Joe

Yuck - I couldn't watch but about 15 minutes of it before thinking - BORING and WHAT'S THE POINT. All in all, I say: SKIP IT

The Lottery

It's on Lifetime, but I still wanted to check it out. There have been no kids born anywhere in the world in six years. Government has changed - instead of Homeland Security it's something like Fertility Enforcers or something (Donovan from Rogue). A scientist, Shelton (Scream 4), has fertilized 100 embryos. There is a conspiracy behind the scenes that wants her out. The Presidents Chief of Staff (Karkanis from Saw VI) wants the 100 to be given in a lottery. Graziadei (The Secret Circle) has one of the world's only six year olds so the government is up his ass. He also appears to be one of only a few guys to have good sperm. It's like three or four plots at once. It just wasn't written or acted well enough to get my attention. All in all, I say: SKIP IT

Wish I Was Here

First, I think I should warn you that I saw his first film, Garden State, five times in the theatre and countless times since. I never - I repeat - I never watched him in Scrubs. Braff is at it again - writing, directing, and acting in this film. King (White House Down) is his very religious daughter, Gagnon (Looper) is his playful son, Hudson (Almost Famous) is his wife, Parson (Big Bang Theory) is a fellow actor, Patinkin (Chicago Hope) is his dying father, and Gad (Frozen) is his genius brother. The script is amazing, the acting is great, it is unexpected. Brilliant! All in all, I say: SEE IT & see it like five times in the theatre.

The Best Man Holiday

Everyone from the first film is back. The group spends a weekend over Christmas together. They have all had their ups and downs since we last saw them. There is a reason why this Christmas is so important though. Well, acted. Well, written. All in all, I say: SEE IT - it's on HBO right now.

Line of Duty

Season one appears to be an investigation into a a high profile DCI. Turns out he's a good cop, but a bad husband. His mistress gets him involved in covering up her hit & run. The main character is supposed to be this guy in the photo, but he doesn't really do or say much on the first show. It went slow, it was predictable, and I got bored. All in all, I say: SKIP IT

Vexed

This photo shows the stars of season two. Season one had a different female lead. Toby Stephens (Black Sails) plays a cop that is incompetent and yet always manages to solve the case.

Gorgeous red headed son of Maggie Smith and married to an actress that worked on Stargate: SG-1. Back to Vexed... it is quick witted, fast paced, and fun. All in all, I say: RENT IT

Hubble 3D

This is the true story of the Hubble telescope. All the pictures are real. They were taken by astronauts and by the telescope itself. It blew my mind - the images are amazing. Space is so cool. You go into the movie already knowing all that, but it still doesn't prepare you for what you see and learn. I saw this at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in IMAX 3D. All in all, I say: SEE IT

Island of Lemurs: Madagascar 3D

I saw this at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in DC. The must is good, the movie is funny and sad. It appeals to both kids and adults. Close to 90% of the forests on Madagascar have been burned - the lemur who are the oldest primates on Earth are in danger. There use to be lemur the size of gorillas, but they are extinct now. All in all, I say: SEE IT

Gravity

Since it's on HBO I broke down and watched it. I was right Bullock (Speed) did annoy me some. After reading a bit of the trivia on the film I know why she acted the way she did, but it still annoyed me.

Harris (Apollo 13) does a good job as always being mission control. He has the voice for it. Clooney (ER) does a good albeit brief job as the commander of the mission. It was terrifying and fast paced. I found myself holding my breath more than once. It was good. Was it worthy of so many oscars? I don't really think so compared to the other films that came out at the time. They admitted that it couldn't have been done with the invention of some technology that was done during Avatar. All in all, I say: SEE IT on HBO, but don't pay for it. And...don't let kids see it.

