JMcNaughton, Author at tmc.io 🍿 watch movies with friends 37

The Equalizer 2 Movie Review

July 20, 2018 (updated July 18, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

“The Equalizer 2” is special, if only because it is the first sequel that Denzel Washington has ever wanted to do (“The Sequel-izer”?). In 2014 “The Equalizer” took the old TV series and gave it a make-over with Denzel playing Robert McCall. This time around Denzel brings along the same director and the same writer as with the first installment. They have come up with another dose of action and revenge – with Robert McCall always looking out for the little guy. He brings justice to an unjust world, one kick-ass sequence at a time. With this movie, the second time around is not frantic as the first, but it ends up with a wild finish.

Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) goes about his business and tries to mind his own business. He even has become a part-time Lyft driver so he could connect with everyday people. But with his many years of Special Forces training and even more years in a special operations unit in the CIA, there are ‘very particular set of skills’ that McCall can use to “equal the scales of justice”. That happens at the start, when he travels to Turkey to get back a kidnapped little girl. McCall lives in a simple manner, and has some friends in the Boston neighborhood where he is located. He befriends Miles (Ashton Sanders), who is a young black man with some artistic skills – but he also has a toxic attitude.

McCall has some other friends who live in Washington DC. Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo) is a retired CIA manager who headed up McCall’s old unit. She and her husband Brian Plummer (Bill Pullman) are close to McCall, and they knew his wife before she passed away. Susan is called to research an odd murder-suicide that happened in Brussels. The man and wife happened to also be deep-cover agents for the CIA. She goes to see if there was any connection. She goes with agent Dave York (Pedro Pascal), and was also part of the special ops team and had partnered with McCall years ago. But there is an incident in Brussels and Susan is killed. The police think it was a couple of meth users, but McCall thinks it was much more than that.

The scenes flip back and forth between Boston and Washington DC and Brussels. But McCall keeps busy with his Lyft driving, while still doing forensic analysis on Susan’s phone and computer. He helps an elderly man to find a long-lost sister. He helps a young woman who had been brutalized by a group of high-dollar, low-class men. And everywhere he goes, he can leave a trail of blood and bodies. He also helps his young friend Miles, and convinces him to stay out of a violent street gang. Miles slowly learns that McCall has the ability to turn on some street gang level violence just on his own.

While the weather gets worse and worse in Boston, McCall figures out that his old teammate, Dave York, might be playing now on a different team. There is a lot of bad blood between them, when McCall knows who it was ultimately behind Susan’s murder. York has a group of henchmen who can make life difficult for McCall. They all follow McCall to his old home on the Cape Cod coast. But somebody forgot to turn off the hurricane that is making landfall near the town. McCall must face off with the evildoers in a driving wind and in drenching rain. But when he is able to use any item at his disposal to put up a defense against the bad guys, he has an advantage. But when they also have an ace-in-the-hole (or is that a Miles-in-the-trunk?) – the fighting gets pretty berserk.

Denzel Washington is (again) excellent playing Robert McCall. He has a steely-eyed gaze that could cause any wrong-doer to think twice and join the side of the angels. But his close-contact fighting skills can leave an opponent on the ground gasping. Denzel must enjoy this role, because he looks worn into place yet very nimble. Working again with director Antoine Fuqua brings a good level of karma to the whole production, and the result is very watchable. Pedro Pascal is also really good as a slick operative who is adept at playing both sides. Ashton Sanders does a decent job at not being entirely overshadowed by Denzel. Everyone else is mostly extended cameos in the movie.

Aside from the first half, which flips locations quite often, the pacing is steady. It picks up a lot in the second half, and final third is just a brilliant fast-paced cat-and-mouse fight sequence. The entire purpose behind all the murders is a little murky, and there a few scenes that go on a smidge too long. Maybe a more cohesive story line, and a few more days of editing could have turned this into a more forceful movie. Right now it is way above average, and a great deal of that goes to the presence of Denzel. His shoulders are wide enough to carry many obstacles.

