Penny Thoughts ‘13—Cheyenne Autumn (1964) **

NR, 154 min.

Director: John Ford

Writers: James R. Webb, Mari Sandoz (book)

Starring: Richard Widmark, Carroll Baker, Karl Malden, Sal Mineo, Delores Del Rio, Ricardo Montalban, Gilbert Roland, Arthur Kennedy, Patrick Wayne, Elizabeth Allen, John Carradine, Victor Jory, Mike Mazurki, George O’Brien, Sean McClory, Judson Pratt, Carmen D’Antonio, Ken Curtis, James Stewart, Edward G. Robinson

My father was a huge fan of westerns. He was also a Marine. When I was born he had some pretty interesting ideas for what my name should be. My mother would never have seriously considered his choices, nor should she have. My father knew that, and maybe that’s why he really put himself out their with them. I’m glad he didn’t name me, but I’m also glad he eventually revealed his choices.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Fat Kids Rule the World (2012) **½

R, 94 min.

Director: Matthew Lillard

Writers: Michael M.B. Galvin, Peter Speakman, K.L. Going (novel)

Starring: Jacob Wysocki, Matt O’Leary, Billy Campbell, Dylan Arnold, Lili Simmons, Tyler Trerise

“Fat Kids Rule the World” is an interesting look at the teenage mindset, if not entirely original. It involves an obese high school kid who is suicidal after gaining a great deal of weight upon the death of his mother. He fantasizes about killing himself and other things. One day when he finally gets up the gumption to step in front of a city bus on a steep San Francisco hill, he finds himself saved by a scattered junkie who has delusions about starting a band together.  Suddenly the fat kid has a friend in the junkie and a purpose in trying to keep the junkie from inadvertently killing himself. It’s a unique set up to a not so unique story.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, season 2 (2012) ***

TV-MA, 6 22-min. episodes

Creator: David Cross

Director: Ben Gregor

Writers: David Cross, Shaun Pye, Mark Chappell

Starring: David Cross, Sharon Horgan, Will Arnett, Blake Harrison

Guest starring: Jon Hamm, Russ Tamblyn, Sara Pascoe, Peter Serafinowicz, Colin Salmon, Catherine Shepherd, Justin Edwards, Juliet Cowan, Graham Duff, Steve Davis, Ben Gregor, William Hoyland, Mark Heap, Amber Tamblyn, Spike Jonze

The first season of David Cross’s farce “The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret” played like a car crash. Everything Cross’s moronic Margaret did was a disaster. He was offensive, stupid, crass, bigoted, prejudiced, ignorant, and just plain wrong. Parts of his behavior were difficult to watch. His actions and words were often quease-inducing, and yet you just had to watch to see what terrible thing he would do next. The show barreled along, stacking every poor decision on top of the last until you couldn’t believe he could do anything worse. Then it ended. It was off the air for quite a while.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) ***½

NR, 119 min.

Director: Otto Preminger

Writers: Walter Newman, Lewis Meltzer, Nelson Algren (novel)

Starring: Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, Kim Novak, Arnold Stang, Darren McGavin, Robert Strauss, John Conte, Doro Merande

“The Man with the Golden Arm” is often cited as Frank Sinatra’s best acting, and one of his best films. It was a passion project for the crooner turned actor. Watching it, I couldn’t help thinking about Justin Timberlake. I can’t think of another artist whose trajectory is more like Sinatra’s. Like Sinatra, Timberlake made his name in pop music, I’m sure Sinatra got much more credit for his voice in his rise to stardom than Timberlake, although after going solo, Timberlake proved himself a master of the medium that brought him his fame. Again like Sinatra, Timberlake wasn’t satisfied being identified with just one artistic discipline. Both moved into acting starting with the roles people would accept them in and building to award worthy performances. Like Sinatra, Timberlake hasn’t forgotten where his fame came from and hasn’t abandoned any of the roads that took him to where he finds himself today.

Dark Skies/ *** (PG-13)

Lacy Barrett: Keri Russell

Daniel Barrett: Josh Hamilton

Jesse Barrett: Dakota Goyo

Sam Barrett: Kadan Rockett

Edwin Pollard: J.K. Simmons

Kevin Ratner: L.J. Benet

Shelly Jessup: Annie Thurman

Dimension Films presents a film written and directed by Scott Stewart. Running time: 97 min. Rated PG-13 (for violence, terror throughout, sexual material, drug content, and language – all involving teens).

There are two basic kinds of horror movies these days. One is designed to shock the audience with gore and loud noises and human aberrations that have little to do with the fears we actually all share. The other kind of horror movie is more classic. It wants to tell a story. It wants us to relate to the characters upon which its horrors are being enacted. It shows us an aspect of life we can all relate to before it takes us down its supernatural path. That’s the kind of movie that “Dark Skies” aspires to be.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—The Man With the Iron Fists (2012) *

UR, extended cut 107 min.

