“What Men Want” is a rather raunchy comedy loosely based on the 2000 film “What Women Want” which starred Mel Gibson.  Adam Shankman is the director of this work which took three writers to concoct.  Tina Gordon, Alex Gregory, and Peter Huyck are credited this latest example of Hollywood’s continued lack of originality.  Having Taraji P. Henson as the lead is almost the only good decision made in this production.  She is actually genuinely funny and goes a long way to make this thing at least moderately enjoyable.  Tracy Morgan, Josh Brener, Richard Roundtree, and surprisingly, Brian Bosworth are part of the cast.  No one really puts in a bad performance, but some of the directions the story follows just seems too obvious and unnecessary.

Henson plays an ambitious sports agent who is passed over for promotion.  An ill-advised encounter with a psychic and a crack on the head are the catalyst for her to be able to hear the thoughts of men.  Her non-verbal reactions to the thoughts bombarding her were quite convincing.  Henson does have pretty sharp comedic instincts which helps considerably make this things bearable.  Unfortunately, bearable is about as good as it gets, at least for me.

Brener plays the obligatory prissy,  gay assistant to Henson’s character and is often pretty amusing himself.  The two of them have a pretty typical unlikely double act when onscreen together and it works pretty well for the most part.  It’s too bad they didn’t have better material to showcase their chemistry.

Brian Bosworth being in this movie seems a bit surprising since he is better known as an action star as well as a disappointing NFL linebacker in the 1980’s.  He does fine.  Nothing stands out in regard to his performance, either good or bad.

Tracy Morgan plays the overbearing father of a rising basketball star.  Morgan tends to be a hit or miss source of amusement for me.  He was fine here but nothing much other than what I have seen before from him.

There’s actually several characters in this one I rather liked.  Richard Roundtree plays the father to Henson’s character, and I did find it pretty cool to see him onscreen with her.

The film ended up having some moments and characters that sort of worked or came close to it, but I still found this to be an ultimately frustrating experience.

As much as this piece confirms that studios should really start to turn away from cinematic reheats of this sort, it also solidifies my hope that Taraji P. will be cast in more lead roles.  She just deserves better material than what was offered here.

“Alita: Battle Angel” is a new science fiction, cyberpunk film based on some Manga series out if Japan.  Robert Rodriguez is the director of this piece which was written by James Cameron and Laeta Kalogridis with Yukito Kishiro being the original creator of this character.

Rosa Salazar plays the title role with great supporting talent by Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, and Ed Skrein.  The film has a lot of going for it with a compelling cast and stunning visual effects.  The fight and chase scenes were also pretty well done.

I don’t really keep up with Manga, so I am not sure how closely this film follows the original source material.  As a movie, there’s quite a lot that works here, but some of the plot felt a little muddled.  I also was not that satisfied with an ending.  The producers obviously have some major franchise ambitions.  I am not sure the box office returns that I have just read are going to justify the studio to follow through with those intentions.

Not only were other reviews mixed among various critic, I had a mixed reaction to the film within myself.  I would not say this film is one to avoid, but I also understand why the approval among the pros isn’t unanimous.

“The Silent Speaker” is a Nero Wolfe mystery written by Rex Stout.  It was first published in 1945.  Nero Wolfe’s interest is piqued by the opportunity for a fee as hefty as himself when the Director of the Bureau of Price Regulation is bludgeoned to death just before he is to deliver a speech to the National Industrial Association, a group of very wealthy business owners.  It becomes even more imperative when another murder occurs right on Wolfe’s doorstep.

The story is told in Archie Goodwin’s distinctive style of narration.  Archie is Wolfe’s sharp-witted assistant and bodyguard.

For the uninitiated, Wolfe is an overweight genius of a detective who rarely leaves his New York brownstone where he has strict rules regarding his daily tending of his collection of orchids and meal times.  He is arrogant, abrasive, and almost always right.  Goodwin is a great foil since he is not afraid to push back against his employer’s will and often has to needle him to work.  Wolfe employs a gourmet chef who also lives in the brownstone.

