The Wolf Of Wall Street

Revered filmmaker Martin Scorsese directs the story of New York stockbroker Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio). From the American dream to corporate greed, Belfort goes from penny stocks and righteousness to IPOs and a life of corruption in the late 80s. Excess success and affluence in his early twenties as founder of the brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont warranted Belfort the title "The Wolf of Wall Street."

Wow!!!  This was a hell of a long movie.  That's really the only knock I can make against it though.  The movie had amazing performances across the board.  Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill were amazing.  You kept going back and forth between despising them and wanting for them to come out on time.  The build up from the bottom up and the downward spiral from there was amazingly directed.  And the laughs?  I had no idea that this would end up being one of the funnier movies of the year between the way the friends talk to each other and a scene of DiCaprio's drug use that might be one of the funniest scenes ever.  This is easily one of the best movies of the year.

I would absolutely recommend people checking this out.  But it is over three hours long so be warned.  Also - the R rating is because of ALOT of drug use and nudity.  But it really is an incredible movie across the board.

The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty

Ben Stiller directs and stars in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, James Thurber's classic story of a day-dreamer who escapes his anonymous life by disappearing into a world of fantasies filled with heroism, romance and action. When his job along with that of his co-worker (Kristen Wiig) are threatened, Walter takes action in the real world embarking on a global journey that turns into an adventure more extraordinary than anything he could have ever imagined.

I really enjoyed this movie.  I like that they kept it artsy and simple instead of making it all cartoonish and over the top.  Ben Stiller actually kept this movie real, simple and down to earth while visually stunning with the daydreams and then Walter Mitty's actual travels.  For anyone who has zoned out into daydreams and has a great imagination, this is a great movie.  I was so invested in the movie that the ending really hit me and sent me into a daydream about my life and realizing the daily rewards and what not.

I would definitely recommend people checking this out.  It's a great ride in the life of an imaginative daydreamer.  Please be advised that the movie is done in a very artsy style and that it is not a textbook mainstream movie.

Walking With Dinosaurs

For the first time in movie history, audiences will truly see and feel what it was like when dinosaurs ruled the Earth. Walking With Dinosaurs is the ultimate immersive, big-screen experience. Recent discoveries and a breakthrough in technology will introduce new and unique dinosaurs that are more real than ever before and put moviegoers in the middle of a thrilling prehistoric adventure, where an underdog dinosaur triumphs against all odds to become a hero for the ages.

This movie was more of an entertaining documentary than a movie.  But it was like a documentary geared towards kids for the most part.  The dinosaur voices were all done in a narrative format.  The look of the movie was great and felt real and dinosaur fans should absolutely love it.   There really isn't much I took away from it other than the good overall look of it.  Why this was the only family/kids movie that opened for Christmas is baffling.

Outside of huge dinosaur fans, I wouldn't really recommend people checking this out.  It's not necessarily bad but it's just kind of there and there are much better options out there.

Grudge Match

In Grudge Match, De Niro and Stallone play Billy "The Kid" McDonnen and Henry "Razor" Sharp, two local Pittsburgh fighters whose fierce rivalry put them in the national spotlight. Each had scored a victory against the other during their heyday, but in 1983, on the eve of their decisive third match, Razor suddenly announced his retirement, refusing to explain why but effectively delivering a knock-out punch to both their careers. Thirty years later, boxing promoter Dante Slate Jr., seeing big dollar signs, makes them an offer they can't refuse: to re-enter the ring and settle the score once and for all.  But they may not have to wait that long: on their first encounter in decades, their long-festering feud erupts into an unintentionally hilarious melee that instantly goes viral. The sudden social media frenzy transforms their local grudge match into a must-see HBO event. Now, if they can just survive the training, they may actually live to fight again.  

This movie is pretty much exactly what you saw in the trailer.  There are age jokes and assorted laughs.  The movie is incredibly formula in every way and they go out of their way to pull every possible heart string that they can.  However, the movie is still enjoyable across the board and you care about how it's going to all play out knowingly for the characters and you find yourself rooting for everyone.

I'd somewhat recommend people checking this movie out.  It's a decent watch but there are definitely better choices.

47 Ronin

In 47 Ronin, after  a treacherous warlord kills their master and banishes their kind, 47 leaderless samurai vow to seek vengeance and restore honor to their people. Driven from their homes and dispersed across the land, this band of Ronin must seek the help of Kai (Reeves), a half-breed they once rejected, as they fight their way across a savage world of mythic beasts, shape-shifting witchcraft and wondrous terrors.  As this exiled, enslaved outcast becomes their most deadly weapon, he will transform into the hero who inspires this band of outnumbered rebels to seize eternity.

I went into this expecting an either hit or miss movie.  It could end up being a wannabe Kung Fu movie with a horribly miscast Keanu Reeves or it could end up being a well told story with great action.  Happily it was much more of the latter.  I really liked this movie.  The characters and their relationships to each other were very well developed and the action scenes were great.  The most shocking part of it all was that Keanu Reeves was not remotely miscast and was perfect for this role.

