Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Sequels are always question marks, even when you have a stellar cast such as the one in The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.  Most of the time, the fault of unsuccessful sequels lies with a combination of too little story and too much computer graphics.

While I wouldn't say that this sequel knocked it out of the park, I will say that I was actually really impressed with the storyline of this tale. As always, the combination of Dev Patel's Sonny and Maggie Smith's Mrs. Donnelly is hysterical.  Combined with wit and wisdom and a running commentary on old age, this one is worth seeing with a friend.  There are some slow parts that could have been trimmed, but by and large the film was a testament to good story-telling

If you liked the first one, you'll love the second one.  It's really a funny, thought-provoking film.  Worth the price of admission?  For the most part, yes.  Make sure you like this kind of film before going, but I was glad I saw it in theatres.

Insurgent

Believe it or not, I liked the movie better than I liked the book.  This is not something that I say often.  The movie actually did a much better job of trimming the points of the book down to the essentials. While Hunger Games could get away with being in Katniss' head, it didn't work so well with Tris in the Divergent books.  Here, the director and screen writers made some excellent choices on what to keep and what to ditch.

Kate Winslet was convincingly evil as Jeanine and Woodley and James return as Tris and Four with chemistry. Nothing unexpected or drastic about the portrayal, but a good action film.

There were tons of digital effects.  Once in a while they were borderline overboard, but most of them were great.  If you liked the books in the series, or if you liked the first movie, this one's not going to disappoint.  It wouldn't get an Oscar nomination from me, but it's a fun movie.

Focus - Keep Guessing

The entire time I watched the movie, I thought I had it all figured out.  Every time I thought that, the next thought that came to mind was: "That wasn't what I expected."  Which is not a bad thing.

I have to give them two thumbs up for being very creative with the twist on the grifter tale.  I kept trying to stay ahead of the story, wondering what was con and what was not.  The fact that there were a lot of fun surprises was great.  I will admit that there were a couple of slow scenes in the movie, but the twists made them worth it.

Margot Robbie and Will Smith were cute in the film, but the striking chemistry wasn't there.  Part of that could be the fact that you never knew who was conning when.  It was nice to see Gerald McRaney back on the screen, if in one of his traditional roles.

I did enjoy the film, but I'm not sure that I would pay to see it in theatres.  It depends on how much you like Smith (which I usually do) and how much you like grifter movies.  This one is good, but just didn't pack the wow factor I thought it would.  It's worth a Red Box Rental for sure.

Cinderella - Twist on a Tale?

I have to be honest.  I'm a sucker for fairy tales.
 
I went to this movie hoping that it would be fun.  I hoped that they wouldn't spoil it with some off-the-wall new-fangled twist.  I hoped that they would have the magic still there.

You know what?

They did it!

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the take on the storyline, the fact that all of your traditional Disney characters were there - including Gus the mouse and Lucifer the cat.  Cate Blanchet was a fantastic evil stepmother!

The casting was really well-done as were the costumes, sets, music, lighting, and effects.  I would see it again and would highly recommend seeing it.

What really impressed me was the character-building that Disney emphasized.  At first, I thought that I was going to hate the phrase "Be Kind and Have Courage."  But the way they took it and changed it to reflect that both were needed - Cinderella needing to stand up to her stepmother, yet be kind enough to forgive her - gave me some restored faith in the value of  Disney as children's entertainment.

To prove this point?  When I walked out of the theater, a little girl of about 7 years held the door open for me to go out.  I said "Thank you," and went to hold it so that she could catch up to her waiting mother.  "I have it, " she responded, allowing me to continue out.  Again I said "Thank you" and she gave me the biggest, cutest little smile and said "You're Welcome."  I don't know whether it was the parents or inspiration by the movie to "Be Kind" but either way.  That's a great way to finish a night at the cinemas.