Sharper

2023 A24 Apple TV+

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 56min

Crime ~ Drama ~ Thriller

Starring: Julianne Moore, Sebastian Stan, Justice Smith, Briana Middleton, and John Lithgow.

Sharper: One who lives by their wits, gambles, cheats and swindles.

TOM:

The movie opens with the ticking of a watch, and a close up of someone putting together a Rolex watch. Then we see the definition of a Sharper. Then we see the name Tom (Justice Smith) on the screen. Then we see a man named Tom working in a vintage book store named Stories. A woman walks in looking for an old specific book. Tom finds it for her and, liking her, asks her out for dinner after he closes up. Her name is…….

Sandra:

Sandra (Briana Middleton) is a Law student at a local University and needs the book for school. Sandra agrees to go to dinner with Tom. They hit it off and become good friends, eventually dating. Their relationship grows as they experience the city nightlife and build a life together. We flashback to a point in Sandra’s life before Tom and we meet….

Max:

Max (Sebastian Stan) has a mother he can’t stand. She is dating a much older businessman named Richard Hobbes (John Lithgow) and Max doesn’t think much of him either. Max and Richard clash and Richard decides that Max must get out of his life so he can marry Max’s mother……

Madeline:

Madeline (Julianne Moore) loves Richard and wants to marry him but doesn’t know what to do about her troubled son Max. Or something like that. That is a brief synopsis of the movie and how it plays out, or is it?

I can’t say anymore about the movie except you need to pay attention. One thing leads to another, or does it? Nothing is as it seems and everything is what it seems, or is it? It will keep you guessing until the very end. Twisting and turning, from one story to the next, from one character to the next. Right up until the very last scene.

I thought it was brilliant, well done. Lots of great nighttime city shots and sceneries. I loved the bookstore in the beginning, I could definitely spend some time in there. Julianne Moore was fantastic as always and also co-produced the movie. Justice Smith, Briana Middleton, and John Lithgow were all great as well.

I honestly can’t say anything more about it or I would spoil the adventure for you. I think it is a thrilling Crime Drama you need to immerse yourself in……take the journey, give it a go. Tune everything out and watch sharper with both eyes open, and a sharper mind.

Two Thumbs Up!

The Bikeriders

2024 Focus Features

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 56min

Crime ~ Drama ~ True Story

Directed by: Jeff Nichols

Starring: Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Mike Faist, Boyd Holbrook, Damon Herriman, Beau Knapp, Emory Cohen, Karl Glusman, Toby Wallace, and Norman Reedus.

“Freedom Is For The Fearless.”

THE BIKERIDERS tells the true story of a Motorcycle Club created in Chicago in the 1960’s. In the movie the name was changed to The Vandals, the real name of the club was The Chicago Outlaws. Between 1963 and 1967 Danny Lyon rode with and documented, in pictures and audio recordings, the lives of the members of the motorcycle club as it grew in popularity and size. In 1968 he published a book using the stories and photographs he had documented entitled THE BIKERIDERS, the movie is based entirely on that book. There are scenes from the movie that were recreated from Danny’s photographs, some of which you can see at the end as the credits roll.

The story is mostly told through the eyes and words of Kathy played by Jodie Comer. In a chance encounter at a club bringing a friend money she meets Benny (Austin Butler), a member of the The Vandals and falls for him. Johnny (Tom Hardy), who started the club, convinces her that Benny is ok and that he will make sure that she is safe and looked after within the club. Within five weeks Kathy and Benny are married and she has a front row seat to the activities and events of the club. Benny is Johnny’s right hand man and protegé, and is high up in the hierarchy of the club.

As Kathy tells it Johnny, who is married with two daughters and has a steady job, got the idea for the Motorcycle riding group while watching Marlon Brando in The Wild One. As the Club grew and expanded Johnny struggled to maintain leadership. As members joined the club after coming home from Vietnam, they brought a different element to the club. Instead of beer drinkers, most of them were Pot smokers and heavier drug users, and there started to become a rift between the old and the new. Eventually the new won out and The Outlaws Motorcycle Club became more of a violent crime organization involved in prostitution and drug running, amongst other things.

