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First off, this movie is amazing on several levels. The acting is incredible (largely for the understated nature of all the performances), the story is rich and layered, and the setting feels perfect and immersive. Secondly, this movie is for smart people. I'm pretty sure I didn't successfully work out what was actually going on and I also feel like there were several layers above and below that I never caught on to. Briefly summarizing, Tinker, Tailor... is about tracking down a double agent in the British Secret Intelligence in the early 1970s. Not much action, not even a lot of talking, and particularly lots of time-jumping... but it works well and probably makes sense if you're able to keep track of the shifting time settings and characters and what everyone has said and done. I would heartily recommend this movie if you're feeling like a deep and intelligent thriller and you don't even need to see it in a theater. This movie will work just fine at home.

4/5

Oh look, another movie about vampires and werewolves and vampire slash werewolves and humans and there's some blood. Alright, it's actually much better than that silly synopsis would imply (though that really is basically it). What's interesting and noteworthy about this installment of the Underworld series is that, unlike most vampire-centric movies where we're trying to hunt down the evil wicked vampires, Awakening actually casts the vampires as the sympathetic heroes trying to find a hold to grasp on to after the mass genocide of their race. There are at least a couple twists that turn out to be surprising (to my simple mind) and enhance the entertainment value. I also want to give this movie credit for consistently running at a break-neck speed, never pausing to catch a breath that doesn't at least have gravity. So while I am sure this movie will be tossed aside as just another sequel, I want to say that I found it very entertaining and, in a way, felt like it was over way too soon. Naturally, things are left open for the next in the series, so I expect my hunger for more will be sated in the next couple years.

3/5

It's possible my expectations for this movie were a bit high given all the Oscar buzz and general comments from folks about it being their favorite movie of the year. I found it to be enjoyable enough, but probably not all that memorable. Basic summary, a father who has generally been too busy to deal with his family for the last X years is forced to be the primary parent when his wife is left in a coma after a boating accident. Matt doesn't know how to care for his daughters, he doesn't know how to deal with the acting out and... well, that plot element drops away. It mostly becomes about Matt's wife's affair and how the family comes together to deal with that. That seems like an odd place to go and didn't develop into anything interesting for me. I guess where I'm left is that this movie didn't stand out for me, but did for everyone else. I don't know what made an impression on them, maybe they have families or maybe their spouses cheated on them? Maybe it's just that I can't relate? But in a way, that's where I find fault. A really good movie should be able to put me in that place even if my life experience can't get me there on its own. The Descendants mostly failed to do that for me.

3/5

I really love films that feature WWII dogfighting. Over the years I've played many video games that focus on the WWII air war and I just love and appreciate the courage and skill that comes with being a fighter pilot. Couple that with George Lucas' eye for aerial dogfights and I was sold in a heartbeat. Of course, Lucas didn't write or direct this movie, but you can definitely feel his hand on the production... and that's not entirely a good thing. I really wanted to like this movie, I think, of the many stories that came out of WWII, the Tuskegee Airmen is absolutely a story worth telling, but this wasn't it. Red Tails suffers from some of the worst writing I've experienced along with some unfortunate acting and a story that lacked a satisfying climax. I will give it credit for some awesome aerial action sequences (all CG I assume), but that can't make the final experience enjoyable. I will close by saying that, even with my distaste for the film, it still received a healthy round of applause when the credits started rolling, so clearly someone enjoyed this movie, it just wasn't me.

2/5

Haywire is a peculiar sort of covert-ops thriller that can be seen as a noteworthy opposite approach to the genre from something like Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol. Where Ghost Protocol was huge and loud with snappy writing, loud music, and huge budgets, Haywire is subdued, sparse, and has a soundtrack that is almost entirely smooth jazz. It was definitely an odd sensation to be watching a thriller that seems hellbent on putting the audience to sleep. In some ways, the differences were refreshing, a different take on something that's become fairly ordinary is nice, but it was also a little difficult to stay awake at times, and the lazy pacing definitely didn't help things. I guess in the end it gets a shrug from me. It wasn't terrible, but it also wasn't much of a thriller in the traditional sense.

2/5

Let's just get this out of the way, Ghost Protocol was a very entertaining movie. Except for all the usual weird mumbo jumbo tech talk that never makes sense, it was fairly well scripted and the action sequences were very well put together and even the acting was decent. And then there was Simon Pegg who pretty much stole the show whenever he was on screen. That really makes me look forward to the next Star Trek movie. Anyway, it's a fun movie, go see it!

3/5