Wolf of Wall Street

Actors:  Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, Jonah Hill, Matthew McConaughey, Kyle Chandler, Rob Reiner, Jon Bernthal

Rating:  9 out of 10, The Wolf of Wall Street is the latest Scorsese and Dicaprio effort.  It purports to tell the story of immoral Wall Street schemer Jordan Belfort and doesn’t skimp on the debauchery that permeated his life.  The movie includes three hours of excessive sex, drugs, and criminal over indulgence and I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop where he pays for his crimes but that is kind of glossed over.  It’s pretty entertaining as we see the main character careen through his excesses along with his merry bunch of idiotic enablers.  If we needed another reason to hate Wall Street this movie more than provides that.  All of the acting and direction is top notch although Dicaprio is kind of uneven; so good in some scenes and less so in others.  If you don’t like nudity, swearing, drug use, and general bacchanalia then don’t see this movie.  I liked it a lot better on a second viewing as Scorsese’s point that we all share a little responsibility of allowing this type of idiot to prosper.  He just showed us what we tolerated and asks the question – why?

MVP:  Chandler as the dedicated FBI agent – the only good guy in the entire movie

47 Ronin

Actors:  Keanu Reeves, Hiroyuki Sanada, Rinko Kikuchi, Kou Shibasaki, Jin Akanishi

Rating:  8 out of 10, 47 Ronin was billed as a Keanu Reeves vehicle but is so much more.  He’s really just a supporting character and seemingly added to appeal to the Western audience.  This is apparently a very old and honored story from Japan about samurai who were treacherously betrayed and fought back to restore their honor. There’s some heavy CGI work here with some obvious literary license taken; unless there were eight eyed, elephant sized beasts in feudal Japan along with witches who could transform into dragons.  The detail and pageantry of ancient Japan is breathtaking and the battle scenes are among the best ever made.  The problem is trying to shoe horn in a love story (with Keanu of course) which slows the pace down when it shouldn’t.  My wife hated the ending but it is line with the warrior ethos (bushido) of the samurai, so appropriate, if a little heart rending (literally).

MVP:  Sanada  as the honorable Kuranosuke Oishi, leader of the ronin

The Man From Earth

Actors:  David Lee Smith, Tony Todd, John Billingsley, Annika Peterson, Ellen Crawford, William Katt, Richard Riehle

Rating:  8 out of 10, A very smart movie based on a single premise and the attendant discussion surrounding it.  A college professor reveals to his fellow professors at his going away party that he is 14,000 years old and started out as a Cro-Magnon caveman.  He is met with disbelief and the ensuing discussion goes down some fairly startling rabbit holes which I won’t ruin by even hinting at.  There are no flashbacks or action scenes but this movie works because it makes you think about the implications of such a life much like the friends of John Oldman (get it).  It was a little jarring to see the Candyman as a college professor, but even that worked.  This movie was non-stop but it works because of its simple approach to an earth shaking revelation.  Sometimes, simple works better than all the CGI in the world.

MVP:  David Lee Smith for his calm recollection of his 14 millennia life as John

Jobs

Actors:  Ashton Kutcher, Josh Gad, Dermont Mulroney, Lukas Haas, Matthew Modine, J.K. Simmons

Rating:  6 out of 10, I rented this because I was interested to learn more about the iconic guy that’s flitted around the edge of legendary status for the last thirty years.  If the movie is accurate, which I have serious doubts about, then he was a real a-hole.  I think they relied heavily on the people whom Jobs wronged as sources versus his supporters.  Jobs comes across more as a sociopath than as a visionary.  They would have been better off continuing into his immense success with the I-Pad and I-phone to demonstrate the value of his vision but cut it off at the I-Pod (which seems almost quaint nowadays).  I don’t think I learned a whole lot about him so I’d classify this as a revenge flick more than anything else.
MVP:  Gad as Steve Wozniak, the brains behind the operation

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