filling, but had the right mix of comedy and thrills with a few jabs of pre-conceived notions of what old people do. There was an extra scene during the ending credits.
3 ¼ stars
Flash Movie Review: Shaft
HE WAS A MAN WHO NEVER heard the word “No,” during his professional role. I witnessed it for myself. During the summer I had a job at a company that was family owned. The man who hired me was the son of the owner, a man who had died several years prior. This company was the only job the son had done; he started helping out there during his elementary school years. I did not have much interaction with him, even though he was always around. However, I did see how the employees acted around him; some of them were even relatives of his. What became apparent to me was everyone’s reluctance to tell the son something negative or not aligned to his own way of thinking. Even if the person knew it was not in the company’s best interests, they would still not disagree with the son. For full disclosure, I will say the son was not the nicest man to work for; so, maybe some employees did not care about the company or its owner. I could only assume they did not need the job as much as I did. Again, I was only working there during the summer months before school started up again. THAT EXPERIENCE TURNED OUT TO BE quite helpful in my job searches. After I got out of college I applied at a local company that made handbags. During the interview process I discovered the company was being run by a child of the owner. I cannot remember if it was a son, daughter or grandchild. When I found this out it made sense to me because there was an extremely expensive car in the parking lot with vanity plates. I knew right at that moment that the car was owned by the owner’s child. Putting two and two together, I declined the offer they made me; I did not want to get involved with a company that had such a chain of command hierarchy. It was a good thing because a couple of years later I discovered the company had to file for bankruptcy. I never found out the details of it, but I was convinced part of the reason was having the son run the business. Now, I do not want to slight all family owned companies; I know of several that have remained successful from generation to generation. But, I will say if children of the owner are not raised in a reality-based environment, where they must work to get ahead and deal with being told “no,” then I feel the company will never succeed. See how this plays out in this crime action, comedy movie. THOUGH HIS FATHER HAD NO INVOLVEMENT with his upbringing JJ, played by Jessie T. Usher (Almost Christmas, Independence Day: Resurgence), decided to seek out his Dad for help in the mysterious death of a close friend. It would bring a whole new meaning to the saying, “Blood is thicker than water.” With Samuel L. Jackson (The Avengers franchise, Snakes on a Plane) as John Shaft, Richard Roundtree (What Men Want, Brick) as John Shaft Sr., Regina Hall (Girls Trip, The Hate U Give) as Maya Babanikos and Alexandra Shipp (Straight Outta Compton; Love, Simon) as Sasha Arias; this film could have been both fun and exciting. Instead it was vulgar and unnecessary. If the writers wanted to move the original story forward, they could have done it without the profanity laced dialog and unimaginative scenarios. Everything was obvious and easy to figure out; I quickly got tired while watching this stale story. I left the movie theater with only one wish: that none of the characters in the story ever procreate.
1 ½ stars
Flash Movie Review: Brick
Memories of past relationships never completely leave us; they float in the cove of one’s heart. For whatever reason the relationship ended, even to the point of hostile anger; those memories may sink below the surface of emotional waters, but they eventually rise up. It could happen when walking by the favorite restaurant you both liked or hearing a song that still makes your heart skip as you remembered how the two of you danced together. No matter how hard one tries, these memories never go away; their hard edges only soften from the emotional pull through the years. I have seen and been a part of several close relationships and have noticed this emotional connection. It will remain through life and beyond. With this knowledge I understood the motivation to the story in this dramatic mystery movie. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Don Jon, Looper) played Brendan, a high schooler who discovered his ex-girlfriend dead in a sewage canal. If he wanted to find out what happened to her, Brendan would have to find a way to navigate between the different cliques of the student body. What he discovered took him beyond the high school walls. It took me a little time to get into the rhythm of the dialog in this film festival winner, mainly because it was an unfamiliar way of talking for me. Possibly it was a generational thing, but I got used to it and was able to finally focus in on the performances and story. Joseph Gordon-Levitt already has done a variety of characters, each one well; so his role here was another solid and believable performance with a touch of teenage angst and a dash of bravado. Though he had a small role, I enjoyed seeing Richard Roundtree (Shaft, Collar) play Assistant Vice Principal Gary Trueman. The cast of characters was varied with some distinct personalities such as Lukas Haas (Witness, Inception) as The Pin and Noah Fleiss (Taking Chance, Joe the King) as Tugger. I thought part of the movie was repetitive; but with the unusual film angles and truthfully the characters’ swagger, I did not find it too much of a distraction. Adding in the crisp direction, I found myself drawn into the story. Now I still have all my memories from my high school years, even the bad ones; but I have to say, I am glad my high school was not like the one in this good film. There were a couple of brief scenes where blood was shown.
3 stars — DVD
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