Frozen

My 16-year old niece was in town and wanted to go to the sing-along version of Frozen at the local discount theater. So my wife & I took her, my first time seeing the movie.

I must say that I was disappointed. Not that the movie was bad or anything but that it felt...competent. Not particularly spectacular looking. Nothing all that memorable in the way of music (other than "Do you wanna build a snowman?"). Plot was pretty "meh". I mean, I was entertained, I just didn't think it was this awesome movie like I'd heard. Definitely not in my animated top 10, that's for sure*. Right at the Tabedoza line for this one: 7/10.

* - since you didn't ask:

1) Up
 
 
 
 
 
(Big Gap)
 
 
 
 
2) The Little Mermaid
3) How to Train Your Dragon
4) Toy Story 3
5) Finding Nemo
6) Shrek
7) Beauty and the Beast
8) Toy Story 1
9) Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
10) Meet the Robinsons

Caveat: I don't watch anime and, no, I haven't seen every Pixar or Disney movie. I'm also probably forgetting one or two that should be in the top 10.

The Beaver

Mel Gibson is Walter, a profoundly depressed CEO of his father's toy company who is barely able to speak. After his wife kicks him out, he comes across a beaver puppet in a dumpster and takes it with him for some reason. After a long night of drinking and failed suicide attempts, he awakens and begins using the beaver to communicate on his behalf. The beaver frees him to communicate like he previously could not and he is soon seemingly his old self - albeit with a puppet attached to his arm. Things don't just work out perfectly though but you'll need to see the rest of the movie for that. Anyway, other than it being a reaaaaaaallllly tough-to-accept premise (like a company would allow a dude with a puppet on his hand to have any kind of input as CEO) and having some other weirdness (Mel & Jodie Foster gettin' it on while he's wearing the puppet), there's a lot to like here. Some moving stuff and a nice subplot involving the teenage son. Anyway, this is isn't great but it was entertaining. I'll say 6/10, maybe 6.5. Definitely not up to the Tabedoza line of 7.

As for Jennifer Lawrence? She's really good in a small role as the love interest of the teen son.

Lone Survivor

I admit it, I'm a big-time fan of Mark Wahlberg. He's easily my favorite movie star at the moment. He plays Marcus Luttrell, one of a four-man Navy Seals team sent in for a mission against a camp in Afghanistan. While waiting to attack, they are discovered and make the mistake of letting the discoverers go. They warn the camp and the four Americans are soon under attack. What follows is an extremely tense, extended battle sequence. As the title implies, only one guy survives - that's not a spoiler - but how it happens is pretty darn remarkable. Based on a true story, this is a terrific movie. It kinda plays like an "Afghan version of Black Hawk Down" but with some twists. The cast is excellent, including a nice turn by Taylor Kitsch, one of my favorites from the Friday Night Lights TV show. Highly recommended - 9/10.

42

This was very good. It wasn't great but it was very good. It definitely has something of a TV-movie kind of feel to it and it's certainly not breaking any new ground, but it's good. My wife and nephew, who were not super familiar with Jackie's story, got a lot out of it. Me, already familiar with the story in a lot of detail, not so much. But it was definitely well-done. And Harrison Ford was very good as Branch Rickey. 7/10.

American Hustle

Can't say I loved it as much as others have but I liked it. Seems like all the pieces are there for greatness but never quite got there. Some great acting as others have mentioned. Bale is all kinds of awesome. And good God, Amy Adams. She is awesome and.. hoo boy... scorching hot would be an understatement. Wasn't as impressed with JLaw. OK but nothing special. On a sidenote - my wife complained about the constant barrage of f-bombs. While that stuff doesn't generally bother me - and didn't here - she has a point. A lot of movies - this one included - replace actual quality dialogue with f-bombs and it's annoying. Anyway, 7/10.

Dallas Buyers Club

In a word? Overrated. Matthew McConaughey plays a man infected with HIV/AIDS who puts together a group to import drugs from outside the country in order to treat themselves. Based on a true story. I'm impressed with McConaughey's dedication in losing all a ton of weight for his role but wasn't impressed with his actual acting. Not bad but not great. The movie itself was pretty "eh". Interesting story but not great. And long. Really, really, really, really long. My wife liked it more than I but even she said it felt really long. REALLY long. So, uh, yeah - 6/10.

Her

Joaquin Phoenix plays Theodore, a profoundly depressed man living in a near-future version of LA. He buys an operating system with true AI that takes on a female persona, voiced by Scarlett Johansson. They develop a relationship and he eventually falls in love with her. This is an incredible movie with Phoenix expertly portraying the sadness and loneliness of his character and the joys he experiences when the relationship blossoms. This is also a weird movie with some incredibly strange scenes. Theo's relationship is not seen as all that unusual and others have the same type with their own devices. Can't say enough about the performance from Phoenix - quite possibly the best acting I've ever seen. Just incredible. And the added bonus of Amy Adams, a top, top favorite of mine. This was far and away my favorite movie of 2013/14 and is easily in my top 10 all-time. 10/10.