The Place Beyond the Pines

Actors:  Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes, Ray Liotta, Ben Mendelsohn, Rose Byrne
Rating:  6 out of 10, A very ambitious movie that features Gosling only rarely falling into his patented thousand mile stare method of acting.  He plays a low life, heavily tattooed crook trying to connect with an infant son.  He has a tragic encounter with Cooper as a wannabe good guy cop falling victim to his own ambition.  The female characters are kind of wasted here although Mendes wears the hell out of an early t-shirt. This movie had some lofty goals but gets in its own way with a very clunky pace that had my finger twitching towards the fast forward button.  A near miss but a clear one. 
MVP:  Bradley Cooper as Avery Cross the conflicted “good guy”

Mud

Actors:  Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland, Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Sam Shepard, Michael Shannon
Rating: 9 out of 10, A story about two Arkansas redneck kids living on the river and helping a fugitive they find in a boat stranded atop a tree doesn’t sound like the premise for a great movie.  It is.  This is due in large part to the completely authentic performances of all the actors but especially the young actors, led by Sheridan as Ellis, an oversexed 14 year old with a hair trigger right cross and a belief in true love.  He alongside his partner, Neckbone (I’m not kidding) help McConaghey figure out how to remove his “lucky” shirt – a cool inside joke.  A great look at a seldom seen underside of America where honor and love are just as important; maybe more so.  A great movie.
MVP:  Sheridan as Ellis, more than willing to fight well above his weight

RIPD

Actors:  Ryan Reynolds, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Bacon, May-Louise Parker, Stephanie Szostak, James Hong, Marisa Miller
Rating: 7  out of 10, Okay, but I held much bigger expectations given the concept of deceased cops policing the supernatural back on earth.  I liked it a lot more on a second viewing.  I thought going in that the casting was superb with Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges as the leads.  This should be right up Reynolds’ alley where he could be at his smart ass, wisecracking best but for some reason he decided to play it straight and serious.  I don’t know if it was the writing, direction, or this movie was shot during his breakup with Scarlett, but he was pretty one dimensional which surprised me.  This movie just misses because they don’t mine the deep well of comedic possibilities the concept presents.  It’s tough to like a movie where the lead isn’t that likable.  On the up side Bridges obviously had a lot of fun with his over the top cowboy ghost with coyote issues, Mary Louise Parker was delightful in a supporting role, and Marissa Miller was, well Marissa Miller, nuff said..
MVP:  Bridges as Roy the elder RIPD cop with Coyote issues

Cleaner

Actors:  Samuel L. Jackson, Ed Harris, Eva Mendes, Luis Guzmán, Keke Palmer
Rating:  7 out of 10, Samuel L. Jackson in a departure role in which nary an M.F. is uttered.  The scenes between him and Ed Harris are worth watching the rest of the movie which is kind of formulaic and predictable.  Jackson plays an ex-cop who’s now a crime scene cleaner and finds himself pulled into a conspiracy challenging friendships and his future.  An interesting premise but it asks the audience for a little too much suspension of disbelief.  Guzman gets to play a serious part instead of his usual comic sidekick and is effective.  There’s a much better movie hiding somewhere inside this. 
MVP:  Samuel L. Jackson as Tom Cutler the cleaner who is played by everybody else

The Heat

Actors:  Sandra Bullock, Melissa McCarthy, Demián Bichir, Marlon Wayans, Michael Rapaport,  Jane Curtin
Rating:  8 out of 10, A movie was funny on so many levels – Lethal Weapon placed on estrogen therapy. Melissa McCarthy is a bona fide comedy star now and Sandra Bullock a truly capable foil. McCarthy plays a crazed, but effective Boston cop to Bullock’s uptight FBI agent. The bar scene should go down as a historically funny comedy skit. It was nice to see a female buddy flick because it opened up so many avenues for jokes. Female viewers laughed a lot harder than the males at most of this incredibly hilarious stuff. The trend of R rated female comedies started with Bridesmaids continues and it’s a great development. The torturing of Boston accents and the “locals” was also very funny.
MVP:  Bullock as the uptight but effective FBI agent

Pacific Rim

Actors:  Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, Ron Pearlman, Max Martini
Rating:  9 out of 10, Now this was action and CGI taken to the next level.  The impossibly massive robots are believable and just so immense.  Hunnam was a clear mistake in the lead but Elba comes through, as always, to lend gravitas and depth. The plucky humans are manning the massive robots to fight off an invasion of Godzilla type creatures.  The battle scenes are massive and spectacular and actually had me open mouthed a couple times (not easy for such a jaded moviegoer as myself).  You can actually feel the emotional impact of some of the scenes – again not easy in a sci-fi summer popcorn movie. 
MVP:  Elba as the Marshall – humanity’s best hope

Welcome to the Punch

Actors:  James McAvoy , Mark Strong, Andrea Riseborough, Elyes Gabel, Peter Mullan, David Morrissey
Rating:  7 out of 10, A very, very British cops and robbers piece with an attempt at dragging political intrigue in.  The cops and robbers were really well done while the political stuff was forced and unbelievable.  An extremely strong cast that were a bit overwrought at times and just plain cannot shoot straight.  After spending the entire movie unable to hit the ocean with their shooting the two “heroes” join forces and literally can’t miss.  I was laughing at their prowess after wondering at their earlier futility.  This was a tough one at times for a colonist to understand the thick accents but overall a well done police drama.
MVP:  Mark Strong as Jacob Sternwood the thief coming back to avenge his son, always a dominating screen presence