La La Land

La La Land

Rating 2 out of 10

Normally this is not a movie I would go see.  Not a big fan of musicals.  This movie was getting such glowing reviews I thought I'd give it a try.  A reviewer on NBC morning news called it the best movie of the decade.  Give it the Oscar now.  Reviewer Jim Slotek of the Toronto Sun says "I have yet to meet someone who's watched it and come out in a bad mood". Well Jim, here are two.  The Hottie and I didn't care for it a bit.

Again, I'm not big on musicals.  Especially not musicals where most if not all the songs are jazz.  I like both the lead actors, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.  Ryan is a struggling jazz musician.  Emma is a struggling actress. They don't like each other a bit when they first meet.  Then of course fall in love.

If this is your type of movie you will love it.  I'm sure it will win awards.  Not from me and the Hottie.  We were bored and tired.  Left before it was over.  The only thing up in the air was trying to figure which one to blame out of us two for picking it.

Passengers

Passengers

Rating 6 out of 10

This was one of the Christmas movies I was really looking forward to seeing hoping to add it to my Top Ten list in a couple weeks.  Sadly it is a good movie (mostly because of the actors) but not a great one.

If you have been near a tv or talk show in the past several months you know that Passengers is about a time in the future when earth is getting way overpopulated and people are paying hefty prices to travel to far distant planets to live.   The planets are so far away everyone included the crew has to be put to sleep for 120 years to be awaken in time to start their life in the new world.  Only problem is due to a malfunction in the ship Jim (Chris Pratt) wakes up ninety years too early.   Soon after Aurora (Jennifer Lawrence) wakes up.  They together try to fix a plan to solve their sleeping problem and also fall in love as two good looking young people will do.  Ultimately the problem that caused the original malfunction comes to a head and Jim and Aurora need to find a way to save everyone.

Visually the movie is top notch.  The huge space ship really is amazing.  Where the movie lost points for me is it is mostly slow.  Jim trying to cope with being alone then them as a couple living alone on a big ship.  The many trailers and commercials on this movie show most of the plot and pretty much all the good parts.  The story is a little predictable too.  Not long in you can guess what the outcome is going to be.

The two stars make the movie entertaining.  It's good enough rainy day movie or maybe a rental.  I was hoping for better.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Rating 8.5 out of 10

You might remember from my review that I didn't really care for the last Star Wars movie.  It was bloated, predictable and not very good.  I am glad to say this movie is none of that.  Rogue One moves right along at a zippy pace, has a great cast and WAY better than the last Star Wars movie.

If you haven't seen the original Star Wars since 1977 I'll remind you that the key to young Luke Skywalker blowing up the Death Star and saving all the good guys was someone slipping the information to Princess Leia where the weak spot was.  She then gave the plans to R2D2.  This movie  explains how they got those plans.

Young Jyn watches her father being hauled away by some of Darth Vadar's henchmen.  He has the knowledge on how to build the Death Star. Jyn escapes and takes on crazy jobs until fifteen years later when she joins the revolution.

The cast is spot on.  There are some very funny scenes.  Some touching scenes.  Good action. Good movie.  I was entertained.

Edge of Seventeen

Edge of Seventeen 

Rating 6.5 out of 10

Rainy days are unpaid vacation days for us roofers.  That often means a trip to the movie theaters for this roofer.  I narrowed my choices to this movie and the Harry Potter prequel.  This movie fit my timetable.  Plus a friend of mine recommended it.

This is a cute coming of age movie about young Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld) as she copes with high school life.  Not really alot more you can say about it.  She deals with the loss of a parent.  She has the ultra good looking athletic brother that everyone loves. A kinda crazy mom.  She is looked at as the nerdy type and not many friends.  She has a crush on the school bad boy that doesn't know she is alive.

It's funny in parts.  Sad in others.  The type of movie that used to be the After School Special type.  Ms. Steinfeld does a great job and I think she is already getting some award nominations.  Woody Harrelson is great as the apathetic teacher she is able to confide in.

This movie will make a good rental shortly as it's almost out of theaters now.  It only had one showtime.  I was entertained.

Moana

Moana

Rating 8.5 out of 10

When I saw previews for this movie I was lukewarm on viewing it. Looked kinda hokey to me.  But the chance came up to take the grand kids to the movies and to be honest I'd sit thru a Tyler Perry movie to spend time with the kids.  When daughter Mandy heard what movie we were going to she dropped the baby at the sitter and joined us.  Bonus.

I have to admit right off this movie was WAY better than I thought it would be.  I loved this movie and feel it will become one of the Disney Classics.  The movie starts 3000 years ago on a small island of Oceania.  Young Moana is the daughter of the king and being the only child next in line to take over.  She is very adventurous and drawn to the sea which is strictly forbidden by her father.  No one is to go past the reef.  When the fishing and food begin to run out Moana follows her grandmothers story and sets sail to find the god Maui whom it's said can save the islands.

While Dwayne Johnson is the big name in this movie (I think he had something to do with the making of the movie), but the little Hawaiian girl that voices Moana steals the show.  I'm not even going to try to spell her name.  She is fantastic.  Dwayne is very good too.  He even sings.

The movie is very funny.  I laughed out loud several times.  Then it had some touching moments too. The animation is as good as you'd expect from Disney.  Clearly I liked it.  Luckily I have a few more grandkids I can get to go with me for repeat viewings.

I do recommend this movie.  You don't have to be a kid to enjoy it.

Allied

Allied

Rating 6 out of 10

This wasn't real high on my list to see but it was on the top of the Hottie's list.  That means it becomes the top of my list too.  I'm thinking I saw this was based on a true story but that could have been one of the many previews I saw before this one started.

Here Max Vatan (Brad Pitt) is an undercover Canadian spy sent in to kill a bad Natzi officer (as opposed to all those good natzi officers).  He is paired us with Marianne Beausejour (Marion Cotillard) who plays his wife yet he has never met her.  They play man and wife for a couple weeks and begin to fall for each other.  When the assassination goes down (the whole thing fits in the two minute preview) they meet up again in London and get married and soon after have a baby girl.

After a little more than a year word comes that Marianne may not be who she says she is.  There is a German spy in town passing important information to the bad guys and it might be us.  Max has 72 hours to find out for sure if the mother of his child is a spy.  If she is he must kill her or be shot as a spy himself.

The movie is mildly interesting and fairly well acted.  Seemed everyone in the movie except the baby smoked and smoked alot.  That kinda got to me after a while.  The story is fairly predictable especially if you have seen the preview more than once.  It was a harmless afternoon movie that I'm not sorry I saw.  I'd recommend to also catch it on an early show or wait to rent.

Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange

Rating 8.5 out of 10

Since my comic book reading stopped at about age ten (unlike my comic book nerd Brother inlaw) I was not really familiar with the Doctor Strange character.  I think after the release of this movie most all of us will be very familiar with Doctor Strange.

I think casting on this movie is spot on.  Benedict Cumberbatch is perfect at Dr. Steven Strange.  He is a pompous surgeon that thinks he is a god that can do no wrong.  Talks down to everyone and is not beloved.  When a bad car wreck leaves him unable to operate he goes into a deep depression refusing to believe his medical career is over.  When all else fails Strange travels to an Eastern monastery where a bald woman with a cool version of kung fu begrudgingly takes him in.  Here he gets his version of Neo choosing the red pill or the blue pill.  Doctor Strange learns of a whole hidden world that blows his mind and will blow yours too.

As I said casting is perfect.  Tilda Swinton is good as the kinda creepy bald woman.  Chiwetel Ejiofor  is probably the best actor with the strangest name.  He plays sidekick Baron Mordo.  Rachel McAdams takes a smaller role as a doctor that somehow loves the cranky Dr Strange and helps him later on.

The effects are nothing short of spectacular.  They make the crazy effects in 2010's Inception look like a Saturday morning cartoon.  This is not a storyline like Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy where you can sit back and enjoy.  You need to pay attention to follow what is going on.  At times I found it a little confusing, yet felt it paid off in the end.

I was highly entertained and would recommend it.

