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Flash Movie Review: The Covenant
WHEN WE WERE KIDS, WE WERE always changing the rules while playing a game. Of course, they were changed only if everyone agreed. I remember one game we played, a trivia based one, where the answer had to be the famous person’s last name. We decided to make it easier by allowing the use of the person’s first name, if we could not remember their last name. Think about the made-up games many of us did when we were children; the rules were never set in stone, going through revision after revision until we were pleased with the outcome. As I got older, I noticed how important it became for some individuals to be the winner of the game. I was never competitive in a game, except with myself. It was more important to me to improve my game than trying to beat someone else who was playing it. Being my own worse critic, I had plenty of drive inside of me to get better. Nowadays, I am bit more relaxed about it; however, there are certain people I refuse to play with because they are so extreme. They yell at teammates if they do not make the right move/play and they are always trying to stretch the rules to their advantage. I am a rule follower and to play a game with someone involves a certain level of trust. One cannot suddenly change the rules to suit their needs. THERE IS ANOTHER REASON WHY I am selective when it comes to who I will play with for a game. I have been at some game night events where it becomes too cliquish for me. Certain players secretly make alliances with other players; others make promises but then renege on them. I am not comfortable getting involved with people who do this; I do not find them trustworthy which leads to me not having a good time with them. I have said this many times; the one thing that every human being can offer to another is their word. Giving your word is sacred. I cannot tell you how annoying and disappointing it is for me when someone tells me they are going to do something but then does not do it. I would rather they just never said a word about it and kept it to themselves. I sort of feel like some people feel if they just talk about doing something it is enough to make the people, they are telling it to, to feel good; trust me, it does not. You can see for yourself in this dramatic, action thriller. DURING THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN, A soldier and his local interpreter find themselves struggling to escape the clutches of the encroaching Taliban fighters. If ever there was a need for trust, this would be the time. With Jake Gyllenhaal (Ambulance, The Guilty) as Master Sergeant John Kinley, Dar Salim (The Devil’s Double, Loving Adults) as Ahmed, Sean Sagar (Blue Story, Our Girl-TV) as Charlie “Jizzy” Crow, Jason Wong (The Gentlemen, Panic) as Joshua “JJ” Jung and Rhys Yates (Bloodyminded, Unforgotten-TV) as Tom “Tom Cat” Hancock; this film directed by Guy Ritchie was extremely intense with heart stopping fight scenes. I thought everyone in the cast was exceptional, especially Jake and Dar. Jake’s specialty in my opinion is his ability to display such intensity in his characters and in here he does not disappoint. The action was steady throughout and the script kept things tightly moving forward. I do not know if the story was based/inspired by true events, but I could easily see how it could be possible. From beginning to end I was engaged with the story and was even a little exhausted when it was over.
3 ½ stars
Flash Movie Review: The Equalizer 3
LAST WEEK WE WENT TO ONE of our favorite restaurants for dinner. Anyone we have taken there has agreed with us on how good everything is from food to service. After we were settled at our table, a family with two small children came in and were seated next to us. One child was in a highchair and the other one in a regular seat, though the table’s edge almost came up to his chest. I did not pay much attention to them except when the little boy was fussing and whining. Our waitress also handled their table and took their order right after ours. As a result, both of us received our dinner close together. I point this out because once the food arrived, I did not pay any mind to what was going on at their table, except to notice for two adults and two children they seemed to have ordered a lot of food. Views of the two kids were blocked by the people at our table and it was a good thing. They had finished and left before we did; I noticed the waitress was standing near their table and looking down at the floor. I leaned over just enough to see the unbelievable mess that the family left on the table and floor. It was disgusting and more so because I did not recall them moving over to try cleaning up the scraps of food strewn everywhere. It was disrespectful in my opinion; I get annoyed when people do not pick up after themselves in a public place. I ENCOUNTERED SOMETHING SIMILAR ON my recent vacation. Here I was at a significant, iconic religious building and on the side of it someone had spraypainted graffiti. If that was not bad enough, after climbing up inside to the top of the building’s dome and walking out into the open, there was graffiti and people’s initials written along the walls. It was beyond disrespectful, simply appalling. Sadly, many places I visited in this international city had some type of markings and/or graffiti on its buildings. It felt like the city was being hijacked by these perpetrators. I was there to soak in the beauty and history of the place, and it seemed everywhere I was looking, I would find some type of markings or tags sprawled somewhere around a structure. I found all of it nearly incomprehensible; if I lived there and was in a position of authority, I would want to arrest the offenders and make them clean up their work. Because of this experience, I absolutely understood where the main character was coming from when he saw what was happening to the lovely town, he was residing in. AFTER RECEIVING THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS and settling into the idyllic town he found himself in, a former government assassin decided he must do something about the changes that were being forced on the townspeople. With Denzel Washington (The Book of Eli, The Tragedy of Macbeth) as Robert McCall, Dakota Fanning (The Secret Life of Bees, Man on Fire) as Emma Collins, Eugenio Mastrandrea (From Scratch-TV, La fuggitiva-TV) as Gio Bonucci, David Denman (13 Hours, Brightburn) as Frank Conroy and Gaia Scodellaro (Watch Them Fall; You, Me and the Apocalypse-TV) as Aminah; this latest installment in the action, crime thriller franchise had the perfect mix of drama and action. It did start out a little slow, but as the story unfolded it drew me in. I also have to say because I was just recently in the same areas on vacation; I absolutely loved the outdoor scenes of Italy. It seemed as if the action in this latest installment was boosted because there were many scenes of blood and violence. It was in a similar vein to the John Wick franchises’ type of violence. But because I loved the scenery and thought both Denzel and Dakota did such a good job, the violence did not distract from the competent and engaging script.
3 stars
Flash Movie Review: Hypnotic
I TEND TO BE SKEPTICAL BY nature. This may have come about from having experienced trust issues in the past. The bottom line though, is I do not always accept what has been presented before me. Case in point, on my recent trip we visited a palace from the Ottoman empire. Because the area had been the sight of several conflicts where they were victorious for part of them, they wound up as the protectors of a collection of ancient artifacts. We entered the building and all around us were glass cases filled with an array of different items. In one case on display was Moses’ staff. Of course, I took a photo of it as soon as it was possible; however, as I stood there looking at it, I had to question if this was real. I would have expected the staff, after all these centuries, to be in some form of decay. Let us face it, it was made of wood and to the naked eye it looked too new to have come from Moses’ time. With a reddish-brown color, there was a dull shine bouncing off it, as if it had been waxed or polished. It just did not look real to me, yet there it was propped up in its glass case with a multi-language label affixed to the front of the case. There were other items in this room where I had to question their authenticity. AS WE MADE OUR WAY THROUGH the displays, we encountered several individuals who stood quietly in front of cases and prayed. I absolutely accepted their belief that the item was real, but when I came up to see the item they were praying at, I could not believe that this strand of hair from an ancient religious leader’s head survived all these centuries; let alone, that someone back then had the fortitude to take and keep the strand of hair, then have it passed down from generation to generation. It was too hard to process such a concept. Maybe my feelings are tied in with how I establish trust. It is something I just do not hand out; it must be earned. For example, I met the sibling of a friend of mine. On the surface they were sweet but there was something about them that sent up a red flag in my mind. As it turned out this sibling had promised to give my friend their portion of an estate that was in probate due to the death of the owner. It did not happen; the sibling kept saying there was little cash, yet they suddenly were planning elaborate vacation destinations. It goes to show you, do not always trust what you see and/or hear. This was an issue that was plaguing the main character in this action, mystery thriller. WHILE INVESTIGATING A SERIES OF BANK heists, a detective discovers a clue about his young daughter who went missing a few years prior. His investigation would lead him to a plot that included a government agency. With Ben Affleck (Air, The Tender Bar) as Detective Danny Rourke, Alice Braga (Repo Man, The New Mutants) as Diana Cruz, JD Pardo (A Cinderella Story, Mayans M.C.-TV) as Randy Nicks, William Fichtner (The Space Between, Black Hawk Down) as Lev Dellrayne and Dayo Okeniyi (Rise, Shades of Blue-TV) as River; this movie had a familiar vibe to me for some reason. It reminded me of a poor man’s version of the film Inception. I had a hard time following the story, though I was intrigued with it. More so because the locations where the story takes place were areas where I had visited recently. The scenery was incredible. I enjoyed Ben’s and Alice’s characters individually; it was a shame they did not have any chemistry between them. There were some scenes that did not make any sense to me and after a while, I stopped trying to figure things out and just let the action play out. Sadly, this film did not hypnotize me. There were extra scenes during the ending credits.
