Penny Thoughts ‘14—Philomena (2013) ***½

PG-13, 98 min.

Director: Stephen Frears

Writers: Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope, Martin Sixsmith (book “The Lost Child of Philomena Lee”)

Starring: Judi Dench, Steve Coogan, Sophie Kennedy Clark, Mare Winningham, Barbara Jefford, Ruth McCabe, Peter Hermann, Sean Mahon, Anna Maxwell Martin, Michelle Fairley

The U.S. trailers might leave a viewer to believe that “Philomena” is a comedy about a hardened journalist forced to do a human interest story about a woman searching for a child she once gave up for adoption. The woman is a quirky old person who isn’t very well traveled, and the movie will be a comedic exploration of how these two opposites will learn to live with and love each other. This is not the case.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Free Birds (2013) ***

PG, 91 min.

Director: Jimmy Hayward

Writers: Scott Mosier, Jimmy Hayward, David I. Stern, John J. Strauss

Voices: Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson, Amy Poehler, George Takei, Colm Meaney, Keith David, Dan Fogler, Jimmy Hayward

“Free Birds” is a perfectly enjoyable family movie. In fact, I’ll give it extra points for its irreverent humor, which rears up even before the movie starts with a pre-movie disclaimer that states there my be some historical inaccuracies found within its tale, but the talking turkeys are totally historically accurate. Also one of the lead turkeys is clearly insane, which is always a nice quality in a turkey for the adults in the crowd. We like those less predictable elements in our family films.

The Fault In Our Stars / *** (PG-13)

Hazel: Shailene Woodley

Gus: Ansel Elgort

Frannie: Laura Dern

Michael: Sam Tremmell

Isaac: Nat Wolff

Van Houten: Willem Dafoe

20^th Century Fox presents a film directed by Josh Boone. Written by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber. Based on the novel by John Green. Running time: 125 min. Rated PG-13 (thematic elements, some sexuality and brief strong language).

You’ve seen this story before. A young person is diagnosed with a terminal illness. She hasn’t had a chance to live life or even grow up, and she’s already facing death. She meets someone who not only changes her life, but her perspective on life, and she can face her fate with more dignity than before. Yes, it’s been done before; but here, it is not only done well, but it contains a surprising twist and touches upon something that these stories often don’t. The afflicted person is not the only person in her scenario. There are others in her life that care for her and adjust their own lives for her affliction, and the most important thing for the person who is dying is that her death affect those around her as little as possible, which is just simply not possible.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction (2013) ***

NR, 77 min.

Director: Sophie Huber

Featuring: Harry Dean Stanton, David Lynch, Sam Shepard, Kris Kristofferson, Wim Wenders, Deborah Harry

Yesterday I reviewed “Repo Man”, the movie probably most responsible for my awareness of character actor Harry Dean Stanton. I had most likely seen him in many movies before I saw “Repo Man”, certainly in Ridley Scott’s “Alien”; but it was “Repo Man” that let me know that this was an actor to whom I must pay attention.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Repo Man (1984) ****

R, 92 min.

Director/Writer: Alex Cox

Starring: Emilio Estevez, Harry Dean Stanton, Tracey Walter, Olivia Barash, Sy Richardson, Susan Barnes, Fox Harris, Tom Finnegan, Del Zamora, Eddie Velez, Zander Schloss, Jennifer Balgobin, Dick Rude, Miguel Sandoval, Vonetta McGee

In high school, my friends and I would imagine that the Sheen family (Martin Sheen and Charlie Sheen) name was actually Sheen rather than Estevez and act out a scene about Emilio changing his name from Sheen to Estevez. At that point in time, it would’ve made no sense. No actor who wanted to make a name for himself would change his name from a respectable and established Hollywood white name like Sheen to something of obvious ethnicity like Estevez. We would even play it as if his first name was actually Steve—or something closer to the white norm of Martin and Charlie—and he purposely changed it to Emilio Estevez as some strange act of rebellion.

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—The Haunted Mansion (2013) **

PG, 88 min.

Director: Rob Minkoff

Writer: David Berenbaum

Starring: Eddie Murphy, Marsha Thomason, Terence Stamp, Nathaniel Parker, Marc John Jefferies, Aree Davis, Jennifer Tilly, Wallace Shawn, Dina Walters

I’ve never really explained on the site exactly what I mean by “Penny Thoughts”. Generally, I do about one theatrical review a week. That’s a full-length review of a movie currently in theaters. The rest of the week I review films in my Penny Thoughts feature. These reviews are shorter. I usually forego the synopsis or at least cut the synopsis down to just a paragraph. But really, a Penny Thought doesn’t necessarily have to be a review at all. It’s really just the thoughts that a certain movie inspires once I see it. The thoughts that Disney’s “The Haunted Mansion” inspired were to finally explain what the Penny Thoughts feature was about. It’s a little more interesting than the movie itself. I watched it for the kids. I guess they like it alright.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Delivery Man (2013) ***½

PG-13, 105 min.

