Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

7/10

Starring

Matthew Broderick

Mia Sara

Alan Ruck

Directed by John Hughes

Is it possible not to have heard of Ferris Bueller's Day Off?

Is it possible to see it and hate it? The answer to both questions is NO.

This is the movie that defined the phrase, “rebel without a cause.” Ferries was just a young lad who wanted to skip school and have the best day of his life, along with his best friend and the love of his life. Ferris popularity in his town is based on his ability to charm anyone and get away with things by using his wits. It is those wits and gimmicks that we get to see and enjoy in this movie. It is not the adventure that made this movie for me. What Ferris viewed as fun can be to others dull, but Ferris himself is the reason this movie is so popular and has been included in many film rating lists.

The plot starts with the intro to our hero, Ferris Bueller. Ferris is pulling a stunt so as to miss school his sister Jean is aware of the plot and is angry about it. His stunt worked and he was able to fool his parents that he was sick and cannot go to school that day.

He takes this stunt one step further calling his friends at school and telling them that he is so sick he could die. Being a popular person around town everywhere people are worried and are willing to do anything to help him.

Ferris on the other hand was busy planning the best outing he could get as he wants to make this skipping school the best ever. He calls his best friend Cameron to come pick him up and he convinces Cameron to take his father’s pride and joy car.

He also picks up his girlfriend from school using another stunt to get her out, and the whole movie is about Ferris ride into town, his gimmicks, near misses and his principal hell bent on catching him in a lie.

When you see Ferris Bueller's Day Off, you see where many movies have picked up one thing or two.

It was written, co-produced and directed by the late John Hughes, someone we know is behind all the favorite comedies of the 80s and early 90s.

The movie earned Broderick a Golden Globe nomination in 1986 for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. Broderick has been unable to step out of the shadow of a character he played in 1986. Saying that people still walk up to him on the street and call him Ferris or asking if he is having a day off.

This movie and the voice casting as adult Simba in The Lion King animated trilogy is Broderick's most memorable roles.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off has one very wonderful advise for finding the joy in living: 'Life moves pretty fast; if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it!'"

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

7/10

Starring

Gene Wilder

Jack Albertson

Peter Ostrum

Roy Kinnear

Directed by Mel Stuart

I was born fourteen years after this cult classic was made, but the invitation of the beautiful Willy Wonka intro song:

Come with me

And you'll be

In a world of pure imagination

Take a look and you'll see

Into your imagination

Was all the juice I needed that made me see this movie time and time again when I was younger. I just wanted to be in that world, be one of the children who got to experience the magic in the chocolate factory. This 1971 adaptation became so loved, that many of my pairs childhood was not complete until they had seen it.

The film tells the story of a poor child named Charlie Bucket who lives with his mother and four grandparents.

There is a popular man named Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder) known around the world for making the best chocolates. Wonka stays away from the public eye and his factory does not allow visitors.

Then to the surprise of the world Wonka has decided to open his factory to visitors, but only to those who find a Golden Ticket in one of his chocolate bars. They were five tickets in total, and each ticket allows the child and an accompany adult. Well, Charlie found one ticket and he was allowed into the Willy Wonka's chocolate factory along with four other children from around the world. The movie is about their journey through the factory.

The movie is based on a children’s book named Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, in the year 1964. Roald also wrote, James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, Fantastic Mr Fox and The BFG all of which have also been adapted into films.

Roald initially was part of the script directors, but later left the production and did not approve of the final result, because of some of the deviation from his original plot. The movie maintained the main theme though and gave us the late Gene Wilder in one of his best performances.

The film allowed his eccentric nature go lose on screen and with it came beautiful music. Even though Wilder is not known for singing, he deliverd.

The movie may not have been a box office hit when it was released, but the cult following and the constant TV broadcast has turn it to a hit.

The movie also has a second adaptation done in 2005 called Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp. This adaptation gave us a little more light to the origin of Willy Wonka, something Burton made up for the movie. The adaptation also had a different ending for Willy Wonka.

I will be seeing this 1971 adaptation again, just for the joy of being taken to a world of Pure Imagination.

Hero (1992)

Hero (1992)

5/10

Starring

Dustin Hoffman

Geena Davis

Andy Garcia

Directed by Stephen Frears

Hero is a movie you cannot see twice, because the movie is too long and lacks good cohesion between the stories and sub-stories. That is the main problem. There were scenes in this movie that needed to be cut and there were scenes if they were shorter, would have helped in making this movie better.

