Blade Runner 2049 (2017)- VR L.A.

* Blade Runner Part 2 is a work of art, cementing a cult status!  The new rogue replicant (android) hunting detective, "K...," AKA 'Joe,' (Brian Gosling), is well, an android himself.  I thought it would never work, especially since he's searching for the "miracle" child, Dr. Ana Stelline (Carla Juri), born of human and replicant parents...what did I just say?  Such leaps of imagination don't matter as much when you enjoy the experience.
Denis Villeneuve directed and reproduced the peculiar film noir (1940s) flavor of the original Blade Runner (1982).  Remember that cool sci-fi movie that gave precedence to sensory ambience like origami still shots and a final battle in a limelit downtown Bradbury Building--now replaced with whittling and Sin City casinos under an amber radioactive haze?  Villeneuve actually improved on it after all these decades, Ridley Scott, the original's director, aided him in the production dept.
This film is an organic and synthetic cocktail of L.A., across past, present, and future Southern Cali.  K tracks down the detective of the first movie, Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), who's every gesture spoke volumes--like fine wine.  K thinks he's the child of an android mother.  The cloners that make the replicants are now the Wallace Corporation and they have commercialized to make replicants serve humanity's every pleasure, headed by the ruthless Niander Wallace (Jared Leto), killing you softly, and his murderous administrator Luv (Sylvia Hoeks).  Dr. Stelline lives in a bubble and became famous by reproducing realistic memories in her holographic studio.  VR is already exploding today with people marrying anime and robots and social media influencing culture.
It won Oscars for Cinematography and Best Visual Effects, not to downplay its excellent sound editing, lighting, and musical score that heightens the melancholic search for a raison d'etre: what makes us human.  This unique mood is embellished by a glitching Elvis Presley Las Vegas cabaret, giant interactive naked holo advertisements, a portable Wi-Fi holographic girlfriend (Ana D Armas) superimposing herself onto a live prostitute replicant (Mackenzie Davis, like you never saw her before).
Yet, the crowds were tuned off with such artsiness where they expected to see more laser battles and techiness.  This movie has that too, like Luv getting a manicure while using Google-type sunglasses to direct missile targets.  What it lacked was simple clarification.  I'm still connecting the dots.  Like true art works, this film deserves appreciation, and it grows on you, but that doesn't mean we have to keep guessing at interpretation.  Thus, I leave this at the Goal Line.

*Warner Bros. Pictures.  Movie GIF/quote of K questioning Deckard.  JFC8 - Movies, tumblr, Jan. 
       29, 2018, jfc8movie.tumblr.com/post/170266918978/runner#notes.

Fury (2014)- Tank

* We're going to start rolling out our movie profiles in meems/quotes, yaaay!  Fury puts you right behind the tank driver's seat.  We cruise along Staff Sgt. Don Collier's (Brad Pitt) U.S. Army Sherman tank in World War II Germany.
I'm thrilled that this resurgence of WWII movies continues.  Brad Pitt owns this genre, remembering the _Bastards, Allied, etc.  Again he was at his best, but so were his crewmen.  Pitt genuinely portrayed the extremes of Collier from vengeful to nurturing, abusive to selfless acts.  "Bible" Boyd (Shia LeBeouf) allows Shia to portray a new character.  "Machine" Norman (Logan Lerman) mimics the role, from Saving Private Ryan of cowardly Corporal Upham (Jeremy Davies) surrounded by war-hardened grunts, reducing the originality of the movie; yet, he was the only awarded actor.  Jon Bernthal plays a mean bully as "Coon Ass" Grady, finding new life after TWD.  "Gordo" Trini (Michael Pena) reps. Latino vets.  They all partake in award winning stunts, fighting the feared Tiger tanks.
David Ayer directed and wrote the script.  He filmed in England and added to the realism by filming in actual rain.  The actors and their clothing were so naturally grimy, I've never noticed Brad Pitt's eyes were so bright blue.  Private Norman was the weak link, n the Sherman as well as in the movie. His development from cringing coward to bellicose "Machine" was disturbing.  The movie gave him substantial minutes, but didn't bother to elaborate that transformation.  
The ending is a key crossroads battle, soldiers opting to stay, overwhelming German forces, the leader sacrificing everything, being too caught up in the trauma of war, reminiscent once more of Saving Private Ryan.  Notwithstanding, it engages you with the continuing debate of which were better: Tigers or Shermans.  I lay this on the Winning 25 yd. Line.

