Spotlight

Jean, This is a simple straight-forward telling of the Boston Globe's 2002 newspaper story of multiple priest sexual abuse cases in the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston.There are no side stories or romances but an almost documentary telling. The facts carry the story in an unblinking manner. You are drawn in and almost mesmerized by the events. It starts with ore case and one priest and escalates to 87 priests and on and on. This has to be one of the best movies of the year.   Dad

The previews are:

Snowden
Hail, Caesar
Concussion
Triple 9

Brooklyn

Jean, This is a touching and romantic movie.It starts with the suburb performance of the lead character played by Saoires Ronan. She is a young Irish girl who leaves her Irish home for a new job and life in Brooklyn U.S.A. She will certainly receive many  award nominations for this performance. Just to see her change from the innocent one on the boat to America to the self-assured woman before your eyes is worth seeing by itself. This leads up to a momentous decision she has to make between her new life and the ties to her old life.  Dad

The previews were:

Youth
Carol
The Danish Girl
Demolition

In The Heart of the Sea

Jean, This has to be the "Moby Dick "movie to end all "Moby Dick" movies. This  is  based on the best-selling book  about the actual events that Melville used to write his fictional novel. (I read then-fiction book entitled " In The Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex." ). This is one real life action film with all the ingredients of all the actual events. You have the enlistment of the real crew, the voyage to the South Atlantic and then to the South Pacific, the encounter with the mammoth rogue whale, and the hardships endured by the crew that survived the numerous attacks of the whale. Ron Howard gives you your money's worth in everything here, from the gruesome details of the adrift crew to one World-Class Whale. The critics find faults with the film but I saw an exciting and  an amazing true-life adventure. The actual facts of the story are more interesting than the fictional novel of Herman Melville.  Dad

P.S.  The previews were worth the price of admission. They were:

The Choice
The Huntsman:Winter's War
Concussion
Eye in the Sky
The Legend of Tarzan
Batman vs. Superman

Black Mass

Jean, This is about the best true life crime movie I can remember. The story is told straight with dates and locations printed on the screen. It is the story of the Boston crime lord, James "Whitey" Bulger, who is played by Johnny Depp. i was quite surprised at what an excellent job Johnny does with the role. He played it understated and without any over the top histrionics., but so believable. Many places the character is described as psychotic and Johnny is that. Also the facts are not muted as you have shootings and strangulations, etc. But the story about the real life characters in the Boston crime world comes alive. At the end you see the real characters and the outcome for each of them. Many surprise performances show up including Peter Sarsgaard, Kevin Bacon, Benedict Cumberbatch and Joel Edgerton.  Dad

P.S. The previews were:

Bridge of Spies
Sicario
Legend
99 Homes

Pawn Sacrifice

Jean, This is an excellent movie on the life of the chess master, Bobby Fischer. Tobey Maguire plays Bobbie and he will probably get an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of the mentally disturbed character. He has this  great "flat look" and ability to explode at the right times. It all leads to early 1970's and the big championship series of games with the Russian World Champion, Boris Spassky, in Iceland. You do not have to know the game of chess to appreciate the chess moves and why a player may lose. Also in the cast are Peter Sarsgaard and  Liev Schreiber. The end of the movie presents actual film of the real Bobby Fischer and his many strange actions following the Iceland World Championship.

Dad

The previews are:

99 Homes
Room
Our Brand is Crisis
Trumbo

The Martian 3D

Jean, This is the film version of the best selling book. I read the book over a year ago and really enjoyed it. The author is a NASA scientist and he included all kinds of details about space travel and Mars itself. (Book even had a map of Mars.) This movie is very well done by the director, Ridley Scott.