The movie starts strong and gives us the character Bernard LaPlante (Dustin Hoffman) who while in the courtroom for a crime of selling and being in possession of stolen goods, stole a purse. At this point you know the movie has a character that is not going to be easily forgettable.

Then the movie builds a world around this character, we see his ex-wife and his son. We get to see the world he lives in, how he gets by selling credit cards he stole and all the shifty things he does to make money.

Then the movie shows us another world, which at first you wonder how both are going to collide and how much you hope it will be a cool collision. In this other world we have the news people. The lead of this other world is anchor lady Gale (Geena Davis) she and everyone in this world are just weirdly oblivious to reality and have shit for brains.

Why would I say that?

Here is the plot. Bernard as said above is a no good for nothing human who happens to be around when there was a plane crash. He runs into the burning plane and saves the lives of over 50 people.

Many of the people saw him as he was doing his heroic stunts, which was done using overacting. Dustin Hoffman overacted the I do not care about others, but myself and my glory in this save the people from the plane crash scene.

Then after the incident he leaves, tells his friends Bubber (Andy Garcia) the story and gets thrown into jail for the reason he was in the courtroom which was mentioned above. Bubber seizes the moment to tell everyone that he was the one who saved the lives of the people on the plane and gets a reward. Now how Bubber tells the story and how come of all the stories to believe Bubber was the one that the news station believed. The reason the writers had for this was the magical other shoe, which you will understand if you get to see this movie.

The shoe was shown to everyone on TV, but let us assume that only one pair of such shoes exist in the whole world. How can the whole news station fall for this guys story and not even do a good enough check? No one suspected a thing, even the people that saw LaPlante it didn’t come across to them that Bubber was much taller, and Gale when going through the story with Bubber didn’t bother to notice something was off in Bubber’s presence.

Let us add to that, LaPlante who has gotten out of jail and wants to tell his own story could not get anyone to listen. From the time he saved everyone from the plane (before he was thrown into jail) he has been unable to tell his story to one living sole except for Bubber.

Why, well nobody gives him the chance. Which is weird how come nobody cares to know, if Bubber is lying or not.

When Gale finally hears, not from LaPlante and then concludes that LaPlante is blackmailing Bubber. How she was able to jump to that conclusion after she found evidence that LaPlante was probably the hero is something I wish the writers can explain.

There is so many things wrong with this movie and the problems are based on two main issues, the movie is hell too long and the stories lacked cohesion.

Spies in Disguise (2019)

Spies in Disguise (2019)

7/10

Starring the voices of

Will Smith

Tom Holland

Rashida Jones

Ben Mendelsohn

Directed by Troy Quane and Nick Bruno

Spies in Disguise is one movie I hope many take the time to go see. The movie is fast paced with terrific voice casting and funny to the bone. I like the simplicity in the production of this animation and the lack of need to try and make the animation realistic. It was like the animation knew what it had to deliver and made sure it performed that act to the best of its ability.

Without the over the top CGI, here is what the movie’s plot is about.

A secret agent named Lance (Will Smith) is known to be the world's most awesome spy, like James Bond, but black and cool. He is known for always wanting to go it alone and do things his own way.

On the other side of the spectrum is Walter (Tom Holland), a socially challenged scientific genius who wants to make the world a better place without hurting anyone.

During an incident which resulted in Lance confronting Walter, Lance accidentally drank something which was not meant for consumption which then transformed him into a pigeon. To make it worse, Lance is being hunted by his agency for betrayal.

While he is trying to clear his name he must hunt down the person behind his name being dragged in the mud, a cybernetic terrorist. And he needs Walter to come up with an antidote for his pigeon form so he can be human again.

The production of this animation was wrapped up before the Disney acquisition of 20^th Century Fox. Making this animation the first Blue Sky Studios release under their new parent company Walt Disney. I do not think Disney tried to pump much marketing funds into this movie after the acquisition, but I do hope word of mouth will move many to go see this family friendly gem. You can bet Disney has much of their marketing power behind their Star Wars franchise to wrap up the Skywalker Saga.