Director: RZA

Writers: RZA, Eli Roth

Starring: RZA, Russell Crowe, Rick Yune, Lucy Liu, Dave Bautista, Jamie Chung, Byron Mann, Chung Le, Daniel Wu, Zhu Zhu, Gordon Liu, Kuan Tai Chen, Xue Jing Yao, Telly Liu, MC Jin, Grace Huang, Andrew Li, Pam Grier

“I’m bad meaning bad, but I’m bad meaning good.”

           

—lyrics from the song “The Baddest Man Alive” by RZA and The Black Keys from “The Man With the Iron Fists”.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Robot & Frank (2012) ***

PG-13, 89 min.

Director: Jake Schreier

Writer: Christopher D. Ford

Starring: Frank Langella, James Marsden, Susan Sarandon, Liv Tyler, Jeremy Strong, Jeremy Sisto, Ana Gasteyer

Voice: Peter Sarsgaard

There are actors who I think wait for something different to come across their desks. Their agents probably get frustrated with them, because they could each make more money if they would take smaller parts in bigger movies. These agents don’t get their clients. “Why would you want to do more work for less money?” they wonder. The actors who are in “Robot & Frank” give their agents ulcers.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—The Day of the Dolphin (1973) **½

PG, 104 min.

Director: Mike Nichols

Writers: Buck Henry, Robert Merle (novel)

Starring: George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, Paul Sorvino, Fritz Weaver

“The Day of the Dolphin” is a film with a somewhat silly premise handled with utter seriousness and sincerity by a director/writer team most well known for satire. This science fiction, not-quite thriller takes its premise from the notion that dolphins are just as intelligent, if not more so, as man. It follows a scientist whose research is centered on the communication skills of dolphins. He has secretly trained one of his dolphins to speak English.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) ***

PG, 95 min.

Directors: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise

Writers: Tab Murphy, Kirk Wise, Gary Trousdale, Joss Whedon, Bryce Zabel, Jackie Zabel, David Reynolds

Voices: Michael J. Fox, James Garner, Cree Summer, Claudia Christian, Don Novello, Jacqueline Obradors, Corey Burton, Phil Morris, John Mahoney, Florence Stanley, David Ogden Stiers, Jim Varney, Leonard Nimoy

Ever since Disney wrote a deal with Netflix, I’ve been using my children as an excuse to revisit Disney animation. “Atlantis: The Lost Empire” was the last Disney film to be released before I had children. It was also one of my earliest movie reviews. I didn’t bother to see it when it was in theaters, but I used my five month old as an excuse to rent it. Like he even cared at that age, but hey, I had a kid. That meant I had to watch kids movies. Right?

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Louie, season 2 (2011) ****

TV-MA, 14 21-min. episodes

Creator: Louis C.K.

Director: Louis C.K.

Writers: Louis C.K., Pamela Adlon

Starring: Louis C.K.

Guest Starring: Rusty Schwimmer, Hadley Delany, Ursula Parker, Roderick Hill, Maria Dizzia, Kelly McCrann, Liza Colon-Zayas, Pamela Adlon, Peter Benson, Donna Hanover, Todd Barry, Joan Rivers, Jack O’Connell, Eunice Anderson, Dane Cook, Bob Saget, Edward Gelbinovich, Heidi Armbruster, Jim Norton, Greg Gutfeld, Liz Holtan, Angela Gould, Doug Stanhope, Chris Gethard, Nick Kocher, Patrick O’Neill, Gregg Rogell, Veanne Cox, Grant Shaud, Will Janowitz, Kevin Nagel, Ali Ahn, Amir Blumenfeld, Joe DeRosa, Ali Reza, Keni Thomas, Don Pugsley, Lilly Robbins, Todd Glass, Gideon Adlon, Lisa Emery, Nick DiPaolo, Godfrey, F. Murray Abraham, Chris Rock, Jenn Lyon, Steven Wright

After waiting 2 and a half years to return to “Louie” after its impressive first season, my initial thoughts about the comedy/drama half hour television show from stand up comedian Louis C.K. have been vindicated by its seconds season. This is definitely the best show on television.

Oz the Great and Powerful / ***½ (PG)

Oz: James Franco

Annie/Glinda: Michelle Williams

Theodora: Mila Kunis

Evanora: Rachel Weisz

Frank/Finley: Zach Braff

Girl in Wheelchair/China Girl: Joey King

Master Tinker: Bill Cobb

Knuck: Tony Cox

Walt Disney Pictures presents a film directed by Sam Raimi. Written by Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire. Based on the “Oz” series of novels by L. Frank Baum. Running time: 130 min. Rated PG (for sequences of action and scary images, and brief mild language).  

