Movies you saw in May 2016

All Things Must Pass (2015) interesting  documentary about rise and fall of Tower Records, and  rebellious founder, Russ Solomon. the opening line? In 1999, Tower Records made $1 billion. In 2006, the company filed for bankruptcy. most say the rise of internet music "file sharing" like Napster killed them BUT their Tower brand stores in Japan that got sold to the Japanese in the bankruptcy are STILL going strong. sure was one CRAZY company to work for. runs just over 90 minutes. plays again on Showtime-Showcase Wednesday May 25th @ 4:20am &2:15pm and on Showtime-Extreme Thursday the 26th @ 730am and Friday the 27th @ 1:35am pacific times. I rate it   of four

Pound of Flesh (2015) action thriller staring 55 year old Jean-Claude Van Damme had pretty good action, fights and "ordnance" and was fairly entertaining. in the first scene Van Damme gets out of an ice water filled bath tub after having his kidney stolen and the guy is BUFF for his age. I am amazed that he Stallone and Schwarzenegger can STILL pull off being "action heros" at their age. played on Showtimes The Movie Channel and hopefully will repeat soon. I rate it   of four

Lucy (2014) have reviewed numerous times. this sci-fi, action, somewhat "superhero" movie is a "tour de force" for Scarlett Johansson with Morgan Freeman and French actor Amr Waked in supporting roles. Korean actor Choi Min-sik an excellent villain as the drug lord that forces Lucy to be a "drug mule". it is non-stop action during it's short 90 minutes with a crazy wild chase scene thru Paris and oodles of ordnance. plays again on HBO2-East in HD Monday May 25th @ 2:30pm and Saturday the 28th @ 11:30am. I highly recommend for action fans and rate it a rare     of four as I find entertaining each time I view it

The Client (1994) legal thriller from the John Grisham novel it is VERY well acted suspenseful story staring Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones with the late Brad Renfro, who is excellent as eleven-year-old Mark Sway who has BOTH the New Orleans mafia and FBI after him because he may know where a Mafia murdered politician is buried. supporting rolls by Mary-Louise Parker, Anthony LaPaglia, William Sanderson, William H. Macy and the late Ossie Davis.

I am a sucker for John Grisham legal drama movies like The Rainmaker (1997) which is one of my all time favaorite courtroom/legal dramas, The Firm (1991), The Pelican Brief (1992) and A Time to Kill (1996) and this is at least as good or better than the last three. played on HD Net Movies about a week ago and hopefully will repeat soon. I rate it    of four. as a side note Brad Renfro died of a heroin overdose in 2008 at age 25 which is a true waste of what could have been an outstanding film career

I agree, Renfro was good as a child actor.

haven't really read ANY novels in ages, Slobbasaurus. you are correct that Renfro WAS also outstanding as young Michael Sullivan (with Brad Pitt as the adult lawyer Michael). WHAT a freeking WASTE

Runaway Jury was pretty good even though it deviated from the novel.

The Firm (1993) legal thriller based on the 1991 John Grisham novel it stars Tom Cruise, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Gene Hackman with Ed Harris, Holly Hunter, Hal Holbrook and Wilford Brimley. small but interesting parts for David Strathairn, Gary Busey and Steven Hill (who is best known as District Attorney Adam Schiff on NBC's Law & Order) along with both Paul Sorvino and Joe Viterelli as the mob bosses Tommy & Joey Morolto at the end.

a decent rendering of a Grisham story but WAY to LONG at 2 1/2 hours it is REALLY slow esp in the beginning BUT "picks up the pace" about half way thru and has some excellent action and suspense at the end. director Sydney Pollack and the screen writers probably could have done a better and shorter adaptation of Grisham's work. NOT nearly as good as The Rainmaker OR the recently reviewed The Client BUT still worth a look for Grisham fans. plays again on EPIX Sunday May 29th all day. I rate it   of four

The Firm was good.  Might rate it a little higher, but still not on par with some of the others,  Liked Rainmaker alot and also The Pelican Brief.

IF you liked The Firm  and The Pelican Brief you need to check out The Client, doggs. all three with very similar "conspiracy" style plots with excellent suspense 

Amistad (1997) excellent well acted historical courtroom drama about the 1839 slave rebellion abord the Spanish ship La Amistad and the resultant trial of the slaves involved.stars Anthony Hopkins, Matthew McConaughey Djimon Hounsou, Morgan Freeman and Nigel Hawthorne. strong supporting performances by Chiwetel Ejiofor and the late Pete Postlethwaite. Hopkins is outstanding as former President John Quincy Adams who along with McConaughey's character Roger Baldwin defend the slaves and their leader, played by Hounsou, in court. worth watching just for the President  Adams summation at the Supreme Court >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZFr4VLPW9Q which may be one of Hopkins best acted scenes ever. it IS long at 2 1/2 hours BUT I think director Steven Spielberg needed the time to truly "tell the tale" plays again on EPIX Wednesday June 1st @ 12:15pm & 9:20pm pacific time. I rate it    of four

Good Night, and Good Luck (2005) excellent drama about the conflict between veteran radio and television journalist Edward R. Murrow and U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin back in the "red scare" days of the early 1950's it stars David Strathairn, George Clooney (who also directed), Robert Downey, Jr and Jeff Daniels. was nominated for six Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director for Clooney and Best Actor for Strathairn as Morrow. was filmed in black & white to give it a 1950's "feel". worth watching not only for a historical view on that time in American history but also the outstanding acting by all involved. the title is taken from Morrow's signature "sign off" line back when he was broadcasting. runs a relatively short 90 minutes. plays on 5-Max channel Sunday May 29th @ 4:25pm pacific time. I rate it    of four

Man on Fire (2004) crime-"revenge" thriller about a former CIA operative turned bodyguard, played by Denzel Washington , who goes on a revenge rampage after his charge, a nine-year-old girl, played Dakota Fanning, is kidnapped in Mexico City. supporting cast includes Christopher Walken, Giancarlo Giannini, Marc Anthony, Rachel Ticotin (who is way sexy) and Mickey Rourke. started out VERY slow and I almost "frisched" it BUT the pace picks up quickly after the kidnapping. has many similarities to Washington's 2014 crime-action movie The Equalizer which is excellent. runs an overly long 2 1/2 hours and probably would have been better IF they lost some of early "fluff" BUT it has oodles of fights, ordnance and "kaboom" 2nd half. the fictional Sanchez brothers kidnap game is loosely based on the real Arizmendi Lopez brothers gang which operated a kidnap racket in Mexico in the 1990's. played on HD Net Movies and hopefully will repeat soon. I rate it   of four

Man on Fire and The Equalizer very solid movies 

Nightcrawler (2014) Jake Gyllenhaal, Renee Russo, Bill Paxton