Unbroken

Unbroken 

Rating 5 out of 10

There are a thousand hero stories from survivors and non-survivors of wars past.  MANY movies have been made on these folks.  Call this one a thousand and one.  I'm not taking anything away from Louis Zamperini.  He was the real life WWII survivor for whom on Veterans Day I'll take my hat off and salute in memory of all those brave souls that did battle so I can sit at my laptop and bang out a review on this movie.  Unbroken is not a bad movie.  It's just very depressing and I'm not sure it was a story that needed to be told.

Zamperini was a troubled child in California in trouble most of the time.  When his older brother shows faith in his running abilities he trains extra hard and becomes the fastest high schooler to ever run the mile and makes the Olympics.  He does amazingly well at the Olympics and becomes famous.  Fast forward a few years and he is working on a bomber plane in the war.  When his plane goes down he and a couple others are stranded in a raft for 47 days.  Unfortunately when he is rescued it's by the evil Japanese.  He is put into a POW camp and is beaten and horribly treated for years.

The treatment is brutal and often hard to watch.  The main thing Zamperini does is survive.  I'm glad he did.  Not sure I'm glad I paid money to see it on the big screen.

Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Hobbit:  The Battle of the Five Armies

Rating 8 out of 10

I was a big fan of the Lord of the Rings movies.  Loved all three.  The Hobbit of course is the prequel to those LOR movies by director Peter Jackson.  The Battle of the Five Armies is the climax of the Hobbit trilogy with the epic battle.  I didn't read the books and have to admit even after seeing all three movies I can't say I understand it all.  I thought the Hobbit series dragged a bit yet this finale is definitely worth seeing.  I gathered six other manly men like myself and after a manly meal at my favorite watering hole we were off to the NCG theater to watch this on IMAX.

In the first two movies we have learned the evil dragon Smaug has taken control of the castle in the mountain that has everyone's gold and riches.  When the dragon is killed as it destroys a nearby town in flames the Dwarves regain control of the castle and all it's gold.  As what often happens the money corrupts and the king of the dwarves goes a little nuts.  When the humans and the elves show up at his doorstep to claim their share of the riches the king says not over their dead bodies and a terrible war is likely.  As they are about to do battle they learn there is a huge army of nasty Orcs heading their way.  The humans, elves and dwarves can join together and fight or die.

This is a show you go to for the visuals and the Battle does not disappoint.  If you liked either of the first two Hobbit movies you will love this one.  It is by far the best of the three.  Even if you have not seen the first movies this one stands well alone.  I was entertained.  We had a good time.

The Homesman

The Homesman

Rating 2 out of 10


I am a fan on western and cowboy movies.  John Wayne was the best.  I would easily put Lonesome Dove in the top ten things I have ever watched.  Maybe top five.  Tommy Lee Jones is perfection as Texas Ranger Woodrow F. Call. So maybe I set the bar a little high walking in the theater.  Sadly I was greatly disappointed.  I'm guessing this movie came from a great book and was the love child of one of the actors.  It did not transfer over well to film.

This movie is based in the frontier 1800s where people are trying to make it in the new country by farming and or cows or sheep.  Mary Bee Cuddy (Hillary Swank) is a tough woman.  Rough on the inside and out.  She successfully runs her farm and desperately wants a husband.

One of the many side effects of living on the frontier is the wives go insane at an alarming rate.  I'm guessing loneliness or the sound of the wind constantly blowing.  We see an example when one of the frustrated wives tosses her baby into the port-potty.  Someone needs to take three of the crazy women to the city where they can hopefully get help.  None of the men will go so Mary Bee volunteers for the 6-8 week one way trip through dangerous lands.  She is hoping in the city she can find a man to agree to be her husband.  Along the way she picks up a straggler old man George Briggs (Tommy Lee Jones) who is being hung for squatting another mans land and eating his sheep.  Mary gives him the choice of being hanged or go with her.  He should have taken the noose.

The cast is nothing short of amazing.  Meryl Streep and her daughter Grace Gummer, Miranda Otto, John Lithgow, James Spader, Hailee Steinfeld, Barry Corbin, ect.  They stand no chance of helping this slow moving, boring film.  It has a run time of just over two hours and seems much longer.

In case you haven't figured it out by this point I didn't care for this film at all.  I wouldn't even rent this one folks.

The Hunger Games: MockingJay- Part 1

The Hunger Games: MockingJay- Part 1

Rating 6 out of 10

I read the first two Hunger Games books by Susanne Collins.   I enjoyed both books.  I started book III MockingJay and lost interest about half way.  Intended to finish it but never did.  I kinda had the same feeling with the movies.  I didn't think this was a bad movie.  Just very slow.  There may be alot of action in the rebels led by Katness Everdeen overtaking the evil empire.  It's not in this movie.  A movie pet peeve of mine is when previews for the film portray it in a manner that you find to be incorrect.  That is the case here.  When you watch the trailer it looks like an action packed movie.  It absolutely is not.  There is a five second scene in the trailer that shows Katness shooting down an airplane with her bow and arrow.  That is basically all the action you will see in this two hour movie.

Lions Gate Films did with MockingJay as they did with the Twilight films in splitting the finale into two movies to get more information in and more money out.  MockingJay Part I is the buildup to the big show down.  You get a good bit of information and the acting is good.  If you have invested your time into the first two Hunger Game movies you pretty much have to see this one.

I was mildly entertained with this movie even though I saw it when I was very tired and nearly fell asleep in the slowest part.  It's not the best movie of the series so far.  Just necessary to get to the end of the story.

The Way-rental

The Way

Rating 7.5 out of 10

Was talking with a friend of mine saying how there was a movie opening next week with Reese Witherspoon called Wild that looks interesting to me.  She plays a woman who has a good deal of bad things in her life (many caused by herself) and decides the way to heal hear soul is to take a 1000 mile walk in the mountains.  My friend said this reminded her of a movie she saw the trailer to but never got around to watching.  I decided to give it a try and was glad I did.

The Way stars Martin Sheen and his son Emilio Estevez whom also wrote and directed the film.  They play father and son.  The son decides to drop out of graduate school and begin living his life.  Dad is a wealthy doctor with a healthy work ethic who scoffs at his reckless son's plan to walk a famous trail in Spain called the Camino de Santiago or The Way of Saint James.  Thousands in Spain each year walk this trail to find spiritual enlightenment or to find their way.  Some just do it for the exercise to loose weight.

When a freak storm hits early in the sons trip and kills him Dad flies over to gather his remains and worldly goods.  After hearing the story behind the Walk and figuring it would honor his sons memory and help him cope with is grief he decides to make the walk himself and spread his sons ashes along the way.

As he makes his way along the trail he meets many different people.  Some of whom begin to tag along with him when all he really wants is to be left along and deal with his grief.  There are quaint cities along the way for them to stop, eat and sleep at allowing them to absorb some of the local cultures.

The movie drifts off into la-la land a few times but over all this movie is well worth the rental.  I found it on Amazon Prime but believe it's available on Netflix also.  The scenery is fantastic and Sheen's acting is first rate.  The movie almost made me want to give the trail a try.  Only I think I'd want to do it on my four wheeler which would most likely be frowned upon.

This is a good rainy day movie.  I liked it .

