BEFORE: When it comes to getting things done, either at work or around the house, I often feel like I'm my own worst enemy. I love making "to-do" lists, to be sure, but then I start to have problems when it's time "to do" them - which means I'm something of a scam artist, making my lists and then not getting those things done. I made a list of things to get done during the pandemic, like organizing my comics, updating my iTunes, clearing my e-mail - and those things are all still outstanding. I got SOME things done, that's for sure, like filing for unemployment benefits, cancelling our May vacation and getting credit for future flights, and looking up some old friends, but it's all been rather hit or miss since I started going back to work three days a week. I followed through with getting a hearing aid, but I still need to get some new glasses, for example.
Into this mix I decided that instead of seriously looking for a new job or even a second job, I'd take the opportunity to write something, maybe it could turn out to be a book about my experiences at Comic-Con, because I believe there are some great stories there. But I've written about four chapters in the last two weeks, and already I'm starting to lose steam, and look for excuses why I can't write a new chapter each day. I couldn't possibly do it today, because I decided to stock up on some groceries at the supermarket, I had to scan the cable listings for any new movies on Demand that I've seen but don't have physical copies of, and then of course there was "The Equalizer 2" to watch, and write about.
This is so stupid, how come I can make the time nearly every day to write a short essay about a movie I just watched, why can't I just write a little longer and knock off another chapter about some aspect of Comic-Con? I think it has something to do with one being a pastime, a hobby, and the other seeming too much like actual work - and a pastime always seems more fun than working, right? It's like I have to trick myself into working on the book, by reminding myself that I can either work on the book, or start looking for another job, and that makes writing the book seem more attractive. I'll have to start implementing the "carrot and stick" mentality, like no playing games on my phone or watching more episodes of "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" until I finish another chapter.
This is the sort of thing that prevented me from writing a full screenplay years ago, I got through the outline stage several times, but whenever it came time to write dialogue, I'd lose my incentive, tell myself I was wasting my time, this was never going to be a good screenplay, I'm not a great writer anyway, and isn't there something else I'd rather be doing? Then I'd go and find that thing to do, and drop the screenplay idea for another couple years before picking it up again. I've got to find a way to break that cycle with this book. Or maybe I just need to take the few chapters I've written and concentrate instead on a book proposal, which is an entirely different thing (it turns out) from writing the book itself. OK, bargaining time, I'll write one more chapter this week, then change gears and try to figure out how to write a book proposal instead, with the few sample chapters I have - otherwise I think I may end up getting discouraged again with writing, like I have in the past.
It's not fair, on some level, that I can write over 3,600 short essays about movies over the last 12 years, but I can't bring myself to write 10 chapters of a book, even if I treat them the same way, like short, daily essays. I have to figure out why this is the case - if I can, then I could knock this thing out in about two weeks, and I have a window of opportunity, with some days off from movies coming up in August and September.
Bill Pullman carries over from "The Ballad of Lefty Brown"
FOLLOW-UP TO: "The Equalizer" (Movie #2,335)
THE PLOT: Robert McCall serves an unflinching justice for the exploited and oppressed, but how far will he go when that is someone he loves?
AFTER: I had to take a minute and remind myself what happened in the first "Equalizer" film, to be fair it's been over four years since I saw that. Robert McCall was working at a hardware store in that film, and he went up against the Russian mafia while helping out a teen prostitute. I do remember a lot of booby traps being set up in that hardware store... and there was a big trend that year with action movies that involved people with that ability to "read the room" and use whatever materials are at hand to get an advantage over their enemies in that space, like Jack Reacher and Batman do. OK, standard SPOILER ALERT for this one, if you haven't seen "The Equalizer 2" yet, please proceed no further.
When we catch up with McCall again, he's on a train headed to Turkey, in disguise (somewhat) and looking for a man who's kidnapped his own daughter away from her American mother, and taking down four Turkish thugs is a quick reminder of who McCall is and what he's about, he'll go anywhere and do just about anything to balance those scales, punish or even kill the criminals if that will set things right, according to his set of rules.
After returning the girl to her mother (who runs the bookstore he frequents), we learn he's still living in Boston, but working as a Lyft driver now, which puts him in touch with a diverse bunch of people who are in trouble and need his help, even if they don't know it, plus he's got a number of regular customers who have long-term problems, and so McCall's had to learn how to prioritize. There's an old Jewish man who was separated from his sister (and his valuable art) by Nazis during World War II, and also a black teen living in McCall's apartment building who has artistic talent, but is also involved with selling drugs for a local gang.
He'll get to them all, eventually, one way or another, but first he makes contact with Susan, his old colleague from the Defense Intelligence Agency, one of the few people from the past that knows that McCall is still alive. She's called to Belgium, along with McCall's old partner, Dave York, to check out the murder of two undercover DIA agents, and well, let's just say she doesn't make it back. McCall then has to drop everything else and figure out what case she was working on, and who took her out - you might think this would involve traveling to Belgium, but he's such a great investigator, and so good with technology, that he can review all of the relevant security footage remotely by computer. Umm, OK, I guess he's a total next-level hacker, in addition to all of his other skills.
This also puts him back into contact with his ex-partner, who believed McCall to be dead after a building explosion. Then of course there are implications of revealing his status to another person, it's always dangerous to let another person in on the secret, apparently. Shortly after this, McCall is attacked by one of his Lyft passengers, which probably means that he's already gotten too close to whoever's calling the shots. Fortunately this ability of McCall's enables him to see any attack coming, and (for the most part, anyway) always stay one step ahead of the people who are out to get him.
Facing his own past means returning to the seaside village where McCall once shared a house with his late wife, and she apparently worked at a bakery while he toiled for the DIA. We still haven't heard the full story of McCall's wife, I think, perhaps they're saving that for "Equalizer 3"...it's kind of like the "John Wick" and "Jack Reacher" franchises, we only get little bits of information about the past with each new film, they all really know how to drag this process out. Anyway, it's a showdown between McCall and a whole squad of assassins in this quaint little Massachusetts coastal town, right in the middle of a hurricane that's made its way up the East Coast. I suppose this is meant to be symbolic somehow in addition to dangerous, complicated and visually interesting. Still, it would be pretty foolish to not bet on the Equalizer coming out on top.
It turns out that this is the only time in his career that Denzel Washington has appeared in a sequel - it's also the first time that Antoine Fuqua has directed one. Well, if you have to be part of a franchise, this is a pretty darn good one to be in. I'd watch "Equalizer 3" for sure, I'll save a slot for it some time in 2024, perhaps.
Also starring Denzel Washington (last seen in "Roman J. Israel, Esq."), Pedro Pascal (last seen in "If Beale Street Could Talk"), Ashton Sanders (last seen in "Straight Outta Compton"), Melissa Leo (last seen in "Everybody's Fine"), Sakina Jaffrey (last seen in "Late Night"), Jonathan Scarfe, Adam Karst, Kazy Tauginas (last seen in "Dolemite Is My Name"), Garrett Golden, Orson Bean, Tamara Hickey (last seen in "We Don't Belong Here"), Rhys Olivia Cote, Antoine de Lartigue, Abigail Marlowe, Kevin Chapman (last seen in "In Good Company").
RATING: 7 out of 10 bags of flour
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