Project Almanac

A brilliant high school student and his friends uncover blueprints for a mysterious device with limitless potential, inadvertently putting lives in danger.

This is another one of those first camera high concept movies.  I was excited about this one and all in all it was a decent watch.  They did a good job of portraying the time travel with minimal amount of special effects.  The characters played very well off each other and the story developed well.  The only knocks I could make on this are that it took too long to really get going with the time traveling and that it become a little too centric on a teenager being in love.  The movie was much bigger than that all along but shrunk itself down to be focused on that.

I would somewhat recommend this movie.  It's a decent watch of a great premise but definitely could have been so much better.

The Boy Next Door

Jennifer Lopez leads the cast in The Boy Next Door, a psychological thriller that explores a forbidden attraction that goes much too far.

This is literally just a lame extension of the lame trailer.  Jennifer Lopez plays the same character that she seems to play in every movie.  The acting around her is awful and over the top.   At least the movie is super short.  

I wouldn't recommend anyone wasting their time with this movie.  You have pretty much seen it just from the commercial.   It's formula in every way and quite a boring "suspense" movie.

Strange Magic

Strange Magic is a madcap fairy tale musical inspired by "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Popular songs from the past six decades help tell the tale of a colorful cast of goblins, elves, fairies and imps, and their hilarious misadventures sparked by the battle over a powerful potion. Lucasfilm Animation Singapore and Industrial Light & Magic, which created the CGI animation for 2011's Academy Award-winning film "Rango," bring to life the fanciful forest turned upside down with world-class animation and visual effects. Featuring a story by George Lucas.

I am not sure what to think about this movie.  It's as if George Lucas has lost it and is a big fan of the tv show Glee.  Seriously.  The animated cast of goblins and elves and trolls just kept randomly bursting into song.  It had its moments but honestly I watched most of it with a confused dog face on.  

I would not recommend people checking this out.  It's pretty much a big waste of time unless you think mythical forest creatures breaking into song is entertaining.

Mortdecai

Juggling some angry Russians, the British Mi5, his impossibly leggy wife and an international terrorist, debonair art dealer and part time rogue Charlie Mortdecai (Depp) must traverse the globe armed only with his good looks and special charm in a race to recover a stolen painting rumored to contain the code to a lost bank account filled with Nazi gold. 

This is the definition of a WTF movie.  WTF to Johnny Depp being in this.  Another WTF to Paul Bettany, Gwynneth Paltrow and Ewan McGregor being in it too.  WTF to how very not funny it was.  WTF to a movie being so bad that they think its a good idea to a vomit off right there on the screen.  This movie was just very much awful.  

I wouldn't recommend anyone seeing this . . . . . Ever.  It not funny and atrocious written on it on every level.  Save yourselves!!!

Blackhat

Set within the world of global cybercrime, Blackhat follows a furloughed convict and his American and Chinese partners as they hunt a high-level cybercrime network from Chicago to Los Angeles to Hong Kong to Jakarta.

I've always been a huge fan of Michael Mann's films.  I like the film style and his action scenes are always badass.  This movie was no different.  It had that same gritty filming style and when action was going down it was awesome.  The only knock against this was that it took way too long for the movie to really get moving.  It dragged for the first 30-45 minutes and it was all development stuff that you knew about just from the ads.

I would somewhat recommend this movie to people.  I liked it but it did drag for a bit and could be kind of difficult to follow because of all the technical jargon.

Cake

Claire Simmons (Jennifer Aniston) is in pain. Her physical pain is evident in the scars that line her body and the way she carries herself, wincing with each tentative step. She's no good at hiding her emotional pain either. Blunt to the point of searing insult, Claire's anger seethes out of her with nearly every interaction. She has driven away her husband, her friends - even her chronic-pain support group has kicked her out. The only one left in Claire's otherwise solitary existence is her housekeeper-cum-caretaker, Silvana (Academy Award nominee Adriana Barraza), who barely tolerates her boss' need for liquor and prescription pills. But the suicide of Nina (Academy Award nominee Anna Kendrick), one of Claire's fellow chronic-pain group members, prompts another fixation. In pursuing questions about the death of a woman she barely knew, Claire explores the boundaries between life and death, abandonment and heartbreak, danger and salvation. As she inserts herself into the lives of Nina's husband (Sam Worthington) and the son Nina left behind, Claire just might find salvation.

This was easily the most different and impressive performance from Jennifer Aniston.  She was an emotional wreck and her demeanor/behavior would do 180's left and right.  The best part of the movie was the way that everything was told.  You got info on what the main character had gone through to become like this in pieces and it was distributed to you so well that you became more and more invested in the character's processing of her life events.

