Posts by Jeremy Butler

Bombshell is a dramatization of the real-life scandal that occurred at broadcast news giant Fox News in 2016, where multiple women came forward to report incidents of sexual harassment, many of which involving the chairman and CEO of the company, Roger Ailes. This is an event that I’m sure everyone had some awareness of back then, and if you didn’t, you know about the events involving Weinstein. In regards to this film, it is told from the prospective of three women who were employed at Fox News: Megyn Kelly, played by Charlize Theron, Gretchen Carlson, played by Nicole Kidman, and Kayla Pospisil, played by Margot Robbie. Unlike Theron’s and Kidman’s characters, Robbie’s character is actually a composite character based on accounts of multiple women. In addition to these talented women, this film has someone recognizable names that it would take me the length of this entire review for me to record them all, but I will give you a few of the most prominent cast members: John Lithgow, who portrayed Ailes, Malcolm McDowell as Rupert Murdoch, and Kate McKinnon, who played a friend and confidant to Robbie’s character. The list literally does go on and on. I can honestly say that I did not expect to see so many recognizable faces, but I suppose that speaks to the cultural relevance of this movie, as it tackles the idea of sexual harassment in the workplace and the pressures that victims find themselves under, as well as the potential ramifications of reporting it, no matter how tragic it may be that they face such consequences in the first place.

One of the things I really liked about this movie is the multiple layers, as it displays three women, all of whom face this issue and struggle to figure out how to handle the situation and how to cope afterwards. Theron’s character finds herself between a rock and a hard place. Despite having to ward off Ailes’ advances early in her career, she has managed to thrive at the network, and when the allegations come to light, she’s put under immense pressure by the network to defend the chairman. All of this coming not long after another public battle with the then presidential candidate Donald Trump. After barely surviving that very public ordeal where she found her private life brought into the public view, she wants nothing more than to stay out of the matter. Theron does a good job of humanizing Kelly, despite her initial inaction, and actually becomes the character who propels the story as she goes on her own search for the truth.

So at what point is enough is enough? The Dragonheart franchise has been around since 1996 when Dennis Quaid and Sean Connery brought the first film to life, becoming a box office success. Since that first film, sequels have continued to tell the tale of how a dragon has the power to share part of its heart with a human if it chooses. This is clearly evidence of the law of diminishing returns, as only the first film made it to the box office, with the others relegated to home media. While home media is a legitimate platform for films, I cannot fathom the reason to keep this franchise going. Dragonheart: Vengeance marks the fifth return to this universe, with the events of this film occurring before the events of the fourth film (Dragonheart: Battle for the Heartfire). Each film exists within the same universe, but with a new crop of characters and sometimes with a new dragon, usually voiced by an acting authority; examples include Patrick Stewart, Ben Kingsley, and of course, Sean Connery. In regards to this universe, I have not ventured back to this world since the events of the first film, and based on what I witnessed in this incarnation, there is little substance to warrant continued trips back.

This film focuses predominantly on the idea of vengeance, specifically revenge, as one of our protagonists (Lukas) witnesses the murder of his family at the hands of four bandits. Bent on seeking the bloodiest justice on the behalf of his loved ones, he attempts to employ a sellsword for the task to little avail, though he does meet one skilled one with some peculiar habits. Running low on options, he is told of a dragon that may grant his heart’s desire. Venturing to its cage, he meets the dragon that agrees to help, but cautions that revenge may change him.

A modern day romantic comedy, as well as a commentary on the co-dependent relationship that society is now engaged in with their phones. I know we all see it, with infinite information at our favorite fingertips and the ease with which we now can conduct their lives, whether it be finding out the name of a song on the radio via an app, getting directions to a place we have ever been, or merely playing music while we conduct other task, our phones have become our conduit to the world, removing a lot of the obstacles that we used to face in everyday life. However, that assistance comes at a cost as we now have come to rely on our phone to accomplish task that we used to go out and do on our own. To top things off, we have decided to connect with people on social media, relying on how many people are following us on Instagram to determine popularity, rather than actually human interaction. JEXI perfectly captures this idea as we observe our lead character Phil played by Adam Devine struggle to engage with the beautiful Cate played by the gorgeous Alexandra Shipp. Thankfully his phone is there to help him; however, what happens when his phone begins to feel neglected?

Phil is the very definition of an introvert, he is shy and awkward and spends more time interacting with his phone than with actual people. When he accidently breaks his phone, his replacement comes with the virtual assistant, JEXI, agreeing to the user agreement without actually reading, he basically consents to JEXI running his entire life. There is a bit of a trial and error where JEXI forces him out of his comfort zone an into activities that he normally would avoid, but once he embraces JEXI’s help thing get better. He becomes more popular at work and even manages to meet a girl unlike anyone he has ever known.