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Torden (2020)
Rent the DVD, watch the special features
This movie develops the characters. That takes time. It has a plot IF you watch and observe. The female lead is a complicated character with personal issues. She speaks hers native Norwegian language but also communicates with the male lead in English, which she explains that she is not proficient in.
The male lead is NOT Thor. He is from the USA and has been through a very traumatic experience. He is going through changes that he does not understand and cannot explain. And he is totally alone in a foreign land and does not know the language or the people.
The special effects are minimal but good. Supporting cast is good in their roles.
The cinematography, scenes, and locations are a major part of what makes this film so good. It is a story about Norway, past and present. Its people, culture, history, and mythology.
The male lead is a US citizen so the US government MUST get involved for ìts own selfish interests. And like so many other things they manage to turn something positive around place the blame on someone else.
This movie is something unique and different. If that's what you enjoy then give it a chance. It could be just what you want.
The Aeronauts (2019)
"INSPIRED" by a TRUE event
THIS IS A MOVIE. IT It is INSPIRED by a true event, not BASED on a true event. This is not a documentary, if you are looking for that, you are on the wrong channel.
The event did take place, the scientist was there, he was OLDER than the actor who portrayed him. There was a different pilot. The movie has based theirs on several female balloonist of the period. The most likely candidate had a career between 1805 with her husband, and solo after his death in 1809 until her death in 1819. She was very much like the character portrayed in the MOVIE. You can read about her in Smithsonian Magazine. Sophie Blanchard - The High Flying French Woman.
The MOVIE appears to have the science correct. The flight was record breaking. It used Hydrogen gas for the balloon. They did not take off from London, for fear of landing in the river. Apparently the movie kept the time correctly with the original flight.
There are a lot of people who have an issue with a FEMALE PILOT in the balloon. There were female pilots. You won't find them on Twitter, you have to dig a little deeper. But they were out there, pioneers of ballooning. Two hundred years later is it still hard for some of us men to accept that. Now that is what is hard to believe.
Anna (2019)
THIS DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS, READ THE REVIEW
The writer/director also wrote and directed La Femme Nikita. Many people are saying this is a "reboot". It is not. WATCH the movie and PAY attention. People are saying the fight seen is not realistic. WATCH it again. She gets her but kicked by men bigger than herself. She has to use anything and everything she can get her hands on to "even" the odds. They complain the movie "jumps" back and forth in time. PAY ATTENTION. That adds a few surprises, twists and turns. It explains a few things and makes the movie very interesting. They think she is just a drug user. Really? She was in the military academy until her parents were killed. She was raised by a military father who taught her chess a an early age and she was very skilled. The movie start at a low point in her life when she has lost her parents, is with a worthless boyfriend who gets her in trouble. She gets an opportunity to work for the KGB. The model is her cover. But the movie flipping back to past tells HER story. And she is is much, much more than what everyone thinks she is, CIA and KGB. The twists are what make this movie so good.
Ji qi zhi xue (2017)
read ALL of the reviews before you watch this movie
I am a big fan of Jackie Chan. Yes, it is amazing that he can still do all of his own stunts at his age. Yes, this movie is full of Jackie Chan stunts.
That being said, this movie plot has more holes than a block of swiss cheese, and it was cheesier. The special effects were not very special. The script was all over the place. They could not decide what type of movie they wanted it to be, so they just through everything they could think of into to it and hoped it would gell. It did not. As someone else suggested, see "The Foreigner". That is one of Jackie Chan's best movies.
Traffik (2018)
Read the reviews
I took and chance and ignored the negative reviews based on the lead actress, Paula Patton. While not an "A" list actress, she has done a good job in several other movies I liked (2 Guns, Deja Vu). This movie was bad right from the start. Her character moved at at 33&1/3 thru the whole movie. Either she was stoned or had marbles in her mouth because her speech was slurred most of the time. And for a reporter, she made the most stupid decisions at every turn. I found myself hoping she would just get shot and/or killed as a mercy killing for the audience, just to me out of my misery from sitting thru this film. Instead of making bad decisions that got others killed, she should have fallen on her sword/typewriter in the first five minutes and spared everyone a lot a pain and suffering. Save yourselves the pain and suffering and watch one of her other movies instead. You'll be much better off.
12 Strong (2018)
Negative reviewers, do they understand what Green Berets actually do?
This was the 1st battle in Afghanistan after 9/11. Green Berets imbed with local militia to help them fight the enemy. That is what they did in Viet Nam. They are not a Infantry Battalion with massive numbers that fights on its own. At the end of the movie one character points out that the won the battle but the war was not over.
The Green Berets were able to call in air strikes against the Taliban to take out large numbers of the enemy. They were able to supply the "Northern Coalition" with much needed supplies through air drops. They caught the Taliban by surprise.
The movie noted that there were at least three Northern Forces that would just as soon fight each other as fight the Taliban. That was not a factor during this operation but did become one later. The area is very Tribal, and trying to get the various tribes to work together is extremely difficult.
In one battle scene the Afghan general waits until he can confirm his nephew has left the village. The Green Berets are told that people frequently switch sides there, which is another problem they face.
The United States is partly responsible for the Taliban. When Russia invaded Afghanistan they were fighting with WW1 weapons. We, the CIA, supplied them with modern weapons, AK47s and RPGs, and taught them how to use them against Russian helicopters. We even supplied then with shoulder launched surface to air missiles to shoot down Soviet planes and jets.
The Afghan General tells the Captain if he leaves he is a coward but if he stays he will become the enemy. Once again the US is in a country where we do not fully understand the culture, the politics, the people. We expect they will just immediately convert to OUR way of doing things. Our country is 300 years old. Their country is over 2000 years old.
The 12 man Green Beret team was able to get in, work with one of the local militias to strike a quick, damaging blow to the Taliban. It was a knock down blow, not a knock out. The Taliban was able to regroup.
The movie did a great job telling the story of how these SF soldiers were quick to respond after 9/11, work with a group of people who did not trust them and who could have killed them at any time, in some of the most brutal terrain in the world, and carried out a mission in just over 3 weeks that some thought would take 2 years.