About Ealasaid

Ealasaid is a technical writer, freelance movie reviewer, bookbinder, and geek-of-many-trades based in Portland, OR.

John Wick

John Wick

The first warning sign “John Wick” gives us is that there was very, very little publicity about it. Your humble reviewer sees several movies a month, plus previews, and saw nary a single preview for Keanu Reeves’ latest vehicle. The second, of course, is that Reeves is in it. He’s not untalented, but he definitely has trouble picking quality movies on anything resembling a regular basis.

The two together should have been enough to warn even a person who enjoys bad movies for how bad they are to stay away. Sadly, it was not.

Dracula Untold

Dracula Untold

Vampires are nothing new. Dracula in particular is nothing new. “Dracula Untold” gives us an entire film of what we saw only briefly in Francis Ford Coppala’s version of the famed vampire’s life: the (rather brief) mortal life of Prince Vlad III – the national hero who saved his people and became a monster. This is definitely not a film for scholars of the historical Vlad, but if you know a little and are interested in another take on the vampire flick, it will sate your appetite.

The Equalizer

The Equalizer

Directed by: Antoine Fuqua Starring: Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas, Johnnie Skourtis, Chloe Grace Moretz Rated: R for strong bloody violence and language throughout, including some sexual references The plotline featuring a retired/semi-retired man driven to take up his violent ways once more to save a woman is not new. In fact, there’s almost nothing new about “The Equalizer” except perhaps its quality performances and the villains being Russian gangsters in Boston. What the film does accomplish, however, is executing its tropes flawlessly. If you want a flick that will give you entertainment along with the comfort of familiarity, this is your cup of tea. Denzel Washington plays Robert, a mysterious older fellow who works at the local home improvement store, keeps his modest apartment rigorously organized, and follows his routines like clockwork. One of those routines includes late-night visits to a diner, where he brings a book to read and chats about it with young

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The Drop

The Drop

Directed by: Michaël R. Roskam Rated: R for some strong violence and pervasive language Starring: Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, James Gandolfini, Matthias Schoenaerts, John Ortiz There’s a subgenre of crime films that linger over their characters, whose plots move slowly at first, but gradually become increasingly tense until the final confrontation is not only inevitable, but startlingly intense. “The Drop” is a shining example of this genre, and it seems a fitting final cinematic role for the late James Gandolfini, who gets to showcase both his sense of timing and his ability to layer complexity into seemingly simple characters. The film rotates around Bob Saginowski (Tom Hardy), a bartender who tries to hold himself aloof from the organized crime that surrounds him. Cousin Marv (Gandolfini) used to own the bar where Bob works, but now it’s owned by a Chechen crime family. The Chechens periodically use it as a “drop” – a place for their

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As Above, So Below

Directed by: John Eric Dowdle Starring: Perdita Weeks, Ben Feldman, Edwin Hodge, François Civil, Marion Lambert, Ali Marhyar Rated: R for bloody violence/terror, and language throughout So many movies in the last few years have focused on using visceral horror and supremely disgusting special effects to be scary that it’s refreshing to find one that not only avoids those for the most part but also avoids the “creepy ghost moving suddenly” style of jump scare borrowed from Asian horror cinema. “As Above, So Below” aims to be more of a “Blair Witch Project” style scary movie: it avoids expensive gross makeup in favor of creeping paranoia and dread with a slowly increasing sense of doom. It’s not a terribly good film, but it goes through the familiar paces with determination. All of the shots are from cameras held by the characters: Benji (Edwin Hodge), the documentary cameraman; Scarlett (Perdita Weeks), the subject of his documentary;

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The Expendables 3

The Expendables 3

Directed by: Patrick Hughes Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Wesley Snipes, Mel Gibson, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Ronda Rousey, Victor Ortiz, Glen Powell, Kellan Lutz, Antonio Banderas Rated: for violence including intense sustained gun battles and fight scenes, and for language There’s a new Expendables movie out, catching the end of the summer action movie wave. “The Expendables 3” is the latest in a series of films that are a blend of homage to and in-jokes from classic 80s action flicks. Sylvester Stallone knows what he’s good at, and that is turning out action movie storylines and then one-lining his way through them. If you like that sort of thing, “The Expendables 3” will probably be right up your alley. “The Expendables 3” has a fairly standard “old enemy proves to still be alive, so protagonist must track him down and arrest/kill him” plot. The story isn’t why you see a movie like

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Guardians of the Galaxy

Directed by: James Gunn Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan Michael Rooker, Glenn Close Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for some language Marvel Studios has been bringing out big, fun superhero movies for several years now, and they’ve reached the point where viewers can trust that a Marvel flick will be a good time, regardless of whether you know the source material. “Guardians of the Galaxy” banks heavily on the Marvel brand, since it focuses on a fairly obscure group of heroes most non-comic fans have never heard of. Fortunately, Marvel has proven once again that it can be trusted. “Guardians of the Galaxy” is a big summer movie in all the right ways. It includes familiar tropes, but mercilessly skewers most of them. It presents us with a group of protagonists who are all either antiheroes or deeply strange

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Lucy

Lucy

Starring: Scarlett Johanson, Morgan Freeman, Min-sik Choi, Amr Waked Written and Directed by: Luc Besson Rated: R for strong violence, disturbing images, and sexuality Suspension of disbelief, the willingness to overlook things that aren’t real or possible, is a vital part of enjoying almost any fictional movie. Superheroes, action stars, mad scientists, they all do things we know aren’t possible in the real world. Some movies require you to suspend your disbelief a little harder – to accept the idea that two guys in their early thirties can pass as high school students, for example. Then there are films like “Lucy,” the latest from Luc Besson (whose work as a writer, director, and producer includes some of the best action films of the last three decades). These films require you to suspend your disbelief hard enough to ignore actual, existing scientific facts being not just ignored, but actively turned on their heads. The basic premise

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Edge of Tomorrow

Edge of Tomorrow

Starring: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Brendan Gleeson, Bill Paxton, Noah Taylor Directed by: Doug Liman Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, language and brief suggestive material There’s a situation almost anybody who plays enough video games has experienced, where you have to keep doing the same thing over and over, trying new ways to survive a difficult level and failing. “Edge of Tomorrow” plays off this, mashing up the classic sci-fi alien invasion trope with a “Groundhog Day” style of an eternally looping day. Future-soldier Cage (Tom Cruise) dies not long after hitting the beach in a massive attempt to end an overwhelming alien invasion once and for all – and then wakes up the day before and has to do it all over again. Eventually he knows the day like some of us know levels in “Super Mario Bros”: run this far, jump, go up, go down, etc. Once he

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Maleficent

Maleficent

Directed by: Robert Stromberg Starring: Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Lesley Manville, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Sam Riley, Sharlto Copley Rated: PG for sequences of fantasy action and violence, including frightening images A delightful villain is a must-have for a good fairytale story, and Disney’s old, animated “Sleeping Beauty” had one of the greats – Maleficent. Now, Disney is turning the familiar tale on its head and retelling the story from the evil fairy’s point of view. Rather than the green-faced villain we know and love, we are presented with young fairyMaleficent, a strong and protective figure in the fairy kingdom. She’s kind and a bit naïve, especially when it comes to humans. When an older Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) falls for her human friend Stephan (Sharlto Copley), she puts her trust in someone undeserving. When Stephan betrays her for his own ends, she retreats into her homeland, conjuring a gigantic wall of thorns to separate the fairy and human

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