Since it’s going to be a snowy, blustery, and cold day, you might just want to snuggle up on the couch and watch movies.
Here are some recent ones that we rented at Redbox and I’d recommend all of them, but some were much better than others.
“THE GUEST”
“The Guest” showed great potential at the start, but lost credibility mid-movie and was a joke by the end.
The highlight is that Dan Stevens (much more buff and sexier than from his “Downton Abbey” days) was easy on the eyes!
GRADE: C
“THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU”
“This Is Where I Leave You” is a dysfunctional family dramedy.
A group of siblings come together to mourn the loss of their father.
It features an all-star cast including the incredibly beautiful and funny Jane Fonda (and her breasts), Tina Fey, and Jason Bateman.
And, I can see why there’s a lot of entertainment buzz with “Girls” star Adam Driver. Although I find him awkward looking, he does have a lot of magnetism on-camera.
While the movie made me laugh several times, the writing was a little choppy.
However, the acting was great.
GRADE: B
“LOVE IS STRANGE”
“Love is Strange” is the story of a couple that have been together for almost 40 years and they finally get married.
One of them gets fired from his Catholic School teaching job because of the gay marriage.
They can’t afford their condo which forces them to live apart with family and friends.
Heartbreaking and well-acted.
The movie stars John Lithgow, Alfred Molina, and Marisa Tomei.
GRADE: B+
“A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES”
“A Walk Among the Tombstones” with Liam Neeson and Dan Stevens was an entertaining, but predictable movie.
If you like Neeson in the “Taken” series, you’ll like his kick-ass turn as a vigilante out for revenge.
If you’ve tired of “Taken” by “Taken 3”, you might want to skip this one.
GRADE: B-
“THE MAZE RUNNER”
“The Maze Runner” was a very enjoyable and thought-provoking young adult, dystopian, science-fiction story about the end of the world as we know it and a science experiment being conducted on boys and girls.
A sequel is already in the works.
GRADE: B
“BOYHOOD”
If you watched the Golden Globes, you saw Patricia Arquette win for Best Supporting Actress, Richard Linklater for Best Director, and “Boyhood” for Best Picture – Drama, and rightfully so!
The movie is also up for six Academy Awards.
“Boyhood” is very unique movie by Hollywood standards. It was shot a few days a year over a twelve year period with the same actors and actresses. No special effects were needed to age the actors.
While most of the awards and nominations are going to Linklater, Arquette, and Ethan Hawke, the real star of “Boyhood” is Ellar Coltrane. It was amazing to watch this little Texas kid grow up on-screen over the 12-year shoot of the movie.
By the end you felt like you really knew him, even though he was acting and playing Mason.
Coltrane did pick up “Best Young Performer at the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, the Nevada Film Critics Society, and the Washington D.C. Area Film Critic Association Awards.
A must see!
GRADE: A-
“NO GOOD DEED”
This crime thriller movie was fun to watch, but it wasn’t very realistic.
It definitely wasted the talents of its stars, Golden Globes winner Idris Elba and Academy Award nominee Taraji P. Henson, who is much better and has better material to work with on Fox’s “Empire” as Cookie.
GRADE: B-
If you end up renting any of these, let me know what you think.
Anthony
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