Westside Steve's Movie Reviews

From the world of John Wick: Ballerina.It’s mindless action flick season, and if you dig the John Wick movies, you’ll dig this.If you don’t know any John Wick movies, they’re top notch on the action. And they star Keanu Reeves, who starred as Ted Theodore Logan in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, except John Wick is the dark story line where they fail their history test and Ted gets shipped off to military school in Alaska and eventually becomes the world’s best badass assassin.This movie stars Ana de Armas as Eve Macarro, and she’s the daughter of a stray assassin from the same outfit that trained John Wick.Keanu does make an appearance. The action sequences are great in this, similar to the John Wick movies. They’re fast paced and creative. It’s sort of an exotic kill fest. Guns, knives, grenades, katanas, ice skates, and at one point, there’s a flame thrower-off.Good use of scenery in the movie as well. The final showdown is in some eastern European snow capped mountain town, so it’s like watching mass carnage in the same setting as The Sound of Music.I give it an A.

This was a recent date night flick l watched with my gal. Yes, it’s pretty much a chick flick, but it’s a chick flick with a twist, and it’s on Netflix.The main character is Jill, played by Zoey Deutch, and she has a sister named Isabelle who is Jill’s best friend and most favorite person in the world. The first 15 minutes of the movie does a helluva job showing how close they are and how strong their bond is as they were growing up together.Isabelle has cystic fibrosis and is mostly bedridden, so she largely lives her life vicariously through Jill. In the meantime, Jill is out in the world trying her level best to date guys and carve out a career as a pastry chef, in part so she can have fun stories to tell Isabelle. Since Isabelle didn’t get out much, their mutual happy place was the kitchen where they fancied themselves as mad scientists trying to create the next culinary big thing.And after the first 15 minutes of the film, Isabelle kicks it, and Jill spends the next several months trying to trudge forward with life while mourning, and she keeps calling Isabelle’s phone and leaving long winded heartfelt and sometimes funny voicemails on Isabelle’s old number.And of course she doesn’t realize that Isabelle’s old number is now the new number for Wes, a young high powered real estate sales guy, played by Nick Robinson.At one point the flick totally makes fun of itself for being a reboot of “You’ve Got Mail.” The film is quirky and funny at times, but it has big feels moments too. At first you’re not totally sure if this Wes guy is a good guy or a douchebag. It’s less of a traditional love story and more a story about the bond between two siblings. But there is a love story in there, and it’s really well done.I was impressed. It’s an atypical trajectory for a chick flick, but it also had plenty of the hallmarks of a good chick flick. I give it a solid A.

It’s a brand spanking new show on HBO Max, based on the DC superhero Green Lantern. Only one episode out so far, but so far so good.The OG Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, is played by Kyle Chandler, who l’m a big fan of from his days of playing coach Taylor in Friday Night Lights. He’s great in the role. Cocky, fearless, and a bit of an asshole.He’s in the latter stages of his tenure as Green Lantern when the show begins, and he has an apprentice, John Stewart, played by Aaron Pierre.As mentioned before, only one episode so far, but l think the second drops tonight and l’m in to it. Grade to be released after the season concludes.

Saw this movie. Very good. The things MAGA were bitching about were barely in the movie. Shocker. They just used it as more culture war nonsense

I saw the latest Spider-Man flick at the theater yesterday, and l liked it a lot. I declare it the best Spider-Man movie ever made.I was a voracious comic book reader when l was a kid, but honestly Spider-Man was never one of my favorite characters. Nonetheless, l read my fair share of his stuff so l’m hip to what he’s all about. Young, idealistic, and a New Yorker through and through.Every Spider-Man movie ever made did their level best to capture what it must be like to swing through the streets on NYC and cling to buildings snd scamper across rooftops, but l’m telling you this flick took the cake capturing that, and it’s worth seeing on the big screen for that alone. The cinematography is outstanding.It will be helpful to watch the prior Spider-Man flick so that you’re up to speed, Spider-Man: No Way Home. I don’t want to spoil anything if you haven’t seen it, but it’s a “multi-verse” centric flick and at the end Spider-Man sort of loses his support system. It was a good flick, but l have to admit l was already worn out with all the multi-verse stuff by the time it came out.Brand New Day gets back to Spider-Man’s roots where he’s largely a solo act fighting crime in the streets of New York, and the city loves him, but the whole solo act thing starts to take a toll on him. Things come to a head when he has to confront a villain who seemingly has the ability to possess other people. There are some notable appearances from other Marvel characters. Mark Ruffalo is back as Bruce Banner/Hulk, Florence Pugh reprises her role as the new Black Widow (l know, l miss Scarlett too…), and Jon Bernthal is back as Frank Castle/Punisher.I love Bernthal as the Punisher. Hands down the best portrayal of that character. He is as good as the Punisher as Hugh Jackman is as Wolverine, and anyone who plays those parts after them will be compared to those guys. The Spider-Man/Punisher Bromance is definitely the thing we didn’t know we needed until we had it, and now we have it. This is a long-ish flick clocking in at almost 2.5 hours, but it breezes by pretty fast and you won’t be disappointed. I give it an A+.

