In Theaters: November 25, 2015

There are three wide releases this week and they all come on Wednesday.

Creed

The truth is I never watched all the Rocky movies.  I've only seen the first one, and I only saw it for the first time like three months ago.  But I still know a couple things about them.

In the first Rocky movie Rocky fights Apollo Creed, a champion fighter.  In the second movie I think he has a rematch with him (correct me in the comments if I'm wrong).  The title character in this movie, played by Michael B. Jordan, is Apollo Creed's son, and Rocky ends up being his mentor.  On a side note, Michael must have worked hard for this role because he is cut.  I respect the dedication it must have taken to look like a modern boxer.

Creed is rated PG-13 for violence, language and some sensuality.

The Good Dinosaur

Because we did not get a Pixar movie last year we get two this year.  It may surprise you that that's actually true!  Inside Out was ready for release last summer, but Disney pushed it back because it didn't fit their slate very well.

All I know about The Good Dinosaur is that it takes place in a "what if" kind of world where the dinosaurs were not wiped out by a giant meteor.

The Good Dinosaur is rated PG for peril, action and thematic elements.

Victor Frankenstein

Can you take the mad scientist Victor Frankenstein and turn him into a modern action hero?  That is the question on all the minds over at 20th Century Fox right now.

My guess is no.

Victor Frankenstein falls under that category that is practically a genre all its own by now: the untold story of some character in a classic story, or the "new twist" on a classic story.  Well if you're like me you've about had it with "new twists".

The story follows Dr. Frankenstein and his assistant, Igor, as they set out to create what will become Frankenstein's monster.  And then it seems it falls on them to deal with the monster.

Victor Frankenstein is rated PG-13 for macabre images, violence and a sequence of destruction.

And that's the first time I've heard a rating mention "macabre images".

      Big Shot Critic

In Theaters: November 20, 2015

There are three wide releases this weekend.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2

I'm not sure if you've heard of the Hunger Games franchise yet, but it's fairly popular around the world, and this is the last one!

In my personal journey with Jennifer Lawrence I started as a doubter.  I didn't think she was all she had been cracked up to be after landing the role of Katniss.  After Catching Fire (the second one) I became a fan.  Kind of a big fan, actually.  And now, after observing different things she's done or said in articles and stuff I am on the cusp of being a hater.  I'm not a hater yet, but I'm over it.  I don't think she's making good career choices.  She's done with this franchise, and in May she'll be done with her other big franchise, and she hasn't picked up any truly major roles outside of those franchises.  Mostly all she's done besides that is play in David O. Russell movies.  That's not enough to sustain her stardom.  It will fade unless she does more.

Anyway, in this, the fourth and final Hunger Games movie, I'm pretty sure the good guys win.  They fight and stuff, I don't really know the details.  But it is pretty exciting, and I do enjoy these movies.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and for some thematic material.

The Night Before

So three friends decide to go big - really big - the night before Christmas.  Including drugs, parties, and every Christmas tradition you can think of!  This one won me over when the trailer said "from the guys that brought you This is The End" . . . "Neighbors" . . . "and almost The Interview".

It's funny because Sony decided not to release The Interview in theaters and instead it went straight to all sorts of streaming services, because of the fiasco with North Korea.  In fact, The Interview was what caused the fiasco with North Korea.

Anyway, The Night before is rated R for drug use and language throughout, some strong sexual content and graphic nudity.

Secret in their Eyes

Nowadays every kind of movie has to be rehashed with female leads.  Even revenge thrillers.  We're getting an all-female Ghostbusters remake, teetering on the edge of an all-female Expendables wannabe, and now there's talk of an all-female Ocean's Eleven remake.  It's stupid.  This trend is stupid.

Secret in their Eyes is a revenge thriller.  Julia Roberts is a mother (and police officer) who loses her daughter, and eventually goes for revenge.

This one looks like Oscar bait to me.  Too much focus on performance, not enough on a compelling story.

Secret in their Eyes is rated PG-13 for thematic material involving disturbing violent content, language and some sexual references.

      Big Shot Critic

In Theaters: November 13, 2015

There are three wide releases this weekend.

The 33

The 33 is a dramatization of the true story of 33 miners that were trapped in a mine in 2010.  The story made worldwide news and all 33 miners were eventually saved (spoiler alert).

The 33 is rated PG-13 for a disaster sequence and some language.

Love the Coopers

You know those movies that try to glorify dysfunctional family situations?  This could be one of those, I'm not sure.  I've watched the trailers and the target audience is definitely the same people that see those kinds of movies, but nothing really indicated that it was glorifying dysfunction.  But it is definitely a comedy centered around family and the odd situations families can get in.  Approach with caution.

Love the Coopers is rated PG-13 for thematic elements, language and some sexuality.

My All American

And Aaron Eckhart has officially started the rounds in the inspirational independent movie circuit.  For whatever reason that guy has never been able to lead a movie by himself.

Anyway, My All American is about a football player living in what looks like the sixties who gets a scholarship to play for Aaron Eckhart at University of Texas.  Apparently he gets an injury and plays through it.  Honestly the trailer didn't show much anything to suggest any serious conflict.  But every movie has to have conflict and the only one it showed was a leg injury.

The trailer didn't impress me very much.  Just go see The Martian again this weekend if you're going to the theater.  It's still gonna be the best thing playing, I think.

      Big Shot Critic

Review: Spectre

Spectre

   James Bond is back.  James Bond will always be back.

   Spectre reunites basically the entire creative team behind 2012's Skyfall.  The only notable exception is Cinematographer Roger Deakins, and believe me, if you remember how beautiful Skyfall was - you'll notice.

