Author: moviewarrior

I am an IT Professional who has loved the movie going experience since Kindergarten. My favorite Genres are Action, Suspense/Thrillers, Drama, Sci-Fi, Animation, Art House and Romantic Comedies.

The Accountant

If I have said this once, I’ve said it a thousand times…Ben Affleck is brilliant behind the camera, but not in front of it.

“The Accountant” is about a boy, Christian Wolff (Affleck) with autism who grows up to be a genius accountant, who also serves as an assassin for his clients. Wolff works as a free-lance accountant for some of the most dangerous people. As the Justice Department starts to close in, Wolff takes on a legitimate client, where there is an accounting discrepancy that has been uncovered by an in-house accounting clerk (Kendrick). Mysteriously as the accounting discrepancy comes to full light, the body count starts to rise. The story unfolds from there…

The movie has so many twists, turns and subplots that the main plot gets lost. This makes it difficult to tie all the pieces together, but at the end it’s all cleaned up.

There is so much going on in “The Accountant” that you will not be bored. This is truly a Drama, Suspense Thriller of epic proportion. The movie is better than Ben Affleck acting in it.

This is a 3 ½ Star Movie!

The Birth of a Nation

“The Birth of a Nation” executes on Pure Raw Power!

The movie follows Nat Turner (Nate Parker), a literate slave from his childhood thru adulthood where he becomes a preacher. Nat’s owner, Samuel Turner (Armie Hammer) is financially strained and soon accepts an offer to transport Nat from plantation to plantation to preach to the slaves on each plantation. Nat and his owner, Samuel are shocked and dismayed at what they see as they move thru the Antebellum South from plantation to plantation. The things that Nat sees only fuels him to rise up and get other slaves to join him. The story unfolds from there…

Plain and simple…the movie is brutal to watch, but very compelling. It’s graphic and nothing is held back. The story is disjointed at times, but seems to make up the necessary ground when it counts. This is about American History. It’s not sugar-coated, but doesn’t go as deep as it probably could.

If you can stand the subject matter of racism and slavery in the Antebellum South by all means go see “The Birth of a Nation”.

This is a 3 ½ Star Movie!

Queen of Katwe

“Queen of Katwe” is based on the true story about a young girl, Phiona Mutesi (Madina Nalwanga) from Uganda who sold corn on the village streets to help her family survive. She stumbles upon a group of kids in her village who are learning to play chess.
Soon Phiona learns the strategy of the game and wants to play every day. Phiona not only learns to play chess, but she excels at it, beating her opponents at every local meet. With her determination, the support of her family and community, Phiona realizes her dream to become an International Chess Champion. The story unfolds from there…

“Queen of Katwe” is an excellent movie. It’s executed brilliantly. There is a message for everyone, young or old. “You can realize your dreams with hard work and determination.”

The entire cast was great! Lupita Nyong’o and David Oyelowo were awesome and new comer Madina Nalwanga shines brightly.

“Queen of Katwe” is a feel-good movie and definitely worth a look.

This is a 5 Star Movie!

Deepwater Horizon

“Deepwater Horizon” is based on the true story about the worst oil spill in American History. The events are played out in the movie in painful fashion. Director Peter Berg really gives you an inside look at the good, bad and the very ugly of a horrific event.

As the events play out you will be on the edge of your seat. The tension mounts in pain-staking fashion. You will also be disgusted at how this all happened. Corporate (BP) greed takes center stage. Eleven lives were lost in this event. Those eleven lives were recognized at the end of the movie. The oil spill continued for 87 Days.

“Deepwater Horizon” is one of the better disaster movies. The movie is executed very well. The performances were awesome. There are many great panoramic views and the camera angles are mystifying. You won’t be bored.

If you can stand seeing a horrific event play out on the big screen, I say check out “Deepwater Horizon”.

This is a 4 Star Movie!

The Magnificent Seven (2016): The IMAX Experience

Remakes are never as good as the original upon which they are based, but the remake of the 1960’s The Magnificent Seven does a pretty good job. It’s pure “Pop Corn Entertainment”.

The cast is awesome. Think the “Wild, Wild West” of 1897 or better yet think “Gun Smoke”, “Dodge City” and Sheriff Matt Dillon.

The little western mining town, Rose Creek is under siege by a greedy tyrant named Bartholomew Bogue. He and his merry band of men over throw the town’s sheriff and his deputies. All of the town is in jeopardy, but one resident, Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett) and other desperate residents seek out the help of a Bounty Hunter who comes through town looking for one of his Bounties. The Bounty Hunter finds out he knows Bartholomew Bogue and agrees to help the town out. The story unfolds from there…

“The Magnificent Seven (2016)” does what it’s supposed to do. It provides great entertainment. There are no special effects, CGI’s or anything that would remotely remind you that we are in 2016. This is a good old-fashioned western. It’s not perfect, but the cast makes the movie worth watching. There is lots of western style violence, action and blood-shed. There is even a bit of comic relief.

