Mike's Movie Tips

2015 was a fantastic year for movies.  Not only were there 22 movies competing for a spot on my Top Ten list, they were spread out over the course of the year.  Usually, Hollywood saves the best films for the end of the year, trying to get the attention of the Academy.  Not so here.  Even back in February (January, if you want to count " Unbroken "), there were excellent movies coming out.  It seems that no one liked " 50 Shades of Grey ," but while it didn't earn a spot on this list, I highly enjoyed it. So many good movies has a downside.  Moviegoers, especially those who don't go to the movies that often, will miss some.  It's a shame.  Still, for those who are looking for good movies, there were plenty of choices. Narrowing the field was a challenge.  Obviously, the four movies that earned a 4/4 were going to be on it and the top, so that left 16 movies for six slots.  Tough choices had to be made.  Then came ordering them, which proved to be eve

3.5/4 Starring: Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price Not Rated (contains Brief Violence) Everyone loves a good mystery.  Witness the popularity of movies like " Seven " or anything by Alfred Hitchcock.  Hell, Hitch essentially defined the genre.  While the Master of Suspense didn't have anything to do with this film (it was directed by Otto Preminger), I have no doubt that he would have been pleased. When the film opens, Laura Hunt (Tierney) is already dead.  She was murdered with a shotgun blast to the face.  Detective Mark McPherson (Andrews) is on the case, and has narrowed the suspect pool to two men: her patron, Waldo Lydecker (Webb), and her (ex?) fiancée, Shelby Carpenter (Price).  Both have motive: Waldo had a possessive streak and Shelby perhaps just wanted her for her money.  But which one is it? "Laura" has the benefit of having a screenplay that is frequently brilliant.  Character development is strong and much of the dia

My dad asked me tonight why I should be so negative as to compile a list of the worst films of the year.  I mean, who would want to read it? Quite a bit, as it turns out.  Each year I've done it they've earned a lot of hits.  Plus every other film critic does it, so why not me (and if you use that jumping off a bridge analogy that everyone's mom did, you do not have permission to read my reviews ever again). There were some definite stinkers this year, and I had more than enough choices for a Bottom 10 list, but on average it wasn't as painful as in previous years (for example, there are no movies that earned a 0/4).  That said, the movies on this list are still really bad. 10.   Hot Pursuit .  I dislike the term "chick flick" because a good movie is a good movie regardless of who it's aimed at.  However, if there is a movie that fits that descriptor, it's "Hot Pursuit."  And it gives all chick movies a bad name.  The humor is trite, th

3/4 Starring: Will Smith, Alec Baldwin, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Albert Brooks, David Morse Rated PG-13 for Thematic Material including Some Disturbing Images "Concussion" is a safe, reliable "David vs. Goliath" film.  No more, no less.  What it does, though, it does well.  The film is consistently compelling and features a great performance from Will Smith. Former Pittsburgh Steelers player and hometown hero Mike Webster (Morse) has just been found dead.  The final months of his life he had been acting strangely, losing his money and living as a homeless person.  The pathologist examining him, Nigerian-born Dr. Bennett Omalu (Smith), is curious how a man who has everything could suddenly go insane and die like this.  Using his own money, he performs a series of tests and discovers that Webster suffered from a degenerative brain disease caused from repeated head trauma.  Of course, that does not go over well with the NFL, who goes on the attack after someone dares t

2.5/4 Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Robert DeNiro, Isabella Rossellini, Edgar Ramirez, Elizabeth Rohm, Bradley Cooper Rated PG-13 for Brief Strong Language The role of Joy Magnano was made for Jennifer Lawrence.  It's a part that requires spunk, stubborn determination and a bit of luck.  It's the kind of role that Lawrence plays so well. Joy (Lawrence) is a single mom living in a very dysfunctional house.  Part of the reason is that she can't say no to anyone.  Her grandmother (Diane Ladd) lives upstairs, her soap opera-addicted mother (Virginia Madsen) never leaves the house, and her dad's (DeNiro) new wife just returned him, so he's moving into the basement, right next to her ex-husband (Ramirez).  Joy has been an inventor all her life, but life seems to have taken her in a direction that she didn't plan on.  One day while on a boat with her family, she cuts herself on some spilled wine glass.  That gives her an idea: the Miracle Mop.  You can clean it

