Tag Archives: Corey Hawkins

Drama, Music, Musical

IN THE HEIGHTS (2021): new Trailer Starring Anthony Ramos, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Dascha Polanco, Corey Hawkins…

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In The Heights (2020), Anthony Ramos, Warner Bros. Pictures
In The Heights (2020), Anthony Ramos, Warner Bros. Pictures

Read my spoiler-free movie review of  In the Heights (2021).

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Corey Hawkins, Dascha Polanco, Anthony Ramos and director  Jon M. Chu’s musical, In the Heights finally has a full trailer.

Set in Washington Heights, New York; the story focuses on a bodega owner’s mixed feelings about closing his store to retire to the Dominican Republic.

The reason I intend to give this a chance, even though I don’t love musicals is the thought that maybe this one won’t be so bad. Additionally, I tried but couldn’t sit through more than ten minutes of Hamilton 2020 because it moved too fast. My thought is that maybe this Miranda production will be different. Maybe.

Susan Pourfar, Melissa Barrera, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Olga Merediz, Ariana Greenblatt, Stephanie Beatriz, Marc Anthony, Leslie Grace, Ken Holmes and Julia Harnett also star.

In The Heights Release Dates: June 18th, 2021 (US & UK)…

Happy Film Loving

G

Action, No Spoiler Reviews, Thriller

6 UNDERGROUND (2019): The Things I Liked…

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6 Underground (2019), Ryan Reynolds, Netflix
6 Underground (2019), Ryan Reynolds, Netflix

Starring Ryan Reynolds, Corey Hawkins and Mélanie Laurent, 6 Underground, the latest action / thriller from Michael Bay only kind of found its way after the first hour.

I say ‘found its way’ when what I really mean is, things became most fun to watch past the hour mark. Before then, I was simply left desperate for the character background detail of the six off-the-grid agents focused on eliminating notorious criminals. I was also eagerly waiting to be gripped by everything that was happening.

Eventually, some of the character backstory did come but it certainly wasn’t soon enough or executed in the most satisfying way. The good news is that I did finally stop wanting for things and just got engrossed in all the fun past the hour point; thanks to all the action sequences in Hong Kong, plus everything else that happens after.

Other notable highlights include the opening visuals at the very beginning . I’m quite the sucker for good opening visuals. I also really enjoyed the few seconds later on when Reynolds’s character speaks in a British accent. 

Overall, even with one, two or more fairly obvious continuation errors, luckily for me, I don’t find Bay’s movie to be a total waste of time but it definitely did need at least one more story draft.

Should you decide to watch it, maybe hold out for the scenes in Hong Kong, which start at around one hour into the movie.

Happy film loving 

G

Drama, Music, Musical

IN THE HEIGHTS (2020): New Trailer From Lin-Manuel Miranda, Dascha Polanco, Anthony Ramos…

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In The Heights (2020), Anthony Ramos, Warner Bros. Pictures
In The Heights (2020), Anthony Ramos, Warner Bros. Pictures

Read my spoiler-free movie review of  In the Heights (2021).

Directed by Jon M. Chu, In The Heights is a musical about a bodega owner’s mixed feelings about closing his store to retire to the Dominican Republic.

Key cast includes Lin-Manuel Miranda, Dascha Polanco, Corey Hawkins…

With zero prior knowledge about the broadway show on which this movie is based, it looks as though, as much as the story is about indecision regarding retirement, it’s definitely also about gentrification.

I’m curious because it’s New York but it is also a musical – not my number one genre. I’ll at least try to watch.

Ariana Greenblatt, Stephanie Beatriz, Marc Anthony, Susan Pourfar, Melissa Barrera, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Olga Merediz, Leslie Grace, Ken Holmes and Julia Harnett also star.

