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Girls Trip (2017)
Girls Trip (2017)
2017 | Comedy, Drama
Tiffany Haddish, Kate Walsh trying to be Kristen Wiig (0 more)
The humor is hit or miss, pretty generic overall (0 more)
  
Honest Thief (2020)
Honest Thief (2020)
2020 | Action, Crime, Drama
Liam neesen (1 more)
Kate walsh
Okay after watching what I thought would another taken clone staring Liam Neeson I was pleasnty surprised it's better movie than those taken clones I've seen over the years and tol see kate walsh in something other greys anatomy was also good in the film overall better than I thought
  
Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)
Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)
2003 | Comedy, Drama, Romance
10
9.0 (6 Ratings)
Movie Rating
I don't know why people don't like this film - I LOVED it. I'm a sucker for romance stories and I love Italy so much. I love the idea of Frances just being on this quest to put herself back together and finding ways to do that and still believing in all the good things in life. I love Sandra Oh and that Kate Walsh even had a roll. I love even more than they played lovers and then went on to do Grey's where they obviously were nemeses because of Christina's loyalty to Meredith.

I loved this film. I want to be Frances. I wanted to be Pawel, I wanted to be Chiara, and somehow I wanted to be Katherine too. You find something to love about every character and you end up finishing the film with a little piece of your heart with each of them.

I think this film just moved up on my favorites list and I'm not mad about it. Not one bit.
  
Honest Thief (2020)
Honest Thief (2020)
2020 | Action, Crime, Drama
Chemistry between Neeson and Walsh (1 more)
Great cinematography around a scenic Boston
As discussed in my One Mann's Movies review of "Cold Pursuit", Liam Neeson has had a rather rocky PR road of late. But - unlike Kevin Spacey - he is clearly not being put on the naughty step by Hollywood, since he is filming/announced for five other features at the time of writing. His latest release - "Honest Thief" - has Mark Williams directing and co-writing (with Steve Allrich), and sees Neeson back on VERY familiar territory in an exciting and sometimes violent thriller.

The nice concept behind the story sees Tom (Liam Neeson) as a hugely successful bank robber meeting the love of his life in Annie (Kate Walsh) and committing to jack it all in for love. Furthermore, not wishing to have to live with the deception and guilt of his hidden life, he determines to hand himself over to the FBI, along with the $9 million stolen cash, in return for a lenient sentence.

There's a problem though: he's about the fifteenth person calling the FBI claiming to be the "In and Out burgler", so no-one wants to take him seriously. Boston area chief Sam Baker (Robert Patrick - the "Terminator" cop!) and his deputy Meyers (Jeffrey Donovan) casually put it on the "to-do" pile of agents Nivens (Jai Courtney) and Hall (Anthony Ramos).

The best laid plans run off the rails in a big way though when Nivens and Hall investigate and find that Tom is the real deal.

The concept here works nicely for a thriller, but the rest of the script is so formulaic that it's fairly and squarely a 'park your brain in the foyer' movie. For several of the actions and motives going on here, suspension of disbelief was required . Even given the limited competition in 2020, the script is in no way going to trouble the Academy.

All that being said, Mark Williams has put together a tight and well-executed movie, not outstaying its welcome at only 99 minutes long. Even with the 15 year age difference, Neeson and Walsh make a believable couple (given that Neeson looks pretty good for his 68 years) and the chemistry between them is great. And for a pretty 'small' movie, the supporting cast is pretty impressive.

Another standout for me was the cinematography by Shelly Johnson (whose had a busy year with the latest "Bill and Ted" and "Greyhound" under his belt). Boston - always a great movie location - looks spectacular, and the framing of the car chase action impressed me.

For me, there was only one really dodgy element of the movie: the special effects used in a house explosion/fire. The budget clearly didn't stretch to using practical effects! More work on Adobe "After Effects" (or similar) was required here!

