Now You See Me 2013 9 out of 10

Now You See Me  2013  9 out of 10

Slight of hand and misdirection.  The plot of the movie follows 4 magicians that show up to a meeting after receiving a mysterious invitation.   Cut to four years later the group is now a big act performing in Las Vegas.  As a part of this act they pull off a bank heist in Paris while on stage.   This stunt gets them under investigation with by the FBI agent played by Mark Ruffalo --is in intent on catching them in the act. 

This movie does a great job of mixing the world of Magic with a heist movie.  The movie was interesting and entertaining and had you guessing the whole time trying to figure it out. Like a Magic act it was full of red herrings and misdirection.   It also had a mysterious element of a secret society as a part of the plot which gave it additional depth.    I don’t feel like I can really go on to discuss the plot for fear of spoiling it.  The film wasn’t spoiled for me so I don’t want to spoil it for anyone else.     I’ll just say that I really enjoyed the film and I’m looking forward to the sequel, which I hear is in the works.

The cast was excellent:  Morgan Freeman, Michael Cane, Woody Harrelson,  Isla Fisher,  Jess Eisnberg  and Mark Rufallo.  The magic acts were cool and the action scenes were exciting.

I actually enjoyed the heist aspects of this film more than all of the Ocean’s eleven sequels –only the original from that series did it better in my opinion.

I can see how some people will be upset at the end of the film and complain about the twists and turns the film takes and how they don't buy it.  I choose not to overthink it and just enjoy it for what it was --a fun and magical heist movie  - but I can definitely see how the films resolution will leave many cold and unhappy with how it concludes.

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Dolphin Tale 2011 8 out of 10 and Dolphin Tale 2 2014 7 out of 10 (Family Movie Review #10 and # 11)

Dolphin Tale 2011  8 out of 10

An inspirational movie about an injured dolphin that has to have his tail removed and then needs to have a artificial tail created for it in order to survive. It is based on a true story, but with elements added that were typical Hollywood conventions. It is very similar to Free Willy in that a young boy ends up making a connection with a Cetacean. The movie grabs your heart from the moment you see the injured dolphin stranded on the beach. Dolphins are beautiful intelligent creatures which makes them so easy to get emotional about. 

The movie is not just about the dolphin's tail though it also is about the boy finding something to care about in life again while he has struggled to find something to connect with after the loss of his father. He is a lost soul until this connection with the dolphin changes his life. It is also about the journey of his older cousin that was a potential Olympic swimmer until he suffers a crippling injury while overseas fighting for our country and how he learns to accept his handicap. It is a touching story that is well executed in its telling

Dolphin Tale 2   2014 7  out of 10

When I heard that there was going to be a Dolphin Tale 2 -  my first thought was  "Is that really necessary?"   The first movie didn't really need a sequel since it was such a good and complete story- but after renting it for Family movie night, because my step daughter wanted to see it --it was definitely worth a watch.    Dolphin Tale 2 continues the story of the inspirational dolphin Winter as see deals with the loss of a fellow dolphin.   This is a common thing that many dolphins in captivity deal with since they are very social animals.   After the death of her dolphin friend she goes into a deep depression and they need to find a new dolphin for her to socialize with.    This movie didn't have the same strong storyline as the first movie, but was a good family film anyways.   I love dolphins and have found them fascinating my whole life.  They are so amazing that I was instantly pulled back in and cared deeply what was going to happen to Winter.    No big spoiler here...since the other Dolphin is shown in the poster ---Hope the stranded baby dolphin that they rescue and Winter ends up bonding with --was a predictable yet satisfying end to Winter's story.

I liked the movie for the dolphins ---my wife liked it for Harry Connick Jr.  --- a win -win situation.

Red 2010 8+ out of 10

Red   2010    8+ out of 10

I had passed over seeing this flick because when it original came out.   The trailer just didn't capture my attention as a must see movie.     It just looked like a bunch of older actors doing a retired spy movie and the concept didn't seem that thrilling.    I decided to record it on my DVR since its sequel just came out in theaters and to my surprise the movie was actually really good.  The film stars Bruce Willis as an ex spy that has retired and ends up getting sucked back into the business when he shows up on a hit list.  After a near death experience at his home he goes on a journey to find out why this is happening.   This leads to him meeting up with a girl in the payroll department that he has been talking to over the phone getting her involved in the adventure and meeting up with a bunch of old spy buddies.  The supporting cast is full of oscar worthy actors that include John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman and Helen Mirren all of which do a great job.   The film is based on a graphic novel so has a little bit of an over the top comic feel to it, which is common in a lot of recent spy movies.   The plot moves along at a good pace with witty dialogue between the characters which makes for a satisfying action film.  There was a really cool segment towards the end of the film where they pull off a kidnapping that felt like a scene from one of the Oceans Eleven movies.     It was a lot better than I had expected it to be