Director: Ken Scott

Writers: Ken Scott (also screenplay “Starbuck”), Martin Petit (screenplay “Starbuck”)

Starring: Vince Vaughn, Chris Pratt, Cobie Smulders, Andrzej Blumenfeld, Simon Delaney, Bobby Moynihan, Dave Patten, Adam Chanler-Berat, Britt Robertson, Jack Reynor, Amos VanderPoel, Matthew Daddario

“Delivery Man” is a pleasant film that proves that sometimes the execs at Hollywood can make good decisions. The film is a remake of the Canadian movie “Starbuck”, which caused a bit of a stir with its good-hearted charm in a story about a man who through sperm bank deposits fathers over 500 children. Only a man without much sense of responsibility could possibly even donate enough sperm to father over 500 children; however, when he’s sued to reveal his identity to a large group of these children, he learns the responsibility of fatherhood.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Saving Mr. Banks (2013) ***½

PG-13, 125 min.

Director: John Lee Hancock

Writers: Kelly Marcel, Sue Smith

Starring: Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Colin Farrell, Annie Rose Buckley, Ruth Wilson, Paul Giamatti, Bradley Whitford, B.J. Novak, Jason Schwartzman, Lily Bingham, Kathy Baker, Melanie Paxon, Andy McPhee, Rachel Griffiths, Ronan Vibert

Going in to “Saving Mr. Banks” I expected to see a nice insider drama. Nothing groundbreaking. Nothing offensive. Nothing risky. I suppose it isn’t any of those things, but it was more than I expected.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Ghostbusters (1984) ***½

PG, 105 min.

Director: Ivan Reitman

Writers: Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis

Starring: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis, Annie Potts, William Atherton, Ernie Hudson

30 years ago today “Ghost Busters”—it’s two words on the title card—opened in theaters and became not just a movie, but a cultural reference, as many 80s films seemed to do. You don’t see individual movies become such a phenomenon anymore. Even the Marvel Universe movies became what they are as a group of films rather than individuals. “Ghostbusters” had a life of its own.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Silent Running (1972) *

G, 89 min.

Director: Douglas Trumbull

Writers: Deric Washburn, Mike Cimino, Steve Bochco

Starring: Bruce Dern, Cliff Potts, Ron Rifkin, Jesse Vint, Mark Persons, Cheryl Sparks

I was taken aback to learn just how bad this movie is. It’s one of those movies that, if you’re into science fiction at all, is just kind of there as what I assumed was a classic of the genre. I had even assumed that I had seen at least parts of it before, but I hadn’t. So I finally have seen it, and it is terrible.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Joe Kidd (1972) ***

PG, 88 min.

Director: John Sturges

Writer: Elmore Leonard

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Robert Duvall, John Saxon, Don Stroud, Stella Garcia, James Wainwright, Paul Koslo, Gregory Walcott, Dick Van Patten, Lynne Marta, John Carter, Pepe Hern

I did my part this past weekend to pass on the great tradition of the western. I feel I haven’t instilled it enough in my first three children, so I decided to start early with our latest edition. This weekend I sat down with my youngest (2½ mos) and watched a Clint Eastwood western.

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—Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013) ***

PG, 95 min.

Directors: Cody Cameron, Kris Pearn

Writers: Erica Rivinoja, John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Judi Barrett (characters), Ron Berrett (characters)

Voices: Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Will Forte, Andy Samberg, Benjamin Bratt, Neil Patrick Harris, Terry Crews, Kristen Schaal

There are some movies that are good, but just don’t cry out to be analyzed. Sometimes I enjoy a movie, but have very little to say about it. I enjoyed “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2”. It wasn’t as good as the original, which I love and can’t say enough about. This one tries to recapture some of the magic from the original. It does to some degree. Every once and a while I dips a little too often into the same well of jokes. It works better when it’s creating new jokes, instead of just repeating what worked in the original. And… um, well. That’s about it.

Penny Thoughts ’14—The Americans, season 2 (2014) ****

TV-MA, 13 50 min. episodes

Creator: Joseph Weisberg

Directors: Thomas Schlamme, Daniel Sackheim, Constantine Makris, Lodge Kerrigan, Dan Attias, Charlotte Sieling, Kevin Dowling, John Dahl, Alik Sakharov, Stefan Schwartz, Gregory Hoblit, Andrew Bernstein

Writers: Joseph Weisberg, Joel Fields, Stu Zicherman, Stephen Schiff, Angelina Burnett, Melissa James Gibson, Joshua Brand, Peter Ackerman, Tracey Scott Wilson, Oliver North

Starring: Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Noah Emmerich, Annet Mahendru, Susan Misner, Alison Wright, Holly Taylor, Keidrich Sellati, Richard Thomas, Lev Gorn, Costa Ronin

Guest starring: Jeremy Davidson, Natalie Gold, Tim Hopper, John Carroll Lynch, Aimee Carrero, Erik Jensen, Anthony Arkin, Kathleen Chalfant, Owen Campbell, Michael Aronov, Jefferson White, Cliff Marc Simon, Cotter Smith, John Bedford Lloyd, Wrenn Schmidt, Lee Tergesen, Nick Bailey, Jeffrey Cantor, Reg Rogers, Kelly AuCoin, Gillian Alexy, Rahul Khanna, Zeljko Ivanek, Margo Martindale

