2018 Movies in Review

One of my movie going friends moved away last year, so I thought that my movie attendance may have dropped in 2018.  However, it seems as I still (as usual) saw quite a few...
Den of Thieves - Gerard Butler and 50 Cent star in this film about a group of violent bank robbers in Los Angeles and the Sheriff Department's elite squad of detectives.  Apparently, Los Angeles is the Bank Robbery capital of the world (yay, us!), and this film is based on a real life attempt to rob the Federal Reserve Bank in Downtown.  In the movie, there is a fine line between the behavior of both groups as the detectives engage in questionable behavior in both their personal and professional lives and the violent bank robbers have families at home whom they lovingly take care of.  The reviews were mixed, so I went in with low expectations (and only went because I am a fan of Gerard Butler and the movie's genre).  However, it was an entertaining and action packed film - typical of the police-cat-and-mouse genre with big car chases and big gun fights.
Red Sparrow - Dominica Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence) plays Russian prima ballerina who, after being injured,  joins the SVR and is sent to "Sparrow School" to learn the art of seductive spying or "sexpionage".  When CIA agent Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton) is found to be working with a top level SVR officer to gain secrets for the US, Egorova is sent to seduce him and find out more about his double agent.  I'm a sucker for an espionage film and the premise is a good one, but the movie was just ok.  I'm not one to be offended by sex or violence in a film, even a lot of it, but both seemed gratuitous rather than important to the plot which I found irritating.  Red Sparrow is based on a book of the same name by Jason Matthews.  I'm currently listening to it when I walk the dog.  I'm enjoying it more.
Ocean's 8 - The Ocean's 11, 12, and 13 movies are some of my favorite movies of all time, so I looked forward to the "female version" of Ocean's 8.  Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Rhianna, Helena Bonham Carter, Awkwafina, and Anne Hathaway all star in this heist film.  Bullock's character plays Debbie Ocean, the sister of Danny Ocean (George Clooney's Ocean's character) who is a bit of a con herself.  During her most recent stint in prison she devised a plan to steal a Cartier necklace at the upcoming Met Gala.  Once she gets out of prison, she assembles her reluctant team, all with a specific set of skills, to pull off the heist.  As with the previous Ocean's films, this one was funny and quite clever - keeping you guessing with the twists and turns and the real motive behind the heist.  I enjoyed this one a lot, the only downfall being the absence of George Clooney and Matt Damon as eye candy.
Sicario: Day of the Soldado - OMG!  This movie was so good- Intense but good.  It is the follow up to 2015's Sicario about the CIA's relationship with a Sicario or hitman for the Mexican drug cartels.  Josh Brolin stars as the CIA agent who enlists the help of former Sicario Alejandro Gillick (Benecio del Toro) to start a feud between rival drug cartels.  They kidnap the daughter of one kingpin and blame it on another.  In the end, the plan goes to pot, and Gillick and the teenage girl are abandoned by the CIA.  They fend for themselves and try to get out of harm's way while the CIA tries to destroy all evidence of the plan, including them.  The ending left me wondering so thankfully, a 3rd installment is in the works.  It is not for the faint of heart, but it is very well done.
Equalizer 2 - Denzel Washington reprised his roll as Robert McCall, ex-CIA who now helps the "little guy" with big problems.  When his friend and former colleague is murdered, he finds out that her killer is someone he knows.  He takes matters into his own hands.  I'm sensing a pattern here in my movie watching, but yes, it's another action/spy (ex)/good guy vs bad guy movie.  I liked it!
The Spy Who Dumped Me - Best friends (Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon) must become amateur spies after an ex-boyfriend who turns out to be a spy comes to them for help.  This movie is hysterical and so much fun.  It had some similarities to Megan McCarthy's "Spy" movie where the "bumbling" women save the day, but I belly laughed all the same.
Dog Days - I'm not usually a fan of dog movies because when the dog dies I cry and cry and cry.  This movie about how dogs are a wonderful part of our lives was cute, and even though one does die, they don't make us watch that part like other movies have done.  It has a large cast with mostly stars famous for television (Eva Longoria, Vanessa Hudgens, Rob Cordry, Tone Bell, and Adam Pally).  I noticed some reviewers named it "Dog, Actually" as a play on Love, Actually because the large cast is all related in some way or another and are all in love or trying to fall in love.  It's not an award winner, but it's a sweet movie.
I'm going to stop there for now.  Oscar nominations were announced this week.  I will share my thoughts on those in the next post.  None of these were chosen.