Everest / *** (PG-13)

Rob Hall: Jason Clarke

Beck Weathers: Josh Brolin

Scott Fischer: Jake Gyllenhaal

Jon Krakauer: Michael Kelly

Doug Hansen: John Hawkes

Helen Wilton: Emily Watson

Jan Arnold: Keira Knightley

Guy Cotter: Sam Worthington

Peach Weathers: Robin Wright

Caroline Mackenzie: Elizabeth Debicki

Andy ‘Harold’ Harris: Martin Henderson

Michael Groom: Thomas M. Wright

Yasuko Namba: Naoko Mori

Universal Pictures presents a film directed by Baltasar Kormákur. Written by William Nicholson and Simon Beaufoy. Running time: 121 min. Rated PG-13 (for intense peril and disturbing images).

There is a scene in the new mountaineering movie “Everest” when journalist Jon Krakauer asks two amateur climbers who have hired a guide to take them to the summit of Mt. Everest why they feel the need to climb such a mountain, one that has taken the lives of many professional climbers. They struggle to articulate their need to pursue a goal that they admit is filled mostly with pain. I might also struggle to articulate my own fascination with mountain climbing disaster pictures. I suppose watching an expedition/adventure that is bound to go bad is connected to our inability to turn away when witnessing the aftermath of a car accident. Our human need to empathize and understand what went wrong overrides any need we might have to keep a rosy outlook on the world. We need to examine adversity and tragedy as a mechanism to develop our own ability to deal with the inevitable reality of it in our own lives.

Exodus: Gods and Kings / **½ (PG-13)

Moses: Christian Bale

Ramses: Joel Edgerton

Seti: John Turturro

Joshua: Aaron Paul

Viceroy Hegep: Ben Mendelsohn

Zipporah: María Valverde

Nun: Ben Kingsley

20^th Century Fox presents a film directed by Ridley Scott. Written by Adam Cooper & Bill Collage and Jeffrey Caine and Steven Zaillian. Running time: 150 min. Rated PG-13 (for violence including battle sequences and intense images).

“I’ve never been certain whether the moral of the Icarus story should only be, as is generally accepted, ‘don’t try to fly too high,’ or whether it might also be thought of as ‘forget the wax and feathers, and do a better job on the wings.”

― Stanley Kubrick

The films of Ridley Scott always strive for greatness. He directs almost everything on such a grand scale that it is inevitable that every once and a while he will, like Icarus, fly too close to the sun. “Exodus: Gods and Kings” is one of those times when Scott’s visionary scope has him biting off a little more than he can chew, or more accurately more than has been chewed for him by his screenwriters.

“Exodus” joins the growing population of Christian-themed movies filling our metroplexes of late. Although, it may not truly be as Christian-themed as the Christian-produced movies that take place in modern times, such as “God is Not Dead” and “Heaven is Real”. Like Darren Aronofsky’s film “Noah” earlier this year, “Exodus” is not so much about being Christian as it uses the Bible as a source material for a special effects extravaganza. Also like “Noah”, it changes a great deal of its source material. In doing so, it seems to have forgotten to transport much of the depth of Moses’s story.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Event Horizon (1997) **

R, 96 min.

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson

Writer: Philip Eisner

Starring: Sam Neill, Laurence Fishburne, Joely Richardson, Richard T. Jones, Kathleen Quinlan, Jason Isaacs, Sean Pertwee, Jack Noseworthy

Having just watched Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar” (review coming in the next couple of days), I had a hankering for some space adventuring. For some reason, I felt compelled to re-watch the 1997 space/horror flick “Event Horizon”. This was a particularly strange urge since I didn’t like the movie when I saw it in theaters. I saw it a second time on video some years after that, but no time recently, and I still didn’t like it. Something made me connect this movie with “Interstellar”.

The Expendables 3 / ** (PG-13)

Barney Ross: Sylvester Stallone

Lee Christmas: Jason Statham

Drummer: Harrison Ford

Trench: Arnold Schwarzenegger

Stonebanks: Mel Gibson

Doc: Wesley Snipes

Gunner Jenson: Dolph Lundgren

Toll Road: Randy Couture

Caesar: Terry Crews

Bonaparte: Kelsey Grammer

Thorn: Glen Powell

Galgo: Antonio Banderas

Mars: Victor Ortiz

Luna: Ronda Rousey

Smilee: Kellan Lutz

Goran Vata: Robert Davi

Yin Yang: Jet Li

Lionsgate presents a film directed by Patrick Hughes. Written by Sylvester Stallone and Creighton Rothenberger & Katrin Benedikt. Based on characters created by David Callaham. Running time: 126 min. Rated PG-13 (for violence including sustain gun battles and fight scenes, and for language).

