Don Jon

Comedy, Raunchy
4.5 stars
Oh my God so funny; dating from a guy's point of view - with an addiction to porn and much emphasis on masturbation, so it's pretty crude but so funny! Go see it!  Starring Joseph Gordon Levitt (500 Days of Summer and Looper), along with Scarlett Jonhasson as his love interest.  Julianne Moore co-stars.  Loved it!  Go see it now! 

Prisoners

Drama
4.5 stars
Very dark, very intense, very long (2.5 hours).  Hugh Jackman holds captive and tortures the man he believes has kidnapped his and his friends' daughters. Great cast: Jake Gyllenhall as the cop investigating the case, Maria Bello as Jackman's wife, as well as Terrence Howard and Viola Davis as their friends and parents of the other kidnapped girl. Really good and very clever at how all the seemingly meaningless pieces all tie in together.

The Family

Violent Comedy
3 stars
Extremely violent.  Robert DeNiro and Michelle Pfeiffer are in witness protection in small-town France with their 2 teenage kids.  The previews make it seem like a light comedy.  I liked this movie, but the comic turns weren't funny at all.  It's more like Good Fellas with a lame attempt at humor.  Like I said, I liked it, but don't in thinking it's a comedy.

Pacific Rim

Sci-Fi, Action
4 stars
Fun!  Giant Godzilla-like creatures emerge from the sea to wreak havoc, while the earthlings created mega-sized Ironmen to combat them – how fun is that?!?!  Add in some eye candy – pilot Charlie Hunnam,  officer Idris Elba, among others - as well as comic relief – scientists Charlie Day (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) & Burn Gorman (TV’s Revenge) and you have a hit!  Also Ron Perlman (Hellboy) has a plum role as a shifty character.  Funny, because at first I wasn’t interested in this film until I saw the Godzilla-type monsters and then I was sold.  Fun action flick for nerds like me.

 

I’m So Excited

Foreign, Comedy-Raunchy
3 stars
Funny but raunchy film from Spain (with English subtitles) taking place on a doomed flight.  The landing gear is malfunctioning so the flamboyant crew tries to make the best of it by entertaining the business class – coach class has been drugged to sleep though the flight.  They entertain themselves by drinking, taking drugs and having sex as well as a great dance number to the Pointer Sisters hit song.  It’s cute, but not as funny as I’d hoped.

White House Down

Action
3.5 stars
Yet a third film this year showing a White House takeover.  This time, Channing Tatum saves the day and Jamie Foxx is miscast as the president.  Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Woods star as trusted Secret Service, and the talented Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty, Lawless, Great Gatsby) plays one of the bad guys.  Also, Joey King (Crazy, Supid, Love) plays Tatum’s little girl who is also endangered in the takeover.   This film is pretty similar, but not as well done as Olympus Has Fallen but it sure beats G.I. Joe: Retaliation as far as White House takeovers.  Some fun, mindless violence and action.

Despicable Me, 2

Animation, Comedy
3 stars
Cute, but I liked the first film better.  Gru (Steve Carell) is back, now fully domesticated and proud father of three girls, though tempted to work for the Anti-Villain League (Sorry, but the “AVL” here just reminded me of the Tru Blood organization with the same abbreviation).  Lots of minion antics including a beach scene that didn’t seem to belong in the film at all, aside from just being cute.  I liked the first film where we saw the villain Gru slowly melt over the three little girls, and the minions were something new and original.  This film just feels like more of the same.  But it is cute.

 

The Way, Way Back

Indie, Comedy
5 stars
Loved it!  A wry coming of age story starring Toni Colette as a single mom to 14 year old Liam James who are both joining her jerk boyfriend Steve Carell, at his Hampton home for a summer vacation.  Allison Janney is tons of fun as an obnoxious neighbor, Sam Rockwell plays the owner of a water park, and Amanda Peet and Rob Corddry play friends of Carell.  If you liked films like Little Miss Sunshine and Away We Go, then this film is a must. 

