Glenn Younger

Blood and revenge usually are a turn off for me, but Denzel Washington brings a certain wounded dignity to the role of burnt out CIA operative, Creasy, that grips you and won’t let go. Dakota Fanning as Pita Ramos is the perfect counterpoint of exuberant love to Creasy’s intensely shut down emotions. When Pita is kidnapped and supposedly killed due to a pickup gone wrong by crooked police, Creasy sets out on a rampage to make all involved pay. If the ending wasn’t all sweet smelling roses, it was a perfect fit. “I’m going home, too.”

A high budget telenovella whodunnit that had its moments of fun if you like putting together new clues as they unfolded. The characters were one-dimensional quasi-caricatures (bordering on cliche) of real people, which suited Nicole Kidman’s acting style while, on the other hand, held a few others back. All in all, worth watching if you’re looking for a break from more serious story telling.

If at times Dave Pate was painfully one dimensional in his acting, Ms Schaal and the younger Ms Dèpate were marvelous in their own rights. All in all, though, they made a good ensemble for light don’t-have-to-think-about-it entertainment.

Once you get used to the hyperactive speech patterns of Officer Cooper, this movie has outrageously funny bits. It falls just short of slapstick, which is good, and is spot on with belly laugh lines and great chemistry between the two female leads. Well done. I’ll watch it again.

A few questions are left unanswered at the end of this mini-series, but it is well worth the watch.

Have you ever thought about what is consciousness? What is your Soul? Where did you come from before you were born into your biological body? And where you going when you leave it? If you could transfer your consciousness into another ‘container’, would you still be you? This film plays with those questions in a surprisingly engaging, and sometimes rear-back-in-your-seat shocking, way. Worth the watch.

This was a light film about a con artist who gets caught up in a series of inopportune circumstances, which pull him into saving people from a crashed airplane. “Keep a low profile” is his life’s motto and he does just that after the paramedics and firetrucks arrive on the scene. Someone else takes credit as the hero of the day, our con artist gets caught from another con, and it looks like his motto is going to get him sent off to prison. Until he pulls his next con in partnership with the false hero and sets his son up for life. The end discussion with his son cracks me up. Paraphrased, he says, “…life is all bullsh§t and the key is to pick the layer of bullsh§t that you’re comfortable with and stay with that.” What a quirky, quirky protagonist and who better to play it than Dustin Hoffman? On a personal note about the story itself, I’m glad he finally did quietly admit the truth to the reporter. Just for the record, off the record, that is.

Truly a beautiful film. My field of knowledge doesn’t include mathematics at that level, but I was struck by how dogged humans are to hang onto what we know—especially in the sciences and academia—and how resistant human nature is against brilliance, particularly when it comes from outside our excepted norms. One remarkable paraphrased quote that struck me was when he said mathematical formulas didn’t make sense to him if he didn’t hear them as the voice of God. Inspiration was not something learned men of those times gave much weight to, and, yet, it’s through his inspired formulas that men and women down the timeline have gained insights to mysteries such as dark holes and quantum mechanics. What a remarkable soul.

A simple story well told about a man who comes across a bit of miracle moss that heals and the quandary he faces in what to do with it. Make money or help others? What would you do?

The story line n this movie is BRILLIANT, giving us a clear view into the world we live in today and an idea of the world we can create simply by extending kindness and generosity towards each other. The production values are not big box office and the acting is on the side of “Indy”, but the message is memorable and you’ll find yourself charmed by the lead character. At the end, it said “to be continued”. When will there be a part two?