Last Man Standing- TV

Last Man Standing 

ABC Friday nights 8p

Last Man Standing is a tv show staring Tim Allen that is on ABC Friday nights.  If you are not watching it you really should be.  Very funny show.  One of my favorites.  I had a trip to LA planned and decided to take in the filming of a couple tv shows while here.  Many shows are filmed in front of a live audience.  Mostly half hour sitcoms and talk shows.  They need butts in the seats and the tickets are free.  There are a few different websites designed to give away those free tickets to people they want to laugh themselves stupid and clap when they want you to.  Luckily for me Last Man is very funny and we never needed prompting on when to laugh or clap.  I have used www.tvtickets.com a couple times to get free tickets to shows.  There are many shows on all the networks available.  

I received my emailed pdf tickets and info a couple weeks ago.  Last Man Standing starts filming at 6p.  The tickets say to check in atleast an hour before.  I found out the atleast should have been in all caps ATLEAST.  Like many Delta flights they oversell the tickets and it's first come first serve.  I got there at 445p with another couple from Orange County and all the tickets were already gone.  We were the first three on the waiting list.  Seems they had a large amount of VIP invited guests show up that were bumping some of us mere mortals.  Luckily some of the VIP's did not show and I was in.  First they put me in a bad seat in the far corner of the stadium seating of 220 seats.  Then they realized I was THE Royce Brown from Atlanta and they moved me to the front row center.  Or one of the VIPs didn't show and they had one empty seat they needed to fill.  Whatever.  

They make you leave your cell phone in the car or you can't get in.  So I have no pictures.  They are very strict on this.  The soundstage is very cool.  About a hundred yards long with five or six different sets that looked like different places you see.  One for the kitchen area, one for the living room, one for the outdoor store, ect.  No seat can see all the filming areas so there are tvs overhead so you can see the filming as it happens.  

They have a warm up comic that keeps the crowd loose and laughing before the show and during the lulls when they are setting up the next camera shot.  He introduced the cast one by one at the start.  Tim Allen took the mic and welcomed everyone.  What was surprising to me is they have what looked like forty writers for the show.  Tim made a joke that they were all depressed from the last elections were the Republicans won many.  He said the only people depressed were the liberals and since this was LA that meant almost everyone but him.  He was funny and came across as a likable nice guy.  

I was surprised the taping for a thirty minute show took just over three hours to film.  They do most every scene twice.  Sometimes tweaking the lines a bit from take to take to see which goes better.  Of course the funniest parts are when they mess up on their lines.  Tim would mess with the other actors to cause them to mess up.  What I found interesting was the behind the scenes.  The actors when they were not in the shot were often sitting on one of the other sets texting on their iPhones or talking quietly among themselves.  

After the show some of the actors came out the same exit we were.  We were able to say hello and give a high five.  I'm sure that was the highlight of their day. : >    This was a fun experience that I'd definitely do again.  

Going to see the Craig Ferguson show tomorrow!

Interstellar

Intersteller

Rating 6.5 out of 10

Paramount Pictures did a great job marketing this movie.  They showed a few clips that barely told what the movie was actually about yet I REALLY wanted to see it.  Still wanted to see it when I found out it was a three hour movie.  Is getting great reviews so I went on opening day.

The movie starts in the near future.  The Earth is dying.  The soil is so depleted due to overpopulation that it won't grow food.  Giant sandstorms are the norm blowing in out of nowhere and lasting for days.  Our star Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) is an ex-military pilot turned farmer that is struggling to find something that will still grow to feed his family.  He meets up with his old military leader who shows Coop his plans of a rocket ship to a far off galaxy that will hopefully support human life.  It's many years away and to get there they have to use placed (by whom we don't know) worm holes that speed up the process.  The survival of everyone on earth depends on them.  Somehow three days before liftoff they don't have a main pilot and Cooper is recruited to run the show.

The acting in this movie is very good.  Anne Hathaway is good (even with her still super short haircut that I don't care for), Jessica Chastain (wow), Michael Caine, John Lithgow and Casey Affleck.  The visuals are even better.  It's nothing short of fantastic.

What keeps the movie from having a higher rating for me was it's WAY more complicated than it needs to be.  At times I felt like I was dropped into a class full of rocket scientists discussing at great lengths how worm holes and space travel really works.  Not to mention how in certain areas an hour on this planet equals seven years on earth.  They could have made it far easier to understand without completely dumbing it down.

If you have any desire to see this movie and I did enjoy it- I would say it needs to be seen on a big screen.  The bigger the better.  I saw it on the IMAX screen at NCG and am glad I did.

Chef- Rental

Chef

Rating 8 out of 10

When this movie came out earlier in the year I thought it looked interesting, but didn't have a big desire to go to the theater and see it.  It started getting great reviews which gave me a little more interest in seeing it . Yet it was only playing in a few theaters and I went to see something else.  A few of my friends saw it and highly recommended it.  The movie finally came to RedBox so I gave it a try.

Yes folks, it's a pretty good movie.  It is a fairly low budget movie with an amazing cast and a good script.  It stars Jon Faverau who has been balancing his acting with directing (he directed the first Iron Man movie and many others) which he bout acts and directs this movie.  Faverau plays master chef Carl Casper working in a big Los Angeles restaurant.  He is frustrated because the owner (Dustin Hoffman) won't let him spread his wings with the menu instead wanting to put the same thing on the table year after year.  When a big food reviewer calls him out on this he goes nuts.  It gets filmed and everyone sees it.

The movie is about Casper reinventing himself and getting back in touch with his son that lives with is ex-wife.  It's a likable movie with a good story.  Besides Dustin Hoffman it has Sofia Vergara, Scarlett Johansson, John Leguizamo, Robert Downey Jr and more.

With the cold weather coming in you could do worse than curling up on the couch with a blanket and popping this movie into the DVD player.   I enjoyed it.

St. Vincent

St. Vincent

Rating 6.5 out of 10

I saw the previews for this a couple weeks ago and it caught my interest.  I like Bill Murray and like Melissa McCarthy when she is more in the Mike and Molly tv show mode as she is here.

Maggie (McCarthy) after a nasty divorce moves into an older neighborhood with a new older, nastier neighbor (Murray).  Vincent is a very rude and nasty guy.  Hardly any redeeming qualities.  He smokes and drinks too much.  Owes everyone money.  Has a cut rate pregnant prostitute (Naomi Watts) visit weekly.  Yet Murray somehow makes us like him.  Maggie is starting a new job and is desperate enough to have someone watch her son after school that she pays Vincent.

I rarely go see a movie during peak times when a theater is packed.  Opening night is not going to happen with me.  This can be an issue when seeing comedies.  Something is much funnier with a theater full of people laughing with you than when you are in with a dozen other movie watcher.  Movies like St. Vincent suffer from this.  A friend of mine said when she saw it in a packed theater she was going to have to go back and see it again due to laughter drowning out the next words.

This movie thanks to Bill Murray has lots of funny laugh at loud parts.  It kinda drags in the middle when it really shouldn't but does wrap up with a touching grab your hanky ending.

I liked this movie.  Good acting.  The little kids is also very good.  I was entertained.

John Wick

John Wick

Rating 7.5 out of 10

The ladies have movies that lean toward their tastes more than they do for us guys.  The love stories with lots of hand holding and staring into each others eyes.  Then there is movies like John Wick clearly aimed toward the dudes.  This movie is like a big piece of steak on a plate with no veggies.

John Wick (Keanu Reeves) at on point was the best hit man in the business.  He finds the woman of his life and is able to walk away.  Several years later his lovely wife passes away from Cancer.  In his grieving period he locks horns with the son of one of the big Russian mobsters.  The son messes with the wrong guy.  Body counts are high.  That's pretty much all you need to know.  This is a 96 minute roller coaster ride of bullets and things that go boom.

