At Middleton

This is exactly what you expect. The premise: a couple of parents take their respective kids to Middleton college for the college tour, the expectations of each parent is inconsistent with those of their child, and all expectations are unrealistic, the parents spend the day "lost" from the tour and find an amazing connection, everyone learns something about themselves. The film is fun, lighthearted, occasionally serious (but not too) and outrageous (in the sense of non-realistic) in the scenarios used to achieve the romance and comedy necessary.  In the end, we are happy and thoughtful (but not too). Somewhere, someone had the idea to use a back to school tour as a romantic comedy and fed these inputs into THE FORMULA. And of course, the reason the formula exists is because on some level it works.
3 stars (out of 5)

Safe Haven

This is a classic film. And by classic, I mean standard, nothing new and plain. Girl on the run from her troubled past relocates to small east coast fishing town. She meets a new guy, has a friendly new neighbor to mentor her through small town life and she settles in. Troubled past returns. New guy and new town rally to save the day. They live happily ever after.
2 stars (out of 5)

The Butler

Forest Whitaker is Cecil Gaines, the White House butler for 8 presidents. This is a tale of the life of Cecil. But more so it is the story of American History and how historical events are really just a series of actions by individuals who care. Through the development of Civil Rights to the opposition to Vietnam, these huge movements are made of individuals making individual decisions. And it turns out that the "movement" is not what changes things, but individual relationship is what changes the thinking of another individual. Whitaker does an excellent job of showing with a glance or a facial twitch how he has softened or changed his mind based on his knowing an individual. Well done.
4 stars (out of 5)

Dallas Buyers Club

Set in the 80's at the onset of HIV/AIDS development as a widespread and largely untreatable disease. Matthew McConaughey plays Ron Woodroof, a real Texan, in all the best and worst senses. He is a hard living, hard partying, rodeo loving, gambling, homophobe. He is also unwilling to die standing still and commits fully to making life better for those with HIV/AIDS. When he is diagnosed and give 30 days to live, he is not satisfied with the treatment options. So he becomes an amatur expert and starts a membership club to provide alternative treatments for those with HIV/AIDS. He battles the FDA, DEA, and local Texans he used to call friends. Along the way, he discovers people, and helps other people discover as well. McConaughey is outstanding again in this film. Be warned, in spite of the fact that Woodroof becomes a better person and is an extremely sympathetic character, this is not a happy film.
4 stars (out of 5)

Nebraska

Wow. Best film I have seen all year... and last year probably as well. Been thinking I wanted to watch The Straight Story again, but now I don't need to. Shot in black and white and using it to full effect in the sweeping views of the central farming plains in winter. Bruce Dern and Will Forte play a father-son duo on a journey of discovery. Dern's character believes he has won a million dollars and is making his way to Nebraska to pick it up. Forte is pulled into the journey to drive him. The heart of this film takes place in Hawthorne, Dern's hometown. Family relationships, old friends, differing and missing memories all come together as we explore the meaning of love and family.
5 stars (out of 5)

The Book Thief

It is probably never a good idea to read a book and watch the film version in the same day. One of the versions will suffer horribly. Usually it is the second one you take in, and if the first is not great to start with, you will find yourself holding your head, rubbing your eyes and checking your watch. This is exactly how I found myself after watching this film (having finished the book earlier today). The fact that the girl Liesel, the Book Thief of the title, does not necessarily need to be a book thief for this film to hold together suggests that some important part of her characterization is missing. It is a nice story, and shows well both the stress of living in Germany during the war as well as the normalcy (or maybe how normal the stress became). While this is not a bad film, there is nothing here to say this is a film worth watching. It simply misses its mark, or has no mark in mind.
2 stars (out of 5)

Olympus Has Fallen

Apparently in the last couple years, the North Koreans have become the new bad guys du jour. The Red Dawn remake recently released and now this. Here the North Koreans launch a flash attack on the Whitehouse in an effort to completely destroy the US. In 13 minutes, the Whitehouse is completely controlled by about 20 commandos. In that time, about 200 something armed secret service, police, etc file out of the building into a hail of bullets and die. Except Gerard Butler, of course. He is able to hide behind a couple of pillars until it is safe to sneak in undetected. Then he saves the boy, saves the girl, tells his superiors what he really thinks, is able to say "I told you so", and then redeems himself in the eyes of his bosses. Straight forward, shoot and run action. Nothing really to recommend.
2 stars (out of 5)