Lamar's Reviews

Lamar Reviews - "Sinners" (Airdate 4/25/2025)

Wow, this movie is a lot! It has many moving parts. It is a period piece, a gangster movie, it’s a horror movie, and it’s about the power of music. Now the question, is it too much? Yes, it probably is, but Writer/Director Ryan Coogler manages to make it work. At least it did for me.

Michael B. Jordan plays two characters, twin brothers, Smoke and Stack. It is 1932 in Mississippi, and they have fought in World War I, then lived in Chicago for 7 years, working with the Italian and Irish mobs. Now, they are back with a bag of cash and a truck load of stolen liquor, ready to open a juke joint and make some big money.

They use the bag of money to buy a rundown sawmill. They go around town hiring musicians, like their guitar playing cousin Sammie, played by Gospel and R&B singing great, Miles Caton, and piano banging Delta Slim, played by Delroy Lindo. The brothers both have women they left behind. Mary, played by Hailee Steinfeld, that stack left, without saying goodbye, and Annie, played by Wunmi Mosaku, who smoke shared a child with.

Opening-night is going gangbusters and the blues music that is the soundtrack for the movie is fantastic. All is going well, until the vampires show up. Yes, that is the horror part of the movie, and it is a bloody spectacle. Think Tarantino’s From Dusk till Dawn.

The movie is 2 hours 17 minutes, Rated R for strong bloody violence, sexual content and tons of language, especially about sexual content.

Like I said earlier, it is true there might be too much going on in this movie, but I can’t think of anything I would take out that would not change it for the better.

For the period piece of it, Coogler does an excellent job of showing what it was like for African Americans at that time, in that place. To just say it was a hard, hard life would be disrespectful.

That is where the mournful blues that we have come to love so much came from. I’m sure, as we enjoy the music, we do not normally think about the pain that it originated from.

The cinematography of the huge sky and the endless rows of cotton are breathtaking. The action is nonstop once it starts and is very gruesome. But the music is always there pushing everything in the movie forward. I have to say I have never tapped my foot to the rhythm for the entire time in a horror movie.

When you go, and the movie is over, and you have caught your breath, sit still. Do not get up. There is a post credit scene. After that scene, sit still, do not get up, even if the person sweeping up popcorn is coming. There is still one more scene. Then, get up and walk out, thinking about what a great movie it was.

My Score: 5 frosty cold delicious Budweisers.

Lamar's Review - "Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer" (Airdate 4/18/2025)

This is a documentary about ten sets of skeletal remains that were found along a beach in Long Island between 2010 and 2011, the search for their killer.

What started the investigation was the disappearance of Shannan Gilbert, 24 on May 1, 2010. The Suffolk County police did not put a lot of effort into the case because she was a prostitute. What forced the search and kept it going was her Mother Mari Gilbert. She would not let it go; she constantly called them, she was in the newspaper and on TV, demanding they do something.

In December of 2010 that found a set of skeletal remains. Soon after, three more were found. Through DNA they were able to identify them, all were sex workers who disappeared between 2007 and 2010.

The documentary spends a lot of time interviewing family members and friends of some of the murder victims. Also, journalists, law enforcement officials, and people who knew Rex Heuermann, who had been arrested for the murders.

The Documentary is on Netflix and consists of 3 episodes, each about 50 minutes long. Rated TV-MA

Part one, deals with the discovery of the bodies of the four murdered women and the indications of a possible serial Killer. There was also the possibility of finding more victims.

Part two details the corruption in the Suffolk County Police Department that hindered the investigation and led to the arrest of high-ranking law enforcement officials.

Part three shows some amazing police work along with discoveries that broke the case wide open and led to the arrest of Rex Heuermann.

I’m not sure how this documentary could have been any better. There were so many close calls that could have changed the outcome for these women.

What really sticks out in this documentary is how different the entire situation would have been if the victims had been women of any other profession than sex-workers. When someone that is living that lifestyle goes missing very often there is no immediate urgency. By the time family members get someone to investigate, the crime is cold. These victims were loved by friends, parents, and in some cases, their own children. No one grows up dreaming of a sex-workers life, circumstances and yes, sometimes bad decisions put them there, but they deserve to live and received justice if they are murdered.

