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Flash Movie Review: The Fantastic Four: First Steps
WHEN MY FRIEND SHOWED ME THE package of crackers he was buying to try at home, he had no idea what memories billowed inside of my brain. I took one look at the package and felt myself hurdling back past decades of living to when I was in elementary school, at the time when I was in 4th or 5th grade. Living one block away from the school, I would walk home for lunch, having been entrusted with my very own set of house keys for some time. Being aware that I was overweight compared to most students in my class, I came up with a plan to lose weight. For lunch, I would have a cup of chicken bouillon. You may not be familiar on how this was made. We had a jar in the pantry that had foiled wrapped cubes in it. If you did not know better, you might think they were sugar cubes; they were about the same size and they pretty much were handled the same way as sugar cubes. I would unwrap one cube and drop the brownish colored cube into a cup. Running the hot water faucet until it was as hot as possible, I would decrease the flow and fill up the cup. By stirring the contents with a spoon, the cube would dissolve, turning the water into a chicken flavored broth. With it, I would have a couple of these same crackers with a piece of cheese folded on top. For the whole semester, this was my standard lunch. I was surprised how vivid this memory remained in my mind all these years. WITHIN A WEEK AFTER EXPERIENCING THAT flashback, I was sitting on the train, going down into the city. Across from me sat a young professionally dressed woman. What caught my eye about her was the purse that was lying on her lap. It appeared to be made of leather, but the front flap that was the same size dimensions of the purse had plastic, or some similar material, dots lined up in perfect horizontal rows down the whole flap. Seeing those dots immediately reminded me of one of my favorite candies I would always eat—candy dots; at least that is what my friends and I would call it. The dots were somehow attached to strips of white paper that was then folded or rolled up. One would purchase them by the strip. I loved this candy; sometimes peeling each candy with my fingers one at a time to eat, or I would bring the strip of paper up to my mouth and use my lips to pluck the candy off. Sometimes I would eat them by color; the purple ones first then the yellow and so on, other times in rows. Depending on which way I chose to eat them determined how long they would last; it was like a little game for me to play. Such two vivid memories stayed and carried me into the viewing of this action science fiction adventure. WARNED ABOUT A CATASTROPHIC DANGER APPROACHING Earth, the Fantastic Four decide to take the fight to “them.” They did not know the fight was going to be personal. With Pedro Pascal (Eddington, The Uninvited) as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman, The Crown-TV) as Sue Storm, Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Hold Your Breath, The Bear-TV) as Ben Grimm, Joseph Quinn (Gladiator II, A Quiet Place: Day One) as Johnny Storm, and Julia Garner (The Assistant, The Royal Hotel) as Shalla-Bal; this superhero reboot was a fresh take from the original film. What sold me on it was the retro vibe and cast; I felt as if I was a kid again watching The Jetsons cartoon series. The sets were something out of the original Tomorrowland theme park. As for the script, it was decent with some humor, a couple of thrills, some drama, and a touch of excitement. Nothing too extreme on either end of good or bad. In other words, it was a good film, not a great one. I did have a fun time watching it, even if a portion of that fun was for nostalgic reasons. Also, I think it would be a better viewing experience if one could see this picture on the big screen. I am hopeful that with the two extra post credit scenes, this movie was the starting point for making deeper, fuller, and more complete installments.
3 stars
Flash Movie Review: Alien: Romulus
THE THREE OF US MET AT a restaurant housed in an historical building, dating back 1 ½ centuries ago. The structure was huge, originally built to house and store train locomotives. My friend and I were going to meet a childhood friend of his who I had only met a couple of times; they had a much longer history together than I did with my friend. Once we were seated at a table, we marveled at the original brick and limestone making up the walls. Huge wooden rafters crisscrossed above our heads, like a multi highway interchange, supporting the roof. I took a couple of photos while seated, using the wide angle setting to capture the vastness of the cavernous dining room. We caught up with each other on our current state of being while the waitstaff politely checked in wondering if we needed anything to start before ordering our meals. Each of us ordered a drink and decided to order our food choices as well because we were hungry. While we waited for the food to come, my friend and his friend began reminiscing about their childhood homes that were next to each other, wondering what they must look like now. Their conversation quickly became filled with memories they shared; I simply listened and enjoyed hearing about some of their antics. ONE OF THEIR STORIES WAS ABOUT the time they ran away with a shopping cart from a store and took turns riding it as the other one pushed. They went to a short side street in their neighborhood that was on a decline. Using the cart like a sled, without the capability of steering, each of them would sit in the cart and ride it down the street until it either tipped over or crashed into the curb. Their story triggered a memory of mine; a time where my friends and I took the lids off garbage cans and used them as saucer sleds down a hill we had in our neighborhood. We did not have to own sleds, the garbage can lids worked just as well, at least the metal ones. I shared my memories with them and as the day progressed, they mentioned several other stories that triggered my memories as well. Though I did not grow up with them, I could easily understand how they felt reliving their times together because I had had similar experiences with my friends. While watching this science fiction, horror thriller, I once again found myself reminiscing about my time years ago sitting in a theater and being petrified. A SMALL GROUP OF SPACE COLONISTS see an abandoned space station as a way out. However, once aboard they make a terrifying discovery that could have far-reaching consequences. With Cailee Spaeny (Civil War, Priscilla) as Rain, David Jonsson (Industry-TV, Deep State-TV) as Andy, Archie Renaux (Morbius, The Greatest Beer Run Ever) as Tyler, Isabela Merced (Instant Family, Dora and the Lost City of Gold) as Kay and Spike Fearn (Aftersun, Sweetheart) as Bjorn; this latest installment of the long running movie franchise had slick production values, which created scenes filled with dread and tension. The music and sound editing were perfect accompaniment as well. while the cast also worked well together. As for the script, there were references to the original film; however, I do not feel one needed to have seen it to understand what was going on in this one. The story took a long time to kick into gear, where I was teetering onto boredom, but things finally picked up in a big way. With thrills and fright, I found myself tapping into my memories of watching the 1979 film. I felt more connected to the past characters than the ones in this picture. However, the visual and audio stimuli kept me engaged along with my memories.
2 3/4 stars
Flash Movie Review: Space Cadet
I WAS IMPRESSED BY THE WORK history she shared with me. She was a new employee at our company who was assigned to my department. At first, I did not know how to take her; she had a loud, animated way of talking that lent itself more to a personal, conversational level with friends or family, not in a business environment. Through the course of several weeks, I learned more about her than I really needed to know. In between conversations about her boyfriend, child, and various family members; she told me different stories about her accomplishments at her previous places of employment. At one place she told me there was a large account that stopped buying from them and she found herself talking to a VP, just by chance, which was charmed by her. By the time she ended the conversation, he told her he was going to authorize his buyers to give her company preferable treatment for purchases. Whether it was true or not, I did not know. I could only take her at her word. When I asked her why she left the company, she said she expected to get a bonus and more congratulations from sales and upper management. Again, I listened to what she was telling me but something about it sounded odd. HAVING HER SEATED IN MY GROUP area, and because of her loud voice, I was privy to her conversations with our customers. In my opinion, I thought she had a rough edge with the way she spoke. For example, she did not use proper English at times and even would throw in a “mild” curse word. What really sent a red flag up for me was one conversation she had with one of our larger customers, where she threatened and hung up on them. This was a situation for our boss to manage; I wanted to stay out of it. With this incident, I began to question everything she would say to me. My way was to just nod to her while uttering noncommitted words like really, wow and oh. What confirmed my suspicions was when a bouquet of roses was delivered to her on Valentine’s Day. She told us they were from her boyfriend. We all believed it until the next day, the florist stopped by demanding cash from her because the charge card information she gave them was fraudulent. Talk about embarrassment and yet she tried to tell us her boyfriend gave her the charge card info to call the florist because his phone had died. She soon was fired from our company; there was too much drama that was always surrounded her. She believed she was a good employee, but her actions told a different story. It turns out, the main character in this comedy had a similar situation. THOUGH REX SIMPSON, PLAYED BY EMMA Roberts (Madame Web, We’re the Millers) had always wanted to be an astronaut, her life circumstances did not give her the opportunity to reach that goal. Until her friend decided to fill out the astronaut training application with a few embellishments. With Tom Hopper (Place of Bones, The Umbrella Academy-TV) as Logan O’Leary, Poppy Liu (Hacks-TV, The Afterparty-TV) as Nadine Cai, Gabriella Union (The Inspection, Deliver Us from Eva) as Pam Proctor and Kuhoo Verma (Plan B, Murder Mystery 2) as Violet Marie Vislawski; the story for this film followed a generic template. The humor was lame and basic, while the script was predictable. I thought the cast did a decent job with what they had to work with, but there was no character development, and a majority of the movie remained on one emotional plane. Overall, I felt this was a lazy production that had potential but had too many missed opportunities.
