Phoenix (2014) - A disfigured concentration-camp survivor (Nina Hoss), unrecognizable after facial reconstruction surgery, searches ravaged postwar Berlin for the husband (Ronald Zehrfeld) who might have betrayed her to the Nazis.

I've been a fan of Nina Hoss ever since Barbara and she does not disappoint here. The final scene is killer. 4/5

I re-watched the The Rock vehicle "Faster" this afternoon. And I do mean "vehicle" - love that '70 Chevy LS454 Chevelle!

I won't rehash my previous review (which was awesome, by the way). But I will say this - "Faster" is at least 50% better the second time you watch it. Maybe even more. It was great!

I originally rated this movie "movie 50% of whatever rating system you want. No matter if you rate by stars, thumbs-up, or dead bodiesl, "Faster" gets half of them". Well after watching it a second time, I increase that to 80% of whatever you want.

Watch it!

Then my daughter came home and said, "Let's have a movie night!" Awesome! But understand one thing:

Up here in the mountains, we still have our 2004 Dish cable box. Which means no DVD and no video on demand. But as mentioned in the "2 Guns" review I bought some DVDs, including the first two "Transporter" movies. So what did we do?

We sat down at the appointed time, called Dish, and ordered "Transporter Reloaded"!

One of the cool things about this movie is that it had the same Frank Martin introductory scene as the first "Transporter" movie. Several thugs are attempting to break into Frank's Audi S8, and he dispatches them all with ablomb.

Then he goes to pick up his dad, who has just retired after a career as the real-life James Bond. SIDE NOTE: Whoever played his dad would be a waaaaaaaaay better James Bond than Daniel Craig ever dreamed of being.

The plot revolves around some chicks that got sold into prostitution and work for a really bad dude who, incidentally, served with Frank Martin in the British Army. So these chicks decided to kill the bad guy and all his henchmen, and steal all their money. Their plan?

Kidnap Retired James Bond and make Frank drive them around Monaco. I can't see any holes in that!

This is a movie that is just good enough to keep you watching, but not good enough to make you say "I sure am glad we spent $6 on this instead of watching one of my cool Walmart DVDs".

Now I will digress but you will soon understand why.

As you may have surmised, I did not win the Powerball last night. I was hopefully optimistic, so I spent part of yesterday laying out my financial plan, including what jet I would buy. After careful research, I decided that the only jet suitable for someone with $500 million in the bank would be a Boeing Business Jet.

A Boeing Business Jet (or as we potential lottery winners call them, a "BBJ") is basically a 737 fitted out for private aviation. it blows the socks off any Gulfstream, Challenger or Falcon you can name. I found an awesome 1998 BBJ for $26,000,000 and had the jet broker's number plugged into my phone. But alas, I did not win which meant no BBJ for me, and no private Prince concert for you (that's right, I had budgeted $2 million to hire Prince for a private show, and another $1 million or so to rent a concert hall, fly some of you to Houston and put you up in a hotel, and we'd all jam with Prince). But guess what?

The bad guy had a BBJ! They had plenty of awesome shots of its interior, and I was so stoked! It wasn't the one I had picked out, but it was nice.

Anyway, back to reality. No wait, if I go back to reality then I can't talk about "Transporter Reloaded" any more.

Let's just say there were lots of car chases, tons of fights, some hot chicks, and a retired James Bond. The good guys won, of course.

Was it worth $6? Ehhhhh, I guess. I also drank a lot of wine while watching it, so that might play into my feelings. But I give this movie 2.5 Audi S8s out of 5 Audi S8s. Pretty much right in the middle, so let's call this movie what it is:

An Audi A6 without Quattro.

RodeoSchro said:

I give this movie 2.5 Audi S8s out of 5 Audi S8s. Pretty much right in the middle, so let's call this movie what it is:

An Audi A6 without Quattro.

I tend to like Baumbach's and Gerwig's work, but I hated this (as I did Baumbach's previous flick, While We're Young). Gerwig plays against type, it's half in "screwball" land, and the whole thing's just pointless and not half as clever as it thinks it is.

Steve Jobs left me cold. Why see a film about a cultural fascist? Glad the bastard died.

2freaky4church1 said:

Steve Jobs left me cold. Why see a film about a cultural fascist? Glad the bastard died.

45 Years (2015) - A married couple preparing to celebrate their wedding anniversary receive shattering news that promises to forever change the course of their lives.

A wonderfully quiet film in which every minute with Charlotte Rampling is worth seeing. 4.5/5

I watched "The Trial of Billy Jack" so you don't have to.

OK, it was a mistake. I thought this was one of the movies where Billy Jack took on lots of bad guys and Jump-Spin-kicked the bejeezus out of them. Wrong! He only Jump-Spin-kicked the bejeezus out of a couple guys.

Let me break down this movie for you. It consists of two distinct parts:

Billy Jack Jump-Spin-Kicking the bejeezus out of bad guys - 4 minutes
A bunch of hippy-dippy flower-power Freedom School New Age trippiness - 2 hours 56 minutes

Yep - three hours of Billy Jack and approximately 4 minutes of action. You can quit reading now if you want. Well, you have no choice because I don't want to write about this movie any more. Except to say, I was 2 hours into it before I realized it wasn't the first "Billy Jack".

1 Hapkido Jump-Spin Kick out of 5 Hapkido Jump-Spin Kicks.

RodeoSchro said:

I watched "The Trial of Billy Jack" so you don't have to.