FX’s “The Americans” continues to impress in its second season. Gone are the rough patches of trying to hold together a fake marriage while working deep undercover as Russian sleeper agents in the early 80s. The parents of the Jennings household are now a unified front. The trick is becoming keeping that front for their children.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Person of Interest, season 3 (2013-2014) **½

TV-14, 23 45-min. episodes

Creator: Jonathan Nolan

Directors: Chris Fisher, Fredrick E.O. Toye, Omar Madha, Stephen Williams, Kenneth Fink, Helen Shaver, Stephen Surjik, Sylvain White, Richard J. Lewis, Jeffrey Hunt, Jeff T. Thomas, Jeffrey Lee Gibson, Kevin Hooks,

Writers: Jonathan Nolan, Greg Plageman, Denise Thé, Sean Hennen, Nic Van Zeebroeck, Mike Sopczynski, Erik Mountain, Amanda Segel, Melissa Scrivner Love, David Slack, Dan Dietz, Lucas O’Connor, Tony Camerino,

Starring: Jim Caviezel, Michael Emerson, Sarah Shahi, Amy Acker, Kevin Chapman, Taraji P. Henson

Guest starring: Ray Valentin, Max Martini, Bruce Altman, Alano Miller, David Valcin, Enrico Colantoni, David Alan Basch, Clarke Peters, Leslie Odom Jr., Gary Basaraba, Paige Turco, Warren Kole, Boris McGiver, Kathleen Rose Perkins, Paul Ben-Victor, Annika Boras, Al Sapienza, Brian Wiles, Daniel Cosgrove, Treach, Danielle Kotch, Morgan Spector, Robert John Burke, Kirk Acevedo, Michael Esper, Donnie Keshawarz, Aaron Staton, Jennifer Ferrin, Laz Alonso, Ben Livingston, Lee Tergesen, Khalil Kain, Richard Brooks, Brian Tarantina, Saul Rubinek, Tuck Milligan, Camryn Manheim, Jennifer Lim, Chris Bert, Jennifer Serralles, Sally Pressman, Samm Levine, Elaine Tan, Henri Lubatti, Gene Farber, Melissa Sagemiller, Gavin Stenhouse, Kathleen McNanny, David Andrew Macdonald, Anthony Mangano, Tyler Evans, Neil Jackson, Jay O. Sanders, John Nolan, Joseph Mazzello, Julian Ovenden, Casey Siemaszko, Annie Parrise, Dillon Arrick, Yul Vazquez, Colin Donnell, Nazneen Contractor, Haaz Sleiman, Michel Gil, Nestor Carbonell, John Doman, John Heard, Carrie Preston, Joseph Melendez, Peter Scanavino, Diane Davis

I’ve never been totally on board with CBS’s Jonathan Nolan created cyber-thriller series “Person of Interest”, although it’s third season has certainly proved its most interesting to date. I watch it because my wife does, and I’ve seen enough to be invested, but if we stopped watching tomorrow, it wouldn’t break my heart. Still, the show is finally beginning to go in direction I would’ve expected from Jonathan Nolan, brother of Christopher Nolan and writer of the original story upon which Christopher Nolan’s breakout film “Memento” was based.

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—Starman (1984) ***½

PG, 115 min.

Director: John Carpenter

Writers: Bruce A. Evans, Raynold Gideon

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Karen Allen, Charles Martin Smith, Richard Jaeckel

I have been meaning to revisit John Carpenter’s “Starman” for quite some time now. I remember enjoying it a great deal when I was younger and more so having a good amount of respect for it as something above your average 80s sci-fi flick. Watching it now, it’s easy to see where the respect came from.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Beavis and Butthead Do America (1996) **½

PG-13, 80 min.

Directors: Mike Judge, Mike DeSeve, Brian Mulroney, Yvette Kaplan

Writers: Mike Judge, Joe Stillman, Brian Mulroney

Voices: Mike Judge, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, Cloris Leachman, Robert Stack, Jacqueline Barba, Eric Bogosian

I noticed that “Beavis & Butthead Do America” was streaming on Netflix and I wondered if the series held up from my days in college. I probably haven’t seen any “Beavis & Butthead” episodes since they were part of MTV’s regular programming schedule, well since I was in college as a matter of fact, but I did enjoy them quite a bit at that time in my life. I even saw the movie in the cinema.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Revolution, season 2 (2013-2014) ***½

TV-14, 22 43-min. episodes

Creator: Eric Kripke

Directors: Steve Boyum, Phil Sgriccia, Helen Shaver, Charles Beeson, Frederick E.O. Toye, Omar Madha, Michael Offer, Ernest Dickerson, Liz Friedlander, Roxann Dawson, Nick Copus, John Showalter, David Boyd

Writers: Eric Kripke, Matt Pitts, Paul Grellong, David Rambo, Anne Cofell Saunders, Ben Edlund, Trey Callaway, Rockne S. O’Bannon, Jim Barnes, David Reed, Ryan Parrott

Starring: Billy Burke, Tracy Spiridakos, Giancarlo Esposito, Zak Orth, David Lyons, JD Pardo, Stephen Collins, Elizabeth Mitchell, Steven Culp, Jessica Collins, Mat Vairo, Maureen Sebastian, Christopher Cousins