2 stars
Flash Movie Review: The Pope’s Exorcist
WHEN I ENCOUNTERED A BULLY DURING my school years, I would always wonder how their parents could allow such behavior in their child. I did not understand those individuals who abused others until I got older and discovered many abusers were abused themselves. Maybe I was naïve; but any act of meanness I saw on display, I attributed it to poor parenting. Or to be more exact, having mean parents. In some cases, I was correct; however, there were some instances where the level of meanness was so intense that I could not comprehend parents being at such a level. There was a student in one of my classes in elementary school who took pleasure in torturing animals. I still remember when he set fire to a cat’s tail and watched the cat scamper around before it was consumed completely by the flames. It was after school hours, and I only came upon him when I was cutting through the alley to get to a food market. Having seen how much pleasure he took in watching the cat suffer, I never went near him throughout the rest of the school year. Because I was so young, I could not comprehend how two adults could create such an evil child. It was because of that act that I started believing some people were just born evil. IT WAS NOT UNTIL HIGH SCHOOL, when I came to the belief that everyone was born with good and evil in them; they had the free will to decide which they wanted to become. Some students maintained an optimistic attitude about certain individuals, giving them the benefit of the doubt. High school killed that process for me; the things I saw were nothing more than pure meanness. There were a couple of boys who had gym class with me, and they were just awful. They took such pleasure in picking on a mentally challenged classmate, it was horrific to see. One of the things they liked to do was throw a basketball at the boy to try and knock him down or at least into a wall. The students who witnessed this would always laugh along with these two boys. I always wondered if they found such a horrible act funny or were afraid not to laugh because it could have set them up to be the next target. There were many days I dreaded having to go to gym class. From my past experiences and the knowledge, I have acquired, I am open to other suggestions on the origin of a person’s evilness. This horror thriller film does present a possible reason. UNDER THE DIRECT AUTHORITY OF THE pope, Father Gabriel Amorth’s, played by Russell Crowe (A Beautiful Mind, Boy Erased), position is to investigate incidents of demonic possession. His latest case would unearth a deep dark secret that he might never come back from. With Daniel Zovatta (Don’t Breathe, Station Eleven-TV) as Father Esquibel, Alex Essoe (Doctor Sleep, The Edge of Sleep-TV) as Julia, Franco Nero (Django Unchained, John Wick: Chapter 2) as The Pope and newcomer Peter DeSouza-Feighoney as Henry; this story inspired by the files of Father Amorth earned a passing grade because of Russell Crowe. He was excellent in the role, trying to keep the story from falling into a generic typical exorcist plot. The pacing was a bit uneven; I felt there could have been a tighter focus on creating a more terrifying scene. At one point, it felt like the writers and director went on automatic because scenes seemed to be like previous ones. If it was not for Russell’s performance, I would have gotten bored, despite me enjoying the wonderful sets and props. Having no knowledge about Father Amorth and having now seen this film, I am curious to hear about some of his other cases.