Is Honest Thief worth seeing? - My expectations for this movie were pretty low. But I'm pleased to say that they were exceeded. Is it a masterpiece? No. Will I readily remember much about it in six month's time? No. But in rather a desert of new releases, this one was at least entertaining and I think it's worth the ticket price for a long overdue night out at the flicks. I'm willing to guess that my feelings were partially influenced by the sheer joy of being back in a cinema again... so I will temper my rating perhaps by a star here.

(For the full graphical review, please check out One Mann's Movies here - https://rb.gy/9kcnr5. Thanks.)
  
3022 (2019)
3022 (2019)
2019 | Sci-Fi
Low Budget but Fun
414. 3022. In space, no one can hear you scream. However, if you're desperate need of a smoke, this space station has plenty. The budget for this one must've come from tobacco, I'm telling ya! The premise is this: Four astronauts embark on a mission to the refueling station, Pangea, between Earth and mankind's first space colony on Europa. I would've thought we would've tried our first space colony a little closer to home, like the moon maybe, but sure halfway across the solar system works too. Their mission, from what I saw, nothing. I guess they refuel ships on their way back and forth. Oh and their mission is 10 years long. My guess is by the year 2190, not 3022 by the way, refueling stations in space probably won't need people on them at all, nevermind for a 10 year stretch. But whatev's it's just a movie. Five years into the mission however, something goes wrong, the little blip on the radar that signifies Earth, it just disappeared. What is 4 people to do on a space station after they just discovered they are now an endangered species? Go crazy of course! Whats one thing that spaceship disaster movies have in common, the onboard doctor goes bonkers, Angus Macfadyen fills the roll in this one while Omar Epps and Kate Walsh try to keep it together! It's a fun low budget sci fi flick. They keep the effects to a minimum, and sure there's a few bad edits, glasses on, glasses off. Other than that, I enjoyed it. Filmbufftim on FB!
  
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
2012 | Drama
I firmly believe that this is one of the best movies on the face of the planet. Anyone who knows me and knows my reviews knows how much it bothers me when film adaptations are so bad or so off or they just lose everything the book had. The exact opposite happens here. I think what makes this movie so good and so well put together is that it's still Stephen's story. He wrote the book, then the screenplay, then he directed it so it was his entire vision coming to life on screen and it worked. I think if anyone else would've directed or wrote the script, it wouldn't have translated so well.

Additionally, this cast is phenomenal. Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Nina Dobrev, Mae Whitman, Kate Walsh, Paul Rudd, it just works. There are some parts from the book that didn't make it to the screen and that definitely bummed me out - I wish we could've seen Bill and Charlie's relationship more because it was really important in the book and it provided a lot for Charlie in terms of safety and comfort. I also wish some of the lines were verbatim. When Sam gets mad at Charlie after truth or dare, in the book she says, "what the fuck is wrong with you?" while in the movie she says, "what the hell is wrong with you?" I know that it's not a huge difference but I think that would've landed so much better. Also when Charlie defends Patrick. In the book, he says, "If you ever do this again, I'll tell everyone and I'll tell everyone for real. If you come after him again, I'll blind you." or something along those lines and I think that would've been great, especially with how low and solid Logan gave the line in the film. Just small things like that, I wish would've made it to screen.

Regardless, this film and this story are incredible and worth watching at least once for everyone. The same goes for the book. A must-read.
  
The Umbrella Academy
The Umbrella Academy
2018 | Action, Fantasy
Great comic book adaptation from somewhere not Marvel/DC, excellent soundtrack, awesome CGI on par with some big budget films (0 more)
A little weird and quirky...might not be for everyone, dialogue could use some work and has some plot holes (0 more)
A Gamble That Pays Off - 8/10
The Umbrella Academy is a 2019 dark comedy sci-fi/drama superhero tv show developed by Steve Blackman and Jeremy Slater for Netflix. It's an adaptation of the comic book series created by Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba and published by Dark Horse Comics. The series was produced by Borderline Entertainment, Dark Horse Entertainment, and Universal Cable Productions. Starring Ellen Page, Tom Hopper, David Castaneda, and Kate Walsh.