Keeping up with the Joneses

Keeping up with the Joneses

Rating 3 out of 10

I went into this movie with the bar set pretty low and somehow it came in far below.  The best I can say about it is the movie is harmless.  The worst I can say is the attempt of a plot is so predictable and slow it almost hurts your head to sit through it. Never been a Zach Galifianakis fan and this movie keeps that streak alive.

Living in a sleepy Atlanta neighborhood Jeff and Karen Gaffney (Zach and the always cute Isla Fisher) live the usual boring suburban life.  Their neighbors across the street sell their house to the new hot and sexy couple Tim and Natalie Jones (Jon Hamm and Gal Gadot) that are too good to be true.

There is a silly story of Jeff working for a Nuclear Science company where he constantly lets other workers use his computer because theirs has no outside internet access.  What could go wrong?  You can't tell if the Joneses are good or bad.  Pretty quick you just don't care.

As I said the movie is mostly harmless.  The Hottie and I were mostly bored.  Fisher and Gadot are entertaining as much as they could be with what they have to work with.  I'd say wait and rent this on if you must.

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

Rating 6 out of 10

I have been a fan of the Jack Reacher books.  Probably read a dozen.  Have not read the book this movie is made on.  I liked the first Jack Reacher book released back in 2012.  This movie is entertaining but not nearly as good as the first one.

Many fans of the books can't get used to Tom Cruise playing Jack Reacher.  Mostly because in the books Reacher is 6'4" and Cruise is about half that.  I do like Cruise here.  He plays the part as well as anyone can.

With this movie we get a paint by the numbers story where Reacher travels to DC to visit an Army officer Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders) that he has only talked to on the phone.  When he gets there as luck would have it Turner has been arrested and a few under her have been killed.  It's up to Reacher to help her.  Throw in a 15 year old blonde girl that may or may not be Reachers daughter and you have the trio trying to prove there are bad officers smuggling things into the states.

One highlight of the movie is newcomer Patrick Heusinger who plays the brutal bad guy called the Hunter.  The movie suffers a bit from many if not most of the good parts are in the often played trailers. That said I was mildly entertained and feel this would make a good rental.

The Accountant

The Accountant

Rating 8.5 out of 10

No this isn't about a guy that works at the H&R Block doing taxes for old folks.  The Accountant is a good action movie with above average acting and an interesting story that keeps you tied in.  Ben Affleck plays Christian Wolff.  A young boy that suffers from asperger's syndrome that while makes for a rough childhood where he is often picked on his amazing math skills make him the perfect accountant.  His military father makes him tough in every way thus making him the perfect bookkeeper for mobsters and drug dealers who feel they are being cheated.  He can spot the rat in a sea of numbers like no one else.

Wolff with his upbringing is as tough as they come.  He makes Batman look like Commissioner Gordons little girl.  Anyone messes with him pays a price.  When he takes on a job of finding someone stealing money at a big time robotics company his life is in danger along with the cute company accountant (Anna Kendrick) that is helping him.

The movie takes several twists that tie up just fine in the end.  The action is very good and the story is fun to follow.  Ben Affleck does an above average job as does the always fantastic J.K. Simmons.  I think Anna Kendrick was miscast a bit but didn't really effect the movie outcome.  The Hottie and I both liked this movie alot.

The Girl on a Train

The Girl on a Train

Rating 5 out of 10

I had heard from many about how great the book The Girl on a Train was. I'm more of an audio book kind of guy.  When I got this book the lady reading it on the audio had such a thick english accent I couldn't concentrate.  Anyway, I like Emily Blunt and while the trailer was a little confusing it looked interesting.  I grabbed the Hottie and off to the NCG theater we went with our diet coke and her box of milk duds.

I think there probably is a good story to be told here and can see where the book would be good.  On film here it just doesn't work.  Director Tate Taylor (He directed the very good Winters Bone with Jennifer Lawrence) and his love for EXTREME close ups does not help the cause.

Rachel (Blunt) has a big time drinking problem and a few mental issues to boot.  She rides the train into NYC every day and watches all the people in their houses along the way imagining how their lives are and what they are doing.  Unfortunately she is also obsessed with her ex-husband and his new wife.  When their hot blonde nanny (Haley Bennet) turns up missing she ends up being the top suspect.  She has these blackouts with her drinking causing her to not know what happened the night before and that does not help her cause.

The movie has potential but falls flat.  Way to many flashbacks.  At one point you are in a flashback and you don't realize what is going on.  I'd be interested in knowing how fans of the book liked the movie.  I would guess they think it could/should have been done much better.

I was not really entertained and I like most all the actors.  Wait to rent if this is a must see.

Deepwater Horizon

Deepwater Horizon

Rating 8 out of 10

I remember when the big oil spill happened in the Gulf and what a mess it was.  Seems I remembered that several men died in that mess.  Unfortunately their deaths were glossed over with all the oil that washed up on beaches.  This movie does a good job of putting faces to those names and showing the sometimes heroic actions some of the men did that saved lives.

The movie starts off showing the every day lives of some of the men that go sometimes 40-50+ miles off the shores of Texas and Louisiana to work on these floating oil rigs.  Most work two weeks on the rigs and then are off for two weeks.  Many years ago as a young man in Louisiana I was going to be hired to work off shore on an oil rig.  I had to wait a month before going out on the rig.  Being impatient I decided to be a roofer instead.

There is some great acting here.  Mark Wahlberg plays Mike Williams who works on most everything on the rig.  The always good Kurt Russell plays crusty vet Mr. Jimmy that oversees everything and is not afraid to tell the BP guys they are idiots.  John Malkovich plays the seedy BP exec that forces bad decisions and then gets to witness the carnage his decisions create.

The action is amazing.  Director Peter Berg likes to jump around with is filming and I was afraid there was going to be lots of shaky cam.  Luckily that doesn't last long and the effects are very good.  My only problem with the movie (always have atleast one) is I didn't feel the movie explained exactly why the well blew out simple enough for those of us that are simple.  It was interesting enough that I went to wiki as soon as I got home to find out.

Good movie.  I definitely recommend it.  The Hottie loved it even more than I did.

The Magnificent Seven

The Magnificent Seven

Rating 7.5 out of 10

I like any movie with Denzel Washington.  I feel he has been in a few bad movies, but has rarely been bad in a movie.  The casting for this film besides Denzel is mostly spot on.  Vincent D'Onofrio, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke and even Haley Bennett is pretty good.

This is a remake of a remake.  I remember the last one.  A good western classic staring Steve McQueen, James Coburn and Yul Brynner.  I am an old timer that enjoys westerns.  A small town of Rose Creek is being taken over by very bad guy Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard).  He wants the town so he can mine out the large gold deposit he has found.  He offers the locals less than half what it's worth and shoots anyone that stands up to him.  The wife of one of the men he murders goes out and finds a bounty hunter (Denzel) with a history with Bogue.  He recruits six more to battle Bogue and his hundred henchmen he is sure to bring.  Some of the townsmen stay and fight while some flee.

There are some pretty dramatic and even comedic parts to the movie.  It's predictable even if you haven't seen the original.  Probably too many of the good parts are in the often played trailers and commercials.  I think they could have found someone much better than Sarsgaard for the heavy.

While this won't go down as a classic it is entertaining.  You don't have to love cowboys to enjoy this one.

Sully

Sully

Rating 9 out of 10

The first reason you need to go see this movie is Tom Hanks.  Well, you don't really need another reason to head to the theater than Mr. Hanks is is it.  It helps more that it's directed by Clint Eastwood, but mostly it's just a great story.

We all remember that January day in 2009 when the US Airways plane hit a flock of geese and lost both engines at very low altitude.  There were 155 souls on board and they are alive today because of one man.  Chelsey "Sully" Sullenberger.  What this man did was in my opinion nothing short of amazing.  I got my private pilots license in 2002 and have 600+ hours in the air.  I am not qualified to clean the gum of this mans shoes.  The word hero is thrown around way too often.  This man saved those 155 lives and no telling how many on the ground had he tried to make it back to the airport.

The movie details events that happened after the water landing.  While most of the world is singing the praises of Sully and crew the airline authorities seemed to be determined to prove they could have easily made it back to the airport and recklessly endangered those lives instead of saving them.  They would have been fired and potentially lost all their retirement.