This movie is similar to the better Denzel Washington movie The Equalizer released last month with less plot to get in the way.  There are even some of the same actors playing Russian mob bad guys.  I liked both movies alot.

As I have said with John Wick you get what you pay for.  It's entertaining.

Fury

Fury

Rating 7 out of 10

I like war movies.  Movies from Saving Private Ryan to Platoon.  Fury is most definitely a war movie.  It's just amazing the things those soldiers went through back then.  Amazing and sad.

Fury starts in the mid 1940's in Germany.  World War II is winding down.  Hitler is on the run and getting desperate.  A super-tough sergeant that has the nickname Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) has seen it all. He has a fatherly feel of the three guys in his tank.  He feels it's his job to keep them safe.  When one of his own dies the replacement Army sends is a green youngster that wants nothing to do with it.

The Germans have better firepower in their tanks and are kicking our butts in that department.  US Forces are at this point going from town to town taking it over trying to force Hitler to give up.  Fury doesn't have a plot line A to Z like Private Ryan did.  It more a week in the life of.  Oh what a week it was.  They are sent ahead of the other soldiers to protect some crossroads for the soldiers to soon follow.  When the tank hits a land mine they are forced to kill time until reinforcements come. Only to have a battalion of German soldiers come around the corner.  They need to hold that cross roads or to protect all the unsuspecting soldiers behind them.

Pretty boy Brad Pitt is not that pretty here but does a good job.  The acting is very good all round.  The real star of the show is the director and how he shows the real pain of war.  You feel like you are in it with them.

This is a good movie.  Wouldn't recommend it for the squeamish.  There is a lot of blood an guts from the opening sceen to the last.  If you like war movies this one is for you.

This is Where I Leave You

This is Where I Leave You

Rating 7 out of 10

In the sea of action and shoot 'em up films released lately this is a good family drama with a great cast.  It has some laughs and some tender moments.  It stars Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Jane Fonda, Connie Britton, Timothy Olyphan and Rose Byrne.

The movie starts with Judd (Bateman) having a very bad day when he comes home from work early and catches his wife in bed with his boss.  Later in the day he finds out his father has died.  He goes back to his hometown for the funeral and his large family.  Mom (Fonda), Sister (Fey) and two brothers (Corey Stoll and Adam Driver).  I am not Jewish but I guess there is a tradition where after a death the family the survivors share a house for a week.  This is a dysfunctional family with lots of issues.

Bateman and Fey are always funny.  Mom has a running gag of huge boob job and inappropriate talk of dads private parts.  Sometimes they hit the mark.  Sometimes they don't.  There are side stories a plenty.

This is much more light hearted and comical than the Judge.  I enjoyed it.

Dracula Untold

Dracula Untold

Rating 7.5 out of 10

There of course have been many movies on the famed Dracula.  This is the one that claims to explain how he came to be.  This movie is getting killed in the reviews but I found it very entertaining.

It seems Dracula started out as a boy that was given by his father to the evil Turks who enslaved him and a thousand other boys.  Beating them regularly and turning them into ruthless killers.  He became one of the most feared- Vlad the Impaler.  He would impale his enemies on tall poles.  Flash forward several years and he has been set free and has a peaceful kingdom of his own with a beautiful queen and young son to boot.

When the evil Turks return wanting another thousand young boys including the kings son.  To defend his kingdom he becomes Dracula.  He is able to take on large armies by himself.

The action and effects is very good.  As I said I found this movie entertaining as I saw it on the big IMAX screen.  If you like these type movies I feel you will enjoy this one.

The Judge

The Judge 

Rating 8 out of 10

When I saw the trailer for the Judge I was intrigued from the start.  I like a good super hero shoot 'em up as well as the next guy.  I also like a good family drama and for me that's exactly what this was. In the hands of lessor actors this movie could have been a misfire.  Yet Robert Downey Jr. proves he has the chops to be far more than Ironman or Sherlock Holmes.  Robert Duvall is always great and when Vera Farmiga is on the screen I can't take my eyes off her.  Billy Bob Thornton can be good when he wants to me and here he want's to be.

As the movie starts we see what a rotten guy defense attorney Hank Palmer (Downey) is defending people he knows are guilty just for a big pay check.  His life is rocked when he finds his mom has died and he goes back to his small Indiana home town for the funeral.  To say he and his father (Duvall) don't get along is like saying Angelina kinda likes adopting kids.  Dad is a long time no nonsense judge in the town.  The funeral is painful in many ways for Hank except for seeing his old girlfriend (Farmiga).

As Hank is leaving the Judge is involved in an incident with his car where a bad person from his past is killed.  The judge is arrested and the only person to defend him is super lawyer Hank.  They do of course butt heads and there is plenty of conflict.  A district attorney is brought in from out of town (Billy Bob) who has a grudge with the Palmer family.

The story isn't overly original although it has laughs and tugs at the heart too.  It is nearly 2.5 hours in length but I never once looked at my watch.  I enjoyed it.

Gone Girl

Gone Girl

Rating 8 out of 10

Earlier this year I was told about the book Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn by a friend in spin class.  Turned out to be one of my favorite books.  When I heard they were making a movie I knew I'd be first in line.  I did not picture Ben Affleck in the lead role when I was reading the book but think he was a perfect choice.

This is a book/movie that has several twists that can't be discussed here.  I would say you should see this movie early on as you know some bozo will spill the beans and ruin it for you.

What I can say is Ben plays Nick Dunne.  He is a married man that when tough times come to the handsome couple in NYC they are forced to move to a small town on the Mississippi River to help take care of his mom.  Dunne opens a local bar with his spunky sister Maggie (Carrie Coon).  On Nicks fifth anniversary he gets a call from his neighbor that something fishy is going on at his home.  When he rushes home he finds his wife Amy gone and signs of a struggle.  He immediately calls the police only to have the clue point toward him.

The casting is near pitch perfect.  I have been a fan of Rosamund Pike (Amy Dunne) for a while and she is Fantastic here.  I think she should be nominated for awards come the season.  She is that good. Carrie Coon is very good. Tyler Perry does a great job without putting a dress on.

This is a very good movie.  The only thing that keeps the score down to an 8 is the ending.  I didn't care for the ending in the book and even though they slightly changed it for the movie it still rubs me the wrong way.  Obviously not a deal breaker.  The movie is entertaining and one that is to be seen.

The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner

Rating 5 out of 10

We all know these trilogies are popular right now.  Mostly for the younger crowd.  Started with Twilight.  Then Hunger Games and Divergent earlier this year.  The latest movie made from a trilogy of books is The Maze Runner.  I think I've had enough.  Agreed I'm not in the age demo they are aiming for and maybe the books are great.  I just have a problem with movies that the whole nearly two hours of film stock is dedicated to setting up movies number II and III,

The movie starts with a young man being sent up in a outdoor elevator looking thing and shoved into a big open field that turns out has huge 100+ foot concrete walls surrounding them. His memory is lost.  That happens to everyone he quickly finds out.  Soon he remembers his name is Thomas.  He quickly joins in with the eighty or so other guys that have been there up to 3-4 years.  A new guy shows every month with more supplies.  From where no one knows.

Every morning the big walls open and there is a maze out there.  A group of runners run the maze every day trying to figure out a way out.  You have to be careful not to be caught out there after dark when the walls close and these big mechanical spider looking things show up and like to pull arms off of young men.  If you thought the Hunger Games was too violent with young folks you want to stay away from this one.

