Watched in 2014

The Plot:A soldier introduces himself to the Peterson family, claiming to be a friend of their son who died in action. After the young man is welcomed into their home, a series of accidental deaths seem to be connected to his presence.

Director:Adam Wingard

Stars:Dan Stevens,Maika Monroe,Leland Orser,Sheila Kelley

My Rating:8/10

Director:Isaac Florentine

Stars:Scott Adkins,Mykel Shannon Jenkins,Mark Ivanir,Marko Zaror

My Rating:7/10

The Plot: Murielle and Mounir love each other passionately.
Ever since he was a boy, the young man has been living with Doctor Pinget who provides him with a comfortable life. When Mounir and Murielle decide to marry and have children, the couple’s dependence on the doctor becomes excessive. Murielle finds herself caught up in an unhealthy emotional climate that insidiously leads the family towards a tragic outcome.

Director:Joachim Lafosse

Stars:Émilie Dequenne,Tahar Rahim,Niels Arestrup

My Rating:8/10

The Plot: George Bailey spends his entire life giving up his big dreams for the good of his town, Bedford Falls, as we see in flashback. But in the present, on Christmas Eve, he is broken and suicidal over the misplacing of an $8000 loan and the machinations of the evil millionaire, Mr. Potter. His guardian angel, Clarence, falls to Earth, literally, and shows him how his town, family, and friends would turn out if he had never been born. George meant so much to so many people; should he really throw it all away?

Director:Frank Capra

Stars:James Stewart,Donna Reed,Lionel Barrymore,Thomas Mitchell

My Rating:10/10

Having recently lost her sight, Ingrid retreats to the safety of her home - a place where she can feel in control, alone with her husband and her thoughts. But Ingrid's real problems lie within, not beyond the walls of her apartment, and her deepest fears and repressed fantasies soon take over.

Director:Eskil Vogt

Stars:Ellen Dorrit Petersen,Henrik Rafaelsen,Vera Vitali

My Rating:7/10

Director:Isaac Florentine

Stars:Michael Jai White,Scott Adkins,Ben Cross,Mark Ivanir

My Rating:6/10

The Plot:Talk-show host Dave Skylark and his producer, Aaron Rapoport, score an interview with Kim Jong-Un, dictator of North Korea. But when the CIA asks them to kill Kim, they become the least qualified men to ever assassinate.

Director:Seth Rogen,Evan Goldberg

Stars:James Franco,Seth Rogen,Randall Park,Lizzy Caplan

My Rating:5/10

The Plot: "Get ready for fun!" (Leah Rozen, People) with the "feel good movie of the year!" (Clay Smith, Access Hollywood) Love Actually is the ultimate romantic comedy from the makers of Bridget Jones's Diary and Notting Hill. Funny, irresistible and heartwarming, an all-star cast (Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth and Emma Thompson, to name a few!) will take you on a breathtaking tour of love's delightful twists and turns. Fall under the spell of Love Actually and share the laughs and charm again and again.

Director:Richard Curtis

Stars:Liam Neeson,Alan Rickman,Colin Firth,Emma Thompson,Bill Nighy,Keira Knightley,Andrew Lincoln,Hugh Grant,Rodrigo Santoro,Rowan Atkinson,Martin Freeman

My Rating:10/10

The Plot:A police officer promises to share his lottery ticket with a waitress in lieu of a tip.

Director:Andrew Bergman

Stars:Nicolas Cage,Bridget Fonda,Rosie Perez,Wendell Pierce

My Rating:5/10

The Plot:The sixth installment of the Rocky series picks up the story of the Italian Stallion 16 years after the morose Rocky V. And sure, at his advanced age, Sylvester Stallone now looks like one of those sides of beef his character used to pound on. No matter. Somehow you buy the premise after all these years, even if it takes forever for Rocky Balboa to stop wallowing in self-pity (Adrian is dead, his old haunts are demolished) and get down to the business of drinking raw eggs and running up staircases. The business at hand is an unlikely exhibition fight with champion Mason Dixon (Antonio Tarver), which the near-sexagenarian Mr. Balboa has no business accepting. Of course, just as sure as the horns of Bill Conti's theme music are even now trumpeting through your head, the ol' Rock might have a punch or two left in him. Stallone wrote and directed, and there isn't much to say except that the movie steps in its pre-determined paces with a canny sense of what has come before (it's practically an homage to all the previous Rocky pictures, complete with fleeting flashbacks). Burt Young is around again, and Geraldine Hughes makes an appealing, rather chaste female companion for Rocky. Stallone's Rocky has gotten suspiciously articulate over the years, but he still knows how to slouch. If Stallone never forgets that, he can probably keep the franchise rolling. --Robert Horton

