Movie Review: BREAKING...

Earlier today, I watched the dramatic crime thriller Breaking at AMC theaters.

This film stars John Boyega as Brian Brown-Easley...a former Marine veteran who held up a Wells Fargo bank in 2017 to get the attention of the media after the local Department of Veterans Affairs office wouldn't pay Brown-Easley the money that was owed to him.

I don't know how accurate Breaking is to the actual event that occurred in Cobb County, Georgia half a decade ago, but I will say this: John Boyega needs to receive a Best Actor nomination (at the Academy Awards, Golden Globes and elsewhere) for his performance in the Abi Damaris Corbin-directed movie!

Boyega did an excellent job conveying the pain, desperation and conflict that Brown-Easley must have felt as he tragically risked his life to bring attention to a government bureaucracy that did him wrong. Also giving commendable performances in Breaking are Nicole Beharie and Selenis Leyva—who played the two Wells Fargo employees (Estel Valerie and Rosa Diaz, respectively) taken hostage by Brown-Easley at the bank.

The late Michael Kenneth Williams was terrific as Eli Bernard, a police negotiator who did everything he could to get Brown-Easley out of his lethal ordeal. Connie Britton was great as news journalist Lisa Larson...who also did all that she could to publicize Brown-Easley's desperate plight to the world.

(I only went on IMDb to look up the character names in this film, but I haven't yet done full research on the actual incident to see if the names of everyone but Brown-Easley were fictionalized.)

As mentioned earlier, John Boyega definitely deserves recognition for Breaking in the next awards season. Boyega says that he's done with appearing as Finn in live-action Star Wars movies, and receiving a major accolade such as an Oscar for Breaking would only solidify his stance that he deserves to leave a more respectable mark in cinema. That is all.

Movie Review: BEAST...

Earlier today, I watched the horror adventure drama Beast at AMC theaters. This film stars Idris Elba—who plays Nate Samuels, an American doctor and widower who takes his two daughters (Meredith, played by Iyana Halley, and Norah, portrayed by Leah Jeffries) on a trip to Africa to mend his broken relationship with them, only to stumble upon a rogue lion that hunts them down during a safari gone wrong.

Beast definitely had its moments...though it amusingly felt like a Jurassic Park movie, but with a bloodthirsty lion and not a pack of velociraptors relentlessly stalking the main characters. This is even solidified by one of the daughters—I think it was Meredith—wearing a Jurassic Park shirt at one point early in the film. (Beast was also produced by Universal Pictures, in case you're wondering.)

There isn't anything too deep or philosophical about the plot for Beast, except that it's a story about survival and the continuing threat poachers pose to the amazing wildlife in the African savanna.

Beast was shot on location in South Africa, so it's not a surprise that South African actor Sharlto Copley—who became famous from 2009's Oscar-nominated sci-fi movie District 9 (which also filmed in the African country)—would make an appearance in this flick as Dr. Samuels' anti-poaching best friend Martin Battles.

While Beast was filmed in South Africa, I wouldn't be surprised if some scenes were shot in the barren hills of Simi Valley, Santa Clarita or another location in California's San Fernando Valley as well. (It wasn't... I did some research about the movie on Google just now.) That would've been some nice Hollywood movie magic if it was!

Movie Review - DRAGON BALL SUPER: SUPER HERO...

Several hours ago, I watched the latest Dragon Ball film, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, at AMC theaters.

Just like the previous Dragon Ball flicks that were released in North American theaters (such as 2015's Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' and 2018's Dragon Ball Super: Broly), Super Hero was a blast to watch!

The opening scene was pretty heavy on exposition (for folks like me who didn't watch the original Dragon Ball TV show and knew nothing about the Red Ribbon Army), but once we're informed about the nefarious plot hatched by Red Ribbon commander Magenta and his right-hand man Carmine, the story starts to take off in Super Hero.

With Goku, Vegeta and Broly still off-world training (a plot continuation from Dragon Ball Super: Broly), it's up to Piccolo to find out what the Red Ribbon Army is up to after Magenta sends one of his new androids, Gamma 2, to try to neutralize him.