*Columbia Pictures/QED International.  Movie GIF/quote of Don Collier smoking inside Fury.  imgur, BigSpamBall, Video to         GIF, Aug. 23, 1917, imgur.com/gallery/PyRiRKo.

Succession (HBO 2018)- The 10 %

*Succession is one of those cable shows that just catch your attention across interest levels.  It covers a multimillionaire family going through the passing of power from the retiring company founder Logan Roy (Brian Cox) to his family and board members.  Yes, it represents everything negative we attach to filthy rich people, but the curious chemistry of how the 10% lives might reveal something about our own drive for survival of the fittest after the Great Recession peters out and money trickles once more into our coffers.
This drama in a fishbowl keeps the sequence flowing due to a gifted group of actors and producers.  Will Ferrel is one of the producers, adding to the peculiar humor.  Such comedy is manicured by Adam McKay, another co producer who directed various Will Farrel comedies.  Indeed, the frame by frame subterfuge adds an interactive quality.  It teases you to partake and predict scenarios.  That is what this family does!  Every favor, suggestion, and word is a power play.  Deals turn into a "big d_ck competition."  Many sources were consulted, such as Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, to reproduce what it's really like at the top.
I usually avoid these empire-building/office melodramas, but this one hooked me.  Logan is as ruthless as they come; yet, we also see his frailties.  His family magnates are all colorfully frayed characters like recovering drug addict Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong), who feels entitled to be first in line, along with the predatory, obnoxious Roman Roy (Kieran Culkin (with a role made for him), the aggressive driver Shiv Roy (Sarah Snook), and the out of touch eldest brother Conner Roy (Alan Ruck).
There's still much to weigh out after the second episode just aired Sundays.  The Office-like humor is an experiment at this loftier level, and it'll take consistent creativity to keep it in sync.  A lot of  content was already unloaded, creating high interest.  Thus, first impressions are excellent, so I lay it on the 10th & Goal.

* HBO.  T.V. GIF of Logan Roy inside his car.  

Harsh Times (2005)- Real Times

David Ayer you are becoming one of my favorite directors, also writing and co producing this film, after I dug this out from the past.  Harsh Times brings to life intense situations narrated with engaging personalities unique to their settings, like in his other movies such as Fury, Bright, and Suicide Squad.
This movie is about inner city "harsh times."  Jim Davis (Christian Bale) is a former Army Ranger trying to relocate and get a decent job.  His streets are too tough and he lives them rougher with PTSD.  Ayer entertains us through Jim's job interview processes.  His friends are caricatures of some you might know. There's Mike Alonzo (Freddy Rodriguez), who is the gullible, but faithful, one trying to hold onto his explosive friend even if it means leaving his hot "old lady," Sylvia (Eva Longoria).  Toussant (Brown university's Chaka Forman) is that crazy party animal down for any last minute craziness.  Well, they go all over L.A.'s ghettoes and wind up in T.J., where Jim's fiancee lives in a classic paisano shack by the water. They go on a drunk road trip, tempers flare, and guns get involved when their adrenaline peaks.
Christian Bale continued to refine his bad guy role begun in American Psycho (2000).  He plays a great 'homie.'  He is more of a bad boy; the kind that you hope makes it.  Jim goes from one extreme to another.  His Mexican girlfriend, Martha (Tammy Trull), adds even more reality to barrio life, seems plucked right out of pleasant memories.  Ayer had to live in South Central, as I did, for his characters to be so real.
Just a few drawbacks...The film fails to identify PTSD as the main villain, not hood rats.  That would've raised so much awareness to the cause.  Also, it's not explained how Jim, being Anglo, is so caught up in South Central L.A. and T.J.  It didn't really matter, hood life has overlapped into mainstream, but it still leaves a big gap in the narrative.  I leave this on the Winning 25 yd. Line.