   The cinematography is not as good (but, honestly, when you follow Roger Deakins, how could it be?), the movie moved very slowly at times, and the action wasn't the best in the franchise, even though it was distinctly more inventive than the action in Skyfall.  In terms of style and technique, it's a complete Skyfall rehash with Hoyte Van Hoytema (he did the cinematography for Interstellar) instead of Roger Deakins.

   I have to add that there were one or two scenes that I thought were genuinely horrible for pacing.  I found myself wondering what was going on more than once, not because I got lost but because something looked like it would happen and then it would happen . . . sixty seconds later.  It was really strange.

   And one more negative thing.  Don't let John Logan anywhere near any more Bond scripts, please!  His randomly dramatic/thematic dialogue belongs on the stage in Chicago NOT in a Bond film.

   I am happy to say that aside from being too slow and the fact that Sam Mendes is definitely not an action director the movie is quite good.  Where Skyfall brought Q and Moneypenny into the new Bond world, Spectre brings in yet others.  As far as specifics I will only say the obvious: Dave Bautista makes a glorious classic Bond henchman.

   I'm finding it hard to review this film because of all the spoiler-sensitive stuff.  At least in the trailers you saw the evil lair of the bad guy.  It's those classic Bond elements brought into Daniel Craig's Bond world that provided much of the joy of Spectre.

   Opposite Daniel Craig this time around we have Christoph Waltz as Hans Oberhauser.  All I will say here is that Waltz is exactly the natural fit for a Bond villain that you think he is.

   I have always felt that a good measure of a movie is how soon you want to see it again.  From this review you may not believe that I liked Spectre but I would like to see it again soon.

      Big Shot Critic

P.S. I totally did not write reviews for The Martian or The Intern.  Oops.

In Theaters: November 6, 2015

There are two wide releases this weekend.

The Peanuts Movie

I know what you're thinking.  There have been loads of adaptations of childhood favorites lately, and sometimes they go bad.  Sometimes you wonder how they can possibly adapt that cherished property and do it right when so many things have gone wrong.

I do not think you have reason to fear with The Peanuts Movie.  I think they have stayed true to the feel (and even to the look) of the original comic strip.

If you doubt then consider the following.  Peanuts debuted in 1950, and the Christmas special didn't happen until 1965.  There is a fifteen year gap between the inception of Charlie Brown and that piano number we all think of when we hear the name Charlie Brown.  Yet now it is part of Charlie Brown.  This could be too.  I'm not saying it will be, but I am saying this will either be great or it will go the way of the Garfield movies - okay, but forgotten.

The Peanuts Movie is rated G with absolutely no notes beyond that.  How refreshing is that?

Spectre

The legend returns.  Get ready for the 24th James Bond movie.

James Bond holds a special place in my heart.  I actually watched all three of Daniel Craig's prior Bond films just yesterday to get ready for this one (even though I basically have them memorized already).  I really could be Casino Royale's biggest fan.  Let's review just a little.

Daniel Craig is the sixth actor to portray James Bond in the official EON Productions films, and his first was Casino Royale in 2006.  Casino Royale was very well-received by fans and critics (and I completely fell in love with it - it's still my all time favorite film).  Two years later the world got Quantum of Solace in 2008.  It made more money than any Bond film before it, but it only did okay with the critics.  I like to think of it as bite size Bond.  It's shorter than the other Daniel Craig films, and it's practically a direct sequel to Casino Royale (there are no actual direct sequels in James Bond - it's not serialized).  Quantum of Solace was also in production right in the middle of the writer's strike of 2008, so it had a rough road, but all things considered I believe they did a marvelous job.  It's not Casino Royale, but it's definitely Bond.  Not too long after Quantum of Solace, and by no fault of the James Bond franchise, MGM went bust and Bond 23 was postponed indefinitely.  Eventually that all got sorted out and we got Skyfall in 2012.  Skyfall is inarguably a fan favorite, and was a MASSIVE critical and commercial hit to boot.  But truth be told I didn't like it as much as the others.  It moves a lot slower and takes itself much too seriously in my opinion.  It's heavy and contemplative Bond.  To date Skyfall is the highest grossing Bond film of all time, and the highest grossing British film of all time, and it had the biggest opening in England of all time - until last week when Spectre took that record.  Brief history lesson over.

The creative team behind Spectre is more or less identical to the creative team behind Skyfall.  The only notable difference is that Neal Purvis and Robert Wade wrote Skyfall and then John Logan re-wrote it.  This time, John Logan wrote Spectre and Neal Purvis and Robert Wade re-wrote it.  This sounds very small but it could make a big difference.  Neal and Robert are true blue through and through Bond writers while John Logan spends most of his time writing plays for the stage.  And the more die-hard Skyfall fans will forgive me for saying that Skyfall felt a bit like a stage play - like it didn't take full advantage of the film medium.  By the way, director (of Skyfall and Spectre) Sam Mendes does come from a background directing (you guessed it) stage plays.

Suffice it to say I have strong opinions about James Bond.  And in case you're wondering what I think the odds are of Daniel Craig staying as Bond, I'll tell you.  I think odds are good he'll do one more and then go.  As long as no one bothers him about doing another one for about three or four months I think he'll do one more after he's taken some time off.  And who will they get after that?  I hope it's someone out of relative obscurity just like Craig himself.  Idris Elba already said he doesn't want to be remembered for being the black James Bond, and the only real contender in my opinion from among the popular guesses is that red-haired guy from Homeland.

Damian Lewis

But even he might be too old already.  I don't know.  It's up to Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.  If you don't hear it from them specifically just ignore it because it's not true.  They will decide, and no one else.

In any case I am definitely going to see Spectre, even though I expect it to be a lot like Skyfall.

Spectre is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, some disturbing images, sensuality and language.

      Big Shot Critic