It is a fascinating look at the birth and growth of one of the most infamous Motorcycle Organizations in the world. Jodie Comer does an excellent job of portraying Kathy. She is an English actress and you have to give her props for her accent in the movie, definitely Midwestern. There are audio recordings and pics of the real Kathy and Jodi Comer absolutely nailed the accent! Tom Hardy as the tough skinned leader was great, reminded me of his role as Forrest Bondurant in Lawless. Austin Butler also did a great job as Benny, going from the clean cut ELVIS to the polar opposite as the notorious motorcycle club member. Michael Shannon was a little different and freaky as Zipco, a guy you just didn’t want to look at funny for fear of retribution.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, I really liked all the characters, and you know I like the True Story ones. I would watch this again, maybe several times.

Highly Recommended….

Two Thumbs Up!

Killers Of The Flower Moon

2023 Paramount Pictures

Rated: R

Length: 3 hr 26min

Action ~ Crime ~ Drama ~ Epic ~ Mystery ~ Romance ~ True Story ~ Western

Directed by: Martin Scorsese

Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, Tantoo Cardinal, John Lithgow, Scott Shepherd and Brendan Fraser.

“With it’s great black wings of spray, arcing above the rigging, it rose before them like an angel of death.”

In 1821 the Osage Indians were removed from their homes and land they had lived on for generations alongside the Osage river. They were relocated west to the US Government designated “Indian Territories” in Oklahoma. Their former home and lands were sold to white immigrant settlers while the Osage tried to survive on the unhospitable barren Oklahoma land that was foreign to them. It was given to them because none of the white people wanted to live there, being too barren and not much good for farming. They were the poorest people in the United States.

75 years later a group of Osage Indians were walking through the fields of flower blooms in the valley during the annual Flower Moon. The Flower Moon is a name given to the full moon in May by the Osage people because of the flower blooms that take place every year. During May in the Oklahoma hills and valleys of the Indian Reservation, the fields of blooming flowers die out when taller plants crowd them out. The Osage refer to the month of May as “The time of the Flower Killing Moon”. As they were walking they came to a clearing and a patch of mud. Suddenly out of the middle came a geyser of black oil.

The Osage people were sitting on a vast underground oil reserve and almost overnight became the richest people in America. Because nobody wanted the land in the beginning, they had been given and retained all the mineral rights to the land. Almost overnight, the oil companies and oil prospectors invaded the once undesirable Oklahoma land, driven by greed and the temptation of riches beyond the imagination. The money flowed quick and in great volume. Suddenly it became fashionable for a white man to marry into an Indian family and acquire the rights by marriage, or by murder if necessary. It is against this backdrop that KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOONtakes place.

Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Ernest Burkhart who has just returned home to Oklahoma having been discharged from the army due to a health issue. He returns to his Uncle William Hale’s (Robert De Niro) farmhouse where he is reunited with his brother Byron Burkhart (Scott Shepherd). Uncle William informs him of the current climate amid the oil rush in the county. He tells Ernest that it would serve a fellow well if he were to wed into an Indian family with “Headrights”, he and his family would do very well for themselves. Ernest soon falls for an Indian woman named Mollie (Lily Gladstone), who’s mother and sisters own a very large chunk of “Headrights”. William tells Ernest that Mollie’s mother Lizzie is on her deathbed and soon Mollie would follow.

The Osage People were becoming victim to the white man’s diet and sugary confections. Diabetes was becoming very common and many died from lack of care. And Mollie had diabetes like her dying mother. They were also falling victim to the white man’s greed as Osage people were suddenly becoming victims of violent murders and poisonings referred to as “The Wasting Deaths”. Being Indian deaths there was not much concern for how they were dying, nor any inquiries into why. The foul play and deception led to a string of murders that was brought to the attention of Calvin Coolidge by Mollie. The President brought together a group of highly skilled detectives and law men to investigate. They were the unofficial beginnings of The FBI.

