Inside Man

2006 Universal Pictures

Rated: R

Length: 2 hr 8min

Crime ~ Drama ~ Mystery ~ Thriller

Starring: Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer, Willem Dafoe and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

“My name is Dalton Russell. Recently I planned and set in motion events to execute the perfect bank robbery……..”

Clive Owen stars as Dalton Russell, who in August 2005, leads a small group of criminals who hijack The Manhattan Trust Bank and hold everyone inside hostage. Denzel Washington stars as Detective Keith Frazier, who along with his partner Detective Bill Mitchell (Chiwetel Ejiofor) are assigned to the active situation. Willem Dafoe stars as Captain John Darius with the NYPD Emergency services Unit who has set up the perimeter and command center at the Bank. They set up phone communication within the bank solely through the commander center and wait to hear from the Bank robbers.

Christopher Plummer stars as The Founder and Chairman of The Board of Manhattan Trust Bank Arthur Case. This branch is the original Manhattan Trust Bank and also the biggest. Arthur is very nervous about the robbery and the men inside the bank because he has an unidentified security deposit box inside. He does not want them to get their hands on what is inside the box for fear it could ruin him. He makes a call to the most notorius “Fixer” in the city, Madeleine White (Jodie Foster), and she agrees to meet with him. Madeleine calls in a favor from the Mayor and gets him to let her into the active crime scene so she can negotiate with the bank robbers.

And the game of cat and mouse is on as the police and detectives try to negotiate with the bank robbers and figure out their motives and demands, and Madeleine and Arthur try to keep his secret hidden, and the robbers play hide and seek with the hostages as they do something different than bank robbers are expected to do in this situation. It is a thrilling crime drama with a mystery not solved until the very end. It is a movie centered around a bank robbery but it is much more than that. There are secrets and mysteries that are exposed that throw a different twist on the old bank robbery caper.

I have seen this countless times, whenever I see it listed on a platform I always watch it. It is one of my favorites. I sought it out this time because I found out that there was a sequel to this movie, INSIDE MAN: MOST WANTED. I have seen the sequel numerous times too, but didn’t realize they were connected. I came across an article about it while doing research for another movie. It explained how the two movies are connected in the storyline, how the story carries over into the sequel. I had no idea, but thinking about it it made sense. So I had to go back and watch them with my new knowledge of the storyline.

It is a great movie. With Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer, Willem Dafoe and Chiwetel Ejiofor all at their best. It is funny at times as well. All the interrogation scenes were completely ad-libbed by the actors. Great job I’d say. Great story, great cast, great acting and a great movie. I am watching the sequel INSIDE MAN: MOST WANTED tonight.

If you haven’t seen it you’re missing out on a good one.

Highly Recommended!

City Of Lies

2021 Saban Films

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 52min

Crime ~ Drama ~ Mystery ~ Thriller ~ True Story

Directed by: Brad Furman

Starring: Johnny Depp, Forest Whitaker, Rockmond Dunbar and Neil Brown Jr.

“The only thing more notorious than the murder was the cover up…….who killed Biggie?”

This Movie and the following review are based on the True Story of the unsolved mystery and murder of two of Rap Music’s biggest stars, Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls.

Suge Knight, an ex NFL Football Player for the Los Angeles Rams, started Death Row Records with Rappers Dr. Dre and The D.O.C. in Los Angeles in 1991. In 1995 Suge posted a 1.4 million dollar bail for a young aspiring Rapper named Tupac Shakur. The following February 1996 they released Tupac Shakur’s All Eyez On Me to great commercial success. In September 1996 Tupac was killed in a drive-by shooting three hours after Tupac, Suge and others attacked a Southside Compton Crips gang member after a Mike Tyson Boxing Match.

