Traffick puts the spotlight on human trafficking in the USA

Movie Title:  Traffik

Grade:  C-

Rating: R, 1 hour 36 minutes

In a Nutshell:   

I was in the Las Vegas airport recently and saw a sign on the bathroom door stall that gave an emergency phone number for women who were trapped in human trafficking.  

The number is 1-8888-3737-888.   That’s a fantastic idea and easy number to remember, but I wonder how many girls who get kidnapped happen to have a cell phone on them.  Right?

At the end of the movie, it says, “It is estimated there are 1.9 million women being trafficked in the United States.  Worldwide, 21 million victims of human trafficking generate illegal profits each year of 150 billion dollars.”  For more information about this despicable crime, go to www.polarisproject.org or www.endslaverynow.org

I applaud writer/director Deon Taylor for trying to create a movie that puts the spotlight on an important issue, but the film itself has some serious flaws.  One of my biggest gripes about this movie is that it attempts to criticize human traffickers who exploit women, yet the movie itself spends a LOT of time sexualizing Paula Patton.

                                                         

Tips for parents: 

• Profanity and lots of F-bombs.
• Pre-marital relations
• Lots of cleavage and skimpy clothes.  You see a woman’s naked backside.  The rest of the time, she has a hard time keeping her shirt strap on.
• Crude gestures
• Violence with blood splatters
• Parents, talk to your daughters about how to be safe and avoid being a victim.

Uplifting theme: 

• Be aware of your surroundings
• Think smart

                                                             

Things I liked:

• It was suspenseful a few times, although there were some fake jumps and scares that annoyed me.
• Paula Patton didn’t use a stunt double.
• I think this was the first time I have ever seen Missi Pyle in a dramatic role.  Good for her.  Did you know she’s also a great singer?  She always wanted to be in a rock band, which she did for a number of years.
• Roselyn Sanchez is so beautiful.   You’ve seen her in  Act of Valor and  Rush Hour 2.

Things I didn’t like:

• The movie tries to be a romantic thriller with meat, but it doesn’t quite get there.
• Dumb slow-motion bad guy scene.
• Laz Alonso’s character is so over-the-top and ridiculous that the audience laughed almost every time he opened his mouth.
• Some of the acting and crying is really bad.  Lots of useless whimpering.
• This is one of those movies where people make dumb choices.
• I didn’t feel any chemistry between Paula Patton and Omar Epps.
• For some reason, this movie isn't even listed on Rotten Tomatoes, but it's getting mixed reviews on IMDB.

Interesting lines:

• “This is the real world.  Everything is trafficked.” –  Deputy Sally Marnes (Missi Pyle)

                                 

                                         @trinaboice

Breaking In is timed perfectly for Mother's Day

Movie Title:     Breaking In

Grade:  C-

Rating: PG-13, 
     88 minutes

In a Nutshell:  Just in time for Mother’s Day, Gabrielle Union does a good job showing us what any mama bear will do to protect her cubs.  

Unfortunately, the action-thriller movie is predictable and even toned down to earn the PG-13 rating.

Tips for parents: 

• While I was glad there weren’t a lot of F-bombs (there is 1), it was a bit odd to hear one of the bad guys use the word “friggin.” The intensity of peril at that point becomes laughable.  There is some other profanity.
• You see two people get run over by a car.
• The teenage daughter’s boyfriend makes her a playlist full of sex songs, but the mom brushes it off like it’s nothing worth talking about.  Parents, please talk to your kids about the consequences of sex as a teen.
• Teach your kids how to pick a lock.  Just sayin…
• Attempted rape, although you don’t see anything.  I would have gone full psycho revenge on that bad guy for that one act alone.
• Violence and deaths.

                                     

Uplifting theme: 

• Family
• Motherhood
• Tenacity

Things I liked:

• Gabrielle Union is the capable protagonist, as well as one of the producers of the movie.
• It’s refreshing that most of the decisions made were smart, rather than the usual dumb choices characters tend to make in this genre.
• Richard Cabral’s character is crazy bad, giving us the only real sense of urgency and peril that we want to see.
• Ajiona Alexus has such beautiful eyes.

