Red One

  • Title: Red One
  • IMDb: link

Red One

When Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons) is kidnapped days before Christmas, the head of his security (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) will team up with a snarky bounty hunter (Chris Evans), whose actions led the kidnappers to the North Pole, in order to find Santa and save the holiday. Geared mostly towards preteens and teens, Red One is exactly what you would expect for a family Christmas action film with a big budget to blow on stars and special effects and far less time spent on plot.

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Topkapi

  • Title: Topkapi
  • IMDb: link

Topkapi

1964’s Topkapi is an odd film. Starting with a psychedelic opening in which a character breaks the fourth wall to talk directly to the audience, a device which is never seen again, the film then vacillates between a heist film and a farce before finally settling in as a serious heist film (with an admittedly farcical epilogue). The story involves a thief (Melina Mercouri) who recruits an old partner and lover (Maximilian Schell) and a collection of amateurs for a risky heist in Istanbul. Their plan relies, in part, on smuggling the tools needed into the country through the use of unaware small-time hustler Arthur Simpson (Peter Ustinov).

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Cross – Hero Complex

  • Title: Cross – Hero Complex
  • IMDb: link

Cross - Hero Complex

I really want to like this new Amazon series starring Leverage‘s Aldis Hodge as James Patterson‘s super-sleuth Alex Cross but I’m finding it quite hard to become emotionally invested in the story of a great detective getting the runaround by not one but two uncatchable serial killers in separate storylines that only somewhat overlap. My issues have more to do with Patterson and the structure of his work, always focusing on making the killers as genius and unstoppable as possible (and here throwing in two!) than Hodge or any member of the cast which also includes short appearances from Alona Tal who I would happily watch more of.

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