La La Land- Oscar Front-Running

La La Land tries on for size the 1950's musical score in the Los Angeles of today. There are impressive musical numbers, but the performances of Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling carry this thing. It's impressive to watch them dance, sing, act, and play through the variety of numbers and scenes this movie demands of them. Stone is an aspiring actress who can't get the role to propel her into stardom. Gosling is a jazz "purist" who can't simple play piano for someone else because he has his own songs, ideas, and style. He wants to open his own jazz club, but is only a few hundred thousand dollars short of that. They meet a few times, but finally connect at a pool party that Gosling is playing keyboard at, despite his hatred for it. He realizes that you can only stand by your ideals for so long without breaking down since ideals don't pay the bills. The movie follows their love story and careers. I originally was a little annoyed by the volume of musical numbers early on in the film, but the story unfolds with acting and normal talking instead of singing, so I got back into it. It's obvious why the Oscar buzz is strong. It's visually beautiful and has two incredible performances in Gosling and Stone. It holds up well and I was pleasantly surprised with it overall. Bottom Line: 8.7 out of 10. I realize this means I rank John Wick 2 ahead of the film most likely to win Best Film, but realize I am a flawed movie critic and I love watching Keanu Reeves run through a crew of killers more than watching a freeway musical dance number break out. Deal with it.

John Wick: 2- The Wick is Lit

I'm a big fan of John Wick, so it's implied that I probably would like the second offering of the series. I think it's the best "action" movie that I've ever seen. What does that mean? It means that Keanu Reeves at age 52 is better at killing people and kicking ass than anyone who has come before. Van Damme, Segal, Norris, Stallone, Schwarzenegger, I get it, but Reeves is unreal. He is completely believable in a role that is SO difficult to convincingly play. He moves as you presume a special ops member would. I'm amazed by the quality of the fighting and gunplay. The plot doesn't matter really, just know that it's much crazier than the first film. Many more bodies, shots fired, stabbing, punching, kicking, and driving. Bottom line: 9.2 out of 10. It's weird rating it on the same scale as Oscar films, but this movie is a masterpiece in the art of action. Reeves will go down as the best action film actor ever after this series runs its course I believe. Dude is the O.G. Johnny Utah after all...

Girl on the Train

I was skeptical watching this one since I hadn't read the book and it was in the 50's on Rotten Tomatoes, but I persevered. I'm a big Emily Blunt fan and I knew the book was a huge hit. The premise is a woman rides a train, OBVIOUSLY, but the train goes past her old house where her husband currently lives with his new wife and child. She stares out the window at them, but also their neighbor, a young beautiful woman who was recently married. She begins to feel like she's a part of their lives. She watches them and fabricates stories in her mind. The movie then starts being told from the "other" women's point of view. Her husband's new wife and the hot neighbor. The story boils over when the gorgeous neighbor is murdered and the "train lady" saw her with a mysterious man who wasn't her husband that day. Further complicating things is that train lady is a drunk who rides the train only to appear to be employed to appease her "roommate", aka lady letting her live with her. The story unfolds and new details are introduced slowly, but it weaves an interesting web that ties together well. It's very mysterious, so I don't want to talk about the plot much, but it has excellent performances by Blunt, Haley Bennett, Justin Theroux, and Luke Evans. Bottom Line: 7.5 out of 10. I was a bigger fan than I expected. I can imagine if someone read the book they may not enjoy the film since the book would do a much better job of unveiling things and explaining emotions and thoughts.

