Danny Collins (2015)

Danny Collins IMDb

Enjoyed this decent dramedy.  It has a lot of heart. A movie about redemption. Based on a story about real life folk singer, Steve Tilston. A story where an aging famous rock star finds out that John Lennon wrote him a letter a long time ago. He reads the letter and it inspires him to change his life around. A few John Lennon songs later and we got ourselves a heart and soul movie.  This is a father and son movie, in a way.  Kind of like the happier version of The Wrestler (the Arofnosky film) but entire different story.  A movie where the message once again is that money can't buy you happiness or love.  Good stuff. For that, I give it a lot of points because I love these types of stories.  Somewhere between a high 7 and a low 8.

8 out of 10.

Spotlight (2015)

Spotlight IMDb

Perfect Sunday morning movie.  Performances, story, and cinematography all get three thumbs up.  Great history piece. This is fucking journalism.  I work in this industry so I have some knowledge of how all this works. This makes you appreciate the struggle of journalism. Also, it makes you angry about the church scandal and all. But, it's nothing new for me.  I'm already fully aware of the scandals the Catholic Church tried to hide.  So this wasn't a big deal for me as it was for other people.  Anyways, this is worth watching.  Personal Top 10? Probably not. Well made? You bet your sweet ass.  Oscar buzz all over it.

8 out of 10.

No Direction Home: Bob Dylan

No Direction Home IMDb

I bought this Martin Scorsese documentary for his section a while back but now I'm seeing it for the first time.  I'm focusing on biopics and docs of artists this coming week.  So this was my long 4 hour warm up.  All about Dylan.  Got to learn a lot about him.  I mean, with almost four hours, you have to.  This features a lot of great stock footage from early musical artists from the 60's. Scorsese shows his passion.  Love it. Only recommend this if you're a Bob Dylan fan.  

American Ultra (2015)

American Ultra IMDb

What the fuck? It's my fault.  I knew better.  I wasn't going to see this at all but fuck this Friday night after work, the situation called for it.  Spontaneous night.  This is no way a stoner movie. Well, it is. But, it's not a good one. It's an action movie with a stoner but that's it.  Good gore but not fresh.  I just couldn't see Jesse Eisenberg or that Twilight girl as stoners.  So this is one of my least favorites of the year.  Don't.

2 out of 10

Southpaw (2015)

Southpaw IMDb 

My Thanksgiving movie programming this year was a marathon of boxing dramas. I'm not a big sports guy but for some reason I like boxing movies.  Creed was pretty fucking amazing. Just a few flaws.  Tonight, I did Raging Bull and Resurrecting the Champ and I saw Southpaw for the first time.  I heard a lot of mixed shit about this. To me, this was good.  Yeah, it's nothing new or fresh but I thought it was great entertainment.  It was emotional too.  Maybe because I'm a father myself.  This did it for me.  Not a top 10 contender but it was better than I expected. 

7 out of 10.

Hitchcock Thursday: Family Plot

Family Plot IMDb 

This is Hitchcock's last film he ever did.  It was pretty awesome.  Love all the actors and the characters were cool as hell.  Smooth!  Bruce Dern is one badass dude.  Suspenseful story.  Diamonds! Reward Money! Plotting Murders!  Psychic.  Couple against couple.  Holy shit, Great Gatsby people.  Wink, wink ending.  One of my favorite Hitchcock movies now.  Saw this very late Thursday night/early Friday morning.  

This was supposed to be next month's Hitchcock movie but someone had checked out Marnie from Vulcan so I had no choice but to make the switch.  The last Hitchcock Thursday will be Marnie.

Creed (2015)

Creed IMDb

Damn, this is great fucking movie.  Lots of emotions.  First off, that's how you do a fucking intro.  Creed made me want to watch the Rocky movies again. I haven't seen them since I was a kid and I used to watch them a shit load of times.  Powerful stuff here.  Great to see Stallone in a non-Expendables like role.  The story is one of the best of the year.  Only a couple of issues I had with it towards the end.  Not going to spoil it or anything but some things felt rushed in the third act.  So it was almost perfect for me.  This does do a lot of justice to the Rocky franchise. Love the score. Fuck yeah! Worth watching. Possible top 10 of the year for me.  I believe this is my 85th "2015" movie to see this year.  My goal is to see 100 movies.  15 more to go.  

8 out of 10

Bound to Vengeance (2015)

Bound to Vengeance IMDb

Do you blame me for watching a revenge flick? I'm a sucker for them.  It's very hard for a revenge film to let me down.  This one did.  Maybe because it didn't feel like a revenge film. It was more of a rescue mission.  I love rescue mission movies as well but this one wasn't worth watching.  Just wanted to give this a chance.  Not recommended.  

3 out of 10.

The Stanford Prison Experiment (2015)

The Stanford Prison Experiment IMDb

What the hell? This movie made me mad.  I guess it did its job.  Bad part is that this is the third version I'm seeing of this story.  Saw The Experiment, the German original and the U.S. remake with Adrian Brody. Both are fucking good.  This is the same shit except were dealing more closely to the original source.  Main message: what humans are fucking capable of when you give them control.  Pissed me off.  Since this is all based of the actual events, I had to deal with what it was. I personally would've wanted a badass payoff. Anyways, good performances, crazy story, and nothing I would see again unless stupid me sees a 4th version 5 years later.

6 out of 10.