As in the book the astronaut (Matt Damon) is left on Mars by his space mission and has to solve all kinds of problems for his survival until a rescue mission arrives .It is a long scientific trek (135 minutes)which arrives at a big dramatic climax in outer space . Along the way there are ASCIII tables, human nutrition calculations, etc. The movie's  message is "Do The Math". but it certainly is a stirring space adventure.  Dad

P.S. The previews are:

Joy
Crimson Peak
Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part II
The Revenant
Their Finest Hours
In the Heart of the Sea

The Intern

Jean, This is a pleasant ,feel good, Nancy Meyers movie. I would not say it is one of her best. It does have some good lines " Sitting is the new Smoking" and film clips from old movies at poignant moments "scenes from Singing in the Rain with Gene Kelly/Debbie Reynolds". I do not think comedy is Robert De Niro strong suit as he does a lot of smiling here. He plays a senior intern to a mail order internet start-up in Brooklyn. Ann Hathaway plays the CEO who needs a mature steady hand to help with her various crisis. The movie is pleasant enough but does not break any new ground.  Dad

P.S. The previews are:

Miss You Already
Room
Truth
Trumbo
Rock the Kasbah
Burnt

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

Jean, This non-stop action from the opening scene where we have Tom Cruise hanging from the outside of a flying transport plane as it takes off. From then on we have all kinds of car chases, motorcycle chases, running chases by Tom Cruise and his co-stars. The Swedish actress, Rachel Ferguson holds her own in all this action as well as the double crosses. Foreign locations are part of this as in the Jason Bourne films. Here it is London, Vienna and Casablanca.  One long scene about an assassin in an opera house is reminiscent of previous movies. In fact, they use here a number of very old ploys that will make you say "I can not believe you did that with the story". But it is one entertaining movie which never catches it's breath.  Dad

P.S. The previews were:

Black Mass (Johnny Depp)
Steve Jobs
Pawn Sacrifice
The Revenant  (Leonardo (De Caprio)

Antman

Jean, This is a very entertaining and even quite funny film. It is amazing all the interesting action scenes you can come up with, based on s simple idea. The lead (Paul Ruud) can shrink once he puts on the "magic suit". The movie starts slowly but hang on as it goes into overdrive quickly. There are also some very interesting ideas projected on the screen, including his going  "sub-atomic" towards the climax. This is one  different "heist" film  as you can imagine.  Dad

The previews are:

Fantastic Four
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Everest

The Gift

Jean, This is a very, very, scary movie. You are on the edge of your seat very quickly in the story and then comes the surprises. Our audience jumped at least twice, but who's counting. The three main characters, Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall, and Joel Egerton are all excellent in their roles. Egerton wrote and directed the film. It is generally about a unexpected  meeting with  a  classmate from high school days. I could see this movie again to see what are all the clues I missed in my first viewing. It has a beautifully drawn out climax. One truth is exposed but then there is another one in this entertaining movie. Dad

P.S. The previews are:

Secret in their Eyes
Black Mass
About Ray
Snowden
Sucario
Bridge of Spies

The Man from U.N.C.L.E

Jean, This is a very stylish and slick (somewhat)action movie. The style comes from the locations of Italy, Berlin, London and on. The dresses and suits are always changing and coming from the best fashion houses. They even discuss what tie goes with what. The cast is star studded with Cavill (Superman), Hammer(Lone Ranger), Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina) and even Hugh Grant as the leader, Waverly from London. The story line is hard to follow and not that important to the movie as far as I could see. But there is plenty of humor and the guys seem to revolve around Miss Vikander's performance in an entertaining way.

Dad

The previews were:

Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2
Hitman, Agent 47
Everest
The 33
The Walk

Listen To Me Marlon

Jean, This is the Showtime documentary film of Marlon Brando's life made using some of the many hours of tape he recorded over his life now at the Lark Theater.  Also uses the "digitized images" of his head he had made while he speaks many lines. This is eerie. It goes through his life, from his youth, Broadway and Hollywood years. Also his serial womanizing and the family tragedies are shown using newsreel films. What we do not understand is why he became so lazy. You feel for Francis (Coppola) and how he is treated by Marlon. It is a very interesting and sad film.  Dad

P.S. He talks about many of his films in specifics with film clips, such as " Mutiny on the Bounty" and why he disagreed with the director (Lewis Milestone).

