American Sniper

If any of you have read my reviews in the past, you know that I’m not fond of films that deal with war, the military, ultra-violence, psychotics, etc.  You get the idea.  This film deals with an issue that hits pretty close to home for me…PTSD.  Whether it was the Civil War or most recently dealing with ISIL, makes no difference…the job of a soldier is to defend and protect and follow orders.  Chris Kyle, as portrayed by Bradley Cooper, did just that.  If you saw the Hurt Locker or Ground Zero, or any one of the myriad of films that have come before it, then you know that what you’re going to see is not a pretty postcard picture of what life is like in any part of the world that’s struggling politically.  The person that takes on this or any other job that requires they pit life against life, is not going to come back from the experience, or in this case experiences, unchanged.  My criticism of this film would be that we didn’t get a real opportunity to get to know Chris all that much before he’s in a situation that he can’t opt out of.  The film is very well cast and Bradley Cooper is a standout as Chris.  It must have been extremely painful for his widow to see how close this was to what she lived and hopefully, she has some happier memories to share with their children.  Rating:  3 Booyahs.

Into The Woods

Several years ago, I got a VHS copy of the Broadway version of this musical starring Bernadette Peters, and a variety of actors that I had no idea could sing.  Nor had I seen some of them on anything other than the occasional television sitcom.  It was a very long play, as I recall, and I couldn’t tell you if I paid attention (I should have), or what any of the songs were, except the pivotal “Children Will Listen”.   When it was announced that it was being made for the big screen and the witch was to be portrayed by Meryl Streep, my ears perked up.  The long and the short of this film is be careful what you wish for because you just might get it, but at what cost.  Biggest surprise…Emily Blunt and Chris Pine…both can really sing and biggest non-surprise, but a total treat…Anna Kendrick.  It’s a divine ensemble and a wonderful romp into the woods and beyond.  So, the rating for la Streep and cast – a red cape, a bunch of magic beans, a pair of golden slippers, and hair the color of golden corn aka 4 stars.

Guardians Of The Galaxy

Yikes!  What an awesome soundtrack and the action is pretty good, too.  I can’t wait for this to come out on disc to watch it over and over again.  Yep, I thought it was that good.  My movie obsession is not with the heroes of this film, but with the pseudo ultimate villain, Ronan, played by Lee Pace.  That man is a tall, good looking drink of water in my book.  He just is.  Now, let’s get back to the film and the “Guardians”.  We have a kid who grows into a space bandit with a huge bounty on his head, a green badass lady assassin, a tattooed hulk bent on revenge, a genetically modified raccoon, and Groot, the living breathing vegetarian Marvel Comics version of a Wookie that utters the following sentence throughout the film:  “I am Groot”.   Although you can’t see them, Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel are sort of the Han Solo and Chewbacca characters, Chris Pratt is the Luke Skywalker stand-in, Zoe Saldana is not exactly a Princess Leia substitute – but she is the “girl” and more like a female version of Thor-lite, and Dave Batista, as Drax the Destroyer, is the only main character that doesn’t conjure up Star Wars references to me.  I saw some things that made me think of a couple of Sly Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger sci-fi films and definitely felt the presence of the Star Trek force without blatant plagiarism from any and all of the present or past films.  It was bloody good fun movie.  Rating:  I am Groot (translation – 4 stars)

How To Train Your Dragon 2

We return to Berk, land of the Scottish Vikings and dragons.  Toothless, Hiccup, Astrid, and the rag-tag dragon riders are back.  This time the story shifts to the more mature Hiccup (he’s 20 now), he’s a community organizer per se and the assumed future leader of the pack.  The visuals are amazing and the story gives us a look at how friendship, love, and trust can change even the most hopeless situation.  We’re introduced to some new characters, notably, Cate Blanchett and Djimon Hounsou.  I can’t really give you much more information than that this is a sequel worthy of being made and that I would like to see it as a double-feature outdoor movie.  A word of advice…kids under five may not be able to sit through this and there are parts that are frightening to the younger children, so use your best sense when deciding to pack everyone up and take them to the movies.  Rating:  3.75 stars and a gummy grin

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

So where were we?  Oh yes, just coming out on the other side of the forest and flying off a cliff, naturally.  The mountain home of the dwarves looms in the distance, Gandalf the Grey is leading everyone in the direction of safety(?) and Bilbo Baggins (our hero) is discovering that he’s not as much of a homebody as he thought.   Large nasty looking bear/wolf/hog riding Orcs are chasing them and nobody’s sure that they’re going to make it to the next leg of their journey, much less find the big white stone they need to reclaim their home.  Meanwhile, back at the mountain, a large fire-breathing  gold-hoarding, razor-toothed, talking dragon is waiting.  As in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, we’re hanging on to the edge of our seats to see if the band of 14 makes it to their destination.  It’s a roller coaster ride with a lot of surprises around the corners (note to my friend Lisa, close your eyes after they enter the forest…you won’t like this).  There are a lot of dead-ends and a truly spectacular finale to this installment.  I’m so looking forward to the conclusion.  For those of you who missed Orlando Bloom as Legolas, he’s back and there’s a new character I think you’re really going to cotton to, Evangeline Lilly as Tauril.  Martin Freeman is Bilbo Baggins…just that simple.  Rating:  One ring to unite them all, 13 dwarves, one wiz of wizard, and a very brave hobbit.

The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty (2013)

After watching the original 1947 film starring Danny Kaye, I would have to say this is about as far away as you can get, but apparently fairly close to the story by James Thurber that both films are based on.  Walter works for Life Magazine as an asset negative manager (or is that negative asset manager?).  He’s played here by Ben Stiller, who delivers the goods with just the right amount of hesitation, hands thrown up in the air, and head smacking realization.  Kristen Wiig, Patton Oswald, Shirley MacLaine, Sean Penn, and a truly nasty Adam Scott are the people in Walter’s life that spur him on to give his life a real purpose.  This is a very funny, quirky, beautifully filmed and awe-inspiring movie.  You'll definitely want to watch it more than once.  Rating:  tapockata, tapockata, tapockata, tapockata