Hacksaw Ridge

I came it with fairly low expectations for Hacksaw Ridge. I'm not a big Andrew Garfield fan, so to have him playing an American war hero originally drew my ire. I was pleasantly surprised with his performance, it's very good, as are all of them. I really like Vince Vaughn, and Sam Worthington is also very good. The film tells the story of Desmond Doss. Desmond is raised in the hill country of Virginia, so he's not a Rhodes Scholar. His father fought in WWI, or THE GREAT WAR as it's referred to as. He's played expertly by Hugo Weaving. His dad's a drunk from the fact that he's unable to come to grips with his friends dying in France. He has a brother, younger or older is never said, though they are close in age. Desmond falls in love with the nurse who draws blood at the nearby hospital (5 miles). After his brother enlists it's the final straw and he decides to enlist shortly after as a medic. He's interested in human anatomy, etc., and more importantly he refuses to kill another man, or even pick-up a weapon. This causes all sorts of issues during basic training, but after a court order and Brigadier General's note, he's set to head off to Okinawa. Okinawa was crucial, like all of the contested islands, to get within bombing distance of Japan. This movie was particularly meaningful as I watched it on Veterans Day. It helped remind me of how awful my Grandpa's role was in WWII. He was an "Island Hopper", a role that I used to explain as the beach landing of Saving Private Ryan, only in the Pacific islands. He suffered tremendously with what he saw, did, and experienced. He left with a full head of hair and came back bald. His unit had a survival rate of between 10-15%. The Pacific Islands were definitely one of Dante's Spheres of Hell. Something that even after watching Hacksaw Ridge, which from what I can tell is the most accurate depiction of what happened in the Pacific Islands regularly, you can't possibly grasp the true horror of what occurred regularly. Getting back to the movie, what happens on Hacksaw Ridge is after a push to secure a good part of the "Ridge" the Japanese burrow underground for the night. At first light they charge and force Doss' unit off the Ridge, leaving many men wounded on the Ridge while battleships bombard it. Doss works tirelessly throughout the day and night to lower wounded troops down the cliff to safety all while being unarmed. It's totally amazing. The sum total of his efforts produces 75 wounded men lowered to safety. I'm not certain if all survived, etc., but that's a gargantuan effort for a group of medics, but Herculean for one man. Bottom Line: 8.6 out of 10. Believe the Rotten Tomatoes scoring, it's another rock solid movie from Mel Gibson, that crazy racist drunk.

Sorry, but Another Sharp Departure From the Norm

Today, and I'm not sure why, I'm compelled to make a sharp turn from my normal talk of movies and television to talk about people that I'm in awe of and that I admire greatly. There are certain professions that amaze me, and today I'm going to dive into one of them that I feel like deserves tremendous praise. This isn't to say there are numerous other roles in our society that deserve me recognition, but today I'm focusing on the role of the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) nurse. My sister-in-law made a life change seven years ago that I was in awe in. She took herself out of working for a company that managed very large retirement accounts (similar to a hedge fund) and decided to go back to school for a nursing degree. I feel like that profession is a calling, not a choice, and her decision perhaps even more than an amazing and incredibly admirable career in nursing. She works in a PICU unit that sadly often sees tragedy more often than many other units. Children (anyone under the age of 18) that has severe "issues" because I'm not sure how to define the "regular" case they deal with, are assigned to this particular unit. NICU is also an amazing profession too, but I'm focusing on PICU for now, though I greatly respect the people that work in the health care profession. I try to talk about her "job" that deals with tragedy that would probably cripple most people. An example, that is far from ordinary, but is the type of "case" they deal with would be a child that has a skin condition that prevents any physical contact. Hours are spent changing bandages because their skin blisters and bleeds with the contact of even gauze bandages, yet those bandages need to be changed at least daily despite the pain it causes. They are responsible for providing care and I'll go as far as saying love to those tough cases. I can't possible imagine going to work on a daily basis with the knowledge that patients in my care might not see tomorrow, or the next week or month. I'm in absolute awe and in total admiration of the amazing fortitude and resolve that those people show on a daily basis. I can't imagine the difficult moments and conversations had within that wing that occur regularly. I am so appreciative of the people who go to work knowing that their worst case is tragedy, yet they face it with such courage and compassion that it is totally amazing. I sincerely hope that nobody I know would ever deal with a situation that their child may be one of those cases, but I also want to highlight how amazing the people are that are on the front lines of such tragedy. If anyone knows someone that's amazing in a similar way, please reach out and share your thoughts and admiration with that person. Thank you for allowing me to share my heart today with you.

War Dogs

War Dogs follows a premise I enjoy. Taking a strange, yet historically unique event, and expand on it. War Dogs follow two friends from youth as they embark on an amazing adventure. Due to the Halliburton scandal (Dick Cheney selling defense contracts to friends/former colleagues) our military contracts were open for bid on the internet to various licensed gun dealers. Insert Myles Teller and Jonah Hill. Two twenty-somethings with no clue how far over their head's they are. They start small by winning minor contracts for generally small arms. They gain experience, contacts, and knowledge. They fly to Jordan to smuggle an arms shipment to Iraq and our troops for Beretta's to use with the Iraq army being trained. They bid on I presume one of the largest contracts in history to outfit the Afghan national army and they win. Millions of dollars is on the line to supply a variety of weapons and ammunition and they have everything figured out, or so they think. Bottom Line: 6.7 out of 10. It was pretty interesting, though it's tough to believe some of it, it's just an amazing time and story. I'd pay attention when it's on cable.

