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Flash Movie Review: Uncharted
THE MAP WAS DECEIVING, THAT IS all I can say. My good friend and I planned a trip to part of the country we had never seen. When we looked at the map, we decided to fly in and stay at a hotel in the city instead of finding an out of the way place closer to where we planned on exploring. Based on the map and the mileage we calculated between the 2 places, we figured we could drive back and forth each day. This way, we could check out restaurants and sights in the city while mornings and afternoons we could hike and dig into the area of the park that intrigued us the most. Everything was falling into place, and we arrived on a sunny warm day, got our rental car and made our way to the hotel. We dropped our bags into our room and got back into the car to check out the park. According to our calculations, we were approximately 90 miles away. I was driving and figured we could make it there in 1 ½-2 hours. Well, what the map did not show was the fact that the road not only wound around but was going up and down over rough terrain. There was no way I could go 60 mph; in fact, I was lucky if I could hit 35 at times, that is how convoluted the road was to drive on. ONCE WE FINALLY GOT CLOSE TO the area, we stopped in a small town to get snacks and find a restroom. Walking into a small, independent convenience shop, we bought some food. Because the drive was way too long for us, I asked the clerk if there was a motel nearby. He said anything I could find around “these parts” had already sold-out months in advance. I explained our situation on staying too far away back in the city. From our conversation he told us to stick around while he checks with a friend of his about finding a place to stay. It turned out his friend had just gotten a cancellation on a room down the road. We spoke to the friend and agreed to take the room, travel problem solved. Sure, we were paying for 2 rooms; but we came so far, there was no way we were not going to do some exploring. And exploring we did as we spent the entire day until closing, in the park. It was a dream come true as we saw things we had only seen in print or on television. Steam bursting out of the ground, standing on top of a mountain as the setting sun turned the blue skies purple; both of us felt like explorers and finding that room made it all happen. This experience is why I appreciated what the main character in this action, adventure was trying to do. HE AND HIS BROTHER HAD TALKED about it but how did this stranger Victor “Sully” Sullivan, played by Mark Wahlberg (Joe Bell, Deepwater Horizon), know that they did. To find out Nathan, played by Tom Holland (Spider-Man franchise, The Devil All the Time), would have to decide whether to trust him or not, if he wanted to make his and his brother’s dream come true. With Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory, The Skin I Live In) as Santiago Moncada, Sophia Ali (Truth or Dare, Grey’s Anatomy-TV) as Chloe Frazer and Tati Gabrielle (Freakish-TV, The 100-TV) as Braddock; this movie based on the video game series had its moments. Unfortunately, they were few and far between. I felt the script was a rehash of the Indiana Jones, Romancing the Stone and National Treasure films; except, this was not as good. Tom reminded me of a dressed down Spider-Man and Mark’s role was familiar. There were a few fight scenes that were fun to watch and the mystery element on what was essentially a treasure hunt kept my interest; but overall, this film was forgettable for the most part. If you have nothing to do or have never seen the 3 pictures I mentioned, you might get a little more out of this movie than I did. How adventuresome do you feel? There were 2 extra scenes during the ending credits.
2 stars
Flash Movie Review: Truth or Dare
THERE MAY BE A BOXED GAME that is similar but I have not seen one. I remember the first time I played Truth or Dare; it was during 7thor 8thgrade if I am not mistaken. A group of us were hanging out in the park near the school on a Saturday afternoon. There was a ride that was like a merry-go-round without the wooden horses, just a circle of individual handrails or banisters; to make it go you would have to spin it yourself. I do not remember who suggested the game, but I was not the only one who had never heard of it. The directions were rather simple; either accept to tell the truth, no matter what is asked of you, or take the dare and do whatever the person tells you to do. It is funny, I remember accepting the truth questions mostly because I did not want to hang upside down on the jungle gym for 2 minutes or be spun on the merry-go-round as fast as everyone could spin it; which I had already witnessed from the players before my turn. The idea of telling the truth was no big deal for me; I did not have any deep dark secrets to reveal. FROM THAT VERY FIRST TIME I had no idea that the Truth or Dare game was a rite of passage for adolescents. No really, it along with the game Spin the Bottle were some of the first games that lent themselves to having a sexual overtone depending on the players. I remember how the game changed once all of us were in high school. At one point it became a triumph to the initiator of the game when they could include someone unfamiliar to the rules. I think it was to embarrass the innocent students for laughs. Someone unsuspecting could find themselves in a predicament if they were suddenly asked to kiss someone or perform some stupid stunt in front of everyone. Imagine the possibilities; I do not think one could ever run out of dare stunts. In writing this review I tried seeking out information about the history of this game, but there was nothing concrete I could find. One web page stated 53% of boys versus 42% of girls take the dare; in turn, injuries have increased which may be partially due to social media. If you want to see how dangerous playing the game could be then you might want to watch this horror thriller. WHILE ON VACATION A GROUP of friends begin a game of Truth or Dare, where breaking the rules have a serious consequence. Starring Lucy Hale (Scream 4, Pretty Little Liars-TV) as Olivia Barron, Tyler Posey (Maid in Manhattan, Teen Wolf-TV) as Lucas Moreno, Violett Beane (The Flash-TV, The Leftovers-TV) as Markie Cameron, Sophia Ali (Grey’s Anatomy-TV, Everybody Wants Some!) as Penelope Amari and Nolan Gerard Funk (Roddick, Awkward-TV) as Tyson Curran; this story took no time in sinking down to an utter mess. I thought the acting was paltry and the script was basic and generic. There was little in the sense of horror except for the lethal dare results. Like any game I do not approve of changing the rules halfway into playing the game and this story was not following the rules. At one point while I was sitting through this picture I thought maybe it was a generational thing that I was bored; however, the full theater of teenagers groaning told me they were not getting into the story either. The groans were loudest at the end of the film. All I can say about this movie is that it would be a tough dare for a game player to do, if the dare was being forced to sit through this picture while staying awake.
1 ½ stars
moviejoltz 