As I said the only reason you need to see this movie is Tom Hanks.  He hits a home run as he often does.  He nailed the Sully part.  Needless to say I loved this movie as did the Hottie who was hopped up on cold medicine.  I highly recommend it.

Hell or High Water

Hell or High Water

Rating 5 out of 10

Watching the trailer for this it looked interesting.  Great cast.  Jeff Bridges, Chris Pine and Ben Foster.  Has a bit of the old Western movie feel even though it's modern day.  Then there is the good reviews on www.rottentomatoes.com.  Actually GREAT reviews.  As I have said in the past it makes me nervous when a movie gets positive reviews in the 90+%.  Hell or High Water is sitting at 98% positive reviews.  I always have to wonder about any movie where 149 of 152 goofball movie reviewers gave it a positive review.  That's the case here.  This is not a bad movie.  It's just VERY slow.

Toby and Tanner (Pine and Foster) are brothers. Tanner is the bad sheep that shot their abusive dad so many years ago and spent ten years in prison. Where Toby is the good kid that stayed around to take care if their terminal mother in her last year.  Mom left the family West Texas farm in debt and very close to foreclosure.  The brothers get together and start robbing banks in order to save the family farm.  Sheriff Marcus (Bridges) is three weeks away from retirement and makes finding these brothers his mission in life.

While the movie itself seems to have the budget of a loaded SUV, the acting is quite good.  Jeff Bridges is always fantastic and he is in good form here.  If you like a movie that builds to a slow boil without all the special effects and don't care if the story is on the predictable side you will enjoy this one.  I was mildly entertained.

The Light Between Oceans

The Light Between Oceans

Rating 5 out of 10

Not normally a movie I would see on opening weekend but the Hottie wanted to see it and she usually gets her way.  I like both the lead actors- Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander even though I can barely pronounce either.

I would call this the feel bad movie of the summer.  Not a bad movie but barely an uplifting moment in the 132 minutes of screen time.  The movie starts in the 1920s when an English soldier, Tom, is retuning from the war.  Having seen some terrible things some boring and alone time appeals to him so he signs up to be the lighthouse man on an otherwise deserted island.  His job is to live on the island and to manually light the lighthouse every dusk to help the ships find their way into port after dark.

After his first six month stint alone on the island when he comes back to the mainland for a short time he falls for the lovely mayors daughter who also takes a fancy to him.  She is so ready to get out of the small town she convinces Tom to marry her and take her to the island with him.  They get along well in isolation and soon begin to start a family.  Unfortunately they have two failed pregnancies that obviously take a toll on Isabel.  Not long after the second miscarriage a small row boat shows up on shore with a dead man inside and a beautiful baby girl.  Isabel talks the always follow the rules Tom into not reporting the incident and keeping the baby as their own.

Unfortunately when the baby is three when they are back in town on a short vacation they meet the childs real mother and hear the story of the how the baby and father ended up in that small boat.  The rest of the movie is how Tom and Isabel try to cope with what they have done.

My problem is not with the slow pacing.  There is not really any way you could speed up this story.  I was not impressed with the way the director (Derek Cianfrance) decided to film it.  His love of close ups is amazing.  The leads are beautiful people but I don't need to be able to count their nose hairs with the extreme close ups that seemed to make up half the movie.  The story is depressing and slow. I was mildly entertained but could not recommend it to anyone.

Kubo and Two Strings

Kubo and Two Strings

Rating 6 out of 10

I was on the fence with this movie.  It looks interesting yet different.  When I had a chance to take my three year old grandson to the movie I always jump at the chance.  The movie did turn out to be interesting and different.

Kubo starts off in the movie as a baby being protected by his mother after her evil father and sisters killed his father.  He has a talent of playing his guitar looking instrument and making paper fold into different characters as he tells a story.  He uses this talent in the small town to get money to support himself and mom.  His mother always tells Kubo to be back in their cave before dark.  When he strolls too far one day he doesn't make it back before the sun goes down and gets back on the radar of evil grandpa and those crazy aunts.

The base of the movie is Kubo on the run in a journey to get a magic suit of armor that will help him defeat the bad guys.  He has the help of a strict but funny monkey and a large human/beetle.  The animation is much more traditional Japanese animation rather that the Jungle Book type I have been spoiled by.  It wasn't bad, just not really my taste.

Over all I found the movie mildly interesting.  My grandson kept his attention with a little aid of the bag of popcorn in his lap.  There are some battles in the movie, but nothing to scare most kids.  It was worth the early movie price I paid even tho it does gripe me to have to pay adult price for a three year old.

Pete's Dragon

Rating 7 out of 10

I always enjoy taking the grandkids to a "popcorn movie".  They call it a popcorn movie because they know they can get me to buy an tub of popcorn and of course candy and goodies.  I'm the one that comes out a winner.  Especially when the movie is pretty good.  As was the case with Pete's Dragon.

I didn't realize this was a remake from 1977. I kinda remember the original.  This movie starts off with a family on and adventure up through the mountains.  When dad swerves to miss an animal in the road the parents are killed little five year old Pete wanders out in the woods all alone.

Five years later we see Pete is alive and well deep in the forest with a magic dragon named Elliot as his best friend and protector.  He is happy the way life is except a group of loggers cutting down trees close to his Swiss Family Robinson type of tree home.  When a lady forest ranger stumbles upon little Pete and takes him in it causes turmoil with Elliot the dragon.

Locals have heard stories of dragons living in the forest for many years and are excited at the chances of seeing/catching one.  The movie is cast well.  It paces right along.  Never once looked at my watch.  My grandkids enjoyed it.  I enjoyed it.  It's a cute and harmless movie all will have a good time with.

Suicide Squad

Suicide Squad

Rating 6 out of 10

When the fantastic trailer came out for Suicide Squad this became my most anticipated movie of the year.  Don't know that I've ever seen a trailer that made me want to see a movie so much.  Then the terrible reviews came out.  One reviewer called it not the worst movie of the year but close.  This clearly brought my expectations down.  I found this movie to be somewhere between best movie of the year and worst movie of the year.  Good movie.  Not great.

This movie starts after Batman and Superman has their battle.  Superman is no longer with us and the government is looking for someone to protect us when the next bad guy come after us.  Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) works for the government and assembles a crew of the worst of the worst.  Bad guys and gals with special powers.  As bad luck would have it as soon as the squad is assembled one of the ladies with special powers goes rogue and decides to kill everyone on the planet.

The Suicide Squad themselves have lots of promise.  The biggest problem is a movie like this rises and falls with the villain. Here the villain and her gang of weird looking helpers are just goofy.  You never feel like the squad or humanity is in much trouble.

Margot Robbie is great as Harley Quinn.  Will Smith is always good.  Jared Leto is a pretty good Joker.  The movie has some good action scenes.  Some comedy.  I was entertained.  Hoped to be overwhelmed but was just entertained.  I'm hoping Suicide Squad II is much better.

Jason Bourne

Jason Bourne

Rating 6.5 out of 10

Still out of town and some time to kill.  Can't see Suicide Squad until the Hottie rolls into town so Jason Bourne it is.  Went in with very low expectations and by that was pleasantly surprised.  Not a great movie but I was mildly entertained for the 123 minutes I sat in the chair.

I like Matt Damon and the rest of the cast.  Like the rest of the Bourne movies (except the one he wasn't in) for good or bad Matt carries the film.  This one is pretty much like all the rest.  Jason is still getting pieces of his memory back.  Just enough to carry the plot line forward.  The evil CIA boss (Tommy Lee Jones) knows he has the secrets locked up in his brain to bring down his secret op program so he must be taken out.  There is always a sensitive female working in the CIA that decides to slip Bourne top secret information to help him find out why he is the way he is.  This time that agent is Heather Lee (Alicia Vikander).

Lots of action as Bourne takes out one hit man after another in his quest to expose the bad guys.  Lots of scenery as they travel from Greece to Italy to Las Vegas.  I know I have harped not this before but the film style that seems to follow these movies is crazy.  The camera never stops moving.  Even when the characters are standing still the camera floats up and around like the cameraman is drunk.  Fight scenes are zoomed in and out so fast it's hard to tell at times whom is hitting whom.

