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Flash Movie Review: The Six Triple Eight
IN PREVIOUS REVIEWS, I MENTIONED I spent time volunteering at various organizations around the city. I decided to do this to honor a special person who was no longer in my life. This individual was a volunteer who found themselves doing whatever needed to be done, from restocking office supplies to being support host to delivering food to those who were not able to provide for themselves. From the stories I heard, it was obvious my friend was making a difference in the lives of so many people; I felt an intense sense of pride in the work they were doing. So, when I decided to devote time to volunteering, I chose organizations that either meant something to my friend or were doing similar types of work to the places where they had volunteered. My first introduction as a volunteer was to get dressed up in a suit and tie and walk around at this organization’s annual fundraising event, selling raffle tickets. It was being held in a downtown hotel’s grand ballroom and I had to be there an hour before the doors opened. Having this be my first experience volunteering, quickly took away any anxiety or nervousness I was feeling. In fact, my only biggest worry was making sure I did not mess up when giving back change whenever someone was using cash to make a purchase. Outside of that, the evening went smoothly, and the volunteers even got fed as well. FROM THAT FIRST EXPERIENCE, MY NEXT commitment to volunteering was for an organization that provided medical and health needs for those on limited incomes. The organization, for the past few years, was accepting donations in the form of household products such as kitchenware, ceramics, and artwork. Someone in their marketing department came up with the idea of opening a pop-up resale shop and stock it with all the donations they had been collecting. I thought it was a great idea. A group of volunteers were chosen to head over to the retail space and set up displays all over the store, using the donations. When we arrived at the shop, we all gathered inside and went around stating what each of us would like to tackle first. I wanted to create displays after the items were unpacked; three other volunteers wanted to join me. We each took a corner of the store and got to work. I had an awesome time setting out the different pieces, creating settings such as a den, office, and kitchen. By the time we were done the place had been transformed into what looked like a model home for sale. Gratefully, all the volunteer assignments I had were a positive experience. Yet, after seeing this historical drama and seeing what the main characters endured during their stint, I was simply scratching the surface of volunteering. The women in this story were doing something monumental. WITH RAMPENT RACISM AND SEXISM BLANTLY on display, the Women’s Army Corp’s only Black battalion was sent overseas on a mission. No one expected them to succeed, which was why they were chosen. With Kerry Washington (American Son, The Prom) as Major Adams, Ebony Obsidian (If Beale Street Could Talk, Sistas-TV) as Lena Derriecott King, Milauna Jackson (A Jazzman’s Blues, Strike Back-TV) as Captain Campbell, Kylie Jefferson (Tiny Pretty Things-TV) as Bernice Baker, and Shanice Shantay (Perfect Harmony-TV, The Wiz Live!-TV) as Johnnie Mae; this movie based on a true story needed a better script. The reason I say this is because the story was so much better than the film. Written and directed by Tyler Perry, the script had too many syrupy moments that were not necessary. The acting, however, was wonderful. Kerry was perfect in her role, commanding attention every time she was in a scene. I honestly cannot believe this important event in history had never been brought to light before. I could not stop thinking about this film after I was done watching it. A remarkable achievement that needed a stronger vehicle to carry its message. There was actual footage shown during the ending credits.