Guest starring: Adam Beach, Patrick Heusinger, Blake Hood, Nicole Ari Parker, Matt Ross, Richard T. Jones, Will Beinbrink, Damon Carney, Barry Tubb, Jim Beaver, Zeljko Ivanek, Anthony Ruivivar, David Aaron Baker, Waleed Zuaiter, Maria Howell, Kim Raver, Joaquim de Almeida, Katie Aselton, Daniel Henney, Bret Michaels, Timm Sharp, Cotter Smith, Tyrees Allen, Reiko Aylesworth, Billy Lush, M.C. Gainey, Gonzalo Menendez, Tim Guinee, Colby French

For their first two seasons, for me anyway, the two unrelated shows, “Arrow” and “Revolution” seemed intrinsically connected. Not in any sort of content way. They were both fantasy adventure shows, but that’s where the content connection ended. They both struggled to find their identities throughout the first half of their freshman seasons. They both ended their freshman runs with big developments and very satisfying and devastating cliffhangers. In their sophomore year, they both shared the same timeslot.

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—Grimm, season 3 (2013-2014) ****

TV-14, 22 45-min. episodes

Creators: Stephen Carpenter, David Greenwalt, Jim Kouf

Directors: Norberto Barba, Eric Laneuville, Karen Gaviola, Steven DePaul, John Behring, Aaron Lipstadt, Terrence O’Hara, Tawnia McKiernan, Allen Kroeker, Peter Werner, Rashaad Ernesto Green, Rob Bailey, Paul A. Kaufman, David Solomon, Clark Mathis

Writers: Stephen Carpenter, David Greenwalt, Jim Kouf, Sean Calder, Rob Wright, Michael Golamco, Michael Duggan, Thomas Ian Griffith, Dan E. Fesman, Alan DiFiore, Brenna Kouf, Marc Gaffen, Kyle McVey

Starring: David Guintoli, Russell Hornsby, Bitsie Tulloch, Silas Weir Mitchell, Sasha Roiz, Reggie Lee, Bree Turner, Claire Coffee

Guest starring: Shohreh Aghdashloo, Reg E. Cathey, James Frain, Christian Legadec, Robert Blanche, Jean-Luc Boucherot, Kamyar Jahan, Jay Karnes, Mary McDonald-Lewis, Damien Puckler, Dan Bakkedahl, Danny Bruno, Michael Welch, Stephanie Nogueras, Brian McNamara, Derek Ray, Sara Fletcher, Manny Montana, Gina Gallego, Bertila Damas, Matt McTighe, Tim Griffin, Gabriel Suttle, Julianne Christie, Alexis Denisof, Matthew Willig, Sharon Sachs, Derek Mears, Shane Coffey, Bernhard Forcher, Sharon Leal, Mark Ivanir, Alicia Legano, Aleksandra Kaniak, Angela Gots, Dalpre Grayer, Emily Rios, Gonzalo Menendez, Kirk Acevedo, Todd A. Robinson, Amy Newman, Matt Lasky, Chris Mulkey, Dee Wallace, Freda Foh Shen, Alain Uy, Tess Paras, Anne Dudek, Gene Freedman, Sam Witwer, Carlo Rota, Chryssie Whitehead, Philip Anthony-Rodriguez, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, C. Thomas Howell, Jacqueline Toboni, Sasha Goldberg, Conner B. Neddersen, Michael Graziadei, Karissa Lee Staples, Camille Collard, Aparna Briel, Sam Anderson, Lucas Near-Verbrugghe

In season 3 of the NBC supernatural horror/adventure series “Grimm” everything returns to grand form. Gone is the endless subplot of Juliette being under a spell. In fact little this season lasts the entire season. The subplot of Adalind’s pregnancy and baby is ongoing, but its one with developments and mysterious and powerful implications. I did get concerned in the final few episodes when it looked like Adalind might be gunning for Juliette a second time, but Juliette was her means not her target this time.

X-Men: Days of Future Past / ***½ (PG-13)

Logan/Wolverine: Hugh Jackman

Charles Xavier: James McAvoy

Eric Lehnsherr: Michael Fassbender

Raven/Mystique: Jennifer Lawrence

Hank/Beast: Nicholas Hoult

Dr. Bolivar Trask: Peter Dinklage

Peter/Quicksilver: Evan Peters

Professor X: Patrick Stewart

Magneto: Ian McKellen

Storm: Halle Berry

Kitty Pride: Ellen Page

Bobby/Iceman: Shawn Ashmore

20^th Century Fox presents a film directed by Bryan Singer. Written by Simon Kinberg from a story by Jane Goldman & Kinberg & Matthew Vaughn. Running time: 131 min. Rated PG-13 (for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, some suggestive material, nudity and language).

If the latest movie in the X-Men franchise proves anything, it’s that as long as they’re working with good material, filmmakers can indeed keep this up forever. Through a seemingly endless pool of superheroes to pull from, recasting roles with even more versatile actors, using multiple timelines and just plain rewriting anything that has come before, the equally seamlessly interchangeable filmmaking teams are quite capable of utilizing every ounce of artistry and cleverness to put together entertaining packages of superhero action and mythology to engage audiences for many years to come.

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

PG-13, 126 min.

