Night at The Museum: 3

Ben Stiller and Robin Williams(his last movie) star in the final museum series comedy. This time the band of  historic figures  travels to the British Natural Museum in order to find a fix for a magical tabloid that enables the statuettes to come to life. Might be the best of the three. Fun entertainment for the entire family, with Hugh Jackman appearing in a very comical scene. 3 bananas

Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies

The Dragon is slayed and now all the assorted characters are assembling at the holy mountain to fight for the treasure held inside. Bilbo once again comes to the rescue and all is well after just about everyone is killed in the final chapter of the Hobbit series. Great graphics but time for Bilbo to snuggle up in his hillside home. 3 bananas

Rosewater

True story of a Iranian/British Newsweek photojournalist who gets caught up in the 2010 uprising in Iran over the crooked election results. He is arrested by the Iranian Secret police as a spy and is tortured for over 118 days. Unknown to him there is aground swell of media attention cast on his plight that eventually frees him but what he endures until then is documented only to well. 3 bananas

Imitation Game

Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Alan Turing in this world war 2 true story of how British Intelligence was able to crack the Inigma code the the Germans had invented to correspond with their naval fleet. Turing a brilliant mathematican assembles the best brains in England try to break the unbreakable code; however, good ole 'Mother England' does her best to derail Turing as he works to put together the first computer. Most of the movie is centered on Inigma but many surprises surface once the code is broken. Outstanding acting on all fronts. Best movie of the year so far. Cumberbatch definitely deserving of an Oscar.

St. Vincent

Bill Murray stars as a slovenly recluse who drinks, smokes and gambles to much, has a hooker as his best friend and hangs out at the horse track accumulating mountains of debt. Added to all this a woman and her young son move in next door to disrupt his life even more. Murray and the boy form a companionship that makes this one of the best movies of the year. A funny, feel good movie that leaves you wanting more. Murray gives another Oscar performance. 4 bananas

Wild

Reece Witherspoon stars as a young woman with a lot of heavy baggage in her life. To escape from a recent divorce and the death of her mother, Reece embarks on a 1000 mile hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. During the hike she reflects back on  the issuses that drove her to this adventure of which she had not trained or prepared adequately for. Witherspoon gives a very credible performance in this beautifully filmed saga! 3 bananas

Pyramid

A long lost pyramid is found buried beneath the sands in Egypt. As it is being excavated, riots are erupting a short distance away thus the archaeologists are told they have two hours to get in and get out. Well they get in alright but getting out they are stymied by apparently creatures that have been living inside for thousands of years. Doesn't take much imagination as to what happens to our brave searchers. A few scary moments but over all a bad movie. 1 banana

Dumb and Dumber to

As the title suggests this is a dumb movie but with some seriously funny moments. Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels reprise their roles as two of dumbest people on earth as they seek out the daughter that one believes is his after 20 some years. Along the way, driving a hearse, they seem to stir up trouble at every stop. Some very gross manly humor but a great way to kill a couple of hours. 2 1/2 bananas

Foxcatcher

John DuPont establishes a world class wrestling organization in the 1980's by recruiting Olympic gold metal winning Mark and Dave Schultz brothers to get out from under neath his mothers shadow of award winning horses. As success build so does his insecurity. Intense drama keeps you on edge right to the tragic end. Steve Carrell is outstanding as the neurotic DuPont, while Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo give exceptional performances as the brothers. There is probably an Oscar here somewhere. 3 1/2 bananas

Horrible Bosses 2

Follow up to the  Original is what you'd expect; not very good. Same three dumb ass guys come up with a product to sell but are conned out of it by a businessman in this comedy. They then come up with a plan to kidnap the businessman's grown son who is in on the kidnapping. What could go wrong with this plan, just about everything. Jennifer Anniston returns as the over sexed dentist. Some very funny parts but some awful as well. If you go be sure to see the out takes at the end, probably the funniest part. 2 bananas

Hunger Games: MockingJay Part 1

Katnis(Jennifer Lawrence) has gone under ground literally to fight the battle with words more than with her trusty bow against the oppressive rulers who want to bring the out lying states to their knees. Katnis's boyfriend Peter is held captive and is used to fight the battle of words. Hunger Games franchise is losing steam fast with yet one more movie in the mix. 2 1/2 bananas

Intersteller

Mathew McConaghy, a retired NASA pilot, is recruited to take a space ship beyond our universe to find an inhabitable planet as the Earth is dying due to climate change. Once out in the unknown, movie goes crazy. At some point I wasn't sure I was in the past, present or future, bizare ending makes this almost 3 hour movie a waste of time. Few good special effects are lost in all the confusion. 1 1/2 bananas

