The Nun II is the latest horror film included in The Conjuring franchise. Michael Chaves is the director of this film in which it took three people to write the script for some inexplicable reason. Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing, and Akela Cooper all put their heads together for this one and still managed to not hit it out of the park. Taissa Farmiga reprises her role as Sister Irene who encountered the demonic nun in the previous film entitled, somewhat unsurprisingly, The Nun. Storm Reid is introduced as the young, hip Sister Debra, who doesn’t mind an occasional cigarette. Jonas Bloquet, Anna Popplewell, and Bonnie Aarons are included in the cast. Aarons returns as the demonic nun and does a fine job of looking creepy and, well…. demonic.

Sister Irene has found a convent to serve in Italy after her previous encounter with the Demon Nun. Maurice, played by Bloquet, is working at a boarding school in France, but he is not quite himself since he has become a carrier for the Nun. A series of gruesome deaths has caught the attention of the Cardinal, and Sister Irene is asked to take a look to see of the Demon Nun was not yet out for the count. She is joined by Sister Debra, the almost obligatory streetwise nun, and the two of them set off to France to find an old friend of Irene’s and an ancient foe in a habit. They learn of the Nun’s latest unholy quest and try to get ahead of her so they can send her back to where she belongs.

A nun with a rebellious streak has become par for the course for movies steeped in Catholic overtures. Saying that, I did find Sister Debra’s spunk kind of endearing though not that original. Reid is rather interesting and charismatic addition to the cast. Farmiga did well enough in the lead role, but there was not much that was not seen before. There were some moments in the film that were effectively creepy but not terribly original. There’s a weird goat creature that shows up suddenly which I found to be more distracting than anything else.

This is another offering that I found to be a mixed bag. It was not without some merit. The special effects worked well enough. It was shot on location, so I enjoyed the background setting. The performances were pretty good. It does well enough on hitting all the expected notes for a film in this genre. Not everything in the plot made sense, but that’s also a somewhat expected crack when it comes to this series.

The overall film was pretty average, but at least managed to be somewhat entertaining and occasionally startling. Basically, this is not the horror film that’s going to keep me up at night. The film was still done well enough to leave me curious enough to see where the franchise goes, so all was not lost in this cinematic indulgence.

Director Antione Fuqua and Denzel Washington reunite for what is advertised as the final installment of The Equalizer films. The Equalizer 3 has finally hit the screens, and Washington’s Robert McCall doesn’t skimp on the body count. Richard Wenk is the screenwriter. Dakota Fanning, Eugenio Mastrandrea, David Denman, and Remo Girone are also included in the cast. The film takes place in Italy, which is a good location choice to wrap this series up if it is indeed the end. The film series was actually based on a television series that was created by Michael Sloan and Richard Lindheim.

Robert McCall is finishing up a mission where he has already killed a bundle of bad guys. When he gets wounded himself, he is taken in by an Italian doctor living in a small, charming coastal town. As he begins to recover, McCall gets to know his surroundings and the people there. Naturally, he develops an affection for them and is not too pleased to find them bothered by a mafia-type organization known as the Camorra. The CIA is also in town investigating an unusual drug smuggling operation. Once McCall starts to regain his strength, the Camorra are going to be on the receiving end of the bloodshed that is about to ensue.

I have said over the years that Denzel Washington had enough talent and charisma to make a bad movie at least watchable. Fortunately, this really isn’t a bad movie, but Washington still helps bump up the enjoyment. Fugua manages to avoid a few tropes of the action film genre once the climax of the story arrives. McCall comes across as dangerous and weary which Washington plays so well. Washington still comes across as believably lethal in spite of him being older. There are a few spots that seem to drag a little, but there are also some great scenes where the dialogue is written cleverly enough to help one through those moments. The first scene between Washington and Fanning turns out to be rather fascinating as they engage in a friendly battle of wits and one-upmanship.

The location was absolutely stunning, and it certainly did not hurt to actually cast Italian actors to play the locals McCall encounters. The villains were actually pretty believable in their nastiness. They did not really seem all that cartoonish, which is often a problem in this genre. It could be that the actors being Italian really assisted in the authenticity of the characters.

The action scenes were well done. Some of the choreography required some suspension of disbelief, but it wasn’t terribly outlandish. Washington can still be a convincing killer even if he is closing in on starting his seventh decade on this Earth.

