MOVIE REVIEW: The Judge

Veering away from the two film franchises that made him the highest paid Hollywood actor today, Robert Downey Jr. chose to do The Judge, a beautifully shot courtroom family drama with a pedigreed supporting cast led by Oscar winners Robert Duvall, Billy Bob Thornton as well as nominee Vera Farmiga. Dax Shepard and Vincent D' Onofrio are also in the film.

Downey plays Hank Palmer, a city big shot lawyer who goes back to his childhood home town after the death of his Mom. His Dad Joseph (Duvall), whom he is not in good terms with, is one of the town's revered judges and when he was suspected of murder in an incident after the funeral, Hank now reconnects with the family and friends in the town he left behind. Farmiga plays Hank's old flame and Thornton as the opposing lawyer.

Despite it's starpower, The Judge could have been better. With Downey, he never left his Tony Spark persona in the film. Fortunately he and Duvall have great chemistry and the scenes of them together are one of the highlights of the film  The director David Dobkin is much more known for his comedies Wedding Crashers and Shanghai Knights and by that alone, drama ain't his forte.

The Judge is not a boring movie and it ain't great too. If you are a Robert Downey Jr. diehard fan then by all means go. The Judge is a commendable filler for those who thirst for Tony Stark and can't wait till The Avengers 2 comes out May of next year.

MOVIE REVIEW: Gone Girl

Based on the phenomenal global bestseller by Gillian Flynn, I finished reading Gone Girl two days before the movie opened here in the United States and if you love it then you won't be disappointed for the film version stays faithful to the book, it helps too that Flynn also wrote the screenplay and is ably directed by David Fincher (Seven, Zodiac, Fight Club and The Social Network among others).

Gone Girl is the story of Nick and Amy Dunne (Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike), a New York City based couple who due to the recession, had to move back to Nick's hometown of New Carthage, Missouri to start a new life. As they are trying to rebuild, Amy suddenly disappears hence the title and maybe Nick the husband has something to do with it...or not??!!!

Ben Affleck gives the best performance of his career as the aggrieved husband who may have some secrets that lead to the disappearance of his wife but Rosamund Pike outshines everyone in the cast that also includes Neil Patrick Harris, as Amy, the wife who may have some secrets as well. This is a star making turn from the British actress mainly known for her roles in Die Another Day, Pride and Prejudice and Jack Reacher. For such a complex character, Pike is excellent that she reminded me of past strong female characters created by Alfred Hitchcock, don't be surprised it she gets an Oscar nomination for this.

Dark, intelligent and mildly comic, Gone Girl is way better than David Fincher's other bestselling film adaptation: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. No one thought that after Rooney Mara's Lisbeth Salander that he would create another great female character with Rosamund Pike's Amy Dunne. It is great edge of your seat, whodunnit entertaining thriller that's well worth of your hard earned money and two and a half hours of your time.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Hundred-Foot Journey

How can not one resist movies that celebrate food? From Denmark's 1987 Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film Babette's Feast (Babettes gaestbud), to 1992's blockbuster hit from Mexico Like Water For Chocolate (Como Agua Para Chocolate), 2009's Meryl Streep's Julie and Julia as well as Pixar's animated classic Ratatouille and this year's indie sensation Chef directed and starred by Jon Favreau. They are the equivalent of comfort food that will nourish your well-being after watching it.

The Hundred-Foot Journey joins the list, directed by Lasse Halstrom, it basically continues where his other food movie Chocolat left off, on a idyllic French town where it revolves around food. Add a little spice when a family from another culture arrives and the result is one spectacular visually appealing comic drama.

When the Kadam family, whose patriarch (Om Puri) owns a restaurant in Mumbai, flees to Europe after a tragedy struck them, they begin to start a new life on a new continent with only their skills as their assets. They eventually setted down on the Midi-Pyrenes region of France where they bought an old house turned it into a restaurant only to earn the ire of their neighbor right across the street, the famed restaurateur Madame Getrude Mallory (Helen Mirren), whose first class eatery suddenly found competition right in front of them.

Naturally conflict of cultures ensues but from it's all about Hassan Kadam's (Manish Dayal) coming of age, from his Papa's dutiful son in the kitchen to Madame Mallory's apprentice in the kitchen. That's where the title was lifted from: the steps you take to make it from both restaurants. 

To add the icing on the cake, Mirren portrays Mallory with such great presence that her transformation, from being icy cold,  when she takes her rival's son to her fold is flawless. She also has great chemistry with Puri and the film's best scenes are when the two of them are together. 

The Hundred-Foot Journey is one film that will stimulate the senses and better be ready to find a place to eat after watching the movie. You'll sure be hungry.

MOVIE REVIEW: Guardians of the Galaxy

The Marvel Universe expands again in film with Guardians of the Galaxy, based on the lesser known comic book series in the seventies, however things will change once moviegoers discover it's charm and heart in a film that's a well written space comic adventure, does not take itself seriously and the characters know how to make fun of themselves.

