Dave Bautista – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

MOVIE OF THE WEEK December 13, 2024: THE LAST SHOWGIRL

December 8, 2024 Jennifer Merin Autumn Durald Arkapaw, betsy bozdech, Billie Lourd, Brenda Song, Dave Bautista, gia coppola, jamie lee curtis, jennifer merin, Kiernan Shipka, las vegas, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, motw, Movie of the Week, nell minow, Pam Grady, Pamela Anderson, sandie angulo chen, sherin nicole, the Last Showgirl

She’s been working pretty steadily since she first hung up her red swimsuit after Baywatch aired its last episode in the late 1990s, but with director Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl, Pamela Anderson may have finally found the role that will put the image of her running down a beach in slow-mo to rest once and for all. She’s unforgettably vulnerable as Shelly, an aging Las Vegas dancer whose life is thrown into turmoil when her long-running burlesque show closes.

Festivals Reviews

THE LAST SHOWGIRL (TIFF 2024) – Review by Rachel West

September 16, 2024September 17, 2024 Rachel West Autumn Durald Arkapaw, Billie Lourd, Brenda Song, Dave Bautista, gia coppola, jamie lee curtis, Kate Gersten, Kiernan Shipka, las vegas, the Last Showgirl, TIFF 2024

Gia Coppola give Pamela Anderson the best role she’s ever had in The Last Showgirl. Like Shelley, Anderson hasn’t been taken seriously as an actress or in her personal life, and here, she gets to prove decades of her critics wrong. It is a heartbreaking story to watch but Shelley remains optimistic throughout, even in the face of despair. She retains an idealized and romanticised vision associated with old Vegas that cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw captures so brilliantly.

Reviews

THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY HOLIDAY SPECIAL – Review by Susan Granger

November 28, 2022November 28, 2022 Susan Granger Chris Pine, Dave Bautista, James Gunn, kevin bacon, mcu, Pom Klementieff, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special

An animated flashback that shows how, years ago, Yondu (Michael Rooker) ruined Christmas for young Peter Quill by trashing his tree, throwing out his gifts and scolding him for his sentimentality. Listening to this recollection in outer space and realizing how much now-grown Peter – a.k.a. Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) – misses Earth’s holiday customs and traditions, his Guardian friends, Mantis (Pom Klementieff) and Drax (Dave Bautista), embark on a quest to find him the perfect Christmas gift.

Reviews

ARMY OF THE DEAD – Review by Susan Granger

June 7, 2021June 8, 2021 Susan Granger Army of the Dead, Dave Bautista, Hiroyuki Sanada, netflix, zack snyder, zombies

The opening sequence of Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead reveals how ‘patient zero,’ the result of military experimentation, escaped outside of Las Vegas, now beset by carnage. Although he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for saving the U.S. Defense secretary during a zombie outbreak, Scott Ward is stuck flipping burgers in a diner.

Reviews

MY SPY – Review by Sarah Ward

January 22, 2020January 24, 2020 Sarah Ward 0 Comments Chloe Coleman, Dave Bautista, my spy, Peter Segal

Consider it a case of life imitating art, with the film following a seasoned CIA operative forced out of his high-stakes comfort zone to surveil the widow of an arms dealer and her nine-year-old daughter, only to find himself completely outclassed by the latter.

Reviews

STUBER – Review by Susan Granger

July 15, 2019July 15, 2019 Susan Granger 0 Comments Dave Bautista, kumail nanjiani, stuber

Kumail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista team up in the latest entry in the odd couple/buddy action-comedy genre. For months, Vic (Bautista), an LAPD narcotics detective, has been tracking his former partner’s killer Teijo (Iko Uwais), a major link in the local heroin chain. Unfortunately, the day he gets a tip on Teijo’s next big drop, he’s just had Lasik surgery, meaning his eyes are unable to focus.

Reviews

STUBER – Review by Lana Wilson-Combs

July 12, 2019July 13, 2019 Lana Wilson-Combs 0 Comments Dave Bautista, kumail nanjiani, michael dowse, stuber

Kumail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista make a dynamic duo in the funny new buddy comedy, Stuber from director Michael Dowse. Nanjiani plays a mild-mannered Uber driver named Stu who is working to make a few extra bucks to impress the girl of his dreams. But when a buffed and brash LAPD Detective recruits Stu to track down a drug lord, Stu is in for the wildest ride of his life.

Movie of the Week

AWFJ Movie of the Week, July 28-Aug. 3: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

July 28, 2014October 9, 2018 Sandra Kraisirideja (Archived Contributor) 0 Comments benicio del toro, Bradley Cooper, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Djimon Hounsou, glenn close, Guardians of the Galaxy, James Gunn, john c. reilly, Karen Gillan, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, vin diesel, zoe saldana

Opening Aug. 1, AWFJ’s Movie of the Week is Guardians of the Galaxy, the Marvel Studios franchise, with its 2017 sequel recently announced at Comic-Con. Directed by James Gunn and co-written by Nicole Perlman, the film is filled with eye-popping CGI and spectacle. It has just the right mix of action, comedy and heart that makes for a super successful superhero movie. The cast is led by Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Lee Pace, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, and Benicio del Toro, and features the voice talents of Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper. Read on…