Thomas right off the bat decides his mission in life is to find a way out while some in the group worry that his attempts will create harsh treatment by those who supply the goods. I can't say much more without giving spoilers although even at the end of the movie I was scratching my head trying to figure out what in the hell was going on.

I'm guessing if you have read the books you would like this movie more than I did.  I thought it was well acted and had some good action.  It was just too confusing as to what was really happening and why.  Even when they explained what was going on it didn't completely make sense.  I guess you have to watch II and III which I feel sure will be coming in the next two years.  I doubt I'll give it a run.

The Equalizer

The Equalizer

Rating 8.5 out of 10

There are a few actors that when one of their movies come out I will go see it trailer unwatched.  Denzel Washington is one of those actors.  He always gives you a good performance as he does here in this movie.

This is one of those movies that if you watch the trailer and it looks like a movie you would like chances are very good you will like it.  Alot.  If it looks like it has too much action, fighting and blood you should probably skip it.  I liked the trailer and loved the movie.

This movie is loosely based on a 80's tv show that instead of Denzel you got an older grey headed English man that would find people in need and dispense justice to bad men.  Here Denzel plays Robert McCall.  He is a mid level manager at a Home Depot type store with a crazy past.  He lives alone and has trouble sleeping at night.  In the early morning hours he walks to the local diner and reads books.  He befriends a young Russian call girl who always seems to be in the diner.  When her mean Russian pimp beats her bad enough to put her in the hospital Robert becomes the Equalizer.  He ends up taking on the Russian mafia and means business.

The acting is good all the way around.  The bad guys are really bad without going comically over the top.  Chloe Grace Moretz shows she is getting some acting chops beyond the movie Kick Ass.  As I said if you like this type of movie you will leave the theater happy.  I know I did.

A Walk Among the Tombstones

A Walk Among the Tombstones

Rating 6 out of 10

I thought this movie looked interesting when I saw the trailer and how can you go wrong with Liam Neeson?  I did not know this at the time this movie is based on a series of books.  Neeson plays ex-NY cop turned private eye.  He's not licensed so he takes the jobs no one else wants.

He is called in by a drug dealer who when he paid the ransom on his kidnapped wife the REALLY bad guys killed her anyway.  He wants his own kind of justice.  Turns out the bad guys are targeting family members of drug dealers.  You know the bad guys are pretty sick when you feel sorry for drug dealers.

This sounds like a pretty high impact action movie you have come to expect from Neeson.  It's not.  This is a slow plodding movie with little action.  Out of the nearly two hour running time probably 30% is of Neeson walking from place to place.

The movie is also very brutal in a nasty twisted torturing women sort of way.  It creeped me out in parts.  They don't show the brutality, but it's implied enough to make your skin crawl.

I was mildly entertained yet could not recommend this movie.  I expected it to be better.

The November Man

The November Man

Rating 6.5 out of 10

I thought this movie looked interesting from the trailers.  I've missed Pierce Brosnan since he quit being Bond, James Bond. He defines the word suave and is a pretty good actor to boot.  I was a bit nervous when I saw the movie was getting tanked in reviews (scoring only a 36% on www.rottentomatoes.com) but I powered through and for the most part was glad I did.

Brosnan is Peter Devereaux, the top CIA agent.  Nicknamed the November Man because when he goes in to a situation not a bad man survives.  Not sure what that has to do with November but I'll buy it.  When an OP goes bad and a small child is killed Peter decides to hang up his boots and 9MM and retire to a nice island with a view.  Dang, as luck would have it after several years he is drawn back in for one last mission.

The man about to become the new Russian leader amazingly enough was a very bad guy when he was a general in their army.  As he is getting close to becoming the leader he starts killing off people that know about all the skeletons in his closet.  He is down to one lady who knows the worst of the worst of what he has done.  Peter is there to save her from assassins and now needs to keep her alive until they can out the bad guy.

Yes, the movie is full of cliches.  His old CIA buddies are now after him also led by the young buck he trained.  If you can watch the movie with rose colored glasses like my movie buddy Ted Daniels (who also defines suave) you can overlook the cliches and love the movie.  I thought the movie was interesting.  The action was good and lots of good actors I like.

I was entertained.  I would recommend this movie for an early show or a good rental.

Lucy

Lucy 

Rating 4 out of 10

When I saw the trailers for this movie several months ago I was intrigued.  I like Scarlett Johansson and the story looked interesting.  A woman in Asia with her loser boyfriend gets tricked into participating in a crazy drug deal.  When the really bad guys work on transporting the new drug into Europe they kidnap unsuspecting people and cut their stomach open and insert the drugs inside of them.  Resistance is dealt with very harshly. When the bag inside Lucy (Johansson) ruptures and starts releasing the drug in large doses into her body it comes with a crazy side effect.  It allows her to access the majority of her brain instead of the measly 10% we mortals use.  I know many mortals I'm sure use closer to 2% but that's another story.  Lucy begins to have special powers that allow her to do superhuman things.

That alone to me sounded like a movie with some promise.  Unfortunately it just made my head hurt. It's like taking your car to the shop for a tune up and a professor comes out and explains the internal workings of a combustable engine is great detail for two hours.  All I wanted was a tune up.

Director Luc Besson is know more for his huge flops than any good movies he has made.  The Professional in 1994 may be the last good movie he made.  I wonder how he keeps getting the keys to the car.  He has a good cast to work with here with the always good Morgan Freeman joining Scarlett.  He just makes a mess out of things.  He throws in goofy flashbacks that have little to do with what is going on and bounces around too much to make much sense.

I found this to be a waste of time where I was checking my watch ready to get out of the theater.  Rent if you must.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Rating 5 out of 10

When I was a kid the big cartoons were Scooby Do and Johnny Quest.  By the time the karate kicking turtles came along I was out of the cartoon watching phase and I had a small son that loved them.  I thought they were cute but could never remember which one was Leonardo or which one was Donatello.   Still can't.  That was 20+ years ago and they are still going strong.  My youngest son also loved the Ninja Turtles.

I went into this movie knowing I was not in the target audience.  Special effects have improved greatly since the last Turtle movie.  This movie starts off at the beginning and I believe takes a little different turn on how the little turtles grew so big and learned how to use nunchucks.  They befriend the pretty reporter April O'Neil ( Megan Fox- looking good again after her ten year dabble with being way too skinny and over dosing on tattoos)

If you are a male child between 6-15 years old you will love this movie.  The rest of us not so much.  The effects were good and there was plenty of action.  The story for me kinda dragged along and amazingly enough the bad guys didn't destroy the world (spoiler alert).   If you have a young child that wants to see this there are worse options for you.  I was mildly entertained yet was ready to see the closing credits.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

Rating 4 out of 10

I saw the original Sin City in 2005. I was mildly amused and gave it a rating of 6 out of 10. These movies are most definitely style over substance. The colors in the film and the over the top acting. Action is exaggerated and the violence is brutal. You don't go to this movie for the plot.

Jessica Alba is returning from the first movie and that is never a bad thing. She is a stripper dancing in the seedy strip club in Sin City. She still very angry about the death of her love Hartigan (Bruce Willis) years before and vows to get even with the powerful Senator who caused his death.

This movie has several plot lines and none of them make much sense. The dame in the title is Ava Lord (the very lovely and mostly naked Eva Green) who returns to her old flame Dwight (Josh Brolin) for help with a potential abusive husband.

There is another plot line featuring Josh (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) as a bastard son of the main bad guy of the movie Senator Roark (Powers Boothe) out to prove a point. We never really figure out what his point is.

