Ballerina From the World of John Wick

Actors: Ana de Armas, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Lance Reddick, Norman Reedus, Ian McShane, Keanu Reeves

Rating: 9 out of 10, I was fully prepared to dislike this as a weak attempt to capture some Wickian magic. I was wrong. After a slow start this movie embraces the spirit of the Wick films and delivers. All credit deservedly goes to Ana de Armas who proves her 007 action cameo was no fluke, she is uniformly awesome as the main character/body-count-generator. She plays a student of that weird Belorussian dance studio that J.W. passed through. She’s on a revenge mission against a European cult that knocked off her parents. She kills her way to their home base and just when it looked like it couldn’t get any better, John Wick himself shows up, as this is set between earlier pictures, before his “demise”. I thought the dueling flamethrowers were especially poignant. This was a truly great movie, completely up to the high standards of the previous films. Thank you, Ms. Armas.

MVP: de Armas as gorgeous and deadly assassin Eve

Seven Days in May

Actors: Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Fredric March, and Ava Gardner

Rating: 9 out of 10, I had never seen this despite spending most of my adult life wearing a uniform. It’s a fascinating look at a fictional attempted coup by the American military over a president perceived as weak on the Soviets. It’s full of 1960s paranoia and offers the actors a full range to explore. Lancaster portrays a popular and egomaniacal Chairman of the Joint Chiefs behind the coup while Douglas is his admiring aide who lives up to his constitutional dirties. While this is simplistic on so many levels it’s a valuable lesson in the fragility of our republic, currently under so much strain. As a military guy I found it disconcerting to see the many mistakes the filmmakers made in portraying the military, such as routinely wearing headgear inside. Other than that small complaint, a truly great film.

MVP: Douglas as the one true military man Colonel Casey

Den of Thieves

Actors: Gerard Butler, Pablo Schreiber, Curtis Jackson, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Evan Jones, Dawn Olivieri, Mo McRae, Max Holloway

Rating: 8 out of 10, I loved the first movie and was fully prepared to accept a watered down, money seeking sequel. I was therefore more than pleasantly surprised to find an awesome movie in its own right. Bob Odenkirk continues his role as the most unlikely of all action heroes as Hutch Mansell. He’s still dealing with the ramifications of the path he carved through the Russian mafia in the first flick and decides the family needs a vacation together. Of course, trouble ensues as he returns to a beloved amusement park of his youth which had not been updated since and conveniently supplies a full team of villains led by a deranged Sharon Stone. The entire cast that survived the first movie is back and, if possible, were even more fun this time around. I loved that they didn’t waste time trying to explain Mansell to the audience. Too many sequels assume the audience needs a re-introduction to the main characters. This movie takes for granted you’re watching it because you loved the first movie. I did and this one as well.

MVP: Burler as the nearly unhinged cop Nick

Caught Stealing

Actors: Austin Butler, Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber, Vincent D'Onofrio, Benito Martínez Ocasio, Griffin Dunne, Carol Kane

Rating: 9 out of 10, I truly enjoyed this flick as Darren Aronovsky abandoned his usual uber-serious tone with an attempt at an Americanized version of a Guy Ritchie-type gangster dark comedy. Austin Butler confirms his movie star status as he effortlessly carries the complex plot through. He plays a NYC bartender who’s next door neighbor/drug dealer leaves him with the keys to his apartment as well as making him a target for competing gangsters and corrupt cops. This is one of those movies where the hero just can’t buy a break and has to deal with the aftermath of the choices he’s confronted with. The rest of the cast is great, if extremely expendable to the plot twists. A fun movie to watch as you can’t help but root for Butler as he tries to survive.

MVP: Butler as the monumentally unlucky Hank

Jurassic World Rebirth

Actors: Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, and Ed Skrein.

Rating: 7 out of 10, The rebirth, or should I say, revamping as this latest movie returns to what made the original movie so memorable – the dinosaurs instead of politics. Scarlett proves her Marvel action days were no fluke as she easily dominates in the lead role. She leads a team back to yet another island the original park used to breed the big guys. They’ve got to retrieve tissue samples from three of the largest dinosaurs. Surprisingly (😊), that’s not as easy as it sounds, as most of the team becomes menu items. There were some welcome surprises as one of the characters I predicted for an early demise survived while a lot of others did not. Not a lot of new terrain covered but a great summer epic walk with the dinosaurs again, ably helmed by the always watchable Ms. Johansson.

MVP: Johansson as the dangerous but beautiful Zora

The Amateur

Actors: Rami Malek, Rachel Brosnahan, Caitríona Balfe, Michael Stuhlbarg, Holt McCallany, Julianne Nicholson, Laurence Fishburne

Rating: 8 out of 10, While this is a bit of a formulaic spy thriller, I truly enjoyed it. Remi Malek is a compelling actor and perfectly cast as CIA nerd who is bound and determined to take out the terrorists who kill his wife. Everyone is convinced this frail guy is not up to the task, but he finds a way to get the training he needs and sets out for Europe with CIA assassins on his trail. I liked that the film didn’t automatically turn him into a super spy, and you could empathize with him as he struggles with his dark tasks. It puts out a very poignant message for today’s times, never underestimate the nerds. There is an excellent supporting cast with Lawrence Fishburne, in Morpheus mode, as the trainer, and Mrs. Maisel as the beloved wife. My only complaint might be the lack of screen time for Mrs. Maisel but that’s what gets the whole plot moving. A fun watch, really well done.

MVP: Malek as Charlie the dangerous geek

Captain America Brave New World

Actors: Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Carl Lumbly, Xosha Roquemore, Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson, Harrison Ford

Rating: 6 out of 10, This is seemingly a step back in the right direction for Marvel. Anthony Mackie, while no Steve Rogers, effortlessly carries the movie and more than holds his own with Harrison Ford, no mean task. The plot harkens back to some earlier Marvel efforts bringing former subplot villains to the fore. The head villain turns out to be a guy with a misshapen head and some serious anger issues. There are the usual plots within plots which culminate with Ford becoming the Red Hulk and destroying part of the White House. I saw a very funny quite saying Ford was only the second most rage filled US President of recent history. I enjoyed the action but it still didn’t have the magic of some of the original Marvel movies. A diminutive female security chief was a clear miss, don’t know what the casting director was thinking there. An enjoyable action flick.

MVP: Mackie as the new Cap