The Wolf of Wall Street

The Wolf of Wall Street

Rating 1.5 out of 10

You will tell very quickly I did not care for this movie at all.  The only good thing I can say about it is in a couple weeks when I sit down to write my top ten/worst ten movies of 2013 I won't have to look farther for my worst movie.

Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) we find out when the movie opens is an ultra-rich stock broker living life to the excess in every way as he drives is beyond expensive white sports car down the freeway snorting cocaine as a leggy blonde supermodel gives him butterscotch jellybeans (if you saw Grudge Match).  We then flash back to a young Belfort trying to make his mark on Wall Street with a firm when his boss (Matthew McConaughey in a small cameo role) tells him the key to his success is masterbating atleast twice a day and do all the cocaine you can get your hands on.  That's about where this film goes the next THREE HOURS!

Belfort loses his job in the big Black Monday stock market crash of 1987.  His answer is to open his own brokerage firm in a rented garage with a goofball he met in a diner (goofball Johah Hill with big fake teeth and chain smoking) who shows him behind the diner how cool smoking crack is.  They proceed to grow in leaps in bounds by selling junk stocks and then targeting rich people while doing lots of drugs.  The work place is one big party as they pass around drugs (who hasn't snorted coke off a hookers backside?) while somehow making money hand over foot.

They of course begin to cross the lines and break laws to make even more money.  The FBI comes a calling.  Your typical rags to riches to rags story.

If you think seeing Leo fall on the ground and twitch from an overdose of quaaludes in what he calls a cerebral palsy fit and crawl flopping around like a fish down a flight of stairs trying to get to his car to get home and stop goofball from saying bad things on a tapped phone is funny, this movie is for you.  If you like a movie where no character can complete a sentence without an F-bomb, this movie is for you.

For me it was like scratching on a chalkboard and I wanted to leave badly.  Two hours in I felt surely they were about to wrap it up only to have another hour to endure.

In case you can't tell I did NOT like this movie one bit.

The SecretLife of Walter Mitty

The SecretLife of Walter Mitty

Rating 7 out of  10

I feel like I should know who this Walter Mitty guy is.  Either by the book or earlier movie.  Yet I have no idea.  Shoot me.  Never been a Ben Stiller fan.  He is just not funny to me.  I liked him here.

Walter Mitty works for Life magazine.  He is in charge of incoming negatives for potential pictures. He has work there a long time.  Since he was a child he has had a crazy imagination and goes off on crazy day dreams.  He is a boring guy who dreams of doing fabulous things.

As Life magazine is winding down Mitty (Ben Stiller) falls for a new girl Cheryl (Kristen Wiig).  He dreams of being her knight in shining armor. When the world famous photographer, Sean O'Connell  (Sean Penn)  has a negative missing that he says is perfect for the cover of the last issue of Life, Walter goes on a worldly mission of tracking him down.

Here we see some incredible scenery  I saw this on an IMAX theater which was perfect for eating up the wonderful scenery.  Mitty travels to Greenland, Iceland, and all over the world.  He sees a volcano erupt from close up.  He rides a sea going vessel and skate boards down the side of the mountain.  All in search of Sean O'Connell.

The visuals of this movie are first rate.  My biggest problem is there was no real chemistry between Mitty and Cheryl.  Hard to believe they are a couple.  The story line is fairly thin too.  For me the good photography, nice scenery and great music made up for it.

I was entertained by the visuals if not so much for the plot.  I enjoyed it.  Your milage may vary.

Grudge Match

Grudge Match

Rating 6.5 out of 10

Lots of movies being released this Christmas day.  The only one that could be considered "family friendly" and take the wife to is Grudge Match. Anyone that has watched tv in the past month or so has seen the many commercials running showing the aging Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro in a boxing rematch from a fight years ago.

Thirty years ago Henry "Razor" Sharp (Stallone) and Billy "The Kid" McDonald (De Niro) are the elite of the light heavyweight boxing world.  In their first fight The Kid wins a close one.  In the second fight Razor knocks him out in the forth round in a blowout.   Before a third and deciding bout can be fought Razor up and retires.  This drives McDonald crazy as he has no chance to defend his honor.

As the years go by Razor works in a low paying job at the Pittsburg steel mill as McDonald goes on to riches and is doing well.  When a 30 year anniversary of their last fight spikes interest they are offered $100,000 for a last rematch.  Razor begrudgingly agrees as he needs the money.  McDonald sees it as a way to finally regain his honor.

While the movie is most definitely a paint by the numbers simplistic movie it has a fair amount of laughs and entertainment.  The co-stars Alan Arkin and Kevin Hart steal the show. Both are very funny.  We get plenty of AARP jokes and Stallone pokes fun at his Rocky alias.  When it gets to the final showdown the fight for me was a little creepy with really old guys punching the crap out of each other.  Ultimately the movie wraps up quite nicely.

Over all the movie is harmless and I was entertained.  The wife liked it much more than I did. I think I would have liked it more had I not seen most of the funny parts a hundred times in the commercials before viewing.  Make sure to stay for the parts after the closing credits.  Some of the funniest parts are there.

Saving Mr. Banks

Saving Mr. Banks

Rating 6 out of 10

Disclaimer: I have not seen the movie Mary Poppins nor have I read any of P.L. Travers books.

This is mostly a movie about the life of author P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson).  She is the lady that wrote the series of books Mary Poppins.  Turns out Mary Poppins was an aunt that came to help her family when she was young and her father (Mr. Banks) was gravely sick.  When Travers wrote the books she was very attached to the characters and their memories.

Walt Disney (Tom Hanks)  read the books to his daughters when they were young and made them a promise that one day he would make a movie of the beloved character.   The problem was Travers wanted no part of turning Mary Poppins into a movie.  Especially one made by Disney, who at that time had only animated movies that she detested.  She didn't care for America or Americans for that matter.  Walt Disney was very persistent and contacted Travers many times over twenty plus years.  She finally caved in due to lack of funds.  She wasn't sure which would be worse selling her story to a movie or starving to death.

The movie is based on a true story and details how difficult it was for them to come to an agreement. The movie also details in flashbacks her childhood and relationship with her alcoholic father whom she loved dearly despite all his flaws.

The movie is very well acted.  Hanks reminded me greatly of watching The Wonderful World of Disney every Sunday night with my family.  Emma Thompson is good as the stogy author.  My problem is I found the movie mostly depressing.  Travers was a very unhappy, rude and unlikable woman that treated everyone like dirt.  The movie leaves it open as to if she liked the finished product of Mary Poppins.  Reading up on IMDB I found she was very unhappy with the movie and refused to let Disney make any follow up movies.

The movie is entertaining.  Just not the uplifting heartwarming story I was hoping for.

The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug

The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug

Rating 6 out of 10

As you probably know this is the second movie in a Hobbit trilogy following last years The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and the prequel to the wildly successful and more entertaining Lord of the Rings trilogy.   The first Hobbit movie kinda rambled on.  While being very good visually to look at but a story that was hard to follow and unlike the LOR movies had characters that were too much alike to really form a bond to.

I will say that Hobbit II is much better than Hobbit I.  It still suffers from too many characters and a story that while if you read the books might be easy to follow but if you have not you don't really understand what is going on.  I don't really play video games anymore.  After a while they seemed to be where you would drive to this area and shoot a bunch of bad guys, then drive to that area and shoot a bunch of bad guys... over and over without really knowing what the end game is.  This movie is kinda like that.  The main goal is to get the dwarves their riches back by killing the huge sleeping dragon.  Somehow the Orgs want to kill the dwarves and demolish the wold.