I imagine that many an average moviegoer often feels they’ve seen an entirely different movie than the critics. Critics will frequently decry audience pleasers, complaining about dramatic and directorial technicalities that matter little to someone just going to the movies for a good time. Often critics allow their biases against certain formats, such as 3D, to distract them from the movie at hand. Often these critics will make good points about the storytelling that are lost on the untrained eye. I remember when I was just a fan of movies and not a critic. It was always disheartening to feel that the supposed “experts” looked too hard into something from which I’d found great enjoyment. I imagine this must be the case with the new movie “Oz the Great and Powerful”.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Let There Be Light (1946) ***

NR, 58 min.

Director: John Huston

Narrator: Walter Huston

“Let There Be Light” is a remarkable documentary commissioned by the Department of Defense after World War II and then suppressed by the Pentagon until the early 80s. It depicts the War Departments efforts to help returning soldiers deal with the psychological trauma of war. Director John Huston was given unprecedented access to military facilities and real treatment sessions between doctors and soldiers. Nothing is staged.

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

R, 144 min.

Director/Writer: Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Laura Dern, Ambyr Childers, Rami Malek, Jesse Plemons, Kevin J. O’Connor, Christopher Evan Welch

I can’t believe that people are still questioning whether Joaquin Phoenix is “acting” in his new role as an unhinged WWII Naval boat veteran in Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest movie “The Master”. He was acting in the mockumentary “I’m Still Here” about a fictionalized version of himself quitting acting to start a new career as a hip-hop artist. He’s certainly acting in this movie, and it is some of the finest acting of his career.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—My Favorite Year (1982) ***

PG, 92 min.

Director: Richard Benjamin

Writers: Norman Steinberg, Dennis Palumbo

Starring: Mark Linn-Baker, Peter O’Toole, Jessica Harper, Joseph Bologna, Bill Macy, Lainie Kazan, Anne De Salvo, Basil Hoffman, Lou Jacobi, Adolph Green, Tony DiBenedetto, George Wyner, Selma Diamond

When I was a kid—long before I had developed my infatuation with cinema—“My Favorite Year” played a for a little while on HBO in one of their endless loops of movies that played over and over. I loved it. I watched this movie just about every time I could catch it. I didn’t know who Peter O’Toole was. I didn’t know anything about those variety television programs of television’s golden era. I hadn’t seen any of the swashbuckling movies that O’Toole’s character was supposed to have been a star of. I didn’t know that 30 Rock was a real place. I didn’t know there was any cultural difference between Jewish people and WASPs like myself, and I certainly didn’t drink. But, for some reason I loved this movie.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—The Fog of War (2003) ****

PG-13, 95 min.

Director: Errol Morris

Featuring: Robert S. McNamara

A few nights ago my wife asked me for some ideas of films based on historical U.S. fact from World War II to the present day. It was a tough request. There are a great many films that deal with U.S. politics at different points in that era. Vietnam and the Nixon administration are the basis of many different ones. Unfortunately that was a pretty broad period of time, and I had trouble settling on where to start. Finally, I remembered this Oscar-winning documentary from Errol Morris, the master of the documentary interview.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) ****

NR, 81 min.

Director: John Sturges

Writers: Millard Kaufman, Don McGuire (adaptation), Howard Breslin (story)

Starring: Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis, Dean Jagger, Walter Brennan, John Ericson, Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin, Russell Collins, Walter Sande

“Bad Day at Black Rock” is a lesson in minimalist cinematic storytelling. From its plot to its dialogue to its motivations to its sparse desolate landscape, there doesn’t seem to be much going on here. Through that minimalism we get a detailed study in human nature that is far superior to any heavily plotted, emotional rollercoaster ride out there.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—October Sky (1999) ***½

PG, 108 min.

Director: Joe Johnston

Writers: Lewis Colick, Homer Hickam Jr. (book)

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, Laura Dern, Chris Owen, William Lee Scott, Chad Lindberg, Natalie Canderday, Scott Miles, Randy Stripling, Chris Ellis, Elya Baskin, Courtney Fendley, Kaili Hollister

“October Sky” is the moving story of Homer Hickam Jr., who grew up in a small West Virginia mining town, and against all odds escaped the life of the mines to become a NASA engineer and trainer. The movie is based on his memoir “Rocket Boys”, which tells of how he and three other boys earned education scholarships at the National Science Fair with their experiments with small rocket engineering.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Hit & Run (2012) **½

R, 100 min.

Directors: Dax Shepard, David Palmer

Writer: Dax Shepard

Starring: Kristen Bell, Dax Shepard, Bradley Cooper, Tom Arnold, Kristin Chenoweth, Michael Rosenbaum, Jess Rowland, Joy Bryant, Ryan Hansen, Carly Hatter, David Koechner, Beau Bridges, Sean Hayes

Actor, writer, director Dax Shepard has said that his main inspiration for his directorial debut “Hit & Run” were films that featured classic car chases, like “Smokey and the Bandit”. He said that he liked that movie’s combination of cars and comedy. “Hit & Run” obviously comes from the heart. You can see Shepard’s passion for the material, and it isn’t bad. It just isn’t good enough to fully recommend.

