TRANCE

Jean, This must be the one the most face-paced, mind-twisting, violent heist movies on record. Danny Boyle seems to pull out all the stops with a loud, pounding, pounding sound track, gory human mutilation and repeated full frontal nudity. If you are into heist movies this is for you. There are so many twists in this plot that your eyes never leave the screen and your ears are tuned to pick up all the dialogue . The hypnotism sequences leave you wondering but there is no time for that due to the fast pace. After a big ending series of scenes you are not sure why which of the main characters are still standing. Along the way you learn some very interesting art history about the great masters of the painting world. The three stars , James McAvoy, Vincent Cassel and Rosario Dawson seem to be really  enjoying their parts. For some reason this is a great looking film, such color and clarity especially in the many night scenes.  Dad 

The Previews were:

The Way, Way Back

The East

Kon Tiki

Rosario Dawson in TRANCE

Mud

Starbuck

Jean, 

This is a French language movie with English subtitles. It is about one really serious screw-up named  David who was a regular sperm contributor to a fertility clinic at $35.00 donation. It then turns out that his sperm is used for 533 births. On top of that a group of the resulting children (142) file a class action suit to find out who is the sperm contributor who was assigned the name of Starbuck. They want to know their father. 

The first half of the movie is gently funny as they have a lot of fun with the resulting complications as a result  of all the successful births. (The clinic is proud of the quality of his sperm and uses his sperm repeatedly.) here is then a law suit and something of a trial. The second half  of the movie dwells on the feel-good, human nature story of a few of the resulting children with whom he comes into contact. I think they could have developed the fun aspects of the main story line more than they did. The heart-warming changes that are brought on to David's character are well done but so predictable.  Dad

Patrick Huard as David

 

 

 

The previews were:

 

Frances Ha

Kon-Tiki

Trance

Mud

 

We'll Miss You, Roger.

Roger Ebert

June 18, 1942 - April 4, 2013

G.I. Joe: Retaliation

Jean, This movie is one non-stop blast. It was so much more than I had expected. Not only the action scenes  but all the new " toys" that are presented with which to wage modern war.   Also  those scenes of the Ninja swordsmen and their chase and dueling matches across the faces of the Tibetan mountains were very imaginative and entertaining. (I could see just those scenes again.) I thought the overall story was a little dumb but the action was non-stop and it never seem to lose momentum. The locations looked very authentic as well like those at Fort Sumter.  The introduction of the pearl handled or ivory handled.45 automatic of General Patton was an interesting historic touch. In all this, I was never quite sure who was behind the black armored suit masks. Dad

Dwayne Johnson in G.I.Joe: Retaliation

P.S. The previews were:

White House Down

Fast and Furious 6

Star Trek: Into Darkness

RED 2

World War Z

The Lone Ranger

Stoker

Jean, I had expected to see a psychological thriller of a movie with some good actors. What I saw was a quite stylized psychological thriller with an excellent cast and a turn into a rapidly rising body count using many different ways of killing. They included being buried alive, grass sheers in the neck, the crushing of the neck with bone cracking in HD and on. And there is a lot of blood flowing in this seemingly quiet house in the South. The blood flows on the hard wood floors, spurts on the lace curtains and lovely bedcovers, etc. The three leads are all good, such as Wiaskoska, Goode and Nicole Kidman. This is a taut thriller with a surprising amount of bloody, murderous action right up to the very  last scene.  Dad

Nicole Kidman in "Stoker"

The previews were:

Admissions

The Company you keep

Frances Ha

MUD

Oz the Great and Powerful

Jean, I think you have to see this picture for just the amazing vistas, landscapes, black forests, emerald cities, Tyrolean villages, etc. It really gives you a magician, three witches, flying baboons, and a story line with some switches  but ends up where you should be. You can make some criticisms here and there but I think you have to take the movie as a whole and in that I think they succeed in their effort to take on such a famous story. It is long at 130 minutes and it begins to drag some at about 90 minutes but stay with it. They give you one of the biggest endings I can ever remember. And for some reason the 3D holds up for me  throughout the film. I think it is worth it in seeing this one in 3D.  Dad

P.S. The previews in 3D were:

Oblivion

The Great Gatsby

The Croods

Ironman 3

Star Trek: Into Darkness

MU: Monster University

Jack the Giant Slayer

Jean, I found this a big, great looking entertaining adventure movie. In addition to it's attractive young leads, it has Ewan McGregor, Bill Night, Stanley Tucci and Iam McShane. There are the famous beans and the beanstalk that is impressively depicted reminding one of a tree in Avatar, but this one is much more action prone. Just when you come to a "no way out of this moment" they come up with a very clever solution more than once. And the giants have a gritty human look and are also quite impressive with their own personalities exhibiting human failings down to  burping, etc. The final big battle  scenes which are mandatory is brought off quite impressively. It kind of reminded one of the battle scenes in "Kingdom of Heaven" but much more intimate with different, clever weapons.  

Stanley Tucci in "Jack the Giant Slayer"

Dad

P.S. The Previews were:

Man of Steel

The Host

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

Oblivion

Now You See Me