Tom Clancy/Harrison Ford Movie: ***^ Patriot Games (1992)

Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) is back and quickly becomes a hero when he says a British Royal from attack.  In his heroics he kills a terrorist.  The brother of the terrorist, Sean Miller (Sean Bean) is now gunning for Ryan, and his family, wife Cathy (Anne Archer) and daughter Sally (Thora Birch).  Sean Miller is the muscle while the head of the group is Kevin O'Donnell (Patrick Bergin) and his girlfriend Annette (Polly Walker).  Turns out she is a liability as the head of the Irish Republican Army, Paddy O'Neil (Richard Harris) will not turn on a fellow Irishman but she is British.  So through her they are able to track them down in Libya.  They mount an operation, but it misses them.  Instead the attack the Ryan residence when the Royal is there.  Lord Holmes (James Fox) is visiting.  Holmes' secretary Watkins (Hugh Fraser) is a traitor and Miller and the team are coming.  

This movie is more intense than the other Jack Ryan movies.  There is more swearing and more violence, and it earned an R rating.  Samuel Jackson and James Earl Jones also have parts, Jackson as Ryan's boss and Jones as director of the CIA.

Movie Review: **** Coach Carter (2005)

 Coach Carter (Samuel Jackson) takes a position as basketball coach even though he knows it is a tough neighborhood and the team has n9t had much success.  He sets some conditions for the players, 2.3 GPA and attend classes and sit in the front and wear a tie on game day.  They actually find a great deal of success on the court, but when the progress reports come to the coach, he realizes most of the team is not fulfilling the conditions of the contract.  He locks the gym and suspends games.  The forfeit a few games as a result; and the community has a conniption.  They go to the school board who overrules the coach and says games will restart.   Coach Carter chooses to resign.  The issue is important to him as too many kids do not go on to colege in Richmond, California where this story takes place.  However the players stivck with him.  They bring their grades up and get back to basketball.  This movie provides some exciting play.  They lose to the best team in the state in the playoffs by a last-second basket.

Samuel Jackson is very good.  Channing Tatum and Rick Gonzalez play basket ball players.  Robert Ri'chard plays Coach carter's son and als basketball player.  

Movie Review: ****^ Unbreakable (2000)

 In "Unbreakable" we are introduced to a new superhero, and his nemesis.  The superhero, David Dunn, aka security, hero is portrayed by Bruce Willis.  The nemesis is Elijah Price or Glass and is portrayed by Samuel Jackson.  Robin Wright portrays Dunn's wife, and Charlayne Woodard, Price's mother.  

Dunn survives a train crash, with no injuries, in which everyone else passes away.  In then meets the comic book salesman, Price, who convinces Dunn that he has super abilities.  He also tells him that he has never been sick, other than almost drowning.  They determine water is his kryptonite.  

Price has had an opposite life.  He is born with a genetic defect in which his bones are brittle.  He has been in and out of hospitals, and his mother accused of child abuse.  

Dunn begins to test his abilities with his son (Spencer Treat Clark).  He lifts heavier and heavier weight.  He really is a superhero.  He also has a sense which tells him others have done wrong.  With this ability he is able to save several people, and makes it into the papers.  His wife knows nothing of his training and tests, but he lets his son know.

The whole plot changes when Dunn touches Price and sees the terrible things he has done. I highly recommend this movie.