The movie is having a hard start in the box office because it is being overshadowed this 2019 by another Disney movie released to take advantage of the festive season – Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker. To add more challenge Frozen 2 (2019) another animation and a huge children favorite released also by Disney, is also in the mix for capturing children’s interest and will take money off this movie. That said this movie is up against an onslaught of money grabbers, and will not be a huge money maker, but I do not think Disney cares much about that.

The way the animation ended, opens the door for many possibilities when it comes to sequels, it is left to see if Disney will explore such.

Spies in Disguise is a fun family friendly movie that anyone can go see on their own or with their family. Children will love it and parents can be comfortable with the message the movie passes across.

Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)

Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)

6/10

Starring

Dwayne Johnson

Jack Black

Kevin Hart

Karen Gillan

Nick Jonas

Awkwafina

Directed by Jake Kasdan

Jumanji: The Next Level plays similar to the tune of the previous Jumanji movie, Welcome to the Jungle (2017). The difference is the reason why the people are back in the game and the change in the characters they came back as, gave the movie the needed twist it needed right from the start.

This needed twist helped in keeping things fresh as the movie maintained the core elements it had from Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017).

At the end I felt the movie is just as good and fulfilling as Welcome to the Jungle (2017), but does not carry the power of the first movie, Jumanji (1995) by the late Robin Williams. Jumanji (1995) deserves it’s own pedestal and should probably not be rated along any that follows.

The movie’s change in the motive of the characters going back into the game and the change in the characters they were from the previous movie, added to the fun.

I also enjoyed the addition of two new characters in the movie. At first when they joined the rest I was afraid of the movie becoming over crowded, but the writers handled this very well.

They did so by keeping two characters out for the first half of the movie. This they used to create a reason to bring back Alex (Nick Jonas) and then adding them later on.

This also of added more spice to the already well put together plot.

The plot introduces two new characters in the real world, Eddie (Danny DeVito) and Milo (Danny Glover). Spencer has been struggling since his adventure as Dr. Bravestone (in the previous movie and) in the game he has been left feeling inadequate in the real world.

He had pieces of the game which they all destroyed in Welcome to the Jungle (2017), and even though the game was not functioning well Spencer went back in. The others went to see him at his house, worried about the way he has been acting, only to find the game online. Believing that Spencer has been sucked in, they went in after him to save him.

It was there they discovered that Eddie (Spencer’s grandfather) and Milo (Eddie’s estranged friend), has joined them in the game.

What they also learned is that, Dr. Bravestone is a character with them at present, that means when Spencer came back he came back as a new character. Add to that Bethany did not get sucked into the game and was left out.

The game gave them their new quest and along with the need to find Spencer they all began their journey.

As said above, the movie is a lot like Welcome to the Jungle (2017) and if you enjoyed that, you will enjoy this.

Jumanji (1995)

Jumanji (1995)

8/10

Starring

Robin Williams

Kirsten Dunst

David Alan Grier

Bonnie Hunt

Jonathan Hyde

Bebe Neuwirth

Directed by Joe Johnston

When I was younger in the 90s, there was nothing as amazing as seeing the late Robin Williams as Alan Parrish take on the world of Jumanji.

Williams acting and the way he played a man out of touch with the present day that he is, is something you must see to appreciate.

Maybe younger people will appreciate the Dwayne Johnson editions of the movie better, but neither holds a candle to this magnificent original. These were direct sequels to this 1995 movie released in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019). The 2017 and 2019 sequels are connected to this movie, but there was a non-connected sequel in 2005 called Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005), which was also a very good movie.

Regardless of the time to which this movie was released the plot, acting and everything the movie entails still makes it a masterpiece and a reason why I believe a sequel and not a reboot was done. Also, one of the best child acting you can see was done by Kirsten Dunst and along with the late Robin Williams, they made this movie easy to watch even now.

This movie is a fantasy adventure film which is an adaptation of the 1981 children's book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg. The plot here centers around Alan, who as a younger boy failed to be responsible for his actions and also take on the younger boys that were bullying him.

When he was trying to get away from his bullies one day he ran into his father’s warehouse and there he caused a mess, left without taking responsibility for it and then he heard the sound of the drums.

The Jumanji game gives out sounds of drums inviting the hearer to come play it. Alan succumb to the sound and traced it to retrieve the game. He took it to his home where he had a fight with his father and who then leaves for his dinner with Alan’s mother. Alone, he gets a visit from a girl he likes Sarah, she too hears the drums and they both sit to play.

