Movies

So another one of my "Sixty Things" is to watch 60 movies. I've watched 18. At least those are how many I can remember watching so I can list them in my "Sixty Things" notebook. Are any of them current? Of course not! But if you're like me (a distinction that you might not be ready to embrace), you probably won't see them until they are on Redbox or HBO or any of the like. So maybe these stellar reviews won't be that out of date (I think I reviewed the others earlier) ...

"Dr. Strange." This is in the Marvel series of movies. Since Molly has gotten me hooked on them, this was the next one on the list. Frankly, the previews did not thrill me - they were weird - okay, strange. I figured I would never "get" it as far as the story line went, since some of the scenes had the landscape turning inside each other. Luckily, I was mistaken. Not about the scenes turning inside each other, but keeping up with the movie. here's my synopsis:  Dr. Strange is a conceited surgeon who thinks he's all that. He gets in a wreck and messes up his surgeon hands. He does all this rehab that doesn't get him back to perfect so he goes to Asia to seek this bald lady who he thinks can cure him. She's like some guru type lady who teaches mind stuff. One of her former students thought he was better than her, so he got some followers and is now a bad dude. Meanwhile Dr. Strange learns a lot and gets a magic cape and starts to fight with the bad dude who wants to control the world (enter the landscape turning). At the end, bald lady dies and Dr. Strange is responsible for protecting the world - kinda. And probably will end up helping some of the Avengers. I actually enjoyed it, so two thumbs up from me!

"Rogue One". Another series, this time Star Wars. This comes between the story-chronological first three movies and the oldies latter three movies (think Luke Skywalker, Leia, and Hans Solo). Basically Jyn (girl hero) grows up without her parents and then has to go rescue Dark Side plans for the Death Star. And that's the plot. Lots of space ships and shooting and running and stuff. And at the end, the plans to go Leia and she gives them to R2D2. And then the whole Star Wars saga gets going. I liked it and would give it two thumbs up, especially if you are a Star Wars movie person.

"The Accountant". Ben Affleck is an accountant. Like a super accountant. He's also somewhere on the autism spectrum because he doesn't do people very well. But he's very smart when it comes to accounting and can find money or hide money or whatever accountants do. He makes a lot of money, not all of it necessarily from fine, upright clients. He also kills people, which I guess makes him an accountant assassin. You see his childhood (not so great) and his adulthood (not always so great) and finally a person he connects with (Anna Kendrick). There's a surprise at the very end which makes you like Ben, even thought he's just killed a whole bunch of people. And then he goes off in his trailer (which is my kind of trailer). There's a lot of killing, but I liked it - not necessarily the killing part but the story part. Two thumbs up.

"Almost Christmas". I didn't have a lot of hope for this one. Some of the "group cast" movies I've seen in the last few years weren't that great. But I liked this one. It's about a family who comes back home for Christmas. Of course, every one has his/her own baggage and story, but even those I found interesting and compelling. And of course, there's Danny Glover, so who wouldn't like that? It's a nice story about Christmas and a family trying to connect and make their lives work. Who doesn't like that? Another two thumbs up.

"Jack Reacher - Never Go Back". I got this one because I liked the first Jack Reacher movie. I've never read any of the books, although I have friends/family who have and told me that the book Jack Reacher does not resemble Tom Cruise. Nevertheless, Tom Cruise does a decent job as a disgruntled ex-armed forces dude who beats up a bunch of people in his quest to right the wrong in the world. In this movie, he goes to rescue his friend (who I mainly know as the other girl in "How I Met Your Mother") who was wrongly accused of something. Okay, I admit it - I put this on because I knew I wouldn't have to pay a lot of attention and could do something else while it was on. Anyhow, there's a lot of killing and a girl who says she's Jack's daughter and a military dude who wants to arrest Jack and dishonest people who want to kill Jack. In the end, the wrongs are righted and HIMYM girl gets cleared and Jack goes off to the next thing. I'll give it one thumb up, mainly because when it comes on HBO, I'll probably watch it again (I Redboxed it).

"Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter". I watched this on my recent cruise. Frankly, it was goofy. Not funny goofy, but vampire goofy, when you think of President Lincoln hunting vampires. The movie starts with little boy Abe and him trying to rescue his friend, who might have been a slave (?). Okay, so I was on a cruise watching this, so I half-heartedly watched it, too (naps are important on a cruise). Anyhow, you see Abe as he grows and learns how to hunt vampires. And becomes President. And his friend is part of it. And there are a lot of vampires. It was interesting, and I might watch it again, so I have to give it a tentative thumbs up.

"Wolverine." Apparently this is part of a series also by Marvel. I haven't seen any of the other movies, and after this one, I could care less about seeing any of them. Basically, Wolverine has blades that come out of his knuckles. I guess I should know why, but if it was discussed in this movie, I have since forgotten it. Wait - it has something to do with the atomic bomb in Japan back in the day - I think. Anyhow, in this movie, Wolverine is talked into going to Japan to see some old dude, who is actually a Japanese prison guard from back in the day who was in the atomic bomb shelter with Wolverine. Anyhow, there's a granddaughter (adult) who's supposed to get control of the company when old dude dies, and there is a lot of fighting and slashing (Wolverine has blades, remember) and there's a mean doctor lady. By the end, I didn't care about anybody and was glad it was over. Two thumbs down for this one and probably the whole series.

"Miss Sloane". This is a movie about lobbyists. There's a lot of talking in it. A lot of talking. Which is what lobbyists do, I suppose. I would try to explain the plot to you, but I kinda got bored in the middle (I saw it at the movie theater with Sam and Molly, who both, I might add, liked it) and all the talking got to me after a while. Basically Miss Sloane is supposed to be lobbying for something, and there's a gun control issue, and there's people she works for, and she goes on trial, and so on. I give it two thumbs sideways, because I think it was supposed to be good - I just didn't quite "get it" - shocking, I know!

Anyhow, there may have been other movies I have seen - I shall just have to try to remember them. And their plots ...

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Blessings today include: a nice quiet Wednesday to get the house picked up