M. Night Shyamalan Movies

Old

**** Glass (2019) our three superheroes, Glass (Samuel Jackson), David Dunn (Bruce Willis) and Split (James McAvoy)

*** Split (2016)  A bit too intense but James McAvoy does great portraying multiple personalities

**** The Last Airbender. (2010)  Great fantasy show

***^ Lady in the Water (2006) Bryce Dallas Howard and Paul Giamatti

***^ The Village (2004) Bryce Dallas Howard and Joaquin Phoenix

**** Signs (2002). Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix, excellent alien invasion movie

**** Unbreakable (2000)  Again Bruce Willis, superhero, Samuel Jackson super villain

 ****^ The Sixth Sense (1999) Bruce Willis and Joel Osment, terrific ghost story

Movie Review: ****Captain America: The Winter Soldier

 Winter Soldier is the second Captain America movie.  The Winter Soldier is Bucky, Captain Roger's childhood friend.  However he was captured by Hydra and turned into a super soldier with a prosthetic super arm.  Turns out Hydra had infested SHIELD with some very devious plans based on an algorithm predicting the future of people and eliminating those who are undesirable.  Fury is wounded in an assassination attempt because he is onto the infiltration.  Lots of great action which leads to the confrontation between Winter Soldier and Captain America.  We are introduced to Falcon who helps Captain America.  Black Widow also plays a big part.  Alexander Pierce is the Hydra leader but also Fury's boss.

Chris Evans is Captain America

Samuel L. Jackson is Nick Fury

Scarlett Johansson is Black Widow

Robert Redford is Alexander Pierce

Sebastian Stan as Winter Soldier

Anthony Mackie as Falcon

In Theaters: ****^Spider-Man: Far From Home

The new Spider-Man movie doesn't fail to impress.  We have a new super hero/villain, Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal).  Tom Holland continues as Spider-Man.  Zendaya is MJ.  Other notable characters are Nick Fury (Samuel Jackson) and Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau).  I think Zendaya steals the show, and the romantic scenes between she and Spider-Man seem to steel the show.  But then we also have illusion and almost dream-like scenes that bit Spider-Man against himself, and against a train.  But the biggest struggle is keeping the Peter Tingle or the sixth sense. 
But I love the part where the hands of Peter Parker and MJ creep closer and closer together. 

In Theaters: ***^Incredibles 2 (2018)

Most of the new crew is back, but who knew it would take 14 years, or that it was really that long between Incredibles movies.  We pick up where we left off.  However in this case two siblings come forward with a plan to restore the superheroes to their former status.  However not all is right with the plot. 

	Craig T. Nelson	...	Bob Parr / Mr. Incredible (voice)
	Holly Hunter	...	Helen Parr / Elastigirl (voice)
	Sarah Vowell	...	Violet Parr (voice)
	Huck Milner	...	Dashiell Parr (Dash) (voice) (as Huckleberry Milner)
	Catherine Keener	...	Evelyn Deavor (voice)
	Eli Fucile	...	Jack-Jack Parr (voice)
	Bob Odenkirk	...	Winston Deavor (voice)
	Samuel L. Jackson	...	Lucius Best / Frozone (voice)

In Theaters: *****Captain Marvel (2019)

Captain Marvel (2019) We left the theater and Tony announced this was his favorite movie ever.  I wouldn’t go that high, but it does put a new twist on the Avenger series.  Her is an Avenger before the Avengers.  Captain Marvel (Brie Larsen) is a human, who was taken to space and her memory distorted.  However she returns, chasing who she thinks are the bad people, some shapeshifter aliens.  However she discovers that what she believed is not so.  This makes for an interesting twist.  In they end, she serves those she hunted.  Captain Marvel has special powers from absorbing the blast of a light speed engine which was made with a special stone.  The alien race that kidnaps her tries to tell her these powers have been granted by them.  But as will happen the truth wins out.
Nick Fury assists her (Samuel Jackson) and from this the idea of Avengers is born. 

Marvel Universe

In Theaters: ****Glass (2019)

  This is another classic from M. Night Shyamalan.  I love the movie, but hated the ending.  Our three superheroes, Glass (Samuel Jackson), David Dunn or “Overseer” (Bruce Willis) and Split (James McAvoy) who plays many split personality characters, both male and female, including "The Beast” who can walk on the ceiling and hurts and kills others.   They are in a psychiatric unit headed by Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulsen) who has developed a method of curing super heroes.  She attempts to convince them that they are all delusional.  Casey Cooke portrays a young woman who is a former prisoner of “The Beast” but is infatuated with his true character.  Eventually the treatment goes wrong and there is a big confrontation at the end. 