If you like Westerns, you should enjoy “The Magnificent Seven (2016)”.

This is a 4 Star Movie!

Bridget Jones’s Baby

Renee Zellweger is back as the delightfully funny and awkward Bridget Jones that we all came to love in the 2001 Franchise installment.

In this third installment Bridget Jones soon finds herself in an unexpected situation. She is pregnant and is not sure who the father is. However there are only two choices, the baby’s father is either Jack (Patrick Dempsey) or Bridget’s long time crush Mark Darcy (Colin Firth).

Bridget needs DNA samples from both men. This ensues a number of crazy and hilarious situations that unfold at Bridget’s place of employment. Soon both men find out that they could be the father of Bridget’s Baby. The story unfolds from there…

This third installment is so much better than the second installment, but not quite as good as the 2001 Franchise installment. The movie is funny, zany and very entertaining.

Although Hugh Grant is missing from this installment, the continuation with Colin Firth was very well done.

I found “Bridget Jones’s Baby” to be delightfully hilarious! I am glad to see Renee Zellweger reprise the role. The door was left open for a fourth installment.

This is a 3 ½ Star Movie!

Sully

“Sully” recounts the events that led up to US Airways Flight 1549 landing in the Hudson River. The flight’s destination was Charlotte, NC, but a “Bird Strike” hit the Airbus 320 Engines as it was climbing to reach its cruising altitude. The “Bird Strike” caused both engines to fail. The airplane was not able to make it to Teterboro or back to LaGuardia, so the next best option was to land in the Hudson River. The story unfolds from there…

The movie at times is a “Nail Biter”, but that is to be expected given what the movie is about. There is definitely some suspense and tense moments.

Tom Hanks gives a wonderful performance as Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger the Captain on US Airways Flight 1549.

This is actually a very well executed 96 minutes. The movie could have actually gone a bit longer as the ending was a bit strange. Kudos to Clint Eastwood. He still has the directing bug and he is excellent at it.

This is a 4 Star Movie!

Southside With You

Strong performances and great dialogue between Tika Sumpter and Parker Sawyer make this movie an interesting proposition, unfortunately the movie moves way too slow for the 1 hour and 24 minutes running time.

“Southside With You” is a day in the life of Michelle Robinson and Barack Obama before they became a couple. There are some political undertones, but nothing to sway you one way or another. You will get a glimpse of the Barack Obama we know today.

This movie would have played best on Lifetime or Hallmark. The movie is short, but it seems really long because of how slowly it moved. I actually nodded off once…

I say wait for “Southside With You” to arrive on Cable, DVD or Blue-ray.

This is a 2 Star Movie!

Mechanic: Resurrection

Arthur Bishop, The Mechanic (Jason Statham) is forced to come out of his 5 year retirement.

An old nemesis, Riah Crain wants three of the most dangerous men in the world assassinated.
Of course there is a beautiful woman, (Jessica Alba) being used as a pawn to get the Mechanic to take the job. The Story unfolds from there…

There is some great cinematography, nice panoramic views of some exotic locations, and some decent stunts and action, but unfortunately the movie has no substance. There isn’t really a plot. Why kill those three men? That is not explained.

The best things about “Mechanic: Resurrection” are Jason Statham with his chiseled body and great charisma, Tommy Lee Jones looking suave as an aged hippie. It’s too bad that Tommy Lee Jones appears really late in the movie. When he showed up things got real interesting.

All in all “Mechanic: Resurrection” is a B-grade movie with some decent action, a few stunts and some good views, but no substance.

“Mechanic Resurrection” will be great on Cable or DVD.

This is a 2 Star Movie!

Hell or High Water

This is another edition of “Thursday Night at the Movies with The Movie Warrior”.

“Hell or High Water” is a Well-Executed Western about two brothers who are trying to save the family farm/ranch after their Mother dies. The farm has a reverse mortgage and other debt on it. The brothers rob several small town Savings & Loans in rural Texas.
A soon-to-be retired Texas Ranger, Marcus (Jeff Bridges) and his partner are called in on the case. With years of experience between them, they figure out which town and bank might be hit next and they camp out in the area. The story unfolds from there…

“Hell or High Water” is very good! The movie is well paced and keeps you entertained.
It’s a modern day cops and robbers but with a Western-Theme. The out-come is not necessarily predictable.

“Hell or High Water” is open in “Limited-Release”.

If you like Westerns, “Hell or High Water” should not be missed.

This is a 4 ½ Star Movie!