This is 40

I usually get annoyed with Apatow movies, and although this one is no masterpiece it did make me laugh. My favorite character is their teenage daughter - her scenes are hilarious!!! Trivia - she is the daughter of Apatow and Mann. In fact, both the kids in the movie are Apatow's. Rudd and Mann have turned 40 and their life is crazy. They are going bankrupt, they found out they are having another kid, and both their father's are horrible people (Brooks from Mother and Lithgow from Dexter). The characters are the same ones from Knocked Up. Segel (I Love You, Man), Fox (Transformers), Black (Ed), O'Dowd (Bridesmaids), Dunham (Girls), and Yi (House MD) also appear. All in all, I say: SKIP IT - again the only really good scenes are the ones with the teenager.

Extant

Very interesting and novel. The first show is well done, but I don't see how they can continue for a second season. Berry (X-Men) is a scientist, astronaut who returns to earth after 13 months in space pregnant. An encounter occurred before in space with another astronaut (Beyer from The General's Daughter) and it's being covered up for some reason by the corporation that runs the space program (Sanada from Helix). Her husband (Visnjic from ER) is in robotics. They have a robot son who is going a little crazy from the looks of things. Her doctor and friend is Manheim from The Practice. It seems Yeoman (The Mentalist) and Gossett (Enemy Mine) will also appear. All in all, I say: SEE IT - but I've only seen one show, so my feelings may change.

Finding Carter

Carter is caught breaking into a carousel at the park with some of her friends. They get fingerprinted. All her friends parents come, but not hers. The cops do some research and discover that Carter is actually Lindon. She was kidnapped by her "mom" when she was three years old. Carter's "real" mom is a cop, her "real" dad is a writer; and she has a twin sister and younger brother. Her life is turned upside down. Her dad is lying to her about not writing a book about finding her. Her mom is distance and not as warm as her kidnapper mom. Her sister is upset because the guy she likes ends up liking Carter. Her brother is the best of all of them - my favorite character so far. It is going to be like Switched at Birth - the first season will be how everyone copes and then after that the show will turn into a soap opera. I'm also irritated that Carter has brown eyes and neither one of her parents have brown eyes. Her mom's cop partner has brown eyes though. All in all, I say: SKIP IT

Leftovers

This is based on a book. The author has signed on to help with screenplay. They go pretty far into the book in just the first 2 shows. If it continues for more than one season then they will go beyond the book. On October 14 millions of people all over the world disappear at once for no explainable reason. Don't know if it's aliens, if it's the rapture, or what. I just hope it's not like a Lost thing - where everyone we are seeing is actually dead, so the people we think have gone are really alive. I also hope the people we are seeing aren't in hell and everyone else is in heaven. I also hope it's not aliens. I don't know what I want it to be other than original and not stupid. The story surrounds a town police chief (Theroux from Charley's Angels), his wife (Brenneman from ER), and his two kids. His wife has joined one cult, his son another, leaving just him and his daughter to deal. Gaston (The Mentalist) is going around killing packs of dogs. The animals went crazy on the day everyone disappeared. Eccleston (Dr. Who) plays a preacher. It's strange and disconcerting. I don't know what the point is supposed to be, so I guess that's why it irritates me. All in all, I say: SKIP IT - it's on HBO if interested and the 2 episodes you missed are on HBOGo.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

This takes place about 10 years after the virus has spread and wiped out most of humanity. A large group of people have banded together in San Francisco and want to get the dam working again so they can have power. Oldman (Batman Begins) leads the group, Clarke (Great Gatsby) is the man with the plan, Russell
(The Americans) is a former CDC doctor, and Acevedo (New York Undercover) is a jerk that messes things up. When they attempt this they come across Caesar (voiced by Serkis from LOTR) and his group which has grown tremendously. Koba who has been with Caesar since the compound hates humans and doesn't agree with Caesar's decisions to help - he attempts to assassinate Caesar and blame the humans. Things get out of control and war between the Apes and the Humans begins. It has some sad parts, some kick butt parts, and it had amazing CGI. All in all, I say: SEE IT

