Philomena

Jean, This movie was so much more interesting than I had expected.I thought it kept your interest rather than being played for your tears. It is the story of an Irish lady who searches for her son 50 year after the Sisters had convinced her to put him up for adoption. It is based on true events with actual people. The main characters are Dame Judy Dench and Steve Coogan, and they are great  playing off each other. The story allows them to argue the pros and cons of belief in a greater being, and the position of the Church. What makes this movie in my mind is the twist or surprise they find at the end of their search which takes them from London to Ireland to the United States. The movie is beautifully produced so you feel you are viewing actual locations and even actual people. At the end, they show you the photos of the main characters taken in real life.

Dad

The previews were:

August: Osage County

Heaven is for Real

Saving Mr. Banks

Nebraska

Jean, I think this movie is over hyped. I saw a long, slow, gentle, sometimes dreary. not often humorous, sometimes depressing, without much of a payoff, folksy road trip movie. The actors were all good but you got a new face at every turn and no one was particularly interesting , not even Bruce Dern who is getting all the praise. I got the impression this is really a minimalist movie from start to finish.  Dad

The previews were:

The Wolf of Wall Street

Cesar Chavez

Out of the Furnace

Labor Day

The Hunger Games - Catching Fire

 

Jean, I think this movie is better than the first in the series. It helps if you have seen the first movie as a lot of basic information is necessary for any understanding of the events it shows. I thought the movie really came alive after we get Jennifer Lawrence into the forest. (It unfortunately took almost 90 minutes before that happens.)  The explanatory scenes slowed the movie down a lot I thought. But once Jennifer's character is in the forest and figuring out things with her woodsman smarts and flicking those deadly arrows faster than you can follow, the movie comes alive. You should be aware this is a quite violent movie. A number of the parents took their young children out of the theater during the very intense attack of the super baboons which seems to last and last. But then you have the killer fog and the attack of the jabber jays, etc. I question the PG-13 rating as there are also head shots using large hand guns and a very intense flogging using a cat-o-nine-tails. Dad

P.S. The previews were:

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Vampire Academy

Malificent

NOAH

The Hobbit:the Desolation of Smaug