The Bat Cave

Dumb And Dumber To (2014)

April 1, 2015

Starring: Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, Rob Riggle
Director: The Farrelly Brothers (Dumb And Dumber, There’s Something About Mary, Hall Pass)

“Wanna hear the second most annoying sound in the world?”

Bottom Line: I knew this was going to be bad because of the total lack of word of mouth and poor scores from critics and audiences alike, but, man, it was even worse than I was prepared for. I laughed out loud one time that I can remember and the rest of the “funny” parts were relegated to a courteous chuckle. It seems like over the past 20+ years this film has been simmering in the crock pot of the Farrelly Brothers’ collective imaginations that they could have found time to write some genuinely funny material, but it almost all falls flat. It doesn’t help that Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels feel like ghosts of their previously iconic characters; there is literally no soul in their performances. I was just looking at Carrey’s resume and he hasn’t made an above average comedy since Bruce Almighty all the way back in 2003, so it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that this movie was a bust. It’s a lot of the same gags from the original with very few of the laughs and none of the heart. Too little too late.

Note: I suspected I had maybe grown out of the humor that made Dumb And Dumber so special, but prior to this film’s theatrical release, I watched the original again and that movie is a true comedy classic. It’s 20 years old and I’m in my thirties now, but I was still laughing my ass off. So, yes, Dumb And Dumber To really does just suck.

Replay Value: I tuned out about two-thirds of the way through my first viewing.
Sequel Potential: The world would have loved a Dumb And Dumber sequel 20 years ago… but in 2014, it was a pretty bad idea. In 2015 and beyond, a third movie sounds even worse.
Oscar Potential: None – but Dumb And Dumber To is another movie that got an undeserving pass from The Razzies.

Grade: 2/10 (Horrible)

Posted in movie reviews | Tagged 2014 movies, comedy, dumb and dumber, dumb and dumber to, jeff daniels, jim carrey, movie reviews, movies, the farrelly brothers | Leave a Comment »

Whiplash (2014)

March 30, 2015

Starring: Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons,
Director: Damien Chazelle

“Can’t? When did you become a fucking expert on what I can or cannot do, you fucking weepy-willow shit sack?”

Bottom Line: My first thought concerning Whiplash was that I liked it but that I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about it and my second thought was that I needed to watch it again. Immediately. For a film that doesn’t have a ton of depth for its lead characters, it still managed to pretty much blow me away. This is a story about passion and how far one is willing to go to achieve their goals. It’s a jazz-fueled version of 8 Mile with drums instead of rapping. Only better – and that’s coming from a hip-hop aficionado and Eminem fanatic that could really care less about jazz music.

Whiplash seems to be saying that greatness can be achieved if you’re willing to strive to improve despite any abuse or obstacles thrown your way. Miles Teller’s character Andrew Neimann is an aspiring drummer attending an elite music school where the top jazz ensemble is conducted by a dominating, completely unforgiving, in-your-face-and-over-the-top, totally obscene asshole named Terence Fletcher – played to absolute perfection by J.K. Simmons. Fletcher’s teaching style is 100% out of line. I really can’t imagine that a) no one on the outside knows what’s going on or b) that he could possibly get away with the abuse he constantly flings at his students. That doesn’t make it any less fun to watch though. Some of the interactions are truly horrifying, but Simmons is so good it will fill you with glee watching Fletcher terrorize these poor kids. Fletcher states that “the next Charlie Parker would never get discouraged,” but it’s a bit vague if Whiplash is advocating his teaching style as a means of reaching greatness or whether greatness can be achieved despite someone like Fletcher doing everything possible to stomp out any trace of dignity his pupils might have left. Either way, Fletcher provides a great antagonist – if not a respectable mentor – and makes the film far more enjoyable than it otherwise would be.

Whiplash is also about passion versus balance – a theme I can relate to concerning my own relationship with poker. It’s easy to imagine a life where I eat, sleep, and breathe poker and literally think of nothing else – I know I’m capable of it – but it also sounds awfully lonely. In Whiplash, Andrew Niemann chooses to devote his life to drums, at the cost of everything else: he has no friends, he tells his girlfriend that she will just get in the way of his passion, he looks down on his extended family, and even his relationship with his father – his one true ally – seems cold and distant. He might eventually gain the respect of his fellow band members, but it’s doubtful he will ever earn their fondness or support. He’s really not a very likable guy which makes rooting for him a bit difficult. I do not want to be that person – even if it means I may not reach the pinnacle of my chosen field.

