Chappie, 2015.Directed by Neill Blomkamp. Starring Hugh Jackman, Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Sigourney Weaver and Jose Pablo Cantillo.SYNOPSIS:In the near future, crime is patrolled by an oppressive mechanized police force. When one police droid, Chappie, is stolen and given new programming, he becomes the first robot with the ability to think and feel for himself.To […]
Movie Review – Son of a Gun (2014)
Son of a Gun, 2014.Directed by Julius Avery. Starring Ewan McGregor, Brenton Thwaites, Alicia Vikander, Jacek Koman, Matt Nable, Tom Budge and Nash Edgerton.SYNOPSIS:JR busts out of prison with Brendan Lynch, Australia’s most notorious criminal, and joins Lynch’s gang for a gold heist that soon pits the two men against one another.Sound the alarm; it’s […]
Movie Review – Inherent Vice (2014)
Inherent Vice, 2014.Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Katherine Waterston, Owen Wilson, Benicio Del Toro, Eric Roberts, Reese Witherspoon, Michael Kenneth Williams, Jena Malone, and Martin Short.SYNOPSIS:In 1970, drug-fueled Los Angeles detective Larry “Doc” Sportello investigates the disappearance of a former girlfriend.Reviewer’s note: I have no interest in describing the plot […]
Second Opinion – A Most Violent Year (2014)
A Most Violent Year, 2014.Written and Directed by J.C. Chandor. Starring Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain, David Oyelowo, Alessandro Nivola, Ashley Williams, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Elyes Gabel and Albert Brooks.SYNOPSIS:In New York City 1981, an ambitious immigrant fights to protect his business and family during the most dangerous year in the city’s history.Watching A Most Violent […]
Second Opinion – American Sniper (2014)
American Sniper, 2014.Directed by Clint Eastwood. Starring Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Cory Hardrict, Jake McDorman, Kyle Gallner, Luke Grimes and Sam Jaeger.SYNOPSIS:Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle’s pinpoint accuracy saves countless lives on the battlefield and turns him into a legend. Back home to his wife and kids after four tours of duty, however, Chris finds […]
Second Opinion – Foxcatcher (2014)
Foxcatcher, 2014.Directed by Bennett Miller. Starring Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo, Sienna Miller and Vanessa Redgrave.SYNOPSIS:The greatest Olympic Wrestling Champion brother team joins Team Foxcatcher led by multimillionaire sponsor John E. du Pont as they train for the 1988 games in Seoul – a union that leads to unlikely circumstances.Here’s a strange one. Sometimes, […]
Second Opinion – Unbroken (2014)
Unbroken, 2014.Directed by Angelina Jolie. Starring Jack O’Connell, Domhnall Gleeson, Miyavi, Jai Courtney, Alex Russell, Finn Wittrock, Garrett Hedlund and Luke Treadaway.SYNOPSIS:After a near-fatal plane crash in WWII, Olympian Louis Zamperini spends a harrowing 47 days in a raft with two fellow crewmen before he’s caught by the Japanese navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war […]
Movie Review – Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)
Exodus: Gods and Kings, 2014Directed by Ridley Scott. Starring Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, John Turturro, Aaron Paul, Ben Mendelsohn, Maria Valverde, Sigourney Weaver and Ben Kingsley.SYNOPSIS:The defiant leader Moses rises up against the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses, setting 600,000 slaves on a monumental journey of escape from Egypt and its terrifying cycle of deadly plagues.In the hands […]
Second Opinion – Black Sea (2014)
Black Sea, 2014.Directed by Kevin Mcdonald. Starring Jude Law, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, David Threlfall, Grigoriy Dobrygin, Jodie Whittaker, Karl Davies and Michael Smiley.SYNOPSIS:In order to make good with his former employers, a submarine captain takes a job with a shadowy backer to search the depths of the Black Sea for a submarine rumored to […]
Movie Review – Big Eyes (2014)
Big Eyes, 2014.Directed by Tim Burton. Starring Christoph Waltz, Amy Adams, Danny Huston, Jason Schwartzman, Krysten Ritter and Terence Stamp.SYNOPSIS:A drama about the awakening of the painter Margaret Keane, her phenomenal success in the 1950s, and the subsequent legal difficulties she had with her husband, who claimed credit for her works in the 1960s.What are […]
