Penny Thoughts ‘13—Despicable Me 2 (2013) ***

PG, 98 min.

Directors: Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud

Writers: Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio

Voices: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Benjamin Bratt, Miranda Cosgrove, Russell Brand, Steve Coogan, Ken Jeong, Elsie Fisher, Dana Gaier, Moises Arias, Nasim Pedrad, Kristen Schaal, Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud

          

While I enjoyed “Despicable Me 2” in theaters, it’s not really a movie that needs to be seen more than once. However, as the father of three children, multiple viewings for such shows are unavoidable. There are worse movies to have to sit through more than once.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—White House Down (2013) **

PG-13, 131 min.

Director: Roland Emmerich

Writer: James Vanderbilt

Starring: Channing Tatum, Jamie Fox, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke, Richard Jenkins, Joey King, James Woods, Nicolas Wright, Jimmi Simpson, Michael Murphy, Rachel Lefevre, Lance Reddick, Matt Craven, Jake Webber, Kevin Rankin

The Greeks said there are only a limited number of stories to tell, everything else are just variations on a theme. Hollywood is notorious for recycling formulas over and over again. After “Die Hard” became a big hit, you’d hear comparisons like, “this movie is ‘Die Hard’ on a plane and that one is ‘Die Hard’ on a bus.” “White House Down”, like this year’s earlier movie “Olympus Has Fallen” is “Die Hard” in The White House. The main difference between the former film and this one is that this one quite literally lifts major elements of the “Die Hard” story and transplants them into its Washington D.C. setting. It isn’t merely its premise that is similar to “Die Hard”. Some very specific details are almost exactly the same.

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—Comedy Bang! Bang! Season 2 (2013) **½

TV-14, 20 25-min. episodes

Creator: Scott Aukerman

Director: Benjamin Berman

Writers: Scott Aukerman, Eva Anderson, Neil Campbell, David Ferguson, Mike Hanford, Tim Kalpakis, Erin Keating, Dan Pasternack, Seth Reiss, Paul Rust

Starring: Scott Aukerman, Reggie Watts

Special guest starring: Andy Samberg, Aziz Ansari, Anna Kendrick, David Cross, Zoe Saldana, Gillian Jacobs, Andy Richter, Sarah Silverman, Bill Hader, Casey Wilson, Rainn Wilson, Paul Reubens, Jessica Alba, Rashida Jones, Jim Gaffigan, Andy Dick, Clark Gregg, Jason Schwartzman, Cobie Smoulders, Zach Galifianakis

Guest starring: Jordan Peele, Nick Kroll, Ben Schwartz, Will Forte, Tim Meadows, Paul F. Tompkins, John Carroll Lynch, Jason Mantzoukas, Joe Lo Truglio, Adam DeVine, Bobby Moynihan, Thomas Lennon, Andrew Daly, Nat Faxon, Tony Hale, Dave Foley, Matt Besser, Phil LaMarr, Zach Woods

I really don’t know how much this show will appeal to people who aren’t really into the comedy or comedy podcast circuit. If you’ve heard of “Comedy Bang! Bang!” in any of its forms—I think it started out as a stage improv show, then became a podcast, then this IFC television show—then it may be something you’d like to check out. If not, it might just be a little too strange.

American Hustle / *** (R)

Irving Rosenfeld: Christian Bale

Sydney Prosser: Amy Adams

Richie DeMaso: Bradley Cooper

Carmine Polito: Jeremy Renner

Rosalyn Rosenfeld: Jennifer Lawrence

Stoddard Thorsen: Louis C.K.

Columbia Pictures presents a film directed by David O. Russell. Written by Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell. Running time: 138 min. Rated R (for pervasive language, some sexual content and brief violence).

David O. Russell’s latest film, “American Hustle”, is one of those 70s costume crime pieces that tells a somewhat true story about a New York grifter couple who graduate from small time embezzlement to the big leagues when an FBI ladder climber catches them with their hand in the cookie jar. It has all the glitz and hairpieces expected from the genre. It’s well made and contains some wonderful performances from its star-studded cast. However, it lacks some of the zeal for which it strives. It hits all the right notes, but never finds much of a purpose for itself beyond being an excuse to pull out some bad wigs and the wide collars. Told from several points of view, it feels like Russell is trying to make his own “GoodFellas”, but he lacks some of Scorsese’s kinetic gifts.

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.

Holiday Thoughts ‘13—The Family Man (2000) ***

PG-13, 125 min.

Director: Brett Ratner

Writers: David Diamond, David Weissman

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Téa Leoni, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Piven, Saul Rubinek, Joseph Sommer, Makenzie Vega, Jake Milkovich, Ryan Milkovich, Lisa Thornhill, Harve Presnell, Mary Beth Hurt, Amber Valletta, Francine York, Ruth Williamson

I’m pretty sure I’ve written this before, but like many, I wasn’t thrilled with “The Family Man” the first time I saw it. It was kind of a let down. It wasn’t as funny as I’d hoped. It wasn’t as happy as I’d expected. I think that’s because it never lets its main character off the hook.

