Palmer (2021)

Fisher Stevens hits the perfect sweet spot between heartwarming and tragic. A meaty role for Timberlake. One of my favorites so far for 2021. 

Rating: B

Assassination Nation (2018)

I didn’t buy the premise at all. When we have a president who shamelessly screws porn stars and tweets out filth directly at people he doesn’t like, how are we supposed to believe that people would be so bothered by the airing of dirty laundry that they’d care enough to get up off the couch and do something, let alone go on a murdering spree?

This played out more like The Purge--where the premise is stupid, but the nihilistic thrill of watching everyday people try to kill one another is what keeps you watching. Unfortunately they didn’t even do that very well. The last 10 minutes were B-level dreck.

Rating: D

Deepwater Horizon (2016)

A dramatized retelling of the BP oil disaster in the Gulf Of Mexico. Makes you think a little more, if only for a moment, about the real cost of filling up your tank.

Rating: C

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

This ape reboot continues to entertain and dazzle with high end CGI effects. The plot wasn’t all that dynamic, but execution was pretty solid.

Rating: C+

12 Years A Slave (2013)

No surprise this was difficult to watch. Very well acted and directed. Not something I could view more than once, but definitely to be seen once.

Rating: B

Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

An interesting take on the AIDS epidemic during the 80s. Terrific performance by Matthew McConaughey, and to a lesser degree, Jared Leto. Not sure how he walked away with a Golden Globe. Perhaps it was to make up for not giving him one in Requiem For a Dream.

Rating: B-

The Host (2013)

An alien invasion as seen through the eyes of a teenage girl, who appears to have written the script as well. The “romance” was forced. Both of them. There were countless plot holes and unexplained scenes.

For example: There is only one top secret entrance into the caves that has never been discovered by someone who wasn’t first shown, and yet two trucks are shown driving out of there not 5 minutes later. Seems like it would be pretty easy to find the entrance by following the road to the giant garage door. I could go on and on.

The only way they could have saved the film is if they had been forced to stick Wanda into a chubby middle aged dude in order to save her life, instead of the young nubile hottie that was so miraculously available. Her new beau would have had to choose between dumping her on the spot or spending the rest of his life trying to convince himself, and others, that he wasn’t gay. Roll credits.

Rating: D-