Movie #1121 ........................."Sisters"

Movie #1121 "Sisters"   is a rarety in that it is a comedy strictly for adults.  We can number them on our one hand of those that have had "legs" lately --- Bridesmaids, Hangover, etc.  I wouldn't really put most of Adam Sandler's films in that category because they aren't really as good --- but this one, I would.  Yes, it is RAUNCHY, with a capital R, but the chemistry among the cast members (esp. the two sisters, and Weist and Brolin as mom/dad) and the amount of jokes other than the sexual and scatalogical kind, rate it higher than Sandler's stuff.  This film is being touted as a female Hangover film, but I personally didn't get through the Hangover films, so I can't compare.  There isn't much of a plot --- in that way it's a lot like "Animal House,"  (crude for crude's sake, at times), but probably won't be ever in the classic category like "Animal House" for a number of reasons I don't need to go into.  But it is funny fluff.  Now I can't recommend it to many of you because of the subject matter --- and it crosses the silly line, but there are some very funny moments, and during the holidays, it's tough to find a watchable comedy, and this might be the one for you.  I would give it 3.5 out of 5, and it has a 68% from rotten tomatoes, and that's not bad for a comedy at all.  I don't know what else to say --- I never like to choose comedies for other people because our senses of humor differ so much, but one thing I can say is I will never look at a ballerina music box in the same way ever again!  Enough said!  Happy Holidays!

Sisters

2015 R   I would give it 3.5 stars out of 5.  Rated R

rated 3.5 stars

3.5

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Forced to clean up their childhood bedroom one last time, adult sisters Maura and Jane return to the family home. As long as they're there, they decide to return to high school as well -- throwing the party to end all parties for their ex-classmates.

Cast: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph

movie # 1122 ........................"The Good Dinosaur"

Movie #1122 "The Good Dinosaur"was a bit of a disappointment to me.   I wanted to see it because it is nominated for a Critic Choice award and a Golden Globe for best animation, and I don't think it deserves to win either one ---- not that I have seen everything in the category yet, but I think I have seen one that would beat it hands down, and that is the Peanuts movie.  That one is so full of life --- so vibrant --- so awe-inspiring  (you know, when you stop a minute in the frenzy of action and say "awwwwwwwwww!"  This one has a simple story, but there's really a lot of violence ---- I can't remember a friendly bird --- birds really get a bad rap in this one ---- nature is mean most of the time with water rushing to wreak havoc in the dinosaur Arlo a couple of times, with deadly consequences! The two travelers (the dinosaur and his mute friend) just share one violent episode after another.  I do admit I had a lump in my throat at the goodbye, but really, looking back on the film, I feel it is a film Charles Darwin would point to and say, "See --- survival of the fittest!" because it shows one animal victimizing another.....And surprise!  Lots of females are in on the tech part of this one (cinematographer, for one BIG job!)  I'm sorry, this is not "Toy Story" and if you had a choice to see this or Peanuts, it's a no brainer --- the Peanuts film!!!

The Good Dinosaur

2015PGRated PGAverage rating: 3.6136

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Visualizing an Earth where the great dinosaur extinction never occurred, this animated saga follows an Apatosaurus named Arlo as he makes his way through harsh terrain. During the course of his journey, he's befriended by a human boy.

Movie #1120 ......................."Wish Upon a Christmas"

Movie #1120  "Wish Upon a Christmas" is a  cute story that doesn't go to extremes to get the magic or its point across.  Likable three actors:  the owner of the ornament factory, his son, and the woman he used to date who has come to the factory to make cuts so the company doesn't belly up.  That usually means firing people, so they aren't happy to meet her.  To be likable, and yet fire people, is something the actress/character is able to be ---- and the guy is a regular guy, easily identifiable with almost anyone we know. Except that he has baggage he carries around --- his wife has been dead for three years (or so) and he is trying to raise his son on his own.  By the end, lessons have been learned by the characters AND the audience, and there is left a warm feeling toward xmas!  Who could ask for anything more in a Hallmark Christmas film!  (Just some clunky dialogue kept it from being a 5 for me!)















WISH UPON A STAR    --  t.v. movie 2015           I would give it 4 out of 5 stars
A widower's son asks Santa for someone special for his dad. Meanwhile, his Dad's old high school sweetheart, now a successful corporate actuary, comes to town to shut down his factory and the major employer in the charming old-fashioned town. With a little help from a distinguished old man with a white beard mysteriously come to town looking for a lost bauble, everyone gets their happy ending.

Director:

 Terry Ingram

Stars:

 Aaron Ashmore,  Larisa Oleynik

Movie #1119 ........................."A Christmas Blessing" (t.v. movie)

Movie #1119 "A Christmas Blessing" or what I would term "Grey's Anatomy Christmas movie" because it is like a medical show,  and almost half the film was in a hospital room.  I picked it to watch because I saw that Neil Patrick Harris was in it, and Angus T. Jones (from two and 1/2 men), but there were way too many people sick in this small town.  Ironically, NPH leaves his hospital job and comes back to his small town home town because of being burned out, and people are asking him to look over babies while he is checking their spark plugs!  He can't get away from it.  And what coincidences with the red shoes.  They are his mom's (who died when he was 10 years old), and his dad accidentally gave them away, and a homeless man finds them in a bin and gives them to his son, telling him that they were his mom's shoes --- confused yet?  don't worry, it all isn't really worth it.  Lots of soap opera stuff happening in this film, and  I was disappointed because the actors were more than capable.








