When I saw the trailer for this movie, I could not wait to see it. Not having read the John le Carre book, I still expected to be fully involved in the story. Unfortunately, the big surprise for me, was the dullness of this film.  There were solid actors in the cast, such as John Hurt (V for Vendetta, Alien) as Control; Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight, Harry Potter franchise) as George Smiley and Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, A Single Man) as Bill Haydon. The film had a great look to it, the period being the cold war during the 1970’s. Sadly, I simply felt some of the scenes were executed poorly and the script was weak. The story has to do with Britain’s intelligence agency having a Russian mole, who might be deeply planted inside of its high ranking personnel. With a cast ensemble such as this one; if there was a good script, this movie could have been a good, cerebral challenge, that would have had the audience on the edge of their seats. I do want to point out that there were some scenes which were well done. Just why couldn’t there be more? After viewing this movie, I do not know if I will read the book.

2 2/3 stars

Check you common sense and reasoning at the door, this was strictly a sensory movie. The first 30 minutes dragged for me, not being a fan of the quick cut fighting scenes. Also, I did not like the 1st Sherlock Holmes movie and had no expectations here. With that being said, I have to tell you I enjoyed the performances of Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. Me thinks there was more to their bromance and the director, Guy Ritchie, wanted us to be aware of it. For me, I felt he was pandering to the audience. Since I did not have to think much; I have to say, the movie certainly went for the auditory and visual stimulation. I loved the soundtrack as it did not intrude, but helped carry the scenes in an even rhythm. There were enough explosions to make one feel they were at a demolition site–of a mid-sized town. Some of the shots (scenes I mean, not gunfire) were exciting, with a cutting edge, even though the story took place in the late 1800’s. Big, expansive outdoor scenes showed the director’s attention to detail and I appreciated it. The movie was a cat and mouse game as Sherlock Holmes was trying to prevent Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris) from starting a world war. As an interesting side note; the female lead, Noomi Rapace, starred in the original movie of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It was an excellent casting call. So, for an easy on the brain, strong on the eyes movie; this would be one to see.

3 stars

With certain directors, after a time, one expects to see familiar traits: the way a scene is presented; the pacing of it or the way the director tells the story through his camera lens.  In this regards, Pedro Almodovar does not disappoint… for the most part. Antonio Banderas plays a successful plastic surgeon.  Having created an artificial skin, he has been testing it on a woman he keeps captive.  At one point, I was getting a physical reaction to what I was watching on screen and it was not from the scenes that had blood in them.  It was more about the subject matter and the characters’ reactions.  Even though individual scenes were well done, I felt a disconnect between scenes which caused the movie to drag for me.  However, this movie does set a new high standard for what it means to take revenge.  Spanish with English subtitles.

2 3/4 stars

I was grateful to the director for shooting a majority of the movie in dark subdued lighting. It was easier to sit and watch this bad film. The story line intrigued me: people do not age past 25 years. However, they have the means to buy more time to live. In actuality, what I watched made no sense, filled with poor acting. What was Justin Timberlake thinking? He was on a decent run of  movie roles; didn’t he read this script? This film was simply boring. The only bright spot for me was seeing the old classic cars, that were used in this dreary futuristic setting.

1 1/4 stars

I liked the idea behind this movie and it started out well. A trio of Mossad agents are on a mission to capture a Nazi doctor who performed horrible experiments on prisoners. The mission takes an unexpected turn and the 3 must keep a secret, that plagues them 30 years later. I always love Helen Mirren but I could not take my eyes off of Jessica Chastain — good acting chops on this one. The last half of the movie was a big disappointment for me and I felt the ending was a cop out.

2 1/3 stars