REVIEW: TOM CLANCY'S 'WITHOUT REMORSE'

 

4/5

Creed and Present Danger.

109 Mins. Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell, Jodie Turner-Smith, Luke Mitchell, Jack Kesy, Brett Gelman, Lauren London, Colman Domingo & Guy Pearce. Director: Stefano Sollima. 

Alexa play, 'Tom Clancy's Without Remorse'. Amazon have some prime real estate now. And it's not just Michael B. Jordan reading romance novels to you as the two of you soak in a bubble bath together for a Superbowl spot. Although even this hetero writer could probably be turned by that right now (have you seen those abs? But I digress). After all his partners surname is Harvey. You saw the bus poster tease 'Without Remorse'. This is the latest Tom Clancy you don't have to read like an audiobook. Adapting the latest chapter from the late, great authors verse that has seen more Jack Ryan's than airport's and studies shelves have his books. Alec Baldwin ('The Hunt For The Red October'), Harrison Ford ('Clear and Present Danger' and 'Patriot Games'), Ben Affleck ('The Sum Of All Fears'), Chris Pine ('Jack Ryan-Shadow Recruit') and John Krasinski (in Amazon's hit TV series. I smell a crossover, but that's not what's post-credit teased here rainbow children) have all played Jack Ryan. But the role of his right hand man John Kelly had been played by only Willem Dafoe (definitively) and Liev Schreiber (sensationally) in 'Clear and Present Danger' and 'The Sum Of All Fears' respectively. So now how about the knockout 'Creed' star Jordan to play this spies sidekick like Bond's Felix coming into his own like the Clancyverse 1993 novel of the same name that spawned the hugely popular with first people, 'Rainbow 6' game. Bourne for this 'Green Zone' like Matt Damon following Han Solo, Batman, Captain Kirk and Jim from 'The Office' (who is so fantastic Marvel are even considering the 'A Quiet Place' actor and director as their next Reed Richards...which really isn't a stretch), who better to continue along this line of fire than the 'Black Panther' star with Killmonger military grade training for good that could be the new black Superman? 

Through 'The Wire' for the formidable 'Fruitvale Station' actor there's even a 'Fantastic Four' reunion here for this scorching hot Human Torch...and it's a beautiful thing. But for this former Navy SEAL and rogue CIA operative the action comes thick and fast. The 'Just Mercy' Oscar worthy star has another franchise under his belt, as he will when he takes it back to another classic story in 'The Thomas Crown Affair' like Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo, or Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. No longer riding in Ryan's backseat despite an incendiary moment surrounded by 'Fahrenheit 451'. Putting the clamps on a corrupt suit as he gets into the back of a burning car as casually as if he was getting into the back of an Uber. The action is amazing from standard sieges that give you more fill than the usual set-piece meat and potatoes, prison fights that break all sorts of batons and arms in a submerging cell, drowning cars and halo jumps that turn into whole plane drops. It's straight out the CIA handbook, but with a script flip that doesn't always go by the book. One home invasion like a 'John Wick' noise complaint scene, punctuated by the reveal of a tense torch circling the living room floor sheds light on just how dynamic the direction of the superb Stefano Sollima ('Sicario: Day Of The Soldado') is. Behind the wonderful writing of the best screenplay man in Hollywood Taylor Sheridan adapting Clancy with 'Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3' video game writer Will Staples. Sheridan's credits also include the original 'Sicario', the steal of 'Hell Or High Water' and the changing direction of 'Wind River' which he also directed. Coming up aces and smoke grenades this first real blockbuster of the coming Summer season is spring worthy of the big-screen like M.B.J's Hollywood icon star status is to be seen. Jordan rules B. He could one day be the G.O.A.T the way he's moving to his own bleat and beat. Bringing duty and responsibility to this man fighting for a flag that should wave for him. But also in this cold and calculated like Russian vodka genre, he also brings a felt humanity and heart to this coming cold war. Channeling Vin Diesel in the 'Fast and Furious' franchise wheelman's best 'A Man Apart' when he comes home to a tragedy that almost includes him in the obituary. As he crawls and tugs on bloody sheets, strewn in his pain and powered revenge that he's about to serve and run red like October. 

This crusader has no remorse like a classic MS-DOS Electronic Arts video game. And why should he? This Jordan takes it personally like Michael B. will if we make one more 23 reference. So this is our last dance...dammit. Sorry. Mike is joined by like (f###!) minds in the form of all sorts of patriots playing games in Washington DC, from the Capitol to the White House. Of course there's the bell ringing reunion with The Thing himself, 'Billy Elliott', 'Snowpiercer' and 'Rocketman' actor Jamie Bell at his versatile best, as we try and work out whether he's snake oil slimy and corrupt or just English red-herring crossiant greasy. It's 'Queen and Slim' star Jodie Turner-Smith however (another great Brit accented as an American), that proves the most dynamite fuse worthy for a Pippen dynamic duo with Jordan, despite her own agency. Inhuman Marvel's 'Agent Of S.H.I.E.L.D' star Luke Mitchell and Black Tom Cassidy himself from 'Deadpool 2', Jack Kesy help round out this team. But it's 'Fleabag' creep and 'Stranger Things' favourite Brett Gelman that gives this story more depth, like the brief, but beautiful role of 'ATL's' Lauren London gives this capital exclamation its heart. Stirring the soul like fellow underused and underrated Colman Domingo of '42', 'Selma', 'If Beale Street Could Talk' and 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' nomination worthy fame. Making the most of his moment like his pink suit at the Oscars that was as stylishly winning as hosting this year's Academy Awards at LA's legendary Union Station to the 'Beale Street' co-star Regina King walking direction of Steven Soderbergh. Still, it's the addition of 'Memento', 'LA Confidential' and 'Lawless' legend Guy Pearce as the top brass that really makes this A-list of an All-star cast in a class of its own. Even when his scenes are reduced to one's that feel more like a cameo, or a cutting room floor, this guy has it like no one else. He could do this all day...in his down time like a sleeper agent. The resourceful if not remorseful Tom Clancy movie yet again just showing you what it could do if it assembled a crack team for the pot of gold at the end of it all. Now standing under the monument of a monumental movie for a Nick Fury in 'Iron Man' like Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne, "I'm putting a team together" moment, it's time to see what's coming somewhere over the rainbow. Watch your 6. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Further Filming: 'Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan', 'The Sum Of All Fears', 'Patriot Games'. 

REVIEW: MORTAL KOMBAT

3.5/5

The Mortal Instruments.

110 Mins. Starring: Lewis Tan, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Tadanobu Asano, Mehcad Brooks, Ludi Lin, Max Huang, Chin Han, Joe Taslim & Hiroyuki Sanada. Director: Simon McQuoid. 

FINISH THIS! Hiroyuki Sanada is an absolute legend. Sure the Japanese icon who started his Hollywood career giving Tom Cruise's 'Last Samurai' what for alongside Ken Watanabe may have died in not one ('The Wolverine' for Logan's run lost in a Tokyo translation), but two ('Avengers: Endgame' by another katana, this time courtesy of Hawkeye's Ronin like Sanada's '47' with Keanu Reeves) Marvel movies, but who cares? They were boss battles that we could watch all day, Cap. And this is the third act of his big-three, holy trinity, battle royale. The 'Westworld', 'Rush Hour 3' and 'Mr. Holmes' actor who also has an MBE knighting from The Queen for his Royal Shakespeare theatrical work as The Fool in 'King Lear' owns the opening seven minutes of the 2021 'Mortal Kombat' reboot, as the video games awesome adaptations preview before you press start on this HBO Max stream like 'Zack Snyder's Justice League' and 'Godzilla vs Kong' before it and 'Space Jam' and 'Dune' after. And you really will want to finish this and take it to the max after its terrific tease that also serves as a scintillating set-up to Sanada's scorching Summer that also sees him cross streams as part of Zack Snyder's 'Army Of The Dead' for Netflix. Scene stealing, carrying wood in a traditional house where some chop wood, Japan, 1617, he sings with his son in a beautiful, blissful moment of pure peace. Then a baby cries so his son attends to his sister as Sanada proceeds to delicately brush the soil off his wife's green fingers as he tells her in Japanese, "I am grateful and blessed to be with you" and powerful poignancy. He leaves to fetch more water. When he rushes back the loves of his life have been out on ice as he falls to his knees and breaks. "I'm sorry" he cries with real, felt pain. A look on his face tells us he knew this day was coming...he just didn't think it would be so soon. He feels the cold wind of enemies approaching in ninja formation and he steels himself for the storm that's coming...from his revenge. He samurai slices through henchmen as blood is Tarantino thrown up from every orifice of their mask. Javelin throws a blade like he's about to participate in the Tokyo, 2020 Olympics...although the '64 games are closer. And then turns a trowel tool into a real inspired implement as he gardens everyone in sight with a sharp tip that really stings. Clothes-lining the last of them on the tail-end of this hell like he was putting the washing out. All before an epic showdown of fire versus ice is hyped before this preview cuts away to the titan of a trailer. Get ready...FIGHT!

Time to put another token in because this one is worth an up. The 1992 American video game was first created by Ed Boon and John Tobias for not just arcades and consoles, but to kick-start the next part of 'Kickboxer' Jean-Claude Van Damme's Hollywood career in the video game world. But alas, it wasn't to be like JCVD (what a movie...even if it does sound like a venereal disease) and Van Damme had to settle for another tournament and a lousy video game adapted 'Street Fighter' movie with Kylie Minogue. The original 1995 'Mortal Kombat' featured a funkadelic soundtrack from George Clinton and was directed by Paul Anderson. No not the one of 'Punch Drunk Love' and Haim music video fame...but there would be blood. The one famous for 'Resident Evil', 'Event Horizon' and 'Alien vs Predator' amongst video game others. Yeah...dark s###. And then came the 'Annihilation' of a sequel and the rest really is history like a fatality. So now seems the right time stuck at home to take the boxes out the attic, blow in our cartridges (steady), dust off our joysticks (steady still...I mean controllers) and pick up sticks like Dave Chappelle was about to whup your ass in some 'Street Hoops' (oh, he should have left you dead Billy). Because Simon McQuoid's directorial debut doesn't need a continue countdown. It's a knockout. No more commercials for him from the commercial success of this trailer...he'll be in his. Sure this is ridiculous...ridiculous fun. Ridiculously entertaining. Epic almost. Sure it takes itself seriously (but have you seen the opening scene...it looks like a classic moment of Asian cinema), but then it doesn't thanks to the sarcasm and F bombs of a laser sharp Aussie Kano (kudos to 'Anchorman 2's' Josh Lawson swiping the show) that rules...and wins. Meta 'Kombat' pulls no punches and will get a belly laugh out of you...or two. Even if it has to punch you in the rib-cage to do so. 

Uncaged for a franchise with more platforms than Goro has arms (OK it's a little more than four), this game video game adaptation will make you think they really can make a 'Monopoly' movie (I liked 'Wall Street's' own Oliver Stone doing it though) with Kevin Hart even if he is smaller than that tiny iron that fellow comedian Dane Cook said would take forever to use on your clothes (genius). Speaking of which the Ryan Reynolds (who has 'Deadpool' been rumoured for this 'Mortal' sequel as none other but the poster boy teased Johnny Cage) like comedian also sort of reminds us of a relative of Cole Young here, kicked and boxed perfectly by Lewis Tan. Shatterstar of 'Deadpool 2' himself (yeah, that d###) who also starred in Marvel's 'Iron Fist' and 'Wu Assassins' (which sadly has nothing to do with the Wu-Tang Clan) on Netflix. Then there's 'The Vow' and 'Battle Of The Sexes' star Jessica McNamee. A standout as Sonya Blade, cutting through all the crap and staying sharp as a tack throughout. You've also got to hand it to (no pun intended) 'Glory Road' and 'The Game's' Mehcad Brooks who has both his arms Carl weathered and defrosted before they mecha-cyborg turn into two winter soldiers. Whilst the dynamic duo featuring 'Power Rangers' and 'Black Mirror' star Ludi Lin's dragon fireball logo of Liu Kang and Max Huang's Kung Lao and his steel sombrero that he spins like Captain America's shield make for the perfect victory...or the best one/two punch since 'The Falcon and The Winter Soldier'. But it's 'Thor', 'Battleship', 'Silence' and 'The Outsider' star Tadanobu Asano with God of Thunder lightning as Lord Raiden and 'Ghost In The Shell', 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' and 'The Dark Knight' actor Chin Han who is good with calculation as a soul sucker that make the perfect good versus evil set-up tournament fight for this stage. Not to mention Indonesian judo and martial artist Joe Taslim ('Fast and Furious 6', 'Star Trek-Beyond'), whose Bi-Han villain really is cold as ice. Slowing your bullet time down more than 'The Matrix'. So against all this, test your might. Because this one is not for weak, pathetic fools. Toasty! Jean-Claude Van DAMN (word to the Fresh Prince) that was some bloody good, bloody dumb fun. Get over here and watch this. K. Mother f#####g O! TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Further Filming: 'Mortal Kombat (1995)', 'Street Fighter', the 'Tekken' reboot I am now campaigning for after this. 

REVIEW: STOWAWAY

3.5/5

Guest In Space. 

116 Mins. Starring: Anna Kendrick, Daniel Dae Kim, Shamier Anderson & Toni Collette. Director: Joe Penna. 

Lost in space. I could watch compellingly cerebral, out of this world, solar system movies for light years. They say in space, "no one can hear you scream", which makes this great genre of science fiction fast becoming fact movies the perfect slow burners like engine fuel. Mesmerizing, from the meditative (Brad Pitt's 'Ad Astra'), to the melancholic (the 'Solaris' of his 'Oceans' commander George Clooney's 'Midnight Sky' (also on Netflix)). Constellations of concepts have revolved around the sun so many times in these movies, like seeing stars that have already burnt out. But this Netflix 'Stowaway' boldy goes where no one has gone before. A hidden gem that will be stored away in your suggestions library until you continue watching. Even if the streaming goliath has a galaxy of 'Interstellar' quests ready to take your social distanced isolation, staying safe at home during these troubled times to a lockdown far, far away. From the legend of '2001: A Space Odyssey', to modern day greats like 'Arrival', 'Passengers' (very close to the console of this one) and Ryan Gosling's 'First Man'. Not to mention their own off world fare. From 'The Space Between Us' and 'Space Sweepers', to 'The Mars Generation' that truly believe we can sustain life on the red planet like a Matt Damon 'Martian', or the subplot of this movie. But who could forget 'The Cloverfield Paradox' (even if most wish they could), the sequel to the found footage and haunted house horrors of what was the most inventive alien franchise. And how about the services shows in season? From the 'Lost In Space' reboot to the parody trumping 'Space Force'? And even Hilary Swank's evicted 'Home'. Yet we're only just entering the atmosphere of all this. Although nothing tops the moving and human documentary series of the tragic 'Challenger: The Final Flight' documentary produced by 'Cloverfield's', 'Star Trek'/'Star Wars' director JJ Abrams showing us the actual lives we lost. Catastrophe always orbits closer than comfort to man made missions to space were all that separates you from the perils of all that black is a glass visor or walls thinner than ones in your apartment when you're bothered by noisy neighbors in the night. Speaking of rude awakenings and unexpected visitors, how about the arrival that comes to this movie and all that is stowed away in this outstanding and original space drama at full force? 

A stowaway is defined as, "a clandestine traveller that secretly boards a vehicle, such as a ship, an aircraft (or here spaceship). Sometimes the purpose is to get from one place to another without paying for transportation" (thanks Wikipedia). But is that what's happening here as Toni Collette finds Shamier Anderson unconscious and bleeding in this ships ceiling? Was he here by the accident that supposedly looks like it happened? Or worse...something else more 'Event Horizon' insidious (that was like Sam Neill's 'Dead Calm' ship, just on a different current of high seas? To make the gravity of this situation even worse there's no room at this inn as the airs too thin. There's only enough 02 to go round like a mobile service provider and it's about to get even harder to wait to exhale in this coiled tension of a pressure cooker movie that boa wraps around your every nerve like the anxiety attack of an Adam Sandler 'Uncut Gem'. Now if there's not enough photosynthesis for the plants on board as part of their project then you know there's going to be even less breathing room for the sighing and heavy hearted crew. One that includes kindly, chief medical researcher Anna Kendrick, the jazz loving biologist Daniel Dae Kim and a portal picturing window to the world that makes the 'Endgame' abyss that Robert Downey Jnr's avenging Tony Stark through an Iron Man helmet stared through look like the treading of shallow water. Forget leaving your last will and testament for a Pepper pot in a robot head, which you may as well have stored after you were saved, instead of letting it go in a click of your fingers. Imagine being told there's no mathematical way you could get breathing space and be on this ship. Imagine being asked to walk the plank. Could you do it? Could you go through with it in regards to holding the sword if you were the captain of this ship? Mortality dilemmas beyond morality have never been such a clusterf###. And you thought 'Passengers' was bad (it was). And for the captains log record Chris Pratt should have never woke Jennifer Lawrence up almost 100 years early just because he did and because he fancied her too (beyond creepy in all its toxic masculinity). He should have let her sleep like Benedict Cumberbatch's Khan 'Into Darkness'. Boy, what a headache. 