Director: James Mangold

Writers: Mark Bomback, Scott Frank

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima, Hiroyuki Sanada, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Brian Tee, Haruhiko Yamanouchi, Will Yun Lee, Famke Janssen

I feel like I’ve been spinning around in circles looking up at the sky after having spent the last week or so watching the six X-Men movies leading up to the new “X-Men: Days of Future Past”. What with starting in the “not too distant future” of the first film, the flashbacks that permeate all of them, then bouncing back to the early 70s for the first Wolverine movie, then back another decade for “First Class”, then back to the present (or is it still the not too distant future?) for “The Wolverine”. I imagine considering the time traveling nature of “Days of Future Past” that feeling won’t be going away when I go to see it tomorrow.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Surviving Jack (2014) ***½

TV-14, 8 24-min. episodes

Creators: Patrick Schumacker, Justin Halpern

Directors: Roger Kumble, Michael McDonald, Victor Nelli Jr., Joe Nussbaum, John Putch, Michael Weaver, Ken Whittingham

Writers: Patrick Schumacker, Justin Halpern (also book “I Suck at Girls”), Connie Marshall, Jim Brandon, Emily Heller, Sierra Teller Ornelas, Brian C. Singleton, Bill Callahan, Zachary Rosenblatt

Starring: Christopher Meloni, Connor Buckley, Rachel Harris, Claudia Lee, Tyler Foden, Kevin Hernandez

Narrator: Kevin Rahm

Guest starring: Lili Reinhart, Thomas Kasp, Troy Romzek, Carter Sand, Damaris Diaz, Neil Flynn, Brett Gelman, Mark Berry

Oh network television, you are a cruel, cruel mistress. You allow a show like “Two and a Half Men” to stay on the air for years on end, despite the fact that the half man left because he realized how stupid and insipid the program was, but you cancel a show like “Surviving Jack” without ever even giving it a chance. A show with genuine wit and something to say about life that is real, “Surviving Jack” deserved a fighting chance. Instead it’s dumped into a spot without any ratings in the last quarter of the season and no one ever knows what they’re missing.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—X-Men: First Class (2011) ***

PG-13, 132 min.

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Writers: Ashley Edward Miller, Zack Stentz, Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn, Sheldon Turner, Bryan Singer

Starring: James McAvoy, Matthew Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon, Rose Byrne, January Jones, Nicholas Hoult, Caleb Landry Jones, Lucas Till, Álex Gonzáles, Jason Flemyng, Zoë Kravitz, Edi Gathegi, Oliver Platt, Matt Craven, Don Creech, Glenn Morshower, James Remar, Rade Serbedzija, Michael Ironside

So, watching this movie with a history major produces a lot of guttural reactions. Anyway, I did really like this movie, but I’m not as enamored with it as many. To me it lacked a little excitement. It is certainly the most interesting of the X-Men franchise, but there is a fine line between clever development and exciting entertainment. Oh, a liked it all right. But a movie of this nature needs a heavy helping of the entertainment side to be as engaging as it can be.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) *½

PG-13, 107 min.

Director: Gavin Hood

Writers: David Benioff, Skip Woods

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Will.i.am, Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Kevin Durand, Dominic Monaghan, Danny Henney, Ryan Reynolds, Tim Pocock, Julia Blake, Max Cullen

Ok. I’m going to start by saying that the third time around, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” didn’t bother me as much. The key part of that phrase is “as much.” It’s still pretty stupid and I have some major bones to pick with it. I’ll try to concentrate on different ones this time. You can read my original review here.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Arrow, season 2 (2013-2014) ***½

TV-14, 23 42-min. episodes

Developers: Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg

Directors: John Behring, Nick Copus, Glen Winter, Eagle Egilsson, Wendy Stanzler, Guy Bee, Bethany Rooney, Michael Schultz, Rob Hardy, Larry Teng, Jesse Warn, Soug Aarniokoski

Writers: Greg Berlanti, Marc Giggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, Ben Sokolowski, Beth Schwartz, Keto Shimizu, Wendy Mericle, Jake Coburn, Drew Z. Greenberg, Geoff Johns, Bryan Q. Miller, A.C. Bradley, Holly Harold

Starring: Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, David Ramsey, Willa Holland, Emily Bett Rickards, Colton Haynes, Manu Bennett, Susanna Thompson, Paul Blackthorn, Caity Lotz

Guest starring: Celina Jade, Summer Glau, Colin Salmon, Dylan Bruce, Adrian Holmes, Derek Hamilton, Kelly Hu, Michael Jai White, Kevin Alejandro, Bethany Snow, Roger Cross, Bex Taylor-Klaus, Michael Eklund, Audrey Marie Anderson, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Dylan Neal, Teryl Rothery, Navid Negahban, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Graham Shields, Seth Gabel, John Barrowman, Michael Rowe, Grant Gustin, Jesse Hutch, Colin Donnell, Olivia Cheng, Danny Dworkis, Ron Selmour, Sean Maher, Ana Mercedes, Annie Ilonzeh, Nicholas Lea, James Kidnie, Katrina Law, Alex Kingston, Robert Knepper, Curtis Caravaggio, Artine Brown, James Pizzinato, David Nykl, Ben Browder, Eugene Lipinski, Gholem Qadir, Jessica De Gouw, Jeffrey Nordling, Chelah Horsdal, Sean Rogerson, Danielle Panabaker, Doug Chapman, Michael Daingerfield, Anna Hopkins, Roark Critchlow

With all of the cinematic talk about how Marvel conquered the box office through The Avengers movies, the X-Men franchise, now a 5^th Spider-Man in theaters, even the hardly heard of superhero group Guardians of the Galaxy promises to be a smash hit later this year, DC Comics has not fared as well cinematically. However, with three new properties making their television debuts next year, including “Gotham”, “The Flash”, and “Constantine”, and with the past success of “Smallville”, it seems DC is conquering the TV set. You need not look any further than “Arrow” season 2 to know why.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) ***

PG-13, 104 min.

