Tuesday, May 14, 2013

MUD

Title:  Mud
Jan's Rating:  A-
Time:  2 Hours 10 Minutes

Jan's Opinion:  Cousin Bonnie and I saw this movie today in Kenwood and both of us enjoyed it very much.  Matthew McConaughey plays "Mudd", a guy who is hiding out on an island because he killed a man for beating up his girlfriend, "Juniper", played by Reese Witherspoon.  These two love each other but are poison together.  She cheats on him and he beats up the guys she cheats with, except for the one he killed.  He is discovered living in an abandoned boat on an island by two teenage boys, around 14 years old.  The boys stole my heart because they are my grandson's age, but these boys have a hard life, living on a boat on a swampy river in Arkansas.  "Ellis" is played by Tye Sheridan and is upset because his parents are getting a divorce; his mother wants to move to the city and Ellis only knows living on the river.  "Neckbone" is played by Jacob Lofland, also lives on the river but never knew his parents, and is being raised by his uncle.  When these boys discover Mud living in an abandoned boat, they befriend him and find they are in deep trouble.  I'll stop there.  See it, you'll enjoy it too!

Friday, May 10, 2013

THE GREAT GATSBY

Movie:  The Great Gatsby
Jan's Rating:  B
Time:  2 Hours 23 Minutes

Jan's Opinion:  Cousin Bonnie and I saw this movie today and it was good.  I don't normally like period pieces but this was pretty good.  Bonnie had seen the one from the 70's with Robert Redford, who played Gatsby and gave that one an "A" and this one a "B".  I did not see the one with Robert Redford so cannot compare.  In this movie, Leonardo DiCaprio played Gatsby and Tobey Maguire played his next-door neighbor.  I did not know any of the other actors.  Gatsby is possessed by a young woman named Daisy and nothing will stop him from winning her love, even though she is married to another man.  This movie is available as a regular movie or in 3-D.  We saw the 3-D version and do not feel it was worth the extra $4 to see Gatsby throw his shirts over the bannister and have a couple look like they were going to land in the audience.  Just my opinion.  Did enjoy the movie itself though.

Friday, May 3, 2013

GINGER AND ROSA

Movie:  Ginger and Rosa
Jan's Rating:  C
Time:  1 Hour 35 Minutes

Jan's Opinion:  Cousin Bonnie and I went to see this movie today and we were both disappointed.  It was a very dark movie, took place in war-torn London in 1945 (I think) so most of the movie was very grey.  It starts with 2 mothers giving birth about the same time and they remain long-time friends, as do their daughters who were born at the same time.  I am guessing that the daughters are around 15 years old during most of this movie.  They are fairly typical teenagers in that they are trying life out for the first time.  One of the girls (Ginger) is played by Elle Fanning who does a good job with her role.  She is worried about the world ending and joins a group who demonstrate and do sit-ins.  A lady in the group who befriends her is Annette Benning, who still looks pretty good without makeup.  The story jumps around a lot and people come and go in the movie and you have no idea who they are.  We should have known when the Enquirer gave it an "A" that it wouldn't be our kind of movie.  I don't want to tell you anymore about it in case you want to see it.  This is just my humble opinion.

Friday, April 26, 2013

THE BIG WEDDING

Movie:  The Big Wedding
Jan's Rating:  B
Time:  1 Hour 30 Minutes

Jan's Opinion:  It's good to be back on my blog again!  There haven't been any movies playing for the past 4-6 weeks that I wanted to see.  Finally, The Big Wedding opened today so cousin Bonnie and I went to see it and thoroughly enjoyed it.  I don't know how the Enquirer can give a movie a "D" rating when it has such stars as Robin Williams, Diane Keaton, Robert DiNiro, Susan Sarandon, Katherine Heigl and Amanda Seyfried.  Robert DiNiro and Diane Keaton have been divorced for many years and their son is getting married.  Suddenly all the skeletons start coming out of the closet.  We both found it very funny and think it deserves a "B".

Sunday, April 7, 2013

KILLING THEM SOFTLY

Movie:  Killing Them Softly
Dave's Rating:  F
Time:  1 hour 37 Minutes

Dave's Opinion:  Jan watched 10 minutes of this movie and couldn't watch anymore so left the room.  I did watch the rest of the movie so here is my review:

I would call this movie "Killing Them (the viewers) First and end their Misery! 

This is 97 minutes of pure agony but it may have set a record for the use of the "F" word in a low-budget film, or any film for that matter.  I really loved the song with the same title, by Roberta Flack, and certainly have enjoyed past performances by Brad Pitt, but he stooped to a new low when he agreed to make this movie.  This 2012 film cost $15 million to make and then only grossed $35 million.  The story line does not exist and the acting is terrible!

May I end your agony now by suggesting you do not waste your money on this movie.  My rating is an "F".

Sunday, March 17, 2013

ALEX CROSS

Movie:  Alex Cross
Jan's Rating:  C+
Time:  1 hour 43 Minutes

Jan's Opinion:  I didn't get to see Alex Cross when it was in the Theaters but we rented it last night from Time Warner Cable and it was a pretty good movie.  If you are not familiar with the name Alex Cross, he is the main character in many of James Patterson's books, and we have read them all, so we were naturally interested in seeing the movie.  I believe there have been two other Alex Cross movies made several years ago.  In those movies, Morgan Freeman played Alex Cross.  As much as I like Morgan Freeman, he was too old to play Alex Cross.  In the movie we saw last night, Tyler Perry played the role of Alex Cross and did an excellent job.  Nana Mama was played by Cicily Tyson who was perfect for that role.  I was disappointed that the setting was Detroit, Michigan instead of Washington, DC, where all the Alex Cross stories have taken place.  However, there was a lot of action and my husband and I enjoyed it very much.

Saturday, March 2, 2013

LIFE OF PI

Movie:  Life of Pi
Jan's Rating:  B
Time:  2 Hours 7 Minutes

Jan's Opinion:  Cousin Bonnie and I saw this movie today and frankly, I would have given the movie and acting an "A" rating except for the starving animals eating each other.  I just couldn't watch.  Not to mention the father of Pi deciding to teach him a lesson about what would happen if he got too close to the tiger.....the father tied a baby goat to the gate so he couldn't run away and the tiger ate him alive, pulling him through the bars.  If I hadn't been there with Bonnie, I would have left then.  As you probably know already, Pi and his family are on a large sailing vessel when they encounter a terrible storm.  The only ones to survive are Pi, a sweet zebra, the tiger, and some large cat that was hungry and mean!  I won't tell you anymore but it gets ugly on that raft because the animals are so hungry.  I was shocked to see the rating is just PG.  I can't imagine young children watching this movie!  I'll leave it up to you whether you want to see it or not.