Director:Sylvester Stallone

Stars:Sylvester Stallone,Burt Young,Geraldine Hughes,Antonio Tarver,Milo Ventimiglia

My Rating:7/10

The Plot:When Rocky is defeated by a brutal challenger, Apollo Creed offers to retrain him in order to regain his fighting spirit.

Director:Sylvester Stallone

Stars:Sylvester Stallone,Talia Shire,Burt Young,Burgess Meredith,Mr T

My Rating:5/10

The Plot: In the aftermath of his celebrated match with World Heavyweight Champion Apollo Creed, Rocky Balboa enjoys his success, and the money he earned from the match (Which Apollo won by split decision and therefore retained the heavyweight championship.). He marries his fiancée Adrian, buys her an expensive fox fur, a sports car for himself, and a large new home. When a projected stint in TV commercials fails because he is unable to remember his lines and cannot read the 'dummy boards' being held for him, an embarrassed Rocky is forced to work for the meat packing company that Adrian's brother Paulie works for. When Rocky later gets laid off from the meat packing company, Adrian, who is now pregnant, tries to support them by continuing to work in the pet shop. Rocky believes he has no future as a boxer and accepts a menial job at the gym run by his former trainer Mickey. Apollo, angered by repeated taunts that his fight with Rocky was fixed, is eager for a high-profile rematch with Rocky to prove that the match was a fluke. Adrian is against it, and doctors have warned Rocky that with his injured eye, another fight could seriously damage his eyesight. With the family resources declining and his pride wounded, Rocky decides that fighting is all he knows how to do, and he makes the decision to get back in the ring with Apollo. Adrian's lack of support affects Rocky's training, much to Mickey's dismay. When Adrian lapses into a coma after giving birth to a baby boy named Rocky Balboa Jr., Rocky stops training. After Adrian later emerges from the coma and tells Rocky to beat Apollo, Rocky resumes his training. Adrian's love for Rocky is selfless, and Rocky, who feels the same way, is determined to win the title from Apollo this time.

Director:
Sylvester Stallone

Stars:Sylvester Stallone,Talia Shire,Burt Young,Burgess Meredith

My Rating:6/10

The Plot:Rocky Balboa is a struggling boxer trying to make the big time, working as a debt collector for a pittance. When heavyweight champion Apollo Creed visits Philadelphia, his managers want to set up an exhibition match between Creed and a struggling boxer, touting the fight as a chance for a nobody to become a somebody.

Director:John G. Avildsen

Stars:Sylvester Stallone,Talia Shire,Burt Young,Burgess Meredith

My Rating:9/10

The Plot: freewheeling Detroit cop pursuing a murder investigation finds himself dealing with the very different culture of Beverly Hills.

Director:Martin Brest

Stars:Eddie Murphy,Judge Reinhold,John Ashton,Lisa Eilbacher

My Rating:6/10

The Plot:A single phone call causes the life of a successful construction manager to unravel during his drive home.

Director:Steven Knight

Stars:Tom Hardy

My Rating:9/10

The Plot:A group of scientists in San Francisco struggle to stay alive in the aftermath of a plague that is wiping out humanity, while Caesar tries to maintain dominance over his community of intelligent apes.

Director:Matt Reeves

Stars:Andy Serkis,Jason Clarke,Gary Oldman,Keri Russell,Toby Kebbell

My Rating:9/10

The Plot:Pretty teenager Nicole Walker thinks she's met Mr. Right in hunky, seemingly sweet David McCall. They begin a lovely romance, and David even charms Nicole's stepmother. But then David undergoes a sudden personality change, and his behavior turns possessive and violent. Furthermore, Nicole's dad Steve discovers that David has lied about his past, which in reality is quite disturbing. Steve puts an end to the relationship, against the lovebirds' wishes. Unfortunately, David does not take the news lightly. In fact, he becomes completely psychotic, seeking revenge by terrorizing the Walkers in myriad ways. The harassed family soon realizes that the only way to get rid of David is to fight the war of their lives.

