Josh Duhamel

Blackout

  • Title: Blackout
  • IMDb: link

Featuring all the trademarks of a throwaway action thriller, Blackout centers around an undercover DEA agent (Josh ‘Tad Hamilton’ Duhamel) who awakes in the hospital with no memory but with gangsters searching for something he stole from them. Set entirely within a Mexican hospital, which has a scarcity of nurses, doctors, and other patients, but seemingly no end to henchmen who are sent after our amnesiac like fodder (often forgetting the need to capture our protagonist alive).

Blackout Read More »

Love, Simon

  • Title: Love, Simon
  • IMDb: link

Love, Simon movie reviewI’m a sucker for a good coming of age story. In many ways Love, Simon is fairly by the book. We’re given a likable high school student dealing with school, friends, and his first crush. The difference from most of these types of mainstream films, is that Simon (Nick Robinson) is gay. What makes the film work is that while Simon frets about what others will think of him if they learn the truth, his gayness doesn’t solely define him as a character.

Simon’s friends include longtime platonic pal Leah (Katherine Langford), jock Nick (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.), and newcomer Abby (Alexandra Shipp). He’s also got a loving father (Tad Hamilton), mother (Jennifer Garner), and younger sister (Talitha Bateman). Discovering another closeted gay student at his high school, Simon begins trading emails with “Blue.” As the relationship deepens, Simon imagines various people standing in for the mysterious stranger. Complicating matters are a annoying classmate (Logan Miller) who discovers Simon’s secret and uses it to blackmail Simon into helping him score with one of Simon’s friends. While the weakest aspect of the film, it still contains some genuine moments.

Love, Simon Read More »

Battle Creek – Sympathy for the Devil

  • Title: Battle Creek – Sympathy for the Devil
  • IMDb: link

Battle Creek - Sympathy for the Devil

The series finale reveals the pivotal moment of Milt’s (Tad Hamilton) FBI career when a figure from his past hellbent on revenge shows up in Battle Creek. Still trying to hide his past from his new colleagues, Milt requests only Russ’ (Dean Winters) help in locating the man who blew up his car (with Milt inside). With Milt hiding the truth, there’s no immediate back-up when both he and Russ are kidnapped by the would-be killer who has a personal grudge to settle with the FBI agent.

Battle Creek – Sympathy for the Devil Read More »

Battle Creek – Homecoming

  • Title: Battle Creek – Homecoming
  • IMDb: link

Battle Creek - Homecoming

After purposefully shaking things up with “The Hand-Off,” Battle Creek struggles to stop from following into old habits through most of “Homecoming” as Russ’ (Dean Winters) morning-after bliss is cut down immediately when Holly (Aubrey Dollar) informs him she has no interest in starting a romantic relationship. That added with Milt (Tad Hamilton) being chosen to lead the investigation into the murder of the local high school football coach and the apparent suicide of a former star player brings out the surly side of the detective once more, although his connection to the high school, the victim’s wife, and former classmates does stop the character from reverting fully back into his old self.

Battle Creek – Homecoming Read More »

Battle Creek – The Hand-Off

  • Title: Battle Creek – The Hand-Off
  • IMDb: link

Battle Creek - The Hand-Off

In an episode that flips the roles of Russ (Dean Winters) and Milt (Tad Hamilton), and finally offers some real character development for Russ, the Battle Creek Police Detective fights for the innocence of a suspect in a murder whose estranged husband was shot down while standing next to her in a public park. With Russ, who obviously bonds with the woman while fighting to keep her husband alive as the pair wait for the paramedics, looks for alternate explanations for the crime in falls on the suspended Milt (who, in uncharacteristic fashion blackmails his old boss to use a secret NSA program to identify the hitman hired to carry out the crime) to offer the pessimistic view.

Battle Creek – The Hand-Off Read More »