The movie was pretty solidly entertaining, and this may be one of the few franchises where the later installments almost measure up to the first.

Glass Onion is a murder mystery film and sequel to Rian Johnson’s Knives Out which starred Daniel Craig as master detective Benoit Blanc. Johnson wrote and directed this entry in what could be a promising film franchise if he continues to add to it. This time, the cast includes Edward Norton, Dave Bautista, Janelle Monae, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom, Jr., and Kate Hudson.

Norton plays a billionaire technology mogul who invites some friends to his private island for a murder mystery game. Somehow, sophisticated private detective Benoit Blanc also receives an invitation. It’s a pretty complicated collection of associates once Blanc figures that everyone has a motive to actually kill Miles Bron, the mastermind behind the macabre weekend. Someone is not who they appear to be, and the murder that occurs is anything but for fun and games.

It took a while for me to get really engaged with this film. Fortunately, Craig is a good enough actor that makes it easy for me to mentally separate him from his more famous role, James Bond. Blanc is wonderfully eccentric and engaging. I am even getting used to his unusual southern accent.

Bautista is a bit of weak link for me in the cast. I just found his character to be a bit too obnoxious, but that seems to be Bautista’s schtick. I thought Janelle Monae was pretty good though. She has a surprising dual role and does pretty well throughout the film. Norton gives his usual solid performance as the entitled billionaire on this film.

Rian Johnson is basically paying homage to Agatha Christie with this burgeoning series, but he does manage to display some originality with this effort as well.

I think the first film was better, but this one is not without favor. The moment where Blanc reveals the solution is as captivating as expected. There were some pretty clever red herrings planted. The beginning is a little slow, but Agatha herself sometimes took her time to get to the meat of the story.

I ended up enjoying this film, but I found myself hoping that Rian Johnson hits the next Blanc entry out of the park. Glass Onion is a solid effort but doesn’t quite make it to the back fence.

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Meg 2: The Trench is a science fiction action film directed by Ben Wheatley. It took three writers to come up with this sequel to The Meg.. Dean Georgaris, Jon Hoebar, and Erich Hoebar adapted this from the novel from Steve Alten. I imagine that it bears very little resemblance to the original work. Jason Statham reprises his role of Jonas Taylor, some protector of the environment who has already escaped the jaws of a Megalodon, some prehistoric super shark that can never get a full meal. Wu Jing, Sophia Cai, Page Kennedy, and Sergio Peris-Mencheta are also included in the cast.

The film starts off with Jonas Taylor on a barge gathering evidence of illegal dumping of radioactive waste into the ocean. He has to fight off thuggish crewmembers before pulling off a ludicrously impossible escape with the help of some friends. He returns to a research base stationed at the edge of giant trench in the ocean floor where submersibles are being created so they can explore the deepest depths where they expect to find all kinds of interesting marine life. Well, the dive goes wrong when the giant sharks attack and cripple the vehicles. Unexpected salvation lies in a secret base that was somehow constructed at the bottom the Trench. Taylor and his team dodge all sorts of perils to make it inside where they learn of a betrayal that forces them into numerous confrontations with the savagely hungry inhabitants of the Trench.

This is such a mindless popcorn movie. Jason Statham doesn’t typically star in films with much character depth or a deliciously complicated plot, and this particular film remains on brand. Statham is still pretty fun to watch in this genre, and this film manages to keep that streak going, at least. I did find that I enjoyed most of the other characters, which sort of surprised me. Some of the tasteless quips were sporadically funny, which is better than none of them getting at least a low chuckle.

Of course, the stunts and visual effects were pretty amusing. Not much was believable, but if one keeps that bar of expectation low enough, it isn’t impossible to actually enjoy this thing.

There is a teen-age girl, played by Sophia Cai, who is kind of adopted by Jonas. I did find her to be pretty charming and played off well with the other co-stars. Wu Jing has some pretty good moments as well which displays both his charisma and athleticism. He plays the uncle of the young girl and runs the company he had gotten from his sister, who was killed in the first film. He is very innovative but a little reckless. He ends up being someone who handles crises with a good deal of wit as well as courage.

There is a massive amount of suspension of disbelief required to enjoy this film, however Jason Statham is too fun to watch to not make the effort. The cast is not as well-known, but they were well chosen. I liked everyone I was supposed to.

