The Age of Adaline, Mini Movie Review

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Adaline Bowman (Blake Lively) hasn't aged since 29.  1937 was when the miracle took place.  As she drove through the California coastal mountains to pick up her daughter something amazing happened: it snowed.  And it was this snow that caused Adaline to plummet into a lake and reach the freezing body temperature of 87 Fahrenheit.  Then another miracle occurred: Lightning.  At just the right moment, around the two minute mark, the right age defying recipe struck Adaline, unbeknownst to her.  She later takes a medical job to try and figure out what's happened.  We as an audience, on the other hand, knows everything that has taken place, thanks to supplied information by the same Narrator who drones through the trailer.

It's this Narrator and the unnecessary scientific explanations that ruin The Age of Adaline magic.  Whenever there's a montage of time, there's narration.  Whenever there's an unwanted explanation, there's narration.  Does the Narrator have to sound so bored?   Sadly this narration takes an otherwise polished interesting film and turns it into a documentary.  We're not watching a major theatrical release; we're watching a special on the Science channel about the life of someone who's still in the luster of youth at 107 years old.  She's spent years slipping through time, but never living.  All the good moments in the film has no narration at all.  We don't need it!  And it's a shame, because the narration is jarring and sidetracks from some good performances by Blake Lively, Michiel Huisman, Harrison Ford, Ellen Burstyn, and Kathy Baker.  Shame really.

The Age of Adaline could have been an incredibly enchanting film.  I like this movie, but I wanted so desperately to love it.

 MPAA: Rated PG-13 for a suggestive comment.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Movie Review

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

I've never seen the other Jack Ryan movies, based on the Tom Clancy books, so I do not have them to compare, but Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is an origin story of the character, so a familiarity to the other plots are not needed.  This is also the first Jack Ryan movie that isn't based on one of the books. 

Chris Pine stars as Jack Ryan, a character previously portrayed by Alec Baldwin, Ben Affleck, and twice by Harrison Ford, who is at this time a foreign exchange student in England studying economics.  It is there that he notices students running to buildings to view the television.  He follows, confused, until he sees smoke billowing from the Twin Towers in New York.  Next we see him as a Marine fighting in Afghanistan. A man of action. No hesitation.  He's injured and must learn to walk again, thus leading him to the two people who will influence the next chapter in his life: His future love interest Cathy Muller (Keira Knightley) and CIA mentor Thomas Harper (Kevin Costner).

You may think I've given away most of the plot detailing these events, but I haven't.  Everything I've stated is all in the exposition.

This new Jack Ryan movie is intelligent and fast paced.  You can't sleep through the story and understand everything that is taking place and why it's happening.  The general theme of this movie is scary, feeling as if such a scenario is possible.  And Kenneth Branagh, who both directed and played the villain, is interesting and quite the foe.

Where I feel the movie lacks is in some of the scene transitions and pacing.  The first part of the movie jumps around a little, and the motivations of the characters briefly explained.

Overall a fun thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat.

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and intense action, and brief strong language.

Must See Series: The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles

(The Young Indiana Jones is on Netflix)

Watching that trailer makes me want to watch the show all over again!

The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, 1992-1996, has got to be one of the best series to ever grace the small screen.  It always amazes me how few people have actually seen it, and those who haven't are missing out.  The storytelling is fun and adventurous, and the production quality is incredibly high, so high that the show's expensive budget got the series canceled.  Young Indiana Jones traveled the World, and the show was filmed on location in many countries. 

     (All the Countries the "Young Indiana Jones" visits.  Source Info)

The show lasted for two seasons from 1992-1993.  Then in 1994-1996, four made for television movies were produced.  In 1999 all the material was then re-edited into 22 episodes, which is found in the box-sets.  The show starts out with Corey Carrier playing Indiana Jones (ages 8-10), but by the end of the first volume Sean Patrick Flanery plays Indiana Jones (ages 16-21) for the rest of the series, and he makes a fantastic Indiana Jones!  He really does . . . I'm tempted to say I like him more then Harrison Ford.  No, I can't say that!  Sean Flanery does the role justice.  By the way, Harrison Ford did guest star in the Jazz themed episode "Young Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the Blues".

If you can afford the box-sets they're worth the investment.  Each episode is pared with quite a few mini documentaries which talk about the culture Indiana Jones visits and the famous people he meets, and Jones meets many famous people.  I'm pretty sure Norman Rockwell and Picasso never met in Paris, but it's still fun.

Oh, and that 4th Indiana Jones movie about the Crystal Skulls, turns out the crystal skulls were supposed to be a plot point in a season 3 episode.  It makes me wonder: If season 3 got produced, would there have been an Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull?  Some series should never be canceled . . .