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Showing posts from April, 2015

True Story

Starring: Jonah Hill, James Franco, and Felicity Jones Directed by: Rupert Goold Screenplay by: Rupert Goold Based on true events     A serious movie with Jonah Hill and James Franco?  Really?????  Yes really.     Michael Finkel (Jonah Hill) is a reporter for the New York Times.   Or at least he was.  In a claim that he forged some of his reporting on an important story, he loses his job and becomes disgraced by the journalism community.  He goes to a cabin in Montana with his girlfriend Jill (Felicity Jones) and makes countless phone calls trying to find work, but of course, nobody trusts him anymore.    Meanwhile, there's another guy, Christian Longo (James Franco), accused of killing his wife and children, going around using Mike Finkel's identity.  When the real Mike Finkel finds out about this through another reporter, he simply has to find out why he's doing this.      After being found and arrested while hiding in Mexico, Longo is in prison awaiting his tr

Ex Machina

Starring: Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, and Oscar Isaac Directed by: Alex Garland Screenplay by: Alex Garland     Like movies about artificial intelligence?  Like the philosophical debate over whether A.I. can be good or evil?  Don't want any of the action of Terminator ?  You've come to the right place.     Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson) works for an internet search engine called Blue Book, the largest search engine in the world.  It's CEO, Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac), lives in the middle of nowhere. Caleb has just won a contest to go to Nathan's home to spend an entire week with him.  So he's going to meet his boss.  That has to be making him nervous.     Once he arrives, he finds that Nathan lives alone, except with a female Japanese servant who does not speak.  But this house is not just a home; it's a research lab.  Nathan needs Caleb's help on his latest project.  Caleb is to be the human variable in a Turing test, a test in which a pers

Furious 7

Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Christopher "Ludacris" Bridges, Dwayne Johnson, Nathalie Emmanuel, and Kurt Russell Directed by: James Wan Screenplay by: Chris Morgan     Most of the gang is back for the seventh installment of the Fast and the Furious movies.  Sadly, Paul Walker, one of the main characters, wasn't there to finish the movie once it had been started.     In the last installment, we met the villain, Owen Shaw.  Now that the team has taken him down, his "big bad brother" Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) is out to take revenge on Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel), Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker), and the rest of the crew along with everyone they care about.  Shaw is basically a ghost with special ops as a background, making him extremely difficult to find.  That's where Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) comes in.  As an agent for the U.S government, he's after Shaw as well, but needs

While We're Young

Starring: Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver, and Amanda Seyfried Directed by: Noah Baumbach Screenplay by: Noah Baumbach     Josh (Ben Stiller) and Cornelia (Naomi Watts) are a middle-aged couple.  Cornelia has had some success in producing documentary films with her father who is a documentary filmmaker.  Josh is himself a documentary filmmaker, having difficulty attaining success.  He's been working on the same film for ten years and hasn't gotten anywhere with it.  He can't seem to be able to finish it.  Their friends are moving on with their lives in ways like having children and being successful in their jobs.  Josh and Cornelia don't seem to be going anywhere.     One day, they meet a younger couple, Jamie (Adam Driver) and Darby (Amanda Seyfried).  These two younger people are basically hipsters, living life to the fullest they can while they're young.  Jamie has a passion for documentary film like Josh does, but doesn't quite know what he wan