The other thing that really hits home is how one act of corruption can affect the lives of so many people, and in this case let a killer get away for so many years.

This is a great documentary that you will want to watch in one sitting.

My Score: 5 Ice Cold Frosty Budweisers

Lamar Reviews - "A Working Man" (Airdate 4/4/2025)

The critic score on this movie is not high, but the audience score is. Is this Jason Statham’s greatest movie? No, it is not. Could the plot be better, less complicated, and all make perfect sense? Yes, it could. Are some of the characters played so far over the top that they are almost cartoonish? Aren’t they always? I think we established that this is a Jason Statham movie, so none of this should be a surprise. You can say this about every movie he’s ever done.

He has built a fantastic career by doing basically the same thing over and over.

His 31 films have made $8.2 Billion. And his net worth is well over $100 million.

If you are looking for him to change his brand you need to make yourself comfortable, you’re going to be waiting a while.

In his last movie, The Beekeeper, that made over $162 million, he played a man that had a history of being a badass, who has walked away from all that to seek a quiet life. A person who has been kind to him gets fleeced by phone scam people, and loses her life. He seeks revenge by killing people who use the phone to ruin elderly people’s lives. Who doesn’t love to see that?

In A Working Man, he’s Levon Cade, a former military badass who just wants to be a quiet construction foreman for a family-owned company. Are we seeing a pattern here?  The company is run by Joe Garcia, played by Michael Pena.  All is going well until Joe’s daughter Jenny, played by Arianna Rivas, is kidnapped by human traffickers, which I’m sure we can all agree that we hate, which are employed by a Russian mobster, which we hate even more. Levon has promised to have Jenny’s back and will not let her down.

The plot, which is too complicated, involves Levon being a widower with a daughter he is trying to get custody of from a bitter father-in-law. Add a blind gunnery Sargent played by David Harbour and you have more plot than you will ever keep straight.

The movie is just shy of 2 hours, Rated-R for strong violence, language and drug content.

I dare say that not one person walked into that theater expecting something they did not get. I went on a Sunday afternoon and it was crowded. I looked around the theater and saw every possible representation of age, race, and sex. I sat on a row of 2 grandmothers, late 60’s early 70’s that ate popcorn and watched Jason Statham brutality kill the bad guys, and giggle while he did it.

Whether he is killing giant sharks in The Meg and The Meg 2 or driving cars that fly upside down and keep going in the Fast & Furious, and Transporter movies, he has proved that nothing can stop or even slow down Jason Statham at the box office.

He’s got 4 more movies lined up including another Fast & Furious and Beekeeper 2. I already have my tickets.

My Score, as a critic: 3 Buds 

My Score, as an audience member: 5 Cold Buds

Lamar Reviews - "The Alto Knights" (Airdate 3/28/2025)

In this movie Robert De Niro plays the two main characters, mobsters Frank Costello and Vito Genovese. I know it was supposed to be magical, but to me it was tedious.

I don’t think having Robert De Niro playing both major parts was the way to go. Having one actor play two parts really doesn’t make any sense to me, unless they are evil twins or brothers or some other reason. These guys are not kin, and they are completely opposite in all ways. In this movie it seems more like a stunt to me.

Costello grew up with Genovese and they formed a crime business selling black market alcohol during prohibition. Genovese got it some trouble and went to Europe to hide out. It was supposed to be for a short time, but World War II broke out and Genovese was stuck overseas for a long time. By the time he finally got back Costello had built it into a huge business, so he doesn’t feel like he owes Genovese anything. To keep the peace, he gives him some territory.

That does not set well with Genovese who is hot tempered, paranoid and a really bad guy. Costello, make no mistake, is a gangster and a bad guy, but he is also a businessman and tries act like one.

De Niro shows absolutely no energy in either role. As Costello he seems to spend most of the time sitting in his chair smoking. Every once in a while, his wife, played by Debra Messing, comes in and asks if everything is ok, and Costello tells her everything is fine.