When the FBI arrived and started to investigate, they discovered a plot hatched by William and his family to deceive the Osage people and acquire mineral rights for his family at any cost, even if it meant poisoning and killing. This is unfortunately a True Story, based on the book by David Grann, Killers Of The Flower Moon. It is a long movie coming in at 3 hours and 28 minutes, but it is a good one. A fascinating tale of greed, betrayal and deception. I really liked Lily Gladstone in this, thought she did an excellent job. Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro were great as always. It is well shot, great cast, great director, great story…..what’s not to like? Well, maybe the length…….

Highly Recommended!

Two Thumbs Up!

In The Land Of Saints And Sinners

2023 Samuel Goldwyn Films

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 45min

Action ~ Crime ~ Thriller ~ Western

Directed by: Robert Lorenz

Starring: Liam Neeson, Kerry Condon, Jack Gleeson, Colm Meaney and Ciarán Hinds.

“A Saint’s gotta be a Sinner first.”

Liam Neeson stars as Finbar Murphy, a hit man quietly living in Glencomcille in Donegal, Ireland. Finbar masquerades as a bookseller and lives a sedentary life amongst the locals and is friends with the local Police Officer Vincent O’Shea (Ciarán Hinds). Secretly he does contract killing for the local crime boss Robert McQue (Colm Meaney). When Finbar returned home from WW II he found that his wife had died while he was away fighting. He fell into the bottle, having fallen into an alcohol-fueled deep dark depression. Robert convinced him to put his war talents to use and become a hitman for him. Finbar takes on a job kidnapping an ex-hitman from the town of Bantry. Troubled by the man’s words before Finbar kills him, he tells Robert afterwards he is done with killing. He wants to lead a quieter, richer life and help people, not off them.

As Robert is starting his new retirement from being an assassin, a group of IRA members have found their way to the quiet little seaside town. They have extended family there and are on the lam, being wanted for a bombing that killed three innocent children. They hole up in their sister-in-law Sinéad’s barn who works at the local tavern that Finbar frequents. Finbar runs into Sinéad’s daughter Moya fishing along the road and notices her bruised wrists. He eventually gets her to tell him who did this to her and she confesses it was one of the strangers staying in her Mom’s barn. Finbar asks Robert for advice in the matter, being very upset that one of them was hurting and abusing the child.

Robert decides to take matters into his own hands and do one more unsanctioned hit by kidnapping and killing the stranger named Curtis. As Curtis is forced out of the trunk of the car, he lashes at Finbar with a knife he had hidden. As the struggle ensues, Kevin (Jack Gleeson) who is Finbar’s protégé, happens onto the scene and helps Finbar. Doireann (Kerry Condon), the leader of the band of IRA members, starts to suspect foul play when Curtis disappears and tries to find out information about the town and the local crime scene. Which eventually leads her to Robert and the knowledge that Robert and Finbar know who and what she is. And that Finbar is responsible for Curtis’s disappearance.

What follows is a hunt and chase through the Irish sea bound countryside as Finbar and Kevin, and Doireann and her gang search each other out. It is classic Liam (which I found out is short for William) Neeson doing what he does best. And doing a FINE JOB OF IT AS WELL I might add. Colm Meaney and Ciarán Hinds are familiar faces, both being Irish actors you’ve seen in a lot of movies. Both very likeable in this movie. Jack Gleeson does a great job playing the young hired assassin who dreams of a better life in California. Kerry Condon, another Irish actor, deserves a shout out in this, absolutely marvelous job of portraying the hardened IRA member fighting and killing in the name of a free Ireland. A complete bad-ass full of anger and vulgarity with no scruples when it comes to the cause.