A pretty teenager meets and falls in love with a charming, mysterious young man at an all-night rave party in Seattle. When she stops seeing him after discovering he's cheating on her with her best friend, he snaps, vowing vengeance against her and her family. A tense thriller.

Director:James Foley

Stars:Mark Wahlberg,Reese Whitherspoon,William Petersen,Alyssa Milano

My Rating:6/10

The Plot:Based on John le Carré’s bestselling book, Anton Corbijn directs this modern-day thriller with Academy Award–winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams, Robin Wright, and two-time Academy Award nominee Willem Dafoe headlining an ensemble cast.

Director:Anton Corbijn

Stars:Philip Seymour Hoffman,Grigoriy Dobrygin,Rachel McAdams,Robin Wright

The Plot:A New York City architect becomes a one-man vigilante squad after his wife is murdered by street punks in which he randomly goes out and kills would-be muggers on the mean streets after dark.

Director:Michael Winner

Stars:Charles Bronson,Vincent Gardenia,Steven Keats

My Rating:6/10

The Plot:In 1999, Ken Carter, a successful sporting goods store owner, accepts the job of basketball coach for his old high school in a poor area of Richmond, CA, where he was a champion athlete. As much dismayed by the poor attitudes of his players as well as their dismal play performance, Carter sets about to change both. He immediately imposes a strict regime typified in written contracts that include stipulations for respectful behavior, a dress code and good grades as requisites to being allowed to participate.

Director:Thomas Carter

Stars:Samuel L. Jackson,Rob Brown,Channing Tatum,Rick Gonzalez

My Rating:6/10

The Plot:A former black ops commando who faked his death for a quiet life in Boston comes out of his retirement to rescue a young girl and finds himself face to face with Russian gangsters.

Director:Antoine Fuqua

Stars:Denzel Washington,Chloe Moretz,Marton Csokas,David Harbour

My Rating:7/10

Director:Christian Carion

Stars:Diane Kruger,Benno Fürmann,Guillaume Canet,Daniel Brühl,Dany Boon

My Rating:7/10

The Plot:Dale, Kurt and Nick decide to start their own business but things don't go as planned because of a slick investor, prompting the trio to pull off a harebrained and misguided kidnapping scheme.

Director:Sean Anders

Stars:Jason Bateman,Jason Sudeikis,Charlie Day,Jennifer Anniston,Chris Pine,Christoph Waltz

mY rATING:6/10

The Plot:A weather man is reluctantly sent to cover a story about a weather forecasting "rat" (as he calls it). This is his fourth year on the story, and he makes no effort to hide his frustration. On awaking the 'following' day he discovers that it's Groundhog Day again, and again.

Director:Harold Ramis

Stars:Bill Murray,Andie MacDowell,Chris Elliott,Stephen Tobolowsky

My Rating:9/10

The Plot:An Aardman production for Sony Pictures Animation, at last reveals the incredible, never-before seen answer to every child's question: 'So how does Santa deliver all those presents in one night?' The answer: Santa's exhilarating, ultra-high-tech operation hidden beneath the North Pole. But at the heart of the film is a story with the ingredients of a Christmas classic - a family in a state of comic dysfunction and an unlikely hero, Arthur, with an urgent mission that must be completed before Christmas morning dawns.

Directors:Barry Cook,Sarah Smith

Stars:James McAvoy,Hugh Laurie,Bill Nighy,Jim Broadbent

My Rating:5/10

The Plot:Boyd Mitchler and his family must spend Christmas with his estranged family of misfits. Upon realizing that he left all his son's gifts at home, he hits the road with his dad in an attempt to make the 8-hour round trip before sunrise.

Director:Tristram Shapeero

Stars:Joel McHale,Robin Williams,Lauren Graham,Clark Duke

My Rating:4/10

The Plot:A story of a young man and woman who struggle to navigate their friendship, which has developed a deep romantic undercurrent.

Director:Michael Dowse

Stars:Daniel Radcliffe,Zoe Kazan,Adam Driver,Mackenzie Davis

My Rating:6/10

The Plot:April, 1945. A battle-hardened army sergeant named Wardaddy commands a Sherman tank and her five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Wardaddy and his men face odds in their attempts to strike at Nazi Germany.

