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Showing posts from September, 2014

The Maze Runner

Starring: Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, and Will Poulter Directed by: Wes Ball Screenplay by: Noah Oppenheim, T.S. Nowlin, and Grant Pierce Meyers Based on the novel by James Dashner      Is this an aMAZEing film?  Sorry, pun intended.  Read on to find out.      Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) is thrown into a group of boys that are trapped inside a maze.  They have no memory either.  They're trapped in a part of the maze they call "the Glade".  Each month, a box shows up with another boy and some supplies for the boys already in the Glade.  There are enough of them that they have been able to form an order.  The "runners" are part of this order and their job is to spend each day mapping the maze in order to find a way out.  The maze keeps changing every night, making it quite difficult to find a way out.  There are also creatures called Grievers they have to contend with.  Runners who don't return at the end of the day usually don't survive the n

A Walk Among the Tombstones

Starring: Liam Neeson, Dan Stevens, and David Harbour Directed by: Scott Frank Screenplay by: Scott Frank Based on the novel by Lawrence Block     There are movies about disturbing people who do disturbing things to others.  This film takes it to an uncomfortable new level.     New York City, 1999: Matthew Scudder (Liam Neeson) is a former cop now turned private investigator.  He "does favors for people, and in return, they give [him] gifts."  A high profile drug trafficker named Kenny Kristo (Dan Stevens) needs Scudder's help.     Kristo's wife has been kidnapped.  She's been killed even though he paid the ransom.  Kristo needs Scudder to find these people who killed his wife.  So, he will travel all over New York City trying to find these people, but what he finds will prove to be very disturbing.     These men have found a new target and it is up to Scudder to stop them before they do something bad to another innocent victim.     When we think of recen

The Hundred-Foot Journey

Starring: Helen Mirren, Om Puri, Manish Dayal, and Charlotte Le Bon Directed by:  Lasse Hallström  Screenplay by: Steven Knight Based on the book by Richard C. Morais      A word of advice, don't see this movie on an empty stomach.  I've never been made so hungry by watching a movie until I saw this film.      The Kadam family has just moved to a small town in France from India to start a restaurant.  They want to introduce the people there to the delights of Indian cuisine.  Across the street from where they open the restaurant is the best restaurant in town, owned by Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren).  Her restaurant is known throughout France and specializes in fine French cuisine.  She is confident that the Kadam family's restaurant will fail and fail miserably because the people will not want to try Indian food.  The family thinks otherwise.       As time passes, the Indian restaurant becomes more popular and the Kadams are able to stay in business.  Eventually, Mad

Boyhood

Starring: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Lorelei Linklater, and Ethan Hawke Directed by: Richard Linklater Screenplay by: Richard Linklater      A film 12 years in the making.  Now, that's a long time to make a movie, and yes, it is worth seeing!!      This is the story about a young boy, Mason (Ellar Coltrane), and his life as he grows up until he goes away to college.  The film follows his whole family from the time he is about six years old to the time he is about 18 years old.  He must navigate a life with his sister, Samantha (Lorelei Linklater), his divorced parents (Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke), while his mother remarries twice and his father comes in and out of his life.       For the two hour and 45 minute duration of the film, we watch as everybody grows up, even the adults.  We watch as everybody matures over time and grows both individually and as a family unit, even though the family units change throughout the film.       I don't know if Richard L