“The Equalizer 2” is not a movie I ever expected to see made. But because of the care that Denzel Washington puts into the character of Robert McCall, this is a franchise that might be able to continue on with more movies and more high praise. All things being Equal…

Eighth Grade Movie Review

July 20, 2018 (updated July 19, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

“Eighth Grade” is a wonderfully and lovingly created movie about a young girl’s final week in – well – eighth grade. Bo Burnham is best known as being a comedian and a You Tube celebrity. But now he can add to that list being a screenwriter and director. This is his effort to bring some of his own middle school experiences to the big screen, and it goes straight to the head of the class.

Kayla Day (Elsie Fisher) is the soon-to-be middle school graduate, ready to take her unsteady steps into high school. During the last week of classes, Kayla is looking for the self-confidence to make her time in eighth grade stand for something. She is voted ‘Most Quiet’ student, which she thinks is just really so wrong. But she is afraid to say anything about it. She creates many You Tube videos about being self-confident and being true to your self. But she is nervous and skittish is many real life situations.

Kayla gets an invite to a classmate’s birthday pool bash. But with a very plain figure and rough skin, she does not feel as pretty as the other girls. Her dad (Josh Hamilton) is always there for her, and being a single dad, he also understands some of the awkwardness of Kayla. She appreciates him, but he is always too clingy and wants to talk about how she is doing. She spends her time mostly staring at her phone and laptop, getting absorbed into social media.

There is a high school ‘shadow’ day, where the eighth graders go to the new school and tag after a senior. She gets paired up with Olivia (Emily Robinson) who is super nice to Kayla and even invites her to hang out at the mall with her friends. She feels even more awkward when she spots her dad hanging around spying on her. Her dad leaves her alone, so she needs to get a ride home from Olivia’s friend. He stops the car and becomes a little too aggressive with her. But she stands up for her self and tells him to stop.

She later has a real heart-to-heart talk with her dad at home. She says how she must disappoint him all the time. But he tells her it is the opposite. Kayla has been the reason he has been able to overcome his own fears and misgivings. Since her mom left when she was young, her dad has been a guiding influence for Kayla. But he tells her that she has taught him how to grow and how to live your best life.

The story is simple and straightforward, but it leaves a lot of room for the subtle display of a young girl’s life becoming richer and deeper. Bo Burnham has constructed a real world of middle school, filled with characters that all seem familiar. But the shining star is Elsie Fisher, who takes the awkward unease of Kayla and makes it a living and breathing thing. Her portrayal is bold and honest, unafraid of being plain and real in a world with too many Secrets from Victoria’s.

The Kayla character reminded me so much of the much younger girl character named Olive from the movie “Little Miss Sunshine”. If Olive had grown up and then went to middle school, I could see her be a person just like Kayla. This movie is also unique, since there are so many other movies that concentrate on high school kids. This might be one of the few movies that center the main character in eighth grade.

*Opens in Phoenix area exclusively at Harkins Camelview @ Fashion Square

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Blast from the Past (July 2018)

July 14, 2018 (updated July 16, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

Yeah, the Box Office is rockin’ today with a whole lot of movies. But there are some from prior years that you may (or may not) remember. These older movies came out 5, 10, 15, 20 years ago, maybe even longer back.

Ant-Man and the Wasp Movie Review

July 6, 2018 (updated July 6, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

Good Heroes come in small, ant-sized Packages. That is the lesson that Marvel taught the world in 2015. When another member of the Marvel Superhero family is introduced, the world takes notice. Especially when the new character is a little bit off the beaten track. “Ant-Man” was a big success, and did not reflect its minimal-sized name. For a lower-tiered Hero, Ant-Man got the bigger jobs done (especially at the Box Office)

In the first movie, many characters were introduced and became a vital part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) had become ‘Ant-Man’ with the help of a ‘Quantum-shifting’ suit developed by Hank Pym (Michael Douglas). Pym is working with his daughter Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly). Pym is missing his wife, Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer). She had worked with the scientist when he developed his size-shifting suit that made him the original ‘Ant-Man’ and his wife the original ‘Wasp’.

