TOP GUN MAVERICK AMAZES WITH VISUAL EFFECTS FIRST

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - TOP GUN - MAVERICK - Paramount+ - Directed by Joseph Kosinski and starring Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, and Glen Powell. This movie has some stunning visuals and the fighter plane scenes are realistic, breathtaking, and at times, a little beyond belief. The directors and writers to this film pulled some dramatic cinematography to show the realism behind being a fighter pilot and having to fight G-forces while pulling wild maneuvers in the air. It was said that many of the areal scenes were shot with the actors actually flying real planes and that Cruise demanded that everyone take part in flying a real plane to build their knowledge of fighter pilot communications pilot skills, and officer etiquette.

THE PLOT - The film takes place many years after the first film. Maverick is now a test pilot who endangers his job and is pushed right back to Top Gun to train pilots for a dangerous mission. He has to face his own ghosts, as his back seat best friends son, played by Teller, who just happens to be listed in the teams top list of pilots selected for the potentially one-way mission at hand. The training is dangerous, but there's always time for a little fun and some verbal hazing between the pilots about "who is the best." Of course, the mission doesn't go exactly as planned and Maverick has to fight his way back to safety.

THE GOOD - Cruise looks a little more refined and a lot more mature in the role as a Navy Fighter pilot and Captain. He's a little slower, a little more wiser, but he's filled with deep regret and has begun to doubt his abilities to lead; which are good qualities in building his character's new personae. Powell plays a brilliant role as Hangman, and they the writers should have really spent a little more time building up his cocky character. The writers bring back everything that you once knew from the first movie; the motorcycle, the partying, the quick one-liners between pilots. The general feel to the movie is that this is going to be a fun adventure and you'd better hang on for this ride.

THE BAD - What's missing in this movie is the real fun of being in the Navy. Everything in the screenplay is transparent, from the new girl Maverick falls for to the air-to-air dog fight. The writers should have spent more time on Teller's character [Rooster] and give him a better back story; save the fact that he's Goose's son. They could have really punched the fans in the gut if the original mother of the first film, played by Meg Ryan, stepped in and begged Maverick to pull her son from the mission. Ryan's character could have also closed the book on Maverick's last squeeze, stating that he will always be a "player" and he should have just settled down with "Charlie" of the first film. Instead, Teller's scenes as Rooster were limited and we had to rely on Cruises interpretation of Maverick's pain to help us understand what was going through his mind, when he wasn't wrapped up with the new love of his life.

POST MORTEM - This is a good action movie and there are some fun and funny moments in it. I'm not 100% sure if the writers had any real idea about how the Navy truly works, but for what they showed; a bunch of fighters in a hanger bay or parked out in a field, there's no real feel of danger about being on a fighter jet. The slow motion football game on the beach will never match the two on two volleyball game from the first film, but I guess eye-candy for females falls where ever it may these days.  But BRAVO to Cruise, this was another good, top action film to watch!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️[4 of 5 Stars]

GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE IS ONE OF THE BEST, FUN, MUCH NEEDED SEQUELS!

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE - STARS - Directed by Jason Reitman and stars a young talented actress, McKenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Paul Rudd, and Callie Coon. This is one of the best sequel films that is fun and action packed for the entire family. There is some excellent cinematography and the film is edited with one of the best eyes in movie production, Nathan Orloff. The humor by the teen cast is extraordinary and well delivered at the right times in this zany and extremely well produced film. I could watch this film several times and not get tired of watching it or laughing throughout it's run.

