Last Seen Alive

2022 Sky Cinema

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 35min

Action ~ Crime ~ Drama ~ Thriller

Starring: Gerard Butler, Jaimie Alexander and Russell Hornsby.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret. I improvised the whole movie. I was only ever shown the first ten pages and even they were thrown away once we were on set.”

Gerard Butler stars as Will Spann who is driving his wife Lisa Spann (Jaimie Alexander) to her Mom and Dad’s house. They are going through a tough time in their marriage mainly due to Lisa’s recent one night affair with an old friend. She has decided that she needs a break and is going to stay with her folks for awhile. Just outside of the town where her folks live, they stop for gas. Lisa goes into the store and Will never sees her come out. Frantic, he searches the store, the restrooms, the parking lot and surrounding areas to no avail. He then calls 911 to report her missing.

Will then goes to Lisa’s folks house and tells them what happened. Not finding her there and alarming her folks, he heads back to the gas station to meet Detective Paterson who is assigned to look into the case. What follows is Will taking the law into his own hands and tracking down any clues as to what happened to Lisa. It leads him to a meth lab outside of town and a lot of unsavory characters, like “Knuckles” the handyman doing work on Lisa’s parents house, and Oscar, the gas station attendant who is a meth addict.

As I watched this I thought, first off, Gerard Butler sure seems like he’s overacting. It just felt off, a little too intense right off the bat. It didn’t get any better when he went to Lisa’s parents house. The first scene with them in it felt really bad. That sure is some bad acting, I thought. It didn’t get any better throughout the movie, if anything it seemed to get worse. Even the interactions between Lisa and Will felt forced, didn’t feel real, no depth, just hollow words. Just a lot of overacting.

The story was sketchy at best. As it goes along you find out that “Knuckles” the handyman had overheard Lisa’s parents talking while he was working on their house. He knew Lisa was coming to stay and that Will was a successful Real Estate developer. He came up with the idea to kidnap Lisa and make Will pay a Handsome Ransom to get her back. We find out later in the movie that “Knuckles” just happened to be at the gas station, just happened to see Lisa and forces her into his car without anyone seeing??? And then takes her to the meth lab outside town, where the Meth Kingpin decides he’s not going to worry about Ransom, I guess he doesn’t really need the money, and decides to bury Lisa in the back yard????

I always think about the review I’m going to write while I watch the movie. Not real intently, just generally. As I watched this I was thinking, Not much to say about this one, might be a short review. Definitely not one of Gerard’s better movies. The next morning when I write the review I always do a little research. And that’s when I found some info that put the whole movie into perspective for me. Gerard Butler posted on his Instagram account about LAST SEEN ALIVE. I think that summed it up and I couldn’t have said it any better about this movie. Here’s my thinking:

It feels like there was no storyline and the acting is terrible, not cohesive on any level, just overacting like they really didn’t know the storyline.

Here’s the quote from Gerard Butler’s Instagram account posted October 5, 2022:

“I’ll let you in on a little secret. I took this movie on as a fun challenge/experiment. I improvised the whole movie. I was only ever shown the first ten pages and even they were thrown away once we were on set. We shot the movie in 8 days. I was drawn to the idea of how it would feel stepping into scene after scene having no idea what was gonna be thrown at me. I’ve never taken on anything like that and it was both challenging and exhilarating. You can’t help but be in the moment.”

So it was an experiment by Gerard and the director Brian Goodman.

A failed one in my opinion.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a Gerard Butler fan, I like his movies….just not this one.

Don’t waste your time, there are way better Gerard Butler movies out there, HUNTER KILLER for example. Now that’s a good Gerard Butler movie!

Two thumbs down…..way down.

Rebel Ridge

2024 Netflix

Rated: TV-MA

Length: 2 hr 11min

Action ~ Crime ~ Drama ~ Thriller

Directed by: Jeremy Saulnier

Starring: Aaron Pierre, Don Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, David Denman, and Emory Cohen.

“I’m running out of letters. And I don’t mean to reminisce, but it’s one thing I can’t shake from the Corps: Acronyms. And the acronym you need to worry about right now is PACE.”

Aaron Pierre stars as Terry Richmond, an ex-Marine riding his bicycle into the town of Shelby Springs, Louisiana. He is listening to his earbuds and wears a backpack containing a paper bag full of $36,000 cash. He is going to the courthouse to bail out his cousin Mike Simmons and then buy a pick-up truck so they can make an honest living hauling boats. He is intentionally hit, and surprised, by a Shelby Springs Police Cruiser. The two officers illegally detain and search Terry against his will. Upon finding the money they seize it claiming Civil Asset Forfeiture, and then let Terry go.