Lone Ranger

Comedy, Action
3.5 stars
Good. Johnny Depp steals the show as a wise but slightly crazy Tonto who guides the not so smart Army Hammer into his role as the Lone Ranger.  Jim and I are both fans of Depp and we both enjoyed his antics.  To the naysayers: it’s just a silly comedy!  Get over it!  Fun movie, not to be taken seriously.

The Heat

Comedy
3 stars
Cute.  Straitlaced FBI agent Sandra Bullock and foul-mouthed Boston cop Melissa McCarthy reluctantly team up to take down bad guys.  It’s cute with much of the humor you’d expect from these actresses, but nothing really new here.  Good for a few laughs.

Much Ado About Nothing (2012)

Indie, Comedy
5 stars
Loved it.  A modern take on the classic tale spoken in original Shakespearian prose.  Artfully filmed in black and white, an assortment of affluent folks staying together in an estate use manipulation to get people to fall in love as well as suspect infidelity.  Includes many familiar faces such as Clark Gregg (West Wing, New Adventures of Old Christine), Nathan Fillian (Castle), Amy Acker (Person of Interest), and more.  Very well done.

Bling Ring, The

Indie, True Story
3 stars
Interesting to see the mindset of teens so obsessed with certain celebrities that they break into their homes and steal their clothes, shoes, etc.  Sofia Coppola directed and co-wrote the screenplay.  Emma Watson (Harry Potter) and Taissa Farmiga (American Horror Story) co-star as obsessed teens, but the main characters are played by Katy Chang as the ring leader and Israel Broussard as the new kid just happy to be included in gang.  It’s fun to watch them raid some homes – Paris Hilton has so much stuff she didn’t even noticed she’d been robbed something like 7 or 8 times!  After a while, it gets a little dull watching home after home get invaded.   I did watch interviews with the real perpetrators on a news program and I have to say Leslie Mann was spot-on as the dippy mom home schooling her juvenile delinquents.  Cute film.

World War Z

Sci-Fi, Action
3.5 stars
Fun zombie film.  Brad Pitt is recruited back into his secret UN job to save the world from zombies – or at least travel to parts of the world where the zombie virus is thought to have originated, in hopes this can lead to an antivirus.  I’ve seen a lot of bad reviews for this film and I say those critics need to chill!  It’s just a zombie film!  It’s not meant to be critically acclaimed!  This is more ambitious (and serious) than most zombie films, but I enjoyed it.  But if you’re looking for a zombie comedy, I recommend Warm Bodies and Zombieland.  Apparently, only for zombie lovers (like me).

Now You See Me

Drama, Magic
3 stars
Very flashy but with a frustrating ending that forces you to rethink the entire film.  Four talented magicians are recruited by a mystery mastermind to magically rob banks and drop the cash onto their audience members (Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, and Jesse Eisenberg as his usual arrogant self).  Other stars include Mark Ruffalo and Melanie Laurent as detectives investigating the burglaries, as well as Michael Cain and Morgan Freeman as more enigmatic characters.  It is fun and entertaining to watch, but it’s the sort of ending that drives me crazy because it seems designed to make you pay to watch the film a second time from a different perspective.  (On principle, I won’t).  Anyways, it’s still a fun film.

Before Midnight

Romance, Drama
3 stars
Good, but not as good as its predecessors, Before Sunrise and Before Sunset.  Ethan Hawk and Julie Delpy reprise their roles as lovers who met nearly 20 years ago, then finally got together in the second film; now, nine years after uniting, they are having marital woes.  The first two films were about falling in love, this one spends too much time on an endless argument that they frustratingly never resolve.  The solution to their problem that I had in my head (a bi-continental compromise) never even came up as an option.   There is the lovely backdrop of Greece, and I loved a long dinner conversation they had with three other couples.   Only for those fans of the first two films who feel invested enough to see the end of the trilogy.