The Good - I cannot overstate the importance of a good script and story arc to push to the viewers who are big fans of the first Ghostbuster film, released in 1984. The visual effects are both CGI and practical effects, which work seamlessly throughout the run of the film. Even though some of the sequences in the action scenes are a little "out of this world" impossible, the film delivers them in a fun away, giving the actors plenty of opportunity to develop their characters and present the best performance on film. The locations for each scene in this film was chosen for sharp effect and used to their fullest potential; something I haven't seen in films in a long time. There are many nostalgic film items from the first two films in the franchise to bring up some great memories and they are delivered perfectly throughout the story. Actor and director Harold Ramis [who played Scientist Doctor Egon Spengler] died in 2014 and is brought back through CGI, and for a brief moment, the entire original cast of the first Ghostbusters film are reunited in this new film. The teen cast is brilliant and the performances of the supporting cast are just as brilliant and believable. The teen characters may be too smart for their own good in the film, but they are brilliantly developed, and of course, are a culture soup of kids who "represent" the large spectrum of today's requirement in Hollywood filmmaking.

The Bad - There is a lot of "Stranger Things" trademarks that are used in the film. Some are too noticeable to be transparent, but it works in the film's large array of ghost hunting antics that fill the story of the film. Sometimes too much, is too much; and I feel that even though some of the original characters from the first film were presented in the film, they should have had a bigger part throughout the film, instead in the final act. There should have been some presentation about their whereabouts and how they were all still in contact. There are rumors that Bill Murry was a hold-out up to the very last minute of filming, but there has been no release of information concerning why.

Post Mortem - This is a fun, action packed film! I honestly recommend for every and any Ghostbuster fan to watch it and just watch it for the entertainment value. I can guarantee that everyone will laugh and enjoy the film from beginning to end. Everyone from the first film gets to make a full minute appearance somewhere during the run of this feature, but they don't overplay the performances of the young cast. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️[4 of 5 Stars]

"BLACK ADAM" IS WHERE "THE ROCK" NEEDS TO BE...BUT ISN'T

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - BLACK ADAM - Amazon Prime - Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, this movie is the spectacular visualization of the anti-hero, BLACK ADAM. There is a ton of CGI, but there is also a great performance from Johnson that I wasn't truly expecting. A lot of The Rock's little one-liners squeezed through the character of Black Adam that sewed into the script perfectly, when the time arose. This film had so much potential, that Johnson took a large part in funding the film as Executive Producer.

The Good - The film wasted no time getting into the middle of it all, but throwing the viewer into the middle of a throw-down with a bunch of guns and super abilities, which brought the initial pacing of the movie with some extreme [and gratifying] action sequences that are pretty standard for today's Hollywood super-hero movie. This is also a large array of new Muslim-Arabic actors that fill the screen, as this movie takes place in the middle east. Where most of their performances were pretty believable and filled with a lot of emotion and tension, one of the new actors, Bohdi Sabongui had a few issues delivering emotion, but his delivery as the side-kick, delivering a humorous and bungling dialog - pretty much the standard in today's Hollywood genre - was spot on. The big surprise was the addition of Pierce Brosnan and Aldis Hodge, who play the parts of Dr. Fate and Hawkman [respectfully], well for their part in the DC Universe. There's also a ton of good humor throughout the film, breaking the tension as required, but the story arc and historical back flashes were diligenty, artfully presented with direct and proper respect to the comicbook canon of Black Adam's backstory.

The Bad - As with most of today's Hollywood movie formats, this movie becomes so heavy with special effects CGI that the film beings to fall apart during the last third of the films run. Just when you think the movie is just about over, there's a turn in the plot and the villain is transformed into a super-villain with superior CGI abilities that just look too animated and computer generated to be believed. In my opinion, the abilities of the proven DC heroes of Dr. Fate and Hawkman seem to limited to take care of the real problem at hand; leaving the resurrected muscle of Black Adam to come to the rescue. A severe plot-hole ensues when at the end of the film, the team real leader, Amanda Waller [played by Viola Davis] back in the U.S., raises a hint that all she has to do is raise a hint and Superman [played by Henry Cavill] can appear at a moments notice; which he does at the end of the film to face a world-wide threat. So, that makes you wonder why Hawkman didn't just make a call to Waller for BIGGER assistance in dealing with the main villain in the film.

