HOLLAND

Teacher Nancy Vandergroot (Nicole Kidman) thinks she has the perfect life in Holland, Michigan. She's married to her successful optometrist husband Fred (Matthew Macfadyen) and they share their 13-year-old son Harry (Jude Hill). However, Nancy's world comes crumbling down when she begins to suspect Fred, who is always away at work conferences, is having an affair. She enlists the help of fellow teacher and friend Dave Delgado (Gael García Bernal) to assist in her investigation to prove Fred's guilt. The first 2 acts of this story were enjoyable, presenting the audience with a faux Hitchcockian inspired story that turns on the audience in the 3rd act (nice swerve by the way as I didn't see that coming). However, the story also (clumsily) falls apart during this period as well. Kidman is graceful, tender, and sweet, the perfect wife for this story while García Bernal sticks out like a sore thumb. You can tell his casting was based more on checking a box than on talent. Disappointed in the ending but I was engaged for the first 90 minutes or so. Worth the watch on Prime. 6/10

THE BANK JOB (2008)

Martine Love (Saffron Burrows), former model and sometimes drug dealer, brings to her one-time lover Terry Leather (Jason Stratham), a plan to rob the safe deposit vault of a bank whose alarm system is off line for repairs. She doesn't tell him that she's being blackmailed by MI5 (o r6?) to retrieve compromising photos of Princess Margaret from one of the boxes. Terry puts together several amateur, low-level villains to tunnel into the vault. They score millions in cash and jewels--and critical stuff belonging to a pornography titan with police on his payroll, a bordello owner with politico clients and a black militant drug dealer---all of whom will stop at nothing to retrieve their valuables. Lots of moving parts, but director Roger Donaldson keeps them humming in synch, so you never lose track of the connections. The heist is absorbing. This film is based on a real life British heist. Very entertaining.

Interesting !


The place was founded in 1847 , as a settlement of Dutch Calvinists by a number of residents of Ommen under the leadership of the separatist minister dr. AC van Raalte . On March 25, 1867, Holland became a city with Isaac Cappon as mayor. Shortly afterwards, the city was ravaged by a major city fire on October 8 and 9, 1871.

The Holland Museum contains the history of the city. The Cappon House Museum was built in 1874 and is a historical museum, which was once the home of the first mayor of Holland, the Dutch immigrant Isaac Cappon. The Settlers House Museum is a building that survived the great city fire and contains furniture and artifacts from the 19th century. The downtown area is well maintained and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Holland still boasts a high percentage of Dutch Americans , estimated at 28% (see also Dutch in the United States ), many of whom still adhere to the secessionist faith brought with them by the founders. Although few inhabitants still speak Dutch, some customs are reminiscent of Dutch roots.

THE LUCKIEST MAN IN AMERICA

Based on the incredible true story, Paul Walter Hauser plays Press Your Luck contestant Michael Larson in May of 1984. While on the show, Larson breaks the record for most money earned by a contestant and while the show is being recorded to broadcast at a later date, the producers begin to suspect there's more at play than luck. I grew up watching Press Your Luck but never knew of the scandal until this film was released. Furthermore, I didn't know exactly how the scandal unfolded and I'm glad the trailer doesn't give away too much and I went in as cold to the story as possible. Hauser continues to build an impressive resume with his portrayal of Larson. He comes off as a bit of an odd fellow but I'm not sure if that's his authentic personality or an act in order to trick others into underestimating him? Larson is an enigma and throughout the story I found myself questioning everything he said as I wasn't sure if he was telling the truth or attempting to cover his tracks? A very interesting and important piece of game show history that's well worth the watch whether in theaters or at a later date. 7/10

FREAKY TALES

4 interconnected stories that take place in Oakland in 1987 dealing with a love story set against the backdrop of a hate war, 2 singers who catch a break, a hit man looking to retire, and a basketball player who's home is burglarized. I was unsure about this heading in as the trailer had the retro vibe and feel I love, it was shortly after my previous film, and it had Pedro Pascal in it so I gave it a shot. What a waste of time! The film seems to be an attempt of a homage to Tarantino and his masterpiece PULP FICTION but fails hysterically. In addition, it's another anti-white film as there's no redeeming white characters in it and leans heavily into the DEI agenda. The stories are boring and I couldn't get into any of them and felt like walking out after the first one. Pascal is promoted but he's missing from 3/4 of the film. There was only 1 other person in the theater with me so it looks like this is going to have a short theatrical run (good). Hopefully if enough of these films crash and burn so badly (I'm looking at you SNOW WHITE), studios will go back to entertaining rather than preaching but sadly, they still haven't taken the hint yet. 4/10