This particular novel felt pretty slow to me unfortunately.  Stout still demonstrated his gift as a wordsmith effectively, but I had some trouble staying interested in this one.  There was still some amusing banter between Wolfe and Archie, however it was not quite enough to keep me as engaged as I like.  I didn’t find this a terrible installment in the series, however this was not quite the page turner I hoped for.

Next up, let’s see how Steve Cole presents the current version of a certain traveler in time and space in “Combat Magicks”, one of the latest Doctor Who novels from BBC Books.

“The Anachronauts” is a Doctor Who audio play written by Simon Guerrier and is released by Big Finish Productions.  Peter Purves and Jean Marsh share the presentation of this installment in the Companion Chronicles range.  This takes place during the period when the First Doctor was traveling with Steven Taylor and Sara Kingdom as they try to elude the Daleks.

The TARDIS collides with another time vessel leaving both parties waking up on a desert island.  They are then menaced by an entity known as a Time Sprite.  As they learn the truth about their predicament, Sara and Steven find themselves in Berlin during the Cold War.  In fact, they have to determine if they are in fact where they seem.  The Doctor has also disappeared and is not able to be of much help for a time.

There are some very interesting ideas explored here.  This is probably a bit more convoluted than what the television writers explored when William Hartnell played the Doctor.  Purves and Marsh are both compelling performers.  Purves continues to do well with his rendition of William Hartnell’s portrayal of the Doctor.  He admits that it is not a perfect imitation, but he somehow manages to capture the flavor of the First Doctor quite nicely.

Guerrier also explores what could have been in the relationship between Steven and Sara.  Sara meets a tragic fate during the television serial “The Dalek Master Plan”.  Big Finish has managed to create new adventures with Sara before her death.  Fortunately, the actress who played is still very much alive.  Marsh can’t quite bring out the voice of her younger self, however she still does well enough.  I can live with quite a lot if there are still new adventures with the earlier Doctors in some form.

I think this was one of the more unique and complicated storylines for the First Doctor, and the experience was enhanced by solid performances of both Purves and Marsh.  The sound effects were quite effective as expected.  That is especially true for when the Time Sprite made an appearance.

I would recommend for this particular Big Finish episode to not be overlooked.

“Cold Pursuit” is the latest film to feature who used to be everyone’s favorite cinematic avenger, Liam Neeson.  Frank Baldwin adapted this script from another film known entitled “In Order of Disappearance” by Kim Fupz Aakeson.  Hans Petter Moland in the director who may take some losses due to the recent controversy swirling around the lead actor, Liam Neeson.  Laura Dern, Tom Bateman, and William Forsythe are included in the cast.

Liam Neeson plays a snowplow driver in the Colorado Rocky Mountains who goes quite a ghoulish path of revenge after his son is murdered by a drug cartel.

There’s some dark comedy served on the side alongside the body count.  I don’t know much about Bateman , who plays the sadistic ringleader, but he put in an interesting performance.  He was perfectly despicable.

Neeson is a talented actor, but he does not appear to be stretching himself much these days.  Of course, this matter of admitting some effort to avenge the rape of a friend on any black man who crossed is path almost forty years isn’t going to help the returns on this film.

There are better movies in this genre.  There is apparently some comparison to “Fargo” out there.  I haven’t seen “Fargo” all the way through, so I can’t make a personal comparison.  This is merely a decent movie.  There are times where it drags a bit, and not every decision made by characters made much sense at the time.

I did end up enjoying it a little better than I anticipated in spite of the huge pile of excrement surrounding it due to Neeson’s ill-timed public soul cleansing.  It probably doesn’t deserve to be any kind of mega blockbuster, but I didn’t mind catching it.

