Review

Skyscraper (2018)

Film Title: Skyscraper

Skyscraper (2018)

Director:

Rawson Marshall Thurber

Starring:

Dwayne Johnson

Neve Campbell

Chin Han

Plot:

A security expert must infiltrate a burning skyscraper, 225 stories above ground, when his family are trapped inside by criminals.

Review:

Die Hard on a skyscraper. This was a fun, stupid movie that didn’t always make sense but was entertaining to watch.

Dwayne Johnson was great. I loved that his character was missing a leg. He was smart, a dedicated father and husband, and just an all-around good guy who was friends with the wrong people and in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The movie was over the top and ridiculous and just enjoyable to watch. There was nothing deep here. It was completely unbelievable, but that didn’t matter. It was easy to turn my brain off and just watch.

I liked that the wife, Neve Campbell, wasn’t helpless and that she had her own part to play in things. It would have been easy to make a damsel in distress or too much of a badass and they didn’t. I appreciated that a lot.

4/5

Murder at 1600 (1997)

Murder at 1600

Murder at 1600 (1997)

Director:

Dwight H. Little

Starring:

Wesley Snipes

Diane Lane

Alan Alda

Daniel Benzali

Plot:

A 25 year old female White House staffer, Carla Town, is murdered in the White House. D.C. homicide detective Regis is assigned to investigate, only to find evidence suppressed by the Secret Service.

Review:

This movie did not age well in my opinion. Wesley Snipes was shit on by people and then he in turn shit on Diane Lane. It was obvious who the bad guy was going to be but I refused to believe it was going to be him and went after the red herrings and then it was the person I didn’t want it to be anyway.

This wasn’t an action movie, even with Snipes, so when there was some it was poorly shot. It was definitely a drama.

Basically, someone is murdered in the White House and for some reason the Secret Service or the FBI isn’t tasked with investigating it’s the DC cops. The Secret Service hides information and things are really frustrating because no one should be above the law and then ultimately none of that mattered. It was just a poorly done red herring because it ended up not making any sense with the story.

It was a very eh movie and not one I ever have to watch again.

2/5

The Rookie (2018-?)

The Rookie

The Rookie (2018-?)

Network:

ABC

Creator:

Alexi Hawley

Starring:

Nathan Fillion

Titus Makin Jr.

Alyssa Diaz

Melissa O’Neil

Plot:

The series follows John Nolan, a forty-year-old man, who moves from his comfortable, small town life to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of being a police officer for the Los Angeles Police Department. He must navigate the dangerous, humorous and unpredictable world of a “young” cop, determined to make his second shot at life count.

Review:

I liked Nathan Fillion in Firefly and Castle so I figured I’d give this a shot. He plays a forty year old rookie cop that’s recently divorced and looking to find himself. He is of course wonderful at talking to people because apparently working as a construction worker gives you all kinds of people skills and the ability to read people like a shrink. He is also hooking up with the hot rookie, Melissa O’Neil, that trained with him.

The first episode was pretty cliché. It wasn’t as fun as Castle, but it wasn’t as serious as some other cop shows. It wasn’t as over the top as Hawaii Five 0 or closer to real life like a Law and Order show. It was very middle of the road, in all aspects.

Acting was good. People were attractive but not CW level of ridiculous. It was a cop show with Nathan Fillion. Not sure if I need to watch, though. I might give it one more episode, we’ll see.

3/5

Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda

Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda

Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda (Creekwood #1) By: Becky Albertalli

Plot:

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.

With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

Review:

I decided to read this book after watching and LOVING the movie (review will be posted in February along with a ton of other romance reviews). The movie was the ultimate sweet romance, it had two people falling in love via letters which is how some of my favorite romances start. I was really excited to read the source material.

Simon is gay, but he hasn’t told anyone. When someone posts on his high schools Tumblr account that they’re gay he makes a secret email account and starts emailing them. Romance blooms.

Things get complicated immediately when someone sees Simon’s emails and starts blackmailing him. The blackmailer really sucked at it and honestly that whole line of plot was kind of rarely there, though, he did end up outing Simon who had to deal with the backlash.

The book was cute, but it was definitely a YA novel, with all the angsty teenage drama to go with it. What I loved about this book was seeing different starring characters. Seeing a gay teenager fall in love is unique in this day and age and definitely something to promote and normalize until it’s not a big deal when you see it.

Representation matters!

4/5

Charmed (2018-?)

Charmed

Charmed (2018-?)

Network:

CW

Starring:

Melonie Diaz

Madeleine Mantock

Sarah Jeffrey

Rupert Evans

Plot:

Follows the lives of three sisters who, after the tragic death of their mother, discover they are powerful witches.

Review:

This show had a lot working against it and just a little for it. I loved the original series. Shows about witches were banned in my house so I used to watch it on mute, with another show on the ready to switch to in case I heard my parents coming. I used to watch it every year, though, it’s been a couple years since I did that. I loved Charmed.

The reboot got a lot of bad press from fans when it was first announced. It didn’t have the original cast on board and in some instances it almost seemed like it was bashing the original series. There’s a lot wrong with the original series, but it is still an amazing show, so I didn’t like any of that.

What it did have going for it, though, was that some of the writers from Jane the Virgin were working on it. I love JtV, it’s a great series, and ultimately, I want more shows that star women in a Supernatural setting.

I’m looking at you Wayward Sisters.

The first episode aired Sunday. I only watch Murphy Brown live, so I waited and watched it on the app late Monday night. It was…not as bad as I was expecting.

The bad. I hated the magic effects. Like HATED. Where were my swirling white and blue lights for the whitelighter? Wtf!! I really didn’t like their whitelighter, Rupert Evans, period and I’m hoping that he’s not permanent. Leo, Brian Krause, was a handy man, sweet, smart, but rarely condescending. The whitelighter in this series comes off as patronizing too often. Maybe it’s his accent, I don’t know, but there is no romance there either.

The girls all seemed really young, though, the actresses are all age appropriate for where they are, I’m probably just getting old. Based on the trailer I thought they were in highschool, but they are in college. I thought they had good chemistry by the end of the episode, there was definitely potential there, and I loved that the cast was racially diverse. LOVED. I also really LOVED the feminist message. It was heavy handed and I don’t care.

The old house is being used, though, the interior is changed. Obviously, some of the old terms, I thought their Book of Shadows seemed very lacking, though.

All in all, the episode was much better than I anticipated, it has potential, but there are some things I’m hoping get better.

3.5/5