Here’s the thing. I really wanted “The Expendables” franchise to be a great badass cheesey return to 80’s action flicks. I wanted this so bad that I returned to it every time they released a new one despite how bad the last one was. “The Expendables 3” is actually the best of the bunch, but these star-packed action debacles have obviously worn out their welcome.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Ernest & Celestine (2014) ****

PG, 80 min.

Directors: Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar, Benjamin Renner

Writers: Daniel Pennac, Gabrielle Vincent (book)

Voices: Forest Whitaker, Mackenzie Foy, Lauren Bacall, Paul Giamatti, William H. Macy, Megan Mullally, Nick Offerman, Jeffery Wright

Here’s a word of advice. When you see the list of Oscar nominees for best animated feature each year, find the movie you’ve never heard of on it and that will be one of the best movies you’ve ever seen. Perhaps this year’s nominees aren’t the best exampl, because “Frozen” was the winner and in many ways deserved it. Also nominated this year was Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Wind Rises”, so far unseen by me, but undoubtedly filled with his signature genius. With the fantastic French-Belgian anime “Ernest & Celestine”, this year brought three amazing candidates for the sometimes pointless prize.

Edge of Tomorrow / *** (PG-13)

Major William Cage: Tom Cruise

Rita Vrataski: Emily Blunt

General Brigham: Brendan Gleeson

Master Sergeant Farell: Bill Paxton

Dr. Carter: Noah Taylor

Warner Bros. Pictures presents a film directed by Doug Liman. Written by Christopher McQuarrie and Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth. Running time: 113 min. Rated PG-13 (for intense sequences of sci-fi action violence, language and brief suggestive material).

“Well, what if there is no tomorrow? There wasn't one today.”

                                                                        —Phil Connors, “Groundhog Day”.

After seeing the trailers for the new sci-fi action flick “Edge of Tomorrow”, it seemed everyone on the internet was comparing the movie to other movies, saying it was a cross between “Groundhog Day” and “The Matrix”, or “Groundhog Day” and “Battle: Los Angeles”, or “Groundhog Day” and “insert alien invasion movie or your choice here.” The constant was “Groundhog Day” due to the notion made clear in the movie’s trailer that the hero of the flick would relive the same day over and over until he was able to stop the alien invasion. It’s a shame, however that the trailers were so intent on letting the audience in on this premise before actually seeing the movie. It would’ve been interesting to go into the movie without any knowledge of where the movie was going.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Escape from Tomorrow (2013) ***

NR, 90 min.

Director/Writer: Randy Moore

Starring: Roy Abramsohn, Elena Schuber, Katelynn Rodriguez, Jack Dalton, Danielle Safady, Annet Mahendru, Lee Armstrong, Alison Lees-Taylor

I’m not sure you can fully appreciate “Escape From Tomorrow” if you aren’t a parent and haven’t been to either Disney World or Disneyland. I fulfill all these criteria. I’ve taken my family to both Disney World and Disneyland, and I can easily understand how Disney World and Epcot could send a father over the edge.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Elementary, season 2 (2013-2014) ****

TV-14, 24, 43-min. episodes

Creator: Rob Doherty

Directors: John Polson, Jerry Levine, Michael Pressman, Andrew Bernstein, Sanaa Hamri, Christine Moore, Guy Ferland, Aaron Lipstadt, Larry Teng, Helen Shaver, Jean de Segonzac, Seith Mann, Michael Slovis, Lucy Liu,

Writers: Robert Doherty, Craig Sweeny, Jeffery Paul King, Liz Friedman, Jason Tracey, Cathryn Humphris, Christopher Hollier, Bob Goodman, Lauren Mackenzie, Andrew Gettens, Steve Gottfried, Robert Hewitt Wolfe,

