Sweetwater

Actors:  January Jones, Ed Harris, Jason Isaacs,

Rating:  6 out of 10, Kind of weird revenge western with a mildly psychotic Ed Harris prancing around as long haired sheriff prone to fits of ballet while administering beat downs and a fully psychotic Jason Isaacs as a horny man of God.  This was supposed to be January Jones’ vehicle but I’m not sure she has the presence to carry a movie beyond her obvious talents.  Jones plays an ex-prostitute out to avenge her husband’s murder at the hand of the fanatical Isaacs.  This was all a little too much tongue in cheek to be enjoyable; being weird just for weird’s sake doesn’t always work.  It doesn’t’ here.

MVP:  Jones for the above listed reasons

The Butler

Actors:  Forrest Whitaker, Oprah Winfield, David Olyelowo, Terence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr.

Rating:  7 out of 10, Not really my cup of tea but some truly excellent acting on display (I’d forgotten what a good actress Winfrey was) as we watch a sharecropper son’s life long journey from poverty to the White House where he serves a number of presidents as butler.  His life is used to demonstrate the civil rights movement from the late 1950’s to the present time.  That makes this film important as these critical events are too easily swept under the carpet of receding memories.  It was kind of jarring to see Robin Williams as Eisenhower and John Cusack as Nixon.  Obama has become such a lightning rod during his presidency that it’s easy to forget what his election meant to so many people who fought the good fight for so long.  That was the best moment in the movie.

MVP:  Oprah as the long neglected butler’s wife Gloria

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Actors:  Ian McKellan, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Orlando Bloom, Ken Stott, Evangelline Lily

Rating:  9 out of 10, Peter Jackson does amazing things with his films and this flick had more than a few jaw dropping scenes. The clarity of the action is astonishing, especially given that so much is CGI.  He can’t really figure out what to do with the dwarf king who takes wild character turns with seemingly every scene which is problematic at times but Jackson does elves really well.  Legolas from LOTR returns and is more than ably assisted by Lost’s Evangelline Lily as an elvish warrior.  The movie is long but you almost don’t notice it as the pace is relentless.  The final battle scenes with the dragon Smaug are breathtaking.  This is a movie geeks (guilty as charged) will love.  I did.

MVP:  Evangelline Lily as Tauriel

Fruitvale Station

Actors:  Michael B Jordan, Melonie Diaz, Octavia Spencer, Ariana Neal

Rating:  9 out of 10, An important movie that explores the last day of a young black man who is ultimately shot at a subway station by a white cop.  While based on true events I’m sure the filmmakers went out of their way to sanitize Oscar’s last few hours but the best thing about the movie is that they didn’t try to wholly cover up his abundant shortcomings.  They provide insight into a simple human life falling victim to injustice.  We’re left to judge both the incident and players involved with a lot more clarity than is customary in this type movie.  Jordan is a compelling young actor and he forces you to see the humanity behind the entire “gangster style” wardrobe. 

MVP:  Jordan as the ill-fated Oscar

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

Actors:  Will Ferell, Steve Carrell, Paul Ruud, Christina Applegate, David Koechner, Meagan Good, James Marsden, Kristin Wiig, Harrison Ford

Rating:  8 out of 10, I loved the first movie which has some of the best lines in movie history; this latest one – not so much.  It still has some funny moments as the totally inappropriate Ron Burgundy moves to New York City and impales us with the 1980s.  In reality this was a one joke concept and there was no way they were going to pull a lot more laughs from the concept.  They use the same bits from the first movie and it’s mostly stale except for a refreshing knock on the descent of television network news (one of my favorite objects of scorn) that began around this time.  The movie is rescued a little bit near the end with the battle of anchormen which turns into a hilarious cameo-a-palooza.  Ferrell must have a lot of compromising pictures because a number of A-List stars suddenly start popping up for the fight, along with a were-hyena and the Minotaur. I liked this a lot better on a second viewing where I wasn’t encumbered by lofty expectations – much funnier the second time through.