The title Alto Knights comes from a local club that really never figures into the story except when it shows the history of Costello and Genovese growing up.

The movie starts with Costello being shot and then we jump to flashbacks that confuse, more than they move the plot forward.

The movie rehashes a lot of the famous mob stories like the Mafia summit meeting in upstate New York that ended when local police became suspicious of all the fancy cars with out-of-state tags all in one place. Nothing new, it was like watching a slow documentary about something you already know all about.

The movie is 2 long hours, Rated-R for violence and language.

There is nothing here that we have not seen many times in many mob movies. And the one thing it lacks is the excitement and tension of a good mobster movie. There was some action but not as much as you would expect.

I did manage to stay awake, but just barely. This movie did not add anything to De Niro’s career or legacy.

For an actor to have accomplished all he has in the movie industry, this was definitely a step down.

My Score: 2 Buds

Novocain

Jack Quaid is turning out to be a really good actor who gets better as he goes the fifth Scream, The Boys on Prime, Companion earlier this year, a lot of voice work in animated features, and now this movie.

The title of the movie is Novocain, and if you’ve seen the trailer, you know this is action from start to finish.

The main character in the movie is Assistant Bank Manager Nathan Caine, played by Jack Quaid and he is as mild-mannered as any human can be. The main reason for this is he is afflicted with congenital analgesia, a very rare condition that does not allow him to feel pain or temperature. The movie makes it easy to understand by showing things he has to do to survive like being on a liquid diet because he can’t chew food because he might bite off his tongue, sorta like when you go to the dentist and bite your cheek or tongue by mistake. He also has to set the timer on his watch to remind him to pee or he will burst his bladder. Nathan has one friend, a fellow gamer Roscoe, played by Jacob Batalon, and he has never seen him in person. He has a serious crush on a co-worker named Sherry, played by Amber Midthunder, but he has no earthly idea of how to talk to her. When he finally works up the courage it is Sherry who makes it a successful date.

When something unexpected happens and puts Sherry in jeopardy, Nathan makes it his mission to save her. He is a very unlikely hero with zero fighting skills, but since he can’t feel any pain, he sure can take a lick and keep on going.

The movie is 1 hour 50 minutes Rated R for strong bloody violence, grisly images, and language throughout.

No action movie deals with physical punishment in a realistic way. Both heroes and villains get kicked in the face multiple times and keep getting back up. As unrealistic as the action scenes may be in this movie, at least his condition explains how he can reach into a deep frier and pull a gun out of it.

Jack Quaid’s winning smile and unassuming cheerfulness makes it very easy to believe in his quest to save the woman he loves and possibly have the life he’s always wanted.

And speaking of that woman, Amber Midthunder does a wonderful job making you understand why Nathan is so smitten by her.

This is another one of those movies that is not going to change your life, unless you are looking to get in a better mood. The plot is certainly not deep and complicated, but there are a few twists, turns, and surprises to keep you paying attention.

It is bloody, violent, at times cringy, funny all the way through, and at times, sweet. Did I mention bloody, it truly is bloody.

My Score:5 Buds

Lamar Reviews - Mickey 17 (Airdate 3/14/2025)

First week out Mickey 17 is number 1 at the box office. The critics love it, and so does the audience. For me, there are some things that are fantastic, and some things not so much.

The movie is based on a book Mickey 7 written by Edward Ashton, Director Bong Joon Ho. I’ll get to the 10 Mickey difference later.

Robert Pattinson plays Mickey 17 and because he made a horrible business decision with a partner that included borrowing from a loan shark that cuts up late payers with a chainsaw. He has the opportunity to flee the planet with a crazy politician that is putting a colony on a distant planet. The ship is full, and the only job left to leave the planet is Expendable, he does not read the job description and paperwork and takes it. The bad news is he’s literally expendable, meaning they can test diseases, poisons, suicide jobs, and many other things that will cause him to die. The good news is they have the technology, which has been banned on Earth, to clone him, over and over. He basically gets reprinted and comes out of a machine that looks like an MRI.

