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.
Inherit the Wind is one of Stanley Kramer’s best films amongst an already amazing filmography and features a fine performance by Spencer Tracy.
Dolphin Tale 2 is an unnecessary sequel but a harmless one with a wholesome message and something families will immensely enjoy especially young ones. The performances are pretty basic but having a couple respectable actors like Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman helps elevate a thin script and predictable story.
With The Night Porter, I might be in the minority, but despite a good premise and set-up, I found this to be utterly dull and boring to the point where I nearly dozed off a time or two. For sure the performances by Dirk Bogarde and Charlotte Rampling were fantastic but the pacing was slow and on the whole, I just didn’t find it very engaging.
While this season, and the series as a whole, had a few clunkers, the vast majority of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” was a fun ride culminating with a satisfying quasi-series finale (Star Trek: Generations would be released 6 months later) thanks to a stellar cast who had wonderful chemistry with one another.
Heaven and Earth is another passion project for Oliver Stone and while it never quite gels together was a war-drama, the performances for the most part are good and the cinematography was utterly fantastic.
Kite had some potential but only as a competent copy of any number of Luc Besson produced and directed films in spite of an admirable performance by lead actress India Eisley.
I’m happy that Warner, through their Archive line, released “Young Justice”: Invasion as a companion to the first season. It’s a great show through and through with excellent action, engaging storylines and nice animation.
While Stonehearst Asylum never quite reaches its full potential, the film does succeed with an admirable cast and fine performances from Jim Sturgess, Kate Beckinsale and, especially, Ben Kingsley who alone is well worth the time investment.
Jingle All the Way 2 is another unfunny “comedic” vehicle for Larry the Cable Guy to do this schtick and I hated just about every minute of this movie. Simply put, it’s another pointless DTV movie that’s not in the least bit entertaining and I cannot stress enough to pass this one by, if only to save your soul.
Into the Woods is apparently a popular Broadway musical – and is getting a big screen Disney adaptation starring Anna Kendrick, Johnny Depp and Chris Pine – but having never seen it before, I found it enjoyable for a musical (not a fan, personally) yet the Blu-ray released by Image is downright terrible with no features and, especially, one of the worst video transfers I’ve come across.