Hello My Name is Doris (2015) Sally Field – Movie Reviews

March 29, 2016 ~ Vince Leo

Sally Field plays the titular role of sixty-something-year-old Staten Island shut-in Doris, an aging holdover in her Manhattan-based company who ends up developing a crush on a friendly, hunky, and much younger new employee named John Fremont. Most of her interactions with John are in her own mind, but after she ends up partaking in a course with a motivational speaker, she decides to turn what she thinks is ‘impossible’ into “I’m possible!” and begins to try to make things happen by putting herself in the same social circles as John and his hipster friends. John takes a liking to Doris, but is he just being friendly, or is he signaling that there could be something more between them?

Eye in the Sky (2015) Helen Mirren – Movie Reviews

March 28, 2016 ~ Vince Leo

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Bouncing the action around between Air Force operations based in the United States, war rooms in England, and a small village in Kenya, the storyline involves one such potential strike of a house in Kenya in which there is a meeting among several higher-ups in the terrorist organization known as al-Shabbab.

The difficulty in taking these terrorists out comes from the collateral damage that will occur in their particular location, especially when the potential collateral damage assessment has a public face in the form of a young Kenyan girl who has set up shop just outside of the perimeter of their headquarters, where they are planning to strap on a vest of explosives to be used in an imminent a suicide bombing. Can they intentionally kill the girl to potentially save the lives of dozens of others, by averting the suicide bombing about to happen? What will the political fallout be for all involved, and is it worth the risk of action, or inaction?

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2016) Nia Vardalos Movie Reviews

March 27, 2016 ~ Vince Leo

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Now happily married (though the romantic spark has largely gone), Toula and Ian have a 17-year-old daughter, Paris, who is already getting pressure from Toula’s father, Gus, to find a boyfriend, get married and start having Greek babies. Toula is more concerned with a different life milestone for Paris, college, and the family desperately hopes that the young woman will choose to stay near family in Chicago by attending Northwestern University. As the family generally gives hugs until suffocating, Paris has begun mulling over being as far away as possible from the most overbearing family one could never hope for. Meanwhile, in an ironic twist of fate, Gus gets pressure from his family to marry when it is discovered that he and his wife of fifty years, Maria, were never officially wed due to the marriage certificate remaining unsigned by the priest. Gus thinks its just a formality that can be settled with a quick jaunt to city hall, but Maria, thinking he didn’t do it right the first time around, wants him to earn the privilege of being her husband yet again with a real marriage proposal and proper formal wedding.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) – Movie Reviews

March 25, 2016 ~ Vince Leo

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DC decides to expand its cinematic universe to catch up with the Marvel films with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Batman feels Supes is a danger to humanity, and Superman view Batman as a threat. Taking advantage of the separation comes Lex Luthor, who pits them together in an effort to rid the world of those who could stop his quest for domination.

Rams (2015) Grimur Hakonarson – Movie reviews

March 25, 2016 ~ Vince Leo

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We mostly follow the film from the perspective of mild-mannered Gummi (Sigurjonsson), who beams with pride on his stock of sheep, entering his ram into a local competition for the best example of good breeding. We see him narrowly losing the latest competition to his neighbor and estranged alcoholic and temperamental brother Kiddi, which leaves a bitter taste in Gummi’s mouth not only for the loss, but it’s a loss to the man he most detests in this world.

During the aftermath, Gummi decides to inspect Kiddi’s winning ram and is disturbed to find it appears to be a little ill, perhaps showing signs of the dreaded scrapie, a contagious degenerative illness in sheep that affects their brains and spinal cords. He reports the incident to the local veterinary council, who immediately inspect the ram in question, raising the dander of Kiddi for the imposition, with the results leading to the slaughter of all of the sheep in the valley if true, with no possibility of new sheep farming for at least two years — something that the prideful Kiddi will likely not take kindly too, especially as it is viewed as an act of jealousy and spite from his scornful brother.

Pee-wee’s Big Holiday (2016) Netflix Movie – Pee-wee Herman

March 22, 2016 ~ Vince Leo

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Pee-wee Herman has never left his hometown of Fairville to see anything beyond its city limits, save for a harrowing botched attempt to go to Salt Lake City that nipped his wanderlust in the bud. While at work as a cook in a local diner, Pee-wee meets and hits it off with Joe Manganiello, playing a comic version of himself, who encourages the perpetual man-child to get out and see what’s out there by inviting him to attend his swanky birthday party in a few days in New York City.

