The Reel World

Action heroes are very much like sports superstars. So much of what they do is tied to their physical ability, and eventually time catches up to them. For sports figures they either try and accept it and go out on top, or they taint their legend by trying to hang on. The same can be said for action heroes, except there is a third alternative. Some action movie actors learn to adapt their material to their current skill level. Clint Eastwood, while not really an action star, was known for physical roles. He found a way to age quite well on screen with films like Unforgiven and Gran Torino. Jackie Chan appears to have learned that lesson, and The Foreigner, while not in the same stratosphere as Clint's last staring efforts

Up front I’ll tell you that the movie Happy Death Day has so many twists and turns that you would think you were on a wild ride at Universal Studios.  The fun but deadly storyline is a cross between Scary Movie and Groundhog Day, and the maze of thrills will have you spooked out until the very end. Or what you think is the end, so don’t get up out of your seat until it’s ALL over. Carrying the perfect movie rating, PG-13, the filmmakers sneak in what most teens are looking for without having to have a parent on hand to watch over them.  It’s has some rude stuff woven into the storyline and even some partial nudity that’s nothing more than a rear-end shot.  The shockers are the cool part, with the ugly killer popping in without notice.  Actually, when you feel the stalker is coming, it’s already there.

"No one will ever remember that you were here."

Few names ring as powerfully through the halls of legal history as that of Thurgood Marshall. One of the best legal minds of the 20th century, he became the first African-American to be seated on the United States Supreme Court. He participated in landmark decisions both as a lawyer arguing in front of the highest court in the land and as one of its nine justices writing milestone opinions. But the film Marshall isn't really about any of that at all. Sure, there's a postscript that tells us what any reasonably educated person already knew.

“Backslidin’, how do you do? These slippery people gonna see you through.” 

It has been a long while since I have witnessed a pop song’s lyrics fit so poetically into a feature film. “Slippery People” is a track off the groundbreaking Talking Heads album, Speaking in Tongues, released in 1983. Not only does this song fit the plot of American Made within its lyrics (hints of backsliding with a lot of slippery people), but it also represents a specific aesthetic for one of the many years shown throughout the film.

When it comes to ranking the top 10 cool movies of the past five years, Kingsman:The Secret Service would easily make the list.  From the opening sequence to the final credits, the movie was simply a fun ride with so many kick-ass moments. I mean, the fight in the church alone is worth the price of admission. The moment I heard Matthew Vaughn was returning to helm the sequel, I instantly got giddy with excitement. Heck, ever since his first film Layer Cake, the guy has managed to produce a stream of cool films that I’ve enjoyed. It’s when the trailer for the sequel first dropped something didn’t feel right;

In case you’ve been living beneath a rock and out of contact with any and all social media, this weekend the long-awaited film adaption of Stephen King’s It releases. Some of my friends look at the trailer for the new film and instantly reject what they see; they immediately cling to their memories of how the original mini-series scared them. One thing you’ll hear them all saying is how Tim Curry made such an impact on their lives and to this day gave them reason to fear clowns. While I respect their opinions, when you revisit the film, you can’t help but notice how dated the film is, and really, if you’re over the age of 10, it just isn’t scary.

Every once in a while a film comes along that not only takes you by surprise but exceeds all expectations and just sticks to you. Last year it was La La Land, and this year for me it is Good Time.  Checking out the trailer after the film began to pick up some buzz on the internet, I thought that it looked good, but nothing about the trailer stood out to me to lead me to believe this was anything special.  But the thing that the trailer just doesn’t seem to capture is the experience. As you often see the tagline “a thrill ride”, this may be the first time in a long time where I feel this generic tagline actually fits, because that is precisely what this film is.  From the moment the film takes off, it doesn’t let up till the closing credits begin.

- “It’s my job to keep you out of harm’s way.”

- “I am harm’s way!”

In The Hitman’s Bodyguard, Samuel L. Jackson is the very definition of badass as contract killer Darius Kincaid. Which begs the question: why would a prolific hitman need a bodyguard? That question is a great source of entertainment throughout the film’s duration. Needless to say, the bodyguard is not necessary, but no one could ever doubt that the pairing of Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds is comedic gold. The Hitman’s Bodyguard is without question one of the best films of the summer.

Following the success of The Conjuring, it was no surprise that sequels would follow, but I have to admit seeing an Annabelle film was a bit unexpected. While The Conjuring was based on true events (as true as one may or may not wish to believe in the paranormal), Annabelle was mostly a work of fiction. I’ll admit I’m a bit of the fan of the Warrens and have read plenty about their investigations, and I certainly feel their life is ripe for the Hollywood treatment along with the hundreds of case files they developed over the years.  While the first Annabelle did well at the box office, it took a beating by critics, but those involved at the studio see that there is still money to be made as they continue to expand the franchise.

It’s difficult to be original and innovative when it comes to tackling a haunted house film. Ghost stories have been around for ages and told just about every way you can imagine, so what do you do to give the audience something they have never seen before? After coming back from directing Pete’s Dragon, writer/ director David Lowry a delivers a small intimate film that manages to take the haunted house story and makes it something unique from all the rest. Though when I say unique, and when I say innovative this may not be a positive for some. The film begins by introducing us to a couple played by Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara; their characters are simply credited as C & M.