3.5/4 Starring (voices): Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos, Keith David, Michael-Leon Woodley, Jim Cummings, Peter Bartlett, Jennifer Cody, Jenifer Lewis, Oprah Winfrey, Terence Howard, John Goodman Rated G In some ways, "old-fashioned" can be seen as a criticism.  That's not the case here.  "The Princess and the Frog" is a throwback to Disney classics like " Beauty and the Beast " and " The Lion King ."  While not as good as either of those, it comes close. Tiana (Rose) is a hard-working waitress in New Orleans.  Her dream, nursed by her parents James (Howard) and Eudora (Winfrey), is to open a classy restaurant in the city.  She works two jobs to reach her goal, but money is hard to come by.  At the same time, Prince Naveen of Maldonia (Campos) is visiting, and Tiana's friend Charlotte (Cody) is hoping to marry him.  Before that can happen, the evil Dr. Facilier (David) has put a curse on him and turned him into a frog.  He asks Tia

2.5/4 Starring: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Linda Cardellini, Thomas Haden Church Rated PG-13 for Thematic Elements, Crude and Suggestive Content, and for Language Will Ferrell can be hilarious if he is used correctly.  With a strong director who knows his talents and how to use them, he can be hysterical.  Left to his own devices, he can be grating.  Although there are many fans of the " Anchorman " movies, I am not among them.  I found them to be two of the worst movies ever made. Fortunately, Sean Anders is not Adam McKay.  He keeps Ferrell in check and makes him stick to the script.  There's none of his infernal screaming or shouting the dialogue in an attempt to make bad dialogue funny.  He's given clever dialogue and funny situations.  And he's required to create a character rather than play himself.  The result is some truly inspired comedy. If only the same could be said for the production as a whole.  I won't claim that it's not funny,

3/4 Starring: Kathryn Isabelle, Antonio Capo, Tristan Risk, John Emmett Tracy, David Lofgren Rated R for Strong Aberrant Violent Content including Disturbing Images, Torture, a Rape, Sexual Content, Graphic Nudity, Language and Brief Drug Use The subject matter of "American Mary" is enough to turn off a sizable majority of the film's potential audience.  I mean, how many people want to see a movie about a girl who gets into the body modification business?  But the film's non-judgmental approach that ensures that this will be anything but a freak show.  Rather, we see it as Mary, the film's heroine/anti-heroine sees it: par for the course. Mary Mason (Isabelle) is an aspiring surgeon.  She's almost done with medical school and about to start her residency.  Unfortunately, she's broke and without a source of income.  While applying for a job at a sleazy strip club, she helpfully puts her skills to use on an injured man.  Her would-be employer, Billy

2/4 Starring: Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Anna Paquin, Sam Neill Rated R for Moments of Extremely Graphic Sexuality Art house films have a reputation for being super serious and obtuse.  Usually it's an unfair assumption, but in the case of "The Piano" such is the reality.  There's a lot of talking and "deep" material here, but it doesn't take a lot of thought to realize that it doesn't add up to much. Ada McGrath (Hunter) has been a mute since the age of six.  Although she uses sign language so her daughter Flora (Paquin) can act as an interpreter, or failing that, she writes on little slips of paper that she keeps around her neck.  But her most precious avenue of communication is her piano.  Only through playing it can she truly express herself. Her father has married her off to a man named Alisdair Stewart (Neill), who lives in New Zealand.  They have never met, and Alisdair is too self-centered to care about Ada's need for the pian

3/4 Starring: Jet Li, Ching Wan Lau, Karen Mok, Francoise Yip, Kong Lung Rated R for Strong Violence including Martial Arts Combat, Some Sexual Content and Language A movie like "Black Mask" is hard to review.  Things like plot, character development and acting aren't considered essential by either the filmmakers or the audience.  They just exist to support the star attraction of martial arts extravaganzas: action scenes.  So since the normal standards one would use to judge this movie don't apply, I must review the action.  And on that level, "Black Mask" is a success. Truth be told, there is a plot, although considering how little is done with it, it's surprising that it's engaging on any level.  The government created a group of supersoldiers who are super fast and super strong, and who feel no pain.  However, when one of them kills a group of policemen in a fit of rage, the government abandons the project.  One of their number, Simon (Li)

