After seventeen years of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence being gone from the Bad Boys franchise, Bad Boys for Life is still a ride filled with pure adrenaline. There are moments that are repetitive, but that is what makes Bad Boys for Life a stellar time. Detective Mike Lowrey (Smith) and Detective Marcus Burnett (Lawrence) are back in the game for a two-hour action film with twisted vulgar language and scenarios that are violent yet funny. The attitude of their chief, Captain Howard (played by Joe Pantoliano), is still impacted by stressors as it was in the previous Bad Boys movies.  The new film is also fun to watch because of the characters’ attitudes. Even though Michael Bay is not the director of this movie, the new directors, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, do well by not changing up the premise so viewers know what to expect in Bad Boys for Life. Fortunately, they directed the film in way that makes it very familiar seventeen years later (after Bad Boys II from 2003).

In Bad Boys for Life, there have been some changes for Burnett. He is in the mid-life crisis stage with his family grown, so he is not that interested in being much of a detective anymore. For Lowrey, he still wants to be where the action is and take on any dangerous assignment that is going on in Miami. Howard still has faith in them, but due to some major traumatic events that have happened throughout the years, he is hesitant to have them on the streets to tackle any more life and death missions. The conflict that presents itself is to take down a drug cartel led by Armando Armas (played by Jacob Scipio). Lowrey is down for the assignment, but Burnett has second thoughts. Despite their distractions, they come around to accepting the mission to go after Armas with the assistance of a young elite team of officers to make the process less dangerous for the two of them. Still, the more struggles that Burnett encounters in the missions, the funnier the film gets as things spiral more out of control.

Interestingly, all three characters, Lowrey, Burnett, and Howard, believe they have entitlements. Lowrey believes he is entitled to do more dirty work as a detective despite past traumas. Burnett sees himself entitled to be retired or semi-retired since he becomes a grandfather. For Howard, he believes that their aging is making them cause more damage which results in more expensive missions. All those conflicts are aspects of the film, and all lead to laughs as they get out of control.

The action makes this movie so fun to watch. And, the action is mixed with pervasive language that viewers have come to expect in from the bad boys. In addition, Smith and Lawrence have still have the attitude that their fans love. They also question each other’s confidence and when that happens, their low confidence creates hilarious disasters. I was laughing from beginning to end of the movie.

Although I went in with mixed expectations, Bad Boys for Life ended up being a truly fun time. Some moments were repetitive and felt almost the same as the first two movies, but that is something I expected and knew would make the movie entertaining. Since Lawrence has been out of the spotlight for a while, Bad Boys for Life is his comeback film. I walked out of the show feeling positive because I was glad to see the franchise continued to have a perfect combination of vivid action mixed with hysterical humor. The humor is why lots of fans love the Bad Boys franchise and I am giving Bad Boys for Life three stars.

From director, Sam Mendes, comes an emotionally charged and exhilarating World War I drama that is brilliant and resilient. That film is 1917 and will hold audiences’ attention due to the action throughout this two-hour rollercoaster ride of darkness, danger, and many unexpected emotional events. The cinematography is breathtaking with realism that made me feel it was happening right in front of me. It is nominated for ten Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Original Score, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Cinematography. It deserves to win in all those categories, but it is not just the technology and the writing that make 1917 Oscar-worthy.  It is also remarkable because of the deep characterization acting by actor George Mackay throughout the film.

The film is geared on two British Soldiers, Lance Corporal Schofield and Lance Corporal Blake (played by George Mackay and Dean-Charles Chapman). They are given a task that puts them in danger. They need to deliver a message that is far into the enemy territory of the war. The two soldiers are told to find a way to stop an attack because it will put thousands of men into danger. And, if they keep attacking, they are walking into a deadly trap. Schofield is the one with most of the responsibilities as he gets further into the territory where the massacres are occurring. There are unexpected guns firing, soldiers hiding poised to attack, and hidden bombs waiting to explode. The film pans on one shot throughout most of the horrid journey that Schofield is embarking on.  Honestly, 1917 is just a beautiful film based on its continuity and I was more enticed in this war movie than I have been in one for years.