“Fog Over Frisco” is a 1934 Warner Brothers film directed by William Dieterle.  The script was written by Robert N. Lee and Eugene Solow and was adapted from a story by George Dyer.  Bette Davis, Margaret Lindsay, Donald Wood, and Alan Hale are part of the talented cast.

Bette Davis plays a bored and bratty socialite who gets involved in a plot steal security bonds from her step-father’s company for a crime boss.  When she disappears, her intrepid and spirited step-sister takes it upon herself to find out what happened.

It’s a pretty fun romp of a film, but I probably would not find it all that memorable for the most part, except as an early Bette Davis performance.  It is interesting that she does not seem to have much more than a supporting role in this one.  Some of the characters come off as pretty cliché, but I have found this to be a common observation for the films of that period.

It’s pretty enjoyable but probably not one I will go out of my way to see again.

“The Prodigy” is a horror film directed by Nicholas McCarthy and written by Jeff Buhler. It stars Taylor Schilling, Jackson Robert Scott, Paul Fauteux, and Colm Feore. The film starts off with a woman escaping from some serial killer who cut off her hand.  When the police kill the crazed pervert during a raid, a young couple welcome a newborn son to the world.

The child begins to show signs of impressive genius, but there are some very disturbing impulses that go along with the smarts.

This is another one that provides a couple of jumps, however too much of those were already shown in the trailer.  This is a slow, predictable effort from McCarthy and Buhler. The creepy kid played by Jackson Robert Scott was reasonably well performed. Some of the visual effects worked out, but overall this was not something I found terribly unique or impressive.

I am not sure what’s the best way to solve the common fictional problem of an eight year-old possessed by a crazed killer, but I had a hard time caring in the end.  There just isn’t much here for this particular film to stand out.

“Muse of Fire” is a Doctor Who audio play written by Paul Magrs, adding to the cast catalog of Big Finish Productions.  Sylvester McCoy is reunited with Sophie Aldred and Philip Olivier.  Ace and Hex are back together, joining the Doctor in another caper.  This time, they are in 1922 Paris during a time when various artist have converged in France’s capital for inspiration.  Or that was supposed to have happened, but Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, and other artistic geniuses have mysteriously departed after particularly brutal reviews were published.

Hex isn’t the only welcome return to Big Finish.  Katy Manning reprises her performance as trans temporal adventuress Iris Wildthyme.  Iris was introduced in the original novels from BBC Books and was a reckless, mysterious figure who had crossed paths with all of the various incarnations of the Doctor.  I liked the moment in this adventure when the Doctor admitted not quite remembering how or when he first met Iris.  Manning has said how much she enjoys playing the part and that comes across quite well in this episode.

Christine Kavanaugh plays a veiled bookshop owner with extraterrestrial origins of her own and a very strange preference for sustenance.

There is actually quite an interesting mix of characters in this overall light-hearted episode.  Apparently Paris in the 1920’s was a quite the draw for various artists and American expatriates.

The eventual meeting between the Doctor and Iris didn’t disappoint although it took quite a while to get there.

On top of everything, there is a talking toy panda named Panda who serves as Iris’s companion.  David Benson was the voice talent here.  Iris has her own range with Big Finish, and I gather this is not the first time that Panda has been appeared.  I haven’t listened to the Iris Wildthyme series, so I had to piece together some of these things.

It’s a pretty enjoyable episode with some nice treats for the more loyal collectors of Big Finish.

I really hope that Liam Neeson hasn’t wrecked his career by his recent admission of hoping to kill a black man almost forty years ago  to avenge the rape of a good friend. He did acknowledge that it was a foolish and horrible desire to have, and he is right about that.

