The Cinematic Review-verse

Photo courtesy of William Beavers. Hello, readers. In Dwayne Johnson's latest acting/producing work, he starred as former wrestler/mixed martial artist Mark Kerr in Benny Safdie's 'The Smashing Machine.' At first, I wasn't too impressed because of Kerr's hunger for victory and blood in the fighting ring. But as he recognized that drugs were messing up his life and he went in to rehab, I liked Kerr's characterization and Johnson's performance of him. I felt that Johnson and his character reminded me that fighters are human beings that want to do their best out of the ring. I also liked Emily Blunt's performance as Kerr's girlfriend Dawn Staples. Blunt gave emotional power in her character trying to reason with Kerr and make sure Kerr looks out for her own wellbeing. Though I could see it was not easy when there were times when they would argue and Kerr would snap their door in half in frustration. On the other hand, it was nice to see that they co...

  Good morning, people.  On Thursday, May 16, I saw 'The Fall Guy' starring Ryan Gosling (also a producer) and Emily Blunt. Based on a show from the early 1980s starring Lee Majors, Gosling played Colt Seavers, a stuntman. Though he had a tough injury that put his job on hold, he got back, but here's the twist: While covering for an actor played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Colt accidentally gets mixed up with some of the actor's enemies and ends up on a 'Central Intelligence' type adventure around Australia. If that's not enough, he's got to patch up some broken romance with Emily Blunt's character, Jody. Jody has more drama than that with a major directorial film debut job and an overbearing producer, played by Hannah Waddingham, pressuring her to make a hit. The excellent parts came when Gosling's fight scenes reminded me of 'Central Intelligence', 'Scott Pilgrim', and 'Fast and the Furious'. Not only that, I enjoyed how th...

Photo Courtesy of imdb.com Fifty-four years from the 1960s classic was worth the wait in Disney's latest project, "Mary Poppins Returns". There are parallels between the film, Christopher Robin, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Be that as it may, Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda's singing voices brought an outpouring of wonder that audiences must see. "Mary Poppins Returns" takes place in 1930s London, where a now grown-up, widowed Michael Banks, played by Ben Whishaw, is struggling to keep his home and his children intact. When all seems lost, the children, Annabel, John, and Georgie, played by Pixie Davies, Nathanael Saleh, and Joel Dawson, cross paths with Michael's former nanny, the esteemed Mary Poppins, played by Emily Blunt. Through her magic umbrella, and the assistance of affable lamplighter Jack, played by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Michael's optimistic sister Jane, played by Emily Mortimer, the Banks children can save their ...