Holiday Thoughts ‘13—National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) ****

PG-13, 97 min.

Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik

Writer: John Hughes

Starring: Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Juliette Lewis, Johnny Galecki, John Randolph, Dianne Ladd, E.G. Marshall, Doris Roberts, Randy Quaid, Miriam Flynn, Cody Burger, Ellen Hamilton Latzen, William Hickey, Mae Questel, Sam McMurray, Nicholas Guest, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Nicolette Scorsese, Brian Doyle-Murray

So, Ed Helms has been cast to play the lead in Warner Bros. reboot of the “Vacation” movies. Rumor is he won’t be taking the role of previous patriarch of the Griswold clan, Clark, made famous by Chevy Chase. Instead Helms will be playing Rusty, Clark’s ever changing son from film to film, played in “Christmas Vacation” by Johnny Galecki of “The Big Band Theory” and in the original “Vacation” by Anthony Michael Hall.

Holiday Thoughts ‘13—Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964) zero stars

NR, 81 min.

Director: Nicholas Webster

Writers: Glenville Mareth, Paul L. Jacobson (story)

Starring: John Call, Leonard Hicks, Vincent Beck, Bill McCutcheon, Victor Stiles, Donna Conforti, Chris Month, Pia Zadora, Leila Martin, Charles Renn, James Cahill, Ned Wertimer, Doris Rich, Carl Don

This movie is just awful. Of course, how could anyone expect it not to be? Like many awful movies however, it’s not as fun as you’d hope it would be to experience its awfulness. The main problem… it is oh so incredibly dull. I fell asleep on this movie twice before reaching the half hour mark. I tried one last time with a little more sleep and some caffeine and somehow made it through. I might’ve still nodded off a bit at one point.

Holiday Thoughts ‘13—A Christmas Story (1983) ****

PG, 94 min.

Director: Bob Clark

Writers: Jean Shepherd (also novel “In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash”), Leigh Brown, Bob Clark

Starring: Peter Billingsley, Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, Ian Petrella, Scott Schwartz, R.D. Robb, Tedde Moore, Zack Ward, Yano Anaya, Jeff Gillen, Les Carlson

Narrator: Jean Shepherd

What is left to say about “A Christmas Story”? It’s a holiday classic that many people watch over and over, every Christmas holiday season. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t watch this movie sometime before December 26^th, and yet it continues to delight and please and bring newfound joy each and every year.

Holiday Thoughts ‘13—Band of Brothers: Bastogne (2001) ****

TV-MA, 64 min.

Director: David Leland

Writer: Bruce C. McKenna

Starring: Shane Taylor, Rebecca Okot, Damien Lewis, Ron Livingston, Neal McDonough, Kirk Acevedo, Bill Armstrong, Ben Caplan, Doug Cockle, Michael Cudlitz, Tony Devlin, Dale Dye, Dexter Fletcher, Scott Grimes, Frank John Hughes, Robin Laing, James Madio, Donnie Wahlberg

“Bastogne” is probably my favorite episode of the HBO World War II mini-series “Band of Brothers”. I include it in my Holiday Thoughts this year because it happens have a scene in it that takes place on Christmas Eve 1944 with the German soldiers along the front line that surrounded the American soldiers singing “Silent Night”. And boy, does it look cold there. If you’re ever feeling bitter because of the cold outside, think about what our men in uniform did for us on those cold wintry nights in Belgium, without any gloves, with limited supplies, without hot meals, and having to bed down in a hole in the ground.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—The To Do List (2013) **

R, 104 min.

Director/Writer: Maggie Carey

Starring: Aubrey Plaza, Johnny Simmons, Bill Hader, Alia Shawkat, Sarah Steele, Scott Porter, Rachel Bilson, Christopher Mintz-Plaase, Andy Samberg, Donald Glover, Adam Pally, Clark Gregg, Connie Britton

Maggie Carey’s “The To Do List” is another coming of age movie set during summer break. I don’t like how I’m getting to see these at Christmas time, but that’s just how things work out with a Netflix queue sometimes. Anyway, this coming of age story sets its focus on the teenage obsession with sex.

Holiday Thoughts ‘13—Hi-Life (1998) *½

R, 82 min.

Director/Writer: Roger Hedden

Starring: Campbell Scott, Katrin Cartlidge, Eric Stoltz, Moira Kelly, Peter Riegert, Carlo Alban, Daryl Hannah, Charles Durning, Saundra Santiago, Tegan West, Bruce MacVittie, Michelle Durning, David Aaron Baker

I found this movie in a list of obscure “Christmas” movies. It isn’t really a Christmas movie. It just takes place in December, so there’s a good deal of holiday references. It’s also not very good. I’d call it the cinematic equivalent of a bunch of friends getting together and throwing together their own stage production just for the heck of it. Each person gets to do something he’s always wanted to do, or really likes to do. There are cliché stories and some fairly inappropriate situations considering this is supposed to be a comedy. I mean is accidentally shooting someone really a good opportunity for some humor between friends. I don’t know. Maybe I’m just a little too uptight about guns.

