X-Men: First Class (2011)

Not sure why it is, but prequels are often more interesting than sequels.  No?  Okay, maybe not.  Maybe only when it comes to super heroes?  This one ranks up there with Batman Begins in my opinion.  In fact, I like this one better than most the other X-men installments.

James McAvoy as a young and emerging Dr. X is great.  We learn how he becomes who he is.  We also learn what a haunted soul Magneto is and how he arrives at his situation.  Michael Fassbender does a great job giving us a multidimensional character.

In fact, the entire cast is well suited.  I especially enjoyed Kevin Bacon as the bad guy.  This movie will make playing the Kevin Bacon game even easier.

Watch this movie with someone who might not be previously familiar with the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.

The Conspirator (2010)

First, kudos to the "new" American Film Company.  This film is their debut of an ambitious mission to make films depicting American history.  Robert Redford directs a dream cast with pleasing results.  To date they have made back less than half of their $25M investment, which is sad, but I pledge to see and rate every movie they make.

James McAvoy and Robin Wright do a great job.  The story is really about them but the rest of the cast are spot on.  Kevin Kline, Tom Wilkinson, Danny Huston, and Colm Meaney play the government's men is this compelling story.  the rest are too numerous to mention.  Suffice it to say that as period works go, this is one of my new favorites.  Savannah, GA looks a lot the an old DC - clearly.

With one little exception, the film feels as authentic as can be.  In one scene however, a character is coming out of a bathroom and the sounds of a flushing toilet is heard.  I don't know when flushing toilets were common in Washington, DC or what they sounded like, but I'm pretty sure some liberties were taken here.

This movie is mostly dialogue and wondering what will happen next, so don't set your sights on an action thriller.  What would you do to preserve a fragile nation?

Watch this movie with someone who likes American history.

The Last Station

Set in and around Tolstoy's last days. It is as much about the drama within his inner circle as the author himself.

Christopher Plummer plays Tolstoy and Helen Mirren his wife, the Countess. Paul Giamatti is Chertoff and James McAvoy the young aid who finds himself stuck in the battles between them. The story is as much about the struggles in the mind and heart of young Valentin Bulgakov, Tolstoy's last Secretary, as anything. His struggles represent those of mankind.

Tolstoy is arguably the most celebrated writer in the planet's history. Some see him as a messiah, some a saint. Others see him as a prophet and others as a mad social genius. Regardless of your perceptions, this touching story, ending at the last train station he visited, will at least educate and perhaps inspire.

Watch this movie with someone who knows little or nothing about Tolstoy and see if they strive to learn more after the movie.

State of Play (BBC Series - 2003)

The US movie version of this was very good and base on this, but this series is much, much better. Because it is done as a mini-series there is much more detail, more character development, more fun.

John Simm is brilliant as the character played very differently in the US version by Russel Crowe. Bill Nighy is the scheming editor and friend of Simm's character. Kelly Macdonald is outstanding as the young reporter written totally differently for the US audience. Much better here. And James McAvoy is delightful as the son with something to prove. These are the newspaper folks.

The politician and wife are played by David Morrissey and Polly Walker. He is stiff and she is sultry. Both as perfect in their roles.

If you like a political murder mystery thriller, this is one of the highest sort. Well written, perfectly acted, deliciously photographed, with a good mix of funny, sad, and thought-provoking material.

Watch this with someone who will enjoy each cliff-hanger episode ending.

Wanted

This movie was a little bit Star Wars ("Luke, I am your father"), a little bit Kung Fu Panda ("Maybe I should just quit and go back to making noodles"), and a little bit Office Space ("Work sucks"). All in all, those are parts of pop culture we can relate to. All in all it's a very fun movie to watch if you don't know anything about physics. I'm sure Mythbusters will have a special or two about this one.

James McAvoy goes to a whole new level in this movie. His character goes from deep depression to rage to total submission to cunning calculated murder in less than 2 hours.

Angelina Jolie does what she apparently does best, and Morgan Freeman reprises his "God" role yet again, sort of.

If you like the comic-themed action thriller, this is a good one even if you are not familiar with the comic upon which it is based. If you like twisty conspiracy theory stories with quirky characters, this is also a good movie for that. If you have a hard time suspending belief for Hollywood's sake, you may want to skip this one. Oh yeah, and if, like Indiana Jones, rats creep you out, maybe this is not the best movie for you.

I recommend you watch this movie with someone who totally joneses on adrenaline.

Atonement

Perhaps this should have been called "An Attempted Atonement", or something like that. It did not quite get there for me. But I don't want to give anything away.

If this were a true story, I'd say it is yet another example of good things happen to bad people. I hate when that happens. And, it happens all too often in reality, so why would someone write it into a story and call it fiction? But I don't want to give anything away here.

But please, don't get the wrong idea here. I liked this movie. I just didn't like how it ends. It is very well written, directed, and acted. This is like an old Masterpiece Theatre story told in MTV terms. It is a period piece with modern dialogue, and modern editing.

It was nominated for several Oscars, but won only for Best Original Score. That does not mean the academy agrees with me, it just means there were other things to vote for.

Keira Knightley plays the daughter of a wealthy British family who has her life torn apart by the lies of her younger sister. James McAvoy plays her love interest who is sent off to prison and eventually World War I by those same lies.

The atonement expected is that the little girl will somehow set things aright. I'll leave it to you to decide if she does or does not.

I get it - movies don't always have happy endings. Sometimes the good guys lose. Sometimes bad guys get away with their crimes. The boy does not always get the girl. People don't always live happily ever after. But in this case, I think the title is misleading and the title character fools herself and the audience into thinking everything IS okay in the end. For me, it's not. But I don't want to give anything away.

Watch this movie with someone with a balanced sense of fair play.