Starring: Johnny Lee Miller, Lucy Liu, Jon Michael Hill, Aidan Quinn

Guest starring: Rhys Ifans, Sean Pertwee, Lynn Collins, Jeremy Jordan, Christian Campbell, Ronald Guttman, Laura Benanti, Samuel H. Levine, Noelle Beck, Mia Barron, Danielle Nicolet, Mike Starr, Jordan Gelber, Talia Balsam, Sarah Wynter, Ted King, Olivia d’Abo, Phyllys Somerville, William Sadler, Margaret Colin, Casey Biggs, Troy Garity, Chris Bauer, Eric Sheffer Stevens, Dillan Arrick, Elizabeth Marvel, Frankie Faison, Danny Mastrogiorgio, Jordan Lage, Zachary Booth, Brian Reddy, Heather Burns, Ato Essandoh, Richard Masur, Peter Gerety, Natalie Dormer, Faran Tahir, Andrew Howard, Vincent Curatola, Tim Guinee, Paul Sorvino, Ashlie Atkinson, Stephen Tyrone Williams, James Martinez, Jonno Roberts, Jane Alexander, Aleska Palladino, Scott Cohen, Bill Sage, Bill Irwin, Jeremy Davidson, Cara Buono, Sean Nelson, Ron Canada, Shiri Appleby, Gretchen Egolf, Bruce Altman, Robert Stanton, Judith Ivey, Garret Dillahunt, Roger Rees, Ron Raines, Michael Medeiros, Jeremy Shamos, Henri Lubatti, Michael Gaston, Vincent Amato, Ralph Brown, Emily Bergl, Jim Norton, Nasser Faris

In its second season, CBS’s Sherlock Holmes series “Elementary” has solved any of the minor problems it held in the first season. The shows biggest weakness in its freshman year was the lack of development of the Joan Watson character. In season two, Joan comes into her own. She becomes somewhat of an equal to Holmes and, even more importantly, her own person rather than just the super detective’s foil. She is no longer a sober companion or a trainee, but a sleuth in her own right. She takes on cases that Sherlock is not working and she adds important insight into the ones he does oversee.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Ender’s Game (2013) ***½

PG-13, 114 min.

Director: Gavin Hood

Writers: Gavin Hood, Orson Scott Card (novel)

Starring: Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis, Aramis Knight, Suraj Partha, Moises Arias, Nonso Anozie

“Ender’s Game” is a surprisingly fresh and powerful science fiction film. Based on the popular book series by Orson Scott Card, the film is singularly focused on its story and message. That story tells of a future when an alien invasion that nearly decimated the planet 50 years earlier has lead to a new approach to warfare. The military uses children with gifted minds to coordinate their battles in a virtual environment that seems inspired by video game play.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Europa Report (2013) ***

PG-13, 90 min.

Director: Sebastián Cordero

Writer: Philip Gelatt

Starring: Daniel Wu, Sharlto Copely, Christian Camargo, Karolina Wydra, Michael Nyqvist, Anamaria Marinca, Embeth Davidtz, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Dan Fogler

It’s indies like “Europa Report” that prove that most of the science fiction stories told by Hollywood could be told less expensively with just as satisfying results. It depicts a space mission to find life on one of Jupiter’s moons. We learn early on that the mission of Europa One did not go as planned with Earth losing contact, long before it even reached its destination.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—The East (2013) ***

PG-13, 116 min.

Director: Zal Batmanglij

Writers: Zal Batmanglij, Brit Marling

Starring: Brit Marling, Alexander Skarsgård, Ellen Page, Toby Kebbell, Shiloh Fernandez, Aldis Hodge, Danielle Macdonald, Hillary Baack, Patricia Clarkson, Jason Ritter, Julia Ormond, Jamey Sheridan

Eco-terrorism might be a window into the general terrorist mindset that so few of us seem to understand, since terrorism involves such violent acts against people we perceive to have little to do with causes of said terrorists. There was an excellent documentary on eco-terrorism a couple of years back called “If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front”. Nominated for an Academy Award, it gave the accounts of actual eco-terrorists who had been involved in the deaths of innocents and brought light to the fact that this is a real form of terrorism that takes place right here on our shores. Now comes “The East”, a dramatic thriller that turns its focus on a group of eco-terrorists who go too far despite the validity of their philosophies.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Epic (2013) **½

PG, 102 min.

Director: Chris Wedge

Writers: James V. Hart, William Joyce (also book “The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs”), Dan Shere, Tom J. Astle, Matt Ember, Chris Wedge

Voices: Josh Hutcherson, Amanda Seyfried, Colin Farrell, Christoph Waltz, Aziz Ansari, Chris O’Dowd, Beyoncé Knowles, Pitbull, Jason Sudeikis, Steven Tyler

“Epic” was a great film for the kids. For me, it felt like something I’d seen a hundred times before. There was no spark to it. Nothing that called out, “I’ve got something new to say, and a new way to say it.” With the amount of movies I see, I hardly expect to see something new in everything, but there’s usually something that feels fresh about a movie worth seeing. This one didn’t really seem to have that.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Every Which Way But Loose (1978) ***½

PG, 114 min.