With Gamma 2 obviously failing in his attempt on the Namekian's life, Piccolo discovers that Magenta is not only building androids to eliminate Piccolo, Gohan (Goku's son for the totally-uninitiated reading this review) and the Capsule Corporation—run by Bulma, Vegeta's wife—but he is also developing an updated version of Cell...the creature that Gohan defeated after Dragon Ball Z's Frieza Saga, and whom I didn't know was also a creation of the Red Ribbon Army until I saw this movie! (I only watched a few episodes of the Cell Saga when it aired on the Cartoon Network over 20 years ago, FYI.)

Numerous plot developments after this discovery leads to a final battle between the updated Cell (known as Cell Max) and Piccolo (who became Orange Piccolo thanks to Shenron, the Eternal Dragon earlier in the film), Gohan, his younger brother Goten, Trunks, Krillin and his wife Android 18.

I won't spoil how this climactic battle ends, but it's a nice parallel to how the original Cell was defeated in his Dragon Ball Z saga years earlier.

The final scene of Super Hero hints at another Dragon Ball feature film lurking on the horizon—with Pan, the daughter of Gohan—showing that she's on the path to becoming a great Saiyan warrior like her father, Grandpa Goku, Goten, Trunks and Vegeta before her. I can't wait for that next installment!

Two final notes:

1.) Dr. Hedo, the mastermind who helped Magenta build Cell Max and Gamma 2 (as well as his twin android Gamma 1), looks suspiciously like Gru from the Despicable Me and Minions movies...

And

2.) Gohan's final transformation in the climax of Super Hero reminds me of Ultra Saiyan Spar (below)—a character that I created in college over 20 years ago! Click here to read my fanfic about this Dragon Ball SF (as in Strike Force) character!

On This Day in 2007: Remembering SUPERBAD...

It was 15 years ago today that the Greg Mottola-directed hit comedy Superbad was released in theaters nationwide!

Superbad is probably one of the funniest movies that I've ever seen on the big screen (next to 1994's Dumb and Dumber and 1998's There's Something About Mary—both directed by the Farrelly brothers); which is interesting considering the fact that this film is produced by Judd Apatow, whose other flicks I'm not a big fan of.

The dialogue between Superbad's three main characters, Seth (Jonah Hill), Evan (Michael Cera) and Fogell, a.k.a. McLovin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), is so gut-busting hilarious that I actually posted a blog entry back in 2007 listing a lot of memorable quotes by these three goofballs...as well as other characters like Officer Michaels (Seth Rogen) and Officer Slater (Bill Hader). Even the ladies (Jules, played by Emma Stone; Becca, portrayed by Martha MacIsaac; and Aviva Baumann's Nicola) got in on the raunchiness!

I watched Superbad twice on the big screen 15 years ago (the second time for free while I was at work), and even have it on DVD. Not bad, Apatow... This is one of his films where the phallic jokes are actually funny. And not just funny, but really funny. Happy Hump Day.

Photos of the Day: I Hope There Isn't a Flying Saucer in That Cloud!

Yesterday, I went to my local mall (Puente Hills Mall, which served as Twin Pines Mall in the first Back to the Future film) when I noticed from its parking lot a lone cumulus cloud lurking above Mount Baldy...which is the tallest peak in California's San Gabriel Mountains.

If you watched Jordan Peele's latest sci-fi thriller Nope (you can read my review for it here), then you'll find this sight both oddly amusing and scary at the same time!

Of course, if a flying saucer (technically an "extraterrestrial animal in the sky"—according to Nope) did emerge from that cloud, all I had to do to make sure that I wasn't eaten by this interstellar interloper would be to turn off all electronics, not make any loud sounds, nor make excessive eye contact with the saucer if it flew right above me.

Hope y'all had a nice weekend!

Movie Review: PREY...

Yesterday, I set up an account on Hulu.com so I could watch the newest Predator sequel, Prey. Needless to say, it was $6.99 well-spent!

