“We’re putting the team back together.” Basketball meets Blues Brothers in this funny sports movie.
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When Coach Dax (Lil Rel Howery) spends his life savings to enter the Rucker Classic basketball tournament, only to lose his star player and team, he seeks out a new team and finds a family. Uncle Drew (Kyrie Irving) is a mysterious former big name Rucker player who walked away on the eve of the big tournament, when he’s given a chance to make things right, he sets out to reunite his former team. 

​Dax’s life is in shreds. He’s afraid to play basketball after losing a big game when his shot gets blocked. Now he only coaches while working at Foot Locker. When he loses his team to the guy who blocked his shot, his girlfriend (Tiffany Haddish) leaves him and he’s kicked out of the house they share. Alone and homeless with all his belongings in a garbage bag, he has nothing to lose when he agrees to Drew’s terms as he creates a team. 

​Uncle Drew’s stuck in the 1970’s with old R&B music on his eight-track player inside his orange van with a boom-boom room in the back. His old team has changed over the years. Lights is now legally blind (but that doesn’t stop him from driving in a getaway scene!) to Boots who hasn’t walked or talked in years. But Drew and basketball has the magic which allows them to reclaim their passion and life. 

​Uncle Drew began as a Pepsi short/commercial which wowed viewers so much that Pepsi, decided to create a movie based on the characters. Using some of today’s best-known basketball players, Uncle Drew is a cute story about what’s important in life and families. From Shaq to Lisa Leslie and Reggie Miller, the stars wear full make-up to age them. Also featuring some “basketball” snips which only fans of the stars would get, from comments about missing time outs and Kobe, you will have to pay attention to catch them all. My favorite character was The Preacher (Chris Webber) who’s like a James Brown basketball star. 

​Fans of basketball are going to enjoy this movie more than others. But it does have some laugh out loud moments which will appeal to everyone. I enjoyed the way it felt like Blues Brothers from the Preacher and his wife, who didn’t want him to get back with the team to the way the group finds adventure along the way to the big event. While this movie is a fun romp, it’s not really one you have to see in the theater. Wait and catch it on TV or DVD. 

The park is closed. The humans long gone and dinosaurs have run wild. But what happens when the island is about to blow? Government Hearings.
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Three years after the last Jurassic World movie, the dinos face extinction as the island’s once dormant volcano is erupting. Mr. Hammond is dead but his former partner would like to save the dinosaurs and has come up with a plan to move some of them, thirteen species to a new island. They need Claire’s (Bryce Howard) and Owen’s (Chris Pratt) help. However, things aren’t what they seem and the project goes haywire.

​Returning to its roots in the first Jurassic Park, Fallen Kingdom bridges the new characters with the old storyline of gene splicing and playing God. Dr. Wu returns and tries to pick up where he left off, creating a new dinosaur which can be taught and controlled. However, it’s the greed of Mr. Mills who sees the dinosaurs as a commodity for war and destruction, much like nuclear weapons which pits Claire and Owen against the bad guys in an effort to save the dinosaurs. 

​Claire and Owen share responsibility for the dinosaurs. They also share in the guilt that they might have done something wrong by allowing the park to be built and dinosaurs to be used as a tourist opportunity. Not alone in their effort to save the dinosaurs, they bring along an easily frightened IT guy and dinosaur doctor- yep, new jobs are being created every day.

​The dinosaurs steal the movie, from their sweeping majesty to their silent tears. They are even the stars of the bonus end credit scene. We see them as more human than the humans. They only seek to survive, not dabble with creation. Blue is grown now and because of her intelligence, is highly sought after. She becomes the hero of the story, saving Owen more than once. In fact, for someone who has lived with dinosaurs, Owen gets very lucky. But it’s the new Indoraptor is crazy mean. He can scent someone and track them through the rain over roofs. He’s trained with a red laser beam to set a target and not go off target until it’s dead. And his human-like hands recall images of Freddy Kruger’s knife fingers. Certainly the stuff of nightmares.

​While there are many plot holes, the fast-paced action keeps you jumping. The CGI brings the dinosaurs to life, in a way which makes you wish you could have one of your own. With one of the toughest scenes to watch since Me Before You. On the opposite side, Chris Pratt has a scene reminiscent of Jerry Lewis’ physical comedy which will have you belly-laughing. The message about gene tampering and playing God is heavy handed. Once we as humans have done this, can it be undone? Or since we have created the animals, should we strive to protect them. Jeff Goldbulm’s character starts and ends the movie with that question and leaves the audience questioning it as well. 

​Leaving the door wide open for the final Jurassic World movie, Fallen Kingdom. Please keep in mind this is a PG-13 movie. There were young kids in attendance when we saw it and tears, screaming could be heard. 

​Bad guys can’t show up at hospitals with gunshot wounds instead they head to Hotel Artemis.
 
Set in the near future, Los Angeles is rioting because a conglomerate has cut off water and electricity to the hard working people. But it’s just another Wednesday for Nurse (Jodie Foster) and Everest (Dave Bautista), the orderly as they patch up assassins and drug cartel members. 

​A list of rules, Nurse’s steadfastness and liquid courage, and the dirty money of the city’s biggest crime boss keep patrons of one of the world’s most secret hospitals safe. But when the riots heat up outside, danger spreads inside Hotel Artemis, where the criminals are named after the rooms they are set up in.

​From the grungy hotel to the self-medicated Nurse, Hotel Artemis isn’t going to win any five-star reviews. The hush-hush hospital features state of the art 3D printing of organs and nanos which regenerate cells. But, it’s the best dirty money can buy. 

​Jodie Foster is very relatable as a woman who lives to help others after the death of her son. Self-medicating herself with booze and drugs she sticks to the rules until a person from her past forces her to break them. 

​With amazing actors like Jeff Goldblum, Sterling K. Brown, Zachary Quinto, Jodie Foster, Dave Bautista, and Sofia Boutella to name a few, the star power is off the charts. Each character has their own secrets they are hiding and the story unfolds in a way to keep you wondering what might happen next. The fight scenes are amazing. Sofia’s kick butt scene near the end is like watching water flow! She’s fluid in her killing.

​While it didn’t hit big with the reviewers, this movie is one which entertains and hints at the message of overt control of necessary elements, as well as the idea of rules and how they are sometimes made to be broken. If you are looking for an action packed movie, catch it—at the very least On Demand. It’s worth the surprises and seeing Foster in a compelling role.