Directed by James Mangold
Written by Patrick O'Neil
IMDB

Tom Cruise is a rogue agent trying to clear his name, protect a young scientist who has invented a perpetual source of energy the size of a battery, and bring down the real rogue agent.  All the while, he must protect Cameron Diaz, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
A surprisingly good flick.  Funny and action-packed.  Cruise and Diaz are both good.  The poster is fantastic, by the way.  Cool movie.

7/10

Directed by Miguel Arteta
Written by Phil Johnston
IMDB

Ed Helms is a small town insurance agent who is sent to the big city of Cedar Rapids when his co-worked dies from auto-erotic asphyxiation.  He parties and befriends other insurance agents.
A pretty fun little comedy.  Not much to dislike in this film.  Good cast, a fun story and paced pretty well.  Not hysterically funny, but there’s some laughs.


7/10

Directed by Miranda July
Written by Miranda July
IMDB

A couple is must wait 30 days before they can pick up their cat from the shelter.  In those 30 days they attempt to make drastic life changes, giving up the internet, joining a cause, cheating.
This is a bizarre experimental film with a fair narrative to hold it somewhat together.  Generally, I am not a huge of these types of weird experimental indy films, but this one works.  It was somewhat funny and deadpanned and the performances were strong.  Interesting, though I wouldn’t recommend it to everybody.  My pal Beth would enjoy it, though.  Probably more than I did.


7/10

Directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller
Written by Michael Bacall
IMDB

A movie version of the 1980s TV show “21 Jump Street.”  High school classmates, nerdy Jonah Hill and cool Channing Tatum, become cops and have to go undercover as high school students to stop a synthetic drug from spreading.  Their roles are flipped and Jonah Hill becomes cool and Tatum becomes a nerd.
Surprisingly fun.  Not a bad film at all and a pretty solid comedy.  I would guess that it has very little to do with the TV program, and that’s fine.  There is even a cameo from Nick Offerman where he buries the concept of making a TV show into a movie, which is cute but I also generally hate that kind of thing (see: the “Bewitched” movie, actually don’t see it).


7/10

Directed by Luis Buñuel
Written by Luis Buñuel
IMDB

An older man falls for a much younger woman, who teases him and gladly takes his money.  The movie is framed around him telling strangers on a train why he threw a pail of water on her while she was trying to catch the train.
An okay movie with a great framing device.  I wasn’t a huge fan, but it certainly had its merits and the story was fine.  It was made very well.  Not much to say about it.  Probably would have liked it more if I had been in dissolved relationships.


7/10

Directed by Woody Allen
Written by Woody Allen
IMDB

Woody Allen writes and directs this tale of infidelity and moving on with your life, rolling with the punches.  A writer and his wife are having trouble, he is attracted to his neighbor who he sees out of his window and she is attracted to her boss.  Her parents just split up and her mom goes to a psychic to deal with it and her father marries a prostitute.
A fine film, but not as good as some of Woody’s other more recent films.  He sometimes makes one like this where the ones before and after are fantastic, but the one in the middle is a little more offbeat.  Still, a good movie, though the ending is very unsatisfying.


7/10

Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville
Written by Jean-Pierre Melville
IMDB

Maurice has just been released from prison, and he immediately goes out and murders his friend Gilbert and steals the jewels from a recent heist.  Then he shares his plan to rob a house with Silian, a suspected police informant.  Silian then murders Maurice’s girlfriend.  Meanwhile, the house robbery goes off poorly.  Maurice is put in jail for questioning, while Silian is also questioned.
A crime movie with two main characters, where the screen time is pretty split and it’s hard to get behind either, especially after the murderous acts by each in the early part of the film.  Still, a good, although slow at times, French noir.  Worth watching, but I did fall asleep for a brief period during it.


7/10

Directed by Tetsuro Takeuchi
Written by Satoshi Takagi and Tetsuro Takeuchi
IMDB

Ace is given a whistle from his favorite band, Guitar Wolf.  When he blows into the whistle, it summons them.  When zombies start attacking he has no choice but to call for Guitar Wolf.  Ace is also falling in love with Tobio, a trangendered individual.
A really bizarre but entertaining and enthralling film.  The effects are pretty good, especially the zombie effects.  The zombies looks pretty cool.  Guitar Wolf is a Japanese garage rock band, though I have never heard of them.  They are fine.  Lots of heads explode in this one.


7/10

Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville
Written by Jean-Pierre Melville and Joseph Kessel
IMDB

Jean-Pierre Melville was part of the French Resistence, as was the co-writer of the film, Joseph Kessel.  This movie lays out the day-to-day operation of the French Resistence, and at times can seem mundane.
A fine film, although it did not fully hold my attention.  Excellently directed, of course, but somewhat plodding.  Glad I watched it, though.


7/10

Directed by Matt Walsh
Written by Matt Walsh and Josh Weiner
IMDB

UCB’s Matt Walsh writes and directs this comedy about a weed dealer who mistakenly thinks cops are after him.  He heads to Oakland from LA with his 16 year old friend.  The kids dad and the weed dealer’s girlfriend are separately headed after him.
A pretty funny film.  There are a few scenes that are very funny and a lot that are not.  Lizzy Caplan, Rich Fulcher and Joe Lo Truglio are especially funny.  Worth a watch if you have run out of comedies to watch, like I have.