Things I didn’t like:

• While I enjoyed the other action thrillers that writer Ryan Engle created, like Non-Stop and The Commuter (I'm a Liam Neeson fan), this film doesn’t bring anything new to the genre.
• The talented director of V for Vendetta, James McTeigue, doesn’t give us a clever, deep movie that we know he’s capable of; that movie was a masterpiece.
• Billy Burke’s character comes off looking bored during the entire movie.
• The characters were not really developed.  You never learn much about any of them.  One character shows up towards the end of the movie and you’re like, “Wait!  What?  Where did He come from? I thought…."
• A lot of the scenes are in a dark house or at night, so this movie might be hard to watch on a TV or computer monitor when it QUICKLY goes to the cheap DVD bin at Wal-Mart or online streaming.
• Lots of scampering around the house scenes.
• You’d think that if the dad built all of those security measures into the house that he would have hidden some guns somewhere.  Just sayin…
• "Payback" in the movie poster isn't quite the right word for what happens in the movie.  The mom gets mad and just wants to protect her kids, but she doesn't get crazy or seek revenge, like the movie poster promises.

Interesting lines:

• “Fear I can manage.  Desperation is a whole other thing.” – Eddie (Billy Burrke)
• “Moms don’t run (away).” – Eddie
• “You’re an impressive woman.” – Eddie

“No, I’m not.  I’m a mom.” – Shaun Russell (Gabrielle Union)

A better movie in the same genre is:

                  

                                         

                                              @trinaboice

Red Sparrow takes spy thriller to a Rated X level

Movie Title:    
        Red Sparrow

Grade:  C-

Rating: R, 
2 hours 19 minutes

In a Nutshell:   This sex filled spy thriller features psychological manipulation and LOTS of undressing and naked bodies.  Even Jennifer Lawrence shows us full frontal nudity. Why isn’t this movie Rated X?

It feels more like a tale of prostitution than super spy.  It's like saying Fifty Shades of Grey is a romantic love story.

Tips for parents: 

• Full frontal male and female nudity.
• Two completely naked people having sex.
• Bloody beatings and violent deaths
• A woman undresses down to her underwear.  Another gets completely naked.
• Homosexuality
• Attempted rape
• Crude language, profanity, F-bombs
• Someone gets run over by a car.  Yuck.
• Some family-friendly spy movies without all of the graphic violence and nudity that’s found in Red Sparrow are Spy Kids and Agent Cody Banks.
• If you’re intrigued by psychological manipulation, but want your teens to be able to watch something that’s not Rated R, check out the interesting social experiment in the TV show “The Push” found on Netflix right now.

                                           

Uplifting theme: 

• Sacrifice for a higher purpose
• Extreme patriotism

Things I liked:

• The talented cast includes Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Irons, Joel Edgerton, Charlotte Rampling, and Mary-Louise Parker.
• To enforce the title of the movie and the Russian setting, the color red plays a dominant role, from the movie poster, to the clothing that people wear to the bloody scenes.  
• Jennifer Lawrence trained in ballet for 4 months, although Isabella Boylston was her lovely body double who did the more difficult choreography.       
• Directed by Francis Lawrence, this movie is his first film since he directed The Hunger Games movies.  Clearly, Jennifer Lawrence trusts him completely. She would have to in order to strip and do the things she does in this movie.  She's in fantastic shape, by the way.
• You don't know who is telling the truth, which makes it intriguing and suspenseful.  
• The movie is based on the book by Jason Matthews who was a former CIA operative.  Cool. 
• The opening sequence is a bit confusing, but mesmerizing.            