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.

Holiday Thoughts ‘13—Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) ***

G, 108 min.

Director: Norman Jewison

Writers: Melvyn Bragg, Norman Jewison, Tim Rice (book, lyrics, based on the rock opera by), Andrew Lloyd Webber (music, based on the rock opera by)

Starring: Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson, Yvonne Elliman, Barry Dennen, Bob Bingham, Larry T. Marshall, Joshua Mostel, Kurt Yaghjian, Paul Thomas

Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. I know. “Jesus Christ Superstar” is not a Christmas movie. The birth of Jesus isn’t even mentioned in it. It’s all about his death. But, he’s not entirely unrelated to the subject of Christmas. In fact he’s the reason, as they say. So I’m counting it.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug / *** (PG-13)

Bilbo: Martin Freeman

Gandalf: Ian McKellen

Thorin: Richard Armitage

Tauriel: Evangeline Lilly

Legolas: Orlando Bloom

Balin: Ken Scott

Fili: Dean O’Gorman

Bard/Girion: Luke Evans

Thranduil: Lee Pace

Master of Laketown: Stephen Fry

Radagast: Sylvester McCoy

Beorn: Mikael Persbrandt

Smaug/Necromancer (voices): Benedict Cumberbatch

New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer present a film directed by Peter Jackson. Written by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro. Based on the novel “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien. Running time: 161 min. Rated PG-13 (for extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence, and frightening images).

“No thank you, O Smaug the Tremendous!" he replied. “I did not come for presents. I only wished to have a look at you and see if you were truly as great as tales say. I did not believe them.”

"Do you now?" said the dragon somewhat flattered, even though he did not believe a word of it.

"Truly songs and tales fall utterly short of the reality, O Smaug the Chiefest and Greatest of Calamities," replied Bilbo.

—J.R.R. Tolkien, “The Hobbit”

I reproduce this passage from Tolkien’s seminal adventure in Middle Earth because much has been made about this new film trilogy of “The Hobbit” containing material that wasn’t in the original book. Bilbo’s handling of the dragon Smaug by appealing to his vanity in some way makes me think of an allegory between these two characters and the fans of Tolkien and Peter Jackson’s handling of Tolkien’s material. The fans worship Tolkien as if he is the treasure squandered away in the Lonely Mountain. Jackson is the current keeper of that treasure, and he’s pretty sure he’s the King of the Mountain. The fans are left as the scared Hobbit, awed by, but not knowing quite what to think of the overgrown mountain of abundance Tolkien’s words have become under Jackson’s rule.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Little Duck (2013) ****

NR, 16 min.

Director: James Murphy

Starring: Nobuaki Kaneko, Katsuya

I’m not a follower of LCD Soundsystem, the band for which electronic musician James Murphy is most well known, but after seeing his debut short film I might give them a little more attention. If he’s as good a musician as he indicates he is a film director with this 16 minutes of film, it’ll be worth it. To the untrained eye, the movie “Little Duck” might seem incomplete, but it is accomplished in its style and its execution.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Sightseers (2013) ***½

NR, 88 min.

Director: Ben Wheatley

Writers: Alice Lowe, Steve Oram, Amy Jump

Starring: Alice Lowe, Steve Oram, Eileen Davies, Monica Dolan, Jonathan Aris, Richard Glover

“Sightseers” is so quintessentially British that it’s one of those movies you wonder if American audiences will get. “Get” is the right terminology, because it isn’t difficult to understand. Its plot is simple. The accents aren’t so think that subtitles are needed for American English speakers. But, it operates on a level of humor that is beyond us to some degree. American audiences rarely understand the humor of serial killers in our own movies, let alone those that take place in a foreign environment with cultural practices that are fairly unrecognizable to us.  But, if you can see past the grizzly and geographic details, there’s much to enjoy about “Sightseers”.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—The Way Way Back (2013) ***½

PG-13, 103 min.

Directors/Writers: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash

Starring: Liam James, Sam Rockwell, Toni Collette, Steve Carell, Allison Janney, AnnaSophia Robb, Maya Rudolph, Rob Corddry, Amanda Peet, River Alexander, Zoe Levin, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash

I asked my boys if they had any special word for the back row of seats in the minivan. They didn’t, and I felt the sense of loss that the summer movie “The Way Way Back” conveys at times. When I was a youth, “the way way back” referred to the back section of the station wagon—the minivans of the day. The back section held all the luggage, but many of them also contained a third seat row that faced the back of the car. The way way back was alternately the best place to travel and the worst. Since there was no well for your legs in the back, it was really a place only suitable for small children. Of course, safety tests eventually proved it wasn’t actually suitable for anyone. If you requested the way way back, it was the best place to be because you could just be in your own world where the road went backwards. However, if you were sent to the way way back, it was a condemnation. You weren’t fit to travel with the rest of the family.