The team is lead by Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), a bounty hunter who was abducted as a child after a tragedy befall him. He is joined by green-skinned humanoid Gamora (Zoe Saldana whose features of her character echoes her most popular one, Neyteri of Avatar), a genetically mutated raccoon Rocket (Bradley Cooper in an unrecognizable yet excellent vocal performance) and a tough yet gentle treelike creature Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel channeling his earlier The Iron Giant animated character with a heart). Oscar nominees Glenn Close, Djimon Hounsou and John C. Reilly as well as Oscar winner Benicio Del Toro, whose character of The Collector was introduced at the end credits of Thor: The Dark World also join in the fun.

With pop culture references, music that ventures into Quentin Tarantino territory and great visual effects amidst a sea of colors; Guardians of the Galaxy is the freshest and most fun popcorn flick so far for the summer movie season of 2014. I can know say that right after The Avengers, Marvel Studios are at it's best when they make ensemble films such as this.

MOVIE REVIEW: Into The Storm

Into the Storm is mainly focused on the series of tornadoes that has swept over Silverton, Oklahoma and the effect it had on it's people. This is the now classic 1996 film Twister (also released by Warner Brothers) rebooted for the social media generation: from the storm chasers eager to get inside the eye of the storm, to hillbillies looking for that instant fame on YouTube by doing some crazy stunts and a school documenting thru video a time capsule which shall be opened 25 years later: it is one entertaining and unpredictable disaster film.

The visual effects are remarkable: from the tornadoes forming up in the sky to electric posts falling, there's no need for 3D to admire the effort done in creating the visual aspects of the movie but it would be best to watch this in a theater with a good sound system to better hear it's auditory effects. It's running time of an hour and 29 minutes is just about right.

There are shades of other films in Into the Storm: Twister, Final Destination, Jackass, Armageddon and even Titanic comes to mind. It makes sense that it's director Steven Quale's resume includes being the director of Final Destination 5 as well as the assistant director for Titanic. An avid moviegoer can easily see this.

Into the Storm is one of the well made disaster movies in recent times and watching it feels like being there right in the eye of the tornado.

MOVIE REVIEW: Jersey Boys

I haven't seen the musical in which Jersey Boys was based on but I know most of the songs that Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons sang and I admire Clint Eastwood as a director so I came in the theater with some excitement. I came out humming but wanting more.

Jersey Boys is the story of how iconic singer Frankie Valli and his group The Four Seasons came to be: from their beginnings on the wrong side of the tracks in New Jersey, their mob connections, rise of the Four Seasons and their disbandment. This is like Eastwood paying homage to his fellow Oscar winning director Martin Scorsese.

Unlike Scorsese's frenetic fast-paced signature style of film making, Jersey Boys is pure Eastwood, slow with a bit of gloom in it's colors. The vibrancy of John Lloyd Young's singing (reprising his Tony Award winning role as Valli) as well as the group's choreography is lost in the atmosphere and feel. It's the complete opposite of the bright colors of the poster of the Broadway musical.

Acting legend Christopher Walken gives ample support as their father figure and it was nice on Eastwood's part to cast the other actors in the original musical to reprise their roles on the big screen.

If you have seen the Broadway Musical and expecting the same, you will be disappointed. If you're a fan of The Sopranos and other New Jersey based mob films and shows, you'll enjoy it. Either way, Clint Eastwood, despite his age, continues to evolve as a filmmaker.

MOVIE REVIEW: Edge of Tomorrow

I had low expectations coming inside the theater for Edge of Tomorrow since from what the trailer has shown is kinda like Tom Cruise's last film, the bland Oblivion. When the film started, with scenes echoing similarities to the beginning of Brad Pitt's World War Z last year about a force that's threatening mankind, Edge of Tomorrow is one entertaining, comic, action-packed movie. 

Outside of  the Mission Impossible franchise, this is Tom Cruise's best film in recent memory. As inexperienced military officer William Cage, the Hollywood superstar gave a performance that's part comic and believable in scenes that puts his life in death's door. It's always tricky when acting with visual effects but he pulled it off. He is ably assisted by Emily Blunt, if I'm not mistaken, her first action movie, who plays the poster girl for the Allies as the world tries to defeat a powerful alien force that came to invade earth.

The movie with it's concept gets repetitive but with the direction of Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity and Mr.& Mrs. Smith) with The Usual Suspect's Christopher McQuarrie as one of the writers, Edge of Tomorrow, based on the short Japanese light novel All You Need is Kill, is totally unpredictable. You will be at the edge of your seat not knowing what happens next even though some of the earlier scenes gets played over and over again.

Part Groundhog Day mixed with Starship Troopers, Saving Private Ryan and The Source Code, Edge of Tomorrow, despite borrowing some concepts from the above mentioned films, works and well worth your time and hard earned money at the movies.