Scott is under house arrest (due to what happened at the airport in Germany – see ‘Captain America: Civil War’ for details). And Hank Pym and Hope Van Dyne are on the run. His time under the watchful eye of the FBI is almost up, so the time is right that something weird should happen. Hank and Hope are working with a shady criminal named Sonny (Walton Goggins) who wants to steal the Pym technology. There is a strange woman named Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) who is dying from a massive exposure of those darn Quantum rays. But it gives her ability to ‘phase-shift’ right through walls and such.

Sonny has a bunch of low-life thugs to help him. Ghost has Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne), who is a Physics professor and old friend of Pym’s. But Forster is now turned away from Pym and wants to bring him in. Scott Lang has help from Hank and Pym, but also from his good friend Luis (Michael Peña), who is an ex-con like Scott, but is now in charge of a start-up security company.

The only one not helping is Janet Van Dyne, because for over thirty years she has been trapped in the ‘Quantum Realm’. This is a sub-atomic level world that Scott Lang briefly encountered in the first movie. Scott has been there, and could help Hank Pym find his wife. Hope will get also help because she wants her mother back. Bill Foster has decided that the Quantum Realm visit that Hank Pym is going to make might bring back enough Quantum Healing crystals to heal the Ghost and make her normal.

So everyone is on the run, from the FBI, from the low-down thugs, from the Ghost and from anything that that would make the movie boring. Scott Lang becomes Ant-Man again, and Hope van Dyne becomes the Wasp. They fight to free Janet from her Quantum prison and to beat the bad guys who only want to use the technology in the wrong way. There are great hand-to-hand battles, with Ant-Man shrinking and expanding and the Wasp able to use her suit to fly right into a flight.

The movie on a whole takes a welcome break from the normal Marvel fare. That means that not every movie needs to have an ultimate villain ready to snap his fingers and end the world. It’s also good to have a Superhero who is humble enough that he can become as small as an ant. The fights are fun to watch, when they use all the special abilities to win. There are even great car chases that go through ‘The Streets of San Francisco’. That is something that Michael Douglas knows very well.

Perhaps with a name like ‘Ant-Man and The Wasp’, audiences will assume that this is not a fun adventure movie. Those people would be wrong, because this ‘Ant’ has earned a place at the Marvel picnic.

Uncle Drew Movie Review

June 29, 2018 (updated June 29, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

“Uncle Drew” is a movie that started as a series of viral web ads for Pepsi. Say what!? Yes, the current NBA star Kyrie Irving was put into ‘old man’ make-up and went around basketball courts to show the ‘youngbloods’ how to play the game. Basketball as played by a white-haired old fart – who could actually fool the fresh-faced young fellows into thinking he couldn’t do squat, and then run and jump and dunk on the fools. Yeah, it was good for a while, and then somebody got the brilliant idea to turn that into a full-length movie. And not just one old NBA geezer – let’s have an entire team!

So an orphan kid named Dax (LilRel Howery) who was terrible playing basketball finds himself as coach in midtown New York City. His team has mad skillz and they are ready to play in the Rucker Classic street ball tournament, located in Harlem. His girlfriend Jess (Tiffany Haddish) has eyes on the Classic purse, the big money cash prize that can fuel her next shopping spree. Dax then finds out that his major rival Mookie (Nick Kroll) has stolen his star player, his entire team and his girlfriend. Before you can say ‘urban legend’, Dax meets up with Uncle Drew (Kyrie Irving). Uncle Drew has been out of the spotlight since the ’70s, and his wins at the Rucker Classic are a thing a beauty.

