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Showing posts from September, 2015

Black Mass

Starring: Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kevin Bacon, Peter Sarsgaard, Dakota Johnson, Jesse Plemons, Rory Cochrane, David Harbour, Adam Scott, and Corey Stoll Directed by: Scott Cooper Screenplay by: Mark Mallouk and Jez Butterworth      This is the true story of James "Whitey" Bulger and his unholy alliance with FBI agent John Connolly in order to take down their common enemy, the Angiulo family in Boston's Italian mafia.      It's the mid-1970s in south Boston, and Jimmy Bulger (Johnny Depp) is in charge.  His brother, Billy (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a powerful state senator from Boston.  Their friend from childhood, John Connolly (Joel Egerton) is an FBI agent in Boston.  They want to rid the city of the Angiulo family in order to clean up the streets and make Boston a safer city.  The problem is then there's Jimmy and his Winter Hill gang to contend with.  Connolly, willing to take risks with the bureau, decides to make an alliance

Everest

Starring: Jason Clarke, John Hawkes, Naoko Mori, Michael Kelly, Josh Brolin, Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington, Jake Gyllenhaal, Robin Wright, and a bunch of other people Directed by: Baltasar Kormákur Screenplay by: William Nicholson and Simon Beaufoy There's mountain climbing, and then there's climbing Mt. Everest.       Since Edmund Hillary and Tenzig Norgay became the first people to climb Mt. Everest in 1953, many people have attempted to climb the world's tallest mountain.  By 1996, Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) was leading guided expeditions to the top of the mountain.  This is the story of one of his trips.       Rob is not the only person who leads people to the top of the mountain.  There are others as well, such as Scott Fischer, who lead trips up to Mt. Everest.  Everybody wants to get to the summit as fast as possible and on a day where the weather won't be too bad.  On Rob's journey, there are people from many different walks of life; like Yasuko Na

Southpaw

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rachel McAdams, Forest Whitaker, and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, and Oona Laurence Directed by: Antoine Fuqua Screenplay by: Kurt Sutter       Hooray!! Another boxing movie!       This is the story of a famous light-heavyweight boxing champion, Billy Hope (Jake Gyllenhaal), and his fall from fame and rise back up to it.  Billy grew up in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York as a foster child.  When he was 12, he met a girl named Maureen (Rachel McAdams when Maureen is an adult).  Fast forward a number of years, and they are married with a daughter, Leila (Oona Laurence).  On top of that, being an undefeated fighter at 43-0, he's exceedingly wealthy.        Tragedy strikes one night at a charity event Hope speaks at for the New York City child foster care system.  Maureen is unexpectedly killed at the event after an altercation between Hope and another famous boxer at the event.  Billy has a great deal of difficulty moving past

A Walk in the Woods

Starring: Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, and Emma Thompson Directed by: Ken Kwapis Screenplay by: Rick Kerb and Bill Holderman Based on the book by Bill Bryson      For those of you who are considering hiking the Appalachian trail, let Robert Redford and Nick Nolte show you how it's done.      Bill Bryson (Robert Redford) has traveled all over the world.  He's a popular published author in the world of travel as well, with many books under his belt.  He's written about so many different places, but not about his home country, the United States.  It would appear just in the first scene in which he is being interviewed by a local television station that he has not written much about the USA.  So, one day on a walk just outside his house in New Hampshire, he decides he's going to backpack the Appalachian trail, from Georgia to Maine.      Bryson is not a young man at the time and not in the best shape of his life, making an already difficult trek potentially even h