1 ½ stars
Flash Movie Review: Spaceman
I HAD A RELATIONSHIP WHERE THE two of us did not know how to communicate with one another. The weird thing for me was that I thought I was doing it, but it was not being received. For their part, they did not know how to express their feelings. I thought things were going along fine, but then one day, something happened where we disagreed about something, and they blew up with anger. Anger that was not appropriate to the small disagreement we were just talking about. I remember asking them why they were so angry and that evidently opened the gates because they started bringing up events from the past that did not even register as if we had a problem. I was so confused and asked why, if they were upset at the time, they did not tell me. I asked them how I would know otherwise, and they said I should have been able to tell. For me, this line is a copout; I am not a mind reader and if the person especially does not wear their heart on their sleeve, there were no physical changes that I would have questioned. We tried to patch things up and move on with our lives together but there were too many emotions involved that were stuck inside of each of us. EVER SINCE THAT RELATIONSHIP, I MADE a point to always express my feelings to my partner. It would not suit us well if we could not express our feelings at the time we were feeling them. Another reason is because I do not like having a discussion where the person mentions stuff from the past that has no bearing on what we are confronting presently. If the person feels something was not worth discussing when it happened, then why keep it stored and bring it up later; it makes no sense to me. I remember early on after that initial relationship ended, I was a few months into a new relationship and asked them how they felt about something I said. It took them by surprise but kudos to them, they did reply. We wound up having a discussion that dug below the surface we had temporarily settled on, giving us the opportunity to not only be vulnerable with each other but also to form a deeper connection. Because of that, we soon became a couple and spent the next few years enjoying our life together. If I had the opportunity, I would have offered my advice, for what it is worth, about communication to the main character in this science fiction, adventure drama. ON A MISSION TO THE OUTER edges of our solar system, an astronaut discovers several months into his voyage, he is not alone on his ship. With Adam Sandler (Uncut Gems, You Are so Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah) as Jakub Prochazka, Carey Mulligan (Maestro, The Dig) as Lenka, Paul Dano (Dumb Money, The Fabelmans) voicing Hanus, Kunal Nayyar (Think Like a Dog, The Big Bang Theory-TV) as Peter and Isabella Rossellini (Death Becomes Her, Enemy) as Commissioner Tuma; I enjoyed watching Adam in this role because I prefer his dramatic work over comedic ones on film. Pair him up with Carey and what could go wrong? The answer would be the script. I thought the idea was interesting, though I was confused at first by what Adam’s character discovered on his ship. It seemed an odd choice to pick for the character. But as the dialog kept going, I soon understood what was taking place. With good visuals and a curious story, I wished the script would have had some more stimulating portions to it. It felt like the film was dragging on and at times, it also felt repetitive. I was fluctuating between feeling sorry for Adam’s character and irritated that he was not taking care of his matters. The best way I can express myself after watching this movie is to say it was just okay.
