The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies

Actors:  Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ken Stott, James Nesbitt, Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Orlando Bloom.

Rating: 9 out of 10, I'm an unrepentant geek I am when it comes to Tolkien and the movies. I still remember sitting next to a heating vent on cold December mornings before junior high school marveling at the world unfurling for me as I read first The Hobbit and then The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Then you put this fascination up on the big screen as perfectly as Peter Jackson has done over the last fifteen years and I'm apoplectic. The Hobbit will always suffer when compared to The Lord of the Rings because the story is so much smaller in scope, despite Jackson’s best efforts. The battle scenes in this latest film comprise fully half of the entire movie and are unremittingly exciting.  Jackson has come to rely a little too heavily on his CGI but seeing the five armies assemble and then go at it was worth the wait.  I think Jackson kept Thorin Oakenshield in his A-Hole stage a little too long but he also wisely went to Martin Freeman’s heartfelt Bilbo every time some humanity and common sense needed injecting. There was so much going on in so many different locations but Jackson expertly wove an understandable journey for the viewer.  I loved the movie and can’t wait to watch all six of the two trilogies in one sitting (probably have to wait for my wife to be out of town for that).

MVP:  Freeman really grew into Bilbo and made him the lovable conscience

Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

Actors: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland.

Rating:  8 out of 10, This takes the Katniss Everdeen story beyond the games into the full-fledged rebellion her actions generated.  This is an obvious transition movie to get all the pieces in place for the final confrontation.  There’s not as much action and we spend a lot of time watching Jenifer Lawrence emote about the unfairness of her choices while experiencing a series of really bad hair days.  Luckily she’s such a great actress that’s not a bad fate for any movie goer but overall the movie was pretty depressing. Now we’re forced to wait year so the movie makers can wring the last possible dollar out of the franchise instead of delivering a completely satisfying movie. I still can’t get the damned Hanging Tree song out of head either.

MVP:   Lawrence as Katniss can now effortlessly carry a very big movie

Horrible Bosses 2

Actors: Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Chris Pine, Christoph Waltz

Rating:  7 out of 10, I loved the first movie which was raunchily funny throughout.  They weren’t able to maintain the magic in this second outing.  The three leads were still funny but the Jason Sudekis character wandered into the idiotic personae of Charlie Day’s which meant Jason Bateman was the only sane one in the bunch.  There was still a lot of really funny banter between the three boneheads who now try their hand at kidnapping instead of murder and it goes predictably and very entertainingly south.  Bateman remains the absolute master of the offhand hilarious comment. This one was nowhere near as funny as the original because the three guys were supposed to be regular Joes caught in a bad situation not of their own making.  Here they are buffoons and a long way from the likable trio of the first film.  The best parts are saved for the supporting characters who are uniformly awesome.  Kevin Spacey in his Shark mode, Jennifer Anniston channeling her naughty side again, Jamie Foxx as MF Jones and new bad boy Chris Pine completely steal the movie and I found myself anxiously waiting for them to reappear on the screen.  Overall, still a funny movie, but the original set the bar too high.

MVP:   Jason Bateman as Nick Hendricks, the everyman saddled with two complete idiots