Christopher George Wallace, AKA The Notorious Biggie Smalls, was a New York Rapper and the first Artist to sign to Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs Record Label Bad Boy Records in 1993. There developed an infamous rivalry between the East Coast Bad Boy Records and The West Coast Death Row Records. Underground rumors started circulating after Tupac’s death that Sean Combs and Bad Boy Records might have been responsible for the rapper’s death. On March 8th, 1997 Biggie and the Bad Boys entourage attended a Soul Train Music Awards after-party in Los Angeles. As they were leaving a car pulled up alongside and fired six rounds into Biggie’s vehicle killing him.

Los Angeles Police Department Detective Russell Poole is assigned to the case of Biggie’s murder and spends the next twenty years and the rest of his life trying to answer the question, Who killed Biggie Smalls? 1n 2015 Los Angeles Times Investigative Reporter Darius “Jack” Jackson is assigned to write about the Murder of Biggie Smalls. That led him to the now disgraced and retired Detective Russell Poole. Their journey to find and expose the truth leads the both of them on a trail of corruption, politics, gangs, drugs, crimes and murder that involves The Los Angeles Police Department.

Detective Poole had a theory that Suge Knight paid corrupt LAPD Police Officers to assassinate Biggie Smalls to draw attention away from the fact Suge Knight was responsible for Tupac Shakur‘s murder. Fearing he wanted to leave Knight’s record label, Suge had Tupac killed and then tried to divert the blame to Biggie and Bad Boy Records by having Biggie killed. Essentially throwing the blame onto the infamous East Coast – West Coast rivalry.

Johnny Depp stars as Detective Russell Poole and Forest Whitaker stars as Journalist Darious “Jack” Jackson. Johnny Depp and Forest Whitaker both deliver powerful performances in this movie. It is a subject I do not know much about, but am familiar with. It is a fascinating story and exposé of the depths of the corruption in The Los Angeles Police Department and the murder of two young Black Music Artists. It is a story that needs to be told. Interestingly enough, this film was made in 2018 but never released until three years later in 2021. Makes you wonder why? More politics? More cover-up?

Completely under the radar apparently, because I never heard about it. I came across it by accident on Amazon Prime the other night as Plane ended and City Of Lies started playing. It immediately got my attention and I am glad I watched it. Enlightening to be sure. Even if you are not a Rap Music fan, I think it is worth watching. It is a little hard to follow the storyline as it is laid out so you really have to pay attention. But I definitely recommend it.

Two Thumbs Up!

Carry-On

2024 Netflix

Rated: PG-13

Length: 1 hr 59min

Action ~ Drama ~ Mystery ~ Thriller

Directed by: Jaume Collet-Serra

Starring: Taron Egerton, Sofia Carson, Danielle Deadwyler, Theo Rossi and Jason Bateman.

“One bag…..for one life.”

It’s Christmas Eve and Ethan Kopek (Taron Egerton) and his pregnant girlfriend Nora Parisi (Sofia Carson) are getting ready to go to work. They both work at LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) and reluctantly have to work Christmas Eve. Ethan is a TSA agent and Nora is Director of Operations at Northwind Airlines. Nora mentions to Ethan that she thinks he is unhappy with his job at TSA and should consider applying for the Police Academy again. As Ethan arrives late to his shift he considers Nora’s remarks and decides that he likes his job at TSA. They have a baby on the way and he sees it as the quickest way to get more money, and asks his boss for a promotion.

His boss decides to give him a chance as they could use another man on the front lines and puts him on the line scanning passengers bags. A young woman gets his attention ands says the earbud in the bottom of one of the bins is not hers. He takes it and his phone immediately rings, he answers and is instructed to put the earbud in his ear. The voice in the earbud explains to him that he is to do exactly as instructed. There is a passenger coming through very shortly and Ethan is to allow his bag to pass through the scanner or else. “All you have to do is…..nothing………let the bag pass, Or your pregnant girlfriend ends up dead.”

Jason Bateman stars as the bad guy whose voice is in the earbud. He does an excellent job of being the bad guy who will do whatever it takes to get the carry on bag through the scanner and on the plane. Theo Rossi stars as Jason’s partner in crime who is in charge of surveillance and murder if necessary. Danielle Deadwyler stars as the Detective who starts to put pieces of a puzzle together that lead her to the unfolding events at the airport. I really like her! In this and also in The Piano Lesson and especially in Till.