What makes this movie better than the first is the arrow shooting elves are back.  Orlando Bloom is back playing Legolas from the LOR series.  Evangeline Lilly is great as the female elf that can out fight the boys and feels she needs to defend the elves because it's the right thing to do.

Visually while being atleast 30-40 minutes longer than it needs to be is incredible to watch.  I didn't see anything where 3D would help.  We saw it on the big IMAX screen and were glad we did.

If you liked the first one you will like this one more.  I was mostly entertained.  Not sorry I saw it but wouldn't pay to see it again.  Will I see the Hobbit III?  Sure.

Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas

Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas

Rating 4 out of 10

I will start this review by admitting that I don't think women dressing up like women are funny.  Not that it offends me or anything.  Just not funny.  I thought Flip Wilson was funny (showing my age) and Dustin Hoffman was funny in Tootsie (again showing my age).  I have never seen a Madea movie and after sitting through this one I know why.  It's just not for me.

Madea can be funny.  I agree to that.  The problem is it's just a nonsense.  No need for any type of sensical plot when you can just cut Madea loose and let her make fun of everyone.  Doesn't work for me.

Madea has a cranky racist friend in Atlanta that is set on visiting her twenty something daughter that has moved off to rural Alabama whether the daughter want's her or not.  Madea decides to tag along.  When they get to Alabama we find that the friends lovely daughter has (gasp) married a white guy.  Most of the movie is keeping that fact a secret from mom even when the white guys parents (Larry the Cable Guy) show up.  All the Alabama people are hicks with southern accents and dumb enough to sign contracts they don't bother to read.  All the hateful people in the beginning of the movie become wonderful for no real reason.

If you can overlook the lack of plot and lack of any name actors (wonder what Blair on Facts of Life is up to?) to get a few Madea laughs it may be worth it to you.  Me?  I've had my fill of Madea movies.

Out of the Furnace

Out of the Furnace

Rating 5 out of 10

Before I start my review I have to tell about the movie theater I saw this movie in.  Working on a job just south of Washington DC the nearby theater had seats that were like my recliner at home!  These even had the electric buttons on the arm rest that recline the chair and extend the foot rest.  I didn't have to find a place with no one in front of me so I could extend my long legs and mostly clean shoes into that seat. Pure heaven for myself with my diet coke and bag of black twirlers!

On to the review...

The good.   This may be the most well acted movie of 2013.  Christian Bale is great as the brooding good brother that works at a steel mill, pays his bills and loves his girlfriend.  Casey Affleck is good as the crazy brother who comes home from time to time between his military tours.  Sam Shepard is always great.  When I see him on screen I just wish he were my uncle and I could sit on the porch and have him dispense wisdom to me.  The person that steals the show is Woody Harrelson.  In real life he is clearly a nut job and is determined not to be locked into any particular tip of role.  Here he is the very bad man leading a bunch of hillbilly drug dealers. You really feel the fear when he gets upset with someone.

The not so good.  The problem is the slow moving script.  I would call this the feel bad movie of the year.  The good brother goes to jail on a drunk driving accident and loses everything (not a spoiler), the crazy brother is having some sort of post traumatic stress breakdown from all the bad things he has seen.  He can't find work after the military and resorts to some sort of Fight Club for money as he seems to enjoy the beatings.  Heck, even the dad is dying from cancer in their dirty town where the mill is closing.  You feel like you need a shower when you leave the theater.

When the crazy brother crosses the bad drug dealer (Harrelson) the good brother comes looking for payback.  It's just when director Scott Cooper goes from A to Z you get every letter in the alphabet.  I wouldn't say I disliked the movie.  Disappointed may be a better word.  The very ending left me scratching my head wondering what I had seen.

I would say rent this one for the good acting.

Homefront

Homefront

Rating 7.5 out of 10

I like Jason Statham.  He is a good looking action star with that English accent.  I'm afraid he is becoming this generations Jean-Claude Van Damme.   Van Damme had some good movies early then ran off a string of stinkers that even a hard core action fan like myself could not like.  He has made some good movies but lately his choices of what parts to take have you scratching your head.  I'm glad to say Homefront is pretty good for an action movie.  If you like action movies at all you should leave the theater a happy camper.

The movie starts with DEA agent Phil Broker (Statham)  undercover with a very bad biker gang that amazingly enough it big in the drug trade.  When the bust goes down the biker leaders son gets killed and that bad guy blames Broker and vows to get even.  Flash forward several years and Broker is living in a small Louisiana town after his wife had died raising his 10 year old daughter.  After a while he crosses swords with the local drug dealer Gator (James Franco) and life goes crazy.  Gator realizes who Broker is and alerts the bad biker dude in prison.

The action is as good as you'd expect and the acting is better than you usually get in this type of movie.  I'm not a Franco fan yet he does a good job in not going over the top.  This has my all time favorite character actor, Clancy Brown.  Click on the name and you'll say "oh, that guy".  Besides having a cool last name he always plays his part well.  Anorexic Kate Bosworth found a part she is made for, the skinny crack addicted mom that causes trouble.  Winona Ryder shows up to prove she is still around.  The hot redhead from the tv show Under the Dome (Rachelle Lefevre) is the teacher.

If you like action movies I'd put this on the to see list.

Frozen

Frozen

Rating 6 out of 10

I had a good date for this movie so it's hard to be critical at all.  I took my lovely little granddaughter after a yummy meal at McD's.  There was a day when Disney ruled the roost when it came to animated movies.  They would crank out a classic every year or two having parents standing in line saying please take my money.  In the past decade Pixar starting with Toy Story has left Disney in the dust one movie after another.

Frozen is a cute enough Disney-type movie that you will enjoy, you youngsters will like and next year you won't remember ever seeing it.  It goes back to the old school days of Disney when they have a cute/likable lead, a minimal story and a funny sidekick or two.  They also go back to the characters breaking into song every 2-3 minutes.  I will say if you LOVE the musical parts of the old Disney movies you will also love this movie.  There must be 10-12 songs in the 85 minute movie.  I could have done with 2-3 tops.

With Frozen we start at a kingdom far away where the King has two lovely daughters.  One daughter is born with the blessing/curse of ice.  She can create ice/snow with anything she touches at will.  When the daughters are young the ice daughter Elsa (velvet voiced Idina Menzel) accidentally hurts younger sister Anna (Kristen Bell).  The king decides to keep them separate from then on to avoid another problem.  When Elsa is of age he opens the kingdom to her coming out party and problems abound.  She leaves the kingdom and Anna goes after her.

As I said the movie moves along at a decent pace.  Would have been better for this guy had they not broke into song so much.  My three year old date stayed amused for the hour and half (with help of a large bucket of popcorn).  I think last years Rise of the Guardians is far better than this one.  If you are looking for a cute movie to take the young kids to this is not a bad choice.  My theater was packed.

Delivery Man

Delivery Man

Rating 7.5 out of 10

I like Vince Vaughn.  For me he is just a funny, likable guy.  His biggest flaw is picking his movies.  Everyone remembers how good he was in Wedding Crashers.  Yet that was eight years ago.  What has he done since?   Not much.  Fred Claus, Couples Retreat, The Watch, Four Christmases and this years dog The Internship.  Delivery Man was getting hammered in the reviews ((36% on rottentomatoes.com) so I went in with low expectations.  I will say I was pleasantly surprised.  I injured this movie.