2 1/2 stars
Flash Movie Review: Heart of Stone
EVER SINCE I SAW DICK TRACY talk into his watch, I have always been attracted to new technologies. That does not mean I immediately jump on the latest bandwagon of some new high-tech device or application; I just marvel at its creation and the thought process behind it. Another aspect that I find so curious is how imaginary objects in movies, television shows, comic strips, and books turn into real items that all of us benefit from or at least use in our lives. Did you ever imagine the communicators and earpieces from Star Trek would become the flip phone/iPhone and Air pods of today? Even Dick Tracy’s wristwatch became a viable device many of us use daily. I have asked my wristwatch for the weather and to remind me of an appointment; the technology simply amazes me. Just recently, I was able to witness an unmanned automobile turn on and back out of a parking space. Besides the shock of seeing it, I also immediately thought of KITT, the talking car that did a whole lot more, from the old television show Knight Rider. It makes me wonder if the people involved with creating these new devices found their inspiration in these fictional items from various mediums. I BELIEVE IT HAS ONLY BEEN a short time where we now are hearing about A.I., artificial intelligence. From what I have seen or read about it, there are opposing views on whether it can or cannot benefit mankind. I may have just experienced interacting with it when I notified my charge card issuer that I would be traveling out of the country. The voice that communicated with me was artificial but quick to respond to my queries. I was leery while talking back and forth with the voice. For me, I think it is a trust issue; when I ended the call I was wondering if the company would follow through on updating my account. When I think about it, I feel my trust issues formed after I saw the Matrix movies. Memories of the evil version of the robot from Lost in Space and HAL from 2001: A Space Odyessy, influenced me to have a negative or better yet, cautious attitude about artificial intelligence. Could there ever be a time where humans are no longer needed except to maintain the computers involved with these artificial “beings?” I admit, I am wary about the advances that are taking place for A.I. or any new technology, though I can see the benefits of it sometimes. This action, crime thriller, does not offer me any comfort in these regards. PRETENDING SHE IS STRICTLY A TECHIE, a secret operative from a top-secret agency finds herself in a position to save her co-workers’ lives. To do so, would mean she would have to reveal her true identity, if the evil hacker does not do it first. With Gal Gadot (Death on the Nile, Wonder Woman franchise) as Rachel Stone, Jamie Dornan (A Private War, Belfast) as Parker, Alia Bhatt (Gully Boy, Highway) as Keya Dhawan, Jing Lusi (Crazy Rich Asians, Lucky Man-TV) as Yang and Paul Ready (The Dig, Motherland-TV) as Bailey; this film began with an intense opening scene that put me in the mood to be excited. However, from that point on the story became quite predictable to the point the excitement wore off. Fight scenes were well orchestrated, and Gal did a great job; however, there were multiple scenes that did not make any sense. This picture really wanted to be a kick-off to a new franchise, but the whole viewing experience felt like an “also ran.” Many other films took the same type of story line and did a better job with it. At least the scenery from the various locales was pretty to look at and hopefully they were real.
1 ¾ stars
Flash Movie Review: Talk to Me
I HAVE ALWAYS SAID IT IS easier to say goodbye to a loved one who had been suffering for a long duration than to one who suddenly expires. Seeing a healthy, vibrant person waste away from illness is heartbreaking. On top of it, the person witnessing it feels so helpless. Burned into my memories is the image of a loved one lying in a hospital bed. What used to be thick wavy hair that surrounded their head like a halo, was thin and short as if it were the remains of an electrical flashfire. Their eyes had sunken deeper into their head to the point where they looked like two plastic button eyes from an old, worn stuffed animal toy. I could not get over how their face looked, like all the blood had been drained from it and now it was just a thin veil over the skull of their head. All I could offer them was the ice chips in a cup that were sitting on the portable table pressed up to the side of their hospital bed. I will be honest with you; while looking at them and they were suffering, I thought to myself it would be better to be done with living this life than going through the obvious pain. From that experience, my beliefs became firm that no one should have to endure such suffering. There was a sense of relief when their life had ended. I CANNOT SAY THE SAME FOR a friend of mine. Some years ago, they had a friend who ended their life. My friend did not find out until a relative of the deceased contacted them to let them know. You can imagine the shock of getting such news. They were stunned and this was before they found out the death was self-inflicted. Here their friend was living a good life, with a good job, traveling, going to dinners and concerts; and the next minute, they were gone. The whole thing was tragic, and I felt sad for both. My friend’s sadness and shock soon turned into anger. There was no inkling and as far as they knew, there was no reason they could see that would warrant the ending of life. I accompanied them to the funeral, and it was extremely sad; everyone had this blank look on their faces with a veneer of sadness. What does one say in such a situation except to say sorry for your loss. And even to this day, my friend can get a twinge of anger and hurt when they think of their deceased friend ending their life. Having been a witness to both of these death events, helped me understand the main character’s desire in this mystery, horror thriller. WHEN A GROUP OF FRIENDS BEGIN dabbling with contacting the dead, one friend wants to delve longer into it to find her mother. With Ari McCarthy (Heartbreak High-TV, Deadlock-TV) as Cole, Sophie Wilde (The Portable Door, Eden-TV) as Mia, Sarah Brokensha (Angela’s Decision, Rabbit) as Fiona, Joe Bird (First Day-TV, Rabbit) as Riley and Hamish Phillips (The Pack) as Tyson; this movie surprised me because I enjoyed it. As some of you know horror is not my favorite genre; however, the script and direction in this film captivated me. There was not the usual scary music to let the viewer know something horrible was about to happen; instead, the story unfolded in a way to show the friends living their daily lives. A few scenes did have blood in them, but it was not done in such a way to make me squirm. I thought the twists and turns embedded into the script were smart moves; though I thought the first half of the film was stronger than the last. The writers, I have to say, did a good job of making the story stay more in a reality base than turning it into an extreme horror fantasy. Plus, I loved the ending of the movie.
