(Angel Has Fallen 2019), Gerard Butler, Lionsgate Movies
In Angel Has Fallen, Gerard Butler is back as Secret Service Agent Mike Banning. Banning is framed for the attempted assassination of the President (Morgan Freeman), and as he tries to uncover the real threat, he must evade his own agency and the FBI.
Directed by Ric Roman Waugh; additional key cast includes Piper Perabo, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and Tim Blake Nelson.
I really do love a good chase movie and this appears to be precisely that.
Lance Reddick, Chris Browning, Danny Huston, Michael Landes, Sarah-Stephanie and Sophia Del Pizzo also star.
Girls Trip (2017), Regina King, Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, Tiffany Haddish
Girls Trip is a Michael D. Lee (The Best Man Holiday(2013)-directed comedy about lifelong friends getting together in New Orleans for a fun-filled few days after several years apart.
The film’s main stars, Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith and Tiffany Haddish all get to shine in their respective roles. However, as everyone has been saying, it is indeed Haddish who absolutely steals the show with her loyal and rather ‘out there’ character – thanks no doubt to her impressive comic timing/delivery.
Girls Trip features a healthy amount of outrageous fun to keep you engaged. As hilarious as it all is, what I loved most about this movie is the way the story of love and general sisterhood between the four friends is handled. A sisterhood enriched with a certain level of realism that I wasn’t expecting, particularly where the relationship between Latifah and Hall’s characters is concerned.
I liked that New Orleans was the setting for this story, if only because it reminded me that I need to make it to that place one day. The setting and the music also had me thinking of Chef (2014), a movie I love and recommend, not just because part of it is also set in New Orleans.
Watch Girls Trip because there’s truth in all the positive feedback.
Starring Jada Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, Regina Hall and Tiffany Haddish, Girls Trip is the story of a road trip with four childhood best friends. One where (according to the original Rotten Tomatoes’ synopsis) at some point a betrayal is revealed.
Trailer ‘announcement’
Trailer 1
Now that there may not be a betrayal story after all, I’m still looking forward to finding out just how different this will be compared to The Best Man.
Whatever the similarities and differences, I’m sure that Girls Trip will be good because The Best Man (1999) and The Best Man Holiday (2013)were fun.
Bad Moms (2016), Kristen Bell, Milla Kunis, Katherine Hahn
Starring Mila Kunis, Katheryn Hahn, and Kristen Bell, Bad Moms is written/directed by the team that wroteThe Hangover (2009) – Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. This isa fact that really should give us hope and confidence in the finished product. Sadly, however, I found Bad Moms to be quite the disappointment.
Bad Moms is unfunny to me because much of the story and plenty of the jokes were lazy cliches. Elements of the narrative and character development were simply unconvincing. So much so that I found myself wondering just how committed all the people involved in the movie really were to making it the best version it could have been. I mean, were there budget and timing restrictions that meant it wasn’t possible to shoot or edit a more believable version of the emotional journeys and transformations of any of the characters? My frustration piqued at seeing the shift in Kristen Bell’s Kiki character. ‘REALLY?’ is all I could think and, say out loud.
I’m not a mother, so that may be part of the reason I laughed exactly zero times. Actually, I laughed one or two times. The most memorable one was thanks to a one-liner delivered by Martha Stewart. But that really is it.
I’d absolutely love to see another Kunis movie where she delivers a notable performance. That, for me hasn’t really happened since Black Swan (2010). I probably need to face facts and let it go, particularly because it’s widely understood that comedy movies are arguably always more fun to shoot than dramas or thrillers – and it looks as though Kunis’s preference is clear. Plus, I do definitely want her to be happy.
Watch it? Er… sure, if only so you can let me know whether I’m completely mad or as sane as can be.
