Film Review: Polar

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So yesterday was January 25th, which means Mads Mikkelsen’s first of two frigid films came out, Polar on Netflix. I stayed up late to watch this gruesome action flick, and I must say it was totally worth it! Having never read the noir comic this moved was based on, it gave me some serious John Wick vibes, but a lot gritter.

Mikkelsen plays Duncan, an assassin two weeks from retirement. The company he works for has other plans, especially since Duncan’s retirement equals an $8 million dollar payout that they just can’t afford (yay finance!). Duncan is living a semi-quiet life in the woods next door to Camille, played by Vanessa Hudgens (odd), who I’m not quite sure what her purpose serves in his life yet.

All of that is disrupted when upper management sends a sea of younger assassins to kill Duncan. He ends up defending himself really well, and NAKED, but learns that Camille has been taken as a means to lure Duncan to “the mansion” to be killed. After getting duped by an old colleague and tortured for the four days leading up to his retirement, Duncan ultimately comes out on top but severely injured. A few days of healing later and he’s ready to take on the remaining assassins with the coolest laser-machine guns! Mass carnage!

He saves Camille from her drug-induced state, but then, PLOT TWIST, she ends up being the only survivor from an assignment Duncan was given long ago. With a gun pointed at his head, Duncan accepts his fate only to be spared to help Camille to find the man who had put the hit out on her family.

Like I said, really gruesome and gritty, but really well done. Maks Mikkelsen is fantastic!

Book Review: Fallen Series

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Almost 2,000 pages later and I’m finally done reading the Fallen book series by Lauren Kate. While my review of the first two books were a little bitter, I will say the series had a strong finish, with a nice short little companion book in the middle.

After Fallen and Torment, the book Passion followed. This book finally takes Luce out of her school surroundings and away from her angel and Nephilim friends. Which was sort of nice. This books main focus was Luce going through her “Announcers” and into all of her past lives to see how she was and how she met Daniel and ultimately died each time. Not too long after travelling alone she meets up with a gargoyle looking figure who goes by the name Bill (why?). he’s there to help her through her past lives and even teaches her how to “cleave” with her past selves. None of this sounds sketchy at all….

Meanwhile, all of the angels and Nephilim have split up also looking through Announcers to find Luce and bring her back. Daniel is not really successful in the slightest, but he realizes that this was all meant to happen and that something Luce does while fiddling in these past lives is what ultimately broke her curse.

In the end it turns out Bill wasn’t so nice after all. In fact, he’s Lucifer! And he’s supremely pissed at Luce. He wants the scale tipped in his favor and Luce isn’t making that possible. So instead, he leaves her is some dark limbo state while he goes back to the beginning to re-initiate “the fall.” This of course would ultimately alter the course of centuries and could make certain people cease to exist! And that’s where this novel ends.

Before reading the final book, I decided to read the short (in comparison) companion novel called Fallen in Love. This book centers on Luce’s renaissance life where many of the other angels and Nephilim friends have caught up to each other. Rather than meddle in Luce and Daniel’s life, they sit back and watch their love take place while also falling in love themselves. That’s right, you get to see Miles and Shelby fall in love. And you also get to meet Roland and Arriane’s romantic counterparts. Both of the angels romances end in tragedy, but they are ultimately glad to see the love be tween Luce and Daniel blossom. Cute, fluff, filler. I’m okay with it.

All of that brings me to the last novel, Rapture. I have to say this one was my favorite, although I still don’t understand how this story takes over 400 pages a book, but I digress. Luce and Daniel have finally found each other and the other angels who now know about Lucifer’s plan. They determine from some old book that Daniel wrote a long time ago that they need to fine three artifacts and that will help lead them to the sight of the fall to stop Lucifer. Oh yeah, they only have nine days to do that. And some seriously annoying foes who keep getting in their way. Ultimately, they end up gathering all of the artifacts, perform some sacrifice that was meant to happen all along, and get themselves to the sight of the fall.

Game-changer! Once this happens, Luce discovers she’s an angel! This is of course a suspicion I’ve had for a while, but it was nice to read. We also learned that she was the Throne’s 3-hand man (cough, lady). AND we learn that Luce loved someone before Daniel. And that someone was LUCIFER! That sh** is bananas. Luce is able to put all of these pieces together and knows she has to go find Lucifer in the fall and convince him she will never be with him and to stop the fall. She is not too successful, so the Throne gets involved. Ultimately, Daniel and Luce choose love once again, and are “sentenced” to live one final life as mortals.

