Adnerb the Movie Nerd

Movie reviews from a middle school teacher's perspective

The Hitman’s Bodyguard

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I must admit that when it comes to Samuel L. Jackson, I will see him in just about anything.  Even a movie on a plane with a bunch of snakes.   For a teacher about to go back to work, this was a good diversion. He plays the hitman of the title, and he needs a bodyguard because he is the only surviving witness who can testify against bad Eastern European President Gary Oldman.  Ryan Reynolds plays the down on his luck Grade A protection agent who is tasked to guard the life of this world’s most notorious hitman. It turns out they have met before and both have tried to kill the other. Plus, Sam knocked off one of Ryan’s clients in the past, which caused him to go downhill. And…there are more little plot quirks!  As you might expect, this summer buddy comedy is full  of action packed car chases, witty banter, menacing bad guys and even a little pathos.  Gary Oldman is fine as the villain, but I think you will be surprised by Selma Hayek’s character, who is married to Jackson’s character and  possibly uses even  more profanity than Jackson does. So if you like Ryan  Reynolds and Samuel Jackson and want to see them in an amusing fluff of a movie, you won’t be disappointed.

 

Kidnap

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Let’s start with the good news. I love going to the movies.  My husband and I  go just about every week, which means we see around 50 movies a year, just  about all of them at our local Cinemark Theater.  I would like to give Cinemark Egyptian Theater a shout out.  This week they donated some promotional ‘Dunkirk’ filmstrips to my school. Hats off to Cinemark and their general manager Derick Glover!  Now for the bad news. ‘Kidnap’ is a very sub par movie.  Halle Berry deserves much more.  The basic idea is that her son is kidnapped from a park when she takes her eyes off of him for a minute to take a phone call.   Knowing she has no time to call the police, she jumps in her own car and the chase is on!  Oh that there was more than just a chase! I hate movies that have their main characters do incredibly stupid things to move the plot.  She carelessly loses her phone, runs out of gas, sets down a gun to check out a noise so that one of the kidnappers can pick it up.  She has the presence of mind to pick up a butcher knife, and then puts it down to rescue her son while the kidnapper/murderer is lurking. To top it off, after miles and miles of speeding cars, weaving traffic, horrific crashes and a stop at a sheriff’s office; only one motorcycle cop manages to appear, and of course promptly tries to stop her as she’s screaming her kid’s been kidnapped, just before the bad guy crunches him.  But, once things are safely resolved (and I don’t think I’m giving you a spoiler there), cops galore show up, helicopters included!  And in less time than it takes them to escort her and her son away, the news is already telling us about the state wide kidnapping ring this has exposed!  I call..well, you know what!  ‘Kidnap’ is only 82 minutes long and I still kept looking at my watch!!  Definitely skip this one and wait for Halle Berry to be featured in a movie that deserves the acting chops she was not allowed to use in this one!

The Dark Tower

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I notice that this movie has been getting terrible reviews, but I have to disagree with most of these critics.  I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.  In fact, I would be happy to see it again.  The basic story involves around The Gunslinger, the last of his kind,  played convincingly by Idris Elba, who is tasked with protecting the Dark Tower.  Once the Dark Tower falls, many parallel worlds, including  Earth, will fall to the dark powers of The Man in Black played deliciously by Matthew McConaughey.  The fuel that The Man in Black uses to destroy the tower is creepy and won’t be spoiled here.  The main thing standing in the way of the evil plans is a young boy with super psychic powers.  The interplay between the Gunslinger and the young boy are heartwarming and the threat to Earth seems very real.  Perhaps some of the poor reviews are from people who have read the books and were dissatisfied with the transfer to the big screen.  I have not read the books, so I had no preconceived idea of the movie. In fact, this movie has actually inspired me to want to read the book.  A lot of Stephen King based movies would not be good for kids, but I think older kids would really appreciate and enjoy this one.  The classic battle between good and evil always makes for a good movie.  In my opinion, skip the reviews and give this one a try!

Atomic Blonde

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I will cut to the chase, this kind of movie is just not my cup of tea.  I am not a fan of unrelenting violence.  This is  saying something as I religiously watch Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead, so I am no shrinking violet. However, the violence, for me, gets in the way of a story that I found somewhat interesting.  Charlize Theron plays an elite MI6 British spy who uses her considerable skills in Berlin right before the Berlin Wall is demolished.    She is sent into Berlin and makes contact with another spy played by James McAvoy.  The plot also involves  a search for a missing list of double agents, a ruthless espionage ring, nudity and enough blood to fill a bathtub or two.   Even though this movie is not my kind of movie, that is not to say it is bad.  If you like John Wick, Jason Bourne and Jack Reacher, I think you will enjoy seeing a woman playing this kind of character.  Plus, she looks good in all of those different costumes and can do one thing all of those other characters can’t do; fight in and with three inch heels!  Plus, any movie that throws in John Goodman and Toby Jones can’t be all bad.

Dunkirk

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In 1940, British and French soldiers are trapped against the English Channel by the German army after a set of military disasters at the beginning of World War II.  In a desperate tactic, the English, using mainly civilian boats and crews, were able to evacuate more than 300,000 soldiers to live and fight another day.  If you are thinking that this doesn’t sound like an exciting event, think again!!  This movie really brings this story alive with a mixture of historic detail and great story telling.   Kudos to Christopher Nolan.  The movie is told from three different perspectives:  a British private desperately trying to get home, an RAF pilot flying a Spitfire and an average man who helms his commandeered boat to rescue as many of the boys as he can.  Mark Rylance plays the civilian ship owner who shows the calm determination of the men who sailed the “cockle shell” fleet to the war torn Dunkirk beaches.  His reasons become clear as the movie progresses.  It is no fluke he won an Academy Award for “Bridge of Spies.” This man has quite the acting chops!  Tom Hardy portrays a Spitfire pilot with a quiet fortitude as he battles against German fighters and a bomber over the Channel.  There is not a lot of dialog here, Nolan lets the action tell the story and oh what a story it is!  The reactions shown by the rescued soldiers and the British people that meet them sum up the story, with a final summation provided by one of the men reading parts of Winston Churchill’s famous address about fighting on as the Battle of Britain looms. This is Nolan’s first historical movie and I hope it won’t be his last.  We saw the 70mm film version and let me tell you, several times I thought I was watching 3D because of the way the film puts you in the middle of the action.  All in all, this was a thrilling and emotional ride that will leave you wanting to run to the nearest bookstore (or on-line website) to research more about this great unsung (in movies) event from World War II.