The Equalizer 2 (2018) – Denzel Washington is back, now working as an Uber driver who helps people with his l33t agent skills on the side. But someone does in one of the oldest friends he has left, so now it’s personal.
A satisfying action-fest, but I’m disappointed that the character I immediately pegged as the Secret Bad Guy To Be Shockingly Revealed At The End Of The Second Act was, well, shockingly revealed to be a bad guy at the end of the second act.
Cold Pursuit (2019) – Liam Neeson is a snowplow driver who uses his very particular set of (snowplow) skills to take down the drug lord who had Neeson’s son murdered by heroin overdose.
Neeson plays his role absolutely straight — a grief-stricken man willing to burn every other bridge in his life to bring the miscreants to justice — while all the others characters have a black-comedy undertone to them. The result has an odd feel.
The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) – Vin Diesel’s character from Pitch Black is back in a VERY different adventure with interstellar death cultists and whatnot. Best enjoyed if you pretend that it’s the movie adaptation of a 2000 A.D. comic serial.
Duel at Diablo (1966) – No, James Garner and Sidney Poitier are NOT enemies forced to fight together. Further, there’s no actual duel (though there is a place called Diablo). Both are trying to help a cavalry convoy get through dangerous Indian territory while soap operas happen around them. Note: Contains a moment when Garner actually has to act (instead of just being affable James Garner).
The Vanishing (2018) – Three lighthouse keepers (with Scottish accents so thick I had to turn on subtitles) discover a mostly dead man (oops, now he’s completely dead) washed up after a storm, plus a chest with three bars of gold. Sanity does not fare well thereafter.
It wasn’t until I was brushing my teeth for bed afterward that I realized, That was 1994’s Shallow Grave, but with a lighthouse!
The Mist (2007) – Stephen King’s signature mix of People Who Just Happen To Be In A Maine Town hole up in a supermarket against bizarre Lovecraftian thingies. Marred only by another Stephen King signature, the Christian Who’s A Terrible One-Note Villain. Was Stevie bitten by a feral evangelical at an impressionable age?
The Colony (2021) – The lone surviving astronaut sent from dying interstellar colonies to find out if Earth has become habitable again discovers not only life, but human life — and it’s unfriendly in multiple ways. Nicely done and visually interesting, but please don’t stare at the plot holes. Thank you.
Abandoned movies:
Tank Girl (1995) – It’s like a Mad Max movie, if Mad Max movies were as annoying as a groin rash.
The Prey: Legend of Karnoktus (2022) – The scene where we’re introduced to all of the expendable characters was so annoying, I didn’t even get as far as seeing stars Danny Trejo or Adrian Paul.
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Did you watch MIST in b&w? I just read Darabont intended it to be shown that way and that it’s an option on the dvd and apparently it all works much better in b&w.
No, I watched the full-color version on Amazon Prime.
I really loved Pitch Black, but there is no way that the Riddick in that is the same Riddick from Chronicles of Riddick. Not that I disliked Chronicles of Riddick. My recollection is there’s some really great stuff in there mixed in with some pretty dumb stuff. The Necromongers were pretty great. I think we have Chronicles of Riddick to thank for the Escape from Butcher Bay game, which was amazing.
I liked Pitch Black except for the obvious objections of “this makes no sense.” ( https://nathanshumate.com/movies-seen-recently-pitch-black-gunless-draculas-daughter/)