Before I watched the movie last night, I constantly pointed out on my social media accounts how I wished that this film (which was directed by 10 Cloverfield Lane's Dan Trachtenberg) was shown on the big screen instead. After viewing Prey, I made the assumption that a lack of recognizable names and star power in this sequel is why Disney (which took over the rights to the Predator franchise from Twentieth Century Fox a few years ago) did not release this movie in theaters nationwide.

That should not be the case anymore.

While there are no recognizable names like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Adrien Brody (who starred in 2010's Predators, my second favorite sequel in the series), Prey most likely made stars out of Amber Midthunder—who plays the Comanche protagonist Naru in the film—and Dakota Beavers, who portrays Naru's brother Taabe.

The fact that Prey's cast consists of genuine indigenous actors who played Native Americans on screen is a remarkable attribute of this movie... Something that would not have been done decades ago.

And based on her scenes in the movie (including a moment where Naru wades through mud as she searches for Predator in the forest), it's clearly obvious that Midthunder went through tons of training to make her role as a devoted Comanche hunter all the more believable.

In regards to the Predator itself, the design of this film's antagonist is one of the best in the series! The mask and armor that this Predator (played by Dane DiLiegro) wears is obviously more primitive than those of the modern-day alien hunters that Schwarzenegger, Brody and Danny Glover (in 1990's Predator 2) battled in their respective flicks. But the weapons used by the Predator in Prey—such as laser-guided spears—are just as deadly and highly-efficient!

It will be interesting to see where the Predator franchise goes from here. We watched as Native Americans took on an extraterrestrial trophy hunter 300 years ago in Prey... What will be the next time period where we see humans trying to prevent a towering alien life-form from extracting their skulls and spines to keep as a memento?

Happy Tuesday.

Movie Review: BULLET TRAIN...

Earlier today, I watched the action comedy film Bullet Train—starring Brad Pitt, directed by David Leitch (of Deadpool 2) and based on the Japanese novel Maria Beetle by Kōtarō Isaka—at AMC theaters.

It was definitely enjoyable...with Bullet Train basically being Pulp Fiction if it took place on a high-speed railway line in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Bullet Train is about a peaceable assassin codenamed Ladybug (Pitt) who has to retrieve a briefcase from aboard the high-speed vehicle, and ends up running into other colorful killers (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry and Zazie Beetz) who are after Ladybug's precious cargo as well.

It doesn't help that Ladybug confronts other lethal assassins (played by Andrew Koji, Hiroyuki Sanada, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio and Joey King) aboard the train during this increasingly-complex mission!

Of course, despite these unfortunate circumstances, Ladybug manages to survive this trip aboard the bullet train and reunites with his handler (played by Sandra Bullock) at the end.

What makes Bullet Train so fun is that it's Ladybug's huge amount of bad luck in this flick that got him through all of the confrontations with the killers mentioned above, as well as the main antagonist who brought all these assassins aboard the train in the first place: the White Death (portrayed by Michael Shannon).

If I had the same amount of bad luck that Ladybug had in Bullet Train, I'd probably go on to win the lottery, pay off my credit card debts (again) and maybe even get my favorite job back! I lost it over a decade ago. Happy Sunday!

On This Day in 1997: Remembering SPAWN...

It was 25 years ago today that a live-action adaptation of Spawn—which is one of my favorite series by Image Comics—was released in theaters nationwide.

While Spawn is one of the first titles that I collected when I started buying comic books back in 1993 (I was in 7th grade at the time), I actually wished the movie would've been a lot better. Spawn is an R-rated antihero on paper (with his archnemesis, Violator, known to rip the hearts out of people's chests left and right in the comic books), and to make the film itself PG-13 was a huge disservice to this awesome character.

Todd McFarlane, the creator of Spawn, is supposedly planning to direct his own cinematic version of this demonic protagonist. The thing is, he made the announcement that he was going to helm this reboot back in 2015 (with Jamie Foxx and Jeremy Renner starring in the movie)...and so far there has been scant news about this project. Of course, the pandemic should be partly to blame for this.

According to this article, McFarlane will reveal big news about his Spawn film at New York Comic Con...which will be held on October 6-9. We'll see what happens!