Visually the movie is incredible to look at. It has a crazy good cast most of whom only get a few short minutes on screen. It's just too all over the place and mostly makes no sense. If you REALLY liked the first one you will be entertained here.

footnote- Had a bad storm go over the theater while there and power went out. Sat there a couple minutes in the dark waiting for everything to come back online. First time that has happened to me.

The Expendables 3

The Expendables 3

Rating 5.5 out of 10

Admittedly with these Expendable movies the bar is set pretty low.  No one walks into one of these movies expecting a great well thought out plot.  The draw is seeing an amazing collection of action heroes (most) from yesteryear come in and blow up a bunch of stuff.  I greatly enjoyed the first two movies.  This one not nearly as much.

Sylvester Stalone is back as Barney Ross- the leader of the Expendables.  He also is one of the main writers to the movies.  With Expendables 3 he just tries too hard.  Instead of just sticking with what works he tries to work emotions into it.  The bad guy (this time Mel Gibson) is a very bad guy from Barney's past that was supposed to be dead.  Clearly he is not and in their first battle he manages to gravely injure one of the Expendables which makes Ross realize he cares too much for the group of bad-arses and he retires them.  Thus he is able to bring in a new group of younger Expendables to finish the job on Gibson.  Stalone seems more interested in a revolving door of bringing in a different person than a story that makes any sense at all.

For me the cardinal sin is the action.  As I said you don't expect much of a plot line.  I was disappointed that they reverted to shaky cam on many or most of the fight scenes and zoomed in so close most of the time you couldn't tell what was really going on.  These are not prima donna movie stars.  They are (admittedly aging) action stars.

I was mildly entertained here.  The list of action stars is impressive  Just a little disappointed in the outcome.  Out of the list of Expendable movies this one is definitely 3.

Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy

Rating 8.5 out of 10

I have been seeing the trailers for this movie for six months.  Usually I have found when they play the trailers long in advance of the movie it's because the movie is not that good and they are hoping for a big weekend before people find out how bad it is.  I'm glad to say that is not the case for Guardians of the Galaxy.  I thought it was great.

I was not really a comic book nerd like by brother inlaw Gil.  I had never heard of this band of misfits  before this movie.  The movie starts with a young Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) watching his mom die in a hospital.  When he goes out mourn he is sucked up by a space ship never to see earth again.  Twenty years later we see the same Peter now a common thief stealing a small sphere to sell to the highest bidder.  Turns out that sphere is a very powerful weapon capable of destroying planets.

Peter (Star Lord) ends up leading a group of criminals to stop the bad guy from destroying a planet he  hates with billions of people.  Okay, I get that storyline is not the most original.  I will say the movie mixes a perfect amount of action, comedy and great oldies music.  The effects and makeup is also very good.  The casting is spot on.

I liked this movie alot and would pay to see it again.  If you watch the trailer and think it's your type of movie you will be entertained.  I know I was.

Hercules

Hercules

Rating 7 out of 10
I generally like movies like this.  300 is one of my all time favorites.  Hercules is no 300, but if you watch the trailer and feel you want to see it I think you will be entertained.  I was.

Hercules is a half man/half god when his father fooled around with a human woman.  Seems these gods could not keep their hands off the human women.  When Zeus fools around with a human woman his son looks like he was chiseled out of granite and is an incredible warrior.  In this movie Hercules is played by Dwayne Johnson who on an average day looks like he was chiseled from stone.  He has buffed up even more for this movie.

Hercules since the murdering of his beautiful wife and kids has turned with his small band of warriors to  be a sword for hire wanting to get together enough gold coins together to retire to the mountains where he can be away from all people.  You know how this goes.  They need to do one more job to have enough gold to walk away from it all.  In comes Lord Cotys (John Hurt) and his lovely daughter who need his help defeating some evil enemies and offer to pay as much gold as they can carry.  Amazingly enough this don't go as planned.

You don't go to this movie for an intricate plot.  You go for lots of action and the Rock throwing people around like rag dolls.  This movie does not disappoint on that ground.  For me it was disappointing having this movie have a PG-13 rating which at times turns the fighting to a cartoonish way.

Overall I was entertained.  Saw it on the big IMAX screen.  That was very good.  I would say if you have any plans of seeing this movie it needs to be watched on a big screen rather than renting at home.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Rating 7 out of 10

I saw the first movie in the Planet of the Apes reboot in 2011 and was not really impressed.  I gave it a 5.5 rating.  I didn't plan on seeing this version of Apes until the trailers drew me in.  This movie is much better than the last one.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is in the future when a virus has killed off most of the human population yet it did not effect the Apes at all.  Somehow the apes have learned how to build places to live in the mountains, ride horses, build fires and communicates via sign language.  At times they can even speak english!  They think all the humans are gone as they have not seen one in years.

Crazy things happen when a couple humans show up and a group have been living in San Francisco thirty miles away.  The humans are running out of power and their one hope is the electric power plant which happens to be in the back yard of the apes.  The apes don't trust the humans and want nothing to do with them.  Most of the humans don't trust the apes and are not nearly as surprised to se the Apes speak english as I would have been.

There are good and bad both on the human side and the apes.  Eventually they go to war and the apes sneak in and steal many of the humans guns.  The effects are as incredible as you might guess.  We saw the movie in the 3D format only because it was the only time that worked.  I would say we got zero benefit for our extra dollars other than looking cool in our dorky glasses.

The movie is a little longer than it needs to be but I was mostly entertained.  A little peeved that it seemed to more be a setup for Apes 3 rather than conclude this one.  I would say it's worth seeing at the theater.

How to Train Your Dragon 2

How to Train Your Dragon 2

Rating 8 out of 10

I saw the original How to Train Your Dragon more by accident than a movie I really wanted to see.  The movie I wanted to see had a bad start time so I saw this one instead.  I was pleasantly surprised at what turned out to be great movie.  I sang it's praises and don't know anyone that didn't like it.  I'm glad to say Dragon 2 is as good or better than the original from 2010 (can't believe it's been four years!).

It's been years since Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) showed his rough and tough Viking chief dad that Dragons were not the evil man killers they had fought for generations but just misunderstood animals that were kind at heart.   Hiccup has grown up and dragons have become a part of every day life at their viking village by the sea.  Hiccup is not content with staying close to home.  When he rides his dragon he likes to travel far away and explore.

On one of his exploration trips he comes across an evil enemy that has fought Chief Stoick (Gerard Butler) in the past and has assembled a dragon army with intent of taking over.  Of course it's up to Hiccup and his band of misfits to save the village and they find surprises along the way.

The movie is written with a witty tone that will entertain children and adults alike.  At an hour and forty five minutes it moves along at a pace that keeps everyones attention.  The voices are spot on and the animation shows once again how far they have come.  There is a 3D version but as you know I don't care for 3D.  I was impressed enough with the 2D version.

If you liked the first one you will enjoy this version.  If you didn't see Dragon 1 it's time to rent it and then go see Dragon 2.  You will be entertained.

Jersey Boys

Jersey Boys

Rating 6 out of 10

There have been several movies this summer released with the aim toward the younger crowd.  22 Jump Street comes to mind.  I hated it yet my kids thought it was hilarious.  This movie is aimed toward the older crowd.  In fact when I saw this in the South Florida theater I was the youngest by probably ten years.

Jerseys Boys is a movie based on the long running play based on the life of singer Frankie Valli. This movie starts back in the 1950s before Grease was the word. Growing up in a rough part of New Jersey Valli had a velvet voice that the big mob bosses loved.  While his friends were going to jail he would be protected and kept from harms way.  When he did make it big he finds fame carries a price tag on your family.