Whiplash is easily one of my favorite films of 2014. J.K. Simmons is every bit deserving of the Oscar he won for his performance. Though his character is brutal and harsh, he’s also hilarious and a total joy to watch. I’m not a big Miles Teller fan, but I felt like his performance in this movie was extraordinary and highly underrated. Director Damien Chazelle deserves a ton of credit for making everything feel incredibly authentic in this film. Both lead actors look like experts – at drumming and conducting, respectively – and the editing is so crisp that each instrument is highlighted at such a precise moment that it’s clear that the filmmakers have a deep understanding of composition. Finally, Whiplash has one of the best climaxes to a film I’ve ever seen. You will literally hold your breath for 15 minutes straight.

What Whiplash lacks in character depth, it more than makes up for with amazing performances, hilarious dialogue, heart-stopping scenes, and a remarkable climax.

Replay Value: I watched it twice in a week. During my second viewing, I watched several sequences multiple times. I truly loved it.
Sequel Potential: There is more to this story, but exploring it would be a mistake, as this particular arc reaches a satisfying conclusion, and further adventures would be far less interesting.
Oscar Potential: J.K. Simmons deservedly won Best Supporting Actor; so did the editing and sound mixing teams. It was also nominated for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. Miles Teller did not get nominated and it’s difficult for me to agree that Bradley Cooper was better in American Sniper than Teller was here. Also, Damien Chazelle may have deserved more recognition for his work as director.

Grade: 8/10 (Excellent)

Posted in movie reviews | Tagged 2014 movies, 2015 oscars, drumming, j.k. simmons, jazz, miles teller, movie reviews, music, whiplash | Leave a Comment »

2015 Poker Goals – February Wrap-Up

March 2, 2015

Every month I’m going to reflect on the previous month of poker and see how well I’m doing at accomplishing my 2015 goals:

-log 750 live hours

For the second straight month I played 100+ hours of live poker with 112.5 hours logged in live games. That brings my total to 249.5 for the year and I’m on pace for nearly 1500 hours in 2015. As someone noted on my Facebook last month, 750 hours is a soft goal for a professional poker player – that’s true. But it should be noted I am NOT a professional poker player – I work to pay my bills. Still, it’s obvious that my 750 goal is going to get demolished and it’s sad that I was playing so little poker that I felt like that was a number I had to strive for. I think I can safely update my goal to 1200 hours as 100 hours seems like a good number for me since I’m working part-time.

-focus on how well I played, how well I controlled tilt, and how well I paid attention to game flow instead of how well I ran.
-continuing taking notes throughout all my sessions and combing through them later.

I fell off a bit here in February. Once again, I pretty much only kept notes for $8/$16 sessions, but I ran into some roadblocks this past month. For one, I have at least three sessions worth of notes I haven’t gone through looking for mistakes or for variance so I can’t post the stats like I did last month. I may update this page in a few days with those numbers, but part of me feels like I should just move forward and focus on current events.

Another issue I had was that I played a lot of short-handed poker and when then game gets down to 5 or less players, I find it not only difficult to jot notes between hands, but my game changes so much that some crazy things are going to happen – variance is going to increase drastically and I’m going to be in a lot more marginal situations. It’s better to just focus on the action and let the results speak for themselves.

My ability to keep my emotions in check remained strong, but everything else listed in the above goals could use some work going forward.

-spend less than 20% of my total hours in 4/8 games

February was extremely fluky. I should be able to log at least two $8/$16 sessions a week, but this past month it seemed like something random came up on all my normal playing days: big poker tournament, went to a hockey game, I got sick, I attended a going away dinner, I played $4/$8 on a friend’s shift because he’d been playing on mine, and I had to cover a shift for someone on vacation. As a result, I only played 39 hours of $8/$16 compared to 70 hours of $4/$8, although nearly half of those $4/$8 hours were as the floorman. For the year, 67% of my free time hours have been in bigger games, so I guess I’m okay with that.

-log 100 hours of spread limit

I actually played one really short session in the $3/$5 Muckleshoot game which brings my total hours for the year to a whopping 2. I feel like this is a goal I’m more likely to achieve over the last few months of the year. While I’m all for challenging myself as a player, at the end of the day, I’d rather spend my time in a game I’m an expert at and I just haven’t spent much time developing my NLHE game and I don’t feel like my bankroll is large enough to learn on the job.