MVP:  Farrell as the gloriously inappropriate Burgundy

Wolf of Wall Street

Actors:  Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, Jonah Hill, Matthew McConaughey, Kyle Chandler, Rob Reiner, Jon Bernthal

Rating:  9 out of 10, The Wolf of Wall Street is the latest Scorsese and Dicaprio effort.  It purports to tell the story of immoral Wall Street schemer Jordan Belfort and doesn’t skimp on the debauchery that permeated his life.  The movie includes three hours of excessive sex, drugs, and criminal over indulgence and I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop where he pays for his crimes but that is kind of glossed over.  It’s pretty entertaining as we see the main character careen through his excesses along with his merry bunch of idiotic enablers.  If we needed another reason to hate Wall Street this movie more than provides that.  All of the acting and direction is top notch although Dicaprio is kind of uneven; so good in some scenes and less so in others.  If you don’t like nudity, swearing, drug use, and general bacchanalia then don’t see this movie.  I liked it a lot better on a second viewing as Scorsese’s point that we all share a little responsibility of allowing this type of idiot to prosper.  He just showed us what we tolerated and asks the question – why?

MVP:  Chandler as the dedicated FBI agent – the only good guy in the entire movie

47 Ronin

Actors:  Keanu Reeves, Hiroyuki Sanada, Rinko Kikuchi, Kou Shibasaki, Jin Akanishi

Rating:  8 out of 10, 47 Ronin was billed as a Keanu Reeves vehicle but is so much more.  He’s really just a supporting character and seemingly added to appeal to the Western audience.  This is apparently a very old and honored story from Japan about samurai who were treacherously betrayed and fought back to restore their honor. There’s some heavy CGI work here with some obvious literary license taken; unless there were eight eyed, elephant sized beasts in feudal Japan along with witches who could transform into dragons.  The detail and pageantry of ancient Japan is breathtaking and the battle scenes are among the best ever made.  The problem is trying to shoe horn in a love story (with Keanu of course) which slows the pace down when it shouldn’t.  My wife hated the ending but it is line with the warrior ethos (bushido) of the samurai, so appropriate, if a little heart rending (literally).

MVP:  Sanada  as the honorable Kuranosuke Oishi, leader of the ronin

The Man From Earth

Actors:  David Lee Smith, Tony Todd, John Billingsley, Annika Peterson, Ellen Crawford, William Katt, Richard Riehle

Rating:  8 out of 10, A very smart movie based on a single premise and the attendant discussion surrounding it.  A college professor reveals to his fellow professors at his going away party that he is 14,000 years old and started out as a Cro-Magnon caveman.  He is met with disbelief and the ensuing discussion goes down some fairly startling rabbit holes which I won’t ruin by even hinting at.  There are no flashbacks or action scenes but this movie works because it makes you think about the implications of such a life much like the friends of John Oldman (get it).  It was a little jarring to see the Candyman as a college professor, but even that worked.  This movie was non-stop but it works because of its simple approach to an earth shaking revelation.  Sometimes, simple works better than all the CGI in the world.

MVP:  David Lee Smith for his calm recollection of his 14 millennia life as John

Jobs

Actors:  Ashton Kutcher, Josh Gad, Dermont Mulroney, Lukas Haas, Matthew Modine, J.K. Simmons

Rating:  6 out of 10, I rented this because I was interested to learn more about the iconic guy that’s flitted around the edge of legendary status for the last thirty years.  If the movie is accurate, which I have serious doubts about, then he was a real a-hole.  I think they relied heavily on the people whom Jobs wronged as sources versus his supporters.  Jobs comes across more as a sociopath than as a visionary.  They would have been better off continuing into his immense success with the I-Pad and I-phone to demonstrate the value of his vision but cut it off at the I-Pod (which seems almost quaint nowadays).  I don’t think I learned a whole lot about him so I’d classify this as a revenge flick more than anything else.
MVP:  Gad as Steve Wozniak, the brains behind the operation