The Megs and the various other sea life encountered in this film were formidable and well-realized. I guess the studio utilized the technology pretty well, but most of these films these days consistently get that right.

Overall, it’s a stupid movie but somehow still enjoyable.

“Oppenheimer” is a biographical film written and directed by Christopher Nolan. It is based on a biography entitled American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer written by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. Cillian Murphy displays a masterful performance in the lead role. He is joined by quite a collection of co-stars which includes Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., and Florence Pugh. There are some unexpected appearances from other well-known actors.

Julius Robert Oppenheimer is considered the father of the atomic bomb. He conducted the research and development of the bomb in New Mexico during the thick of World War II. The film delves into the conflict between his patriotism and conscience. He has grave and understandable concerns about the potential hazards of entrusting the government with such an awesome destructive power. Also, he was linked to some Communist interests, which led to some concerns from the government about his loyalty to the nation. The film was very thorough in displaying the personal and professional consequences to Dr. Oppenheimer during the creation of the bomb and after it was unleashed on Japan.

Cillian Murphy gives one of the most compelling performances I have seen in some time. The cast was on its A game every step of the way. Emily Blunt plays Oppenheimer’s wife, who has some of her scientific accomplishments, although that was not explored all that much. Matt Damon plays General Leslie Groves, who oversees the Manhattan Project in New Mexico after recruiting Oppenheimer. Robert Downey Jr. takes on the role of Lewis Strauss, the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and ends up being a major thorn in Oppenheimer’s side.

The film is not without a few distracting flaws and at times feels as long as the three-hour runtime, but it is still very worthy of the acclaim it has received. The most noticeable difficulty is that the film was not always clear as to the timeline. Nolan once again avoids unveiling his story in a direct linear fashion. The transitions to different time periods still seem rather sudden which makes it a little hard to appreciate the writing and the performances to the fullest.

Fortunately, the strengths of the film are way more numerous than its problems. If there is such a thing as a perfect film, Nolan’s Oppenheimer gets closer to that mark than any film I have seen in recent years. Not only does it convey one of the most pivotal periods in American and world history, the artistry of this film is not likely to be matched for some time to come.

Luther: The Fallen Sun is a thriller written by Neil Cross and directed by Jamie Payne. Idris Elba reprises the role of now former Detective Chief Inspector John Luther. Cynthia Erivo, Dermot Crowley, and Andy Serkis are included in the cast.

John Luther is a dedicated detective, but he has crossed some lines in his career. He has been imprisoned for some of his misdeeds, however a killer he had failed to catch decides to taunt him. This killer uses blackmail to lure his victims into his traps and has the resources that would rival those of Bruce Wayne. His psychosis comes out in the most gruesome and elaborate of ways, and Luther engineers a pretty unbelievable prison escape to join the hunt. His hunt is complicated by him being the hunted as well. A typically complicated situation enmeshes Luther as he exercises his best skill.

First of all, the plot is pretty absurd, but I guess I am getting sentimental in my old age because I was just excited to see Luther slip into his familiar grey coat and take a moment to stare out over the London cityscape. The performances were captivating enough for me to shrug off most of the plot holes. Andy Serkis plays psychotic millionaire, David Robey, and is quite perversely effective. Elba’s performance hasn’t lost a step either.

Mission: Impossible- Dead Reckoning Part One is the latest entry into Tom Cruise’s longest running franchise. Christopher McQuarrie directs and shares script credit with Erik Jendresen. Tom Cruise reprises the role of Ehtan Hunt. He is joined by Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, and Hayley Atwell. Esai Morales plays a pretty chilling villain named Gabriel and is helped by henchwoman, Pom Klementieff. There are all kinds of familiar names in the cast. I guess I should also mention Cary Elwes.

This time, Hunt and Company have to stay ahead am artificial intelligence creatively designated the Entity. IMF (Impossible Mission Force) must regain half of a key that will lead them to a means to destroy the Entity. The Entity has gathered enough loyalty and intelligence to give everyone a run for the money. This story makes the bold claim that this will be Ethan’s toughest mission.

The problem is that it also seems to be the most absurd mission the IMF has ever tackled. The story doesn’t always make sense. The stunts are almost too outrageous and require an outlandish amount of suspension of disbelief. Fortunately, it is a very talented cast, and many scenes did work pretty well. Cruise does remain as compelling as ever in the lead role, and one can almost forget he is now in his sixties. Rhames and Pegg are quite good too, and I would not object to them getting more screen time in the next installment.