I doubled up early in the session and won a sizable pot with KK, but I blew back all my profit in an extremely marginal situation where I whiffed a nut open-ended straight draw in a raised pot and then leveled myself into calling off $200 on the river with 4th pair after concluding that I should fold. It’s that kind of flimsy decision-making that makes me feel like I’m not ready for that game yet – the confidence is simply not there.

I did cash out +$20 though. GOT EM!

-play a tournament series in a city I’ve never been to before

I thought I was going to Shakopee, Minnesota this past month, but that trip was cancelled for various reasons. I will probably revisit that idea in late summer or early fall. Some friends recently moved to Connecticut and I may visit them later in the year, which would certainly include a trip to Foxwoods. Also, I am going to Vegas a week from today, but that’s nothing new and also not necessarily a poker trip.

-continuing reading about mental game, develop mental game profiles, and improve my c-game
-focus my learning — don’t study multiple variants at the same time or games I’m not playing frequently

To be honest, I didn’t spend a ton of time on my game away from the table this past month. Between all the distractions and being sick, I didn’t have a bunch of free time, but this should change going forward.

-treat poker like a job with set hours and not like a hobby

Fortunately, I work for a living and I’m in a situation where straying from this plan isn’t detrimental to my short-term quality of life. Even though I reached my hours goal, I definitely treated poker like a hobby this past month.

-watch opponents closely in tournaments and develop exploitative styles for each of them instead of playing laggy for laggy’s sake
-take my time in critical pots and really think things through before acting
-set a new career high tournament score

I played five tournaments in February, but three of them were at my job and two of them were while I was working. I took second while I was working for my only cash of the month.

I made a pretty early exit in the $115 Monday night tournament at Muckleshoot. I lost with QQ to quads for a decent portion of my stack and then I jammed over an open with 18-19 bigs holding JJ and my opponent showed up with QQ.

I also played the 4th Sunday $250 deep stack at Muckleshoot and never really got things going. I had a chance to chip up early, but got decidedly unlucky. With blinds at 100-200 and effective stacks well above 20K, a weak, predictable player limped in and I raised it to 700 on the button with AKdd. A younger Asian guy three-bet me from the big blind to 2200 and the limper folded. My first instinct was that this guy was capable of re-raising me light and capable of realizing that I would raise the button light trying to isolate the weak player in position. In this instance, I was near the top of my range and I felt like if the big blind was capable of 3-betting light, he was probably capable of 5-betting or jamming light. Since I’m never folding AK here, I decided to avoid the leveling war and not get 100+ bigs in preflop with Ace high during level 2 and just called. The flop brought KQ3 with two clubs and I called his bet of 2500. The turn bricked out and he bet 5000. I could jam here, but I really felt like his range was mostly air and that if he had nothing, he would almost certainly have to bet the river and raising the turn would let him off the hook – so I just called. The river was a pretty gross Tc, but since I felt like I backed him into a corner where he had to be his entire range, I snap-called his 10K bet and he showed me the 85 of clubs for a flush. Sigh. From that point, I made a few unsuccessful opens trying to pick up some much needed blinds before eventually cramming it in with AT and 6 bigs only to run into AQ.

I am now about a month away from going a year without cashing in a tournament with a buy-in of $100+ and it’s been such a steady drain on my overall results that I’m starting to think maybe I should focus solely on cash games. At the moment though, I am still planning on playing the $500 NLHE event at Muckleshoot this month and the first two events at The World Series Of Poker in late May, plus the daily $150 at Venetian this month.

-double my current bankroll size
-maintain a 1 BB/HR win rate at 8/16
-start playing 20/40 regularly by end of year

I crushed it in February for the first three weeks before having a rough last week.

My final numbers were 1.35 BB/HR overall, 1.52 BB/HR @ $4/$8, and 1.02 BB/HR @ $8/$16, which brings my YTD totals to: 1.15 BB/HR overall, 1.87 BB/HR @ $4/$8, and 0.48 BB/HR @ $8/$16.

See you next month.

Posted in poker | Tagged gambling, limit hold em, poker, professional poker, texas hold em | 1 Comment »

Lucy (2014)

February 20, 2015

Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman
Director: Luc Besson (The Fifth Element, The Professional)

Bottom Line: Strange fact: someone – maybe even multiple people – recommended this movie to me. Whoever you are: damn you… DAMN YOU! I probably would have watched this on my own accord on account of Miss Johansson, but I heard enough positive word of mouth that I decided to make it a priority. Don’t make the same mistake. I honestly don’t know what the heck was going on here. For the first 45 minutes or so I was thinking it was a slightly better version of Limitless with nice eye candy and some cool Neo moments, but the last 20 minutes ranks amongst the worst climaxes I’ve ever seen. My girlfriend and I were looking at each other from across the couch like: “What the f*** are we watching?” And, just to cement my conclusion, after it was over, I stated with sincerity that it was the best 2014 movie I’ve seen so far just to see her incredulous reaction.