Gemma Bovery

Jean, This is a very entertaining French-made movie with some subtitles. (That is because some of the characters are English.) It revolves around the novel by Flaubert entitled "Madame Bovary but in modern times. As the story develops we see current life in Normandy, France, with French baking, village life and decorating country houses along the way. But this movie has a surprise ending to die for. And the title character played by Gemma Arterton is so effective as the free spirit living in a modern world. Dad

The Previews were:

Ricki and the Flash

Bridge of Spies

Irrational Man

Mr. Holmes

Inside Out

Jean, This is about the most entertaining and thought-provoking movie I can remember. It is an animated film about a little girl (Riley) who moves with her father and mother from Minnesota to San Francisco. (There are a number of recognizable locations in San Francisco including in the Presidio.) The story is told with her emotions played as characters such as Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust among others. Also you meet your Imaginary friend, Core Memory, Abstract Thought, Train of Thought , Pouty Face, Good Memories  and even a Brazilian Helicopter Pilot. It is entertaining to the adults as well as the children. I almost could not find a seat in the theater and the adults were laughing and reacting as much as the children. 

They also play a short 7-minute featurette about two amorous Hawaiian volcanoes  with a very catchy musical score at the film's beginning.  Dad

The previews were:

Hotel Transilvania 2

Shaun the Sheep Movie

Zootopia

The Good Dinosaur

Far From the Madding Crowd

Jean, This is a remake of the 1968 big production movie of the same name starring Julie Christie and Peter Finch and others. This one has Carey Mulligan and three male actors as the main characters in this Thomas Hardy novel. I found it so engaging, that it just draws you into the choices this head strong young gal has to make in 1870's England country side about the three men who want to marry her. It is shot in authentic English country locations and manor houses. It moves quite fast, at under two hours where the original was 171 minutes. The male actors are Matthias Schoenaerts, Belgian born actor, Michael Sheen and Tom Sturridge.  The clothing and the sets, with the real country background, make for a British film worthy of such past works as "Howard's End" or "A Room with a View". The final scenes had me near tears in a major way, as you do care about the main character and her dilemma and how she solves it.  Dad

The previews were:

I'll See You in my Dreams
Learning To Drive
Self/Less
Testament of Youth
Me and Earl and The Dying Girl

Mad Max: Fury Road (3D)

Jean, This is almost a non-stop chase movie across a desert terrain, with the bad guys chasing the good guys, of course. What is amazing is all the variations on this theme that George Miller has come up with. You think you have seen everything but he comes up with spectacular new ideas. There is a feminist theme here of saving the girls from a very bad chieftain but it soon gives way to everything is about the chase. Also you are in a very grim landscape. You know that when the opening sequence has a lone figure looking out on a desert and a Gecko appears. The figure steps on the Gecko and ...then eats it.
The hero (Tom Hardy) is all business as is the heroine (Charlize Theron). Do not expect any romance or even much dialogue. Hardy does not tell us his name (Max) until near the end of the movie. For a unbelievable frantic  and fast chase, then hold on to your seat as this is one  goes almost from start to finish. Dad

P.S. The previews are:

Crimson Peak
Entourage
The Walk
Ant Man
Terminator: Genesys
San Andres

Avengers - Age of Ultron

Jean, I saw it. The theater was  more than half full in the 2D showing  at Cinema I at 3:30. They clapped at the end of the film. You got a great credit at the end. Good for you. I did not realize it would have so much story. Also was impressed with the religious references and the history references.  I wonder where was the location of the "so-called safe house in the country" in real life. And where was the village that was used for a model somewhere in Hungary or someplace. Great visual effects and such things as the destruction of the skyscrapers in the battle between Hulk and ... Also the computer calculating scenes were great. They were so much better than 2001 movie in expressing the calculating going on. That was a very good villain in Ultron. That was really sold so well and he stood up against the Avengers in such a believeable manner. He was more than competitive  for them.  Dad

Danny Collins

Jean, This is supposed to be a comedy starring Al Pacino. There is some gentle humor in the movie but it also has some serious subjects such as a child with ADD and a leukemia patient. Al Pacino is fine, more subdued than you would expect but also quite charming. He is an aging singing star, who Pacino compares to Bruce Springsteen. I think his is closer to Barry Manilow. All the other cast are fine as well, such as Chris Plummer, Bobby Cannavale, Jennifer Garner. But the one to watch from the time she comes out to the hotel check-in counter as the hotel manager is Annette Bening. You see right away Al Pacino has met his acting match and then some. She is just terrific in that role. All his sweet talk and charm are not going to carry the day, here. You will find the movie well written with some real sharp dialogue. And the ending scene is one you will enjoy as it is so cleverly set up and then ....   Dad