I think biggest problem with people going to see this movie is they are expecting a laugh out loud comedy.  It does have some funny parts, but mostly it's a coming of age movie.  As anyone that has seen a trailer for this movie knows Vaughn plays David Wosniak.  He is a irresponsible thirty something guy that works at his dads meat company and is always screwing up something.  He gets a visit from a lawyer from 533 youngsters from back when he was 20 he donated very often to the local sperm bank for money.  On the same day he finds out his on again off again girlfriend Emma (Cobie Smulders) is pregnant with their child.  She thinks she'd rather raise the baby herself than with this goof.

David has information on many of the 533 kids suing him and decides to secretly get to know them.  He starts to get fatherly feelings and feels good when he helps them.  It starts to change him from the inside out.  Vaughn does a good job of showing this.  There is a hokey part of the movie where loan sharks are after him if he doesn't come up with $80,000.

I found the movie entertaining and touching at times.  Much better than the reviews are giving it.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Rating 8 out of 10

I can't remember a movie that was so hard to see.  Opening weekend I tried twice to see it to find it sold out of a theater showing Catching Fire on three screens.  We got to the theater at 225p for a 3p movie on a Tuesday to find it sold out again.  We bought our tickets then to the 6p showing and finally got in.  Lucky for us the movie was worth the wait.

This of course is the second in a series of three movies based on the best selling books by Suzanne Collins.  In a recap of Hunger Games I: North America has been split into twelve districts.  They are run by a the evil President Snow in the Capitol.  Every year they have a fight to the death contest with one male and one female from each district with the winner gaining extra food of their district.  The lovely Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and the male from her District 12, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) won by refusing to kill the other one instead choosing for death together by poison berries.

In Catching Fire the evil President Snow (Donald Sutherland) is worried that Katniss is the key to an overthrow decides that the next Hunger Game will be between all the past winners including Katniss and Peeta.

There is more action in Catching Fire than the first one, but as before the violence is done in a PG-13 sort of way.  The acting is good and effects are better.  I like this movie alot.  Even if you didn't see the first Hunger Games movie you will enjoy this one on it's own.

Johnny Carson- Book

Johnny Carson by Henry Bushkin

I generally like autobiographies.  All kinds of autobiographies.  Celebrities, sports, politics, I like them all.  Kirk Douglas, Andre Agassi, Gene Simmons, Shannon Tweed,  Bob Barker, Barbara Walters, Jimmy Conners, Mike Piazza, Javy Lopez, Ellen DeGeneres, Adam Carolla, Ann and Nancy Wilson from Heart, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Director Kevin Smith,  Bear Grylls, Regis Philbin, Steve Jobs, just to name several.  I have enjoyed most every one.

When I was a kid there was only one late night guy, Johnny Carson.  If you were going to watch tv after 11p it was watching Johnny or watching late night movies.  He was the King.  I listened to Ed McMahon's book Here's Johnny.  I thought it was interesting yet to me seemed like a real puff piece.  I thought it was funny that it was released months after Carson's death in 2005.  Ed had nothing but wonderful things to say about Johnny and what a great guy he was.

This book is written by Henry Bushkin.  He was Johnny's right hand man and lead lawyer.  While I found it interesting and it does tell a good bit of the behind the scenes with Carson and the Tonight Show.  It is clear from the start that Bushkin has a score to settle with Johnny.  By the end of the book you see why.  I'm surprised it took him so long to write the book.  Bushkin is more than happy to tell what a controlling jerk Carson was.  He talks freely about all of the times Johnny cheated on his wives (often) and how rude he was to people when he wasn't in front of the camera making America laugh.

I'm always leery about books where people recall exact conversations had 40+ years ago down to the hold the mayo on the ham sandwich.  I can't remember what I had for lunch yesterday.  Bushkin made million$ off of Carson and enjoyed many all expense paid luxury vacations on his tab.  Yet he has little good to say about him.  He blames much of Carsons stand offish personality on his very cold mother whom he could never please no matter how hard he tried.

At his peak the money Carson was making is hard to comprehend.  In the 80s Johnny was making $25 million a year for a three day work week, thirty seven weeks a year.  Vegas was paying him $250,000 a week with plenty of perks to do his show four nights.  Johnny had his own clothing line of high end suits.  He was making $2 million a year and all he had to do was pose for pictures two days a year.  He found that to be too much trouble for those two days and shut down the company. Three ex-wives. The last wife cost him $38 million.

If you are a Johnny Carson fan you will like the walk down memory lane.  I have no doubt Johnny was as rough as Bushkin makes him out to be.  I just think he could have balanced it out by throwing in some good here and there too.

It was sad that when Johnny died of lung cancer (four pack a day smoker) in January of 2005 neither his wife or any of his kids were at his side.  He was alone.  Maybe Bushkin was right...

Last Vegas

Last Vegas

Rating 6 out of 10

I love Las Vegas.  Got married there nearly twenty years ago.  Have an old college friend that lives there so I go as often as I can. I generally attend and mostly like movies that have to do with Vegas.  This is a mostly harmless fun little movie with a cast of yesteryears A-list actors.  Many of the jokes you see coming and fifteen minutes into the film you can guess what's going to happen.  Doesn't matter.  It's an entertaining ride.

Movie starts with four young boys growing up in NYC.  Best friends.  Defending each other against bullies. Getting into trouble.  Fifty years later the boys are now long in tooth and gone different ways but still in touch.  Billy (Michael Douglas) is the successful one that is getting married to a woman less than half his age. He wants his old friends there when he gets hitched for the first time in Vegas.  Archie (Morgan Freemen), Sam (Kevin Kline) and Paddy (Robert De Niro) come along although Paddy is reluctant to do so.  First night there they meet aging but still pretty lounge singer Diana (Mary Steenburgen) who then tags along.

Lots of old people jokes.  Some corny ones too.  As I said it's a harmless mostly well acted movie.  Good rental.

About Time

About Time

Rating 7.5 out of 10

When I first saw the trailer for this movie I had no desire to see it.  It does star Rachel McAdams and who doesn't like her?  But wasn't she already in a time travel movie?  Who's this goofy looking redhead Englishman Domhnall Gleeson?  This low budget movie can't be good, can it?  Well as it turns out yes it is a good movie.

When young Tim (Gleeson) turns 21 his father sits him down for a difficult discussion.  Not one on the birds and the bees even though he is not well versed in that area either.  Dad (Played very well by Bill Nighy) explains that the males in their family are able to travel back in time.  Go into a dark closet and think real hard at a time in the past and magically he is transported back.

While many could use this power for evil.  Transport back and buy Apple stock at $10 per share and become rich.  Tim instead uses his for love.  He falls for Mary (McAdams) and is not much of a ladies man.  Having this talent gives him a do-over every time he sticks his foot in his mouth.  He is able to make a first impression over and over until he gets it right.  Tim is a good guy and also helps out friends in need.

As he gets older he learns that his power is not a fix all.  Kinda hard to say much more about it without giving things away.  I found About Time to be a well made and well acted feel good movie that I would recommend.  I am glad I saw it.