Terry makes it to the courthouse and tries to post bail telling the Clerk that the County already has his money, illegally confiscated by the Police Department. Summer McBride (AnnaSophia Robb), another courthouse clerk, overhears Terry and offers to help him. Summer promises to have the paperwork ready for his cousin’s release if he can get the money together for the bail. Terry then goes to the Police station and tries to report the money stolen. Police Chief Sandy Burnne (Don Johnson) intervenes and tells Terry that unless he leaves he is looking at several felony charges, “Now, F*CK OFF! and get out of here!”

Terry leaves and arranges to get the $10,000 he needs from his former Marine colleague and business partner Mr. Liu. The police know that Terry got the original $36,000 from Mr. Liu, and raid the restaurant he owns and seizes cash under the guise of Civil Asset Forfeiture. Feeling trapped into a corner by the corrupt Police Chief and Department, he sees no recourse but to go to the station and take matters into his own hands. Chief Burnne confronts Terry outside just as they discover that Terry is a Marine Martial Arts Instructor specializing in Jujitsu.

And that’s the moment we see Terry’s calm, quiet demeanor turn into a very methodical Jujitsu Martial Arts Master. He overpowers the Chief and the Officers and retrieves just the $10,000 he needs to bail out his cousin. He then goes down to the courthouse where Summer helps him expedite the Bail paperwork. Terry, along with Summer, discover in trying to get his cousin out of jail that there is a very corrupt conspiracy involving the Police department and the Courthouse. They team up and help each other to uncover the conspiracy, and take down the corrupt Police Department and Judicial system of Shelby Springs.

Jeremy Saulnier (who wrote, produced, directed and edited rebel Ridge) says Rebel Ridge could be mistaken for a true story (although it is not) because he built the whole movie around the legal loophole anti-drug regulation Civil Asset Forfeiture. In Jeremy’s words, “It’s this insane loophole in anti-drug regulation that allows law enforcement to seize property from ordinary citizens without any proof of criminal activity. I thought it’d make a great premise for a movie because of how unifying it is — it pisses everyone off.”

Aaron Pierre is fairly new to the Movie scene, this being his fourth movie. The Others are:

Old by M. Night Shyamalan 2021
Brother by Clement Virgo
Foe by Garth Davis

He has done quite a few TV series starting in 2017. This is my first introduction to Aaron and I am immediately a fan. He was excellent in this as the quiet calm marine who has a storm brewing just under the surface. His other movies; Old, Brother and Foe are now on my watchlist. I am going to be doing an end of year series on Best of, Top Ten lists, etc. and I think Aaron might inspire a category; Best New Actor. (Maybe Mia Goth for Best New Actress) (What do You think? Let me know in the comments section)

AnnaSophia Robb is fairly new to movies as well, her most recent before this being the 2021 Eytan Rockaway movie Lansky. She was very likeable as the single mother trying to do the right things. “I appreciate your appreciation.” I thought Aaron and Annasophia were a good pair portraying the underdogs trying to expose a corrupt City Judicial system. And Don Johnson is completely believable as the cocky corrupt southern Police Chief.

Do yourself a favor and watch this movie, it’s a good one.

A high Action Crime Drama Thriller I Highly Recommended!

The Folks watched it two nights ago and gave it two thumbs up, so……

That’s SIX THUMBS UP!!!!

Anymore thumbs up?

Let us know in the comments section…..

Edge Of Tomorrow

2014 Warner Bros. Pictures

Rated: PG-13

Length: 1 hr 53min

Action ~ Adventure ~ Sci-Fi

Directed by: Doug Liman

Starring: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton and Brendan Gleeson.

“What I am about to tell you sounds crazy, but you have to listen to me. Your very lives depend on it. You see, this isn’t the first time we’ve met.”

Tom Cruise star as Major William Cage, an Advertising Agent now working for the US Military PR Department. He is sent to London to help promote the UDF in getting recruits for the war effort. The UDF (United Defense Force) is comprised of 17 Nations and was created to combat the Mimic invasion. Five years earlier an Alien species known as The Mimics landed in Germany and has been spreading across Europe killing hundreds of thousands of people. They are nicknamed “Mimics” because they have the ability to mimic our actions in battle and anticipate our moves. When “Bill” Cage meets General Brigham (Brendan Gleeson) in London to discuss The PR campaign, he is told by the General, “Tomorrow we will throw everything we have at the front lines and you will be right there leading the charge….PR in person.” Bill tries to object saying he’s no soldier, but the General won’t here of it and has him arrested and escorted to the staging camp.

