Death Wish

In 1974 not only was I born, but so too was the Death Wish saga with Charles Bronson. The action hero from Once Upon a Time in the West was not carrying a harmonica, but a gun. He played an architect who was seeking vengeance after street punks - so 70s - kill his wife in NYC. It was amazingly gruesome for the time.  I loved it - it was right up there with The Equalizer - I thought he was bad ass. It was based on a book I haven't' read.

It was so popular that it lead to more for this actor and this character. Almost 10 years later Death Wish II comes out. This time - still street punks - but his daughter and his housekeeper are killed - that sets him off.

Only a couple years go by before Death Wish III is released. This time he is hired by a corrupt police chief to clean up a neighborhood - remove the criminal elements.

In the next movie - The Crackdown he is in LA helping to rid the community of drug lords when his girlfriend's daughter is killed.

It's the 90s by the time The Face of Death - Death Wish 5 is released. His fiance is being threatened by mobsters.

They get worse the more of them there are. I only recommend the very first one and the re-make. In the re-make Bruce Willis (Die Hard) is a doctor. His wife (Elizabeth Shue from The Saint) and daughter are terrorized by robbers and his wife dies. His brother is played by Vincent D'Onofrio (Full Metal Jacket) - and played well I liked having this character. He seeks vengeance for his wife - he also gets revenge for the terrorizing of his daughter and for a kid in the hospital being harassed by drug lords. It's gruesome like the original and no one was better suited for the role than Willis. All in all, I say: SEE THE remake and the original, but none of the others.

Red Sparrow

It took me awhile to write this because I just wasn't sure if I liked it or not. I have decided I should have read the book and skipped the movie. I didn't like all the nudity, the rape, the violence, or the torture. I felt like everything about it was too much. The only thing that wasn't was the performance by Jennifer Lawrence. She hasn't done as well since her first film Winter's Bone. Joel Edgerton (Bright) did ok - there wasn't much to his role by the time the film was edited. Matthias Schoenaerts (Disorder) did an amazing job at being super creepy uncle spy guy. The other person who blew me away was Jeremy Irons - like Reversal of Fortune good. All in all, I say: SKIP IT

Altered Carbon

Even though I never read the book this plot was eerily familiar. Joel Kinnaman (RoboCop) does a great job. It's really hard to describe this plot you would do better to check out the description on Netflix or the summary of the book on Amazon. It's good that's it's complicated though - makes it more unique. It's a 10 or more shirter - meaning he has his shirt off more than 10 times and he looks good. It addresses mortality and class among other things. James Purefoy (The Following) is a main character - and he is completely naked in one scene - if anyone is interested. It was so good to see Dichen Lachman (Dollhouse) again. She uses all her martial arts skills - she's also naked - and does a good job in this. All in all, I say: SEE IT if you like SyFy.

Mute

This strange Netflix movie starring Alexander Skarsgard (True Blood) seemed promising. An Amish man falls in love and when his love goes missing he sets off to find her. Also, starring Paul Rudd (Ant-Man). Disappointment - All in all, I say: SKIP IT - plot, acting, everything pretty bad.

Royal Hearts

James Brolin (Life in Pieces) is a rancher that is the only living relative of a dead King in a made up kingdom Hallmark likes to use. His daughter falls in love with a Prince and a Pauper while she's there. It's ridiculous and the flow is horrible. All in all, I say: SKIP IT

Please Stand By

Dakota Fanning (I Am Sam) is autistic and lives in a home with others like her. They are teaching her how to live kind of on her own. She has a job and writes Star Trek fan fiction. She wants to enter a contest, but her plan is slightly derailed when her sister's visit results in less than perfect circumstances. She has to set off for LA on her own to get her script entered. She learns a lot on her travels, as does her therapist (Toni Collette from Sixth Sense) and her sister (Alice Eve from Star Trek Into Darkness). Fanning does an amazing job - everyone in this does. All in all, I say: SEE IT - it was on Amazon Prime or Netflix can't remember.

A Bad Mom's Christmas

Nope...it's bad. All in all, I say: NOPE