I would absolutely recommend people checking this out.  It was a very enjoyable movie in every way.  Very surprising.  Probably one of the bigger ones of the year.

Black Nativity

 

In a contemporary adaptation of Langston Hughes' celebrated play, Black Nativity follows Langston (Jacob Latimore), a street-wise teen from Baltimore raised by a single mother, as he journeys to New York City to spend the Christmas holiday with his estranged relatives Reverend Cornell and Aretha Cobbs (Forest Whitaker and Angela Bassett). Unwilling to live by the imposing Reverend Cobbs' rules, a frustrated Langston is determined to return home to his mother, Naima (Jennifer Hudson). Langston embarks on a surprising and inspirational journey and along with new friends, and a little divine intervention, he discovers the true meaning of faith, healing, and family.

This is a textbook heart string pulling holiday drama about family.  The characters work out all their issues since its holiday season and through the trials of the son/grandson.  The music was actually pretty good but outside of that, it was just overdramatic blah blah.

I wouldn't really recommend people watch this.  Its not that its awful, but more that you have seen something very similar to this 1000 times before.  This time there is just singing involved.

American Hustle

A fictional film set in the alluring world of one of the most stunning scandals to rock our nation, American Hustle tells the story of brilliant con man Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale), who along with his equally cunning and seductive British partner Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) is forced to work for a wild FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper).  DiMaso pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia that's as dangerous as it is enchanting.  Jeremy Renner is Carmine Polito, the passionate, volatile, New Jersey political operator caught between the con-artists and Feds. Irving's unpredictable wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) could be the one to pull the thread that brings the entire world crashing down.

This movie was great.  David Russell basically combined his casts from The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook and none of them missed a beat.  Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence were awesome as always.  Amy Adams continues to get better and better with every movie she does.  And Christian Bale?  What else can be said about how great this guy is.  Just the body transformation he went through for this film is mind blowing like what he has done with past roles.  The story was very interesting and watching it all play out was a great hook.  The only knock I could make against this movie is how long it was.  There was no need for this movie to be nearly three hours.  They could have easily trimmed this down.

Regardless of it being too long, I would still absolutely recommend this movie.  It will be on most top ten lists by the end of the year and is sure to get many award nominations, deservedly so.

Saving Mr. Banks

When Walt Disney's daughters begged him to make a movie of their favorite book, P.L. Travers' "Mary Poppins," he made them a promise - one that he didn't realize would take 20 years to keep. In his quest to obtain the rights, Walt comes up against a curmudgeonly, uncompromising writer who has absolutely no intention of letting her beloved magical nanny get mauled by the Hollywood machine. But, as the books stop selling and money grows short, Travers reluctantly agrees to go to Los Angeles to hear Disney's plans for the adaptation.  For those two short weeks in 1961, Walt Disney pulls out all the stops. Armed with imaginative storyboards and chirpy songs from the talented Sherman brothers, Walt launches an all-out onslaught on P.L. Travers, but the prickly author doesn't budge. He soon begins to watch helplessly as Travers becomes increasingly immovable and the rights begin to move further away from his grasp.  It is only when he reaches into his own childhood that Walt discovers the truth about the ghosts that haunt her, and together they set Mary Poppins free to ultimately make one of the most endearing films in cinematic history.

This was a very well done movie and while it eventually got to the happy ending, this was not a light and fluffy Disney movie by any means.  The back story of the author's childhood was tough at times. However, the back and forth jumping in the timeline to explain the much deeper levels of Mary Poppins was amazing storytelling.  It definitely keeps the viewer hooked and wanting to know why PL Travers was the way she was.  Tom Hanks was great at Walt Disney but the best acting of the movie by far was Emma Thompsen and Paul Giamatti as her driver.

I would definitely recommend people checking this movie out.  It is great storytelling on a couple different levels and has some really good acting.

A Madea Christmas

Madea gets coaxed into helping a friend pay her daughter a surprise visit in the country for Christmas, but the biggest surprise is what they'll find when they arrive. As the small, rural town prepares for its annual Christmas Carnival, new secrets are revealed and old relationships are tested while Madea dishes her own brand of Christmas Spirit to all.

I had hoped to find the whole Madea thing funny again after it had gotten so stale during the last couple of entries.  And it had a couple of moments but overall, it was just as bad.  The side story was overly dramatic as always.  And how in the hell Larry The Cable Guy is in a Tyler Perry movie is totally beyond me.

I would not really recommend anyone watching this.  I was a huge fan of Madea at the start.  I still found it funny for the first four or five films but it has definitely run its course now and needs to be shelved for a while, if not permanently.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

With the 70's behind him, San Diego's top rated newsman, Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell), returns to the news desk in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.  Also back for more are Ron's co-anchor and wife, Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), weather man Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), man on the street Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd) and sports guy Champ Kind (David Koechner) - All of whom won't make it easy to stay classy while taking the nation's first 24-hour news channel by storm.