But now Uncle Drew looks like a shriveled up old man. But he still shows Dax he’s got the moves. Drew agrees to play in the Classic, but only if he can get his old team back together. Before you can say ‘road trip’, Dax is onboard Uncle Drew’s customized van, which looks like an outtake form ‘Pimp My Ride’. Drew locates and convinces his past squad to come and play the Classic one more time. He gets Preacher (Chris Webber), but first has to elude Preacher’s wife Betty Lou (Lisa Leslie). She does not want him to go back to his old ways. They then find Lights (Reggie Miller) who has the wants to join in, but might be legally blind. They continue on and next find Boots (Nate Robinson), who is a nursing home. His granddaughter Maya (Erica Ash) says he goes nowhere without her to guide him.

The next stop is to get Big Fella (Shaquille O’Neal). But there is some real bad blood between Uncle Drew and Old Fella, so things might not work out. Dax is ready to get to the Rucker Classic so he can have a winning team. But this group of old fossils have none of the chemistry that they used to have. There is still a big rivalry with Mookie and the players that used to be loyal to Dax. Mookie does nothing but trash-talk the oldsters, so get their old motivations back. Betty Lou finally finds the crew, and she is hopping mad. Not mad they are going to be playing basketball, but more mad that they did not invite her…

Uncle Drew and Big Fella get it worked out, and all the other team plays get a boost of basketball mojo. They take on all the other teams, until it only Dax and Mookie’s up for the final showdown. The Big Fella has a medical scare, and Betty Lou comes in off the bench. But in clutch time, it all comes down to Dax – will he rise to the occasion and be able to take a shot to score for glory?

So you want an old formula ‘sports comeback movie’? Every cliché is in here. There is the two rivals who meet on the court. There is the player who lacks self-confidence, only to come back in the final stretch. There are the old-time players who hold a long standing grudge. There is the key player who gets side-lined with an injury, winds up in the hospital – then displays his wide-load booty in a hospital gown wardrobe accident. Well, maybe that last one is not a cliché, but now you have been warned!

This is a movie that is not looking for any Oscar recognition, especially in the Hair and Makeup Category. The ‘old guy’ looks are passable at best. So Uncle Drew started as a commercial, and it grew into a full length movie. It does not always score, but it does shoot some easy layups. But more often that that, it throws quite a few bricks.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Movie Review

June 22, 2018 (updated June 21, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

In the 25 years since “Jurassic Park” opened (on the screens of the world), there have never been enough people who dared to ask, “What could possibly go wrong?” Also, when they do ask that pondering question, the answer is usually “Plenty!” That is the case for “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”, which is the sequel to “Jurassic World” and also a descendant of “Jurassic Park”. The little island of Isla Nublar never looked so disastrous.

When John Hammond and his business partner Sir Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell) attempted to open the Park many years ago, disaster stuck. The Park soon fell into disrepair. A new company took over and recreated it as “Jurassic World”, where new levels of disaster struck. Some people who worked there (and survived) were Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Dr. Henry Wu (B. D. Wong). Dr. Wu oversaw creating newer and bigger dinosaurs, and Clair was in charge of marketing. Owen was a wiz at raising and gaining the trust of some Velociraptors, including Blue. But the Park was abandoned when the dinosaurs all escaped.

Now three years later, a new crisis has arrived. A long dormant volcano is about to rip up the island and send the dinosaurs back to extinct status. But Sir Lockwood has a personal assistant named Eli Mills (Rafe Spall) who has come up with a plan. He wants to evacuate almost all the dinos to a new, safer island. Clair agrees to get Owen to help. They are also assisted by a couple of people that Clair works with at the Dinosaur Protection Group she founded to save her ‘friends’. Along with them are paleo-veterinarian Zia Rodriguez (Daniella Pineda) and IT genius Franklin Webb (Justice Smith). They are met by a large group of mercenaries led by Ken Wheatley (Ted Levine).

