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, ...

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 ...

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 s...

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...

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 th...