When I first saw the trailer for “Fighting with my Family” I thought Dwayne Johnson (who a majority of us know as “the Rock”) was going to play a big role in this movie. However, he is only in the film for like two scenes, and both of those scenes are about five minutes or so. A bit of false advertisement in the trailer, but the film is still fairly enticing given it is a true story. Director Stephen Merchant directs this comical, yet charming story of one girl who wants to follow her dreams to become a pro wrestler. However, I feel he finally incorporates some serious elements to this film. That is because he generally writes comically because he did the directing for the British version of “The Office” and other comedies. I feel that “Fighting with my Family” is Merchant’s step higher to making even better movies in his career.

The film is about Saraya Knight (played by Florence Pugh) who is the father of a former wrestler named Ricky Knight (played by Nick Frost). Her dream is to join the World of Wrestling Entertainment. Therefore, Saraya and her brother Zak (played by Jack Lowden) go an audition for the wrestling competitions. Saraya makes it but, and Zak does not. The coach is Hutch (played by Vince Vaughn) and he is serious, opinionated, and all about business. Saraya is following her dreams of what she wants to do for most of her life but comes to realize that being a pro wrestler is not totally as easy as it seems. She looks up Dwayne Johnson and other wrestlers, but their encouragement is not very helpful. This will be a long road for Saraya, and she must overcome many obstacles for her dream to come true to step into the ring in front of thousands of people around her and watching from around the world on television.

“Fighting with My Family” is decent with its background and actual real-life stories to the pro wrestlers that were wrestling back in the day. The film has moments where it compiles clips of Dwayne Johnson, Triple H, and other wrestlers from the early 2000s. Also, the film does take place in the early 2000s. Right before smart phones, streaming, and all other kinds of technologies were not advanced yet. I find that “Fighting with My Family” shows how our limits with technologies, made events on pay-per-view (like wrestling) were very popular. That is because those events would take place only once.

I feel that “Fighting with My Family” is one that is worthy of a viewing. Maybe forgettable at moments, and somewhat written averagely. I feel that there were elements where the film was not as focused, and primarily cared on Saraya a lot. That is not a bad thing, just the trailer made it sound like other names would play a big role in the movie also. However, it is a fun watch for the family and all. Especially for those who like wrestling.

Directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by James Cameron, “Alita: Battle Angel” is decent. It is a two-hour movie with tons of breathtaking CG animation, and the 3-D component is one that Cameron developed as a stereo imaging system which he used in his documentary films. I found “Alita: Battle Angel” to be a movie that tells its story through the eyes of a robot that had a past life. I went in with low expectations, but I was impressed to an extent. I was able to tell that Cameron had to do with the technical and visual elements, because the graphics and special effects are faded as they were in “Ghosts of the Abyss” (2003) and “Aliens of the Deep” (2005). I saw both of those movies in IMAX way back in the day. I remember that 3-D was not a huge ordeal yet in multiplex cinemas. For me, watching those two movies in IMAX felt like I was in movie heaven back in the day. However, this film is not fully in Cameron’s hands, it is in the hands of Rodriguez.

The film’s main character is Alita (played by Rossa Salazar), she is a deactivated cyborg that is brought back to life, however she does not recall any elements of her past life. This leads her to go on a journey to come to terms with who she really is. The man who revives her is Dr Dyson Ido (played by Christoph Waltz). He tries to help Alita understand what the world is made of, but she is so set on figuring out where she came from and what it is like to be a human. She has one element that is extraordinary to Ido and the people around her. She is dangerous and destructive. She wants to find answers to the truth of where she came from, but she will have to go through many obstacles to get to that route in her life.

The futuristic setting is enthralling in this movie. There is a crazy sport with multiple people and one ball that requires going around in multiple circles. I like how the film has a creative side to it. I mean given this is directed by Rodriguez, it compared to the terrible “Spy Kids: Game Over” but much better than that. That is because this movie was not cheesy, it cared about its story and its graphics and not much on getting audience responses based on 3-D effects.

Waltz is a brilliant actor. Regardless of what movie he is, he always plays the role that fits him. In most of his films, viewers are generally use to him play the charming, yet evil antagonist with a very laid-back sense of humor. In this movie, he has the laid-back humor, but is not the bad guy, he is the good guy who is protective. I also thought that he fit the role of play a doc. He has the intelligence, the acting style, and the professionalism deep down inside him to play someone that is intelligent.

Overall, “Alita: Battle Angel” was pretty good. I had a fun time with this movie. I will probably watch it again in another premium format depending. I will say three stars. This film does make me hope for the day to come soon for the next “Avatar” film. That is because it was Cameron’s technology, but not his directing. If he directed this movie, I am sure it would have been much more brilliant.

Most films that have somebody stranded tend to grab my attention because of the main-focus being harsh environments based on weather. “Arctic” is one of those movies that has very little dialogue and grasps your attention because of its scenery, its survival skills components, and its actor Mads Mikkelsen. The film is vast with nature, that it leaves viewers to wonder if our main character is going to survive. I found the film to very similar J.C. Chandor’s “All is Lost” (2013) but in the “Arctic” not the sea. However, “All is Lost” consists of one person, “Arctic” consists of two.

The film is set in the “Arctic” and we have Overgard (Mikkelsen), a man that has crash landed in an airplane at unexplained time. He has created a camp, made a ritual of when to go out and explore and look for food and resources for his survival, and has set times for sleeping and such. He hopes that someone will come to find him. His wishes of someone coming for him somewhat comes true but ends up failing. A helicopter crashes and only one person survives. That person is a young woman (played by Maria Thelma Smaradottir). When the plane crashes she is very injured, and she becomes Overgard’s other priority in terms of survival. This leads Overgard to go on a journey carrying the woman with him on a sled in hopes that both their lives will be saved.

“Arctic” (to me) is like the book by William Golding, Lord of the Flies. That is because these two people are stranded in the middle of the “Arctic” and are using items and resources for survival. Lord of the Flies is similar towards “Arctic” but has tons of moments in the book with conversations, literary devices, and personification moments. One element of “Arctic” that reminds me of Lord of the Flies is the alarms that Overgard sets for himself because of its meaning of getting motivated. That is similar towards the item the conch in Lord of the Flies. The conch would mean whoever has that item has the floor to speak. Both “Arctic” and Lord of the Flies set rituals to prevent its characters from driving themselves insane.

This is definitely a top-notch performance by Mikkelsen. I thought I saw his true dark side in Thomas Vinterberg’s “The Hunt” (2012) where one lie makes people turn against him and view him as the enemy where he is not. In “Arctic” he is not a quitter. He pushes himself emotionally and physically to get him and this lady to safety no matter the weather conditions. I wonder now what other Oscar performances he will do in the near future.

Overall, “Arctic” is a must-see movie. There are many epic moments of suspense and attempts at survival that it will leave viewers in full attention. It does lack in some moments, but the element of being very less dialogue creates “Arctic” to be more visually moving. I will probably watch it one more time. I will say three solid stars.