Review – The Lost City

The Lost City (2022)

PG-13 ‧ Action/Adventure/Comedy ‧ 1 hour 52 Minutes

Story by Seth Gordon, Written by  Oren Uziel; Dana Fox; Adam Nee; Aaron Nee

Directed by ‎Aaron Nee, Adam Nee

THE CAST

Sandra Bullock; Channing Tatum; Daniel Radcliffe; Da’Vine Joy Randolph; Brad Pitt; Oscar Nuñez

THE STORY

(In their own words) Reclusive author Loretta Sage writes about exotic places in her popular adventure novels that feature a handsome cover model named Alan. While on tour promoting her new book with Alan, Loretta gets kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire who hopes she can lead him to an ancient city’s lost treasure from her latest story. Determined to prove he can be a hero in real life and not just on the pages of her books, Alan sets off to rescue her.

Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum star in Paramount Pictures’ “THE LOST CITY.”

THE REVIEW

Let me get straight to it with film because it’s been a while since I’ve been this excited about a comedy. The Lost City is easily the best comedy I’ve seen this year and I honestly can’t imagine enjoying another film this year as much as I did this one. It ls laugh out loud funny, perfectly paced, wonderfully acted, and had the audience I watched the film with absolutely rolling from beginning to end. 

Sandra Bullock returns to this genre that she absolutely owns in The Lost City playing romance novel author Loretta Sage. While I wouldn’t have really considered Channing Tatum as a good pairing for her, this movie showed me that these two need to work together a lot more. The comedic timing and chemistry between these two was flawless.  I don’t think there is another current leading actress who performs physical comedy as well as Sandra Bullock does; from her awkwardness of sitting on a stool to rolling out of a hammock, she finds a way to bring laughter to such simple movements. Her reactions to her circumstances or Channing Tatum’s butt are never too far keeping her grounded in the real world, but stretched just far enough to milk the scene for all the comedy she can. 

Daniel Radcliffe shines as the villain of the film, billionaire Abigail Fairfax. While Radcliffe’s charm makes you instantly disarmed, that only feeds into making his villainous acts a little unexpected and therefore impressive. He’s a wonderful comedic villain, which I wasn’t expecting, and really wants me to see him as a bad guy in a more serious film. 

The Lost CIty is an adventure that I don’t want to spoil. Is some of the plot a little predictable? Yes. Do they take quite a lot of liberties in dealing with plane flight times? Yes. But those minor elements are easily dismissed when you are presented with such a wonderful, well-crafted, fun adventure.  And there are enough unexpected surprises in the film to make up for anything. Also, when predictable moments happen, the comedy that they create out of the situation is superb.

Sandra Bullock and Daniel Radcliffe star in Paramount Pictures’ “THE LOST CITY.”

THE BEST

Three BEST things about the film

  1. Very funny. Extremely. I was shocked at how much I laughed at this film. Probably the funniest comedy of the year. 
  2. Lots of unexpected turns that are also memorable. 
  3. Wonderful chemistry between leads. 

THE WORST

The three WORST things about the Film

  1. Minor issue with ending. 
  2. Some predictable moments.
  3. Lacks logic to timeline of events.

THE LESSON

Don’t be afraid of opening the door and seeing what’s next.

THE FINAL WORD

Easily the funniest film of the year and I find it hard to imagine anyone with a heart and soul not liking this film. 

THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It. 

The Lost City gets a Love It. 

THE TRAILER

THE REVIEWER

ABOUT SILAS

When he’s not reviewing films or interviewing people for the Black & A Half podcast, Silas Lindenstein can be found in the greater metro Seattle, WA working as a real estate agent helping people buy and sell homes, or performing stand up comedy to fellow nerds. He has a wife and three children and desperately wants to learn to make the perfect homemade pizza.

Review – The Adam Project

Reviewed by Silas Lindenstein

The Adam Project (2022)
PG-13 • Scifi/Adventure • 1 Hour 43 Minutes

Written by Jonathan Tropper; T.S. Nowlin; Jennifer Flackett; Mark Levin

Directed by ‎Shawn Levy

THE CAST

Ryan Reynolds, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Garner, Walker Scobell, Zoe Saldaña, Catherine Keener

THE STORY

(In their own words) After accidentally crash-landing in 2022, time-traveling fighter pilot Adam Reed teams up with his 12-year-old self on a mission to save the future.   

The Adam Project (L to R) Walker Scobell as Young Adam and Ryan Reynolds as Big Adam. Cr. Doane Gregory/Netflix © 2022

THE REVIEW

I’m a sucker for any sort of time travel based film. Add in a nice size portion of snarky Ryan Reynolds, and I’m grabbing my popcorn ready for a good time.

And that’s what The Adam Project provides. It’s a good time. It has a weird plot relationship with time and how your action in time will affect the future….but you have to let that go…we don’t really know how that could all work. Let it go and just enjoy the story.

For me the best part of the film was Walker Scobell playing young Adam to the older  Ryan Reynolds version of the character. Walker did a great job of picking up the ticks and speaking patterns of Ryan Reynolds and incorporating them into his character, making him extremely believable as a young Ryan Reynolds. 