Nightcrawler

Pyscho/wacko with only a high school degree, who talks like a Harvard MBA,finds that he can film car crashes and other bloody events and sell  to a TV news station. Once settled in,  he starts manipulating the scenes to make for better news, digging himself into situations that are clearly beyond the law. Really interesting movie with Jake Gyllenhall giving a master full performance. 3 1/2 bananas

John Wick

Keanu Reeves , a retired contract killer, whose wife has recently passed has his car stolen and his dog kill by a low life russian mobster for no reason. Needless to say John Wick does something about this and a whole lot more as he proceeds to take care of business in this non stop kick ass shootem up. 3 bananas

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good,Very Bad Day

Comedy starring Jennifer Garner and Steve Carrell as the parents of 4 who on one particular day, the 12 years birthday, all have the worst but sometimes funny day of their lives. Definitely a family movie with some entertaining bits but save for DVD.  2 bananas

The Judge

Robert Downey Jr and Robert Duval star in this high powered drama pitting father against son. While attending his mother's funeral , Downey a high power big city lawyer, enlists to defend his father(Duval) the judge of a rural southern Indiana town who is accused of killing a bike rider. As the trial unfolds there are many secrets laid bare. One incredible sequence  unites feuding father and son. A  little long but enjoyable. 3 bananas

Fury

Well done World War 2 tank movie featuring Brad Pitt as the Captain of Fury, his tank's name. Center of the movie is the relationships of the crew and how Pitt  bonds with and fathers his snarly bunch of misfits. Plenty of action makes this one of the best war movies of all time. 3 1/2 bananas

My Old Lady

 Kevin Klein, dead broke at 57, arrives in Paris to sell the upscale two story apartment that his father left him. Upon arriving he finds Maggie Smith and her 57 year daughter living in the apartment and due to some strange French laws he must pay them monthly rent. Not to be deterred Kevin settles into a vacated room on the second floor and proceeds to try and sell the apartment. As the threesome begins to learn more of each other, much is discovered as to how closely they all are bound to each other. A terrific movie that covers all emotions. Klein is at his best as is always the one and only Maggie Smith. 4 bananas

Kill The Messenger

True story of a small time California journalist, Jeremey Renner, who latches onto the biggest story of the decade while he is covering a drug trial. A tip from the trial puts him in pursuit of the CIA running drugs into LA for money to fund the contra rebels in Nicaragua in the mid 80's. The CIA fights back to discredit the reporter with all its might. Sadly when the truth did come out the nation was fixated on the Clinton/Monica tale and much was lost to the public. Well done drama that took many years to come to light. A definite must see. 3 1/2 bananas

Dracula Untold

Story of how Dracula came to  be. Dracula a long long time ago was a prince who was revered for his fighting and protecting the commoners associated with his castle. In order to protect his son and wife from an invading army he drinks the blood from a vampire,who has been exiled to a mountain cave, to get his super human powers. Sounds pretty stupid and it is but it was fun to watch. 1 1/2 bananas

This is where I leave You

Dramady starring Tina Fey and Jason Batemen as two of 4 siblings who all come back for their fathers funeral only to be told by their mother that all of the family must stay together for 7 days. All have serious issuses which at some point in the 7 days are either addressed or brought up. Very adult humor but exceptionally well done. 3 bananas

Left Behind

Might be the worst movie of the year. Nicolas Cage is an Airline Pilot whose plane suddenly has many of its occupants disappear with only their clothes left in a neat setting. The same is happening on the ground causing complete havoc. Midway through the flight from NYC to London Cages plane is hit by another plane and has to turn back. All sorts of really dumb plots going on. Cage finally has hit bottom. 1/2 banana

Gone Girl

This movie follows the book which makes it very enjoyable. Ben Affleck stars as a husband who's wife disappears and all the evidence points to him as a murderer. With the help of his twin sister they both try to come up what really happened as the community and police close in on him. 2/1/2 hours of viewing fly by as this movie grabs you from the beginning and keeps you on the edge throughout. 3 1/2 bananaS

The Skeleton Twins

Dark, depressing but well done story of gay  suicidal brother and unfaithful  married sister who reunite after 10 years to try and heal many wounds suffered as children but only succeed in opening more. Kristen Wiig is terrific as is her male counterpart. Went to see this thinking it was a comedy, anything but. 3 bananas

The Equalizer

Mild manner home improvement store clerk definitely has a past that he keeps hidden. When a young lady of the evening is savagely beaten the dark comes out of the clerk played by Denzel Washington. Denzel makes the Russian mob pay a hefty price for their transgressions. Of particular interest is how he deals with the baddies in a home improvement center. Denzel at his usual best; I hope their is a sequel.  3 1/2 bananas

MazeRunner

Bizare but entertaining movie set sometime in the future where young male adults are put into an extremely large concrete maze that shifts openings everyday, challenging anyone to try to escape with fatal results. 2 1/2 bananas

