Movie Reviews

Cliffhanger (1993)

Cliffhanger (1993)

Director:

Renny Harlin

Starring:

Sylvester Stallone

John Lithgow

Michael Rooker

Janine Turner

Caroline Goodall

Michelle Joyner

Plot:

A botched mid-air heist results in suitcases full of cash being searched for by various groups throughout the Rocky Mountains.

Review:

This movie was filmed at the height of Stallone’s career. His accent is almost nonexistent and acting wise it’s pretty good. It’s an older movie and not filled with the normal action I’ve come to expect from his films, but it makes sense considering his filmography, and there’s still certainly a number of butts kicked.

I liked the fact that he got his ass handed to him a time or two, even though he did come back and win, just because it made sense for his character. He was a mountain climber, not someone who fights for a living.

The opening scene is pretty intense and my fear of falling from great heights really had this scene freaking me out. I literally knew exactly what was going to happen but was still almost driven to tears while watching it.

After what happened Stallone’s character was understandably shaken and second guessed himself for a little bit, but he didn’t let it drag him down too long once shit started happening.

There were three female characters in the movie. One died immediately. Two were pilots, one was killed by the bad guy, her lover, to prove that he’d do anything. The third was Stallone’s love interest and other than flying the helicopter was fairly useless. She was sort of just there as his romantic partner. In fact all of the women were romantic partners. Interesting.

The movie was entertaining and Stallone was great.

3.5/5

Dynamite Review Best of 2017

Movies

1.      Thor: Ragnarok – I don’t get to watch new movies much as they come out, but I was so lucky to get to see this in theaters. It was AWESOME! I’ve already pre-ordered the steelbook from Best Buy, I got the theatrical poster off of Disney Movie Rewards and it’s framed and in my kids bathroom, and I can’t wait to watch it again and again.

2.     John Wick 2 – Great action movie and addition to the series. Awesome world, I’m interested in the Stars series that’s potentially coming out.

3.     Kingsman: The Golden Circle – In your face, over the top action.

4.     Guardians of the Galaxy 2 – While not as good as the previous one I loved so many things about this movie. The colors, the characters, the relationships. I’m so glad that this is part of the Marvel Universe.

5.     Spider-Man: Homecoming – I really enjoyed this movie but what’s potentially more important, my daughter loves this movie.

6.     Moana – This is more an honorable mention since it came out in 2016 not 2017. Love the music and the story, reminds me of the Disney I grew up with.

Books

1.      White Hot by Ilona Andrews – The long awaited sequel to Burn for Me, so good.

2.     Wildfire by Ilona Andrews – Love this series so much, want more. Wasn’t too happy with the ending, but still love.

3.     Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan – Beautiful art, interesting story, need some answers though. The only comic I pre-order.

4.     The Rosetta Man by Claire McCague – Picked this up randomly and I ended up loving it. So happy when that happens.

5.     Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs – Not my favorite Patricia Briggs book, too many Doctor Who references, lots of other little things, but still a Patricia Briggs book so it’s going on the list!

6.     Heartstrikers Series by Rachel Aaron – This series didn’t come out last year, though they did have a book release that I haven’t read yet, but I had to put it on the list because I enjoyed it so much.

7.     The Guardians Trilogy by Nora Roberts – This is the kind of Nora Roberts series that I love. It didn’t come out in 2017, but after being wary of starting it because of her more recent books I got to it late.

TV Shows

1.      The Crown – I resisted watching this because I heard so much praise, but I’m glad I finally did. I destroyed the second season that recently aired and I honestly think it might be better than the first. Amazing show.

2.     Sense 8 – I love this idea so much and the second season wasn’t as slow as the first. The ending killed me and then when they canceled it, ugh, I never do TV show petitions but I signed them all. I canceled Netflix for the first time in years. I was furious. I’m hoping that the movie will be able to wrap things up but I seriously don’t see how that’s possible. I’ll probably never keep Netflix running continuously because of how they did this show.

3.     The Good Place – I had no desire to watch this last year, it just didn’t seem that funny to me. I ended up having the end of season one spoiled for me and that changed everything. I was able to binge the first season on Netflix and I’ve watched every episode of the second as it’s aired. So freaking funny.

4.     The Orville – Wow, I had no expectations for this show. I had hopes, but because of Seth MacFarlane I didn’t have many. I was certainly surprised and this has ended up being one of my favorite shows of the year. It’s like getting new episodes of Star Trek, only instead of the Enterprise team we’ve got the D tier crew. The jokes don’t always land and they’re reusing a lot of Star Trek plots, but I don’t care. I’m so glad that this has been picked up for a second season and I’m hoping that they continue to find their footing.

5.     Future Man – Loved this, it was so crude and hilarious and just came out of nowhere. Time travel, video games, the 80s, James Cameron’s AI, a terrible future, so many things that add up to funny. So glad we’re getting a second season.

6.     Legion – This is not my usual type of show. It’s wild and out there and very trippy. The only reason I watched it was because I needed something to keep me up during late night feedings and I ended up staying up just to finish episodes. Half the time I’m not sure what’s going on, but I honestly didn’t care. They gave just enough answers not to drive me crazy, but still left me needing to know more.

7.     Black-ish – I just discovered Black-ish this year and thank goodness Hulu has all of the episodes. Most episodes are nice, funny episodes, but the episodes that aren’t, the episodes where they “teach” you something are so good. This year there was one about postpartum depression that really resonated with me.

