Movie Reviews and Other Writings

The Last Thing He Wanted is set in the early 1980s and is about a reporter, Elena McMahon, who is covering revolutions and unrest in Central America when she's pulled off the desk to cover the presidential election of 1984. She reconnects with her father who embroils her into his business as an arms dealer. This is the best I can do for a summary. More on that after credits. It stars Anne Hathaway, Ben Affleck, Rosie Perez, Willem Dafoe, Edi Gathegi, Mel Rodriguez, Onata Apri

Extraction is about a mercenary haunted by his demons. He gets a job to extract the son of an Indian drug lord from the rival Bangladeshi drug lord. There are some complications of course and a gigantic body count as the mercenary, Tyler Rake, does everything in his power to complete his job. It stars Chris Hemsworth, Rudhraksh Jaiwal, Randeep Hooda, Pankaj Tripathi, Golshifteh Farahani, Priyanshu Painyuli, Shataf Figar, and David Harbour. It is directed by Sam Hargrave and w

The first time I remember going to a movie by myself was October 6th, 2006 for a screening of The Departed, the U.S. remake of the great Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs (2002). It was a time when I was alone in a new place. I was starting my freshman year at Eastern Washington University and we were allowed free bus rides to the nearest big city. I was nervous. My first time on public transit in Cheney and Spokane, two cities I was unfamiliar, didn't help with that anxiet

Lost Girls is about a real life police case in which a killer lured young women out to a quiet beach town, murdered, and buried them. The story follows Mari Gilbert and her daughters who take it upon themselves to get the police involved in Shannan Gilbert's disappearance despite the dismissiveness about Shannan's life as a sex worker. The film stars Amy Ryan, Thomasin McKenzie, Gabriel Byrne, Lola Kirke, Oona Laurence, Dean Winters, Molly Brown, Miriam Shor, Ana Reeder, Grac

Selah and the Spades is a film about a private high school where the illicit activities that go on at every high school are closely regulated by five factions, each with their own piece of the pie. When new scholarship student Paloma is befriended by Selah, the head of the Spades, the group that controls the illegal substance market, she's brought in and taught the business. Paloma's being groomed for the top spot next year. Though, Selah doesn't tell Paloma everything and a

Blow the Man Down is a crime film about a small fishing town in Maine where two sisters have to cover up the murder one of them committed in self defense. Yet, while they try to act normal, a separate body is discovered and one murder becomes entwined in the other revealing the town's seedy secrets in the process. It stars Sophie Lowe, Morgan Saylor, June Squibb, Marceline Hugot, Annette O'Toole, Skipp Sudduth, Will Brittain, Gayle Rankin, and Margo Martindale. It is written

Tigertail is an intergenerational story told in mainly in flashbacks. It's about a Taiwanese man, Grover (Pin-Jui) who moves to the United States with a bride he hardly knows. It's not the fairytale place or story he was promised. His wife leaves him and his daughter feels she can't communicate with him. In order to rectify his choices in life, Grover has to find a way to come to terms with his past. It stars Tzi Ma, Christine Ko, Hong-Chi Lee, Yo-Hsing Fang, Fiona Fu, Joan C

Uncorked is a film about Elijah who is torn between his dream to become a master sommelier and his father's wish for him to take over the family's barbecue restaurant as they prepare to open a second location. The film stars Mamoudou Athie, Courtney B. Vance, Niecy Nash, Sasha Compere, Matt McGorry, Gil Ozeri, Meera Rohit Kumbhani, and Matthew Glave. It is written and directed by Prentice Penny. The film is streaming exclusively on Netflix. I loved this movie. There's much ab

Coffee & Kareem is about James Coffee, a Detroit police officer who is dating Vanessa, the mother of a young son named Kareem. The pair get into trouble as Kareem goes to hire a gangster to have Coffee beaten senseless. Kareem witnesses the murder of a dirty cop and has to learn to rely on Coffee to get him through this situation safely. The film stars Ed Helms, Terrence Little Gardenhigh, Taraji P. Henson, Betty Gilpin, RonReaco Lee, Andrew Bachelor, William "Big Sleeps" Ste