Flash forward seventeen years and we see Miles and Shelby, Roland, and Arriane about to watch Luce and Daniel meet for the first time so their one true love story can start again for the last time. It’s like a move folks. Side note, Cam, my favorite character, really redeemed himself in these last two novels.

I don’t know that I’d recommend this series to adult people, but I definitely don’t regret having read them. Take that however you’d like 🙂

Oscar Nominations 2019

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Hi all! I know it’s been a minute since I’ve written anything. I’d say reviewing the Oscar nominations that came out yesterday is a great way to come back!

Based on all of the other awards shows that have announced their nominees, most of these were unsurprising. That’s not to say there were no surprises! Below are a few that made me raise my eyebrows and say “wow.”

Best Picture – I’m going to get some hate for this, but I just don’t think Black Panther deserves a best picture nomination. With that being said, it’s a great accomplishment that will yield no results, and certainly no win. I am surprised that in the giving spirit that Academy was obviously in, that Crazy Rich Asians also didn’t get a nod. Especially since they’ve had up to 10 films nominated in this category in the past. Since the Golden Globes have aired I am switching my vote to Roma. I still haven’t seen it yet, but I envision it sweeping a lot of the categories it’s nominated for.

Best Director – I am very surprised to not see Bradley Cooper’s name in this list, and equally as surprised to see Cold War‘s director Pawl Powlikowski’s name here instead. Mainly because I only just heard of this foreign film about two weeks ago. It was also interesting to lean this was Spike Lee’s first nomination in the category. My money once again goes to Roma director Alfonso Cuaron.

Best Actress – I know some of these names are different, but I still think this is going to be a fight to the death between Glenn Close and Lady Gaga. But who knows, Roma‘s Yalitza Aparicio could take it right from under their noses.

Best Actor – Also no surprises here. I would be very much okay with any of these gentlemen taking it. I do give the edge to Rami Malek and Christian Bale, though.

Supporting Actress – I am surprised that Claire Foy got bumped from this category, but clearly the Academy loved Roma. Based on how the awards season has panned out so far, Regina Kings is taking the trophy home.

Supporting Actor – Not surprised, just bummed that little Timmy T didn’t get another nod this year, and still sorely disappointed that Lucas Hedges was overlooked. My vote is for Sam Rockwell, although Mahershala Ali will definitely win.

Those are all my stray observations. I can’t wait for them to air on February 24th! See all the nominees here: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/oscar-nominations-2019-complete-list-nominees-1172407/item/best-picture-1172473

Awards Season Continues: Critics’ Choice Awards

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Last night, the CW aired the Critic’s Choice Awards. Apparently, I’ve never viewed this event before, and after I watched it in full, I think I understand why. It was a cluster! In comparison to other awards shows, this just seemed all over the place and very rushed. Taye Diggs was the host, although I wouldn’t call him a great one (yikes that opening number!). There were so many categories that they just bulk announced winners right before commercial breaks! And there were ties?! That’s just bizarre. Below are some highlights.

  1. Cringe-worthy speech awards go to Elsie Fisher and Christian Bale! Bless Elsie’s heart, but she was almost as awkward as her character in Eighth Grade! And after last week at the Golden Globes and the two speeches he made last night, I’m convinced Christian Bale is either trashed by the time he goes up to speak or he’s just really strange. Maybe it’s a bit of both.
  2. Taye Diggs dressed as Mary Poppins…was uncomfortable. You could tell Emily Blunt felt that way, too.
  3. Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara were most certainly my favorite presenters! Can they host absolutely everything next year??
  4. Alright, these ties! Both were categories featuring women, which was pretty cool. But still. First was for Best Actress in a Movie Made for TV or Limited Series in which both Patricia Aquette and Amy Adams won for their roles in Escape at Dannemora and Sharp Objects, respectively. Next was the Best Actress category which saw both Glenn Close and Lady Gaga for their roles in The Wife and A Star is Born, respectively. Both made for interesting speeches, but I hope I never see this happen again.
  5. There were no real surprises with the winners. If you’ve read any version of a review all year, these really came as no-brainers.

