Fall Action: You'll Be Taken for a Looper

END OF WATCH

CRIME/DRAMA

                Hollywood has made a gazillion cop buddy movies but this one is very realistic.  Jake Gyllenhaal (Prince of Persia, Source Code) is Brian Taylor and Michael Pena is Mike Zavala are the cops who are partners on the street and act like brothers after work.    Their acting is wonderful.  Their wives  Anna Kendrick (Twilight Saga) and Natalie Martinez (Death Race, TV show Detroit 187) is equally good.  I wish Ms. Martinez could do more work.  The cops’ loyalty is tested when a cartel is after them.  You have seen it all before just not this way.  The trailer is misleading; it is action-packed but not like the trailer.  If you like a lot of action wait for video if you like bromance watch it.

LOOPER

SCI-FI/DRAMA

                This is a good IFC movie.  It is not your typical time-travel action film.  There is good acting by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt.  If you saw the trailer the mob has a way to kill people with time-travel and the hitmen are called loopers.  See this movie ONLY if you want to see something different than popcorn movies.  It is very intelligent, very violent and for action-hounds wait for video or VOD.

TAKEN 2

ACTION/DRAMA 

                Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson, The Grey,Taken ) in Istanbul is targeted to be kidnapped  along with his family by a vengeful father (Rade Serbedzija X-Men First Class )who killed his son in the first movie.   There is a lot of action if you like movies likes this but –spoiler a realistic ending to it.  It is a star film for talented Neeson and he plays it well, funny, straight and of course, man of action.  Not as good as Taken but it has its moments.  See it if you like Liam Neeson and action, if not wait until video.

A Spark of Dreddful Evil

SPARKLE

MUSCIAL DRAMA

                This is a remake of 1976 movie.  It takes place in the sixties with singer Jordin Sparks as Sparkle a beautiful gifted songwriter and singer if she would get over stage fright.  Her acting is okay. She has two sisters Sister (played very well by Carmen Ejogo) and Dolores (Tika Sumpter) she is great and she is dark skinned and usually writers make them so ghetto but she was very smart and sensible.  I hope to see these actresses in more movies. 

Their mom Emma (played by the late, great Whitney Houston) doesn’t want them to sing for she tried unsuccessfully. She sings one song. Sister hooks up with the wrong man Satin, a stand -up comic (Mike Epps, Friday, The Hangover) I didn’t like his character but he may be portraying Richard Pryor in an upcoming movie.  It is a good movie if you like singing but if you can wait for video do so.

RESIDENT EVIL:  RETRIBUTION

ACTION/SCI-FI

                The fifth of the series stars Milla Jovoich as Alice who has to save the world again.  Plot really not important because they are not following the plot of the video game.  The ONLY reason you should see it to see the action and there is a lot of it!!  The women for the most part kicking all the ass and they are Michelle Rodriguez and Sienna Guillory.  It is worth seeming on video.

DREDD-3D

ACTION/SCI-FI

                I was one of the ten people who enjoyed the 1995 movie Judge Dredd starring Sly Stallone.  Now the film is rebooted and it is very violent and very good.  Karl Urban (Star Trek 2009) is Dredd Clint Eastwood talking, never takes his helmet off and kills for he is judge, jury and executioner!!  The villain is Madeline Madrigal or short Ma-Ma (Lena Headey Game of Thrones 300) is a gangster who owns Mega City and pushes a drug “Slo-Mo” and he has to bring her down.  She is malicious!!  It didn’t make money and I don’t know why it is so good.  It will fare better on video.