Thor: The Dark World

Thor: The Dark World

Rating 6.5 out of 10

As anyone who has read my blog knows I like the superhero movies.  They don't need to be very complicated.  There is the good guy superhero.  Bad guy who wants to destroy the world.  Good guy battles bad guy to save everyone.  Maybe in some cases throw in a love story to make things even more interesting.  I like Thor as a superhero even though I don't really understand what all his powers are or what he can do.  I know he has a big hammer that causes big damage and if he swings it around very fast it can allow him to fly.  Chris Hemsworth is as perfect to play Thor as Christopher Reeve was to play Superman.

For me Thor just gets too complicated.  In The Dark World I liked the visuals, but the plot left me wondering what in the nine worlds was going on.  Best I could understand since Thor helped the Avengers save NYC he left the love of his life Jane Foster (the lovely Natalie Portman) for two years to clean up all the bad guys in the nine planets including Earth and Thor's home planet of Asgard.

Now as bad luck would have it when the nine planets align every 5000 years it enables really bad guys to control a black fog thing that can destroy everything.  Thor is out to protect Jane Foster and also enlists her brilliant mind to help defeat the bad guy, Malekith.  There is something with some worm holes that allow people or things to pop between worlds.  They also need the help of Thor's evil brother Loki (played very well again by Tom Hiddleston) as he is the only one that knows a secret passage.

The ending of the movie didn't make much sense to me.  The part after the credits made even less sense.  Still I found the movie entertaining in a visual sort of way.

Ender's Game

Ender's Game

Rating 4 out of 10

I have heard Ender's Game was at some point a best selling book.  I read a decent amount and have never heard of the book.  Now I can say I wish I had never heard of this movie.  That's a little harsh.  This is not a terrible movie.  Just not a very good one.  I was mildly entertained.

The movie takes place in the future.  A group of aliens has attacked Earth and were on the verge of total destruction until hero Commander Rackham (Ben Kingsley) saves the day and defeats the enemy.  Fifty years later the military on Earth is in constant preparation for the next attack that they are sure is on the way.  They have determined the fate of the planet lies in teenage boys and girls.  I think they have been playing video games which would make their minds quicker and able to wave their arms around commanding the space ship armies.  Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford) is on the constant lookout for that genius wizard that will lead us to victory.

That genius wizard is a goofy looking boy with a stranger name of Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield) who isn't sure he wants the part.  He is grouped with another batch of teenagers including Petra (Haliee Steinfeld- the girl from True Grit).

The movie to me seemed like I was watching a video game.  Harrison Ford seems to be mailing in his parts now and needs to retire.  He has one gruff look and walks thru the part.  The biggest problem for me is I never cared about the main characters.  In the end I didn't care who survived or who didn't.  The effects were a little cheesy.  Most of the action comes from a zero gravity tag game with the cadets at the want to be wizard academy.

I was mildly entertained at times, but mostly bored.  Wished I had gone to see Bad Grandpa again.

Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa

Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa

Rating 7.5 out of 10

I have never been a Jackass or Johnny Knoxille fan.  Never watched the tv show or saw either of the other Jackass movies.  Just not my cup of stuff from the toilet.  There was something from the trailers for Bad Grandpa that made me want to see it.

In Bad Grandpa Knoxville puts on some very good make up to become an 80 year old man given a grandson he does not want with the duty of delivering him to his worthless father in North Carolina.  Thus we get to witness a several day road trip.  Grandpa is rude, crude and very offensive to everyone.  They make stops along the way with unsuspecting real people.

The movie is stupid in many ways yet there were times I was laughing so hard I had tears.  The reaction when a grandpa reacts to his wife dying with big smiles and high fives for everyone is priceless.  As I said this movie is very crude and not for the young ones.

I laughed more in this movie than any in recent memory.  Not really a plot as much as a series of skits.  It really doesn't matter.  I was very entertained and might even go back to get a second viewing.

Runner Runner

Runner Runner

Rating 5 out of 10

This movie was hammered in the reviews getting only a 9% rating from rottentomatoes.com.  Knowing that I went in with low expectations.  Had planned to see the movie Carrie but everyone I talked to said it was not very good or scary at all.  So when I got to the line of scrimmage I called an audible and went to this one.

I'm not sure if Runner Runner deserved all the bad reviews.  It's not a great movie but not a bad one either.  It doesn't let plot holes or even common sense get in the way of moving the story along.  Richie (Justin Timberlake) is a brilliant Princeton student hoping to graduate soon a get that high paying Wall Street job.  He is paying his way thru school by playing internet poker and being paid to steer other students toward certain internet gambling sites.  The school finds out what he is doing and puts a stop to it just as bad luck would have it he has a huge student loan coming due where if he doesn't pay it he will be kicked out of school.  I thought student loans came due AFTER you graduate? Oh well, moving along.

When Richie takes his life savings and decides to do an all or nothing win on the internet gambling site and loses he goes into the code to figure out he was cheated.  Seems if he could do that he could figure the code on how to win? Oh well, moving along.

Of course the thing to do is fly to Costa Rica and have a face off with the big boss, Ivan Block (Ben Affleck).  What could go wrong there?  Block admires his spunk and hires him on the spot.  In a matter of months works his way to the top of the ladder being Blocks right hand man.  The more Richie sees the more he realizes how corrupt it all is.  There is a love interest for Richie in Rebecca (the very hot Gemma Arterton) who works for Block yet it's never really explained what she does.

This will make a decent rental.  Watch it and don't think too much.  The acting is pretty good.  Ms. Arterton is about as attractive as any movie actress in recent memory.  With the low expectations I liked the movie enough to get a moderate thumbs up.

Escape Plan

Escape Plan

Rating 6 out of 10

There was a day not that long ago that a movie starring Sylvester Stalone and Arnold Swarzenegger would but huge news.  The good thing is for their age they can both pack a wallop in an action scene.  The bad news is their combined age is about 130.  Actually Escape Plan is not a bad movie for what it is.  For a mildly entertaining action movie that is a little different that some I'd call it a success.

Ray Breslin (Stalone) is an escape artist.  He and his company make a living breaking out of prisons in order to give the information back to the prisons to make them more sound.  Ray goes in as a prisoner in an assumed name then after a short time is able to figure out how to break out.

When tempted with a large sum of money and the challenge of a prison that is supposed to be impossible to break out of he agrees even though he and everyone at the business knows it's a bad idea.  Turns out it's a very bad idea and he has been setup.  It is a very brutal prison off the system where rules are not followed and it may well be impossible to break out of.  In the prison he teams up with Emil Rottmayer (Swarzenegger) who like everyone else really wants to break out.

The movie as I said is mildly entertaining.  It has a decent amount of action and fighting and is fun to watch.  My suggestion is to catch this on an early show (not as cheap as they used to be) or wait and rent it.  It's not a bad way to blow a couple hours.

Enough Said

Enough Said

Rating 7 out of 10

When I look at what is playing at most of the theaters in my area I find it a shame that there are so many crappy movies paying yet a well written, well acted movie like Enough Said can only make it in limited release in very few theaters.  I like a shoot 'em up-bang bang movie as well as the next manly man.  I also like a good "chick flick" every now and then too.  This is a relationship movie where the two leads are not extremely good looking hard bodies.

