Two Lives

This German/Norwegian drama is written wonderfully & acted extremely well all around - a poignant story. 4/5

Two Lives on Netflix

The Countess

Delphy's opus is interesting & tells a well rounded story but is weak in the acting department. Good, not great. 3/5

The Countess on Netflix

Eyes Without a Face

This classic French thriller is certainly creepy & eerie but not quite as potent as I had expected. 3/5

Eyes Without a Face on Netflix

Horrible Bosses 2

Like the first film, surprisingly LOL funny with great chemistry between the actors. I really love these. 4/5

Horrible Bosses 2 on Netflix

The Grand Budapest Hotel

It's simply actually. Either you like Wes Anderson movies or you don't. I liked early Anderson but have grown tired & very annoyed at his mid-to-late absurdist comedy. I don't enjoy it, I don't find it amusing or endearing, and I'm certainly tired of his directorial style. This latest film was wittier than most but still ludicrous in that way that simply annoys me. It gets a half a star for the humor though and for Fiennes' performance, which I truly enjoyed. 3.5/5

The Grand Budapest Hotel on Netflix

The Devil's Hand

A perfectly average horror flick/thriller although I did like the ending, which was exactly what I hoped for. 3/5

The Devil's Hand on Netflix

The Theory of Everything

I've still to write about "Birdman" and "Whiplash", but I'm finding this review considerably easier. If one sat down to design a movie to attract Oscar attention, if one tried to distill everything conventionally seen as "Oscar worthy", one would produce this movie. All of the tropes about what types of films win Oscars are present and accounted for here. They are all done exceptionally well, don't get me wrong. Redmayne is as exceptional as he's ever been, and Jones is positively luminous throughout. But it's just so expected, so ordinary a film, so utterly and completely Oscar bait that I found myself drifting. This is as safe of a film as one can make in Hollywood, and, in good conscience, I can no longer award such safety with glittery awards. And as good as Redmayne was (and he truly was exceptional, let's make no mistake there), I cannot see his performance being better or more tranformative than Scott Haze in "Child of God" or James McAvoy in "Filth". Neither of whom, of course, were nominated, because "Child of God" and "Filth" were most certainly not safe films. So my review of "The Theory of Everything" boils down to it's good, but far too safe and basic to garner award notice from me. 4/5

The Theory of Everything on Netflix

Talk to Her

I'm on the fence with this. It was interesting & provocative but not quite the showstopper I expected. 3/5

Talk to Her on Netflix

The Hollow Crown: 2 Henry IV

Magnificent as always, this series brings the text to life so perfectly with exquisite acting. 5/5

The Hollow Crown: 2 Henry IV on Netflix

Heatstroke

The acting in this action thriller was just terrible and the script was nearly as bad. A waste of time. 2/5

Heatstroke on Netflix

The Skin I Live In

This Pedro Almodóvar thriller is seriously disturbed, I love how the story is slowly revealed. Twisted. 4/5

The Skin I Live In on Netflix

The Broken Circle Breakdown

The non-linear structure of this film is perfection, it's tragedy is almost magical. And also, I am now desperate for the music in this film to be on my iPod. Loved this so much, I cried so hard. Exquisite. 5/5

The Broken Circle Breakdown on Netflix

What Richard Did

The great acting & interesting dilemma of the story is undermined by lack of development of character & plot. 3/5

What Richard Did on Netflix

Vernon, Florida

This Morris documentary is strange - there is no focus or story to it, it's just odd people telling tales. 2/5

Vernon, Florida on Netflix

The Lesser Blessed

This was a solid story but the acting by the leads was mediocre. With stronger acting it would be a 4. 3/5

The Lesser Blessed on Netflix

Freddy Got Fingered

I read an article not long ago urging people who had seen Tom Green's big screen debut when it was first released and didn't like it to give it another shot, that it really was a work of genius. And as I was a huge Tom Green fan, I decided to do just that. It's just as bad as I remembered. Save yourself the 90 minutes, it's exactly how you have it in your mind. 2/5

Freddy Got Fingered on Netflix

Starred Up

This dark & poignant drama about violent men in prison was just stunning - amazing acting by Jack O'Connell. 4/5

Starred Up on Netflix

Foxcatcher

Bear with me, this will get long. I've literally been waiting for over a year to see this film. I remember the very early trailers last year, and telling everyone I knew that this film, "Foxcatcher", looked to be amazing. I remember when its release was delayed for several months because the film's producers wanted to make sure Steve Carrell was in contention for the Oscars. I remember all the talk about how amazing Carrell was, and how powerful the film was, and so I waited anxiously for this film to arrive in my mailbox, waiting for tonight. And the trouble is, I feel I'm still waiting. This movie never got off the ground for me. The plot felt sparse and full of holes. I never got a sense of character motivation, or growth, or why things took the turns they did. The script not only let me down, but it let down it's two main stars. Tatum was better than I've ever seen him, but the tragedy was with Carrell. He was transformative, no doubt about it. His performance was great, but the script left him with precious little screen time and not much in the way of meat to hang his hat on. Because of this, I felt this film wasted what perhaps was the performance of Carrell's life. There simply was not enough there there, and certainly not enough to deserve an Oscar nod. I would rather have seen that spot go to James McAvoy for "Filth", or maybe even to Miles Teller for "Whiplash" - certainly McAvoy's performance was better on every level than Carrell's was. All in all, it was an average film with one outstanding performance in Tatum and a very notable one in Carrell... but that's it. It's with sadness that I can only give this film 3 stars. I had hoped for so much more. 3/5

Foxcatcher on Netflix

The Judge

Team Downey's first film is a well constructed drama with terrific performances from RDJ & Duvall. Well done. 3.5/5

The Judge on Netflix

Lee Daniels' The Butler

The best parts of this film are the actors they got to play the presidents - a good film, not great. 3/5

Lee Daniels' The Butler on Netflix