The February chill is sticking around through next week.
If you’re thinking of renting movies to avoid getting out in the cold, here are some that I recently saw. With my reviews, if you’re on the fence about a movie, I might encourage or discourage you from renting them.
“THE JUDGE”
“The Judge” — fantastic storytelling and excellent acting (Robert Downey Jr., Robert Duvall, and Vera Farmiga).
Duvall is definitely worthy of another Oscar if the buzz for Supporting Actor wasn’t so strong for J.K. Simmons for “Whiplash”.
Before this movie, I’ve never really paid that much attention to Downey Jr.’s acting, but he was flawless. And, he looks amazing for turning 50 this April.
GRADE: A
“CHEF”
A very funny and heartwarming story about a boy wanting to bond with his dad after his parents divorced.
It stars my chick crush, Sofia Vergara, but the standout is 11-year-old Emjay Anthony. His wit and puppy dog looks make you root for him and his dad to get close again.
From a culinary standpoint, pure food porn!
And, you have to watch Amy Sedaris in the deleted scenes. She had me laughing out loud.
GRADE: A
“INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS”
Oscar Isaac plays a Greenwich Village folk singer in the early-1960s. The movie follows the ups and downs of his life over a week.
Justin Timberlake and Carey Mulligan co-star.
The soundtrack is incredible. The interesting, fun tune “Please Mr. Kennedy” was nominated last year for a Golden Globe award.
And, there’s a cat in the movie that steals the show. 🙂
GRADE: B+
“THE INTERVIEW”
After all of the fuss and Sony’s major screw-up in cancelling the movie’s Christmas Day 2014 release and then releasing it, “The Interview” is finally out on DVD.
While I enjoyed the movie and its juvenile humor, many of the funniest parts were in the “red band” trailer. However, that would cheat you out of some very funny scenes in the 90-minute movie.
James Franco and Seth Rogen are a great team and after seeing some almost nudity in the movie, I’m more inspired than ever to eat healthier and lose weight this spring!
My favorite scene climaxes with Rogen’s character asking Franco’s, “what kind of porn do you watch?”
Here’s the more viewer friendly trailer for the movie. However, while it’s very raunchy, I’d prefer you watch the red-band trailer if you’re grown up or open-minded!
GRADE: B
“WHAT IF”
This quirky romantic comedy stars a grown-up Daniel Radcliffe (“Harry Potter”).
This is a movie that our 14-year-old daughter, Gretel, wanted to watch. After seeing it, we told her not to date so casually like Chantry (Zoe Kazan) in the movie.
Ironically, I’ve never noticed Adam Driver (“Girls”) before in movies and now I’ve seen him in three in just the first two months of this year. He was also in “Inside Llewyn Davis” and “This Is Where I Leave You”.
GRADE: C+
“SPACE STATION 76”
If you like retro looking space movies that will take you back to your childhood (if you’re of a certain age), the cheesy “Space Station 76” is for you.
It made me laugh several times, but if you want modern-day CGI, you’ll be disappointed.
GRADE: C+
“THE SKELETON TWINS”
Okay, I didn’t see this movie recently, I saw it at the end of 2015, but I’m featuring it again here because it was simply amazing and one of my favorites from last year.
Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader, both of “Saturday Night Live” fame, are incredible as a brother and sister brought together again after not being in contact for ten years.
The movie is funny, sad, and thought-provoking and when Starship’s “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” is featured, I bet it’ll make your “best of” list, too.
Okay, this is not a spoiler, but you still may not want to watch this until you see the movie. 🙂 This is for those of you that have already seen it.
GRADE: A
Anthony
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