The Web is Alive with a Difference of Opinion

Ever since NBC broadcast its grand experiment “The Sound of Music Live”, the Internet has been abuzz with both the naysayers and those who have embraced the production as a new holiday monument. It is the most polarizing TV event I can remember in recent years. Initially, I had no plans to cover it on this blog, but when I found myself catching about half of it during the live broadcast and with the strong immediate reaction audiences were having toward it, I felt I had to weigh in, for my own sake if no one else’s.

Since I posted my negative review, which did not pull punches about my opinion on Carrie Underwood’s performance as the iconic character of Maria Von Trapp, I’ve seen a great many of my friends post reproaches against the negative reception of Underwood. One particular post that was written by one of the many who took to Twitter to bash Underwood live during the broadcast contained an about face of her negative views of the production and compared the critical hazing of Underwood to cyber bullying.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—The Omen (1976) ***½

R, 111 min.

Director: Richard Donner

Writer: David Seltzer

Starring: Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Billie Whitelaw, Harvey Stephens, Patrick Troughton, Martin Benson

Even during the second Golden Age of Cinema in the 70s the studios often pursued successful trends in the box office. In 1973, Warner Bros. hit it big critically as well as with audiences with their Best Picture Oscar nominated “The Exorcist”. Other studios realized the horror format could contain serious dramatic entries; and in 1976, 20^th Century Fox released “The Omen”, the first in a trilogy of films about the Antichrist rising to power to become President of the United States.

Holiday Thoughts ‘13—Love Actually (2003) ***½

R, 135 min.

Director/Writer: Richard Curtis

Starring: Bill Nighy, Gregor Fisher, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Chris Marshall, Heike Makatsch, Martin Freeman, Joanna Page, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Andrew Lincoln, Keira Knightley, Hugh Grant, Martine McCutchen, Laura Linney, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Alan Rickman, Rodrigo Santoro, Lúcia Moniz, Billy Bob Thornton, Michael Fitzgerald, Rowan Atkinson, Ivana Milicevic, January Jones, Elisha Cuthbert, Adam Godley, Claudia Schiffer, Shannon Elizabeth, Denise Richards

It seems people have had more trouble than usual getting into the Christmas spirit this year. That’s certainly the case in my home. Our elf didn’t even show up until this past Saturday. We haven’t broken out the Christmas songs 24/7. We haven’t wrapped any gifts, and most importantly, we haven’t yet watched our regular Christmas movies. No “Christmas Story”, “Lethal Weapon”, or “It’s a Wonderful Life”. It just hasn’t felt right for them. In an effort to ease us into the Christmas Spirit this past weekend, my wife and I decided to go kidless for our first holiday film, “Love Actually”.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—At Any Price (2013) ***½

R, 105 min.

Director: Ramin Bahrani

Writers: Ramin Bahrani, Hallie Elizabeth Newton

Starring: Dennis Quaid, Zac Efron, Maika Monroe, Kim Dickens, Red West, Clancy Brown, Ben Marten, Chelcie Ross, Dan Waller

“At Any Price” is the first sign I’ve seen in a Ramin Bahrani film that there may not be hope for humanity. The son of Iranian immigrants, Bahrani makes movies that are quintessentially American. They all involve some version of The American Dream. “Man Push Cart” follows an Iranian rock star who has immigrated to New York City and now reaches for his American dream by pushing a food cart around the city. It’s a hard life, but better than what he left. “Chop Shop” looks at the world of the chop shops located in the shadow of Mets Stadium through the eyes of a young boy who makes the best he can out of nothing with his sister. “Goodbye Solo” follows a Senegalese cab driver in North Carolina trying to earn enough to buy his own cab. An old bitter man solicits the cabbie to drive him to a specific place on a specific date and leave him there. Concerned for what the old man plans the cabbie decides to befriend him. Even Bahrani’s short film “Plastic Bag”, which imagines the inner monologue of a plastic bag has a dollop of the American Dream contained within it.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—The Sound of Music (2013) *½

TV-PG, 180 min.

Writers: Richard Rogers (music), Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics), Howard Lindsay, Russell Crouse 

Starring: Carrie Underwood, Stephen Moyer, Audra McDonald, Laura Benanti, Christian Borle, Michael Campayno, Sophia Anna Caruso, Peyton Ella, Michael Nigro, Ariane Rinehart, Grace Rundhaug, Ella Watts-Gorman, Joe West

Ho hum, ho hum. How to review this movie without getting snarky or downright cruel? I'm not sure it can be done.