That said I was mildly entertained.  If you liked the other Bourne films you will like this one too.  Damon is good.  If you want to get out of the summer heat there are worse ways than this movie. Or it will make a decent rental a little later.

Nerve

Nerve

Rating 6 out of 10

I'm in Minnesota for work and had a rain day.  My supervisor Jim and I could go outside and enjoy the 72 degree weather.  Instead we decided to go into a dark movie theater for a couple hours.  We intended to go endure the shaky cam and see Jason Bourne beat up bad guys only to find out when we got to the theater the 445p show was "canceled".  Faced with having to go back outside and breathe fresh air we looked at the board and saw Nerve was scheduled to start at 5p.  Sold.

Clearly Jim and I are not the demographic the studio had in mind when they gave the movie the green light.  We thought we were going to be the only two in the theater until four teenage girls came in during the previews and sat in the back probably creeped out that two grandpa's were in the same theater.  One crazy thing about this Cinemark theater is the movie was scheduled to start at 5p.  Instead between the commercials and previews the opening credits started at 5:28p!!! Twenty eight minutes of previews and commercials.

Oh yeah, the movie.  This movie plays on the social media craze between twitter, you tube and maybe a touch of video games.  A blacklist illegal game has taken the younger crowd by storm where people can play the game where faceless moderators dare the person to do crazy things and broadcast them with their iPhones for money.  Each dare gets a little crazier and pays a little more. Vee (Julia's niece Emma Roberts) is a repressed high school girl who can't even talk to her football stud guy crush is talked into playing the game.  She quickly is paired up with Ian (Dave Franco) and they become fan favorites.  The dares become more and more dangerous.  The game is very illegal yet everyone in NYC seems to be watching and the police have no clue.  Vee see's this is no simple game and becomes determine to shut it down.

The two leads are likable and overall the movie is fairly harmless and mildly entertaining. I would think if you are over the age of about 25 you may want to wait for RedBox or Netflix.

Star Trek Beyond

Star Trek Beyond

Rating 7 out of 10

I have watched Star Trek since William Shatner had his own hair.  This is a movie that I don't expect a intricate plot.  Just lots of action and fun.  This movie delivers on all of that.  I think Chris Pine does a good job as the young Captain Kirk.  The whole cast is pretty spot on.  I really like the newcomer Sofia Boutella, the karate kicking female with the ultra white skin and strange black tattoos on her face.  She was good in last years Kingsmen: The Secret Service.

As I said the story is not very intricate.  A damsel in distress comes to the Federation needing help with her stranded ship on a deserted planet on the other side of the universe.  Of goes Kirk and gang to save the day.  Surprisingly enough there is a really bad guy waiting for them with an ax to grind.  Even more surprising is he has some crazy weapon and is determine to wipe out everyone in the universe.  Hopefully James T can come up with something at the last minute when all hope is gone.

Of course the effects and visuals are light years better than Wrath of Khan.  It really is amazing what they can do with CGI now.  This is a fun popcorn movie.  Lots of action.  Throw in some comedy and attempt a little romance.  I think this Star Trek movie is maybe a notch below the last one yet I was entertained and would recommend to any other Trekkie fan out there.

Legend of Tarzan

Legend of Tarzan

Rating 7.5 out of 10

I thought this movie looked interesting from the first preview I saw.  I know CGI has come a long ways in the past few years and that would only help a movie like this.  That and any movie with Margot Robbie will get my rear in a seat.  When it came out to pretty dismal reviews I tried to think back to any other Tarzan movie not a cartoon that was very good.  I had decided to let this wait for a rental, but the Hottie wanted to see it and she usually gets what she wants.

This is a bit of a different telling of the Tarzan tale.  I have never read a Tarzan book and actually had to google to find out it was a series of 20 books written in the early 1900s by Edgar Rice Burroughs.  With this movie we start several years into Tarzan's life where is his now a Lord and gentleman living in England with his lovely and spunky wife Jane.  He now goes by John Clayton.  No one calls him Tarzan anymore.  Much of the jungle story is told well by flashbacks.

When bad guys are taking slaves and doing bad things to the locals in the jungles of Africa to get at the vast supply of diamonds to be had.  Tarzan is drawn in to try to help his people and Jane comes along.  He is also followed by American George Washington Williams who is determine to shine a light on the new slavery.

Any cast that includes Samuel L. Jackson and Christoph Waltz gets an A+ rating.  Ms. Robbie holds her own also.  I didn't really care for Alexander Skarsgard as Tarzan but the Hottie thought he was perfect.

Overall I was entertained much more than I thought I would.

The BFG

The BFG

Rating 2.5 out of 10

I thought the trailers for this movie looked very interesting.  They have come so far with CG it's amazing the life like way they can make giants appear.  I thought this movie looked worth seeing and when the new Tarzan movie scared me off with bad reviews this movie moved to the top of the list on a blazing 4th of July with the Hottie.  I should have done something else.

The effects are amazing without a doubt.  The giants walking in downtown London are pretty incredible.  The problem is in the story.  It's as dull as they come.  Lisa fell asleep at one point and we left the theater before the movie was over.  I can imagine a twelve year old boy would like this movie. Don't see an adult liking it much.

Ruby is a ten year old girl in a London orphanage back in the 1940s.  She has problems sleeping and is awake at 3 am when BFG (the Big Friendly Giant) is going thru town doing his thing.  Because she sees him he is forced to snatch her up and take her back to giant land.  Turns out of the ten or so giants there he is the only friendly one of the bunch.  The rest are very mean to him and while they like the little kids it's more to eat them.  Half the movie is BFG hiding the little girl from the other giants so they can't eat her.  Ruby decides the only option they have is to enlist the help of the Queen and her army to kill all the bad giants.

After several minutes of BFG learning to drink tea and eat bacon and eggs while talking mostly gibberish I decided I was RFB (Really Flipping Bored) and we decided to depart.  Is this movie bad enough to walk out on?  Probably not.  I had just had enough.  A good mid day nap seemed like a much better option.  Your milage may vary.

The Shallows

The Shallows

Rating 7 out of 10

I love to scuba dive and love the ocean.  So this movie was right in my wheelhouse.  Pretty blonde girls in bikini's don't hurt either.  Expectations were on medium with this movie so I wasn't expecting Jaws.  Just a good tension movie.  On that level I feel it delivers.  On a double date with the Hottie and friends this was a good way to start a Saturday evening.

Nancy (Blake Lively)  is a recent medical school drop out coping with the recent death of her mom to cancer.  She goes to Mexico with a friend to visit a magical beach that was special to her mom.  It's a very secluded beach kept secret from all the tourists.  When her friend bails she motors on without her to do some surfing.  Except for a couple local surfer dudes she has the whole area to herself.  When the guys leave she plans to do one more good ride on her surf board before heading back to the hotel.

That's when bad things happen.  A great white shark big enough to make Sheriff Brody run back to Amity for a bigger boat shows up and takes a nip out of her leg.  She is a good ways from shore and the only place she can go to is a small group of rocks visible due to low tide.  She plans to stick it out there until help arrives until she realizes when high tide comes in she will be in trouble.

The shark is very determined to eat this skinny blonde.  Blake Lively is pretty much the whole movie here and she does a good job.  A bit of a hokey ending keeps this from being a very good movie.  As is if you keep expectations on the lower side.

Independence Day: Resurgence

Independence Day: Resurgence

Rating 6.5 out of 10

For those of us old enough we find it hard to believe it's been twenty years since the original Independence Day.  I was not a big fan of the original when it first came out, but it did grow on me over the years watching it on cable.  I didn't like the way it mixed serious with slapstick goofball comedy.  While this movie has a some of the goofball it's better than the first one.

Since we last defeated the evil aliens twenty years ago Earthlings have come together in peace and harmony.  No more wars.  No hard feelings.  Everyone loves each other and working hand in hand to prepare for the next alien adventure.

Now on the eve of the twenty year celebration they are back.  They are bigger and badder than ever before.  We have a station on the moon and space ships with hyper drives that can make it to Earth in a matter of minutes.  A young group of hot shot pilots.

When they show up in stealth mode and plow through our defenses they are intent on sucking our core from the center of the planet leaving earthlings to die.  The alien ship can make it from the moon to Earth in 20 minutes.  Our heroes have mere hours to stop them before all is lost.

