Articles by Paul Hall

New to On Demand: Almost Christmas Almost Christmas is the new film from director David E. Talbert, featuring a look at a family coming together to rally around its patriarch. Walter Meyers (Danny Glover) lost his lovely wife at the beginning of the year and this will be the first Christmas without her. Can Walter’s family join together to make it through the holiday? Walter is a truly giving man. His wife had always been by his side and together they made the world a better place with their large family and charitable endeavors. Now living life on his own […]

Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) has become a bit of a loner since his service in the military. Though an amazing investigator with the military police, he also had a tendency to take things a bit too far. Reacher’s social call on a friend in Washington, D.C., morphs into an investigation and ultimately evolves into a fight for survival in the new film Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. Maj. Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders) has been in charge of Reacher’s former unit stationed in the nation’s capital. Upon his arrival for the surprise visit with Maj. Turner, Reacher learns that she has […]

Accountants are generally thought of as a bit different. They march to the beat of their own numbers-driven drums. In the film The Accountant, Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) is brought in to check the books for a variety of businesses including some that aren’t listed in the Fortune 500. Drug cartels, arms brokers, money launderers and assassins are just some of those who seek Wolff’s services. He is more than an accountant, and when discretion is required in finding missing money, Wolff is the guy to do it. As a man with high-functioning autism and a definite sense of right […]

One man can make a difference in the lives of countless others. In the film The Birth of a Nation, that man is Nat Turner (Nate Parker). A slave who is owned by the man he grew up alongside, Turner finds himself educated by his owners and a rarity in the South as a literate slave. Samuel Turner (Armie Hammer) is trying to keep his property afloat. When the Reverend (Mark Boone Jr.) suggests that Samuel might hire out his slave, who is trained in the Word of God, to help calm other landowners’ slaves, Samuel takes their money and […]

Oil. It drives countless industries and provides income for the men and women who search for it. An entire industry thrives in the gulf with jobs for countless residents on the platforms that float on the water’s surface. The movie Deepwater Horizon from director Peter Berg focuses on the platform of the same name and the men and women who make it operate. Mike Williams (Mark Wahlberg) seems like a regular guy working on the Deepwater. He has a loving wife, Felicia (Kate Hudson), and a beautiful daughter, Sydney (Stella Allen), who rely on his work. When he leaves for […]

Have you ever wondered about the life of a stork? In the new animated film Storks, the birds — long thought of as the sole delivery method of baby brothers and sisters everywhere — have moved on. They have gotten out of the baby delivery business and are now the main delivery vehicle for the great products purchased from cornerstore.com. Junior (Andy Samberg) is an eager go-getter who is ready for the challenge of becoming the boss. He’s given a task: fire Tulip (Katie Crown), an orphan who wasn’t delivered to her home when the storks were in the baby […]

It was a cold morning in January 2009 as US Airways Flight 1549 prepared for takeoff. The flight was scheduled to travel from New York’s LaGuardia Airport to Charlotte, N.C. A seemingly normal morning for Capt. Chesley Sullenberger was about to turn into something that was anything but ordinary. Once airborne, the plane encountered a flock of birds and both engines lost thrust. What happened next is a story that is nothing short of miraculous, hence the nickname it was given: the “miracle on the Hudson.” But few know the story of the aftermath of the water landing. Sully, from […]

Bad guys are bad guys and good guys are good guys, right? Not totally — in the new film Suicide Squad from director David Ayer, these labels get flipped on their head. U.S. intelligence officer Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) has a plan to get some of the worst villains who are currently incarcerated to work for the United States in the most unique and extreme situations. If they succeed, they will get time knocked off the lengthy sentences they are serving. If they fail, they can be disavowed and eliminated. The team Waller sets out to recruit includes Deadshot (Will […]

It’s been nine years since Matt Damon did a Bourne film. Now Damon and director Paul Greengrass reunite for Jason Bourne, to reenergize the franchise. For those of you who haven’t seen the franchise’s previous films, here’s a bit of the backstory. Jason Bourne (Damon) is a weapon for the U.S. government. He has been called upon for some of the most sensitive covert assignments and has an amazing skill set to carry them out. As we’ve progressed through the film series, we have seen Bourne regain memories that seemed buried forever and while he runs from the actions of his […]