Jack the Giant Slayer / ** (PG-13)

Jack: Nicholas Hoult

Isabelle: Eleanor Tomlinson

Elmont: Ewan McGreggor

Roderick: Stanley Tucci

Crawe: Eddie Marsan

Wicke: Ewen Bremner

King Brahmwell: Ian McShane

General Entin: Ralph Brown

General Fallon: Bill Nighy

Fumm: Ben Daniels

Warner Bros. Pictures presents a film directed by Bryan Singer. Written by Darren Lemke and Christopher McQuarrie and Dan Studney and David Dobkin. Running time: 114 min. Rated PG-13 (for intense scenes of fantasy action violence, some frightening images, and brief language).

Ever since Pixar opened the eyes of American audiences to the fact that cartoons don’t have to be just for kids there has been a trend in American filmmaking to combine the tales and fantasies that entranced us as children with more adult filmmaking sensibilities. Those fruits have come to ripen in recent years, but not all of them are as tasty as others. “Jack the Giant Slayer” is the most recent of those efforts, retelling the story of “Jack and the Beanstock” in an adult context. The problem is we don’t believe in giants anymore and growing a magical beanstock to a forgotten land above the land isn’t the best way to convince us.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Pennies From Heaven (1981) **

R, 108 min.

Director: Herbert Ross

Writer: Dennis Potter

Starring: Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, Jessica Harper, Vernal Bagneris, John McMartin, John Karlen, Jay Garner, Eliska Krupka, Christopher Walken

“Pennies Fro Heaven” is a film that I often see written about with respectful tones, but it did not receive the respect or the box office upon its release. This is for good reason. It was a bold experiment of making a depression era musical with recordings from that era. It isn’t one of those happy go lucky MGM musicals, but one that reflects the time in which it takes place. Placing a then zany comedian like Steve Martin in the lead role and the unknown to Hollywood Bernadette Peters as his co-star was also a risky move for such an endeavor. Director Herbert Ross was the only known commodity of the bunch, coming off a string of successful dramadies, like “The Goodbye Girl” and “The Sunshine Boys”.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) ***

PG, 104 min.

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Writers: Jeffrey Price, Peter S. Seaman, Gary K. Wolf (novel)

Starring: Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Joanna Cassidy, Stubby Kaye, Alan Tilvern

Voices: Charles Fleischer, Kathleen Turner, Lou Hirsch, Mae Questel, Mel Blanc, Tony Anselmo, Mary T. Radford, Joe Alaskey, David Lander, June Foray, Russi Taylor, Richard Williams, Wayne Allwine, Tony Pope, Frank Sinatra

I was never as taken with “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” as many others seemed to be. I always felt it was loud and messy. It is, but I’m not so sure that’s a flaw anymore. I don’t think the zaniness of cartoons like Looney Tunes are necessarily successful because of those traits, however. Robert Zemeckis seemed to think that was the essence of cartoons in his 1988 live action/cartoon hybrid.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Avatar (2009) ****

PG-13, 162 min.

Director/Writer: James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoë Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Wes Studi, Laz Alonso, Dileep Rao, Matt Gerald

It always seems that a few years after a movie like this hits it big general opinion on it seems to take a turn for the worse. It really wasn’t long after this one hit it big that people started piping up and criticizing it for just rehashing the stories of Pocahontas and “Dances with Wolves”. What really irks me about such backlash is that those are two great stories. How is it a problem that this movie tells a version of the same stories? If it does it well, who cares?

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Moonraker (1979) *½

PG, 126 min.

Director: Lewis Gilbert

Writer: Christopher Wood, Ian Fleming (book/characters)

Starring: Roger Moore, Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale, Richard Kiel, Corinne Cléry, Bernard Lee, Geoffrey Keen, Desmond Llewelyn, Lois Maxwell, Toshiro Suga, Emily Bolton

“Moonraker” is often thought of as the worst of all the Bond films. Perhaps it is. Its existence is certainly the result of the flimsiest inspiration for a James Bond film ever. In 1977, a little film called “Star Wars” was released. Calling “Star Wars” a “little film” now might seem absurd, but it was at the time. The studio didn’t put much money or faith into it. Lucas took what was then thought to be a ridiculous pay deal from the studio, which ended up making him rich and costing the studio fairly little. Sci-fi wasn’t popular at the time. Nobody wanted another “2001: A Space Odessey”, but after it was released, everybody wanted another “Star Wars”, and so every studio in Hollywood went green light crazy on space adventures.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Cocoon (1985) ***

PG-13, 117 min.

