More Flags, More Fun

I got sick
eating two funnel cakes
back-to-back
at Six Flags.

Worth It.

'Voyagers' A Review

Voyagers is a scifi movie, an anemic Lord of the Flies in space. Vague environmental disaster sends a generation ship to a newly located Earth-like planet, crewed by vaguely created/conditioned/cultivated kids with one adult Richard(Colin Ferrell) to supervise/parent. As they reach their teen years the crew discovers and questions their mandated medication which makes them docile and less sexual and the inevitable conflict ensues.

Ferrell is the real outlier in the cast, able with his considerable talent and presence, to almost by shear force of will make the story more cogent and relatable, unfortunately he is offed in service to the swiss cheese of a plot. The youthful crew is all cast well, the two leads Ty Sheridan and Lily Rose Depp do the best they can with the tired, baffling script. The one crucial piece of casting that was utterly fumbled is Fionn Whitehead as Zac the rebellious/psychopathic, his lack of charm and aggression paired with his frail physical presence make virtually everything that happens with the character not only unbelievable but laughable. The entire plot hinges on this characters ability to manipulate and intimidate and its a total failure.

Excellent production design and slick camera work unfortunately do nothing to redeem the utterly banal, predictable, implausible plotting. The conflict is so manufactured, so pointless, despite the smattering of interesting ideas the story contains its rendered virtually unwatchable. There's a final montage at the end showing the remainder of the ships journey and that is the most intriguing part of the movie. Ultimately the focus is in the wrong place, the central conflict an ineffective and unnecessary distraction in what could have been an intriguing character study.

Utter tedium.

Currently available to rent on most VOD platforms.

Don't See It. 

The Confidence Of Youth

Bad decisions
are the cornerstone
of youth
seldom
is someone
dropped into life
fully formed

Example:

At fourteen

I would covertly

borrow

my father's 

Pontiac Bonneville

to check out

new releases

from the library.

'Coming 2 America' A Review

Coming 2 America is a comedy, a sequel to 1988's Coming To America. In the years since the events of the first film Akeem(Eddie Murphy) and Lisa(Shari Headly) have settled in Zamunda and had three daughters. With his father the King(James Earl Jones) on his deathbed the neighboring despot General Izzi(Wesley Snipes) his threatening war with the only hope for peace a marriage alliance. Akeem discovers he may have an illegitimate son Lavelle(Jermaine Fowler) from his American adventure that can broker the peace.

Unlike the first film Murphy spreads the focus do the deep supporting cast but is able to easily tap back into Akeem's unwavering positivity and charm. It's a joy to see all the familiar faces, a startling number in fact, and if the story is a little thin and the cast too broad for much character development, it is still fun to revisit this cast of characters again. One of the standouts is the addition of Snipes who clearly relishes the chance to go big and crows and struts his way through his scenes lighting them up.

Gorgeous costuming and inspired set design make this revisit to Zamunda a visual feast and the talented cast, some of whom have dropped off the radar since 1988, make up for the normal pitfalls of sequels decades after their classic counterparts. The pacing drags in the middle, the plot and script a bit obvious and at times oblivious, but ultimately it achieves in recapturing the fun, familial, irreverent feel of the original if not reaching the same degree of quality.

An entertaining retread of characters and a story that may not wow but substantially scratch the nostalgia itch.

Currently streaming on Amazon.

Rent It.

The Heaviness

like a yoke
it drags
unseen

warping

life's gentle

careen

to a tumble

down a jagged

ravine

or glacial

progress slows

recedes

only time

restores

redeems

'Stowaway' A Review

 Stowaway is a scifi/thriller about a crew of three's mission to Mars who find an unconscious 'stowaway' after launch and quickly have to grapple with the reality of their limited resources which are unable to support four for the journey.

Toni Collette, the commander, and Daniel Dae Kim, the biologist, are excellently cast and their talent is a pleasure to watch. Kim particularly has a couple nice moments, one where he discourses on jazz, another where he describes his research. Collette is given virtually no depth of character and injects much needed emotion but is let down by the script. Anna Kendrick as the ship's doctor is serviceable but makes the odd choice of this kind of peppy optimism more appropriate to her Pitch Perfect roles than space. Shamier Anderson does well with a difficult role that is burdened with some heavy-handed backstory. But ultimately all the actors are hampered by the central moral conundrum which is the movie's conceit. The hand ringing about what to do takes up so much of the runtime and getting to know and invest in the characters is sacrificed. The issue of course is if we do not care about the characters, if we know virtually nothing about them, their moral dilemma is rendered irrelevant.

The set is cool, the space stuff well done and engaging, a negligible score, and an interesting narrative idea that is fumbled in execution make for something worth having on while folding laundry but not investing in.

Currently streaming on Netflix.

Stream It.

'Without Remorse' A Review

Without Remorse is an action/thriller, an adaptation of a Tom Clancy novel, about Navy SEAL John Kelly(Michael B. Jordan) who is propelled on a quest for vengeance after the fridging of his pregnant wife presumably motivated by a recent questionable mission overseen by the CIA which opens the movie.

Jordan brings his considerable charisma to bear, and one would hope cashed a considerable paycheck, but he cannot overcome the tired, dated, source material ill  adapted for the present. The supporting cast sports some impressive names but none are given much time or depth of character in which to create anything beyond a flat cliche. There is virtually no investment in any of the characters and so the various machinations of the overly complicated, inexpertly conveyed plot, are immaterial.

A slick look and a couple decent action set pieces fail to drag the 90's plot and absurd, disconcerting body count out from the muck of mediocrity. The one solace of this unnecessary Clancy throwback is that it is almost guaranteed Jordan received a well earned 8-figure pay check.

Currently streaming on Amazon.

Don't See It.