MOVIE - Manchester by-the-Sea

R (2:15)

Wide release 12/16/16

Viewed 1-30-17
IMBd: 8.3/10

RT Critic: 96   Audience:  79
Critic's Consensus:  Manchester by the Sea delivers affecting drama populated by full-bodied characters, marking another strong step forward for writer-director Kenneth Lonergan.

Cag:  6 - It was generally an awesome movie in every way (though very sad and depressing if you dwell too much).

Directed by Kenneth Lonergan

Amazon Studios

Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler

My comments:  A happy-go-lucky family man that drinks a little too much becomes a hollow shell of a man after a great tragedy.  The story isn't sequential, it's cyclical, so the story of Lee's past slowly unfolds and we see why he is the empty man of the present day.  And this story doesn't get the happy, hoped-for ending -- he's lost too much and knows what he's capable of.  And more importantly, what he's no longer capable of.  A great movie.  One of the most depressing movies ever.  
AFTERWORD:  Casey Affleck got the Academy Award for his performance.  Well deserved.

RT/ IMDb Summary:  Lee Chandler is a brooding, irritable loner who works as a handyman for a Boston apartment block. One damp winter day he gets a call summoning him to his hometown, north of the city. His brother's heart has given out suddenly, and he's been named guardian to his 16-year-old nephew. As if losing his only sibling and doubts about raising a teenager weren't enough, his return to the past re-opens an unspeakable tragedy.

MOVIE - Arrival

PG-13 (1:51)

Wide release 11/11/16

Viewed date at Park Place Mall on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016 after getting my hair cut.

RT Critic:  93  Audience:  83
Critic's Consensus:  Arrival delivers a must-see experience for fans of thinking person's sci-fi that anchors its heady themes with genuinely affecting emotion and a terrific performance from Amy Adams.

Cag:  5.5  I really loved it, superior movie, may change to a 6...

Directed by Denis Villeneuve

21 Laps Entertainment

Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forrest Whitacker

My comments:  Now that's a MOVIE!  Clever, believable science fiction where you slowly figure out what's going on, and the reality is much ... deeper ... than superficial.  I'll be thinking about this one for a long while yet.  It left me with a couple of small questions, that I'm sure I'm supposed to figure out on my own (sort of like the end of reading The Giver for the first time).

RT/ IMDb Summary:  When mysterious spacecrafts touch down across the globe, an elite team - lead by expert linguist Louise Banks - is brought together to investigate. As mankind teeters on the verge of global war, Banks and the team race against time for answers - and to find them, she will take a chance that could threaten her life, and quite possibly humanity.

MOVIE - Jane Got a Gun

R (1:37)
Wide release 1/29/16 (on DVD in April)

Viewed on Netflix 11/16/16

RT Critic:  40  Audience:  38

Cag:  4.5  Liked it a whole lot

Directed by Gavin O'Connor

Relativity Media
Joel Edgerton is credited as one of the three writers

Natalie Portman, Joel Edgerton

My comments:  I don't add movies I didn't see on the "big screen" on the blog, but am making an exception for this one.  It's a pretty current movie and I really liked it a lot, so I want to keep track of it.  It's a rich story, and although there's a lot of killing, the gun battles aren't quite as long and drawn out as in the other westerns I've seen recently.  A gang of outlaws vs. three people protecting a small home, one of whom is totally incapacitated.  Natalie Portman and Joel Edgerton make a believable couple, and as their story unfolds as the movie progresses, it really tugs on the heart strings.

RT/ IMDb Summary:  Jane Hammond has built a new life with her husband Bill "Ham" Hammond after being tormented by the ultra-violent Bishop Boys outlaw gang. She finds herself in the gang's cross-hairs once again when Ham stumbles home riddled with bullets after dueling with the Boys and their relentless mastermind Colin. With the vengeful crew hot on Ham's trail, Jane has nowhere to turn but to her former fiancé Dan Frost for help in defending her family against certain destruction. Haunted by old memories, Jane's past meets the present in a heart-stopping battle for survival.