I found 1917’s intensity and emotional acting by Mackay to be the reason why the movie captures many award-winning elements. The acting is dramatic, the technology embraces the impactful moments, and the film does a fantastic job at showing what life was like back in the era where there was no technological support. What I mean is that the film shows how hard it was to heal wounds or to stabilize those suffering injuries. The movie also illustrates how soldiers navigated with maps and compasses and why that was confusing and often made matters worse. The element of showing that soldiers in those times had to think more logically to figure out strategies to solve a conflict made 1917 so intriguing. And we see Mackay going through those struggles, however he continues to be brave and persistent with the mission he has been assigned.

1917 is by far the best movie I have seen in years. It will make viewers jump with excitement, it will make them cry, and it will leave them wondering who will survive. This movie deserves to win the awards it is nominated for. I hope it wins many of them, because I was simply blown away by 1917. This unquestionably makes Sam Mendes’ mark for a film that is pure adrenaline. Four stars.

Ten years ago, Christopher Nolan brought us a visually stunning work of art with an array of interesting elements and fictional theories that were pure brilliance. That movie blew its audience away. And, it was not just because of its amazing cinematography and sharper image, but also due to way it enthralled viewers with the missions that are completed in the minds of both the antagonist and protagonist characters. I got the chance to reexperience Inception while it was playing for a limited time in IMAX. I took advantage of this opportunity because previously I only saw Inception in a regular format movie theater. This IMAX experience took my viewing experience to a whole different level and I did not want the movie to end. Inception has so many moments where the scenes are mazes mixed with conflicts in people’s minds and their inner thoughts. It was a rollercoaster ride that had both sides of my mind thinking, and with the giant IMAX screen I felt like I was in the mind of the characters.

To recap the plot of Inception, the film is set on a fictional concept of corporate secrets (a fictional element that is meant to be known as dream-sharing technology). The goal is to steal dreams from a wealthy CEO. boss. The man who is skilled at this technology and is fluent with its mathematical factors, including the outcomes of what is right and wrong, is Cobb (played by Leonardo DiCaprio). However, with this talent and craft he has in this fictional setting, Cobb has taken many risks with the dream-sharing technology. These risks have caused Cobb to be a labeled as a fugitive. Due to his challenges, Cobb needs more assistance with his missions and the help of only Arthur (his assistant and played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Miles (played by Michael Caine), and Eames (played by Dileep Rao) does not seem enough. This leads Cobb’s skillset to go awry and his once successful missions with the inner minds of himself and others lose their focus.

When I experienced Inception this time around (now being a decade later) this made me realize that Nolan is one of those directors that knows how to use the high-end cinematic technology to make his audience feel like they are on the journey of the conflicts of his movies. He does this in all his blockbuster movies after Memento (2020). With the IMAX experience of Inception, the parallel cross scenes between walls, buildings, rooms and people’s minds made me think, “Wow this scenario is perceptibly radiant!”  One of the scenes that did this for me is when DiCaprio is training Paige to take part in what his missions entail. He starts with her sketching a maze and keeps having her try again until it looks accurate. She eventually draws a maze that works for him and then they start walking through a city. As he explains many of the obstacles and changes (what his mind entails), the patterns of how the streets are put together start to move around and change, along with how the people around them walk. In that moment, I was dazzled because I realized the way the characters think can lead to mistakes or serious consequences. In IMAX that felt like falling into a deep and dark hole with stunning visuals that make an unforgettable experience.

Nolan is one of those directors where I feel there is no way to experience his filmmaking without experiencing them in IMAX. All his IMAX films have been impressive and include Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Interstellar (2014), and Dunkirk (2017). I recently saw the opening sequence for his new film Tenant set to open this summer and he is doing what he always does best which is using the IMAX technology to embrace his audience technologically with his thrillers. If fans can find Inception on an IMAX screen it is a worthy watch. I am glad I had the chance to re-experience it.