Tuesday, November 8, 2016

"Jack Reacher: Never Go Back" (2016)

Starring Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders and Danika Yarosh
Written by Richard Wenk, Edward Zwick and Marshal Herskovitz
Directed by Edward Zwick
Rated PG-13: Language, violence
Running Time: 118 Minutes
Trailer

Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) has gone back to his drifter lifestyle after helping to take down a corrupt sheriff who led a human trafficking scheme. He develops a friendly phone-relationship with his army contact, Major Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders), and he decides to visit her in Washington, DC. But when he arrives, he discovers that Turner has been arrested and charged with treason.

Despite her requests that he stay away, Reacher digs into Turner's case and quickly uncovers a conspiracy to frame Turner. But Reacher gets more than he bargained for. The conspirators have dug into his past and found a weakness: A 15-year-old girl named Samantha (Danika Yarosh) who might just be the pressure point they need to get Reacher off their backs.

Or so they think.

Thursday, November 3, 2016

"Doctor Strange" (2016)

Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Tilda Swinton
Written by Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill
Directed by Scott Derrickson
Rated PG-13 — Superhero violence, language
Running Time: 115 Minutes
Trailer

Prominent neurosurgeon Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is on his way to a fancy speaking engagement when he gets distracted behind the wheel and his car goes off the road. With his hands crushed and suffering debilitating nerve damage, Strange dedicates all his resources to finding new or experimental treatments to regain full use of his hands. With his money running out and his friends abandoning him, he turns in desperation to Nepal to track down a miracle.

In an old monastery, he meets Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who introduces him to the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton). The Ancient One is a being of great power who reveals to Strange that there is more to the physical world than he could possibly imagine: the realm of mystical energies and sorcerers. She promises to teach Strange the mystic ways to help him regain the use of his hands, and draft him into a secret war to protect the Earth from Dormammu, the demon ruler of the dark dimension.

Dormammu's worshippers, led on Earth by Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen), steal forbidden rituals from the Ancient One's library, hoping to use them to open a portal to Dormammu's dimension and let it run roughshod over the Earth.