I watched this movie with no expectations whatsoever. Hope you do the same. Once you get acquainted with the setting and what's happening in the community - it just keeps getting better... My favorite part of sports is seeing what happens when adversity strikes. Who's got the passionate will to overcome it? And, how did it get there?

@syd said:a new season of Silo just started, I haven't watched it yet as I went back 3 episodes from the last season to get caught up, Yes I am a smart mother truckerYeah l’m in to it. Even with watching the last 3 episodes of season 2 you’re be wondering what’s going on for the first several minutes of season 3.

@flugel said:I hear ya about Good Times; but I used to think Willoma was hot though. I don't think she had to act too hard about JJ giving her creeps. There were so many good shows back then Nicks. The 1st time I put Sanford and Son on my mom said "I don't want to watch this crap!" 30 minutes she couldn't wait until it was on again. The Fred & Esther dynamic was even funnier than Archie Bunker & Maude or Archie & Meathead (although this one is by the slightest of margins).Interestingly enough the woman who played Esther (LaWanda Paige) was born in Cleveland but lived most of her life in St.Louis Mo.

This movie is based on a true story about a very talented football player at Coldwater High School in Ohio where he earned top honor in the State as Mr Football. I thought it was extremely well done. There's a girl in this film that was also in the movie Sweet Home Alabama. I'm just gonna guess that she likes Ohio better than Alabama. See if you can figure out who I am talking about.

We felt the same way too.

This is a flick released on AppleTV+ about a year ago, and it will very much remind you of other modern treasure hunting movies like National Treasure and the Da Vinci Code. There’s lots of historical nuggets and plenty of action packed sequences as the main characters plot out their quest to find the Fountain of Youth.I totally watched it because Eiza González was in it. When you’re smitten you’re smitten. I even watched it with my fiancé and she was like “she’s really pretty” and l was like “yeah she’s alright.” LolIt’s directed by Guy Ritchie and the 2 main characters are siblings Luke and Charlotte Purdue, played by John Krasinski and Natalie Portman, and they are the kids of a famous treasure hunting father who passed away about a decade prior to the events of the movie. Eiza plays a seeming antagonist, but her role gets revealed later in the movie.There are other protagonists on a team with the siblings, including a super rich guy who supplies the funding for the expedition, and Charlotte’s young son who is a music prodigy, and they all contribute to cracking clues that lead to the next step of the journey.It’s an enjoyable watch. Quick paced and engaging with plenty of action scenes and even some fun nerdy stuff along the way.I give it an A. Good flick for the family too. And yes, Eiza looks great and shows off some slick fighting moves in the flick.

This is a movie about Operation Postmaster, which was a real WWII operation carried out by the British against Nazi Germany in 1942. You can read about it here, but it might ruin the plot of the movie for you. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Postmaster It’s highly dramatized of course. Henry Cavill plays the lead, Major Gus March-Phillips, and he’s the leader of a small contingent of allied soldiers and spies that are tasked with mucking up the works for Germany’s U-boats. Their U-boats were a game changer in the early part of the war, and it was one of the factors preventing the USA from joining the war to that point. The majority of the plot is set off the coast of Africa, which was technically under Spanish control at the time, and Spain was technically neutral in WWII, but they were also sort of friendly to the Axis powers. I thought the movie was really well done. The plot was intriguing, the pacing was good, and the acting was solid. The main female character was played by Eiza Gonzalez, so that’s the second time l’ve seen her recently in a flick. She killed her role and looked stunning in some 1940s outfits.  Solid action scenes too. And some funny parts. I really enjoyed it. I give it a solid A. 

