dlmiley

"Heads of State": I saw this one on Amazon Prime in our hotel room in Austin. It is an action comedy starring John Cena (as the President of the US!) and Idris Elba (as the Prime Minister of the UK). Soon a disaster occurs where the President and Prime Minister are forced to work together to thwart a conspiracy. It is a silly comedy which tries too hard with over-the-top action and stale jokes. Idris Elba's performance is a highlight, but John Cena is a stone-faced bore. Also stars Stephen Root (he will always be "Milton" to me), Carla Gugino and Jack Quaid. Only recommended for a rainy day or you just need something on in the background. 5/10.

"M3GAN 2.0" - This one is the sequel to the surprise hit M3GAN (2022). In this one, a military-grade robot named Amelia (Ivanna Sakhno) is running amok killing people. Naturally, the creator of M3GAN (Allison Williams) is brought in to try to control the runaway robot. This sequel is not as good as the original as the humor is mostly gone and the plot is convoluted and ridiculous. Direction and cinematography are middling at best. Acting by Williams and her co-stars is adequate, but not exceptional and as I said, the story is really dumb. Recommend that you wait to see it on Peacock as this is a Univeral Picture. 6/10.

"F1" - I saw this one with a friend while we were in Austin. First, a brief comment on the Ipic theater, which is a high-end theater in the "Domain" district. It is very nice (and expensive) theater with "pods" so you can talk without disturbing anyone, and have dinner and drinks delivered. It was late, so we didn't have dinner, but the seats were great! As for the film, Brad Pitt stars as a former F1 driver coaxed out of retirement by Javier Bardem. Of course, there is a young driver (Damson Idris) who resents Pitt's appearance on team. The direction and action are both first rate, and you will feel that you are in the car while Pitt and Idris are driving. The cinematography is fantastic along with the special effects which are excellent. There are some scenes that perhaps could have been edited down a bit (in particular, an obligatory love scene) as the film runs a bit long at 2 hours, thirty-five minutes, but it is still a great experience that I highly recommend for race and action fans. 8/10.