I really don’t think there’s anything to like here. The characters are absurdly undeveloped. You don’t care about or get to know any of them. That’s normally not a huge problem in an action movie, but unfortunately the action here is mildly entertaining at best. Scarlett Johansson’s interpretation of accessing the higher brain powers is essentially walking around looking like a confused robot. Lucy is such a dominating presence that the bad guys never pose any real threat; there’s no tension. What starts out as a somewhat intriguing concept quickly delves into weird territory and then dive bombs into the totally absurd – and unwatchable. After Lucy reaches about 40% of her brain’s capability, you’ll start viewing the numeric updates of her brain usage as a countdown to the end of the film – and release from this brutal movie.

Replay Value: No thank you.
Sequel Potential: LMFAO!
Oscar Potential: If Scarlett got nominated for a Razzie I don’t think it would have been too undeserving.

Grade: 3/10 (Just Skip It)

Posted in movie reviews | Tagged 2014 movies, luc besson, lucy, morgan freeman, movie reviews, scarlett johansson | Leave a Comment »

Gone Girl (2014)

February 17, 2015

Starring: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike
Director: David Fincher (Fight Club, The Social Network, Zodiac)

“Am I supposed to know my wife’s blood type?”

Bottom Line: Gone Girl is a pretty faithful adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s best-selling novel – a biting depiction of married life that will scare the crap out of you long before things get crazy. I always prefer reading the book first when a blockbuster novel is being adapted into a film, but in this case, I feel my enjoyment of the film may have suffered a bit since I knew everything that was going to happen – and this is a movie where the surprises probably add to one’s enjoyment. I know there were numerous what moments in the book that didn’t have the same affect on me when I saw it on screen. That being said, the film is perfectly cast and David Fincher continues to be one of the best filmmakers working today. Rosamund Pike in particular is brilliant in this movie – and the fact that she’s Oscar nominated for her role almost feels like a spoiler in itself. Gone Girl is definitely must see cinema – fans of the novel will like it and those that haven’t read the novel might even be blown away. It’s good stuff.

Note (Spoiler Alert!): Amy Elliot Dunne is the definition of an unreliable narrator, but her recollection of discovering her husband’s affair strikes me as genuine. In this memory, Amy sees her husband walking out of his bar with a college student he’s having an affair with and sees them kissing in a similar fashion to their first kiss. Rewind: I said his bar… that he (well, Amy) owns… where his sister tends bar… where everyone presumably knows him… where everyone likely knows Amy. Elsewhere in the movie, after it’s discovered that his sister’s woodshed is one of the spots where Nick and his secret lover did their business, Nick states helplessly: “we had limited options.” I’m guessing their own bar probably wasn’t one of them. This seems like a pretty big oversight by Fincher and Flynn, but perhaps it’s just Amy being Amy. Not a big deal either way, but something I couldn’t help but notice.

Replay Value: Knowing the twists made it less enjoyable for me. Take away the wow factor and it’s still a good movie, but not mind-blowing.
Sequel Potential: None
Oscar Potential: Best Actress nomination for Pike. Kind of surprised to see the lack of nominations as I enjoyed it considerably more than some of the Best Picture nominees.

Grade: 7.5/10 (Must See/Excellent)

Posted in movie reviews | Tagged 2014 movies, 2015 oscars, ben affleck, david fincher, gillian flynn, gone girl, movie reviews, movies, rosamund pike, top 10 movies of 2014 | Leave a Comment »

John Wick (2014)

February 15, 2015

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Willem Dafoe
Director: Chad Stahelski

“What did he say?”

“Enough.”

Bottom Line: If you can look past the fact that an unstoppable, retired hitman – with Bruce Lee’s hand-to-hand combat skills, Houdini’s escaping abilities, and better aim than Legolas – is somehow infiltrated and overwhelmed by the hapless son of a mob boss and his two cronies, you have arguably the best action film of 2014. John Wick had me grinning the whole time – it’s the revenge movie The Equalizer wishes it was. Seriously, once you get past the fact that Keanu Reeves can’t act and Denzel Washington can… everything about John Wick makes it superior: the fight sequences, the music, the choreography, Michael Nyqvist as the mob boss was awesome, the headshots! Some how, some way, John Wick has flown under-the-radar as a must see action flick.

