Skip to main content

Diamond Smuggler and the Spy Novel

 Tuesday: Mississippi Burning (1988)

     This movie is inspired by true events. Two FBI agents are sent to a small town in Mississippi to investigate the disappearance of three civil rights activists. From the moment they get there they are met with hostility. No one is willing to talk to them. No black person will talk to them for fear of being beaten up or worse by the klan. No white person will talk because they are protecting what they think is right. The more they investigate the more they realize how corrupt this small town is. I thought this movie was alright. It was such a horrible time. It's crazy how much klan members were protected by every level of the local government. They could do whatever they wanted.

Friday: Argylle (2024)

     Elly writes novels about spies and global spy syndicates. She is very successful. While on a train to visit her parents she meets a real life spy named Aiden. He tells her that her books are actually predicting what is happening in real life. There really is a spy syndicate that has turned bad. They are coming after Elly to get information they think she has. Aiden got to her first to try and help her. Aiden and Elly have to stay ahead of the syndicate to put an end to it all. This movie was alright. It was a little over the top. But it had a good twist.

Saturday: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry (2022)

     A.J. owns a bookstore on a island off the New England coast. His wife passed away and since then has been miserable. His only comfort is wine and his prized collection of Edgar Allan Poe poems. When the poems are stolen he has nothing left. Then one day he finds a baby girl in his store. Someone had left her for him to take care of. He can barely take care of himself. But A.J. decides to adopt her. She turns his life around. He falls for a book agent who visits his store and becomes friends with the sheriff. A.J.'s life isn't easy but he is content with it. I thought this movie was bad. It started out ok. Then it fell apart after he adopted the girl. The acting isn't great. New plot points are randomly inserted into the story. They are meant to be dramatic but fall flat. It's like a bad Hallmark movie, but somehow worse.

Sunday: Double Feature- Man's Castle (1933) and Blood Diamond (2006)

       Man's Castle is about a drifter in New York named Bill. He works went he wants to and prefers to sleep under an open sky. He meets a young woman, Trina, who is down on her luck. She is recently homeless. Bill takes her under his wing. They eventually get a shack in Central Park. Trina does her best to make it a home. She loves Bill. He doesn't treat her very well. Always putting her down and threatening to leave. He does some nice things for her. For whatever reason she still love him and will do anything to be with him. This movie was alright. I mostly watched it because Spencer Tracy is in it. It's not a happy story necessarily. He is horrible to her yet she stays and somehow it has a happy ending.

       Blood Diamond is inspired by true events. During the mid 90s many countries in Africa are at war over the diamond trade. Many are killed. Many are made to work in the mines. Young boys are turned into soldiers. A fisherman named Solomon lives with his family in a village. The village is attacked. He is separated from his family and made to work in the mines. One day he finds a blood diamond. Solomon hides it. Then everyone is captured and sent to jail. A smuggler named Danny is in the same jail. He hears of the blood diamond and knows it's his way out of Africa. After Danny gets out of jail he uses his contacts to get Solomon out too. He has to convince and threaten Solomon to get him to show Danny where the diamond is. They have to travel far over war zones to get to it. I thought this movie was good. It was a horrible situation. It makes you never want to own diamond with there being a small chance it came from this situation. I mean I think most jewelry companies don't get there diamonds like that anymore. But you never know. I wasn't sure at first about Leonardo DiCaprio's (Danny) South African accent. But it wasn't too bad.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Travel Friends and the Logger's Life

 Friday: No Other Choice (2025)         This is a Korean film. Man-su was let go after working at a paper factory for many years. He struggles to find a new job. Without his income his family has to start making cuts. It really starts to wear down on Man-su. There is a position at another paper factory. There are only a few men qualified for the job. Man-su realizes if he eliminates the competition he will get the job. So he eliminates them, permanently. I thought this movie was alright. Weird and violent. The acting is good. Saturday: Merrily We Roll Along (2025)          This is actually a broadway musical that they filmed. It shows the friendship of a lyricist, Frank, a playwright, Charley, and a writer, Mary. The plays starts in the mid 70s. Frank is a big shot in Hollywood. Mary comes to visit him after the success of his most recent movie. Their relationship is strained. He doesn't even talk to Charley anymore. From there the story...
Post a Comment
Read more

Surprise Chorizo and the Floating Castle

         Well after two months I was finally able to go to a restaurant on my list. I went to Tight Tacos, the SE Division location. There is neighborhood parking on the streets behind it, but you might have to drive around a little. It is a small restaurant next to other restaurants and shops. They were only open for take out but there were picnic tables you could sit at on the sidewalk. The tables were in the shade so it was nice on a warm day. From what I could see inside it was clean and modern. There is some color and hanging Christmas lights. The service was good. I got three tacos: chicken, carnitas, and asada. I think that I got chorizo instead of asada. It was actually the best one flavor wise. The carnitas meat was good but there wasn't a lot of flavor. I forgot to ask for no onions so I had to scrape them off. The tacos were good. I would go back. The one problem I had was they serve the food in takeout containers. And they have tables for you to sit ...
Post a Comment
Read more

King George III and the Abandoned Door

 Friday: Fight or Flight (2025)       Lucas is a former secret service agent. He was stranded in Bangkok after a failed assignment. Later he receives a call from his ex who know works at a different agency. A target, only known as Ghost, is getting on a plane headed for the U.S. He is the only one close enough to get on the plane in time. Lucas has to find Ghost and bring them home. Soon he discovers the plane is filled with people wanting to kill both of them. Lucas has to protect Ghost. This movie was ok. Except for the two main actors, all the acting is bad. The writing is bad. It's like they thought they could just put in a bunch of swear words and not have to actually write dialogue. There are some fun moments. It's basically Bullet Train but on a plane. Just watch Bullet Train instead. Saturday: Suzume (2022)       Suzume is a teenage girl living in Japan. One day she meets a mysterious young man, Souta, who is looking for an abandoned place with...
Post a Comment
Read more