Director: Ron Howard

Writers: Tom Benedek, David Saperstein

Starring: Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn, Brian Dennehy, Jack Gilford, Steve Guttenberg, Maureen Stapleton, Jessica Tandy, Gwen Verdon, Herta Ware, Tahnee Welch, Barrett Oliver, Linda Harrison, Tyrone Power Jr., Clint Howard

“Cocoon” was one of the many calculated steps Ron Howard took toward becoming one of the top filmmakers in Hollywood. Howard faced a much larger hurdle than most directors when it came to being taken seriously as a director. His Hollywood roots as a child actor, especially considering the smiling kid, all-American roles he’d made iconic with his Opie Taylor and Richie Cunningham, might’ve held a lesser artist back when it came to building a new image as a director of important films. “Cocoon” was his first important film.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Ice Station Zebra (1968) ***

G, 148 min.

Director: John Sturges

Writers: Douglas Heyes, Harry Julian Fink, Alistair MacLean (novel)

Starring: Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine, Patrick McGoohan, Jim Brown, Tony Bill, Lloyd Nolan, Alf Kjellin, Gerald S. O’Loughlin

With Snowmageddon: The Sequel about to reign down on the Midwest, “Ice Station Zebra” seems an appropriate movie for today’s Penny Thoughts. This military mystery thriller garnered two Oscar nominations for this story that is similar in nature to other popular film adaptations of Alistair MacLean’s novels “The Guns of Navarone”, “Where Eagles Dare”, and “Force 10 From Navarone”.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Ben-Hur (1959) ****

NR, 212 min.

Director: William Wyler

Writers: Karl Tunberg, General Lew Wallace (novel)

Starring: Charlton Heston, Haya Harareet, Stephen Boyd, Jack Hawkins, Hugh Griffith, Martha Scott, Cathy O’Donnell, Sam Jaffe, Finlay Currie, Frank Thring

I’m not well versed in the Bible. I didn’t realize that “Ben-Hur” had anything to do with Christianity before I saw it. It was a surprise to me to see the phrase “A Story of The Christ” below the title during the film’s opening credits. It is a story of The Christ indeed. I like that Jesus takes a supporting role, however. It seems fitting considering his sacrifice.

Oscar Predictions 2013

Chicago Sun Times film critic Roger Ebert claims that this year is one of the easiest years to predict the outcome of the Oscars being presented Sunday night by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. When the nominees were announced a month and a half ago, it seemed one of the least predictable batch of nominees in years. However, as usual the last month of near weekly awards presentations for the finest work in film over the past year has brought a good deal of focus to the Oscars picture. I don’t agree that it is one of the easiest years to predict. I can remember one a couple of years ago that Ebert claimed was one of the hardest and a record number of people out guessed him in his annual Outguess Ebert’s Oscar Picks contest.

The last few years, I have been very consistent in predicting between 17 to 20 out of 24 awards correctly, with most of my misses coming in the very obscure categories. I’m not so confident this year. I think I’ll be doing very well at 17. It wouldn’t surprise me if I don’t do that well this year.

The main reason this is such a tough year to predict is because such a wide variety of great movies reached such a great amount of audiences. It has been a while since the collection of Best Picture nominees have been seen so widely consumed by the public as they have this year. It’s been longer since that collection of films was also such a consistently high quality. “Beasts of the Southern Wild” and “Amour” are the only two films that didn’t see a wide national release and didn’t receive good to impressive box office numbers, although for the specialty market audience they played to, they had very impressive numbers. Only one film strikes me as one that doesn’t belong in terms of filmmaking quality, but it appealed to a wide variety of audiences and I understand why.

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

NR, 94 min.

Directors: Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi

Narrator: Emad Burnat

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

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

Penny Thoughts ‘13—I Killed My Lesbian Wife, Hung Her on a Meat Hook, and Now I Have a Three-Picture Deal at Disney (1993) *

UR, 16 min.

Director: Ben Affleck

Writers: Jay Lacopo, Kamala Lopez

Starring: Jay Lacopo, Karla Montana, Johanna McCoy

With Ben Affleck’s latest directorial effort “Argo” poised as the one to beat for Best Picture at this year’s Oscars, this little mistake is beginning to pop up all over the Internet. I can see no reason The Well shouldn’t jump in on the action.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—How to Survive a Plague (2012) ****

NR, 120 min.