In the spirit of full disclosure, it’s important to know that I did not watch the entire production. That being said, I could’ve. I just had better things to do. Well, that does sound nasty. What I mean is, I didn’t hate it so much that I just had to turn it off. But then, I like watching bad movies sometimes too.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Wind (2013) **½

NR, 4 min.

Director/Writer: Robert Loebel

I think there’s an interesting critical phenomenon that happens when people stray away from the typical format of anything. Everybody becomes more forgiving. We watch feature length films in general. We judge our movies on how 90 to 150 minutes can be filled. When we start looking at different lengths, especially when those lengths are as short as 3 or 4 minutes, we think everything is great.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976) ***

PG, 110 min.

Director: John Badham

Writers: Hal Barwood, Matthew Robbins, William Brashler (novel)

Starring: Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones, Richard Pryor, Rico Dawson, ‘Birmingham’ Sam Brison, Jophery Brown, Leon Wagner, Tony Burton, John McCurry, Stan Shaw, DeWayne Jessie, Ted Ross, Mabel King, Sam Laws, Alvin Childress, Ken Foree, Carl Gordon

Richard Pryor was born December 1, 1940. He died December 10, 2005. He has the reputation of revolutionizing the stand up world by breaking race barriers and turning several of his later stand up concerts into successful feature films in which he opens up to his audience in extremely personal terms, speaking frankly about his drug abuse and many other personal problems. What is often ignored is his film acting career. His collaborations with Gene Wilder in several films is often praised, and he had several successful films, including the hit “The Toy”, but his acting is never much talked about.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Frances Ha (2013) ****

R, 84 min.

Director: Noah Baumbach

Writers: Noah Baumbach, Greta Gerwig

Starring: Greta Gerwig, Mickey Sumner, Adam Driver, Michael Zegen, Charlotte d’Amboise, Grace Gummer, Patrick Heusinger

You’ll hear a lot of comparisons to Woody Allen when people speak of the Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig movie “Frances Ha”. Certainly there must have been some conscious choice on the filmmakers’ parts to have their fresh film match the look and feel of some of Allen’s films, especially his black and white “Manahattan”. Gerwig is also one of the closest things in the female form to Allen in her ability to just let her self go and yet convey a self-consciousness that informs her comic being. But, I hesitate to leave this wonderful film at Woody Allen comparisons alone. It deserves more credit than homage.

Captain Phillips / ***½ (PG-13)

Captain Richard Phillips: Tom Hanks

Muse: Barkhad Abdi

Bilal: Barkhad Abdirahman

Najee: Faysal Ahmed

Elmi: Mahat M. Ali

Shane Murphy: Michael Chernus

Andrea Phillips: Catherine Keener

Columbia Pictures presents a film directed by Paul Greengrass. Written by Billy Ray. Based on the memoir “A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea” by Richard Phillips & Stephan Talty. Running time: 134 min. Rated PG-13 (for sustained intense sequences of menace, some violence with bloody images, and for substance use).

When you hear that director Paul Greengrass is attached to a project, you know you’re going to get more than a movie; you’re going to get an experience of some kind. In 2006, Greengrass directed “United 93”, which remains to this day an unequaled experience in filmmaking, by recreating the events that took place on 9/11/01 on United flight 93 in harrowingly realistic detail despite the fact that there were no survivors to corroborate any of those details. That film tapped into a national need for understanding and hope about events that scarred the nation forever. His new film “Captain Phillips” captures another set of real life terrifying events that also played out in the national media, but on a much more personal level.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Prince Avalanche (2013) ***½

R, 94 min.

Director: David Gordon Green

Writers: David Gordon Green, Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigur∂sson (film “Either Way”)

Starring: Paul Rudd, Emile Hirsch, Lance LeGault, Joyce Payne

“Sometimes I can do things that aren’t really possible.”—Alvin, “Prince Avalanche”

Perhaps that’s what writer/director David Gordon Green thought when he decided to abandon his indie film roots and start making stupid big budget stoner comedies. Like most others, I very much enjoyed the stoner ramblings of “Pineapple Express”; but Green’s next two outings “Your Highness” and “The Sitter” were two of the worst movies of the past five years. What’s worse, Green seemed to abandon the ideals that had made him a unique and imaginative artistic force in his previous work. Because of this, “Prince Avalanche” is more than just a return to form for one of the most promising film artists of the Aughts, but it is a reassurance that he hasn’t totally lost his mind and bought into the Hollywood machine.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—The Forward Pass: A Football Life (2013) ***

TV-PG, 45 min.

Featuring: Chuck Klosterman, Boomer Esiason, Bill Walsh, Joe Namath, Steve Young

Narrator: Josh Charles

I’ve now reviewed three of NFL Network’s episodes of “A Football Life”. The first two I did out of my fanaticism for everything involving the New York Football Giants. This one I do out of love for the game, and this one seemed to be the most informative of any of the documentaries I’ve seen from the NFL. I actually learned a thing or two about football watching this doc.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Much Ado About Nothing (2013) **½

PG-13, 109 min.

