Actors: Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Andrew Stevens,
Angie Dickinson
Rating: 7 out of 10, another movie from my distant
past that hasn’t aged as well as others.
Bronson, one of the original monosyllabic heroes, a poor man’s Clint
Eastwood, and his Dirty Dozen buddy Lee Marvin are too old to be chasing each other
around the Canadian Rockies. They both
spend a lot of movie realistically out of breath. It’s also unexplained how
Apollo Creed ended up in the great white north serving as machine gun
fodder. All that being said the scenes
where either Bronson or Marvin are on the screen are worth the watch, the rest
of the cast, not so much.
MVP: Marvin as the world weary Mountie – Millen,
could still dominate the screen
Actors: Jenny Agutter, David Naughton, Griffin Dunn
Rating: 8 out of 10, I couldn’t believe this wasn’t a
part of my library. It’s easy to forget
how groundbreaking the special effects for this movie were at the time of its
release. It’s still a great mix of
horror and comedy, especially the conversations between the two Americans, even
after one of them is a rapidly decomposing undead. I also want to check in to a hospital where
you get to go home with Jessica 6. While
some of this does look dated because special effects have evolved so much
since, this was still a lot of fun to watch.
MVP: Agutter (I am consistent) as nurse Alix and the
only real actor amongst the leads
Actors: Brad Pitt, Daniella Kertesz, Mireille Enos
Rating: 9 out of 10, I’m a huge fan of the book which
my daughter induced me to read as I’m not into this whole recent zombie craze. I
was unsure how they would capture the broad strokes of the book in a movie
however this was a great ride. A singular
movie that pushes tension to incredible heights, let’s you breath for a little
bit and then ratchets up the stress again. It was a little light on the back
story but Pitt was a perfect choice for the understated lead. He’s on a world
wide tour to see different kinds of zombies and kill them. This was definitely a new take on an overdone
genre. One where you can clearly see the money spent up on the screen. I know that’s overused but completely appropriate
here; really scary stuff.
MVP: Daniella Kertesz as the stoically brave Israeli
soldier/hottie Segen
Actors: John Cho, Benedict Cumberbatch, Alice Eve, Bruce
Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban,
Peter Weller, Anton Yelchin
Rating: 10 out of 10, I absolutely loved the first JJ
Abrams Star Trek movie so I was prepared to be underwhelmed. Somehow he took it
to another level because this was not just a better film but
significantly better. The movie starts out with a bang and never lets up – it
almost leaves you breathless. I loved the odes to the original series – many
small and a couple of huge ones. It was so very cool to see all the subtle
little connections thrown in. The
strength of this new incarnation is the truly ensemble cast instead of being
just the Jim Kirk show. I’m such a
jaded movie goer that it’s rare that special effects blow me away – these did.
MVP: Cumberbatch as a truly creepy Khan
Actors: Elizabeth Banks, Kristen Bell, Halle Berry, Leslie
Bibb, Kate Bosworth, Gerard Butler, Kieran Culkin, Josh Duhamel, Richard Gere, Terrence
Howard, Hugh Jackman, Greg Kinnear, Johnny Knoxville, Justin Long, Julianne
Moore, Chloë Grace Moretz, Chris Pratt, Dennis Quaid, Liev Schreiber, Seann
William Scott, Tony Shalhoub, Emma Stone, Jason Sudeikis, Uma Thurman, Naomi
Watts, Kate Winslet, Seth MacFarlane
Rating: 6 out of 10, Okay, I'm not proud of it, but I watched it. This was billed as maybe the
worst movie ever but I was intrigued by how so many Oscar caliber, A-List stars
appeared so I rented it as a lark. I’m
still mystified but, honestly, it wasn’t as bad as the political correct police
have ranted about. It is incredibly, possibly
even epically inappropriate comedy explored by some of today’s biggest
stars. Hugh Jackman with testicles
hanging under his chin will give you an idea of the level. To hear at least one of the Farrelly
brothers, with no filter whatsoever, was involved completes the picture. I have to guiltily, and somewhat ashamedly
admit that I laughed out loud on several occasions.
MVP: Sudekis as possibly the worst batman ever –
so funny torturing the boy wonder
Actors: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody
Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Mélanie Laurent, Morgan Freeman, Michael
Caine
Rating: 8 out of 10, A really good movie about magicians,
who thought that was possible. Caine and
Freeman are back together without the caped crusader and both playing villains
which is a cool twist. Jesse Isenberg is
definitely moving beyond his typical geek roles and Isla Fisher is her usual
awesome (in everything except off screen marital choices). It was neat to see
two older, supremely competent actors like Freeman and Caine on the screen with
young talent like Eisenberg, Fisher, and the peerless Mark Ruffalo who all more
than held their own. I was prepared to
dislike this film but it drew me in.
MVP: Ruffalo as the harried, or is he, FBI agent
Dylan
Actors: Frank Sinatra, Raquel Welch, Dan Blocker,
Richard Conte
Rating: 6 out of 10, Sinatra returns as the least
tough private eye Tony Rome who is still too cool for school. There is an incredibly slow car chase though Miami Beach, I guess they
felt they had to obey traffic laws. The
eye candy this time out is Raquel Welch, at the height of her formidable
looks. She changes hair style with every
scene and adequately flaunts her not inadequate charms throughout. This was before she learned to act
though. Frank doesn’t seem as focused on
this sequel and all the best scenes belong to Dan Blocker, Hoss from
Bonanza. He plays a man mountain who
beats everybody in sight to a bloody pulp.
It’s sad we lost him at a young age – he was very watchable. The rest of the movie, except for Ms Welch in
a bikini, was not.
MVP: Blocker as Gronsky, a very dangerous man
