7 Days In Entebbe / *** (R)

Focus Features

Brigitte Kuhlmann: Rosamond Pike

Wilfred Böse: Daniel Brühl

Yitzhak Rabin: Lior Ashkenazi

Shimon Perez: Eddie Marzan

??: Ben Schnetzer

Patricia Martel: Andrea Deck

Jacques le Moine: Denis Ménochet

Focus Features presents a film directed by José Padilha. Written by Gregory Burke. Running time: 106 min. Rated PG-13 (for violence, thematic material, some drug use, smoking and brief strong language).

At Midnight of May 14, 1948 the Provisional Government of Israel declared the new State of Israel and applied for United Nations membership the very next day. Since then the State of Israel has been in conflict with the Palestinian people, who were displaced by the UN when the Israelis were given land the Palestinians claimed as their own. The conflict has frequently been bloody and involved the international community at large in the form of hijackings and violent protest throughout Europe. Even in writing these sentences I am wary of my word choices for fear of offending one side or the other. I have no dog in this race, but since it has been an international political issue for the entirety of my life, I am somewhat fascinated by the subject matter.

The new film 7 Days in Entebbe examines the 1976 hijacking of an Air France flight by two Palestinians and two Germans, who took the fairly inspired and unexpected tactic of landing the plane in Entebbe, Uganda for negotiations under the protection of the unpredictable leader of that country, General Idi Amin. This is the fourth cinematic telling of this particular story, but the first to come after much of the details of the incident have been declassified by the Israeli government. The screenplay by Gregory Burke, who previously wrote the screenplay for the politically charged ’71, focuses on three different storylines. His first focus is on the two German hijackers, Brigitte Kuhlmann and Wilfred Böse, portrayed by the film’s biggest names Rosamond Pike and Daniel Brühl. The second examines the decision making process by the Israeli government, in particular the opposing viewpoints between then Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Minister of Defense (and future Prime Minister) Shimon Peres. A third, less fact-based storyline follows an unnamed Israeli Defense Force soldier who is part of the elite commando unit Sayeret Matkal responsible for executing the risky rescue operation cooked up by Peres’s staff.

The 15:17 to Paris / *½ (PG-13)

Spencer: Spencer Stone

Anthony: Anthony Sadler

Alek: Alek Skarlatos

Ayoub: Ray Corosani

Joyce: Judy Greer

Heidi: Jenna Fischer

Spencer (11-14): William Jennings

Alek (11-14): Bryce Gheisar

Anthony (11-14): Paul-Mikél Williams

Warner Bros. Pictures presents a film directed by Clint Eastwood. Written by Dorothy Blyskal. Based on the book by Anthony Sadler and Alek Skarlatos and Spencer Stone and Jeffery E. Stern. Running time: 94 min. Rated PG-13 (on appeal for bloody images, violence, some suggestive material, drug references and language).

The 15:17 to Paris, Clint Eastwood’s latest directorial effort, is a film of our times. The world has become violent. Terrorist attacks are becoming so common that we are teaching our children how to live in a world rife with them. We look for examples of how to survive them. More importantly, we look for examples to follow to inspire us to be better in the face of evil. Eastwood has found those examples in Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler. The first two service men, all three lifelong childhood friends who helped to thwart a planned terrorist attack on the Thalys train line from Amsterdam to Paris. There is no doubt that these three men are heroes. This, however, is not the movie they deserve. Nor is it the movie we deserve from their example.

Criterion Thoughts—12 Angry Men (1957) ****

Juror #1: Martin Balsam

Juror #2: John Fielder

Juror #3: Lee J. Cobb

Juror #4: E.G. Marshall

Juror #5: Jack Klugman

Juror #6: Edward Binns

Juror #7: Jack Warden

Juror #8: Henry Fonda

Juror #9: Joseph Sweeney

Juror #10: Ed Begley

Juror #11: George Voskovec

Juror #12: Robert Webber

United Artists presents a film directed by Sidney Lumet. Written by Reginald Rose. Running time: 96 min. Not Rated.

I was lucky enough to have performed in a stage production of Reginald Rose’s “12 Angry Men”. It’s hard to find a play that offers such a diverse set of characters that each inhabit the stage for a play’s entirety. It’s kind of an actor’s dream play. Even if you’re playing one of the smaller roles in terms of number of lines, you still get to flex your acting muscles throughout.

