Lifeforce

Actors:  Steve Railsback, Peter Firth, Frank Finlay, Mathida May, Patrick Stewart
Rating:  7 out of 10, a guilty pleasure movie from the 1980s that has hordes of vampiric space zombies tearing up London.  Any movie that boasts Charles Manson kissing Jean Luc Picard just has to be something special.  Railsback is at his over the top best trying to channel his barely controlled rage around a bunch of very staid Englishmen as the world dissolves around them.  This movie is rightfully famous for the gravity defying anatomy of Ms May as the Space Girl Vampire. What’s not to like?
MVP:  May dominates in very little clothing

The Mighty Mathilda

Jack the Giant Slayer

Actors:  Nicholas Hoult, Eleanor Tomlinson, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Ewen Bremner, Ian McShane
Rating:  8 out of 10, a lot better than I expected. Stanley Tucci and Ewan McGregor in supporting roles tells you how good the cast was. CGI has reached the point that even thirty foot tall giants are completely believable. Nicholas Hoult who we last saw as a zombie in Warm Bodies continues to impress as the lead – Jack. My daughter, always a fountain of pop culture awareness, informed me that Hoult had recently broken up with Jennifer Lawrence – so things aren’t going completely his way. He was very good and heroic in this movie though. The action does not let up and the climactic battle was awesome.  Against all odds I really liked this movie.
MVP:  Hoult in the title role is humbly heroic and believable

 

Les Miserables

Actors:  Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Eddie Redmayne, Samantha Barks
Rating:  7 out of 10, My daughter rightfully warned me away from this movie when it was showing in the cinemas.  I took a chance and saw it last night on Netflix.  An amazing movie but my daughter was correct.  Musicals are a reach for me, much like Russell Crowe’s singing voice.  There is a very good 90 minute movie hiding in this mess though.  Singing the entire dialogue was a huge mistake as was the choice of non-singing actors for some of the biggest roles, yes Maximus I’m talking about you. That error does not extend to Hathaway who was superb in the short time she was on screen – totally understand the Oscar now.  Some astounding set pieces but overall seemed overblown and a tad pretentious – oh yeah – it was set in France.    
MVP:  Hathaway as the doomed Fantine

Full Metal Jacket

Actors:  Matthew Modine, Lee Ermey, Adam Baldwin, Vincent D’Onofrio, Arliss Howard
Rating:  7 out of 10, I’ve seen this movie a countless number of times over the years in bits and pieces mostly.  Last night I sat down and watched it completely and was amazed once again by Kubrick.  He is so good at startlingly simple yet powerful characters.  This is really two movies with Ermey shouting his way into movie history as the drill sergeant who meets the fate so many thousands of recruits have fantasized about (only for the first four weeks of basic though).   The second half was supposed to be Vietnam but it was clearly shot in England.  I actually felt sorry for the poor dying palm trees that were obviously shuttled around to make it seem like the tropics.  That being said, this movie grabs you by the short and curlies and never let’s go.  Just a powerful movie about war and the price paid by the participants.     
MVP:  R Lee Ermey as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman

A Good Day to Die Hard

Actors:  Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney, Sebastion Koch, Yuliya Snigir, Rasha Bukvic
Rating:  7 out of 10, This series has definitely started to lose some steam as this one tried to focus too much on McClain’s somewhat unlikable son, played by Courtney. He and Dad get together to create typical Die Hard mayhem throughout Moscow before the fiery climax in Chernobyl, of all places. The Russian authorities were surprisingly absent throughout as the McClain boys shot various and sundry villains and blew up whole blocks of buildings. While you never expect any deep message from a Die Hard movie – you do expect likable heroes. All that being said, the carnage was awesome and I loved the movie.
MVP:  Willis is impossible to dislike as John McClain

The Mask

Actors:  Jim Carrey, Cameron Diaz, Peter Greene, Amy Yasbeck, Richard Jeni
Rating:  8 out of 10, I can't believe it's been almost twenty years since this came out.  It remains very, very funny when Carrey dons the mask along with the signature lines that have become indelible part of the popular lexicon still work.  The funniest moments are when the mask allows Carrey’s manic side to fully emerge.  The special effects were groundbreaking when this movie first came out and they hold up well.  The biggest surprise in the movie is the debut of Cameron Diaz in her first role in specially engineered costume to make her appear voluptuous – still incredibly sexy.   She dominates as the femme fatale.  Kind of sad to see the hilarious Richard Jeni and a reminder of how funny he was.  No depth but who was looking for that in an early Carrey film anyways – tons of fun.
MVP:  Carrey as the redoubtable Stanley Ipkiss

