Black Adam

Last night I saw Black Adam with a large and rowdy crowd and, even though there are some flaws, I really enjoyed it!  When archaeologist Adriana Tomaz (Sarah Shahi) goes looking for the Crown of Sabbac once owned by the tyrannical King Ahk-Ton, Teth-Adam (Dwayne Johnson) is awakened from the tomb he was imprisoned in for 5,000 years.  He discovers that his home of Khandaq is being oppressed by an organized crime syndicate known as Intergang and brutally slaughters many members.  Adriana believes that he is the Champion, endowed with the powers of Egyptian gods by an ancient wizard, who ended the reign of Ahk-Ton and hopes he can liberate Khandaq once again.  However, his violent actions alarm Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) and she contacts the Justice Society of America, including Carter Hall/ Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Kent Nelson/ Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan), Al Rothstein/ Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo), and Maxine Hunkel/ Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell), to capture him.  When Ishmael Gregor (Marwan Kenzari), the leader of Intergang and the last descendant of Ahk-Ton, gains control of the Crown of Sabbac and its powers of Hell after kidnapping Adriana's son Amon (Bodhi Sabongui), the JSA forms an uneasy alliance with Teth-Adam to defeat him.  While there is a lot of exposition which sometimes becomes very convoluted, I really liked the exploration of what it means to be a hero with an interesting twist about the role of fate.  The introduction of the JSA characters, particularly Doctor Fate, is a lot of fun and I hope we see more of them in the future.  Johnson's performance is a bit more subdued than we usually see from him but I think it works for the character as he reconciles who he was with who he needs to be and I loved his deadpan humor, especially in his interactions with Hodge's Hawkman (I enjoyed their conflict more than the conflict with the main villain).  Brosnan is another standout for me because he steals every scene he is in and I enjoyed his relationship with Hawkman.  Finally, the non-stop action sequences had my late night crowd cheering out loud and, even though there is more spectacle than substance, this kept me actively invested in the outcome.  I get some of the criticism of this movie but I had a lot of fun with it and I recommend it to fans of the DCEU.

Note:  You have no doubt heard by now that there is a very exciting cameo in a mid-credits scene!  This elicited cheers from my audience (and from me)!

Triangle of Sadness

Another film that has received a lot of buzz from the fall film festivals (it won the Palme d'Or at Cannes) is Triangle of Sadness and I finally had a chance to see it at the Broadway last night.  I laughed out loud during the entirety of this dark comedy and I was not alone!  A fashion model named Carl (Harris Dickinson) and his influencer girlfriend Yaya (Charlbi Dean) are given a free luxury cruise in the Mediterranean Sea aboard a $50 million superyacht.  The head steward Paula (Vicki Berlin) insists that the crew indulge the whims of the wealthy passengers, even when one of them insists that every member of staff go down the slide into the water which delays dinner, while the intoxicated captain, Tom (Woody Harrelson), hides in his cabin and the mostly Filipino cleaning crew slave away behind the scenes.  After an attack by pirates, a small group of passengers including Carl and Yaya, a Russian oligarch named Dimitry (Zlatko Buric), a debilitated stroke survivor named Therese (Iris Berben) who can only speak one sentence in German, and a lonely tech millionaire named Jarmo (Henrik Dorsin) land on what they believe to be a deserted island with a member of the cleaning crew named Abigail (Dolly de Leon) and a mechanic named Winston (Oliver Ford Davies).  The power dynamic of the group shifts with comedic results when Abigail is the only one who has any survival skills.  This is an absolutely hilarious social satire taking aim at the vacuous and shallow idle rich.  My favorite scene is when the passengers are invited to an incredibly pretentious dinner with the captain during a violent storm causing many of them to become seasick which, despite the fact that it involves just about every type of bodily fluid, is a lot of fun and serves to dismantle class divisions in an absurdly amusing way.  I really appreciated the message that people should not be judged solely on their wealth or looks but rather their knowledge, abilities, and experience and that it pays to treat the people who serve you with kindness and respect.  The cast is fantastic but de Leon gives a standout performance in the third act and I am still thinking about her character's actions in the final scene.  I recommend seeing this wildly entertaining film with the biggest crowd possible!

Happy Birthday Tashena

Last night we celebrated Tashena's birthday early (it is actually at the end of the week) by going to dinner (Chuck-A-Rama), having cake (the traditional ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins), opening presents, and playing Shanghai Rummy!

I can't believe that she will be 22!

Pumpkin Carving 2022

Yesterday my family got together for our annual pumpkin carving party and we had so much fun.  We have been doing this with Sean and Tashena since they were really little and every year I wonder if it will be the last time because they will have outgrown it but Sean called me specifically to remind me to buy pumpkins!

I really love this tradition and I think our pumpkins turned out really cool this year!

New Car

I got a new car over the weekend!  I actually bought it, sight unseen, two weeks ago but I had to wait for it to be delivered and inspected because inventory is so low right now.  I knew that I wanted another Kia Sportage because it has been the best car that I have ever owned.

My 2011 Kia Sportage (above on the day that I bought it) went on multiple road trips to Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Los Angleles as well as several trips to Mount Rushmore, Zion, Bryce Canyon, the Grand Canyon, and Yellowstone.  I drove it almost 200,000 miles without any major problems (I only had to replace the tires every few years and perform routine maintenance) but this summer the air conditioning stopped working and my mechanic started noticing other smaller issues.  He warned me that if I started having problems with the transmission or the engine I should get a new car rather than repair it because it wouldn't be worth it with so many miles on the odometer.  Even though I really loved this car, I decided that it would be better to trade it now rather than later.

My 2023 Sportage has a lot more bells and whistles than my old one so it has been really fun to drive.  I especially love the rear camera, the lane assist, Apple CarPlay, and the heated seats.  I named my 2011 Sportage Edward because of its color (Twilight Blue) so, since my new Sportage is Steel Grey, I decided to name it Remington (after the old TV show Remington Steele).  I'm so happy to have this car and I already have a road trip planned!