Oscar Nominate Live Action Shorts

I saw all five again this year.  My favorite was "The Voorman Problem" which I rate at 4 Boos.  The rest were a combination of 3's and 4's.  As a group this year's nominations were not as good as last year's.

Now I Gotta Watch Mary Poppins. Bummer!

First movie of 2014 seen in a theater on January 1st, and it was pretty good.  We're off to a great start!

I rate "Saving Mr. Banks" at 4 Boos.

Gravity

Just as good everyone says.

I rate "Gravity" at 4 Boos.

American Hustle

Very good!

I rate "American Hustle" at 4 Boos.

In a World

Weird and compelling, a story about the strange world of professional voice-overs.

I rate "In a World" at 4 Boos.

Pretty Spectacular

You may recall last year in my review of "The Descendants" I recommended you keep an eye out for actress Shailene Woodley. Well she's back and she did another spectacular job in "The Spectacular Now".

You should go see this movie.  And if you haven't seen "Blue Jasmine" yet you should go see that too.

I rate "The Spectacular Now" at 4 Boos.

Blue Jasmine

Woody Allen's latest "Blue Jasmine" is a great movie.  Great story, great writing and great acting.  Cate Blanchett was wonderful.

I rate "Blue Jasmine" at 5 Boos.

The Way Way Back

There were several good characters that were very well done.

I rate "The Way Way Back" at 4 Boos.

Heated Girl Buddy Cops

"The Heat" - raunchy and funny.  A typical Melissa McCarthy movie. I liked.

I rate "The Heat" at 4 Boos.

Star Trek Into Darkness

LOVED IT!!!   OK, I'm a Star Trek fanboy, I admit it.  I'm loving this Star Trek reboot.  Bring on the next one!

In a nod to the wife, I'll concede that some of the fight scenes could have been edited down a bit.  I've never been a big fan of extended fight scenes or extended car chases.  A little goes a long way.  That said, I LOVED IT!!!

I rate "Star Trek Into Darkness" at 5 Boos.

Silver Linings Playbook

At it's core it's the standard romantic comedy plot, in this case light on comedy.  The details of the story were done well, and the acting was great across the board.  It's not the best movie of the year.

I rate "Silver Linings Playbook" at 4 Boos.

Other Movies I've Seen So Far in 2013

I rate "Hyde Park on Hudson" at 3 Boos.  It started slow, but grew on me.  I was eventually able to forget I was looking at Bill Murray.

I rate "Zero Dark Thirty" at 4 Boos.

I rate "End of Watch" at 3 Boos.

Oscar Short Films from 2012

This was my third year in a row to see all five of the Oscar nominees for the Best Short Film (Live Action). This has become one of my favorite movie events of the year. Here we go in alphabetical order...

Asad (18 min)
I kept thinking it was going to turn into "The Old Man and the Sea." It did not. I really liked the ending.

I rate "Asad" at 4 Boos.

Buzkashi Boys (28 min)
I've heard about Kabul in the news for years.  During this movie it dawned on me, I've never seen pictures of the place. And I never knew you could play polo with a dead goat. This was my least favorite of the five movies, but it was very well done.

I rate "Buzkashi Boys" at 3 Boos.

Curfew (19 min)
The brother, the sister, the little girl. Loved it! The little girl, Fatima Ptacek, was wonderful.

I rate "Curfew" at 5 Boos.

Death of a Shadow (20 min)
This was so awesome! Dead guy needs his body back, so he steals peoples' shadows as they die.

I rate "Death of a Shadow" at 5 Boos.

Henry (21 min)
I wasn't scared of getting old until I watched this movie.

I rate "Henry" at 4 Boos.

The Boo Movies Short Oscar goes to...  "Curfew"!

I Was Not Miserable

66% of the people I attended Les Misérables with hated it.  I did not hate it, although I had some problems with it.  I was generally entertained, and liked many of the songs.   It was definitely too long!

I rate "Les Misérables" at 2 Boos.

Tarantino Unchained

Quentin Tarantino must sit around his house after every movie and wonder what line he has not crossed yet.  Then he sets out to make his next movie.  His latest, "Django Unchained," makes "Inglourious Basterds" look like Mary Poppins.

I rate "Django Unchained" at 4 Boos.

Flight

Wow, intensive!  Both parts.

I rate "Flight" at 4 Boos.

Skyfall - Not Just Another Chicken Little Movie

Daniel Craig remains unequivocally my favorite Bond.

"Skyfall" was pretty darn good, but I'm going to stick with "Casino Royale" as my favorite.

I rate "Skyfall" at 4 Boos.

Rock On

American males can generally be split into two groups.  Those who fantasize about becoming a professional sports hero, and those who fantasize about being a rock star.  I am a member of the latter group.  So it was with great excitement that I went to see "Rock of Ages."  I don't know that it was necessarily a good movie, but it was definitely a FUN movie!  I wouldn't mind seeing it again.

I rate "Rock of Ages" at 4 Boos.

Another Comics Movie

My comics first love was, and still is, the daily comics in the newspaper.  My childhood comic book interest was not Marvel nor DC, but rather Mad Magazine and Cracked.  So the current Hollywood obsession of making movies based on comic book action heroes is not something that makes me stand in line for the midnight show.  But I generally enjoy them.  I finally caught "The Avengers" and thought it was a solid movie.  I knew the back story for Iron Man and the Hulk, but the rest of the characters were all new to me.  The Captain America character seems interesting.  I wouldn't mind learning a bit more about him.

I rate "The Avengers" at 3 Boos.

Moonrise Kingdom

Everyone else seems to love it.  I hear it has early Oscar buzz.  It was very unique and very well done, I agree.  I generally enjoyed it, but I can't say I love it as much as everybody else seems to.

I rate "Moonrise Kingdom" at 3 Boos.