Post Mortem - With the exception of the final third of the film's heavy CGI presence, I think that the film was well thought out and presented with a strong screenplay and a sharp performance by Johnson. It's obvious that Hollywood is trying to push the envelope that there are other less known superheroes that are not of the "Caucasian persuasion" and are equally as powerful. Leaving some to speculate a possible faction of Middle East super beings who can stand up to the heroes of the Justice League and more. By now, the news has reached the surface that any chance for an extension to this film was prematurely cut off, after Johnson was recently fired by the "powers that be" from the franchise before any real chance to produce sequels was even attempted. I think that the Black Adam was a good start to relaunch Johnson's serious attempt to revamp his career as a serious action star; too bad that others "in the circle" didn't think so.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 [3.5 of 5 Stars]

TARANTINO'S "RESERVOIR DOGS" WAS NOTHING BUT HYPE…

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - RESERVOIR DOGS - [R] - Released in 1992, this as Quentin Tarantino's debut film which stars Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Steve Busemi, Michael Madsen, and others. This [then] Independent Film ran for 99 minutes and had a budget of $1.2 to $3 Million; grossing $2.9 Million in the box office. The plot of the movie concerns a diamond heist gone bad. A few of the actors in this film [like Buscemi and Madsen] were complete nobodies when the film premiered, but are now some of the top named talent in Hollywood.

Now, I've been producing Indie movies and short films for a little over 20 years, reviewing and critiquing major films for a long time, and I have to admit that I never got off my ass to watch this film. I'm not sure why, but there was this hesitation I've always had with films [of any production value] that are often [in my opinion] over-hyped, and generally accepted as pop culture films. I have seen many Tarantino films before and I do have several favorites, but this film is the least liked of the films he's produced and directed. As a matter of fact, this is the worst film I've seen in a long, long time.

There are some big names in this film, which I am sure account for the big budget given to the production, and given the fact that the movie primarily takes place in a warehouse with very little left to offer, it's obvious that Tarantino had a solid connection with investors and brought this cash cow to life with the big names in the films title credits. Seriously, I've seen some bad indie films living in the Houston area for over the last 15 years, and the largest majority of Houston's indie film crap were far better produced  than this piece of shit film.

This just goes to prove that in the real Independent film business, it all depends on who you know and what type of hype you get to have people watch your film. Tarantino must have had a solid promotional team to push this shit sludge out to the public and make it seem like the best thing since scented toilet paper. There is nothing remarkable in this film; there's a ton of over acting, useless arguments, tons of profanity, and story arcs that lead nowhere. The camera work is stagnant and there's really that stands out except one character [played by Tim Roth] that bleeds from a stomach wound throughout the entire film, that show's any real substantiated element to the film that makes you wonder how that character could have lived that long.

There's a continuous argument between the main characters concerning a botched diamond heist, but you never see it. As a matter of fact, Tarantino plays a short cameo in the film and you never see how he gets killed, save the fact that one character says, "Oh, he was shot and killed too." Oh boy, and movies like this were the prime drive to hope that indie film directors CAN eventually break into the Hollywood circuit?

This movie was nothing but DOG SHIT! 

💫[.5 out of 5 Stars]

THE QUANTUM STORM .357 E-MAGAZINE ISSUE 15 IS RELEASED!

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OUR SUBSCRIBERS AND INTERNET SURFURS!

TEXAS VETERANS ARE STEPPING UP FOR THIS YEARS CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEARS HOLIDAYS! THIS ISSUE PRESENTS SOME OF THE BEST HOLIDAY EVENTS AND CHRISTMAS SHOWS IN THE TEXAS LANDSCAPE; STRETCHING FROM SAN SABA TO HOUSTON. BE SURE TO ALSO CHECK OUT THE NEW LIST OF INDIE FILMS TO WATCH IN 2023!

COMMENTS ARE THE SUBMITTED OPINIONS OF OUR SUBSCRIBERS.

 

YOU MUST BE A SUBSCRIBER TO VIEW THIS NEW ISSUE OF THE QUANTUM STORM .357 E-MAGAZINE AND FOLLOW THIS BLOG

 

Thank you for stopping by!