Director: James Fargo

Writer: Jeremy Joe Kronsburg

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Geoffrey Lewis, Sondra Locke, Beverly D’Angelo, Ruth Gordon, Roy Jenson, James McEachin, Bill McKinney, William O’Connell, John Quade, Dan Vadis, Gregory Walcott, Hank Worden, Walter Barnes, George Chandler, Manis the Orangutan 

My Dad has been gone for over two years now, and I keep on running into movies that he gave to me. “Every Which Way But Loose” was the rare comedy from Clint Eastwood, but it was a comedy done only as Eastwood would do one. It’s laid back, spontaneous, populated by simple (but intelligent) blue collar characters, who have a basic morality and a near naiveté about the world in which they live. This one also happens to have an orangutan as one of the main characters.

Elysium / ***½ (R)

Max: Matt Damon

Delacourt: Jodie Foster

Kruger: Sharlto Copely

Fray: Alice Braga

Julio: Diego Luna

Spider: Wagner Moura

John Carlyle: William Fichtner

TriStar Pictures presents a film written and directed by Neill Blomkamp. Running time: 109 min. Rated R (for strong bloody violence and language throughout).

Science fiction is a genre like no other in all of story telling. Other genres can acts as allegory and adventure, but none puts the elements together in the same sense of dependence on one another as science fiction. Sci-fi is a marriage of plot and metaphor in both structure and execution. It attracts with story and a need for something more. At one time, this meant that sci-fi required the more rare consumer, but its reach has expanded because of film. Now, sci-fi isn’t just about the unique, but also about the masses.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Elementary, season 1 (2012-2013) ***½

TV-14, 24 44-min. episodes

Creator: Robert Doherty

Directors: Michael Cuesta, John David Coles, Rod Holcomb, Rosemary Rodriguez, Collin Bucksey, David Platt, Seith Mann, Andrew Bernstein, Phil Abraham, Peter Werner, John Polson, Christine Moore, Guy Ferland, Sanaa Hamri, Jerry Levine, Larry Teng, Adam Davidson

Writers: Robert Doherty, Peter Blake, Craig Sweeny, Liz Friedman, Corinne Brinkerhoff, Christopher Silber, Jeffery Paul King, Jason Tracey, Mark Goffman, Brian Rodenbeck

Starring: Jonny Lee Miller, Lucy Liu, Aidan Quinn, Jon Michael Hall

Guest starring: Dallas Roberts, Manny Perez, Jonathan Walker, Kristen Bush, Jennifer Ferrin, Bill Heck, Casey Siemaszko, Johnny Simmons, Yancey Arias, Craig Bierko, Molly Price, Luke Kirby, Jennifer Van Dyck, David Harbour, David Costabile, Ben Rappaport, Jenni Barber, Anika Noni Rose, Reiko Aylesworth, Brian Kerwin, Roger Rees, Adam LeFerve, Callie Thorne, Keith Szarabajka, Stephen Kunken, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Lisa Edelstein, John Pankow, Ato Essandoh, Adam Rothenberg, Kristy Wu, Randall Duk Kim, Freda Foh Shen, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Reg Rogers, Stephen Park, Jake Webber, Mark Moses, Melissa Farman, Vinnie Jones, Bobb’e J. Thompson, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Linda Emond, Richard Bekins, Michael Laurence, Chris Sullivan, Terry Kinney, Kari Matchett, Jessica Hecht, John Hannah, Michael Irby, Malcolm Goodwin, Paula Garces, Anwan Glover, David Furr, Christopher Sieber, Albert Jones, Jennifer Lim, Gibson Frazier, Dennis Boutsikaris, Josh Hamilton, Jim True-Frost, Geneva Carr, Jill Flint, Becky Ann Baker, Thomas Jay Ryan, Wayne Duvall, Joseph Siravo, Thomas Guiry, Roger Aaron Brown, Byron Jennings, F. Murray Abraham, Natalie Dormer, J.C. MacKenzie, Francie Swift, Stephanie Kurtzuba, Arnold Vosloo

“Elementary” is probably the best new drama on network television for the 2012-2013 season. It’s a modern take on Sherlock Holmes, this time with Holmes having left the service of Scotland Yard to recover from drug addiction in New York. Watson is now Dr. Joan Watson and starts out as a sober companion, but becomes an investigative partner of the super intelligent sleuth.