Director: Brett Ratner

Writers: Simon Kinberg, Zak Penn

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Anna Paquin, Kelsey Grammer, James Marsden, Rebecca Romijn, Shawn Ashmore, Aaron Stanford, Vinnie Jones, Ellen Page, Daniel Cudmore, Ben Foster, Michael Murphy, Dania Ramirez, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Josef Sommer, Bill Duke, Eric Dane, Cameron Bright

So “X-Men: The Last Stand”. If you listened to the fans, this is the most reviled X-Men movie, often called the worst or a total mess, horrible. Of course, the truth is those descriptions really belong to “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”. It amazes me that people were able to hang on to their hatred of “The Last Stand” once they were given “XO:W”. But for some reason, X-Men fans just hate this movie.

Godzilla / *** (PG-13)

Ford Brody: Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Elle Brody: Elizabeth Olsen

Dr. Ichiro Serizawa: Ken Watanabe

Vivienne Graham: Sally Hawkins

Admiral William Stenz: David Strathairn

Captain Hampton Russell: Richard T. Jones

Joe Brody: Bryan Cranston

Sandra Brody: Juliette Binoche

Warner Bros. Pictures presents a film directed by Gareth Edwards. Written by Max Borenstein from a story by Dave Callaham. Based on the “Godzilla” film property of the Toho Company. Running time: 123 min. Rated PG-13 (for intense sequences of destruction, mayhem and creature violence).

Kaiju is a Japanese word that translates to “strange creature.” For many years it has also referred to a very specialized subgenre of movies that involve giant monsters doing battle with the human race and each other. The low budget films of the Toho Company, which spawned the Godzilla series of movies, popularized this subgenre with audiences. Recent Hollywood entries into this subgenre include “Cloverfield” and “Pacific Rim”. Now, Warner Bros. has released “Godzilla”, the third Godzilla film released by a Hollywood studio, and the best U.S. effort to bring the giant green lizard to the big screen to date.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Godzilla’s Revenge (1969) *

G, 70 min.

Director: Ishirô Honda

Writer: Shin’ichi Sekizawa

Starring: Tomonori Yazaki, Hideyo Amamoto, Schio Sakai, Kazuo Suzuki, Kenji Sahara, Machiko Naka, Shigeki Ishida, Midori Uchiyama (voice)

I considered giving this movie less than one star. The fact is that it is a children’s movie. It isn’t trying to be what the other Kaiju movies are. It’s kind of Kaiju Jr. It even tries to imbue its harmlessness with a message about standing up for yourself for kids. For that, and that alone, I give it just a very little credit.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Godzilla vs. Monster Zero (1965) *½

G, 93 min.

Director: Ishirô Honda

Writer: Shin’ichi Sekizawa

Starring: Nick Adams, Akira Takarada, Jun Tazaki, Akira Kubo, Kumi Mizuno, Keiko Sawai, Yoshio Tsuchiya, Kenzô Tabu

In the opening credit sequence it’s called simply “Monster Zero”. On the IMDb website it’s called “Invasion of the Astro-Monster”. Whatever it’s called 1965’s “Godzilla vs. Monster Zero” is when the Kaiju movies made like Fonzie and jumped the shark. I think Inoshiro Honda and Shinichi Sekizawa just lost it with this one. Their plot has just gone crazy, the monsters have totally adapted human characteristics, including celebrating their victories and caring about the humans. They’ve taken Godzilla and Rodan into space and brought a ridiculously misogynistic alien race to Earth. An American who sounds like a gangster plays the lead of the film; you know, to appeal to the American audiences. It’s all kind of crazy.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster (1964) ***

NR, 85 min.

Director: Ishirô Honda

Writer: Shin’ichi Sekizawa

Starring: Yôsuke Natsuki, Yuriko Hoshi, Hiroshi Koizumi, Akiko Wakabayashi, Emi Itô, Yûmi Itô, Takashi Shimura, Akihiko Hirata, Hisaya Itô, Minuro Takada

Now things start getting a little weird for the Toho Studios Godzilla/Kaiju films. You know that “more sophisticated storytelling” I was talking about in my “Mothra vs. Godzilla” review? Well, they’ve developed it to a high level for this new film with a plot that involves a princess from a small sovereign nation and an assassination plot that is complicated by the fact that an alien being possesses the princess before she can be killed. In another seemingly unrelated plotline, a strange meteor falls to Earth and scientists are baffled by the strange phenomenon that surrounds it.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—New Girl, season 3 (2013-2014) ***½