MOVIE - Inferno

PG-13 (2:02)

Wide release 10/27/16

Viewed Roadhouse on Halloween with Cyra!

RT Critic:  20  Audience:  43
Critic's Consensus:  Senselessly frantic and altogether shallow, Inferno sends the Robert Langdon trilogy spiraling to a convoluted new low.

Cag:  3/Liked it once I started understanding what was going on....but not great

Directed by Ron Howard

Sony Pictures

Based on the book by Dan Brown

Tom Hanks, Ben Foster, Felicity Jones

My comments:  For the first third of the movie I was totally and completely confused, as I imagine anyone watching this would be, unless perhaps they'd read the book.  There were three or four different factions of people working against?? with?? each other and major flashbacks.  As it slowly started making sense I enjoyed it more.  You had to really pay attention, and it would help if one had a tiny sense of 

RT/ IMDb Summary:  Tom Hanks reprises his role as Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon in director Ron Howard and screenwriter David Koepp's adaptation of author Dan Brown's bestselling novel Inferno, which finds Langdon using Dante's The Divine Comedy as a tool in the race to prevent a devastating global pandemic. 

MOVIE - Masterminds

PG-13 (1:30)

Wide release 9/29/16

Viewed Sunday, 10/20/16 at Century Gateway

RT Critic: 32   Audience:  46
Critic's Consensus:  Masterminds' great cast and stranger-than-fiction true story are largely wasted on a scattershot comedy with a handful of funny moments and far too much wackiness.

Cag:  3.5 Great fun!

Directed by  Jared Hess

Relativity Media
Based on a true story, believe it or not!

Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig, Jason Sudeikis

My comments:  This flick was a freaking riot - a funny, farcical movie!  Just plain stupid and fun...over-the-top, non-stop laughs with nothing drawn out or overdone, time flew by.  How they could do all they did without cracking up constantly is beyond me!  It siad at the beginning this this was based on a true story, and a bit of research proves that is true, which is really hard to believe!  At the end they showed photos of Galifianakis and Wilson with their "real" counterparts.  Crazy!

RT/ IMDb Summary:  In this action comedy based on true events, directed by Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite; Nacho Libre), David Ghantt (Zach Galifianakis) discovers the true meaning of adventure far beyond his wildest dreams. He is an uncomplicated man stuck in a monotonous life. Day in and day out he drives an armored vehicle, transporting millions of other people's money with no escape in sight. The only glimmer of excitement is his flirtatious work crush Kelly Campbell (Kristen Wiig) who soon lures him into the scheme of a lifetime. Along with a group of half-brained criminals led by Steve Chambers (Owen Wilson) and an absurdly faulted heist plan, David manages the impossible and makes off with $17 million in cash...only problem is he foolishly hands the money over to this wild group of double crossers and has been set up to take the fall. With the bandits blowing the millions on lavish and ridiculous luxuries, they leave behind a glaring trail of evidence. Now on the lam and in over his head, David must dodge the authorities, evade a hilarious hit man, Mike McKinney (Jason Sudeikis), and try to turn the tables on the ones he trusted most.

MOVIE - The Dressmaker

R (1:58)

Limited release 9/22/16

Viewed 10/27/16 at the Loft (tripped on the top step and my soda drenched my pizza slice.  I really do not like the upstairs theater!)

RT Critic: 54   Audience:  69
Critic's Consensus:  The Dressmaker boasts a strong central performance by Kate Winslet and a captivating array of narrative weirdness -- all of which may or may not be a comfortable fit with viewers.

Cag: Hated it and loved it: AVERAGE = 3

Directed by  Jocelyn Moorhouse

Amazon Studios & Broad Green Pictures

Based on the book by

Kate Winslet, Liam Hemsworth, Judy Davis

My comments:  The first half of this film was wonderful...but I HATED what they did to (spoiler!) Liam Hemsworth.  I know that it drew the plot along....thank goodness it didn't happen at the end of the film....but it sure set my spirits L-O-W!!!  The ending made up for it, but I was never able to pop up above the surface again.

