MOVIE - A Wrinkle in Time

PG

Widel release 3/9/18

Viewed date at 3/25/18 at Carlisle 8
IMBd:  4.2/10

RT Critic: 41   Audience: 33
Critic's Consensus:  A Wrinkle in Time is visually gorgeous, big-hearted, and occasionally quite moving; unfortunately, it's also wildly ambitious to a fault, and often less than the sum of its classic parts.

Cag: 2.5  It was okay.

Directed by Ava DuVernay

Walt Disney Pictures

Based on the book by Madeline L'Engle (which I've read many times, beginning when I was just a kid).

Chris Pine, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling

My comments:  Pretty over-the-top.  Not at all what I had envisioned in my mind after all the times I've read this book.  Meg was nothing like I'd pictured, nor was Calvin.  And Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit and Mrs. Which?  NOOOOOO!  Okay, so I forget about the book, and think about the movie as a whole, without the book.  How does that change my thinking?  That's when the over-the-top thinking kicks in.  Mindy Kaling's character, costuming, and setting di work okay for me....
          I love fantasy, I love sci fi.  For some reason, this just didn't do it for me.  DARN!  The music was pretty decent, though....

RT/ IMDb Summary:  Meg Murry (Storm Reid) is a typical middle school student struggling with issues of self-worth who is desperate to fit in. As the daughter of two world-renowned physicists, she is intelligent and uniquely gifted, as is Meg's younger brother Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe), but she has yet to realize it for herself. Making matters even worse is the baffling disappearance of Mr. Murry (Chris Pine), which torments Meg and has left her mother (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) heartbroken. Charles Wallace introduces Meg and her fellow classmate Calvin (Levi Miller) to three celestial guides-Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey), Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon) and Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling)-who have journeyed to Earth to help search for their father, and together they set off on their formidable quest. Traveling via a wrinkling of time and space known as tessering, they are soon transported to worlds beyond their imagination where they must confront a powerful evil. To make it back home to Earth, Meg must look deep within herself and embrace her flaws to harness the strength necessary to defeat the darkness closing in on them.

MOVIE - Home Again

PG-13 (1:37

Wide Release 9/8/2017

Viewed Opening Night (just a coincidence) at Carlisle 8
IMBd: 5.8/10

RT Critic: 34   Audience:  64
Critic's Consensus:  Home Again gathers a talented crowd of rom-com veterans on both sides of the camera -- all of whom have unfortunately done far better work.

Cag:  6/Awesome  5/Loved it  4/Liked it a lot  3/Liked it  2/It was okay  1/Didn’t like it

Directed by Hallie Myers-Shyer

Open Road Films

Reese Witherspoon, Candace Bergen, Michael Sheen

My comments:  A really lighthearted comedy that could happen to absolutely anyone as long as they're gorgeous, rich, have famous parents, beautiful children, and unlimited money so they don't really have to work.  Cuteness abounds.

RT/ IMDb Summary:  HOME AGAIN stars Reese Witherspoon as Alice Kinney in a modern romantic comedy. Recently separated from her husband, (Michael Sheen), Alice decides to start over by moving back to her hometown of Los Angeles with her two young daughters. During a night out on her 40th birthday, Alice meets three aspiring filmmakers who happen to be in need of a place to live. Alice agrees to let the guys stay in her guest house temporarily, but the arrangement ends up unfolding in unexpected ways. Alice's unlikely new family and new romance comes to a crashing halt when her ex-husband shows up, suitcase in hand. HOME AGAIN is a story of love, friendship, and the families we create. And one very big life lesson: Starting over is not for beginners.

MOVIE - Wild

R (1:55)

12/3/14 Limited release

Viewed 1/13/15 at Roadhouse all by my lonesome

RT Critic: 91   Audience:  82  

Cag:  5/Terrific movie

Directed by Jean -Marc Vallee

20th Century Fox

Based on the book by Cheryl Strayed

Reese Witherspoon

My comments:   I saw this on Tuesday night, tossed and turned all night thinking about it, and couldn't get it out of my head the next day.  For me, the overall theme is how powerfully the many different ways we grieve play out.  I hadn't read the book, though I was always drawn to it.  And I wonder how Cheryl Strayed is dealing with her grief....her decisions....and her life, now.  Her unbelievable determination was/is so amazing.

RT: Summary:  With the dissolution of her marriage and the death of her mother, Cheryl Strayed has lost all hope. After years of reckless, destructive behavior, she makes a rash decision. With absolutely no experience, driven only by sheer determination, Cheryl hikes more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, alone. WILD powerfully captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddens, strengthens, and ultimately heals her.

MOVIE - This Means War

Casting of the two leading men didn't do anything for me...
Wide release 2-17-12
Viewed 2-18-12 at Orleans, Las Vegas with Fran
PG-13 (1:37)
RT: 25% Critics 71% Audience
cag: It was okay/2
Director: McG
Reese Witherspoon

Well, I should have paid more attention to the reviews. This was a really silly/stupid movie. Sure, it was fun to watch and had some really funny spots, but it wasn’t even worth the $7.00 matinee price. Reese Witherspoon is really pretty. Like she would not have suitors lining up! Really. So she’s met two different guys and is dating them both … and they happen to be best friends and topnotch CIA operatives. THEY know they’re both dating her…SHE doesn’t. So they’re surveilling each other, mad at each other, competing big time. Yes, there were some really funny places. It was entertainment, but certainly not great entertainment. I had an Orleans free popcorn, and the best company in the world, so it was a fine way to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon.