Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)

I was expecting that kind of over-the-top action fun delivered by the franchises Fast and Furious and Mission Impossible -- but there was something missing here. I think much of the blame goes to Taron Egerton, who just didn't hold the screen. But there's still blame that can be assigned to the fact that the story just wasn't all that interesting. No way I'd pay to see a sequel.

C

Two Days, One Night (2014)

Funny how a story about a woman losing her job can be so much more tense and emotional than the one of a woman losing her mind we saw just a couple of days back.

Marion Cotillard  (my pick for the best actress prize at the Oscars) is so very good here as a blue collar employee ready to come back to work after extended leave for depression and finding that the employees have voted for a bonus rather than for her to keep her job. Her only hope of being reinstated is to spend her weekend tracking down and talking to those who voted for the bonus over her in an attempt to convince enough of them to change their minds.

This could have been so tedious and, indeed, at times it was flat-out repetitive -- but it was also triumphant. Although she is still suffering crying jags and feelings of low self-worth, she makes herself follow through, with her husband encouraging her along the way.

B+

Still Alice (2014)

I assume that there must have been a lot more backstory in the book that was left out of the movie because, if that isn't the case, there's no way anyone should’ve thought there was enough here to make a compelling movie.

Only little pieces of Alice's life “before” were shown, so it was difficult to know if the tragedy extended beyond the fact of Alice, an intellectual, succumbing to a disease that takes away memories. Do she and her husband love each other? I don’t know. It seems like they were rarely in the same city and he behaved in a more annoyed than devastated manner as her disease progressed. Do she and her elder daughter have a decent relationship? Again, no idea.

If you want to break my heart, you have to touch it first.

C-

Divergent (2014)

Battling insomnia, I started watching this in the wee morning hours. Unfortunately for me, it was just compelling enough to keep me awake for another hour or so. I certainly couldn't call it great -- even though I haven't read the book there were literally no surprises -- but there was lots to like. Teenage me would’ve probably been obsessed.

B

The Imitation Game (2014)

This was beautiful and tragic -- a real winner. There wasn't a whole lot of flair in the telling, but Cumberbatch was just amazing. He definitely earned his Oscar nomination, breaking my heart with nearly every scene, even those in which he was being a complete ass.

A-

The Theory of Everything (2014)

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I didn't hate this like I expected to (Eddie Redmayne freaks me right out), but that doesn't mean I really liked it. The story felt rather one-note: brilliant guy gets sick & stays brilliant and sick, but with a long suffering wife at his side. Until they split up. Just like normal, non-brilliant/non-sick people sometimes do.

This is more Jane Hawking’s story than Stephen’s, and that suited me just fine.

B-

John Wick (2014)

There’s really not much story here (grieving husband’s dog is killed -- too bad the bad guys didn’t know who they were messing with),  but the scenes hurry by at quite a clip so there's no time for any pesky thinking.

B-

A Most Violent Year (2014)

Well-done story of a man who wants to play it straight in a business riddled with dishonesty and thugs. Not only does he have to fight against the perception of law enforcement and the pressure from the other companies who want him to play ball -- he's also got to contend with his wife who doesn't understand the point of doing things completely above board.

Gary and I had walked up to the neighborhood theater to see this and we had a great discussion about it on the way home.  Very good film.

B+