2 ½ stars
Flash Movie Review: Asteroid City
IT WAS THE CLOSEST I HAD ever been to another planet and I did not want it to end. After seeing Jupiter and Saturn, I quickly lost my amazement over the moon and Mars. I even got to see a shooting star; there was always talk about one, but I had never seen it before. No pun intended, but my mind expanded in a new way while I leaned back in one of the cushy chairs there in the dark auditorium of the planetarium. It was my first time and seeing the solar system come “alive” above my head was exciting. The only reference I had to the other planets in our solar system had been movies and children’s books. I do not think we had studied the system yet in elementary school. So, you can see how stunned I was to see crystal clear images of the planets floating in the air, or at least it certainly seemed that way. One of my favorite television shows was Flash Gordon; at one point, I wondered if during the show I would get to see the planet, Mongo. Alas, it was never shown. I left the planetarium with a stronger fascination about outer space and the possibilities that were out there. THIS FEELING WAS SUCH A STRONG contrast to what took place in school. When I tell you what took place, there might be a chance you will not believe me. The reason I say this is because recently I was talking with a group of people, some of them educators, who shared their school’s protocols for safety. I was stunned when they said they must perform “active shooter” training with their classes. We discussed the horrors that are attached to it. For example, one teacher said they have a couple of students who were traumatized by a shooting in their town, and they must be excused because the training was too intense for them. I expressed my horror that we now live in a time where “active shooter” training is the norm. When I was in first grade, we periodically would have air raid drills. I surprised the educators because they had never heard of such a thing. I told them an alarm would sound and we would all have to leave our classrooms and go into the hallway, to sit down with our backs up to our locker, then cross our legs and try to get our heads down to our laps. I always wondered who would harm us in an air raid in the Midwest. It was a similar wonder to what happened to the junior stargazers in this dramatic comedy romance. COMING TO A SMALL SPOT IN the desert, a group of strangers encounter something unworldly that changes their perceptions of the world. With Jason Schwartzman (The French Dispatch, Big Eyes) as Augie Steenbeck, Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow, JoJo Rabbit) as Midge Campbell, Tom Hanks (A Man Called Otto, Elvis) as Stanley Zak, Jeffrey Wright (The Batman, The French Dispatch) as General Gibson and Bryan Cranston (The One and Only Ivan, Jerry and Marge Go Large) as the Host; this Wes Anderson film had all of the same trappings as his previous films. It had a great and diverse cast, quirky and colorful sets, multiple story lines and odd characters in the story. What was missing for me was the fun factor, along with a better cohesive script. Things felt forced to me. It seemed various scenes were tossed in to keep the audience entertained, but they did not offer much. I found myself being bored at times and not really getting a sense of where the story wanted to go. There was an element of humor and silliness, but it did not help to get me into an excited mood to sit and enjoy the rest of the film.
2 ¼ stars
Flash Movie Review: Space Sweepers
EVERYONE, I BELIEVE, HAS AT LEAST two families; the family they were born into and the family they formed through life experiences. There are other types of families, for example a foster family. I have a friend who grew up with several foster children because her parents believed in helping innocent children out of bad situations. She had biological siblings but had more foster ones in the household through her years living at home. I was fascinated with her stories about all her siblings. It seemed like every meal was a party, even when her parents did not have much money to buy food. When I was little, I had no idea the friendships I was forming would turn into future members of my chosen family. The term “chosen family” was something I was not aware of when growing up; yet, there are individuals in my chosen family that I have known since elementary school. One is a girl I dated from 7thgrade. When we get together there is a long history of shared events, we can recall for each other. Whenever one of us introduces the other to new people, the new people are always amazed at the longevity of our relationship. There is a comfort and an easiness within our bond of friendship because we do not need to be anything but our real selves to each other. FROM AN OPEN SWIM NIGHT, AT a local community center in the neighborhood I grew up in, I formed a friendship with a boy from a different elementary school district. He was the first friend I made who did not go to my school. I was at the pool with my friends and he was there with a relative. We had been taking turns diving into the deep end and were congregated by the edge of the pool. He had been swimming the width of the pool a few times when he took a