3.5/4 Starring: Emjay Anthony, Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner, Allison Tolman, Conchata Ferrell Rated PG-13 for Sequences of Horror Violence/Terror, Language and Some Drug Material "Krampus" is a much better film than you'd think.  The mainstream debut behind the camera of Michael Dougherty, who made the cult hit "Trick 'r Treat," "Krampus" does what one might think to be impossible: create a Christmas horror-comedy that's both scary and funny. The film begins much like a darker version of " Christmas Vacation ."  Actually, it begins with a dead-on satire of Black Friday shenanigans covered by a Christmas tune that might well have been sung by Bing Crosby.  Then it focuses on the Engel family.  Youngest son Max just got into a fight at the pageant with another kid about the existence of Santa (this included a drop-kick on Max's part, but he claims that he was under the influence of candy).  Then, much to the agg

3.5/4 Starring: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Ike Barinholtz, James Brolin, Dianne Wiest, John Leguizamo, John Cena, Madison Davenport Rated R for Crude Sexual Content and Language Throughout, and for Drug Use "Sisters" is funny.  Not subversively or understated funny.  Just plain funny.  I laughed.  And laughed.  And laughed some more.  And when I thought I couldn't laugh any longer, that's when the movie really g ets going. Kate (Fey) and Maura (Poehler) are sisters and best friends.  They're also middle-aged, but have the maturity level of someone half that.  Kate has a full-grown daughter named Hayley (Davenport) who is much more grown up than she is and has been away for a month.  Maura still hasn't gotten over her divorce two years ago.  But when their parents Bucky (Brolin) and Deana (Wiest) decide to sell the home they grew up in to a snobby yuppie couple from New York, they're furious.  While packing up their rooms, they realize that good-girl Ma

3.5/4 Starring: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Harrison Ford, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill Rated PG-13 for Sci-Fi Action Violence To me, "Star Wars" has been just movies.  Great movies, to be sure, but just movies.  I was never a die-hard fan.  I like George Lucas's tinkering with the original trilogy.  I love Episodes I , II , and III (in some ways, more than IV , V , and VI ).  I don't hate the Ewoks.  I think that Jar Jar Binks is funny.  That's all they are though.  Just movies. There.  Got that out of the way... "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," easily the most anticipated movie of the year, does exactly what a sequel/reboot should do: take the core ideas, themes and characters of the original and move them forward while still honoring its roots.  Director J.J. Abrams has a lot of love for the franchise, and it shows.  However, it's sufficiently different enough that it doesn't feel like adulation.  Arguably the f

1.5/4 Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone, James Woods, Rod Steiger, Eric Roberts Rated R for Strong Violence, Sexuality, and Language With Marvel movies, sequels and reboots dominating the summer movie landscape, it's easy to look back fondly at an earlier time when action movies succeeded not by the size of the budget or a built-in audience, but by the skill of the people making them.  Movies like " Speed ," " The Rock ," "Air Force One," "Independence Day" and others make me nostalgic for those times. Of course, not every movie of the 90's was as good as those movies.  " Turbulence ," " Mercury Rising ," and " The Last Boy Scout " were also released at that time.  Despite having a decent concept and the physical appeal of Sylvester Stallone and Sharon Stone, "The Specialist" belongs in the latter camp. May Munro (Stone) wants revenge.  Years ago when she was a little girl, her pa

Stanley Kaufman once said that it is easier to make good drama than good entertainment.  I think that's true.  If you look hard enough, you can find movies that compel and move you, but they're not always "fun."  At least not in the traditional sense.  So while Oscar-bait movies like " Spotlight " or " The Imitation Game " come out every winter, and there's always a classic movie like " 2001: A Space Odyssey " that you have t o see, movies like " Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse " that are simply fun to watch are much more rare. So I have compiled a list of 10 movies that I enjoy when I want to sit back, relax and just be entertained.  No "give and take" required on my part, nothing that's hard to stomach or uncomfortable, no understatement...just pure enjoyment. Of course, everyone has their go-to movies.  This list is a little different.  Big hit movies like " Guardians of the Galaxy " or &

2.5/4 Starring: Michael Keaton, Diane Baker, Morgan Freeman, M. Emmett Walsh, Brian Benben Rated R (probably for Language, Drug Content, and Brief Nudity) Addiction movies come in all shapes and sizes.  Some are feel-good movies ("28 Days") while others are absolutely brutal to watch (" Once Were Warriors ").  Some are realistic (" Smashed ") while others are totally whacked-out ("Requiem for a Dream").  The 1988 film "Clean and Sober" is different because it's not about addiction itself, but addictive personalities. Daryl Poynter (Keaton) is having a really bad day.  A girl he picked up has OD'd on coke in his bed and he can't find a way to pay back the considerable sum that he embezzled from his company.  Unable to get out of the country, he is all out of options when the radio gives him a brilliant idea: a rehab facility with 100% confidentiality.  Daryl hides out there while he figures out what to do with himself