I guess Will Smith was busy or too expensive, but most of the rest of the original cast is back.  Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch, Vivica A Fox.

This movie is mildly entertaining.  I don't think it will hold up as well as the first one.  I went to an early show and feel I got my six bucks worth.

Central Intelligence

Central Intelligence

Rating 6 out of 10

Can't go wrong with the Rock and Kevin Hart can you?  Well you can't if you set the bar low enough.  This is a movie that puts all it's eggs in the star's basket.  Don't waste time and money with any time of story.  Throw those two together and people with be entertained.  For the most part they are correct.  This is more like an SNL skit extended to 114 minutes with a good cast.

If you have seen the trailers you know that at a pep rally everyones favorite Calvin Joyner (Hart) has his acceptance speech interrupted when some bullies throw a naked and very fat Bob Stone (Duane Johnson) onto the gym floor.  Calvin is the only one to befriend him.  Flash forward 20 years to the eve of the HS reunion.  Calvin's day starts off with a friend request on facebook and gets progressively worse.

Stone is the goofy sensitive one while Calvin is the stern serious one.  It works, sometimes.  By far the funniest part of the movie is the outtakes at the end.  You have to stay for that.  Otherwise this would make a cute rental. I was mildly entertained.  I used my new Movie Pass so in my mind it didn't cost me anything except for my medium diet coke.

Finding Dory

Finding Dory

Rating 7 out of 10

I like everyone else on the planet liked the Finding Nemo movie from 2003 (can it really have been that long ago?).  I didn't love it like some did but was highly entertained and did look forward to this one.  Had a fun date planned with some of my kids and most of my grandkids to celebrate an early Fathers Day.

This movie takes place a couple years after Nemo.  The cute little clown fish has been found and now Nemo is wondering what happened to her parents as her short term memory comes and goes.  She hears her parents are across the ocean at a place in California.  Dory sets out with Nemo and her dad to find her parents.  For a fish with bad memory she quickly finds her way right to the Sea World type place in California.  There she befriends an octopus (Ed O'Neil) who steals the show.

This movie is cute.  Good animation that takes you from one scene to another.  Pretty basic story. Dory is about a notch below Nemo.  Entertaining for adults.  Kids will love it too.  I'm sure it will make a bazillion dollars and sell even more dvds at Christmas time.

The Conjuring 2

The Conjuring 2

Rating 7.5 out of 10

As I have said several times here I'm not really into "scary" movies.  The Friday the 13th part 7 with heads flying and buckets of blood don't bother me.  They bore me.  The last horror movie I saw and enjoyed was The Conjuring 1 three years ago.  I'm glad to say this movie was nearly as good as the first one and definitely has you setting up in your seats several times.

Like the first movie this is loosely based on the real life ghostbuster couple Ed and Lorraine Warren.  They have become the people you call when your ghost just won't go away and terrorize your family. Six years before they gained worldwide fame when they beat the ghosts out of an old Rhode Island farm house.  Lorraine is wanting to take a break as she is being haunted herself by a scary ghost in a nuns outfit.  When a family in England is being terrorized by an old man ghost they are pulled back into the game.

The Hodgson's are a single mom with four kids living in poverty in small town outside of London.  Dad ran off and impregnated the neighbor lady.  Strange things start happening.  Toys and furniture moved from one place to another.  The ghost steps it up and begins targeting ten year old daughter, Janet.  Things become violent.  That's when the Warrens arrive.  There are some true chills.  The movie is well acted with Patrick Wilson (rocking the lamb chop sideburns) and Vera Farmiga playing the Warrens.

While overall I was very entertained with this movie I have to ask the obvious question.  Why don't you MOVE???  I know times are tough but if my family is being tossed around like rag dolls by a mad ghost that want's me out you don't have to ask me twice.  My bags are packed.  Still I would recommend this movie and suggest seeing it on a weekend night with a theater full of screaming patrons.  That always makes a scary movie more scary.

Warcraft

Warcraft

Rating 3 out of 10

I haven't been a video game player since Pac Man and Defender.  I did not know that Warcraft was a video game until I saw some of the reviews.  I saw that it was getting pretty torrid reviews, but I thought often action type movies like this don't go over well with the snobby reviewers.  Sad to report the bad reviews were well deserved.  I can only guess if you were a big time player of the video game more of the film would make sense.

In this world there are humans and these huge grog looking people in bad need of dental work.  They have never got along yet have learned to stay away from each other.  That is until one of the bad grogs is overtaken by a bad spirit.  If he can take over enough human souls he can somehow open a portal that appears to have unlimited grog's on the other side that will allow them to kill everyone.  Or something like that.

The movie is all over the place.  Way too many characters with names so complicated it makes Game of Thrones characters seem like Bill, Ted and John.  There are good warlocks, bad warlocks and good warlocks that go bad.  I figured I'd enjoy it even if just for the effects.  Nah.  It does come across like a video game.  I was so bored half way through I started to walk out, but stayed hoping it would have a strong finish.

If you loved the Warcraft video game I'd say wait and rent.  If you have never seen the game keep on walking.

Me Before You

Me Before You

Rating 7.5 out of 10

When I first saw the preview for this movie I kinda rolled my eyes and put it down on my list. Then I realized Khaleesi the Mother of Dragons from Game of Thrones was the main star.  That is enough to get me in the seat.  She really does a great job here.  Nothing like her blonde GOT alter ego.

Emilia Clarke plays 26 year old Louisa Clark.  A kind hearted Englishwoman who is laid off from her waitress job in the beginning of the movie.  She desperately needs this job to help the family as her father is without work and jobs are scarce. The only job she can find is a caretaker of a bitter 30 year old man (William Trainer) paralyzed from the neck down.  He was a very active and athletic rich guy who can't accept his current situation.  Louisa's bubbly personality begins to wear him down.

This is most definitely a paint by the numbers movie, but it works.  Besides Clark being so good Sam Clafin is good as then paralyzed Trainer.  I enjoyed the English countryside as scenery.  I am not usually one to even notice a soundtrack.  This one is first rate.  In fact I haven't bought a films soundtrack since Grease was the word but I think I'll get this one.

You know what you are getting here.  No big surprises yet still a decent way to blow a couple hours.

X-Men : Apocalypse

X-Men Apocalypse

Rating 6 out of 10

I have enjoyed pretty much all the X-Men movies.  Love all the different powers the different mutants have and wondering which one I'd like to have if I could choose (either speed or the blue guy that teleports).  I think this is the seventh in the series (if you count all the Wolverine movies) since the original back in 2000.  They had to reboot the series in 2011 due to the mutants getting older and too expensive.  I have been entertained with the reboots but not nearly like the first ones.  Same goes with Apocalypse.  The effects have improved with the newer movies although the first one still holds up amazingly well.

This movie starts thousands of years ago with what is thought to be the first (and most powerful) mutant aptly named Apocalypse played by Oscar Issac (the best character actor working today).  He is able to take other mutants powers thus making himself stronger.  He is buried in a big pyramid a thousand years ago when a group finds a way to stop him.  Temporarily.  When a group of chanting guys find his tomb and somehow know just the right chant to resuscitate him the world is in trouble again.  He finds a few followers and is hell bent to do what else?  Yes, kill everyone else on the planet and flatten all the buildings.  Not sure why one would want to do that.  Have the whole planet to yourself. But it seems to be a theme with really bad guys.

The effects are very good.  You get to see most of the favorites from the last movie.  Professor X, Magneto (who tries being a nice guy for several years and doesn't like it), Raven,Beast, Jean Grey, ect.  They bring in a few new ones.  Quicksilver is very fast and adds humor. Psylocke (bad girl but played by Olivia Munn which makes her fun to look at). There is even a great cameo from one of the other X-men.

The problem with prequels in a movie like this is if you have seen the first one's you know who is still alive.  So you know which characters no matter how dire the circumstance are not going to die.  I have grown tired of the -we are only minutes away from the whole world being destroyed- plot lines also.  I saw X2 so I know the world was not blown up.  