3 stars
Flash Movie Review: Hidden Strike
A COUPLE OF MY FAVORITE INGREDIENTS for a dessert are chocolate and butter. Rarely have I come across a dessert with these two items included that was not delicious. The chocolate can be in the form of cocoa powder, chips, syrup, pudding or even crushed chocolate sandwich cookies. Those who know me know the dessert is the most important part of dinner. I do not want to say the entrée is just a formality to get to the dessert, but it comes close. Since I was a small boy, I always enjoyed having something sweet to eat after dinner. Chocolate has always been my “go to” food after a meal, but that does not mean I do not like other flavors. Being a texture and visual eater, I love the combination of flavors and texture. For example, I prefer brownies with nuts in them because I like having a bit of crunch when I am chewing. The same goes with chocolate chips. A good chocolate ice cream with chocolate chips is heavenly. There just are certain pairings that make perfect sense, whether they are familiar or something brand new; it just tastes damn good is all I can say. THE IDEA OF PAIRING IS NOT solely something for desserts. The first thing that comes to mind are the Bob Hope and Bing Crosby road movies, like Road to Bali and Road to Rio. With one being the comedian and the other the straight man, they made a great pair. Another pairing that worked was Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis; they did several movies together besides doing stand-up comedy. One of my earliest memories was seeing an old black and white film with Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant called Bringing Up Baby. There was something about that film that grabbed my attention. Maybe it was the interaction between the two movie stars or the antics that took place; but the memory of it has stayed with my all these years. When you get two celebrities together and it is obvious there is a connection between them that works, it usually has been encouraged by their management teams and/or film studios. One can see it is a winning formula all the way around because studios still try to pair up different actors for a movie project. Just look at the film franchise, The Expendables. Getting a group of Type A personality types in one room can always provide hours of entertainment. This is one of the reasons why I was intrigued to see this action, adventure comedy because of its pairing of two action stars from different genres. WHEN A GROUP OF EMPLOYEES HE was escorting safely out of the country gets ambushed, a special forces soldier finds himself in the unusual position of working with someone who had similar training to himself but uses it for a different purpose. Can the two ever find a way to work together to get the kidnapped crew back? With John Cena (Vacation Friends, 12 Rounds) as Chris Van Horne, Jackie Chan (Rush Hour franchise, Iron Mask) as Luo Fang, Pilou Asbaek (Game of Thrones-TV, A Hijacking) as Owen Paddock, Rachel Holoway (Momentum, Ransom’s Law-TV) as Raider and Amadeus Serafini (Smiley Face Killers, Scream: The TV Series) as Henry Van Horne; my other curiosity was seeing if Jackie Chan’s character would be up to Jackie’s past fighting mode. The answer is yes, but it doesn’t look like Jackie did much if any of his physical demanding stunts. This was only one of many disappointments, I am afraid to say. I found the story to be a generic blueprint for these types of films where the hero must try to get someone/something out of a hostile territory while the villain tries to stop them. With a predictable script and poor special effects, this is a throwaway film. In other words, if you have nothing else to do then go ahead and watch it before you toss it away physically and/or mentally. Sadly, this was a forgettable pairing. There were outtakes during the ending credits.