4/4 Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker, Ben Whishaw, Brendan Gleeson, Michelle Fairley, Tom Holland, Cillian Murphy, Charlotte Riley Rated PG-13 for Intense Sequences of Action and Peril, Brief Startling Violence, and Thematic Material There's nothing worse than the feeling of being helpless when the world seems to be against you.  It's especially horrible when you're on a whaling vessel in the 1850's and stranded in the middle of the ocean.  And you have a monstrous whale nearby who is intent on killing you.  Not only does death seem like an inevitability, but it would be a long, torturous one. Ron Howard is one of the rare filmmakers who can make arthouse films appeal to the multiplex crowd.  He is a master craftsmen and, perhaps being an actor himself, knows how to mold his actors into giving compelling performances.  Chris Hemsworth, for example, does not have great range, but in the hands of Ron Howard (who directed him in the underrated " Rush

4/4 Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen, Domhnall Gleeson, Jim Broadbent, Julie Walters, Fiona Glascott, Jane Brennan, Jessica Pare Rated PG-13 for A Scene of Sexuality and Brief Strong Language "Brooklyn" is a much better movie than you'd think.  The film is being marketed as a romance aimed at the " Twilight " crowd, and while it does feature two love stories, it is about much more than that.  It's about cultural assimilation.  It's about self-discovery.  But more potently, it's about longing.  Longing for what we hold dear to us, be it home or the ones we love.  The feeling of longing is palpable from beginning to end. Actually, the comparison to "Twilight," specifically " New Moon ," is appropriate.  Both are about a young woman torn between two men, two cultures and two lives.  When said character is with one, she can't imagine being with the other.  However, that's where the similarities end.  "New Moon

3/4 Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Winona Ryder Rated PG for Thematic Elements and Brief Mild Language Martin Scorcese does Merchant/Ivory. If that sounds strange, well, it is.  Scorcese is known for brutally violent and/or decadent movies like "Taxi Driver," " Goodfellas ," " Gangs of New York " and " The Departed ."  Him making a Victorian era costume drama seems like a very odd choice.  Then again, he did make the raunchy and outrageous " The Wolf of Wall Street ," so maybe it's not as big of a stretch as one might assume. Many of Scorcese's films deal with guilt of some kind, and boy is "The Age of Innocence" ripe with it.  When your life is hermetically sealed off from the rest of society and everyone too wealthy to concern themselves with anything other than what everyone else is doing, you have to watch your step.  And if your in that situation in Victorian era New York City, falling in

3/4 Starring: Juliet Stevenson, Rutger Hauer, Max von Sydow, Priya Darshini, Kranti Redkar,  Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal Rated PG for Thematic Material including Some Images of Human Suffering What makes Mother Theresa so compelling and inspiring is that despite her fears that God has abandoned her and the struggles against India's caste structure, she steadfastly remained compassionate and non-judgmental.  To many, the poor were society's cast-offs, not worthy of a second thought.  To her, they were human beings who deserved help and respect. When the film opens, Theresa (Stevenson) is a sister at Sisters of Loreto in Calcutta.  She dedicated her life to teaching, but she witnessed the suffering of the poor outside her windows.  Eventually, she realized that her true calling was to go beyond the walls of her convent and live among the impoverished and do what she could to help.  Of course, doing so isn't that simple.  It requires permission from the Vatican.  Even when s

1.5/4 Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Gemma Arterton, Anna Kendrick, Jacki Weaver Rated R for Bloody Violence, and for Language including Sexual References In a not entirely strange way, "The Voices" reminded me of the 1998 black comedy " Very Bad Things ."  It's a comedy-thriller with a body count and a tremendous amount of gore that is funnier if someone summarizes the plot for you instead of having to watch the movie. Jerry (Reynolds) is a likable guy.  Socially awkward, yes, but always pleasant and enthusiastic.  He has his eye on Fiona (Arterton), the pretty temp upstairs and his court-appointed psychiatrist, Dr. Warren (Weaver) encourages him to pursue her.  However, what no one at the plant knows is that he's just been released from the mental hospital, and can talk to his dog Bosco (Reynolds) and cat Mr. Whiskers (Reynolds).  But when Jerry gives Fiona a ride home and a misunderstanding leads to her becoming a corpse, Jerry's life is about to ge