Too many movies

Starship Troopers

Absolutely the best movie ever made. While not entirely tied to the book, it touches on some of the social and political aspects that are important. "The social sciences had brought mankind to its knees. It was the veterans who stepped up and imposed the stability we still enjoy today. "  The book goes on to explain that only veterans had proven that they could put the good of the group above their own personal benefit. 

The "mobile infantry" is the 3rd best movie depiction of the Marine Corps (after Heartbreak Ridge and Aliens) I've seen.

This has been my number 1 favorite movie for at least the last 10 years. I have the other 3 movies and the TV series as well, though those are just about fighting bugs, but leave the politics out of it. 



The Avengers

Pretty sure I am the last person on the planet to see this movie. Sometimes when something is so overhyped, I just can't bring myself to buy in. 

So from the unhyped perspective, it was a good picture. I still think they give "iron man" way too much capability, but I guess that stems from the comic - and which actor they have to pay the most. Scarlet Jo rocked.



Escape Plan

OK, so a couple of tough guys in their 60s may not make for an edge of your seat action movie. But Stalone and Schwarzenegger do manage a solid pic.  Going a bit more cerebral and a bit less "blowing shit up" worked well enough. The third act was lacking due to some plot flaws, but good entertainment overall. 



Runner Runner

This movie feels a lot like "The Facebook", with girly-man Justin Timberlake as "the smart guy" who gets embroiled in the back office side of on line gambling. Ben Afleck fails to be a convincing boss man/villain/mastermind type, but the picture flows well enough in spite of that.



Vikingdom

Once you get past the impressively low production values, mish mash of miscellaneous accents, and complete disregard for actual Norse religion, Vikingdom actually draws you in. I'm not saying that you'll "care" about the characters, but you will want to know what happens next. 



Parker

Statham driven "Pay Back meets Reservoir Dogs", but not quite that good pic. A disappointingly thinned down J-Lo has a supporting role that holds up well enough.  



Rampage


Dark Shadows

Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, Danny Elfman joint poking fun at the idea "what if a vampire was buried for 200 years and came back in the modern world?".  Good fun, GREAT supporting cast. 


Dark Skies

American Mary

Sleepwalk with Me



Bangkok Adrenaline

This feature is centered on poor acting and awesome muy thai fight scenes. Like an ode to Jackie Chan, cast members use misc props to fight in around and on Thailand's mean streets.

The plot is ridiculous. The actors are obviously fighters first and actors second. The writing, well, there probably wasn't any...  ...but you'll still watch to the end to see some great well planned fights. 



Skinhead Attitude

Documentary from 2003 trying to show the dichotomy of racist skin heads verse the original two-tone skins.  Some good history for those into the genre, but it's a "scratch the surface" attempt. 



Nikita   Seasons 2 and 3

"We have a black box, and we're going to try to right all of the wrongs Division has done."  That premise holds up for maybe half of season 2, then it goes on a bender and gets totally lost. 

The season ends abruptly, and season 3 launches assuming a bunch of stuff has happened that we learn about from blurbs in conversation.  "I dropped Percy down a 12 story shaft" is all we hear about his demise, and Melinda Clarke becomes enemy number one. More Melinda is always a good thing. 

There is an episode in season 3 that delves into Amanda's beginnings. Very well done, and brilliantly twisted. 


The Pacific 

Binge Watch:  Entourage seasons 4 through 8.

Misc episodes of Archer