Yay – our local theatre at Arundel Mills is back in business! We were there for the re-opening, so to speak, since it was the first Saturday the county allowed it to be open in several months. Everything is looking good, and the management is doing a great job. As you can imagine, there were some technical difficulties with starting everything back up. The movie was delayed about 20 minutes so the manager gave everyone a free pass to a future movie for our inconvenience. (We really weren’t inconvenienced, but we’ll take it!). Now to the movie. “The Little Things” stars Denzel Washington as a small town deputy sheriff, Joe “Deke” Deacon, who used to be a big deal detective in Los Angles. Something bad happened during his last case in Los Angeles and he ended up losing his wife, having a heart attack, and having to leave under a dark cloud. Whatever it was will keep you guessing until the end. He’s back in LA on a routine assignment to pick up a piece of evidence, and is delayed and sort of tags along with the current hot shot detective Sgt. Jim Baxter, played by Rami Malek. Baxter is facing a possible serial killer and it seems his case may be related in some ways to a cold case of Deke’s. Jared Leto is his usual weird and creepy villain who may or may not be the sadistic serial killer. Denzel is at his quiet best, and he and Rami finesse their impromptu alliance well. Jared excels in his portrayal of the odd and subtly maleficent suspect. My friend, Dava, says this movie reminds her of “Seven,” starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman, with Kevin Spacey. I tend to agree. If you enjoyed “Seven”, are fans of Denzel or Rami, or like to predict what will happen next, this is the movie for you.
The Magnificent Seven
I am starting this review with a shout out to the Cinemark Theatre in Hanover, Maryland. I asked if they would be willing to donate an item to my school as a student reward and they countered with a donation of 30! I appreciate the generosity and support of education. Now on to the review. If you are a fan of the original Seven Samurai or the previous Magnificent Seven starring Yul Brenner and Steve McQueen, you will not be disappointed in this new remake. Denzel Washington plays the bounty hunter who agrees to help a young widow whose town is being taken over by a sleaze bucket played by Peter Sarsgaard. I was charmed by Haley Bennett and hope to see her in more movies in the future. Denzel never disappoints and he doesn’t here. Chris Pratt provides some laugh out loud comedy relief. Do not go to this movie if you are squeamish about violence. This movie has a higher body count than I have seen in recent years. That being said, it was a diverting and well-done movie. I doubt if you will be sorry you went and you will definitely be entertained.