Director:David Ayer

Stars:Brad Pitt,Shia LaBeouf,Logan Lerman,Michael Pena,Jon Bernthal

My Rating:6/10

The Plot:A young boy whose parents just divorced finds an unlikely friend and mentor in the misanthropic, bawdy, hedonistic, war veteran who lives next door.

Director:Theodore Melfi

Starring:Bill Murray,Naomi Watts,Melissa McCarthy,Jaeden Lieberher

My Rating:7/10

The Plot:A cabin cruiser is shipwrecked off the coast of a remote island, and its three passengers manage to reach the island safely. The island is owned by a strange and enigmatic count who invites them to stay. But he has an underlying motive for his apparent generosity: Count Zaroff enjoys hunting--and he only hunts the most dangerous game: humans!

Directors:Irving Pichel,Ernest B. Schoedsack

Starring:Joel McCrea,Fay Wray,Robert Armstrong,Noble Johnson

My Rating:6/10

The Plot:A young couple's car runs out of gas just as the Purge commences. Meanwhile, Leo goes out into the streets to get revenge on the man who killed his son, and a mother and daughter run from their home after assailants destroy it. The five people meet up as they attempt to survive the night in Los Angeles.

Director:James DeMonaco

Starring:Franc Grillo,Zach Gilford,Kiele Sanchez,Carmen Ejogo

My Rating:5/10

The Plot:When a nobleman is threatened by a family curse on his newly inherited estate, detective Sherlock Holmes is hired to investigate.

Director:Terence Fisher

Starring:Peter Cushing,André Morell,Christopher Lee

My Rating:6/10

The Plot:A thriller centered on a con artist, his wife, and a stranger who try to flee a foreign country after one of them is caught up in the murder of a police officer.

Director:Hosein Amini

Starring:Viggo Mortensen,Oscar Isaac,Kirsten Dunst

My Rating:6/10

The Plot:A guy named Mickey gets in over his head when he tries to cover-up the accidental death of his stepson.

Director:John Slattery

Starring:Christina Hendricks,Philip Seymour Hoffman,Eddie Marsan,John Turturro,Richard Jenkins

My Rating:6/10

The Plot:In the aftermath of his girlfriend's mysterious death, a young man awakens to strange horns sprouting from his temples.

Director:Alexandre Aja

Starring:Daniel Radcliffe,Max Minghella,Joe Anderson,Juno Temple

My Rating:4/10

The Plot:Private investigator Matthew Scudder is hired by a drug kingpin to find out who kidnapped and murdered his wife.

Director:Scott Frank

Starring:Liam Neeson,Dan Stephens,Eric Nelsen

My Rating:6/10

The Plot:The savage murders of three young children sparks a controversial trial of three teenagers accused of killing the kids as part of a satanic ritual.

Director:Atom Egoyan

Starring:Reese Whitherspoon,Colin Firth,James Hamrick,Amy Ryan

My Rating:6/10

The Plot:A romantic comedy about an Englishman brought in to help unmask a possible swindle. Personal and professional complications ensue.

Director:Woody Allen

Starring:Colin Firth,Emma Stone,Hamish Linklater,Marcia Gay Harden,Jacki Weaver

My Rating:5/10

The Plot:AD 2031, the passengers in the train are the only survivors on Earth.
In a future where a failed global-warming experiment kills off most life on the planet, a class system evolves aboard the Snowpiercer, a train that travels around the globe via a perpetual-motion engine.

Director:Joon-ho Bong

Starring:Chris Evans,Tilda Swindon,John Hurt,Jamie Bell,Octavia Spencer

My Rating:8/10

The Plot:The Biblical Noah suffers visions of an apocalyptic deluge, and takes measures to protect his family from the coming flood.

