Winter’s Tale is getting panned by critics, currently at 31 on Metacritic and 15% on Rotten Tomatoes. Honestly I didn’t think it was a bad movie. It was ok for me; not great, but certainly not terrible.

It is yet another based-on-a-novel movie, which there seems to be a rash of lately. I think the book may be pretty good, the backdrop of the movie had some merit. It was a little weird at times, a little too far out there for a traditional romantic flick, but a neat idea anyway. A man falls in love with a woman so much that their love keeps him alive for over a hundred years, until his purpose in life is fulfilled. Some of it was pretty sappy obviously. I do think the story could have been done better. It was written for the screen (and directed by) Akiva Goldsman. He is the writer behind such great movies as I Am Legend and A Beautiful Mind, as well as I, Robot (well, I liked that last one anyway…), and he brings along Russell Crowe and Will Smith from those earlier successes to star in this movie. But he also wrote some terrible ones, including Batman & Robin and the Da Vinci Code movies. Winter’s Tale falls somewhere in the middle.

When even Spiderman and Superman can be completely rebooted within a handful of years of the previous release, you knew it was only a matter of time before some of the older 80’s flicks saw new time on the big screen. Robocop is the newest remake, and if you can ignore some of the pretty rough acting at times, it is a great action-packed “man” movie.

The original came out when I was a kid, and I thought it was awesome. I was a classic 80’s boy, I loved robots and police good guy vs bad guy films, so it was the best of both worlds! I wanted to see this new one from the first trailer I saw, and it didn’t disappoint. Some of the plot points don’t flesh out well, but the action is superb throughout. It features some roll-your-eyes dialogue at times (Samuel L Jackson’s extremist news program, though this is on purpose) and what I thought some really over-acting by Michael Keaton, who plays the original Ronny Cox role as the diabolical head bad dude with the master plan. But you see a movie like this for the gun fights, and here this movie excels.

Not giving anything away when I say the ending sets up for a sequel, which will probably only be greenlit if this one brings in the money the studio is hoping for. I for one hope it does, and that it comes off better than the original movie’s sequels which were pretty hard to watch for the most part. Definitely worth seeing this one on the big screen if you can make it.

I was due for a true clunker of a movie. I’ve seen a lot of good ones lately, and even the so-so ones were still enjoyable. So I knew a letdown was eminent.

Based on a true story, The Monuments Men tells the story of a group of men trying to recapture art stolen by Hitler Germany. This becomes more dire as the movie progresses, when a notice is given by Hitler himself to destroy all stores if the event of his death or Germany’s fall. I have a soft spot for the fine arts, so I really wanted to like this movie. While it does showcase some fine actors, it never became a good movie.

This movie never seems to find its footing, or even decide what kind of film it wants to be. It is supposed to be a comedy-drama, and tries to do both to the max. There are quirky, almost unbelievable moments and dialogue (complete with slapstick-ish music), followed by extremely serious and (supposed to be) heartfelt scenes. Because of this, it fell flat for me and rang false overall. The ending was pretty anticlimactic as well, and I left with the impression that George Clooney just called a bunch of friends and said, “Hey, lets make a movie next weekend, anyone have any ideas?” and Matt Damon surfed Wikipedia until he saw an article on this historic group. The only thing this movie did was draw attention to perhaps a lessor known side war going on in the greater scope of World War II, so at least it led me home to open up my computer and research a little.

As a child, Legos were probably my favorite toy. Like many children, I had buckets, boxes, and wagons full of them. When the original instructions were lost, I’d use my imagination to build just about anything out of them. Maybe because of that, I’ve been excited to see this movie since I first saw a trailer for it half a year ago.

This is a solid movie overall. It is a kids movie through and through, yet there are plenty of jokes that adults can snicker at. I did appreciate that none of the jokes were true “adult jokes,” that is, too often I see a movie that kids will love, yet seems to be full of (in my eyes) inappropriate humor. Even if a child is too young to understand the dialogue, doesn’t make it ok. I think a balance can be struck to make a movie enjoyable to both child and adult, and The Lego Movie does this well.

This movie does have flaws. The first half, while clever and funny at times, moves a little slow. The creators rely a little too heavily of the characters’ banter, and once the newness of seeing everyone’s favorite building blocks moving around, there isn’t much else going on. However, the ending is very satisfying, so if you make sure to sit through the slow patches, you will be rewarded. In the end, I wished again for a big pile of blocks to rebuild the world.

Typically the early part of the year is the dumping ground for movie studios, at least it seems that way often. Movies that they feel weren’t quite good enough to rush to the theater in December in time for awards season get quietly released the first part of the next year. Labor Day is a movie that, though decent, doesn’t quite feature the sterling acting the studio probably envisioned when it was greenlit.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a good, if somewhat unsurprising, movie. Perhaps the trailer, which I saw numerous times (a bad side effect of seeing so many movies) gave away too much, as I knew the surprising “twist” before it was shown. Kate Winslet was good, but it seems her role has gotten stale. She always seems to play the hurt, vulnerable character. Granted, she has that part down pat, having won numerous awards including an Oscar (from 6 nominations). Josh Brolin was his usual detached macho male character, almost to a fault, as I didn’t feel any chemistry between him and Winslet. Even when they had supposedly fallen deep in love, I didn’t know if he truly cared for her or was just using her to his ends, though this wasn’t meant to be a subplot.