He is called Mickey 17 because he has died 16 times in the most interesting and weird ways, and this is the 17^th version of him. If you have seen the trailer, you know there is another Mickey. I won’t spoil for you how that comes to be. But it is a problem.

The movie is 2 hours 17 minutes, Rated-R for violent content, language throughout, sexual content and drug use.

The best thing in this movie is the acting of Robert Pattinson. I can’t say enough about what a great actor he has turned out to be. He killed it as Batman in 2022 and he’s doing Batman 2 in 2027. If you went as far to say he is number 1 Batman over Christian Bale, I would not fight you.

In this dual role of Mickey 17 and Mickey 18, he is a genius. Because of a glitch their personalities are completely different. Mickey 17 is a people-pleaser of the highest order, kind and caring. Mickey 18, not so much. He is selfish, opportunistic, and mostly an a-hole. The way he switches back and forth is amazing. Director Bong Joon-ho insisted on filming certain key scenes without Pattinson knowing which version of Mickey he was playing until a few moments before shooting. He did this because it would capture the confusion and existential dread of a clone struggling with his own identity. I love Pattinson as both characters, absolute great acting.

Mark Ruffalo was over the top, as the politician that is in charge of the mission. He is a religious zealot that craves power and adoration. He and his wife, played by Toni Collette, are so over the top it becomes buffoonish. The movie is at least 25 to 30 minutes too long, and it started to really drag. I couldn’t wait for it to be over.

6 of us went to see it, 3 loved it, 3 didn’t.

I give Robert Pattison’s performance 5 Buds

I give the movie itself 2 Buds maybe it’ just me.

Lamar Reviews - Last Breath (Airdate 3/7/2025)

I do think this is a movie that is best appreciated on the big screen of a theater. It will draw you in and put you on the edge of your seat, literally I spent the last half of the movie sitting on the edge, elbows on my knees, my chin resting in my hands. 

This is a totally true story, and the movie is directed by the same man that made an actual documentary about this story in 2019.

When Chris Lemons, one of the saturation divers, played by Finn Cole, is trying to calm his worried wife, he says “It’s just like being an astronaut in space,” she replies, “Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Really it shouldn’t, because being in space is the only thing that possibly come close to being as dangerous as being over 300 feet underwater.

They are not called “saturation” divers because of being wet in the water, they are called that because the deeper you dive and the longer you stay underwater, the more nitrogen gets dissolved in your blood, so your blood is saturated.

These divers are in the North Sea where there is absolutely no light, and the normal temperature is 39 degrees, and the pressure is 10 times more than the surface.  Their job is to maintain and repair the pipeline. Their lives depend on the 300-foot umbilical hoses that provide heat, air, and communication. This is not a job for the faint of heart.

Woody Harrelson plays Duncan Allock, a former diving partner of Lemons, who recruited Chris for this job. This is Duncan’s last dive mission because the company is retiring him. Dave, played by Simu Liu, is a legendary diver who shows zero emotions, and focuses only on the job. His nickname is Spock.

When things go wrong during a huge storm, Lemons is tragically lost, with minimum oxygen, and left behind until they can get back to him.

The movie is a perfect 93 minutes, Rated PG-13 for brief strong language.

Woody Harrelson is perfect as the sarcastic, wisecracking, mentor who loves the guys he works with, and feels responsible for them.

When things go wrong, it is a race against time that the ship and its crew may or may not lose. The big question is, are we watching a rescue mission or a body recovery.

This is a really good movie, that at times is very uncomfortable to watch.

As I said earlier, this is a true story, not based on a true story. They spliced in actual footage from the real boat and real divers in the movie. After the movie, before the credits they have actual footage of all three of the real people in the movie.

I loved this movie.

My Score: 5 ice-cold Budweisers!

Lamar Reviews - American Murder: Gabby Petito (Airdate 2/28/2025)

No matter how much you know about Gabby Petito’s murder, no matter how many news stories you watched, and especially if you think you have no more interest in this story, you still need to watch this documentary on Netflix.