8.     Life in Pieces – I laugh in every single episode of this show. Love it.

9.     The Librarians – The third season was probably the weakest so far and I’m not overly thrilled with all that’s going on in the fourth season but I seriously can’t think of anything that would have me stop watching this.

 

Games

1.      Splatoon 2 (Switch) This was hands down my favorite game of the year. In an alternate universe I went pro, built a brand, and lived the life of the rich and famous.

2.     Stardew Valley (Switch) After putting in 160 hours on the PC version you’d think I’d be done with this game, but nope. As soon as it came out on the Switch I bought it and started all over again. Aided by the amazing guide my husband bought me for Christmas 2016 I’ve been chipping away at all the in game achievements.

3.     Lego City Undercover (Switch) I beat this once, then got halfway through beating it again before Splatoon 2 came out. I still plan on going back and working on unlocking everything, though, it’s not a priority because I certainly got my money out of this.

4.     Delicious Emily Home Sweet Home (PC) Really liked the story in this one, young married couple with a little kid get their dream house and fix it up. If I was crazy and didn’t mind construction around toddlers I could totally do this too.

5.     Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4) I’m stretching things a bit including this to my list. I got it for Christmas after trying it out at Red Box and finding it interesting enough to try more. I didn’t start playing it until December 31st and at this point I’m only a couple hours in, however, I love the idea a lot. I love that she’s a real looking woman and she’s kicking ass. So far they haven’t put her in super revealing clothes which is nice too. The world is interesting, however, I wish I didn’t have to use a bow and arrow. If I ever beat it, or put a significant amount of time in I’ll write a review.

Despicable Me 3 (2017)

Despicable Me 3 (2017)

Director:

Kyle Balda

Pierre Coffin

Eric Guilon

Starring:

Steve Carell

Kristen Wiig

Trey Parker

Plot:

Gru meets his long-lost charming, cheerful, and more successful twin brother Dru who wants to team up with him for one last criminal heist.

Review:

Gru, Steve Carell, and Lucy, Kristen Wiig, are working on getting into the groove of a married couple and in the case of Lucy a mom. Things of course are never easy and they get fired from the job they love. Then Gru finds out he’s got a twin brother and things go from there.

I freaking loved Balthazar Bratt, Trey Parker, as the villain. The 80s music and clothes, the mullet and balding spot at the top of his head, it was all perfect. So funny!

I didn’t like the Minions movie, but I thought this was a return to what made Despicable Me 2 so good. I really liked it and my daughter enjoyed it too.

4/5

Atomic Blonde (2017)

Atomic Blonde (2017)

Director:

David Leitch

Starring:

Charlize Theron

James McAvoy

John Goodman

Plot:

An undercover MI6 agent is sent to Berlin during the Cold War to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and recover a missing list of double agents.

Review:

Charlize Theron is gorgeous and this movie showed that off even as it beat the crap out of her. The movie was a spy thriller with more than your usual action moments for that genre, which I appreciated. Theron took on the KGB, MI6, random Germans, pretty much anyone you can think of she beat the crap out of them. I really liked that even with all that going on it showed her getting tired and slowing down. She wasn’t just a machine that kept going.

I also really liked that while she used her sexuality she didn’t rely on it and it wasn’t the main weapon in her arsenal. She was smart and methodical and she trusted no one.

I was surprised by the ending and enjoyed it. A few people have said they thought it cheapened the deeper lesson that the movie was trying to teach, but if there was a deeper lesson it was lost on me so I didn’t feel that way.

I liked the movie a lot and I hope that we get to continue to see Charlize Theron in action type roles.

4/5

Bright (2017)

Bright (2017)

Netflix Original

Director:

David Ayer

Starring:

Will Smith

Joel Edgerton

Noomi Rapace

Plot:

Set in a world where mystical creatures live side by side with humans. A human cop is forced to work with an Orc to find a weapon everyone is prepared to kill for.

Review:

I have been waiting to watch this for half the year. As anyone who’s read my book reviews know I am a fan of Urban Fantasy so I was very excited to see a movie coming out in that genre, especially one with a fair amount of money behind it. I was a bit concerned by the choice of writer and director, but since I’ve already got a subscription to Netflix it wasn’t a hassle to sit down and watch.

Daryl Ward, Will Smith, is a veteran cop that no one wants to work with, I assume it’s because of his personality though it’s never really expounded on and honestly he didn’t seem worse than the other cops. He’s paired up with rookie and first time orc cop Nick Jakoby, Joel Edgerton, who puts up with a ton of shit but since he’s still got the new cop shine he’s optimistic. It was actually super cute to see this cop that everyone hates either because he’s a cop, or because he’s an orc, or because he’s a unblooded orc somehow keep up his high spirits. He was young and hopeful and it was so sweet.

The world, at least LA, is not a nice place. The elves are rich, everyone else is poor, various gangs seem to rule. It reminded me of 80s LA or NY. Magic is there in the background, and there are magical beings like fairies and dragons, but it doesn’t really seem to be in the day to day.

I liked that a magic wand was equated as being like a nuclear bomb. I liked that there was a whole federal agency dedicated to magical stuff. I wanted more, though. There wasn’t enough world building or explanations. It was more of a cop drama with sprinklings of magic thrown in.

I liked the concept, liked most of the story, I just wish there was more magic. I’m glad they’re making another movie and I hope that it’s able to build on the world.

4/5