Thoughts on July Releases

Ant-Man and The Wasp (dir. Peyton Reed)

It looks fun. Yeah, it looks fun. Look, after the emotional punch in the gut we got from Avengers: Infinity Wars, I can use just some pure fun. 

Sorry to Bother You (dir. Boots Riley)

I'm not sure what can I say about this movie. It looks good but so out there and yet so relevant. 

Bleeding Steel (dir. Leo Zhang)

Jackie Chan movie. Do I need to say anything else?

Skyscraper (dir. Rawson Marshall Thurber)

So, basically we have Dwayne Johnon and The Towering Inferno (1974), I'm cool with that!

Shock and Awe (dir. Rob Reiner)

I haven't heard of this movie until now. I do like a good journalism movie. I liked The Post and I LOVED Spotlight. This movie though, I'm not entirely certain. That's not because the topic isn't important - it is - but it seems to be really hitting the audience over the head with it. Also, Reiner's recent track record of movies hasn't been the best. But I will keep an open mind going into it, and hope for the best.

A Midsummer Night's Dream (dir. Casey Wilder Mott)

Well, this looks like an interesting version of the Shakespeare play. I'm always up for interesting adaptions of the Bard. 

Equalizer 2 (dir. Antoine Fuqua)

I thought the first one was okay. Truth be told, when it comes to Washington-Fuqua collaborations, I'd like to see a Magnificent Seven sequel. But this could be a fun movie. Washington has shown his action chops.

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again (dir. Ol Parker)

Ooooohhhh dear. I did not like the first one. I thought it was fairly annoying and it was baffling at points to me. And don't get me started on Pierse Brosnan's "singing." So, seeing this sequel I can't help but wonder... why? Also, Cher is Meryl Streep mom? Hahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaa... no. I could be wrong though, this could be okay. We'll just have wait and see. But please don't let Brosnan sing I beg of you please! 

Blindspotting (dir. Carlos Lopez Estrada)

I hadn't heard about this movie until recently and wow this looks pretty great!

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (dir. Christopher McQuarrie)

You know, I've enjoyed the previous Mission: Impossible films but this time I'm not so sure. Something just isn't clicking with me about it. Hopefully, that's just the trailer's fault and not the movie. 

Hot Summer Nights (dir. Elijah Bynum)

Doesn't look bad. It seems like a weird combination of a coming of age comedy and a rise and fall story with a pot dealing. Also, William Fichtner is in it. I'm always up for him!

Puzzle (dir. Marc Turtletaub)

I haven't seen too much of Irrfan Khan's movies - I did see him in Jurrasic World and I thought he was cool there - but I love Kelly Macdonald. So, count me in on this movie. 

Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (dir.  Matt Tyrnauer)

Well now, this looks fascinating!

The 12th Man (2017) review

The 12th Man (2017)
D: Harald Zwart
W: Petter Skavlan (under the pseudonym Alex Boe). Based on the book Jan Baalsrud and Those Who Saved Him by Tore Haug and Astrid Karlsen.
C: Thomas Gullestad, Jonathan Rhys Meyers

Norwegian resistance fighter Jan Baalsrud (Thomas Gullestad) is the only survivor of a failed twelve man operation to sabotage Nazi military facilities. Now, he must trek aross the brutal Norway winter landscape with very limited resources, and an injured foot that's only getting worse. All this while being tracked by the brutal Nazi SS offcer Kurt Stage (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). 

After watching this film, I want to read as much as can about Ballsrud and the citizens of Norway who put their lives at risk by protecting him.

I, sadly, never knew about this story. Even sadder, I don't know that much about Norway's involvement with World War II - outside of them being an ally against the Nazis.

I found out that there was a movie about this made in 1957 by Arne Skouen called Nine Lives, which was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars that year. This film has now been added to my neverending to-watch list.

At first, I thought this film was going a bit too slow. Like, gruelingly slow. But then again, this is a movie that wanted to emphasize two things: 1. Those that helped Baalsrud. 2. The rough environment he went through.

If you think The Revenant (2015, dir. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu) was a tough film, this almost puts it to shame. Hell, the lead actor (Gullestad) actually suffered from "frost damage" on his hands while filming, according to IMDB.

This is a movie that really takes no prisoners in showing how difficult it was for this man. In this movie, our hero suffers from a gunshot wound while trying to flee the Nazis at the beginning and they do not forget about that.

You see him limping and basically unable to walk at some points. He even develops gangrene around his wound and takes off one of his toes to prevent it from spreading. I'm not joking! It was one of two moments where I had to look away. The other moment was when the Nazis were torturing one of the Norwegian prisoners. Trust me, it'll make you want to look away.

Moving away from that, let's talk about the second point I brought up. The movie puts a lot of emphasis on telling us about the average civilians who helped this man. These people faced the possibility of being executed if they were caught helping him. But they did it anyway.

While some may have involvement with the resistance, some of these are just average people. Farmers, fishermen, nurses, and doctors. Not only do we need to acknowledge the armed service members who fought against the Nazis, we need to acknowledge and show respect towards to the civilians who put themselves at great risk to help.

Sidenote: according to IMDB, one of the background actors - Ottar Pedersen - was one of those who actually helped Baalsrud in real life. Pedersen was 14 at the time when it happened.

This also takes the time to show that Nazis were not only evil but are also stupid. Hopefully a good chunk of my readers just went "well, no duh!"

