Suicide Squad

Actors: Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ike Barinholtz, Scott Eastwood, Cara Delevingne
Rating: 9 out of 10, I am seriously worried about the state of movie critics who have almost universally panned this anti-hero centric endeavor because I thought it truly rocked. There were engaging, if demented characters, and gallows humor generously laced throughout. The plot is a little thin but this is a superhero movie not Shakespeare and while the “heroes” aren’t generally admirable, they’re certainly watchable. Will Smith proves he’s remains a bona fide movie star while still being generous with the other actors in the ensemble. Harley Quinn wears the hell out of a pair of shorts as Margot Robbie continues her white hot streak. I thought the only miss was Joel Kinnaman as the supposedly good guy leader; he doesn’t have the screen presence to pull off the part, especially in this cast. Everyone else, and I mean everyone, was awesome. Don’t listen to the self-important gas bag critics, go see this rowdy, no holds barred excess of a flick. I loved it. 
MVP: Smith as Deadshot leads by mere presence, tough call though after seeing those shorts again

Vanishing Point

Actors: Barry Newman, Cleavon Little, Dean Jagger, Gilda Texter
Rating: 8 out of 10, This film was very interesting to see again after all these years. I first saw it as a high school kid when kit first came out and it has stuck with me ever since. It feels like a farewell to the 1960s and everything that era represented. Kowalski picks up a car on Friday night in Denver and decides he has to be in San Francisco by Monday. His subsequent streak through the American southwest with various and sundry police agencies hot on his tail works on so many levels. Kowalski's ride almost becomes a mystical journey towards freedom contested by the forces of evil - The Man.The nude motorcycle rider made the most serious impression on the high school version of myself and nothing over the years has dimmed that opinion,. She remains an almost perfect example of the 1960s dream girl. Unfortunately the 1970s and bulldozers always seem to win.
MVP: Newman as the legendary Kowalski

The Birds

Actors: Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette, Veronica Cartwright.

Rating: 9 out of 10, This is the first “horror” movie I can remember be allowed to watch. It scared me then and continues. Hitchcock was truly the master of building suspense gradually to a terrorizing finale. I was too young to appreciate the charms of Ms. Hedren at the time but I can now fully understand why Mr. Hitchcock was so severely smitten. She had screen presence to spare and teamed up with one of my favorite actors of the era, Rod Taylor. Taylor’s weird relationship with his mother was a little distracting but this was the sixties. I think the last scene of the movie could go down as the most tension laden ever filmed. This movie has aged well and is still eminently watchable, a tribute to Hitchcock’s genius; so tough to look away when Hedren is on screen as well.  

MVP: Hedren as Melanie Daniels luminous and smart bird food 

Andromeda Strain

Actors: Arthur Hill, James Olson, Kate Reid, David Wayne

Rating: 6 out of 10, This hasn’t aged well which is not surprising as it highlights the leading edge technology of 1971 which is laughable in today’s society. The reveal of the town killed off by exposure to the extraterrestrial bug is startling but the dialogue is stilted to the point of unintentional comedy. While this was a fresh and thoroughly interesting story thirty years ago it comes across as almost quaint nowadays. The supposedly dramatic race to turn off the nuke was ridiculous.

MVP: Reid as the butch, epileptic scientist steals every scene she’s in 

Hands of Stone

Actors: Édgar Ramírez, Robert De Niro, Usher, Ruben Blades, Ellen Barkin, Ana de Armas, Oscar Jaenada, John Turturro.

Rating: 7 out of 10, I am certainly no stranger to US-Panamanian relations and the inherent tension since I’ve been married to a lovely Panamanian lady for more than three decades. I was in Panama during the height of Duran’s career so I could relate to some of what was depicted although they took severe license with how Panamanians were treated, probably in an effort to excuse Duran’s boorish behavior at times. This movie belongs to Edgar Ramirez who is nothing short of amazing as Roberto Duran. I really enjoyed the film which, if even a bit true, provided some context for the enigmatic Panamanian boxer.

MVP: Ramirez as Roberto Duran, an actor to keep an eye on in the future

Comancheros

Actors: John Wayne, Stuart Whitman, Ina Balin, Lee Marvin, Nehemiah Persoff, Bruce Cabot, Jack Elam, Patrick Wayne, Edgar Buchanan

Rating: 9 out of 10, Once again into my recently acquired stack of beloved old movies with one of Wayne’s best. It’s a Western, duhh, with the usual early sixties lack of any historical accuracy but when Duke strides onto the screen much is forgiven. He has Stuart Whitman as his foil and continuously pokes fun, labeling him, “Mon-Soor” as the foppish Whitman is thrust into the midst of Texas Rangers fighting Indians and bandits. Another great stroll down memory lane with a movie that holds up remarkably well.

MVP: Wayne, the Duke, of course 

Lion in Winter

Actors: Peter O'Toole, Katharine Hepburn, John Castle, Anthony Hopkins, Jane Merrow, Timothy Dalton, Nigel Terry

Rating: 10 out of 10, One of the truly great films of all time and the first I watched after receiving a bunch of old favorites for my birthday. This could be the most quotable film ever made with line after great line just rolling out from possibly the most talented casts ever. Headlined by Peter O’Toole and Kate Hepburn at her height of dramatic prowess but also featuring the cinematic debuts of both Anthony Hopkins and Timothy Dalton. The non-stop banter and conspiracy is almost dizzying to watch as King Henry and Queen Eleanor vie with each other and their children during a Christmas court in the late twelfth century. I’ve seen this so many times that I could almost repeat the lines myself but that would be blasphemy when they’re being uttered so flawlessly by true masters of the spoken word. Great, great movie.

MVP: Hepburn as Queen Eleanor spinning so many webs in a male dominated world and ultimately surviving by intellect