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Flash Movie Review: The Luckiest Man in America
BASED ON THE AMOUNT OF TIMES I picked the right squares, I thought I should be a contestant when I grew up. One of my favorite game shows was one that had a game board made up of 30 squares. Behind each square was a prize; the contestants would pick two squares at a time which would reveal two prize offerings. If the two prizes matched, then the contestant would keep the prize and the two squares would reveal glimpses of a rebus puzzle. This was a puzzle that used illustrations, letters, and numbers to depict words or phrases. The contestant who could guess what the puzzle was saying would be the winner. I felt my memory skills were exceptional, though I really had nothing to base this on. However, when I was very little a relative taught me a card game that had a similar concept as the game show. After shuffling the deck, the cards would be laid out face down in several rows. Each player would get two guesses at a time to turn over two cards. If the cards matched the numbers or pictures, the player would take the two cards. Once all the cards were removed from the rows, the player with the most cards would be the winner. I became quite good at this game, and would even play it by myself. THROUGH MY YOUTH, THERE WERE OTHER television game shows I watched. There was one where audience members were picked to come up and guess the prices of various consumer products, from a bottle of toilet bowl cleaner to refrigerators and stoves. Another show paired contestants together where one would give a one word clue to try and get their partner to say the secret word. I would play along at home by turning the sound off and not looking at the secret word when it was announced and flashed across the bottom of the television screen. Then I would quickly turn the sound back up and guess when the person would say their one word clue. Though I did not keep track of all my answers, I felt i was getting a decent amount of the answers correctly. Since I was an avid reader from a young age, my favorite type of game shows involved words, whether putting them in a crossword puzzle, or trying to make different words out of the letters of a single word; I always made a point to watch the television shows that involved words. My favorite was the show, “Wheel of Fortune” because it was based on a kid’s game I would play called “Hangman.” I thought for sure I would be a fantastic player to have on the show. However, I could never do what the main character did in this dramatic thriller. JUST BY THE STROKE OF LUCK, an unemployed ice cream truck driver was chosen to participate in a television game show. It turned out his playing skills were off the charts. With Paul Walter Hauser (Richard Jewel, Cobra Kai-TV) as Michael, Walton Goggins (The White Lotus-TV, Django Unchained) as Peter, Shamier Anderson (Bruiser, Invasion-TV) as Chuck, David Strathairn (A Little Prayer, Where the Crawdads Sing) as Bill, and Brian Geraghty (The Hurt Locker, Chicago P.D.-TV) as Ed; this film based on a true story stuck out due to the wonderful cast. All the actors were perfectly in synch with their characters which was fortunate because the script needed a little more work. The story was amazing; I might have to search for old footage just to see how Paul’s character compares to the real contestant. The story takes place in 1984 and the sets and costumes were spot on. There were moments of tension, excitement, thrills and heartbreak; but I wished the writers would have fleshed out more to the characters’ back stories. But, I still enjoyed watching this picture and stayed engaged for the most part. It should be no surprise that there a was little part of me that wished I could have been a contestant on this game show.
2 1/2 stars
Flash Movie Review: Awake
I DID NOT BELIEVE IT WHEN I was younger, but it is true; time does go by faster as we get older. There never seems to be enough days in the week, nor minutes in the day, for me to get everything I want done. At one time, I was able to easily stay awake to 4-5:00 in the morning. Now, if I am home and the 10pm news comes on I can feel my body settle into a state of slumber. What happened?!?! In my defense I will say though I might not get home until early in the morning after being out all night; as soon as I walked through the door, I had to go straight to bed. In college, I had friends who could stay up all night studying for a test, drink something with caffeine, go straight to the classroom to take the test, then come home at some point by lunch time to crash into bed. I was never one of those students. Once I went past midnight, my eyes would slowly stop focusing on the words and numbers in a book and my mind started to turn into a helium filled balloon tied outdoors, that was about to slip free from its knot and blow away in the wind. I wanted to stay up, but my body would not let me. SOME YEARS AFTER GRADUATING, I WOUND up working with someone who was able to survive on only 4 to 5 hours of sleep; I had no idea how they ever did it. Once in awhile they would have to “make-up” for what I considered to be the sleep loss, by sleeping 12 hours straight on a Saturday or Sunday. Still, I never knew how they could function in their job with what I considered to be so little sleep. My average sleep time has always been 7 hours; the larger the gap between my early wake up time and average, the foggier I become. Considering all the things I do; I wish I could