Charlie’s Angels is an action-comedy written and directed by Elizabeth Banks from a story by Evan Spiliotopoulos and David Auburn. It is the third installment in the Charlie’s Angels film series and serves as a continuation of the story that began with the television series of the same name by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and the two previous theatrical films, Charlie’s Angels (2000) and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003). I absolutely didn’t want to see Charlie’s Angels because it sort of symbolizes flesh peddling. This version had more substance and less sex but was still based on sexy women luring men by showing excessive skin. I’m just saying!
A team of ladies, employed by the Townsend Agency and known as Charlie’s Angels, are led by senior operative John Bosley (Patrick Stewart). Their mission is to capture international embezzler Jonny Smith (Chris Pang) in Rio de Janeiro and turn him over to American authorities. A year later, Elena Houghlin (Naomi Scott) who is a programmer engineer, employed by entrepreneur Alexander Brock (Sam Claflin), wants to expose Brock as well as Peter Fleming (Nat Faxon) who is head of development, for covering up a device that she helped invent called Calisto. The device is not ready to go into production but has been given the go-ahead by Fleming despite being told by Elena that Calisto has the potential to trigger fatal seizures when in use. Fleming convinces Brock to back him in signing off on production, immediately.
With the help of Angel Jane Kano (Ella Balinska) and Angel Sabina Wilson (Kristen Stewart), Elena meets with operative Edgar “Bosley” (Djimon Hounsou) to turn over her findings, but an assassin named Hodak (Jonathan Tucker) ambushes the meeting and subsequently kills Edgar and leaves Elena to drown. Jane Kano rescues Elena and brings her to operative Rebekah “Bosley” (Elizabeth Banks) with the help of her partner, Sabina Wilson. Meanwhile, John Bosley, who has since retired from the agency, discovers that Rebekah has tagged him with the agency’s specialized subdermal implant without his knowledge. Rebekah tasks Jane and Sabina, joined by Elena, with breaking into Brock’s corporate headquarters to steal the remaining Calisto prototypes before they can be duplicated.
This time around, Charlie’s Angels was better than it’s predecessors but still not considered great. What made it better was the plot and the seriousness of the characters as they went after their enemy. The fighting didn’t look so choreographed and the dialogue was comprehensible. There was less flesh peddling and I really enjoyed the movie. There have been many changes like a whole agency of Angels instead of just three. The name Bosley is a title as well as a position of authority. Michael Strahan has been introduced as a Bosley of the agency’s New York branch. Robert Clotworthy is now the voice of Charles “Charlie” Townsend, owner of the Townsend Agency, formerly held by the late John Forsythe. Elena appears to be a new recruit and most likely will appear in future Angel’s films. I liked Charlie’s Angels and recommend it. It received mixed reviews from critics and has grossed $51.5 million worldwide. Check It Out!
Alzheimer’s is one of the most horrible and deadly diseases known to man. Still Alice deals with a 50 year old linguistics professor who has been diagnosed with early on-set Alzheimer. Although it’s rare to have Alzheimer’s at 50, Alice Howland played by Julianne Moore is assumed to have inherited it from her father. Still Alice shows the heart ships caused by this debilitating disease. Alec Baldwin plays Alice’s husband, John who does everything in his power to support her but is unable to cope. We get an intimate look into the deterioration of a person with the early on-set of this disease. Alice and John also have 3 children Anna (Kate Bosworth), Tom (Hunter Parrish) and Lydia (Kristen Stewart) who are also in jeopardy of inheriting the disease. Still Alice is very real and very sad. The movie teaches us a philosophy on how to live with Alzheimer, which is good to know. Julianne Moore provides us with a brilliant performance that’s both believable and heart felt. Still Alice is a must see for everyone because it gives you information that can be very useful, especially if you know someone who is inflicted with this terrible disease.
I absolutely loved this movie. William Hurt plays Brett Hanson, a newly released prison inmate with nowhere to go. He soon meets up with Martine, played by Kristen Stewart and Gordy, played by Eddie Redmayne. As the movie progresses, Brett Hanson’s life is revealed and the three embark on a road trip/journey that proves to be mentally healthy and empowering for all. It seems their common denominator is loneiness. I can’t say I’ve seen any other movies like this one. I loved the fact that there was little violence and the story wasn’t over the top. Explanations were feasible, decisions somewhat sensible and the ending was very well done. Brett Hanson’s story was the most profound given his age and experiences which included a woman named May, played by Maria Bello. I highly recommend this movie as it delves into the lives of the lonely and shows you should not judge a book by it’s cover. Now available on Netflix.
CAROL's WORLDS 