Allegiant (2016) Divergent Series – Movie Reviews

March 19, 2016 ~ Vince Leo

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The futuristic film opens with Naomi Watts’ character, Evelyn, now in charge of walled-in Chicago after the demise of Jeanine, and she’s trying to provide ‘justice’ for past sins against the members of Erudite by conducting public trials in which they’re put to death at the whim of angry mobs. Those who think that Evelyn is merely a replacement for Jeanine in Machiavellian tactics splinter off into their own group, the Allegiant, led by Johanna (Spencer), and civil war is about to break out for control of the city. Meanwhile, Tris and her cohort of rebellious heroes manage to scale the walls of the city to try to find something or someone that will remedy the situation on the outside, eventually leading to an encounter with the Bureau of Genetic Welfare, led by David (Daniels), who instructs Tris that their entire existence has served as an experiment for the last 200 years in trying to purify the damaged genetics of humanity, and that Tris’ purity as a Divergent means that the experiment is a success. However, with Tris’ home and nearly everyone she cares about about to kill each other, and an organization that’s supposed to be looking out for their well-being showing that they might not be the benevolent rescuers she is hoping for, she’s going to have to take matters into her own hands if she wants to fulfill that role of savior of humanity she’s been destined to be since birth.

The Young Messiah (2016) Sean Bean – Movie Reviews

March 14, 2016 ~ Vince Leo

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The film starts with young Jesus with his family, having fled to Egypt due to a decree by Herod the Great to find the child that had managed to escape slaughter as a babe seven years back. At this point in his life, Jesus isn’t yet aware of his divine identity, having recently been able to resurrect a dead bird. While there, Jesus has his first run-in with a crafty Demon who is trying to alter events against the young Son of God, resulting in circumstances that cause Jesus to employ his ability to raise the dead yet again. Meanwhile, as Herod’s reported death clears the coast for the family for the long road back to their home in Nazareth, Roman Centurion named Severus is tasked by Herod’s new reigning son, also called Herod, with investigating the whereabouts of the boy, and, if found, putting an end to his life. Along the way, Jesus finally confronts the hows and whys of what makes him different than other little boys his age.

The Brothers Grimsby (2016) Sacha Baron Cohen – Movie Review

March 12, 2016 ~ Vince Leo

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Sacha Baron Cohen stars as Norman ‘Nobby’ Butcher, a who lives in Grimsby with his lusty wife Dawn (Wilson) and eleven hooligan children (two who are his grandchildren) in the working-class town of the film’s title. Despite the large family, deadbeat welfare-scammer Nobby still yearns for one more person in his life, his younger brother Sebastian, who he was separated from as a young boy when they were left as orphans and adopted into different circumstances. After learning of the whereabouts of Sebastian, who is now a slick and debonair secret agent working for MI6, Nobby meets and tries to reassert long-dormant bonds, but Sebastian wants none of it at this point in his life, having felt abandoned way back when. During a particularly tense moment at a public function that draws out Sebastian into full super-spy mode to avert an assassination, Nobby ends up bungling the heroics and makes Sebastian look like the culprit, causing the latter to have to hide out from his own spy organization. Sebastian tries to regain separation, but Nobby is all he has in this world to help him, especially as he learns of nefarious plans being hatched from an international terrorist organization that could put the world in mortal peril.

10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) John Goodman – Movie Reviews

March 12, 2016 ~ Vince Leo

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Mary Elizabeth Winstead stars as Michelle, who is leaving her fiancé, Ben voiced by Bradley Cooper), after an apparent deal-breaking disagreement that he must feel sorry for, given that he is persistently calling as she’s on the rural Louisiana road heading out of town. That’s the last thing she remembers, as Michelle end up in a car accident that sees her roll off the road and take a nasty tumble. When Michelle awakens, she finds herself in a strange bed with an IV in her, chained to the wall and enclosed in a nearly empty room with a dense-looking metal door that’s locked tight. She’s soon visited by an armed man named Howard who claims to have saved her life, claiming that they’re the only ones left alive in their fallout shelter, and that everyone outside is likely dead or dying due to an apocalyptic event that has poisoned the air. There’s enough in the mini-bunker to keep them fed and secure for years, but is Howard, an avowed conspiracy nut, a benign Samaritan, or is he her captor, trying to keep her from escaping his lair for reasons too horrific to contemplate?