'Up In The Air'? Nah past the midnight skies like her aerial co-star Clooney on her taking flight breakout, this is one of Anna Kendrick's best. Like the 'Pitch Perfect' star affording more in Ben Affleck's 'The Accountant', or of course her '(A) Simple Favor' with Blake Lively, between Henry Golding. But in this epic she excels the heart of this matter in the cold and soulless confines of space. Torn between everyone else confliction and her own conviction. And then 'Lost' in space there's the most GQ of leading men esquire's Daniel Dae Kim, just oozing old-school Hollywood charm like Harry Belafonte, but also providing the emotional punch of this picture of our home planet from the biggest social distance. This is the big-screen (albeit on your laptop or God forbid smartphone (listen to Lynch) right now) role the 2019 'Hellboy' actor has been waiting for. The rest of his compelling career is going to be out of this world more than a tired, spaced out (oh, there's another one) cliche from this writer. Now, ever since 'Muriel's Wedding', Toni Collette has been a formidable force. How she didn't get the Best Actress Oscar for 'Hereditary' based off her facial expressions is the real horror story though. The amazing actor even saved Netflix's 'I'm Thinking Of Ending Things' from being streaming suicide (it was OK and I'm all for offbeat movies, but seriously W.T.F.). The 'Knives Out' and 'Velvet Buzzsaw' Netflix star just cuts into everything she does with a fresh and redefining difference with an edge all of her own. And just like the Academy should recognise the scared s###less, shock and awe of the human horrors that haunt the fright night genre that still makes you feel like hiding in your hands in this desensitised age were we don't feel anything anymore, there is no one like her. No one tears through tears quite like her. Who else to be the commanding presence to take the helm here. Even if our 'Stowaway' himself threatens to steal more than the show. 'Across The Line', 'Love Jacked' Shamier Anderson brings a raw humanity to this calculated mission that doesn't figure him into the equation. And his everyman nice guy stuck in the middle of it all with more in character. Now just how good is his acting when he discovers that sleeping in the job can leave you fired...up into the stars with three of Hollywood's biggest. All for Brazilian 'Arctic' and music artist Joe Penna's scripted direction of tension tethered to this shuttle that even features zero gravity climbs that could rival the one that left Sandra Bullock as a space cast away with no volleyball in 'Gravity'. It's just a shame we can't see it on the big screen to get a real sense of IMAX scale in this solar system spectacle. But then again worse things happen at sea...or is that space? TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Further Filming: 'Gravity', 'Midnight Sky', 'Ad Astra'. 

TV REVIEW: THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER

  

4/5

Avengers Of Shield.

6 Episodes. Starring: Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Wyatt Russell, Erin Kellyman, Georges St-Pierre, Emily VanCamp, Daniel Brühl & Don Cheadle. Creator: Malcolm Spellman. 

Baby Yoda, can you move your child seat up? Yeah you're cute and 'The Mandalorian' is good, but have you ever become Disney +'s most streamed premiere ever? Even this many people didn't tune into 'WandaVision', "Wan-da-da-vision"...and she brainwashed a whole town. But now what follows the most creative thing Marvel has ever done comes the spiritual Smithsonian sequel to the greatest movie out the MCU, 'Captain America-The Winter Soldier'. Yeah I said it Thanos...go snap yourself. The creator Malcolm Spellman's super spell with Marvel even reference recommends the classic, comprehensive 'Trouble Man' soundtrack like Cap's notebook, because everybody loves Marvin Gaye like Ray. On your left, the sequel to Chris Evans' 'First Avenger' that stripped away the capes (Sam leaves the feathers in the nest for an entire episode here and you don't even notice) to give us a spy thriller for S.H.I.E.L.D complete with 'All The Presidents Men' legend Robert Redford also starred Scarlett Johansson (which gives us spy high hopes for her long awaited, eagerly anticipated 'Black Widow' solo movie that finally comes out this Summer in theatres and Disney +) and Samuel L. Jackson...of course...he's in everything, especially Marvel movies. Even the hostage holding hench, maverick mixed martial artist Georges St-Pierre who mocked that he thought Cap "was more than a shield", before he found out just what it felt like to get gymnastic kicked into next week (or a new season...au revoir) is here. So you know it's a sequel. But it was 'The Hurt Locker' star Anthony Mackie's skyscraper soaring introduction as The Falcon, the Robin bird to Cap's Bat that really got the fans amped for this cinematic universe. And we can see it again in the outstanding opening scene of aerial action that swoops and soars between canyons and carnage for Mackie's shared series with shades of his modern warfare Oscar movie (we can't get over the raw emotional Humvee confessional of "Sam Wilson" telling "Clint Barton" he wants a son) with Jeremey Renner, whose 'Hawkeye' has his own family show this year with Hailee Seinfeld. Locked down in this planetary pandemic. This out of this world set-piece is deserving of the big-screen it looks like it was filmed for. Forget an awesome 'Altered Carbon' that won't be replicated for another new sleeve. Although that like his "fight" with 'Watchmen's' Dr. Manhattan and 'Aquaman's' Black Manta, Yahya Abdul-Matten II in 'Black Mirror' was the future. Mack is back. Just like when he put his hat on and stole the show from the then world's biggest movie star Matt Damon in his 'Adjustment Bureau' breakout like fate would have had it. And it's when he goes home to a fishing village Clint Eastwood's 'Blood Work' would be proud of, or even Wolverine in the comics off-port would call a vacation home, that's when he really gets to the heart of family matters. But it's not all sunshine and sea air. There's dark times too. Of course 'The Winter Soldier' movie featured one more arc for your character. That of Steve Rogers childhood best friend Bucky Barnes. Resurrected and turned into an assassin as cold as the blood that ran through the fans veins when this shock twist for anyone who hasn't read a comic turned over in cinemas. Sebastian Stan's 'Winter Soldier' masking up ahead of his time was like the Terminator, complete with a metal arm. He even had his own jarringly iconic theme music, which even made this Disney character scary. Now following one of the best post-credits scenes, alive in Wakanda for the cheers that came after everything we had already seen in the late, great Chadwick Boseman's 'Black Panther' and the shameful sidelining in the 'Infinity War'/'Endgame' epics, the White Wolf, Barnes is back. The Winter Soldier too in formidable flashback. But it's Bucky's hurt heart and brutally beaten soul dealing with the darkness of all that he's done in all its old haunts and harrowing nightmares that will really stay with you (one moment of 'Homecoming' has him acting up a rage and range of emotions), as you realize that when it comes to the M.C.U. they are a marvel at the human side of these superheroes. In their Netflix defence did you forget about 'Daredevil', 'Jessica Jones', 'Luke Cage', 'Iron Fist', 'The Punisher' and for your ABC's all those 'Agent Carter's' and ones of SHIELD?

Carrying the torch, who's holding the shield though? Who's the Captain now? Sam? "It feels like it was meant for someone else." Buck? Nah that wouldn't really play after all he's done and all we've been through. But watch these two play frisbee in the garden with this thing before we see who waves the flag for these stars and stripes. Slapping five at the Superbowl of parades. When they do get it together however, Stan and Mack's 'Hobbs and Shaw' dynamic is fast and furious. Funnier than their comedic, Comic Con press panels. Peep the one were Mackie roasts a young fan trying to put him in his down. It's like the kid calling him, 'Black Falcon' here. Even when where their going, they don't need roads. Although how about a highway hijacking scene on the top of trucks that pays somewhat homage to the days Dom and them use to lift DVD players (the good ole days hey) with the Nobody of 'Tombstone' legend Kurt Russell's son (of Ego) Wyatt (what a way to name your kid) in really the agent role of his life...trust me? Now Tom Holland's Spider-Man is more likely to reveal a spoiler than understand either of those references, but at least the kid with the juice box still in his underoos isn't here to hand them both an eight-legged, 'Civil War' airport sized beat down. After all one of them is a senior citizen. The cameoing War Machine of Don Cheadle's Colonel James 'Rhodey' Rhodes is however in his best guest appearance since he used a polygraph to tap into Kendrick Lamar's 'DNA'. All in salute and order to show off his medals, give some Stark advice and preview his own solo series 'Armour Wars', which looks 'Bourne' for the '24' hour binge cycle as Marvel rinse and repeat like they do counting that cash in Disney dollars for your Mickey money. The war doesn't stop there either. Add the Academy movie pedigree of Daniel Brühl back as war dog Baron Zemo (there's just something about an international villain of mystery using your full, government name. Isn't that right James?), complete with classic car, rich fur swagger, cherry blossom tea and that iconic purple balaclava fom the comics in a time were we should all mask up instead of suit up. And how about that dancing Zemo? Although the real villain here is the rising star under the mask of 'Solo: A Star Wars Story', 'The Green Knight' and the BBC 'Les Miserables' series Erin Kellyman and her blood handprint army of 'Flag Smashers' (they do know you can't smash fabric right?). Although this isn't an excuse for Trump supporters to take exception at the likes of a real Kap taking a knee as he respects the flag. This in this series of race and politics instead has shadows of the racists that stormed the Capitol in Washington DC (even if it was filmed months before). Even if they did it without masks. Way to get yourselves identified and arrested...COVidiots. Also on hand to help in this crazy world is the daughter of Peggy Carter, Emily VanCamp's agent gone rogue and giving the rouge of Scarlett's Black Widow a run for her ass kicking Russian rubles. Sending villains on their way in a classic shipping container set-piece with a pipe as per all action and we really have a series. And an epic episode set in the fictional and formidable, mesmerizing city of Madripoor in all its hypnotic neon and venom that could give South Korea's bustling Busan scene in 'Black Panther' a run for its won. But wait...there's more. But we'll spoiler avoider save that for the show itself. One were these Marvel miniseries' playing like weekly comics for this one off, one series shot like a graphic novel duet (we need the science bros of 'Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk'), even feel like they cliffhanger conclude with a full page finale every Friday like a White Vision and a classic Paul Bettany working alongside a big actor tease.