Director: David France

Writers: David France, Todd Woody Richman, Tyler H. Walk

Featuring: Peter Staley, Bob Rafsky, Mark Harrington, Larry Kramer, Jim Eigo, Iris Long, Ray Navarro, Bill Bahlman, David Barr, Gregg Bordowitz

David France’s Oscar-nominated documentary “How To Survive a Plague” brings new understanding for those who weren’t in the trenches about the battle to find a treatment for the AIDS epidemic in the late 80s and 90s. The film profiles major players in Act Up, the AIDS awareness organization that spearheaded the movement to find some sort of functional treatment for HIV, a plague virus that was widely characterized as a homosexual related disease in the United States during that time. What it reveals is a battlefield upon which brave men, who had no hope they would survive this disease and watched helplessly as those around them died, fought a government and public unwilling to address a health problem due to the politicization of the social issues involved.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Up All Night, season 2 (2012) **

TV-PG, 11 23-min. episodes

Creator: Emily Spivey

Directors: Michael Blieden, Bryan Gordon, Eric Appel, Jennifer Getzinger, Alex Reid

Writers: Emily Spivey, Tucker Cawley, DJ Nash, Erica Rivinoja, Chadd Gindin, Austen Earl, Joel Church-Cooper, Rene Gube, Tim McAuliffe, Vera Santamaria, Kayla Alpert

Starring: Christina Applegate, Will Arnett, Maya Rudolph, Luka Jones, Carly Prince, Delaney Prince

Guest starring: Matthew Braunger, Jean Villepique, Sean Hayes, Chuck McGee, Rachel Dratch, Rob Huebel, Tony Hale, Tymberlee Hill, Quinn Friedman, Will Sasso, Azita Ghanizada, Jayden Maddux, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Romy Rosemont, Jerry Lambert, Joey Pollari, Caroline Aaron, Mary Pat Gleason, Blythe Danner, Bob Gunton, Mimi Kennedy

Although NBC has yet to officially pull the plug on this show, the final nail is all but in the coffin. While the recent developments of changing the format from single camera to multi camera and the departures of the show’s creator Emily Spivey and star Christina Applegate are being cited as its death knell, I think everyone knows that the show’s demise began as they entered the second season.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Mighty Joe Young (1949) ***

NR, 94 min.

Director: Ernest B. Shoedsack

Writers: Merian C. Cooper, Ruth Rose

Starring: Terry Moore, Ben Johnson, Robert Armstrong, Frank McHugh, Douglas Fowley

I’d never seen the original “Mighty Joe Young” and I decided to show it to my kids for our weekly family movie night. I liked it. It was fun. It doesn’t have all the heavy undertones of Ernest B. Shoedsack and Merian C. Cooper’s other big ape movie. It’s much more of a fun and, at times, funny adventure.

A Good Day to Die Hard / **½ (R)

John McClane: Bruce Willis

Jack McClane: Jai Courtney

Komarov: Sebastian Koch

Lucy: Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Irina: Yuliya Snigir

Alik: Rasha Bukvic

Collins: Cole Hauser

20^th Century Fox presents a film directed by John Moore. Written by Skip Woods. Based on characters created by Roderick Thorp. Running time: 97 min. Rated R (for violence and language).

Clocking in at just over an hour and a half, “A Good Day to Die Hard” is the shortest of the “Die Hard” franchise. In fact, it’s the only one less than two hours in length. It is also the simplest of the series. It’s the simplest in plot, the simplest in character development, the simplest in set up, the simplest in execution, and the simplest in aspirations.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—American Horror Story: Asylum (2012-13) ****

TV-MA, 13 47-min. episodes

Creators: Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy

Directors: Bradley Buecker, Michael Uppendahl, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, David Semel, Michael Rymer, Michael Lehmann, Craig Zisk

Writers: Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Tim Minear, James Wong, Jennifer Salt, Jessica Sharzer, Jeremy Podeswa

Starring: Zachary Quinto, Joseph Fiennes, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Lily Rabe, Lizzie Brocheré, James Cromwell, Jessica Lange

Guest starring: Chloë Sevigny, Adam Levine, Jenna Dewan Tatum, Clea Duvall, Britne Oldford, Naomi Grossman, Frederic Lehne, Devon Graye, Robin Weigert, Andrew Rothenberg, Gloria Laino, Mark Consuelos, Mark Englehardt, Joe Egender, Barbara Tarbuck, Matthew John Armstrong, Joel McKinnon Miller, Franka Potente, Mark Margolis, David Chisum, Amy Farrington, Nikki Hahn, Frances Conroy, William Mapother, Sean Patrick Thomas, Ian McShane, Jennifer Holland, Lana Harris, Chris McGarry, Jill Marie Jones, Dylan McDermott, Brooke Smith, Camille Chen

While the first stand alone season of “American Horror Story” told one basic type of horror story—that of a haunted house that was gathering ghost residents at a staggering rate—the second stand alone season “American Horror Story: Asylum” took on several different subgenres of the far reaching horror genre. It’s a slasher story, a mad scientist story, a possession story, a fallen faith story, and an alien invasion story, not to mention it is set in one of those favorite horror story settings, an insane asylum. They pulled out all the stops for “Asylum”. It makes me wonder just what they have left to explore in future seasons.

