New Release Tuesday

Young Ender Wiggin is recruited by the International Military to lead the fight against the Formics, a genocidal alien race which nearly annihilated the human race in a previous invasion.  I have not read this book and this looks really underwhelming to me and Harrison Ford seems just as uninterested in the trailers.  Rental, maybe.

FX and AMC really do have the best shows on TV right now as they give whole season orders to shows and give an audience the chance to discover the show and let it grow.  I caught the pilot for this last year and was really intrigued by the idea of Russian agents infiltrating America as a young married couple, raising a family and then carrying out missions in the Reagan era.  It was a strong premise and I may have to marathon watch this to be caught up with season 2 which starts February 26.

After a collision with a shipping container at sea, a resourceful sailor finds himself, despite all efforts to the contrary, staring his mortality in the face.  Great looking role for Bob Redford and I thought the Oscar was his for the taking for this role.  This looks really good as I like the stories of people on a mission by themselves.

A lawyer finds himself in over his head when he gets involved in drug trafficking.  I am not sure what is wrong with Ridley Scott but his last few outings have not looked very good from the get go.  I don’t think even the cast can save this thing.

Warner Archives brings this re-release of a film that chronicles the life of T S Garp (Robin Williams), and his mother, Jenny (Glenn Close). Whilst Garp sees himself as a "serious" writer, Jenny writes a feminist manifesto at an opportune time, and finds herself as a magnet for all manner of distressed women.  This is a great movie as Robin Williams gets a small taste of drama here for the first time and John Lithgow is absolutely fabulous in this and it was directed by the late, great George Roy Hill (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting).

And the best for last...

With the help of an irreverent young sidekick, a bank robber gets his old gang back together to organize a daring new heist.  Absolutely great buddy bank heist flick.  Clint and Jeff Bridges are great together on the screen.  Also look for George Kennedy, Geoffrey Lewis, Catherine Bach, and Gary Busey!

Just Mopping Up Lord Vader

Psst!  This is not from the Lego Movie but the six year old in my house proclaimed it "The Best Movie Ever!"

Movie Poster Monday- TRON

New Release Tuesday

This is one of those movies fans have been waiting 20 years to see but Sly and Arnold never could get the right project going.  They were close in the 90s as the two of them were to square off against each other in Face-Off but their salary demands pushed that on to two other guys.  This is a fun action movie as Sly stars as a prison escape expert that gets to his toughest assignment yet and needs a little help getting out this time.  Arnold has a great supporting role in this and there is a little more to his character then we are led to believe.  It’s nice to finally have these guys in a full movie together so sit back and enjoy these action legends.

This is the movie that started it all as the late, great Charles Bronson stars as Paul Kersey as a husband and father whose wife is killed by thugs and this leads to him to take justice into his own hands and turn into a vigilante.  Bronson starts out as a liberal who thinks the crime rate is on the rise in New York City because of poverty but a business trip to the  gun totting, old west of Arizona changes his mind.  Bronson comes back and decides to start cleaning up the streets of punks and the crime rate takes a dip in the city and the police department actually roots for him behind closed doors but put are publically on the hunt for him.  This movie gets classified as an action movie now a day because of the sequels but this is a gritty, crime drama with a nasty New York City as an excellent backdrop. Shame on Paramount for not giving us more on the 40^th Anniversary edition as a trailer is the only extra.  I wish they would have licensed this to SHOUT Factory; they would have done a bang up job on this title.   The highest of recommendations. 

2004’s Winner for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Supporting Actor.  This is a re-release with a new remastered picture and some new features so this is a required pick up at The Gauntlet’s.  Eastwood was fantastic both in front and behind the camera and it sucks that Jaime Foxx was so dang good in Ray to take home the trophy that year.  If you are in for a great Eastwood drama with a bit of female boxing it then pick this up.  

Warner Brother’s animation has done some great stuff so far but with producer Bruce Timm going off to other things at Warner’s these features are not starting to suffer a bit.  I will eventually get around to this one.  Let’s hope Timm is off working on a live Justice League movie like Marvel did with Whedon on the Avengers.

In 1985 a Dallas electrician and hustler named Ron Woodroof works around the system to help AIDS patients get the medication they need after he is himself diagnosed with the disease.  Matthew McConaughey has been on a role of late so this is definitely worth a rental.