Southpaw

— Jake Gyllenhaal has become a flat-out good actor. In “Southpaw”, he mumbles a little too much for my liking and the plot is awfully familiar, but it’s still good entertainment when the story is about a champion boxer who loses everything when his life suddenly falls apart, until he has a chance to reclaim his title and his daughter. Coupled with Gyllenhaal’s acting and Forest Whitaker smoothness, it’s a worthwhile film for people who don’t mind some scenes of blood and boxing. If you haven’t been following Gyllenhaal in the last couple of years, also check out “Nightcrawler”, “Enemy”, “Prisoners”, and “End of Watch”, all of which are worth seeing.

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[2015. 124 min. Directed by Antoine Faqua. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rachel Adams, an Forest Whitaker.]
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/southpaw-2015

Mr. Holmes

— A nice little film about a somewhat odd old man who just happens to be Sherlock Holmes, retired to the countryside and in his 90s and dealing with his own mortality. Most of the time, it’s enough to just watch Ian McKellen’s subtlety as he totters along with his cane trying to remember the specifics of one of the many cases Watson fictionalized. A scene where Holmes is in a theater, watching a movie where an actor is playing the Holmes so popularized in the fictionalized accounts of his cases, is particularly intriguing—the fictionalized Holmes has in ways become real and Mr. Holmes himself something of an impostor. The need for fact, so crucial to the investigator, is questioned within the larger sphere of life, and in the end even Holmes sees the value of fiction when dealing with the human heart. Seeing the film is a pleasant sojourn, mostly because the temperament of the piece is so appealing.

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[2015. 104 min. Directed by Bill Condon. Starring Ian McKellen, Laura Linney, and Milo Parker.]
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jun/18/mr-holmes-review-peter-bradshaw-film-of-the-week-ian-mckellen

Kingsman: The Secret Service

— Poor Colin Firth, to be mixed up in this mess! After seeing it, I’m glad I waited for it to be released on DVD because it really isn’t very good. The problem seems to be that it never knows if it’s spoofing the Bond franchise or striving for over-the-top cult status. Either way, it’s just an uncomfortable two hours of viewing with occasional and sometimes vague bits of humor. It really isn’t my kind of film.

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[2014. 129 min. Directed by Matthew Vaughn. Starring Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, and Samuel L. Jackson.]
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/kingsman-the-secret-service-2015

Ant-Man

— The least expensive Marvel Studios production to date is pleasantly different from the rest and I like this kind of quirky, more human side of the Marvel universe. I don’t like it as much as the exceptional “Guardians of the Galaxy”, but it still is a nice surprise, probably because there’s some decent low-key humor and Paul Rudd is a lot easier to identify with than most of the bulked-up Marvel crowd. Besides, I’m partial to “normal” characters whose powers come from science and technology instead of from their lineage. The first third of the film is a little slower paced as it sets the stage and introduces the characters, but once it gets going, it ably moves the weird premise forward, and at the same time links it within the Marvel universe. All the while, it doesn’t even have to venture into the Stratosphere to tell the story, although the sub-atomic level isn’t out of reach. In the end, it’s a pretty decent heist flick! I don’t think it’ll match the popularity of many of the other Marvel films but, with a lower production cost, it doesn’t have to to be successful.

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[2015. 117 min. Directed by Peyton Reed. Starring Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Corey Stoll, and Evangeline Lilly.]
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/ant-man-2015

Cold In July

— If you’re a fan of that western/southern pulp vibe that permeates good B-movies, this film’s for you. An East Texas thriller created on a low budget with bigger budget stars, it starts and finishes with a flourish and in between is a taut thriller. It’s a little dusty and bloody but exactly what it should be.