RT/ IMDb Summary:  The Dressmaker tells the story of the beautiful and talented Tilly Dunnage (Academy Award winner Kate Winslet). After years working as a dressmaker in exclusive Parisian fashion houses, Tilly returns home to a town in the Australian outback to reconcile with her eccentric mother Molly (Academy Award nominee Judy Davis). She also falls in love with the pure-hearted Teddy (Liam Hemsworth), and armed with her sewing machine and haute couture style, Tilly transforms the women of the town, exacting sweet revenge on those who did her wrong.

MOVIE - Mechanic: Resurrection

R (1:50)

Wide Release 8/25/16

Viewed Wed. 10.19.16 at Century Gateway

RT Critic:  26  Audience:  44
IMDb: 5.7/10
Critic's Consensus:  none!

Cag:  3.5 Definitely enjoyed it...

Directed by Dennis Gansel

Summit Entertainment

Jason Statham, Jessica Alba, Tommy Lee Jones

My comments:  This was a very entertaining bang bang, shoot-em-up, MacGyver-to-the-extreme movie with glorious locations/settings.  An extremely clever (and buff) retired hitman reluctantly goes on one last spree to make himself dead and gone forever, sot that he can live out the rest of his life in peace - in beautiful locales with beautiful Jessica Alba.  When you look past all the ridiculous killing (all bad guys, of course) the story was a blast.  Now I need to see the 1st Mechanic, filmed in 2011.

IMDb Summary:  Arthur Bishop thought he had put his murderous past behind him when his most formidable foe kidnaps the love of his life. Now he is forced to travel the globe to complete three impossible assassinations, and do what he does best, make them look like accidents.

MOVIE - The Accountant

R (2:08)

Wide 10.8.16

Viewed 10.17.16 at Park Place

RT Critic:  49  Audience:  87
Critic's Consensus:  The Accountant writes off a committed performance from Ben Affleck, leaving viewers with a scattershot action thriller beset by an array of ill-advised deductions.

Cag:  5/Loved it

Directed by Gavin O'Connor

Warner Brothers Pictures

Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, J. T. Simmons, John Lithgow, Jeffrey Tambor

My comments:  I loved this movie.  Some of the critics didn't...probably because it was all wrapped up in a neat little bow, which is what I really loved about it.  Bill Dubuque, who wrote the screenplay, was brilliant.  He took a number of seemingly different vignettes and wove them together to make one story.  He must have needed a wall to map it out!  Spectacular storytelling!   Yup, violence, and killing...but sweetness and humor and a grand mystery as well. And Asberger's.  And love, although it definitely wasn't a love story per se.  Top it off with small roles for both John Lithgow and Jeffrey Tambor (and fantastic parts for Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, and J. T. Simmons) and this became a real winner for me...one of my favorites so far this year!

RT/ IMDb Summary:  Christian Wolff is a math savant with more affinity for numbers than people. Behind the cover of a small-town CPA office, he works as a freelance accountant for some of the world's most dangerous criminal organizations. With the Treasury Department's Crime Enforcement Division, run by Ray King, starting to close in, Christian takes on a legitimate client: a state-of-the-art robotics company where an accounting clerk has discovered a discrepancy involving millions of dollars. But as Christian uncooks the books and gets closer to the truth, it is the body count that starts to rise.

MOVIE - Queen of Katwe

PG (1:24)

Wide release 9/30/16

Viewed Monday, 10/10/16 at El Con with Sheila
RT Critic:  91  Audience:  88

Critic's Consensus:  Queen of Katwe is a feel-good movie of uncommon smarts and passion, and outstanding performances by Lupita Nyong'o and David Oyelowo help to elevate the film past its cliches.