Eva (Julia Louise Dreyfus) is a divorced masseuse with a teenage daughter about to graduate high school and go off to college.  She is barely getting by with the clients she has now and always looking for more.  She has mostly given up on dating and any type of social life.   When she goes to a dinner party she is mostly interested in passing out business cards to pick up new clients.  She meets Albert (James Gandolfini) and while she is not attracted to him at all she agrees to a date.  He is overweight and not her "type".  Amazingly enough he is a great guy and they hit it off.  They begin dating and she falls for the guy.  He also has a daughter leaving for college.

One of the new clients she picked up at the party is a woman with a bad shoulder.  She needs several massages and in doing so they become good friends.  Spending time when not working together.  As luck would have it her new good friend is Alberts ex-wife.  When she figures it out she wants to tell them but does not want to loose either.

As I said the movie is well written.  Dreyfus is as funny as you'd expect and does a good job with the emotional parts.  Gandolfini is also very good at the overweight lovable lug. He almost makes you forget Tony Soprano. Good supporting cast also.

This is a good likable movie that you should seek out.  It's playing in a few theaters around town.  Otherwise make sure to rent it and get a large bucket of popcorn.

Captain Phillips

Captain Phillips

Rating 8 out of 10

Movies about real events can be tough.  Especially recent real events where the ending was well publicized.  It can be tough to make a two hour movie interesting when you already know how it ends. Director Paul Greengrass does a good job of keeping the story moving along and interesting.  Greengrass did the very underrated movie United 93 back in 2006.  If you haven't seen it I highly recommend it.  You also can't go wrong by putting Tom Hanks in your movie.  He is just fantastic in everything he does. He is fantastic here also.

There is an area around the horn of Africa off of Somali that has been a treacherous stretch of water.  Somali pirates would come out to the big boats with guns and hijack them holding for ransom.  For a reason I will never understand these boats did not arm themselves with anything stronger than water cannons that would shoot high pressure water onto the incoming boats.  I would have had 50 caliber machine guns mounted on the sides of the boats to send these thugs to the bottom of the sea.

Four heavily armed pirates attack the Maersk Alabama US container ship and take over.  They stay wacked out on the drugs they chew on and are not very reasonable as you might guess.  Captain Phillips (Hanks) does his best to calm them down and protect his crew. When things start going bad they take Captain Phillips as a hostage and it's up to the Navy Seals to save the day.

If you don't know what happens I won't tell you here and would suggest you not find out until you see the movie.  This is a well made movie that will keep you entertained.

Gravity

Gravity

Rating 8 out of 10

I tend to be leery when a movie gets a 97% positive rating on www.rottentomatoes.com.  Movie reviewers are a strange lot as a whole and rarely agree on anything.  When they do it's usually a bad art house type movie that I don't like.  That said with Gravity they got it right.  This is a not a movie you watch as much as you experience.

With Gravity we start with an American Space Station and Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) on her first mission and still nervous about it.  Luckily she has smooth talking veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) to help her along.  I'm guessing he is a smooth talker to make up for his deficiencies in the looks department?   While on an ordinary space walk they are hit by the pieces of a broken up Russian satellite that destroys their ship and kills the rest of the crew.  All communication with earth is knocked out.  They must find their way to a nearby Chinese station.

This is not a movie with a bunch of plot twists.  Aliens don't show up to help them out.  The movie rests squarely upon Ms. Bullocks capable shoulders.  She gets probably 80% of the screen time and will be rewarded with an Academy Award nomination (and probably a gold statue).  This is a movie of a woman in space not wanting to die and fighting to find her way home.

You know I'm not crazy about 3D movies yet if any movie is made for 3D it's this one.  I saw it on a big IMAX type screen and I'm tempted to go back and see in 3D.  The scenes where the ship is being pummeled by debris are breathtaking.  Don't wait to rent this one.  This is a movie that needs to be viewed on a big screen.

I liked it alot.

Planes

Planes

Rating 6.5 out of 10

I was one of the few that didn't care for the Disney animated movie Cars.  No way was I going to spend my money on Cars II.  Had no desire to see Planes.  It seemed like Cars in the air.  It a way it is but it was much better than I thought it would be.  The best thing I can say it had going for it was no Owen Wilson or any Cable Guys.  The worst thing is it's way too much like Cars in the air.

I was taking my two granddaughters to the movie.  Ages 3 and 2.  Taking one is very enjoyable.  Taking two is much like herding cats.  While they liked the movie they enjoyed the tub of popcorn more.  I think they would have liked the movie more if they had thrown in a couple princesses here and there.

Planes is about a single engine crop dusting airplane that dreams of entering the World Championship
flying contest.  The fastest qualifying planes race from checkpoint to checkpoint around the world ending up in NYC.  Our star, Dusty Crophopper, (Dane Cook) makes it into the contest only when a plane is disqualified. Oh yeah, Dusty the airplane is afraid of heights too.  Like in Cars there is a crusty old retired war plane that wants nothing to do with Dusty that comes around when he sees the heart the young plane shows.  He trains Dusty to be a world champion.

The movie scores zero on originality, but as I said is cute enough and fun to watch even if you know what's coming next.  As you would expect from Disney the animation is first rate.  I had a good time even after chasing my cute granddaughters around the near empty theater.  If you have small kids this would be a good early show to take them to or maybe wait for it to come on dvd and rent it.

Rush

Rush

Rating 7.5 out of 10

When trailers for this movie first came out I had no desire to see it.  Even though it was made by Ron Howard who has made many of my favorite movies.  I am just not into car races.  I couldn't tell you the difference between Formula One, NASCAR or those speedy go carts at Six Flags. To me it's just cars driving in circles.  When several of my friends saw Rush and talked of how good it was I thought I'd give it a try.

Turns out it's not so much a movie about car racing as it is a very good movie that has car racing in it.  The movie is about two drivers that off the course could not be more different as their lives intersect. Based on a true story.  James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) is the very good looking beach bum type that drives by the seat of his pants taking risks he should not and loving life as everyone loves him.  Then there is his rival, Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl) a rich kid who walks away from his silver spoon life to drive cars against his fathers will.  Lauda is very calculated and not likable at all.  Both are at the top of the racing game.

Ron Howard does a good job of showing enough of the racing without overload for the non hardcore racing fans. He also does a good job of showing the 70s hairstyles and type of dress.  The relationship goes from pure hatred to respect to a type of friendship and admiration. It works.

Good movie that you should give a shot.

Behind the Plate: A Catcher's View of the Braves Dynasty

Behind the Plate

















Behind the Plate: A Catcher's View of the Braves Dynasty

This is a book by former Atlanta Braves catcher Javy Lopez.  As most any Braves fan will remember Javy was the rookie catcher that came to the big leagues in 1992 and had twelve successful years including 2003 when he set an Atlanta record for home runs by a catcher with 43.

This is an easy read.  I read the whole book on a six hour round trip flight to Boston.  The book starts with Javy growing up in middle class (for there) Puerto Rico.  He wanted to be a basketball player but quickly took to baseball.  Javy and his father were big Braves fans due to all their games being broadcast on TBS.  He was recruited by Bobby Cox and had no idea who he was.  When he was recruited by the Braves he took a much smaller signing bonus than he should have.

Coming up in the minors speaking English was a big problem for him.  He stayed more with the other Spanish speaking players and that caused problems.  Javy quickly worked his way up thru the minors leading leagues in hitting.  He got his call up when Braves catcher Greg Olson was hurt again and never looked back.

Even though Javy has a co-author you can tell he wrote most of the book himself.  He is a writer about as much as I am.  The book bounces around a good bit and while enjoyable it's a cotton candy version of events.  Everyone was his friend.  John Rocker?  While mostly he was a great guy when he got that look in his eye you knew he was going to be a jerk.  Why did he never catch Greg Maddux all those years?  He wonders that too, but never got around to asking him or anyone else.  He also glosses over the steroid years and never mentions doing steroids himself like he admits to in the interview on Atlantabaseballtalk.com. 

I enjoyed the book.  It's a nice walk down memory lane.  No big revelations or wow behind the scenes stuff.  I liked Mike Piazza's book Long Shot more even though I was never a fan of him.  If you are a Braves fan you will like this book.

Prisoners

Prisoners

Rating 8 out of 10

I had no plans to see this show.  When I watched the trailer the movie looked so predictable.  I like the actors.  Hugh Jackman we know makes a mean Wolverine and Jake Gyllenhaal kisses cowboys on mountains.  I just know how liberal Hollywood can screw up something like this.

I had a rain day with nothing else to see and Prisoners had the wife's seal of approval.  I went in with a chip on my shoulder knowing worst case how I'd be able to tell the wife we disagreed (that never happens of course).  Amazingly enough the movie was very good!

Prisoners stars off slow making parents squirm in our seats knowing that our worst nightmare is around the corner.  You take your eye off your child for a minute and they disappear without a trace.  Horrible.   On Thanksgiving day the Dover (Jackman) and Birch (Terrance Howard) families are eating their turkey when the two little girls go outside to play.  When they can't be found a suspicious mobile home is tracked down with a very mentally challenged young man behind the wheel.  Everyone knows he played a part in the abduction.  The problem is there is no proof.

As you have seen from the trailer Jackman takes things into his own hands and makes us parents ask the question how far would we go to get our children back?  There are a few brutal moments in the movie for those of you that don't care for them.  My wife survived those moments so I figure anyone can.

Acting is very good.  Jackman is incredible.  Gyllenhaal is great as the detective that has never lost a case.  He starts worrying more about keeping his streak alive then truly cares about the girls.

Good movie.  I recommend it.

Riddick

Riddick

Rating 6 out of 10

Back in early 2000 I saw a little hyped low budget movie called Pitch Black starring a then unknown muscled up bald guy named Vin Diesel.  This was the beginning of Diesels character Riddick.  A super tough outlaw type that bounty hunters are after.  Very good movie. If you haven't seen it the movie is well worth the rent.  Or you can track me down and I'll loan you my copy.  In 2004 came the second Riddick movie with The Chronicles of Riddick.  It was not nearly as good as Pitch Black and was actually a box office bomb.  It shows the amount of clout Diesel has in Hollywood even getting Riddick made.

Now flash forward many years and Riddick is still a very tough outlaw that bounty hunters are after.  He's so bad the bounty doubles if returned dead.  When Riddick is double crossed and broken up he is dumped on a ugly very hostile planet where most everything wants to eat him.  When Riddick activates an emergency beacon word gets out to the bounty hunters where he is.  Two different groups show up to take home the prize yet are still out numbered with ONLY eleven of them.  After killing the monsters on the planet killing human bad guys is a breeze for Riddick.  As bad luck would have it the rainy season is on the horizon and the really bad monsters are awaken when water is added.

The action is here even though the story is not much- even for an action movie.  There are lulls where things move at a snails pace and unfortunately they show WAY too much in the previews.  Still if you like this type of a movie and find Diesel as entertaining as I do you will fell like you got your monies worth.  The movie weighs in at just under two hours and mostly moves along.  I liked it, but still more recommend Pitch Black.  It was the best of the bunch.

We're the Millers

We're the Millers

Rating 6.5 out of 10

This is the dullsville time for movie fans.  Most of the summer blockbusters have been released and the holiday movies are not around the corner yet.  I'm very surprised nothing big was released over the Labor Day weekend.  Wife was out of town and nothing really to see.  My movie buddy Ted wants to see We're the Millers.  My kids have seen it and said it was very funny but Dad you will HATE it.  I"m one of the few guys around that doesn't care for Jennifer Aniston.  Never have.  She just doesn't do it for me.  All those guys from Saturday Night Live I don't really care for either.  I stopped watching SNL when Steve Martin left.  Don't really like drug humor either.  Don't find it funny.  But what the heck I'll give it a try.  Much to my surprise it was funny.  Not the your sides are hurting from laughing so hard funny, but has plenty of funny parts.  I enjoyed it.

The movie starts with lovable loser David Clark (Jason Sudeikis) still selling pot for a living many years after high school.  We know he's a good guy because he won't sell pot to the goofy kid in his apartment building even though he has turned eighteen.  When he tries helping a homeless girl being mugged (Emma Roberts)  the thugs turn on him stealing not only his stash but all the money he had including the money he was supposed to pay his supplier.  The supplier (goofy Ed Helms) wants his money now or he'll have him killed.  Option B is to travel into Mexico and bring a shipment back for him and he will clear the slate plus give him cash.

Rocket Science this ain't.  David talks a money strapped stripper (Aniston), the homeless girl and the goofy eighteen year old boy into traveling into Mexico in a huge RV to bring the drugs back and make some cash along the way.  It's not hard to figure out this plot.

Yet there were some very funny moments.  I laughed much more than I thought I would.  I was entertained much to the surprise of my children.

Kick Ass 2

Kick-Ass 2

Rating 5 out of 10

When the first Kick-Ass movie came out in 2010 I didn't think I would like it and waited to rent.  After watching it on dvd I liked it so much I bought it.  Little Chloe Grace Moretz (12 at the time) stole the show as the little crime fighting masked hero.  I liked it so much I was actually looking forward to part 2.   Unfortunately this is mostly a movie that never should have been made.

We flash forward four years and Hit Girl (Moretz) and Kick Ass (Aaron Taylor) are still trying to clean up the crime in NYC while also adjusting to normal high school life.  A group of wanna-be super heroes sprouts up to also fight crime.  The leader of this is Colonel Stars and Stripes (an almost unrecognizable Jim Carrey).  Kick Ass's arch enemy The Red Mist is out for revenge on Kick Ass for killing his crime boss father.

All this really doesn't matter.  When Hit Girl is on screen it's mostly entertaining.  The problem is she doesn't appear nearly enough.  There is a decent fight scene at the end, but mostly it's pretty hokey.  Even for the fairly low level the bar is set.

If you liked the first movie wait and rent this one.  You will feel like you got your monies worth out of Red Box.

Elysium

Elysium 

Rating 3 out of 10

Okay, first thing I would have done with this script (there are lots I would do) is change the name.  Not only is Elysium hard to spell and pronounce it just doesn't tell you anything about the movie.  Lucky you have me to explain it all for you.  : >

Just over 140 years from now the Earth is a wasteland.  If they said what caused the ruins I didn't catch it.  All the buildings are tore up and LA could use another coat of paint.  There seems to be plenty of clean water and I'm not sure why they can't grow food.  Trash is everywhere yet no one makes an attempt to clean it up.  To make things worse for the poor people of Earth when they look up they see a huge space station thing where the evil rich have built where everything is clean and green and they can live to their excess.  