I would definitely recommend people checking this out.  It really was an excellent performance.

The Wedding Ringer

Doug Harris (Josh Gad) is a loveable but socially awkward groom-to-be with a problem: he has no best man. With less than two weeks to go until he marries the girl of his dreams (Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting), Doug is referred to Jimmy Callahan (Kevin Hart), owner and CEO of Best Man, Inc., a company that provides flattering best men for socially challenged guys in need. What ensues is a hilarious wedding charade as they try to pull off the big con, and an unexpected budding bromance between Doug and his fake best man Jimmy.

This was a really funny movie.  There were several parts that had me absolutely dying.  The best part is that when it did decide to get sappy at times like you knew it inevitably would, you were into the characters enough that you didn't mind them taking a break from the laughs for a while.  They also didn't do the usual thing of introducing funny side characters and then shelving them.  The groomsmen got plenty of screen time and provided lots of laughs.  I'm a huge fan of Kevin Hart and he was great in this but most of the biggest laughs actually came from Josh Gad.  

I would definitely recommend that people check this out.  Lots of laughs and some funny characters carry this movie throughout.

Taken 3

Liam Neeson returns as ex-covert operative Bryan Mills, whose reconciliation with his ex-wife is tragically cut short when she is brutally murdered. Consumed with rage, and framed for the crime, he goes on the run to evade the relentless pursuit of the CIA, FBI and the police. For one last time, Mills must use his "particular set of skills," to track down the real killers, exact his unique brand of justice, and protect the only thing that matters to him now – his daughter.

Is there really a need to do an in-depth review of this?  My hopes were that it would be better than the second one which I found very disappointing.  And those hopes were met.  This one was much better than the second one.  It still was nowhere near the no holds barred bass ass level of the first one though. This one felt very much like The Fugitive but with more fighting/action.  You pretty much see the movie just by seeing the trailer.  

If you like the Taken movies there is no reason for you not to see this one.  It's a decent popcorn movie kind of watch.  

A Most Violent Year

A Most Violent Year is a searing crime drama set in New York City during the winter of 1981, statistically the most dangerous year in the city’s history. From acclaimed writer/director J.C. Chandor, and starring Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis) and Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), this gripping story plays out within a maze of rampant political and industry corruption plaguing the streets of a city in decay. J.C. Chandor’s third feature examines one immigrant’s determined climb up a morally crooked ladder, where simmering rivalries and unprovoked attacks threaten his business, family, and - above all - his own unwavering belief in the righteousness of his path. With A Most Violent Year, Chandor journeys in a bold new direction, toward the place where best intentions yield to raw instinct, and where we are most vulnerable to compromise what we know to be right.

Sometimes what makes a movie great is when it's about an isolated story that you might question if the movie needed to be made but completely reels you in for one reason or another.  This movie falls into that line of thinking.  The acting in this movie was excellent.  So was the tension building throughout the movie.  Trying to do the right thing versus compromising to protect your best interests is a debate both personal and public that will always be wondered about.  The core of this movie was how well they portrayed the walking of that line.  

I would recommend people checking this out.  It was a great watch and should have had a wider release and exposure than it got.

Selma

Selma is the story of a movement. The film chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The epic march from Selma to Montgomery culminated in President Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most significant victories for the civil rights movement. Director Ava DuVernay's "Selma" tells the story of how the revered leader and visionary Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (David Oyelowo) and his brothers and sisters in the movement prompted change that forever altered history.

This was a great movie.  Amazing performances across the board and the way that the story was told and played out was great.  Movies this well done make you really feel like you were there for these historical events - both the good and bad.  It also is the type of movie that is so well done this should be used for educational purposes and to open those ignorant eyes that still remain closed.

I would absolutely recommend people checking this movie out.  It is an excellent watch and really takes you back to that point in time.

Inherent Vice

Inherent Vice is the film adaption of a Thomas Pynchon novel. When private eye Doc Sportello's ex-old lady suddenly out of nowhere shows up with a story about her current billionaire land developer boyfriend whom she just happens to be in love with, and a plot by his wife and her boyfriend to kidnap that billionaire and throw him in a loony bin... well, easy for her to say. It's the tail end of the psychedelic '60s and paranoia is running the day and Doc knows that "love" is another of those words going around at the moment, like "trip" or "groovy," that's being way too overused—except this one usually leads to trouble. With a cast of characters that includes surfers, hustlers, dopers and rockers, a murderous loan shark, LAPD Detectives, a tenor sax player working undercover, and a mysterious entity known as the Golden Fang, which may only be a tax dodge set up by some dentists... Part surf noir, part psychedelic romp - all Thomas Pynchon.