handle from time to time less sleep, but my body is not wired for it. I am also a person who cannot easily take a nap during the day. The rare times it has happened, I usually feel groggy the rest of the day. And of course, I have a couple of friends who can settle into any piece of furniture, close their eyes and immediately go into a deep sleep. I thought of them in particular as I watched this dramatic, science fiction adventure. AFTER A CATASTROPHIC EVENT WIPED OUT all electronic usage, people began to notice they could not fall asleep. That is except for Jill’s, played by Gina Rodriguez (Deepwater Horizon, Jane the Virgin-TV), daughter who could sleep and dream. With Ariana Greenblatt (Love and Monsters) as Matilda, Lucius Hoyos (What If, Heroes Reborn-TV) as Noah, Shamier Anderson (Race, City of Lies) as Dodge and Jennifer Jason Leigh (Good Time, Kill Your Darlings) as Dr. Murphy; this action movie had an interesting premise to build on. I thought Gina gave it a good shot with her acting; but the script never lived up to the story. Things were predictable and where I thought scenes were going to become thrilling and tense, they just petered out. There was a heaviness to the directing along with several scenes just being clunky. This could have been such a better movie if more time had been devoted to fleshing out the characters and bringing in some thrills. Overall, there was an amateur feel to the whole production that left me disengaged from time to time. One scene would be exciting, then another would be blah. Maybe the people behind this story and film’s production suffered the same loss as the people in this movie—a lack of sleep that affected their judgment.
1 ¾ stars
Flash Movie Review: Stowaway
THE DINING TABLE WAS SET PRIOR to all of us showing up. I always notice first what type of napkin the host is using for the dinner guests. Not that I am being judgmental, but I use and prefer cloth napkins. I feel they add a different touch aesthetically, besides being quite functional. The ones I use were on the store’s clearance rack and they work just fine. The table was set for half a dozen guests; it had been a long time since we all got together. After everyone arrived and we visited with appetizers and drinks, we all found places at the table. The host was bringing out a large glass bowl filled with salad when the doorbell rang. Since there were no empty spaces left at the table, one could only assume this was an unexpected event which immediately got confirmed when the host wondered out loud who it could be. I did not hear who the person was when the host went over and spoke into the intercom, but they got buzzed in and the host went to unlock the door. The person soon walked in as we all heard talking coming in from the hallway. I recognized him as a friend of the host, but I did not know him well. Saying hi and asking what was going on as he came into the dining room, the host simply said we were just sitting down to dinner and asked if he would like to join us. Seeing that there was no room left at the table, I would have declined the invitation because it would have been an imposition; it was not like people were just sitting about with boxes of delivered pizza or buckets of chicken. ALL MY FRIENDS KNOW I DO not answer the door unless I am expecting someone. They have questioned me if this is the only option and I tell them yes. If someone wants to come over and visit me, all they need to do is call ahead of time. I remember once a friend had driven into the city and decided to stop and visit with me. Since they did not call, I did not hear them ringing the doorbell because I was jogging on the treadmill. I especially dislike when people show up during mealtimes, either at home or in a restaurant. This happened some time ago, but I still remember eating out with my family and a couple came over to talk to one of my relatives, who they knew. Well I am here to tell you, this couple kept talking and talking while all of us were giving our food orders to the waitress, continuing even when the food came to our table. Personally, I think it is rude to hover over people while they are trying to eat; so, I took it upon myself to say something to them, thanking them for stopping over but I wanted to talk to my family since I had not seen them for some time. They appeared to be startled by my comments but apologized profusely and excused themselves from our space. Ironically, my family was appreciative of my comments to the couple. I do not make apologies for how I feel about uninvited guests; I have no idea how I would have handled what happened to the astronauts in this dramatic, science fiction thriller. WHILE STARTING OFF ON A MISSION to Mars, a crew is stunned when they discover an unauthorized person on their ship. With Anna Kendrick (Pitch Perfect franchise, A Simple Favor) as Zoe Levenson, Daniel Dae Kim (Hellboy, Lost-TV) as David Kim, Shamier Anderson (Awake, City of Lies) as Michael Adams and Toni Collette (Knives Out, Hereditary) as Marina Barnett; this cast did a wonderful job of acting. Visually, I enjoyed watching this movie with its special effects. On the downside, I am afraid the script was too drawn out for me; I felt there were several scenes that dragged. However, I did enjoy the moral question that was woven into the story line. For a science fiction film, this one had a slightly different vibe to it which was a plus. I only wished there had been more intensity involved with the story and a different ending.
2 ½ stars
moviejoltz 