2 ¾ stars
Flash Movie Review: The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
THE RULES WERE THERE FOR A REASON, and I was one who followed them “to a T.” This is how I acted through my youth, especially when it came to any type of games. Whenever I received a boardgame as a gift, I would have to first sit and read all the rules until I was familiar with them, before attempting to play the game. I was a huge fan of boardgames and could play them for hours. One of my fondest childhood memories was playing checkers with an elderly relative of mine. When I think about it, games played a prevalent part of my childhood and early adult life. To this day, I enjoy a good word game or even charades. I would play a game with anyone; however, I started to realize around the latter years of elementary school, not everyone cared to follow the rules of a game. The first time I witnessed this was during a boardgame, when a friend of mine decided, he was going to change the rules in the middle of us playing. I will add, he was losing at that point. We got into an argument, with the other players joining in and I ultimately won by us continuing to play by the rules. After that time, I was cautious whenever this friend joined a game. MY COMMITMENT TO PLAYING BY THE rules stayed with me until I entered the workforce. It was at a well-established company, where the first time in my life I altered the rules. Part of my job involved inventory and the procedures I was trained in was something they had been doing the same way for decades. There was nothing wrong with that method, but I saw there was a better way with less work to achieve the same results. I did not alert anyone to the change I was making, turning in my reports the same way; the only difference I was not spending the same amount of time creating the report. It was not until months later when my boss came over to my desk and saw what I was doing; he complimented me and said I was doing an excellent job. It was at this company where I came to realize, after having lived my life in a black or white world, that there was a gray area of possibilities that could easily work to produce the same results. It is a good thing others realized the same thing, otherwise the incredible undertaking that took place in this dramatic, action thriller may have never taken place, possibly causing us to live in a completely different world. AT A CRITICAL TIME DURING THE war, the British military must depend on a small group of highly skilled individuals who were so unconventional, that if they got caught, Great Britian would deny everything about them. With Henry Cavill (Enola Holmes franchise, Man of Steel) as Gus March-Phillips, Alan Richardson (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Reacher-TV) as Anders Lassen, Alex Pettyfer (Back Roads, In Time) as Geoffrey Appleyard, Eliza Gonzales (Baby Driver, Godzilla vs. Kong) as Marjorie Stewart and Babs Olusanmokun (Dune franchise, The Book of Clarence) as Heron; this Guy Ritchie directed film inspired by true events was entertaining. The fact that it was on circumstances that were recently revealed from declassified British documents, boosted the story for me. There were patches of humor mixed in with the various levels of action and suspense. I thought the script was weak, taking the easy way out with lame dialog and undeveloped characters. Honestly, it did not matter because I still enjoyed watching this little taste of history play out on the big screen. There were certainly elements of fun and cheekiness. After the film was over, I thought about how the outcome could have been so different if the band of soldiers had followed the rules.
3 stars
Flash Movie Review: The Zone of Interest
IT WAS RARE THAT I WOULD see a “bad” person ever being good. “Bad” is more of a generic term for me; I could have used evil, horrible, mean, bully, bigot, and so on. Through the first twelve years of my schooling, I encountered students who fit one of the words I listed previously. I mentioned before the elementary school student who would torture animals. There was nothing good about him, though he never bullied me, just hit me a couple of times. You could say he was a prelude to what was in store for my high school years. There was one student who was older than us because he was held back a year. He took pleasure in bullying and or beating up students. He once picked a fight in the locker room with someone almost half his size, who barely even made a sound because he was so timid. This bully would torment, punch, shove, slap him around periodically. One time he tried with the help of one of his buddies to push the timid boy’s head in a toilet bowl. Luckily, one of the gym coaches happened to walk through the locker room and the timid boy was able to escape. After class he did not even come down to the locker room; he had his clothes and I assumed went to a bathroom to change somewhere far from the gymnasium. AS I GO THROUGH MY MENTAL list of those who harmed me, I can only think of one person who had the capability to be horrible, then switch to being the class comedian. It really was like being with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He was quick with a joke, one of those kinds that may poke fun at an individual but not stick it to them. Because of his humor he was able to hang out with the jocks, cheerleaders and the brainiacs with no repercussions. On the flip side, he sat behind me in one of my classes. It was nothing for him to spit, draw or hit me. I could not always feel him spitting or drawing on me and would only find out when someone either told me or when I noticed people chuckling and pointing at me as I made my way to the next class. Even though we were not in the same gym class, both of our classes shared the gymnasium at the same time. And though I was not the only boy he would throw a basketball at their head; I still hated him for it. He always did it when the coach was out of sight. But once the coach reappeared, he was usually the one to make the coach laugh with one of his jokes. I found it nauseating, which is the same feeling I had for the main figures in this dramatic, war history film. LIVING IN A WONDERFUL HOUSE WITH a beautiful garden, a husband and wife felt their dreams had come true, to be able to raise their children in such an idyllic setting. They believed it even though next door to them was a concentration camp. With Christian Friedel (13 Minutes, Babylon Berlin-TV) as Rudolf Hoss, Sandra Huller (Anatomy of a Fall, Toni Erdmann) as Hedwig Hoss, Max Beck (The Forgotten Battle, Land of Mine) as Schwarzer, Ralph Herforth (Speed Racer, Aeon Flux) as Oswald Pohl and Freye Kreutzkam (Gender Crisis, Time of Moulting) as Eleanor Pohl; watching this Oscar and film festival winning film was surreal. I was fascinated how the concentration camp, and its horrors were more of a backdrop to the life the family was living. It certainly was a fascinating case study, watching the juxtaposition between everyday family life with the sounds along with the brief auxiliary scenes and what they might represent to viewers. Though this film won the Oscar for sound, I did not care for it, finding it annoying. I also felt most of the long shot scenes made me an outsider, where I did not feel any connection to the characters. Add to that the slow pace and not caring much about the ending, the story’s impact was more subdued for me. Still, it was an interesting take on the genre, and I commend the writers and director for making this picture. German was spoken through the film with English subtitles.