7/10

Directed by Anthony Minghella
Written by Anthony Minghella
IMDB

Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) is an excellent liar and mimic.  He travels to Italy to bring Dicky Greenleaf (Jude Law) back to America for Dicky’s father.  Ripley and Dicky become immediate friends, but when Freddie (Philip Seymour Hoffman) comes to town, it threatens their relationship.  Dicky becomes indifferent to Ripley, and Ripley becomes enraged, eventually killing Dicky.  Ripley assumes the identity of Dicky, spending his money and living the high life, until Dicky’s father sets a private detective on him.
A good, but overly long film.  139 minutes is excessive for this film, but it managed to maintain my interest.  Yet, when I had been watching for nearly an hour and a half and saw that there was still an hour left, I did let out a sigh of agitation.  Great performances from Damon, Law, Hoffman, Gwenyth Paltrow and Cate Blanchett.  Glad I finally watched it, never want to see it again.


7/10

Directed by Claude Charbol
Written by Claude Charbol
IMDB

Four young women try to find love.  Rita is engaged, Jane has a boyfriend in the army, but still hooks up with other guys, Ginnette sings at night and Jacqueline is being followed by a mysterious man on a motorcycle.
A pretty good film.  I must admit that I dozed off for about 10 to 15 minutes toward the start so some things may have been lost on me, but I believe I got the gist of the movie.  I missed them talking to each other at their workplace.  Good, but I wouldn’t recommend it.


7/10

Directed by Drake Doremus
Written by Drake Doremus and Ben York Jones
IMDB

Anna (Felicity Jones) and Jacob (Anton Yelchin) fall in love at a university in California.  They stay together after college, but when Anna returns home for a brief trip in London, she finds out she cannot return to the US because she violated her student visa.  Now they have to struggle with a long distance relationship filled with ups and downs.
I suppose I might be a sucker for romance movies at time, which is funny because my wife rarely wants to watch them with me.  So I’m stuck watching a movie “Like Crazy” by myself in the afternoon on a Thursday.
I enjoyed “Like Crazy.”  The performances are strong, and the camera work and editing was impressive.  There’s a really cool time-lapse/montage technique they use several times during the movie that I particularly enjoyed.  This is romantic drama, not a romantic comedy.  There is not a laugh in the movie, except from the characters onscreen.
Jennifer Lawrence has a very minor part, but she is probably the best part of the movie.  She’s great.  Still, a fine film that I enjoyed more than I expected.


7/10

Directed by Noah Baumbach
Written by Noah Baumbach
IMDB

Noah Baumbach’s follow-up to “The Squid and the Whale” is a funny story about a dysfunctional family preparing for Pauline’s (Jennifer Jason Leigh) wedding.  Margot (Nicole Kidman), Pauline’s sister, arrives after not having talked to Pauline for years.  This leads to much catching up and even more meltdowns.
A fun movie that has a big budget feel without feeling mainstream.  Great acting, of course.  Nicole Kidman is always excellent.  Some pretty funny moments and lots of familial fighting.  Worth a watch.


7/10

Directed by Whit Stillman
Written by Whit Stillman
IMDB

A Chicago business man is in Barcelona doing work for his company.  His cousin, who he has some animosity toward, comes to stay with him for an indefinite period of time.  They begin dating some women, have conversations about America, and go dancing.
A sometimes funny and charming film.  It isn’t fantastic, but it is a pretty good independent film.  It is made exceptionally well, has very good acting, and beautiful scenery.  As far as a movie made for under $5 million goes, this is very good.


7/10

Directed by Bertrand Blier
Written by Bertrand Blier and Philippe Dumarçay
IMDB

A bizarre comedy/crime movie about two guys who rape, rob, and fuck their way through France.  They kidnap a blond woman who eventually consensually joins them on their devious escapades.
The rape at the beginning of the film turned me off a bit, but, thankfully, it isn’t a large part of the movie.  Most of the sex is consensual.  Some of the film is funny, yet it is somewhat gritty.  It plays out almost like a collage, with no real narrative, other than they want to make the blond woman orgasm.  Some of it might be lost on me due to cultural and generational differences, but it was a fairly enjoyable film.


7/10

Directed by Jeff Nichols
Written by Jeff Nichols
IMDB

A man starts having dreams of an oncoming apocalypse.  He decides to get a loan to upgrade his storm shelter.  His daughter is deaf.  His wife is worried about him because he doesn’t tell her for a long time.  Very slowly paced.
A good movie.  It reminds me somewhat of the movie “Bugs.”  Jessica Chastain is great as the wife and Michael Shannon is very good as the man who thinks he is going insane and trying to deal with it.  The plodding pace works for a movie like this.  If it was all quick cuts and action, it would be something altogether different.  Not amazing, but interesting, and really good acting.


7/10

Directed by Gus Van Sant
Written by Jason Lew
IMDB

A teen boy whose parents just passed away in an auto accident meets a teen girl dying of cancer at a memorial service for a friend of the girl.  They begin dating.  Also, the boy sees a ghost of a WWII Japanese pilot.
A very quirky, but sweet film.  The boy character is pretty angsty and obnoxious, but the girl is very likable.  Gus Van Sant made a good film, in my opinion.  A quirky romance movie along the lines of “Harold & Maude,” though obviously not as good or funny.


7/10

Directed by Duncan Jones
Written by Ben Ripley
IMDB

An action version of “Groundhog Day.”  An air force captain is placed into a man’s body on a train that is to explode in 8 minutes.  He must locate the bomb and find the perpetrator, and until he does he is put back into the same 8 minute chunk of time.
This is a silly/stupid/fun movie.  Completely entertaining.  Not mind-blowing, but a good popcorn movie.


7/10

Directed by George Nolfi
Written by George Nolfi
IMDB

A group of special agents attempt to keep people on track according to their “plan.”  Things go “off plan” when Matt Damon and Emily Blunt start falling for each other.  Damon attempts to out run the adjusters and make a serious attempt at dating Emily Blunt.
A good sci-fi/thriller/romance film.  An odd genre mash-up to be sure, but one that actually works well.  Good performances by the leads help things along.  Pretty fun.

7/10