One of the things that makes this documentary so interesting, and so chilling, is all the video that Gabby shot. She was Vlogging their trip cross-country to post on You Tube. She made this trip with her boyfriend Brian, who will from this moment on be referred to as SPOS, which stands for Sorry Piece Of Crap. No, I did not get the spelling wrong.

All of the video gives you a sense of Gabby’s bubbly personality, love for life, and sadly how her love for SPOS blinded her from all the red flags of possible danger.

All of the interviews with family and friends show how SPOS was gradually separating her from everybody else in her life.

The camera footage of the police when they stop them on the side of the road because of a 911 call from someone that saw a man hitting a woman going down the road in a van. It is nerve-racking for us as the viewer with all the information about what is eventually going to happen, watching the decisions the police made. But we have to remember that the police have zero information and can only go by what they see and hear from both Gabby and SPOS. Given what they knew they did the best that they could.

The second most infuriating person in this documentary is SPOS’ Mother, who from this point on will be referred to as EBICUP. That stands for Evil Witch In Cover Up. Again, the spelling is correct. Because that is exactly what she was. Knowing exactly what happened and doing everything in her power to help SPOS get away with it. There were some red flags about her early on in Gabby and SPOS’ relationship. Why she and her husband are not in jail right now is a mystery for the ages. Sadly, I assume their only punishment will be the fact that if they had cooperated with authorities, their son would be jail, but still alive.

Yes, I realize that I have discussed a lot of what is on the documentary, but all of this went down in 2021 and if you are not already familiar with the details, your name is Jebediah and you were busy with a barn raising, or sittin’ on the porch eating shoofly pie and sippin’ on some meadow tea.

The documentary is 3 episodes total time a little over 2 hours, Rated TV MA for some language.

This is a tragic story that happens way too much, and the Petito family started a foundation that supports location missing persons and to provide assistance to victims of domestic violence. They hoped something good could come out of their tragedy.

My Score: 5 Ice Cold Budweisers

Lamar Reviews - "You’re Cordially Invited" (Airdate 2/21/2025)

Will Ferrell is one of the bravest actors to ever attempt comedy! He is not afraid to try anything, and when he does, he goes at it whole hog! If he gets it right, The Other Guys, Talladega Nights, the Legend of Ricky Bobby, and Elf, nobody can touch him. If it’s wrong, Semi-Pro, Holmes and Watson, and The Ladies Man, he goes down in flames with his head still held high. No regrets. This is why he is always remembered for his successes and immediately forgiven for his failures. 

Reese Witherspoon is wonderful in all kind of movies, Election, Walk the Line, and especially Rom/Coms, Legally Blonde. What works great for her is her chemistry, except in this movie, with Will Ferrell. What they have is not chemistry, it is anti-chemistry. But more on that later.

Will Ferrell plays Jim a single parent, who is very much into his daughter’s life, way into it, way, way into it, in a sorta’ creepy way. His daughter is Jenni, and she is played by Geraldine Viswanathan.

Jenni is getting married to Oliver, played by Stony Blyden. Jim has taken it upon himself to give her the perfect wedding at a small Georgia Island that he has a history with.

Reese Witherspoon plays Margot, a reality television producer who has no time for her family and is estranged from everyone but her little sister Neve, played by Meredith Hagner. Neve is also getting married and the only place they want is the same Georgia Island. And both want it on the same weekend. The venue can only handle one wedding at a time and they are double booked.

As opposing parents Witherspoon and Ferrell are entertaining but when the movie heads down the road of the possibility of them having any type of actual relationship, it goes straight into the ditch! The idea of these two in a romantic relationship is unsettling to say the least.

They say the movie is 1 hour and 49 minutes, it seemed a lot longer than that! Rated R for language throughout and some sexual references.

It is not like there a lack of talented cast. Jack McBrayer, who played Kenneth Parcel on 30 rock is the venue manager and he is fantastic as always! Celia Weston who was born right here in Spartanburg SC, stole every scene she was in as Margot’s mom. Leanne Morgan never disappoints as she branches out from her standup to be in this movie. Nick Jonas makes a cameo, why I’m not sure, and the always hilarious Fortune Feimster does not get the chance to be anywhere as funny as she usually is.