Walk Among The Tombstones

Liiam Nesson stars  as private investigator without a license, retired from the police force due to shooting gone bad, who is recruited to find a couple of sadistic guys who kidnapped and cut up a drug dealers wife. Well done movie keeps you engrossed throughout as the plot moves at a fast pace.
2/1/2 bananas

Guardians of the Galaxy

Sci-Fi fantasy starring a walking, talking, shootem up raccoon who steals the show in this comedy set in future as various groups from far away galaxies battle for a little round orb that has magical powers. Dumb but some what entertaining if you've got absolutely nothing else to do. 1 1/2 bananas

Drop

James Gandolphino's stars in his last movie as a bar owner with a shaddy past. His cousin and he run a local tavern that is one of many "drop" places that the mafia use to collect payments from the local businesses. When the nights "drop" is stolen, bad things begin to happen. Tom Hardy as the cousin gives an outstanding performance as a soft spoken loner who has secrets. Enjoyable drama. 3 bananas

A Most Wanted Man

Slow developing but highly engrossing spy drama starring Philip Seymour Hoffman as the head of a super secret German spy agency that is trying to track and prove that a highly regarded member of the German community is in league with Muslim extremists. This is Hoffman's last movie and if I didn't know better, I say what killed him is cigarettes as he has one going all the time.
Definitely one of the better movies of the year with a ending you don't see coming. 3 1/2 bananas

November Man

Decent spy shootem up starring Pierce Brosnan as a retired CIA spy who is asked by the CIA to deliver a woman with a secret. As she is killed almost immediately, things go down hill in a hurry for Pierce as the CIA isn't what it seems to be and he becomes the hunted. Non-stop action makes this an enjoyable movie. 2 1/2 bananas

Let's be Cops

Two 30 year olds going no where, dress up as cops for a masquerade party only to find that people think they are real cops. Very quickly they become tangled up with the Russian mob in this comedy that at times is very funny. 2 bananas

Expendables 3

Non-stop action in this 3rd installment of a group of mercenaries working discreetly for the CIA. All star cast includes, Harrison Ford, The Gov, Mel Gibson, Wesly Snipes, Sly and many others. If you like mass chaos this is the movie for you. The group is dispatched to bring back alive a rogue member,Gibson, who is wanted for war crimes and is holed up in some unheard of country. Needless to say, things don't go as planned and everything stars blowing up. 2 1/2 bananas

Lucy

Scarlett Johanson stars in this intriguing and yet stupid sci-fi  drama. First half starts off with Scarlett being kidnapped and drugs being sewed into her stomach. When she is beaten up the drugs spill out into her body creating a super person who eventually will be able to use 100% of her brain computing power versus the average persons 10%. Second half goes off the rail with super woman doing the unbelievable. 2 bananas

Dawn of The Planet of the Apes

The Apes have settled in, peacefully just north of San Fransico, and have built a human like community. The few remaining humans who haven't been wiped out by their own genetically produced simian virus are holed up in San Fran and need access to a power dam located in Ape territory. Needless to say things don't go well for the Apes and both humans and apes go after each other. Life like apes make this a treat to see but story line could be better. There will definitely be a continuation in this series. 2 1/2 bananas

22 jump street

The boys have moved across the street from 21 Jump Street in this sequel. Basically same plot, Channing and Hill under achieving cops, are sent to college to find a drug dealer. Mayhem follows as both continue to slapstick their way to glory at their captains( Ice Cube) expense. Some very funny sequences but  a lot of dead space in between. The usual very adult humor. Ice Cube and Hill's sweethearts roommate steal the show. 2 1/2 bananas

Edge of Tomorrow

Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt co-star in this futuristic sci-fi drama. As aliens are taking over the world they both become infected with alien dna thus allowing them to keep resetting the day; the reason the aliens are winning as they can see what goes wrong and redo. Great special effects and action scenes make this a true summer blockbuster. 3 1/2 bananas

Million Ways to Die in the West

Screwball comedy that parodies many different movies.Gross, vulgar and  funny can sum up this 1800s western that stars Seth McFarland , Charlize Theron and Liam Neeson. Local sheep farmer is dumped by his girlfriend causing him to take a stand against his ex's boyfriend. Things get complicated when the local outlaw finds out that sheepboy has been seeing his wife. A poor Blazing Saddles! 2 1/2 bananas

Chef

Popular California chef has heated Twitter exchange with food critic not knowing that it was going viral. Fired from his job, his ex wife talks him into buying a food service truck, in Miami, and he begins selling Cubans along the route back to LA with his son. A true delight with many cameo appearances of big actors. Don't miss it! 4 bananas

Million Dollar Arm

Self absorbed sports agent with no clients comes up with the idea, from watching a cricket match, to travel to India to promote a contest to find two who can be  turned into major baseball players. Once two are found from  nation wide tryouts the story shifts to The University of Southern California where the two young undeveloped pitchers  have six months to prove their worth. Based on true events, you'll leave this movie feeling good. 3 1/2 bananas

