Braven lets you see the studly Jason Momoa while we wait for Aquaman to hit theaters

Movie Title:      Braven

Grade:   C

Rating: R, 94 minutes

In a Nutshell: 

Directed by  Lin Oeding, this Canadian action flick is all testosterone.

Nothing like a relaxing winter day at the cabin.  Ha ha  My dad has a cabin in the mountains near Park City, so I kept imagining what we would have done if we had been in the same situation.  Die a horrible death, most likely.

                             

Tips for parents: 

• Some profanity, including TONS of F-bombs.
• Lots of brutal fighting.
• Some bloody, gory deaths.
• You see Jason Momoa shirtless.

Uplifting theme: 

• Needed supplies at your cabin: ammo, guns, knives, bear trap, bow & arrow, a PHONE!
• Family
• Don’t do drugs.

                                                 

Things I liked:

• Beautiful scenery and wildlife.
• Wow, Jason Momoa is HUGE.  He even makes Stephen Lang look small in comparison. Until an AquaMan feature film from the Justice League comes to the big screen, I’m happy to see him in anything.  It’s fun to watch him kick bad-guy butt, but otherwise, the movie isn’t very good. Did you know he’s married to the petite Lisa Bonet?

                                                             

Things I didn’t like:

• Dumb dialogue.
• Some silly choices that make you scratch your head.
• I really liked Garret Dillahunt in the TV sitcom Raising Hope: Season 1 by Fox, so it’s hard for me to take him seriously in a drama. 

             

                                           @trinaboice

Birth of the Dragon is old-school awesome

Movie Title: 
Birth of the Dragon

Grade:   B-

Rating: PG-13, 91 minutes

In a nutshell:  I love China, San Francisco, Kung Fu, and Bruce Lee.  Put all of those things together and you get this entertaining movie directed by George Nolfi, who also directed the fun movie The Adjustment Bureau. 

While Birth of the Dragon is a fictional origin film, it's based on an event that supposedly occurred. 

It's an imagining of what may have inspired Bruce Lee to develop his unique style of martial arts.

Uplifting theme:

• “Kung Fu is not a game, gentlemen.  It is not a religion.  It is about who lives and who dies.” – Bruce Lee (Philip Ng)
• “Kung Fu is about self-discipline and self-discovery.” – Wong Jack Man (Yu Xia)
• “Kung Fu does not reside in the fists, but it resides in the soul.” – Wong Jack Man

• Balance and harmony

Things I liked:

• Serious old-school Kung Fu fighting.
• 1 inch punch.  Ha ha
• A good amount of humor.
• Great stunts and action.  I have a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do, but I was always pretty clumsy and awkward, especially compared to all of the actors and stuntmen in this movie!
• I loved the flowing movement of Wong Jack Man's golden robes.  Besides it looking cool, it represented his inner dance for balance in his life.  I've been to China twice and love their philosophy of chi and harmony in all things.
• If you liked this, you might like watching the old Enter the Dragon (1973) 

Things I didn’t like:

• The movie makes Bruce Lee look really cocky.  In reality, Bruce Lee inspired millions.  One of his famous quotes is, "Real living is living for others."  The Bruce Lee Foundation was created in 2002 by his wife and daughter.  Every year they donate money and help students with scholarships.
• I can’t stand fake flying in martial arts movies.
• Steve McKee (Billy Magnussen) has a much larger role in the film than he probably should, considering this movie is supposed to be about Bruce Lee.  In fact, there are some Asians who are completely offended that it's a white guy who seems to be at the center of the story and, ultimately, saves the day.  They have a valid point.  While it's not supposed to be a biopic, we watch this movie because we want to learn more about Bruce Lee and watch him kick a$$, instead of see some white guy who has a crush on a Chinese girl.