1 ½ stars
Flash Movie Review: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
THERE WERE SEVERAL TIMES DURING THE wedding where I was struck by nostalgic waves of a time from years ago. The wedding was beautiful, and my first sense of nostalgia was when I entered the venue. A man was seated by a baby grand piano, playing a variety of classic songs. Sitting on top were several framed photos of the wedding couple’s deceased parents. Seeing how the parents were dressed reminded me of a celebratory time when my family and I were attending a relative’s wedding and we were all dressed up. I was wearing a new suit and it was the first time I got to wear a tie with it; granted, it was one of those ready-made ties that clip onto the shirt. In attendance at the wedding, were many relatives of mine. Being together was a comforting feeling. For the ones that were close in age to me, there was a long history of us sticking together and sitting at the same table during meals. We talked about when we were kids and had to sit at the “kid’s table” away from the main dining table. Usually, one aunt or uncle would keep tabs on us to make sure we were behaving and eating the food on our plates. AFTER DINNER AT THE WEDDING RECEPTION, there were several events planned by the wedded couple. One of them was a family photo. I cannot describe the feelings I got when the DJ called up all the family members to the dance floor for a group photo. With the photographer and his assistant getting everyone arranged to be visible, showing off their best side, I was teleported back in time at an earlier staging for a family photo. Looking around at the relatives standing next to me, I could see and remember how they looked when we were all much younger. The feeling was incredible. I even remember one of the family photos we all sat in, I was seated on the floor, and I was the only one who was not smiling. In fact, I looked miserable as if I had been crying. Right after the photographer took the picture, I was taken home and a doctor was called to the house. It turned out I had strep throat and to this day, I remember how awful it felt. That photo that was taken hangs on the wall in the hallway of our home. Though I was sick, the memories and nostalgic feelings I had being around a familiar family outweighed any negative feelings about being ill. This same type of nostalgic feeling was strong through me as I was experiencing it multiple times throughout this action-adventure movie. DESPITE BEING OF RETIREMENT AGE, ARCHAEOLOGIST Indiana Jones, played by Harrison Ford (The Call of the Wild, Ender’s Game), must travel the world to reach a legendary artifact before it falls into the wrong hands and changes the course of history. With Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Goodbye Christopher Robin, Fleabag-TV) as Helena, Antonio Banderas (The Skin I Live in, The Laundromat) as Renaldo, Karen Allen (Year by the Sea, Starman) as Marion and Mads Mikkelsen (Another Round, Doctor Strange) as Dr. Voller; this latest installment of the film franchise did not have the sharp humor and directorial prowess of Steven Spielberg; however, it did provide a ton of thrills and action sequences. The first 20 minutes were exhilarating and after that the story went from one chase scene to another to another to another. It got to be too repetitive for me; gratefully they were well choreographed and several of them had sly references to the earlier films. Ultimately, if you are a fan of this franchise then you will enjoy this one. Besides Harrison and Mads being perfect, the nostalgic factor was too big for me not to like it.
3 stars
Flash Movie Review: The Price We Pay
ONE OF MY EARLIEST MEMORIES FROM when I was a small child was going to the butcher shop and fish market. At such a small age it did not really register with me that the items on display were originally breathing and living things. They looked more like cartoon characters. The fish market had crates filled with crushed ice all around the room, and a huge table in the center with similar crates. I was always amazed with the variety of fish that were lying on top of the ice. So many different colors and shapes, with these open eyes staring out; in my mind they were frozen stiff. There were men working behind the counters filled with ice. Dressed in white aprons, they would lift the fish the customers were pointing at and do something with them that many times involved a whacking sound. After a moment there was the sound of paper ripping in the air and the butcher would turn back around with the fish wrapped up in stiff brown paper, tied with a string. All of them worked in unison like a well-oiled machine as the process went smoothly. I never wanted to touch any of the fish; the smell was enough to make me keep my distance. THE BUTCHER SHOP HAD A MYSTIQUE that aligned more with my imagination. There always were soft downy chicken feathers floating around people’s feet. I used to walk around the shop just to stir up the feathers, making it appear like I was walking in a field of cottonwood seeds and dandelion fluff. It was easier to focus on the chicken feathers than seeing the row of bare chickens hanging from a rack enclosed in a glass case. Except for the chickens, nothing else looked like an animal except for the tray filled with tongues in the deli section. When I found out that pile of meat was from an animal’s tongue and people would willingly eat it for a meal, I got sick to my