break by the edge near us. One of my friends struck up a conversation and he soon joined our little circle. By the end of the open swim time we all made plans to meet again the following week. Soon after that 2ndswim night, I found out he and I had a lot in common. Though we did not go to the same school we made plans to get together either after school or on a Saturday. After we all graduated elementary school, we found out he would be joining us at the same high school. Since then and after all these years, he has been one of my closest chosen family members. Because of my family of birth and chosen family, I felt a connection to the crew in this action, adventure, science fiction film. WHILE PICKING THROUGH A CONTAINER OF junk in outer space, a ship’s crew discovers a little girl who was still alive. If that wasn’t surprise enough, the crew would soon find a bigger surprise was in store for them. With Song Joong Ki (A Werewolf Boy, Doraemon-TV) as Tae-ho, Kim Tae-ri (The Handmaiden, Little Forest) as Captain Jang, Seon-kyu Jin (The Outlaws, Extreme Job) as Tiger Park, Hae-jin yoo (The King and the Clown, The Pirates) as Robot and Richard Armitage (The Hobbit franchise, Into the Storm) as Sullivan; this dramatic space odyssey had sound elements for creating an exciting story. For example, I connected with the chosen family element and appreciated the set-up for the class conflict situation. However, the script needed a good rewrite, I found it too long and the use of flashbacks got to be a little too much for me. The special effects were not spectacular, but they were good. Honestly, this movie came across like a poor cousin to a Marvel superhero film; still, there was enough in it that kept my interest going.
2 ½ stars
Flash Movie Review: The Midnight Sky
IT WAS ALREADY A SAD AFFAIR and now I was back to repeat it, except I would be giving a eulogy. My friend’s significant other had died from a debilitating health condition. I had always heard a parent never wants to bury their child and here both parents along with their remaining children were sitting in front of their child’s casket. My friend was sitting with the siblings. The receiving line was long; I was halfway back away from the seated group of mourners. As I slowly made my way up to them, I occasionally heard a sob or soft whimper rise from out of the family members. Reaching the front of the line, I introduced myself and gave my condolences to the first of the mourners. When I came up to my friend we hugged while they gently cried on my shoulder. Once they were able to calm themself, they thanked me for coming. I tried to offer words of comfort before I had to continue moving forward, to finish offering my sympathy and finding a seat. These types of services are never good to begin with and I found this one especially hard because of the relatively young age of the deceased. It is more of a shock to me, for some reason. SEVEN DAYS AFTER THE BURIAL, I received a phone call that my friend was found dead in their home. It was such a blow to me that I had a hard time comprehending the news. I had not even processed the previous funeral and now a week later there was to be another one? The past week I had been checking in to see how my friend was holding up; they were having a horrible time of it. Hearing this latest news, the only thing I could think of was the fact they were no longer suffering over their loss. However, how would the family endure another sadness so soon, I wondered? For this funeral, I was asked to give a eulogy. A eulogy? I was too young to be dealing with a eulogy for my friend. The pain I was feeling over both deaths was suffocating me. I do not know if it was right for me to think this or not, but I felt I now understood what survivors feel when multiple family members die in a crash or crime. It is like layering one sadness over another and another; it is such an awful experience. In a way this is how I felt about the story in this dramatic science fiction fantasy. Maybe I would have felt different if this had come out before the pandemic. WITH EARTH BECOMING INHABITABLE DUE TO a catastrophic event, humans had to leave the surface. One scientist decided to remain behind to try and warn a space crew returning from a space mission. With George Clooney (The Ides of March, The Monuments Men) as Augustine, Felicity Jones (On the Basis of Sex, The Theory of Everything) as Sully, David Oyelowo (A United Kingdom, Selma) as Adewole, newcomer Caoilinn Springall as Iris and Kyle Chandler (First Man, Godzilla: King of the Monsters) as Mitchell; this film had a beautiful crisp look to it. The music, though interesting, tended to become overbearing throughout the story. I was drawn into the story quickly; but as it unfolded, I felt as if I had already watched it in similar past films. There was a lack of intensity which I felt was a mistake because the movie dragged in places. I felt I was watching separate movies based on what was taking place in the story; there needed to be a stronger central theme in my opinion. Besides these issues, I just thought the timing in releasing this film was a poor choice. I already have enough to think about; so, why do I want to add something that could so closely become our new reality?
