James' World 2

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (also known as Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker) is a space-opera and is produced, co-written, and directed by J. J. Abrams. It is the third installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, following The Force Awakens (2015) and The Last Jedi (2017), and the final episode of the nine-part “Skywalker saga”. This movie was produced by Lucasfilm and Abrams’s production company Bad Robot Productions and was distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The Rise of Skywalker follows Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron as they lead the Resistance’s final stand against Kylo Ren and the First Order, who are now aided by the return of the deceased galactic emperor, Palpatine. I think I’m a little tired of Star Wars — this one was just ok.

Following a threat of revenge by the revived Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), Kylo Ren (Adam…

“SEE” is a science fiction television drama series made and produced for Apple TV+. It is written by Steven Knight and directed by Francis Lawrence. Executive producers include Knight, Lawrence, Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, and Kristen Campo. This series is exceptional and brilliantly acted.

In the distant future, due to a virus, the human race has lost one of their most precious senses, sight.  Now, society is left to find new ways to interact, build and hunt for survival. Meanwhile, Maghra (Hera Hilmar) a newcomer and wife to the warrior and chieftain Baba Voss (Jason Mamoa), gives birth to a set of twins named Kofun (Archie Madekwe) and Haniwa (Nesta Cooper). To his tribe’s amazement, the twins can see. As word spreads, it gets the attention of a cynical tribe lead by Queen Kane (Sylvia Hoeks), who will stop at nothing to get their hands on the…

Richard Jewell is a biographical drama directed and produced by Clint Eastwood and written by Billy Ray. It is based on the 1997 Vanity Fair article “American Nightmare: The Ballad of Richard Jewell” by Marie Brenner, and the 2019 book The Suspect by Kent Alexander and Kevin Salwen. The film depicts the Centennial Olympic Park bombing and its aftermath during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, in which security guard Richard Jewell found a bomb and alerted authorities to evacuate, only to later be wrongly accused of having placed it himself.

In 1986, Richard Jewell (Paul Walter Hauser) finds employment as an office supplies distributor in a small public law firm. Richard being overweight is mocked behind his back by colleagues. Meanwhile, his over the top boss, attorney Watson Bryant (Sam Rockwell) forms a bond with Richard over arcade games and candy bars. It was nothing to hear Watson…

Ford v Ferrari (titled Le Mans ’66 in the UK and other territories) is a sports drama directed by James Mangold and written by Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, and Jason Keller. The plot follows a determined team of American engineers and designers, led by automotive visionary Carroll Shelby and his British driver, Ken Miles. They are dispatched by Henry Ford II and Lee Iacocca with the mission of building the Ford GT40, a new racing car with the potential to finally defeat the perennially dominant Ferrari racing team at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France. Despite the great trailers for this movie, I didn’t intend to see it but I kept hearing great reviews from friends so I finally gave in.  Ford vs Ferrari exceeded whatever expectations I had.

In 1963, Ford Motor Company Vice President Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal) suggests to Henry Ford II (Tracy…

Dark Waters is a legal thriller directed by Todd Haynes and written by Mario Correa and Matthew Michael Carnahan. It is based on the 2016 article “The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare” by Nathaniel Rich, published in The New York Times Magazine. Parts of the story were also reported by Mariah Blake, whose 2015 article, “Welcome to Beautiful Parkersburg, West Virginia” was a National Magazine Award finalist and Sharon Lerner, whose series “Bad Chemistry” ran in the Intercept. Robert Bilott, the principal character in the film, also wrote a memoir, Exposure, detailing his 20-year legal battle against DuPont. I waited patiently for this movie to be released. I anticipated it would be quite the thriller when it opened. I was right, this is a well put together film.

When a farmer, Wilbur Tennant (Bill Camp) shows up at attorney Robert Bilott’s (Mark Ruffalo) company asking for help because 190…

Queen & Slim is a romantic drama directed by Melina Matsoukas (in her feature directorial debut) and written by Lena Waithe, from a story by James Frey and Waithe. The plot follows two African-Americans who must go on the run after killing a police officer in self-defense during a traffic stop gone wrong. Queen & Slim is an interesting story that I wish I could say is fiction but sadly, the story reflects the turn life has taken for people of color!

A criminal defense attorney, Angela “Queen” Johnson (Jodie Turner-Smith), has dinner with her date, Ernest “Slim” Hines (Daniel Kaluuya), in an Ohio diner. On his way to dropping Queen off at home, his presumably erratic driving attracts the attention of police officer Reed (Sturgill Simpson). He pulls the two over and orders Slim to step out of the car. The officer obviously agitated, drew his…

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Knives Out is a murder mystery written, produced, and directed by Rian Johnson. Described as a modern take on the whodunit, the film follows a family gathering gone awry, after the family patriarch’s death leads a master detective to investigate. I looked forward to seeing this film and it did not disappoint.

Wealthy crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) invites his family to a party at his mansion to celebrate his 85th birthday. The next morning, Harlan’s housekeeper Fran (Edi Patterson) finds him dead, apparently having slit his own throat. An anonymous figure hires private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) to investigate. Blanc is accompanied by Detective Lieutenant Elliot (Lakeith Stanfield) throughout the investigation.  Blanc learns that Harlan had alienated many of the family: he had threatened to expose his son-in-law Richard Drysdale (Don Johnson) for having an affair; cut off his daughter-in-law Joni’s (Toni Collette) allowance for stealing…

21 Bridges is an action thriller directed by Brian Kirk. Brothers Joe and Anthony Russo act as producers.  21 Bridges is an exciting film that has quite a few surprises.  I don’t think it received all the publicity it should have, I was told about it by a relative.  Initially, I didn’t really know what 21 Bridges was about however, I’m glad I went to see it.

**** SPOILERS ****

21 Bridges opens with a young Andre Davis (Christian Isaiah) attending his father’s funeral after he was murdered on the job. Many years later, Andre (Chadwick Boseman) becomes a successful law enforcer, working for the NYPD and has taken down more than 8 criminals during his time as a police officer. One night, two small-time criminals and former war veterans Michael Trujillo (Stephan James) and Ray Jackson (Taylor Kitsch) took on a job to ransack a winery and steal several…

The Good Liar is a crime thriller directed and produced by Bill Condon and written by Jeffrey Hatcher, based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Searle. A career con artist meets a wealthy widow online and discovers that his plan to steal her fortune has unexpected complications. The trailers made me think that someone was going to be taken advantage of in a big way. While The Good Liar was a tad bit predictable it was a good movie with a good twist.

Using a dating service, Betty Mcleish (Helen Mirren) meets Roy Courtnay (Ian McKellen), a long-time con artist who, along with his business partner Vincent (Jim Carter), manipulates people into giving him access to their finances through a string of deceptions and false identities. Ignorant of Roy’s agenda, the two hit it off right away and started dating frequently. Betty has a grandson,

Charlie’s Angels is an action-comedy written and directed by Elizabeth Banks from a story by Evan Spiliotopoulos and David Auburn. It is the third installment in the Charlie’s Angels film series and serves as a continuation of the story that began with the television series of the same name by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and the two previous theatrical films, Charlie’s Angels (2000) and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003). I absolutely didn’t want to see Charlie’s Angels because it sort of symbolizes flesh peddling.  This version had more substance and less sex but was still based on sexy women luring men by showing excessive skin. I’m just saying!

A team of ladies, employed by the Townsend Agency and known as Charlie’s Angels, are led by senior operative John Bosley (Patrick Stewart). Their mission is to capture international embezzler Jonny Smith (Chris Pang) in Rio de Janeiro and…