He comes to at the staging camp where he is given a uniform, assigned to the misfit J-Squad, and the next morning shuttled out to the front lines. Outfitted with an AI assisted weapons Exo-Suit he has no idea how to operate, he is forced to drop into the frontline fighting and scrambles to survive. He is quickly killed and finds himself back at the staging camp going through the exact same routine 24 hours later. Once again he is outfitted with the weapons suit and J-Squad head out to the frontlines where once again he is killed, but not before taking a few evasive steps to survive based on his memory of the day before. And over and over again, each time remembering a little more, getting better at operating his suit and remembering the evasive steps he has learned to survive. Each day advancing a little further on the battlefield until one day he encounters……..

Emily Blunt who stars as Rita Vrataski, a female soldier who earned the nickname “The Angel of Verdun” for her slaughter of hundreds of Mimics in The Battle of Verdun. He saves her life on the battlefield right before he dies, and after he goes back again and again, she eventually tells him to find her tomorrow when he comes to. He does and they discuss the “Time Loop” he is stuck in. Rita tells Bill that the same thing had happened to her when she had killed an Alpha (A bigger class of the Aliens) and the blue blood from it entered her body. She explains that the Alpha he killed covered him with the blue blood and now he has the ability to reset every time he dies and live the day over again. Enabling him to see further into the future each time and get closer to the The Omega, The Alien that controls the rest of The Mimics.

They spend countless days training, learning and planning to get closer to The Omega. Killing it is the only way to stop the invasion and destroy the Aliens. Every day being a repeat of the day before, only each time armed with more and better knowledge they need to accomplish their task and win the war for Humanity. It is a fascinating story and glimpse into what an Alien Invasion might look like. It is non stop action and the graphics are nicely done. The Mimics and the Alphas are crazy fast, scary killing machines that seem to pop out of nowhere and anticipate your every move. Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt are excellent together and make a dynamite fighting team. Two of my favorites going at it side by side.

I don’t know how I never saw this before. Completely missed it somehow.

I liked it and thought it was a great Action Sci-Fi Adventure complete with an Alien Invasion.

Lots of action and some humor.

Yes, if you haven’t seen it I recommend it.

Two Thumbs up!

The Equalizer 3

2023 Sony Pictures

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 49min

Action ~ Crime ~ Thriller

Directed by: Antoine Fuqua

Starring: Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, Eugenio Mastrandrea, David Denman, Gaia Scodellaro, and Remo Girone.

“I’m really beginning to like this place and the people. I’m starting to believe, from the bottom of my heart, that this is where I’m supposed to be. So, whatever it is that you and your friends do, please do it somewhere else.”

Denzel Washington returns as Robert McCall in the final chapter of THE EQUALIZER Trilogy. We find him at a vineyard in Sicily Italy where he has just killed the Vineyard owner Lorenzo Vitale and his crew. As he is leaving Lorenzo’s son shoots Robert in the back. He makes his way to his car, makes it to the ferry and across to the mainland. A short way down the highway he collapses on the side of the road behind the wheel due to the loss of blood from the bullet hole.

He is discovered by a passing Policeman named Giorgio Bonucci (Eugenio Mastrandrea) who takes him to his nearby town of Altamonte. There Gio and the town Doctor Enzo Arisio (Remo Girone) remove the bullet and bandage Robert up. Dr. Enzo puts Robert in a bedroom in his house where he sleeps for three days recovering. When he comes to he ventures into the charming little seaside town, finds the little cafe in the square and gets some tea. As he recovers and gets better, he also gets to know the people of this little town and they become his friends.

He calls the CIA anonymously to tell Emma Collins (Dakota Fanning), A CIA Financial Operations Agent, about the Vineyard in Sicily and the illegal contraband there. She starts an investigation that coincides with Robert finding out the local gangsters terrorizing Altamonte are connected to the Camorra Crime Syndicate, and had a hand in The Vineyard operations Robert disrupted. As he has fallen for the people and the town of Altamonte, he feels he must free the town of the crime cancer they are spreading. And that’s exactly what he does by going to war with the Camorra Crime family.

It is the most violent, gruesome and bloody of the three right at the very beginning. But I definitely feel it is the best of the three Equalizer movies. I love that little town of Altamonte and like Robert I felt myself feeling like I could belong there. To live there by the sea in Italy……………. smelling the salt air…………….hearing the seagulls and the boats……………..eating fresh pasta and fish……………drinking red wine…………. watching movies at night in the courtyard……..…living a quiet simple existence………….