With the dinos running everywhere and the volcano about to blow, the team gets the last few dinos ready to leave. It is up to Owen to try and locate Blue, the lone Velociraptor. But before you can say bait-and-switch, the tables are turned and Clair, Owen, Franklin and Zia find that there is trouble afoot. The dinos are taken instead to a remote mansion owned by Lockwood in Northern California. Eli Mills has some other intentions for the dinosaurs, which all include making lots of money. He has been paying Dr. Wu to come up with more lethal versions of the dinos, and he is paying Wheatley and his team to get the prehistoric monsters back to the mansion in the woods. He plans for an auctioneer named Eversol (Toby Jones) to auction off each dino to the highest bidder.

Sir Lockwood has a granddaughter named Maisie (Isabella Sermon) who is fond of the sickly old man. But Eli Mills is a fiend who can kill off anyone who gets in his way, and he also threatens Clair and Owen. But due to some amazing timing, there is some monkey business that goes on the night of the auction. There are people running and fleeing many dinosaurs, because, you know… “Life Finds a Way”. Meanwhile, a Senate committee is in session and they are questioning noted chaos theory specialist, Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum). He says, based on all that has happened, mankind will just have to get used to dealing with dinosaurs “Welcome to Jurassic World!”

Visually, this movie is a virtual treat. There are lots of great shots with many types of dinosaurs, and they all look fantastic. The level of the story, however, does reach the height of a Brachiosaurus. It is trite retread of the prior movies, with the added weird idea to take all the action from a large island, and instead put it all of the action into a confined mansion. The evil bad guys are portrayed over-the-top, even to the point of Wheatley collecting teeth from the dinos – like some type of serial killer getting trophies. The new characters do not add much, except they can scream on cue.

This series of movies has gone from “Jurassic Park” to “Jurassic World”, but now it got squeezed down to “Jurassic Mansion”. What could be next? “Jurassic Double-Wide”…

2001: A Space Odyssey – 50th Anniversary Re-Release Movie Review

June 18, 2018 Published by JMcNaughton

When 50 years goes by, and a movie released in 1968 is still shown in theaters, it must be a classic. That is the case for “2001: A Space Odyssey”, which is now a “2001: A Space Odyssey – 50th Anniversary Re-Release” version. The upgraded release is a throwback to the old days. Since this is an ‘unrestored’ 70mm print of the director’s groundbreaking science fiction epic. A true photochemical film recreation, this print was struck from new printing elements made from the original camera negative. That means; to see it in theaters with the 70mm print brings out the same experience as people had 50 years ago.

In case you do not know the story… There is a ‘Dawn of Man’ section that shows a group of humanoid apes that are brought in contact with a large black monolith. What is it? They don’t know, but it spurs on a understanding of how to use tools. A large bone comes in handy for killing animals for food, and other humanoid apes. But the bone quickly becomes…

A space transport shuttle going from Earth to an orbiting space station. A very slow and elegant process to land in the station is helped along by beautiful ‘The Blue Danube’ waltz music. Dr. Heywood Floyd (William Sylvester) is an important guy on a secret mission. There has been a mysterious find on the moon in a crater. Buried deep is a large black monolith. What is it? They don’t know, but it sends a piercing radio transmission to Jupiter. Then before long…

About a year and a half later, a spaceship is headed to Jupiter, with a crew and supercomputer named HAL 9000 (voiced by Douglas Rain). The crew consists of Dr. David Bowman (Keir Dullea) and Dr. Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood), plus three other members in hibernation. As they approach closer to Jupiter, the HAL 9000 begins to show some unusual strain. Bowman and Poole decide that the reliability for HAL is gone, and they will shut his systems down. But then HAL fights back. During a spacewalk, Poole is killed (as are the three other crew members). Bowman attempts to save him, and when he comes back to the ship – he gets the cold shoulder from HAL.