In the Valley of Elah (2007)- Distress Call

*Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron team up for an unconventional war movie!  Army vet Hank Deerfield (Jones) is investigating the death of his son (Jonathan Tucker), a soldier, at an army base in the U.S.  Detective Emily Sanders (Theron) is the only one to take on his case, and together they tackle this mystery.
T.L. Jones shows why he deserved his Oscar for The Fugitive (1993), also nominated for this film.  He actually acted out more dramatic scenes this time, even tearing up.  It's an emotional movie.  Charlize also deserved an Oscar nomination, allowing us to see more than just her exceptionally pretty face: single mom, harassed female worker, bloody nosed, hostess, police pursuer, fierce investigator, and frustrated yet compassionate bureaucrat.
The movie explores controversial issues with candid bluntness--many thought too intensely.  What other way is there to cover war?  Director, producer, and screenwriter Paul Haggis, also known for his Oscar winning screenwriting, maintained a raw, unfiltered perspective.  Boob bars had well, boobs in your face, causing Mr. Deerfield to blush.  On that same score, we witness Iraqi children being run over and left to die, U.S. infantrymen torturing Iraqi suspects, and major problems at army bases, like soldiers going AWOL.  Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), the film's theme, doesn't get enough coverage, as it took this long to enact the recent multi-billion 2018 VA law.  Justice is rendered out with nobody really satisfied.
Despite giving us a better view than other flicks of the returning soldiers from the War in Iraq, this scrutiny didn't go far enough.  We know about controversies like good cop vs. bad cop.  PTSD was hardly mentioned, if at all, remaining such an untouchable subject.  In the end, our soldiers handled it with what honor they could muster across generations. Tommy Lee Jones still made it work.  He questioned everyone, even his own townsfolk, but never dissed the army, trying to make the best of a bad situation, yet wore the burden on his scraggly face.
There's a great moral in the title: war is hell, for even after David slew Goliath, he was persecuted by his own King Saul of Israel.  For making my tear ducts open up too, having a son moving out into the brave new world, I move this up to 10th & Goal.

*Warner Independent Pictures.  Movie GIF of raised upside down U.S. flag.  

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)- Stellar not Star Wars

 * 

The legendary Ron Howard directs Solo.  He succeeds in part by drawing us deeper into the mysterious Star Wars pirate universe.  Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) now sports a double chin, but with an all star production crew, it's convincing enough.
Howard portrays another side of Solo and introduces new elements to a Star Wars flick.  Starting in Corellia, we learn more about this much mentioned planet, taking us into areas of Han's gritty youth. Then, we accompany Solo in a few action-packed smuggling missions.  Most of the movie, he struggles with his love for street urchin turned mafia lieutenant Qi'ra (Emilia Clarke). This fatal attraction added a new drama curve to Star Wars' idealistic fairy tale western romances. Solo's mentor, Beckett (Woody Harrelson) also injects a fresh role of unpredictability as only Woody brings to stage.  We are treated to seeing Solo's swashbuckling persona evolve toward the end.
The movie also benefits by injecting extra doses of classic Star Wars (fitting the title).  Various story lines, up to 10 some sites say, are explored.  George Lucas took more of a role in this movie than the other Disney episodes; actually starting the story since 2012.  The score returns to Star Wars Oscar winning composer John Williams.  Plus, there is a cameo appearance by an infamous past villain, leaving us with a scent of a sequel...
I really liked this movie, but I step this back to the Winning 25th yd. Line due to some continuity issues.  Ehrenreich had huge shoes to fill and wasn't Harrison Ford enough.  He seldom gives us that outlaw toothy grin and juvenile humor.  Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) deserved more development.  He's not just a "Beast."  I like the chapter book version, as a slave of the spice mines.  Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover) was too scrappy and not charming and womanizing enough.  The main problem, though: the action was very edge-of-your-seats, but that distracted us from noticing the lack of cinematography by Bradford Young. So Young received such an Oscar nomination in Arrival.  That movie was a still life compared to this, which was Young's only sci-fi experience.  Star Wars requires shock and awe vistas, so far achieved by the other Disney episodes.  The Millennium Falcon was only briefly panned inside and out, nuf said.

*Lucasfilm/Disney.  Movie GIF of Solo and crew aboard the Millennium Falcon during a battle.  Alloy, Nicole Pomarico,                February 5, 2018, www.alloy.com/news/solo-star-wars-story-trailer-dropped/.