On October 1st, 1989, 43 women around the world give birth although none of them were pregnant that morning. Eccentric billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colman Feore) adopts 7 of the children and turns them into a superhero team called, "The Umbrella Academy. The children are given numbers instead of names and even though 6 of them fight crime, 1 of them, Vanya/#7 (Ellen Page) is kept apart for not having any powers. Present day, the estranged siblings reunite when they learn their father has died. At the funeral, #5 (Aidan Gallagher), which has been missing for over a decade, reappears from the future out of a blue portal and reveals to the others, that the world will end in a matter of days.


 This show is stellar. It's a ride that you shouldn't miss. It's good to see a comic book series adaptation that is not from Marvel or DC and you can feel that it's a fresh take and different. I think the writers for the show did a good job on making it very three-dimensional. It's rated TV-14 so it's for teenagers and adults but also for comic book fans and sci-fi fans. That being said it does get pretty weird and far out there, so might not be for everybody but it's definitely better than what the critics are saying. Yes it does have some issues; like the dialogue might not be the best, there being some plot holes possibly, and some complaints of other comic book shows or movies having done that before. But it does have plenty of pluses; the soundtrack is phenomenal, the CGI is on par with that of big-budget movies, and the casting is very good. They were able to pull off the whole dysfunctional family vibe very well. I wanted to give it a point higher but I did understand some of the other points that other critics made about it. I give it a 8/10 but I also give it my "Must See" seal of approval. So if you haven't seen it yet what are you waiting for.
  
Honest Thief (2020)
Honest Thief (2020)
2020 | Action, Crime, Drama
Tom (Liam Neeson) is a long-time bank robber eager to put his past behind him in the new film “Honest Thief”. A circumstance forced Tom to decide to strike back at the establishment following a career in ordinance in the military and has found he has a real talent for blowing safes and making away with millions of dollars over several years.

The Feds have been unable to stop him and regularly field numerous calls from people claiming to be responsible in order to gain attention. So when Tom calls Agent Sam Baker (Robert Patrick) and his partner Agent Meyers (Jeffrey Donovan); his claims are met with skepticism.

Tom has fallen in love with an aspiring Psychologist he met while renting a storage facility and he is eager to start a new and honest life with Annie (Kate Walsh). Tom offers to return all nine million dollars that he has stolen in term for a light sentence at a minimum security locale near Boston so Annie can visit him frequently.

Unwilling to accept that Tom is who he says he is, the agents dispatch Agents Nivens (Jai Courtney) and Agent Hall (Anthony Ramos); to interview Tom and check out his story. Tom offers to tell them where the money is in order to prove his claims. When several boxes of cash are discovered in storage; Nivens decides to take the money and pressures Hall into going along with it despite his reservations.

Nivens them attempts to eliminate Tom but in doing so kills Agent Baker who has shown up unexpectedly. Tom is now framed for a murder he did not commit and forced to flee in order to try to clear his name and make good on his initial offer to turn himself in.

Nivens is not willing to stop there and escalates his level of corruption and danger including threats on Hall and his family to ensure his compliance and silence.

As anyone who has ever seen a Liam Neeson film in the last ten years or so can deduce his character is motivated by events that follows and with his expert knowledge of explosives looks to strike back at Nivens and ensure justice is served.

While the film may be a bit slower paced in some areas than fans of Neeson may expect; he turns in a satisfying performance as a sort of modern day Robin Hood.

Tom is a man who does not make excuses for his actions and is willing to pay the price for them but believes he was justified in what he did and the reasons behind them.

The supporting cast is solid and while the film does have some real gaps in logic which must be suspended to make the story work; it does entertain.

In the end “Honest Thief” provides enough enjoyment to make it worth your time and shows that Neeson still can deliver what fans have come to expect from him.

3.5 stars out of 5