So this whole revelation came out a few days ago when Neeson was interviewed by a journalist for a British newspaper called “The Independent”.  Somehow he started speaking about an incident where a good friend revealed that she had been sexually assaulted by a black man.  Neeson then spent a week scouring the streets of wherever he was hoping to have a confrontation with a black man so he could kill him.  What makes this wish so pointless and tragic is that he was willing to initiate a fight with anyone, not necessarily the person who committed the rape.  Thankfully, Neeson came to his senses before any further violence came about but that’s a pretty dark place to be in mentally.  That’s saying something considering I don’t necessarily disagree with revenge in all cases.  I just think the guy who actually committed the evil deed should be the only one to be out down.

Neeson had a more recent interview with Robin Roberts this week on “Good Morning America” where he reiterated that he knows it was wrong to indulge such violent fantasies.  He expressed his regret which I think was sincere.  I do not know what Neeson was expecting in these revelations.  Everyone has embarrassing and dark moments in their past.  I may trust a few people with something like that, but exposing this to the public after almost four decades just seems so pointless.  If the guilt was becoming that extreme again for some reason, Neeson can afford some private therapy.  This does nothing to ease the controversy over racial matters. If Neeson wanted to merely show that he is a human being who struggles and makes poor, emotionally distraught decisions sometimes, anyone with some sense or understanding of people will know that he has lapsed, and probably pretty badly at times.

I hope that Neeson does receive some grace and forgiveness in spite of this terrible moment in his past.  I have enjoyed most of his films and hope to enjoy some more.  I am not sure “Cold Pursuit”, his latest film, is going to fall in the category of me enjoying it however.  I also hope that he realizes that he does not need to expose all of his past mistakes like that for absolution.  Some things can be handled privately between a close friend or with God, if one is a believer.  I am not certain of Neeson’s religious or spiritual position, but I know I need God when I want to fly off the rails.

As for the friend who was attacked in such a cowardly, obscene manner, I hope she was able to find some justice and some healing a long time ago.

I am glad that Neeson did not have the opportunity to follow through on his misguided intentions for revenge.  I am glad that he admits how wrong he was at that time. I also agree that one shouldn’t hold a whole race responsible for the atrocities committed by individuals.  There are people in every group, class, or ethnicity who are degenerates, as there are people in every group, class, or ethnicity capable of courage and nobility.

“Polar” is a new Netflix film based on a comic series from Dark Horse Comics and stars Mads Mikkelsen, Vanessa Hudgens, and Matt Lucas.  It’s directed by Jonas Akerlund from a script by Jayson Rothwell.

Mikkelsen plays an assassin who is part of some organization who compel him to retire when he turns 50 years old.  The organization has promised to pay some exorbitant pension for his loyal and lethal services, except the top guy, played by Matt Lucas, doesn’t want to pay and has a squad of younger executioners take out the soon to be pensioners.

Back to Mikkelsen, who plays a hitman nicknamed the Black Kaiser. I’m not sure why, but that’s what he’s called.  His name is actually Duncan Vizla, which is what I’ll go with for the purposes of this brief review.

Anyway, Vizla retires to some lakeside cabin the middle of winter, meets a shy woman across the way, shares his unique knowledge of world travels with some schoolkids, and then calls on his deadly instincts to fight off the group of killer who have finally found him.

The action sequences were pretty well executed, but the premise is quite absurd.  Mikkelsen kind of has a pretty compelling role, but he is the typical stoic, world-weary anti-hero.

Matt Lucas is a bit too flamboyant and comical as Mr. Blut to be considered that menacing.  The more I think about it, the more ridiculous I think it would be to buy into a group of hardened killers respecting this clown, no matter how sadistic and wealthy he is depicted.

The sex and blood flows gratuitously throughout the movie.  I know that sounds so inelegant, but it’s an inelegant movie.

All is not lost though. There is an interesting twist in the relationship between Duncan and Hudgens’ character that is revealed in some last minute unveiling that sort of leave it open for a sequel.

There is some enjoyment to be found in this piece with a massive suspension of disbelief and the remembering that it is based on a comic book. It’s just probably not something I am going to revisit very much, although I may check out a sequel if it comes about.