Don’t get me wrong, there were quite a few laugh out loud moments until the unfortunate decision was made to put Will and Reese together in a romantic way. Honestly, I don’t think if they had been brother and sister it could have been any creepier. And the whole alligator thing was stupid. If you have Prime it’s free on Amazon Prime, and I still don’t recommend it.

My Score: 2 Buds

Lamar Reviews - Love Hurts (Airdate 2/14/2025)

Ok guys, before you tell you wife or girlfriend that you want to take her out to a Valentines movie, you need to explain that Love Hurts is NOT a traditional love story, and it is not even a rom/com. You can’t have her expecting a lot of romance and what she gets is a pure action comedy with some pink heart-shaped cookies in the background. Don’t dig a hole you can’t get out of. 

When my Smokin’ Hot Wife Carla asked me what the movie was about before we went, I told her it was a mixture of Real Estate and Kung Fu. This worked mainly because she is a real estate agent, and we took her friend Kristy, who is also a real estate agent, and her husband Terry, with us. 

I was excited to see the star of the movie, Ke Huy Quan Kay Hwee Kwan. You might not recognize him but his first movie in America was Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in 1984, he played Short Round, the orphan sidekick to Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones. There was an open casting call to all elementary schools to find a young Asian actor to play Short Round. Quan came with his brother, not to audition, but to give his brother moral support. The casting director watched Quan telling his bother what to do and what not to do. Spielberg liked his personality, so he and Harrison Ford improvised the scene where Short Round accuses Indy of cheating during a card game. Quan beat out 6,000 other auditions. He holds a second-degree black belt in Taekwondo. He started taking classes for the role in the Indiana Jones movie and kept it up. 

In this movie Quan plays Marvin Gable, the top realtor at Frontier Realty. Marvin lives for his work; he loves helping others fulfill their dreams. This is a far cry from his previous job. 

He was the top assassin for his brother Alvin, who goes by Knuckles, played by Daniel Wu. Marvin did not complete his last job and went into hiding. He started a new life as a real estate agent.

All was going so well until Rose, played Ariana DeBose, shows up looking for revenge against Knuckles. It is up to Marvin to protect Rose when Knuckles sends assassins after her and Marvin.

The movie is a fast 1hour 23 minutes, Rated R for strong/bloody violence and language throughout.

The choreography of the fight scenes is both amazing and fun. This movie got that right for sure. Marshawn Lynch, Mustafa Shakir, and Andre Eriksen, were great bad guys. 

Is this a great movie? I say this all the time, judge the movie by what it trying to be. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, as did the other three people with me. It was well worth the price of admission. Keep in mind Ke Huy Quan won an Oscar for best supporting actor in Everything Everywhere All at Once. I assume he did this movie for fun and money. You will see more of him in the future. 

My Score: 4 Solid Budweisers

Lamar Reviews - "Companion" (Airdate 2/7/2025)

The very first thing I want to say is, if you have not seen Companion’s trailer, avoid it like gas station sushi! The trailer for this movie follows the trends of some others in the way it gives away too much of not just the plot, but of the twists and surprises. The trailer for Flight Risk did the same thing, it revealed that Mark Walberg was the villain before you even had your ticket. I am going to reveal one thing that is obvious in the trailer, if I don’t, there is nothing else to talk about. One of the stars of the movie is Sophie Thatcher, who plays Iris. Iris is the Companion, Josh’s girlfriend. Josh is played by Jack Quaid, son of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan.

Iris is less of a girlfriend and more of an AI sex robot who acts like a girlfriend. The movie never makes it plain whether or not Iris is sentient, or is she result of some really great programing code. That is not what we are here for, we are here for an action oriented, rom-com/horror thriller.

You really get some idea of what you are in for when the movie opens with a meet-cute in the produce aisle of a grocery store. They lock eyes and smile while the voice over has Iris talking about the happiest moments in her life, the day she met Josh and the day she killed him.