Bowman breaks into the ship and takes over the operations, but then he sees something. It is a large black monolith. What is it? He doesn’t know, but will investigate. The sequence turns into around 20 minutes of mind-bending visuals and an unusual set of events for Bowman. But in the end, there is a Star Child, who is in utero — staring at the Earth…

The End.

Sorry to ‘spoil’ anything from this movie, but you have had 50 YEARS to see it. So that’s on you! Stanley Kubrick decided to take a complex subject (meeting up with extraterrestrial life) and made the most interesting movie that could be made. In every manner, this movie is ground-breaking. From the visuals, to the production design, to the special effects – this is a movie that displays some gravitas on the big screen. Only the acting is a little stiff and wooden.

Also, when it viewed with a 70mm film created from the original movie negative, the visual are intense. You can even see a couple of places where there is a bad spot or two. But this adds to the authentic nature of how this was created. If there is any movie that benefits from a big screen and large frame format, it is “2001: A Space Odyssey”.

Ocean’s 8 Movie Review

June 8, 2018 (updated June 6, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

Back in 2001, there was a spiffy little heist movie called “Ocean’s 11”. It proved popular and was well-done, so that called for sequels called “Ocean’s 12” and “Ocean’s 13”. But the original people behind it moved on to other things. The high-concept idea of a major heist in a large public place pulled off with much style and flair then fell to — an all women crew. Hey, that worked for “Ghostbusters”, right? Well perhaps this one — “Ocean’s 8” — will be done much better…

Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock), who is sister to the recently deceased Danny Ocean (from the three other Ocean movies), is getting out of jail. She is a master con artist and a flim-flam gal. But she wins over the parole board with the promise to stay out of that life. When she is released, she is back into ful swing with her prior partner Lou (Cate Blanchett). Debbie has gone over all the details of a ‘perfect heist’ while in prison, and it gets Lou very interested. She sets up a work space and gets a crew together. This will involve fashion design, so first they get Rose Weil (Helena Bonham Carter).

They also need jewelry expert Amita (Mindy Kaling) and someone who can move stolen goods named Tammy (Sarah Paulson). On top of that they need a high-tech hacker named Nine Ball (Rihanna) and good thief named Constance (Awkwafina). They plan on getting a major celebrity named Daphne Kluger (Anne Hathaway) to wear a super pricey necklace to the Annual Met Gala, held at the Met Museum in May. According to Debbie’s master plan, they take the real necklace, then substitute a fake necklace and authorities will not know where to look.

Of course, the heist runs into bumps in the road and other hiccups that cause anguish. But that night, after perfect planning and exquisite execution, the plan works. Sort of. There are other ramifications, but Debbie Ocean has also made some plans for that. Her ex-boyfriend, Claude Becker (Richard Armitage), had been the reason she was sent to jail in the first place. So, he will have a little surprise coming. And an insurance investigator named John Frazier (James Corden) needs to get at least a portion of the pricey jewels back, so he and Debbie work out a deal. And, by the way, the huge necklace was the not the ONLY major haul that Debbie was planning for that night…

This movie is breezy and fashion-friendly, so expect the ladies who crave beauty and high-class outfits to eat it up. The acting is right on par with what is needed. Sandra Bullock provides the steady hand with the belief in her plan, and Cate Blanchett makes the right pieces fall into the right places. Mindy Kaling, Awkwafina and Sarah Paulson are nice partners in the heist plan. Helena Bonham Carter and Anne Hathaway duke it out for the ‘Slightly Ditzy Award’. Rihanna gives herself some acting cred in this role, and perhaps she will make into other movies, too. If John Legend and Common and do it, then so can she!

Gary Ross takes the existing trio of other “Ocean’s” movies and does a fairly good gender swap on the way those movies work. They took the suave charm of leading men (such as George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon) and gave it a fanciful story line with high-stakes outcomes in over-the-top locations. The main leads in “Ocean’s 8” (Bullock, Blanchett, Hathaway and the rest) have acting ability and also a lot of style. So the formula looks like it works when it gets done correctly.

