BradWesley123's Movie Journal- August 2014

It's fun to see DeNiro and Brando on screen together, and the rest of the cast is solid, but this is the type of movie that we've seen a thousand times before, and there's nothing new or inventive to be found in The Score.

Well made, but generic and bland.

There's not an original note in it, but Cuban Fury is just charming enough to get a pass.

There's a certain grittiness to the picture that's commendable, and it features one of Schwarzenegger's best late period performances, but Sabotage is just a total mess from start to finish. Even worse, it's an incredibly stupid mess that takes itself way too seriously. The strong ensemble cast is pretty much wasted here on an overly complicated plot that just amounts to nothing.

A slightly intriguing premise and a solid cast are wasted on what amounts to nothing more than your run-of-the-mill modern R-rated comedy with plenty of dick and ass jokes. Admittedly, some of the jokes hit, but way too little to compensate for the, surprising, dullness surrounding them.

A solid buddy cop picture that, while boding a couple of strong lead turns, never really breaks the mold, and isn't aging particularly well.

The Specialist is your average Stallone movie; loud, dumb, and cheesy as hell but man, was this entertaining. Don't get me wrong, this is a bad movie, but it's the type that's so bad it's good. Plus, James Woods hams it to hell in an incredibly fun villainous role.

Essentially everything I said about The Specialist, except Assassins has a, slightly, more dour tone and is a slightly better movie on the technical side of things.

Cobra is where the Stallone fun ends; it's an ugly, repellent film that is essentially just a poorly made ripoff of Dirty Harry. It's the type of turdboiler that makes you want to take a shower and destroy your DVD player.

A solid TV Movie with some excellent work from it's two leads. Unfortunately, it can never really shake the feeling of an old-school TV Movie, with predictable music cues and some often cheesy dialogue.

A lot more fun than I expected, but just as dumb. There are a couple of solid race scenes, and the cast is surprisingly good, but the script is as routine as it gets, and it takes way too many cues from the Fast & Furious franchise.

While Oculus is commendable for valuing scares ahead of shocks, it slowly loses it's momentum as it goes along, and the ending feels too manufactured, to be a typical grim horror movie ending, to really hit. Still, there's a solid cast and decent direction.

The cast is quite strong, and a few scenes (like the music interlude near the middle/end) hit, but Touchy Feely is just too aimless and slight to make in difference whatsoever. Nothing happens in this movie, so who's supposed to give a shit?

Another "modern" rom-com that supposedly sends-up genre cliches, but ends up playing into them. And yet, Stuck in Love is pretty entertaining, mainly due to an extremely charming cast doing strong work.

It's occasionally entertaining, and Woodley's quite good, but Divergent is just a mashup of The Hunger Games and Twilight, taking the weakest aspects from both.

It's admittedly quite slight, and very unoriginal, but for some reason I enjoyed The English Teacher more than I should have. The cast is clearly having a blast, and the script has a couple of solid moments. Not great, but reasonably entertaining (especially for a 5:00 A.M. viewing).

There are a few decent thrills, and the cast is okay, but it doesn't offer anything fresh or new to the genre.

Filth is pretty much the McAvoy show, and he's incredible. Even when the film threatens to go off the rails, which is just about every scene, he somehow manages to bring it back. The main problem with the film is the plot, which mainly substitutes shocks for genuine plot development, even if the "shocks" aren't often shocking (though a couple do land, especially the big one towards the end). Still, it is, for the most part, an entertaining film, and an excellent showcase for McAvoy.

June Diane Raphael and Casey Wilson's interplay manages to drain a couple of laughs, but their script is incredibly predictable, light on laughs, and downright annoying.

C.O.G. has some very witty moments, a very strong cast, but the plot is too meandering and tone to varying to make too much of a lasting impact.

The Railway Man is a well made pic with an excellent performance by Colin Firth, but it's also an incredibly bland, awards-bait film that you'll likely forget five minutes after it's over.

A surprisingly entertaining film that, while not totally original, features strong performances from Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks, and well executed thrills.