Minecraft world building for the first half of the season, it's in the second half that after honing it's craft this miniseries finds its movie like crimson boots with color running the same. A pivotal moment for the shield against an army of soldiers who would sooner smash it like Thanos than pass it with avengance. It makes for a compelling narrative and perhaps one of the darkest things Marvel has ever done (especially with the move to Mickey Mouse territory) hidden behind their inspiring spangled mask of stars and stripes. It's a banner moment for these blockbuster shows that are tiding us over before we can go back to cinemas with Scarlett Johansson (we wish), that next up give us the ultimate God of mischief in the trickster Loki doing the time warp again in a year that Marvel are subtlety owning again (from a constant stream of shows to the final theatrical and Disney + release of tent-pole game changers to come like Scarlett's Widow's peak and 'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' (that double punch and sick kick on the bus in the terrific trailer)). Complete with a grey, cropped cut and moustached Owen Wilson who looks more like the 'Mad Men' version of Howard Stark than the guy who used to crash weddings and Google internships with Vince Vaughn. WOOOOOOW! And let's not forget the 'Robot Chicken' hilarious like stop-motion of 'M.O.D.O.K.' coming to Hulu. But it's the penultimate, wing-clipping episode that really packs a wallop, as these two talk power and responsibility shop. With its epic training montage getting ready for the final showdown only missing a jogging nephew keeping up with Sam and mockingly saying, "on your left". But how about the real wise, worn words from an old soldier (not Cap, don't have a corany. Although his stars and stripes spirit shines throughout the show) and that classic comedy cameo about nothing that plays for more than laughs on this bass line? And to top all that off for the ultimate 'Pulp Fiction' type cliffhanger what's in the case (Brad Pitt "box" voice)? Oh, just you wait. Because before we get to the last in the series, let's take a moment for Wanda and her Vision. The most refreshing and revolutionary thing to come out the M.C.U that everyone loved like 'The Mandalorian'. Only to erase it after the epic end because they thought the formidable forcefield of a finale drowned out the small town setting. But how about the Vision(s) of the Ship of Theseus? Time to rethink why you tuned out. And it looks like Anthony's fear of this being Marvel's first flop are unfounded. This epic end above the Hudson and between the New York skyline really brings it home though with a stirring speech of substance. Straight to the heart of what and who matters and the black icon carrying the symbol for all those the flag forget...even if it folded for them. Now this is one hero you can really salute. With the coming of Winter behind him soldiering on, this Falcon flies like an American eagle. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Further Filming: 'WandaVision', 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier', 'Fast and Furious: Hobbs and Shaw'. 

TV REVIEW: DAD STOP EMBARRASSING ME! Season 1

 

3.5/5

Project Poppa.

8 Episodes. Starring: Jamie Foxx, Kyla-Drew, Porscha Coleman, Heather Hemmens, Jonathan Kite & David Alan Grier. Director: Ken Whittingham. 

Back in living color, triple-threat Jamie Foxx can do it all. The Oscar winning actor of 'Ray', 'Any Given Sunday' and 'Django Unchained' fame has even more 'Soul' than his Disney + Pixar movie last Christmas that gave you its heart. The 'Unpredictable' Grammy winner has had quite a music career making 'Slow Jamz', 'Gold Diggin'' with the likes of Kanye West and his own huge hits. You can't 'Blame It' on the alcohol. The stand-up talent that began his career with the mic-drop of comedy (give him his own special Netflix, or you really will be a joke) has even dominated the world of TV. Mixing his music career in like the toast of his YouTube Grey Goose 'Off Script' show interviewing everyone from Denzel Washington ("OK...alright",check him out doing his inspired impression right in front of the man), to the late, great 'Black Panther' Chadwick Boseman, going biopic-for-biopic like 'Ali's' cornerman Bundini and James 'Get On Up' Brown. All for the most original game show since 'Jeopardy' in 'Beat Shazam' (who is going to argue with me? You know that's still the phones best app, especially for making Spotify play lists). But now straight back in the Foxxhole, Jamie Foxx is taking it back to his sitcom salad start-up days like his 'Fresh Prince' friend Will Smith for 'Dad Stop Embarrassing Me'. And in the COVID-19 spiked time were we all kept a social distance we still should now before we face another wave we don't want to see like the one from a nosy neighbor, with casts being reduced to a minimum like filming locations, Foxx has got you. Truly taking it back to his 'In Living Color' hallmark days by playing more parts than Eddie Murphy coming back to America last month for Amazon Prime. A balding uncle. De-da-da-de, a Trump supporting barman with the same mane. A back in time preacher that could put singer/songwriter friend Tank's 'Bishop Cognac' skit to shame. Can we get an AMEN?! Jamie plays them all when he's not doing impressions of Barack Obama or his 'Sunday' coach Al Pacino. Hoo-aah. Just when you thought him and his 'Project Power' real world assembling Netflix deal was done they pull you back in like his epic Electro multi-verse return to 'Spider-Man 3'. Forget 'No Way Home'. It's where the heart is here for Foxx's comedy homecoming. Back where he belongs like us safe as houses on the sofa remotely, zapper in hand. 

Now don't touch that dial. Tune in to this sitcom like 'WandaVision'. Like 'My Wife and Kids' this sitcom staple is fondly funny, but also gets to the heart of matters. From skinny jeans all the way down to the bottom of the stairs in classic physical comedy. Taken all the way back to church and the faith in family that will move you to tears like all the times Will Smith and that home in Bel-Air blindsided you (forget "how come he don't want me man", how come he don't tell me man?!). Foxx on the box knows its all about your kin here even as his 'Wonder Years' like fourth wall break of a show tries to get digital from its APPlied title sequence to hash-tagged #EpisodeTitles. So much so his own model daughter Corrine Foxx serves as executive producer just in case the embarrassment gets too much on a show loosely based on her and her father's life together. Corrine's credits in acting include '47 Meters Down: Uncaged' and Jamie Foxx's forthcoming set to be comedy collaboration classic we can't wait for, 'All Star Weekend'. But with Foxx back on his funny 'ish, Corrine adds another cap to her already prestigious, graduating career. It's Nickelodeon's 'Nick, Ricky, Dicky and Dawn' and that 'Prisoners' film were Hugh Jackman was more scarier than Wolverine star Kyla-Drew that plays Foxx's on-screen daughter however. And from the moment they accidentally go to couples therapy were the hilarity ensues (especially when that's almost our time), the chemistry is set like science class, even if they can't just get along. By the time Foxx is mariachi dressed in blue like 'Django' you'll all be moving to this tune like LeBron James' 'Taco Tuseday'...and just wait until the reverend even better than Chris Webber's revered one in Kyrie Irving's 'Uncle Drew' movie gives it up for the King of 'Space Jam: A New Legacy'. You'll feel it beating in your chest for this show that's not afraid to throw up the chalk like curry powder and see where it lands. "Let's go Foxx. Let's go Foxx." 