Replay Value: I certainly will see it again.
Sequel Potential: John Wick 2 already announced and this character is worth revisiting.
Oscar Potential: None.
Nudity: None.

Grade: 7/10 (Must See)

Posted in movie reviews | Tagged 2014 movies, action movies, john wick, keanu reeves, movie reviews | Leave a Comment »

Chef (2014)

February 9, 2015

Starring: Jon Favreau, Sofia Vergara, John Leguizamo, Scarlett Johansson
Director: Jon Favreau (Iron Man, Elf)

Bottom Line: Maybe the next time I have a horrible poker session, I’ll come home and watch Chef and then listen to Pharell Williams’ “Happy” on repeat for 30 minutes. If that doesn’t cheer me up, I don’t know what will. Chef was definitely the feel good movie of 2014 – a film so charming I think I had a permanent grin the whole time I was watching it. Jon Favreau plays an aging, former top chef that has grown stagnant and comfortable over the years and finds himself shaken out of his stasis by a scathing review from a food critic. After a hilarious blow up that includes the best use of social media in a film to date, our heroic chef hits the road in a food truck to rediscover his love of cooking and reconnect with his son.

Chef was about as enjoyable as any film I saw from 2014. It’s funny, charming, and entertaining throughout. Jon Favreau continues to establish himself as one of Hollywood’s most underrated directors – and he’s a pretty good actor too! Chef is a slam dunk recommendation and one of the most enjoyable films of 2014.

Replay Value: A feel good movie worth watching multiple times.
Sequel Potential: I’m not sure there is more story here, but the characters are strong enough to consider pursuing further adventures.
Oscar Potential: No nominations.
Nudity: None.

Grade: 7.5/10 (Must See/Excellent)

Posted in movie reviews | Tagged 2014 movies, best movies of 2014, chef, jon favreau, movie reviews | Leave a Comment »

The Raid: Redemption (2012) – CLASSIC ALERT!?

February 8, 2015

Starring: Iko Uwais, Donny Alamsyah, Yayan Ruhian
Director: Gareth Evans (Merantau)

Bottom Line: I’d have to think quite a while to come up with a pure action movie I liked more than this. The fight choreography in The Raid is perhaps the best I’ve ever seen – it’s mind-blowing. It’s so stunning it looks brutally, bone-crushing, blood-spilling real most of the time. Star Iko Uwais makes Jet Li look like Steve Oedekerk in Kung Pow: Enter The Fist. The story is nothing much: 20 S.W.A.T. police officers infiltrate an apartment building run by a crime lord and riddles with loyal residents. But seriously, we are talking unrelenting and amazing action sequences throughout the whole movie – with very little emotional bull getting in the way of the next fight. Bring it on.

I couldn’t figure out how to watch The Raid in it’s original language, so it was kind of weird to watch a movie that has been clearly dubbed over in English. Also, I was completely unfamiliar with all the actors in this, so I got kind of lost the first time I watched it as it was difficult to keep track of the characters. Having a solid grasp of that, I watched it again and enjoyed it much more.

Seriously, The Raid is must see film and will eventually go down as a classic action movie – if it hasn’t already.

Replay Value: Was better the second time I watched it and it feels like a movie I should own – even after I’ve recently decided to stop buying movies.
Sequel Potential: The Raid 2 came out in 2014 and is reportedly as good as the original. The Raid 3 has been announced but seems far away from development. Also, an American remake starring Taylor Kitsch and directed by Patrick Hughes (The Expendables 3) is rumored for 2018 (yawn).
Oscar Potential: No nominations.
Nudity: None.

Grade: 8.5/10 (Excellent/Potential Classic)

Posted in movie reviews | Tagged 2012 movies, best movies of 2012, classic action movies, classic movies, gareth evans, iko uwais, indonesia, movie reviews, movies, the raid, the raid: redemption, yayan ruhian | 2 Comments »

What If (2014)

February 5, 2015

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan, Adam Driver
Director: Michael Dowse (Goon, Take Me Home Tonight)

Bottom Line: What If is a solid rom-com that showcases the comedic talents that Daniel Radcliffe occasionally flashed throughout the Harry Potter series. While not exactly genre-bending, What If is definitely one of the better romantic comedies of the past few years, mainly because Radcliffe and Kazan have such good chemistry together on screen. Funny and amusing, it’s not a must see, but it’s perfect for couples looking for a light movie to watch together. Also, I’m going to go ahead and make a bold prediction: Radcliffe picks up an Oscar nomination in the next ten years.

