SELMA

(2014) 128 Minutes, Rated PG-13

A.C.’s Review:  I went to see this on MLK day appropriately enough. The movie focus on Martin Luther King trying to organize a march from Selma to the Alabama capitol in protest of blatant voting rights violation against blacks in the state. When he’s not battling racists MLK is often visiting Lyndon Baines Johnson at the White House trying to get the reluctant President to get busy on Civil Rights legislation.

The movie was okay but it may not get the awards that it was shooting for by releasing on Christmas to qualify for the awards season. There was nothing that stood out  about it other than the mind boggling casting of Tom Wilkinson as LBJ and Dylan Baker as J. Edgar Hoover. These guys look NOTHING like the real men and there is nothing the least bit in Wilkinson’s performance to suggest LBJ is a Texan. Complete miscasting. Also Oprah one of the producers shows up in the proceedings to dust off her SAG card.

Best Scene: The montage of people’s reaction across the nation when they see the brutality of the racists trying to prevent the Freedom Marches.

A.C.’s Rating:  DVD

UNBROKEN

(2014) 137 Minutes, Rated PG

A.C.’s Review:  Sooner or later actors like to get into the director’s chair. With the movie UNBROKEN Angelina Jolie throws her hat in the directing ring. The movie details the real life story of Louis Zamperini…son of Italian immigrants and all around juvenile delinquent. Encouraged by his older brother who sees Louis has a knack for running, the young man soon leaves his behaving badly days behind him to be an Olympic champion in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

The majority of the movie however details how the man literally could not be broken. First he survives for 47 mind numbing days on a rubber raft with two other crewmen when their bomber has to ditch in the Pacific during World War II. Then after rescue he is continually brutalized by a sadistic commandant at a POW camp in Japan. This guys willpower and knack for survival is off any known scale. If it had been me I probably would have died in the raft like one of his compatriots did before I even made it to the Japanese prison.

Jolie does a fine job and for me the highlight of the movie was actually the first half hour detailing a harrowing combat mission. It’s the first movie I’ve even seen that actually makes you feel like you were miles high in the sky inside a bomber and how dangerous it was when Zeros are making a run at you. Plus seeing the formation of Allied bombers in the air was more majestic than any laser guided smart bomb we use today to take out the bad guys. Great special effects were used here.

The movie only fails in  that only at one point in the movie do we ever truly seem to know what Louis is thinking while all this is happening to him. Way to internalized. That flaw aside it was a good movie.

Best Scene: The ariel combat in the beginning of the movie.

A.C.’s Rating:  Matinee

TAKEN 3

(2014) 109 Minutes, Rated PG-13

Mike's Review: With the first Taken movie they really had something and it did so well it surprised everyone. Then they put together a decent sequel, but it wasn't as good as the first, but was still fun to watch.  Now with Taken 3 they were really scraping the bottom of the barrel for ideas.  First they have a different actor from the first Taken movie in the "bad guy" husband role and then they kill off Famke Janssen just to get a story line that would warrant Liam Neeson going on a spree of kicking butts and taking names.  They either should have left this line of movies at two, or found a better plot before trying to milk more money out of a trilogy that was never supposed to be a trilogy. Its sad to say but this string of sequels has finally played out for me.  The first Taken is still the best.   

Best Scene:  The fight scenes are pretty good.

Mike's Rating: Matinee. 

Bean's Review: Action packed and entertaining enough, but not as good as the first or second movies.  As I have written before, if you are making a sequel, it should be as good as the first movie or better.  If not, why bother?  

As Liam Neeson’s character is accused of murdering his ex-wife and Forest Whitaker’s character is the LAPD’s Inspector,  I did enjoy the “cat and mouse” interplay between Liam Neeson’s character and Forest Whitaker’s character.  

In trying to track down Neeson’s character, the police “bug” Maggie Grace’s character.  The scene in the ladies room with Neeson, Grace and then the police was intriguing.

However, it was fairly evident that Famke Janssen’s husband was involved in her death.  As an aside, it seems that Janssen’s character’s die in movies (i.e. X-Men).

Best scene: The car chases and pushing Neeson’s character over the cliff

Bean’s rating: DVD

PADDINGTON

(2015) 95 Minutes, Rated PG

Mike's Review: This movie was actually better than I thought it was going to be.  The story was good. The special effects were pretty good and it was actually kind of funny. Overall it was a really good, entertaining, family movie.