2 stars
Flash Movie Review: A Wrinkle in Time
AS I LISTENED TO THE description of the show I became more horrified by the changes in the story. It was one of my favorite stories when I was a child. The changes I was hearing did not make any sense to me and I could not understand why anyone would want to tamper with a classic story. That is not just my opinion; the story has survived as they say the test of time, bringing joy to millions. The story has been turned into several films, theater productions and ice skating shows; yet for the most part the essence of it remained the same. Imagine how you would feel if you were going to see something that you were familiar with only to discover it was nothing like you remembered. For me it is like going to a favorite restaurant for a specific dish only to find out, after they brought it to your table, that the cooks changed it. Yes I know there is a possibility I could love it even more; but the chances the new dish will not satisfy my taste buds seem to always run higher. SO LET ME TELL YOU about the book today’s movie is based on. It was required reading when I was in school. I enjoyed the story so much that I read the book twice. It has been years since I thought about the story; but I remember anytime I was invited to a kid’s party I would always first consider buying this book as a gift. There were times I found out the child already had a copy of the book which in an odd way pleased me. I felt like this family, whether I was related to them or not, gets it; they understand the story is truly special and may also know the book was awarded the Newbery Medal. For those of you not familiar, the Newbery Medal is a literary award given to the author; think of it as the Oscars of children literature. As you may imagine I was looking forward to seeing this movie version of one of my favorite books. Let me also say I am aware I may not remember everything about the story but I do know how it made me feel and this adventure fantasy caused me to experience different feelings. FOUR YEARS AFTER HER FATHER disappeared from home Meg, played by Storm Reid (12 Years a Slave, Sleight), was visited by three beings who knew where her father had gone. With Oprah Winfrey (Selma, The Color Purple) as Mrs. Which, Reese Witherspoon (Home Again, Walk the Line) as Mrs. Whatsit, Mindy Kaling (No Strings Attached, The Office-TV) as Mrs. Who and Levi Miller (Pan, Red Dog: True Blue) as Calvin; I enjoyed the visuals in this picture. What I did not enjoy was pretty much everything else in this movie. I was actually annoyed with the direction; it seemed at least 50% of the scenes were shot in close-up. The script was so poorly written that almost all the characters were drab and lifeless. For such a story the writers and director needed to hit the viewers with deep emotional scenes, making the negative forces something we would fear. Instead I sat in my seat being bored and depressed with how wrong this movie got the story. Even the acting, except for a couple of actors, was bland and uninspiring. Now I will say if you have never read the book, you might find something you like about this movie. For me I plan on re-reading the story so I can forget about what I saw in this film.
1 ¾ stars
Flash Movie Review: Star Wars: The Last Jedi
USUALLY AT ANY TYPE OF event I attend the crowd acts accordingly. At a wedding most of the guests are cordial and jovial; whereas at a funeral most people are solemn and respectful. This is the norm but never underestimate the person who is highly charged emotionally. I attended a funeral where 2 guests made a scene and one of the grieving relatives yelled back at them that they would “rot in hell.” Oh and there was that wedding where the bride and her new mother-in-law got into a shouting match in the middle of the reception; it was not pretty. Overall though I have to say there is something about going to an event where everyone is in a similar mood. I do not know if each person is feeding off the emotions of another person but I feel an energy that connects everyone; the best example is a rock concert, where everyone sings along to the musical artist. ONE PLACE WHERE I do not always find consistency in the crowd’s mood is at the movies. There have been times where I sat in my seat perplexed at the viewers’ reactions around me. Where they were guffawing with belly laughs, I found myself getting bored with what I felt was a lame attempt at humor. Other times I am the one sitting in my seat with tears rolling out of my eyes; while the people next to me are focusing on their tub of popcorn, not one teardrop getting squeezed out of their eyes. I certainly do not look at this as a right or wrong situation; everyone has the right to feel the way they do without any type of judgment. That is one of the main pillars I use to write my movie reviews. You may notice I try to never tell someone they can or cannot see a movie; I am simply offering advice and sharing my experiences during my viewing of the movie. If anything I am