Man of Steel

Sci-Fi, Action
3.5 stars
Good rendition of Superman, though I am still biased towards the Christopher Reeves films.  This film alters the original Superman story a little bit, but it was fun to see a different take on a story we’ve seen so many times before.  Henry Cavill is very easy on the eyes, Amy Adams, whom I normally love, seemed a bit too old to play Lois Lane.  Michael Shannon plays a great bad guy - I've loved him since his stand-out performance in Revolutionary Road.  Fun movie.

This is The End

Comedy
4.5 stars
Loved it.  It’s rude, crude, and completely ridiculous, yet I laughed through the entire thing.  James Franco holds an all-star party in LA when an earthquake occurs and total mayhem lets loose.  Franco, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel, Craig Robinson and Danny McBride try to survive the unknown.  It starts out a little slow, but it just keeps picking up speed to hilarity, though I could have done with a few less ejaculation jokes.  There are no extra scenes once the credits begin, though it feels there should be.  Trust me, I waited till the bitter end with most of the audience.  Loved it.

The Internship

Comedy
3.5 stars
Cute film for those who enjoy Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson’s antics.  Vaughn and Wilson find themselves out of work and manage to get an internship at Google, despite having no programming experience whatsoever.  I found the story amusing, and of course predictable (hmm – do you think they can win people over with their charm???), but I only really laughed out loud once and that was just for a comment made about the Golden Snitch during a bizarre game of Quidditch.  It was still fun to watch the nerdy interns learn a thing or two from the “old guys”, and Vaughn and Wilson are always a fun team.  As I said, a good film for fans of Vaughn and Wilson.

The Hangover Part III

Comedy
3.5 stars
Good, but not as funny as the previous Hangover films.  The Wolfpack is back again, this time on a road trip to take Alan (Zack Galifianakis) to a clinic that goes, of course, horribly awry.  Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong, and others return as well as couple of newcomers including John Goodman.  I have to say, there was one scene involving sheets and a rooftop that had me laughing so hard I had to practically stifle myself to stop.  Too bad the rest wasn’t as funny.  Good for a few laughs.

   

 

 

Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s

Documentary, Fashion

3.5 stars
Interesting love letter to the elite Bergdorf Goodman store, including the history of the store, interviews with the entire who’s who in the fashion world who describe their first encounters there, and my favorite part, the window dressers.  Who knew their sales staff makes roughly a half mil a year?  A fun film for both fashionistas and those who can only dream of shopping in the world’s most elite department store.

Star Trek Into Darkness

Sci-Fi, Action
4 stars
Fun.   Chris Pine reprises his role as Captain Kirk and leads his crew after a bad guy (Benedict Cumberbatch) who wreaked havoc in London.  My husband says Trekkies will understand it better if I just say it’s a prequel to Wrath of Khan.  We saw the 3D version and it seemed worth it for the effects.  For non-Trekkies like me, it was still a fun film and a continuation from the previous J.J. Abrams Star Trek (2009).

The Great Gatsby

Drama
4.5 stars
Loved it!  The classic F. Scott Fitzgerald novel is brought to life once again as Jay Gatsby (Leo DiCaprio) throws over-the-top parties hoping his long-ago love Daisy (Carey Mulligan) will find her way there so they can meet again.  As for director Baz Luhrmann, I absolutely hated his Moulin Rouge, and yes he still has outrageous set design for Gatsby, but this time it feels right, as Gatsby was an over-the-top character.  He has taken some minor liberties with the story, but the core plot remains the same.  I loved the wild parties, the beautiful mansions, the glamorous clothes and the essential love story.  I thought it was a strange choice to have Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) narrate the story to a shrink in a sanatorium.  I didn’t mind the mixture of modern music with era appropriate music, but some people found that to be a turn-off.  I watched the 3D version, but didn’t see any real benefit to pay extra for this feature.  I loved this film, I am going to see it again soon!