Replay Value: Not a keeper, but it’s a film I’d enjoy watching again I think.
Sequel Potential: I don’t think so.
Oscar Potential: None
Nudity: None.

Grade: 6/10 (Recommended)

Posted in movie reviews | Tagged 2014 movies, daniel radcliffe, harry potter, movie reviews, movies, what if, zoe kazan | Leave a Comment »

Movie Reviews: American Sniper, Boyhood, How To Train Your Dragon 2

February 4, 2015

AMERICAN SNIPER

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller
Director: Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River, Unforgiven)

Bottom Line: I’ve heard that this story is quite embellished by Hollywood, but since I’m unfamiliar with Chris Kyle’s story, I can only judge the movie as a movie – and I liked it quite alright. Bradley Cooper gives another stellar and nuanced performance and, along with his awesome voice acting in last year’s Guardians Of The Galaxy, has cemented himself as one of the industry’s top leading men. Clint Eastwood’s direction is as crisp and tense as it has ever been, even if this might not be his greatest film. I also found it interesting how underdeveloped Chris’ family is in the movie – perhaps a fitting scenario for active military during wartime. Overall, I enjoyed American Sniper, but it’s not the first movie I would think of for Best Picture and is probably a tad overrated in general.

Replay Value: I’m somewhat interested in reading Chris Kyle’s book and if that happens, I almost certainly will watch the movie again. Even so, it’s probably worth another watch.
Sequel Potential: It would be highly disrespectful, but Hollywood has done worse things.
Oscar Potential: Nominated for 6 Oscars: Best Picture and Best Actor, plus Editing, Sound Mixing, Adapted Screenplay, and Sound Editing.
Nudity: Can’t remember – I don’t think so.

Grade: 6.5/10 (Strongly Recommended)

BOYHOOD

Starring: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Lorelei Linklater
Director: Richard Linklater (School Of Rock, Waking Life, Dazed And Confused)

Bottom Line: Highly praised by critics and blasted by many as being overly boring and too long, Boyhood falls somewhere in the middle. It’s hard not to appreciate director Richard Linklater’s ambitious decision to film his story over 12 years in real time and it’s interesting to watch the kids grow up on screen. The script tackled themes of broken homes, divorce, moving around a lot, alcoholism, peer pressure, bullying, teen angst, young love – and heartbreak – experimentation, and moving on (to college or elsewhere) – and the affect all of that has on growing up – quite well. Even if it doesn’t reflect one’s own childhood exactly, I can’t imagine not being able to relate to Mason’s story in a lot of ways. However, while Mason’s transition from a naive youngster to angst-filled and too-cool-for-school teen may reflect many of today’s youth, that doesn’t make it particularly interesting. Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette give pretty good performances here, but at the end of the day, Boyhood is a merely good, not great film.

Replay Value: Definitely a weakness. Even the people that loved it probably weren’t lining up to see it again.
Sequel Potential: Unlikely, but… Richard Linklater has a history of putting out unlikely sequels with his Before Sunrise franchise.
Oscar Potential: Nominated for 6 Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Linklater, acting noms for Arquette and Hawke, plus Editing. This is probably the favorite for Best Picture even though it’s far from my favorite 2014 film – particularly because I think the script is not all that awesome – but I do think Linklater has a good chance at Best Director and editing a 12 year epic seems like a good way to get a statue also.
Nudity: None.

Grade: 6.5/10 (Strongly Recommended)

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 (2014)

Starring: Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera, Kit Harrington
Director: Dean Deblois (How To Train Your Dragon, Lilo & Stitch)

Bottom Line: A mostly boring sequel to a pretty good original film that is overshadowed by a solid, feel-good ending that will leave most watchers thinking it was better than it really was.

Replay Value: Since I never watched the original again, it’s pretty unlikely I’ll ever see this again — until I have kids (and then I better damn well get used to it!).
Sequel Potential: #3 is due out in 2017 or 2018 and it sounds like this franchise could go deep.
Oscar Potential: Somehow got nominated for Best Animated Feature while The Lego Movie did not. What?
Nudity: None.

Grade: 5/10 (Watchable)

Posted in movie reviews | Tagged 2014 movies, 2014 oscars, 2015 oscar nominees, american sniper, best picture, boyhood, bradley cooper, clint eastwood, how to train your dragon, movie reviews, Oscars, richard linklater | Leave a Comment »