Chances Are 1989

     Louie and Corinne Jeffries are very happily married.  They are celebrating their one-year wedding anniversary and Corinne’s gift to Louie is she is going to have a baby.  Corrine is waiting for Louie at a restaurant to celebrate their day.  Louie has purchased a pair of diamond earrings for Corinne.  As he is walking across the street, a car hits him and he dies.  Corinne has a daughter and she mourns Louie’s death for 23 years.

     The twist in this film is that Louie is reborn as Alex.  He is working at the library and meets Corinne’s daughter, Melanie.  Alex starts to remember he’s Louie when he goes to their home.  The characters are interesting and you can connect with them.  Slightly far fetched on the re-born theory and then remembering another life.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)  

108 min, Romance directed by Emile Ardolino with Cybil Shepherd, Robert Downey, Jr., Ryan O’Neal, Mary Stuart Masterson, Christopher McDonald.

Note:  Blockbuster 3*, imdb 6.4 out of 10, 65% audience 66% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

Fast & Furious 6 2013

     Dom and Brian have just earned $100 million for taking down a criminal kingpin and they decide the team will take a break for a while.  As fugitives from the law, they are still looking over their shoulders and have scattered to different locations.  Agent Hobbs asks them to come to London to take on a team of mercenary drivers working across 12 countries.  The mastermind leading the drivers has a partner in Letty, Dom’s girlfriend and the team thought Letty was dead.  Agent Hobbs offers them a full pardon if they will reassemble and work this dangerous mission.

     The dialogue is nothing to write home about or remember.  There are so many action scenes going on at the same time it’s difficult to keep them in focus.  Just because this is a successful franchise, does the action and violence need to me ramped up more and more for each film?  The death of Paul Walker was a tragedy for everyone involved in these productions.  3* (This movie is OK)

130 min, Action, directed by Justin Lin with Dwayne Johnson, Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Luke Evans, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Ludacris, Luke Evans, Elsa Pataky.

Note:  Blockbuster 3*, imdb 7.2 out of 10, 69% critic 84% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Iceman 2012

     Based on the true story of mob contract killer Richard Kuklinski.  Richie is married to Deborah and they have two daughters.  Richie loves them and wants the best for them but he kills people for a living and they don’t have a clue.  He had an unusual talent for covering his tracks and he was working for 30 years starting in the 1960’s.  He worked as the chief executioner for the Gambino crime family and he was called the Iceman.  He used freezers for the victims to cover up the time frame of the murder.  He also varied his methods to make it difficult for investigators to make a profile of his kills. 

     Michael Shannon is the perfect actor to play this role.  Later in Richie’s career, he goes into intense sessions of psychopathic rage endangering his beloved family.  The pressures of maintaining a role in the business and earning money really get to him.  There is a narrow focus and the theme is extremely dark in this film.  3* (This movie is OK)

105 min, Crime directed by Ariel Vromen with Michael Shannon, Winona Ryder, Chris Evans, Stephen Dorf, Ray Liotta, David Schwimmer.

Note:  Blockbuster 3*, imdb 6.9 out of 10, 67% critic 63% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

Prince Avalanche 2013

     This film is a remake of a 2011 Icelandic film, Either Way.  It is a character study of Alvin and Lance.  They are polar opposites working for the city.  Their job is to repaint traffic lines on a fire damaged country road during the summer of 1988.

     The burned area is near Bastrop, Texas and the regrowth is beautiful but that is the only positive thing I can say about this film!!  It’s too, long, too boring, not funny and nothing is happening for almost the entire film.  The fire devastated this area and these two leave their junk and residue behind as well.  2* (I didn’t like this movie)

94 min, Comedy directed by David Gordon Green, Paul Rudd, Emile Hirsch, Lance Le Gault, Joyce Payne.

Note:  Blockbuster 3*, imdb 6.5 out of 10, 83% critic 55% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

I Give It a Year 2013

     Relatives at the wedding of Natasha and Josh don’t want to tell the couple but they are only giving their marriage a year to last.  Nat is an industrious and ambitious worker; Josh is a thinking but struggling slacker author.  Nat begins working with Guy and Josh reconnects with his ex-girlfriend Chole.  After about nine months, Nat and Josh begin seeing a marriage counselor.  She recommends they try to make it for a year.

     This film does have some comedy but it doesn’t seem romantic and the two don’t seem to mesh together just like the couple.  Everyone watching this film deserves better than this weak offering!!  2 ½* (This movie is so-so)

97 min, Comedy directed by Dan Mazer with Rose Byrne, Rafe Spall, Anna Faris, Simon Baker, Minnie Driver, Stephen Merchant, Olivia Colman, Jason Flemying.

Note:  Blockbuster 3*, imdb 5.8 out of 10, 55% critic 41% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

Stuck in Love 2012

     Bill Borgens is a celebrated author but his wife left him three years ago.  He hasn’t written a word since this shock to his life.  He encourages his daughter Sam and his son Rusty to journal and continue writing.  Sam is about to publish her first novel but she hasn’t spoken to her mother in nearly a year.  Bill is upset that Sam’s novel is not the one he had proofread for her.  Rusty makes the mistake of falling in love with a fellow teen with an addition to drugs and alcohol.

     Does anything I’ve written above sound at all funny?  This is very predictable with a thin plot and OK acting.  Not much else left to say is there?  2 ½* 

(This movie is so-so)

96 min, Comedy directed by Josh Boone with Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Connelly, Nat Wolf, Lily Collins, Kristen Bell, Logan Lerman, Liana Liberato.

Note:  Blockbuster 3*, imdb 7.3 out of 10, 59% critic 67% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Wall 2012

     This film is based on a novel by Marlen Haushofer.  A woman’s peaceful trip into the Austrian mountains becomes completely changed when she finds herself trapped by an invisible wall.  She came to visit a remote hunting lodge with two old friends.  They decide to drive back into town for the evening but they don’t return.  Her only companions are a dog, a cat and a cow.  The only way for her to survive is to adapt to the conditions and provide for herself.  Loneliness is as much of a danger as the elements and she must adapt mentally as well as physically.

     There are a lot of questions raised and not answered by this film.  What is the wall, how did it get there, what happened to her friends, what happened to all the other people?  The mountains and high pastures are very beautiful, the winters are very harsh and the loneliness severe.  3* (This movie is OK)

108 min, Drama directed by Julian Roman Polsler with Wolfgang M. Bauer, Ulrike Beimpold, Martina Gedeck, Julia Gschnitzer, Karlheinz Hackl, Hans-Michael Rehberg.

Note:  Blockbuster 3*, imdb 6.8 out of 10, 74% critic 72% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.