Things I didn’t like:

• The telling is uneven.
• Way too much graphic nudity and sex.  There are so many awkward scenes.
• Women are used as tools in a one-dimensional portrayal.
• It's very dark and violent, which must have rubbed off on Jennifer Lawrence who, apparently, got into a bar fight in Budapest when she was filming the movie.
• Jennifer Lawrence has basically the same expression on her face the entire movie.  It's hard to see her character arc.
• The movie feels long and tiring.
• Disgusting torture.

  Interesting lines:

• “There’s no such thing as luck.” – Scumbag guy
• “Your body belongs to the State.  Since your birth, the State nourished it.  Now the State asks for something in return.” – Matron (Charlotte Rampling)
• “In my experience, the proud are the first to fall.” – Matron
• 
  

Funny lines:
*  "Why are all the Russian women so sexy?  All the men look like toads." - Stephanie Boucher (Mary-Louise Parker)

  

       

                                              @trinaboice

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

Liam Neeson kicks more butt. This time, on a train.

Movie Title:     
     The COMMUTER

Grade:   B

Rating:  PG-13, 105 minutes

In a Nutshell:   I readily admit it.  I like Liam Neeson.  He basically plays the same character in every movie, but I still like him and enjoy watching him kick butt on planes, trains, automobiles, and any other form of transportation.  He always plays an endearing “Every Man” you can get behind and root for.

No, this isn’t the greatest movie ever made, but it’s still an entertaining thriller.   The fast momentum makes for a fun ride.

Tips for parents: 

• Bloody violence
• Dead bodies
• A man gets hit and killed by a bus (part of that scene is shown in the trailer)

Uplifting theme: 

• There is an interesting moral dilemma that most of us face; what would you do or not do for money…a lot of money?
•  There IS such a thing as being noble.
• Sacrifice for others, friendship

                       

Things I liked:

• Jaume Collet-Serra always does a great job with details.  This is his 4^th movie with Liam Neeson.  
• There’s something about Vera Farmiga that makes it hard to take your eyes off of her.
• One of the greatest Liam Neeson fight scenes ever. I love the tight quarters and how that ups the drama.  For an aging guy, he can still make an exciting action scene.
• The book choices several people make provide symbolism.

 Things I didn’t like:

• A lot of things happen that are ridiculous, so just don’t think too hard about it and you’ll still enjoy the ride.
• Some of the dialogue is predictable and silly.

Interesting lines:

• “You want proof you’re a good man?  Look at your family.” – Liam’s best friend
• “My job is to answer one basic question.” – Joanna

“What’s that?” – Liam

“What kind of person are you?” = Joanna

“Me?  You should probably ask my wife.” - Liam

Other fun Liam Neeson action movies:

                                                             

                                          @trinaboice 

Hangman dies a quick death at the box office

Movie Title:    Hangman

Grade:  C

Rating: R

In a Nutshell: Al Pacino.  There’s THAT.  This is the eighth time he has played a police detective.  

The old-school child’s spelling game, Hangman, held promise for a good thriller, but the movie disappoints in a pretty mediocre paint by numbers who-dunnit.

 

Uplifting theme: 

• “Sometimes finding out the truth leaves scars.” – Christi Davies (Brittany Snow)
• “Scars tell stories.” – bad guy (I don’t want to tell you who that is!)
• Revenge
• Friendship

Things I liked:

• It was refreshing to see Brittany Snow in a hard-hitting murder mystery, after seeing her in fluffy, fun movies like Pitch Perfect By the way, the 3rd Pitch Perfect movie hits theaters in 3 weeks!  I confess, the franchise is a guilty pleasure for me.
• Karl Urban plays Detective Ruiney as well as he does “Bones” in Star Trek Into Darkness , although "Bones" is definitely a more interesting character.
• I first noticed the beautiful, tough Sarah Shahi when she starred in Person of Interest: S1-5.  Her real name is Aahoo Jahansouz and she’s a descendant of a real Persian Shah.  Cool.  Unfortunately, she seemed too young to be cast as the captain of the police department.