My 5 year old daughter really enjoyed it as well.  There were plenty of funny scenes to keep us laughing, but we both didn't like the fact they killed off the uncle bear.

Best Scene:  There were a few pretty funny scenes I thought were pretty good.  My daughter liked the bathtub down the stairs scene as well as the ending where they had a snowball fight.

Mike's Rating: I would have to say this is a must see. 

NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECERT OF THE TOMB

(2014) 98 Minutes, Rated PG

Bean's Review: Yet, another sequel.  Entertaining enough, but not as good as the first one.  If a sequel is not going to be as good or better than the initial movie, create a totally different movie.

The museum figures are losing their ability to come to “life” at night due to the tablet losing its magic because it is not obtaining enough moonlight.  So, the movie is based on getting the tablet “rebooted”.

It was disquieting seeing  Robin Williams character, die, than come back to “life” when the tablet regained its magic. 

The introduction of Sir Lancelot was welcomed, as he was pretty amusing.  I did not care for the monkey and its relationship with Larry.  

Ricky Gervais’s acting is always fun to watch.

Best scene:  Sir Lancelot interrupting the play “Camelot” on stage in London.  Hugh Jackman, portraying King Arthur, was a riot, especially the nod to “Wolverine”.

Bean’s rating:  borderline Matinee/DVD

Mike's Review: This was a cute movie, but you can tell the story is getting old and they are trying to change it up.  I agree with my brother on the way they ended the movie, It could go on or turn into a different type of story line with a new cast and at a different museum.

Overall its a good family movie with some laughs

Best Scene:  Hugh Jackman was a riot.

Mike's Rating: Matinee

THE GAMBLER

(2014) 111 Minutes, Rated R

A.C.’s Review:  Writing a review for this is very difficult because the film is not even worth the time to write it but if it saves even one person from blowing a hard earned $10.00 on an admission ticket then I can justify it. Every now and then I go to a film where I know little or nothing about it and usually am quite surprised and satisfied...and then there is an experience like THE GAMBLER where I actually walk out of the theater angry.

Where to begin…I guess with a thumbnail sketch of the alleged plot. Mark Wahlberg plays Jim Bennet a college professor so addicted to gambling to the point where he owes some very bad men hundreds of thousands of dollars and has 7 days to pay up…or else DA,DA, DUM!!!

I can’t remember when I have ever seen such a loathsome central character in a movie. Bennet doesn’t give a s@#t about anybody . For example he tells his entire lecture class of students only one of them has any true talent (the next time we see the class almost everyone but a half dozen have dropped his course). He has a loveless relationship with his rich mother played by Jessica Lange (who knew she was old enough to play Wahlberg’s mother!) He is disrespectful to everybody including three different sets of gangsters he owes money to. Just a complete creep with NO redeeming qualities. None.

The glacial pace is scene after scene of him either pontificating to his class, playing cards (thankfully one scene employs the “speeded up” camera technique so  we don’t have to see him lose all is money in real time and just being a general A-hole. I just hated this guy. At one point he gets $250,000 from his rich mother only to blow it at an Indian casino instead of paying back the Korean mobster he owes. Idiot.

At on one occasion its even pointed out to Bennet he’s got everything going for him, looks, position, a wealthy family…he even is a published novelist and still he manages to throw it all away.

What else to hate about this movie? Let’s see:

A tacked on “Love Story” that you can’t even call it that because it exists for only a few reasons. (It’s with one of his students and the one he proclaims in the class as the one who has any TRUE writing talent-she also serves drinks at the illegal Korean casino)

*Nobody wants a movie in the 21^st century whose only female role is that of the mother. She is there for eye candy…plain and simple.

*Someone is needed for Bennet to allegedly care about (he only cares about himself from everything presented on the screen) when the mobsters need to threaten someone other than himself to get the money due to them.

The depth of this relationship seems not to rise above a one night stand but that’s not the way its presented in what passes for a climax.

John Goodman with second billing pops up for a total of three scenes for the whole movie. During his second appearance he gives a speech in which only a person in a movie would ever speak like this. It was as if he was aware he was in a movie. Admittedly it was a pretty good speech to Bennet on what he should have done one time when he was a million dollars ahead gambling.

The only time this movie shows any sort of pulse is the last half hour when there is an elaborate plan by Bennet that I can’t even begin to explain here that involves rigging the outcome of a basketball game via one of his students who is the star of the team as a way to solve his life threatening gambling debts.

