Category: Hero

THE CHOSEN (2019) series review

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STAR WARS IX (2019) movie review

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*spoilers; also don’t be shocked by a positive review… and don’t hate SW8 lovers…

REVIEW:

The finale’ to three trilogies has a lot to live up to, especially after the controversial penultimate Ponzi scheme that was the Rian Johnson debacle. Once again playing to OG fans in the safest of safe ways, JJ Abrams blinks past the memory of two years ago and allows respect to renter the universe. Sure, mock the risk-averse take on a timeless classic, but don’t tell me you don’t love Rey’s new kick flip force moves, or throwback speeder races, or a visit to Endor.

This time, Luke’s saber must be earned, falling rocks mean something, pogs get only a flash, and you can continue to ship Poe and Fin. Abrams fans will also see revivals from favorite faces of Charlie from Lost and two favorite characters from JJ’s hit 90s TV series Felicity: Greg Grunberg and Keri Russell . This film has everything from Sarlackian sinking sand pits to movable monster chess, Wookies in handcuffs, and Lando Calrissian.

It’s a date with the old franchise that raised you – plus a few of the new tricks like lightspeed skipping and interdimensional force fighting. Leia’s role is a perfect compliment to her character and career. And my favorite aspect of this film was the new perspective on the balance of the force that created resolve and unexpected connectivity between all nine films: Rey uses the force to heal. All others use the force to see or to fight, but Rey follows her heart and lays a hand of healing on her enemies, building relationship, forging heroes.

Kylo Ren’s journey becomes the echo of the Anakin story we all cared enough to follow over four decades. The which, I am grateful to have lived through. Star Wars and I have had a long journey together, and in this great wide universe, there will be conflict but we are never alone and there is always hope.

 

RATING:  7.5;  C+ …not the hateful 8th, but perhaps a recap of 7. I gave the “Honest Trailer” for this one all aces.

IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD (2019) movie review

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REVIEW in HAIKU:
Hanks’ Fred is spot on
two hours free counseling
With Mr Rodgers

REVIEW:
Get ready for the gut punch you never thought you needed. A kids show with a Seinfeldian slow-talker who changes his shoes a lot can’t possibly be life-giving, right? It’s almost as though you’re doing some pre-therapy during those oblivious childhood years as Mr Rogers subliminally offers acute preparation for the hardships of life. Divorce. Death. Conflict. Racial tensions. Forgiveness. He never shied away from hard topics. Neither does this real film covering a real article written by a journalist who meant to expose the mean side of Fred Rogers, digging at the alleged sharp-shooter. Instead, that journalist is forced to confront his life tragedies and forgive the man he blames: his own father. Daddy issues run deep.

Rogers is not the main character, but his words and attentive aid for the man trying to smear him become a catalyst for many rescued relationships. That’s what the puppets and the trolley and the fish tank and the shoes were all about: healing.

Go experience your own healing, as Tom Hanks masterfully embodies all of the tension that is getting close enough to others to hurt with them, to pray for them, and to maybe help them find their hearts again.

RATING: A (A must-see, A tear-jerker, A timeless tribute)

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: FALLOUT (2018) movie review

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If you’ve waited for the summer blockbuster to arrive, the action is finally here in MI: Fallout.From every Tom does-his-own-stunts Cruise classic rooftop run to helmet-less Top Gun throwback motorcycle ride, the now quintessential action hero must face harder crashes and crazier action, taller towers and gravity-defying thrills.Throw a mustachioed Superman in there and the fists of fury will fly.Now toss in a little romantic tension and the gang of old friends going rogue with Tom yet again in order to diffuse a few plutonium bombs.Add a chopper chase, stormy parachute drops, street races in Paris, and London tower climbs, and you’ve got a #1 summer film.It’s a stunt movie fueled by themes of mercy for the innocent, for the weak, for the one and for the many.It’s a cavalcade of mind-bending feats, each one topping the next. The decent script offers a load of exposition, but enough twists and tension to keep it interesting. The mission, if you CHOOSE to accept it…

“A storm is coming…”  
“I am the storm.”

JURASSIC WORLD: Fallen Kingdom (2018) movie review

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Jeff Goldblum tried to warn them. He tried to warn us all. He said, , “Life finds a way.”So, as fast as you can add an ellipses to the same movie title,  the dangerous become the endangered. In this serialized sequel, the raptor and our old pal the T-Rex reign as as the natural antagonists turned underdogs who must escape island destruction via live volcano lava as well as the grasp of greedy business men and their maniacal soldiers before they face another extinction or worse, weaponization.Predator to prey, this film seeks to prove that all it takes is a muscular raptor trainer, an executive party planner turned activist, and a small agile girl to save both the dinos and the world from an inevitable fate, a fate that was perhaps set the second Dr. Hammond played God in ‘93. 

SOLO (2018) movie review

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Han’s the Robin Hood renegade rescuer in a dark side double-cross in this delightfully high speed, Star Wars-style action story staring the lovely Alden Ehrenreich. There’s only one problem, he’s not Solo.No lack of star power, this film, rescued by all-star director Ron Howard plays like a sci-fi western Mission Impossible Bourne Identity Star Wars mash-up staring favorite faces from film and TV hits like Avengers, Hunger Games, Westworld, Atlanta (& Community), even Game of Thrones. Paul Bettany, Woody Harrelson, Thandie Newton, Donald Glover, and Emilia Clarke make Solo characters instantly recognizable and likable. The only distraction, which was also a major issue in Rogue One, is the Robot with too many lines bent on comic relief. Making her an advocate for Robot rights and a love interest for Lando still did not pay off or play as a necessary point in this Solo plot. Disney bankrolled this SW origin story hoping to draw millions of fans with these famous names.What’s in a name? Well, Harrison Ford IS Han Solo. His brusque, carefree swagger fresh off a construction set and into the believable bad boy cockpit of the Millenium Falcon has been winning the hearts of OG Star Wars fans since ‘77. He’s the heart-of-gold smuggler who always claims to be in it for just that: the gold. He’s the Cool Hand on the run who shoots first, sass talks the evil Jabbas of the space underworld, and gets frozen in carbonite.But now, the “I have a bad feeling about this” guy is all smiles and jeers, hope and helpfulness.
Sadly, this backstory romp escaping a tramp planet and into WWI conditions does not bring clarity to the Solo story despite run-ins with Glover’s suave Lando.New Han is all good guy, sweet smiles, protecting the girl, saving the people. Here the cowboy wanders war-torn planets of mud and ice and sand as lovesick slave turns good guy smuggler. Classic and entertaining, just not Solo.