Triple Frontier (2019), Garrett Hedlund, Oscar Isaac, Pedro Pascal, Charlie Hunnam, Ben Affleck
Directed by J.C. Chandor; Triple Frontier stars Charlie Hunnam, Ben Affleck, Pedro Pascal, Garrett Hedlund and Oscar Isaac.
This one is a action / adventure where five former Special Forces operatives plan a heist in a sparsely populated multi-border zone of South America. A major heist that turns into an epic battle for survival…
Seeing the hurt in Isaac’s character’s eyes, I wonder how much sympathy these guys are going to get out of me. Either way, I’m hoping for a thrilling adventure and with a cast like this, the chances should be good.
Adria Arjona, Sheila Vand and Reynaldo Gallegos also star.
InThe Equaliser 2, Denzel Washington’s Robert McCall is, as aways more than ready to serve up an unflinching justice in the name of the exploited and oppressed. Since in director Antoine Fuqua’s sequel, one of the oppressed happens to be someone McCall loves dearly, he wastes no time in setting up a series of smart manoeuvres that prove arguably as thrilling and unexpected as in the first movie, The Equalizer (2014).
With a well-chosen supporting cast that includes Ashton Sanders (Moonlight 2016), Pedro Pascal and Melissa Leo, I particularly enjoyed the dynamic and chemistry between Denzel and Pascal’s characters. My favourite of the most thrilling moments involves the ‘panic room’ scene. A scene that was almost too intense and suspenseful for my little thriller loving heart to bear.
What unfortunately ensures that The Equaliser 2 is not quite as memorable as the first movie includes the fact that it’s a sequel and therefore has the element of familiarity strongly fighting against it. The other reason for me personally is how the beginning portion of the film felt a little disconnected from the rest of it.
Overall, I say there’s still enough good stuff going on to make The Equaliser 2 a worthy movie. You will certainly be thrilled, moved and possibly find yourself feeling lucky and grateful, especially for all the good, helpful people you’re knowingly and unknowingly connected to.
Directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff, Replicas stars Keanu Reeves as a scientist determined to bring back his wife and children who died in a traffic accident.
Other key cast includes Alice Eve, Emily Alyn Lind, Thomas Middleditch…
More than the story and even though I’m far from a scientist, I find myself most interested in the cloning process and what Eve’s character felt as she realised something was wasn’t quite right.
John Ortiz, Emjay Anthony, Nyasha Hatendi, Amber Townsend, Amber Rivera and Aria Lyric Leabu also star.
Starring Nicole Kidman, Sebastian Stan, Bradley Whitford and directed by Karyn Kusama, Destroyer is the story of the moral and existential odyssey of an LAPD detective named Erin Bell.
Bell decides to reconnect with people from an undercover assignment in her distant past in order to make peace…
I’m in for what looks like a really good Kidman performance and to understand the nature of the wrongs that led to Bell needing to make peace.
Tatiana Maslany, Shamier Anderson, Toby Kebbell, Scoot McNairy and Toby Huss also star.
In new crime / drama / mystery The Mule, Clint Eastwood is a 90-year-old horticulturist and WWII veteran who gets caught transporting $3 million worth of cocaine for a Mexican drug cartel.
Also directed by Clint Eastwood, additional key cast includes Bradley Cooper, Michael Peña, Laurence Fishburne…
Firstly, well done trailer maker! Second, following the success of their last pairing for American Sniper (2014), it’s really great to see Eastwood and Cooper working together again.
Seeing how vulnerable Eastwood’s character appears to be, it’s clear that this movie will likely be emotionally taxing – though I’m hoping also quite worth it.
Taissa Farmiga, Clifton Collins Jr., Manny Montana, Dianne Wiest, Alison Eastwood and Dianne Wiest also star.
Holmes & Watson (2018), John C. Reilly, Will Ferrell
Holmes & Watson is a Humorous version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic mysteries featuring Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson.
Directed by Etan Cohen; Holmes & Watson stars Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Ralph Fiennes, Rebecca Hall…
Looks like fun ridiculousness – just the kind of thing I’ll be in the mood for at some point, I know it! I find myself rather happy for Ferrell and Reilly because of how much fun it undoubtedly is to speak on those specific British accents.
Steve Coogan, Hugh Laurie, Kelly Macdonald, Lauren Lapkus and Noah Jupe also star.
Ocean’s 8 (2018), Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter
My fears about the extent to which I’d enjoy Ocean’s Eight were kind of realised. Starring Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett – to name just two, director Gary Ross’s movie isn’t quite as exciting for me on the whole as the other Ocean’s movies I’ve seen. It didn’t help that the eight members in Ocean’s group barely interacted long enough for me to gage much about their group chemistry, but I feel as though ‘sizzling’ wouldn’t really be the right word.
Another key reason I didn’t have as much fun is that for a good portion of the first half of the film, even though I was happy to be introduced to the members of the final eight, I found myself a little bored. This is partly because the real reason for Ocean’s elaborate upcoming heist was yet to be revealed.
Ocean’s 8 (2018), Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett
Once the motivation for the heist was mentioned, I became that little bit more invested. Prior to that it felt as though I was being asked to ‘cheer’ for a major career criminal without really knowing enough about her – except that her brother Danny Ocean was in the same field of work.
I will admit that I was impressed by all of Ocean’s cons immediately post release from prison. Yet, deep down I couldn’t help but judge her. I’d likely have to re-watch the other Oceans movies to find out precisely why I don’t recall judging Danny quite as harshly, if at all. My guess would be that part of the reason is I don’t really identify with Danny. Whereas I have at least one thing in common with his sister. Furthermore, I don’t remember seeing Danny conning the sweet looking lady at the cosmetics counter, though I could be wrong.
Overall, Ocean’s Eight really became most engrossing once the actual steal got under way. Even though Ross’s film didn’t thrill me as much as it’s predecessors, I did identify three things in the movie that I may not forget any time soon. Firstly, Anne Hathaway’s performance. I thoroughly enjoyed watching her behaving terribly. Especially because it seems so far removed from her true character or any other roles I remember her playing. Second, I liked the little moments of comic relief courtesy of Mindy Kaling; an example being the scene where she, erm, ‘speaks French’. There’s also James Cordon whose Britishness among all the Americans proved quite fun to watch.
Give it a chance if you’re so curious. Perhaps you’ll be wowed more than I.