BLACK BAG

Married couple George (Michael Fassbender) and Kathryn (Cate Blanchett) work for the same British intelligence agency. When a government software program by the name of Severus gets stolen, George's boss Philip (Gustaf Skarsgård) asks him to investigate the rat within their house. However, there's a small problem: one of the 5 people George is tasked to investigate is his loving wife Kathryn. Will George put his marriage over his career and country or is he love for her deeper than all of that? The story makes for quite the conundrum and Fassbender takes the bull by the horns with his portrayal of George, who is an extremely intelligent man who can spot a liar without a polygraph (it should also be noted as part of George's job is in fact to perform polygraphs as well). Like many others who are incredibly intelligent, George lacks any type of human emotion and empathy, coming off as robotic at times, but Fassbender still plays the crap out of it. I believed his affection for Kathryn more than I believed her affection towards him. Although lacking emotion George's feelings towards Kathryn seem genuine while hers come off as manipulative at times. The other standout performance for me was from Marisa Abela who plays Clarissa, another of the 5 suspects George is tasked with investigating. She's unapologetic in regards to the life she lives and the choices she's made. She's outspoken, speaks up for herself, and doesn't sugarcoat her feelings. The film is concise and tight, never dragging or feeling bloated for the sake of a specified runtime. Like any good spy, director Steven Soderbergh is in and out without overstaying his welcome. He's got another hit on his hands here. 6.5/10

WARFARE

Told entirely from the team members memory, a platoon of Navy Seals take over and occupy a house in Iraq in 2006. Having been spotted, the team is then attacked and must fight their way out to save their lives. The trailer doesn't give away too much of the story and there's a couple of familiar faces in the cast such as Will Poulter who plays the team leader Erik, Cosmo Jarvis who plays a sniper named Elliott, and Joseph Quinn who plays Sam (wasn't sure if he was a medic or what exactly his role is). Like so many war films, it dissects the cost of war both physically and mentally, while I was left pondering the question of "was it worth it" upon exiting the theater. Nothing new or outstanding being brought to the genre but the film does have the blessing of some of the real life Seals who survived as they assisted with the training amongst other things. If you're interested in war genre films, I've seen worse. If not, this probably isn't your cup of tea then. 6/10

THE AMATEUR

Oscar winner Rami Malek plays CIA decoder Charlie Heller, who's wife (also an employee of the agency) meets her untimely death due to a terrorist attack. Charlie, a humble computer based basement dweller, seeks to get training in order to hunt down and kill those responsible. Ever since his award winning performance as Freddie Mercury, Malek hasn't done much to impress me in the subsequent 7 years and this may be his worst role yet. Charlie is a completely weak character who relies on his brains over brawn, which is understandable but doesn't make the character or film for that matter interesting. Think of this as the anti-James Bond. Anything you would normally associate with a spy, Charlie is the exact opposite, which the feminist should love. But there is still some of that "toxic masculinity" in the form of Charlie's boss Director Moore played by Holt McCallany and Charlie's field trainer Colonel Henderson played by Laurence Fishburne. Not to mention Jon Bernthal has a cup of coffee appearance that comes off like he was in the neighborhood and someone invited him onto the set for a day to get some screen time (very underutilized). Very little suspense or story to keep my attention for the full runtime and disappointing effort by everyone involved. 5.5/10

DROP

Violet (Meghann Fahy) is a single mother who meets up with Henry (Brandon Sklenar) for their first date after chatting online for the past 3 months. However, soon into their romantic dinner, Violet begins receiving airdrops from someone within the restaurant instructing her to kill her date or else her son Toby (Jacob Robinson), who's at home with Violet's sister, will be killed. A decent game of cat-and-mouse from producer Michael Bay. Unfortunately, the film is watered down to a PG-13 to "appeal" to a wider audience. However, be prepared as most of the film takes places within the restaurant and the table itself shared by Violet and Henry so there isn't much change of scenery. Also, the script plays it safe and is fairly predictable. Violet's backstory works in terms of how she's dealing with the present situation but it's easy, safe, and didn't have as much of an impact on at least me as the writer's were probably intending to. There's 2 reveals in the final act where the first one was more "meh" than anything else while the second was obvious. Not a film that's needed to be seen on the big screen but I saw worse movies this past weekend. 6/10

THE ACCOUNTANT 2

Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) reteams with his brother Braxton (Jon Bernthal) to solve a murder involving a friend of Christian's and trying to rescue a young boy who's been trafficked in the process. 9 years after the original we're served a sequel I never heard anyone calling for, so I was pessimistic going in, figuring this was just another studio attempting to squeeze as much juice out of an IP as possible. And I will say, I was pleasantly surprised I enjoyed this as much as I did. The story gets a little convoluted in some parts but you're still able to put the pieces together for the most part. Affleck is great once again as Wolff, the emotionless and socially awkward accountant with those unique set of skills while Bernthal always seems to have fun with any role he touches (even if at this point in his career, he's almost typecast to these types of roles). I was also happy they left Dana Cummings (Anna Kendrick) the way Christian did in the original as not everyone who was in the first film needs to be in the second. Nothing against Kendrick either, I just like the way their contact ended in the first film. If the same team wanted to continue on with a third installment, this time around, I wouldn't be too opposed to it. If you liked the original, you'll enjoy this one too! 6.5/10