American Assassin

A young man is traumatized when his fiancé is murdered in a terrorist attack while on vacation in the UAE. Flash forward and he has trained himself as an individual weapon on a personal mission to infiltrate and eliminate terrorist cells. He gets picked up by an elite CIA special team with Michael Keaton as the legendary boss of infiltration ops leading and training the team. And the team instantly gets pulled into pursuit of a rogue nuclear weapon that has hit the black market. What is supposed to make this different than all other films of this ilk is the personal story and transformation of our hero from vigilante into patriot. The telling line... "patriotism was created to give people like us a higher purpose". That is, patriotism is a valid replacement for God, and in this films opinion, a more worthy recipient. Normalization of vengeance and glamorized preemptive retaliation (yes, unfortunately that is a thing) all in the service of this higher calling of patriotism. The discussion of the characters within the film is not that vengeance is bad. Instead, it is that vengeance alone is not a good enough motive. You must have vengeance plus. So we are trying to make an argument about the limitations of vigilantism and vengeance, but take the too small, too simple step to 'wrap it in patriotism' and it's all OK. The problem is that any true alternative to vigilante justice would require a subversive act of sacrifice and require a 10 film commitment to play the entire story out to a possible better future. The movie going public does not have the patience for that. The best we get in film is a future utopia (a la Star Trek) where we start with a society that has agreed to be largely peaceful and can turn efforts to exploration and improving the universe. But we don't get to see the 9 prequel films for Star Trek... who made the first subversive act of peace... and the second... and the 100th... until it became codified?

But I love that this made me think, albeit probably not in the way the filmmakers intended.
4 stars (out of 5)

Lady Bloodfight

Two martial arts masters participating in a tournament in Hong Kong fight to a draw. This was supposed to be the way to settle a dispute between them. But instead, they are forced to agree to return in 5 years to the tournament. They are to bring a proxy, with them as teacher, to settle the dispute. There is lots of anger and resentment. Flash forward 5 years, an American martial artist travels to Hong Kong in search of her lost father (who happened to fight in the tournament 20 years earlier). She "happens upon" one of the masters, becomes the student and enters the fray. Tournament begins, etc. etc. etc. ... and they lived happily ever after. Mediocre story, mediocre action (did not showcase the variety of martial arts styles that were on display), mediocre movie.
2 stars (out of 5)

The Trip to Spain

Third in the series (The Trip and The Trip to Italy), this is really the same film again. And it is the same comedic goodness. Coogan and Brydon plan another trip to write about travel and restaurants. Effectively, they travel from place to place, eat, and over a meal have impressions contests with each other throwing one British actor after another across the table. It feels very slice of life, documentary, improv and as a result we feel as viewers like voyeurs of this lifelong friendship. While these two are quite funny, I would say that this installation has a bit of an edge to it. The guys are a few years older, and clearly dealing with mid-life, mid-career issues that provide a bite to their conversation. The dueling is all in good fun, and the dark edge is all hidden and kept private. But it is clearly there, showing its fangs in pushing the competition just a bit further than fun, offering just a bit more sarcastic version of 'comedic notes'. I am not sure if this was intentional in the script, or just the way these guys are in their lives right now, but the fact that I am not sure speaks volumes about how authentic the story comes across. It was completely appropriate and gave the interactions a depth that I did not experience previously. Hoping for another installation in a few more years.
5 stars (out of 5)

Hacksaw Ridge

Finally saw this "pacifist goes to war" film. It was as gory and bloody a film as I have seen, to the point that I started thinking about the violence as cartoonish instead of realistic. This is John Wick violence, not Fury or Eye in the Sky violence that shows how gruesome and ugly war actually is. On that front, the film (for me) was a loss. The story is of Private Doss, a 7th Day Adventist who enlists for WWII with the understanding that he will be able to be a combat medic and not carry a weapon. The first 2/3 of the film is this drama playing out (pre-enlistment life, boot camp drama, etc.). The final 1/3 is a singular battle in Okinawa where U.S. forces are attempting to take Hacksaw Ridge from the entrenched Japanese. I feel like the entire pacifism identity was portrayed as an excuse to make a brutal film, or as putting "the pacifist" in a zoo to look at. And somehow, I still walked away feeling as if, even agreeing with the pacifist, I should also glory in the war. So the "alternate point of view" subtly hides the fact that this is not a critique on war or violence culture at all, meaning no real depth of understanding of pacifism communicated. I am not sure what I was expecting or hoping for, but largely this left me feeling flat. It was by no means awful, but the (I believe) intentional haziness of intended, and received messages makes this perhaps more dangerous than good for pacifism.

3 stars (out of 5)

Sniffer (Serial)

Season 2

Same cast as Season 1, but better in that there is a season long story arc that was missing in the first. Maybe even to a fault, resulting in some episodes being nearly completely connective. But again, our protagonist is arrogant, independent and brilliant. This gets him into trouble and saves the day. I like this character and the Russian Sherlock persona he plays.
4 stars (out of 5)

The Hitman's Bodyguard

Gotta say, I like Ryan Reynolds. Or at least, I like the characters he has been portraying and the tone of the films he has been starring in. But I tend to think that probably reflects a bit on him as a person as well. In this movie, he is a super compulsive former CIA operative who runs a protection agency. After a setback, he gets a call from his ex-girlfriend (interpol agent) to help with transporting an incarcerated hitman (Samuel L Jackson) across Europe to the Hague to be a witness at an international war crimes tribunal. In many ways, this is a classic buddy-cop film, with the two characters maintaining opposite personalities and continually grating on each other, but ultimately respecting their partner. Only the specific details that they are not partners or cops is dropped. The action sequences are fun, exciting and add new elements (a chase on boat, motorcycle and SUV through Amsterdam). It seemed strange at first, but it was right in line with irreverent Reynolds, that every so often, the action pauses for a heartfelt moment with an appropriately chosen 80's glam rock background song being played. In the end, this pacing made the difference between a frenetic action flick and an enjoyable action-comedy.
4 stars (out of 5)

Logan Lucky

Channing Tatum and Adam Driver play the Logan brothers, a couple of boys from West Virginia struggling along. They are not dumb, but not really bright either... and they are battling the Logan Family Curse of bad luck (Tatum has a bum leg and can't keep a job, Driver lost a hand in Iraq, various parents, uncles, cousins suffered similar fates of bad luck). Tatum has the idea (when he is fired from his job for said bum leg) to break into the cash safe at the Charlotte Motor Speedway and solve all their problems with a quick score. What follows is partially brilliant heist movie, partially hillbilly caricature dumb luck, sprinkled with enough missing details to allow the heist to actually happen. This is not the most precise presentation of a good heist, but it is fun, relying on a cast of odd characters that are completely over the top as individuals but somehow fit into the ensemble as normal. Quite fun.
4 stars (out of 5)