The Big Easy is a forgettable but still mildly entertaining romance-thriller with Dennis Quaid and Ellen Barkin. I doubt I’d watch this one again anytime soon but worth at least one viewing.
Masked and Anonymous is a movie I never had heard of before despite featuring a noteworthy cast, most of whom appeared for the opportunity to work with veteran musician Bob Dylan. For fans of Dylan, this might be a treat.
The Big Lebowski has garnered a huge following over the course of 20 years and it’s easy to see why with some easy to quote lines that, often times, relates so well to real life. I’ve never been a huge fan of the movie though have grown to appreciate it over time.
10 Cloverfield Lane is a strong sci-fi thriller that, even though it’s been many years since I last saw it, equals the original and had the added bonus of not being in the found footage style and features better characters. I’m not sure how well this will hold up in the long run however but at the moment I found it to be thoroughly entertaining.
Transformers: Age of Extinction is the latest from Michael Bay and to be honest, it very well may be the worst, even worse than Revenge of the Fallen if only because it clocks in at insanely ridiculous 165-minutes, 40+ minutes could’ve been cut and not have been missed.
Atomic Blonde might not have lived up to my expectations but it is still an entertaining Cold War spy thriller excelling both with some well done fight sequences and solid performances from Charlize Theron and James McAvoy.
Transformers: The Last Knight is another poor entry into a franchise that just won’t die, though its $605M worldwide gross was the lowest so there is hope. In any case, I didn’t feel this was as bad as Age of Extinction but that’s not saying much.
Once Upon a Time in Venice doesn’t quite work either as crime or comedy, but I have to admit to chucking a few times here and there and can appreciate the cast, though the likes of John Goodman and Famke Janssen were underutilized.
Kong: Skull Island isn’t perfect but still fun and entertaining enough with director Vogt-Roberts intermixing monster movie with a Vietnam-era war picture and even the human characters weren’t bad, if not thinly written at times while Kong himself does show a bit of personality and his CGI was pretty good.
No Escape is an all around entertaining film perfect for a Saturday movie night. No, it doesn’t make you think or have any profound performances but the acting isn’t bad with Owen Wilson serving as a fine everyman type of character and Pierce Brosnan in his small part is a lot of fun. This is probably worthy of a rental.
Although hardly great, C.H.U.D. is a fun 1980s flick with some OK performances from an impressive cast led way by future Home Alone alums John Heard and Daniel Stern. The story is goofy but still classic so for any fans of the era, it might make for a enjoyable trip down memory lane.
Ratchet & Clank is a perfectly safe movie for younger viewers and passable enough for parents to watch with them, however between the animation and story, this probably better off as a direct-to-video release than something a studio spent millions to release to theaters.
10 Cloverfield Lane is a strong sci-fi thriller that, even though it’s been many years since I last saw it, equals the original and had the added bonus of not being in the found footage style and features better characters. I’m not sure how well this will hold up in the long run however but at the moment I found it to be thoroughly entertaining.
Love the Coopers has an impressive cast but below par script. It’s not all that entertaining despite having the likes of John Goodman, Diane Keaton, Marisa Tomei and Alan Arkin (not to mention Anthony Mackie in a thankless role) and with some snips could easily air on TBS to fill airtime around Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Trumbo is a well made movie that probably will be more remembered for its performances, specifically by Bryan Cranston who received an Academy Award nomination for his great performance as Dalton Trumbo. Outside of the acting, though, I don’t think this was an especially memorable flick but well worth checking out.