Josh has some couple friends, Kat, played by Megan Suri, and Sergey, played by Rupert Friend who are having an affair. Sergey is extremely rich and has this huge house out in the woods where the couples are staying. The third couple is Eli, played by Harvey Guillen, and Patrick, played by Lukas Gage, they are deeply in love and truly devoted to each other.

As we learn more and more about Iris, we find out she can do what a living girlfriend can, be social, have conversations, and seem to have feelings.

Josh controls her using an app on his phone that allows him to change her voice and appearance, modify her intelligence, and determine how much independence she has.

Everything is just a normal couple’s weekend, until it isn’t. When it hits the fan, this movie is a great thrill ride with a lot of twists, turns, and surprises.

The movie is 1 hour and 37 minutes, Rated R for strong violence, sexual content, and language, along with a fair amount of blood.

In today’s world AI is everywhere so it makes sense that we will continue to see it used in the storyline of more and more movies and TV.

The more we see AI in our movies, books, and TV, the more we get used to it, and the less we fear it. And as soon as we are not afraid, the easier it will be for it to murder us all.

It looks like we still have at least a few more years before AI takes over. Will you are waiting, if you are in the mood for a dark comedy romantic comedy with a fairly large body count, Companion is well worth seeing.

My Score: 5 Ice Cold Buds

Lamar Reviews - "Flight Risk" (Airdate 1/31/2025)

The movie stars Michelle Dockery who played Lady Mary Crawley on Downton Abbey. Dockery plays Madolyn Harris, a deputy U.S. marshal who, no surprise, has a past. She is tasked with escorting a fugitive-turned -informant name Winston, who is played by Topher Grace, from Alaska back to testify. Winston does not stop talking, he can’t shut his mouth, and Topher Grace is perfect for the role.

When the plane arrives, it is a barely held together cargo plane with 3 seats. The pilot, Daryl, is played by Mark Walberg. While having conversations with Daryl, some things come to light that make Agent Harris start to suspect something is wrong. But by the time she does they are in the air and miles away from the airport they took off from.

If you’ve seen the trailer, you already know that Mark Walberg’s character is not a good guy.

And if you have seen the trailer, you are thinking that Mark Walberg is wearing the worst skull cap in the history of movie makeup, truth is that it is not a skull cap, he actually shaved his head for this movie, and it looks weird. Now that I’ve mentioned it, that is all you will be able to look at.

The problem is, if they take care of him, Agent Harris and Winston are in a rickety plane over Alaska frozen wasteland, and neither of them know how to fly.

The movie is a brisk 91 minutes, Rated R for violence and language.

If you check the Rotten Tomatoes score it is 25% but don’t go by that. They score all movies on the same scale. Some movies are made to stick with you for the rest of your life. Some movies are made to change the way you think. Others make you laugh, and some make you cry, and still others scare the crap out of you. I think each movie should be judged by what it was made to do.

Flight Risk is not made to do any of those things. It is made for you to sit down with a tub of popcorn and the large drink, don’t worry, it’s a short movie, you can pee after the movie. Eat the popcorn, don’t ask too many questions, don’t search for plot holes and enjoy the action.

Mark Walberg was an excellent villain even though this is only the second time he has played a villain. The first was in the 1996 psychological movie Fear with Reese Witherspoon. To stay in character for Flight Risk Walberg didn’t speak to the rest of the cast during production. He said, "If we weren't shooting, I was like either off in the corner by myself, or I just would kind of go back to my little dressing room and just sit there."

No, it’s not an Oscar winner, but it’s also not a 25% movie either. My son Clay and our friend Josh all agreed, it was fun. Isn’t that what going to the movies is supposed to be?

My Score: 4 Buds

I keep hearing about this new TV show, a medical drama called The Pitt. It is from the studio behind “ER”, the famous medical show that ran from1994 to 2009 with 331 episodes. The critics and fans loved the show. It gave us Anthony Edwards, George Clooney, Julianna Margulies, Maura Tierney, John Stamos, and Noah Wyle to name a few.

30 years later Noah Wyle stars as ER Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch. This show even though it is being produced by the same Studio as ER, and has an actor from ER, it is definitely not ER.