First of all, they barely seem to care about tracking down Baalsrud. One of them, is basically like "yeah, whatever he probably drowned or died from the cold". Apparently, they thought stopping this operation put an end to the entire Norway resistance. Nope!

The leader, Stage, seems to only care about finding him because he wants to look like a good little Nazi to his superiors. He doesn't want to be made a fool (too late).

There was a moment where they almost caught Baalsrud in the movie at a farm, but just when Stage gets closer to him, his Nazi button gets knocked off his jacket which distracts him. The guy was literally a few steps away from Baalsrud but cared more about his appearance then he did about doing his job.

So, in case you can't tell, I highly recommend this film. Not only is a great story but props need to be given to the actors - especially Gullestad.

It's available to rent on iTunes now.

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Thanks for reading.

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) review

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
D: Ron Howard
W: Jonathan and Lawrence Kasdan
C: Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Joonas Suotamo, Paul Bettany


Cinema's most famous smuggler gets his own movie with Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Here we see Han (Alden Ehrenreich) meet his future co-pilot and pal Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo), and joins a grand heist that leads to the famous Kessle Run! On this heist he joins up with the rogue Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson) - that's probably the most normal name I've seen in Star Wars, his former lover Qi'ra (Emilia Clarke), the activist droid LC-37 (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), and, of course, the smoothest smuggler in the galaxy - Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover).

When I first heard about this film, I was rather hesitant about it. Mainly, because I wasn't sure if I wanted to see a pre-New Hope Han.

Even after seeing the cast I was getting slightly more optimistic but still hesitant - if that makes sense.
I like just about everyone in it and when they announced Ehrenreich as Solo, I started to come around just a bit more.

But my fears came back after the original directors - Phil Lord and Chris Miller (The Lego Movie) - left the project citing "creative differences" with Lucasfilms. It's always disheartening to hear about behind the scenes trouble like this. But they then announced that Ron Howard would be taking the wheel and I thought "well, okay, that's not a bad choice".

This isn't the first time Howard has directed a Lucas-related film.

For the record: I enjoy this film. 

So, by the time I went, I was to keep a fairly optimistic mind. Coming out, my reaction is that it's a fun film. And I think that's all it needed to be.

When it comes to Solo's early days, obviously there was going to be some hardship. Those hardships would ultimately lead him to become the loner pirate we meet in the Mos Eisley cantina.

But the movie doesn't give us a moody and bleak film. It gives a movie that combines a lot of fun elements. And thank goodness for that! In this bleak and troubling world, we can use some plain pulpy fun.

In his early days, we see Han and Qi'ra in this almost Dickensian like environment. They're under the watchful eye of criminal gang lead by Lady Proxima (voiced by Linda Hunt). This has some parallels to Fagan and pickpocketers from Oliver Twist. While this scene is bleak and dark - literally and figuratively - it does still have some fun elements including a hot rod chance.

The relationship that Han has with Beckett is strikingly similar to the relationship young Jim Hawkins has with Long John Silver in Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. Without going getting into spoilers, with these two, there's obviously a connection forming - out of respect at least - but it's hard to tell if you can trust the older one.

Of course, there's definitely some Western elements in this film. If you've seen the trailers you know what I'm talking about.

All of these elements work in the same magical way that really only works in the Star Wars universe.

Now, what about Ehrenreich as Solo? I've only seen this guy in a handful of films. He was in Blue Jasmine (2013, dir. Woody Allen) but I had to remind myself who he played - for the record, I only watched this film because of Cate Blanchett's Oscar-winning performance. He did a good job in Warren Beatty's Rules Don't Apply (2016). But it was in the Coen Brothers film Hail, Caesar! (2016) where he really shined. And now, I can add his performance here as another example of his talents.

There's were couple moments where his Solo lapses, but overall I felt like I was watching a younger version of the scruffy looking nerf herder. 

Oh, sorry.

There a lot of moments where he conveyed the smug, overconfident, yet charming space captain. He nails the Solo smirk pretty damn well. 

The rest of the cast is pretty good too. Harrelson is great. Clarke is always a welcomed presence in a movie. Suotamo is really cementing himself as the new Chewbacca. L3-37 continues the new tradition of being a scene-stealing droid, thanks in part to Waller-Bridge's performance. I also really like the performances from Thandie Newton and Jon Favreau who sadly play rather smaller parts. 

Paul Bettany plays a pretty awesome villain. It's a shame we never got to see what Michael K. Williams would've been like in the role - he was originally cast in the role but due to schedule conflict during reshoots, they cast Bettany. 

None the less, he does a great job at playing a rather peculiar crime lord. Seriously, he bring a lot of flavor to the character. 

But of course, the actor who stole the show completely was Childish Gambino himself as Lando. I can't properly describe how awesome he is in the role. You have to see it to get the full experience of it. 

Are there problems with films? Yes, but these don't ruin the film for me. Mainly I wish we got more time spent with Newton and Favreau's characters. Also, there's a revelation about one of the main characters that seem... almost out of nowhere and I don't know what exactly the plan is with it. 

Without spoiling it too much, it involves a character we had seen in the prequels and had been seen in the Clone Wars animated series. They do good job foreshadowing it but I'm still uncertain about how including this one aspet on it in the film. 

Again, it's hard to talk about it without spoiling. 

But again, these don't ruin the film for me. I still think it's a worthwhile film to check for a fun trip to the movies. 

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