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Flash Movie Review: 80 For Brady
THE ONLY REASON I AM MENTIONING it is to accentuate my point. An acquaintance of mine suffered a tragic loss when their best friend was found dead in their home. They said natural causes, which I have always wondered what exactly that means. I assumed it was a stroke or a heart attack since they were middle aged with no known health issues. My purpose for even bringing this up is to be a reminder how life truly is fleeting. When I was younger, I felt I had all the time in the world and now that I have gotten older, I feel like there never is enough time for the things I want to accomplish. One never knows when their life will be over; so I feel it is important to enjoy each and every day. I used to be the type to wish some days away and I still do it from time to time, such as those times that seem more like a chore or annoyance. However, I have been working on trying to stay focused and positive about the things I enjoy in life and living. My consistent catchphrase is, “Life is uncertain, so eat dessert first.” I think it is time to add a second one, “Life is uncertain, so experience something joyful each day.” ONE OF THE DREAMS THAT I give constant airtime in my mind is taking a trip with a group of friends. I have done trips with one and two friends, but never a group of six or more. Sure, I know the more people that are involved means the more opinions; however, I think if the trip involved taking a cruise there would be less conflict. I do not know if this would be true since I have only done a cruise once in my life, to Alaska. But the idea of a group of us traveling by boat would give us the opportunity to do things as a group and/or individually depending on how each of us were feeling at that moment. This idea intrigues me and I feel it could turn into a memorable, positive experience. The only issue I could see would be the choosing of excursions; however, I do not think it would matter if some did not want to do them or wanted to do a different one. We could meet at night to talk about the day we had, and I feel it would be enjoyable to hear about it. Whether this will come to fruition or not, I do not know at present; but I certainly can see it being a good time. It could even be as similar, for all I know, as the friends in this comedic, sports drama. A GROUP OF FRIENDS WHO HAVE been following the career of star quarterback, Tom Brady, decide they just must go see him play when his team wins a spot to compete in the Super Bowl. It would be a once in a lifetime experience. With Lily Tomlin (Grandma, Grace and Frankie-TV) as Lou, Jane Fonda (Book Club, Moving On) as Trish, Rita Moreno (West Side Story, One Day at a Time-TV) as Maura, Sally Field (Spoiler Alert; Hello, My Name is Doris) as Betty and Billy Porter (Like a Boss, Pose-TV) as Gugu; the fun factor for this film inspired by a true story was watching the main characters having such a good time. The script was silly and threadbare; there was not much I found funny or believable. On one level I felt embarrassed for the actors, who collectively have received numerous awards, having to try and make sense of the story. Having said this, I found enjoyment watching the senior actors do both physical and verbal comedy. If it was not for them, this would have been a memorable experience all for the wrong reasons. There was an extra scene during the ending credits.
2 stars
Flash Movie Review: The Amazing Spider-Man 2
It can be a heart wrenching experience to be on the receiving end of a change without any explanation. Imagine after dating someone for several months they one day tell you they can no longer do this and say goodbye. You are left with a hole inside of you that will not heal properly. You can fill it with anger, vowing you will never let someone get that close to you again or you can push yourself to find someone else to fill the emptiness inside; but in the back of your mind a seed of doubt took hold that maybe you did something “wrong” that drove your boyfriend/girlfriend away. I also have to believe being let go from a job without being told a reason why has to be brutal. How about a child who has enough awareness to know they are being given up to someone else? I cannot even comprehend what ramifications would emerge from it, which is why I thought the strongest part of this action adventure sequel was the back story about the parents of Peter Parker aka Spider-Man, played by Andrew Garfield (The Social Network, Boy A). In his attempt to find out the reason why his parents left him, Peter would discover a surprising secret buried at his father’s former employer, Oscorp. The big plus to this movie were the special effects; I especially liked the way they incorporated iconic landmarks. With the single exception of Sally Field (Lincoln, Mrs. Doubtfire) as Peter’s Aunt May and Emma Stone (Gangster Squad, The Help) as Peter’s girlfriend Stacy, I did not find much else to like about this overindulgent fantasy film. Jamie Foxx (Law Abiding Citizen, Ray) looked better than he acted as Max Dillon aka Electro and Dane DeHaan (Lawless, Kill Your Darlings) would have been a better Harry Osborn if the writers would have left him alone. There were too many villains, too many story lines and too much whining to make this an exciting movie for me. The majority of the blame has to fall on the writers. I felt they were trying to outdo any current superhero movies by making Spider-Man deal with so many different issues in this one film. They needed a good editor to clean up the voluminous scenes, making a tighter story and shortening the film’s 2 hours and 23 minutes running time. If this sequel is any indication I will not be upset if the movie studio does not make a 3rd film; I do not even need to know the reasons why. There was one surprise scene in the middle of the ending credits.
2 1/4 stars
Flash Movie Review: Lincoln
Like most young children, I wished I had superpowers. I wanted to fly 6 feet off the ground, skimming over the heads of people. As to why that particular height, I believe it was because I knew no one over 6 feet tall. Another power I wanted was to have the ability to time travel. The capacity to travel back to historical events and meet famous people has always fascinated me. After all these years my wish came true with this amazing movie. I was watching Abraham Lincoln not Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood, My Left Foot), the actor that portrayed Lincoln. His performance was more than outstanding; it was real, causing me to tear up every time he spoke. Daniel will be the one to beat in this year’s Oscar race. Sally Field (Forrest Gump, The Amazing Spider-Man) brought a deep understanding to her character as Mary Todd Lincoln. Honesty there was not a bad performance from any of the cast which included Tommy Lee Jones (Hope Springs, In the Valley of Elah) as Thaddeus Stevens and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Inception, The Dark Knight Rises) as Robert Lincoln. The story focused on the time surrounding the creation of the 13th amendment to the constitution, which would ban slavery. Tony Kushner (Angels in America, Munich) wrote the rich screenplay, allowing a majority of characters in the movie to have their own special moment. I appreciated the work involved in recreating the sets to exact details, having read director Steven Spielberg (War Horse, Saving Private Ryan), Daniel and Tony each visited the Lincoln Library in Springfield, Illinois for research. For example, Steven recorded the sound from Lincoln’s pocket watch and recreated the exact titles of books for the bookcases in the White House. The only fault I can say about the movie was several scenes seemed implausible to me. I felt they were manipulated to create a more heartwarming experience for the viewer. With that said, this movie was one of Steven Spielberg’s finest creations. When the lights came up in the movie theater, I could finally say I met Abraham Lincoln. I left my seat with a better understanding of our country’s history, feeling uplifted. Brief scenes of blood and violence.
3 1/2 stars
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