TV-14, 23 24-min. episodes

Creator: Elizabeth Meriwether

Directors: Max Winkler, Fred Goss, Andrew Fleming, David Katzenberg, Russ Alsobrook, Trent O’Donnell, Nicholas Jasenovec, Eric Appel, Lorene Scafaria, Richie Keen, Alex Hardcastle, Bill Purple, Jay Chandrasekhar, Steve Welsh, Lynn Shelton, Steve Tsuchida

Writers: Elizabeth Meriwether, Kay Cannon, Luhv Rakhe, J.J. Philbin, Rob Rosell, Dave Finkel, Brett Baer, David Feeney, Matt Fusfeld, Alex Cuthbertson, Ryan Koh, Josh Malmuth, Berkley Johnson, Rebecca Addelman, Kim Rosenstock, Nina Pedrad, Camilla Blackett, Sophia Lear

Starring: Zooey Deschanel, Jake Johnson, Max Greefield, Lamorne Morris, Hannah Simone, Damon Wayans Jr.

Guest starring: Merritt Weaver, Hamky Madera, Dreama Walker, Eva Amurri Martino, Curtis Armstrong, Mark Proksch, Brenda Song, Riki Lindhome, Jon Lovitz, Steve Agee, Derek Waters, Jillian Armenante, Samuel Gilbert, Taye Diggs, Justin Chon, Jessica Chaffin, Brian Posehn, Bart McCarthy, Hannah Eisenmann, Gillian Vigman, Bob Gunton, Jamie Lee Curtis, Bob Falcone, Angela Kinsey, Josh Gad, Ralph Ahn, Prince, Adam Brody, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Linda Cardellini, Matt Price, June Diane Raphael, Alexandra Daddario, Stevie Nelson, James Frencheville

It’s interesting how with a show like “New Girl” it is really hard to distinguish one season from another. Its Seinfeldian nature is such that it’s never really about anything other these strange personalities existing. This is not a drawback or a restriction to the show but a grandiose freeing of comedic possibilities.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Alien (1979) ****

R, 117 min.

Director: Ridley Scott

Writers: Dan O’Bannon, Ronald Shusset

Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Ian Holm, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, Yaphet Kotto, John Hurt, Bolaji Badejo, Helen Horton (voice)

Designer: H.R. Giger

Is it possible that “Alien” would’ve been nearly as successful were it not for the amazingly original designs of Swiss surrealist artist H.R. Giger? Now, that I’ve asked it, I realize it’s an absurdly stupid question. The answer is—of course not. Giger was awarded an Oscar for his work along with the visual effects team. He was remembered for the rest of his life for an art style that without the movie would’ve kept him only on the fringe of knowledge to the public, only known to those within the dark niches of the art world.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—X2: X-Men United (2003) ***½

PG-13, 133 min.

Director: Bryan Singer

Writers: Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris, David Hayter, Zak Penn, Bryan Singer

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Barry, Famke Janssen, James Marsden, Bryan Cox, Rebecca Romijn, Anna Paquin, Alan Cumming, Aaron Stanford, Shawn Ashmore, Kelly Hu, Michael Reid McKay

If anything, “X2” stands up after eleven years very well. Other than the hairdressers still forcing Hugh Jackman to try and replicated Wolverine’s hairdo—or rather “hair don’t,” if you know what I mean—from the comic books this could be the latest X-Men movie in terms of keeping pace with the other movies of the cinematic comic book craze it helped to develop. The action is solid. The effects are great, and the story outdoes the original “X-Men” by a longshot. It builds mythology. It delves secrets. It raises more questions than it answers, leaving the need for more movies. But, that doesn’t stop it from answering some key questions as well. It’s exciting and it has something to say.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) **½

NR, 89 min.

Director: Ishirô Honda

Writer: Shin’ichi Sekizawa

Starring: Akira Takarada, Yoriko Hoshi, Hiroshi Koizumi, Yû Fujiki, Yûmi Itô, Emi Itô, Yoshifumi Tajima, Kenji Sahara, Jun Tazaki

Toho Studios continues the Godzilla series with more sophisticated storytelling in 1964’s “Mothra vs. Godzilla”, originally released in the U.S. as “Godzilla vs. the Thing”. The storytelling elements are much improved over 1955’s “Godzilla Raids Again”. It seems some sort of executive decision must’ve been made to shore up their storylines with more human elements.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Godzilla: King of the Monsters (1956) **

NR, 80 min.

Directors: Ishirô Honda, Terry O. Morse

Writers: Ishirô Honda, Takeo Murata, Al C. Ward, Shigero Kayama (story)

Starring: Raymond Burr, Takashi Shimura, Momoko Kôchi, Akira Takarada, Akihiko Hirata

So, there’s this monster movie from Japan that has become the b-movie talk of the town. You’re an American film producer and you think to yourself, “I’d really like to bring that across the Pacific to American audiences. But surely, stupid Americans aren’t going to want to watch a Japanese movie dubbed into English. How can I remake this thing in English with an American star, but not have to spend any money on it? Reshoot half of it with Raymond Burr as an American news reporter so he con provide voiceover narration for all the story points we want to keep from the Japanese version of course! I’m a genius!”

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Rodan (1956) ***

NR, 72 min.

