Captain Phillips Rated: PG-13

Barbara Says:

Why is the theater not packed with people to see this movie??? It is a seat clutching, gut wrenching, nail biting movie with the best acting Tom Hanks has ever done and that is saying something.  I knew how it ended and it did not matter because I was so caught up in it that I was lost.  The only other movie that has done that was Argo with Ben Affleck.  And have to say it: this was even better.  

You come to know these people, even the pirates.  And, in our case, to care about one of them so much you want him to live. The story, in case you were living in a cave when this all went done a few years ago, is about Somali pirates taking an American freighter in the Somali straight. They try to anyway. You even get to see the pirates beforehand and how they became involved in this tragedy. How in some ways, they were not unlike children in their behavior.  You see Captain Phillips emotions so clearly with Hanks`s portrayal and the very real fear he will not live through this to see his family again.  What these people cannot understand is that the United States does not pay a ransom and will end the problem in a final way if pushed to that end.

Go see this movie on the big screen before it is gone because you get the impact so much more.  I simply cannot tell you how well done this movie was or how much it sends the message that the world is a dangerous place.   I give this film an 11 out of 10.  And hope to see Tom Hanks up for an Oscar.

Ender's Game Rated:PG-13

Barbara Says:

This stars a newcomer, or at least he is to us. Asa Butterfield did an amazing job as a young boy in training to fight aliens who, he is told, have attacked Earth before and are massing for another attack. He is quick to see paths other do not and believes in putting on on such a fight that his enemy never returns. But he finds he has been lied to and it just about does him in because he cannot live with what he has done. I will not say what it is so it is a big surprise for you too. 

This movie uses the fact that so many of our young people are very adept at computer games of war. It also stars Harrison Ford, Viola Davis and Ben Kingsley. The movie ran a bit of a different path with a few twists that made it interesting and enjoyable. My friend and I found it worth watching and, out of 10, I would give it a 7.

RUSH Rated:R

Cat Says:

I remember, as a kid, my dad loving Mario Andretti. I even remember the accident that set Niki Lauda on fire. But, honestly, I didn't remember how that season ended up. Knowing I wanted to go see this movie I made the decision not to go look the result up. I'm very glad I did that. 

Quickly, this film is about the 1976 Formula 1 racing season and the two drivers, James Hunt and Niki Lauda, who were in the top two spots the entire season. In Days of Thunder they focused on the personal story the most and then there were a few racing scenes. As much as I love that film I was really hoping for a bit more of a balance between the personal story and the racing story of these two men. Happily I can say that the balance is perfect.

The film begins with both men entering the racing scene and how they moved up the ranks. Neither guy is perfect. Lauda is nicknamed The Rat. Part of this is for his looks and part is for his demeanor. He's not the kindest or most emotional guy in the world. Daniel Bruhel is perfection in this role. You do get to see the chinks in the armor of this man. You see how he lived his life, how he fell in love and found out what life is all about. You also get to see his fierce determination and how that made him into a world class jerk as well as a world class driver. Hunt is a playboy.  Played perfectly by Chris Hemsworth (yes, the guy from Thor) he is portrayed as a womanizer, a "live every day as if it were you last" kind of guy. Live wild, live crazy, drive yourself harder than you drive your car and, if it ends, then it ends and what a wild ride it was. He's handsome, charming and, basically a real jerk. But, as the movie progresses, you get to see how he finds out who he is, why he does what he does and how he comes to deeply appreciate the relationship he and Lauda find themselves in as the years go by. 

The racing scenes are intense. The accidents are graphic and are meant to be disturbing. There is sex, drug use and a big party scene that add to the fact that this film isn't for kids. Older teens who are into cars or racing could love it but I would say it's not appropriate for 15 and under. We really loved this film and I can not say one bad thing about it. It gets a rare 10 out of 10 from me. One of those I would have gladly just stayed in my seat to watch again. No surprise that Ron Howard is at the helm on this one. It is a racing masterpiece.

Instructions Not Included Rated: PG-13

Barbara Says:

Instructions Not Included is this years sleeper movie. Right off let me say that out of 10 we gave it an 11. Several reasons for that high a mark.  It did something very few movies can do with me..surprised me.  I read a LOT and see a lot of movies.  So plots are something I can figure out pretty quick.  It does not mean I then do not enjoy the movie it just means I can guess where it is going and how it will end. It starts off in Mexico with a free living ,free loving guy who has no plans to ever be anything else. We learn how and why he got that way.  But one day his door bell rings and he is handed a baby and asked for 10.00 to pay the cabbie by the mother, who does not come back to collect the baby.   He learns the old girlfriend has gone to Los Angeles and  he takes off after her to give the baby back. Well, things do not go as he plans...at all.  He ends up raising her and taking a stunt job to care for her.  This movie is very funny and sweet and caring. But it is heart breaking when mom shows up after 6 years to collect her daughter.    The father, played by Mexican actor Eugenio Derbezhas, to fight for her in court and the daughter played by Jessica Lindsey is in awe of having a mother so the fight is a hard one.  But there is a twist that I will not even hint at because it makes this movie what it is..a heart breaker and a box of tissues kind.  The people we passed as we left were all talking about how much they had liked it. My friend said she had to fight not to start sobbing and I agreed.   This is a movie I could go right back tomorrow and watch again even though I know the ending, which believe me, is not what you think. So make the time to go see this movie which is of course in both Spanish (with sub-titles) and in English. The sub-titles were nice in that they are big enough to read easily. I will long remember this one.

Cat Says:

Living where we do we don't get a lot of "Indies" much less foreign films. I'm one of those who don't mind subtitles and a great deal of this movie is in subtitles but takes place in California. The story is a sweet, if contrived, story of a playboy who gets saddled with a baby and ends up trying to raise her himself. Of course the mother returns to muck things up a bit but by the end of the movie that is resolved.

Now let me tell you what is good about this movie. I loved the message of it. The idea that you may not be ready to be a parent and it's an on the job training situation but that you can be a great parent if you commit yourself to it. 99% of the movie is fun, hysterically funny, touching, sweet and wonderful. It's the 1% that will mean I will never watch it again. Up till the very last 2 minutes of the movie I was all set to give this a 9. But the last 2 minutes dropped it to a 7. If you don't mind bad endings, sad endings, truly downer endings then this movie is very much worth watching. If not then skip this one or watch it when you are already in a heartbreaking mood and needing a good cry.

SPOILER ALERT: DO NOT READ FARTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE END!

****************************************************************

You go on this wonderful journey with this man from the dropping of the baby on his doorstep to his daughters mother coming back and wanting a relationship, his court battle to keep his daughter only to have her die in the last 2 minutes. That's right...they kill of the child! Apparently she had an issue in her brain that meant she could slip into a coma or die at any moment. The idea is that they are adding the message that no matter how short of a time you have someone you love in your life that it is worth the loving. This is supposed to be the "real life" touch for a movie that was anything but real life based. For me, personally, I have enough real life and real life loss...I don't need to go to the movies to see that. 

Planes Rated: PG

Tory Says:

Like most little kids, especially boys, my son is obsessed with cars, trains and planes! He loved Disney’s Cars (both the first and second) and with planes being a new obsession, we were dying to take him to see Disney’s Planes.

 

“Planes” is about a crop-dusting plane with a fear of heights that dreams of competing in the “Around the World” plane race. The catch is he is actually good! With the help of some old and new friends Dusty learns that being the good guy doesn’t always mean you finish last!

 

Was it as cute as the first Cars? No. Was it cute and better than Cars 2? Yes!!! My son (who is almost 2 ½ ) loved it! He was happy with all the bright colors, music and of course, planes!! There was just enough humor for me and my husband and even our friend and her 21 month old daughter enjoyed it!

For me it was exactly what I expected. Some humor for the little ones, some humor only the adults would probably catch and everyone learns a lesson at the end. My favorite character is actually El Chupacabra because he is too funny and always trying too hard to win the heart of the girl! (Don’t worry, Dusty helps him to be himself!)

 

It was very cute. I give it a solid 7.5 because my kid made it all the way through it. Not the best Disney film but certainly not the worst! And suitable for ALL ages!

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones Rated: PG-13

Barbara Says: 

While I am not a fan of vampires/werewolves/and not really human beings type of movies we had nothing else to go see.   And, as we were leaving, we realized the movie had been 2 hours long and we had not been aware of it.  So we started to pick it apart and came to the conclusion we had enjoyed it.  Surprise!  The movie has only one or two actors I even knew and a group of young ones I did not. But we agreed they did a very good job of acting. There was an interesting story and not a bunch of bloody scenes to gross one out (such as myself who does not care for vampires,at all) and a sweet love story with the twist that was needed to make it an impossible one. Actually looking forward to the second one. Told by my daughter there are 3 Twilight films. Cannot claim to have watched any of the movies with the woman who shall remain nameless (lol) and her vampire lover and the werewolf who loved her too. Because they just looked to be not worth my time and money. Cannot say I liked anyone of the actors in it either.  But did like the ones in this movie.This is a group of Shadowhunters who find and destroy demons that live among us. The Shadowhunters cannot be seen by humans. While killing one such demon, one of them is seen by what seems to be a human and, knowing it is not possible, he follows her.  It turns out she the most powerful Shadowhunter of them all and does not know it because her mother took her and hid her. Her father has been trying to find her because she holds the clue to a cup he needs to control the entire underworld. All in all, I give it a good 7 because it held my attention for 2 hours. 