Her first roll brings bats to the house, the second roll by Alan, gets him sucked and trapped in the game. The only way out for him was if someone plays five or eight. But when Sarah saw Alan get sucked into the game, she runs away.

Twenty-six years later, we find out that everyone believes Alan has been murdered some think it was by his father.

Their house has now been sold to a lady who is watching over her niece (Judy: Kristen Dunst) and nephew (Peter) whose parents had died. It is when the children who also hearing the drums, started playing the game. They released dangerous mosquitoes and monkeys before Peter rolled a five releasing a now grown Alan (Robin Williams) and a Lion.

Now Alan is happy to be out and wants nothing to do with the game, the children are freaked by all that has happened and they want everything to end. Which according to the rule of the game will only happen when they finish the game.

I do not mind the new sequels, but there is nothing as good as this 1995 original.

Jexi (2019)

Jexi (2019)

4/10

Starring

Adam DeVine

Alexandra Shipp

Michael Pena

Rose Byrne (as the voice of Jexi)

Directed by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore

Jexi is a movie that starts weak gets rolling and delivers some good laughs then gets weirdly irritating.

The movie is relatable to what happens today, we let our phones have passwords and access to our personal files and life. Nobody ever reads the terms and conditions to know how much access and how much of our personal lives we are giving up to the likes of Facebook, Google and phones.

Jexi explores that loop hole and makes a movie out of it, problem is the movie is not worth all the time I spent seeing it. I do not feel Adam DeVine has enough star power to carry a movie as a lead. To make it worse this movie does not give out enough juice to make you think it is worth spending money to see.

The movie plot first starts up like a comical version of the amazing Joaquin Phoenix movie in 2013, Her. Pretty soon you will notice the diversion in the two as our lead here Phil (Adam DeVine) is living in the current times and is hooked on his phone. He rather spend time with his phone than with anyone else.

One day he met the beautiful Cate and on such a day his phone got damaged. He had to go get another phone and that is when he met Jexi. He agreed to the terms and conditions without reading them and allowed Jexi have access to everything that concerns him. This phone’s AI is what Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa would wish they can be. As the phone takes making your life better literally.

She made Phil go out with his colleagues and play kickball, which in turn helped him to make new friends, the phone also helped him get the girl. The phone assisted in keeping him caged from his foolish behavior or thoughts on what he should not do and also cued him in on what he should do.

After he was able to get the girl, Cate wanted him to go out with him and leave the phone behind. Jexi did not like this and became jealous of Cate.

Her jealous tantrum is memorable and very funny. It was her actions that were just weird and irritating. Imagine what you phone can do if it can do anything, all the personal pictures you have taken or sites you have visited, imagine how much of this info you will like to keep to yourself.

In the end the movie just could not keep up with the expected entertainment it delivered at its high. It just went down hill after the phone became jealous giving us scenes after scenes that failed to ignite a spark, but instead just irritated me.

Colossal (2016)

Colossal (2016)

5/10

Starring

Anne Hathaway

Jason Sudeikis

Dan Stevens

Austin Stowell

Tim Blake Nelson

Directed by Nacho Vigalondo

The movie is not bad, just very difficult to recommend to anyone to go see.

The movie Colossal has a lot missing in it, like the whole monster and human connection or what led to what. Yeah, there was lightning and the need for us to use our imagination, but why just these two people? Why not other monster’s in other places controlled by other people?

Anyways, the movie was not bad to watch and it was not boring, the producers found a way to use very few cast to pass the message they wanted.

Colossal does not have fascinating CGI so do not go looking for any. There is no monster on monster action fight, so do not go looking for that too. The only thing that made this movie not a bad watch is the action of the characters. Anne Hathaway for one was just amazing in this movie.

Here is the plot, Gloria (Anne Hathaway) is a struggling unemployed writer and she is a raging alcoholic. The only way she is getting by is by taking advantage of her boyfriend Tim (Dan Stevens). When Tim got tired of watching over her and she refusing to change from her alcoholic ways with her friends he dumps her. He packs her things and told her to leave.

Without any choice on the matter she leaves and goes back to her childhood home in New England. While there she reunites with an old childhood friend Oscar (Jason Sudeikis). Oscar runs a bar and gives Gloria a job there.

