Horror Thoughts ‘15—It Follows (2015) ****

R, 100 min.

Director/Writer: David Robert Mitchell

Starring: Maika Monroe, Kier Gilchrist, Lili Sepe, Olivia Luccardi, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary

It’s always a bit of a cheat for a critic to come to a movie after both sides have had their chance at it. As is often the case with underground hits, after an initial wave of incredible praise for the project comes an almost equal wave of disparagement against it. With the indie horror flick “It Follows”, initial reviews hailed it as the most original work of horror in the past ten years or so. It has since been reduced to “meh” is many circles. The most public of the charges against it came from director Quentin Tarantino, who praised its originality, but accused writer/director David Robert Mitchell of breaking his own mythology. Perhaps the greatest praise I can give the movie is that while I watched it, all of these opinions from others dropped from my mind and I was immersed into a narrative that I never could have foreseen.

Ebert Thoughts ‘15—Ida (2014) ****

PG-13, 82 min.

Director: Pawel Pawlikowski

Writers: Pawel Pawlikowski, Rebecca Lenkiewicz

Starring: Agata Trzebuchowska, Agata Kulesza, Dawid Ogrodnik, Jerzy TrelaAdam Szyszkowski, Halina Skoczynska

So, I’ve reviewed this film before. It’s easy to concentrate on the central character here, Anna, the nun who discovers she’s a Jew just before she takes her vows. This time I’d like to concentrate a little more on Wanda, her aunt. Wanda is a very interesting woman. This is the 1960s, and Wanda appears to be a fairly powerful woman as a state prosecutor. Wanda has as much of a journey to take as Anna here. It is Wanda who takes them on their search to find Anna’s parent’s graves. Of course, that journey leads to the revelation of a dark family secret, a secret Wanda must be very aware Anna will discover.

The Imitation Game / **** (PG-13)

Alan Turing: Benedict Cumberbatch

Joan Clarke: Keira Knightley

Hugh Alexander: Matthew Goode

Detective Robert Nock: Rory Kinnear

John Craincross: Allen Leech

Commander Denniston: Charles Dance

Stewart Menzies: Mark Strong

The Weinstein Company presents a film directed by Morten Tyldum. Written by Graham Moore. Based on the book “Alan Turing: The Enigma” by Andrew Hodges. Running time: 114 min. Rated PG-13 (for some sexual references, mature thematic material and historical smoking).

There is a certain type of movie that has historically been a favorite of the voting body of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. The Academy has always liked true stories with historical value about a real person. Movies about World War II and undermining the Nazis get some favor. They also seem to have a soft spot for topical issues, like homosexuality. While the more extravagant—and less typical—films “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and “Birdman: or (The Exquisite Virtue of Ignorance)” were busy racking up 9 nominations each for this year’s Oscars, the Weinstein Brothers quietly brought home 8 nominations for the more typical Oscar fare “The Imitation Game”. Always in the talk of the best movies of the year, but never really stirring up much passion from critics, “The Imitation Game” is a glowing example of the formula for bringing in Oscar nods. It tells an amazing story about a somewhat unknown figure who had a profound impact on the outcome of WWII and modern technology as we know it, and it tells it with layers of commentary more typical of genre films than your standard Oscar drama fare.

Inherent Vice / **** (R)

Larry “Doc” Sportello: Joaquin Phoenix

Lt. Det. Christian F. “Bigfoot” Bjornsen: Josh Brolin

Shasta Fay Hepworth: Katherine Waterston

Coy Harlingen: Owen Wilson

Deputy D.A. Penny Kimball: Reese Witherspoon

Saunxho Smilax, Esq: Benicio del Toro

Hope Harlingen: Jena Malone

Jade: Hong Chau

Sortilége: Joanna Newsom

Dr. Rudy Blatnoyd, D.D.S.: Martin Short

Warner Bros. Pictures presents a film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Based on the novel by Thomas Pynchon. Running time: 148 min. Rated R (for drug use throughout, sexual content, graphic nudity, language and some violence).

There is a misconception going around about Paul Thomas Anderson’s new movie “Inherent Vice” that it is somehow similar to The Coen Brothers’ “The Big Lebowski”. While both comedies center on a drug-addled character caught up in a noir plot the runs vastly out of their control, this is where the similarities between the two end. A better comparison for “Inherent Vice” might be to watching Roman Polanski’s “Chinatown” as if you the audience were heavily sedated on barbiturates.

