Movie Review: ****^The Hunt for Red October (1990)

This is early in the career of Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin).  He is pulled into a case because of his knowledge of Russian Captain Ramius (Sean Connery).  A year after the death of his wife, Ramius plans to defect to America, with a new submarine that does not make noise.  Admiral Greer (James Earl Jones) is retired Navy and CIA director and Ryan's boss.  Most of the officers aboard the Red October, Ramius' submarine are in on the plot.  The crew is not.  Captain Borodin (S
am Neill) supports him and wants to visit America.  They have to get the crew off, and convince them the Red October has been destroyed so the Americans can take the ship and study it.  The medical officer on the ship is Dr. Petrov (Tim Curry).  Admiral Painter (Fred Thompson) is the commander aboard an aircraft carrier Ryan sees on his way to get to the submarine tracking the Red October captained by Bart Mancuso (Scott Glen).  They are able make contact through periscopes, and then actually visit.  There is a problem in a saboteur aboard the Red October.

Lots of good excitement and intrigue as Ramius tries to defect without someone killing him; either American or Russian.

In Theaters: ****^Toy Story 5 (2026)

 This is a very cute show with Bonnie having difficulty meeting new friends.  And the toys struggling with technology taking the place of toys; and as a result children making a different kind of friend.  Who you meet online is not always a good friend but could just be superficial, or even harmful.  Cyber bullying is a theme of this film, and how to deal with it.  And so the toy's mission is to help Bonnie (Scarlett Spears) make a friend.  There are some cute aspects.  We have a lot of Buzz Lightyear's who even upgrade so they actually can fly.  And Woody is back with a bald dome.  The imaginative weddings are fun.  

Jessie (Joan Cusack) has a much bigger roll in this movie.  It is she who takes the lead in finding a good friend for Jessie.  Lilypad (Greta Lee) represents technology, and what is wrong in the world.  But even she improves over time.  Of course Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) and Woody (Tom Hanks) play their dependable selves.  It is difficult to find a good friend for Bonnie.  She is very shy.  She finally does meet Blaze (Mykal-Michelle Harris).  Turns out they have some common interests. 

This is a delightful movie.  Sheri and I have both seen it twice and it was fun each time.  Fun cameo by Conan O'Brien as Smarty Pants, tech to help with potty training.  

Movie Review: **** The Sum of all Fears (2002)

 This is a very good Tom Clancy movie.  In the time line it happens towards the early part of Jack Ryan's (Ben Affleck) career.  He does not prevent the nuclear explosion, but deals with the aftermath, an preventing a nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia.  The CIA director is Morgan Freeman, who is killed in the nuclear blast.  The president is played by James Cromwell.  General Lasseter (John Beasley) supports retaliatory attacks against Russia.  Jack Ryan wants to verify first.  That verification leads to the discovery the uranium was U.S. produced, not Russian.  He concludes a third part is playing them pushing a U.S.-Russian war.  Ryan is locked out of communications with the president, but comes up with an ingenious move to get the information through--by talking to Russian premier Nemerov (Ciarán Hinds).  He knows the president will be listening in.  In this way war is averted.

Likes of tense excitement and a fun movie.  

In Theaters: **** Disclosure Day (2026)

 I listened to a radio program where the speaker said he was disappointed with this movie, but I really liked it.  They were especially talking about the ending, which seemed sort of short.  I can understand.  It seems there was a long communication which came out as one word, "Listen."  But that final day was very traumatic.  This movie reminded me of "Close Encounter of the Third Kind."

The movie pits people picked by the aliens, Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) and Dr. Daniel Kellner (Josh O'Connor) and Hugo (Colman Domingo).  They are trying to divulge information the gobernement has been hiding about aliens being real.  One the other side is the Wardex organization headed by Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth).  He has many resources and many men working with him.  He is also able to inhabit others, using allien technology.  He does this to Kellner's girl friend, Jane (Eve Hewson) and convinces her to kill Kellner.  She however resists his control by stabbing herself in the hand instead.  There is lots of intent actions and quirky things about alien history, Roswell and other crash sites, and crop circles.  In the end there is an alien who appears.  They make a nice use of animals, who sometimes are aliens appearing as animals so we aren't scared of them.