The Night Before (2015)

The Night Before IMDb

Saw a free advanced screening of this movie because I didn't think it was going to worth paying full price at the theater.  Well, this surprised me.  Stoner comedy all the way.  Great double feature with Harold and Kumar Christmas.  Some funny fucking shit.  It had me laughing here and there.  This is what "This is the End" should have been like for me.  This might not be the funniest movie of the year.  Actually, besides the Fantastic Fest stuff, this might be up there with Trainwreck and Spy (two of my favorite comedies this year).  It has some stupid moments but that's okay.  It's a stoner comedy.  Not a smart or a laugh out loud comedy.  I enjoyed it.  The ending is a Hollywood predictable ending.  Fun Christmas movie.  Home Alone references.  James fucking Franco.  Holy shit, Michael Shannon is the best pot dealer ever.  The Great Gatsby.  Worth checking out if you're a stoner comedy fan.  Everyone else, at your own risk.  

7 out of 10.

Batkid Begins (2015)

Batkid Begins IMDb

This wasn't a tearjerker but it had some heart.  It got a little tiring after a while but I love the fucking concept.  It was a good documentary for a lazy Saturday afternoon.  Not sure what was missing to make it special.  I mean, it's a special story and all, but for some reason, I didn't feel the magic.  These kinds of stories should be inspiring.  They should touch the soul.  I just thought it was alright to see.  I asked my son Nathan who was watching this with me, if he had a terminal disease, what would his wish be.  He answered, to be a ninja.  Case closed.

5 out of 10.

Pixels (2015)

Pixels IMDb

Never in my fucking life did I think I was going to watch this movie especially after that bad stupid trailer.  But, love for my son, got me watching this.  It was his choice, I swear.  Shut the fuck up.  You're not fooling anyone. It was me.  It was me all along.  Okay, this isn't going nowhere.  I actually thought this was a tad better than my very low expectations.  I've seen some worse shit this year.  This is one of them but not the lowest.  Kudos on Donkey Kong.  Kudos on some of the references.  Fuck Kevin James.  No one is missing anything here.  If anything, I give this props for getting in the mood to watch Wreck-it Ralph.  Now that one has an awesome story and heart.

3 out of 10.

The Final Girls (2015)

The Final Girls IMDb

Now, that was fun.  Good homage to the slasher genre especially Friday the 13th. What a coincidence that I happen to see this around Friday the 13th.  It's a cheesy campy flick done right.  As a matter of fact,  this made me want to watch the Friday the 13th movies. Love the way they made fun of "flashbacks."  Some things didn't make sense but fuck it, nothing serious is going on around here. Worth checking if you're fan of slasher flicks.

7 out of 10.

Everest (2015)

 Everest IMDb

This was everything I expected in a man versus nature movie.  Nothing original but good adventurous scenes.  I love these types of movies because it always feels like I'm there with them.  Mount fucking Everest.  It's no joke.  I have no interest hiking that up, especially not now.  Lots of dramatic scenes.  Josh Brolin.  That dude is everywhere.  Donnie Darko is also on here.  Cold movie.  Literally cold.  Awesome shots.  The only thing is that I never really felt connected to the characters.  Therefore, I didn't care what happened to them.  Sad tragic story, though.  Good to watch but nothing to make a big fuzz about.  I wouldn't mind seeing all the docs and movies they made out of this years back.   

7 out of 10.

Steve Jobs (2015)

Steve Jobs IMDb

This wasn't worth going to the theater for. My opinion.  Performances were fucking great but that's the only thing this has going for. Story kinda sucked. Shit, I actually prefer Ashton fucking Kutcher's version.  I gave this a chance because I like Danny Boyle as a director. And it has Aaron Sorkin as a writer and Michael Fassbender. That sounded like a perfect combination.  Fassbender was the best part of this.  This is all about the performances and the characters. There wasn't too much on the story. All of it takes place behind the stage before presentations and launches. Span of 15 years.  Honestly, didn't give a fuck about Steve Jobs and this movie after a while.  Just average.

5 out 10.

Spectre (2015)

Spectre IMDb

Another new Bond movie but this one was okay. Had a shit load of potential.  The intro was the best part out of the whole movie.  Long shot. Mexico.  Day of the Dead. Explosion.  The rest was nothing fresh.  Christoph Waltz's villain character was a let down.  They made him this mysterious figure in his first appearance then when we finally get to his scenes towards the end, he wasn't too mysterious.  It's not his fault, it was the writing for the character.  Anyways, good action sequences but as far as spy movies go this year, the new Mission Impossible and Spy were top notch.  This one could wait for DVD.

6 out of 10.

Shallow Grave

Shallow Grave IMDb

Danny Boyle's first feature film that wasn't a tv movie. Saw this because I'm a fan of most of his work and I plan to check out his latest, Steve Jobs.  This is a dark comedy Coen Brothers style. Friends turn on each because of money. Tragic stuff.  Comedic moments. Ewan fucking McGregor in one of his early roles.  I enjoyed it. Nothing special though. But, for a first film, Boyle kicked ass.  He did Trainspotting after this (my favorite of his).

Worth checking out. Out on Criterion.

Time Travel Tuesday: Meet the Robinsons

Meet the Robinsons IMDb

This was a pretty awesome time travel animation. I cheated this month by making Time Teavel Tuesday on a Wednesday. Don't tell no one. Did it so my son can see it with me. Blast. Good stuff. Pizza. Different family.  Cheesy plot.  Fun stuff.  One of my fav time travel movies to see this year for Time Travel Tuesday. Check it out if you haven't seen it yet.

Good times.

The End of the Tour (2015)

The End of the Tour IMDb

Pretty good movie. Jason Segel kicks ass in his performance playing a famous lonely book author, David Foster Wallace.  Jesse Eisenberg, typical performance.  Lots of candy and Pepsis. Tension between the writers.  Depression, isolation, unconfirmed secrets. Ben Wallace commite suicide. This is about the interview Rolling Stone did on him a decade earlier. Good solid movie but nothing impressive.  

7 out of 10.