The Night Before

Actors: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anthony Mackie, Lizzy Caplan, Jillian Bell, Michael Shannon, Mindy Kaling

Rating: 7 out of 10, A Christmas buddy movie where three friends gather each year on the night before Christmas. This year will be the last one as each ages away from the tradition. Rogen, along with Anthony Mackie and Joseph Gordon-Leavitt demonstrate some real chemistry as the three friends. As with most of these type films not all the jokes land but enough of them do for the movie to be genuinely funny. There are the usual celebrity cameos including Rogen's customary obsession with penis pictures and James Franco; so not the kind of holiday film you want to take the kids to. Gross out comedy but after a string of clear misses this one was a lot of fun; if for no other reason than to see the uber-Hebrew Rogen attending a midnight Christmas catholic mass.

MVP: Rogen as Isaac Greenberg, the drug addled future father

Sicario

Actors: Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin, Vincent Garber, Daniel Kaluuya

Rating: 9 out of 10, I was wrong about this movie when I saw it in the theater. I bought it on a whim and after watching it I have to admit, it’s a great movie. I must have been in a bad mood or something but this movie crackles. I was excited about this because it featured Emily Blunt and Benicio Del Toro, two of my favorite actors. I’m a firm believer that a movie should be entertaining even its trying to make a heavy handed “message”. The director is obviously in love with daring camera shots and long aerial views of terrain but there was a pretty good story hidden amongst all his posturing and this time I wasn’t distracted by all the posturing. Blunt and especially Del Toro were excellent, if he doesn’t’ get an Oscar nod for this something’s wrong. It’s an eloquent comment on what evil can do to good people. The truly outrageous and unbelievable scenario he employs savages his credibility; but at least we got long loving looks at the barren Arizona desert to compensate. Seer this movie twice, I guarantee the second viewing will make you appreciate it more.

MVP: Del Toro as Alejandro the riveting anti-hero

Salt

Actors: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Daniel Olbrychski, August Diehl, Chiwetel Ejiofor

Rating: 7 out of 10, I decided to give this movie another shot after really disliking it when first released. The sub-$5 price tag on the Blu Ray didn’t hurt either. My initial animus towards it involved the seemingly frail Jolie given too much to do in the action scenes. She’s just not athletic enough to carry them off convincingly. This is strange because she was excellent in Wanted in a similar role. There’s a very convoluted plot with deep cover Soviet agents popping up in the most inconvenient spots and Jolie rushing around to dispatch world leaders and boatloads of terrorists. There’s a very interesting final confrontation in the basement of the White House. The movie really grew on me during this second viewing. Jolie is still frail, almost sickly looking, but Schrieber and Ejiofor chew up some impressive scenery.

MVP: Schreiber as the supposed friend with secrets of his own

Creed

Actors: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashād, Tony Bellew, Graham McTavish

Rating: 9 out of 10, Hollywood found a new way to make me feel old last night. I was in college when the first (and best) Rocky film came out. The newest addition to the seemingly endless saga, Creed, takes on a new generation since Rocky (and I) are aging beyond even the ability of special effects to fool anyone. If this is the last (not a safe bet) then the series started and ended with absolute gems. Rocky appears here as a senior citizen weighed down by life and the loss of everyone close to him. Michael B. Jordan continues his streak of amazing performances and pulls off the cocky youngster without being annoying. Stallone has become such a caricature of himself with his film roles that you can forget what a good actor he is capable of being. The best parts of the movie were the scenes between Jordan and Stallone, just permeated with realistic emotion. Jordan plays the illegitimate son of Rocky’s long dead friend/rival Apollo Creed. He seeks out Rocky to become a fighter while trying to dodge riding on his father’s coattails. It’s not easy being the son of a great man and the director shows a deft touch in not allowing that to become a distraction. He allows that the audience is intelligent enough to figure that out. The fight scenes were every bit as realistic and exciting as even the bad Rocky movies produced. I’m not doing justice to this film – it soars, one of the best of the year. It was nice to see the lovable character of Rocky granted some peace in later life; especially handing off to such an exciting replacement in Jordan. Go see this flick.

MVP: Michael B. Jordan in the title role, carries movie flawlessly

Last Witch Hunter

Actors: Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood, Michael Caine, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson,Julie Engelbrecht

Rating: 8 out of 10, I liked this a lot better on my second viewing. Vin Diesel smirks his way through as an immortal hunter of magically endowed broom riders and is the only redeeming aspect to the film, well he and the odd Wilding, red headed witch. Michael Caine is only around for a couple scenes before sleeping off the rest of the plot. There are some good action scenes but the director then slows the momentum to a virtual standstill, for no appreciable reason. They obviously toned this down to achieve the PG rating. I think it would have made a kick ass R rated action movie, but we’ll never know. Frodo’s around looking decidedly less dangerous than the 90 year old Caine and Walter Mitty’s drunk helicopter pilot is appropriately scary. They were definitely aiming at a series of movies with this character – I think that hope died with the release of this. It’s a shame because Diesel has screen presence to spare and totally inhabited the 800 year old hunter.

MVP: Vin Diesel as Kaulder the immortal hunter

Spectre

Actors: Daniel Craig, Christophe Waltz, Lea Sedoux, Ralph Fiennes, Monica Bellucci, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, Dave Bautista, Andrew Scott

Rating: 8 out of 10, I’d heard dire things about Spectre but I really enjoyed this latest 007 outing. When I heard Sam Mendes was directing Skyfall I was concerned he would go all artsy and abandon the time tested Bond formula for success. I was wrong as Skyfall was fantastic. He was apparently emboldened by his success there because there were several elements to Spectre which I found annoying. One of the signature aspects of a Bond film are the exotic locales but Mendes had the background out of focus. A lot of the movie was out of focus and blurry – I assumed intentionally. He also used one of the most irritating techniques in modern filmmaking (something I thought was abandoned in the 1980s) – using dust rising from most interior scenes. All this being said and the complete lack of chemistry between Bond and the leading lady I really liked the movie. A fantastic opening sequence in Mexico was followed with an engaging plot as Bond walked the clues back to head of a secret organization bent on world domination. Along the way there were constant odes to prior incarnations of 007 ranging as far back as Dr. No and From Russia with Love to more modern versions. I’m kind of a nut about James Bond so I relished this aspect. The more I thought of it though is seemed like a sendoff salute. I’ve heard rumors that Daniel Craig is giving up his Walther but I hope Bond will return.

MVP: Craig in maybe his last outing as Sir James

The Intern

Actors: Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway, Rene Russo, Anders Holm, Andrew Rannells, Adam DeVine, Christina Scherer, Zack Pearlman

Rating: 9 out of 10, I really liked this precisely because it didn’t go for the big reveal or major plot twist. It stars Robert Deniro as a retired successful businessman who signs on as an intern for an internet based company run by a driven young women played by Anne Hathaway. New York City also stars as the location for the collision between baby boomer and millennial cultures. Of course, I log in on the Deniro side of the ledger, agewise, as this was reminiscent of the earlier times when crowds of friends of either my son or daughter descended on the house. Deniro and Hathaway are so good in this, both likable and chewing serious scenery. The middle of the film struggles a little, gets a bit episodic, but I liked the message of both generations contributing to growth on many levels. I may be a bit prejudiced about Hathaway as she looks so much like my daughter but this was an easy movie to like; a nice departure from my usual CGI explosions and blood splattering. The jokes were funny, the plot sincere, and it felt like hanging out with friends.

MVP: Deniro, who else, as the aging but wise intern