Mr. Peabody & Sherman

Mr. Peabody, genius, has adopted a boy, Sherman. Together they travel time in his “way-back” machine learning about history first hand and making friends with famous historical figures. When Sherman is faced with a bully at school he tries to impress her by showing her the “way-back” machine, in doing so, they alter history and need Mr. Peabody to help them set things right.


I grew up watching the Mr. Peabody and Sherman shorts on the Rocky and Bullwinkle show on PBS. It was one of my favorites. The dry humor and puns somehow made me laugh and I was really looking forward to this movie…

It was cute. Not great, but not bad. To be honest it was like watching an animated version of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure which isn’t too horrible. Most of the humor and the historical events might be outside the frame of reference for a small child – but there is enough noise to keep them entertained.

**1/2 Rentable

Rated PG (mild violence and rude humor)

The Monuments Men

In the middle of World War II a small platoon sets out to rescue stolen Art from the Nazi’s and return them to their proper owners.


Again I didn’t read this book and though I am sure it was very good the movie fell a tad short. It is set up to be kind of an Ocean’s 11 meets Inglorious Bastards but it never really pulled it off. The characters are funny, the story is true and I suppose inspiring, but the movie itself was totally Disneyfied. There is never a real sense of threat or urgency even in the most dramatic of scenes. For some reason I felt as though I was watching Mary Poppins and kept waiting for someone to break into song or fly away with an umbrella. The story seems rushed and the characters somewhat cookie cutteresque, which all contributes to the severe absence of drama. Kids will like it I am sure as, despite its violent setting and the subsequent deaths it is a little too sweet.

** Rentable

Rated PG-13 (for wartime violence)

Sundance Film Festival 2014

Hooray for Sundance!!!!

So here is a list of the movies that I saw this year – as some of them are unlikely to ever see the light of day – and I am under a bit of a time crunch… I have opted to post reviews of them if they are ever released, so fear not, if they come out I will post something:

• Camp X-Ray

• Cold in July

• Dear White People

• God’s Pocket

• Infinitely Polar Bear

• Fed Up

• The Notorious Mr. Bout

• Calvary

• Frank

• Hits

• Laggies

• Little Accidents

• A Most Wanted Man

• Nick Offerman: American Ham

• They Came together

• The Trip to Italy

• Wish I Was Here

• The Battered Bastards of Baseball

• Life Itself

• The Double

• The Lunchbox

• Drunktown’s Finest

• Ping Pong Summer

• Cooties

• The Guest

• What We Do In The Shadows

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

A chronic daydreamer is faced with the horrid reality that he is about to lose his job. In an effort to save his department he sets out on a global journey that changes his life in simple yet extraordinary ways.


This is totally forgettable. In fact I can barely remember watching it –now having said that, I also think that Forest Gump was forgettable and it won best picture. This was cute. It is predictable and quirky but it works and despite its lack of staying power was a delightful afternoon at the cinema.

**1/2 Rentable

Rated PG (for violence)

The Book Thief

A young girl growing up in Nazi Germany is left in the care of her new foster family. Trying to cope with the political climate and her own distain for Hitler she finds solace in stealing books and sharing the stories with others.


I didn’t read this book, and cannot give an accurate opinion on the adaptation; however as a movie in and of itself, I thought it was absolutely fabulous. I knew nothing of the storyline going in and thought that they did a wonderful job of creating a world that was both frightening and yet still family friendly without being hokey.

**** Oscar Worthy (it didn’t win anything)

Rated PG-13 (for wartime violence)

American Hustle

A con man and his seductive mistress get caught by the FBI in one of their latest scams. In order to keep from going to prison they are forced to help the investigators in an attempt to bring down the Jersey powers-that-be along with the mafia.


I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this movie. The characters are so much fun you are instantly drawn into their world. The art direction and costume design completely immerse you into the time period and despite the predictable plot it is a fun and charmingly quaint true story.

*** Must See

Rated R (for language)

The Wolf of Wall Street

Scorsese. Need I say more?


This flick is about a young man who becomes caught up in the lure of Wall Street in the 80’s. We all remember this, right? “Greed is good.” How about gluttony is great!

The plot is really self-explanatory so I won’t waste your time on a synopsis. Having said that – this movie, as stated before is a Scorsese film, it’s three (3) hours long, mind you most of his films are an hour too long – this one is three hours too long. Yes, one hundred and eighty minutes of sex, drugs, money, and no consequences what so ever. Lots of nudity, lots of sex, lots of drug use, and a record breaking use of the “F” bomb at 506 times. It is well acted and the overall feel is totally reminiscent of GoodFellas, the problem is that it isn’t as engaging. The mob and mafia movies in general have some sort of allure and mystic. Wall Street doesn’t – and with the current state of the economy and the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act it is a tad difficult to care about the “under belly” of Wall Street.