Cag:  4.5 Liked it a whole lot

Directed by Mira Nair

Walt Disney Studios

Based on a true story

David Oyelowo, Lupita N'yongo

My comments:  A little long, but it seems like most films lately have been.  Based on the true story of a young girl from the "slums" of Uganda who, even though she couldn't read, learned to master the intricacies of chess, out-thinking her opponents, and with the support of her small community of Katwe, going on to win championships in all of Africa, under the guidance of a part-time minister/coach (and his wife).  Though practically homeless and incredibly poor, she is also forged by a loving mother and three supporting siblings.  (Note:  the fabrics in this film are unbelievable, gorgeous, colorful!)

IMDb Summary:  "Queen of Katwe" is the colorful true story of a young girl selling corn on the streets of rural Uganda whose world rapidly changes when she is introduced to the game of chess, and, as a result of the support she receives from her family and community, is instilled with the confidence and determination she needs to pursue her dream of becoming an international chess champion

MOVIE - Bad Moms

R (1:41)

Wide release 7/28/16

Viewed Monday, 10/3/16 at Park Place by myself

RT Critic:  60  Audience:  73
Critic's Consensus:  Bad Momsvboasts a terrific cast and a welcome twist on domestic comedy -- and they're often enough to compensate for the movie's unfortunate inability to take full advantage of its assets.

Cag:   3- Liked it all right

Directed by John Lucas & Scott Moore

Block Entertainment

Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn, Christina Applegate

My comments: This movie could have been completely hysterically funny, but there were two problems....first is that they tried to put too much "reality" into it (the divorce & repercussions) and they hit too many particularly stupid notes ('mean girl/bully PTA president pulling all the shots, instant easy turnaround at the end).  50% was just great - raunchy, racy, and almost off-the-charts bad taste, while the other 50% was eye-rolling.  Good entertainment.

RT Summary:  In this new comedy from the grateful husbands and devoted fathers who wrote The Hangover, Amy has a seemingly perfect life--a great marriage, over-achieving kids, beautiful home and a career. However she's over-worked, over-committed and exhausted to the point that she's about to snap. Fed up, she joins forces with two other over-stressed moms on a quest to liberate themselves from conventional responsibilities--going on a wild, un-mom-like binge of long overdue freedom, fun and self-indulgence--putting them on a collision course with PTA Queen Bee Gwendolyn and her clique of devoted perfect moms.

MOVIE - Cafe Society

PG-13 (1:25)

Limited Release 7/15/16

Viewed Sunday 10/2/16 at Century Gateway (by myself)

RT Critic:  71  Audience:  63
Critic's Consensus:   Café Society's lovely visuals and charming performances round out a lightweight late-period Allen comedy whose genuine pleasures offset its amiable predictability.

Cag:  4/Liked it a lot

Directed & written by Woody Allen

Perdido Productions

Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Steve Carrell, Blake Lively, Parker Posey

My comments:  I don't think I realize how much I love Woody Allen's work.  For the most part I love this film, and I adore the way he ended it.  The settings - 1930s Hollywood and New York City - as well as the costuming - were terrific.  I love the way that real personalities (like in many of his other films) were examined.  Casting was terrific.  The juxtaposition of the three siblings was my second favorite part, but I think a little bit more story about Bobby's brother and sister was needed to round out the story a bit and would have definitely enhanced the movie.  My favorite part?  The Jewish influences and humor.

RT Summary:  Set in the 1930s, Woody Allen's bittersweet romance CAFÉ SOCIETY follows Bronx-born Bobby Dorfman (Jesse Eisenberg) to Hollywood, where he falls in love (with his uncle's mistress), and back to New York, where he is swept up in the vibrant world of high society nightclub life. Centering on events in the lives of Bobby's colorful Bronx family, the film is a glittering valentine to the movie stars, socialites, playboys, debutantes, politicians, and gangsters who epitomized the excitement and glamour of the age.