Iron Man 3

Sci-Fi, Action
3.5 stars
Fun film, not as good first in the series.  Robert Downey Jr. is again attacked by a really bad guy (Guy Pearce) and must save the world once more.  Don Cheadle and Gwyneth Paltrow resume their roles as Downey’s inner circle.  There’s lots of fun, action and humor as with the previous Iron Man films.  I have to believe that jumping into his Iron Man suit in midair has got to be painful!  Once again there is a bonus scene after the seemingly endless credits, and neither Jim nor I thought it was worth the incredibly long wait.  But fans of the comic book genre should love it. 

Mud

Indie, Drama
3.5 stars
Good film starring Mathew McConaughey as a man hiding on a small island who is discovered by two young boys.  Really, the boys (Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland) are the true stars in this film as they try to help McConaughey in his quest to protect Reese Witherspoon from harm.  I really liked the coming of age aspect of this film.  The ending I suppose was appropriate, but I was left wondering “Now what?”.  Still, this is a good film.

Oblivion

Sci-Fi, Drama
4 stars
Good, but a little slow.  Tom Cruise stars in this futuristic film that feels like a combination of WALL-E and Total Recall.  Cruise and Andrea Riseborough are on Earth to maintain the machines that are sucking the ocean water from earth to be used in the spaceship the earthlings had been evacuated to after a war ruined the planet.   But things change when he meets the strangely familiar Olga Kurylenko as well as Morgan Freeman.  Then the movie feels like it steals a little from Star Wars chase scenes and a touch of 2001: A Space Odyssey.  But the combination of influences from other films works here.  I liked it.

42

Drama, True Story
4.5 stars
Good movie starring Chadwick Boseman as baseball great Jackie Robinson.  Harrison Ford co-stars as MLB executive Branch Rickey who decided it was time to integrate baseball to attract more fans and ultimately make more money.  Most films about athletic heroes tend to be sappy but this film only crossed that line once or twice; mostly, it’s just a really good baseball movie about racism and acceptance. 

Scary MoVie 5

Comedy, Horror
2 stars
Dumb.  Silly parody of current popular horror films, mostly following the storyline of Mama.  This looked so funny in the previews, so I was really disappointed especially with the Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan “sex” scene – I’m not sure they even touched each other and it was too ridiculous for me.  I was really hoping for some laughs and I’m embarrassed to admit that the only time I laughed was when Simon Rex and Ashley Tisdale started punching the creepy little savage girls (in self-defense, of course!).  The other audience members weren’t laughing much either.  Only for fans of this genre.

The Place Beyond the Pines

Drama, Crime
4 stars
Good but kinda sad movie starring Ryan Gosling as an extreme motorcyclist who starts robbing banks for a living when he learns he has an infant son with former fling Eva Mendes.  Bradley Cooper plays a cop just trying to do the right thing but has difficulty when some dirty cops (including Ray Liotta) try to corrupt him.  Dane DeHaan is a fine young actor (True Blood, Lawless) but one would hope the offspring of Gosling and Mendez would be better looking?  Anyway, he plays an angry teen later on in this film which is really good, but I didn’t care for the ending.

GI Joe: Retaliation

2.5 stars
Action, Drama
Seriously?  I had no idea who was who in this silly film.  Dwayne Johnson takes over the helm of the G.I Joes who are arch enemies of Cobra, whoever they are…  Anyway, the Cobra guys take over the White House by impersonating the President, played by Jonathan Pryce.  There’s some fun Ninja Kung Fu whatever it is.  This is a Guy movie, hence the couple of hot chicks mixed in.  When I tried to explain what I saw to my husband he understood exactly the whole story and all the characters, so I guess you have to be a guy to get into this film.  I just wanted to see Bruce Willis, but his part was too small and not his best. 

