Movies you saw in August 2016

actually viewed these late in July but here goes.

Sicario  (2015) 2 hour crime-action movie about FBI and CIA agents fighting the Mexican drug cartel. stars Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro. thought it was a well acted movie but really not a lot of "slam-bang" action scenes and it is kind of slow in spots. it does have a couple crazy "plot twists" which kept me interested. has a very high 93% "fresh" from Rotten Tomatoes which I think is a bit over done BUT the "arty-smarty" crowd loved it and it received a number of award nomination. it is definitely worth a look by crime-action fans. plays again on EPIX1 Sunday August 7th @ 5:00pm and Monday the 8th @ 5:00am pacific time. I rate it   of four

War (2007) another 1 hour 45 minute crime-action-revenge movie staring Jason Statham as an FBI agent looking for payback on the Yakuza assassin, played by Jet Li, who murdered his partner and the man's family. as with most Statham and/or Li movies it has plenty fights and oodles of ordnance. has a really crazy "plot twist" at the end. this one has pretty much non-stop action and I was thoroughly entertained. plays again on Showtime Two Tuesday August 2nd @ 6:25pm and Showtime-Extreme Friday August 5th @ 10:15pm. I rate it    of four

Vice (2015) 95 minute scifi-action movie about a "Westworld" style resort where people can live their most violent fantasies. one of the female robot workers, played by Ambyr Childers, becomes self-aware and escapes to the "outside world". the action is the escaped robot and a local poilce detective, played by Thomas Jane trying to expose the dangers of the Vice Resort while resort security is hunting them. was just OK action BUT Ambyr Childers is easy on the eyes. Bruce Willis plays the owner of the resort who is a "nasty baztard" villain. it is worth a look IF you like scifi. I think the horrid 4% "fresh" from Rotten Tomatoes is really not deserved as it is not THAT bad. plays on HBO2 again Wednesday August 3rd @ 12:00pm & 3:00pm and Saturday August 6th @ 6:20am & 9:20am. I rate it   of four

The Stranger (1946) Orson Welles directed "film noir" suspense thriller staring Welles, Edward G. Robinson and Loretta Young. somewhat slow but interesting plot about a US government agent (Robinson) trying to track down a Nazi war criminal believed to be living in a New England village (Welles). Young plays the Welles characters unsuspecting wife in her usual "effected" way. does have an outstanding ending scene. now I know where Alfred Hitchcock learned "suspense". it was from Orson Welles. worth a look for Welles's directing, camara work and "atmospherics". it is NO Citizen Kane (what movie IS ???) but worth a look. played on Turner Classic Movies and hopefully will repeat soon. I rate it    of four

two classic Steve McQueen movies played on Turner Classic Movies the last two nights

The Cincinnati Kid (1965) one of the great gambling dramas of all time stars McQueen as "The Kid" and Edward G. Robinson as Lancey "The Man" Howard with Karl Malden as Shooter, Ann-Margret as Shooter's cheating wife Melba and Tuesday Weld as "The Kid's" love interest Christian. supporting rolls by Joan Blondell as Lady Fingers the card dealer, Rip Torn as the rich guy Slade out looking for "payback" on "The Man" after being "gutted" by him in a poker game with players in "the big game" Jack Weston as Pig (who is excellent), Cab Calloway as Yeller and Milton Selzer as Sokal. anyone who has NOT seen this movie before, shame on you. it is the predecessor to ALL the great poker themed movies EVER. I rate it     of four

The Sand Pebbles (1966) "epic" movie about a an independent and rebellious Navy machinist mate aboard a US Navy gunboat in 1920's China. stars McQueen, Richard Attenborough, Richard Crenna, Candice Bergen and Japanese-American actor Mako. VERY long movie at 3 hours 15 minutes but director Robert Wise probably felt he needed that much time to tell the story in the Richard McKenna novel. the film was nominated for 8 Oscars including Best Picture, Best Actor (Steve McQueen), Best Supporting Actor (Mako) and Best Original Music Score (Jerry Goldsmith). well acted good movie with some decent action BUT does have quite a bit of "filler". I rate it   of four

Gandhi (1982) the Richard Attenborough directed biographical epic about the life of Indian pacifist Mohandas Gandhi who used non-violent "non-cooperation" as a tool to get the British to give independence to his country after WWII. was a "tour de force" for Ben Kingsley as Gandhi with Roshan Seth as the Hindu leader Pandit Nehru and Alyque Padamsee as the Muslim leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah. other "name players" in the movies are Candice Bergen, Edward Fox, Sir John Gielgud, Trevor Howard, John Mills, Nigel Hawthorne and Martin Sheen with an early in his career bit part by Daniel Day-Lewis. Gandhi won 8 Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director (Attenborough) and Best Actor (Kingsley). it has an 88% "fresh" rating from Rotten Tomatoes. it is a long movie @ 3 hours 10 minutes BUT Attenborough really needed that length to cover Gandhi's life. played on the Encore-Classics and hopefully will repeat soon. I think it is a VERY well acted "must see" movie at least once and I rate it     of four

saw Concussion last night, Will Smith as the nigerian doctor taking on the NFL, hated it, very lightweight, dumbed down, didn't explore the issue in the detail it should have, unneccesary plot with his g/f.