stomach. It mentally scarred me where I disliked having to go to the shop. Also, it did not help that most meats on display were red colored. As I got older, the store represented more of a torture chamber than a neighborhood retail establishment. Seeing a butcher slicing, deboning and cutting meat products was creepy. Customers would walk out with these odd, shaped packages that were wrapped in waxy paper that came from a large dispenser that looked like a carpet roll. No matter how gross things appeared in the butcher shop back then, I would rather be locked up and forced to watch the butchers all day than see this grotesque, bloody horror movie. WHEN THEIR HEIST DOES NOT GO as planned, the robbers and their hostage find a farmhouse to lie low in until things die down. However, they would find something that was terrorizing to them. With Emile Hirsch (American Night, Into the Wild) as Alex, Stephen Dorf (Don’t Go, World Trade Center) as Cody, Gigi Zumbado (A Night to Regret, Bridge and Tunnel-TV) as Grace, Vernon Wells (The Christmas Tapes, Weird Science) as the Doctor and Tyler Sanders (Just Add Magic-TV, The Rookie-TV) as Danny; this action thriller was more horror than action thriller. I thought Gigi had the best screen presence and did not mind the beginning of the film. However, the turn it soon took was horrible. Besides showing nothing different in this genre, there were non-believable scenes, poorly written scenes and a bare budget look to the movie. I strongly reacted to the gory and bloody, torturous scenes. It felt to me like the writers and director just wanted to see if they could get a reaction out of the viewer. Well, they did; I was sorry I spent the time watching this putrid picture. And the fact Emile was one of the producers made me question his mental capabilities. This was the worst film that I have seen in the past year.
1 star
Flash Movie Review: Extraction 2
BLOOD MAY BE THICKER THAN WATER, but it might be the wrong type that could kill you, metaphorically speaking. I have seen and been exposed to such a variety of families, that it would be hard to shock me with what you might think is something crazy about your family. I have spent holidays with a family where one sibling spent the night throwing passive aggressive digs at their other sibling. By the time dessert was served, the tension was thick and ready to break at any moment; I wanted to get out before it did. Sadly, I did not get out in time before a verbal fight broke out between the siblings. On the other hand, I have been with a family that takes so much joy in being together that it is refreshing. Whether it is just to share a meal or to play a card game, they love spending time together. It would be nothing for them to call each other on a whim and plan an impromptu game night. I envy that ability because I would have to sit and analyze it, worrying about what food to have on hand, check to see if I had enough seating and other things before, I could agree to be a host for it. But they always pull it together without ever having an issue. ONE THING THAT I HAVE CONSISTENTLY found among families is their inability to dislike a family member when they are being ignorant. A piece of advice that I still remember is give yourself permission to dislike a person you love. It doesn’t have to be an either/or situation. I have found myself in situations where I did not like being around a relative because of something they were doing or saying. It did not stop me from loving them since we had a good history together with many happy memories. However, they were displaying a behavior that made me uncomfortable. I recall an event where we were seated at a restaurant table and a friend of mine happened to be at the same restaurant with her husband. They came over to say hello and I introduced them to everyone at the table. One relative started a conversation with them that was inappropriate; the relative had unbeknownst to us mixed alcohol with drugs. I was embarrassed and could see my friend looking at me for guidance. Before things got uglier, I stood and walked over to thank them for stopping by and promised I would catch up with them later in the week. My relative was being a jerk; but they paled in comparison to the intensity of the family members in this action thriller. AFTER SURVIVING A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE, a mercenary accepts another job because this one was on a personal level. With Chris Hemsworth (Thor franchise, Bad Times at the El Royale) as Tayler Rake, Golshifteh Farahani (Body of Lies, Arab Blues) as Nik Khan, Adam Bessa (The Blessed, Of Sound Mind) as Yaz Khan, Tornike Gogrichiani (Adam & Eve, Artificial Breathing-TV) as Zurab Radiano and Tornike Bziaua (A Fold in My Blanket, Brighton 4th) as Davit Radiani; this sequel amped up the violence and action scenes to such a high level that I was exhausted by the end of the movie. There was something like a non-stop 20-minute fight scene that was unbelievable. As for the drama aspect, it was kept at a more subdued level where the actors appeared stiff at times. I feel if you go into viewing this film knowing its focus is on fights and battles, you might have an easier time digesting it. Ultimately, the picture does what it said it would do; provide a fast violent, bloody, visual experience for the viewer. Though I will say, if one could pick who they would like for a relative, I would certainly pick Chris Hemsworth.
2 ¾ stars
moviejoltz 