Why is this dreary film being dropped on the Christmas season? One reason and one reason only. The cast and crew obviously believe it to be Oscar Bait and it has to be released before the end of the year to quality. Mark Wahlberg after years of appearing in popcorn flicks like TRANSFORMERS 4 makes a stab here at being a “serious actor” in this role….bad choice…very bad choice.

Then there is the director…Rupert Wyatt. This guy made the stellar RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES and passed on the sequel because he didn’t think he would have enough time to prepare. Matt Reeves director of the highly praised DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES appears to have had plenty of time and delivered one of the year’s best movies…while Rupert ditched the sequel to direct….this abomination.

In conclusion I am sorry this is the first week of the year because I can’t declare it the worst movie of the year…come next December some film would have to had worked mighty hard to take the crown from this dud.

Best Scene: Didn’t take place in the movie. It was between the couple next to me. 45 minutes in and the boyfriend wanted to bolt. His quotes were as follows “We should leave”. “This is going nowhere”  and “ WTF” his girlfriend’s response was “Maybe it will get better”

I honestly didn’t think he was going to win in his bid to leave but about 15 minutes later she apparently gave in and they hustled out. They were perhaps the smartest people in the audience.

A.C.’s Rating: Not even on free broadcast TV because if this ever aired the channel would get switched before the first commercial break. Take a cue from The Gambler in the movie and use your $10 to buy scratch off lotto tickets instead...it would be money better spent.

ANNIE

(2014) 118 Minutes, Rated PG

A.C.’s Review:  December is one of those times of year that the movie studios roll out what are described as “feel good” movies where you can watch the tale and go away with a positive and upbeat attitude. One of those movies being released this holidays season by the hack plagued SONY pictures is ANNIE and it delivers on its feel good promise.

ANNIE of course is the Broadway musical as well as 1982 movie featuring the rags to riches tale of an orphan who captivates the heart of a wealthy industrialist. As one of the tunes from the musical go they discover “I don’t need anything but you!”. Along with his loyal aid Grace and dog Sandy they form an unlikely but seamless family.

The  remake reimagines the story from FDR depression era New York to late 2014 Manhattan complete with many shots of the Freedom Tower (aka the New World Trade Center) in the background…kind of subliminal message of hope and renewal that permeates the movie.

Jamie Foxx takes the “Daddy Warbucks” role rechristened her as a man named Stacks who runs a cell phone conglomerate that puts AT &T and Sprint to shame. His right hand woman is Grace (Rose Byrne not having to hide her aussie accent for once and the new Annie is played by rising young talent 10 year old  Quvenzhané Wallis. Also on hand is Cameron Diaz playing the wicked/drunken foster home manager Ms. Hannigan.

The movie pretty much follows the outline of the previous incarnations right down to Ms. Hannigan and Stack’s right campaign manager (Stacks is running for Mayor of NYC) plotting to hire actors to portray Annie’s long lost parents to get her out of the way. In a nice redemptive arc Hannigan changes her mind before Stack’s loses Annie forever and a helicopter chase across the city caps off the movie.

This movie was an absolute pleasure. I liked all the characters and it had a great supporting cast such as Annie’s fellow foster sisters and a kleptomaniac social worker Annie must deal with. The story was familiar but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment of this incarnation. Capping it all off was it actually was the first time that I actually enjoyed a Cameron Diaz performance. She stole every scene she was in.

The only points I would take off is in regards to the music. It was nice to have the familiar show tunes from the musical turn up (though tweaked a bit to update them for the modern era) however a few of the best ones were completely left out and they were missed but in some cases it was understandable as they were tied to closely to life in the depression.  And while Wallis was an excellent actress her singing could not match Andrea McCardles from the Broadway musical soundtrack of the late 1970’s.

One final note is that I spend a lot of time on movie message boards as a movie fan and it sad to see the amount of discriminatory comments on the message boards for ANNIE because people had an issue with “Black Annie” instead of the traditional redhead freckled face version. What these room temperature IQ’s don’t realize when the original Annie was written minorities were an afterthought in servant roles at best and never as the leads. If it were written today its conceivable to have been written for a multi ethnic cast as in the movie.

Best Scene: Just about any scene with Ms. Hannigan versus her foster kids.

A.C.’s Rating:  Full Price Admission