Overall I like the genre and was entertained.  Out of the seven X-men type movies I'd rank this one forth or fifth.  Still far better than the latest Nicholas Sparks film.

The Nice Guys

The Nice Guys

Rating 5 out of 10

I was on the fence with this one when the trailers came out nearly a year ago.  One red flag was the movie was supposed to be released in February and it was pushed to mid-May.  That is rarely a good thing.  Another flag was how many different trailers they flooded the market with before it's release.  My experience has been unless it's a Star Wars or Batman the movies that have lots of commercials before the release it's because the movie is not that good and they are hoping for a big opening.  The movie has been getting amazing reviews (over 90% on RT) so I gave it a try.

The good.  Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling are good together.  They seem like they have known each other for ages instead of this being the first time they have worked together.  They play off each other well.  The young girl playing Goslings daughter (Angourie Rice?) is cute and likable.  They did a good job of transporting back to 1977 capturing the music, dress and hair.

The bad. The script is total nonsense.  Crowe's character is a self described thug that beats people up for a living.  He meets Gosling when a young girl Gosling has been paid to locate pays Crowe to beat him up and make him quit following her (thus the broken arm scene everyone has seen many times).  Then that girl turns up missing and Crowe realizes someone is trying to kill her he hires Gosling to help locate her.  The girl is a pampered ultra liberal rich girl who finds out her mom is white washing a deal with the big three automakers in Detroit to bypass clean air standards and save money while polluting the air.  How does she plan to expose her moms evil plans?  Make a porn movie where leaked discussions with car manufacturers are worked into the script.  I kid you not.  Everyone with the porn movie is turning up dead to keep this from getting out.

I don't enjoy slapstick movies as some do.  This movie as a feel like director Shane Blacks other movie Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.  Also has a goofball feel like O Brother, Where Art Thou.  People being shot right and left between Gosling and his daughter and they are cracking on each other about him smoking too much.  Some like those type movies much more than I do.  I have to mention Russell Crowe not being in Gladiator shape.  He looks more like John Goodman on Rosanne. Gosling smokes non stop in the movie.

I was mildly entertained with this movie but was hoping for more.  Probably would have thought it was funnier had I seen in a full theater instead of an early show with few in the audience. This would make a fair rental if you like these type movies.

Money Monster

Money Monster

Rating 6 out of 10

I really had no plans to see this movie.  It looked like a boring/predictable movie where Clooney gets to ham it up for the camera.  I was partly right even tho it was better than I thought it would be.  I had a friend tell me the movie was good and an Atlanta rain day with nothing else to do.  My rear was in the seat.

The movie plays out pretty much like the trailers.  Lee Gates (George Clooney) is a way over the top entertainer with his own money market show on a popular cable station.  He gives out money advice mixed in with song and dance and crazy animated effects.  His producer (Julia Roberts) is always trying to reel him in.  When a big tech stock is having a down turn Gates tells his followers to go all in.  Unfortunately it soon tanks big time due to a "glitch" in some software and $800 million is lost.  When Kyle (Jack O'Connell) follows Gates advice and loses his life savings he takes it personal.  Works his way onto the show with a gun and a bomb determined to make someone pay.

Clooney and Roberts work well together.  To enjoy this movie though you have to be able to suspend belief and any knowledge on how the stock market works. That's not a strong suit for me.  Overall I was mildly entertained.  I think this would be a decent rental for people who love the cast.

Captain America: Civil War

Captain America: Civil War

Rating 7 out of 10

I was not that excited about this movie from the start.  Like the earlier Batman v Superman movie I'm not crazy about superhero's fighting each other.  There are plenty of bad guys out there without them fighting themselves.  Civil War was getting great reviews so I gave it a shot.  I was entertained yet this is no where near as good as the two Avengers movies.

The plot of Civil War is two tier.  Captain America is being difficult on both lands.  The genius politicians at the United Nations has determined the Avengers have become to big for their britches.  They show pictures of poor kids that died in the alien attack on NYC and act like the Avengers were to blame.  Did they not remember the bad guys that were intending on eliminating all humans?  They want the Avengers to sit on their hands until the 171 country UN takes a vote on whether they should save the day.  Tony Stark (Ironman) is feeling bad because a woman showed him a picture of her 10 year old son that died on one of his battles so he starts to agree with he UN idea.  Captain America says not a chance.

When a bombing kills many politicians a picture show the person setting it off is none other than Captain America's childhood friend Bucky Barnes (the Winter Warrior). Everyone on the planet is now out for Bucky.  Shoot to kill ask no questions.  Captain defends his friend and realizes he was brain washed by a bad guy so he is not really to blame.

This movie is entertaining in parts.  It's fun seeing all the characters come together.  There is a new character, the Black Panther that is very good.  Ant-Man joins the fight as does the new kid playing Spiderman.  There is a big battle at the airport that is fun even though you realize after a couple minutes that they really can't hurt each other.  They do make a mess of some nice planes.  For me the biggest problem is the directors use of the shaky cam.  Many of the early fight scenes has the camera shaking back and forth, in and out.  I had to look away.  The movie is also a little long at 2.5 hours.

You will be entertained with this movie.  Just don't go in expecting a movie of the year.  I liked Deadpool much better.

Mothers Day

Mothers Day

Rating 2 out of 10

I am in Chicago for work.  The hottie flew in with plans of catching a Braves vs. Cubs game at Wrigley Field.  Mother Nature felt otherwise as it started raining early and lasted all day.  Time for a movie before eating large quantities of deep dish pizza.

This is director Garry Marshall's third entry into the holiday movie following Valentines Day and New Years Eve.   I saw and enjoyed the first two.  They were poorly reviewed, a little on the corny side, but cute and wound around a story in a mildly entertaining way.

This movie is nothing like that.  I have to steal from another reviewers post when he said this is "the perfect movie to take your mother to if you hate her".  This movie is bad in so many ways it would be hard to list them all.  While it has several actors I like the acting is as bad as any movie I have ever seen.  The story is a mess. Many scenes appear as if the director looked at the actors with palms up and said I've got nothing. Ya'll see what you can do.

This movie has every stereotype in the book.  The ultra-racist grandparents from Texas driving an RV while grandpa chews on a chicken bone with the bucket right on the dash.  Two sisters living side by side.  One is gay with her wife and the other married to an Indian man. Both causing grandma to disown them. A divorced mom (Jennifer Anniston) secretly wishing her ex (Timothy Olyphant)  would want her back.  Instead he marries his hot very young model girlfriend.  You have the dad with two daughters still trying to cope with the death of his wife a year before (she was in the military).
Julia Roberts with one of the worst wigs in movie history as a Home Shopping Network star.

This movie is terrible on so many different levels.  If you read this and go see it anyway knowing Royce is always harsh on movies you will secretly admit I was right.  Otherwise you can just thank me for saving your hard earned movie dollars.

The Huntsman: Winter War

The Huntsman: Winter War

Rating 6 out of 10

This movie was one I wanted to see at first glance.  I like the actors and generally like this type of movie.  I didn't realize it was a kind of sequel to the 2012 Snow White and the Huntsman with Kristen Stewart that I didn't care for much.  Even tho this movie is getting killed in the reviews (17% on Rottentomatoes.com) I make it a point to see every movie that Jessica Chastain puts out.  Turns out the Hottie has the same mission with Chris Hemsworth is in.  So contractually we had to go see this movie.

This movie starts out just before the Snow White saga and then continues.  No Snow White or Kristen in this movie.  We have the two queen sisters Ravenna (Charlize Theron) and Freya (Emily Blunt) each more evil than the other.  When a bad thing happens to Freya early on she turns from kinda good to a very bad version Elsa in the Frozen cartoon.  She moves to the North and gathers an army intent on ruling the world without any version of Love.  She takes children from the kingdoms she defeats and raises them to server her as warrior (Huntsmen).  In the first group of kids is Sara (Chastain) and the Huntsman (Hemsworth).  They are the ultimate warriors and soon fall for each other.

The battle scenes at best.  Filmed way too close and choppy.  The story is thin but mildly entertaining. It's better than the reviews are giving credit.  This will make a good rentals just for the good actors involved.