MOVIE - Captain America: Civil War

PG-13 (2;26)

Wide release 5/16/16

Viewed 9/25/16 (Happy Anniversary!) at Century Gateway

RT Critic: 90   Audience:  90
Critic's Consensus:  Captain America: Civil War begins the next wave of Marvel movies with an action-packed superhero blockbuster boasting a decidedly non-cartoonish plot and the courage to explore thought-provoking themes.

Cag:  4 - liked it a lot
Directed by Anthony & Joe Russo

Walt Disney Pictures

Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, 

My comments:  Very glad I got to see this before it left the big screen!  Many of the Marvel characters - some I don't even know - come together and then split into two factions: Captain America's side (wanting the Avengers to stay an independen's s organization, choosing what problems to take on themselves) or Ironman's side (wanting to sign a treaty that will allow the world governments to be the starting off place, deciding when they'll be needed).  It was actually a lot of fun - particularly near the end when Spiderman and Antman were enlisted!  No Hulk in this one.  Fighting, especially the "big one" near the end, wasn't too boring because there were not real good guys vs. bad guys - it was Avengers against each other without hatred and trying only to stop, not maim or kill.  Super long movie.  Enjoyed it.

RT Summary:  Marvel's "Captain America: Civil War" finds Steve Rogers leading the newly formed team of Avengers in their continued efforts to safeguard humanity. But after another incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability, headed by a governing body to oversee and direct the team. The new status quo fractures the Avengers, resulting in two camps-one led by Steve Rogers and his desire for the Avengers to remain free to defend humanity without government interference, and the other following Tony Stark's surprising decision to support government oversight and accountability.

MOVIE - Snowden

Rating/Time

Wide/Limited release

Viewed around the 20th of September, 2016

RT Critic:  61  Audience:  70
Critic's Consensus:  Snowden boasts a thrilling fact-based tale and a solid lead performance from Joseph Gordon-Levitt, even if director Oliver Stone saps the story of some of its impact by playing it safe.

Cag:  4.5/5

Directed by Oliver Stone

Open Road Films

Based on a true story

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley

My comments:  This is one that I stupidly never reviewed at the time.  I do remember that I was disappointed with its low ratings and that I enjoyed it more than I expected.  I remember learning a lot, and liking it.

RT/ IMDb Summary:  Academy Award (R)-winning director Oliver Stone, who brought Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, Wall Street and JFK to the big screen, tackles the most important and fascinating true story of the 21st century. Snowden, the politically-charged, pulse-pounding thriller starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shailene Woodley, reveals the incredible untold personal story of Edward Snowden, the polarizing figure who exposed shocking illegal surveillance activities by the NSA and became one of the most wanted men in the world. He is considered a hero by some, and a traitor by others. No matter which you believe, the epic story of why he did it, who he left behind, and how he pulled it off makes for one of the most compelling films of the year.

MOVIE - Secret Life of Pets

PG (1:30)

Wide release 7-8-16

Viewed end of August, just before returning to Tucson for the last time, with Ella and Tristan

RT Critic:  74  Audience:  62
Critic's Consensus:  Fast-paced, funny, and blessed with a talented voice cast, The Secret Life of Pets offers a beautifully animated, cheerfully undemanding family-friendly diversion.

Cag:  3  Liked it

Directed by Yarrow Cheney, Chris Renaud

Universal Pictures

My comments:  Cute.  Didn't drive me too crazy. Both the kids enjoyed it.  Really not too bad.....

RT/ IMDb Summary:      For their fifth fully-animated feature-film collaboration, Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures present The Secret Life of Pets, a comedy about the lives our pets lead after we leave for work or school each day. Comedy superstars Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet and Kevin Hart make their animated feature-film debuts in The Secret Life of Pets, which co-stars Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell, Jenny Slate, Bobby Moynihan, Hannibal Buress and Albert Brooks. Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri and his longtime collaborator Janet Healy produce the film directed by Chris Renaud (Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2), co-directed by Yarrow Cheney and written by Brian Lynch and Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio.