Black excellence is on display for the rest of the family that matters. Porscha Coleman is perfect like her 'Pixel Perfect', even if her pitch in church could use a little holy water. Whilst 'Love, Take Two' star Heather Hemmens makes herself a part of this family. '2 Broke Girls' star Jonathan Kite cops himself a role that really flies too as he also has his own preacher and side-character in make-up like the Hall of fame Arsenio to Eddie. Impression for impression with Foxx like Jim Carrey in 'In Living Color', this stand-up talent is inspired from Barack Obama to Jason Statham. But how about his Seth Rogen? Or Tom Hanks on the funny and fond 'Afterparty' invitation on Netflix. But in Ken Whittingham's sweet sitcom directed in the style of all the household names you channel hop through its David Alan Grier that steals the show and keeps you from switching from the moment he blunt rotation parties like its 2019. The 'Jumanji' and 'Boomerang' legend comes back to the comedy game with all the best one-liners. He's absolutely hilarious. Think of what would happen if Uncle Phil spent too much time with Jazz...never throwing him out like everytime we saw that gold print shirt. But still, Grier's so much more than that. The biggest heart of the family in this series that will have your stomach in laughs, tied up in knots. From yoga class to cookout barbecue lines setting up shop for those new Yeezy's (you'd think Kanye would gift him a pair like Jamie did "some Marvin Gaye, some Luther Vandross. A little Anita"). Busting his daughters boyfriend at Dave and Busters between whack 'em hide outs with a special set of skills. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence's 'Bad Boys' for life have got nothing on this father and his friends giving this young stud the Dad talk too. Dealing with bullies like everybody was kung-fu fighting. Or giving us a lip gloss social media commercial even more hilarious than the time Joey from 'Friends' endorsed 'Ichiban For Men' in Japan (talk about itchy). An inspired intervention following a botched drugs test and a cowardly cop who shows what a stand-up guy he really is as Kite's impressions that could give Foxx a run for his Obama, really fly. And a fond finale were we just hope Netflix keeps this all in the family as this means and matters more. Taking racist profiling bully cops to task in a time were we need this take to give support to all the movements trying to put a stop to this harassment. But setting this show down in the A off right, Foxx has all the comedic trappings. Classic call-backs that remind you of fond family sitcoms from the golden era. Pop culture references that keep us up to date without his dad embarrassing us. Or his "selfish" taking uncle with a cookout competition that will leave you grilling your relatives. Beans, greens, potatoes, tomatoes. HE GOT IT! Even providing a smooth song for the closing credits. Just a nice Netflix side deal and show that's an easy, entertaining watch in times that are just too hard. Just like Idris Elba's 'Turn It Up Charlie' DJ that deserves another spin despite the streaming services cancel cycle. All for eight wonders that break the wall like Fred Savage to break the Internet and become Netflix's number one streaming show. But still, it's more than that. When it comes to what's really worth something in this world and the planets pandemic panic right now, we know it's all about who you call the same last name. And when it comes to this Foxx family tree, all that gold standard leaves you with an embarrassment of riches. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Further Filming: 'In Living Color', 'Girl Meets World', 'Turn Up Charlie'. 

REVIEW: THUNDER FORCE

 

3/5

Thunderstruck.

107 Mins. Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Octavia Spencer, Bobby Cannavale, Pom Klementieff, Taylor Mosby, Kevin Dunn, Ben Falcone, Melissa Leo & Jason Bateman. Director: Ben Falcone.

A force of comedy nature ever since she was a 'Bridesmaid' s###ing in the sink. Melissa McCarthy is the comedy bride now. One of the funniest people alive like Saturday Night in New York City, or her spicy Sean Spicer parody that puts her in the same ranks as fellow alumni 'Ghostbusters' Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones and the unstoppable Kate McKinnon. And as much as we are looking forward to the forever young Paul Rudd's 'Afterlife' and those so cute they could eat you up mini marshmallow men in that trailer that even Easter Egg's Baskin Robbins (Marvel fans always find out). That 2016 Paul Feig 'Ghostbusters' proton pack reboot was great, no matter how much trumped up MAGA hat wearing tw@'s had a problem with these girls not being afraid of no ghost either. Since then the twice-over Oscar and Golden Globe nominated actress ('Can You Ever Forgive Me?' with Richard E. Grant and of course 'Bridesmaids'...which when you think about it is really revolutionary when you consider that the Academy still doesn't have a comedy category, despite Will Ferrell and Jack Black's song) who ranked at number 22 in the New York Times list of the 25 greatest actors of the 21st century last year, let alone of of TIME magazines 100 Most Influential People has been on a tear. Recently in a matrimony collaboration with funny man husband Ben Falcone who has always showed up in classic cameos (the tourist who approaches a moped McCarthy ready to charge for directions is absolutely hilarious) here and there. Directing the likes of the hilarious 'Tammy', 'The Boss' of comedy, the mom that's still the 'Life Of The Party', the Henson Sesame Street puppet likes of 'The Happytime Murders' that tickled me like Elmo and most recently this taking the action/comedy hero cake shtick to the max with HBO's 'Superintelligence'. And to think it all came from telling Lisa Kudrow's principal that she was glad her husband died ("he probably killed himself") after Leslie Mann said her son looked like Tom Petty (heartbreaking) with an outstanding cutting room floor reel of outtakes that had Rudd losing his s###. If 'This Is 40' I can't wait for the next half decade. 

Thunder clapping like she was once crapping, now the 'Spy', 'Identity Thief', 'St. Vincent', 'The Heat' and 'The Kitchen' actress gives Netflix 'Thunder Force' during a 'Project Power' time the streaming service is trying to bring superheroes with a difference back like Charlize Theron's 'The Old Guard' after they gave up all their street-level defenders when Marvel took their cape and went home to the Magic Kingdom of Netflix's biggest small-screen rival with cinema almost dead and dusty tipped chair buried, Disney +. 'The Falcon and The Winter Soldier' this may not be, but you should still tune in like 'WandaVision' to something that still carries a shield like Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn's son. Like the 'Mystery Men' revealing some 'Hidden Figures' showcasing the power of women, McCarthy and her hot topic of which stadium band t-shirt she'll rock next is joined by the roses to her gun of 'The Help' star Octavia Spencer. Who doesn't need to "I'm fun" convince us, she's been funny ever since that classic, "am I supposed to come up with the questions too" line to Emma Stone. And if you answer that, then you can go eat her baked cake...if you get that reference like 'Gifted' co-star Captain America. From 'The Shape Of Water' with that lizard, to 'Get On Up' with the late, great godfather of soulful performances, Black Panther, Chadwick Boseman (set for his own posthumous award with 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom'). Or 'Snowpiercer' all the way to 'Fruitvale Station' with two human torches. This amazing 'Self Made' like a Netflix series actress has always been in Oscar territory like the Walk of Fame (give Octavia her star) in February. But here she forms a formidable force of a dynamic duo as they sing along to 'Batman Forever's' 'Kiss From A Rose' by Seal...quite possibly the greatest superhero soundtrack of all time. You too? Hold me, thrill me, kiss me, even kill me...but don't @ me...because I know you agree. Riding around in their Batmobile of a Joker purple Lamborghini, which makes for the films most hilarious scene when they all leather suit try to get out of the suicide doors of a car lower than superhero bar set by plastic nipples and the Batcard that you never leave the cave without...even if you want to. 

Invisibility is Spencer's power...but you really see her now for just how fantastically versatile she is. Super strength like her comedy bone is McCarthy's and with that they make a terrific 'Thunder' buddy tandem for Ben Falcone (he also appears her in a taser hilarious cameo that's set to recharge your 'continue watching' consideration) and his forceful comedy that doesn't always strike, but when it does you know its going to hit you in the funny bone with all it bottles. One superhero walk introduction moment looks like it has hair blowing in the wind of a fan that if added in would have been even funnier than that Chewbacca cut fan assisted impression from Paul Rudd's 'Ant-Man' that should have been left in that movie too. But it's still super. Like all the Academy talent here sending themselves up as well as the tights and spandex genre in this Chicago town(?) set series of capes flapping in the Windy City. Or the guy called Andrew...or is that Andy? Just like 'The Fighter' Melissa Leo back behind a screen like 'Oblivion' for this effective team, doing her best Jodie Foster impression. Or the 'Superintelligence' of Bobby Cannavale reuniting with the crack team of McCarthy and Falcone as a 'Devils Advocate' like political power with a Kevin Bacon 'First Class' complex wanting to be called 'The King' like 'Space Jam's' LeBron James for the Laker's 'New Legacy'. Cannavale who was also so classic in 'Spy' is a gangbusters gas here. Especially with his own team of Miscreants with the Elector like Doctor Strange produced Laser's of 'Guardians Of The Galaxy' star Pom Klementieff and her thousand yard stare that even Dave Bautista's Drax couldn't see as she walks away slowly. To the 'Ozark' crab hands of an 'Identity Thief' reuniting Jason Bateman with his own classic walk off. Best in scene stealing show and his comedy sarcastic tricks in years with a 'Miami Vice' rolled up sleeves, suited and booted 80's flash dance that will take you back to his 'Teen Wolf' sequel days, subbing on for Michael J. Fox's star studded and furred basketball phenom 'Too'. Still for all the legendary talent on hand here like 'Unstoppable' character actor of 'Godzilla' and 'Transformers' fame Kevin Dunn and his sayings over diner coffee and pancakes, its star of the future Taylor Mosby that could run away with it all in the future. Now is this changing of the guard worthy of a sequel? Or even the powering of a franchise project? We'd sure like to see lightning strike twice for this force that deserves a thunderous applause. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Further Filming: 'Project Power', 'Hancock', 'Superintelligence'. 