I watched this movie for about an hour.  I wanted to like it.  I wanted to be hooked by it.  But I just wasn't except for one very random and hilarious scene.  It was just Joaquin Phoenix going from ten minute babbling conversation to them minute babbling conversation and I just don't have time for that.  Especially considering that the movie had another 90 minutes to go.

I would not really recommend anyone wasting their time with this.  Maybe it got better but I'm totally okay with never knowing.

American Sniper

From director Clint Eastwood comes American Sniper, starring Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle, the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history.  But there was much more to him than his skill as a sharpshooter. U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle is sent to Iraq with only one mission: to protect his brothers-in-arms. His pinpoint accuracy saves countless lives on the battlefield and, as stories of his courageous exploits spread, he earns the nickname "Legend." However, his reputation is also growing behind enemy lines, putting a price on his head and making him a prime target of insurgents. He is also facing a different kind of battle on the home front: striving to be a good husband and father from halfway around the world. Despite the danger, as well as the toll on his family at home, Chris serves through four harrowing tours of duty in Iraq, personifying the SEAL creed to "leave no man behind." But upon returning to his wife, Taya Renae Kyle (Sienna Miller), and kids, Chris finds that it is the war he can't leave behind.

WOW!!!  This movie was awesome.  Very intense.  Very real.  Very honest.  I've always liked Bradley Cooper but his acting was more impressive in this than in anything he has done prior.   I knew it was a true story but due to my blissful ignorance didn't know the details.  Wish I did now because I was floored at the end of it.  This movie did such an amazing job of capturing the truly selfless soldier that protects and serves our country.  If I were to go back and adjust the Best of 2014 movies, this would make the top three.

I could go on and on about how great this movie.  Instead you should just go see it.  I give it my must see stamp.

The Woman In Black 2: Angel Of Death

When a group of orphaned children are forced to move from their home in London, caretakers Eve (Phoebe Fox) and Jean (Helen McCrory) bring everyone to the desolate and eerie British countryside. 40 years after Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe) left, this supernatural horror film introduces this new group to the now abandoned Eel Marsh House; an odd but seemingly safe location. It isn't long before Eve starts to sense that this house is not what it appears to be as the children in her care begin to disappear. As their house of safety becomes a house of horrors, Eve enlists the help of a handsome pilot (Jeremy Irvine) to help investigate what is happening. Eve soon discovers that it may not be a coincidence that she has come to reside in the house inhabited by the Woman in Black.

I remember liking the first one but not too much else about it when sitting down to watch this one.  I remembered the set up of where the house was.  I remembered why a room was all beat up.  But that was it.  That being said, this pretty much felt like a stand alone movie using the same set and idea of the creepy lady.  No further explanation of her was given.  It was just a bunch of scary sight gags and really nothing more.

I wouldn't really recommend anyone wasting their time with this.  It's one of those just kind of there kind of  "scary" movies.

Whiplash

Andrew Neyman is an ambitious young jazz drummer, single-minded in his pursuit to rise to the top of his elite east coast music conservatory. Plagued by the failed writing career of his father, Andrew hungers day and night to become one of the greats. Terence Fletcher, an instructor equally known for his teaching talents as for his terrifying methods, leads the top jazz ensemble in the school. Fletcher discovers Andrew and transfers the aspiring drummer into his band, forever changing the young man's life. Andrew's passion to achieve perfection quickly spirals into obsession, as his ruthless teacher continues to push him to the brink of both his ability-and his sanity.

Wow!  This was amazing acting by both JK Simmons and Miles Teller.  You know what you are going to get with JK Simmons and he was phenomenal in this.  He was absolutely vicious yet you find yourself glued to his every action and word.  Miles Teller continues to develop into one of, if not the, best up and coming actors in Hollywood.  This kid, who has been so great at comedy to date, left all the laughs out of this one and performed on the same excellent level as Simmons.  The back and forth between them as the movie progressed was amazing.  

I would definitely recommend people checking this movie out.  Both of these actors should get acknowledged with award nominations and this movie will probably go down as the best kept secret of 2014.  

Birdman

Birdman or "The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance" is a black comedy that tells the story of an actor (Keaton) – famous for portraying an iconic superhero – as he struggles to mount a Broadway play. In the days leading up to opening night, he battles his ego and attempts to recover his family, his career, and himself.

This was a great movie.  Actually, let me backtrack for a second.  This is not remotely the "mainstream" audience type movie that it ended up getting pushed at.  This is an artsy film that is a textbook example to be used in filmmaking classes and what not.  Taking it for that - it is a great movie.  The actors do great (how could you go wrong with Edward Norton and Emma Stone) and it was awesome to see Michael Keaton in this especially being reminded of the satire of him having played Batman so long ago. The filming style of the movie with it being a single motion camera following the cast around through the backstage area provided such a hook to this and really captured the craziness that goes on with the sort of stage show that they were doing.  

I would definitely recommend people checking this out as long as you don't go into it thinking you are going to see a basic Hollywood drama.  It's both bigger than that and smaller than that at the same time.  

Top Five

Pulsing with the rhythm of his greatest stand-up, Chris Rock's Top Five takes things to the next level, reveling in the high and the low, and blending a star-studded comedic romp with an irresistible romance. Top Five digs under the surface of show business, politics, rap, and the exigencies of being black and famous today - holding it all up to the light in the way only Chris Rock can. Mingling echoes of Woody Allen and Dick Gregory with the energy of Kanye West and Jay Z, Top Five is an original and radically new kind of American movie. Written, directed by, and starring Chris Rock, Top Five tells the story of New York City comedian-turned-film star Andre Allen, whose unexpected encounter with a journalist (Rosario Dawson) forces him to confront the comedy career--and the past--that he’s left behind.

This movie was pretty much wrongly advertised.  I thought that this was almost like a documentary about comedians.  I had no idea that it was a fictional character with some comedians playing themselves.  The fictional portion of the story although somewhat based on actual comedians was very well developed with the banter back and forth and made the movie a much more enjoyable and funnier watch than I thought it would be.

I would definitely recommend people checking this out.  Again - I expected something totally different and this ended up being a much better movie than I thought it would.  

Paddington

Paddington tells the story of the comic misadventures of a young Peruvian bear (voiced by Ben Whishaw) who travels to the city in search of a home. Finding himself lost and alone, he begins to realize that city life is not all he had imagined - until he meets the kindly Brown family who read the label around his neck that says "Please look after this bear. Thank you," and offer him a temporary haven. It looks as though his luck has changed until this rarest of bears catches the eye of a museum taxidermist.

This was a very cute family movie.  Really not much more to say about it.  It is more for younger aged kids and has a bit of a scary beginning before sticking to the cute and cuddly for the remainer of the movie.  

I would recommend families checking this out.  Especially with younger kids.  It's a good watch with lots of laughs for them and you can pretty much enjoy it as well.

The Ten Best Movies Of 2014

Honorable Mention - The Book Of Life
I have always been a big fan of animated movies.  I honestly tend to look forward to the ones that look good more than regular movies.  This one didn't strike me as one that I would particularly enjoy.  I didn't even bother to check it out in theaters.  I watched a bootleg of it online and was so hooked that I tried to find a cleaner copy of it and watch it again.  Great story.  Different animation and great music.  Biggest surprise of the year for me.

10 - It's a Tie!!!  X-Men: Days Of Future Past and The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies
Both of them are excellent entries in these excellent franchises.  The Hobbit: Battle Of The Five Armies brought about great closure to that trilogy and was the best paced of those three movies by far.  X-Men: Days Of Future Past did an amazing job of combining the two casts from both generations of the franchise.  I couldn't leave either of these movies off the list.

9 - Guardians Of The Galaxy
Marvel is officially like that person that seems to always perform or come through better when heavily doubted.  This movie seemed like the toughest sell that they had taken on by far.  Not only did they do it well but it became the biggest movie of the year.  They took a tree that only says one word, a wrestler and a relative unknown lead actor and knocked this one out of the park.  Very impressive.

8 - Chef
This movie reminded me how great of an actor John Favreau is.  He is just as talented of an actor as he is a director.  And this movie gave such an awesome take on the balance between loving your work/career and being part of a family or a good parent.  It was incredibly simple and one of the better watches of the year.

7 - Earth To Echo
Another movie that I loved because of how simple it was.  This movie had minimal effects and a bunch of unknown kids as the cast yet felt more like an event movie like E.T. or the old school "event" movies than overdone special effects monsters like Transformers 17.  I wish that they would make more movies like this than the big budgeted and repetitive nonsense.

6 - Gone Girl
Read the book and loved it.  Add that to the fact that David Fincher doesn't make bad movies and I couldn't wait to see this movie.  And it definitely met my expectations.  It did justice to the holy crap moments from the book and definitely left people uncomfortable after it was over and talking about the what if type line of thinking inspired by it.

