Sean’s movie thoughts

 Crime 101 was good. Maybe it would better if it was a little shorter. Chris Hemsworth stars as a thief who commits crimes near the 101 Freeway. Mark Ruffalo stars as a cop determined to catch the mysterious 101 thief, who other cops don’t believe exist. (Other cops think Ruffalo’s character is seeing a pattern that doesn’t exist.) Harry Berry stars as an insurance agent who writes and sells policies for the rich. She, correctly, feels she is being jerked around on a promotion. Their lives converge. Hemsworth’s character meets a woman and they start to date. He tells lies about his job and reveals very little about himself. He risks losing the new relationship if he continues  with his career. I didn’t recognize the actress playing this character but I looked up the film and she is Monica Barbaro (she played Joan Baez in a Complete Unknown). This is good, not great. It might be worth rewatching My podcast episode about Crime 101  

Extraction is not bad. (Yes, I came to this movie a little late.) This is a Netflix thriller with Chris Hemsworth as a mercenary hired to rescue a kidnaped boy. Things are more complicated then they first appear. I liked this and might want to watch it again.  I had Total Recall, the original, on order for a 4K blu-ray but then I saw the film was on Netflix. I watched a little and I remembered it being a lot better. I stopped watching the film and then I canceled the pre-order.    Three movies I re-watched and discovered I did not like as much as I once did Total Recall (original) Gremlins 2 the New Batch Robocop (original) It was not like I hated any of the above movies on re-watch but I think I will never re-watch any of them. 

I added this film to the Second Chance Film festival.  I had basically the same opinion after the re-watch that I did after seeing it in theaters. The movie is kind of average, and I expected better from the fourth film in a franchise. It is not the start of a new franchise, the set up carries over from the first three films and Emma Thompson returns as the head of the organization from the third film. I think there was a photo of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in the background. I think the series missed Will Smith. I thought Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth were fine, I don’t think they were the problem but neither one is Will Smith. The aliens seemed less amazing but maybe after three previous movies that was bound to happen. Producer Walter Parks either re-wrote the script or had it re-written. The finale script was not the script that the cast or director signed up to make. Some people said to the Hollywood Reporter, without giving their names, that Parks watered it down...

This is average. It is not terrible but it is not inspired. At the end of the year when I am trying to make my best films of the year list, I might need to remind myself that I saw this film.  (I am not trying to make a neuralyzer joke, a movie this average is kind of forgettable.) The movie is watchable, which seems like faint praise. Tessa Thompson stars as a woman who wants to join the Men in Black. She had an encounter with an alien as a child. She becomes Agent M and gets assigned to the London Branch, which seems pretty much the same as the New York Branch. She starts to work with Agent H (Chris Hemsworth). Liam Neeson is on hand as the head of the London Branch. Thompson and Hemsworth are okay. They are not a screen team for the ages on the basis of this film but maybe a large part of that is the writing. Hemsworth is fine, he displays decent comedy timing. I guess Thompson is fine too but if the filmmakers expected them to recreate their chemistry from Thor Ragnarok, th...