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[2014. 109 min. Directed by Jim Mickle. Starring Michael C. Hall, Wyatt Russell, and Don Johnson]
http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-reviews/cold-july-review-film-anyone-3769038

Amy

— A well-crafted documentary on the evolution and devolution of Amy Winehouse. There's something a little voyeuristic about this glimpse of an incredible talent spinning out of control. It’s hard to know how true the portrait is but between her parents, her boyfriends, her husband, her sudden fame and resulting commitments and paparazzi, to say nothing of drugs, alcohol, and an eating disorder, it isn’t hard to understand how it ended badly. The music is incredible. Particularly touching are some of the early gigs, scenes of her in the studio, and the scene of her recording a duet with Tony Bennett. Amy comes off as a somewhat sassy but still fragile soul who never expected fame and never fully realized how talented she was. Even if you don’t think you’re an Amy Winehouse fan, you may be by the end of this film. It’s good and about much more than just “sex, drugs, and jazz”.

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[2015. 128 min. Directed by Asif Kapadia. Featuring Amy Winehouse.]
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/amy-2015

Inside Out

— I don’t see many animated films. “Frozen”? I’ve never seen it. “Nemo”? Never. Nor “A Bug’s Life”, “James and the Giant Peach”, “Tangled”, or even the “The Little Mermaid”, but the previews for “Inside Out” were so unusual that I ended up checking it out. I’m glad I did because it is a very clever approach to a pretty abstract concept. An 11-year-old girl’s emotions—personified as the characters Anger, Disgust, Fear, Sadness and Joy—grapple for control of her mind as she and her parents move from Minnesota to San Francisco. It took incredibly creative minds to turn a story that mostly occurs inside a kid’s head into something comprehensible and, even better, enjoyable. It kept me involved and I was amazed to see kids in the audience being attentive too, so it must operate on more than one level. Of course, in the end it’s clear that it takes all the emotions to make a well-rounded personality, that joy doesn’t’ exist without sadness, and that emotions need to be accepted instead of suppressed. It’s being called “Pixar’s Brain Candy Cartoon” and I’d recommend it.

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[2015. 94 min. Directed by Pete Docter and Ronaldo Del Carmen. Voices by Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Phyllis Smith, Mindy Kaling, Kaitlyn Dias, Diane Lane, and Kyle MacLachlan.]
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/05/opinion/sunday/the-science-of-inside-out.html

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

— A favorite from Sundance that is arthouse quirky and a very entertaining, teen-centric, comedy-drama. It’s about Greg, a student whose mother forces him to befriend Rachel, a girl with leukemia. Greg’s only other friend is Earl, with whom he’s spent most of his life doing a poor job of remaking classic films with a humorous twist. The joy of the film is in its humor and, at least for me, it was very clever and funny. Even better, I felt like I was catching most of the references. (Aside: my life among academics was of particular help in appreciating Greg’s tenured professor father.) It’s really a film about finding your place in the world and even if the journey is angst-filled for Greg, it’s delightful for the viewer. Brian Eno’s music is also great. If you think this may be your kind of film, it probably is.

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[2015. 105 min. Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon. Starring Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, and Olivia Cooke.]
http://www.indiewire.com/article/sundance-review-why-me-and-earl-and-the-dying-girl-makes-quirky-teen-comedies-appealing-again-20150127

Jurassic World

— I admit I may be the last earthling to see “Jurassic World”. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be part of a summer blockbuster about a theme park where everyone’s put in danger because greed (along with prehistoric critters) is allowed to run rampant, when the film, coincidentally, managed to smash the record as fasted film to gross a billion dollars. It’s predicable and doesn’t really break any other new ground, but the pace is perfect after the first fifteen minutes of somewhat awkward stage setting. Solid editing and careful tugging at all our emotions, a decent cast, and the right mix of intrigue and awe, build to well-done action sequences and make it a perfect mid-summer escape. I was entertained, enthralled, and happy with the value I got for the price. I can see why everyone’s seen it already and why sequels are inevitable.

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[2015. 124 min. Directed by Colin Trevorrow. Starring Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Irrfan Khan, Vincent D’Onofrio, Ty Simpkins, and Nick Robinson.]
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/jurassic-world-2015