Movie

Knight and Day (2010)


Knight and Day (2010)

Director:

James Mangold

Starring:

Tom Cruise

Cameron Diaz

Plot:

A young woman gets mixed up with a disgraced spy who is trying to clear his name.

Review:

I’ve watched this movie twice and I still don’t know if the characters are crazy. If they are then I think the movie is asking the question, is crazy something you can catch.

Tom Cruise is a spy that uses Cameron Diaz to get past airport security. She ends up getting pulled into his crazy life and eventually catching the crazy. Or maybe he just brings what was already there to the forefront, not sure.

In all fairness, she tries to escape multiple times, but he repeatedly drugs her and she eventually just accepts her fate. Then decides if you can’t beat them best join them so she starts pulling her own crazy shit.

Honestly, the movie is odd because of how Tom Cruise decided to play the character. Maybe he was trying to make it very different from Mission Impossible but still remain a badass, I’m not sure. He was just odd and Diaz just went from there.

3/5

Sherlock Holmes (2009)


Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Director:

Guy Ritchie

Starring:

Robert Downey Jr.

Jude Law

Rachel McAdams

Plot:

Detective Sherlock Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson engage in a battle of wits and brawn with a nemesis whose plot is a threat to all of England.

Review:

I remember this movie being better. Maybe it’s my extreme dislike of Tony Stark coloring my opinion of Robert Downey Jr. in this movie, but I thought his British accent was horrible.

Sherlock, RDJ, is a brilliant detective with social issues that he doesn’t care to fix. Watson, Jude Law, enjoys the thrill of danger and adventure, but wants a more traditional life as well. They clash, but ultimately come together to prove that magic is not real. Irene Adler, Rachel McAdams, apparently is usually Sherlock’s foil and the only woman to ever best him. This time her incredible intellect is used to seduce Sherlock, be a damsel in distress, and then be caught by him. I’m sure she was able to escape once she got away from him, though.

3/5

Hidden Figures (2016)


Hidden Figures (2016)

Director:

Theodore Melfi

Starring:

Taraji P. Henson

Octavia Spencer

Janelle Monáe

Plot:

The story of a team of female African-American mathematicians who served a vital role in NASA during the early years of the U.S. space program.

Review:

This movie was amazing. Every obstacle possible was put in front of these women and yet they were still able to succeed. It was so inspiring to watch.

All three women are computers, they do complicated math for those that can’t, or check the work of others. Because of the color of their skin they deal with racism at every turn. They have to walk a mile to use the bathroom because they aren’t allowed in the ones in the building they work. They’re unable to check out the library books that they need to learn how to keep their job. They can’t go to the classes they need to earn a degree.

Each obstacle that’s presented to them they continue on and overcome. They support each other, and have friends and loved ones that help when they can, but for the most part it’s all on them. They are brilliant and compassionate and they persevere.

These women were real and what they had to overcome was real, they are heroes and an inspiration. Watching this made me hopeful for the future, like anything could happen.

5/5

Tremors 4: The Legend Begins (2004)


Tremors 4: The Legend Begins (2004)

Director:

S.S. Wilson

Starring:

Michael Gross

Sara Botsford

Billy Drago

Plot:

A prequel to Tremors (1990), this movie tells us about how the town of Perfection, Nevada became founded and how they defended it against the Graboids with the help of Burt Gummer’s ancestor, Hiram.

Review:

So with the fourth movie we finally learn the origins of the Graboids, because we so desperately wanted that information. The Graboids happened when a silver mine accidently struck a hidden hot spring. I guess the eggs were then rushed out or warmed or whatever and thus Graboids came back into existence.

Michael Gross owns the silver mine, when it stops earning money he travels to the town of Rejection to see why. When he finds out it’s because all the miners are either dead or have run away he tries to figure out a way to fix things. Since it’s the wild west naturally that means he hires Billy Drago.

The town people try to teach Michael Gross how not to be a greedy and he ends up becoming friends with most of them. Also, his love of guns and red heads is born. Well, his ancestors love of guns and red heads.

This movie lacked most of the things I love about Tremors movies. Tremors always has a smart, confident woman that is very capable and ends up falling for the less smart man. There are explosions and everything happens fairly fast. This movie had that, but it was definitely the lite version.

Sara Botsford was smart and capable but she was also left in town for most of the movie and not part of much action. Michael Gross was also not an idiot with common sense, he was probably the opposite. We had some big guns, but the Graboids seemed to travel at a much slower speed and so the humans were able to travel long distances in a horse and wagon. I don’t know, it was just not nearly as good, in my opinion.

2/5

Tremors 3: Back to Perfection (2001)


Tremors 3: Back to Perfection (2001)

Director:

Brent Maddock

Starring:

Michael Gross

Shawn Christian

Susan Chuang

Plot:

The now famous Burt Gummer returns to his hometown of Perfection, Nevada for the first time in years, but the deadliest Graboid evolution yet forces him to save the town he swore to protect.

Review:

The movies are clearly going down in quality, but I still have fun watching them.

This time we’ve got a lot of people from the original returning, but only one really main guy, Michael Gross. Returning to Perfection he finds that things have changed in the time he’s been away killing Graboids and Shriekers. Not a fan of those new changes, he doesn’t do much about it because it doesn’t affect him, until it does.

After everyone mocks him for thinking the Graboids will return, they do, but they’re all pretty prepared, and things are running smoothly until the town asshole ruins things. Then they learn that the Graboids have another evolution, the Assblasters.

Lots of explosions, the smart girl gets with the hot not as smart guy, and Michael Gross plays what could be a deadly prank on the town asshole. It hits all the things I expect from a Tremors movie, even if it doesn’t look as good as the first one.

3/5