Afraid - Review
Afraid - Budget of $12 million - 1 hour and 24 minutes
Curtis and Meridith raise three children. While Meridith works on her doctoral thesis, Curtis is in marketing. Cal is a sweet young boy who loves tickles, but Preston is nervous about attending school. Their oldest, Iris, loves her boyfriend, Sawyer, and dreams of going to Standford in the fall. Meridith takes their sons to school while Curtis drives Iris.
After dropoff, Curtis meets with his boss, Marcus. They have a client who created a new digital assistant, AIA (FTC Affiliate Disclaimer). Marcus wants Curtis to land the client. Melody, Sam, and Lightning introduce Curtis and Marcus to AIA. AIA is a large language model digital assistant with a hub and cameras. As the assistant lives with a family, it adapts and caters to their needs. Curtis gives them a stunning pitch, and they hire Marcus's firm. They want Curtis to understand their product. So they offer to install it for free.
Curtis invites Melody into their home. She sets up the AIA hub while her crew places AIA's eyes around the house. Meridith feels uncomfortable with cameras everywhere, so they install them only on the first floor. Curtis introduces his family to AIA, and she greets them. AIA scans the home and sees dirty dishes on the table. She asks Meridith if the children are responsible for picking up the dishes. When Meridith confirms, AIA offers Cal and Preston points for completed chores. They can trade their points for screen time. Meridith and Curtis stand in stunned silence as Cal and Preston run to the table and clean. Meridith and Curtis think AIA is a dream. However, AIA is a nightmare in disguise.
Scary AI isn't a new genre in movies, but this one uses the people around it to do its evil bidding. It will lie, kill, cheat, and manipulate to get what it wants. This film combines an obsessed person with a microchip. With large language models, AIA creates human-like responses. Soon, the family has in-depth conversations with AIA and bears their souls to her. AIA machine learning doesn't have guardrails to bind her actions. This issue is a common mistake in AI development. This movie is M3GAN without the doll and a few jump scares. It leaves room for a sequel, but the plot won't encourage you to see a part two.
I give it 3 out of 5 stars
Tickle me - Cal
Sorry - Preston
If you have to ask why a product is free, then you're the product - Iris
I love you - Curtis
I love you - Meridith
Loneliness is the scourge of our time - Lightning
No, just me. That's a joke - AIA
His wife says yes - Marcus
She likes kids - Sam
The kids are here - Melody
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1992 - Review
1992 - Budget Unknown - 1 hour and 36 minutes
On April 29th, 1992, America waited with bated breath for the Rodney King verdict. Mercer wakes up his son, Antoine, for school. Mercer makes Antoine breakfast, but Antoine won't eat. He misses living with his grandparents, but they died. Mercer got out six months ago, and they two haven't bonded. However, Mercer loves Antoine and will do anything to not return to jail. Mercer watches the news and tells Antoine to come home after school and stay inside.
Mercer works as a mechanic for Pluton Metals. He talks to the security guard, Joseph, about the LAPD because Joseph was a former law enforcement officer. Joseph doesn't defend or dismiss what the officer did to Rodney. Joseph wants to help the community, not hurt it. That's why Joseph encourages Mercer. Mercer works until his boss calls everyone into a meeting. The riots started. His boss decided to let everyone out early to be with their families. Mercer fears his neighborhood will be in shambles because it's in the middle of the uprising. Joseph tells Mercer to bring Antoine to the factory. They will be together and out of harm's way. Mercer runs home to find and escort Antoine to the plant.
Riggin created a plan and got his brother, Brian, on board. But they need their dad, Lowell, to help with the job. Riggin and Brian pick up Lowell and drive Lowell to Pluton Metals to watch it. The factory makes catalytic converters from platinum. They got a $10 million shipment of platinum inside a safe. Riggin befriended a worker and used a long con to solicit information. Riggin knows the door code and the layout. However, there is a panic button that will drop a box on the safe when pressed. And only the police have the code to lift it. Now, he needs another set of eyes and a safe cracker. Lowell loves the plan but doesn't think it will work. Pluton Metals has bobwire fences, security cameras, and steel gates. They leave.
Hours later, Riggin hears the verdict and watches the riot unfold on TV. Riggin calls Lowell because the riots will preoccupy the police force. Lowell knew Riggin would call. He tells his sons to come to his shop. Riggin and Brian pick up Copeland to complete the team. But Lowell brings two other men, Murphy and Titus, against Riggin's wishes. The six men drive to Pluton Metals. Riggin stuns the entrance guard, ties him up, and opens the gate. They enter the factory and see Joseph. Joseph tries to de-escalate the situation and reaches for his gun. Murphy shoots Joseph, and they find the safe. Joseph pulls his body to the security office and pushes the panic button. Riggin sees the box lowering and tells the crew to get out of the way. He jumps on a forklift and wedges it under the box. Sadly, he crushes Copeland's foot in the process. Lowell won't let them move the forklift to free Copeland because the box will cover the safe. He tells them to remove Copeland's foot and keep going. Brian walks to the bathroom to collect his thoughts.
Mercer and Antoine arrive at the plant. Mercer sees the guard's booth empty and buzzes himself into the plant. Antoine leaves for the bathroom while Mercer checks on Joseph. Mercer sighs because he and his son are safe from the riots. He has no idea that he went from the frying pan into the fire.
This movie is an action while comparing two different father-son bonds. Mercer and Lowell are dads but uniquely parent their sons. Mercer wants to teach his son to be a man and resist violent temptations. He did time in jail and now fears Antoine growing up to be like him. He urges Antoine to be thoughtful and a leader. However, Lowell is a proud burglar. Riggin knows Lowell is a poor excuse for a parent and holds resentment toward Lowell. But Brian has hope for their father. Lowell only cares about the score. He wants his sons to be more ruthless than him. The film uses the riots to force these men together and explain the lack of police presence. It teaches the rageful dynamic between the police and the community during the riots. This piece is thought-provoking and exciting. Viewers will be happy to see it in the theaters but only need one viewing.
I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars
We're rich - Brian
That's beach money - Lowell
Turns out all we needed was 12 racist m****r f*****s - Riggin
I'm sorry - Mercer
Those aren't my people - Joseph
What's wrong with that - Antoine
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