Don’t know if I’ll watch next year or just read some reviews on it, but either way you check out a list of all the winners here: https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/13/entertainment/critics-choice-awards-winners/index.html

Weekend Movie Reviews: The Upside, What They Had, All About Nina

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Unfortunately, weather got in the way of my movie plans this weekend, so I only managed to sneak in one new one. Although I think it was a pretty solid choice! A few friends and I went to go see The Upside, a remake of the 2011 French film The Intouchables (based on a true story), starring Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston. Cranston plays quadriplegic Phillip who is in need of a new caretaker, although he is sort of fed up with life. Cue the hiring of ex-con Dell, played by Kevin Hart. At first the two are at odds with each other, but then essentially become the best of friends. I mean that is a very general overview, but what else would you expect to happen here? With both Hart and Cranston, the laughs were consistent throughout, and Nicole Kidman as Phillip’s executive, Yvonne, she was a light and nice touch to the ensemble. Definitely would recommend!

Since Saturday was a bust, I headed over to my local video store and rented two newer releases. The first I watched was What They Had, about a mother with Alzheimer’s and a father whose love is too strong to let her go to a facility. The film starts with a frantic call to siblings, played by Hilary Swank and Michael Shannon, that their mother has run out in the middle of the night during a blizzard on Christmas Eve. Two things I took away from this film: 1 – this family is messed up and 2 – this movie was freaking sad! Hilary Swank has a terrible relationship with, well, everyone, and Michael Shannon is a jerk because he’s around dealing with all of their parents’ health issues but isn’t the executor. She finally learns she has to make her life not to please people, so she separates from her husband and reconciles with her daughter. Michael Shannon finally gets his father’s approval for his livelihood. And then the saddest part – the father dies of a heart attack! Although Blythe Danner put it best, “I think now was the perfect time. Any sooner and I would have been too sad, and any later I wouldn’t have remembered him.” Tears. All the tears.

Next I popped in All About Nina. Which was just okay. Aside from the decent stand-up, I’d say this was definitely more of a drama. Nina, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, is only about sex and sabotages anything even remotely close to relationship. She moves to LA in order to get away from an abusive married man she was having an affair with, and also to get on Comedy Prime. In the midst of all her efforts she runs into smooth talker and general nice guy Rafe, played by Common. Nina is willing to go all in with this relationship, but something from her past keeps butting its ugly head into it, until she finally blows during a set. By the end you are pretty sure things are good with her relationship, but not so sure about her stand-up.

TV Show Recap: Splitting Up Together, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Gotham

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It was an awfully busy week for me this past one, so I got caught up this morning on what little shows have returned from their winter hiatus.

First on the docket was ABC’s half hour comedy, Splitting Up Together, starring Jenna Fischer and Oliver Hudson. Sometimes I love this show, and other times it’s just blah. I’m a little unsure if there’s enough meat and potatoes for this show to go on for too long, but perhaps I’ll be surprised in the future. This show last left off with Lena getting over her brief fling with foreign contractor, Vlad, and Martin getting cozy with a delightfully bitchy Ali Larter (Heroes R.I.P.). It only makes sense that this return episode would start off with a wet dream where Martin unsnaps Lena’s body suit. Lena is so moved by this dream that in an attempt to cover for starring she slams her face straight into the refrigerator. At the dentist to get her tooth fixed, she accepts an unknown pill (Mary Jane) from an unassuming old lady in the waiting room. The rest of the episode focuses on Martin trying to get his high ex-wife safely to parent night at the school. On a lame side story, Lena’s annoying sister Maya asks the most unfortunate waiter out for a date. The supporting cast for this show does absolutely nothing in terms of story line or plot, but maybe that’s intentional. Right now, both Jenna Fischer and Oliver Hudson are funny enough to keep me watching. Although I have a feeling this could be the next The Good Place for me.