A CHRISTMAS BLESSING  2005        I'd give it 3 stars out of 5
Nathan Andrews, a medical resident, goes back home to his small town after he loses a teenager on the operating table. He joins his dad and his mechanic's business and becomes a basketball coach to some youths. Here he meets Charlie and Meghan. This is based on a novel by Donna VanLiere and a continuation of "The Christmas Shoes." Meghan is trying to start up a day care business for single, working mothers and Charlie is ill. All their lives are connected and Nathan meets someone from his past.

A young doctor encounters romance and deals with his past when he returns to his hometown during the holidays.

Director:

 Karen Arthur

Writers:

 Wesley Bishop (teleplay),  Donna Van Liere (book) 

Stars:

 Neil Patrick Harris,  Rebecca Gayheart,  Angus T. Jones 

Movie #1118 .........................."Spotlight"

Movie #1118 "Spotlight" is a film that will be in contention for awards season, and it is worthy of the accolades, which is a little surprising since we've seen the film before in something like "All the Presidents Men" and others.  The topic isn't new to us, either, and many of us even followed the story back in 2001 when the Boston Cardinal was brought under charges for having knowledge of abusive priests in his jurisdiction and covered it up by moving them on to other parishes.  What's impressive with the film is that with all the above going against it, the film is able to keep our interest to the end ---- it helps to have a topnotch cast, who all work on their own as characters and really as  actors, too --- what I mean is that they all have their own baggage they carry around (individual stories) and they hardly work together in the field, but like baseball players who have a base to cover and a job to do, they investigate with varying methods.  Mark Ruffalo seems the most passionate, and he is pushy, hot on the trail of whoever the next interviewee is --- he's yelling, throwing things, very demonstrative in comparison to the quieter Rachel McAdams who works with her eyes and her pencil.  It's nice to see Brian D'Arcy (just saw him in "Something's Rotten" on Broadway, and he played "Shrek" for years) finish out the Spotlight crew, with his quiet, mannered and intelligent approach to his investigating. And at the helm is Michael Keaton, who has really become an excellent actor and shows this in every scene he has trying to use his friends he grew up with to get more information.  And when they finally all come together to share info, it's quite exciting --- there are minor epiphanies along the way when they get new information or new clues and these are what feed into our interest to keep watching.  I couldn't help thinking throughout the film that this was really old information that we should have picked up back in the early 2000's, but 9/11 and gun shootings have been keeping us more busy and stories like these haven't been in the spotlight ---- but that they should be and we should be doing something about it.  Thank goodness for the journalists who work daily to get the story RIGHT, instead of just trying to get the scoop before anyone else.

Spotlight

2015 R Rated R

rated 3.3 stars

3.3

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Revealing a string of cover-ups stretching back decades, a team of "Boston Globe" reporters exposes the Catholic Archdiocese's history of keeping reports about child molestation and other priest-initiated abuse under wraps.

Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams

Movie #1117 ........................"Just in Time for Christmas"

Movie #1117 "Just in Time for Christmas" was the best of the Hallmark films I have seen these past couple of days ---- why?  It has the typical love story, it follows pretty much the formula, and it has the "magic" in it , but this time the magic didn't make the story line go berserk and hard to believe ---- it was woven in so well, that it didn't lose my interest.  I guess it helps that the two lovebirds  have such an ease to their acting and their commitment to each other that it makes their conflict quite believable.  Also, we don't see them fall in love ---- they are in love already, and the conflict is over where they should live......again, totally believable.  I'd give this one 4 stars out of 5, and if you get a chance to see it over the christmas holidays, i recommend it over many of the other Hallmark films they've had on their channel the past couple of days.













A young psychology professor must choose between moving across the country for her dream job or staying in her hometown to marry the man of her dreams. On a foggy December night, she gets little help from a Coachman, who brings her three years into the future and shows her what her life will become

Director:

 Sean McNamara

Writers:

 Helen Frost,  Don MacLeod

Stars:

 Eloise Mumford,  Michael Stahl-David,  Christopher Lloyd 

Movie #1116 ........................." A Christmas Detour"

Movie #1116  "A Christmas Detour" was a likable film about two likable people on a road trip.  It really isn't too different from other romantic comedies --- except for the secondary couple that came along --- they added to the humor, the conflict, and they juxtaposed their relationship with the one that was just starting.  So I liked that addition.  What I didn't like?  Why does her boyfriend have to be such a twit, and his folks so evil?  Way exaggerated here.  How did she ever think she'd want to marry this twit?  Hard to believe, which makes the movie hard to take. Otherwise, the movie is winsome, and I enjoyed it, and actually watched most of it, instead of blogging or doing whatever during it.  















"A CHRISTMAS DETOUR"    2015       I would give it 3.5 stars out of 4

Two New York City-bound travelers find themselves inextricably linked when a snowstorm reroutes them to an airport hotel in Buffalo. The pair are joined on this misadventure by an older couple named Frank and Maxine trying to get to Connecticut. As their madcap journey ensues, our foursome will find plenty of surprises in store

Director:

 Ron Oliver

Writer:

 Mark Amato

Stars:

 Candace Cameron Bure,  Paul Greene,  Sarah Strange