Love The Sand Pebbles,and I agree, it needed to be that long although if you enjoy a movie well enough, time is not to much

somewhat surprised at you reaction to Concussion, mr_bollox. the Mrs and I thought Will Smith as Dr. Bennet Omalu was an Oscar nomination worth performance. I guess to each his own. I can't STAND Interstellar but Mad_Skillz123 thinks it is a top 20 movie of all time

Despicable Me 2 (2013) finally saw the the sequel to the 2010 original on for the first time on FX Movies the other night and it was absolutely as much FUN as the first one with surprisingly fast action and VERY funny in spots. runs a short 100 minutes. I was thoroughly entertained and could watch it again. I am really looking forward to seeing the "prequel"/spin-off Minions (2015) which hopefully will be on a movie channel soon. I rate both this movie and the original    of four

Jason Bourne (2016) Matt Damon, Alicia Vikander.

School Ties (1992)

i saw the revenant last weekend and i have to say i thought this was an outstanding movie.  awesome cinematography, seemed realistic, good acting (although ridiculous to give dicaprio an oscar for this one) and best of all, kind of had a tree of life feel to it. 

MI-5 (2015) pretty good spy-action movie with some interesting "plot twists". kind of a John le Carre style story but with the British secret service chasing terrorists instead of Russian spys. stars Peter Firth, Kit Harington and Amra Mallassi. not a lot of "slam-bang" action but the mystery and "twists" kept me interested. plays again on HBO-Signature Sunday August 21st @ 4:45am. I rate it   of four

Victor Frankenstein (2015). a somewhat different telling of the Frankenstein story staring James McAvoy as Doctor Victor Frankenstein and Daniel "Harry Potter" Radcliffe as Igor with Jessica Brown Findlay as Igor's love interest Lorelei and Andrew Scott as Inspector Turpin who is out to destroy Victor. had good action in spots esp at the start and finish and I found Radcliffe as Igor to be a compelling character. plays again on 5 Max Tuesday August 23rd @ 4:05pm and Action Max Wednesday August 24th @ 10:55am & Saturday August 27th @ 7:00pm. has a low 25% "fresh" Rotten Tomatoes and was a box office loser BUT I found it interesting with excellent FX and CGI. I rate it   of four

Did U like Sicario? I think it was awesome. I saw suicide squad, I expected much more.. 

John Carter (2012) sci-fi / action fantasy based on "A Princess of Mars", the first book in the "Barsoom" (the Martian name for their planet) series of novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs. stars Taylor Kitsch in the title role and Lynn Collins as his love interest Martian Princess maiden Dejah Thoris. I am a sucker for sci-fi and this was pretty much non-stop action and it was entertaining. is a bit convoluted with it's jumping back and forth between Civel War era Earth and "Barsoom" but it does have an interesting "plot twist" ending. played on AMC the other night and hopefully will repeat soon. I think Taylor Kitsch gets a "bad rap" for his movies. have seen this one plus the action movies Battleship (2012) and Savages (2012) and found those to also be fast paced entertainment. Lynn Collins is definitely one "sexy beast" in this movie. I rate it   of four

Rocky Balboa (2006) sixth installment of the Rocky franchise with Balboa now in semi-retirement and the owner and operator of a local Italian restaurant called "Adrian's", named after his late wife. stars (obvoiusly) Sylvester Stallone in the title roll and Burt Young as Paulie, Rocky's brother-in-law in his last appearance in the Rocky series. features real-life boxer Antonio Tarver playing Mason "The Line" Dixon, the current World Heavyweight Champion in the film. thought it was pretty well done by Sly and the rest of the crew and a good lead into Creed (2015). plays almost daily on various Showtime channels Wednesday August 31st thru Sunday September 4th. I rate it   of four

Creed (2015) latest installment (and hopefully the last) of the Rocky franchise stars Sylvester Stallone once again as Rocky, Michael B. Jordan as Adonis "Donnie" Johnson the son of a woman who had an  extramarital affair with Apollo Creed, Tessa Thompson as Bianca, Donnie's love interest, and Phylicia Rashad as Mary Anne Creed: Apollo Creed's widow who had taken in the homeless Donnie early in the film. I thought it was VERY well acted esp by Sly and he fully deserved his Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination and Golden Globe WIN. the movie has a strong 94% "fresh" from Rotten Tomatoes. plays again on EPIX channels Sunday September 4 and Monday the 5th. I rate it    of four AND I also think this is an excellent place to END the franchise. I do NOT know HOW Sly Stallone could have a better finish

I too thought Creed was an excellent movie, and it's personally my favorite of the Rocky movies.  I know I'm in the minority here but the fighting seemed to be the most realistic of them all.  

Creed to me was like a punch you don't see coming.  I was surprised at how good it was.  The ole fuddy duddy's should have given Stallone the oscar.  I guess in the end they just couldn't do it because of Rhinestone and Stop or my Mom will Shoot.  Lol.