Olympus Has Fallen

3.5
Action, Drama
Fun action flick starring Gerard Butler as a Secret Service sort of one man killing machine.  Butler must save the POTUS, played by Aaron Eckhart, after the White House is taken over by North Koreans (pretty timely, don’t ya think?).  The body count feels like a Tarantino film, but it’s still fun to watch.  My only complaint would be that car accident near the beginning of the film.  Other than driving too fast and in too tight formation during a slippery snowfall, they don’t really show what caused the car accident.  They could have showed a deer or moose in the road, or was it malice planned by the enemy?  Maybe they just never drove in snow before…  Jim and I both liked this film.  

 

The Call

Suspense Thriller
4 stars
Exciting thriller starring Halle Berry as a 911 operator who receives a call from kidnap victim Abigail Breslin while the kidnapping is in progress.  The assailant is quite brutal and twisted.  Very good, I loved the ending.

 

Admission

Comedy
3 stars
Cute, better than I expected.  Tina Fey stars as a Princeton admissions officer who is invited by Paul Rudd to visit his alternative high school to meet a promising student who may be Fey's biological son.  There is some of the usual dorky humor associated with Fey, but the story turns out to have some heart.  I loved Lily Tomlin as Fey's Mom.  Cute film.

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

Comedy, Dumb
2 stars
Really dumb, and not that funny.  Dave Carell stars as the title character, who along with Steve Buscemi, perform in Las Vegas still using the same old tired magic show.  Along comes Jim Carrey as a street performer, who is not a magician, but instead puts his body through sick endurance tests that are just plain gross.  As you've guessed, Carrey becomes the more popular act.  Carell and Carrey try too hard to be funny, and nobody in the theater was laughing.  Wait for cable.

Oz, The Great and Powerful

Fantasy
3.5 stars
Visually stunning but slow.  James Franco stars as the title character, in this prequel to The Wizard of Oz; even though the original film was a dream, so maybe this prequel should have ended with a spinning top?   Anyway, I loved the little china doll, the monkey was cute, and the three actresses playing the witches were gorgeous and talented (Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams and Rachel Weisz).  But the story plodded along, and even the youngsters in the audience were getting restless.  The color palette was gorgeous, and the CGI effects were cool, especially when the witches were fighting each other.  I won't say which actress becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, but I was disappointed in her transformation which was first a phony CGI shadow - couldn't they have used a real shadow?? - but then her face was simply unrecognizable, like an overly botoxed "Housewife". Why couldn't they just add on a pointy nose and chin like they did in the original with Margaret Hamilton?  I honestly couldn't tell if she was wearing facial prosthetics, or if her face was a CGI effect as well?  James Franco was a bit annoying too.  Overall, it was a cute film, but fell short of its potential.

Jack the Giant Slayer

Fantasy, Action
4.5 stars
Loved it!  Nicholas Hoult (Warm Bodies) stars as the title character, who climbs the beanstalk to save a beautiful princess, played by Eleanor Tomlinson.  Ewan McGregor co-stars as the noble prince, Ian McShane as the king, and the always fun Stanley Tucci as an opportunist.  The big, disgusting giants were great; my favorite was the chef. Fun CGI effects.  I didn't see the 3D version, but Jim and I think it would probably be worthwhile.  Jim loved it too.  Fun movie, maybe a little too violent for youngsters.

A Good Day to Die Hard

Action, Comedy
3.5 stars
Jim liked it.  Bruce Willis goes to Russia when he learns his son (Jai Courtney; Jack Reacher) is on trial for attempted murder, which leads to a much bigger conspiracy story.  Honestly, I thought the first action sequence was dumb and unnecessary.  I know action movies are all about mindless explosions, chases and shoot'em-ups, but Bruce jumping into a truck and endangering how many innocent lives because he wasn't finished talking to his son just seemed really dumb to me, even though I get the humor of it.  I just didn't like it as much as previous Die Hard films, and thought Courtney was the wrong choice for Willis's son.  I would have preferred an actor with the same "everyman" sense of humor as Willis.  Anyway, Jim loved it.