Director: Joss Whedon

Writers: Joss Whedon, William Shakespeare (play)

Starring: Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Fran Kranz, Clark Gregg, Reed Diamond, Jillian Morgese, Sean Maher, Nathan Fillion, Spencer Treat Clark, Riki Lindhome, Ashley Johnson, Emma Bates, Tom Lenk, Nick Kocher, Brian McElhaney, Joshua Zar, Paul Meston, Romy Rosemont, Elsa Guillet-Chapuis

As an actor, I don’t often find myself drawing too much negatives to the performances in films. As an actor that specialized in Shakespeare, I might be a little tougher on the acting in a film based on one of Shakespeare’s plays.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire / ***½ (PG-13)

Katniss Everdeen: Jennifer Lawrence

Peeta Mellark: Josh Hutcherson

President Snow: Donald Sutherland

Haymitch Abernathy: Woody Harrelson

Gale Hawthorne: Liam Hemsworth

Plutarch Heavensbee: Philip Seymour Hoffman

Finnick Odair: Sam Claflin

Effie Trinket: Elizabeth Banks

Beetee: Jeffery Wright

Johanna Mason: Jena Malone

Cinna: Lenny Kravitz

Caesar Flickerman: Stanley Tucci

Lionsgate presents a film directed by Francis Lawrence. Written by Simon Beaufoy and Michael deBruyn. Based on the novel “Catching Fire” by Suzanne Collins. Running time: 146 min. Rated PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence and action, some frightening images, thematic elements, a suggestive situation and language).

When I was in high school, the last year I ever went to a bus stop to be picked up for school, I witnessed a gruesome accident. We were waiting for the bus in the morning. It was one of those sunny but crisp New England fall mornings. We could see the bus coming in the distance and two of the kids weren’t yet there. Whenever someone was running late, everyone at the stop would get nervous for them. So just about everybody at the bus stop looked back down the road from which they were coming at that very moment we saw the bus in the distance.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Aningaaq (2013) ****

PG, 7 min.

Director/Writer: Jonás Caurón

Starring: Orto Ignatiussen

Voice: Sandra Bullock

It was a scene that stood out in a movie made up of scenes that stood out. In the midst of the stress-filled events depicted in Alfonso Caurón’s space adventure “Gravity”, where an astronaut is stranded in space when a debris shower from a satellite explosion destroys her spacecraft and fellow crewmembers, Dr. Ryan Stone places a distress call from a Russian satellite down to the Earth’s surface. A man speaking a foreign language answers that call, but doesn’t understand what Ryan is saying. The man identifies himself as Aningaaq.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—The Umbrella Man (2011) ****

NR, 7 min.

Director: Errol Morris

Featuring: Josiah “Tink” Thompson

I’ve never dwelled much on the assassination of JFK. It’s not something that ever gained my fascination in the way it does many people. Certainly, I’m a fan of Oliver Stone’s film, but beyond that the only time I ever seem to think about it is every November 22, when everyone rolls the conspiracy theories back out for the anniversary. This year is the 50^th.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—A Band Called Death (2013) ***

NR, 96 min.

Directors: Jeff Howlett, Mark Christopher Covino

Featuring: Dannis Hackney, Bobby Hackney Sr., David Hackney, Brian Spears, Mick Collins, Henry Rollins, Kid Rock, Elijah Wood, Wayne Kramer, Tammy Hackney, Don Davis, Ahmir-Khalib Thompson, Heidi Simpson, Vernon Reid

Long time readers of A Penny in the Well know that I love music almost as much as movies. I offer a Best of the Year list for music each year. Last year my two loves merged when “Searching for Sugar Man” became an Oscar contender for Best Documentary. The film depicted the rediscovery of a musician phenomenon named Rodriguez, whom I had discovered only a few years before the movie. This year it’s happened again with “A Band Called Death”.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Castello Cavalcanti (2013) ***½

NR, 8 min.

Director/Writer: Wes Anderson

Starring: Jason Schwartzman, Giada Colagrande

Jason Schwartzman is perhaps the perfect actor for Wes Anderson, who has used the actor in most of his movies and launched the Copolla-related actor’s career with his sophomore picture “Rushmore”. Schwartzman is the perfect Wes Anderson character. He delivers all his lines as earnestly as possible and yet some doubt always seems to linger under the surface of the confidence of everything he utters. He’s the human contradiction Anderson believes all his characters to be.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Only God Forgives (2013) ***½

R, 90 min.