Cat Says:

We went to go see this movie the other day simply because there wasn't anything out there to see and we wanted to get out of the house and see a movie. I'm a fan of Jonathan Rhys Meyers so I figured, what the heck, why not give it a try and hope it wasn't worse than Twilight. I know, I know, there are a lot of Twilight fans out there, I'm just not one of them. The main reason being the cast. I didn't have that issue with this film.

This movie is a mash up of Twilight, Harry Potter and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Lily Collins (Singer Phil Collins daughter) plays Clary. Like in Potter and Buffy, Clary has no idea that she is a Shadow Hunter (part human, part angel that hunts demons) until suppressed childhood memories break through. She suddenly can see other Shadow Hunters who are invisible to the regular human eye and it, well, understandably freaks her out. She has a best friend who, of course, is in love with her, named Simon (Robert Sheehan plays this role with just enough geekiness and just enough on-the-edge-of hunkiness that it makes it more fun) and she finds herself in an uncomfortable situation, not really a love triangle, with the Shadow Hunter, Jace (Jamie Campbell Bower plays this role convincingly but he's not really Hollywood beautiful so it's more interesting too) who decides to help her out even before learning who she is.

She finds out that she has been suppressing some pretty powerful memories including who her father is (Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who is hunky as always with that edge of evil attached) and how her mother, who is kidnapped in the beginning, hid them both for years and how this fits into his scheme and the whole puzzle. When the puzzle finally comes together and all of the pieces fit Clary finds herself having to save her mother and her world. Not the big scale problem of saving THE world but you get the feeling that saving her world is just the tip of the iceberg and that we are going to see another installment in this story. They do wrap this one up neatly though so if it ends up being the only one you won't be left hanging.

The special effects are very good. There are times when you know that what you are looking at isn't real but it sure looks real! There is violence, of course, in the battle scenes but they don't get gory with it and killing is pretty much hidden from camera view while getting the point across that this is what is happening. The demons are gross and creepy at times but, like the violence, it's brief. Because of this I think you can go a few years under the "13" of the rating if you have a 9 year old or older who wants to go see it.

The issues here are really with the lightweight Stephanie Meyer/Twilight type script writing (and since this is also based on a "teen" book series by Cassandra Clare) I guess that is to be expected) which will make you roll your eyes from time to time or think "wow, he actually said that with a straight face!" moments but they are brief and mildly distracting. The movie is 2 hours and 10 minutes long and it never felt like it was dragging or too long so I always find that to be a good sign especially when I am watching a movie that is a genre I don't usually like. I give it a solid 8 out of 10. Do you need to go see it in the theater, well, no, it could wait for DVD. BUT, and especially, if this is a genre you normally go to see then I think you will love it and it will be even better on the Big Screen!

Lee Daniels:The Butler Rated: PG-13

Barbara Says:

History has always been one of my favorite things.  I am a firm believer in the knowledge that to make a better future - then learn from the past. Just by being the kind of man he was, he made people think about WHAT he was. A black man with a pride in his work and a passion to make a better life for those he loved then the one he had to endure as a boy. From field hand to house "nigga" (they use this term in the movie in order to make you feel the uncomfortable feelings he felt and keep it realistic) to hotel servant to butler in the White House.  This was this mans road to travel.  Forest Whitaker has always been one of those actors that Hollywood over looks because he makes it look so easy.  He can say more with one glance at someone then ten words can do.  You feel his pain as a man who must see and listen to powerful men discuss what they will or will not do to help people of his color. When Jack Kennedy is shot the real sense of loss he feels is clear and when Jackie gives him a tie her husband loved he treasures it like diamonds.  The love he feels for both his sons comes back to wound him deeply.  The older son played by David Oyelowo does a great piece of work here as someone trying to change the world around him and paying a high price to do it.   Oprah Winfrey, as the wife who spends too much time alone but still loves her husband a great deal, does a very good job of her role. You can feel her suffering as she drowns  in liquor and an affair.  All in all, this is a quite movie that will tear at your heart if you have one. It brought both of us to tears several times. To know that your fellow humans can treat someone as these people have been (and still are) being treated makes me ashamed .  How can we talk about what some other country  is doing to their people when this one continues to look down on someone for the color of their skin is shameful. If you are a courageous  person who believes in Life, Liberty,and the pursuit of Happiness for everyone regards of the color, race or religion go see this movie and I dare you to walk away from it without a feeling of shame for the way they were and still are in some cases treated. This man served faithfully through several presidents for a great many years and was well regarded by them.    These are the stories I love to watch on the big screen.  The Butler is a movie worth spending your money on. I give it a 10 out of 10.