Things I didn’t like:

• Typical bad guy monologue at the end.
• The cops never take the time to try to figure out what the hangman letters mean.  It seems like they could have plugged them into a computer to consider various options.  You get to see what the letters spell out towards the very end, but no one even mentions anything about it.  Missed opportunity there.
• Silly ending.
• The whole plot feels contrived and forced with annoying plot holes.

Tips for parents: 

• This is NOT a family-friendly film.
• F-bombs and other profanity.
• Lots of bloody, gruesome deaths.
• Naked chest of some dead women.
• Paintings of naked women.

MOVIE REVIEW MOM

@trinaboice 

Flatliners is dead on arrival

Movie Title:  Flatliners

Grade:  D+

Rating: PG-13, 108 minutes

In a Nutshell: I really liked the original Flatliners movie with 1990 Kevin Bacon, so I was interested to see how this remake would compare.   

I was pleased to see Keifer Sutherland appear in this movie, since he was in the original, although his role is much different. 
Speaking of the original, it’s better.

Uplifting theme: 

• I liked the phrase “dialogue of human knowledge” that Kiefer Sutherland’s character talked about.
• Life, death, and somewhere in between.
• Take responsibility for your actions.  The message at the end is explained by one of the characters when she says, "It's not enough to apologize.  We have to face up to what we've done and then forgive ourselves."
• Restitution for wrongs committed in the past.

Things I liked:

• I liked the idea of exploring near death experiences, but the film goes into a jump-scare horror genre, rather than taking a deeper philosophical approach.
• SPOILER:  Ellen Page is fun to watch in anything, so I was surprised that she actually dies half-way through the movie, leaving us with characters that aren’t as interesting.

Things I didn’t like:

·   It tries to be a thriller-horror movie, as well as a medical thriller, but the mixture is very messy and makes the flow of the movie die.

• Stupid sound effects.
• It never explains certain aspects of the plot, like how the med students are able to be physically touched by their hallucinations.  

Tips for parents: 

• Deadly car crash.
• Creepy jumps and scares.
• Med students volunteer to die.  Make sure your kids know that is extremely dangerous and stupid!
• Pre-marital sex.
• A girl flips the bird.
• Some profanity.

Be sure to check out the original Flatliners 

MOVIE REVIEW MOM

@trinaboice 

The Foreigner features a very dramatic Jackie Chan

Movie Title:  The Foreigner

Grade: B+

Rating: R, 1 hour 54 minutes

In a Nutshell: Americans love movies.  And Jackie Chan.  We love watching him perform incredible stunts and fight sequences, mixed with humor and fun.  This isn't that kind of movie.

I was surprised at how much of a political thriller this movie was and how good of a dramatic actor Jackie Chan is.  It’s impressive how he can create such a relatable “every man” character while still having almost superhuman fighting skills.

The movie is based on The Foreigner: previously published as The Chinaman

Uplifting theme: 

• Revenge.
• Family.
• “Never push a good man too far.”

Things I liked:

• If you loved the first Rambo movie Rambo: First Blood where he hides and kills people in sneaky ways, you’ll get a kick out of some of the things Jackie Chan’s character does in this flick.  It also has a Liam Neeson Taken movie feel to it, as Jackie Chan's character is completely driven by the love he has for his daughter.
• Pierce Brosnan does an excellent job playing a complex character.  His Irish accent sounds pretty authentic too.

Things I didn’t like:

• I expected more humor, since it’s a Jackie Chan movie, but this movie was very much a drama.
• The mixture of Jackie Chan action and political thriller created an uneven film.  Surprisingly, he’s not in as much of the movie as you would think he would be.
• This has nothing to do with the 2003 Steven Seagal movie called The Foreigner.  It seems like they should have selected a different name for the movie.

Tips for parents: 

• Bloody car bomb and lots of explosions.  LOTS of bombs.
• Lots of death and dead bodies.
• Lots of violence.  Um….it’s a Jackie Chan movie!
• Profanity, including some F-bombs.

MOVIE REVIEW MOM

@trinaboice