The underlying drama of the film is young Adam and his mother(Jennifer Garner)  dealing with the grief over the somewhat recent loss of Adam’s father. There’s a particular stand out scene between Garner and Reynolds as they talk about losing someone and how that affected each of them. It’s a wonderfully played scene, honest, raw, and a nice dramatic break from the rest of the film.

The rest of the film is lot of fun laser shooting, and hand to hand combat, and space ships, and trying to figure out how to deal with this time travel mess they’ve gotten themselves into. 

It’s a fun movie, nothing more, nothing less. Luckily it stars some pretty great talent that helped elevate it from more than it is. Don’t think too hard during this. Just enjoy.  

THE BEST


BEST things about the film

  1. Fun Time Travel Story
  2. Very Funny
  3. Some touching moments
  4. The kid actor does a great imitation of Ryan Reynolds, really seeming like a young version. 
The Adam Project (L to R) Zoe Saldana as Laura and Ryan Reynolds as Big Adam. Cr. Doane Gregory/Netflix © 2021

THE WORST

The three WORST things about the Film

  1. Kind of predictable.
  2. Nothing super memorable about the movie.
  3. Villain is really lacks depth.

THE LESSON

Misdirected anger hurts the wrong people.

REWATCHABLE?

Yes

THE FINAL WORD

A light hearted scifi time travel adventure that is not a bad way to spend a Friday night enjoying. 

THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It. 

I give The Adam Project a Like It

THE TRAILER

Review – I Want You Back

 I Want You Back (2022)
PG-13‧ Rom Com ‧ 1 hour 51 Minutes (111 Minutes)

Reviewd by Silas Lindenstein


Written by Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berge   

Directed by ‎Jason Orley

THE CAST

Charlie Day, Jenny Slate, Scott Eastwood, Gina Rodriquez, Manny Jacinto

THE STORY

(In their own words) Newly dumped thirty-somethings Peter and Emma team up to sabotage their exes’ new relationships and win them back for good.

THE REVIEW

I Want You Back is fun Rom-Com that ponders the question, is love lost worth fighting for? Is a no-holds-barred, take no prisoners approach to winning back your ex really what’s best. 

Peter and Emma work in the same office building and have a chance meeting in the stairwell as they are both finding a place for good cry. Turns out, they were both dumped by their significant other the same previous weekend. Misery loves company as this chance meeting of strangers turns to friendship. But they both have a yearning for their former loves, and one night out partying and lamenting they come up with idea. Emma will seduce Peter’s Ex’s new boyfriend and break them up so his ex will come back to Emma. And Peter will befriend Emma’s ex, and start convincing him to leave his new girlfriend and go back to Emma.  It reminded me of the deal in Throw Mama From The Train, with a fundamental difference (aside from not murdering people). To the audience Peter and Emma need to remain unlike-able while they attempt to do something kind of crappy. Break up a couple for no other reason than to make themselves happy. 

0ne of the interesting things about this rom-com is that there is no bad guy. There’s no arrogant or cheating boyfriend where the woman should be leaving for our hero. None of that. The exes actually seem in really nice relationships. To pull this movie off though, we have to like Peter and Emma. Which is definitely where this film has its strengths. Charlie Day does a fantastic job as Peter. He is extremely likable and gives us a fully fleshed out character. His portrayal is nuanced, subtle, and very committed to each moment. To a lesser degree so is Jenny Slate as Emma. While she is clearly a very strong actor, her character isn’t nearly as likable as Peter. But she does a great job portraying a lonely character who is both lost in love and life until she meets someone who believes in her. 

The test of a good rom-com is whether you feel better about life after seeing it. And it succeeds in doing that. It is very smoothly shot, funny, and heartwarming. 

THE BEST
Three BEST things about the film

  1. The likability of the main characters was off the charts
  2. The lack of villains.
  3. An Easter egg, where Manny Jacinto makes a nod towards, The Good Place, an NBC sitcom that he starred in . 

THE WORST

The three WORST things about the Film

  1. There was no bad guy/gal to root against. The only people you root against are happy, otherwise you are rooting against the main characters. 
  2. Predictability.
  3. Unnecessary anger at the end.

THE LESSON

Don’t be determined that you know what your life is supposed to be like.

THE FINAL WORD

A fun and funny film about learning to let go of the ones who once loved you. 

THE VERDICT

My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It. 

I want you back gets a Like It.

WHERE TO WATCH

I Want You Back is available on Amazon Prime Video.

Here’s the trailer

ABOUT SILAS

When he’s not reviewing films or interviewing people for the Black & A Half podcast, Silas Lindenstein can be found in the greater metro Seattle, WA working as a real estate agent helping people buy and sell homes, or performing stand up comedy to fellow nerds. He has a wife and three children and desperately wants to learn to make the perfect homemade pizza.

Video – The Book Of Boba Fett Finale Aftershows

Brian Trendler and Silas Lindenstein discuss the season finale of The Book Of Boba Fett, episode #7 “In The Name of Honor” on Brian and Silas’ aftershow The BookEnd.


ABOUT SILAS

When he’s not reviewing films or interviewing people for the Black & A Half podcast, Silas Lindenstein can be found in the greater metro Seattle, WA working as a real estate agent helping people buy and sell homes, or performing stand up comedy to fellow nerds. He has a wife and three children and desperately wants to learn to make the perfect homemade pizza.