BradWesley123's Movie Journal- December 2014

Sleepless in Seattle has a boatload of cliches, tons of schmaltz, and a fairly light plot, but it also has an undeniable charm and two strong performances for it's extremely likable leads. It does get pretty dull at times though, but it finishes quite strongly with one of the more memorable endings in rom-com history.

Wish I Was Here aims to be a sincere dramedy about life and death, but only occasionally nails; while it is quite heartfelt, too much feels manufactured to strike a nerve. Plus, there are a few too many subplots that add nothing to the main story and cause the tone to fluctuate. It is easy to look at though, with cinematographer Lawrence Sher capturing some genuinely superb, serene images.

While Happy Christmas is admirable for it's total (and I mean TOTAL) disregard of plot, it's also what makes it such a slog. It gets better towards the end, but by that point too little has happened to actually matter. There's very little about this movie, aside from a pretty natural cast, to engage in.

Things get a bit muddled towards the end, but The One I Love is, nevertheless, a smart, funny, and ambitious look at love and marriage. The writing and direction are quite strong, but it's Duplass's and Moss's nuanced work that really makes this one special.

It's exceptionally well made, the cast is quite strong throughout, and the story has a lot to get interested in, but Jersey Boys feels so lifeless and plodding at times that it's really hard not to wonder what the film would've been like with a different director. Eastwood's a legend, but his more matter-of-fact approach doesn't mesh at all with what should be a Goodfellas musical. The final scene is the only one to really achieve even a level of this, but by then it's way too late.

The story isn't anything we haven't seen before, and the pace is way too languid for it to get much of a momentum going. Director Kat Candler does have a strong sense for characters though; each one extended empathy not regularly seen in film, and the actors playing them give uniformly excellent performances. They may even be better than the film itself.

A pleasant enough movie that you likely won't remember after you've seen it.

If you've seen the trailer, than you essentially know the entire movie. Whatever enjoy you can derive from that is up to you, mine was fairly minimal. The effects are pretty good, and there's a certain stupidity to the picture that occasionally put a grin on my face, but overall Into the Storm is just Twister, but way dumber.

If you've seen even one Y/A adaptation, than you know the score. There are a few smart touches here and there (the cast is solid and the film has a stronger visual presence than most in the genre), it's just that If I Stay can't seem to break free from the genre's trappings. The plot has a decent set-up, but it gets lost in schmaltzy romance rather than bigger, more interesting questions about life and love. Also, cool parents in movies are not cool, they're just grating.

Its marginally entertaining, but ultimately pretty forgettable. Magic in the Moonlight is beautiful to look at, with some superb production design, costumes, and Darius Khondji's cinematography, and the cast is solid (though it should be stated that Firth and Stone don't have much chemistry, and the wide age gap between the two is a bit distracting). The problem lies in the script, like all of Allen's worst latter period film. It's predictable and uninspired, taking several elements from his better films without touching what made them good.

The Dish & the Spoon has a hard time distinguishing itself from a glut of similar independent films (it tries to be way too quirky in the beginning) , but it works incredibly well inside of it's niche to occasionally poignant, bittersweet ends. The leads have a solid chemistry and give natural, vulnerable performances (especially Gerwig, but that's to be expected). It also looks a lot better than most due to Mark Schwartzbard's warm, evocative cinematography. Pleasantly surprising.

There are a couple of decent action scenes, but The November Man offers nothing new to the genre, nor does it do anything interesting with genre cliches.

Well meaning and exceptionally likeable, with a great cast and an important story. It's just that Pride is so dull and predictable that it never takes full advantage of either. It simply happens, then ends, without much fuss. It's good, but nothing to write home about.

The story is the same as about a dozen other "mending fractured families" films, but Hader and Wiig breathe genuine life into it thanks to their comedic and dramatic chops, and superb, easy chemistry.

I came in really wanting to like this movie. It's got a great cast and a relatable premise. But the film is so scattershot, tone deaf, cliched, etc. that it made it hard to even get through. The cast does what they can with the incredibly thinly-written roles their given, but they can't do much to squash the prevalent mediocrity at the film's core. Skip it if at all possible.