It is a Christmas movie in that it is set on Christmas Eve. Netflix”s Tudum features an article with the director Jaume Collet-Serra who explains: “Like Die Hard, Carry-On is a Christmas Movie. My hope is that Carry-On can be enjoyed all year round as a fun, popcorn thriller. But of course, the holiday travel theme is integral to our story, and we definitely had fun with it in terms of Christmas decorations in the airport and some classic holiday tunes in the soundtrack.” It is a good soundtrack, and a good movie as well. I enjoyed it, it kept me involved with all the twists and turns the plot took.

Highly Recommended, especially to watch Jason Bateman as a really bad guy for once.

Two Thumbs Up!

Hubie Halloween

2020 Netflix

Rated: PG-13

Length: 1 hr 43min

Comedy ~ Horror ~ Mystery

Directed by: Steve Brill

Starring: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Julie Bowen, Ray Liotta, Rob Schneider, June Squibb, Kenan Thompson, Shaquille O’Neal, Steve Buscemi, Tim Meadows, Maya Rudolph, and Ben Stiller.

“Happy Halloween to all, and to all a good fright.”

Adam Sandler stars as Hubie Dubois, a mentally challenged guy living with his mother in Salem Massachusetts. His family has been in Salem since before the witch trials in the 1600’s and had family involved in the witch trials. He rides a bike with a radio strapped to the front and rides it around town and to his job as a deli worker in the supermarket. He has dubbed himself the Halloween monitor and spends Halloween policing the town and all the activities going on in town.

Kevin James stars as the Chief of Police. Julie Bowen plays the police Chief’s ex-wife. Kenan Thompson plays a Police Sargent. Steve Buscemi stars as the guy who moved in next door with a Halloween secret. There are a lot of stars in this movie. In the beginning it seemed like every scene had someone new. Going in to watching this I knew that it was going to be a silly, humorous Halloween movie. I was good with that, “Good, I need something lighthearted, something halloweenish but not too scary or gory. And nothing serious, a comedy would be good.”

As it started it was exactly what I thought it would be. And I was pleasantly surprised by the star power. And I love Steve Buscemi, I have a friend that looks and sounds just like him. So, I have conversations with Steve Buscemi all the time. LOL. As I watched I was like, “Look, there’s Steve Buscemi…………..and Kevin James………KEENAN THOMPSON! and Ray Liotta. Wow!” But there were two things that started to bother me right away.

The first one was Adam Sandler’s character Hubie being portrayed as having less than average intelligence, riding a bike around town with a radio strapped to the front. And everybody in town is making fun of him and abusing him. It grew on me because at first I was ok with it, it’s just a movie right? But then it became relentless as every scene depicted things thrown at him wherever he went and the abuse was relentless. I started to feel sorry for him and it reminded me of a real life Hubie from my home town.

He used to ride around town with his radio. He was a full grown man with the mindset of a child. He couldn’t work but they trusted him enough to let him wander around town. But I realized a couple of years ago in talking with my Mom how cruel everybody in town had been to him. I grew up with the phrase “Don’t be a Hubie, you pulled a Hubie, etc.” In talking with Mom about that, she didn’t realize that it was actually about the guy that used to ride around town on his bike. I changed his name to Hubie for the sake of the article but in hindsight it seems that the town secretly made fun of him because he was less than normal. Anyway, there’s that.

And Adam Sandler’s very annoying voice as Hubie. At first I tried to overlook it, as it was way over the top, but it really started to grate on me. I kept trying to ignore it because I was enjoying the movie. But the further into the movie I got, the more pronounced his voice became. SO annoying, I couldn’t get past it. It was so bad I quit watching……..yup, I quit. Couldn’t do it.

So that’s a no for me…..

Two thumbs down, way down!

Ready Or Not

2019 Fox Searchlight Pictures

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 35min

Comedy ~ Horror ~ Mystery ~ Thriller

Directed by: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett.