Director: Ishirô Honda

Writers: Takeshi Kimura, Ken Kuronuma, Takeo Murata, David Duncan (U.S. version)

Starring: Kenji Sawara, Yumi Shirakawa, Akihiko Hirata

Have you ever watched a movie that you saw as a kid and found incredible joy in seeing images that impacted you so many years ago? That was the experience I had watching “Rodan”, a sort of sister movie to the 1954 b-sci-fi flick “Gojira”, better known to American audiences as “Godzilla”. It isn’t really a sequel to “Godzilla”, but the same studio made it and eventually the Rodan monster was incorporated into the Godzilla series of movies. 

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Godzilla Raids Again (1955) *½

NR, 78 min.

Director: Motoyoshi Oda

Writers: Shigeaki Hidaka, Takeo Murata, Shigeru Kayama (novel “Gojira”)

Starring: Hiroshi Koizumi, Setsuko Wakayama, Minoru Chiaki, Takashi Shimura, Masao Shimizu, Seijirô Onda, Sonosuke Sawamura

“Godzilla” has surprisingly become the 2014 movie I can’t wait to see. The first teaser didn’t really convince me that another American attempt at Godzilla would be worth it. The last one was rather disappointing. Gareth Edwards—who masterfully crafted the low budget “Monsters”—at the helm and the fact that the script attracted stars with fairly good taste, like Bryan Cranston, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Elizabeth Olsen, suggest that it may not be a wasted effort. Plus, the most recent trailers do a good job selling the classic summer blockbuster feel of the new movie.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (PG-13) ***

Peter Parker/Spider-Man: Andrew Garfield

Gwen Stacy: Emma Stone

Max Dillon/Electro: Jamie Foxx

Harry Osborn: Dane DeHaan

Aunt May: Sally Field

Donald Menken: Colm Feore

Felicia: Felicity Jones

Richard Parker: Campbell Scott

Aleksei Sytsevich: Paul Giamatti

Columbia Pictures presents a film directed by Marc Webb. Written by Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci & Jeff Pinker and James Vanderbilt. Based on the Marvel comic book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Running time: 142 min. Rated PG-13 (for sequences of sci-fi action/violence).

Two-years ago Sony, the owner of the film rights to Marvel’s Spider-Man characters, decided to reboot the franchise after a mere five years since the very successful original trilogy. There was some legal mumbo jumbo involved about securing the film rights so they wouldn’t revert back to Marvel, which would’ve made Spider-Man a Disney film property.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—The Last Supper (1995) ***

R, 92 min.

Director: Stacy Title

Writer: Dan Rosen

Starring: Cameron Diaz, Ron Eldard, Annabeth Gish, Jonathan Penner, Courtney B. Vance, Bill Paxton, Nora Dunn, Ron Perlman, Charles Durning, Mark Harmon, Jason Alexander, Rachel Chagall

“The Last Supper” is a little indie black comedy that slid in under the radar in the mid-90s, which is surprising because much of its cast was in the process of quickly climbing the rungs of fame. It is not some religious representation, as some might gather from its title. It’s more like an episode of “The Outer Limits” for the politico mindset.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—The Fisher King (1991) ****

R, 137 min.

Director: Terry Gilliam

Writer: Richard LaGravenese

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Robin Williams, Mercedes Reuhl, Amanda Plummer, Michael Jeter, David Hyde Pierce

“The Fisher King” contains one of the single most astounding bits of acting I’ve seen. It isn’t performed by the Oscar-nominated Robin Williams for his role. No, this piece of acting is provided by the equally talented, but overlooked for this performance, Jeff Bridges, who plays the actual lead of the film. Yes, Bridges, as Hollywood royalty, has had the industry’s heart for quite a while and has gained more nominations than Williams and was finally honored by the Academy with his award winning role as a country singer in “Crazy Heart” in 2010, but at the time it was Williams who was the bigger name despite the fact that Bridges carries the story. What Bridges pulls off in the first five minutes of this film, however, is nothing short of remarkable for any actor.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Archer, season 4 (2013) ***½

TV-MA, 13 20-min. episodes

Creator: Adam Reed

Directors: Adam Reed, Brian Fordney

Writers: Adam Reed, Chris Provenzano, Tesha Condrat, Mike Arnold, Rick Cleveland

Voices: H. Jon Benjamin, Aisha Tyler, Jessica Walter, Chris Parnell, Judy Greer, Amber Nash, Adam Reed, Lucky Yates

Guest voices: Dave Willis, Ron Leibman, John Roberts, Timothy Olyphant, George Coe, Andrew Donnelly, Bobby Ford, Neal Holman, Ona Grauer, Peter Serafinowicz, Anthony Bourdain, Dayton Callie, Carla Jiminez, Nick Searcy, Casey Willis, Chi Duong, Rene Auberjonois, Jon Hamm, Eugene Mirman, Kriten Schaal

Season 4 of FX’s animated spy spoof “Archer” is the best since season 1. During seasons 2 and 3 the very adult comedy seemed to be trying almost too hard replicate what had come before and to build some sort of mythology to the series. Season 4 seems to relax a bit and just tell some silly spy stories involving the most perverse and incompetent group of spies ever seen.