Director Clint Eastwood surprisingly takes this movie in a low budget feel direction.  I don't know if he was trying to make it look like the play  He also went with a mostly unknown cast.  Christopher Walken is the only actor I had heard of.

I would say if you know and enjoy songs like Big Girls Don't Cry, Walk Like a Man, My Eyes Adore You and December 1963 you will enjoy this movie.  I saw the play several years ago and thought it was great.  I like the music too.

I was entertained.

Transformers 4

Transformers: Age of Extinction

Rating 8 out of 10

I saw the first three Transformers movies.  It's not that I didn't like them as much as didn't completely get them.  Having missed out on the Transformers cartoon stage I was never able to tell the good robots from the bad ones.  When they would start fighting I would never remember which one I was supposed to be cheering for. Action was always pretty good and effects first rate.

I really had no plan to see the latest Transformers movie.  I do like Mark Wahlberg so I thought I would give it a try.  In my opinion I feel this is the best of the lot.

I don't remember how Transformers 3 ended.  Here we start off in the future.  Years after a battle in Chicago where the robots went nuts and while we defeated them much of Chicago was destroyed.  Transformers for some reason are outlawed and being hunted down by the CIA.

Wahlberg plays a hapless inventor on the verge of losing his house that he and his super hot blonde daughter (newcomer Nicola Peltz) live in.  He comes across a beat up old big truck that he buys to fix up and sell for a profit.  That truck turns out to be the missing Optimus Prime.  That's when their trouble starts.

Of course to no ones surprise the world is on the verge of being destroyed by the evil robots and the only hope is the cars that turn into robots with the help of Wahlberg and his daughter.  Intricate plots are not the selling point to these movies.

I was pleasantly surprised and definitely entertained.  I thought this was by far the best of the four Transformers movie.  Maybe at nearly three hours run time it was maybe thirty minutes longer than it needed to be.  Still if you liked any of the first three movies I think you will be happy with this one.

Think Like a Man Too

Think Like a Man Too

Rating 6 out of 10

Two years ago I was talked into renting the movie Think Like a Man.  I just didn't look like my type of movie.  I was wrong.  It was VERY funny.  Had a nice plot to it and likable characters.  I know Kevin Hart had been in other movies but this movie launched him into the high real estate he is today (last year he is said to have made $40 million).  Hart was very funny and stole the show.

Now the same group of friends are in Vegas for a wedding.  What could go wrong there?  Of course, everything.  The problem with Too is it was kinda funny, had very little plot and likable characters.  Clearly someone at the top realized Hart stole the first movie and decided to center the second movie around him and let him go crazy.  He still has some funny parts, but just feels like he has to try too hard.

The movie is still entertaining.  If you liked the first one you will enjoy this one.  Maybe not as much.  I would say this would make a good rental.

22 Jump Street

22 Jump Street

Rating 1 out of 10

Clearly I am not in the demographic of people this movie was made for.   I did not like 21 Jump Street and am no fan of Jonah Hill (to put it nicely).  I rented the first one and turned it off after thirty minutes because it looked so stupid.  I saw this movie on Fathers Day under protest because my movie buddy and cycle riding partner Ted Daniels wanted to see it.

In this version police officers Schmidt (Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are wanting to be taken serious and cops when they are forced to go back undercover.  Instead of working in a local high school this time the duo are sent into a fictional college to bust a dreaded drug dealer that is pushing a new drug that is killing people.

I find it very hard to believe this movie had any type of written script before they started.  To me it seemed like they had a brief outline and told the actors to improv whatever they thought was funny no matter how stupid or unbelievable it was.  Makes no difference that local police can't go into Mexico during Spring Break and arrest drug dealers or even a muscular bicep like Tatums when shot with a 9mm slug will give you more than a band aid ouchie.  The most unbelievable part of the movie  is probably that a bozo like Hill would land a girlfriend with one of the hottest gals in the college.

I really can't remember when I felt a movie was such a complete waste of good film stock as this one.  Fifteen minutes in I was looking at my phone for another movie in the theater I could go to.  Unfortunately it was a small theater with nothing playing I could go to.  I may see a movie that takes over my Worst Ten list of 2014 from 22 Jump Street but I sure hope not.

The Grand Seduction

The Grand Seduction

Rating 6.5 out of 10

I saw this small Canadian made movie on my cycle trip across Canada while rained out in the Northern city of Sydney.  I had never heard of it and figure it may never play in America.  I  do like the main actors and it looked cute enough.  That's exactly what we got.  It's a a cute movie that is fairly well acted and kept me entertained.

The movie is about a once proud and bustling small fishing village in coastal Canada that has fallen on hard times.  Fishing is now gone and there is no real way of making a living.  Most of the young folks have fled to bigger cities while the older people have resulted in collecting welfare to stay alive.  When a big oil company wants to build a plant in their harbor that would bring many jobs to the community the one stipulation is they must have a local doctor.  The acting Mayor ( Brendan Gleeson- Mostly known as Mel Gibson's sidekick in my favorite movie Braveheart) sets out to find a doctor that will stay there.  When they have a big city hot shot doctor ( Pretty boy Canadian Taylor Kitsch)  fall in their laps the town sets out to convince him this is the place he wants to stay.  Even if it means taking up the game of Cricket and doing their best to make the town look better than it is.

The movie has a feel of the better movie Doc Hollywood but is still entertaining.  Some of the old character actors are likable and even tho the movie is predictable I think it's worth a rental at Red Box when it comes out.

Edge of Tomorrow

Edge of Tomorrow

Rating 7.5 out of 10

Welcome to the Summer Action movie time.  This is not a movie you will see released around Thanksgiving and I'm fine with that.  I would call Edge of Tomorrow a mix between Groundhog Day and Matrix III.  Both movies I liked and director Doug Liman (He directed the first two Bourne movies and Bragalina's Mr and Mrs Smith) does a good job mixing the two and not making the repeat day after day become monotonous.

Tom Cruise is Major William Cage several years in the future.  As in most movies based in the future aliens are trying to take over earth and exterminate all living humans and as with this movie they are usually just a day or sometimes moments away from taking over if our hero does not save the day.   Major Cage tho is no super soldier trained to kill all the alien robots (that look like the aliens in Matrix III).  He is just a public relations guy that mostly works with the military leaders on how to sell the war to the general public.  When he ticks off the wrong general he sees his rank dropped to private and put on the front line which means almost certain death in the D-Day type assault.

Only when he is dropped into battle just before he dies he kills a funky looking blue alien robot.  He finds himself waking up again the day before in the same place in time.  Turns out the blue robot was a special robot made by the aliens to control time travel. When the aliens lose a battle he could turn back time thus learning what they did wrong and knowing how to win the next time.  It's blue "blood" spills on Cage thus giving him the power to do just that.  It takes Cage a while to figure out how to use his new power.  Mostly when helped by super soldier Rita (the always lovely Emily Blunt).

Just as in Groundhog Day the day after day repeat is handled in a way that keeps the story moving and you don't actually feel like you are watching the same thing over and over and over.  First Major Cage has to become a soldier with Rita's training.  Then he has to figure out how to get to the main mother ship and destroy it and all others.

Good cast and as I said the story flows along to keep it interesting.  The action and effects are first rate and fun to watch on the oversized screen like I saw at my local NCG theater.  My main gripe is early on director Liman brings one of my big pet peeves with him from the Bourne movies.  The dreaded shaky cam.  Happily about thirty minutes into the movie he figures out where the loose screw was on the camera and is able to hold it still.  The shaky cam is not really a factor after that.