The Interview / ** (R)

Dave Skylark: James Franco

Aaron Rapaport: Seth Rogen

Kim Jong-un: Randall Park

Sook: Diana Bang

Agent Lacey: Lizzy Caplan

Columbia Pictures presents a film directed by Evan Goldberg & Seth Rogen. Written by Dan Sterling and Seth Rogen & Even Goldberg. Running time: 112 min. Rated R (for pervasive language, crude and sexual humor, nudity, some drug use and bloody violence).

I’ll admit that I’ve found the story surrounding the release of the new Seth Rogen/James Franco comedy “The Interview” to be one of the most interesting news stories of the year. For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past month, the film’s distribution studio, Sony Pictures, was hacked in late November. Soon sensitive information was leaked to the Internet, including corporate communications and downloadable copies of five of Sony’s big holiday movies. A group calling themselves the GOP (Guardians of Peace)—a curious set of initials considering they were already taken by a well-known political party—claiming responsibility and demanding the cancellation of the planned Christmas Day release of “The Interview” because of its depiction of the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. It was eventually confirmed by the CIA that they felt North Korea was responsible for the hack. More Sony secrets were released to news organizations and violence was threatened at exhibitor venues that chose to screen the movie on Christmas Day. Several major distributors decided not to screen the film and Sony announced that the Christmas Day opening would be canceled with no other plans to distribute the film. There was an outcry—my own included—that expressed how this development was allowing foreign elements to control our freedom of speech in the U.S. After being virtually scolded by President Obama, Sony announced new plans to release the movie as originally scheduled on Christmas Day to select independent exhibitors and through select video on demand outlets.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Ida (2014) ****

PG-13, 82 min.

Director: Pawel Pawlikowski

Writers: Pawel Pawlikowski, Rebecca Lenkiewicz

Starring: Agata Trzebuchowska, Agata Kulesza, Dawid Ogrodnik

If you haven’t heard of the Polish film “Ida”, then you will if you pay any attention to the Foreign Film categories at the Golden Globes and Oscars. Considering how well it did on almost every top ten list at the end of this year, it will most likely take home the golden statues from them. It deserves the attention it’s getting. It is one of those simple, beautiful films that allow you appreciate life for what it is while reflecting on its greatest horrors.

Interstellar / ***½ (PG-13)

Cooper: Matthew McConaughey

Murph: Jessica Chastain

Murph (10 Yrs.): Mackenzie Foy

Murph (older): Ellen Burstyn

Brand: Anne Hathaway

Professor Brand: Michael Caine

TARS (voice): Bill Irwin

Donald: John Lithgow

Tom: Casey Affleck

Tom (15 Yrs.): Timothée Chalamet

Doyle: Wes Bentley

Romilly: David Gyasi

Getty: Topher Grace

Dr. Mann: Matt Damon

Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures present a film directed by Christopher Nolan. Written by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan. Running time: 169 min. Rated PG-13 (for some intense perilous action and brief strong language).

“You're familiar with the phrase ‘man's reach exceeds his grasp’? It's a lie: man's grasp exceeds his nerve.”

                                    —Nikola Tesla, “The Prestige”.

In 2006, Christopher Nolan released a movie called “The Prestige”, about how magicians create their illusions. Real life electrical engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla appeared as a character in the fictional film as a mentor to one of the magicians. While Tesla was a legitimate innovator in science, he gained a reputation as a “mad scientist” through his showmanship and some of his more outlandish experiments that never gained mainstream support. He provides a science-based version of the magicians work in that movie in a way that somewhat bridges the gap between art and science. This could describe much of what Nolan seems to do as a director. His latest epic space adventure “Interstellar” could be his grandest work of art and science yet.

Horror Thoughts ‘14—Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013) **

PG-13, 109 min.

Director: James Wan

Writers: Leigh Whannell (also characters), James Wan

Starring: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins, Lin Shaye, Barbara Hershey, Steve Coulter, Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson

I was a fan of the original “Insidious”. I very much enjoyed the way director James Wan played with lighting and sound to create a film where it was impossible to escape the frights it contained. I liked its unique take on the haunted house story by presenting a different kind of poltergeist that haunted individuals instead of merely their dwellings. It did a good job handling the horror standby of the child in peril. It had a nice smattering of humor to prevent it from becoming overly oppressive. And frankly, I had trouble getting its images out of my head when I went to bed that night.

