LONG SHOT (2019) – My rating: 7.5/10

Long Shot is a romantic comedy directed by Jonathan Levine and written by Dan Sterling and Liz Hannah. The plot follows a journalist who begins to spend time with his former babysitter who is now the United States Secretary of State.  While I’m not a fan of Charlize Theron or Seth Rogen, the plot of Long Shot was intriguing, so I decided to see the movie.

In 2019, U.S. Secretary of State Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron) is told by her boss, President Chambers (John Odenkirk), that he does not plan to run for a second term. Realizing an opportunity has now arisen, she convinces POTUS to endorse her as a potential presidential candidate.

At the same time,  New York City journalist Fred Flarsky (Seth Rogan) is being told that the newspaper he works for has been sold to Parker Wembly (Andy Serkis), a wealthy media mogul whose integrity, morality, principles and moral code is opposite to Fred’s. Disgusted, furious and disappointed, Fred promptly quits without any other job prospects. Adding depression to the list, he turns to his more successful best friend Lance (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), who takes him to a charity fundraiser where Charlotte is also attending. She and Fred recognize each other, as she was his babysitter when they were teenagers.

Upon reading some of Fred’s columns, Charlotte decides to hire him to write her speeches despite her manager, Maggie Millikin’s (June Diane Raphael) disapproval. At a world leaders summit, Charlotte is forced to revise a speech involving a planned environmental revision to appease some of her constituents. When Fred objects and calls her out on abandoning her morals, she changes her mind and the speech is a success.  As the two continue to spend time together under the pretext of Fred learning more about Charlotte for his writing, they start to get close.

Long Shot continues from this point with many interesting sub plots.  This movie is deemed a romantic comedy but I deem it as a farce and a satire.  Because Seth Rogan does not ever play a lead male romantic role, and looks far from the part and Charlize is the epitome of beauty, the thought of the two of them together is a laugh.  This is how our society sees things. Once you adjust to them being a real thing, you don’t have to ask why he doesn’t play these kind of roles.  I do realize, this is his character in the film but he’s so good at acting a fool, he’s made a believer out of yours truly.  Long Shot is definitely funny but no where near believable.  Imagine a female POTUS married to a grimy, buffoonery acting husband who is far from being attractive.  The media would have a field day, so would comedians and supporters. The performance of Boyz II Men at the fund raiser was a real treat and since Long Shot made me laugh, I consider it a pretty good movie.  It’s not the best of either actor, but it can serve as a pick me up for someone who needs one.  It received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for the chemistry and performances of Rogen and Theron.  Check It Out!

 

BIRD BOX (2018) – My rating: 8/10

Bird Box is a post-apocalyptic thriller film, directed by Susanne Bier from a screenplay written by Eric Heisserer and based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Josh Malerman. The film follows a woman and two children who must travel through a forest and down a river blindfolded to avoid supernatural entities that cause people who look at them to commit suicide. I thought Bird Box was over rated via Netflix and local TV ads, but I still found it entertaining.

Bird Box opens in a post-apocalyptic world as Malorie Hayes (Sandra Bullock) advises her two young children, Boy/Tom (Julian Edwards) and Girl/Olympia (Vivien Lyra Blair) that they will be going downstream on a river in a boat. She strictly instructs them to not remove their blindfolds, or else they will die.

Five years earlier, a pregnant Malorie is visited by her older sister, Jessica (Sarah Paulson). A news report is being shown on television about unexplained mass suicides originating in Russia and quickly spreading across Europe. After hearing the devastating news report, Malorie visits Dr. Lapham (Parminder Nagra) at the hospital for her routine pregnancy checkup. Jessica accompanies her sister for support however, when leaving the hospital, Malorie sees a woman bashing her head into a glass panel followed by others panicking as chaos quickly erupts throughout the town. Malorie and Jessica attempt to drive away from the violence, but Jessica witnesses the phenomenon affecting the masses, loses control of herself and the car she is driving, which overturns. Injured, Malorie watched Jessica purposely walk in front of an oncoming truck that kills her instantly.

Bewildered and hurt, Malorie attempts to flee on foot through the mass chaos. Suddenly, Malorie encounters a woman, Lydia (Rebecca Pidgeon), who invites her to seek shelter in her home even though her husband, Douglas (John Malkovich) doesn’t want to let anyone in, friends included. However, right before his wife reaches Malorie, she goes into a trance, begins talking to her dead mother, and casually climbs into a burning car, which subsequently explodes. Malorie is rescued and brought into Lydia and Douglas’ house by Tom (Trevante Rhodes), a fleeing passerby. Another survivor, Charlie (Lil Rel Howery), who is seeking refuge in the house, theorizes that a celestial entity has invaded Earth, taking the form of its victim’s worst fears and driving them insane before causing them to commit suicide. At the insistence of Tom they cover all windows in the house and use blindfolds whenever they must venture outside. As the supply of food decreases and with the arrival of a new pregnant survivor, Olympia (Danielle Macdonald), decisions have to be made quickly. Ultimately, Greg (BD Wong), who is also seeking refuge in the house, volunteers to tie himself to a chair while monitoring the house surveillance cameras, hoping to find the issue of the entity, but kills himself by rocking his chair violently and slamming his head into a hearthstone after seeing it.

Although Bird Box is deemed a thriller, it’s also a mystery. What’s going on, who or what is causing this chaos and mass suicide to take place? Is this an alien invasion or is it something in the food or water? Where is Bird Box going with this movie and is there any hope? Only some of these questions are answered, however the journey is quite interesting with much more twists and subplots to be revealed. Survival demands the use of common skills that are most difficult to withstand. There is much sadness in Bird Box but it’s worth watching. The acting is brilliant and the cinematography is exceptional. Bird Box is streaming on Netflix — Check It Out, if you have Netflix already, what do you have to lose?

STILL ALICE (2014) – My rating: 8.5/10

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.

[STILL ALICE is nominated for Best Actress]