Not that line count was a problem for me, I was also lucky enough to land one of the primary roles of the production, that of Juror #3, the antagonist to Juror #8. I hadn’t seen the movie at that time, and as a purist, I didn’t seek it out in order to preserve my original interpretation of the character. I wish I had, though. For one, I’m not much like Lee J. Cobb, who played #3 in Sidney Lumet’s 1957 big screen adaptation. I couldn’t have stolen his mannerisms or instincts. The main reason I wish I’d seen the film, though, is because of a key mistake my young acting mind made in my interpretation. I judged him.

Criterion Thoughts—The 39 Steps (1935) ***½

UR, 85 min.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Writers: Charles Bennett, Ian Hay, John Buchan (novel)

Starring: Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Lucie Mannheim, Godfrey Tearle, Peggy Ashcroft, John Laurie, Helen Haye, Frank Cellier, Wylie Watson

Alfred Hitchcock’s “The 39 Steps” plays as a movie trying to break out of the constraints of its times. It is an example of how Hitchcock needed the power and scope of Hollywood to jump the cinematic art forward in just the way he did after his marriage with Tinsletown. It is a movie that bursts at its cinematic seams for greater production value and a leap forward in storytelling for the format.

As is often the case with Hitch, he unsettles his audience with his opening images. A man buys a ticket at a box office and the next few shots are those of feet. Even the purchase of the ticket fails to show us a face or even a torso of the man we are following into a theater. Without seeing any faces and with a sequence of feet walking this way and that, we are immediately placed into the mindset of a sort of chase going on. And yet, we have no notion of who is being chased, or why, or who is doing the chasing. The inside of the theater is a scene of a degree of chaos.

Criterion Thoughts—3 Women (1977) ***½

PG, 124 min.

Director/Writer: Robert Altman

Starring: Sissy Spacek, Shelley Duvall, Janice Rule, Robert Fortier, Ruth Nelson, John Cromwell, Sierra Pechuer, Craig Richard Nelson

Robert Altman’s “3 Women” has been referred to as his tribute to the films of Ingmar Bergman. It appropriates Bergman’s style of connecting two characters in the intimate webs of each other in the same way as films like “Persona”. Altman’s take is distinctly American, with its California desert location and its testosterone-driven male supporting characters. This meshing of geographical styles results in a David Lynchian feel to the material, along the lines of “Mulholland Dr.” It embraces trace horror elements that can also be found in both Bergman and Lynch’s works. It is one of the more unique films from this director/auteur that is a step away from his normal fare and yet somehow still distinctly Altman-esque.

Criterion Thoughts—2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967) ***

NR, 87 min.

Director: Jean-Luc Godard

Writers: Jean-Luc Godard, Catherine Vimenet (based on the articles “La Prostitution dans les grands ensembles”)

Starring: Marina Vlady, Roger Montsoret, Anny Duperey, Joseph Gehrard, Raoul Lévy, Jean Narboni

I’ll admit it. Even being the cineaste I am, there are some gaping holes in my cinematic experience. Jean-Luc Godard is one of them. I’m not completely unknowledgeable. I’ve seen “Breathless” and his strange and somewhat annoying version of science fiction “Alphaville”. I fear I reveal myself by declaring “Alphaville” annoying, but at times it is surely trying to be. So this will be a rather inexperienced look at a man who is seen as one of the masters of cinema.

Criterion Thoughts—21 Days (1940) ***

NR, 72 min.

Director: Basil Dean

Writers: Basil Dean, Graham Greene, John Galsworthy (short story “First and the Last”)

Starring: Laurence Olivier, Leslie Banks, Vivian Leigh, Francis L. Sullivan, David Thorne, Hay Petrie

What does it mean that I can’t even figure out which collection the first film in my Criterion Thoughts series comes from? Criterion Thoughts will feature films from the premiere DVD and BluRay series of films released under the Criterion Collection banner. This first film comes from their films featured on Hulu Plus and certainly seems to fit well into the Criterion Collection. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you which collection you need to buy to get it. I’m guessing it was featured in one of their Eclipse Series.