Into the Storm / ** (PG-13)

Gary: Richard Armitage

Allison: Sarah Wayne Callies

Pete: Matt Walsh

Donnie: Max Deacon

Trey: Nathan Kress

Kaitlyn: Alycia Debnam Carey

Daryl: Arlen Escarpeta

Jacob: Jeremy Sumpter

Donk: Kyle Davis

Reevis: Jon Reep

New Line Cinema presents a film directed by Steven Quale. Written by John Swetnam. Running time: 89 min. Rated PG-13 (for sequences of intense destruction and peril, and language including some sexual references).

While we all can’t help watching a car crash, there’s something about the scale of destruction that comes along with tornadoes that makes me question the reverence involved in turning them into summertime entertainment. I wonder if there’s a way to make a movie about a tornado destroying a small town that would really seem appropriate in respect to the real life victims of such events. If there is, Hollywood has yet to find the secret ingredient. In 1996’s “Twister” there was a little too much of Hollywood formula silliness. Nearly twenty years and countless tornado disasters later we now get “Into the Storm”, which elevates the level of tornadic activity and attempts to elevate the level of realism, yet still feels silly in respect to real life disasters.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Iceman (1984) ***

PG, 100 min.

Director: Fred Schepisi

Writers: Chip Proser, John Drimmer

Starring: Timothy Hutton, Lindsay Crouse, John Lone, Josef Sommer, David Strathairn, Philip Akin, Danny Glover, Amelia Hall, Richard Monette, James Tolkan

So I had a mini 1984 sci-fi/drama Man Out of Place film festival last weekend watching “Starman” and “Iceman” back-to-back. It was quite enjoyable. “Iceman” certainly wasn’t as iconic a film as “Starman”, although both have become somewhat forgotten 30 years down the road.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) ***½

R, 104 min.

Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Writers: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Starring: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, Ethan Phillips, Robin Bartlett, Max Casella, Jeanine Serralles, Adam Driver, Stark Sands, John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund, Alex Karpovsky, Helen Hong, Bradley Mott, F. Murray Abraham, Stan Carp

Pain is something we all deal with differently. Some people simply refuse it. Some people bottle it up. Some people use their talents to redirect it. In fact, pain is a great artistic motivator. It’s no secret that many musicians and comedians come from lives filled with personal pain. With “Inside Llewyn Davis”, cinematic maestros Joel and Ethan Coen have endeavored to paint a portrait of that pain in the form of an early 60s folk singer in the vein of Bob Dylan.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—The Iron Lady (2012) **

PG-13, 105 min.

Director: Phyllida Lloyd

Writer: Abi Morgan

Starring: Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Olivia Coleman, Alexandra Roach, Susan Brown, Harry Lloyd, Iain Glenn, Nicholas Farrell, John Sessions, Anthony Head, Richard E. Grant

Why would you make a film about an historical figure and make it mostly about her life as an old woman with dementia after her retirement from public service? I don’t know how accurate the details about Margaret Thatcher’s dementia are here, but the movie treats her time as a pioneering female politician in British Parliament and as the first female Prime Minister as a highlight reel, while concentrating mostly on her as an old woman who hallucinates her long dead husband as she finally tries to let him go.

Holiday Thoughts ‘13—It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) ****

NR, 130 min.

Director: Frank Capra

Writers: Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra, Jo Swerling, Philip Van Doren Stern

Starring: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers, Beulah Bondi, Frank Faylen, Ward Bond, Gloria Grahame, H.B. Warner, Todd Karns, Samuel S. Hinds, Mary Treen, Frank Albertson, Virginia Patton, Charles Williams, Sara Edwards, William Edmonds, Lillian Randolph

My father was an alcoholic. I’m not sure how much this impacted other aspects of his life. It only affected mine to a noticeable degree on a few occasions. One occasion was the last time he ever took a drink. He was pulled over and arrested for DUI in the early morning hours of my 13^th birthday. Although this was the only time his drinking really disrupted anything in my life; it was strange and confusing, but not some sort of character crushing experience for me. For my mother, I’m sure it was the last straw. If he hadn’t changed then, my life would’ve been very different from there on out.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—In Memoriam: New York City 9/11/01 (2002)

NR, 62 min.

