Movie Review: No Escape - Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Tuesday morning, Susan and I walked Salado Creek Greenway 10k (6.2 mi.) Volksmarch again from Lady Bird Johnson Park. You may wonder why we do the same walks over and over. Here's why...San Antonio's temperatures are in the high 90s with high humidity and these walks have SHADE!

The bike/hike/walk trails in San Antonio are very well used. Thankfully on Tuesday morning most of the bikers either verbally warned us they were coming, used a bell, or played music we could hear. Many times on these trails, the bikers whiz by us at a high rate of speed and we don't hear them. If we accidentally walk just a little to the left, we could be run over by these bozos. So we very much appreciate any warning they give us.

After the walk, we ate lunch at Chili's. I had a Caribbean Salad and Susan had their mini-burgers with fries. I raced home, cleaned up, changed clothes, then headed to my hairdresser for a cut. I told her I wanted a pixie cut, textured on top and the hair thinned because I have so much hair. Well, she did all that. I don't have a photo yet. I'm waiting for it to grow out a little, which shouldn't take too long.

Bob thought he could meet me for a movie after my hair appointment, but he couldn't get away from work. I went to see "No Escape" starring Owen Wilson, Lake Bell, and Pierce Brosnan. What an exciting, terrifying, haunting movie. I actually liked it. Because it looked so violent from the previews, I didn't think I would. However, the non-stop action, the portrayal of what a rebellion could look like to Americans in a foreign country, and the way it made me care about the family, all made for a solid movie, in my opinion.

The movie starts out in a luxury hotel in an Asian country. We see a meeting take place between the Prime Minister and another man. As soon as the other man leaves, the Prime Minister is murdered and a rebellion starts in which many people are murdered.

Meanwhile, Owen Wilson and his family (wife and two daughters) are flying to this country. Owen is going to work on a power plant under the aegis of the United States and the whole family is moving there. On the plane, they meet Pierce Brosnan who finds the littlest girl's teddy bear down by his feet. They strike up a friendly conversation. At the airport, when the family's ride doesn't come to pick them up, Pierce offers them a ride to the hotel with his driver.

On the way to the hotel, troops can be seen running to the capital. But we don't know what's happening yet. The family watches but doesn't seem too concerned. After checking in, they head up to their room to sleep after their long flight.

In the morning, Owen heads out to buy a newspaper. He can't find a current USA Today, so he buys one that is three days old. As he is walking back to the hotel with his paper, he sees a group of heavily armed police at one end of the block and a group of armed, angry rebels at the other end of the block. He starts running toward the police as the rebels also surge forward to attack the police. He hides briefly next to a shop and protects a woman and her child. When it looks like there's a small break, they run for it and take off down narrow alleys, away from the fighting. Rebels are killing people all over the place. He stays out of sight as much as possible until he gets back to the hotel.

At the hotel, a screaming gang of rebels has a man surrounded. They're yelling something about Americans. The American they have is forced to his knees and shot in the back of the head. Owen runs away from them. They see him and give chase. There's an old-fashioned fire escape, just a flat ladder bolted into the side of the building. He climbs it as the rebels come up after him. When he gets to the second or third floor, he gives the ladder a hard kick, it comes loose from the wall, and the rebels fall backward.

The plot moves forward at a breakneck clip from this point. Insurrection abounds. Owen and his wife have to get their family to safety. But where is it safe? They are watching everyone get slaughtered. Pierce Brosnan plays an interesting role as he tries to help the family flee for their lives. The movie races along. There are haunting scenes, touching scenes, and the tension is palpable.

I recommend this movie if you aren't too squeamish. It really made me think about "What if?" scenarios. What if we were in a foreign country and there was a rebellion? What would we do? What if anything happened on American soil? Again, what would we do? How would we react? I give the movie four stars; minus one star for violence and sustained tension.

Here are kitty photos...I need a dose of cute after that movie! I hope you don't mind.

Travel Bug out.

Movie Review: The Internship

Our original movie choice for Saturday was Now You See Me, a cat-and-mouse thriller about The Four Horsemen (illusionists) who pull off robberies of corrupt businesses during their magic act. The FBI works to track them down.

However, when we were in line for tickets we decided to see The Internship. This surprised me because I didn't think Bob wanted to see this movie.

It ended up that both of us thoroughly enjoyed the movie. For those of you who don't know about The Internship, think Google. Two washed-up wristwatch salesmen who are in desperate need of new jobs come up with the brilliant idea of interviewing for internship positions at the tech giant Google.

