Unbroken, The Imitation Game, Big Eyes, Into the Woods, The Interview, Foxcatcher, Men, Women, and Children

As it's the last day of December and I have been slipping in putting up reviews of these late December releases (Thank you Christmas) I've decided to compile the reviews for Unbroken, The Imitation Game, Big Eyes, Into the Woods, and The Interview.

Unbroken: An inspirational true story that is unabashedly Oscar bait. But it is good Oscar Bait. It's basically Rescue Dawn meets Chariots of Fire. Heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. A 

The Imitation Game: Stellar performance by Benedict Cumberbatch. A heartbreaking true story of a man with secrets who had to unravel the greatest secrets of World War II. Some great twists and turns. A

Big Eyes: Another true biographical film. No less compelling than the previous two. Much more light but still pretty sad. Career best performance by Amy Adams and another great performance by Christoph Waltz. Good, solid, storytelling. A-

Into the Woods: Started great, about twenty minutes too long. Never saw the Broadway show but an average musical. Johnny Depp is spectacularly creepy as the wolf. Chris Pine and Billy Magnussen have a duet as princes and it's the greatest musical moment in years. B 

The Interview: A controversy stole all the thunder from the actual movie when theaters and Sony pulled it's release after terrorist threats. It became a patriotic statement to just watch the Interview. It's probably a good thing for Seth Rogan and James Franco though, because without the controversy the only people who would watch it is people who like the type of comedies Seth Rogan puts out. Crass, crude, and obscene...but enough comedic moments to satisfy those who like crass, crude, and obscene. C-

Foxcatcher: A prestige, true story, drama with career best performances by Channing Tatum and Steve Carell. With all the hype I expected something more. A slow burn of a film with strong performances. If you don't love drama's you probably will find this too boring. B+

Men, Women, and Children: A dark, stark look at the influence of technology on our world today. Pornography, infidelity, bullying, and gaming are all addressed. A timely film that is strengthened by strong performances but handicapped by an over convoluted script and an excess of characters. Also narration is annoying, even if it's by Emma Thompson. C+

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb

"The end will come." This line is uttered early in Secret of the Tomb. It's fitting for the final installment in the Night at the Museum trilogy. Sadly, the end for this series was guaranteed when star Robin Williams tragically committed suicide earlier in the year. That made me kind of scared of this movie because I didn't want it to end on a bad movie. As much as I liked the Battle for the Smithsonian there was no doubt it had lost a step on the magic of the original. But the secret of the tomb is apparently that they saved the best for last.



In 1938 a joint archaeological dig between the United States and Great Britain uncovered the Tomb of Ahkmenrah and despite the warnings from the locals that "The end will come!" they take the artifacts and divide them up between the Museum of Natural History in New York and Britain. In present day, the tablet that has made the Nights at the Museum so lively has started to corrode, causing mayhem with the displays. To discover the secret of the tablet and restore order, Larry Daley must travel to England, with his most trusty exhibits, to raise the parents of Ahkmenrah himself.

This isn't an end of the year prestige drama. It wont win an Oscar. But it is one of the most enjoyable movies I've seen all year. There are moments of surprising darkness along with a celebrity cameo that steals the whole movie. (It is probably the funniest scene I've scene all year.) It's a sweet, funny, and partly because of the death of Robin Williams poignant film about accepting that some things do end. Except the magic...  A

The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies

"I'm old, Gandalf....I feel...thin. Sort of stretched, like....butter scraped over too much bread." Bilbo Baggins 

Five movies later, that statement takes on new meaning. I love The Lord of the Rings. I like The Hobbit. I think as far as the movies go though, they are the fantasy equivalent of Star Wars. Epic originals that defined a culture, flat prequels that made everyone shrug or roll their eyes. We needed a Hobbit movie, make no mistake, but I am more sure than ever that we didn't need three. But if The Hobbit is the Star Wars prequel equivalent to LOTR than The Battle of the Five Armies is also The Revenge of the Sith. (The best of the prequels for all you weirdos who don't watch Star Wars.) 

We pick up right where we left off: Smaug flying to decimate Lake Town...which he does. Bard breaks out of prison and kills the best thing about this trilogy within the first 30 minutes. (Aside: Like, what the heck Jackson? You spent two movies getting to the dragon and you kill him that quick? Lame.) So now the movie deals with what pretty much no one cared very much about: The dwarves holding the kingdom of Erebor from everyone looking to capitalize on the vacant dragon lair that is overflowing with riches. So power vacuum brings everyone (men, orcs, elves, dwarves, and goblins) looking to take the treasure and a huge Battle ensues. Also Gandalf. And a Ring....