Director/Writer: Nicolas Winding Refn

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas, Vithaya Pansringarm, Gordon Brown, Yayaying Rhatha Phongam, Tom Burke, Sahajak Boonthanakit, Pitchawat Petchayahon, Charlie Ruedpokanon

Nicolas Winding Refn’s second outing with star Ryan Gosling after their sleeper cult critical hit “Drive” is probably not what audiences expected, but it’s much richer than it’s been given credit. The title “Only God Forgives” suggests the relentlessness of the material here. Of course the implication is that God will forgive someone here, but he would be at a loss to find someone worthy of forgiveness.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Blancanieves (2013) *****

PG-13, 104 min.

Director/Writer: Pablo Berger

Starring: Maribel Verdú, Macarena García, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Ángela Molina, Sergio Dorado, Emilio Gavira, Alberto Martínez, Jinson Añazco, Michal Lagosz, Jimmy Muñoz, José María Pou, Sofia Oria, Ramón Barea, Inma Cuesta

Can I give a movie five stars? I mean, I work off a four star scale, but I think I need to award “Blancanieves” five stars on that scale. That’s right. It’s off the scale. This movie is just that good.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—The Bling Ring (2013) ***½

R, 90 min.

Director/Writer: Sofia Coppola

Starring: Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Emma Watson, Claire Julien, Taissa Farmiga, Georgia Rock, Leslie Mann, Carlos Miranda, Gavin Rossdale

Watching Sofia Copolla’s latest movie “The Bling Ring” brings two other movies to mind. The first is Copolla’s own freshmen movie “The Virgin Suicides”, about five sisters who commit suicide together after a failed attempt by one. The other is this year’s earlier film by Harmony Kormine “Spring Breakers” about four girls who get into crime in order to support their efforts to live the high life at St. Petersburg for a college spring break trip. “The Bling Ring” tells the true story of a group of teenagers, one boy and four girls, who get their kicks breaking into the homes of famous people and stealing their possessions.

Why Many Critics Should Stop Writing

I often wonder to myself, just why do I do this? What’s the point of critiquing movies in an age when everybody and their great uncle has a blog about movies, in an age when the printed word is dying, in an age when the opinion becomes less and less pertinent as everyone feels free to offer theirs and listen to no one’s through the wonderful world of the internet. I don’t even get paid for this. I offer my time and my intellectual assets with no compensation. Why do I bother? Well, you’ve got to fight for something.

I read an article on OMG! of Yahoo! about Justin Timberlake’s recent article in GQ after being chosen as one of their Men of the Year. Timberlake gets rather harsh in the article about the critical bashing his acting career took after the disappointing box office for his recent film “Runner, Runner”. He’s mad and he’s not going to take it anymore. What he’s mad about gets to the heart of why I continue to fight the criticism machine that has become the hateful face of film criticism in the comment section age.

OMG! contributor Taryn Ryder speculates that what inspired Timberlake’s question of whether he should just quit acting because a film flops in the GQ article is due to another article that ran in Variety at about the time of the “Runner, Runner” release. The name of the article, written by the magazine’s film editor Ramin Setoodeh, is “Why Justin Timberlake Should Stop Acting”. Really? Is this what even professional film criticism has come to? True, the article isn’t a critical review, but an op-ed piece; and yet, there is a level of professionalism that has escaped the film criticism world here.

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.

Thor: The Dark World / *** (PG-13)

Thor: Chris Hemsworth

Jane Foster: Natalie Portman

Loki: Tom Hiddleston

Malekith: Christopher Eccleston

Odin: Anthony Hopkins

Heimdall: Idris Elba

Frigga: Rene Russo

Sif: Jaimie Alexander

Fandral: Zachary Levi

Darcy Lewis: Kat Dennings

Erik Selvig: Stellan Skarsgård

Marvel Entertainment presents a film directed by Alan Taylor. Written by Christopher L. Yost and Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeeley and Don Payne and Robert Rodat. Based on the comic book by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby. Running time: 112 min. Rated PG-13 (for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence, and some suggestive content).

If “Thor: The Dark World” proves anything, it’s that Marvel’s Phase 2 movies promise to keep up the quality escapism level just as high as their Phase 1 movies, including the ones that don’t involve Robert Downey, Jr. “Iron Man 3”, released earlier this year, has so far been the best of the Disney/Marvel outings and is possibly the best comic book superhero movie made yet, but the second solo outing of Marvel’s Thor also tops its predecessor. The Thor movies lack the depth of the Iron Man movies, but “The Dark World” keeps the entertainment level at “Avengers” velocity.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Movie 43 (2013) *½

R, 94 min.