Interesting lines:

• “Now you have begun to exceed your limits.” –  Wong Jack Man

“What limits?” – Bruce Lee

• “I was going to be a star, but I’d rather be a legend.” – Bruce Lee

Tips for parents: 

• Some profanity.
• Lots of fighting!  (Duh!)
• Discussion of prostitution.
• If you have a child who is taking some kind of martial arts lessons, you can point out the lessons learned in this movie about when to fight and how to do it with honor.

MOVIE REVIEW MOM

@trinaboice 

Hacksaw Ridge spills blood and faith in big amounts

Movie Title:  Hacksaw Ridge

Grade:  A

Rating:  R, 139 minutes

In a Nutshell: This is NOT your typical Christian movie.  Directed by Mel Gibson, this graphic, true story inspires faith and courage amidst a background of the brutal, horrors of World War II. 

The audience cheered and clapped several times during the movie to honor the first “conscientious objector" to receive the Medal of Honor, Desmond T. Doss.  The theater I sat in was also filled with veterans, based on their reaction and the comments I heard from them while we slowly walked out.

Uplifting theme: 

• “When the world is busy tearing itself apart, it doesn’t seem like such a bad thing to me to want to put a little bit of it back together.” – Desmond
• How well do you hold to your convictions?  How well do you show respect to those who do? 
• Bravery, cowardice, patriotism, friendship.

Things I liked:

• The star cast really knocked it out of the park on this one.  The acting really was stellar, led by Hugo Weaving, Andrew Garfield, Vince Vaughn, Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey, and Dorothy Schutte.  Vince Vaughn was surprisingly effective. Hugo Weaving was absolutely amazing.
• Most people don’t much about Seventh Day Adventists. It was inspiring to watch a man truly live his religion.
• It reminded me a little bit of the faithful story in Saints and Soldiers, but with the gore and drama of Saving Private Ryan
• How do they film war scenes like this?
• I always love true stories where you get to see video footage and pictures of the real people the story is about at the end of the movie.
• Desmond goes to Fort Jackson.  I didn’t realize it was around during WWII.  My oldest son went there for his Army training too.
• Mel Gibson was a Hollywood hunk for many decades, only to be laughed at and dismissed in the past few years as a jerk and wackadoodle.  This film may be his comeback and apology.  It’ll be interesting to see if anyone is willing to grant him an Oscar.  Gibson is on par with his excellent work in Braveheart and Apocalypto  After a 10 year directing break, welcome back, Mel.
• There is a huge contrast between the sweet, innocent love story between Desmond and Dorothy during the first half of the movie and the brutal, gory carnage of the second half.   That stark contrast reminds me of the incredibly powerful movie “Life is Beautiful.”

Things I didn’t like:

• Does faith, patriotism, and courage have to be packaged with so much violence and gore to be appreciated?
• No guns.  No killing.  Where have I heard that before?  Oh yeah....Batman.
• You feel like your gut has been punched and your heart ripped out by the time you stagger out of the theater.

Here's an interesting trailer with Mel Gibson.  Did he get religion?

Interesting lines:

• “The U.S. Army does not make mistakes.” – 
• “You better come home to me.” – Dorothy Schutte (Teresa Palmer)
• “In peace, men bury their sons.  In war, fathers bury their son.” – Vito Rinnelli (Firass Dirani)
• “You didn’t kill him. “ – Smitty (I loved Luke Bracey in Point Break (2015) 

“In my heart, I did.” - Desmond

• “All I saw was a skinny kid.  I didn’t know who you were.” – Captain Glover (I chuckled to myself, because Sam Worthington's character in Avatar was all about "I see you.") 

Funny lines:

• “I have seen corn stalks with better physiques.” – Sgt. Howell (Vince Vaughn)
• “We’re not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy. Keep climbing.” – drill
• “You’re like gum on a shoe, ain’t ya?” – Sgt. Howell
• “It’s a bit late for target practice, don’t ya think?” – Sgt. Howell 
• “I’m going to marry her. “ – Desmond

“Does she know it?” –  Bertha Doss (Rachel Griffiths)

Tips for parents: 

• This is NOT a children’s movie.  It’s rated R for extreme violence, gore, lots of scary dead bodies, and realistic war images.
• You see the rear end of a naked soldier.
• It’s surprising how little profanity there is, considering the movie is full of tough soldiers in horrible situations. 

