Between Us

Actors:  Taye Digggs, Julia Stiles, David Harbour, Melissa George

Rating:  5 out of 10, I might not have been in the best mood to watch this because it is kind of depressing.  We see two couples who used to be close friends over the course of two nights several years apart.  We are treated to all of their defects as their friendship falls victim to the vagaries of life.  It would be easier to take if any of the characters were worthy of rooting for but each has some cringe worthy moment that makes you feel they’re getting everything they deserve.  The actors are uniformly excellent though – making you uniformly dislike them.

MVP:  Diggs as the self important but failed artist Carlo

Krull

Actors:  Ken Marshall, Lysette Anthony, Freddie Jones, Alun Armstrong, Liam Neeson 

Rating:  7 out of 10, A great return to a movie I enjoyed watching with my young son so many years ago.  A return of the glave, slayers, fire mares, and the black fortress with almost laughably bad stunts but entertaining none the less.  It does lead you to wonder how a medieval level society could challenge a space faring force that can move a mountain fortress across the globe daily but if you can’t suspend disbelief, this movie is not for you.  It was for me and left me wondering why we didn’t hear more from Anthony and Marshall who were very good in this.  It’s also funny to see Liam Neeson in a very small supporting role; he still pulls the most tail – I mean he is Liam, after all. 

MVP:  Marshall as the gallant Prince Colwyn

Primer

Actors:  Shane Carruth, David Sullivan, Casey Gooden, Anand Upadhyaya 

Rating:  7 out of 10, Weird but fascinating look at the unknown world of garage time travelling.  Obviously shot on a nothing budget but still compelling because it seems so real as it doesn’t play to the audience but make you work a little bit to keep up with it.  Some engineers working in their garage at night accidentally discover time travel.  If you want everything handed to you on a platter then avoid this.  It’s a great tale about the fragility of loyalty and friendship when superimposed with great power.  Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. 
MVP:  Sulivan as the saner and more grounded Abe

Robocop

Actors:  Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, Miguel Ferrer

Rating:  9 out of 10, I couldn’t believe I didn’t own a copy of this until now – one of my favorite movies of the 1980s.  This was Paul Verhoeven’s first American effort and he’s readily apparent in all the swearing and blood spattered violence that are his signature moves.  It’s easy to forget this was a real departure at the time.  The special effects are a little stale by today’s standards but the movie overall still holds up.  It’s a B-Movie that elevated to main stream level by the direction and acting; and all the explosions.  A great ride and so much better than the re-make.

MVP:  Smith as the dangerously violent Charles Boddicker, a really creepy villain

Forbidden Kingdom

Actors:  Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Michael Angarano, Binbing Li, Yifei Liu

Rating:  6 out of 10, Very entertaining to see two aging kung fu stars still capable of dazzling fight scenes even though they’re encumbered by a totally clueless white dude.  Angarano has zero charisma and drags down the otherwise very entertaining flick which has Jet Li and Jackie Chan proving they’ve still got it.  Anagrano is thrust into a mystical Chinese legend, transported from South Boston of all places and finds himself battling immortal warlords and witches.  I really liked the movie which is worth seeing for the duel between Chan and Li, if nothing else.

MVP:  Chan as the drunken master Lu

American Hustle

Actors:  Jennifer Lawrence, Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Robert Deniro

Rating:  8 out of 10, This movie sports the same team that made Silver Linings Playbook.  A dark comedy about the Abscam scandal of the 1970s.  It has some incredibly funny lines along with the cringe worthy styles of the 70’s.  A lot of it was shot in Worcester (the town I work in) which has large portions unchanged since that time; so we’ve got that going for us.  The two female leads Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence just dominate.  The movie also sports the most epic hairpiece/combover in the entire history of the Western Hemisphere courtesy of none other than a very pudgy Batman himself.  Great flick, do yourself a favor and check it out and marvel in the glory that was the 1970’s, and Worcester, of course.

MVP:  Lawrence is just so funny as the dangerously incompetent housewife Rosalyn

Amazing Grace

Actors:  Ioan Gruffud, Romola Garai, Benedict Cumberbatch, Albert Finney, Michael Gambon, Rufus Sewell, Ciaran Hinds   

Rating:  6 out of 10, A historical drama which tells the story of William Wiberforce who was one of the leading British parliamentarians working to outlaw slavery in the late 18^th century.  It was a little confusing at times for a Yank to understand the working of Parliament; almost as much as the US Congress.  Grufudd is impressive as the lead character but the story, to preserve historical accuracy, kind of jumps all over the place.  In trying to demonstrate some of Wilberforce’s personal idiosyncrasies the pace of the movie is broken up.  One minute he’s on the verge of death’s door and then the plot jumps forward a decade with no explanation of the near death scene.  The movie is extremely well done and it was interesting to view history from the British side, but it really dragged at times.  It completely redeems itself at the end with a massed British military bagpipe band playing the signature song - too cool.
MVP:  Garai as the MRs Wilberforce has real, genuine screen presence

The Rebound

Actors:  Catherine Zeta-Jones, Justin Bartha, Art Garfunkel, Joanna Gleason, Lynn Whitfield    

Rating:  6 out of 10, One of those dumb romantic comedies that is a perfect way to kill time when nothing more promising is available.  Supremely mundane writing limits the efforts of two pretty good lead actors in Jones and Bartha.  Bartha plays a young man who works as a nanny for and falls in love with Jones (no stretch in believability there whatsoever).  There is some fun picking up on the cameos.  Art Garfunkel (yeah he’s still alive – barely) plays Bartha’s dad and looks about 100 years old.  Old Duke of Hazzard John Schneider plays the blind date from hell who’s poor personal hygiene had my wife cringing.  Light, pointless but enjoyable.

MVP:  Zeta-Jones as Sandy, anybody’s dream employer

Hysteria

Actors:  Hugh Dancy, Maggie Gyllenhall, Jonathan Pryce, Rupert Everett, Felicity Jones

Rating:  8 out of 10, I’m not sure exactly how I ended up watching this but it turned out to be one of the funniest flicks I’ve seen in a long time with the added bonus of Maggie Gyllenhall.  It’s set in Elizabethan England with Dancy playing a young doctor who specializes in treating female hysteria patients.  The “treatment” is clinically induced orgasms, although everyone agrees that no such thing exists.  He and his buddy then invent the first electric “massager” when Dancy’s wrist gives out which sky rockets him to fame and fortune.  The funniest thing is that this is based on real events.  You put that kind of story in such a talented cast and the possibilities are endless.  Seeing the female orgasm explored in an Elizabethan milieu is just too funny.

MVP:  Dancy as the very proper Doctor Mortimer Granville

Hunger Games 2, Catching Fire

Actors:  Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Lenny Cravitz

Rating:  9 out of 10, Jennifer Lawrence really is something special (news flash – huh).  I didn’t think there was any way a movie could capture the character of Katniss Everdeen because of the limits of the medium compared to a book but she pulls it off.  The middle movie is always the toughest because of the transitory nature of the plot – getting you set up for the climatic third but this movie stands on its own.  There’s action and a cool arc as we see the champions paraded around the country by the evil president while plotting their doom.  Donald Sutherland is perfect as the evil dude and the only miss in the cast is Josh Hutcherson who is clearly fighting above his talent level when paired with Lawrence.  If there was a little too much hang wringing and angst about which of the male leads Katniss was going to choose it’s obvious this movie was aimed a those of the female persuation  That being said – great flick that has something for us XYers as well.

MVP:  Larence as the deadly but conflicted Everdeen