Actors: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Richard Jenkins,
David Oyelowo, Werner Herzog, Jai Courtney
Rating:
9 out of 10, I’m one of the guys the makers of this movie were worried
about. Reacher is one of my literary
heroes and I didn’t think there was anyway a pipsqueak like Tom Cruise could
carry off the man mountain, bad ass character of Reacher. I was astounded
because he did “get it” and accurately captured the Reacher attitude of ,“f---
off, leave me alone or pay the consequences”; the irresistible force of good in
an evil world. I liked it much better
after this second viewing because there were so many little pieces of the
Reacher persona on display that I missed at the theater. It is a smart crime thriller and that’s never
a bad thing. Reacher’s legacy is intact –
how does that little guy do it?
MVP: Cruise living up to Reacher
Actors: Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelly, Andrew Keir,
Francis Matthews, Suzan Farmer
Rating:
7 out of 10, The sequel to the original Hammer Dracula film in the 1960’s
with Saruman playing the Count again. I
kind of felt bad for Drac in this, he goes through the trouble of getting resurrected
with a gruesome ritual, has a real bloodshot eye issue, and then only lasts one
day before being iced by the gun toting abbot of a local monastery and a guy who
seemed to be channeling Carey Grant. It
was funny seeing this 1960s movie and connecting the theme that was carried
into the slasher movies of the 1970s and beyond – that of the incredibly stupid
victims almost seeking demise. If a
driverless team of horses hijack you to a spooky castle that all the locals
refuse to acknowledge existing – it’s probably not a good idea to spend the
night. Dracula was waiting instead of
Jason or Freddie but it was the same type of set up.
MVP: Matthews as the Grant channeling hero
Actors: Phyllis Davis, Ella Edwards, Timothy Brown, Pamela
Collins, Cliff Osmond
Rating:
3 out of 10, This was one of the landmark films of my youth. My mother took us to the drive-in theater,
back when they still existed, and accidently let us teenagers watch what
amounted to a soft core porn movie. I
fell madly in love with Phyllis Davis who later went on to fame as Dan Tana’s girlfriend
in Vegas. She was perfection, everything
1960’s plastic surgery and push up bras could produce. There wasn’t a lot of acting involved in this
great example of the Filipino soft core porn industry that thrived during this
time period. A very thin story that
allowed a bevy of beauties to somehow end up cutting sugar cane in beach
outfits. I saw this on Amazon and couldn’t
afford to pass up the chance to re-visit my youth. Unfortunately the copy on the DVD has aged as
poorly as I have but Ms Davis can still turn a head, a total guilty pleasure.
MVP: Ms Davis, of course, as the statuesque Sugar
Actors: Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Tim Roth, Brit
Marling, Letitia Casta, Nate Parker, Stuart Margolin
Rating:
5 out of 10, A movie starring Gere and Sanrandon about a Wall Street
financier – could be a less than flattering portrayal – ya think! Gere plays the banker who hides a depth of
sleaze under a flawlessly smooth exterior.
He’s actually pretty good in this and I know it must have hurt him not
to go over the top in attacking this type of character. Sarandon is likewise subdued and severely
underused. Gere’s character has to stay
three steps ahead of Roth, a policeman not above corrupt actions himself, in
pursuit of him for the death of Gere’s mistress.
The best actor in the entire movie is Nate Parker who steals every scene
he’s in as the key to Gere’s future.
There was a lot going on in this movie and while the actors all do well the story is kind of, ehhh. The only characters
with even a modicum of likability is the clueless smart daughter and Parker,
both of whom also commit crimes. It’s
tough to root for a movie when no one is worth rooting for. The ending (setting up a big climax that
never happens) is one of those types that works in some movies – it doesn’t
here.
MVP: Parker as the one man with a soul in the
movie – Jimmy Grant
Actors: Nicholas Cage, Ciarin Hinds, Christopher
Lambert, Idris Elba, Violante Placido, Johnny Whitworth
Rating: 6 out of 10, I guess there were a lot of
untold stores that needed to be told after the first movie and there can never
be enough crazed Nicholas Cage moments on the silver screen but this was kind
of a mess. Whoever shot this film seems
to have forgotten camerawork 101 where you keep the light spots off the
screen. There were so many of the damned,
distracting spots on the screen that it became a game to count them all. Stringer Bell achieves a semi-successful French accent
as a motorcycling, gun toting Catholic Priest (yep) and Conner Macleod shows up
with a face full of tattoos. There is
actually a good movie hidden (very deeply) but the directors choose to spend
too much time admiring Cage’s burning head instead of focusing on what was a
pretty good story.
MVP: Placido as the mom desperately trying to save
her satanic born son
Actors: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert
Deniro, Chris Tucker, Jackie Weaver
Rating:
9 out of 10, My daughter almost apoplectically encouraged me to see
this movie because it’s not part of my normal fare of blood and mayhem. I’m so glad that she did. A movie with ball room dancing and severe
introspection somehow made itself likable, go figure. All of the actors were in top notch form but
Jennifer Lawrence was a revelation. I was a little worried because the
beginning of the movie features a tortured soul in Bradley Cooper’s character
who is extremely annoying. Lawrence
arrives about a third of the way through and the movie just takes off at that
point. She is so believable and likable as another tortured soul that you
immediately begin rooting for both of them because of her. The supporting cast is likewise superb led by
Robert Deniro, Chris Tucker (nice to see him back), and Jackie Weaver who plays
Cooper’s mom and the power behind the family scenes. This entire movie is a gem.
MVP: Lawrence
as the sprightly dancing widow Tiffany
Actors: Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple,
Thomas Haden Church,
Gina Gershon
Rating: 8 out of 10, This has to be the blackest of
comedies but it is so funny. It explores
the total lack of morality of a family of Texas trailer trash who couldn’t screw a
light bulb in without detailed instructions (scarily - I’ve met people like
this). Into this swirling vortex of
imbecility strides Killer Joe, nailed by McConaughey, who proceeds to play the group
like a violin and creates possibly the most famous piece of fried chicken in
movie history. Church as the father of a
very shallow gene pool has some of the best lines in the movie and is convincingly
clueless. Juno Temple shines as a lost soul of light which
the forces of darkness compete for. Everybody
in the cast is spot on which must have been very difficult for some of these
actors to pull off because of the depraved nature of the characters. I really liked the ending which could lead to
any number of possibilities. A really “smart”
movie despite the best efforts of the idiotic characters who consume it –
really crisp (and not just the chicken).
MVP: McConaughey is so good as Killer Joe Cooper