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Wolverine is sent into the past to stop Raven from killing the creator of a series of advanced robots who are engineered with the blood of Raven to destroy mutants. Wolverine has to get both sides of the mutants to agree to work together or all is for naught. Terrific special effects but at times a bit confusing. The ending which leaves you asking WTF just happened will bring you back for another episode.  3 1/2 bananas

The Immigrant

Emily Blunt and River Phoenix star in this 30's era drama of two young polish sisters arriving at Ellis Island; where one is detained because of illness and the other is unkowningly singled out by a kind  hearted pimp ( is there such a thing) to become one of his ladies. All the while this woman of the night saves her money to somehow try to bribe the authorities from deporting her ill sister. Phoenix and Blunt give fantastic performances in this not so dark movie. 3 1/2 bananas

Godzilla

Godzilla once again rises from the deep in this very entertaining updated version. This time around Godzilla is not what you think though, as the truely bad monsters are a couple of nuclear fueled flying bad boys who are searching for each other to continue their species. When all three get together poor Hawaii and San  Francisco as it appears most of both are destroyed in some better than average monster battles. Acting leaves much to desired but great special effects. Poor Brian Cranston only makes to through the first half hour.  3 bananas

The Other Woman

Comedy Starring Charlize Therron as one of two single woman who have an affair with the same married man. When the wife finds out about her husbands activities, all three women join forces to make the man's life a living hell. Some very funny moments but a bit slow in parts. 2 1/2 bananas

The Neighbors

Had high hopes this would be another Animal House, sorry to say it doesn't come close. Fraternity buys house next to Seth Rogan and wife. All night parties stir up retaliation but comedy is vulgar and weak and plot is predictable. Definitely a hard R movie. Miss it. 2 bananas

Bears

No it's not the Chicago Bears, but a DisneyNature film of a mother bear and her two cubs as they try to survive through the first year of the cubs lives. Beautifully filmed in Alaska showing the seasonal changes and how the bears adapt to them. A worthwhile 1 1/2 hours. 3 bananas

Brick Mansions

Sometime in the future the Detroit Ghetto is walled off. The property while awful is becoming valuable to the city fathers who hatch a scheme to reclaim it by dubious means. A undercover cop with help from someone living inside the walls are employed to stop the the soon to be destroyed inner city. Miss this one at all costs. To bad that this was Paul Walker's last movie before his untimely death. 1/2 banana

The Raid 2

Follow-up to the original which was pretty decent. This kung-foo, shootem up, take no prisoners is awful. Police officer goes undercover to gain exceptence into a Japanese gang who is a war with a Chinesse gang; can't tell the difference between the two. However this brave warrior either mains or kills  hundreds of bad guys, did I say you can't tell the difference. Have two beers, forget this movie!!

Draft Day

The last 12 hours leading up to the 2014 NFL draft extravanza is portrayed by Cleveland Browns GM played by Kevin Costner. Wheeling and dealing draft picks for the number 1 football player player keeps Costner busy fighting not only his own family but team coach as to who is the right person. Jennifer Garner co-stars as  team financial guru. Some what long but beautiful views of many NFL stadiums . Scene stealer is the nerdy intern assigned to Costner. 3 bananas

Grand Budapest Hotel

Wild, wacky, wonderful comedy crime caper set in the 1800's with an all-star cast to big to mention or recognize. Story is retold of the conceirge in the  Grand Budapest Hotel who becomes involved in just about everything; seducing older women, murder, mayhem, prison break, stealing and much more. His character is so rich that you laugh even something isn't funny. This is a must see movie if only to try to identify all the stars who are wildly made up.  Fun, fun,fun!!  4 bananas

Non-Stop

Engaging high drama over the ocean. Liam Neesom, a down and out air marshall, flying an International route starts receiving death messages on his secure phone. After the 1st death, things kick into high gear as the hunt for the killer takes many false turns. Good cast makes this a fun movie. Keeps you in suspense till the very ending. 3 bananas

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Jack Ryan, Tom Clancy's hero in his series of books, returns to show how he began his climb to the top. As a CIA financial analyst recruit he discovers very large sums of money tied to a Russian plot to destabilize the US dollar. He is sent to Russia to seek out the mysterious movement of money and becomes involved in mayhem and intrigue. Fast paced and enjoyable. 3 bananas

Lone Survivor

Drama based on actual events. Navy Seals are inserted into mountainous area of Afganistan to take out Afgan leader. Mission goes awry when team captures and releases goat herders who in turn report whereabouts of the Seals. Story is one of brotherhood and courage as the team undergoes brutal fighting conditions on the rocky slopes of a mountain. First movie I've seen where there is a standing ovation at the end. Not to be missed. 3 1/2 bananas