Blade Runner 2049 is a fantastic sequel to the 1982 science fiction film. It picks up 30 years after the original. Blade Runners (special police) still track down replicants (bio-engineered lifeforms) who have gone rogue. K (Ryan Gosling) is the best blade runner around, though he too is a replicant. He is tasked with tracking down a replicant who was born rather than made, something thought impossible before. The human police want to kill it, so as to not start a war between replicants who may finally see a future of their own without having to rely on their masters. The company that makes replicants want to capture it, in order to create more replicants through birth, just so they can create more beings faster and help their profit margin. K unravels the mystery in this slow building film, with all of the simmering tension of the original. Whereas the original left some major questions unanswered, like most films these days, this one tries to answer them all rather than leave something to the imagination, but it is still a worthy followup and a blast from beginning to end.
Super Dark Times is also a great film, this one following a group of teenagers growing up in the mid 90s. Zack and Josh are best friends, while outcast Daryl and his friend Charlie tag along with the duo. The movie does a great job of letting us get to know them all before the action starts. A stupid fight one day leads to an accident where Daryl is killed. The two friends and Charlie hide the body and agree to go on as nothing has happened. However, Josh stops going to school, and even when Zach sees him outside of class, Josh acts weird. This causes Zach to grow paranoid, especially as more and more evidence builds showing that Josh has indeed gone off the edge. The climax is a gut punch. In a day when school shootings seem like a regular occurrence, this film opens your eyes to how young psychopaths can be made.
Detroit is about the riots in this city in 1967, and specifically, the killing of three black men by a brutal all-white police force at the Algiers Motel. With racist police patrolling the streets, the anger of the mostly black urban population starts to boil over until violence finally breaks out. At the Algiers, a man fires off a few rounds from a toy gun, and police and national guard nearby hear the shots. Thinking it is a sniper, they storm the motel, rounding up all the inhabitants. Over the course of the night, they beat the black men ruthlessly, killing 3 as the night progresses. To this day, the exact events of that night are shrouded in mystery as the case was never solved to everyone’s satisfaction (the police officers were charged with murder, but found not guilty). Because of this, the film admits itself as a dramatization, but still, knowing it probably hits closer to truth than fiction, it is a sobering vision of a stark moment not too far removed from present day. As a movie, it is ok but not great, but still, many startling moments.
Logan Lucky is just great film heist fun, directed by someone who knows a thing or two about this genre, Steven Soderbergh. The Logan brothers, Jimmy and Clyde (Channing Tatum and Adam Driver) are a pair of country good ol’ boys in West Virginia, and they are known for their bad luck. Down on their luck and with no money, they decide to rob the local speedway during a big race. They recruit a ragtag group of helpers, and most of the movie is spent on the day of the robbery. Big stars pop up all over the pace throughout the film, adding to the fun. The film features some great moments and has the right blend of humor and pacing to build a fantastic movie. The big “how it went down” reveal at the end isn’t quite as good as Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Eleven, but it comes close.
In Happy Death Day, “Tree” gets to relive the last day of her life over and over again, Groundhog Day style. A college student, she is murdered on her birthday, and because she is a royal bitch to everyone she knows, the list of suspects is long. No matter what she does, she is always killed before the day is up. The movie works well despite the silly-sounding plot, both because Jessica Rothe is engaging as the lead, and because the film seems to play on just the right side of not taking itself too seriously. This movie is pretty good, and it’s not just for the teenager/young adult crowd that the trailers made it seem for. It’s funny and thrilling and in the end, endearing as well.
Jons Movie Takes 