This is pretty much more of the same from the first one.  The funny thing is that  I left the theater after the first one thinking it was stupid and so not funny.  It wasn't until repeated viewings that I realized how damn funny and quotable it was.  That whole experience helped this movie to be more funny at first viewing.  But like I said, it's pretty much more of what was funny in the first.  That material combined with the mocking of news casting evolution provided lots of huge laughs.  

I'd absolutely recommend this movie for anyone that enjoyed the first one.  The characters are all still great and you will be laughing throughout the movie.

Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is based on South African President Nelson Mandela's autobiography of the same name, which chronicles his early life, coming of age, education and 27 years in prison before becoming President and working to rebuild the country's once segregated society. Idris Elba stars as Nelson Mandela.

This is one of those movies that would probably be great for a history buff, unless they see it as propaganda like one point of view history.  I am in no way, shape or form a history buff so I can't really touch on all that stuff and didn't really fully embrace the movie.  I definitely enjoyed it and thought it was well told and well paced around a great performance by Idris Elba.  

I would somewhat recommend the movie.  It's one of those movies that I know is well done and I enjoy it but probably would have enjoyed it more if I were more connected to history and what not.

The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug

 

Having survived the beginning of their unexpected journey, the Company continues East, encountering along the way the skin-changer Beorn and a swarm of giant Spiders in the treacherous forest of Mirkwood. After escaping capture by the dangerous Wood-elves, the Dwarves journey to Lake-town, and finally to the Lonely Mountain itself, where they must face the greatest danger of all - a creature more terrifying than any other; one which will test not only the depth of their courage but the limits of their friendship and the wisdom of the journey itself - the Dragon Smaug.

This is as tough of a movie to review as the first part of The Hobbit last year.  It's an excellent movie.  Visually amazing at all points.  The dragon was pulled off masterfully by Peter Jackson.  The addition of Legolas and the female elf brought a lot more action into the movie.  Comparing it to the first part, I definitely enjoyed this one more because it didn't have the massive amount of development in the beginning that part 1 had.  However, just like the first part there was NO REASON for this movie to be almost three hours long.  And the majorly difficult part of reviewing this is that is nowhere near the league of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy.  Those movies are second only to the original Star Wars trilogty for me and these movies seem so much below par compared to them.  Yet, they are still very enjoyable and incredibly well made movies.

I would definitely recommend this movie just like I would recommend the first part.  Its a great ride and an awesome movie just expect it to be on par with the first part of the Hobbit and you will be satisfied.  If you are looking for Lord Of The Rings level, it is still not there.

Out Of The Furnace

 

Russell Baze (Christian Bale) has a rough life: he works a dead-end blue collar job at the local steel mill by day, and cares for his terminally ill father by night. When Russell's brother Rodney (Casey Affleck) returns home from serving time in Iraq, he gets lured into one of the most ruthless crime rings in the Northeast and mysteriously disappears. The police fail to crack the case, so - with nothing left to lose - Russell takes matters into his own hands, putting his life on the line to seek justice for his brother.

There was something about this movie that kept me hooked and made me want to like this movie.  I liked the characters and thought that the acting across the board was great.  Unfortunately, the movie never really came fully together.  It took way to long to get fully moving.  More disappointing was that once the characters got built up to a certain point they just kind of stopped and left things unanswered.  Woody Harrelson's character is still annoying me now because I felt like I was left waiting for more to be put into the development of it instead of him being a douche just because he's a douche. 

I wouldn't really recommend people checking this out.  Its not that the movie was bad.  It ended up a decent watch but it ended up just kind of being there instead of being a fully developed story of simple but complex at the same time characters.

Homefront

Homefront is an action movie about a widowed ex-DEA agent who retires to a small town for the sake of his 10-year-old daughter. The only problem is he picked the wrong town.

This was pretty much another textbook Jason Statham movie.  He's a guy trying to avoid conflict but when the conflict catches up to him and pushes him to far, he destroys everyone.  The only difference is that James Franco is pointlessly cast as the bad guy.

If you like Statham's movies, I'm sure you would like this too.  If not, I'm sure you have no intention of watching it.  

Oldboy

Oldboy is a provocative, visceral thriller that follows the story of an advertising executive (Josh Brolin) who is abruptly kidnapped and held hostage for 20 years in solitary confinement. When he is inexplicably released, he embarks on an obsessive mission to discover who orchestrated his bizarre and torturous punishment only to find he is still trapped in a web of conspiracy and torment.

WOW!!!  This movie was one hell of a crazy mindscrew.  The quick story progression pretty much takes you along on the ride that Josh Brolin's character goes on.  And it is one of the most insane and twisted rides viewers could go on.  Seeing what he was put through for twenty years prior to being turned loose.  The craziness that happens after he gets released only takes it to any even higher level due to the insanity of the puppet master that has been controlling him all along.  I will not ruin how it all plays out for anyone that wants to see this but the reveals that come along the way just get more and more twisted and make the movie better and better. 

I would absolutely recommend people checking this movie out.  It's a rough watch because it is so extremely twisted and there is some pretty intense violence but if you can handle this, the movie is one hell of a awesome ride.