Director:Darren Aronofsky

Starring:Russell Crowe,Jennifer Connelly,Ray Winstone,Anthony Hopkins

My Rating:6/10

The Plot:A giant radioactive monster called Godzilla awakens from its slumber to wreak destruction on its creators.A sea monster, the product of radioactive mutations caused by decades man faces evil creatures, animated by scientific arrogance of humanity, threaten the lives of men

Director:Gareth Edwards

Starring:Aaron Taylor-Johnson,Elizabeth Olsen,Bryan Cranston,Juliette Binoche,Ken Watanabe,Sally Hawkins

My Rating:7/10

The Plot:Based on a Japanese novel by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. Centers on a new recruit in a war against aliens who finds himself caught in a time loop in which he wakes up in the past after having been killed on the battlefield. As the soldier’s death and resurrection repeat, his skills as a soldier grows as he attempts to change his fate.

Director:Doug Liman

Starring:Tom Cruise,Emily Blunt,Brendan Gleeson,Bill Paxton

My Rating:7/10

The Plot:A high school wise guy is determined to have a day off from school, despite of what the principal thinks of that.

Director:John Hughes

Starring:Matthew Broderick,Alan Ruck,Mia Sara,Jeffrey Jones,Jennifer Grey

My Rating:8/10

The Plot: In "RoboCop," the year is 2028 and multinational conglomerate OmniCorp is at the center of robot technology. Their drones are winning American wars around the globe and now they want to bring this technology to the home front. Alex Murphy is a loving husband, father and good cop doing his best to stem the tide of crime and corruption in Detroit. After he is critically injured in the line of duty, OmniCorp utilizes their remarkable science of robotics to save Alex’s life. He returns to the streets of his beloved city with amazing new abilities, but with issues a regular man has never had to face before.

Director:José Padilha

StarringLJoel Kinnaman,Gary Oldman,Michael Keaton,Abbie Cornish,Michael K.Williams

My Rating:6/10

The Plot:While subjected to the horrors of WWII Germany, young Liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. Under the stairs in her home, a Jewish refuge is being sheltered by her adoptive parents.

Director:Brian Percival

Starring:Sophie Nélisse,Geoffrey Rush,Emily Watson,Nico Liersch,Ben Schnetzer

My Rating:7/10

The Plot:A SWAT team becomes trapped in a tenement run by a ruthless mobster and his army of killers and thugs.

Director:Gareth Evans

Starring:Iko Uwais,Joe Taslim,Donny Alamsyah,Yayan Ruhian,Pierre Gruno

My Rating:8/10

The Plot:From director Jon Amiel (The Singing Detective, Entrapment) and writer John Collee (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World) comes CREATION. A psychological, heart-wrenching love story starring Paul Bettany (A Beautiful Mind, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World) as Charles Darwin, the film is based on “Annie’s Box,” a biography penned by Darwin’s great-great-grandson Randal Keynes using personal letters and diaries of the Darwin family. We take a unique and inside look at Darwin, his family and his love for his deeply religious wife, played by Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind, Requiem for a Dream), as, torn between faith and science, Darwin struggles to finish his legendary book “On the Origin of Species,” which goes on to become the foundation for evolutionary biology. The film co-stars Toby Jones (Frost/Nixon, Infamous) and Jeremy Northam (Gosford Park, Amistad), and was produced by Jeremy Thomas (The Last Emperor, Sexy Beast) at Recorded Picture Company with BBC Films and Ocean Pictures.

Director:Jon Amiel

Starring:Paul Bettany,Jennifer Connelly,Benedict Cumberbatch,Jeremy Northam

My Rating:5/10

A man seeks out his exact look-alike after spotting him in a movie.

Director:Denis Villeneuve

Starring:Jake Gyllenhaal,Mélanie Laurent,Sarah Gadon,Isabella Rossellini

My Rating:6/10

The Plot:A sheltered high school girl unleashes her newly developed telekinetic powers after she is pushed too far by her peers.

Director:Kimberly Peirce

Starring:Chloe Grace Moretz,Julianne Moore,Judy Greer,Gabriella Wilde,Portia Doubleday

My Rating:5/10

The Plot: A University of Texas professor of philosophy and capital punishment abolitionist, David Gale (Kevin Spacey), finds himself on Death Row convicted of murder. Days before his execution, skeptical journalist Bitsey Bloom (Kate Winslet) is sent to conduct David Gale's final interview. Unaware that she would not be investigating Dr. Gale, Bitsey and her sympathetic intern leave to Texas for what is to become a story of a lifetime.

Director:Alan Parker

Starring:Kate Winslet,Kevin Spacey,Laura Linney,Matt Craven,Gabriel Mann

My Rating:7/10