This is a show on AppleTV+ that dropped in late ‘22, and the first season concluded in early ‘23. I think the intent was to make it a multi-season show, but Apple has neither confirmed a second season or cancelled it, but after over 3 years it’s probably safe to say another season isn’t happening. It’s described as a “geopolitical thriller”, and l’d say it lives up to that name. It stars 3 main characters, Amber Chesborough (played by Jessica Ann Collins) plays a botanist who has a focus in doing research on addiction using psychedelics, her brother Alex ‘Bambi’ Chesborough (played by Luke Evans), and her husband Prince Haas (played by Michiel Huisman). Both of the guys are also special forces soldiers who do black ops types of operations. An added twist is that Prince is rich and his dad owns a company that sells military weapons to the US govt. The basic plot line is that Amber goes to Columbia to do some research with native Shamans in the Amazon near the Venezuela border where she gets abducted by Venezuelan rebels and taken to a large prison-like facility. At first it seemed like this was a run of the mill abduction for ransom money, which Prince is willing to pay, but then the rebels catch wind that Amber may have been working for the CIA and that was a game-changer, because they really don’t like the CIA down there. With the aid of the Columbian military they make a couple of attempts to rescue Amber while she’s being transported to Venezuela, but once she’s there Bambi and Prince are left to their own devices to rescue her.  The show definitely delves in to the politics of the region. When the show came out Venezuela was run by Maduro, and he’s mentioned several times but never shown. Columbia had its fair share of problems too, and the 2 countries have some tension between them.  The show culminates with a high stakes raid to rescue Amber, with the help of Amber’s CIA buddy and Prince’s rich dad. Amber and Bambi’s mother also plays a role in an almost comedic fashion. The action sequences are top notch, and they happen early and often. Definitely an A for that part of the show. The show went 1 too many episodes for my liking, likely because they wanted to set the stage for a season 2, but without a season 2 it makes for a subpar ending. We binge watched all 10 episodes over the weekend, but I never developed a strong affinity with any of the characters.  Overall l give it a C+. 

It’s an odd title for a movie and l almost scrolled on by, but then l read the description. An action/comedy about gangsters with a time machine? Alright l’m in… For whatever reason l generally like flicks that involve time travel. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Back to the Future, Time Bandits, Avengers: Endgame, and Hot Tub Time Machine. Spoiler alert, the Browns go to the Superbowl in Hot Tub Time Machine.  Anyway, Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice is a fairly new movie on Hulu starring Vince Vaughn as both Nicks, James Marsden as Mike, and Eiza González as Alice. They’re all part of a mob family headed up by a guy played by Keith David, who seems to be cut out for roles like a mob boss. The general plot line is that Alice is married to Nick, but she loves Mike, and in the mix is Mike has become disenchanted with mob life and wants out. This all coincides with the mob boss’s son recently getting out of jail, so there’s parties and suspicion that there’s a mole in the family. It’s a pretty amusing movie. Funny, but not really gut busting funny. Probably the funniest parts of the movie is the portrayal of the other mob members, who are largely dumb as a box of rocks.  And yes, the time machine element adds a bit of quirky fun. The action scenes are solid too. Vince Vaughn looks like he’s committed to looking older because he’s a starkly different looking dude than his Dodgeball days, which l guess was over 20 years ago. I wasn’t familiar with Eiza González, but she’s a looker.  Good but not great, l’ll give it a solid B.

Really Rob's two children and also another daughter with the late great actress-director Penny "Laverne" Marshall don't want anything to do with Nick and really don't blame them by any and all means. Losing one parent is horrific but losing two parents so heinous and horrific is so tragic.

One of my favorites from the soundtrack. it starts off a little slow but turns in to a foot stomper by the middle. 

I just watched the first Epi of this series.. All I'm gonna say is.. I think this is Michelle Pfieffers finest acting work... If she doesn't haul in a few awards... Something is seriously wrong.... She is perfect for this role...

Season 2 just concluded, and this show is freaking great. Upgraded to A+. It’s seriously top notch edge of your seat at times, big heartfelt drama at other times, and an engaging plot all the while. And the music use is top notch. There’s a melody throughout the entire series that floats moments.  And I’m a sucker for a good tv couple, and this show has one.