Yes, the movie is one big Google commercial. The thing is, it was filmed at the real Google complex (Googleplex) in California's Silicon Valley. So that's interesting to see; we likened it to an ovder-the-top college campus atmosphere. Most of all the movie is funny and touching.

Two middle-aged, tech-deficient charming nerds (Owen Wilson and Nick, Vince Vaughn as Billy) interview for internships at Google via video. They are pretty darn funny trying to impress the interviewers with their technical knowledge. After a close vote by the powers that be at Google, they are both invited to Silicon Valley for internships and a 5% chance of working at Google.

After you pick up your jaw from the floor from seeing the Google campus, settle in for a fun, think-outside-the-box movie. Even though the two "old guys" don't know much about computers, they do have a handle on living life.

After an initial company orientation, teams are chosen. As might be expected, Billy and Nick aren't on the A list of potential teammates. After all the dust has settled in choosing teams, only the outcasts are left. Billy and Nick are the last team to form, by default.

What follows are team challenges: a Quidditch match (from Harry Potter tales); customer service, as in answering Google technical help-line calls; and an outside sales call to sell Google online advertising. Billy and Nick, having been around the block a few times, offer emotional, inspirational and life-experience support to the young-'uns. The movie plays to the difference in ages and abilities and how each generation can help the other.

The movie had its moments of inanity and stupidity especially involving Will Ferrell's cameo; my least favorite part of the movie. If you need to go to the bathroom or get snacks, go during the Vince Vaughn/Will Ferrell mattress-store-portion of the movie. Trust me, you won't miss much.

Don't miss the movie all together, though, because of one dumb scene. Go for the laughs and watching Vince and Owen play off each other. Go for the look at Googleplex in Mountain Home, California (much of the movie was filmed at Google's headquarters). And go for the understanding that develops between the generations. We hope you like it as much as we did.

Travel Bug out.

March...In Like a Lion -- Fri., Mar. 1

Wow! New blog followers are popping up like Spring flowers (in like a lion!) on my blog. In the last three days, five new readers. I'm thinking I can thank Karen and New Age Nomad for linking to my blog. Welcome to: Sue Castle (no blog site listed), w6pea (no blog site listed), Julie and Tom of Outdoor Adventures with Julie and Tom, Julie of Osage Bluff Quilter, and bsg (no web site listed).

Last night our Netflix movie was "Midnight in Paris." Normally I'm not a Woody Allen film fan, but this movie sounded like it was up my alley, being about time travel to 1920s Paris and meetings with Ernest Hemingway, Salvidor Dali, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fiztgerald, Pablo Picasso and other famous writers and authors. However, I was tired from not enough sleep the night before. "Midnight in Paris" had beautiful music, but the plot was a slow and the music lulled me to sleep. I admit, I slept through most of it.

Today, I wanted to really watch the movie. Refreshed with lots of sleep, I put the movie on and enjoyed watching Owen Wilson as a wannabe novel author on his trip to Paris with his fiancee. From the beginning, it is obvious that his fiancee's life is a major mis-match to his romantic notions about Paris in the rain.

Midnight in Paris refers to his walks around Paris at night. When the clock strikes midnight and he's sitting on steps in one neighborhood, an antique Peugeot drops by and the occupants invite him to party. He ends up in 1920s Paris meeting the above-mentioned luminaries. By morning, he is back in his current reality with his fiancee and in-laws. Each midnight rendezvous begins with a different inviter.

The movie, though slow, is enjoyable. I liked the relationships and the thoughtfulness of the dialogue, the self-reflection of Owen Wilson's character, the realizations made by all parties as to what they want in life. The richness of the representation of the era, the authors, artists and editor made the roaring 20s in Paris come to life. But I must say, even though I had enough sleep and was committed to watching the movie, I found myself starting to doze off with music playing like a lullaby through most scenes. I did manage to stay awake. The movie made me think Woody Allen put a lot of himself into it. I rated it three out of five stars.

Tonight's TV was Nikita and Shark Tank. 

Tomorrow we will do a Volkswalk in San Antonio that we haven't done yet. Sunday we are going to the Austin Kite Festival with Jim and Peri. We'll sneak in a Volksmarch and lunch too. We're looking forward to spending more time with them.

That's it for today. Safe travels to our friends who are out on the road.