21 Bridges

Actors: Chadwick Boseman, Stephan James, Taylor Kitsch, Sienna Miller, Keith David, J. K. Simmons

Rating: 8 out of 10, This is a fairly straight forward cop movie elevated by the Black Panther himself, Chadwick Boseman. He truly hoists what could have been silly otherwise. He’s charged with finding two killers who just offed seven NYC cops and chooses to close off the island of Manhattan to do it. Those of you who’ve been to the Big Apple will understand how inane that premise is but let’s go with it. Sienna Miller is glammed down to play his partner. I would have loved this movie except for the musical score. It was so jarring and amateurish as to distract from the movie itself. I think that defines failure for whoever was responsible for it. It felt like a 1970’s TV movie musical score was copied and then amped up at precisely the wrong moments throughout. Despite this almost constant irritation it’s easy to engage with Boseman as the lone knight fighting in a sea of corruption. Good flick.

MVP: James as Michael Trujillo – the conflicted cop killer

Knives Out

Actors: Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, Christopher Plummer

Rating: 10 out of 10, Clever. That’s the word I’m searching for because this flick was that as well as a serious amount of fun. Director Rian Johnson takes the well-trod murder mystery film milieu and makes it his own with a serious stock of red herrings as well as well-turned twists. 007 displays a serious southern drawl flawlessly as a private eye charged with solving the murder/suicide of a prominent mystery novelist. How this guy got any work in New England with that accent is one of the unanswered mysteries. The rest of the very talented cast delivers as well as the totally dysfunctional family of the victim. There are some real laugh out loud moments as the pieces come together assisted by what must be the first use of a projectile vomiting lie detector. Trust me – it works. It’s the kind of movie I want to see again right away so I can spot the clues that I missed. A very entertaining and grown-up mystery. I loved it.

MVP: de Armas as Marta – the best of the bunch

Midway

Actors: Ed Skrein, Patrick Wilson, Luke Evans, Aaron Eckhart, Nick Jonas, Mandy Moore, Dennis Quaid, Tadanobu Asano, Woody Harrelson.

Rating: 9 out of 10, a truly epic retelling of the turning point battle of World War 2 in the Pacific. I wasn’t sure why this needed to be redone but I’m glad they did because this is case where the real events didn’t need to be embellished and CGI technology brings you right into the pilot’s seat as they dodge flak on their bombing runs. The plot is loyal to the actual history depicting the futility of the early American failures in the initial attacks followed by the sublime courage of the naval aviator attacks on the Japanese carriers. It was a little jarring to see Ed Skrien with his heretofore very British personae sporting a Brooklyn accent but he carries it off. The rest of the cast is equally good with a real attempt to be historically accurate with every aspect, including hairstyles and uniforms. It was an almost impossible task to capture the sweeping world changing events of the short months from Pearl Harbor to Midway but the filmmakers accomplish this and get you to invest in a couple of the well-defined characters as well. I found myself actually gripping the arms of my seat when the dive bombers started their runs through the flak – awesome war movie.

MVP: Wilson as Commander Layton the intel officer who put it all together

Doctor Sleep

Actors: Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Kyliegh Curran, Cliff Curtis

Rating: 8 out of 10, I was excited to see what the filmmakers would do with this sequel to The Shining after enjoying the book so much. It’s excellent. They pick up the story of Danny, the kid driving the hotwheels through the hallway forty years later. He’s still haunted by his childhood adventures with mom, dad and room 237 resulting in severe alcoholism. He’s drawn to New Hampshire (but aren’t we all) where he cleans up his act and connects with another physic, a young African-American girl from a nearby town. Their peace is shattered when a roving group of semi-immortal “shine vampires” (Stephen King – don’tcha know) latch onto the girl’s powers and want to devour her. Ewan McGregor , if you’ll excuse the expression, shines as Danny lending both heart and depth. Rebecca Ferguson, rapidly becoming one of my favorites, is diabolically evil yet incredibly attractive as the leader of the vamps. It’s a story where you truly invest in the characters which is a tribute to the actors involved. The climatic scenes take place in the decrepit remains of the Overlook hotel, scene of the first movie. There are numerous odes to the first movie but a clear miss when they try to replicate Jack with a stand-in. King is sometimes a hard creature to translate to the screen but they hit the mark here. Just different enough from the book to keep you engaged, scared and thrilled for the entire, long movie.

MVP: Ferguson deliciously evil as Rose the Hat

Terminator Dark Fate

Actors: Linda Hamilton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, Gabriel Luna

Rating: 8 out of 10, A very good reboot of the iconic movie franchise. Both Linda Hamilton and the Governator return in age appropriate roles. They were the best part of the original two movies and Hamilton is outstanding continuing her kick ass mentality well into her senior years. The script does a very good job of weaving the plot into the original mythology and tells the same type of story although the John Conner role is assumed by a feisty Mexican gal. Her savior from the future isn’t a terminator but an enhanced human warrior, also female. You do not want to piss these women off. They’re pursued by yet another upgraded terminator who combines the scariest aspects of all prior incarnations. The action is almost non-stop but there’s a liberal amount of sly humor injected, especially when Arnold shows up as a drape salesman. Yep. I also loved the small tributes to the original movies liberally laced throughout. I thought the franchise was dead but like the damned terminators themselves, there is life yet. I loved it.

MVP: Schwarzenegger reprising his role as a T-800

Zombieland 2

Actors: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Abigail Breslin, Emma Stone, Rosario Dawson, Zoey Deutch, Avan Jogia, Luke Wilson, Thomas Middleditch

Rating: 9 out of 10, This retains the very fun attitude of the original. Our Oscar nominated crew of zombie killers have taken up residence in the ruins of the White House which lends itself to some serious gags. I missed Woody’s obsession with Twinkies but it’s been replaced with an Elvis mania which leads him to Rosario Dawson – never a bad thing. It’s all escapist fun despite the constant zombie attacks with some really funny zingers aimed at millennials. I know critics who take themselves way too seriously will be upset with actors of this caliber taking up this kind of fare but it is pure unadulterated fun and would have been really silly (alright more silly) with lesser actors. Make sure to stay for all of the credits for your Bill Murray fix, who re-appears despite the hole blown in his chest in the first movie.

MVP: Eisenberg as the geeky but effective Columbus

Gemini Man

Actors: Will Smith, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clive Owen, Benedict Wong

Rating: 7 out of 10, I know this isn’t getting a lot of love from the critics. Ang Lee does get carried away with trying to be too cute with his camera angles, action flicks may not be his best outlet. We get a whole lot of Will Smith, obviously since it stars both his current self and a computer generated younger version as well, which is never a bad thing. It seemed the computer generated younger version was limited in facial expression because he had none of Smith’s usual charisma. The older version more than picked up the slack though. Smith plays a world class assassin who tries to retire (never a cinematically easy task) and finds himself hunted by his much younger clone. There are plot holes galore but that comes with the territory and the action scenes were excellent. There was a tendency to come to screeching halts for a little too much naval contemplation but Smith is good enough to carry you through that. He’s ably assisted by Mary Elizabeth Winstead who kicks some serious ass on her own. This is well worth the watch despite what you’re hearing from the critics.

MVP: Winstead as Danny, the more than capable assistant