I did find some of the action scenes such as a car chase in Rome just seemed to go on and on. The stunts were pretty well choreographed for the most part, but I would have appreciated a little more opportunity to catch my breath and see Ethan move onto the next leg a little sooner.

Overall, the film manages to still be pretty entertaining in spite of some significant flaws. As mentioned before, the cast was well chosen, and there was a bit of real suspense. The film does seem to run a little longer than I would have preferred, and some of the editing choices were a little questionable. As much as I complained about the long action scenes, there were also times that the change of locations was a little too jarring. The flow and pace of the story just seemed a little inconsistent at times.

I guess my reaction was a little more mixed than I expected, but I would still say that it turned out to be a pretty good time and nowhere near to scraping the bottle of the cinematic barrel.

Sound of Freedom is a suspense, action film that depicts the exploits of Tim Ballard, a former Homeland Security agent who goes rogue to rescue children from sex trafficking rings. Alejandro Monteverde is the director who also co-wrote the script alongside Rod Barr. Jim Caviezel plays the role of Tim Ballard. The cast also includes Mira Sorvino, Kurt Fuller, Bill Camp, and Jose Zuniga.

Ballard comes across a case where he learns of two siblings who were abducted from their single father and sold into a sex slavery. He has spent years tracking and arresting pedophiles but is challenged by a colleague who asks how many children he has actually saved. Ballard is the founder of a non-profit organization known as Operation Underground Railroad. I have been familiar with this guy for some time, and he does not come without some skeptics and controversy.

Putting all of that aside, the film is pretty well done. Caviezel puts in a compelling performance. It was interesting to see him having to say some pretty disturbing things in order to gain the confidence and trust of various ringleaders. There are some scenes that seem a little implausible, but the topic is treated with appropriate gravitas and seriousness. The actors portraying the pedophiles and slave traders are disturbingly convincing in their roles, but that’s why they make the big bucks. This may be another story that has quite a bit of creative license in the development, but the film does its job in stirring emotions regarding child sex trafficking. The child actors did a great job. The movie is successful when it comes to building the suspense and keeping the audience engaged. The message regarding the seriousness and evil of child sex trafficking is pretty powerfully presented without it being too graphic and stomach-churning. The subject matter is disturbing enough on its own.

Even if I have a few doubts regarding the accuracy, I think the overall message is worthy of support. The film is still pretty well done, and I think the matter of child sex trafficking does need all the attention it can get, so hopefully we have better policies and practices in place to help rid ourselves of this scourge on humanity. Perhaps saying that I enjoyed the movie would seem a little odd, however I have no regrets that I took the time to see it.

The Return of Jo Jones is a Doctor Who collection of audio dramas from Big Finish Productions. Nicholas Briggs returns to the director’s seat for this trilogy of episodes starring Tim Treloar and Katy Manning. Treloar has been standing in for the late Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor for the past few years and continues to improve in his impression or performance. Katy Manning returns as a much older Jo Grant, who is now known as Jo Jones. Jo has been married and now widowed, but she does have a sizeable collection of descendants. She is reunited with the incarnation of the Doctor who is the most familiar to her. Guest stars in this series include Tom Alexander, Samuel Clemens, Poppy Miller, David O’Mahoney, and Corrine Wicks.

Matt Fitton gets the privilege of reuniting this TARDIS team with Supernature. On the Isle of Wight, the birds have mysteriously gotten more aggressive, and Jo Jones joins an old friend to help out with the investigation when a familiar stranger with a velvet jacket and frilly shirt appears to conduct his own assessment of the situation. This introductory story is pretty good. The best parts are the emotional moments between the Doctor and Jo. From the Doctor’s perspective, he has only parted ways with Jo pretty recently, where for her, it has been many decades. It’s a pretty good start. Birds and wildlife behaving strangely just seems like something that has been overused, but the performances of the leads are strong enough to forgive Fitton’s rather humdrum plot. He does capture the dynamic between the Doctor and Jo quite well, even though Jo has quite a bit more seasoning in this set.