I would recommend this movie.  It is a Steven Spielberg sci fi movie.  

In Theaters: ***** Young Washington (2016)

 This is an excellent movie.  I just got home from the theater.  George Washington (William Franklyn-Miller) should have been killed in the battles with the french and Indians outside of Fort Duquesne.  The movie presents two battles in the area.  The first Washington was a colonel of volunteers, rising in rank rather quickly.  However they were overrun by the french and Indians, and Washington signed a surrender in which he took blame for the death of a French officer.  The second he was an adjutant as he had resigned his commission after the first battle.  However when things started going awry again, it was he who, although he was sick, rode forwarded and rescued many men and extracted a small victory from defeat.  This is when he should have been killed.  Native Americans fired at him but say he was protected so the could not hit him.  Washington returned a third time with a larger force.  The French abandoned Fort Duquesne after the Indians had a abandoned them.  They burned the fort and left.  

Several interesting things happen before this.  The movie starts with the death of Washington's father.  Where he had no father they would not let him attend school.  So his brother, Lawerence (John Foss) educated him (boy Washington played by Will Joseph).  Joseph has high ambitions.  He throws himself towards a young woman, Sally Cary ((Mia Rodgers).  However she ends up with a British aristocrat of the Fairfax family.  However it is Lord Fairfax (Kelsey Grammar) who gives Washington a job as a surveyor.  It is during this job that he observes a French fort, Fort Duquesne, in land claimed by Virginia.  This leads him to report to the governor (Ben Kingsley) and he is given his commission as a captain of volunteers.  In his adventures he recruits his friend, Chris (Leo Hanna).  He is with him on the surveying trip and in his first commission.  However he is killed.  This partly leads to Washington's resigning. 

Very moving look at our founding and I highly recommend this movie.

Movie Review: **** Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025)

 Daniel Craig again stars as detective Benoit Blanc.  He shows up at a murder scene at a Catholic Church.  He is brought in at the request of the chief of police, Chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis).  The priest, Monsignor Wicks (Josh Brolin) has been murdered, and the new assistant priest, Father Duplenticy (Josh O'Connor) is set up to take the fall.  But there are many suspects.  Wicks had made enemies of most the parish; or driven them off.  This includes Martha Delacroix (Glen Close) who has been with the church since being a child, DR. Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner) the local doctor.  Vera Draven (Kerry Washington) a local lawyer.  Cy Draven (Daryl McCormack) who turns out to be the Monsignor's illegitimate son.  The Monsignor was murdered in a closet off of the chapel where he was drinking some alcohol before delivering his sermon.  He collapses and is found with a "devil's blade" in his back.  The father was the first to him, and the doctor the second.  After they leave, the father returns and removes the Monsignor's flask.  This was a vital clue.  He removes it to prevent embarrassment for the head priest now that he is dead.  The twist in the plot is when the Monsignor resurrects and the priest chases after him, to wake up with the gardner murdered, by him.  Duplenticy is about to confess, when Blanc steps in the divulge the truth of what happened.  Too much to tell here, and not wanting to divulge the murdered, this movie is a good mystery thriller with a couple of twists.  

Movie Review: *** The Karate Kid (2010)

 This is a remake movie of the Original Karate Kid but this time the action takes place in China.  Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) moves to China with his mother (Sherry Parker).  He quickly gets on the bad side of a gang of Kung Fu students and gets beat up a couple times, until Han (Jackie Chan) intervenes.  Meiying (Wenwen Han) is the girl interest.  The coach of the bullies is Master Li (Rongguang Yu) who is intent on showing no weakness, no mercy, no pain.  They confront them at Master Li's dojo, and agree to fight at a tournament.  In the meantime Han trains Parker, very much like in the original.  We see much of China including a tall mountain and the Wall of China.  

Smith does very good with handling the emotion, and reacted to the pain inflicted on him during the tournament.   It is also very well done when the students of the Li Dojo pay respect to Master Han.