Featuring: Rudolph W. Giuliani

I lived near and in New York City for seven years of my life. I left NY in 1997. I have a great many friends who reside there. If the world were a perfect place, I’d still live there. I loved the city. It just didn’t fit into the other plans in my life. If I could work it in there, I would. There’s no greater place on Earth.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—It’s Not You, It’s Me (2013) ***½

NR, 11 min.

Director: Matt Spicer

Writers: Eric Spicer, Matt Spicer

Starring: Gillian Jacobs, Fran Kranz, Rob Huebel

I really should’ve saved this one for Horrorfest. Gillian Jacobs, from NBC’s “Community”, stars in this dark comedy that was a hit at this year’s SXSW. Perhaps it gives a little insight into the mind of the woman. Hopefully, just this particular woman played by Jacobs. Whichever it is, it’s a man’s worst nightmare that he never has. The reason he never has it is because he is oblivious to himself and the harm he can bring upon himself through his oblivion.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013) ***

PG-13, 100 min.

Director: Don Scardino

Writers: Jonathan M. Goldstein, John Francis Daley, Chad Kultgen, Tyler Mitchell

Starring: Steve Carell, Steve Buscemi, Olivia Wilde, Jim Carrey, James Gandolfini, Alan Arkin, Jay Mohr, Michael Bully Herbig, Brad Garrett, David Copperfield

“The Incredible Burt Wonderstone” isn’t incredible, but it made me laugh, so I’m going to recommend it. The movie was a major bomb at the box office and didn’t fare well with the critics either, prompting unending debate about whether Jim Carrey should just throw in the towel. This isn’t Jim Carrey’s movie, however. I’ve billed him fourth, and going by role size, that’s where he belongs.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Independence Day (1996) *

PG-13, 145 min.

Director: Roland Emmerich

Writers: Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich

Starring: Will Smith, Bill Pulman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell, Judd Hirsch, Robert Loggia, Randy Quaid, Margaret Colin, Vivica A. Fox, James Rebhorn, Harvey Fierstien, Adam Baldwin, Brent Spiner

I hated, hated, hated, hated, hated “Independence Day”.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Invictus (2009) ***½

PG-13, 134 min.

Director: Clint Eastwood

Writers: Anthony Peckham, John Carlin (book “Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation”)

Starring: Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, Tony Kgoroge, Patrick Mofokeng, Matt Stern, Julian Lewis Jones, Adjoa Andoh, Marguerite Wheatley, Leleti Khumalo, Patrick Lyster, Shakes Myeko

With Nelson Mandela’s health concerns of late, I can’t help looking back at a movie about the revered leader who has done so much to change the course of racial relations in the world, starting with the very country that took away almost half of his life. It’s amazing more movies haven’t been made about him. It’s even more surprising that the highest profile movie made about him is structured like a classic sports movie that looks at his role in inspiring South Africa’s national rugby squad to win the 1995 World Cup.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Iron Sky (2012) *

R, 93 min.

Director: Timo Vuorensola

Writers: Timo Vuorensola, Michael Kalesniko, Jarmo Puskala, Johanna Sinisalo

Starring: Julia Dietze, Christopher Kirby, Götz Otto, Udo Kier, Peta Sergeant, Stephanie Paul, Tilo Prückner, Michael Cullen

Yesterday I criticized the Boy Scouts for perpetuating the culture of fear that surrounds homosexuality in this country. Today I will look at a film that examines an organization that is the ultimate extension of such a culture of fear, the Nazis. Again, the movie I’ve chosen is not a good one. Like the scouting movie, it is filled with ideas that don’t have the execution behind them to deserve them.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—The Impossible (2012) ****

PG-13, 114 min.

Director: Jaun Antonio Bayona

Writers: Sergio G. Sánchez, María Belón

Starring: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland, Samuel Joslin, Oakalee Pendergast, Marta Etura, Sönke Möhring, Geraldine Chaplin

“The Impossible” is one of the most agonizing films I’ve ever seen. I spent most of the running time watching with my hands plastered to my head or face or some other expression of anxiety. I hissed between my teeth the way you do when you smash your shin on the corner of the bed for about 40 minutes straight. The movie is brilliant in the way it depicts the impossible tale of survival this family went through; and I wondered, why do we want to watch a movie like this?