REVIEW: TWO DISTANT STRANGERS

  

4/5

Strangers Things.

29 Mins. Starring: Joey Bada$$, Andrew Howard & Zaria. Directors: Travon Free & Martin Desmond Roe. 

Poet Tupac Shakur once told us to "learn to see me like a brother instead of two distant strangers," like the 'T.H.U.G.' ('The Hate You Give'..."little infants f###s everybody") book/movie adaptation inspiration. That's just 'The Way It Is' (whilst we wish some things WOULD change) by Bruce Hornsby and The Range that 2Pac sampled for his greatest hit 'Changes' play through the Beats of rapper/actor Joey Bada$$ ('Mr Robot', Inspectah Dek in Hulu's 'Wu-Tang Clan: An American Saga') as between a rolled paycheck from his freelancing graphic design work and a loose leaf cigarette, he's just trying to get home to his faithful like a Yankee dog Jeter, waiting for him like Hachi after spending the night and what he hopes brings a next night at the wonderful Zaria's place. New York City cop Officer Merk (aptly named) played by Andrew Howard ('Tenet') even scarier than the Russian mobster who was pushing Bradley Cooper to the brink in the city for 'Limitless' has different ideas however. A gold toothed, bald pitbull let off his leash and determined to put more than the cuffs on this young black man whose just trying to get on with his life that matters. Far too many seconds later and he can't breathe. Sound familiar? Does he pass out or pass away? Because the next morning he wakes back up on the edge of tomorrow to live this nightmare that was far from a dream all over again. 'Groundhog Day'. But there's nothing Bill Murray funny about this Oscar nominated short directed by former college basketball star and 'The Daily Show's' Travon Free and Showtime's 'Kobe Bryant: Muse' director Martin Desmond Roe and produced by Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs, the NBA's Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant and Utah Jazz All Star point guard Mike Conley that will stay with you long after you've rubbed your eyes. 

Poet Tupac Shakur once told us to "learn to see me like a brother instead of two distant strangers", like the the 'T.H.U.G.' ('The Hate You Give'..."little infants f###s everybody") book/movie adaptation inspiration. That's just 'The Way It Is' (whilst we wish some things WOULD change) by Bruce Hornsby and The Range that 2Pac sampled for his greatest hit 'Changes' play through the Beats of rapper/actor Joey Bada$$ ('Mr Robot', Inspectah Dek in Hulu's 'Wu-Tang Clan: An American Saga') as between a rolled paycheck from his freelancing graphic design work and a loose leaf cigarette, he's just trying to get home to his faithful like a Yankee dog Jeter, waiting for him like Hachi after spending the night and what he hopes brings a next night at the wonderful Zaria's place. New York City cop Officer Merk (aptly named) played by Andrew Howard ('Tenet') even scarier than the Russian mobster who was pushing Bradley Cooper to the brink in the city for 'Limitless' has different ideas however. A gold toothed, bald pitbull let off his leash and determined to put more than the cuffs on this young black man whose just trying to get on with his life that matters. Far too many seconds later and he can't breathe. Sound familiar? Does he pass out or pass away? Because the next morning he wakes back up on the edge of tomorrow to live this nightmare that was far from a dream all over again. 'Groundhog Day'. But there's nothing Bill Murray funny about this Oscar nominated short directed by former college basketball star and 'The Daily Show's' Travon Free and Showtime's 'Kobe Bryant: Muse' director Martin Desmond Roe and produced by Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs, the NBA's Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant and Utah Jazz All Star point guard Mike Conley that will stay with you long after you've rubbed your eyes. Same song? Well Joey Bada$$ honouring Tupac and all we've lost before and after him really is bad ass in this acclaimed role that affords even more than the dollars in his name. We already knew Jo-Vaughn Virginie Scott was a real actor in Malek's mainframe, but now he's about to change the Academy...forget the game. This isn't one as after some compelling chemistry set in bed, bringing beauty and the optimistic brooding for more to a one night stand and some Oprah like charisma with his Skype like phone calls with his dog that are truly a treat, we really see what this man is made of. Capturing the anxiety and aggravation of what it means to be a POC in American when the land of the free is turned into a police state. They see the hood and they ignore the glasses. They see the money and they ignore the worth. They see the cigarette and thinks it's weed. Now who's really smoking something? Andrew Howard's horrifying and haunting officer of the law shooting straight (but not actually) out of a Kendrick Lamar move like video is not alright. He's the one who needs to be stopped and searched as his kind continues to push people's back against the wall until they can't take it anymore. And still they aren't resisting, with their hands in the air. But does this blue blood care until real red runs? Howard in the end almost looks like a caricature here, but he's merely capturing just how much of one certain officers of the law who don't uphold their end really are. Cloaked in racism like a hood, hidden behind a badge. If only these two distant strangers from different worlds could take a ride along and get to know each other. Finding some common ground on this sidewalk. At least we're sure Andrew in real life is nice, despite how 'Limitless' convincing he is at how puerile, pure evil, bad he can be. A terrifyingly good actor that won't give us a break like when he chased Cooper around NYC until he stopped and searched him for another substance abuse. The only respite Joey gets from this bad a$$hole is at home with Zaria. In a moving morning before the mourning that he wishes could last just a day or two longer. Or even a minute in this New York apartment as they crack a few eggs, break bread and even a few bottles as they show that two distant strangers from the night before can really mean so much more the morning after. Despite this man's permanent copped hangover that giving us horrific headaches shows us we all need to wake up. Sure, this half-hour short film akin to Netflix's animated school-shooting sobering short, 'If Anything Happens I Love You' owes a lot to 'Groundhog Day' and the sci-fi 'Live. Die. Repeat' of Tom Cruise's 'Edge Of Tomorrow'. But the world owes more than an apology to this type of repeating narrative that shows the only thing that isn't stranger here is the story. 

Poet Tupac Shakur once told us to "learn to see me like a brother instead of two distant strangers", like the 'T.H.U.G.' ('The Hate You Give'..."little infants f###s everybody") book/movie adaptation inspiration. That's just 'The Way It Is' (whilst we wish some things WOULD change) by Bruce Hornsby and The Range that 2Pac sampled for his greatest hit 'Changes' play through the Beats of rapper/actor Joey Bada$$ ('Mr Robot', Inspectah Dek in Hulu's 'Wu-Tang Clan: An American Saga') as between a rolled paycheck from his freelancing graphic design work and a loose leaf cigarette, he's just trying to get home to his faithful like a Yankee dog Jeter, waiting for him like Hachi after spending the night and what he hopes brings a next night at the wonderful Zaria's place. New York City cop Officer Merk (aptly named) played by Andrew Howard ('Tenet') even scarier than the Russian mobster who was pushing Bradley Cooper to the brink in the city for 'Limitless' has different ideas however. A gold toothed, bald pitbull let off his leash and determined to put more than the cuffs on this young black man whose just trying to get on with his life that matters. Far too many seconds later and he can't breathe. Sound familiar? Does he pass out or pass away? Because the next morning he wakes back up on the edge of tomorrow to live this nightmare that was far from a dream all over again. 'Groundhog Day'. But there's nothing Bill Murray funny about this Oscar nominated short directed by former college basketball star and 'The Daily Show's' Travon Free and Showtime's 'Kobe Bryant: Muse' director Martin Desmond Roe and produced by Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs the NBA's Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant and Utah Jazz All Star point guard Mike Conley that will stay with you long after you've rubbed your eyes. Heard all this before? Because this situation has been tired. You may think some of Roe and Free's dynamic direction borders on absurd, but that's just how brutal the world has become these days to people being filmed on a camera phones who haven't done anything wrong at all. When really even with our pressing need to document and expose all this as evidence, they should just be helped. Who will give a hand when all this is being brushed off peoples shoulders like blood off a uniform that says it's supposed to "protect" and "serve"? Still to this day, despite the marches in millions we walked around the planet for, even in the face of a pandemic. Like Stopping Asian Hate, Black Lives will ALWAYS Matter beyond a trending topic that some use for likes before going back to the back patting, self-congratulatory side of social media like the job is done. Like Kobe said, it's not. It's a bigger issue and one that should influence generations so we don't have to tell these stories again. A time were we can see change and hope again like when as Jay-Z said, "Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King could walk. Martin Luther King walked so Obama could run. Obama's running so we can all fly." Away from the gravestone of this pavement. Damaging the fallen petals of these roses that have grown from concrete, its time to celebrate the tenacity of those who don't give up, no matter if some people never even give them a chance. It's time for everybody to care until we can all breathe fresh air. Instead of waking up everyday and seeing no changes. As 'Pac advised us far too long ago, "let's change the way we treat each other. You see, the old way wasn't workin'. So it's on us to do what we gotta do to survive." Now live and let live. And make that change. Because it really matters. And after all-despite the fact that we all have to keep at a social distance right now-aren't strangers just two people that haven't met yet? TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Further Filming: Forget that...

