Doctor Strange

Actors: Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Michael Stuhlbarg, Benjamin Bratt, Scott Adkins, Mads Mikkelsen, Tilda Swinton.

Rating: 8 out of 10, I was interested to see how this iconic comic book character born out of the hallucinogenic sixties would fare in today’s medium. As with all things Marvel, they delivered. I think they spend a little too much time leading up to the acquisition of his necromancer skills but once they do the film is almost hypnotic with cities being turned inside out and Mads Mikkelson doing what he does best – being a deranged villain, this time with burnt out eyes. I would watch Tilda Swinton paint a room because she’s mesmerizing and perfect as the Ancient One. Cumberbatch is okay but he’s such a heel for the first half that it’s tough to root for him as we build towards the climax. That’s where the sixties in all their psychedelic glory asserts itself with mind-bending trips around the globe and cosmic battles. My only problem with the plot was Dr Strange transforming from a complete novice to master sorcerer almost overnight. Small potatoes though as this was a great ride, liberally infused with sly humor and the inevitable Stan Lee cameo.

MVP: Swinton, as always, the best thing about anything she’s in as the Ancient One

Sand Pebbles

Actors: Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough, Richard Crenna, Candice Bergen, Mako, Simon Oakland, Larry Gates, Emmanuel Arsan

Rating: 7 out of 10, One tends to forget as time has passed what a huge movie star Steve McQueen was. I watched this last night and was struck by his screen presence, reminded why he was such a big deal. The epic movie is a slimly disguised polemic against the US involvement in Vietnam transferring the issues of that conflict to 1920s China. McQueen plays a disinterested sailor on a gunboat that’s soon drawn into the conflict surrounding foreign involvement in China and the Nanking Incident. The gunboat gets poignantly dirtier and rustier as the crew succumbs to the conflicting themes. McQueen befriends and trains a young coolie only to have to shoot him when he is tortured by his own people. The movie stands up well to time although it’s way over the top in beating the viewer about the head and shoulders about the evils of imperialism. Interestingly the “infamous” Emmanuel plays a supporting role in this as Attenborough’s love interest.

MVP: McQueen in one of his best roles ever as Homan

Keeping up with the Joneses

Actors: Zach Galifianakis, Jon Hamm, Isla Fisher, Gal Gadot, Patton Oswalt

Rating: 6 out of 10, It’s the typical plot where a suburban couple has a pair of super sexy secret agents move in across the street. You first have to accept that Zach Galifinakis could have ever scored Isla Fisher as a wife which does call for the suspension of a lot of disbelief. The women in this movie are so much better than the men. Gal Gadot is carving out a nice niche for herself as action hero and Fisher absolutely dominates a low cut dress. The rest of the silly plot was forgettable.  

MVP: Fisher and her wardrobe are the best thing about the movie

The Graduate

Actors: Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman, Katharine Ross, William Daniels, Murray Hamilton, Elizabeth Wilson, Buck Henry

Rating: 9 out of 10, Quite possibly one of the best movies ever made. I never appreciated Nichols’ camera work until watching this again after many years. It’s a perfect insight into the waning years of the 1960s as a recent college graduate returns to his upper middle class home and languishes with no plan or prospects. He’s soon drawn into an affair with the wife of his father’s business partner. This has some of the funniest lines ever as Dustin Hoffman awkwardly fights well above his weight with Anne Bancroft as the immortal Mrs. Robinson. The movie takes a serious turn when Hoffman falls in love with his lover’s daughter and begins a hopeless quest to win her over. The final church scene with the swinging cross and doubt filled bus ride are eloquent comments on the times it portrays.

MVP: Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson, evil and sexy

Life of Emile Zola

Actors: Paul Muni, Gloria Holden, Gale Sondergaard, Joseph Schildkraut, Donald Crisp, Erin O'Brien-Moore

Rating: 7 out of 10, A gift from a friend when I revealed this was the lone Oscar Best Picture winning movie I had never seen. It’s an interesting look at the life of Zola, known to most of the non-French speaking world for his involvement in the Dreyfus affair. It struck me as interesting, given the time frame this movie came out, just before World War 2. It is decidedly anti-military and almost 1960ish with its railing against the military-industrial complex. I enjoyed this very long movie which really crackles when Zola is summoned to a courtroom to defend himself against the French military. The film is dated, it came out eighty years ago, but it still speaks to the importance of truth and fighting the good fight.

MVP: Muni as Zola, hard to believe anyone else was in this movie

Born Free

Actors: Virginia McKenna, Bill Travers, Geoffrey Keen, Peter Lukoye

Rating: 8 out of 10, Another favorite from my youth telling the true life story of Elsa the lioness and the Adamsons who returned her to the wild after raising her as a pet. One of the best film scores ever along with the incredible nature photography make this more than worth seeing and it has aged well. I fell hopelessly in love with Virginia McKenna when I first saw this which may have sent me down a troublesome trail of absolute fascination bordering on worship of English ladies later in life, but I digress. It’s a great story beautifully told.

MVP: McKenna, of course, as Joy Adamson starting me out on English gals

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

Actors: Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders, Patrick Heusinger, Aldis Hodge, Danika Yarosh and Holt McCallany

Rating: 8 out of 10, I’ve gotten over the initial rage I felt when I heard the pint sized Tom Cruise was playing the behemoth character of Reacher because Cruise did such a good job in the first film. He’s back in form here but this doesn’t resonate as well as the first. They drag in a potential daughter which wasn’t needed and added an unnecessary plot line. We don’t need to see Reacher’s softer side. He’s around to kick ass and take names. He gets to do the requisite amount of that and is ably assisted by Colby Smulders who apparently picked up some skills from her Avenger time. So not as good as the first one but that’s usually the case. Cruise at least doesn’t besmirch Reacher’s reputation and this should lead more people to read the books where they’ll meet the “real” Reacher. So this is, in fact, a public service film.  

MVP: Smulders as Maj Susan Turner the perfect female foil to the implacable Reacher