OK, it was a mistake. I thought this was one of the movies where Billy Jack took on lots of bad guys and Jump-Spin-kicked the bejeezus out of them. Wrong! He only Jump-Spin-kicked the bejeezus out of a couple guys.

Let me break down this movie for you. It consists of two distinct parts:

Billy Jack Jump-Spin-Kicking the bejeezus out of bad guys - 4 minutes
A bunch of hippy-dippy flower-power Freedom School New Age trippiness - 2 hours 56 minutes

Yep - three hours of Billy Jack and approximately 4 minutes of action. You can quit reading now if you want. Well, you have no choice because I don't want to write about this movie any more. Except to say, I was 2 hours into it before I realized it wasn't the first "Billy Jack".

1 Hapkido Jump-Spin Kick out of 5 Hapkido Jump-Spin Kicks.

Most of it is idiotic hippie talk.

Cartel Land (2015) - A physician in Michoacán, Mexico leads a citizen uprising against the drug cartel that has wreaked havoc on the region for years. Across the U.S. border, a veteran heads a paramilitary group working to prevent Mexico's drug wars from entering U.S. territory.

The Mexican group is the more interesting story. The leader of the American side comes across as a bit of kook. It's still a good look at the futility in fighting the Mexican drug cartel. 4/5

The Hateful Eight= 8. Always a fan of QT's dialogue and casting picks. Looking forward to the bluray extras.

Spectre= 6. Bond. Boring Bond.

Red 2 - loved it! very funny, great characters and chemistry. highly recommend

.

The Look of Silence (2014) - A family that survives the genocide in Indonesia confronts the men who killed one of their brothers.

Like in director Joshua Oppenheimer's previous documentary, The Act of Killing, the matter-of-fact testimony from the gangsters is frightening. 4/5

I saw The Martian over the weekend. It was good, but not great. Matt Damon was also good, but not great. I don't think his performance was Oscar worthy.

Empress said:

I saw The Martian over the weekend. It was good, but not great. Matt Damon was also good, but not great. I don't think his performance was Oscar worthy.

It certainly wasn't.

That movie remined me of Interstellar and Gravity.

Hollywood has very little imagination.

Graycap23 said:

Empress said:

I saw The Martian over the weekend. It was good, but not great. Matt Damon was also good, but not great. I don't think his performance was Oscar worthy.

It certainly wasn't.

That movie remined me of Interstellar and Gravity.

Hollywood has very little imagination.

I actually liked Gravity a lot, but the acting in that movie and The Martian was not Oscar worthy. Sometimes I think they forget what great acting really is.

Empress said:

Graycap23 said:

It certainly wasn't.

That movie remined me of Interstellar and Gravity.

Hollywood has very little imagination.

I actually liked Gravity a lot, but the acting in that movie and The Martian was not Oscar worthy. Sometimes I think they forget what great acting really is.

I like all 3 movies but Oscar worthy they were not.

Graycap23 said:

Empress said:

I actually liked Gravity a lot, but the acting in that movie and The Martian was not Oscar worthy. Sometimes I think they forget what great acting really is.

I like all 3 movies but Oscar worthy they were not.

I'm with you. i liked Gravity but not Oscar worthy.

Graycap23 said:

Empress said:

I actually liked Gravity a lot, but the acting in that movie and The Martian was not Oscar worthy. Sometimes I think they forget what great acting really is.

I like all 3 movies but Oscar worthy they were not.

I'm with you. i liked Gravity but not Oscar worthy.

The revenant 2.75 out of 5. Very well acted. Especially Tom and Leo. Beautiful landscape, but it's a revenge/hardship story, you can only go so far (Although, I don't see how you could have done better.).

kewlschool said:

The revenant 2.75 out of 5. Very well acted. Especially Tom and Leo. Beautiful landscape, but it's a revenge/hardship story, you can only go so far (Although, I don't see how you could have done better.).

Then why 2.75 out of 5

sexton said:

Phoenix (2014) - A disfigured concentration-camp survivor (Nina Hoss), unrecognizable after facial reconstruction surgery, searches ravaged postwar Berlin for the husband (Ronald Zehrfeld) who might have betrayed her to the Nazis.

I've been a fan of Nina Hoss ever since Barbara and she does not disappoint here. The final scene is killer. 4/5

added to my list; thanks!

Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015) - When Shaun decides to take the day off and have some fun, he gets a little more action than he bargained for. A mix up with the Farmer, a caravan and a very steep hill lead them all to the Big City and it's up to Shaun and the flock to return everyone safely to the green grass of home.

I laughed out loud so much watching this movie. 4/5

Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)

Despite the brooding tones and cinematography, it is a vibrant film, and a poignant showcase for Detroit to boot. Tilda Swinton continues to amaze me, and Tom Hiddleston has rarely been better. Lost some steam in the 2d half, but enjoyable all the same.

1/2

Creed (2015) - The former World Heavyweight Champion Rocky Balboa serves as a trainer and mentor to Adonis Johnson, the son of his late friend and former rival Apollo Creed.

I'm not a fan of the Rocky franchise at all, but this was a good movie. Director Ryan Coogler and actor Michael B. Jordan are good together between this and 2013's Fruitvale Station. 3.5/5

MAD MAX 2015

Great movie, really exciting film 4/5