The Jungle Book

The Jungle Book

Rating 9 out of 10

I like most everyone one else on the planet is a big fan of the Jungle Book cartoon by Disney. I know the Bare Necessities song by heart.  Well, the first line or two anyway.  Then I just hum along and dance like a chubby bear.  From the first viewing of the trailer for the new version I was in.  I am happy to say everyone reading this needs to head to the theaters.  I even saw the movie in 3D and I hate 3D movies.

I never read the book by Rudyard Kipling.  I am guessing this movie follows the book more than the cartoon version did as while it's similar there are differences.  I like this version better.  This biggest star of the movie is the animation.  The animation is so good in this movie had this been released forty years ago these people would have been burned at the stake as witches.  It is nothing short of amazing.  So hard to believe the kid is the only real thing in the movie.  Everything else is animated.  All the animals, trees, grass, river, ect.  Amazing.

That said the kid that plays Mowgli (Neel Sethi) is so good I think he could be nominated for an Oscar next year.  The rest of the voices are perfect.  Bill Murry, Ben Kinglsey, Scarlett Johansson and Idris Elba.

The animation is so good it might be too much for small kids.  The tiger pouncing had the hottie jumping out of her seat more than once.  The monkeys were a little scary at times.

This is a good movie folks.  You will want to see it in the theater.

Criminal

Criminal

Rating 5 out of 10

Seeing the preview I thought this movie looked interesting.  It's getting pounded by the critics (26% on www.rottentomatoes.com), but critics rarely like action movies like this.  That's what I told myself.  It has an A+ cast.  Kevin Costner, Ryan Reynolds, Gary Oldman, Tommy Lee Jones, Gal Gadot (the new Wonder Woman) and even that Mexican guy I like from the Prison Break tv series.  It has to be good with that cast.  That's what I told myself.  It is better than the critics gave it but should be left alone until it hits Red Box.

As the movie starts we are following CIA agent Bill Pope (Pretty boy Ryan Reynolds).  He is in downtown London and realizes as he is talking to his lovely wife (Gadot) that he is being followed by bad people and is in trouble.  He is in charge of a computer nerd that has figured out how to control all of the US weapons and want's to sell it to us before those bad guys get to him.  When Pope is killed before he can let his CIA bosses know where he stashed the guy they call in the experimental Dr Franks who can merge his still warm brain cells with the right guy so he can tell them where he is before he blows up the world with our own nukes.  The problem is the only guy it will work on is Jericho (Costner), a worst of the worst criminal in a deep dark prison.

When the brains are merged Jericho does get some of Popes thoughts but he also has many of his own bad thoughts.  Everyone is now after him.  The movie has some decent action yet suffers from too many movie cliches. Jericho only has 48 hours before Popes memories disappear.  The probably should have gone a little lighter on the star power and spent some of that money punching up the script.

I was mildly entertained but would wait for a rental on this one.

Zootopia

Zootopia

Rating 9 out of 10

I like to catch the animated movies when they come out.  I get to hijack one or more of my grandkids for the day and the kid in me have always loved the cartoons.  I would have seen this sooner had it not been for the painful trailer of the main characters going into the DMV and getting a sloth to help them.  Some thought that was very funny. It was scratching on a chalkboard for me.  Luckily it was a small portion of the very entertaining film.  After hearing from several people how good it was the hottie and I grabbed my sweet granddaughter Rylee Rose and headed to the AMC theater.   Good times for all.

The movie begins in the suburbs with Judy Hopps.  She is a spunky rabbit who spurs thoughts of continuing in the family carrot farm instead sets sights of being a police officer in the big city of Zootopia.  This is crazy talk as no rabbit has ever moved to the city much less become a cop.  She is determined and eventually her dream comes true.

She finds it difficult when her sergeant only wants to put her on easy jobs like writing parking tickets.  When she stumbles upon a clue to a big crime spree she is off and running with the help of a small time criminal fox.

Zootopia has a good story that keeps the kids involved yet enough jokes to keep the adults amused too.  The voices were perfect with Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman as the two leads.  The animation was as amazing as you would expect.  You can count the hairs on the lion's head and city life is detailed perfect.  The only thing keeping this from being more than a 9 for me is it gets a little preachy at the end.  Still I was greatly entertained as was my hottie and granddaughter (it was her third viewing and she sat still the whole show).

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Rating 6 out of 10

I generally love superhero movies, yet have to admit I wasn't really looking forward to this one.  It's getting pounded in the reviews 29% on rottentomatoes.com and I'm not crazy about superhero's fighting each other.  So I set the bar pretty low going into the theater.  I think partly because of that I enjoyed the movie more than I thought I would.

In the end of the last Superman movie in 2013 the evil General Zod intended on wiping out the human population.  In stopping him Superman (Henry Cavill)  battled in NYC taking out half the buildings and probably thousands of lives.  One of those lives was related to Bruce Wayne/Batman (Ben Affleck).  Bruce becomes bitter and holds Superman personally responsible (Did he miss the part where Zod was trying to kill all humans and Superman stopped him?  Yes he did) Batman sets out to kill Superman.  In the middle of the fight is Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg- I took it as he was the Lex Luthor's son but have had people disagree with me. Your milage may vary) egging the battle on.  He doesn't much like either guy.

This good in this movie-  I thought Ben Affleck did a fantastic job as Batman.  Even Gal Gadot was good as Wonder Woman when I thought she was too skinny for the part. I'm sure she will get her own movie soon.  The battle scenes are very good.  Batman's cars and planes are great.

The bad... Unfortunately I put the blame on director Zack Snyder (who directed my all time favorite the 300).  The movie is WAY too long.  The nearly 2.5 hour movie could have easily been sliced 45 minutes to an hour.  The movie is all over the place, especially in the early going.  Do we really need to see Bruce Waynes parents being shot not once but several times?  A strange conversation between Superman and his dead father? Introducing Aquaman (in preparing for upcoming movies) shows him in a short clip underwater then shooting a boat with his big fork thing and gone?  The biggest issue is they took almost all the fun out.  It's very dark and brooding from A-Z.

This could have been a much better movie. I was entertained but would not go back for a second viewing.

Gods of Egypt

Gods of Egypt

Rating 6 out of 10

I generally like these type movies. Not sure why.  I like Gerard Butler (Leonidas!) and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones! Not sure why he needs three names).  I wanted to see it when it first came out but the terrible reviews scared me away.  A boring rain day and having seen most everything else I decided to give it a shot.

In the movie as you can tell from the title there are Gods in Egypt that are living and working with mortals.  Osiris (Bryan Brown) has ruled Egypt for many years in a kind and peaceful way.  He is turning the kingdom over to his son Horus (Nikolaj).  Unfortunately Osiris evil brother (Set- Gerard)  comes to town and does bad things.  It's up to Horus and his young friend to save the day.

Plot really doesn't matter with this one.  The action is not bad.  The effects are mostly pretty good.  A surprising number of big named actors.  I was mildly entertained for an early show.  It would make a good rental if you like these type movies.

10 Cloverfield Lane

10 Cloverfield Lane

Rating 7.5 out of 10

My first thoughts on this movie was it wasn't for me.  I don't get much out of "scary" movies or low budget strange movies.  I saw some good reviews that sounded interesting and then people I knew saw and liked it.  Okay I'll give it a try.  I was glad I did.  This is a movie where the less you know about it going in I think the more you will enjoy it.

Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is leaving town after a marital breakup when she is in a bad car wreck.  When she wakes up she is in a bunker looking place with few memories of what happened.  In that bunker with her is Howard (John Goodman).  He built and stocked the bunker feeling sure an attack of some sort was imminent and he would be ready.  She is told an attack happened outside and the air won't be ok to breathe for atleast a year or two.  Not sure if the attack was from another country or aliens.  Either way you can't go outside to find out.

Is he smart enough to save everyone or crazy as a loon?  That's the movie.  Things movie at a fairly slow pace leading up to the satisfying ending.  I was entertained.  Not really a scary movie but made me jump several times.  If you plan to see this movie try to know as little as you can going in.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

Rating 5 out of 10

Clearly I am a fan of Tina Fey.  Why else would I continue to see her movies.  I liked her tv show 30 Rock and even read her autobiography Bossypants (very good).  The best thing I can say about this movie is it's definitely better than her last one (Sisters). This is not a bad movie, but it's not a real good one either.  I like movies to go from point A to point B and in good movies sometimes C and D. This movie starts at A and kinda meanders there.