“21 Days” was released in the U.S. as “21 Days Together” after sitting on the shelf for 2 years until star Vivian Leigh’s popularity exploded due to her success as Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone With the Wind”. It also features one of the earliest collaborations between the husband and wife acting team of Laurence Olivier and Leigh. In fact, this British film is filled with elite pedigree of the early British film scene. The film also stars the fine character actor Leslie Banks as the third lead. It was Basil Dean’s final directorial effort after 15 films beginning with 1929’s “The Return of Sherlock Holmes”. Dean would continue to produce films for another decade. Dean co-wrote the screenplay with Graham Greene, perhaps the greatest British crime writer of all time.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—24, season 2 (2002-2003) ****

TV-14, 24 45-min. episodes

Creators: Joel Surnow, Robert Cochran

Directors: Jon Cassar, James Whitmore Jr., Rodney Charters, Frederick K. Keller, Ian Toynton

Writers: Joel Surnow, Robert Cochran, Michael Loceff, Howard Gordon, Remi Aubuchon, Gil Grant, Elizabeth M. Cosin, Virgil Williams, David Ehrman, Evan Katz, Maurice Hurley, Neil Cohen, Duppy Demetrius

Starring: Kiefer Sutherland, Sarah Wynter, Elisha Cuthbert, Xander Berkley, Carlos Bernard, Dennis Haysbert, Reiko Aylesworth, Michelle Forbes, Penny Johnson Jerald, Jude Ciccollela, Laura Harris, John Terry

Guest starring: Billy Burke, Timothy Carhart, Sara Gilbert, Skye Nicole Bartusiak, Tracy Middendorf, Phillip Rhys, Douglas O’Keefe, Jimmi Simpson, Gregory Sporleder, Michael Holden, Tamlyn Tomita, Jim Abele, Jon Gries, Innis Casey, Sarah Clarke, Nicholas Guilak, Bryan Rasmussen, John Eddins, Eric Christian Olsen, Michael Cudlitz, Michael McGrady, Anthony Azizi, Tony Wayne, Al Sapienza, Harris Yulin, Fred Toma, Marc Casabani, Francesco Quinn, Terry Bozeman, Daniel Dae Kim, Bernard White, Steven Culp, Kevin Dillon, Val Lauren, Randle Mell, Maximilian Martini, Lourdes Benedicto, Donnie Keshawarz, Dean Norris, Brent Sexton, Lombardo Boyar, Greg Henry, Alan Dale, Justin Louis, Sterling Macer Jr., Nick Offerman, Paul Schulze, Tobin Bell, Peter Outerbridge, Raymond Cruz, Maurice Compte, Glenn Morshower, Brian Goodman, Jeffery Wincott, Mark Ivanir, Peter Gregory, Alex Daniels, Thomas Kretschmann, Rick D. Wasserman, Scott Paulin, Chuti Tiu, Eugene Robert Glazer

“24” season 2 finds the stakes raised once more, in that seemingly impossible standard of the series where the stakes begin higher than any other thriller situation imagined and then continued to rise from that point throughout the season. With David Palmer now POTUS, what can the writers of this series throw at these characters to totally uproot every expectation they or the audience can imagine? They do it. It’s hard to believe, but they blow our minds again the second time around.

22 Jump Street / *** (R)

Schmidt: Jonah Hill

Janko: Channing Tatum

The Ghost: Peter Stromare

Zook: Wyatt Russell

Maya: Amber Stevens

Mercedes: Jillian Bell

Captain Dickson: Ice Cube

Columbia Pictures and MGM present a film directed by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller. Written by Michael Bacall and Oren Uziel and Rodney Rothman from a story by Bacall & Jonah Hill. Based on the television series “21 Jump Street” created by Patrick Hasburgh & Stephen J. Canell. Running time: 112 min. Rated R (for language throughout, sexual content, drug material, brief nudity and some violence).

I didn’t see the Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill starring television film remake “21 Jump Street” in theaters. The whole thing sounded absurd to me, and I wasn’t even a fan of the television series. I did, however, catch it on home video and found it to be hysterically funny and a genuine surprise. Much of its success hinged on the notion that the filmmakers realized how ridiculous it seemed to mount a big screen adaptation of a nearly forgotten television series, which was a great offender of the Hollywood cliché of having adults portray high school kids, with a couple of stars that were not known to be taken seriously and certainly weren’t teenagers.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—24, season 1 (2001-2002) ****

TV-14, 24 42-min. episodes

Creator: Joel Surnow, Robert Cochran

Directors: Stephen Hopkins, Winrich Kolbe, Bryan Spicer, Davis Guggenheim, Jon Cassar, Frederick K. Keller, Paul Shapiro