Trayvon Martin. George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Sandra Bland. Freddie Gray. Ahmaud Arbery. Tamir Rice. Eric Garner. Philando Castile. Michael Brown. Alton Sterling. Atatiana Jefferson. Walter Scott. Oscar Grant. Samuel DuBose. Stephon Clark. Elijah McClain. Marvin Scott III. Jenoah Donald. Patrick Warren. Xzavier Hill. Bennie Edwards. Casey Goodson Jr.. Aiden Ellison. Quawan Charles. Walter Wallace Jr.. Jonathan Price. Kurt Reinhold. Dijon Kizzee. Damian Daniels. Anthony McClain. Julian Lewis. Maurice Abisdid-Wagner. Rayshard Brooks. Priscilla Slater. Robert Forbes. Kamal Flowers. David McAtee. James Scurlock. Calvin Horton Jr.. Tony McDade. Dion Johnson. Maurice Gordon. Cornelius Fredericks. Steven Taylor. Daniel Prude. Barry Gedeus. Manuel Ellis. Lionel Morris. Jaquyn O’Neill Light. Darius Tarver. Miciah Lee. Dominique White. And sadly too, too many more.

SAY. THEIR. NAMES. 

REVIEW: CONCRETE COWBOY

 

4/5

Concrete and Gold.

111 Mins. Starring: Idris Elba, Caleb McLaughlin, Jharrel Jerome, Byron Bowers, Lorainne Toussaint, Clifford 'Method Man' Smith. Director: Ricky Staub. 

Take your horse to the old town road and ride until you can't no more for this one. The streaming giant Netflix have crossed classic work with their big-three of black excellence headlining this horse drawn picture before. Saddling 'Luther' and 'The Wire' icon Idris Elba up with 'Beasts Of No Nation' more than half a decade ago in 2015. A film so brutal and brilliant it even made Leonardo DiCaprio's classic 'Blood Diamond' look like a cubic zirconia. Starting the Netflix bid that the service was getting robbed of Academy nominations in the 'Oscars So White' era that led to black and white beauty of 'Roma'. And of course we all know the kid Caleb McLaughlin from the 80's nostalgia of Netflix's back to the Goonie future best show, the Duffer Brothers' 'Stranger Things'. But the former child star is really coming of age now. Like friends, I don't lie. Plus then of course there's the undeniable Jharrel Jerome of Ava DuVernay's groundbreaking major miniseries 'When They See Us', giving justice to the Central Park 5. Bet you really see him now. Add cackling comedian Byron Bowers, the greatness of 'The Equalizer' and 'Orange Is The New Black' actress Lorraine Toussaint and the Wu Tang Clan's very own Clifford 'Method Man' Smith ('Paterson' and '187') who really isn't anything to f### with here in perhaps his best copped role yet as police and you really have something. Something that stalking the outskirts of the roots of the at stake skyline, walks, no trots the streets of Philadelphia like Springsteen. The place where the Fresh Prince was born, raising stallions. Based on Greg Neri's 'Ghetto Cowboy', this 'Concrete Cowboy' uses real horseman for its supporting character actors like the 'Nomadland' of Oscar nominated director Chloé Zhao. Or better yet the whole cast of her landmark family film, 'The Rider' that takes you deep into the Western world of those previously hidden under the shade of a stetson. And from falling down in fear of never getting back up, to riding into the night. All the beauty and brutality that comes with man becoming one with these majestic beasts, like standing on the back of one in the pink pastel atmosphere of a sunset that blooms like sakura in the Far East this time of year, until the dandelions fall like blossom. All the pretty horses and all their Kings men are on display here, all the way down to shovelling their hoof heavy s### in this redemption story that rides like 'The Mustang', but looks deeper into the broken bonds between fractured family in a father and son ode that once like he was now would make Cat Stevens tearful and proud. Ride out. 

"The Man in Black fled across the desert, and the Gunslinger followed"...for 90 minutes. Now whoever thought you could turn the legendary Stephen King's magnum opus of eight volumes and one short story into an hour and a half movie must have been more all play, intstead of "all work", but a forthcoming TV serial may iron all that out, 'Misery' sledgehammer flat. 2017's 'The Dark Tower' may have been the length of a football match, but it still spurred inspired interpretations of King's two famous adversaries. From Matthew McConaughey's accented Man in Black who had nothing to do with Johnny Cash or those who protect the world from the worst scum of the universe, to Idris Elba's great Gunslinger, reloading and firing at a compelling clip that does not aim, or forget the face of his father. No matter how bruised and battered he was, he still killed it with his heart. Seeing a black cowboy here like there is so important. Its on a 'Django Unchained' (forget a 'Wild, Wild West' or actually the hate for this fun film), or a Denzel leading 'The Magnificent Seven' level. For everything adopted, appropriated and taken by the man, like the stables of the unstable land these ranch hands reside on in Philly and reduced to a 'Blazing Saddles' punchline. Idris influence quietly holds this one close like the restrained passion of a father who only seems like he has forgotten the face of his son. Staring at him from the stairs as the sun comes up, chewing corn, Elba's enigmatic stoicism smouldering to boiling point here is soberingly severe. The man who seems so charismatic on franchises like 'The Suicide Squad', 'Thor', 'Fast and Furious: Hobbs and Shaw' and 'Pacific Rim' cancels all that solemnly here (forget an apocalypse). But in a vest and stets, draping a flannel shirt over his biceps and sweat, this sex symbol gives us a symbolic performance that's as stirring as his directorial debut 'Yardie'. Adding to his Netflix continue watching career like his 'Turn It Up Charlie' DJ series, this musician who even made a Mandela album that had nothing to do with his 'Long Walk To Freedom' iconic biopic days more with two words than he does with his epic speech in defence of Jessica Chastain in 'Molly's Game' that's more uprising than his one he had in the face of a fight with the kaijus. Kong Kong ain't got s### on him. If they gave out Oscars for silent performances, he'd speak for as many as Chaplin. 

Thoroughbred talent Red Rum runs through 'Concrete Cowboy' like the races. But it's the aggravated angst of Caleb McLaughlin that really strikes your heart like a stone from a Simpson catapult. You really feel it when he says, "you say you're a f#####g cowboy? You're a f#####g coward!" Whilst the Eleven of his friend Millie Bobby Brown mediates the battle royale between 'Godzilla vs. Kong' this week, this Hawkins native is no stranger to close communities bonded by beasts, but this thing is a whole other animal. Caleb compels us with character from the wrong side of the tracks, born from heart and a broken one torn apart. As left on his father's porch by his mother he doesn't know which side of the street to walk on. The one teeming with the abusive relationship of drugs and a quick buck, or the one full of heart and the canter of those that actually care. The unconditional love you get from animals, or family. No matter how down and out you are. McLaughlin knows how to stir the heart strings as well as take the reins and really, this is his movie. Idris is the big name. Caleb is the picture of the future. And right now with young man of the moment Jharrel Jerome's criminal character in the form of an old friend trying to blow smoke screens and rings round him, Caleb more than holds his own in this hazed dance with an actor that normally runs rings round his peers. Instead tag-teeming it up, this young Batman and Robin are dynamic in this duet. McLaughlin riding shotgun to Jerome as Jharrel shows you there's an inherent fear to the young men that live a life of crime that doesn't really pay when it keeps a vice grip on any chance or hope of them being saved. Netflix haven't explored this so real and raw since last year's 'All Day and a Night' under the moonlight of fellow next in line, Ashton Sanders. This movie is rounded out by the deck chair circle of storytelling led by a brilliant Byron Bowers by the oil drum fire like it was a camp one in the plains and the surrogate mothering of Lorainne Toussaint's terrific saint. Not to mention the actual individuals of this community who go from real lifers to competent actors in an academy that truly is as real and as manure raw as it gets. But it's the methods of rapper slash actor Clifford Smith that move man. Character investigating a detective torn between the pages he goes by in the book, to the good one that says he should toss his badge in the the stream and take care of his own. Looking after his flock. Between the line of duty and the ones you shouldn't cross with your brothers that aren't blue. It's a masterclass in confliction that he even displayed 'In The Air' of a Beanie Sigel video back in the day that saw this undercover narc bring it to the doorstep of his fellow rapper with a warrant and a weary look he shrugged and shook off like he did fellow MC's in competition. This powerful performance and everything else makes this powerhouse concrete strong in this urban jungle. Ricky Staub makes a great directing stab at this one. Remember the classic Guinness Compton Cowboys commercial, were the Los Angeles rider asks of his steed. "Did I save the horse, or did the horse save me?" Forget asking yourself why people are drinking the Irish whiskey in Los Angeles and raise your glass. Here's to the ones who have saved us. Whether they walk on two legs, or four. Now that's real horse power. Click, click. Giddy up. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Further Filming: 'All The Pretty Horses', 'The Rider', 'The Mustang'. 