Before I list the things I didn't like about this, I will say I did love this movie. I love this franchise. I can't wait to get the whole extended edition and watch all six movies back to back. And The Battle of the Five Armies is perfect in the fact that when you start at An Unexpected Journey and watch to Return of the King, you will be watching them in order of greatness. But..... THEY KILLED SMAUG WAY TOO QUICK.....and there was way too much Lake Town. Like I have a hard time caring about the dwarves and now you're throwing all these humans at me? Please stop. And in the midst of the battle the dwarves all the sudden start riding goats, seriously, out of nowhere, and it looks ridiculous. Also Beorn finally joins the battle and we get like one scene of bear munching goblins... sigh....it's not a perfect movie is what I'm saying, but it's still a Peter Jackson Middle Earth movie...so it's still pretty cool.  B+

Exodus: God's and Kings

"...the biggest source of evil is of course religion," ~ Ridley Scott

I love Ridley Scott. He is a great director who makes (usually) great movies. He is now the second atheist to release a movie based on a Biblical account this year. I don't think you have to believe in something to make a good movie about it. I do believe you have to at least respect it though. I don't believe in aliens and I think I could make a good movie about aliens though. But I wouldn't disrespect peoples expectations to say, make the aliens weakness water or something.... Or take a Biblical story and add rock monsters/angels, a psychotic 'hero', and theistic evolution...much like that other 'biblical' movie this year. But I love Ridley Scott. (And pretty much every other person involved in this movie.) So I was willing to give Exodus the benefit of the doubt. Oy Vey.

Who doesn't know this story? Oh well, for those who don't (who are you seriously?) the story (according to the movie) goes something like this: Moses is a general and illegitimate member of the royal family, but he doesn't know just how illegitimate he is. He is a Hebrew who was saved as a baby. He eventually discovers his lineage and religious background that he refuses to buy into. He is kicked out of Egypt for killing two soldiers and after years pass, God shows up to slap him in the head (kind of literally) and tells him to help him free the enslaved Hebrews. Guerrilla warfare, supernatural (or maybe natural) plagues, and arguing with God (or maybe delusions) follow.

Ridley Scott tries to please everyone. His own atheistic beliefs and the religious audience that this movie is mainly directed toward. He bends just far enough for each person: So that he doesn't have to completely concede that God is real and that religious people can say he didn't exactly say He doesn't either. It's a typical compromise, everyone walks away shrugging their shoulders in almost happiness, but shaking their heads in semi disappointment. It's far from a perfect movie; I loved the realism and horror of the plagues and Red Sea but completely hated the winy, angry portrayal of a child God. It's not great, but thank God it's not Noah.  C+

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

Ok, I can't believe I'm posting this on December 2. For some reason I thought that I had already posted this.., so sorry for the delay. Unpopular confession 1: I think that Mockingjay was the best book in the Hunger Games Trilogy. (Believe me I could/might dedicate an entire post to defend this position.) Unpopular confession 2: I do not have a problem with this Hollywood cash grab of splitting books up into multiple movies...as long as they stay close to the source material. As much as I like that splitting books up can allow for more book material to be covered (or as in the case of Peter Jackson's Hobbit, material adding) I can concede that Mockingjay could have easily been a single movie.


After being rescued from The Hunger Games by a rebel force that has emerged to challenge the tyrannical rule of the Capitol, Katniss Everdeen is just barely scraping by. PTSD and anxiety have all but crippled her. Unfortunately for her, the rebels have big plans for her. They want Katniss to be the face of the revolution. The rallying cry to encourage other districts to revolt. The Mockingjay. The stakes have never been higher, the games are over, the war has begun.

Let me just describe the opening for you: After a nightmare/PTSD episode, Katniss hears crying and whimpering. She walks to the room next door where she sees a grief stricken, guilt ridden, traumatized Finnick crying in his regret of being helpless to save their comrades in the Games. He then wishes they were all dead. And Katniss doesn't disagree. THAT is the kind of movie this is. It is the most gutsy, depressing, installment yet...I reserve my final judgement until next years Part 2. It's why I loved the book so much: This is the Hunger Games except with no one playing any games, the stakes are higher than individual survival. It's stripped of all fluff and shows the bare bones of traumatic the Games and war affect people. Motives are masked, consequences are far reaching, and some damaged kids are swept up in it. It's the most important of the series...and the movie doesn't disappoint. The acting is strong, the visuals powerful, and the cliffhanger leaves you with the promise of more action next year in the conclusion of this awesome series.     A