Tina plays real life person Kim Barker who while working at a low level tv job is looking for a change in her life.  When an opportunity comes to go to Afghanistan and become an on air reporter she jumps at the chance.  The first part of the movie has some funny parts where Kim is getting immersed into the very different way of life.  She befriends a pretty blonde reporter (Margot Robbie- very underused here) and works her way into position to get the big stories that will make her famous.

The movie doesn't really go anywhere.  It's more a few years in the life of type of movie.  Tina Fey does a good job.  Billy Bob Thornton is good as the mean general she has to deal with from time to time.  This would make a decent rental or watch on HBO.  Wouldn't recommend spending your $ on a theater ticket.

London Has Fallen

London Has Fallen

Rating 6.5 out of 10

I liked the prequel to this movie, Olympus Has Fallen. The crazy shoot 'em up movie where the evil North Korean's attack and take over the white house with intent of gaining control of our nukes.  Luckily ex-Secret Service agent Mike Banning (hunky Gerard Butler) was near by to come in and single handedly wipe out a couple dozen bad guys and save the day.

Three years later the White House has be rebuilt and President Asher (Aaron Eckart) is nearing the end of his first term and running for reelection. Mike Banning is the presidents lead Secret Service guy and right hand man.  When the British Prime Minister suddenly dies a hastily planned funeral is planned with most every world leader coming to the funeral.  Right in downtown London.  What could go wrong?

Turns out there is an Islamic bad guy still mad about that cruise missile NATO put into his daughters wedding blowing up a whole block yet somehow didn't kill him or his three sons that were there.  It did tho kill his daughter and they are out for revenge.  Somehow he manages to sneak in a couple hundred bad guys and enough explosives to destroy Idaho into London while a huge funeral is going on and all the major politicians in the world are attending.  The bad guy is very determined to not only kill the president but to do it live on the internet to disgrace him for generations.  Good thing Mike Banning is there to go one against a hundred.

I didn't think it was quite as good as Olympus but I was entertained.  Had a 7 rating coming out of the theater then dropped a tad upon reflection.  If you liked the first one you will also be entertained.  Teenager Rocky loved it and thought it was just as good as the first one.  Your milage may vary.

Eddie the Eagle

Eddie the Eagle

Rating 7 out of 10

Back in the 80s there was a young man in England that had braces on his legs to correct bad knees.  He had nearly zero athletic ability, yet after watching the Olympics on tv he was determined he would somehow make it to the Olympics.  Not win a gold medal.  He didn't set the bar that high.  He just wanted to make it to the Olympics.  This was a true story.  I kinda remember the press talking about Eddie back in the 1988 Olympics.

He tries several different events that might take him to the Olympics before settling on being a ski jumper.  It did not matter that most ski jumpers start at the age of six and he was in his early twenties.  Nor did it matter to Eddie that England had not sent a single ski jumper to the Olympics in fifty plus years.  Or that the English Olympic committee thought he was a joke and wanted nothing to do with him embarrassing the country at any event.  The problem was since they had no other ski jumpers not much was needed to qualify.  Eddie gets a loan from his mother and heads to Canada to learn how to jump.  There he finds a begrudging ex-jumper (Hugh Jackman) who likes him but sees more of a chance of making it to the ER than the Olympics.  He likes Eddie (Taron Egerton) and of course eventually comes around.

This is a sweet and harmless movie.  It won't set your hair on fire nor will you regret seeing it.  I was entertained and cheered a few times when I mostly knew the outcome.  It's a good movie you can take the family to.

Royce's Oscar Predictions 2016

Royce's Oscar Predictions 2016

As I say every year I don't really watch the Oscars.  Rarely agree with the nominees much less the winners.  I wait for Ted Cashin's recap.  This year I am pleasantly surprised at the good movies and actors nominated and am a Chris Rock fan.  I will probably record and watch the next day to fast forward thru the bloated musical numbers.  Here are my predictions.

Best Picture

The Big Short- Enjoyed this movie alot.  Paid for a second viewing as I was pretty sure I missed many of the details the first time.  I will most likely buy the dvd.  Good acting. Well made. Deserves the nomination.

Bridge of Spies- Well made documentary type of movie.  Can't go wrong with any movie with Tom Hanks.  A little on the slow side often and in my opinion has no chance of winning.

Brooklyn-  The only nominated movie I have not seen.  Heard good things about it and plan to see on dvd.

Mad Max- Fury Road-  I am shocked at the award attention this movie is getting.  I thought it was okay as an action movie, but not particularly well made.  A mostly basic plot in a type movie that satisfies action movie guys and then goes away.

The Martian-  My favorite movie out of the bunch.  It started strong and seems to have lost steam a bit.  Very entertaining.  Could have been a little better.  I'd be happy if it won, but don't see it happening.

The Revenant-  The type of bloated, big name actors, lots of nature shots video that often wins the Oscar.  I thought it was okay.  Too long. Pretty basic plot that is told in the two minute preview.

Spotlight- Great acting and good story telling.  A little surprised by it's nomination even tho the Academy does like to push the envelope.

Who Should win- I'd like to see the Martian or The Big Short win.

Who Will Win- It's looking like Leo will finally get his statue and The Revenant is coming along for the ride.

Best Lead Actor

Bryan Cranston for Trumbo.  I have heard it was pretty good.  Cranston is a great actor.  I'll watch on dvd.

Matt Damon for the Martian- Some I know had reservations of Damon in this role.  I thought it was great.  Can't think of anyone that would have been better.

Leonardo DiCaprio for the Revenant-  As I said I think this is Leo's year.  I thought he overacted a bit, but what the heck.  He crawled inside a dead horse.

Michael Fassbender- for Steve Jobs-  Deserves the nomination.  Some didn't think he did enough to look like Jobs. I thought he did a great job.

Eddie Redmayne for the Danish Girl-  Not my kind of movie. I'm sure he does a good job.

Who should win- I would probably give it to Fassbender or Damon.

Who Will Win-  Congrats Leo.  Now leave us alone.


Best Lead Actress

Cate Blanchett for Carol- I'm sorry.  I think Blanchett is the most overrated actress working.  Don't care for her at all. Didn't see this movie.

Brie Larson for Room-  Never saw Room, but thought she was fantastic in Trainwreck.  This movie looks kinda weird.

Jennifer Lawrence for Joy-  I have heard she is good in this movie.  Could not bring myself to see this tho.  No one else did either.  Big box office flop.

Charlotte Rampling for 45 Years-  I have never heard of Rampling or this movie.

Saoirse Ronan for Brooklyn-  Didn't see this movie either. She is a good actress.

Who should win-  Didn't see any of these movies.  I like Brie Larson the best of the bunch.

Who Will Win- People are betting on Larson so I hope she wins.

Best Supporting Actor

Christian Bale for The Big Short-  They got the right movie, but picked the wrong actor.  Steve Carell was much better.

Tom Hardy for the Revenant-  I am a big Hardy fan.  I just don't think he did that much in this movie.

Mark Ruffalo for Spotlight-  Ruffalo was intense in this movie and did a good job.  Deserves the nomination.

Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies- I hated this creepy character in the movie.  That shows me he did a good job.

Sylvester Stallone for Creed-  Stallone is fantastic.  Thought it was his best bit of acting.

Who should win- Sylvester Stallone

Who will Win-  Give Stallone the statue now.

Best Supporting Actress


Jennifer Jason Leigh for The Hateful Eight-  She was very good as the nasty toothless bad girl.

Rooney Mara for Carol-  Didn't see this movie and don't really care for her much.

Rachel McAdams for Spotlight-  I like McAdams and she was okay but nothing special here.

Alicia Vikander for the Danish Girl-  I like her in other movies.  Didn't see this one.

Kate Winslet for Steve Jobs- Winslet is excellent as the only woman who will stand up to the scary and powerful Steve Jobs.

Who should win- I think Kate Winslet went most out the box with her character.  Many did not realize it was her until the end of the movie.

Who Will Win- Oddsmakers are picking Vikander.  I stick with Winslet.