I thought the acting was good and was entertained.  I would probably go see this movie again.

Shrinkage by Bryan Bishop - Book review

Shrinkage: Manhood, Marriage and the Tumor That Tried to Kill Me

I became a fan of Adam Carolla and his podcasts through his very funny books (In Fifty Years We will all be Chicks) a few years ago.  If you are new to podcasts they are like little radio shows that have been recorded and uploaded to iTunes or you can usually get them from their websites.  I download and put them on my iPhone to listen while I exercise or drive time.  They make my day go faster with a little humor or my sports or flying podcasts.

What does this have to do with this book?  The author, Bryan Bishop, is a sidekick on the Carolla podcast.  He is in charge of funny and timely sound effects.  He pipes in with comments from time to time and also gives movie reviews that I usually agree with.  On the show he is known as Bald Bryan as he lost his hair as a teenager.  He is a funny and likable guy.  He also has a brain tumor.

As he turned 30 his life was taking off.  Work was going well and mostly he has found the love of his life in Christy.  He knew right away she was the one.  Not long after they are engaged he starts noticing little things going wrong.  Body parts going numb, vision getting worse, ect.   Thinking it was no big deal they go to the doctor who tells him he has a brain tumor and six months to live.  What a shock of course.  Luckily they get another opinion with a specialist who gives them far more hope and the fight begins.

The crazy part of this book is it's full of laughs as well as tears.  Bryan is a great writer and tells the story in a I am so glad to be alive way rather than why did I have to go through all this.  He digs deep and tells things that I'm sure were hard to part with.  I laughed alot.  He talks of wishing he had danced with a secret admirer when he was 13.  It was a period of his life when he was not used to getting attention from females.  That period he describes as "from now until birth".  When he tells of a super hot nurse that has to give him a shower with his wife in the room and Christy gives him a look like this is the closest you will ever come to a three way.

He talks of his wedding and honeymoon as his symptoms are getting worse.  His dread of attending his brothers wedding and fear of ruining the special occasion for him.  The embarrassment of having his dad dress him for his brothers wedding. (Well I made it 28 years without you having to dress me!).

His wife Christy is a saint.  She had become unemployed and took great care of her fiancé and then husband all the time while knowing his time could clearly be very limited.  There is a crazy story where she loses the diamond out of her engagement ring at the hospital for one of Bryans treatments and their frantic search for it.  This was not just a shiny stone to them.  It was a piece of Bryan that could be the last thing she would have from him.  Made my eyes water as high paid doctors stopped what they were doing and went on a mission to find the stone.

I highly recommend this book to everyone.  Especially if you have gone through any type of cancer scare or lost someone to the dreaded disease.  This book has a happy ending as he has made it five years and is now doing great.  I enjoyed it alot.

X-Men: Days of Future Past

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Rating 6.5 out of 10

I have been a big fan of the X-Men movies since the first one almost a dozen years ago.  I had high expectations for this Xmen movie.  Probably too high.  I thought this movie was okay but not great.  It's one where most of the action is shown in the two minute trailer.

The movie starts in the future where the government made mutant killing robots have gone rogue.  Besides killing mutants they have started killing humans too.  You know what that means.  Re-runs of the Good Wife will no longer be on the air.  How do we stop these unstoppable robots?  Professor X and Magneto (Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen) know the starting point was when the creator (Game of Thrones Peter Dinklage) was killed by Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) thus creating fear by the President to green light production of the robots.  The plan is to have mutant Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) send someone back in time and stop her.  The only mutant that can withstand the trip is Wolverine (the never aging Hugh Jackman).

Wolverine is sent back to the 70's where President Nixon was in charge and of course everyone wore huge bell bottom jeans and big floppy pimp hats.  Mystique doesn't go down easy.

As I said there wasn't enough action for me.  They highlight many of the mutants and give you a sliver of their powers. Even the main star, Wolverine, is under-used.

This is a decent movie but not nearly as good as it should have been.

Godzilla

Godzilla

Rating 7 out of 10

I am old enough to remember the crummy black and white poorly dubbed Godzilla movies from Japan.  Unfortunately I also remember the 1998 version with Matthew Broderick.  This version is far better.  Of course CGI effects are much better now than in 1998 as is this story line.

This Godzilla movie starts fifteen years in the past.  Joe Brody(Bryan Cranston)  is an American overseeing a nuclear power plant in Japan when a terrible creature is awaken.  This creature by chance eats radiation and is determined to destroy everything in it's path to get more.  Okay, I didn't say it was a great story line.

This is a good, not great movie.  I found it entertaining.  The action and effects were good.  If you watch the preview for this movie and think it's one you would want to see you will most likely enjoy it too.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Rating 6 out of 10

I may not be the best to review this since I didn't really care for the first one of these Spider-Man reboot movies.  One thing I don't care for is director Marc Webb feeling the need to re-tell the whole long story of how Peter Parker has these crazy powers.  After three earlier movies can't he assume we kinda know the tale?  With Spidey 2 we get much more of that along with long setups for each of the bad guys too.  When I go see a superhero movie I want to see the good guy battling it out with the bad guys.

The movie starts with our web slinging hero (Andrew Garfield)  saving the day when a group of bad guys steal an armored car transporting some sort of nuclear waste through downtown New York City (I'm sure that is a normal route).  As he takes care of business he realizes he is late for his own college graduation and once again weighs the problems of keeping the world safe and his relationship with his girlfriend Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone).

Most of the next ninety plus minutes is dedicated to us seeing how much Peter loves Stacy and introducing in great detail our two bad guys, Electro (Jamie Foxx) and Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) A little more than two hours in to the movie we get our big show down.

This is not a bad movie.  Just a mostly boring one for an action movie.  I think I'll skip Spider-Man 3.

Brick Mansions

Brick Mansions

Rating 4 out of 10

A couple times a year I see a movie that I hate to admit here that I saw.  Think I'll just skip that review.  You really expected THAT movie to be good I'm sure people will ask.  Well, not really.  I didn't expect this movie to be good.  I had already been warned by my son inlaw how bad it was.  I can tolerate a bad movie if it has actors I like and lots of action to distract how bad the script is.  Heck I saw both of the Expendable movies and eagerly away the next one this summer!  I liked Paul Walker and this was the last movie he completed before his death.

In downtown Detroit there is a section that has become so bad the police have given up trying.  The city just builds a 40 foot wall around the area of tall brick buildings and let the animals take care of them selves.  There is on man in Brick Mansions that wants to try to clean it up.  He fights the drug dealers in what sure seems to be a losing battle.  He is Lino (David Belle) who is one of those guys who somehow jumps off buildings and crawls up walls without ever getting hurt. Very cool.

When Mansion thugs steal a H-bomb from an armored car (because we transport those things around all the time) the only good cop in Detroit (Paul Walker)  is recruited to join Lino to go in and find/disarm the bomb and avenge the death of his police captain father who was murdered there years ago.  It plays out as stupid as it sounds.

The action is decent.  Mostly when David Belle does his jumping around although it is full of the dreaded shaky cam that I can't stand. This movie killed a couple hours on a rainy day out of town.  Sadly that time could have been better spent playing in the rain.

Bears

Bears

Rating 7 out of 10

One of my favorite movie times is when I get to share a theater seat and a small bag of popcorn with my lovely granddaughter.  This time we saw Disney's Bears.  This was a movie she picked.  It was either this or Rio II.