Writers: Joel Surnow, Robert Cochran, Michael Loceff, Chip Johannessen, Howard Gordon, Andrea Newman, Virgil Williams, Lawrence Herzog, Michael Chernuchin, Maurice Hurley

Starring: Kiefer Sutherland, Leslie Hope, Sarah Clarke, Elisha Cuthbert, Dennis Haysbert, Carlos Bernard, Daniel Bess, Penny Johnson Jerald, Zeljko Ivanek, Michael Massee, Vicellous Shannon

Guest starring: Xander Berkley Mia Kirshner, Michael O’Neill, Rudolf Martin, Matthew Carey, Jacqui Maxwell, Karina Arroyave, , Megalyn Echikunwoke, Zach Grenier, Kim Murphy, John Hawkes, Tanya Wright, Jude Ciccolella, Eric Balfour, Silas Weir Mitchell, Glenn Morshower, Jesse D. Goins, Kathleen Wilhoite, Tamara Tunie, Currie Graham, Richard Burgi, Al Leong, Misha Collins, Paul Schulze, Kara Zediker, Wade Williams, Henri Lubatti, Vincent Angell, Navi Rawat, Edoardo Ballerini, Kirk Baltz, Darin Heames, Christian Hastings, Dennis Hopper

“24” may have been the true birthplace of binge television watching. It’s high-end concept all but demands that every episode be watched in order. I attempted to watch it as it originally aired. I made it to the halfway point, before other appointments started getting in the way. This was back in the day when Tivo was the only digital recorder and only the elite had yet to subscribe.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—12 Years a Slave (2013) ****

R, 134 min.

Director: Steve McQueen

Writers: John Ridley, Solomon Northup (memoir)

Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong’o, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Adepero Oduye, Sarah Paulson, Brad Pitt, Michael K. Williams, J.D. Evermore, Paul Giamatti, Christopher Berry, Scoot McNairy, Taran Killam, Tony Bentley, Liza J. Bennett, Scott M. Jefferson, Alfre Woodard,  Garrett Dillahunt

“12 Years a Slave” won the Oscar for Best Picture of 2013. It’s a worthy film. It isn’t your average slave film, although I’m not sure there really have been enough films about that dark time in our country’s history that any could be considered average. It tells the true story of Solomon Northup, who was a free man who was kidnapped in Washington D.C. and sold into slavery, where he remained in service for twelve years before he could finally find someone to contact his family in the North to confirm his free status.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—20 Feet From Stardom (2013) ****

PG-13, 91 min.

Director: Morgan Neville

Featuring: Darlene Love, Lisa Fischer, Merry Clayton, Claudia Lennear, Judith Hill, Táta Vega, Patti Austin, Julia Waters, Maxine Waters, Oren Waters, Stevvi Alexander, Lou Adler, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Sting, Mick Jagger, Bette Midler, Sheryl Crow, Dr. Mable John

Best Documentary Feature was one of my misses during this year’s Oscar predictions. “20 Feet From Stardom” was the winner. It was the only one of the bunch I hadn’t seen before the Oscars. I thought it was the fluff piece of the bunch. I was wrong. This stuff is nearly as depressing as oppression in Egypt and Indonesia, playing dirty in the Middle East, or an artist’s lifelong struggles. Well, “20 Feet From Stardom” is about many artists’ lifelong struggles.

300: Rise of an Empire / *** (R)

Themistocles: Sullivan Stapleton

Artemisia: Eva Green

Queen Gorgo: Lena Headey

Aesyklos: Hans Matheson

Calisto: Jack O’Connell

Scyllias: Callan Mulvey

Xerxes: Rodrigo Santoro

Ephialtes: Andrew Tiernan

King Darius: Igal Naor

Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures present a film directed by Noam Murro. Written by Zach Snyder & Kurt Johnstad. Based on the graphic novel “Xerxes” by Frank Miller. Running time: 104 min. Rated R (for strong sustained sequences of stylized bloody violence throughout, a sex scene, nudity and some language).

I often have a hard time reconciling my opinion with a film when I find it to be better than expected. As such, my thoughts on the long awaited sequel to Zach Snyder’s “300” might be a bit skewed toward the positive. “300” was one of my favorite films of the Oughts. Its long delayed sequel “300: Rise of an Empire” never promised to be as good as the original. The trailers did little to make the film look good or necessary in any way. Production and release delays also did not bode well for the film’s quality. But now it’s here, and despite the fact that it is a pale shadow of its predecessor, it’s actually fairly effective as a companion piece, if not as a stand-alone action epic.

