Sherlock Holmes

Actors:  Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong, Eddie Marsan

Rating:  7 out of 10, I bought this the other day in conjunction with the sequel and watched it last night.  When I was growing up Sherlock Holmes was Basil Rathbone (great name there) and I’ve always judged the countless actors who play the part against him, usually finding them extremely lacking.  Downey was an interesting choice, being American, for this deeply British role and his English accent kind of came and went throughout the movie.  Downey once again shows his range by handling the role with aplomb.  The best part about this movie was the increased responsibility they allow Dr Watson, usually an afterthought in most versions but not so here.  Jude Law is fantastic as a slightly flawed moth circling Holmes self-destructive light.  Guy Ritchie directed this and there were his usual techniques which at times could distract but this is an actor driven film and they all deliver.   I wasn’t a huge fan of this when it first came out but this kind of grows on you and I really enjoyed it this time.  Strong once again plays an eerily evil villain, something he seems to be carving out as his niche. 
MVP:  Downey as the uber-detective Holmes, generous with sharing the spotlight with other actors and making the movie stronger

Act of Valor

Actors:  Bunch on un-credited Navy SEALs, Roselyn Sanchez, Alex Veadov, Jason Cottle
Rating:  8 out of 10, this was an interesting blend of real life and Hollywood.  The action scenes were some of the best I’ve seen in film.  The use of real life SEALs was also very well done and as an old infantryman it was heartwarming the see the tactical scenarios run using actual techniques versus the usual Hollywood embellishments.  All this being said the acting, understandably, was uniformly terrible.  You could really tell when a real actor was in a scene opposite one of the military guys, it was starkly obvious.  The movie comes to a lurching halt whenever they try to get the military guys to act.  The plot moves right along and is coherent if a little fast paced for a non-military viewer.  I was watching this with my wife who has a tough time seeing contemporary military films because it drags up some the fears she experienced with her quarter century as an Army wife.  She was alternating between tears and satisfaction throughout.  By the end of the movie she agreed with me, they mostly got it right.  Watch this for the action scenes which will get you through the cringe worthy dramatic scenes.
MVP:  The SEALs, probably the worst actors in history of cinema but also the most dangerous

John Carter

Actors:  Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Mark Strong, Dominic West, James Purefoy, Willem Dafoe, Samantha Morton, Ciaran Hinds
Rating:  7 out of 10, I was truly excited when I heard they were making a major movie about another one of Edgar Rice Burroughs’s characters. The creator of Tarzan as well as several other memorable pulp fiction series I loved the Carter series as an adolescent.  The only downside seemed to be the involvement of Disney which would certainly take some of the edge off when it came to scantily clad red ladies.  The movie did not do well at the box office and I do not understand because the action is almost non-stop and the CGI characters have reached a level of sophistication that you forget they are computer generated.  Kitsch readily handles the action role as a Civil War vet who is trying to re-establish meaning in his life only to be transported to Mars where he is thrust into yet another civil war.  The only miss in the cast is Collins who just does not have the appeal needed for the part of Dejah Thoris.   While physically attractive she has no screen presence and no chemistry whatsoever.  This does drag at the movie because the relationship between Carter and Thoris is the driving theme to bring Carter back from depression over the loss of his first wife.  Strong, always a great villain, delivers as does West, though it was a little strange seeing him in this and then immediately afterwards as McNulty in The Wire.  Great popcorn fare that delivered but for some reason has not been well received; ignore the critics and see this movie. 
MVP:  Kitsch in the title role shows depth and athleticism

Safe House

Actors:  Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds, Brendan Gleeson, Vera Farmiga, Sam Sheppard, Ruben Blades
Rating:  8 out of 10, this was a really good action movie with a superb cast at the top of their game.  Reynolds holds his own with Washington, no mean task.  Reynolds plays a CIA house minder named Weston who yearns for more action until it literally explodes in his face. I like the way he slowly adapts as his world falls apart and he tries to remain true to himself and his beliefs.  Washington dominates as the world weary super spy, Frost, on the run from the CIA in possession of devastating secrets.  The movie is a little too preachy about the evils of governments but that what you get with Hollywood – they never met a conspiracy they didn’t like.  I also wish they made better use of Farmiga who elevates whatever scene she’s in.  That aside, I was very impressed with the pyrotechnics for this movie, especially the gun fights which had a real edge of realism.  The action is almost non-stop and both Reynolds and Washington do a credible job with the physical aspects.  I liked the arc for both the main characters as Frost sees himself in the young Weston then watches their friends get stripped away until all they are left with is each other.  I’m surprised we didn’t hear more about this movie – it rocks.  I also really liked the ending as Weston goes to Paris but doesn’t cliché out.

