Taking Chance (2009)

It is April 2004 when the story opens with an ambush in Iraq.  It is only the audio over a black screen.  Back in the US, Marine Lt. Col. Mike Strobl (Kevin Bacon) is a number cruncher at Quantico.  His job is to review troop allocations and make recommendations.  Casualties are high in Iraq, but Lt. Col. returns to his wife and kids every night.  He's safe while other Marines were giving their lives.  While reviewing casualty reports, he notes that one Marine was from Colorado, near the town where he himself had grown up.  The Marine was PFC Chance Phelps.  Strobl volunteered to escort Chance home.

The process of returning the deceased to their relatives is very particular.  Honor is due the deceased at every stop on the journey home.  Strobl stood at attention and saluted as Chance was loaded into the plane and when he was removed from the plane.  He had to retain Chance's personal effects (a watch, a medallion, dog tags) on his person at all times, not even allowing them to pass through the X-ray at the airport.  He was moved that others joined in his respect for Chance along the way, offering thanks to him as an escort and condolences to Chance's family.  Strangely, the hero of the film is Chance and Strobl comes to know him by taking Chance home.

The movie is a powerful tearjerker, a somber reflection on the sacrifices made by a young man still in his teens.  Kevin Bacon is outstanding in the role, showing deep feelings despite maintaining a mostly stoic expression.

Highly recommended.

The Bondsman

Hub Halloran (Kevin Bacon) arrived at an abandoned motel to catch one of the Earl brothers.  It turned out that the brothers knew he was coming and set a trap.  They killed him!  To his great surprise, he awoke with a slit throat.  Why wasn't he dead?  Then the phone calls started from Pot O' Gold.  He was back from the dead for a purpose: he was now a bounty hunter in the employ of the devil.  His Pot O' Gold supervisor, Midge (Jolene Purdy), explained that Hell is basically a prison and sometimes there are escapes.  Escapees possess humans.  The only way to send them back is to kill the human they have possessed.

Hub isn't a lone wolf in his efforts.  His mother (Beth Grant) is his boss and she finds out about his new job when he does.  Of course, his mom is more interested in why he went to Hell rather than his new job of demonslaying.  Hub is coy on that subject, declaring it a mistake.  Hub's ex-wife, Maryanne (Jennifer Nettles), stumbles upon him in action against a demon and joins his efforts.  He roped his teenaged son, Cade (Maxwell Jenkins), into serving as a lookout on another instance.  Ex-con and Maryanne's boyfriend, Lucky (Damon Herriman), knows something dark is happening and wants to protect Maryanne and Cade, whatever measures that might require.

Though Hub accepts his new role, he thinks there must be a loophole, a way to get out from under his misdeeds.  He spends a lot of time plotting against Lucky rather than hunting demons that are clearly working as part of a greater plan.  His mother tells him that pride is what led him to Hell and he still hasn't mended that.

The series is available on Amazon.  It is only 8 episodes long and each episode is only 30 minutes.  Yeah, this is easy to binge in a single sitting.  The gruesome deaths of demons and their victims is often over the top, reminding me of Death of a Unicorn.  Good popcorn fun!

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022)

The story opens with Kraglin (Sean Gunn) explaining how Yondu (Michael Rooker) had ruined Christmas for a homesick young Peter Quill (Chris Pratt).  As it is currently the Christmas season on Earth, Mantis (Pom Klementieff) wants to treat Peter to a great Christmas.  She enlists Drax in her plan.  What gift could they get Peter?  Well, Peter has often spoken of a hero back on Earth.  Yes, they will bring Kevin Bacon as a Christmas present!  Thus decided, Drax and Mantis travel to Earth where they have a hilarious adventure as they hunt for Kevin Bacon.  Also joining the fun are Nebula (Karen Gillan), Groot (Vin Diesel), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), and an alien band with a Christmas song that misunderstands everything about the yuletide season.

Highly recommended.

Amazon Pilot Season

Amazon has a trio of 30 minute pilots that are up for viewer vote.  I watched all three in the following order:

Jean-Claude Van Johnson: Jean-Claude Van Damme is leading a humdrum life in retirement when he spots a former flame at a hipster restaurant.  She gives him the brush off.  In order to reignite the flames, he comes out of retirement.  It turns out that JCVD's career as an actor was only cover for his job as a secret agent, codename: Johnson.  Self-deprecating humor abounds in the pilot and there are lots of fun nods to prior films, the action genre, and martial arts movies.  IMDb viewers give it an 8.6, which sounds about right.  JCVD might experience a new career as the Belgian Jackie Chan.  Would definitely like to see more of this.

 

The Tick: As one who loved the comic back in the 80s, the cartoon in the 90s, and the live action sitcom in the 00s, this seemed to be a strange take on the material.  Firstly, the Tick is secondary through the pilot.  Arthur is the central character and he has a considerable backstory that is offered.  Rather than a quirky accountant in a moth suit, he is a psychologically damaged youth who - twenty years ago - saw his father and his childhood heroes killed by the supervillian, the Terror.  Like a scene out of A Beautiful Mind, Arthur has a wall covered in paper clippings that track the possible location of the reportedly dead Terror.  It is there that he meets the Tick.  Is the Tick real or merely a figment of his troubled mind?  With the exception of the Tick himself, this does not play like comedy.  As for Peter Serafinowicz as the Tick, he has a tough act to follow.  Patrick Warburton was awesome as the Tick in the short-lived sitcom, both in look and tone.  Serafinowicz does a great job with the voice but his look isn't right.  Overall, I liked it and would definitely have watched the next episode immediately had there been one to watch.  IMDb viewers gave this a 7.9.

 

I Love Dick: A New York couple is leaving NYC for an extended period.  Sylvere (Griffin Dunne) will be involved in a writing workshop in Marfa, TX while Chris (Kathryn Hahn) will go to the Venice Film Festival where her film was accepted.  No sooner have they arrived in Marfa than Chris discovers that her film has been eliminated because she used a song without the artist's permission.  And thus she is still in Marfa to meet Dick (Kevin Bacon).  She is immediately infatuated by Dick even though he shows no sympathy for her rejected film.  In fact, he posits the idea that female-directed movies are rare because women aren't very good at filmmaking.  She is even more infatuated!  Through the pilot, Chris narrates snippets of love letters she has written to Dick.  Interesting, but the characters are mostly unappealing.  I found Dick to be the most interesting and likeable of the bunch but this is Chris's story and she is a basket of anxiety.  I would probably have clicked on the next episode just to get a better idea where this was going.  Just based on what is here, this looks like it should be a Lifetime movie rather than a recurring series.  IMDb viewers gave this a 5.7.

Amazon has produced some great shows, notably one of my favorites, Bosch.  I would like to see JCVJ and The Tick turned into series but I'm indifferent to I Love Dick.