47 Ronin / ** (PG-13)

Kai: Keanu Reeves

Ôishi: Hiroyuki Sanada

Lord Kira: Tadanobu Asano

Mika: Kô Shibasaki

Witch: Rinko Kikuchi

Lord Asano: Min Tanaka

Chikara: Jin Akanishi

Universal Pictures presents a film directed by Carl Rinsh. Written by Chris Morgan and Hossein Amini & Walter Hamada. Running time: 119 min. Rated PG-13 (for intense sequences of action and violence, some disturbing images, and thematic elements).

Roger Ebert states in the introduction to his third book of only negative reviews, “A Horrible Experience of Unbearable Length: More Movies That Suck”, the second to his joy of writing about a great movie is his joy with writing about terrible movies. He says the movies that are really no fun to write about are the mediocre movies. He’s on to something there. In many ways, that also goes for the experience of watching them. With great movies, it’s almost like you’ve won the lottery. “Wow, that money I spent really paid off.” With a terrible movie there’s a sense of superior satisfaction that you’ve bothered to pay for such misery. “Ha! I saw it and I survived!” But, with a middle of the road movie, it just feels like that money and time could’ve been better spent.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—42 Up (1998) ****

NR, 139 min.

Director: Michael Apted

Featuring: Bruce Balden, Jacqueline Bassett, Symon Basterfield, Andrew Brackfield, Suzanne Dewey, Nicholas Hitchon, Neil Hughes, Lynn Johnson, Paul Kligerman, Susan Sullivan, Tony Walker

I post this review on my own 42^nd birthday. Back in 1964, British television embarked on a grand social experiment that involved a group of children of varying social classes, 7 years of age. The filmmakers would return to this group of people every seven years to see where they had come in life in a series of films called the “Up” documentaries. Just this past year the most recent installment “56 Up” was released. I’m only on “42 Up”. I suppose that is fitting.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—1600 Penn, season 1 (2012-2013) **

TV-PG, 13 23-min. episodes

Creators: Josh Gad, Jon Lovett, Jason Winer

Directors: Jason Winer, Jennifer Getzinger, Ken Whittingham, David Grossman, Gail Mancuso

Writers: Josh Gad, Jon Lovett, Jason Weiner, Mike Broyce, Joe Port, Joe Wiseman, Peter A. Knight, Sanjay Shah, Laura Gutin Peterson, Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Bridget Bedard, Ryan Raddatz

Starring: Josh Gad, Jenna Elfman, Martha MacIsaac, Andre Holland, Amara Miller, Benjamin Stockham, Bill Pullman

Guest starring: Miguel Sandoval, Jay Leno, Willie C. Carpenter, Peter Jason, Mika Brzezinski, Joe Scarborough, Willie Geist, Stacy Keach, Susan Park, Constance Towers, Mary Pat Gleason, Savannah Guthrie, Rene Auberjonois, Robbie Amell, Rebecca Wisocky, David St. James, Missi Pyle, Jane Edith Wilson, Bruce Campbell, Mary Hart, Chuck Todd, Tim Bagley, Lucia Vecchio, Mike Moonves, Matt Corboy, Henry Winkler, Hannah Simone, Adam Shapiro

The future doesn’t look good for this freshman sitcom centered on a new First Family in the White House. The brainchildren of the series are star Josh Gad and his writing partners Jon Lovett and Jason Winer, I’m slightly aghast that it got on air to begin with. With not much pedigree behind the curtains here, NBC went full bore into putting the pedigree on screen. Nabbing big names Jenna Elfman and Bill Pullman as the FLOTUS and POTUS to back up Gad’s antics would’ve placed this mid-season replacement series on the top of any other network’s visibility scale.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—5 Broken Cameras (2012) ****

NR, 94 min.