The 5th Wave mixes elements from every dystopian teen movie you've seen before

Movie Title:  THE 5th WAVE

  5th Wave, The

Grade:  C

Rating:  PG-13, 1 hour 52 minutes

In a Nutshell:    I think this is the 5^th wave of teen dystopian movies.  Unfortunately, it’s nothing you haven’t seen already with elements from Red Dawn (I loved the first one), Independence Day (loved the first one), Divergent (liked the first one), and even The Walking Dead (horrified and then addicted to the first one). 

Those drones aren’t the ones from Amazon.  It’s another teens vs. grownups movie….um…teens vs. aliens movie.  Of course, the teens are smarter than both grownups and aliens. 

Cassie asks rhetorically, “How do you rid the earth of humans?  First, you rid the humans of their humanity.”  Or…you make really dumb movies so they want to kill themselves.

Uplifting theme: 

• “Love’s not a trick.  It’s real.” – Evan Walker (Alex Roe-Brown)
• “The others see our hope as a weakness, as a delusion, but they’re wrong.  It’s our hope that lets us survive, that lets us bend, but remain unbroken.  It’s our hope that will let us win some day.  It’s our hope that makes us human.” – Cassie (Chloe Grace Moretz)

Things I liked:

•  I’ve always liked Chloe Grace Moretz, who plays Cassie, the heroine in the story.  She has quite a long film history, considering how young she is.
• Some of the transitions were cool.
• I always like a good twist.
• I liked the version of “I was born in a thunderstorm” song at the end.

Things I didn’t like:

• Some of the special effects look pretty lame.
• Some of the acting was really terrible.  Black eye-linered Maika Monroe’s character, Ringer, was so clichéd and stiff that it was laughable.  So was Maria Bello’s character, Sergeant Reznik.
• Cookie-cutter romance scene where someone accidentally stumbles upon a good-looking person bathing in a lake. 
• Zackary Arthur sure is adorable, but needs time to develop his acting skills.
• There are a lot of really dark scenes that make it hard to see what’s happening.
• SPOILER:  Unfortunately, the movie ends with a wink to a sequel.  Uggg.  Please don’t let there be a 6^th wave.
• The trailer shows scenes that don’t actually play in the movie.  Odd.  Did I blink and miss them?
• Did you see the poster for the movie “Big Fish”?   Was it a random ad placement or is there some reason behind it?  Does anyone know?
• An awkward love triangle made me laugh out loud.  Are the directors hoping to spur on a fan debate like we saw with the Twilight series?  I mean, why would you choose Ben Parish when Evan Walker is an option?   (wink)
• Dumb character names like Dumbo, Fintstone, Poundcake.
• The first act was actually pretty compelling, but then it turned into every other dystopian YA movie you've ever seen.  What a shame.

Funny lines:

• “Are we still alive?” – Teacup

“I think so.” – Zombie

• “You want me to shoot you?” – Ringer

“Don’t pretend you haven’t thought about it.” - Zombie

• “I was named after Ben & Jerry’s.  Truth!  Nothing made him happier than ice cream.”  - Ben Parish/Zombie (Nick Robinson)

Interesting lines:

• “No more everything we took for granted.” – Cassie
• “I thought we were safe here.” - Cassie

“Pumpkin, there’s nothing safe anymore.” – Oliver Sullivan (Ron Livingston)

• “We’re not fighting the 5^th wave.  We ARE the 5^th wave.” – Zombie

Tips for parents:   

• Some profanity, shooting, and blood.
• Lots of guns and shooting.  LOTS.