SNAP! Back to reality and the blog Bobby!

There is a lot going on in this movie, all of them really, story wise. There are some things I didn’t talk about in this movie and the other two. I didn’t want to give away too much in case you haven’t seen any of them. I’ve decided that tomorrow I will do a follow up on the whole trilogy and talk about things not addressed yet that are important to the whole story. Along with some final thoughts and maybe some things about the movies you didn’t catch.

So, Equalizer 3…..

The best one yet.

Highly recommended!

Two Thumbs Up!

NEWS FLASH!!!!

DENZEL WASHINGTON to film

EQUALIZER 4 & 5!

According to an interview with Esquire Magazine dated November 19, 2024 Denzel Washington said:

“I told them we would do another Equalizer, and we’re doing 4 & 5. People are happy about that, they love those daggone Equalizers. But I’ve come to realize that they are for me too, because they’re for the people. They want me to get the bad guys. “We can’t get them so you go get them.” And I say…”Okay, I’ll go get them. Just wait right there and I’ll be right back.”

HURRY BACK DENZEL!

The Equalizer 2

2018 Sony Pictures

Rated: R

Length: 2hr 1 min

Action ~ Crime ~ Thriller

Directed by: Antoine Fuqua

Starring: Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Ashton Sanders, Melissa Leo, Bill Pullman, and Orson Bean.

“There are two kinds of pain in this world. The pain that hurts, and the pain that alters……today you get to choose.”

Denzel Washington returns as Robert McCall in the second installment of The Equalizer trilogy. He is still living in Boston but has a different apartment and now works as a Lyft driver. As we saw in The Equalizer, his attempt to put his past behind him and remain anonymous failed miserably as he felt compelled to take action on Alina’s behalf. Now we find him working as a Lyft driver to find people who don’t yet know that they need his help. Robert is using his talents to “Equalize” situations for people who have unfortunate circumstances they cannot remedy on their own. There are a lot of stories going on here, most of them being people he has helped.

The movie starts with Robert on a train in Turkey confronting a man who has kidnapped his daughter and taken her away from her mother in America. Robert promptly decimates the man’s bodyguards and delivers stopwatch justice. Then delivers the daughter back to the mother anonymously, who we find out, is the woman who owns the bookstore where he gets his “100 books to read before you die list” books.

There is the girl he picks up in front of a condo building, put in the car by a young man, who is in obvious need of medical treatment. He drops her off at the emergency room and goes back to the condo. Under the pretense of the card payment was declined, Robert enters and sees a group of young men he is convinced drugged and raped the girl named Amy. Justice served with a stopwatch.

There is the old man, Sam Rubinstein (Orson Bean), a holocaust survivor who has been looking for a lost portrait of his sister for years. He was very close to her and lost track of her during the holocaust, not knowing if she survived or not. Robert goes above and beyond and in the end we find out he got Sam Rubinstein way more than a painting.

There is a young kid that lives in Robert’s apartment complex named Miles Whittaker (Ashton Sanders). Miles is struggling between trying to be someone and do something with his life, and the pull and influence of drugs, gangs and street life. He has artistic talent and wants to be an artist. Robert takes a liking to him and goes out of his way to snatch him up out of the grasp of gangs and drugs. He convinces Miles to stay in art school and pursue his dreams.

And there is his old friend Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo), who has been helping him with the information he needs to fulfill the goodwill missions he sets out on. Robert learns that she has been killed in Brussels, Belgium while investigating an incident for The DIA. Devastated he vows to find out what happened to her and why. That journey leads him to his old Marine Special Services team who thought he had died. Robert finds out they were responsible for Susan’s death and goes to war with his old wrecking crew.

I have seen all three of The Equalizer movies several times and, while you can watch each one independently, I highly recommend watching them in order. There is so much of the story that you miss if you don’t, and I feel you have a better understanding of each movie as the story progresses across the three of them. Equalizer 2 is just as good as the first one.

That’s a yes.

Highly recommended!

Two Thumbs up!

And tonight’s watch ………. Equalizer 3

NEWS FLASH!!!!

DENZEL WASHINGTON to film

EQUALIZER 4 & 5!

According to an interview with Esquire Magazine dated November 19, 2024 Denzel Washington said:

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Share this:

NEWS FLASH!!!!

DENZEL WASHINGTON to film

EQUALIZER 4 & 5!

HURRY BACK DENZEL!

Share this:

NEWS FLASH!!!!

DENZEL WASHINGTON to film

EQUALIZER 4 & 5!

HURRY BACK DENZEL!

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