Officer and a Gentleman

Cast:  Richard Gere, Debra Winger, David Keith, Louis Gossett, Jr, David Keith, Lisa Blount
Rating:  8 out of 10, a movie from my distant past that holds up well after all these years.  I saw it shortly after I joined the military and it was interesting to see it again having spent my entire adult life in uniform.  It’s a story of a young punk who finds redemption and love through the discipline and character forced on him through his entry into the military.  It was kind of jarring to see Gere so young, but it’s a reminder of the intense promise he showed as a young actor.  A great message about the need for enduring values in a complete person’s life.
MVP:  Gossett in his Career Making role as Gunner Sergeant  Foley

 

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters

Actors:  Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, Famke Janssen, Pihla Viitala, Peter Stormare
Rating:  8 out of 10, I was immensely skeptical when I first heard about this movie and quickly classified it as a reach almost as bad as Abe the Vampire Hunter, but I was wrong.  This was all kinds of campy fun. Renner and Arterton had some real chemistry as brother and sister witch hunters and there was a lot of modern vocabulary in the supposed middle aged milieu. The witch hunter’s technique seemed to consist of getting the hell beat out of them by the witch until they could land a lucky shot. Hansel was hampered by diabetes generated from his childhood consumption of the candy house (like I said – campy). The witches led by Famke Janssen were deliciously evil.  I really liked the effort to minimize the use of CGI in favor of makeup and even an animatronic troll.   Check this out if you had dismissed it, as I almost did.
MVP:  Renner as Hansel continues his hot streak of totally likable action dudes

Cleopatra

Actors:  Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Martin Landau, Roddy McDowell
Rating:  8 out of 10, The epic movie that ended epic movies for a long time.  The excess is all up on the screen for this movie that has entered Hollywood lore for so many reasons and on so many levels.  The new blu ray has most of the original footage returned and it is glorious and took me three nights to watch.  Taylor and her breasts are put through the paces by Julius Caesar (very good Rex Harrison) and then Marc Antony (the besotted Burton) and what seemed like a thousand costume changes.  This truly did have a cast of thousands and the sheer magnitude of the crowd scenes are astounding.  The story is old and overdone but this was fun to watch. 
MVP:  Harrison as one of the most historically accurate Julius Caesars

Warm Bodies.

Actors:  Nicholas Hoult, John Malcovitch, Teresa Palmer, Rob Cordrray
Rating:  9 out of 10, A love story set in a zombie apocalypse and the guy in love is one of the walking dead; talk about your forbidden love. This is truly takes the Romeo and Juliet story in a different direction, there’s even a balcony scene! Against all odds, this movie works and is truly funny, especially the first half as we see the couple get together after the guy, named “R” (all he can remember of his name), kills and eats the brain of his future girlfriend’s boyfriend. I know it sounds a weird, it is, but somehow it also comes across as sweet. As usual Rob Cordrray, as R’s zombie buddy, makes the most of a small part, delivering the most memorable line in the movie.  This is the funniest movie of 2013 so far.
MVP:  Hoult as the undead but lovable R

Right at Your Door

Actors:  Mary McCormack, Rory Cochran, Tony Perez
Rating:  6 out of 10, a very small flick depicting a dirty bomb attack on L.A. and the aftermath for a young married couple, one infected and the other not.  The film builds great tension but the key points are almost rushed through as we spend endless time watching windows get taped or on unanswered cell phone calls.  The cast felt very authentic – especially McCormack and Cochran who totally nail their roles.  There’s a neat twist at the end that almost rescues all the time spent waiting for someone to answer the damned phone.
MVP:  Cochran as the tortured husband trapped inside his home.

M.A.S.H.

Actors:  Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Tom Skerritt, Robert Duvall, Sally Kellerman, Jo Ann Plug
Rating:  7 out of 10, Due to the popularity of the television show people tend to forget it was based on a very good movie.  This was Robert Altman at his best as he pokes extreme satire on the whole idiocy of war.  Several counter culture doctors operate at a forward Korean War hospital causing havoc only rescued by their competence.  This was made at the height of the Vietnam War so it found a ready audience when it was released.  The film hasn’t aged well as a lot of the jokes have become so iconic that they lost their edge.  It was also kind of jarring to see the major actors so young when all of them are still active nowadays at a slightly advanced age.  You can see the promise in these young actors that forged those careers.  Lt Dish – still hot. 
MVP:  Kellerman as the outrageous Hot Lips O’Houlihan