December 2015 Pt. 2

The Hateful Eight
Stars - Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen
Plot - A group of nefarious crooks and criminals with lots of secrets are snowed in a cabin together.
Thoughts - No one needs a good editor more than Quentin Tarantino. His longtime editor died before the release if Django Unchained, and you can tell the difference. I love a good long movie but this movie, where very little happens until the last 45 minutes or so, doesn't need to be nearly 3 hours long. Still, the performances are great, especially Jackson and Leigh, and the script is killer.
Grade - B

Joy
Stars - Jennifer Lawrence, Robert DeNiro, Edgar Ramirez, Bradley Cooper
Plot - A broke single mother deals with her crazy family and invents the miracle mop.
Thoughts - Another movie that is too long... and feels it. And despite being nominated in the comedy categories at the Golden Globes, it isn't really very fun. Again, great performances, and parts of it are stellar. It just felt very hit or miss.
Grade - B-

Magic Mike XXL
Stars - Channing Tatum, Joe Magniello, Matt Bomer
Plot - Our lovable strippers go on a road trip to a stripper convention, which is apparently really a thing.
Thoughts - You know how good the original Magic Mike was? Because it wasn't just a gratuitous movie about male strippers, but rather a character study where the characters just happened to be strippers? Well, this is the other thing.
Grade -  D+

Spy
Stars - Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, Jude Law, Jason Statham
Plot - A desk jockey becomes a spy after the identities of all the other spies are compromised.
Thoughts - I didn't love this movie as much as other Melissa McCarthy movies, but she is the rare comedian who can make anything funny and she definitely elevates a movie that would have bombed with any one else in the lead.
Grade - B-

The Clouds of Sils Maria
Stars - Juliette Binoche, Kristen Stewart
Plot - An aging actress returns to the play that made her famous, this time playing the older half of the romantic couple.
Thoughts - Another movie that is way too long. Also, this one is pretty boring. So if you are going to watch it, come for the gorgeous cinematography, and stay for Stewart's award worthy performance (not even kidding!)
Grade - C

The Stanford Prison Experiment
Stars - Michael Angarano, Ezra Miller
Plot - Based on the true story of an experiment involving prison guards and inmates that went way too far way too fast.
Thoughts - This was almost a really great movie. I still highly recommend it, even if it is just for the stellar Angarano performance, and fascinating story. I had two pretty major problems with it though. The first was that some of the supporting actors, who were supposed to be playing college age kids, literally looked 12. The second was, apparently we can CGI dinosaurs, but can't figure out a way for fake mustaches to not look ridiculous.
Grade - B-

The Overnight
Stars - Adam Scott, Taylor Schilling, Jason Schwartzman
Plot - Two couples spend a night together.
Thoughts - This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen in my entire life. Under no circumstances should you ever watch this.
Grade - F