MOVIE - Finding Dory

PG (1:40)

Wide release 6/16/16

Viewed twice between August and September, 2016

RT Critic:  94  Audience:  84
Critic's Consensus:  Funny, poignant, and thought-provoking, Finding Dory delivers a beautifully animated adventure that adds another entertaining chapter to its predecessor's classic story.

Cag: 4 

Directed by Andrew Stanton and Angus Maclane

Walt Disney Studios/Pixar

My comments:  Although I saw this twice - once with each set of grandkids - I never wrote down my actual reaction/review at the time.  I don't usually like animated films, but this one was not too bad, 90% of them I'd never go to twice!

RT/ IMDb Summary:  "Finding Dory" reunites the friendly-but-forgetful blue tang fish with her loved ones, and everyone learns a few things about the true meaning of family along the way. The all-new big-screen adventure dives into theaters in 2016, taking moviegoers back to the extraordinary underwater world from the original film.

MOVIE - Dough

NR  (1:34)

Limited Release 4/28/16

Viewed 5/5/16 at The Loft

RT Critic:  60  Audience:  60

Cag:  4/Liked it a lot

Directed by John Goldschmidt

Docier Entertainment

Jonathan Pryce

My comments:  Unfortunately, this is one of the movies I saw in the spring that I didn't review right away, so forgot my initial reaction other than I liked it a lot, but not hugely.....

RT Summary:  Curmudgeonly widower Nat Dayan (Tony award-winning actor Jonathan Pryce, currently in HBO's "Game of Thrones") clings to his way of life as a Kosher bakery shop owner in London's East End. Understaffed, Nat reluctantly enlists the help of teenager Ayyash (Jerome Holder), who has a secret side gig selling marijuana to help his immigrant mother make ends meet. When Ayyash accidentally drops his stash into the mixing dough, the challah starts flying off the shelves and an unlikely friendship forms between the old Jewish baker and his young Muslim apprentice. DOUGH is a warmhearted and humorous story about overcoming prejudice and finding redemption in unexpected places.

MOVIE - London Has Fallen

R (1:40)

Wide release 3/5/16

Viewed 3/18/16 at Roadhouse - a Friday night after a report card week!

RT Critic: 25   Audience: 62
Critic's Consensus:   London Has Fallen traps a talented cast -- and all who dare to see it -- in a mid-1990s basic-cable nightmare of a film loaded with xenophobia and threadbare action-thriller clichés. (THIS IS PROBABLY TRUE!  cag)
Cag:  3.5 Liked it - very entertaining

Directed by Babak Najafi

Focus Features
wikepedia has a great blow-by-blow description.....

Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman

My comments:  This follows the 2013 film OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN with the same premise only at the White House. (And you absolutely don't have to have seen the first one.  This is a total standalone.) Yes, it's hogwash and ridiculous (shooting, shooting, shooting at people whether they're unknown to be good or bad) but it's entertaining and you care about the characters.  I hated the violence, but watched knowing it was all "made up" and "unreal."  Sure, that's a naive way to look at it, and deep down I hate that I enjoyed it......

RogerEbert.com review here.  1/2 stars

Fandango Summary:  In this sequel to the 2013 action thriller Olympus Has Fallen, a terrorist plot unfolds in London as a number of politicians gather for the funeral of the British prime minister. A Secret Service agent (Gerald Butler), the U.S. president (Aaron Eckhardt), and an MI-6 operative (Charlotte Riley) must work together to stop the terrorists from assassinating the world's leaders and destroying the city's landmarks.

MOVIE - 10 Cloverfield Lane

PG-13 (1:45)

Wide release 3/11/16

Viewed opening day at The Roadhouse with Julee

RT Critic:  91  Audience:  87
Critic's Consensus:  Smart, solidly crafted, and palpably tense, 10 Cloverfield Lane makes the most of its confined setting and outstanding cast -- and suggests a new frontier for franchise filmmaking.   I wholeheartedly disagree.
Cag:  2- Some parts of it were okay

Directed by Dan Trachtenberg

Bad Robot Productions

John Goodman

My comments:  Smart?  Palpably tense?  Not to me....for me it was stupid and not really tense at all.  S-L-O-W (Maybe I've seen too many action films lately?)  Not high on my list...in case you can't tell.....