Young Max  (Matt Damon) turns up at an orphanage in LA where everyone speaks Spanish.  There he meets a young girl Frey (Alice Braga) who becomes his soulmate.  Well, until he gets into stealing cars and goes to jail and she goes somewhere never explained and has a daughter.   Max promises Frey some day he will get them to the wonderful place called Elysium.

The worst thing about those evil rich people in Elysium is while people on Earth are dying in the streets  from sickness and disease up on the space station they have a thing that looks like a huge tanning bed.  Instead of giving you a nice brown tan this bed will in seconds cure any disease/problem you have.  Because they are evil they won't share even one of them.

When Max is forced into a restricted area at work by his mean boss he is dosed with a lethal amount of radiation.  Given five days to live and a bottle full of blue pills to help him cope it becomes his mission to take over Elysium.  Oh yeah, Frey's daughter has cancer and only days to live.  Ugh.

Not much good I can say about the movie.  They seemed to have a big budget yet the effects were some you'd see on the old Star Trek tv show.  Damon does a decent job of acting.  I just don't know why he signed up for this.  Jodie Foster used to be an award winning actress and now she gets to overact as the heartless military leader of Elysium that can order Earthlings to be killed without blinking.  The rest of the actors are so bad I wonder if they emptied a homeless shelter for actors in LA and promised each a job.

This is a class welfare sham by liberal Hollywood that poorly disguises itself as an action movie.

Percy Jackson : Sea of Monsters

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

Rating 6 out of 10

One of the first full books I read with my youngest son (now a teenager) back when he was 9-10 years old was the first Percy Jackson book in the series.  It was a book he and I both looked forward to reading.  When the first Percy Jackson movie came out movie came out in 2010 we were glad to go see it and both liked it.  I have to admit I was surprised they made a second movie when the original only grossed $86 million.  I guess it did well overseas.

I was less excited about seeing Percy II yet still went opening day.   This film takes up a few years after the first one ends.  Young Percy is a little older and losing his confidence.  Seems after saving the world on his first trip out he hasn't done much since.  Was the first one luck or is he really the chosen one.

As luck would have it another major catastrophe is right around the corner and it's up to Percy, his cutie girlfriend helper Annabeth and his hoofed buddy Grover to save the world once again.

I was entertained with the movie in a kiddy type film.  This movie is geared a little more toward the kids even though certain parts of the monster scenes might be a little too scary for the little ones.

If you are into these type movies you will be fine here.

2 Guns

2 Guns

Rating 5 out of 10


When you have a movie starring two heavy weight actors like Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg  I tend to set the bar a little higher than normal.  Not sure why I include Wahlberg on that list.  Even though he is a likable guy and has shown he has his acting chops he has been in far more stinkers than good movies.  2 Guns isn't a stinker but it's not real good either.

It's a movie far more complicated than it needs to be.  You can tell by watching the trailer and while you know it's a buddy-buddy movie you have no idea what it is about.  You still have that feeling ninety minutes into this two hour movie.

Without giving spoilers away all I can tell you is Washington is a DEA agent and Wahlberg is working for the Navy.  Somehow Wahlberg gets Washington to help him rob a bank down on the Mexico border that is said to have a couple million dollars of Mexican drug money not knowing that Washington is working for the DEA.  Wahlberg is told the Navy will use that money to fund future drug raids and help starving kids.  Not sure why anyone would buy that or think that makes sense.  When they do rob the bank it turns out to have much more cash than they expect.  Money that belongs to some very bad people.  Double crosses everywhere.

I have been rumored to pick movies apart (cough-cough).  I admit thing like someone jumping behind a cloth couch to dodge bullets (no way can those bullets make it thru that couch!) or someone busting into a Naval base by running their car thru a barricade one would expect a middle school crossing guard to have gets on my nerves.  While a mutant named Wolverine can sprout razor sharp knives from his hands to chop up bad guys or Bruce Lee can kick a guy so hard he flies 15 feet in the air doesn't bother me a bit.  Go figure.

This movie has much you have to look the other way on.  The good class of actors takes this from a terrible movie to a watchable movie.  Without the big budget and actors this movie goes straight to DVD.  Which is where you should find this movie in a Red Box when you watch it.

R.I.P.D

R.I.P.D

Rating 3 out of 10

I think at some point this movie had potential to be decent if not slightly above average.  The problem is it just doesn't.  When you watch the trailer it is clear this is a bit of a rip off of the Men in Black films.  That is not totally a bad thing.  Turns out there is a a group of law men that have died on duty.  Instead of being sucked up into the tornado thing that take you to judgment (from there you go North or South) these lawmen stay on to help hunt down and bring to justice those undead hiding on Earth with plans to do evil.

When young, good looking, super cop Nick (Ryan Reynolds) dies in a big raid he is drawn into R.I.P.D (Rest In Peace Department).  He is partnered up with the crusty old sheriff from the 1800s who of course wants nothing to do with a partner.  Roy is played by Jeff Bridges and I'll say he give it his all.  Kind of a mix between Rooster Cogburn in True Grit and the Dude in the Big Lebowski.

Also of course within a matter of days there is a catastrophe brewing that will reign dead people on earth and bring life as we know it to an end.  What does that keep happening?

They have a decent idea, loads of money for effects, very good cast (also Kevin Bacon). It's even filmed in a great city (Boston).  They just forgot to get even a decent script.  It's like a group of high school kids wrote the storyline.  It's hokey at every turn.  While they clearly spent lots of money on effects it looks like it's 20 years old.  It goes from mildly amusing to really getting on your nerves in a hurry.

Unfortunately R.I.P.D = S.U.C.K.S

The Conjuring

The Conjuring

Rating 8 out of 10

I am not really into these scary type movies.  Haven't been for many years.  Seems so many of them are just cookie cutter copies of movies before or see if they can be a little more gross.  When I have gone in the past I could predict as the movie went along what was going to happen.  Okay, that person is about to get killed, the ghost is going to pop up about here, ect.  For the most part to me they just aren't scary.

I am pleased to say the Conjuring does not fit that mold.  This movie is loosely based on a true story when a family moved into a Rhode Island farm house in the early 1970s and right off the bat notice strange things happening.  When the strange things turn into horrible things the Perron family calls in a married couple  (Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson) who specialize in tracking down and eradicating ghosts and mean spirits.  They quickly find they may have bit off more than they can chew.

The Conjuring has a slow build and several bone chilling scares.  It doesn't push the pace or go for the cheap scare.  Of course you can ask why in the hell didn't they just move out.  They say they don't have the money to live anywhere else but I think I would have found something.

If you like these type scary movies at all this is one you need to see.  I'd recommend seeing it soon in a full theater as these are much scarier when there is a bunch of screaming girls behind you.

I liked it.

The Wolverine

The Wolverine

Rating 6 out of 10

I am a fan of the X-Men movies.  I have liked most of them.  I think the Wolverine character is one of the better characters they have going.  I enjoyed the 2009 movie Wolverine.  I guess they were running out of names as this movie is called THE Wolverine.  Unfortunately they were running out of scripts and money for effects for other mutants as Hugh Jackman and his Wolverine is basically the only one in the film.

The plot is pretty thin even though you don't need an extensive plot for one of these movies.  It seems when the Americans dropped the bomb in Japan Wolverine was there as a POW.  Not sure how the Japanese were able to capture him but that really doesn't matter.  Wolverine saves the life of a very young Japanese officer and the officer vows to repay him.

