Ironclad

Oh wow, this was truly excellent. I always seem to forget how awesome Paul Giamatti is, and then I see him slaying in a film like this and I remember why I love him. Everything in this film is on point. The script is tight, the direction really compelling, and all the acting is excellent. It's also really violent, so be warned. An excellent film. 4.5/5

Ironclad on Netflix

Me Before You

I believe this movie gets a bad rap because of it's very controversial stance on ending life. Many people object morally to the notion that a quadriplegic person could and should have the right to end their life. I get that, I do, and, as a mental health professional, I would want to do everything I could to help change this character's mind. However, as a mental health professional, I also know that, if someone is determined to end their life, there really isn't anything you can do about it, and I would want it to happen in as kind and loving a manner as possible. I think the characters in this film were well scripted, the acting was lovely, and the direction solid. It's a tough movie on some levels, but I enjoyed it all the same. 3.5/5

Me Before You on Netflix

Woman in Gold

This is a lovely and powerful film about stolen art restitution - wonderful performances by Mirren & Reynolds. 4/5

Woman in Gold on Netflix

The Imitation Game

While this will be longer than a simple tweet, it won't be an essay like some of my last Oscar reactions. It won't be because I've already written what I need to say in my review of "The Theory of Everything", wherein I discuss how Redmayne's performance was wonderful, but yet so safe and predictably Oscar-bait that I could not, in good conscience, reward it. The same is true here. Cumberbatch is lovely and all, but let's have some real talk here. He is playing a high-functioning Autistic Savant with a flat affect, and frankly there isn't much meat to a role like that. It doesn't require the complexity of skill that so many others showed, and the movie itself was, like "Theory", predictable and safe. I won't bother listing the three nominees I still think should have had these spots - I think I've drummed for them enough. Suffice it to say this was a good but terribly safe movie. 4/5

The Imitation Game on Netflix