Evil Dead / ** ½ (R)

Mia: Jane Levy

David: Shiloh Fernandez

Eric: Lou Taylor Pucci

Olivia: Jessica Lucas

Natalie: Elizabeth Blackmore

TriStar Pictures presents a film directed by Fede Alvarez. Written by Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues. Based on the 1981 film “The Evil Dead” by Sam Raimi. Running time: 91 min. Rated R (for strong bloody violence and gore, some sexual content and language).

If there’s one thing for sure that the latest version of “Evil Dead” has to say, it’s that detox is a bitch. In this movie, which appears to be more of a sequel/reboot than a remake, the soon-to-be-dead teenagers have a more serious reason for visiting that sad looking cabin in the woods than the people in Sam Raimi’s 1981 original ultra low budget “The Evil Dead”. Mia is a drug addict trying to kick her habit, so her brother and three friends take her into the woods for a much needed cold turkey detox. The result is a much more serious approach to material which once distinguished itself by not taking itself so seriously.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Evil Dead II (1987) ****

X, 84 min.

Director: Sam Raimi

Writers: Sam Raimi, Scott Spiegel

Starring: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, Kassie Wesley, Theodore Raimi, Denise Bixler, Richard Domeier, John Peakes, Lou Hancock

The first time I ever saw Sam Raimi’s cult horror comedy classic “Evil Dead II” it was one of those rush jobs that really only seem to happen in college. “You haven’t seen ‘Evil Dead II’? We must watch it, right now!” one of my friends insisted.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—The Evil Dead (1981) ***½

X, 85 min.

Director/Writer: Sam Raimi

Starring: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Hal Delrich, Betsy Baker, Sarah York

The remake of Sam Raimi’s cult classic “Evil Dead” opens in theaters this Friday. The remake is produced by Raimi and has been given full blessings by the original’s star Bruce Campbell, who became an underground cult acting hero through his work on Raimi’s original horror/comedy trilogy. What strikes me about the trailers of the new movie is that there doesn’t seem to be any hint that the movie retains any of the comedic elements that made the first films underground hits. In revisiting the original film, with a title that include a “The” that was somehow dropped through the mysterious ways that film’s take on their own lives, the more serious tone that may encompass the new version makes a little more sense.

Penny Thoughts ‘12—Eight Crazy Nights (2002) zero stars

PG-13, 76 min.

Director: Seth Kearsley

Writers: Brooks Arthur, Allen Covert, Brad Isaacs, Adam Sandler

Voices: Adam Sandler, Jackie Titone, Austin Stout, Kevin Nealon, Rob Schneider, Norm Crosby, Jon Lovitz

Here we are in the middle of the annual Chanukah celebration of the Jewish faith and after seeing Adam Sandler’s “Eight Crazy Nights”, I can see why some Jewish people might feel unfairly represented during the holiday season. Not only is their belief system even older than the Christians and yet they still play second fiddle to Christmas during the winter solstice, but they also have this atrocity to bear. Sandler felt it necessary to soil the Chanukah celebration with some of the most inappropriate humor of his film career, and that’s a bar he set pretty high for himself.

End of Watch / **** (R)

Taylor: Jake Gyllenhaal

Zavala: Michael Peña

Janet: Anna Kendrick

Gabby: Natalie Martinez

Van Hauser: David Harbour

Sarge: Frank Grillo

Orozco: America Ferrera

Big Evil: Maurice Compte

Wicked: Diamonique

Open Road Films presents a film written and directed by David Ayer. Running time: 109 min. Rated R (for strong violence, some disturbing images, pervasive language including sexual references, and some drug use.)

David Ayer’s new LA cop film “End of Watch” opens with a voice over as fascinating as the images that accompany it. We see a point of view shot from a police cruiser camera in a high speed chase with a car in front of it racing through the streets of South Central. We hear the voice of Jake Gyllenhaal, as peace officer Taylor, telling us of the passion of the police officer. He speaks of the officer’s motivation. His will. His duty to the law and to his fellow officers. “I am Fate with a badge and a gun,” he states of his relationship to the criminal. This is the portrait of a man who believes in his job.