The movie was shot entirely in Ireland with all Irish Actors and an all Irish film crew. The director wanted to do it that way to add to the realism of the movie. It is a story about “The Troubles ” in Ireland in the 1970’s, the political upheaval and merciless killings and bombings. It is definitely Irish, complete with heavy Irish brogue dialogue that can be hard to understand. Think Irish before you watch it, practice your accent. It will help with understanding the dialogue. The scenery is beautiful along the rocky coastline, and the quiet little towns. It reminds me of an old Western movie with Liam being the cowboy who brings the bad guys to justice on his terms.

I really enjoyed this movie, being a fan of Liam Neeson I think this is one of his better movies. Again, I really liked Kerry Condon in this as well. I would recommend this one, especially if you like Liam Neeson and Ireland, it does center around the troubled history of the 1970’s and The IRA.

Highly Recommended! (Two in a row!-The Piano Lesson)

TWO THUMBS UP!

Heart Of Stone

2023 Netflix

Rated: PG-13

Length: 2 hr 2min

Action ~ Crime ~ Spy ~ Thriller

Directed by: Tom Harper

Starring: Gal Gadot, Jamie Dornan, Alia Bhatt, Sophie Okonedo, and Matthias Schweighöfer.

HEART OF STONE: An unfriendly or unkind disposition. “She had a Heart of Stone.”

Gal Gadot stars as MI6 Field technician Rachel Stone. Rachel and her team are in the Italian Alps to capture Mulvaney, a wanted arms dealer. They are in a casino resort high up on the top of a mountain where there is a livestream of a Navy Seals operation being broadcast. Mulvaney and the other guests are there to place bets on the outcome. The extraction of Mulvaney doesn’t go as planned and a gunfight breaks out. Parker (Jamie Dornan) manages to get Mulvaney out of the casino and into the cable car amidst the fighting and head down the mountain. Stone slips away and contacts………..

Jack Of Hearts (Matthias Schweighöfer) who, using his very sophisticated extensive computer simulation in real time, guides her down the mountain from his location in London. It is very impressive how Jack of Hearts assists Stone from that far away. It is an action and suspense filled trip down the mountain as Stone deals with every obstacle in her way with Jack’s assistance. As she races down the mountain, the rest of her MI6 team is also trying to get to the bottom to intercept Parker and Mulvaney before a security team reaches them. It is an adrenaline filled race as all three parties try to get to Mulvaney and Parker first.

It is a spy thriller and I can’t talk anymore about the plot without giving things away. Nobody is who you think they are, there are many surprises as the movie unfolds. Stone is called “Nine of Hearts” and referred to as “Heart of Stone” given her cold blooded approach to doing her job. Who does Rachel Stone work for? Does MI6 call her “Nine of Hearts” Who does Jack of Hearts work for? These are questions that get answered as the movie unfolds, and you have to watch for that as it get very tricky following who is who and doing what for what reason. And just when you think you have it figured out…….

I loved Matthias Schweighöfer in Army of Thieves and Army of The Dead, although I liked Army of Thieves much better than Army of The Dead. When I found out that Matthias also directed Army of Thieves, as well as starring in it, I was very impressed and made a mental note to keep an eye out for him. I really like him in this as well, great job, one of my new favorite actors (Top ten lists coming soon!). I just re-watched and reviewed Red Notice and really like Gal Gadot in it and decided to watch her in this movie. Excellent job of portraying Rachel Stone, the bad-ass spy holding her own against anyone in any situation. Kind of like a female James Bond.

It is non-stop action, a tremendous thrill ride full of twists and turns you don’t see coming. It has a lot of modern James Bond type technology that I love to watch and see in a movie. The plot line is a familiar one, but it is what spies do, it is their job to keep the bad guys from getting their hands on things they shouldn’t have and stop them from using them to destroy the world as we know it.

I would DEFINATELY watch this again.

Highly Recommended!

Two Thumbs Up!!