Directors: Peter Farrelly, Will Graham, Steven Brill, Steve Carr, Griffin Dunne, Elizabeth Banks, Jonathan van Tulleken, Patrik Forsberg, Brett Ratner, Rusty Cundieff, James Gunn

Writers: Rocky Russo, Jeremy Sosenko, Ricky Blitt, Bill O’Malley, Will Graham, Jack Kukoda, Matthew Portenoy, Claes Kjellstrom, Jonas Wittenmark, Tobias Carlson, Will Carlough, Jonathan van Tulleken, Elizabeth Shapiro, Olle Sarri, Jacob Fleisher, Greg Pritikin, James Gunn

Starring: Dennis Quaid, Greg Kinnear, Common, Charlie Saxton, Will Sasso, Seth MacFarlane, Mike Meldman, Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Liev Schreiber, Naomi Watts, Jeremy Allen White, Anna Faris, Chris Pratt, JB Smoove, Kieran Culkin, Emma Stone, Richard Gere, Kate Bosworth, Jack McBrayer, Aasif Mandvi, Justin Long, Jason Sudeikis, Uma Thurman, Bobby Cannavale, Kristen Bell, John Hodgeman, Leslie Bibb, Christopher Mintz-Plaase, Chloë Grace Moretz, Patrick Warburton, Jimmy Bennett, Matt Walsh, Gerard Butler, Seann William Scott, Johnny Knoxville, Halle Berry, Stephen Merchant, Terrence Howard, Elizabeth Banks, Josh Duhamel

“Movie 43” was advertized as a movie that could potentially ruin the careers of the big name stars involved in it. It very well could have, if anyone had bothered to see it in theaters. I suppose it’s an example of how film criticism does work for the public. The movie was panned (for good reason) and people ignored it. Now, if anyone bothers to rent it, it will be out of whimsy instead of anticipation, and they will be more forgiving of the actors involved.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—The Bridge, season 1 (2013) ***

TV-MA, 13 47-min. episodes

Creators: Elwood Reid, Björn Stein, Meredith Stiehm

Directors: Gwyneth Horder-Payton, Alex Zakrzewski, Norberto Barba, S.J. Clarkson, John Dahl, Chris Fisher, Keith Gordon, Bill Johnson, Sergio-Mimica-Gezzan, Gerardo Naranjo, Charlotte Sieling

Writers: Hans Rosenfeld (creator original series “Bron”), Måns Marlind (creator original series “Bron”), Björn Stein (also creator original series “Bron”), Elwood Reid, Meredith Stiehm, Dario Scardapane, Fernanda Coppel, Patrick Somerville, Esta Spalding, Chris Gerolmo

Starring: Diane Kruger, Demian Bichir, Annabeth Gish, Thomas M. Wright, Ted Levine, Matthew Lillard, Johnny Dowers, Emily Rios, Eric Lange

Guest starring: Carlos Pratts, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Ramón Franco, Alejandro Patino, Diana Maria Riva, Alma Martinez, Brian Van Holt, Daniel Edward Mora, Stephanie Sigman, Juan Carlos Cantu, Larry Clarke, Don Swayze, Arturo del Puerto, Ellie Araiza, Karen Sours, Jon Gries, Lyle Lovett, Lee Garlington, Alex Fernandez, Chris Browning

“The Bridge” is far from a perfect show. It’s a police procedural that shows us the crime-laden world found at the U.S./Mexico border in El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Chihuahua. It begins with a murder scene staged halfway across the bridge that connects the two communities. It is the beginning of a series of killings that appear to be some sort of protest over the disparaging law enforcement qualities between the local U.S. and Mexican authorities. Juarez is known for it’s inordinate amount of young female disappearances each year, something that would never be allowed on the U.S. side of the border.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Michael Strahan: A Football Life (2013) ***

TV-PG, 47 min.

Featuring: Michael Strahan, Gene Strahan, Louise Strahan, Jay Glazer, Kelly Ripa, Tom Coughlin, Howie Long

During a season like the New York Football Giants are having this year, a fan like me needs specials like “Michael Strahan: A Football Life” to keep us going. It allows us to remember better times. It reminds us of the passion we hold for a game that has become a punishment of late. And, it shows us that everything comes around.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Phantom (2013) **½

R, 98 min.

Director/Writer: Todd Robinson

Starring: Ed Harris, David Duchovny, William Fitchner, Lance Henriksen, Jonathan Scheach, Jason Beghe, Dagmara Dominczyk, Derek Magyar, Sean Patrick Flanery, Jason Gray-Stanford, Julian Adams, Kip Pardue, Jordan Bridges

“Phantom” is a satisfying submarine thriller in the vein of “The Hunt for Red October” that should please audiences of such fare, until the final five minutes, when it is likely to lose most of its audience with some trickery that just doesn’t quite fit the mood of the piece. It’s not a totally devastating misstep, but a misstep that is sure to distract from the rest of the movie experience.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—The Big Chill (1983) ****

R, 105 min.

Director: Lawrence Kasdan

Writers: Lawrence Kasdan, Barbara Benedek

Starring: Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Mary Kay Place, Meg Tilly, Jo Beth Williams, Don Galloway

“The Big Chill” was the movie that taught me that my parents were more than just my parents. I remember their reactions when they saw it in the theater. It spoke to them in a way I’d never noticed anything speaking to my parents before. The characters struck them. The events in the film meant something to them. Even the music was a powerful element for them.