All in all, a good movie and worth a single viewing, though you can skip the theater and wait for Netflix on this one. It’s the kind of movie that will be in the $5 dvd bin before long too.

Gimme Shelter is holding just a 37 Metascore (based on critics’ reviews), but if you read them, you’ll see the biggest complaint is it is too “preachy”. If this is the only reason to not like a movie, then you are missing the purpose. User ratings however put it at 6.6/10 currently, and 80% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is about how I felt about it.

I thought this movie was good. I knew nothing of Vanessa Hudgens going in to the movie, I’m too old to have seen High School Musical, which I guess was her big break. But this movie also has Rosario Dawson & James Earl Jones, both fine actors in my opinion. The acting was so-so throughout (Hudgens I thought is superb, some of the supporting cast not so much), and the story felt very rote (it is based on a true story, and the movie seemed sort of paint-by-numbers). But it is overall an enjoyable 2 hours to spend, and you certainly root for Hudgens’ character, who was dealt a rough hand from birth and wants nothing more than a helping hand to get her on the road to redemption.

If like some of these critics, the mere mention of the Bible or a couple verses read here and there will turn you off, you can skip this one. If, however, you want to see a heart-warming story of a young person struggling to overcome, this is well worth seeing.

I, Frankenstein is proof that a movie can be enjoyable if you just don’t take it too seriously. It is getting some truly terrible reviews by the critics, but is doing a little better in the ratings among average viewers. I saw it not expecting too much, and while it has flaws, it is a fun action flick.

The story follows Frankenstein’s monster in current day, as he becomes part of a never-ending war between good (gargoyles) and bad (demons). The action in the movie is great, the fight scenes are pretty brilliant I thought. The dialogue is rough at times, but you don’t see a movie like this for the dialogue. And the director and writers seem to realize this, as they keep the talking short, just long enough to advance the story, before launching into another fight.

The characters are all one dimensional, Aaron Ekhart doesn’t do much more than grunt and brood for the most part, but if you want to kill 1 1/2 hours, and see some good gripping battles, you can sit back and enjoy this one.

My parents raised me as a reader, stressing that I read for enjoyment and knowledge, so I’ve been reading all of my life. I also consider myself a fairly decent movie buff. Having said all that, I’m sorry to admit I’ve never read a Tom Clancy novel or seen any of the previously made Jack Ryan movies. So I went in to this one fresh with no preconceived notions.

As a spy action film, it started well and I was hooked through the first half to two thirds of the film. Then it sort of fell apart for me. The last part of the movie was hurried through, and I understand they probably did this on purpose to build excitement, but it just felt rushed. Not to mention, the story asked the viewer to follow them on some pretty outlandish leaps of faith. (Really? You can guess the location of bombing from looking at a series of random photos taken? You can guess the exact spot based on looking at blueprints of the area handed to you 2 minutes ago? Many like this in the last 20 minutes of the film.) Really unfortunate, most of the film until then was great.

If the movie does well enough to greenlight a sequel, I’d be in, hoping it to be better, because this one definitely had potential. And it will make me crack a Clancy before too long to see where the muse for the movie started.

Last night I made it to see August: Osage County. I was unsure if I really wanted to see this one, seemed very much a “chick flick” from the previews, but the play it was based on won a Pulitzer so I had to give it a chance.

First off, it was indeed very well written. The characters are shaded and complex. Meryl Streep is the matriarch of a family with dark secrets, brought together after their father (Streep’s husband) has committed suicide. Everyone seems to be hiding something, and as each is revealed (to each other, as well as to the audience), the story really starts to tug at you. You really feel for each person, even when they do despicable things. Streep’s character in particular is so well developed that you find yourself loving, hating, pitying, and condemning her at different times as the story progresses.

I wouldn’t say this is a great movie, but it is a great story, and it has plenty of surprises. The acting is superb for the most part, and the characters are fleshed out in a way that makes them feel very real. A solid date night movie.

Inside Llewyn Davis
Rotten Tomatoes : 94%
Metascore : 92

People are buzzing about this movie, however a few friends saw it and said it was no good, so I went in with mixed feelings. It is a Coen brothers film, and it definitely has their style of comedy, so if you don’t like their movies, you most certainly will not like this one. I myself am not a huge fan of most of their stuff, but Llewyn Davis was getting such sterling reviews, that I thought I’d give it a chance. I’m (mostly) glad I did.

Llewyn is a struggling, homeless folk singer in the early 60s. Every bad thing that can happen, does happen throughout the film to poor Llewyn. This leaves him pretty jaded and prone to anger with even his close friends. Thus, it becomes hard to really cheer him on, as he becomes a bigger and bigger jerk throughout the film. But because literally nothing goes his way, he still feels like the underdog you want to root for.

Some of the dark comedy is funny, as his troubles pile up, and in the end Llewyn sort of redeems himself and finally seems to find a kind of happiness, or at least a sense that everything is going to be alright. I’m not gushing over the movie, and I certainly don’t think it is worthy of the ratings listed above, but it is overall a solid movie that is well acted (Oscar Isaac is very good as Llewyn) and well directed. Worth a rental if not exactly a rush-to-the-theater and see.