Penny Thoughts ’13—The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) ****

NR, 126 min.

Director: John Huston

Writers: John Huston, B. Traven (novel)

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Tim Holt, Walter Huston, Bruce Bennett, Barton MacLane, Alfonso Bedoya, A. Soto Rangel, Manuel Donde, Jose Torvay, Margarito Luna

“Badges?! We don’t need no stinkin’ badges!”

…but, we do need to remember this movie, and that is not the line. How strange that a movie could be so good that it inspires a false line that everyone on the planet knows. Is Bugs Bunny to blame? Most likely.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Alex Cross (2012) *

PG-13, 101 min.

Director: Rob Cohen

Writers: Marc Moss, Kerry Williamson, James Patterson (novel “Cross”)

Starring: Tyler Perry, Ed Burns, Matthew Fox, Jean Reno, Carmen Ejogo, Cicely Tyson, Rachel Nichols, John C. McGinley, Werner Daehn

I am astounded at just how bad “Alex Cross” is. This is an example of filmmaking ineptitude at every level—poor direction, poor writing, poor acting, poor editing, and awful scoring. This movie is just terrible. Perhaps it was made as an example for film students of how not to make a movie.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Paperman (2012) ****

G, 7 min.

Director: John Kahrs

Writers: Clio Chiang, Kendelle Hoyer

Voices: John Kahrs, Jeff Turley, Kari Wahlgren

When I saw this short presented before the theatrical presentation of Disney’s “Wreck-It Ralph” last fall, my primary thought was “animated perfection.” This is a brilliant animated film. And low and behold, Pixar didn’t make it.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—My Life as a Dog (1985) ***½

UR, 101 min.

Director: Lasse Hallström

Writers: Lasse Hallström, Reidar Jönsson (also novel), Brasse Brannström, Per Berglund

Starring: Anton Glanzelius, Tomas von Brömssen, Anki Lidén, Melinda Kinnaman, Kicki Rundgren, Lennart Hjulström, Ing-Marie Carlsson, Leif Ericsson, Ralph Carlsson

Lasse Hallström’s “My Life as a Dog” is at times a sad story, at times an affirming story. It is always true to the childhood it represents. It tells the story of a boy whose mother is very sick. She cares for him and his older brother by herself. It is said that their father is in the Caribbean working in the shipping of bananas. Bananas seem a far cry from the cold world of Sweden in this film. So far it may be just a fantasy of where their father has disappeared.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—We Have a Pope (2011) ***

NR, 102 min.

Director: Nanni Moretti

Writers: Nanni Moretti, Francesco Piccolo, Frederica Pontremoli

Starring: Michel Piccoli, Jerzy Stuhr, Renato Scarpa, Nanni Moretti, Franco Graziosi, Camillo Milli, Roberto Nobile, Ulrich von Dobschütz, Gianlucca Gobbi, Margherita Buy

The world was shocked this morning when it was reported that Pope Benedict XVI would become the first Pope to resign the post in over 700 years. Eight years ago, I learned more about the papacy than I ever knew when the Conclave selected Benedict as John Paul’s successor. Not being a Catholic, I can have no concept of what a big deal a development like this is, but I will go into this selection process knowing the difference between black smoke and white smoke.

Identity Thief / *** (R)

Sandy Patterson: Jason Bateman

Diana: Melissa McCarthy

Julian: T.I.

Marisol: Genesis Rodriguez

Skiptracer: Robert Patrick

Trish Patterson: Amanda Peet

Detective Reilly: Morris Chestnut

Daniel Casey: John Cho

Big Chuck: Eric Stonestreet

Harold Cornish: Jon Favreau

Universal Pictures presents a film directed by Seth Gordon. Written by Craig Mazin and Jerry Eeten. Running time: 112 min. Rated R (for sexual content and language).

I heard a news report the other day about how bank robberies were becoming a crime of the past. I thought they already had. Innovations in real currency technology and other security practices have made robbing banks a high risk/low reward crime. Digital theft, on the other hand, yields higher rewards than bank robbing ever did. And, as long as you know how to spot a sucker, it’s a very low risk market.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Smokey and the Bandit (1977) ***

PG, 96 min.

Director: Hal Needham

Writers: James Lee Barrett, Charles Shyer, Alan Mandel, Hal Needham, Robert L. Levy

Starring: Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jackie Gleeson, Jerry Reed, Mike Henry, Pat McCormick, Paul Williams

For my entry application to Hofstra University, where I attended college, I wrote an essay about how life-plans change. My primary example was how “Smokey and the Bandit” had presented me with my first life’s calling. When I grew up, there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to be a truck driver. I explained that despite my determination for this to happen at the time I saw the movie, my life somehow steered in another direction, hence I could make no promises that where I was heading as I entered my higher education would be where I would eventually end up. It wasn’t. Yet, somehow “Smokey and the Bandit” still ended up having some influence over what I would do with my life.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Seven Psychopaths (2012) ***

R, 110 min.