Gloria now works at the bar and gets to hangout with two of Oscar’s friends and they drink together.

While sleeping off on a bench near a children's playground after another night of drinking. At the same time, a giant reptilian monster appears in Seoul. The monster caused a lot of damage and left many dead.

When Gloria gets home she comes to the realization that the she caused the monster to manifest. She also discovers she is able to control the monster’s movement as the monster mirrors her movement.

She shares this secret with Oscar and his friends and shows them proof. All will have been horrible with the movie if that is all the focus the movie had to deliver. Reason being build up to this was not much entertaining and it was hard to see where the movie was going to go from there.

But then we learn that Oscar is a possessive individual with some serious mental issues and then there is another monster who shows up also in Seoul.

The movie was not financially successful and if you do not get to see this movie you are not missing out on anything.

Strange Days (1995)

Strange Days (1995)

7/10

Starring

Ralph Fiennes

Angela Bassett

Juliette Lewis

Tom Sizemore

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow

Here is an overlooked classic, an underrated gem that any Sci-Fi lover should see. Strange Days is one of those films that the writing is done just the way I like. They ignored the present way things are done remove the limitation there is and created technology that only existed in the movie’s timeline. Someone who is a master at doing this is the same person behind the screenplay and the production of this movie, James Cameron.

The movie is directed by one of the best directors out there Kathryn Bigelow.

She overdid herself in this movie, with the use of handheld camera and her directing style. She paced the movie on cruise control allowing the story to unravel gently and merging like four different story arcs to a very succinct ending. Plus she took this movie down something unconventional creating something so ahead of its time that even the critics and audience back then and could not even grasp.

The movie is well received now and seen as a missed experience those back in the 90s. Regardless of what the critics and audience thought, even though the movie was a box office bomb (costing 42 million and making only 8 million domesntically), her work was recognized. She became the first woman to win the Saturn Award for Best Director in 1995 for Strange Days.

The movie’s pace is done dramatically so that the viewer is not just dropped into the action, we get to see the lead and everyone involved get by.

The plot takes place two days before Jan 1st 2000. This movie is about POV (point-of-view) recordings which are gotten using a technology which is like wearing a hairnet on your head.

The device is called SQUID it is an illegal tech which records memories and physical sensations directly from the wearer's cerebral cortex. These recordings and feelings are stored on a disc which can then be played back.

Lenny (Ralph Fiennes) was a former LAPD officer and his best friends are Mace (Angela Basset) and Max (Tom Sizemore). Mace does not like what Lenny does to make a living, which is illegal SQUID sales and made her dislike very clear to Lenny.

The whole movie plot revolves around Lenny’s dealing in illegal SQUID recordings. One of Lenny’s friend Iris, drops a disc into Lenny’s car which has some illegal activity being done.

Lenny did not get to see this disc at first as his car was towed away for lack of payments. Iris was busy trying to tell Lenny that she is in trouble, something you get to witness when you are watching this movie as we see her being chased by two police officers.

Another disc was left for Lenny with a friend of his, the disc also has another illegal act being done. When Lenny gets to see the other disc’s content left for him in his car by Iris he and Mace are now dragged into linking the two crimes and solving it.

The movie then gives us a surprise turn ending that there is no way you would have seen it coming.

Angela Basset was also recognized for her role in this movie winning best actress at the Saturn Awards that year.

Kathryn Bigelow's style of movie making has made her a master in the business. This was not the last time she set the pace as the first female director to win an award in a male dominated arena. In 2008 her movie The Hurt Locker won Best Picture at the Academy Film Awards. It also got her the first female to win Best Director at the Academy Awards.

Here is a movie that paces itself and delivers the magic punch at the right moment, go see it.

Johnny Mnemonic (1995)

Johnny Mnemonic (1995)

5/10

Starring

Keanu Reeves

Dolph Lundgren

Takeshi Kitano

Ice-T

Dina Meyer

Directed by Robert Longo

As far as the movie goes it is not spectacular and I wonder if William Gibson the screenplay writer would have felt he should have stuck true to the story.

Based on a short-story of the same name by the screenplay writer himself in 1981, the film is not close to the source material to which it is adapted from. Other than taking with it, the story structure and the world to which the story lives, other things are added to flesh out the world of the movie.

