“Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw”
Marc Coppola went to see this Fast & Furious spin-off, the 9th movie in a franchise that began 18 years ago! His review:
Dwayne Johnson as lawman Luke Hobbs and Jason Statham’s outcast Deckard Shaw form an unlikely alliance when a cyber-genetically enhanced villain (played very well by Idris Elba) threatens the future of humanity. Vanessa Kirby (“The Crown,” “Mission Impossible Fallout”) is excellent as an MI6 agent and Shaw’s sister. The theme: humanity and family coming together against machine. It’s a formula action flick, but formula on steroids. There’s fight and chase sequences I’ve never seen before and plenty of stunts well worth seeing. It has the comedic moments the Fast & Furious franchise is known for and I got several laughs.
2 ½ ♥
“The Operative”
A not thrilling or particularly suspenseful spy movie starring Diane Kruger as a Mossad agent. Martin Freeman (The U.K. version of “The Office,” Bilbo in “The Hobbit” movies) plays her British handler. Set mostly in Iran, the plot is complicated and you never really feel like you know anyone very well but then again, how well can you really know a spy? What’s kind of interesting is how Kruger’s spy character handles her love life.
1 ½ ♥
“Tel Aviv on Fire”
Director/co-writer Sameh Zoabi is the Palestinian Spike Lee. This is a comedy set amid the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Yes- there is humor even at checkpoints. It’s kind of movie within a movie because our hero is a Palestinian writing a soap opera which has become the obsession of both Israelis and Palestinians. It’s funny, sharp and heartfelt. And it’s getting raves in Israel.
I interviewed Zoabi- check it out on my “Sonstein Sessions” podcast on the IHeartradio App.
3 ½ ♥
“Love, Antosha”
A doc about the sadly short life of the incredibly gifted actor Anton Yelchin. Yelchin came to the U.S. with his Russian parents when he was just 6 months old. His Russian name is Antosha. I never knew Yelchin had cystic fibrosis and never missed a day on the set despite his disability. What a heartbreaking, revealing doc.
4 ♥