Director/Writer: Martin McDonagh

Starring: Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, Christopher Walken, Tom Waits, Abbie Cornish, Olga Kurylenko, Zeljko Ivanek, Kevin Corrigan, Linda Bright Clay, Gabourey Sibide, Michael Pitt, Michael Stuhlbarg, Harry Dean Stanton, James Hébert, Long Nguyen, Christine Marzano, Brendan Sexton III, Amanda Warren, Bonny the Shih Tzu

“Seven Psychopaths” is a great example of a movie with a plot that doesn’t concede to convention, yet finds a way to please even those who insist on convention. The story involves a screenwriter with that popular screenplay device of a writer’s block. He has an idea for a movie about seven psychopaths. Well, he has the title anyway.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—A Liar’s Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python’s Graham Chapman (2012) **

R, 85 min.

Directors: Bill Jones, Jeff Simpson, Ben Timlett

Writers: Graham Chapman (book “A Liar’s Autobiography: Volume VI”), David Sherlock (book “A Liar’s Autobiography: Volume VI”)

Narrator: Graham Chapman

Voices: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, Carol Cleveland, Philip Bulcock, Cameron Diaz

A member of the famous British sketch comedy group Monty Python, Graham Chapman died of throat cancer in 1989. Three years before he died he wrote an autobiography with his life partner, David Sherlock, titled “A Liar’s Autobiography: Volume VI”. Many of the facts in the book were understandably questionable. Chapman also recorded the audio book before his death. This is how in 2012 we can have a new documentary based on the book narrated by the long dead comedian.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—The Paperboy (2012) **½

R, 107 min.

Director: Lee Daniels

Writers: Lee Daniels, Peter Dexter (also novel)

Starring: Zac Efron, Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey, Macy Gray, David Oyelowo, John Cusack, Scott Glenn, Nealla Gordon, Ned Bellamy

Lee Daniel’s new movie “The Paperboy” is one of those movies that I’m glad I took the time to see but can’t recommend. It’s a crime story that takes place in Florida in 1969. It involves a couple of journalists who look into the conviction of a man for the murder of a small town sheriff. The sheriff had a reputation for being abusive to suspects and had killed the convict’s cousin while in custody. With the help of a woman who has fallen in love with the convict and may have evidence to prove his innocence, the journalists set out to free the man.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—White Heat (1949) ****

NR, 114 min.

Director: Raoul Walsh

Writers: Ivan Goff, Ben Roberts, Virginia Kellogg (story)

Starring: James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O’Brien, Margaret Wycherly, Steve Cochran, John Archer, Wally Cassell, Fred Clark

Since TCM’s 31 Days of Oscar began again this year, my DVR seems to be collecting an amazing array of classic films. The first that I’ve taken time to sit down with is the classic crime flick “White Heat” starring James Cagney. This is one of the great criminal portraits in American cinematic history.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—The Super Bowl Ads (2013) **

NR, several 30-90 sec. ea.

Directors: various

Writers: various

Starring: M&Ms, Clydesdales, a goat, farmers, Naya Rivera, Danica Patric, Bar Rafaeli, Amy Poehler, Dwayne Johnson, The Flaming Lips, Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, Will Ferrell, Willem Defoe, Matthew Terry, Benedict Cumberbatch

Last year I was in no condition to review the Super Bowl ads. With my Big Blue in the big game, I didn’t really have the room for their distraction. Once it was all over, I was so elated every commercial seemed like the best I had ever seen, because it came along with the Giants’ fourth Super Bowl victory. Did it really matter if they were any good?

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Samsara (2012) ****

PG-13, 102 min.

Director: Ron Fricke

Writers: Ron Fricke, Mark Magidson

“Samsara” is a documentary of beauty and sadness. In the same tradition of this documentary team’s film “Baraka”, “Samsara” is a documentary of images only. There are no interviews. There is no story to be told. There is no scandal to expose. However, the doc does seem to question our mass production of things in an indirect way.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Jumanji (1995) ***

PG, 104 min.

Director: Joe Johnston

Writers: Jonathan Hensleigh, Greg Taylor, Jim Strain, Chris Van Allsburg (also book)

Starring: Robin Williams, Kirsten Dunst, Bradley Pierce, Bonnie Hunt, David Alan Grier, Jonathan Hyde, Bebe Neuwirth, Patricia Clarkson, Adam Hann-Byrd, Laura Bell Bundy

“Jumanji” came about in that period where I had left the family movie market. I was well done with family films personally and I didn’t have kids yet, nor had Pixar had a chance to fully impact the family movie market to make all family movie more palatable to all ages.

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

TV-14, 139 21-min. episodes

Creator: Tina Fey

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

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

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

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

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