Furious...7 ?

This movie is absurd--from the action sequences to the dialogue to their need to employ bald, muscle-bound actors (5 by my count). Absurd, pandering, but Jebus help me...I liked it.

Predestination

(Watch before reading. Re-watch as needed.)

You are a baby girl left at an orphanage. In college, you meet a man and get pregnant, but your baby is stolen. You have surgery to become a man. You meet a secret agent at a bar. You travel back in time, impregnating yourself as a college girl. You become a secret agent, chasing a terrorist through time. You change your face and meet your younger male-self at a bar. You travel back in time to steal yourself as a baby girl. You retire, but discover you become the terrorist. You travel to the future and shoot yourself.

Foxcatcher

I'm curious if the 3 principle actors for this film were told to pattern their behaviors after specific animals. Steve Carell's character is pretty obvious: he's an ornithologist, calls himself "eagle," and of course there's his beak. He's subtle and ruthless, like a bird of prey. Channing Tatum is a straight up gorilla: slowing plodding forward, slouched with his chin out. Under stress, he becomes physically violent. Mark Ruffalo has the burliness of a bear. He's protective and aggressive when necessary. Each character brought this animalistic presence to their wrestling styles: awkward, brutal, and protective.

Jupiter Ascending

The Wachowski...siblings seem to operate within this epic universe where human beings are interchangeable, moving parts. In The Matrix, we're batteries; in Cloud Atlas, we're parts of different people; in Jupiter Ascending, we're embryos for space royalty. We're harvested like crops for them to bathe in our...youth juices to keep their skin tight and their lips pouty. The working class has their DNA recombined to create wolf-men and bee-boys. It's not the cluster fork it sounds like, but it's distinctly odd and perplexing. I have to wonder how they sold the idea: Cinderella...outer space...manimals...youth juice.

SpongeBob Movie

by Jackson Franco

When a new SpongeBob Movie was announced, I hoped it was not going to be like the current episodes. The main plot is almost identical to an earlier episode called "Pressure." Although, in the episode, Sandy challenges SpongeBob and co. to go to the surface and they were actual objects, not 3-D figures. The movie takes a while to start and the superpowers they gain are very brief. (On a side note, they meet this weird dolphin character with an Illuminati medal. I'm serious, look closely.) Overall, this movie has decent humor and was all around okay. 

Whiplash

This movie got me thinking about limits. What are the limits you're willing to go to for something you want? Whether you're a musician, a painter, or an athlete. Could you put yourself through the physical & mental trials depicted at the Shaffer Conservatory of Music--trials better suited for Navy Seal training. Everybody has that something extra they want from their lives, but would you sacrifice a piece of yourself (mind, body, soul) to get it? Like most people, I have yet to be truly tested.

American Sniper

A common theme in Clint Eastwood films is sacrifice. The characters sacrifice a piece of themselves with the choices they make. Yes, war is hell. And snipers kill people by hiding 1,000 yards away. But they're protecting other soldiers. Would killing be more acceptable from 10 feet away? These questions are tough enough, but not for the artist formerly known as Dirty Harry. What if a 10 year old is the enemy and about to kill 5 soldiers? Whose life do you spare? More importantly, can you live with that choice?