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

The Theory of Everything

 

 

Jean, This is a much more positive and uplifting movie that I had expected. There is so much more to the story of Stephen Hawking and his ALS disease. It is how he practically overcomes the disease and his relationship with not only his first wife but with  other women and his children. Both of the leads should get some kind of awards for disappearing into their roles. That is Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones. And the setting being among the building of Cambridge, and classrooms are so authentic. I was so surprised how engrossing and romantic a movie this is.  Dad

P.S. The previews were:

A Most Violent Year

Tomorrowland

In the Heart of the Sea

Unbroken

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, part 1

 

 

Jean, Although this film is setting the stage for the big finale film which is at least a year away, it is one of the most engrossing of the series. Jennifer Lawrence could not be better than in this film. She carries off her role, scene after scene. There is no running in the forest and flicking those deadly arrows as in the past. It is more a story line leading us to the next film. In doing so, it keeps your attention as much if not more than the past films. Seymour Hoffman is in this one but since his appearances were not complete before his passing, you get some shots that are not all that important.  I think this is much more entertaining than anyone could expect.  Dad

P.S. The previews were:

Cinderella

Annie

Insurgent

Pitch Perfect II

The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb

Interstellar

 

 
Jean, I feel as if I went to the moon and back. This is a long, long (168 minutes) 
space opera. I found it entertaining on that level. You will get confused with Chris Nolan's murky science, space lectures and time-space relationships. You get a smorgasbord of black holes, worm holes and gargantuan holes, etc. (Some of these even have tears in them.) There are many passages that simply drag on too darn long. But I thought it had an entertaining quality as you watched the main characters and their changing relationships. These lead up to an ending which is not to be guessed or maybe not fully grasped at first sight.   Many of the visuals are very well done but not  beyond what  I have seen before. Dad

P.S. The Previews are:

Selma

Exodus, Gods and Kings

Chappie

The Hobbit, The Battle of the Five Armies

Avengers, Age of Ultron

Hunger Games, Mockingjay, Part 1

Birdman

Jean, This is a movie worth making time to see on the big screen. Among other highlights, you have two very good country actors going mano a mano over and over. That would be Michael Keaton and Edward Norton. You also have the inside or back stage of a Broadway play heading for it's opening. Much of the movie plays out in the backstage and underground hallways of this particular theater. The energy builds to an ending that has to be seen as it is both unexpected but  satisfying. This is one of the best and most entertaining movies I have seen all year.  Dad

P.S. The previews are:

Wild

Top Five

Mortecai

The Second Most Exotic Marigold Hotel

Gone Girl

Jean, This is a long, long entertaining crime drama. At two and one-half hours, it seems too long for the story but it does keep your interest as there are a few twists to understand along the way. Both of the leads are very good. Ben Affleck seems to play himself and that is what is called for in that role in my mind. Rosamund Pike is just about perfect in her role. There are a number of holes in the story that immediately suggest themselves but you go with the story as it carries you along anyway.  Dad

P.S. The previews were:

A Most Violent Year

Kingsman

Fifty Shades of Gray

St. Vincent

Exodus

Tracks

Jean, This is a movie made from the book by the same name. It is the 1700 mile trek made by a young lady, from Alice Springs, Australia to the Indian Ocean in 1977. Mia Wasikowska is the main character and does a fine job. You see some amazing shots of the harsh landscape and learn a lot about camels. (She uses four camels she trains to make the trip as her carrier animals.) Nat'l Geographic Magazine helps with the trip and one of it's photographers is a dramatic character throughout the film. I found it a quite  interesting travel film across a near desert land and the people who endure it's hardships. At the end, they role the credits and show you the  actual people and animals portrayed in the film. (Some animals die but the real life circumstances are explained.)

Dad

P.S. The previews are:

The Imitation Game

Foxcatcher

Rosewater

Theory of Everything