more curious to hear other people’s views, for I feel that helps me be a better reviewer. However in regards to today’s picture, it was obvious everyone was feeling the same thing—extreme joy and excitement. HAVING TRAVELED FROM AFAR to ask Luke Skywalker, played by Mark Hamill (Airborne, Brigsby Bear), for help in fighting the First Order; Rey, played by Daisy Ridley (Murder on the Orient Express, Silent Witness-TV), could not understand Luke’s determined resistance. She had no idea she was not the first one to ask for his help. This next installment in the Star Wars franchise included Carrie Fisher (Wonderland, This is My Life) as Leia Organa, Adam Driver (Paterson, Silence) as Kylo Ren and Oscar Isaac (The Promise, A Most Violent Year) as Poe Dameron. For a movie watching experience this action, adventure fantasy provided everything one needed for an emotional ride of thrills. Kudos to the director who kept control of the pacing of the story; there was a steady dose of drama, humor and excitement through the 2 hours and 32 minutes of running time. I will say the script was weak in several parts, where there could have been more thoughtful drama. Personally I wanted the First Order to remain menacing and wished Finn had been given more scenes. Without giving anything away one of the love interest story lines was a waste of time. Interestingly I found the acting was better in this sequel than the previous movie. There was more back story to the characters which I appreciated and as for the fight scenes, they were imaginative and thrilling. If you are not a fan of Star Wars chances are you will not care to see this movie; but if you want an easy “share the moment” experience with the people sitting around you then this film will not disappoint.
3 1/3 stars
Flash Movie Review: Alien: Covenant
IF a person wants to learn how to drive a car there is a set of rules and regulations that must be followed to get a license. These rules are needed otherwise there would be chaos on every street. I have noticed with the introduction of red light cameras (devices that take detailed photographs of cars that run stoplights and mail the driver a traffic ticket) there has been an increase in accidents. In the past if a driver drove up to an intersection and the light started to change from green to red, more times than not, they would continue on their way. Once the cameras became active I started seeing cars slamming on their brakes so they would not enter the intersection and get a ticket. However because of these quick sudden stops there was not enough lag time for the car behind to stop in time; so periodically I would see automobiles getting rear ended. Recently some of the intersections have had countdown timers installed next to the WALK/DO NOT WALK signs to help the drivers prepare for a complete stop. NOW before you think I am one to follow every rule by the letter, I have to tell you that is not always the case. I would not say I break rules, I prefer to say I modify them. At the grocery store I may go through the express checkout line with 1 or 2 more items than the posted limit. However I would never abuse it with a full shopping cart like I have seen other people do, pretending they did not know it was an express lane. Rules are needed in any industry from construction to agriculture. There are even rules when it comes to writing a story. I will say to interject the element of surprise one must have the breaking of a rule. In this science fiction horror thriller there were a few surprises in store for the crew and the viewer. ON a mission to populate a distant planet the crew of the colony ship Covenant were awaken early. A transmission was detected that surprised the crew members. This latest installment of the Alien franchise starred Michael Fassbender (Assassin’s Creed, The Light Between Oceans) as David/Walter, Katherine Waterston (Inherent Vice, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) as Daniels, Billy Crudup (Jackie, 20th Century Women) as Oram, Danny McBride (Your Highness, The Pineapple Express) as Tennessee and Demian Bichir (Lowriders, The Heat) as Lope. Visually this film caught my eye right away; I thought the sets were interesting. As for the actors Michael and Katherine were the standouts, especially Michael in his dual roles. My issue with this movie was the script. I do not think I am picky but there seemed to be a lack of believability. Not that I am a space explorer but common protocols regarding space travel were ignored in this story. In addition scenes were too predictable. It is safe to say we all know what happens when someone excuses themselves to go to the bathroom in a horror picture. Due to the script there was a lack of new things taking place for me. I found it odd; where the writers could have taken liberties was in the structure of the story line. Instead they chose to break the rules of reason in telling a story. Blood and violence was shown in multiple scenes.
2 ½ stars
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