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.

London Has Fallen

“London has Fallen” is an “Action Junkie’s” Dream!

At the order of the US President a drone strike attempts to take out an internationally known Terrorist. It’s believed that the strike was successful, so no further Surveillance was ordered after the strike.

Fast forward two years, an announcement that the British Prime Minister has died causes a major stir among world leaders. Everyone makes plans to descend on London to pay their respects. Security is extremely high given the importance and severity of the situation. The leaders start to arrive in London. The story unfolds from there…

“London Has Fallen” is not quite as bad as the paid critics indicated.
There is a plot, a story, tons of action, suspense and intrigue.

The only problem is that a lot of the events couldn’t possibly happen in the real world. Agent Banning (Gerard Butler) tries to come across as a Presidential James Bond, but he lacks the charisma to pull it off and the movie is a bit short at 1:39.

The action is non-stop. You won’t be bored. I thought Morgan Freeman was pretty good as the Vice President. I still think the movie is worth at least 2 1/2 stars.

Oscar Recap

I actually found the 88th Oscars interesting and entertaining last night. One thing for sure is that it was fast moving. The days of the long “Thank You” speeches are over!!

Here is my Oscar Recap for Last nights awards.

“Spotlight” won the Best Picture Award! I saw this movie and gave it 5 stars. Other movies nominated that I saw in 2015 were: “The Revenant”, “The Martian”, “The Big Short”, “Bridge of Spies” and “Mad Max: Fury Road”. I gave all of these movies either 4 or 5 stars. “Room” and “Brooklyn” were the other two nominees.

Leonardo DiCaprio finally won the long deserved Best Actor Oscar. He had to get mauled by a bear in “The Revenant” to win it.

Mark Rylance won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in “Bridge of Spies”

Alejandro Gonzalez won the Best Director Oscar for “The Revenant”

The animated movie that brought me to tears, “Inside Out” won the Best Animated Feature Film Oscar. I gave this movie 5 stars.

“The Big Short” – Best Writing Adapted Screenplay Oscar

“Spotlight” – Best Original Screenplay Oscar

Emmanual Lubeski won the Best Cinematography Oscar for “The Revenant”

Ennio Morricone – won the Best Music Original Score for “The Hateful Eight”

“Mad Max: Fury Road” was a surprise winner of the following 6 Oscars:

Best Costume Design, Best Sound Mixing, Best Film Editing, Best Production Design, Best Sound Editing and Best Makeup

Best Original Song went to Sam Smith for “Writing’s on the Wall” from the “Spectre 007” movie

If you have not seen “Spotlight”, “The Big Short”, “Bridge of Spies”, The Martian”, “Mad Max:Fury Road” or “The Revenant”, I encourage you to seek these movies out, make some popcorn and get comfortable!!

Other Oscar Winners are as follows:

Brie Larson: Best Actress Oscar for “Room”

Alicia Vikander – Best Supporting Actress for “The Danish Girl”

Best Documentary Feature Film – “Amy”

Best Documentary Short Film – “A Girl in the River”

Best Live Action Short Film – “Stutterer”

Best Animated Short Film – “Bear Story”

Triple 9

“Triple 9” is a “Dark Brooding” Cop Drama based in Atlanta, GA.

A band of dirty cops are being black-mailed by the Russian Mob. This band of dirty cops go about performing virtually impossible heists. The only way to successfully pull off these heist are to issue a “999” police call which represents “Officer Down”.

You know what happens when you have a crew of people working together and money is involved. People get greedy and paranoid. In “Triple 9” the Rookie Cop in the band is setup to die, but he foils the attack. This sets up what turns out to be the best part of the movie which is only a few minutes from the end.

“Triple 9” is strange and subdued. The movie starts off on the wrong foot and it never stands up straight. Kate Winslet is horrible as a Russian Mob Boss.
There is drug use throughout and blatant nudity. Once again you have a movie with “Heavy Weight Actors” who come across as “Light Weight Actors”.

“Triple 9” is best viewed on Cable.

This is a 2 Star Movie!

RACE

“Race” is about the incredible true life story of Olympic Gold Medalist Jesse Owens. Although the story is moving it only scratches the surface about the events leading up to the 1936 Summer Olympic Games where the legendary Jesse Owens won 4 Gold Medals.

By participating in the 1936 Olympic Games Jesse Owens displayed tremendous determination in facing off against Adolph Hitler’s vision of Aryan supremacy.

“Race” is a movie about courage, determination, tolerance and friendship.

What you see is very well execution, but I feel like the movie could have gone deeper into the story. The movie seems timid at times, but what’s there is definitely worth seeing.

This is a 3 1/2 Star Movie

Deadpool

Marvel’s “Deadpool” is a fictional antihero that appears in Marvel’s Comics. Deadpool would fit in nicely with the Mutants from X-MEN.

“Deadpool” is a rather obnoxious, profanity riddled, irritating film. It has its good parts. The action scenes and camera angles are awesome, but there is so much irritation that the good parts get lost.