The Conservitors is written by Felicia Barker and is rather more interesting. The Doctor and Jo arrive in the far future on a planet that has laws enforced by robots known as Conservitors. A rebellion against a tyrant is brewing, and the TARDIS team are in familiar territory, but no less dangerous territory. There is an interesting family dynamic among some of the supporting characters. Jo rediscovers the thrill of traveling to another planet, and her enthusiasm even at a much older age seems rather infectious and wonderfully performed by Manning. There is nothing terrible earth-shattering about the plot, but Barker presents a pretty entertaining story and exhibits a fair amount of competent world building in a pretty short story. The Doctor being inhibited by nanobots or something that is designed to keep him out of danger is rather amusing. I like that Barker made sure that the Doctor provided the solution to his own problem by the end.

Finally, it is Lizzie Hopley who closes out this collection with The Iron Shore. Manning gets to revive her narration skills as this story starts with the Doctor’s apparent death. The Doctor and Jo arrive on the planet known as Mercator where they encounter a man who is seen as cursed and an ancient creature in the depths of the ocean. It took me a bit to follow the plot as well, however I found myself getting drawn into the suspense.

Writing for a franchise as vast as Doctor Who makes it hard to capture that sense of having a classic moment, but the stories are all well written here. Even though the first story isn’t quite my favorite, Fitton is still a talented writer and has contributed a great deal to the Big Finish catalog over the years. Treloar has been getting better as he tries to capture the essence of Jon Pertwee’s performance. Katy Manning is still showing remarkable talent as she ages. I understand that she has to pitch her voice higher than usual when portraying younger Jo. At first, I was not exactly enamored with the idea of an older Jo gallivanting around time and space with the Doctor, but I found this to be more enjoyable than expected, and it appears this era may go on for a bit in the Third Doctor series.

Purity Unleashed is a Doctor Who audio anthology starring Colin Baker and Bonnie Langford. Helen Goldwyn serves as director in all three stories in this collection. Imogen Stubbs returns as the dubiously motivated Patricia McBride. Leah Brotherhood, Sophie-Louise Dann, Luke R Francis, and Jonny Weldon are included in the cast throughout this trilogy.

In the most recent sets, the Doctor and Mel have befriended a disabled, yet more than competent, marine biologist named Hebe Harrison, who ends joining them in the TARDIS. Consequences of some of their more recent adventures ended up having Hebe erased from existence with only the Doctor and Mel able to remember her. Of course, they like her well enough to correct the disruption to recover her, but that’s going to take three stories to accomplish.

Matthew Sweet starts off the crusade with Broadway Belongs to Me. The Doctor and Mel arrive in New York during the 1930’s where they meet future versions of themselves, and Mel finds herself cast in a Broadway play that should not exist. This one is supposed to explore the Fascism occurring in that period. Although Sweet doesn’t disrespect the seriousness of the subject, this ends up being absolutely hilarious when the real nature of the forces behind the play is revealed. Every now and then, Big Finish turns a story into a bit of a musical, and but they don’t overuse the gimmick. Anyway, not only are the twists pretty clever; they did also elicit a bit actual laughing out loud.

Chris Chapman brings his script, Purification, to the table, and the Doctor and Mel find a more serious and familiar adversary in 1910 New Zealand. The Doctor finds that this disruption centers on a famous expedition to Antarctica led by Captain Scott of the Terra Nova. It was a pretty good idea, but it just basically seems to serve only as a means to peel back some of the secrets of the plot. Imogen Stubbs shows up in this story as one of these people who may try to be well-meaning, but her obsessions end up getting the better of her, forcing the Doctor to intervene in a more dangerous manner than he would prefer.

Finally, Ian Potter closes out this set with Time-Burst where the Doctor and Mel have what may be their final confrontation with Patricia McBride and her fancy Time Suit in Sheffield, 1864 on the eve of a catastrophic flood. The Doctor is flitting between two time zones unwillingly. Everything is coming apart at the seams, and McBride is more of a loose cannon than ever. It’s a pretty good finale, however it appears that Big Finish is not quite done with Hebe Harrison.

My favorite in this trilogy appears to be the first one, although none of the entries come close to being bad. Of course, the chemistry and enthusiasm shared between Baker and Langford is what really makes this work. I struggled with liking Colin Baker’s Doctor during his television era, but Big Finish has spent the last twenty years improving on his development, so I look forward to hearing new Colin Baker episodes, and this set did nothing to dampen that anticipation. As I find myself noting in many of these musings, this isn’t quite a masterpiece, but it’s solidly entertaining, and the first story in particular is quite funny.