Maximum Burn

Deepwater Horizon is the true story of the blowout of a BP-led oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, largely on account of BP officials glossing over safety procedures. Mike (Mark Wahlberg) and chief safely officer James (Kurt Russell) are the central characters herein - voices of courage under duress, and of resistance of laissez faire corporate practices exemplified by the likes of BP liaison Donald (John Malkovitch). Superbly executed and clinical in its explanation of the sequence and the science behind it all, with characters that connect even as they play succint roles

15.5/20

Dsney's Polynesia Romp

Moana of Motunui (Aulii Cravalho) needs to capture the eccentric demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) and restore the heart of Te Fiti. For that she must step out of her comfort zone and face many dangers as she for the first time in decades ventures far beyond her reef. Moana is one of the better animated movies in a while, with the Polynesian pseudo-mythology adding a noveau dimension throughout

14/20

Lively battle

Surfer Nancy (Blake Lively) finds herself on an offbeat beach in Mexico. Whats starts off as an innocuous surfing session becomes a game of cat and mouse with a great white shark, shifting from whale carcasses to rocky outcrops to buoys, somehow surviving the shark and the high tide. The Shallows is a one-person movie and quite well executed at that

15.5/20

Checkmating Circumstance

With all the milk of human goodness as only Disney can serve up, but not missing out on much by the way of realism, Queen of Katwe traces the path of Phiona Mutesi (Madina Nalwanga) and her mother Nakku (Lupita Nyongo) as the former finds through the game of chess a way out of poverty and self-discovery. An intense movie with much ups and downs that mercifully avoids unrealistic victories

15/20

The Linguist

Here is the rarest of rare opportunities for linguist Louise (Amy Adams) to show her consummate skills in interpreting cephalopod alien language. With some assistance from Ian (Jeremmy Renner), army physicist, Louise gets going on the path to preventing global catastrophe, finding love, and perhaps seeing the future. Somewhere down the line Arrival loses the script in terms of delivering a true emotional connect, Perhaps it is a lot less overwhelming than critics are currently making of it. In a genre that is increasingly taking off, this is no The Martian nor Interstellar

13.5/20

Whos the Zombie?

It is difficult to make a zombie movie (Train to Busan) that helps us understand ourselves and our inner zombie. Perhaps the detached father Seok Woo (Yoo Gong), the doting daughter Soo an (Soo an Kim), a pregnant woman, a baseball team and young love therein - a great foundation for emotional overtones perhaps - but near flawlessly executed even as the pace of the movie remains relentless. This is the missing Asian zombie movie - intertwined with family values and societal goodness and liberal doses of black and white. Remarkably well executed

16/20

Game over

A MOOC called Nerve shows V (Emma Roberts) the quintessential millenial all about love, breaking free, new money, the beginning and the end of catfights, and a healthy dose of idealism. Fast paced enough to overlook some patchy storyline, the story would resonate with younger folk and those that seek the meaning behind the deeper interconnection of people and their phones and the dark web and hackers and of thrill seeking behavior. Rush stuff

13.5/20