MVP:  Washington as Tobin Frost (great name) both cool and extremely dangerous

One for the Money

Actors:  Katherine Heigl, Debbie Reynolds, Jason O’Mara, Daniel Sunjata, John Leguizamo
Rating:  5 out of 10, I l let my wife rate this one since she was responsible for me having to sit through it again.  I saw this when it came out in the theater and was similarly unimpressed at that time.  My wife was out of country so she didn’t see it but had seen the previews, which, in truth, did seem fairly funny.  She has been badgering me for weeks about why this was not on our Netflix list despite me warning her that it wasn’t very good.  I finally succumbed to her entreaties and my warnings were borne out.  She admitted that I was right (I basked in this rare approbation).  While Heigl is a very attractive actress, she just wasn’t right for this role.  She looked like a California girl trying to play a Jersey girl – too much of a stretch for her.  She is very likable but definitely not believable.  I know they threw in a shower scene just to get guys in the seats but even that wasn’t memorable.  There were moments that made me laugh but too many that made me cringe.  For an obvious chick flick, the best parts were for men, Sunjata was great as Ranger, Heigl's bounty hunter muse and O'Mara had most of the best lines as the object of Heigl's hunting.  Definitely a pass on this movie, I keep waiting for Heigl to land a movie role where she can tap into her undeniable charisma and be believable at the same time.  I really want to like her but she hasn’t got there yet.  This was obviously set up as the first in a series but thankfully I think it ends here.  Hey, at least it afforded me the rare opportunity to have my wife acknowledge I was right about something.
MVP:  O’Mara, an Irish actor, as Joe Morelli, a New Jersey cop was totally believable

Chronicle

Actors:  Dane Dehaan, Alex Russell, Michael B Jordan, Ashley Hinshaw, Michael Kelly
Rating:  8 out of 10, this movie was a lot of fun despite the annoying use of the documentary film motif where the characters are actually filming the action.  This is mitigated to a certain extent when they acquire their powers and can levitate the camera so it follows them.  I really liked how truthful it seemed.  If three adolescents suddenly acquired these superhuman abilities this is what they would do with them.  They’d blow girls’ skirts up, hit each other with rocks, and taken mediocre revenge against tormentors.  The three main leads were all very good and seemed to channel their high school years experience.  The special effects sneak up on you because they are played as nothing special – all of a sudden they’re flying- like it was no big thing.  That is the strength of the movie - the interplay between the young men as they struggle withier new god-like powers.  Jordan is someone to keep an eye on because he just oozed charisma which is what his character called for but all too often that comes across as arrogance – not here.  Dehaan is appropriately creepy as the one who eventually is corrupted by absolute power.  A movie I wasn’t expecting a lot from that delivered in spades – great watch. 
MVP:  Jordan as Steve Montgomery the charismatically doomed good guy

My Week with Marilyn

Actors:  Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh, Eddie Redmayne, Julia Ormond, Emma Watson, Judi Dench

Rating:  6 out of 10, this was another Netflix rental and another definite not buy.  The acting is superb especially from Branagh and Williams.  My sole problem is that Williams is just not Marilyn when it comes to looks or to charisma.  She certainly gives it a game effort but the whole premise is based on the devastating charm and physical presence Monroe was capable of and that is severely lacking with Williams.  She expertly conveys the lost Marilyn and the supporting cast of her enablers are also top notch to a really creepy degree.  Branagh shines as Olivier and has some of the movie’s best moments as he struggles with Monroe’s unprofessionalism juxtaposed with her talent.  Redmayne is your typical English school boy but he is clearly out of his depth when he appears on the screen with either Branagh or Williams, not to mention Dench.  This was an interesting bit of supposedly true adventure of a young boy with the fatally flawed superstar and I liked what it had to say about the illusion of celebrity but it just misses on being likable.  I can’t believe how old Ormond got, all of a sudden.

MVP:  Branagh as the superbly talented yet put upon Lawrence Olivier