Flash forward to 2013 and grief stricken Logan is still upset about the loss of his love, Jean Grey.  He has nightmares every night.  When he is tracked down but the Japanese soldiers private eye and told of his near death situation he agrees to fly to Japan to say his goodbyes.

Wolverine gets messed up in a Japanese clan war that is neither very interesting nor easy to understand. The big showdown ending is something you see coming miles away.  There is a good bit of action you came to the theater for.  Unfortunately most of it you saw in the many trailers.  It's not a bad movie. Jackman always seems to keep things interesting.  It's just not a very good one either.

You folks know I'm not a fan of 3D movies.  You absolutely do not need to see this movie in 3D.  I was forced to pay the extra price for the uncomfortable glasses due to start times.  There is once scene where Wolverine chops on a tree and the chips come flying at you.  That is the only time you realize it's 3D at all.

I'd say maybe wait to rent this one.

Monsters University

Monsters University

Rating 5 out of 10

I look forward to animated films coming out.  It gives me a date with one of my favorite young ladies.  My sweet granddaughter Delilah.  I know no matter how good the movie is I will have a good time.  This was no exception.

Often with sequels they rush them out not long after the original to strike while the iron is hot so to speak.  Sometimes the sequel is very good, sometimes not.  I was a big fan of the original Monsters, Inc. movie released in 2001.  It made my top ten list and was a dvd I looked forward to buying.  Well you can't accuse Disney of rushing out this sequel.  It took them a dozen years.

Back are the stars of the original John Goodman as Sully and Billy Crystal as Wazowski.  The movie begins with Wazowski as a grade school nerd taking a school field trip to Monsters Inc where he decides that is the career path for him.  Flash forward a few years when young Waz is still a nerd and going into his first day at Monsters University where monsters learn to scare little kids.  Sully is the cocky big blue guy that comes from a family of scary monsters.  They don't get along at all to start.  Through a series of competitions they of course become friends.

What the original Monsters, Inc. had going for it was the comedy that appealed to kids while offering plenty of laughs for adults.  Not to mention the heart tugging little girl Boo.  This movie is much like the recent Despicable Me 2 in that it gears almost all for small kids.  Three year old Delilah liked the movie alot and laughed at the jokes.  I found the movie to be mildly entertaining yet checked my watch several times to see if it was nearing the end.

I enjoyed the time with my granddaughter and was entertained with the movie.  I would say if you had to pick between Monsters University and Despicable Me 2 I'd go with the latter.  With both I'd say as an adult viewer wait and rent them.

Despicable Me 2

Despicable Me 2

Rating 6 out of 10


I was a big fan of the first Despicable Me movie.  It was one of my favorite types of animated movies.  Top tier animation and a story line that offers plenty of laughs for the kids and also entertaining to the adults that end up taking those kids.  Or adults like me that end up borrowing grandkids so I'm not in the theater by myself.  I thought the first one was very funny in many parts and touching in the end as the evil Gru realizes he does care for the three little girls.  Steve Carell is perfect to play the voice of Gru.

Flash forward a year or two and Gru is now a stay at home father to the three cute girls having given up on his life of crime and trying to make a living the honest way by making jams and jellies.  When another really bad guy steals a secret potion that will of course allow him to take over the world Gru is recruited to help the good guys figure out who did it.

With the original my least favorite part was the little yellow minions.  A little went a long ways.  Unfortunately in D2 their part is expanded a good bit.  While I found the movie entertaining enough D2's story and humor is much more aimed at the small children.  The kids in my theater laughed heartily at the fart jokes just as they should.  I looked at my watch more than once.

If you have small children this is a must see movie.  They will have a great time.  You won't be offended or overly bored.  You will though probably look forward to seeing the credits roll.

The Lone Ranger

The Lone Ranger

Rating 6.5 out of 10

I was a little iffy on seeing this movie.  I think it is a given that Johnny Depp is a talented actor.  Yet most of his movies I don't care for.  I will say after seeing the Lone Ranger he was all that kept it from being a well below average movie.  He was very good.

This is a different telling of an old story.  In this movie Tonto is the brains of the operation and Kemosabe is a liberal lawyer not wanting to touch a gun much less shoot a bad guy.  In this movie as so many others lately they feel the need to go back to the very beginning and explain everything from A to Z.  This Makes for a 2.5 hour movie that would have been better at 45 minutes less.

John Reid/Lone Ranger (Armie Hammer) is a younger city slicker lawyer moving to the wild west with  ideas of being a District Attorney and bringing law to the land.  His older brother is a local hero Texas Ranger known for bringing in the bad guys.  Tonto is on the same train as Reid with the most evil bad guy in the west Butch Cavendish (played by the great character actor William Fichtner)  with thoughts of avenging the murders of his tribe. Neither the Lone Ranger nor Tonto want to work together but they do as in the west there are bad guys every where including evil politicians.

The movie has plenty of action and thanks to Depp there are some funny moments.  The story doesn't really make much sense but if you are in these seats you are not there for a deep plot.  I think a good gauge on this movie is did you enjoy the Pirates of the Caribbean?  If the answer is yes then I think you will find your money well spent.  I was entertained and mostly felt my money was well spent.

The Heat

The Heat

Rating 5 out of 10

First my rant: Seeing this movie in Ft Myers, Florida at a Regal theater (I rarely go to Regal anymore) I got a free popcorn with my Regal card.  Had just eaten dinner and couldn't hold any popcorn.  While standing in line for a diet coke there was a younger pregnant woman in front of me.  I tapped her on the shoulder and asked if she were going to get popcorn.  She said she was so I gave her my free popcorn.  Her response I expected:  Wow, thank you good looking only slightly older man with gray in the beard.  That was so nice I think I'll name my unborn child after you.  Even if it's a girl!  OR maybe: Thank you.  What did I get? She says "Ok".  Then she turns around and goes up to get her free popcorn.  Oh well...

Now the movie-  I didn't really expect much from this movie.  One thing I will say about comedies like this I think it's important to see on a weekend with a full theater.  Something about seeing a moderately funny movie in a theater full of people that makes it seem funnier.  Unfortunately this was a week night with maybe 12-14 other people in the theater.

I think mostly Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy (very funny in tv's Mike and Molly) make a pretty good team.  Sadly they picked this unnecessarily crude foul mouthed poorly written movie to share their talents.  The script while funny at times seems like a made for tv movie that someone thought if they pumped enough F-bombs into it would make for a funny movie. In this movie the F-word is used 190 times.  No I didn't count.  I saw Sandra in an interview where she talked about it.  For me they didn't make the movie any funnier.

The plot of the movie, not that it matters goes like this.  FBI Agent Ashburn (Bullock) is a good agent in NYC except she is a little uptight and not liked.  She is hoping for that big promotion and her boss sends her to Boston to take down that big drug lord that would gurantee the raise. I guess they don't have a FBI office in Boston?  While working the case she crosses paths with the crude foul mouthed Boston cop Mullens (McCarthy) who treats everyone poorly and screams and cusses at her boss.

They hate each other then amazingly enough begin to like each other.  I know you didn't see that coming.  Sadly most of the jokes you see coming around the block.  Bullock and McCarthy are good and almost save the movie.  Almost.  If you can overlook the very unnecessary crude language and can sit thru a couple groan inducing jokes to get to the funny ones you will enjoy this movie.

I'd say wait to rent.