The story is about how “Deadpool” came to be. A former Special Forces operative turned Mercenary, Wade Wilson finds out he has Lung Cancer and may not live long. Wade is subjected to an experiment that leaves him with the ability to heal himself rapidly if injured. Because of his altered looks, he chooses the name “Deadpool”. “Deadpool” then goes on a mission to find the man who is responsible for nearly destroying his life. The story unfolds from there…

If there wasn’t so much profanity, nudity and irritation this would be an excellent first installment.

If you can get past the irritation of “Deadpool” it’s worth a look. The paid critics gave this movie 4 1/2 stars. It will only receive 3 stars from me.

Hail Caesar!

“Hail Caesar!” was not on my original watch list but, I decided to give it a look.

The Oscar winning filmmakers the Coen Brothers are back with a Star-Studded Golden Aged Comedy. Unfortunately I did not find anything golden about the movie.

The story is centered-around a typical day in the life of a “Studio Fixer”, but what you see is anything but typical and I can’t imagine that everything that goes on could have possibly happened in 24 hours. There are so many problems that even Olivia Pope from the ABC hit Scandal couldn’t possibly fix them all without a cast of thousands.

The movie starts off ok, but goes down-hill fast. There were too many stories and sub plots, so the movie is all over the place and no place. At one point I was bored out of my mind. I sat there thinking how could they have this many heavy weight actors and the movie be so boring. Don’t get me wrong there were some funny scenes, but not enough to be entertaining. I did not find George Clooney funny at all.

The paid critics said that “Hail Caesar!” was “Fresh”. I say its “Stale”.

This is a 2 Star Movie!

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

There is no subtlety in this Michael Bay Production!

Based on a true story, “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi” provides the detailed account of what really happened in Benghazi in September 2012.
What’s really good about this movie is that there is no politics. The White House and Congress are not involved. This is purely a military and CIA covert operation.

Since this is a Michael Bay production (the Producer of such movies as Black Hawk Down and The Transformer Series), the action and combat sequences could be questioned as to whether there was more or less in the real events. You do get a thrilling ride from all of the action and combat, but who really wants to relive another person’s worst day in their lives. This is what we are treated to in these types of movies. The movie at times is very bloody.

Telling these stories is ok, but now we know who the “Secret Soldiers” are. In the credits the real Soldiers faces are not shown, but names are given. This movie does not make our soldiers look like Hero’s although it should have. Medals and awards were given, but in secret.

I would have to say that of all the Michael Bay Productions, this is probably his best effort.

This is a 3 Star Movie!

The Revenant

“The Revenant” is extremely harsh and brutal, but it was executed brilliantly!!

Based on factual events, Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) a fur tradesman who is out on a fur expedition with a team of men gets mauled by a bear. The story centers-around Hugh’s brave and sometimes perilous survival in the wilderness of the 1820’s. The story unfolds from there…

“The Revenant” is definitely not my type of movie, but I had to see it since its receiving so many raves. It’s nominated for several Golden Globes and there is massive Oscar buzz about it and Leonardo Dicaprio’s acting in it.

DiCaprio was brilliant and he deserves any Oscar nod he receives. The movie is harsh and unforgiving. The story is told in painstaking fashion. All action is driven by revenge. The cinematography and camera angles are excellent.

If you can stand the harshness and brutality “The Revenant” is worth a look.

This is a 4 Star Movie!

The Hateful Eight

Quentin Tarantino really hones his craft in “The Hateful Eight”.

This installment from Quentin Tarantino is a western set in the Abraham Lincoln era. The story could actually be told in about 20 minutes, but in a Quentin Tarantino production it takes hours, literally.

It’s the dead of winter in Wyoming. Traveling by stage coach, a Bounty Hunter, his prisoner and 2 other passengers find shelter in a cabin known as “Minnie’s Haberdashery”. There are several customers already comfortable in the cabin. Once the horses are put up and everyone is settled in, things start to unravel quickly. The story unfolds from there…

“The Hateful Eight” is viciously bloody and violent, but it’s really entertaining and moves quickly. It’s a long running time at 2:47, but it was over before I realized it.

This is a Quentin Tarantino production. If you have previously seen his movies, then you know what to expect. His movies are over-the-top, but he will keep you engaged and entertained. If you can stand the bloodiness “The Hateful Eight” is worth a look.

This is a 3 1/2 Star Movie!

The Big Short

Michael Lewis’ best-seller; The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine is the basis of the movie “The Big Short”.

“The Big Short” centers around four high-finance outsiders who predicted the credit and housing collapse of the 2000s and how they took on the big banks for their lack of foresight and intense greed. The story unfolds from there…

“The Big Short” is un-cut, unedited. You see everything in the raw. Execution at times is a bit slow, but none the less the movie is intriguing, eye-opening and worth a look.

“The Big Short” is open in limited-release around the country. Check it out in your city.

This is a 4 Star Movie!!

BTW…I had planned to see “Point Break” the remake of the 1991 Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves movie, but the 2015 installment received such awful reviews I decided to pass.