Directors: Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi

Narrator: Emad Burnat

Featuring: Emad Burnat, Soraya Burnat, Gibreel Burnat, Bassem Abu-Rahma (Phil), Adeeb Abu-Rahma, Ashraf Abu-Rahma (Daba)

I’ll admit right here that I don’t understand the conflict between Israel and Palestine. I’ve never understood it, and I don’t have any stake in it beyond the fact that I inhabit the same planet of intolerance that fuels it. I will offer, however, that it has always seemed to me that Israel is the bully in this. They’ve always seemed better organized with a stronger system of support behind them. Both sides are guilty of horrible atrocities inflicted on the other. No side is guiltless in this conflict that is more likely a reflection of two governing bodies with utter intolerance for the other’s existence than it is reflective of the people of their lands. The Palestinian and Israeli civilians seem to wish for peace as much as all of the free world. Perhaps, I have no right to hold these opinions, but there they are.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—30 Rock (2006-2013) ****

TV-14, 139 21-min. episodes

Creator: Tina Fey

Directors: Don Scardino, Beth McCarthy-Miller, John Riggi, Michael Engler, Gail Mancuso, Adam Bernstein, Ken Whittingham, Jeff Richmond, Stephen Lee Davis, Scott Ellis, Steve Buscemi, Tricia Brock, Todd Holland, Millicent Shelton, Claire Cowperthwaite, Linda Mendoza

Writers: Tina Fey, Robert Carlock, Donald Glover, Jack Burditt, Matt Hubbard, Kay Cannon, Ron Weiner, John Riggi, Tracey Wigfield, Dylan Morgan, Josh Siegal, Vali Chandrasekaran, Tom Ceraulo, Luke Del Tredici, Brett Baer, Dave Finkel, Jon Pollack, Tami Sagher, Jon Haller, Paula Pell, Sam Means, Colleen McGuinness

Starring: Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski, Jack McBrayer, Scott Adsit, Judah Friedlander

Guest starring: Keith Powell, Katrina Bowden, Kevin Brown, Grizz Chapman, John Lutz, Maulik Pancholy, Lonny Ross, Chris Parnell, Sue Galloway, Rachel Dratch, Dean Winters, Elizabeth Banks, Will Forte, James Marsden, Jason Sudeikis, Cheyenne Jackson, Kristen Schaal, Sherri Shepherd, Marceline Hugot, Subhas Ramsaywack, Elaine Stritch, Will Arnett, Ken Howard, Brian Williams, Jon Hamm, Rip Torn, Thomas Roberts, Steve Buscemi, Selma Hayek, Matt Lauer, Mary Steenburgen, Meredith Vieira, Julianne Moore, Lester Holt, Edie Falco, Jimmy Fallon, Matt Damon, John McEnroe, Michael Sheen, Tituss Burgess, Kelsey Grammer, Emily Mortimer, Chloë Grace Moretz, Alan Alda, Patti LuPone, Margaret Cho, Bobb’e J. Thompson, Billy Bush, Megan Mullally, Steve Higgins, Will Ferrell, Fred Armisen, Denise Richards, Ghostface Killah, Al Gore, Jan Hooks, James Rebhorn, Susan Sarandon, Buck Henry, Paul Sheer, Ann Curry, Al Roker, Michael Benjamin Washington, Michael Keaton, Isabella Rossellini, Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Hanks, Matthew Broderick, Rachel Ray, Kelly Ripa

Another television show ends for good for me this year, and the year is still so young. I didn’t start watching “30 Rock” until the end of its first season. I don’t think I got a DVR until the start of the 2007 Fall season. I must’ve been busy when the show started. Anyway, once I did start watching, I never stopped.

Penny Thoughts ‘12—21 Jump Street (2012) ***

R, 109 min.

Director: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller

Writers: Michael Bacall, Jonah Hill, Patrick Hasburgh (television series), Stephen J. Cannell (television series)

Starring: Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Brie Larson, Dave Franco, Rob Riggle, DeRay Davis, Ice Cube, Dax Flame, Chris Parnell, Ellie Kemper, Jake Johnson, Nick Offerman

“Fuck you, ‘Glee’.” —Jenko.

Penny Thoughts ‘12—50/50 (2011) ***

R, 100 min.

Director: Jonathan Levine

Writer: Will Reiser

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Huston, Serge Houde, Matt Frewer, Philip Baker Hall

It’s funny. Before cancer touches you, it’s just some form of background noise. You don’t like it, and you feel for those whom it has touched, but it’s never a constant. Once it’s touched you—and there are few it hasn’t—it seems to show up everywhere. Of course, a movie about a cancer survivor isn’t really a place you wouldn’t expect it, but everything within that movie has more meaning than it would otherwise.