2 ¾ stars
Flash Movie Review: Oppenheimer
I BARELY UNDERSTOOD WHAT HER BOOK report was about, but I still enjoyed hearing her speak it. She was talking about cross-pollination and plants; I looked at the classmates within my field of vision to see if any of them looked like they understood what she was talking about. It was hard to tell. Some students were looking down at their desks, others were playing with their pens, twirling, or fidgeting with them. When she finished her report, the teacher commended her and said it was highly informative. I wondered, “For who?” I found it funny; because when talking to her, you would not necessarily know how smart she really was. I was friends with her and never felt like she was talking down to me or about topics and things that were complex and mystifying. She was like any of the other students in class. I knew she was a straight “A” student; I could not imagine her getting a lesser grade. Anytime we were together with our group of friends and there was a disagreement between a couple of them, she was the voice of reason. More times than not she was able to negotiate a compromise that both parties agreed to without feeling like they were getting cheated out of something. It was a skill I wished I could do. IT WAS NOT UNTIL I ENTERED the workforce that I discovered some super smart individuals were not nice people. At one of my first jobs, there was a man who claimed he was highly intelligent. I did not know, because he rarely talked to me; but I was able to hear him talking when he was near my area of the warehouse. To tell you the truth, I was glad he rarely spoke to me because he was arrogant with a mix of disdain. The way he would talk to employees was nauseating; talking to some like they were infants in this cloying, sadistic baby voice. If his claim of being so smart was true, then I could never understand why he wound up in sales. Not to say there was anything wrong with sales; but I would have thought he would have done something different for a profession. He may have been the first I encountered in my work history, but he was not the last. I met several people who possessed a high intellect. A few appeared to be on the spectrum; others had no sense of humor. There was a wide variety of individuals and characteristics. I appreciated the ones who could talk about something that I was not familiar with but said it in such a way that made it easier to comprehend. From watching this dramatic biography, I would have been fascinated to listen to what the main character had to say. And it turns out it was a good thing people listened. DURING WORLD WAR II AN AMERICAN scientist was drawn into a secret project that could change the world forever. It was a huge responsibility. With Cillian Murphy (The Delinquent Season, Peaky Blinders-TV) as J. Robert Oppenheimer, Emily Blunt (Jungle Cruise, Mary Poppins Returns) as Kitty Oppenheimer, Matt Damon (Air, Ford v Ferrari) as Leslie Groves, Robert Downey Jr. (Dolittle, Iron Man franchise) as Lewis Strauss and Aiden Ehrenreich (Cocaine Bear, Solo: A Star Wars Story) as Senate Aide; this history driven film started out rough for me. Not being a fan of jumping back and forth in time, the first 30 minutes made me wonder what all the talk was about for this picture. But then, the script kicked into gear and the actors took their characters and soared with them. The acting, the filming, the direction and soundtrack were all outstanding. Knowing nothing about the story except for the main character’s name, I was fascinated with what was being depicted on the big screen. While I sat in the theater, the thought came across me that I was watching a great film. What a monumental moment in history and the director Christopher Nolan captured it perfectly.
3 ½ stars
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