Zero Dark Thirty

True Story, Action
4.5 stars
Excellent, gritty film with lots of hard to watch torture scenes.  The ever talented Jessica Chastain stars as the woman who dedicated 12 years of her life to tracking down Osama Bin Laden.  Jason Clark plays the CIA agent/chief torturer of terrorists.  You know the story, and while torture scenes are controversial, it sure seemed plausible to me that the torture was necessary.  Though I'm sure the woman Chastain's character is based on must maintain some anonymity as a CIA agent, it would have been helpful to have known just a little more about her, to understand her better.  Otherwise, very well done.

Beautiful Creatures

Sci-Fi, Teen Romance
3 stars
Decent flick about a powerful teenage witch (Alice Englert) who falls for a human (Alden Ehrenreich) to the dismay of her family.  Her family members include Emma Thompson, Jeremy Irons and Emmy Rossum.  Viola Davis also co-stars as someone with secrets of her own.  This film is more geared toward Twilight fans, only with better actors.  However, the story wasn't quite as layered as the Twilight series.  Ehrenreich seems an odd choice for the romantic lead, but his charm wins you over.  Only for fans of this genre.

Safe Haven

Chick Flick, Romance
3 stars
Sweet romance, but with a dumb ending.  Julianne Hough stars as an abused woman who escapes to a pretty seaside small town and meets the local hunk, Josh Duhamel.  For the most part, this a sweet Nicholas Sparks chick flick, complete with romance and impending danger as an obsessed cop hunts Hough down.  But, it was one little detail revealed at the end that ruined it for me.  Some audience members even laughed.  If Sparks had just left that ridiculous detail out, it would have been a fine chick flick.  Sweet film, dumb ending.

Warm Bodies

Sci-Fi, Zombies
4 stars
Loved it, but then I love this genre.  Nicholas Hoult (About a Boy, A Single Man) stars and narrates this wryly funny zombie flick as a young zombie who falls for a pretty human,  Teresa Palmer (I Am Number Four), which makes his heart begin to beat.  I have to say, there's nothing like a good zombie movie to cheer me up, though there wasn't nearly as much carnage as I was hoping for.  How Hoult falls for the girl is hilarious.  Hoult's zombie buddy, Rob Corrdry was my favorite character in the silly, but funny film, Hot Tub Time Machine.  John Malkovich co-stars as the girl's father and the leader in charge of eliminating the zombies. I have to say, this is the first zombie/human romance I've ever heard of, so I give them kudos for originality.  A guilty pleasure.

Identity Thief

Comedy, Dumb
2 stars
Cute but dumb.  Melissa McCarthy stars as a con woman who steals Jason Bateman's identity, and by some strange supposed laws, the only way Bateman can clear his name is by apprehending her himself.  We've seen this type of story before, where two people who don't like each other are stuck on a road trip together.  Probably the best films with this theme would be Midnight Run (1998) and Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987).  I didn't laugh at all, but some other audience members did.  Maybe I've just had enough of Melissa McCarthy and her antics.  Wait for cable.

Side Effects

Drama, Intrigue
4 stars
Clever film with lots of twists and turns.  Rooney Mara (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) stars as a depressed girl who seeks help from psychiatrist Jude Law after her husband, Channing Tatum, is released from a white-collar prison.  I can't really tell you anymore without giving it away.  The film does bring into question the powerful antidepressants that the pharmaceutical companies push on us, but there is so much more to the story.  Catherine Zeta-Jones co-stars as Mara's former shrink in this clever and intriguing Steven Soderbergh Film.

Gangster Squad

Action
3.5 stars
I liked it.  Sean Penn stars as an LA mobster with a rising empire, and Ryan Gosling wants to bring him down and steal his girl, Emma Stone.  While based on a true story, the story and plot are nothing new; in fact one of the raids felt too cocky, too unrealistic.  However, I loved seeing the 1940's recreated, the clothes, the cars, the music, the style.  Emma Stone wore the best dresses, and drove a gorgeous 1949 XK-120 Jaguar.  I liked watching Ryan Gosling brazenly pursue Emma Stone, right under Penn's nose.   It was a fun to watch film.