The Nice Guys

The Nice Guys attempts to bridge the gap somewhere between L.A. Confidential and every buddy cop movie. Ryan Gosling plays the smart, fragile detective and Russell Crowe reprises his role from L.A. Confidential as the Muscle. He beats people up and Gosling tries to be funny and smart. The film focuses on the attempt to find a girl named Amelia and the death of porn star Misty Mountains. Gosling is hired to look for Misty Mountains, but is coincidentally searching for Amelia when Crowe beats him savagely because he was paid by "Amelia" to make two strange men stop following her. There are a few twists and turns, some comedy, but nothing too special. I'd await it's arrival on cable before committing two hours of your life. Bottom Line: 6.7 out of 10. Wait for TBS to pick it up.

Paper Towns: TEENAGE ANGST Part 891

Paper Towns follows the story of Cara Delevingne (Margo, such an exotic name she must be complex and a unique rebel) and Q. Neighbors since they were 8, Q has a crush on Margo, but they grow apart in town and rarely speak now that they are seniors in high school. Margo takes Q on a tale of revenge against her cheating boyfriend and her friends, but after their night of fun and debauchery, SHE DISAPPEARS. In typical Margo fashion she leaves clues for Q, but he works to piece them together and find her. He has a couple friends, like in all angsty, nerdy, teenager movies that are with him throughout. The acting is pretty solid surprisingly and Delevingne definitely has a career acting if she wants it. It's harmed by being similar to every other movie of this genre ever made, but that doesn't mean it isn't alright. Bottom Line: 6.4 out of 10. Take a flyer on this one when it hits the cable circuit. It's worth that much.

Don't Breathe: (The Movie, I'm not telling you to stop breathing)

Don't Breathe is an interesting movie focusing on three 18-ish year olds living in Detroit. One of them dreams (Rocky, but it's a female) of moving away to L.A., but is raising capital (Financial term I think sounds fancy here) by robbing homes that her friend Alex, has keys and information on since his dad owns a security company. They keep theft under $10,000 to avoid federal prosecution (The second movie I've seen that rule preached in this month, which is weird) and therefore much attention. They stumble upon a house on an abandoned block in Detroit where the man living there received a large settlement (not generally public knowledge) from his daughter being hit and killed by a drunk driver, who happens to have very wealthy parents. The man is a veteran who was blinded by grenade shrapnel. They throw all rules out and decide to try to find the cash. Coincidentally the man is Stephan Lang, who is awesome in the role and is the only reason the movie is viable. Despite being blind, he is still terrifying and extremely capable. His home is his castle and he doesn't need vision to find his way around. They find themselves trapped and some twists and turns ensue. Bottom Line: 7.1 out of 10. Worth seeing in theatres, though when I went someone made a really loud farting noise, maybe it was the pleather seat, but it was hilarious and mood ruining all at once. Lang is fantastic and that's worth the price of admission alone. It made me wonder if I could win a fight if he were truly blind? I'd cheat and grab something to hit him with, but I think he'd beat my ass all things being equal. I'd do better than Alex though, I know that much.

Hell or High Water

Sorry for the unintentional hiatus, but I've still been watching movies. I just saw Hell of High Water yesterday and felt like I should talk about since it's a pretty good independent film that won't get a lot of attention. It's a very simple film centering around two brothers who look nothing at all like brothers (Chris Pine and Ben Foster, who is awesome). Foster is the slightly crazy and regular prison inhabitant older brother and Pine is the quiet, shy, boring younger brother. You jump in immediately on a bank robbery, but they only take small bills ($20 or smaller) from two small, local banks. It isn't the bank robbery you normally think about. It stirs up little attention other than from a retiring Texas Ranger (Jeff Daniels). He drags his partner into this seemingly minor case and digs in. You learn the rest of the plot along the way, but it's very simple and well done. The scene of quiet, open, Western Texas is generally pretty. Foster is excellent and Pine is pretty good (shockingly) as a couple of simple brothers trying to make life a little better. Bottom Line: 8.5 out of 10. Solid film that's pretty believable, which is rare. The cast is excellent. It's refreshing that nothing is extravagant at all, it adds credibility.