P.S. The previews were:

Desert Dancer
While we're Young
Love and Mercy
I'll see you in my Dreams

while we're young

Jean, This movie starts out as a comedy, or a romantic comedy about a young couple (Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts) living in Brooklyn . They meet another young couple and seem to hit it off from the beginning. But the comedy soon ends and the movie becomes more serious and darkens. It turns out everyone is not as they appear. Along the way the writer/director, Noah Baumbach , gives us his views on many of the current social issues of the day. There are a number of side tracks taken including going to an encounter group where you have to bring your own bucket in which to vomit. That is due to the Peruvian drug you are required to take. I felt the movie was short on humor and too long on it's social commentary. Ben Stiller seems to be always whining and overly verbose about how he is mistreated by others in the movie.  Dad

The previews were:

I'll See You in my Dreams
Aloha
Southpaw
Ex Machina

Woman in Gold

Jean, This is a very interesting very well-produced movie, that is almost a factual documentary. (It is a BBC Film.) It is the story of the attempt to reclaim a famous portrait by the original owners. The painting is "Portrait of Adele" by Klimt, painted in the 1920's in Vienna. It was stolen by the Nazis and later held by the Austrian Government. The Altmann family or the last remaining member, played by Helen Mirren, starts to pursue her rights to the painting with the help of a cousin, played by Ryan Reynolds. Both do fine jobs but the trail from one court to the next, and the hurdles they have to overcome is the story. It can get a little legalistic but the clever ways they get over the legal barriers is quite interesting. (The painting was valued at $100 million while the court cases were going on and later it was sold for $135 million.) At the end you see the actual characters and the current home of the famous painting.  Dad

P.S. The previews were:

No Escape (Owen Wilson)
Mr. Holmes (Ian McKellen)
I'll See You In My Dreams
Southpaw

Ex Machina

Jean, This is one of the slickest, and smartest science fiction movie you will see in a long time. With only 4 characters and two of them being "robots" you have all you can handle when it comes to twists in a movie. It starts out with the subject of artificial intelligence and applying the "Turing Test" to the behavior of "state of the art robots." There are echoes of "Blade Runner" here but it goes beyond the ground covered in that movie. I found it quite engrossing as the pace picks up in the movie leading to a not to be guessed conclusion. At least I did not guess that last scene or two. Many outdoor scenes shot in Norway.   Dad

The Previews were:

The Avengers: Age of Ultron
Terminator: Genisys
AMY
Mad Max: Fury Road
Poltergeist
Sceptre 007

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Jean, This is an entertaining enough sequel to the first movie.The entertainment comes from the performances of the big names such as Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Richard Gere etc. The story line is almost serpentine in it's many different side stories you are asked to follow and keep straight. It shows that this follows a very successful movie, in that you can see a lot of money being spent .  They tell you the morale of the story is "the present is time", but am not sure what that is supposed to mean. You do see a lot of the streets of Jaipur and Mumbai. India but the travelogue aspects of India are not shown.   Dad

P.S. The previews are:

"71
Desert Dancer
Aloha
Woman in Gold

Cinderella

Jean, This is an very enjoyable and beautiful looking film. It is a live action film, not animated. The scenes and sets are more than you could wish for and the costumes are almost beyond belief. The well-known story is kept intact with a few touches of humor and fantasy. There are some quite magic moments such as the first appearance of the Fairy Godmother, the changing of the pumpkin into one amazing carriage, the emerging of Cinderella's dress ,  the magic ball, the clock striking 12 midnight and all that entails and on. Cinderella is personified by the acting of Lily James as the title character, and Kate Blanchett as the evil Stepmother. for example. You get your money's worth in this film with time spent on getting to know the characters and their stories. The director is Kenneth Branagh and he keeps this film moving along.  Also before the main film, there is a 10-12 minute short film starring the characters from "Frozen" entitled "Frozen Fever" with Elsa and Anna an others  back.  Dad

P.S. The previews were:

 Inside Out
PAN
Minions
H@me
Age of Adaline
Tomorrowland

A Most Violent Year

Jean, This is a very tense  and suspenseful film about New York in the year of 1981. (That year was one of the most violent in New York history.) A small business is trying to expand in the very competitive home heating oil delivery business. The two  business owners are Oscar Isaac and his wife in the movie,Christine Chasten. They are just excellent in their roles. Oscar Isaac reminds you of a young Al Pacino, say in the Godfather movies. Most of the violence is not shown but is beneath the surface. In the meetings of the main characters, much violence is clearly inferred.  One of the best atmospheric  movies to be seen in a long time. Dad

P.S. The previews were:

Leviathon
Clouds of Sils Maria
The Second Best Marigold Hotel
Red Army

Jupiter Ascending 3D

Jean, this is a soap opera with seemingly unlimited visual effects. It is another epic from the Wachowski brothers. What a confusing mish-mash of ideas. You are not disappointed with all kinds of quirky gadgets and life forms, however. You have anti-gravity boots for surfing in space, slow-motion bullets and projectiles, grotesque space ships, and gothic cities in space, lizards in uniforms, elephants at the space ship controls, war hammers against space ships and on and on. It is over 2 hours long. Acting in all this is Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, Eddie Redmayne, Sean Bean,  among others. Singing behind this is  what sounded like the Red Army Chorus, as planets and and planets are destroyed. You come out of this visual effects vortex a little shell-shocked.  Dad

P.S. The Previews were:

Terminator: Genisys
Cappie
Spy
Run All Night
Focus
Insurgent

Kingsman, The Secret Service

Jean, This supposed to be a parody of all the past James Bond 007 movies. And for the first 30-40 minutes it does a fine job, especially the humor, due to the presence of Colin Firth. Then it descends into a mindless, non-stop series of hand to hand combat scenes and mass barroom brawls. It really becomes tedious with all the count down situations you endure, one after another.  This movie has an unusual large number of product placements as well, from MacDonalds, to specific beers and scotch brands. Wait for Netflix on this one.  Dad

P.S. The previews were:

Run All Night

Age of Adeline

Entourage, the movie

'71

American Sniper

Jean, This is a grim and gritty and sometimes gruesome movie. It shows Clint Eastwood's respect for the military and their mission in Irag. The story is about a Navy Seal who became an American sniper with 4 tours of duty in Irag. He is credited with over 160 kills in those tours of duty. This is 2 hours and 14 minutes of fire fights in Irag with really a minimum of family scenes in the "states". Bradley Cooper plays the role of the sniper in an excellent understated manner. He shows the affects of the killings on  a human in so many small but effective ways. There are no bands playing, and soldiers marching here, but a realistic and thought provoking  look at a military man's life. Dad

The previews were:

Kingsman

Love Has No Color

Chappie

Mad Max: Fury Road

Into the Woods

Jean, This is film version of Sondheim's musical. It has a number of stars in cameo and full roles including  Johnny Depp. Meryl Streep, Chris Pine, Tracey Ullmann, Anna Kendrick, Emily Blunt and others. I went to see it as the musical is to a great part sung with little speaking.  The lyrics are so clever and rhymes on top of rhymes.  You can sit there and just listen to the words and enjoy music and sing-song story unfold. I was surprised how many parents brought their children and this was way over their heads. Many of the Grimm fairy tale characters are in the same wood, from Cinderella, Rapunzel to Jack and the Bean Stalk and the Giant and Red Riding Hood. It looks great up on the screen with visual effects and elaborate sets. It is an enjoyable film if long at 125 minutes.  Dad

The previews were:

Selma

Longest Ride

Little Boy

Age of Adaline

Cinderella

Taken 3

 

 
 Jean, Since I saw the first two, I had to see the third. The first was quite entertaining, but the second was poor and all about  about running up and down narrow alleys in Turkey. This third one is not even as good as the second one. You never leave Los Angeles. There some run-of-the-mill car chases and the automatic weapons shooting up a lot of windows and bars full of liquor bottles. But the story about  Liam Neeson saving his wife or ex-wife or his daughter is getting so old. Even those "bad guy Russians" are so yesterday. This is not that entertaining.  Dad

P.S. The previews were:

Chappie

Mordecai

Terminator:  Genisys

Unfinished Business

Kingsman

Run All Night