When I was a young tike I would ride my dinosaur home from school and watch a tv show called Wild Kingdom with a very old guy named Marlin Perkins and sponsored by some insurance company.  It was a nature show and this movie reminded me of that show very much.

Bears is a year in the life of a momma bear and her two cubs.  It starts with the bears in their hibernation cave and follows them in their trek for food and their dangers.  They walk through the beautiful Alaskan mountains on their way to the oceans and rivers where the salmon spawn and fill the bellies of many large bears.  The movie is masterfully narrated by John C. Reilly.

The scenery and visuals are incredible.  I was amazed at the end of the movie when they showed how they filmed much of the bear scenes.  The hour and twenty minute movie kept my four year old granddaughters attention for about half of that.  There were some scenes of the bears eating their salmon that was a big much for her.  "that's disgusting" she said.

I enjoyed the movie.  Enjoyed the company more.

The Other Woman

The Other Woman

Rating 3 out of 10

How bad does a movie that has a large portion of it's nearly two hours with Kate Upton in a skimpy swimsuit yet still is dreadfully boring?  Watch The Other Woman and you will soon see. There were some people laughing at times during this movie. Mostly it was dead silence.  I"m not a big fan of Leslie Mann, but here she was like scratching on a chalkboard in her overacting.

In case you have not seen the movie trailer it starts off with a leggy blonde lawyer (Cameron Diaz) falling deeply in love with a Mr. Wonderful named Mark (Nikolaj Coster from the far better Game of Thrones tv show).  Mark literally charms the pants off her.  When she makes a surprise visit to his home she finds his unsuspecting wife (Leslie).  Instead of getting mad she wants to be best friend with her husbands woman on the side.  There are many stale gags that die on the floor.  When the women follow the cheater to the beach they find him with yet another woman (Upton).

They all three become best friends and decide to get even via some half baked proving he is stealing money from his company plan.  Nothing makes much sense. The only part of this movie that made me happy was the credits when the movie was over.  : >

This is a don't even bother to rent type of movie.

3 Days to Kill

3 Days to Kill

Rating 6 out of 10

Some people can't stand Kevin Costner.  Like detest him and every movie he is in.  I don't get it.  I am a fan.  I think that even when he is in a bad movie he almost always is good.  This is one of those movies.  He takes a movie that otherwise would have gone straight to dvd and makes it a mildly entertaining movie.

Costner plays a long time C.I.A. spy/hitman.  He is the best of the best.  He can take out a room of bad guys without breaking a sweat.   Nothing can stop him.  Well, nothing except a brain tumor that has drifted to his lungs and given him a few months to live.  He wants to walk away and spend what time he has with his estranged teenage daughter and lovely ex-wife.

As luck would have it amazingly the C.I.A has one last job for him to do.  That almost never happens! : >   Not only will they let him walk away but the sexy handler (Amber Heard) has a new experimental drug that could cure is tumors.

Much of the movie is the hokey/sweet efforts he goes to reconnect with is daughter.  Not many surprises. Lots of action and shooting.  Pretty much paint by the numbers but I was mildly entertained.  I would classify this as a decent rental when it comes out.

Need for Speed

Need for Speed

Rating 4 out of 10

I had a roofers holiday (rain day) and felt like a movie.  Need for Speed was the only one with a start time that worked.   This is one of the first movies made by Aaron Paul in attempt to capitalize on his hot Breaking Bad fame.  He is clearly the big name in the movie with a list of B actors and sadly showing how far Michael Keaton has fallen.

Aaron Paul plays Tobey Marshall, a natural born race car driver that has taken over his fathers garage after he passes away and specializes in very expensive muscle cars.  Even with the very high dollar clientele the banker is on the doorsteps ready to repo.  The fine acting in the movie is the evil banker who is played by my friend Frank Brennan who is just like that evil heartless banker in real life (not really).  Several things happen where Tobey goes to jail after his best friend dies.  When he gets out the only way (of course) he can avenge his friends death is to win a secret race thru the curvy California roads with and against multi million dollar cars.  How else would one do it?

The teenage Royce would have LOVED this movie.  Lots of fast cars, hot babes and action like nobodies business.  Plot that makes not a nickels worth of sense?  Teenage Royce could not care less. Lets watch this movie again!  Middle aged Royce sees it a little differently.  Middle aged Royce wonders about all those poor people in the cars wrecked with idiot Tobey drives down the wrong side of the road at 100+ mph and am not amazed when a three million dollar Mustang jumps across three lanes of traffic at 15ft, lands in the dirt without a scratch.

This is a mostly harmless go fast sports car movie that if you can park enough neurons at the door you could enjoy it.  Enough neurons that you think Dukes of Hazard was a documentary.  It could be done...

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Rating 8 out of 10

When the first Captain America came out in 2011 I went in with low expectations.  It didn't look like it was going to be very good.  I was pleasantly surprised as the movie was much better than I thought it would be.   This time expectations were higher with this version and once again I was pleasantly surprised.  The Winter Soldier is great.   The action in the first ten minutes of the movie is first rate.

This movie begins not long after the Avengers have saved NYC and the world.  Captain America or Steve Rogers (the hunky Chris Evans) is still working with S.H.I.E.L.D and it's leader Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson).  A big reason this movie is better than the last is Captain America has joined forces with the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) who besides being very hot knows how to kick butt and has some of the best lines of the movie.

When an assassination attempt on Nick Fury happens Rogers uncovers a group of bad guys has infiltrated not only the government but the deepest parts of S.H.I.E.L.D.  Of course their plan is to take over the world and kill millions.  What bad guy does not want this?  It's up to Captain America and Black Widow to save the world and they don't know who they can trust.  They find a friend in Falcon (Anthony Mackie).  An ex-special forces man that has these cool strap on wings that enable him to fly like a bird.

The action is first rate here. If you like super hero movies your money will be well spent here.   I enjoyed this very much and would pay to see it again.  Also thought it was cool that S.H.I.E.L.D uses a Macbook Pro like the one I 'm typing on to run their organization!

Sabatoge

Sabotage

Rating 4 out of 10

Not that long ago Arnold Schwarzenegger was king of the movies.  Put him in your movie and you had a box office smash.  Even his bad movies made money.  Studios would spend millions just to pitch him scripts hoping he would be in their movie.  Then he took some time off to run California.  Since his return to movies it mostly shows he should have stayed in politics.

In Sabotage we have Arnie leading a corrupt group of DEA agents.  The group besides mega star Sam Worthington (Avatar) we have a who's who of cable tv stars.  Josh Holloway ( Lost and current show Intelligence), Joe Maganiello (True Blood), Mireille Enos ( The Killing), Max Martini ( Army Wives and pretty much every army show on tv) and then throw in Terrence Howard.  Make a movie with a bunch of bad guy drug dealer thugs and high body counts. It's even filmed in Atlanta! How could Arnie be in Atlanta and I not hear about it?  What else would you need?

Oh yeah, a story that makes a nickels worth of sense.  This is almost all nonsense.  As I said this is a corrupt task force.  In the beginning we see them stealing $10 million from a drug kingpin on a raid.  The problem (besides the kingpin knowing they ripped him off) is somehow the FBI knew how much money was there and knows how much is missing.  Even worse when they go to pick up the money they stole it's gone.   Six months later when the FBI gives up trying to prosecute them people in the task force start being murdered.  The local Atlanta police detective joins in to try to figure out who is doing the deeds.

The action is mildly entertaining and acting is good.  The rest is a waste of time.