Movie Review: ****The Legend of Tarzan (2016)

Here is a movie where the good guy wins, and the evil man, scheming to rape the land and its people is left in the ocean.  There is plenty of action, and the use of animals in this film is incredible.  The fight between Tarzan and the lead gorilla is very violent.  To be honest, Tarzan didn't have a chance.
This movie stars Alexander Skarsgård as Tarzan, Margot Robbie as Jane, Samuel Jackson and Tarzan's side kick, Christoph Waltz as the bad guy.  This movie is very enjoyable.  The character played by Waltz, Leon Rom has a wicked necklace which he uses to choke people.

Movie Review: ****Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)

  In this movie the whole unierse descends into chaos.  The emperor AKA Darth Sidious, (Ian McDiarmid) thrives on chaos.  He uses his influence over Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) to bring about his transformation into a powerful Sith Lord.  Anakin does unspeakable things, including the murder of children and women, the Sand People in the last movie, and the younglings in training at the Jedi temple in this movie.  He also dispenses with Count Dooku.  Sidious gives Anakin bad dreams about the demise of his wife, Padme (Natalie Portman) in childbirth.  Anakin is determined not to let her die, and is willing to delve into the dark side to save her.  He is also part of the demise of Mace Windu (Samuel Jackson) who had Sidious, until Anakin intervened.  In the end, the clones turn on the Jedi, as Sidious had planned.  Yoda (Frank Oz) and Sidious meet in a great battle.  At the same time, Obi Wan (Ewan McGregor) faces Anakin in an epoch battle.  Anakin’s action do just the opposite of what he intended; he injures her instead of saving her.  The Jedi go into hiding, and the universe falls into the control of the Galactic Empire. 

I still don’t like the character of Anakin Skywalker, who is dead as Darth Vader emerges.  However I love Yoda, and Mace Windu.  And the line where Kenobi informs Anakin that he has the high ground, that further battle is pointless. 

Movie Review: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016)

I must admit, I enjoyed the books more than the movie.  I think the movie is not going to be a trilogy like the books.  It did not follow the books true to form, but does give us the world, three level of beings in addition to regular humans, peculiars, wights and hollowghasts.  The wights are determined to seek immortality, but to do so they must harness the force of embrynes (a peculiar who can make time loops, and turn into birds.)  Hollowghasts are primitive creatures, who were once peculiars, but a failed experiment turned them into monsters.  However they eventually develop into wights.  Each peculiar was their own skill which is very interesting.  Jake (Asa Butterfield), who can see hollowghasts, but didn't even know what they were a few days ago, finds the loop of Miss Peregrine (Eva Green), at the request of his grandfather, who informed him of the peculiars, his friends, just before he passed away.  Jake does find the loop, and the peculiar children.  However an evil wight has followd him, Barron (Samuel Jackson), who is also a shape shifter.  He had pretended to be the psychiatrist, and then a bird study man, and followed Jake to the peculiars.  He sets in motion the collapse of the time loop, and kidnaps Miss Peregrine.  Jake befriends Emma Bloom (Ella Purnell) who is lighter than air, and can control air.  (This is different than the book where he falls in love with the fire girl.)
The group of peculiars follow Barron to rescue their embryne.  Samuel Jackson plays his character too light hearted.  Their are classic struggles, and Barron makes fun of them.  I didn't find his character believable.  This show features direct fighting, unlike the book.  The hollowghasts are invisible to all except Jake.  However the throw snow on them and make them visible.  This way they can have a fair fight.
Even though the movie is not as well done as the books, it is entertaining none the less.  Based on the books by Ransom Riggs.  Tim Burton directed.