In this new world Johnny is like an anti-hero and the other characters in the movie added to what made this movie look and feel like an overbudget B-movie.

This cyberpunk action thriller stars Keanu Reeves as Johnny and it was the last theatrical released movie of Dolph Lundgren before The Expendables (2010).

The story structure of the book and movie has Johnny as a data trafficker who has undergone some kind of cybernetic surgery to have a data storage system implanted in his head. This allows him to store digital information which are too sensitive to be transmitted online.

Johnny has no idea what the data is and the data itself is password locked. The password is known only to the intended recipient.

At this point the movie then deviates into the making of an anti-hero. While Johnny in the book settled to survive by being a blackmailer here in the movie, they introduced a disease called NAS. NAS is short for Nerve Attenuation Syndrome which is something added to the movie, something Johnny seems to be able to solve. The how is something you will get from watching the movie.

While other people are looking for Johnny time is running out on Johnny himself. So, either he survives from the people looking to kill him or he finds a way to get the data off his head or be killed because of its presence.

This try to save the world addition to the movie plot made the movie take a no needed turn for us to know more about Johnny. His personal struggles, and see him contemplate being good and stop thinking of himself, something the short-story did not have to bother much about. The movie

Johnny Mnemonic is a popular movie for those who were born earlier, but even seeing it now I still understand why I did not like it much back then. The short story it is based on does not have like ninety percent of the characters that are in the movie, so if you get to read the short story, do not be alarmed.

Equilibrium (2002)

Equilibrium (2002)

 7/10

Starring

Christian Bale

Emily Watson

Taye Diggs

Directed by Kurt Wimmer

Equilibrium was my second take on Christian Bale as an actor and his role in this movie shows the different degrees to which this man can deliver on a role. When you put up his performance side by side with the others to which he starred along, he was just high above them in delivery. The movie suffered one major downside – when Bale had to take on the main villain, it was anti-climactic.
This movie is one of the most underrated Sci-Fi movies you should see.

The movie displayed some amazing fighting skills by the Clerics, who are the people employed to deal with those who break the law of no emotions.

The movie's setting is very similar to Nineteen Eighty-Four a novel by George Orwell, but the story differs. Set in the 21st century after World War III, which somehow this present world has found a way not to get sucked into. In a totalitarian state called Libiria (setup by survivors of World War III) has all emotions and emotionally stimulating objects forbidden. To enforce this rule of living with no emotions a daily dose of a psychopharmaceutic drug called Prozium II is to be used by the people.

The city is governed by the Tetragrammaton Council which is led by someone called Father, who communicates propaganda to the people.

In 2072, John Preston (Christian Bale) was a high-ranking Cleric. These Clerics are equipped with some amazing martial skills and are magnificent in the use of gun. They are fast and are even able to in some way dodge bullets (not in the matrix style).

John's wife, Viviana, was executed four years prior to the now as a Sense Offender. John did nothing to help her when his home was raided and she was captured. The incident made him single parent to a son and a daughter.

During a raid to capture and kill some group resistance to the new order, John found out that his partner was also a Sense Offender. His partner stole a book of poems, when John tracks him down his partner refused to be captured and John had to kill him. John mistakenly missed a dosage of his drug before going for on another raid and that is when things started to become clearer to him. He starts to question everything and before long he was a problem that needed to be eliminated.

Fantastic movie, fun action fights and a movie to watch again now in 2019. Even if it is just to see Christian Bale do what his best at doing, being an actor.

Uncut Gems (2019)

Uncut Gems (2019)

7/10

Starring

Adam Sandler

Kevin Garnett

Idina Menzel

Directed by Josh and Benny Safdie

Uncut Gems is one movie that is just so weird and good. Adam Sandler is just heads and shoulders above the rest of the cast and his performance is super. If you have not taken the time to see this movie I advise you do. The movie is over two hours long, but the events are enough to keep you entertained and glued. The movie ends in a way that just plants what may be the needed message the movie may have tried to pass across. That message will be, gambling is never a good way to earn a living or payoff debts.

First the movie is not a comedy, which is something Sandler is known for. Instead, it is a dramatic crime thriller with so much intense you have to hold your breath. The power of this movie is the plot, it builds as the moments progress and the characters end up being unpredictable. Another thing is, no matter how you look at this film, trying to think of a way out for Howard (Adam Sandler) the way the movie ended seems to be his only escape. His gambling addiction had the best of him.

Howard in this movie is a Jewish jeweler who seems to be owing everyone who happens to crossed paths with him. This does not go well with his day to day movement because the ones he owes are after him and he seems to be robbing his customers also who are oblivious to it.

Howard’s business is doing well, but Howard likes to gamble and the only way he can fuel this life is to borrow money, pawn things left in his trust and just make a mess of his life. He is not doing better in the home front either. Howard is married with children, but his mistress seems to get the best of him. His wife wants nothing to do with him anymore and wants a divorce.

Howard had a plan, he is owing so much and has pawned a lot of his customers items, the only way he can make amends is to get a big score. So Howard goes big. He purchases an uncut opal from an Ethiopian Jewish mining company. He plans to auction it off, valuing the item to be over a million dollars.

Things does not go well for Howard as his problems were catching up with him. He was able to inspire Kevin Garnett to a magical game using the opal. Yet, with his addiction getting the best of him and ill luck being against him, even a sure bet was almost impossible for him to cash in on.

Here is a movie you will enjoy and I ask you take the time to see it.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

5/10

Starring

Carrie Fisher

Daisy Ridley

Adam Driver

Directed by J.J. Abrams

The first time I saw this movie I was wowed by the effects and the wait I had to endure to see it. The second time around when calm, I can see why this is one of the worst Star Wars movie there is.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker episode IX is an ok movie which takes place in a galaxy far far away. It is my least favorite in this final trilogy in the Skywalker saga, after Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) episode VII and Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) episode VIII . Also, one of the worst movies in the Skywalker saga.

You must remember when watching that Carrie Fisher is not alive during the making of this movie. What we see of her is a mix of CGI for environments, old footage and powerful editing to make her parts in this movie.

Her role is essential and her place as General Leia is paramount to the conclusion of the Skywalker saga. I feel J. J. Abrams work suffered a decline as the trilogy progressed. But appreciate his attempt to make this work and the whole production is just amazing although the new addition to the use of the force did not add to the excitement for me. I think it ruined the Jedi's making them almost like gods. That said I can understand the way some fans felt about the way the movie plays out this Skywalker saga. The ending left many openings. But I feel this was a good swing at ending the whole Skywalker saga and begin a new look at the whole Star Wars epic space opera.

The movie has a different take from the George Lucas first take on the Star Wars story, when we had the “I am your father” moment. In this movie we have a something like, he is your grand daddy moment. Before we get to the plot which gave us the origin of Rey and the conclusion of Emperor Palpatine, both of which you will not find in the plot below, until you watch the movie. I must warn, the movie had a adventure gaming feel. They had to locate this to find that, that will be needed to decipher this to help find the location of that.

The movie starts with Kylo Ren coming to find out that Emperor Palpatine is alive and has been pulling the strings all along. The information of the Emperor’s cheating death gets to the resistance and Rey sets off to find the location of the Emperor, who is said has with him a great fleet to end the resistance.

She is not alone on this journey, with her we have Rey, Poe, Finn, Chewbacca, BB-8, and C-3PO go in search of someone who Luke knew, to help them locate where the Emperor is.

And we get to see Lando get back on the fight.

While elsewhere Kylo rebuilds his helmet and is battling his demons, is getting himself ready to work with Palpatine and rule the galaxy. The movie is how Rey stops this and we see Kylo end his struggles of either staying on the dark side or becoming a Jedi. The movie made me cry when Leia died, for me it was like a final goodbye to Carrie Fisher. Other than that, that Kylo Ren turn from dark to good and the from nowhere funny feelings between he and Rey just made me want to dropkick the screen.

In the end all I can say is that, the movie is as bad as some are making it online, but not so bad that you cannot watch it. I can understand the disjointed feel the whole trilogy can feel like, I felt it too.

As wonderful viewing goes, Star Wars has that, powerful acting and very inviting journey. The movie also merged what we first saw displayed in the Star Wars Series: The Mandalorian, the healing power of the force. Although in this movie, they abused the healing power to the max, then the force ability to teleport things, omg i felt like the writers ran out of ideas on how to end this saga.

This finaly Skywalker movie did not do the needed justice, but liked it nonetheless.