“Ocean’s 8” has made a spot for itself in the series of earlier “Ocean’s” movies. It takes a little different view of the landscape, but the ride to the finish line is just as fun. Perhaps there can be an “Ocean’s 9” or even “Ocean’s 10”. I guess they would have to stop before they hit the next number…

Hotel Artemis Movie Review

June 8, 2018 (updated June 6, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

If you put yourself into the year 2028 and you are in L.A. then the “Hotel Artemis” might be the safest place to stay. There are riots (over lack of water) out on the streets, and the hand-basket is full on its way to Hell. The problem is that the Hotel is about to experience the worst night ever, which makes for crazy, loopy movie full of odd characters and violent situations. Kinda like a normal day in L.A. The Artemis is a members-only hotel, which also operates as a make-shift hospital for criminals. But something major is afoot…

The person in charge is Nurse Jean Thomas (Jodie Foster), who runs the underground operation on the penthouse floor of the building, located in mid-town L.A. She is quick with a kind word and high-tech medical supplies that can fix up all types of bad guys and gals. There is an elaborate list of rules that all the guests must follow, the most important is not to hurt or kill other guests or the staff. When the other person on staff is the muscle-bound hulk called Everest (Dave Bautista), it is better not to get him riled up.

But on this night, all the valued guests are checked into their rooms. And each guest then referred to by the decor theme of that room. Waikiki (Sterling K. Brown) is an injured thief checked into a room with Pacific Ocean scenes on the walls. Nice (Sofia Boutella) has a bullet wound in her room with an Italian countryside flair. Acapulco (Charlie Day) is a loud and obnoxious arms dealer with a room that shouts Ole. Waikiki has a brother in very bad shape in room Honolulu (Brian Tyree Henry), and he might not make it. But the final open room is going to Niagara (Jeff Goldblum) who is a major crime kingpin in L.A. — and he owns the building. He is also known as ‘The Wolf King’ because — it’s a cool name…

But this will be no ordinary night. There is a mobster in Detroit that is paying Nice for an assassination of a highly prominent person at the Hotel. Acapulco is attempting to get out of the country and flee from some bad deals he made. Waikiki and Honolulu are fresh from a robbery that has laid up Honolulu bad. They also are in possession of some precious jewels but these belong to ‘The Wolf King’ and he gets upset when they go missing. Nurse also happens to see a police officer named Morgan (Jenny Slate) right outside the back door who needs help. Everest tells Nurse it is a terrible idea to try and help her, and things will not go right. He is right, as usual…

When ‘The Wolf King’ arrives with his crazy son Crosby (Zachary Quinto) the wheels are set in motion, just before it all goes off the track. The people in the Hotel are avoiding the riots below, but there are plenty of violent moments up in the penthouse. Some of the guests will not survive the night, and there will be many blood infusions — but just as much blood spilled. Nurse has some deep secrets in her past, and the Officer Morgan helps her to remember the awful truth of her history. ‘The Wolf King’ has more to do with the Nurse’s tragic back-story than she first thought, and now revenge creeps into her mind.

The story is a little cliché and the concept a bit derivative of the “John Wick” universe. All the characters are mostly stereotypes, and only Nurse Jean Thomas has any real humanity in her story. Jodie Foster does a fine job with her portrayal of a shut-in with issues from the past and issue with any spaces bigger than the hallway. Every other character is pretty much a one-note look at a specific type. Dave Bautista does have a lot of fun as an orderly with pretty big chip on a pretty big shoulder. More likely than not, this set up would work for ‘John Wick’ just as well as it does for ‘The Wolf King’. But even as a copy of other ideas, this works out well.

