The Two Faces of January has its moments between the performances by its three leads (highlighted by Oscar Isaac), beautiful cinematography taking full advantage of its on-location shoot and a genuine Hitchcock-esque vibe. However, the pacing is a bit off and the story could’ve used some more work, but all in all, I found it to be an enjoyable little film worth a rental fee.
In spite of my criticisms of The Guest, there are some things to admire from the performances by its two leads (Dan Stevens, Maika Monroe) and some very dark humor with one scene standing out (at the restaurant for those who have seen it), but for all I liked, this was just a shift in tone which really took this from being ridiculously awesome to ridiculously stupid.
Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh is certainly a weak sequel especially compared with the original; however, it’s still a functional entry into the series (not saying much considering the third is a wreck).
Honeymoon, while hardly perfect with some questionable plot details, is a good little indie horror-science fiction flick well worth at least a rental as it features two fine performances and direction by a new filmmaker who hopefully gets the chance in the future.
The Fortune might be considered a lost gem lost in the sea of the greatness that was 1970s cinema, not to mention The Sting which was released only two years prior, but it’s a weak flick with the occasional funny moments and at the very least might be worth it to see Jack Nicholson cut loose, all before he was a caricature of himself…
This is Where I Leave You is a bit uneven where the comedy seemed to work far better than the overindulgent dramatic areas. Jason Bateman and Tina Fey are both great but by far Adam Driver steals the show to the point I kind of wish his character got his own movie, a dark comedy in the vein of Bad Santa perhaps.
Although this Funny Girl sequel doesn’t possess the magic of its predecessor, the performances are all well done headlined once again by Barbra Streisand as well as then newcomer James Caan with catchy music and a well written story.
“Ghost in the Shell: Arise” albeit not as strong as “Stand Alone Complex,” still have its moments and for the most part, the designs aren’t bad, though it does take some time to get used to. The two stories featured in these two seasons (or Borders) are decent and give some good background of these characters
Reach Me is a mess of a film that began with the screenplay and continued on with some poor performances by a mostly respectable cast. This is something not even worth a rental and will no doubt be in the bargain bin in no time.
No Good Deed is the prototypical paint-by-numbers thriller destined to air as a Lifetime Movie of the Week feature. The plot is thin and relatively predictable, though the one minor “twist” does help explain one important element, but what saves it from turkey status is the screen presence of the woefully underrated Idris Elba who is far too good for this material.
The Good Lie is perhaps one of the more overlooked films of 2014 and unfortunately the studio for whatever reason dumped it for a limited release in less than 500 screens in early October.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an inoffensively bad movie made for an entirely different audience than those who grew up with the reptiles in the 1980s and 1990s. But taking that aside, it’s a thin story, poor writing and chaotic direction that makes it really hard to watch culminating with a lame and underwhelming finale.
The Equalizer has its share of problems, primarily with the pacing though some more editing would’ve made for a strong picture, but even so, the film does ride on Denzel Washington’s charisma and screen presence and that alone makes this at least worth a rental.
The Trip to Italy is not for everybody as it is basically two guys chatting it up, while eating mostly pasta and drinking wine, for 100-minutes, but for myself, I enjoyed the banter between Steven Coogan and Rob Brydon and the travelogue-like plot taking in the sights of Italy is worth the time.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is a fantastic drama featuring Maggie Smith who shows why she received her Academy Award for Best Actress. It’s an amazing performance to go along with the supporting cast including Celia Johnson, Pamela Franklin and Robert Stephens.