The Equalizer

  

Recently went to see this in theaters and was quite impressed with the film as a whole.

The basic plot line is that we are following the story of a man who used to be the top man in government espionage. He has managed to carve out a little niche of life for himself, a standard 9-5 job, a nice little apartment. He keeps to himself and makes no waves. He at the start of the film has some severe trouble sleeping so it becomes a regular habit that he spends his late evenings at a local diner. There are some other regulars that over time he becomes friendly with. One of them being a young prostitute and they develop a friendship (which bears no romantic entanglements which I appreciated because too many films present the young girl in over her head only to be rescued by the big man and fall into his arms thankfully when all is said and done, and this is not the case with this film). The more he learns of this young prostitute and her situation the more he wants to help her.

His attempt to help her is a small one and when things go amiss it's not of any real concern, until he discovers just how big the organization really is. Turns out it's not just a bad pimp with an accent, but a branch of a much larger and meaner organization who will stop at nothing for revenge after our hero takes down the pimp.

The plot is believable without being too out there. Often times the plot is too convoluted and too out there to really follow, but not this time. The plot is simple and straightforward. Man meets girl whose hurt and in need of protection. He attempts to help her only to discover that it's a much bigger problem than he originally thought but faces the problem admirably. No massive spins and twists and other confusing plot points. Just simple good story.

The action sequences are entertaining and very well shot while also being bloody and gory without crossing the line into 'just plain disgusting'. I happen to be a big fan of action movies, I think they're good fun and easy to lose yourself in for a couple of hours. And this stands up to the tradition of great action flicks that are just past the line of believable while still being funny and awesome.

Overall this movie gets a major A from me. I think it hit every good point of a action flick while avoiding some of the standard boring pitfalls of plot and managing to finely walk the line between good action and cheesy action.

Korean Noodles House - Cheltenham Ave.

This restaurant is in Cheltenham PA and is the best I've found in the area when you're in the mood for Korean noodles. There are plenty of restaurants in the area for Vietnamese food, and Korean BBQ, which are some of my favorites. But if you want a bowl of noodles, spiced and seasoned in a traditional Korean way then you can do no better than this wonderful little Dive sitting at a corner of Cheltenham Ave.

A few years back I ventured here after a Google search on a whim for something new to try and eat, and luckily for me Google brought this restaurant to my attention. I first went with a friend to meet up for dinner one night because it was a great halfway point between our two homes. I have made it a point to go back to this restaurant regularly.

 It is now at the point where the owners who run the restaurant recognize me and greet me with a warm welcome. Which in my opinion only adds to the good experience and memories I associate with this restaurant. Walking into a place where they know you and smile to see you only makes your experience far more enjoyable and pleasant.

The food itself is amazing in my opinion, and considering that they provide you with a few small bowls of items like pickled radishes and others (traditionally known as Banchan in Korean cuisine which translates loosely to 'side dish') you'll never walk away still hungry. And more often than not I find that I have plenty of leftovers to bring for lunch at work the next day (Major side note on that issue: When reheating the dishes in the microwave because of some of the spices they can 'stink up' a room - I work in a large building and have access to a large break room so in that environment the smell fades before my lunch break is over. In a smaller environment you should be aware of this potential. I love the smell personally, but I know my willingness to try new foods and spices doesn't extend to all my co-workers).

I recommend this place to all my friends regularly and bring people there whenever I can. I strongly I encourage anyone and everyone to give this Dive a chance as you will not regret it.

Deep Blue Sea

This goes down in history for me as being one of the better movies I've gotten to watch in a long time. I continuously pull this movie off the shelf and watch it when I'm in the mood for a shark movie (which is often as I'm totally fascinated by water monster movies......sharks/piranhas/kraken). I suppose part of my fascination with this film stems from how awesome it is as a shark movie (no continuous stock shark footage shown over and over, well done CGI so it doesn't feel too fake at any one time [though it has it's moments] and solid horror movie acting [which will never be blockbuster standard but is what the fans expect and desire of their horror movies]) and how wonderful it is as a horror movie. It breaks down all the stereotypical moments we've come to know and love and expect and trashes them to bits.

I will point out that there is no way for me to do a honest review of this film without filling this review with spoilers galore, so keep that in mind if you continue to read beyond this point.

The first and hardfast rule of almost all horror films is that there will always be a member of the 'survival' group whose got all the answers. Who is the hero so to speak. He's the leader, he knows what's going on, and how to lead people out to safety and freedom. Whether he has this knowledge at the beginning, or whether he learns as he goes along. Often enough he/she is reluctant to pick up the reigns of leadership and doesn't view themself as being a leader or the person to follow, but none-the-less the authoritative air around them will draw the other characters in and they will stick like glue to the power and confidence of this person. The mentor character of this film is clearly the amazing actor known by most as only Samuel L. Adding his last name is almost an insult that you don't know who I'm referring to already, but Jackson. Who is actually the second victim of the shark attacks (I do not consider the helicoptor or tower as victims of shark attack as they were simply a casualty of an explosion indirectly related to the sharks plan). So the character we expect and are ready to follow, are certain will lead the haphazard crew to safety.....is dead shortly after the attacks begin.

More examples of this film throwing caution to the wind of consistency and saying "Screw the Formula" are in the ending of the film. We expect that the burgeoning love between the lead male and female will be the ultimate love story of survival when all the sharks are dead and they're all in the clear. Only the lead female is dead moments before the end because she sacrifices herself, and not to save another character, but to prevent the sharks from escaping the environment and breaking free into the world.

But honestly, one of my favorites is the condemned black man. While it has become far more common for black men to survive until the end of a horror film, at the release of this movie (1999), there are very few examples of this. And not only does he survive to the end, but he's a cook, which begs the HOW question. No matter who he was (actor and race wise) the fact that the cook survives til the end of a shark movie is already a wonderful surprise. But actually watching how he figures things out and manages to keep his head above water (pun intended) is really quite amusing. And for the record LL Cool J is just all kinds of awesome in my book. I'm not normally attracted to black men but man does he make a girl go all atwitter. 

Final statement is that no matter how you cut this film it's an awesome shark movie. Surprising and often backwards. But then again, in my experience, the very best movies are the ones the so called 'critics' didn't give much of a chance to. I say give this one a chance, but watch it with open eyes.