Drew Pearce does a lot with the concept, even when it does not become fully-fleshed out. The idea is wild, and the futuristic setting has some nice touches. The characters are stock, for the most part — but everyone plays them with a lot of gusto. There are a few big fight sequences, and a much longer series of build-ups to the finale. The production design goes full Art Deco for the interior of the Hotel, which gives it a glamorous, yet old-timey look.

At the “Hotel Artemis”, you can check in any time you like, and only if you are still alive – then you can leave…

Adrift Movie Review

June 1, 2018 (updated May 31, 2018) Published by JMcNaughton

“Adrift” is a harrowing tale of survival at sea after a massive hurricane wreaks havoc on a small sailboat. In 1983 there was Raymond, a hurricane in the Pacific that set two people adrift in the ocean with little chance to survive. The story of this against-all-odds journey is what makes “Adrift” ‘see’ worthy. All puns aside, this is a cross between the movies “The Perfect Storm”, “Cast Away” and “All Is Lost”. But there is a deep sense of love that is the driving force in this movie, and it calls out for careful viewing.

Tami Oldham (Shailene Woodley) is adrift in her own life, travelling around the Pacific and winding up in Tahiti. She meets a man with a fine sailboat. He is Richard Sharp (Sam Claflin) and the two of them fall in love. Tami has no need to head home back to San Diego, but when an older couple offer Richard the opportunity to take their sailboat back – he must take that offer. There will be a nice payoff and a couple of first-class tickets back to Tahiti so that the two of them can start on their own adventures. Richard and Tami get everything ready for the journey out to sea.

It is all going so well, until Mother Nature intrudes and brings along hurricane Raymond. It is a monster of a storm and it rips the boat from stem to stern. The main sail is gone, and the radio is dead and there is precious little food and water. Tami wakes up in a panic. She was knocked out by the storm, and she cannot find Richard. Later, she sees that he is clinging to a lifeboat, and she swims out and drags him in. But things are not in good shape, as his ribs are broken and his leg is shattered. Even if she conserves all the food and water, there will not be enough.

They have no method to sail fast enough with just a small jib sail, so getting back to the States is impossible. She decides to change course and attempt to sail to Hawaii. But that will also take a great deal of time and it is also very risky. Tami is not an experienced sailor, but with encouragement from Richard, she is able to adjust the course and track the progress of the ship. But many days at sea can cause very weird things to happen, delusions and hallucinations are all too common. Tami thinks she sees a huge cargo vessel go right past her in the night, but she then thinks it was just a dream. Every past encounter with Richard is recalled and she thinks of all the love that they have, and it pushes her on to survive and make it out of this disaster. Richard will be her touchstone and her reason to overcome the obstacles.

There is a point in the movie that will redefine most everything that came before it, and it would be wrong to say too much. But the way the story moves up to that point, and the acting of the two lead characters just do a beautiful job to make it a very emotional moment. The writing does a great job to unfold the history of Tami and Richard’s love, and how they came to be soul mates. Shailene Woodley is very moving as Tami, with an emphasis on how this character grows into a much more capable and self-reliant being. Her soulful looks and painful eyes show that she is deeply affected by the trip. Sam Claflin is close to her equal, but his role is much more limited due to the difficulties that Richard has during the movie. Together, they make a very tragic couple, who can turn it all around and can find triumph.

The difficulties portrayed in “Adrift” are brutal, and look very realistic. You get a feeling that, at any point, the situation could change and become unbearable. But there are single moments that Tami clings to: an unexpected rain shower that brings much needed fresh water, the sky in the evening as the sun sets and how it lights up the clouds with so many tints of red, the bird that comes to perch on the deck – showing that land is nearby. These all make for mosaic that tacks left and right, into misery and then into beauty.

The love that Tami and Richard shared fueled the passion for survival that finally brought the crew in for a rescue. The overall story is sad, but there is another story of hope and struggle that shows how people can face adversity and come out on top.

Author: JMcNaughton