Starring: Samara Weaving, Adam Brody, Mark O’Brien, Elyse Levesque, Nicky Guadagni, Henry Czerny, and Andie MacDowell.

“Who wants to play a game? It’s time for hide and seek. Run, run, run, time to run and hide. Tick tick tock, listen to the clock. Ready or not, here I come.”

Samara Weaving stars as Grace who grew up an orphan and is very excited to be joining the Le Domas family. She has gone with her fiancé Alex Le Domas to get married at his family’s sprawling estate. They exchange nuptials in the garden grounds surrounded by the Le Domas family, the family butler and their three maids. Afterwards Alex tells her there is a family tradition they must go through to finalize their union and her entrance into the family dominion. They must all congregate in the exclusive Le Domas family room to play a game dictated by an ancient wooden card game box. Tony le Domas, the patriarch of the family, explains to Grace how their Grandfather Victor made a deal with a man named “Le Bail” over a game of cards and lots of whiskey.

If his grandfather could figure out how to open the antique card box he had, he would finance any venture that Victor chose. Victor spent the night studying the box and finally believed he had the answer, and opened the box. “Le Bail” then, true to his word, helped Victor build a game playing card business. When Tony took over the business after his father Victor passed away, he expanded into board games and built it into a gaming empire. As part of the deal, any new member to the family must insert a blank card into the antique box at midnight and play the game that was written on the card after it was removed from the box.

Grace takes the box from Tony and draws the card. She smiles as she turns it around for the family to see and asks, “Are we really going to play Hide and Seek?” Noticing the strange expressions on everyone’s face Grace asks, “Is everything ok?” Alex, looking white as a ghost says, “Sure….Hide and seek, right Dad?” “That’s right Alex, Hide and Seek…..tradition is tradition.” He then explains to Grace that they are going to count and that she must hide until dawn. The Butler puts on a very creepy “Hide and Seek” music record complete with countdown and Grace goes deep into the creepy Victorian Mansion to hide. The family then arm themselves with all types of antique weapons and prepare for the countdown to end.

Alex wants no part of what is coming as his mother tries to console Alex that it is a necessary evil for them to kill Grace so that the family can appease “Le Bail”s Ghost, and continue to live and enjoy their fortune. As the countdown ends the heavily armed family heads out of the gaming room to hunt down Grace. Grace is trying to find a suitable hiding spot giggling how silly this is, not realizing that unless she can make it to dawn, she will be killed by the family. Offered up as a sacrifice to Le Bail in exchange for building their family and fortune. What follows is a wild, comical, horrifying, very bloody game of survival for Grace as she evades the family and tries to escape.

Samara Weaving is fantastic in this movie. She reminds me of Margot Robbie and Jamie Pressly. Like Margot, Samara is Australian and grew up in an acting family. Samara is hilarious at times as she realizes her dilemma. In one scene she is cussing at a passing car that refuses to stop to help her in a diatribe that would make Chevy Chase proud(reminds me of the speech at the end of Christmas Vacation). In another she is in the car she commandeered from the butler and turns on the Onboard Vehicle Assistance Feature and tries to explain to “Justin” that she needs his help as her life is in danger. “F*ck you Justin!” It is a hilarious exchange between the two.

I have to mention Andie MacDowell in her role as the Matriarch Becky. Definitely a different role than we are used to seeing her play. And Adam Brody as the brother in law that would rather get drunk and help Grace than help his family kill her. Nice job! It is campy, dark, bloody and well worth the watch. I came across it again a couple of nights ago, having completely forgotten about it. I had watched it when it first came out and remembered liking it.

There is a READY OR NOT 2 in the works with Samara reprising her role as Grace. The film making trio RADIO SILENCE responsible for READY OR NOT are quoted as saying, “There is a sequel in the works with an absolutely f*cking banger of a script.” I can’t wait. I am a fan of this movie and Samara Weaving and look forward to seeing Grace in action again.

Highly Recommended!

Two Thumbs Up!