Movie Review: ****Jurassic Park (1993)

This is an intriguing movie.  My grandson is into dinosaur movies.  I don't think this was the right one.  The beginning of this movie is all cute, but the Tyrannosaurus Rex gets lose, and it is no longer a kids movie.  I mean, how do you explain a man in the dinosaur mouth to your grandson.  But this movie has great action, in addition to the cute dinosaurs.  And the kids are rescued which is the important part.  Man, who ever knew dinosaurs could be so nasty.  I guess we all do, but we have never seen it.  This movie stars Sam Neill and Laura Dern as dinosaur experts, Jeff Goldblum as the probability expert, Richard Attenborough as the owner, Bob Peck as the animal hunter, Samuel Jackson as a computer tech, and Wayne Knight as the geek/bad guy who turns of the power to the fences and lets the havoc lose.

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR KIDS

Movie Review: ****The Incredibles (2004)

The world of the Incredibles is fascinating.  We have a family, trying to live in obscurity, even with their super powers.  This is hard to do sometimes.  It is also hard to give up a previous life and try to be "normal."  Bob Parr aka Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) is faced with this problem.  When he has the chance to get back into the game, he takes the opportunity, unbeknown to his wife Helen Parr aka Elastigirl (Helen Hunt) and kids.  He goes off to an island to fight a villain robot.  However the robot is such that it learns from its opponent.  Syndrome (Jason Lee) is jealous of super heroes, and wants to extract revenge for being rejected.  He has been killing Supers with his robots, and has his eye on Mr. Incredible.  Mr Incredible has some success, but is captured by Syndrome.  Elastigirl discovers where he is, and is coming to the rescue.
The parent child interactions are well done.  All three children eventually have their own unique super powers and personalities.  Dash is fast, Violet creates protective bubbles, and Jack Jack discovers fire.  Another character Lucius Best aka Frozone (Samuel Jackson) is a family friend, and helps with their adventures.  The funniest line of the movie is when the monster is coming and he calls to his wife, "Honey, Where's my super suit?"

Movie Review: ****^Captain America

Captain America   This is an enjoyable sequel to the original Captain America and The Avengers.  Who knew that after the original that Hydra would be back.  That is what happens in this movie, and worse yet, they have infiltrated Shield.  Captain America (Chris Evans) and the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) discover this by following a beacon to a secret base, where the knowledge of the Hydra scientist, Dr Zola (Toby Jones).  Nick Fury (Samuel Jackson) has guided Shield to an important day where they will launch three vessels as a shield over the world.  These vessels will have incredible destructive force.  However, due to the infiltration of Hydra, this force is going to be used to cleanse the world of those who might stand in the way of Hydra, based on computer projections.  Nick Fury is shot, and presumed dead.  Falcon (Anthony Mackie) joins Captain America in first in offering a place to hold, and then in joining the team.  A surprise character is Bucky, Captain America's best friend, who was assumed lost in the first show.  His memory has been wiped, and he has been manipulated by Hydra to be an assassin.  He is the greatest rival, and Captain America wants to bring him back from the nightmare he is living.  Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford), Fury's boss is in fact the manipulator behind Hydra.
This is a fun show with great action. 

Movie Review: ****^The Avengers

The Avengers in 3-D is a fun movie.  I had seen Iron Man I and II, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America.  This show adds the Black Widow and Hawkeye as well as the organizer, manipulator Nick Fury.  All of these stories come together with the brother of Thor, adopted, coming to earth with the hopes of conquest, and making people bow to him.  Of course Thor comes to stop him.  The brother has a source of mind control and takes over the mind of one of Avengers, Hawkeye, who shots arrows.

The theme of the show is you are more together than just a sum of the parts.  Each of these super heroes has a big ego, and it takes a lot for them to com together.  Bickering and fighting, they finally join together to save the world from an alien invasion.  The robot monsters are cool, especially the worm like space ships.  But cooler are the skills of the Avengers, and the Hulk tackling one of those worms is too much.  This movie was a good ride and kept me on the edge of my seat.  It was almost too much action non stop at one point, but that is just me.

Marvel Universe