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.

Django Unchained

Dark Comedy, Period
4 stars
Brutally violent, yet funny.  Jaime Foxx stars as a slave who agrees to help bounty hunter Christoph Waltz in return for his freedom as well as assistance with rescuing his wife (Kerry Washington) from plantation owner Leonardo DiCaprio.  Excellent acting, especially DiCaprio as we've never seen him before.  The violence is mostly gratuitous, with exaggerated exploding blood bags that can't help but make you laugh with how silly it is - typical Quentin Tarantino. But then there are some truly disturbing, brutal acts of violence as well. Very good, but not for the faint of heart.

Les Miserables

Musical, Drama
5 stars
Loved it!  Hugh Jackman stars as Jean Valjean, a man just released from prison, who raises the little Cosette (Amanda Seyfried).  Oh, there's lots more to the story, but why give it all away?   I loved that the stars sang the songs as they acted, rather than being dubbed over later - I found these performances so much more powerful, and less staged.  If they were off-key, I was too busy sniffling to notice.  I am not even an Anne Hathaway fan, but she made me cry at least twice.  I thought the singing was excellent (even Russell Crowe!); the acting was outstanding; the story is of course very moving.  For all the critics out there who didn't like it, they obviously don't like Broadway theater musicals, or maybe they just don't get it.  The audience at the showing I went to all applauded at the end - though I was too busy blowing my nose!  This film is for those who loved the famous musical, and those who never got a chance to see it.  Bring lots of tissues.  Bravo!