Written and directed by Alex Ranarivelo, Bennett’s War follows Marshall Bennett, played by Michael Roark. He is a young soldier with the Army Motorcycle Unit who survives an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion in combat overseas and medically discharged with a broken back and leg. He dispatched back to the U.S.
He arrives and finds out his dad, Cal Bennett, played by Trace Adkins, is behind on the family farm’s mortgage. The family may lose the farm.
Despite his physical condition, Marshall pledges to help his family as a motocross racer. Allison Paige plays Sophie Bennett, Marshall’s concerned wife, and Ali Afshar plays Cyrus, Marshall’s mentor. Trace Adkins is predominately known for being CMA Award-winning music singer, and he starred in Deepwater Horizon with Mark Walhberg.
The “Race” clip is awesome to watch because you get to see some honest dirt bike racing.
The next clip, “I Think I’ll Race” is worth watching because the scene between these two actors is tight and paced well.
Co-written and directed by Bart Freundlich, After the Wedding follows the manager, Isabel, played by Michelle Wiliams, of an orphanage in Kolkata, who travels to New York to meet a benefactor, Theresa, played by Julianne Moore. Freundlich co-wrote the screenplay with Susanne Bier and Anders Thomas Jensen.
Freundlich and Moore are a real-life married couple with two children. They are working together on this film about a marriage that is about to implode.
Watching the trailer, Theresa’s husband has a past with Isabel, and it didn’t end on friendly terms. There is a young boy from the orphanage who is somehow involved in this triangle.
The next clip is intense, and the acting is superb with ingenious casting.
I am not quite sure where this movie is going. Watching the movie clips, we can see that Theresa and her husband appear to be happy together with their daughter getting married.
Something happened in the past between her husband and Isabel.
Co-written and directed by Victor Kossakovsky, Aquarela is a documentary about water being the main protagonist. Society sees it as a great and terrible beauty. For example, the Mountains of ice move and break apart as if they are a life form with their own will to survive.
Kossakovsky’s documentary travels the world showing different forms of water. The movie travels from the dangerous frozen waters of Russia’s Lake Baikal and Miami in the throes of Hurricane Irma to Venezuela’s majestic Angel Falls to paint a portrait of this fluid life force in all its glorious forms.
The documentary shares the undeniable truth of how fragile humans experience life and death, joy and despair, in the face of its power.
Koosakovsky has endless credits as a documentarian. A couple the stand out are Russian From My Window and Graine de Champion. Aimara Reques co-wrote the documentary with Koosakovsky. Reques is also an actress and producer.
Directed by A.J. Eaton, David Crosby: Remember My Name is a documentary produced by filmmaker Cameron Crowe. The movie is a portrait of Crosby in his Golden year with no thought of retirement. The studio is not much is being said about the documentary.
Watching the trailer, you get a sense that Crosby burned bridges and is lonely. He has his wife and land, but he is no longer in touch Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, and Neil Young.
He still goes on tour, performs with ailing health. His wife fears for his overall health as he tours with his band.
Cameron Crowe, a former writer for the Rolling Stone magazine, is in the documentary. Crowe is a celebrated screenwriter and director for such movies at Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous, and Say Anything…
Directed by Niki Caro, Mulan is the live-action feature film of the animated feature film the Disney Studios produced in 1998.
A young Chinese maiden, played by Yifei Liu, disguises herself as a male warrior so she can save her father.
Caro’s directing credits include The Zookeeper’s Wife, North Country, and Whale Rider. The screenplay has several co-writers, including Lauren Hynek, Rick Jaffa, Elizabeth Martin, and Amanda Silver.
Disney Studios is quiet about the storyline, but rumors are the dragon Mushu, voiced by Eddie Murphy in the original animated movie, will not be in this movie.
I was skeptical about the film, but after seeing the second trailer, I am utterly interested. I hope the story holds throughout and is not too slow.
The third trailer shows us more of the action and the story. It introduces the fact that the enemy has a witch fighting with him. I don’t think that was in the original animated version. So, there are some changes, which make this more unique and promising.
It is all about stunts, and Mulan has plenty of action sequences.
Directed by Joachim Rønning, story by Linda Woolverton, and the screenplay by Woolverton, Micah Fitzerman-Blue, and Noah Harpster, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil follows Maleficent. Played by Angelina Jolie and her goddaughter Aurora, played by Elle Fanny, begin to question the complex family ties that bind them. Being pulled in different directions, they face the impending nuptials, unexpected allies, and dark new forces at play.
A fantasy story begins several years after Maleficent. The story continues to discover the different relationships between the horned fairy and the soon to be Queen. They develop more alliances while facing new enemies in their agony and hardship to protect the moors and the magical creatures that live within the forest.
The movie is available on Amazon. and I recommend you get it because it is a strong story and entertaining.
Screenwriters Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster worked together on the episodic show Transparency and A Beautiful Place in the Neighborhood with Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers.
The movie also stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Ed Skrein.
The featurette is short and sweet and to the point. Jolie is fantastic as Maleficent.
The next featurette tells us more about the movie and why there is a sequel. It looks like so much fun.
The next three clips show the choices each character has to make to handle the changes that are occurring in the story.
Written and directed by Rian Johnson, Knives Out is a parody of the mastermind Agatha Christie. The movie looks like a modern-day murder mystery and everyone is a suspect. The story begins at the 85th birthday party of renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey, played by Christopher Plummer.
The movie is now streaming, or you can purchase the Blu-ray or DVD, and watch it whenever and wherever you want.
After his party, he is found dead at his estate, and the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc, played by Daniel Craig, is enlisted to investigate his murder. But, it is unclear how he arrived at being the investigator, and that is a mystery in itself.
From Harlan’s dysfunctional family to his devoted staff, Blanc sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind Harlan’s untimely death. By watching the trailer, you can see Craig’s character heavily contrasts with his 007 in the James Bond movies.
From left to right. Richard (Don Johnson), Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis), Ransom (Chris Evans) Great Nana (K Callan), Marta (Ana de Armas), Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) Walt (Michael Shannon), Jacob (Jaeden Lieberher), Donna (Riki Lindholm), Joni (Toni Collette) and Meg (Katherine Langford).
The stellar cast includes Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, LaKeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, and Jaeden Martell.
The movie appears to be a witty and stylish whodunit. Johnson hopes to keep audiences guessing until the very end.
Johnson is best known for directing Star Wars: The Last Jedi. His other writing and directing credits include Brick and Looper.
The second trailer offers a better idea of what the movie is about and how it flows for the audience. It flows much better because it seems to be intense and funny.
The movie looks hilarious with overwhelming craziness. Daniel Craig plays a character so unlike his James Bond.
I am not sure what is happening in this next clip. We have two cops and an inspector.
The next clip shows how snappy the movie flows.
Daniel Craig and Jamie Lee Curtis are in a scene together. It is phenomenal.
Kevin Hart, Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillan, and Jack Black Photo credit: Hiram Garcia
The whole gang is back for more.
Co-written and directed by Jake Kasdan, Jumanji: The Next Level brings the gang back together, but this time the game shifts.
The players return to Jumanji to rescue one of their own. They discover that nothing is as they expect. The players will face brave parts unknown and unexplored, from the arid deserts to the snowy mountains, in order to escape the world’s most dangerous game.
Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg co-wrote the screenplay with Kasdan. All three worked on Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle with Kasdan directing.
The cast includes Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas, Awkwafina, Ser’Darius Blain, Madison Iseman, Morgan Turner, Alex Wolff, Danny Glover, and Danny DeVito.
