BABY DRIVER (2017) – My rating: 8.5/10

Finally, a summer movie with a very different theme. Baby Driver is not your run-of-the-mill gangster movie flick. Instead it is a unique story about a young adult who made a mistake and put himself into a bad situation. That was the good news, the bad news is he now has to pay it off. The problem with paying off debts to bad people is you’re never done, especially if you’re good at what you do.   Baby Driver takes place in Atlanta, Georgia and tells the story of Baby, who mostly grew up as an orphan when his parents died while arguing during a car accident. Baby was strapped in the back seat and the only survivor.

As a result of the car accident that left  Miles “Baby”, (Ansel Elgort) /  Young “Baby” (Hudson Meek)  an orphan, he suffered tinnitus causing him to use music to block out the humming in his ears.  In addition, he uses music to re-record everyday conversations as remixes and gives them relative titles, which he constantly listens to while driving for his boss, Doc, (Kevin Spacey) a veteran criminal mastermind heist planner and mysterious kingpin of the rag-tag crew of  bank robbers.  A while back, Baby stole a car belonging to Doc, which had valuable equipment inside — Baby has been paying Doc off by working for him as a get away driver ever since.  Baby’s skills as a driver is unmatched as he has been 100% successful.  Each job affords Baby $10,00 which he has been saving under the floor boards in his apartment, where he lives with his handicap foster father, Joseph, (C.J. Jones) who is in a wheel chair, unable to speak.  The 2 have a loving relationship as Baby cares for Joseph, cooking for him, feeding him and watching TV together.   While discussing Baby’s future, via sign language, Baby reveals a new love interest he met, who is a waitress named Debora, (Lily James) who works at the diner he frequents.  Joseph convinces Baby to take a job delivering pizza now that he won’t be driving for Doc since he has now paid off his debt.

Doc never uses the same crew twice.  Having informed Baby that his debt is paid, Doc is without a driver.  Since Baby is the best, Doc is not about to let Baby go.  Doc has all the information about Baby and Baby’s loved ones he needs to keep him working for him.  The plot thickens from here.  The crews and the dynamics between Doc and Baby and Doc and the crews and Baby are pretty interesting and the driving is incredible.  The bank robbing crews consist of Monica “Darling” Castello (Eiza González), Jason”Buddy” Van Horn, (Jon Hamm) former Wall Street trader and Darling’s boyfriend, Griff, (Jon Bernthal) bank robber who consistently mocks Baby and Leon “Bats” Jefferson, III (Jamie Foxx), a gun slinging cohort of the bank robbing crew, to name a few.  The cast is colorful, well acted and convincing as some of the most paranoid bank robbers to come along in a while.  Baby Driver received great reviews and great scores.  I enjoyed it very much and highly recommend you check it out!  BTY:  I think Ansel Elgort has a huge future ahead of him as an extremely handsome young man and a very good actor.

 

The Divergent Series: Allegiant (2016) – My rating: 8/10

Confusing is not the word for the new category of “the world has ended” movies. Usually the youth are shut out, which causes them to fight the older population for any information that can lead to their freedom and a better functioning world.  Their goal is a world that will allow them the right to make their own decisions with less stringent rules and a more flexible future for all. Included in these world ending series where people are also categorized by class, is the Maze Runner/Scorch Trails, The Hunger Games trilogy, Tomorrowland, The Giver, District 9 and Elysium. I found myself getting confused and overlapping stories, making Divergent and Maze Runner fitting nicely together as one story. Having pointed out Hollywood’s new obsession, let me add that it isn’t all bad. While these movies are dealing with similar themes, some are doing it better than others. I like the Maze Runner series better than the Divergent series. I found the Hunger Games to be a little over the top, given the ending. In this third installment of the Divergent series, we find Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James) along with her brother Caleb (Ansel Elgort) and Peter (Miles Teller) running away from their home.  No one is allowed to approach the wall which is heavily secured by members of Evelyn’s (Naomi Watts) coalition.  However, they manage to get through and are greeted by an unknown army.  The soldiers take the them to the Bureau of Genetic Welfare, a highly advanced city where they learn the truth about their society. Many years ago, the government believed that society’s problems were caused by “bad genes”. In an attempt to create a better society, they began to modify people’s genes, with disastrous results. The government set up “experiments” in an attempt to repair this mistake, establishing isolated cities across the remains of the United States. The hope was to raise enough genetically pure Divergent individuals to fix the “genetic damage” left in the wake of the Purity War.  The bureau is headed up by David (Jeff Daniels) who deems Tris to be a pure Divergent and is therefore suited to help him get funding from the council he reports to in order to extend his experiments that will ultimately include the destruction of Chicago.  Of course there is much more going on, but as usual, I don’t want to give away any more of the plot.  Allegiant concludes with some very good turn of events. In my opinion, Allegiant is the best of the trilogy. The director (Robert Schwentke) ties events together quite nicely bringing good closure to this final sequel. Great acting and great special effects. There’s lots of adventure and the story is interesting and will keep you guessing.

THE FAULT WITH OUR STARS (2014) – My rating: 9/10

What a heart felt story complete with warm fuzzy’s.  Two beautiful people share similar views on life and death.  Both have cancer and are dealing with their disease along with friends and parents.  They meet at a support group, just when they are pretty much at wits end.  This is not just a love story, as it sends a powerful message and promises nothing.  This film is as raw and down to earth as a movie can get.  Directed by Josh Boone, The Fault with our Stars is brilliantly written and acted.  Hazel played by Shailene Woodley and Gus played by Ansel Elgort are 2 teenagers who were diagnosed at an early age with cancer.  Their union causes them to share a journey that will come to mean more than anything they have experienced, thus far, in their lives.  While you will need to pull out the tissues, I urge everyone to share in this remarkable movie.  It’s both powerful and enlightening.

DIVERGENT (2014) – My rating 8/10

The trailers on Divergent were a little fuzzy, as I didn’t really get what the movie was all about.  Now that I’ve seen it, I have to do a little comparison to The Hunger Games.  Like the Hunger Games, the world was categorized into sections.  In Divergent, there is 1 choice from the existing 5 categories one can choose to spend their life perusing.  There’s no going back once the choice is made.  Like Hunger Games, the government totally rules every aspect of your life.

The one thing you don’t want to be is a Divergent.  Being a Divergent is a death sentence since a Divergent cannot be controlled.  The movie starts out with a seemingly normal family.  Ashley Judd plays Natalie, the mother.  Tony Goldwyn of TVs Scandal plays Andrew, the father.  Their son and daughter (Ansel Elgort and Shailene Woodley) plays Caleb and Tris, respectively.  The 2 children have come of age to be tested and classified in one of the 5 categories.  The adventure starts when the children pick their respective category and begin their life training.  The movie focuses mainly on Tris who is the Divergent.   Kate Winslet plays one of the villains and does quite a convincing job.  While Divergent doesn’t quite reach the heights of The Hunger Games, it is close enough to rake in mega bucks and earn a place on the box office hall of fame.  I wasn’t jumping up and down but I was entertained.  All in all, not bad.