Next up was the return of Brooklyn Nine-Nine! Praise the television gods that NBC picked this up. One of my favorite comedies on TV right now, this episode left off right where FOX ended it – on a cliffhanger! After Jake and Amy’s wedding at the bar, Captain Holt received word if he was going to be the new commissioner. He was!…until he read it back with the word “not” in there. Jake and Amy headed off for a very intimate and tropical honeymoon with some wedding insurance money. When they get there though, they run into the deeply depressed Captain Holt! In order to get him out of their hair they decide to include him in all of their activities so he’d cheer up and head home early. It worked in the only way this show would make it work – Captain Holt was going to quit the police department! Cue Santiago getting real PG angry at him, in which he then had a change of heart. Jake and Amy were then able to enjoy the rest of their honeymoon role playing at Melvil Dewey (creator of the Dewey Decimal System) and Holly Genero from Die Hard, respectively. Meanwhile in the office, Gina’s mom left Boyle’s dad, so naturally Boyle badgers Gina into getting to the bottom of it – her mom was cheating! Elsewhere, Sargent Jeffords was having difficulty helping Rosa with a dilemma. In searching for Holt’s handbook for if he became commissioner, he found out that there were no specific instructions since he trusts Jeffords completely. Chock full of jokes, this was a great premiere episode on a new network!

Like I promised, here is my review of Gotham’s second episode of the final season, “Trespassers”. Picking up almost essentially where last week left off, the orphan reveals there are other children being worked to the bone for a group called the Soothsayers who are powered by smoke (?). Jim and Harvey are off to find their whereabouts after bargaining with Barbara into borrowing a large truck. With a little scuffle, they find the kids and get them all loaded to head off to a safe location except for three of them. The kids along with Jim and Harvey find a sketchy house and head in for protection. They got more than they bargained for when they run into “the mother.” She was certainly creepy – and a cannibal! While trying to escape, Jim gets in the middle of the Soothsayers and another painted-up gang both bickering over who gets the kill shot for Penguin’s ransom on Jim’s head. Barbara steps in to end it, with Jim’s help, too, and all is fine in the world of the children and most of the remaining citizens of Gotham. Meanwhile, we revisit the Riddler who wakes up to find himself chained to a bed. Satisfied that he’s stopped Ed from taking over while he sleeps, he heads into the bathroom only to find a gang member tied up! That Street Demon gang member leads him back to his boss, who also happens to be killed. On the wall in spray paint says “Penguin was here,” which means Ed framed Penguin to start a gang war. The biggest revelation of this episode was Bruce finding “the witch” mentioned in last week’s episode. That witch ended up being Ivy, who gave Bruce a seed that would help cure Selina of her paralysis. Although Ivy warned that it will change her. After taking the seed, Selina is able to walk again, but we see her eyes shift to the legendary cat eyes. What happens next week remains to be seen, but I’m excited!

1985/Gotham Review (Sort Of)

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I’m sorry to say that I missed Gotham last night, so I don’t have a review for you all yet. But I missed out for a great reason! This past Tuesday while scrolling through Twitter, I see none other than the Riddler himself, Cory Michael Smith, tweet about heading back to his alma mater to screen 1985 followed by a brief Q&A. Well don’t you know that his alma mater is just two hours from my house! Yes, it was on a work night, and yes, I was going to go – and I did! And it was totally worth it.

In a very small theater on campus, I got to see one of my favorite films from 2018 again; it was very nice being able to see it in a theater this time around rather than in my living room. Then, THE Cory Michael Smith walked right past me and up to the stage for a moderated Q&A. I was pleasantly surprised that no Gotham questions were asked, and he spoke very eloquently about the film and the impact it’s had on him.

After the Q&A session, he was super generous and met with any fan who wanted to chat or get a photo (myself included). While I was waiting for my opportunity to meet Cory, I heard him catch up with old professors and laugh with fans – it was very endearing. And then it was my turn. From my perspective I didn’t feel like I talked too smooth, but in hindsight it actually was a very nice conversation. I let him know how much I loved the film, and also what a huge fan of Gotham I was. Coincidentally, I had just finished a duel drawing of him and fellow Gotham actor, Robin Lord Taylor, so I brought that along and was able to give it to him! That got me a hug people! I am in Heaven.

So yes, overall, it was a magnificent experience despite the long drive and holding my eyelids up at work today. I promise I’ll get a review post up of the latest Gotham episode tomorrow!