RogerEbert.com review here.  3 stars (?!!??)

RT Summary:  A young woman wakes up after a terrible accident to find that she's locked in a cellar with a doomsday prepper, who insists that he saved her life and that the world outside is uninhabitable following an apocalyptic catastrophe. Uncertain what to believe, the woman soon determines that she must escape at any cost.

MOVIE - Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

R (1:51)

Wide release 3/4/15

Viewed opening day at The Roadhouse

RT Critic: 61   Audience:  65
Critic's Consensus:  While WTF is far from FUBAR, Tina Fey and Martin Freeman are just barely enough to overcome the picture's glib predictability and limited worldview  And my reaction to this consensus?  You guys have seen too many movies....or we're looking at different criteria completely!
Cag:  5/ Loved it

Directed by Glenn Ficarra, John Requa

Paramount Pictures

Based on the memoir by Kim Barker

Tina Fey, Margot Robbie, Martin Freeman, Billie Bob Thornton, Alfred Molina, Josh Charles

My comments:  I very much enjoyed this movie.  Although Barker is smart, she is impetuous and flawed - which makes her very, very REAL.  This movie is full of humor with opportunities for deep thinking, admiration, and lot of questioning.  Afghanistan!  The Taliban!  The media.....(Silly me, it wasn't until my ride home, along Grant, that I realized what the title meant.  Duh.)

Fandango Summary:  Eager for a new professional challenge, TV reporter Kim Baker (Tina Fey) decides to serve as a foreign correspondent in Afghanistan, where she is embedded with a Marine unit. During her time abroad, she is forced to contend with a fiery U.S. general (Billy Bob Thornton), and befriends a fellow reporter (Margot Robbie) and a British photographer (Martin Freeman). Alfred Molina, Josh Charles, andChristopher Abbott co-star. Directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot was adapted from journalist Kim Barker's memoir The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

MOVIE - Triple 9

(R) 1:55

Wide release 2/26/16

Viewed Tuesday, 3/1/16 at ElCon with Sheila

RT Critic:  54  Audience:  50
Critic's Consensus:  Triple 9's pulpy potboiler thrills don't quite live up to the ferocious talents of its cast, but the film's efficient, solidly crafted genre fun is often enough to balance its troublesome flaws.

Cag: 4 - this was a good movie, had to pay close attention to "get" it all (I hate that I love dark, gritty, full-of-murder books and movies)

Directed by John Hillcoat

Open Road Films

Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson, Kate Winslet, Chiwetei Ejiofor, Anthony Mackie

My comments: Very entertaining, once you got past two things.  One: very, VERY violent. Two: shows the "underbelly" of cities in the US in a really shocking way.  Even though I was aware of gloom, gangs,guns, drugs, darkness, crazy people this really, REALLY showed it - too well.  It was really unsettling.  The story was intricate and interesting.  You had to pay attention.  It wasn't until the drive home afterward that something said at the very beginning of the film was remembered and made sense (the three in the car were talking about their upcoming heist, and the guy in the back seat said he didn't worry about Marcus, but wasn't sure about the "other guy."  I'm glad I remembered that later!  (It always amazes me how Woody Harrelson totally takes on a role - he definitely becomes the perosn he's portraying.  He was great!)

RT Summary:  In TRIPLE NINE, a crew of dirty cops is blackmailed by the Russian mob to execute a virtually impossible heist and the only way to pull it off is to manufacture a 999, police code for "officer down." Their plan is turned upside down when the unsuspecting rookie they set up to die foils the attack, triggering a breakneck action-packed finale tangled with double-crosses, greed and revenge.