In The Heights Release Dates: June 18th, 2021 (US & UK)…

Happy Film Loving

G

Action, Adventure, Fantasy, No Spoiler Reviews

KONG – SKULL ISLAND (2017): The Things I Liked…

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Kong - Skull Island (2017), Tom Hiddleston.
Kong – Skull Island (2017), Tom Hiddleston

Telling the origin story of King Kong – the giant movie monster that looks like an ape, Kong -Skull Island follows a group of scientists who enter an uncharted island in the Pacific looking for monsters. They do not arrive with peaceful intentions and therefore end up having to fight to escape with their lives.

If you’ve seen at least one previous King Kong movie, then you know that at some point, Kong ends up in New York city against his will. None of that happens in director Jordan Vogt-Roberts’s fun adventure, at least not in this first instalment. What we do get to see resembles something an aggressor might expect to face when they force their way into a person’s home uninvited; a bloody good fight for survival.

I admit that a tear or two escaped my eyes a I watched the movie. Reason being, I’m a sensitive soul and Kong was peacefully minding his business before ‘the bad men came’. In the name of full disclosure, I may have also shed a few tears because of the knowledge that a certain handsome and well-voiced Mr. Tom Hiddleston may probably never, ever, personally escort me to safety through a treacherous jungle… let alone across a busy street.

Besides the good performances by Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson and John C. Reilly – to name just a few, the well choreographed human vs monster and monster vs monster showdowns, the story, special effects, musical score and cinematography all did a great job of keeping me engaged throughout.

Watch Kong – Skull Island because it’s good.

Happy Film Loving

G

Action, Adventure, Fantasy

KONG – SKULL ISLAND (2017): New Trailer From Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, John Goodman…

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Kong - Skull Island (2017) Brie Larson, Tom Hiddleston
Kong – Skull Island (2017) Brie Larson, Tom Hiddleston

Kong – Skull Island is the latest from Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson and John Goodman. Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts, it’s an  action adventure story focused on the origins of King Kong…

Was I ready and in need of another King Kong movie. No. But that doesn’t mean it won’t be just what I need by the time it’s released. Also, I’m definitely not at peace with the idea that humans are going to Skull Island, Kong’s home to capture and hurt him. Though, at least in this instance one can say, it’s just a movie.

The cinematography and dynamic between Hiddleston / Larson, plus Jackson / Goodman are very interesting. The movie also stars Corey Hawkins, John C. Reilly, Jason Mitchell and Toby Kebbell.

Kong – Skull Island Release Dates: March 10th, 2017 (US & UK); March 9th, 2017 (GER)…

Happy Film Loving 🙂

G

Biography, Drama, Music, No Spoiler Reviews

STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON (2015): More To Love Than Just The Music

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Straight Otta Compton (2015), O'Shea Jackson Jr., N.W.A
Straight Otta Compton (2015), O’Shea Jackson Jr., N.W.A

Directed by F. Gary Gray and starring O’Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell and Paul Giamatti, Straight Outta Compton is the story of Rap group N.W.A (Niggaz Wit Attitudes). It is also one of 2015’s best films.

Already confirmed as the highest grossing musical biopic of all time, this fact alone should be reason enough to cause any film fans yet to see the movie to pay attention.

I’m an N.W.A. fan so I was always going to watch – and as I did so, I couldn’t help feeling like a V.I.P. with an ‘access all areas’ pass. A pass to the story of how one of the seminal groups in rap music’s history came to be.

I absolutely threw my hands up in the air when my favourite tracks played and had a great time because of the music but also because Straight Outta Compton is a well executed film in terms of the story, the style in which it’s shot, editing and everything else in between.

The movie represents the universal struggle of young people working hard to make their dreams come true against great odds. Odds that in this case include hailing from Compton, LA, a place rife with gun violence and racial tensions between police and the black community.

I became emotional when the unavoidable truth of discrimination was presented. A truth that felt even more real because of the fact that it’s still  all happening today, decades after the events in the movie.

By the end of F Gary Gray’s film, I felt gratitude, both for the people out there working hard for change and the fact that my reality today is fortunately quite different.

Watch it because it’s good!

Happy Film Loving 🙂

G