If you like Scorsese this is for you.

*1/2 Barely Rentable

Rated R (let your imagination run wild -- should have been NC-17)

Ticking Time Bomb



So I admit it, I am way behind....yesterday I received a scathing phone call chastising me for not having stayed current on my reviews thereby causing the person to see Noah... now I could retort and say that one didn't need a bad review to stay away from said film, nevertheless, I do feel bad as I have completely neglected my duty to keep you informed of the latest junk. So my apologies
Here we go....

Catching Up

Captain Phillips **** One of the more engaging and intense films I've seen in the past few years. Amazing performance by Tom Hanks.

Thor: The Dark World **1/2 The pacing seemed a little off and I didn't care for the climax of the movie.  However, the dynamic and comedy between Thor and his evil brother, Loki is quite fun and entertaining.  Lots of fun action and special FX as well.  Fun after credits scene that teases Marvel's upcoming attempt at taking super heroes into space with Guardians of the Galaxy.

Gravity *** Very intense, impressively executed and solid acting by Bullock and Clooney.  Amazing special FX that you probably won't notice or necessarily think about.  For example, apparently a French reporter asked the director "What was it like filming in space?".  Spoiler alert, not a second was filmed in space.

Frozen ***1/2  Well done Disney Animation.  I had reservations coming into this.  The previews looked too much like Tangled, with snow.  I was pleasantly surprised. Great catchy music (made for Broadway), beautiful animation and a fun story with heart that has a nice, unexpected ending.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues **1/2 I didn't love the first Anchorman after seeing it for the first time.  I didn't know the Will Ferrell movie formula, I was expecting more. After several more viewings, with Will Ferrell fans, I began to appreciate it for what it is; silly, quotable, fun.  It became one of those movie that gets funnier every time you watch it.  Knowing that for part 2 helped me enjoy it much more.  I laughed quite a bit and wasn't really phased by the outrageously wacky climax, which is quite wacky.  It can get a tad raunchy in parts, but overall it's funny, mindless and quotable for teenagers.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug **1/2 I got free tickets to a midnight showing of this movie.  Mistake.  I was totally engaged and into it...until a little after the halfway point when I started to doze off.  Sleep and I battled for the rest of the movie, and come to think of it, the elves and dragon battled for the last 45 minutes as well.  Entertaining, great effects, too long and like it's predecessor it just feels less important than The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Walking With Dinosaurs *1/2 I have a tendency to get myself really excited for some movies, and I'm usually really let down by those ones.  The Star Wars prequels, the Jurassic Park sequels, Indiana Jones 4 to name a few. That said, I've never been more upset than I was while and after seeing Walking With Dinosaurs, and that's saying something considering I knew this movie had screwed up before I even saw it, thanks to the latest trailer.

Jurassic Park is my favorite movie of all time, it made me want to become an animator. I am to this day a dinosaur, special FX and animation nerd, so when you combine them...I'm all in.  I have always wanted to see a documentary style film about dinosaurs that uses the amazing special FX of today to realize the dinosaurs on screen.  No talking dinosaurs, just the most realistic depiction of dinosaurs in a dramatically engaging story, with the occasional narrator...maybe one of the Attenborough brothers, Richard and David?  The BBC and The Discovery Channel did this to a degree with the TV show Walking With Dinosaurs, back in 1999. It was basically a nature program, as if they went back in time and filmed real dinosaurs.  It was a huge hit and even spawned a very impressive live arena show with life-size animatronic dinosaurs.  I was hoping for something along the lines of the TV show, but with better, updated effects and a better story.  To some degree I got that, but it was all completely ruined by adding voice overs for each of the dinosaurs.  The animals mouths don't move while they talk, it's as if they communicate telepathically, but only some of the dinosaurs do.  It's as if they completed the film and a studio executive came in later and said "We need to put annoying, juvenile voice overs on all the characters or else kids won't understand what's happening". It's a shame.  The animation is absolutely beautiful and and the movie had a lot of potential for almost silent storytelling, a la the island sequences of The Black Stallion or the first 30 minutes of WALLE.  Disney's computer animated Dinosaur in 2000 was originally planned to have non-speaking dinosaurs, but alas, the studio got cold feet and made the dinosaurs speak.  An opportunity missed and a dinosaur nerd disappointed...again.

2013 -- take 2?

OK so 2013 wasn't exactly my best year for posting reviews. I don't even know what happened, I know I saw lot's of movies. Tons in fact. Nevertheless despite my best efforts I just never found the time to post the reviews, and now I am so far behind I don't know that I could ever catch up.  It is beyond pitiful on my part and I am sorry. So let's just call it a bust and start a new... MOVIE REVIEWS: Take 2(014)!