James' World 2

Logan Lucky is another summer fill-in.  I wouldn’t say it’s a bad one but I wouldn’t say it’s a good one either.  It’s a comedy, which may be its saving grace, about a heist with a twist.  Hollywood is making these fill-ins a little better than they use to so kudos to Steven Soderbergh for a half way descent movie to end the summer.

Jimmy Logan (Channing Tatum), once had a promising football career that was ruined by an injury.  To top things off, he was just laid off from his job at the Charlotte Motor Speedway and while picking up his daughter, Farrah Logan (Sadie Mackenzie) for a beauty pageant, he learns that his x-wife, Bobbie Jo (Katie Holmes) and her new husband Moody Chapman (David Denman), a wealthy car dealership owner, intend to move out of state to Lynchburg, making it harder for him to visit.

Surprisingly, The Hitman’s Bodyguard, a comedy written by Tom O’Connor and directed by Patrick Hughes, is very funny and very entertaining. The movie left me wanting more. The action was spot-on as it showed two know-it-all bodyguard/hitmen who protect as well as kill for a living, respectively battle it out between themselves. Each with their own set of personal issues, presented a hilariously dark look into their twisted lifestyles. Somehow, being brought together was the best thing that could have happened to them.

Bodyguard Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds) is hired to protect Takashi Kurosawa (Tsuwayuki Saotome), a Japanese arms dealer. All seems well but as Kurosawa is about to board a plane, he is shot in the head. Having lost a client, Bryce has fallen into disgrace and after two years is now making a living protecting drug-addicted corporate executives. Meanwhile, Vladislav Dukhovich (Gary Oldman), a ruthless and…

Girls Trip is a Black, raunchy girl bonding “Hangover” knockoff (sort of) farce, only this time they got it right.  With an all-star cast and a rock solid story involving each character’s personal ups and downs, Girls Trip is a hit.  An American comedy directed by Malcolm D. Lee and written by Kenya Barris and Tracy Oliver, who based the script on their own experiences involving four female college friends who meet up for the first time in five years to go to New Orleans to attend the Essence Music Festival in order to reconnect and rekindle their sisterhood and wild sides.  There are several nights of partying, hook-ups and bad decisions, as well as raw and vulnerable moments that strengthen their bond.

Below are character definitions rather than a synopsis of the film because it would be too hard not to spoil the very funny scenes and setups…

Kidnap is a thriller directed by Luis Prieto and written by Knate Lee about a mother who follows her son’s kidnappers to get him back, at any cost.  Although Kidnap seems unlikely to ever happen, it will cause you to cheer this mother on til the very end of the movie. This is not a new concept, as it’s been done before, just not quite like this.  The making of Kidnap began in 2009 and was finally released in 2017.

Karla Dyson (Halle Berry) is a divorced waitress living a pretty decent life as a single mom with her six-year-old son, Frankie (Sage Correa).  Karla works hard and devotes most of her time to her son who she obviously loves with all her heart.  Her x-husband is currently remarried and is pursuing custody rights of their son, despite Karla’s great parenting skills.  One day, after her shift at the…

The Dark Tower is a science-fiction/fantasy/western adaptation of a Stephen King novel of the same name.  I usually don’t fancy Stephen King novels but I love Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, as well as a love for fantasy and science-fiction movies. I didn’t hear good things about The Dark Tower, so my expectations of the film were pretty low, yet I was pleasantly surprised. This is why I critique movies from the perspective of the standard viewer rather than the critic’s point-of-view. I ask myself basic questions as part of my analysis that falls into three separate areas: 1) Was I entertained?  (Did the movie make me laugh, cry, shout in anger or make me want my money back?)  2) Did the movie send a message or did I learn anything? (Did the movie teach me something about myself or the world at-large or do I now know something…