Welcome to Sweden

A funny half hour sitcom produced by Poehler (Parks & Recreation). Poehler (brother of Amy) plays a New York accountant that leaves his job and the states to be with his girlfriend in Sweden. Olin (Remember Me) plays the Swedish mother. She is so good! I love how she makes fun of how short Poehler is - there is a scene when she tells her daughter to put the dinner plates on the very bottom shelf so her boyfriend can use them whenever he wants! It was witty, based on a true story, and I laughed out loud a couple of times. All in all, I say: SEE IT

Spartacus: Blood and Sand

This was originally on Showtime in 2010 I think, and now a made for tv version is on SyFy. You can't see body parts and cursing is gone - if I remember correctly. I saw a couple of shows when it was on Showtime, but it was gory just to be gory and had sex just to make the cut for late night Showtime. The plot is ok. I just get bored. All in all, I say: SKIP IT

The Graham Norton Show

Having gone on for 15 seasons this late night show is aired on BBC America. It is a British show that is similar to our Late Night. It's funny and has good guests. It is a lot of British people more so than any other famous people and sometimes I don't know who he is interviewing. All in all, I say: SEE SOME

Strike Back

IMDb writes, "The actions of 'Section 20', a secretive unit of British military intelligence. A team of special operations personnel conduct several high risk missions throughout the globe". There are 5 seasons. I have only seen two seasons. American Winchester (24) plays a British soldier.

Stapleton (300) is an Australian playing an American.

It's a Cinemax show so there is a lot of blood & guts and somehow even though they are in the thick of things constantly there is a lot of sex. Both these guys are super hot & I like the action. All in all, I say: SEE IT

Dominion

The Australian actor Egan (Letters to Juliet) plays the key to ending a war between angels and humans. He has to have an American accent since it is supposed to be taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada. British actor Head (Buffy) plays a powerful, evil man in the show. I suspect it is filmed in Canada since it is a SyFy show. It is soooooooo bad. The acting is horrible, the special effects are a joke, the screenplay is...is horrible, and it is just too complicated for any viewer to care about plot or characters. All in all, I say: SKIP IT

Snowpiercer

A futuristic film starring American actor Evans (Captain America), South Korean actor Song (The Good The Bad and the Weird), American actor Harris (Pollack), Brit actor Hurt (Alien), Brit actress Swinton (Adaptation.), Englishman Bell (Billy Elliot), American actress Spencer (The Help), Scotsman Bremner (Black Hawk Down), Canadian Pill (Goon), British actor Pasqualino (The Musketeers), American actor Park (Falling Down), and Icelandic actor Lemarquis (3 Days to Kill). The entire thing is a metaphor. The train is a metaphor - trains connected us with the each other, trains can't take you everywhere because they remain on tracks. The futuristic world has suffered an ice age because of global warming - climate change - the world we face now. The engine of the train represents society - the world. The two leaders on the train represent the governments of the world. There are the people who ignore what is happening, people who don't care to get involved, people who get involved for the wrong reasons, and people who get involved and are determined no matter what the cost. I could go on - very interesting - I bet the book is better. All in all, I say: SEE IT if you like deep and dark pieces otherwise, SKIP IT

Begin Again

Knightley (Pride & Prejudice) is dumped by her newly made rock star boyfriend (Levine from Maroon 5).  She is hanging out with a friend from London in a New York bar (Corden from The History Boys) when a recently fired and usually drunk record producer (Ruffalo from The Kids are All Right) hears her song. He convinces her to make her own record by recording her songs all over New York City. They each learn a lot about themselves and the music industry. They discuss the idea of "selling out" in music and in life. They help each other during a critical point in both their lives. The music is amazing, the acting is amazing, and the screenplay is amazing. There is a scene I would like to try one day with the right date. It's even better than Carney's other film I loved to death - Once. It is the best movie so far this year - 2014. All in all, I say: SEE IT - BUY the soundtrack - and in a few months RENT IT and watch it with someone who hasn't seen it yet.