TV Review: The Little Drummer Girl

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A few months before Thanksgiving, I read about a little mini-series coming to AMC starring one of my favorite actors, Michael Shannon. And I also found out that it was an adaptation of a John Le Carre novel, The Little Drummer Girl. That drummer girl was played by a relative newcomer, although she’s about to show up everywhere (Outlaw King and Fighting With My Family), Florence Pugh. The cast was rounded out nicely with Alexander Skarsgard as an Israeli intelligence officer. Florence played Charlie, an actress, and is recruited by Michael Shannon’s Mark Kurtz for an extremely dangerous undercover mission to bring down Khalil, a Palestinian terrorist who is bombing Jewish targets in Europe. Overall, this was a spy series, but there were other nice elements, as well.

A six-part mini-series that aired two episodes a piece in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, I think this series could have benefited from dragging it out a bit. Now, did I have to watch it the way they aired it? No, I could have recorded it and taken my time, but I digress. I have not read the novel, so I can’t fully judge here. Overall, it was a fine adaptation, although I think The Night Manager (starring Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Dibicki) did it better. With all that fine talent it is definitely worth the watch!

Movie Review: White Boy Rick

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The first movie of 2019! Having said that, it was a bit of a letdown. I applaud the fact that they filmed in Lakewood, OH and Vegas, and the soundtrack was on point, but the story line itself was rather slow and dragged out.

Super-scum from Detroit shows Richard (Matthew McConaughey) and son White Boy Rick himself (newcomer Richie Merritt) dealing firearms to the other scum of Detroit. Rick gets caught up in the wrong crowd, drug dealers, and lives the high life for a while while also being an informant to the FBI. All that comes to an end when Rick ends up getting shot, and then the FBI eventually drop him and arrest his entire crew, including friend Boo. Rick and his dad try to strike a deal with the FBI in the end, but they don’t keep their word and Rick ends up in jail with a life sentence.

When I initially heard about this movie based on real-life Rick Wershe Jr. who was the youngest FBI informant ever at the age of 14, I thought this was going to be entertaining as hell, but it just wasn’t paced properly. Not a great way to start off my 2019 movie list, but there will always be misses with the hits.

Gotham Season 5 Premiere, “Year Zero”

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This past Thursday marks the final season premiere of FOX’s Gotham with the episode “Year Zero.” Having not fully watched the show in the past, but having a pretty strong understanding of its premise, this episode was a little tame, but packed with all of your favorites. I have to hand it to them with that opening scene though! Gordon, Bullock, the Riddler, and the Penguin all teaming up to shoot down an unknown enemy?! I suppose twelve episodes later we will see??

After that flash-forward we see the immediate aftermath of Jerome’s blowing up of all of Gotham’s bridges which has essentially made Gotham the most undesirable island ever. There are five “factions” ruling different parts of the city, all are running low on grub. That’s where rich kid Bruce Wayne steps up to get a helicopter with food over for all of the people currently being protected by the GCPD. Of course that was foiled when someone shot it down. Bane? Jerome? That remains to be seen. Then there was a food battle between the Penguin and his crew, GCPD, and then suddenly Tabitha shows up to exact her revenge for Penguin killing Butch in the season 4 finale. All that rage only for Tabitha meet her maker at the hands of Penguin. Barbara plotting revenge all season? Probably.

There wasn’t nearly enough Ed Nygma/Riddler in my opinion, but I imagine his story line will get better. In his Riddler state, Ed is controlling where he is going when he sleeps (which I assume is to Penguin). Meanwhile, Selina, having been paralyzed at the end of last season, has a semi-successful surgery but still can’t walk. That’s enough for her to want to kill herself, but some hospital staff and Bruce get to her in time. A seriously creepy looking nurse keeps hinting at “The Witch” to help Selina, but Bruce is (stupidly) ignoring her. Having not seen Lee Thompkins in the premiere, maybe it’s her? Who knows what Hugo Strange did to her?! And there is also the fact that Jerome did not surface either, but a potential Harley Quinn did, leaving his signature on a map of Gotham for Gordon to find.

I’m excited for what’s to come, but also insanely sad that this show is going to see its end. Given that the original order of ten episodes got bumped to twelve, I’m not holding my breath for any other network or streaming service to pick it up when all is said and done. We can only look forward to what the cast will do next in there careers.