This first season consists of 15 episodes that chronicle a single shift at Trauma Medical Center in downtown Pittsburgh. Each episode is one hour of that shift. Sorta like the show 24, you will have watched 1 shift in real time.

Dr. Robby is a compassionate and driven physician that oversees the ER.  He is still suffering from the loss of his best friend and mentor from Covid. Whose job he now has.

He is supposed to improve efficiency and patient satisfaction at the same time. Which is an all but impossible task. The waiting room is overrun, there are no beds available, patients are being treated in the hallways. He is over a group of veteran doctors along with a fresh set of med students. There is nurse Dana played by Katherine LaNasa, who is wise beyond her years, and knows everything. There is Dr. Frank Langdon, the Ken Doll of the ER, played by Patrick Ball. There one med student who is barely 20, whose mother and father are both surgeons at the hospital. The rest of the med students all have other personal situations that give them challenges.

As you would expect, there is a revolving door of patients, none of which have a stumped toe, but every other exotic malady, overdose, severed limb, mental problem, or disease you can imagine. It is of course still a medical drama. If you say it looks like ER, I say every medical drama made since ER, looks like ER because that was the standard. But this is different.

It is 15 episodes, 50 minutes each, Rated TVMA for language, graphic bloody injuries, some medical nudity, and scary themes.

At this point because we don’t see any of the characters outside of the hospital, this is not a Greys Anatomy type medical show, with all the relationship drama. That makes The Pitt less like a medical soap opera, and more a medical procedural.

It is streaming on Max, which I did not have a subscription for, but signed up, so I could watch this show. So, I could give you the scoop! They release a new show every Thursday.

It is a fast paced, exciting show that has a real feel to it. And Noah Wyle is great.

My Score: 5 Ice Cold Buds

Lamar Reviews - "Carry-On" (Airdate 1/10/2025)

I loved Taron Egerton in the Kingsmen, he was funny and great in the action movie. But I was really impressed when he played Elton John. It showed that he had a lot of range. I haven’t watched him in anything else until this Netflix movie.  I am still impressed.

The movie opens with a shadowy business transaction that involves a small suitcase, and a double murder by a mystery man in dark clothes. Then goes to a couple, Ethan, played by Edgerton, and his girlfriend Nora, played by Sofia Carson being excited about the upcoming birth of their baby. They are both extremely happy, but Ethan has the normal anxiety about the responsibility of becoming a father, especially being able to financially support his family. Emily encourages him to go for his dream and re-take the police exam that he failed the first time. But Ethan wants to take an easier route and try to make more money at his TSA job at LAX. A job that he is constantly late getting to, and one where he just walks through the motions as a slaker.

In an effort to prove himself to his boss Phil, played by Dean Norris, Walter White’s brother-in-law Hank in Breaking Bad, he asks to be put on the bag scan. This is Christmas Eve, the busiest day of the year so it is going to be tough. Way tougher than Ethan can imagine.

In a very smooth move Ethan finds himself with an earpiece and instructions to put it in. A very calm, but serious voice tells him that a package is going to go through the scanner and all he has to do is nothing. That calm voice is a Traveler, played by Jason Bateman who turns out to be an excellent villain, and the “nothing” is to allow a bomb to go through and be placed on a plane that will kill 250 people. If Ethan does not follow the instructions exactly, his girlfriend Nora, and their unborn baby will be killed.

The movie is 2 hours, Rated PG-13 for strong violence, bloody images, some language and suggestive references.

There are some great performances by other people in the movie. Theo Rossi, whose name you won’t recognize but will immediately when you see him, as the watcher who is tapped in to the camera system of the airport so that they can watch Ethan. And Danielle Deadwyler as the detective that is investigating the first murder, and winds up at the airport.

But make no mistake this movie belongs to Egerton and Bateman, they drive it. Egerton is perfect as the working-class guy who does just enough to get by but is underestimated by the villain who soon learns he’s more clever, and more driven than he could have ever expected.

There is a reason Carry-on is the fifth most-watched movie of all time on Netflix.

My Score: 5 Ice Cold Buds