REVIEW: GODZILLA vs. KONG

 

3.5/5

Clash Of The Titans.

113 Mins. Starring: Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Kaylee Hottle, Shun Oguri, Eiza González, Julian Dennison, Lance Reddick, Kyle Chandler, Demián Bichir, Godzilla & King Kong. Director: Adam Wingard. 

Let's get ready to rumble...finally! They're here. The two biggest Hollywood stars of all-time. The GOATS, but a whole other animal. Two action heroes who have been going at each other for decades. No, we're not taking about 'Rambo' Sly Stallone and 'The Terminator' of Arnie Schwarzenegger. We're talking about two icons and legends that are far from expendable. The kaiju and the ape. 'Godzilla vs. Kong'. Let's get it on (DMX voice)...again! Tokyo, 2020. That was supposed to be the year. This writer coming all this way to the Far East just to watch the Olympic Games (yeah...I know). Were from tennis ace Naomi Osaka, to the future of Japanese basketball in Washington Wizard, Rui Hachimira, the pair would wave the flag for their country and people. Changing the game and race relations (Stop ALL Asian Hate!) for mixed heritage individuals in the land of the rising sun. This year was meant to mean so much more. Going for gold even Godzilla and King Kong were set to battle each other for the podium of the throne in this Olympic year. But then the ultimate competitor came with the K.O. to these fighters...coronavirus. Everything locked down was put on hold as we masked up and quarantined like these monsters putting up their dukes at a skyscrapers length of social distance. But now this main event is back, even if the two biggest actors around do belong on the big-screen like a 'Tenet' or 'Dune'. Stay safe and stay home, but for the love of God (and the King), don't watch this s### on your phone. Now who've you got in this ultimate battle royale, pay-per-view throwdown, taking it to the max like HBO? Although here in Tokyo, I'd love to see it in the Shinjuku cinema that an actual Godzilla famously cranes his head from. I've got Godzilla shoving the Empire State Building up that gorilla's ass before he goes ape s###? Get it?! Blowing at the King with neon breath like he used an electric toothbrush, Kong hasn't taken fire like this since those biplanes, throwing his own jets here as a fighter. And as for the God, aside from the three headed Ghidorah, this lizard hasn't come up against much aside from Jamiroquai and Puff Daddy...and let's not forget Charles Barley. Now come with me as we go deeper underground to see who really is the king of monsters in this ultimate mash. 

Here comes the boom. In the land of God's and monsters this cinematic showdown is something you can take home now for your box office. Maximum returns may have happened in theatre, but this will still send chills down your electric blue spine. Beating his chest with pride, the King is still alive. Long live as he roars from his skull island surrounded by the bones of his battles, sitting in his garden like Thanos, rising like the sun or a grateful universe. Speaking of a grateful universe how about all the humans that serve as ants here ready to be taken out in a moments snap or stomp? Well let's just say (or is it ask?) what ever happened to that Avenger like team of Loki's Tom Hiddleston and 'Captain Marvel' Brie Larson that post-credits teased this whole thing? We know Samuel L. Jackson got squashed before he could finish his "motherf..." line, but still. There's a milk carton out for them like there is the Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch of 'zilla's Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen. Although seeing these super sibling play married house like a sitcom created world was almost as weird as Evan Peters' 'X-Men' Quicksilver being in 'WandaVision' and then not even being Pietro at all in the end...here's hoping there's more to the most cheekiest Easter Egg ever. Who's really missing however is 'Shape Of (Atomic Bomb ("not tests")) Water' Sally Hawkins and Japanese legend Ken Watanabe. Who else is going to introduce Godzilla so iconically? Forget letting them fight...let them play. The 'True Blood' of 'The Legend Of Tarzan' actor Alexander Skarsgård gets top-billing her on his Hollywood heavyweight leading man bid. But it's 'Stranger Things' cult icon Millie Bobby Brown who is the star here. Making this franchise her own after the films loss of mothering Vera Farmiga like she has the Sherlock spin-off 'Enola Holmes' on Netflix. Now with her military grade father (an always reliable veteran for these 'Friday Night Lights') Kyle Chandler giving us an encore of his 'Midnight Sky' 'Sweet Caroline' with a reunited Demián Bichir, she also forms her own group of friends that don't lie with 'Deadpool', 'Wilderpeople' Julian Dennison (fresh off his elfing in Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn's 'The Christmas Chronicles 2') and 'Atlanta's' Brian Tyree Henry's (who from 'Widows' to 'If Beale Street Could Talk' has really been making his name in the movies) paranoid (with just, Cranston cause) podcaster. It's Rebecca Hall and the sign language of her deaf daughter Kaylee Hottle that's the really symbolic soul of this monster verse. Japanese 'Fullmetal Alchemist' voice actor Shun Oguri embodying the ultimate character, 'Baby Driver' and 'Hobbs and Shaw' actor Eiza González jibing with this king like Ali and that voice of 'John Wick's' Lance Reddick (so nice to see you again...and so soon) feeding us build-up exposition with his trademark delivery round out the cast that introduce us to a move where we wait for the set-pieces like we did as kids with 90's golden era blockbusters like 'Independence Day' and...erm 1998's 'Godzilla'. Movies that as kids in their first hour felt like lifetimes to get to, but were well worth it in the end. How we miss those times we took for granted in theatres. How we hope this is not coronavirus curtains for cinema. 'You're Next' and 'The Guest' horror director Adam Wingard wowing even a lack of audiences at home is anything but winging it. Next for Adam is a 'Thundercats' (HO! You can never resist) film (please see that Brad Pitt ('Troy'), Hugh Jackman ('X-Men's' Wolverine), Vin Diesel ('Pitch Black's' Riddick) and Garfield YouTube fan-made trailer for your blueprint) and a 'Face/Off' reboot (please make our Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman dreams come true). The future of cinema may be uncertain, but it's certainly his. Starting with these two titan movie monoliths. 

Honk Kong's sublime skyline 'The Dark Knight' once swooped past and its Rock 'Skyscrapers' serves as neutral ground and the stage set for the final showdown between the King of New York and one big in Japan. Not to mention a completely different beast in the name of fan service that we simply would be stupid to spoil. But it's not Barbara Streisand...or Dave Chappelle. There's even a mouth stuffing Easter Egg reference to the 'Eat Your Vegetables' GIF made moment from the roots of the 1962 'King Kong vs Godzilla' movie that this one harks back to even in hallmark homaging typography. All for the business of a monkey who even has his own stormbreaking, neon hammer of Thor to wield. A saber in the face of a major laser. Just like any of these movies though, even with all this fighting, the real monsters are the humans that don't understand like Fresh Prince parents. Whilst their kids try to show them the sign. Spraying bullets at these two like spitting super soakers as they play battleship on some warships, there's little we can do except stand by and watch. But what a CGI spectacle bathed in the neon lights of HK (how about the electron blue of Godzilla surrounded by a lagoon of electricity for your illuminated One Perfect Shot?) as these two lumbering goliaths knock down more skyscrapers than lumberjacks do trees for wood on a 'Man Of Steel' office worker kill count for your frosted glass traps (somewhere Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne is looking up with anticipated vengeance). This chaos and carnage is on a 'Transformers' level but is still epic entertainment. If 2014's 'Godzilla' reboot was a moving metaphor for the atomic bomb and nuclear war (with actually amazing acting from Bryan Cranston bringing it and a feel of a monster horror movie) and 2017's 'Kong: Skull Island' a planet of the ape, 'Apocalypse Now' with a VietKong, man vs nature look at how humans destroy ecosystems, 2019's 'Godzilla: King Of Monsters' was more like 'Pacific Rim' for the kaiju. Now two years later after the 'King Of The Monsters' was meant to serve as an epic entrée to the tussle with the real king for the crown, this one feels like 'Pacific Rim: Uprising'...all the way to the rapped up trailer. No bad thing, but just nowhere near as undeniable as what came before. Even if this is the hit of the pandemic, swiping back at COVID-19 and 2020. Japan have always done their own monster prouder however. From the classic 'Shin Godzilla' to the latest 'Singular Point' anime that has just dropped like the Pacific off his scales. Monster movies mean more than cinematic, blockbuster popcorn in metaphor, but even without the biggest screen these IMAX inspiring two towers belong on like their birthright, after all these years and additional push backs and hold ups, it just feels like somethings missing. Something were we could really hear them roar. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Further Filming: 'Godzilla', 'Kong: Skull Island', 'Godzilla: King Of Monsters.'