5 - Edge Of Tomorrow
This is easily the best kept secret of the year.  On the surface, it is a sci-fi movie with lots of special effects and Tom Cruise that pretty much tanked at the box office.  Yet - I have not heard a single person that did see the movie say that they didn't think it was great or even better than that.  I have no idea how word of mouth didn't help this movie more.  I thought it was awesome.  The chemistry between Tom Hanks and Emily Blunt was great and the Groundhog Day like part of the story provided lots of laughs to go along with the action and drama.

4 - The Judge
I'm sure that this is the movie that people will see on my list and tilt their head like a confused dog.  I can't really put my finger on it but I absolutely loved this movie.  I thought the performance were great.  I thought it was awesome to see Downey Jr play more of a normal guy role.  And I felt like all the family dynamics in it felt so incredibly real.

3 - How To Train Your Dragon 2
I will probably never have a bigger emotional connection to a movie or movie franchise than I do to this one. The first one is definitely one of my favorite movies of all time.  And this one did not disappoint at all.  The animation was just as breath taking.  The characters were just as well developed and entertaining and Toothless will always be an amazing movie version of my J-man.  

2 - Unbroken
This movie was amazing from beginning to end.  It was a great showing of the human spirit and mentality of never giving up.  Add in that this movie was directed by Angelina Jolie and its just that much more impressive.  The movie was so well done in every way and should end up winning lots of awards for 2014.

1 - Captain America: The Winter Soldier
This movie was amazing on so many levels.  One - I think it was so much better than the original.  Two - it had the perfect balance of amazing action and amazing story development.  Three - it would be an amazing movie even  if it wasn't a comic book movie.  Part of what made The Dark Knight series so awesome was that they were amazing movies that happen to have the comic book connection/character.  This movie was just like that and it is right up there with The Avengers as the best movies that Marvel has created.

The Ten Worst Movies Of 2014

Dishonorable Mention - Dumb And Dumber To

I can't believe that I waited as long as I did for this movie and it was this craptastic.  Especially after the trailer provided such hope.  It is just sad to watch this attempt to recapture one of the funniest movies ever.

10 - Vampire Academy

This is another grasping hope at continuing the Twilight obsession.  Please let go already.  Even trying to inject some humor to the tired formula that has been beaten to death will not help.  Let . . . . . it . . . . . .go.

9 - 3 Days To Kill

Kevin Costner couldn't just do a normal badass hitman movie and try to become Liam Nesson-ish?  They had to add in the whole dad trying to connect with his daughter in a somewhat comical way too?   End result = poop.

8 - Transcendence

How could a movie that looked like Inception starring Johnny Depp be this bad?  Remember when Johnny Depp meant that a movie was automatically awesome?  That ship has clearly sailed and this movie was such a wannabe version of Inception that it was insulting and ended up boring as hell.

7 - Legends Of Oz: Dorothy's Return

There is nothing that I hate more than when studios just throw some crappy animation movie out there that parents will have to bring their kids to and second guess if having the children was worth having to sit through crap like this.  Don't just take the families money.  Give them something to actually watch!

6 - The Grand Budapest Hotel

I'm sorry.  I just don't get Wes Anderson's movies.  I find them repetitive and annoying instead of cinematic masterpieces.  Every year he puts a movie out that ends up on most critics best of the year lists while he is on my worst of list.  

5 - The Legend Of Hercules

Another gratuitous January release of a crappy testosterone movie when nothing else is out to try and scrape up some money.  This was only watchable due to how bad it was.

4 - A Walk Among Tombstones

This is the winner of false advertising of the year.  The movie was advertised as a Taken like movie with Liam Nesson kicking ass and what not.  There was no ass kicking.  He was some sort of a detective and the movie was nothing but him interviewing people.  Not cool.

3 - Son Of God

Is it sacareligious to have this movie on the list?  I really don't care since this movie was so awful.  This movie was so lame that it made the ones from the 70s or 80s about JC that I would have to watch in religion class seem amazing. 

2 - Pompeii

This was a two hour excuse to use special effects to show a volcanic eruption.  That is literally it.  And keep in mind that the eruption doesn't happen until 2/3 or 3/4 through the movie.  It was so painful to get to that point that you actually end up enjoying watching the characters dying.  

1 - A Million Ways To Die In The West

It's so sad to give this the worst of 2014 tag but it went all out to earn it.  I'm a huge fan of Seth McFarlane.  Family Guy is one of my favorite shows.  I loved Ted.  I think the guy is talented as hell.  But this movie was such absolute garbage.  I couldn't even make it through the whole thing.  It's one thing to rely on bathroom humor for laughs but to actually show a man having the shits in a hat will lead to me automatically yelling out loud "I'm out" and heading for the door.