James Patterson – Movie Reviews – I
MOVIE REVIEWS – I’S
I Am Legend
I enjoy Will Smith’s acting, and his amiability as well. Both qualities shine through in this movie. I was a little less enthused about the action once Will and his faithful dog were joined by others. I liked I Am Legend quite a bit, and Sue hated it.
I Can Only Imagine
I kind of resisted this one – but it turned out to be one of the better movies I’ve seen this year. Powerfully emotional and dramatic – and it tells the story about a group that I’m not as familiar with as I ought to be. A-
I Love You, Beth Cooper
It was inevitable that sooner or later a “worst movie of the year” candidate would come along. Here it is—in spades. Miscast (in my opinion), badly directed, with a woeful script. I don’t like to be mean, but this was a particularly bad couple of hours.
I Love You, Man
Not quite as funny as I expected, but deeper than I would have thought, as well. This film deals with something that I’ve been puzzling over for most of my life—which is how to relate to males when they can be such idiots most of the time.
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
This is an awful lot less controversial than most of the reviews might suggest. If you like Adam Sandler, and I do, you’ll enjoy most of this. Kevin James is quite good in his role. There are some funny lines, and some scenes that just didn’t work for me.
I, TONYA
Probably my favorite movie this year. Smart, funny, sad, a miracle. Margot Robbie and Allison Janney are extraordinary. The direction by Craig Gillespie (J. Walter Thompson alum) is flawless as well. A
I Feel Pretty
I always like Amy Schumer movies. And this is no exception. It’s charming, funny, and has a nice message. The only problem is that when folks walk out of the movie the world probably isn’t going to change that much. A-
If I Stay
Really liked the first 40 minutes or so. Shed nary a tear. B-
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The Imitation Game
Pick of the Week
One of my favorites this year…intelligent, unexpected storyline and terrific performances. A
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In The Heart Of The Sea
Poor Herman Melville might be rolling in his grave again. This is a potentially fascinating story—badly told. C
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In the Valley of Elah
Pick of the Week
This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in awhile. It’s not only a terrific suspense tale, but one that carries one of those rare messages that’s worth listening to. This will make everybody think about what we’re doing to these young kids we send into battle.
Inception
I love the Museum of Modern Art in New York. But after an hour or so, I usually want to be somewhere else. That’s how I felt about this beautifully photographed and ambitious film. Hollywood auteurs want to be taken seriously. Not going to happen. There will be a lot of pseudo-intellectual horse manure spread about this flick. But not by me.
The Incredible Hulk
On a personal level I have the same problem watching The Hulk as I would with a movie starring the Michelin Man or the Pillsbury dough boy. I liked the parts with Edward Norton, especially when he was doing his version of Jason Bourne.
Indignation
I don’t know exactly why so many Philip Roth novels get turned into movies, but this is one of the better ones. Nice direction, good acting. And yet, when all is said, it feels like a more mature take on Goodbye, Columbus. A-
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The Infiltrator
Pick of the Week
If you’ve been missing Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston, here’s your chance to catch up. This time, he’s on the other side of the drug war. The only flaw with this film is that it basically tells the same story as Netflix’s Narcos. A-
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Inglourious Basterds
Pick of the Week
Let’s start here: my wife Sue actually got a little angry that we went to this one together. As for me, I liked many things about it: the shaggy dog story opening; most of the performances; the fact that Tarantino had the people in the theater cheering for brutal scenes, much as the Nazis were cheering brutality in the movie itself. For me, Tarantino remains brilliant, naive, sophomoric. That seems to be the whole package. I look forward to his next one.
The International
There’s a lot of terrific photography and pretty good acting, but this is a thriller and thrillers aren’t supposed to drag. The script goes back and forth—sometimes very intelligent, sometimes kind of dopey. I’m okay with thrillers like this, but I think a lot of people will be somewhat disappointed. The scene at the Guggenheim might be worth the price of admission though.
Interstellar
Long and wrong—but with some brilliant patches. When Christopher Nolan has a coherent story, he’s one of the best. But—for me—he sometimes mistakes incoherence for high art. C+
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The Interview
The funniest thing about this flick—by far—is the total insanity it helped create around the world. James Franco’s parody of a TV news personality is clever. C
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The Invasion
This movie has more goofy jump cuts than most of the old MTV videos. Somebody was doing a lot of messing around in the editing room. And yet, I kind of liked this latest take on Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Don’t know why the studio dumped it.
Invictus
Pick of the Week
Always terrific to watch Morgan Freeman in action and I certainly miss him in his role as Alex Cross. Morgan is magical as Nelson Mandela and the film somehow manages to be both understated and uplifting. This isn’t Clint Eastwood’s best film (not for me anyway), but it might be his most important one.
The Iron Lady
I expected to love this, and I didn’t. I didn’t even like it. Meryl Streep is very good, but—for me—this isn’t one of her best performances. More important, I didn’t care for the story’s structure—moving back and forth between Margaret Thatcher as a dotty old lady, and her rise to become England’s first woman prime minister. I would’ve preferred far more of the latter, the good old-fashioned bio pic.
Iron Man
Pick of the Week
Sue, myself, and Jack (my 10 year-old) all thoroughly enjoyed Ironman. It’s a cool blend of character action stunts and humor-hard to beat. It’s probably my favorite of the movies based on comic books or graphic novels.
Irrational Man
Not Woody Allen’s best, not his worst. For me, it went completely off the rails in the second half. C
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Isle of Dogs
I always enjoy Wes Anderson’s movies and this is another one that is superior in terms of humor and wonderful art direction. B+
It
For me, the movie, It, captures what I will always consider vintage Stephen King: tight, tense storytelling with dialogue that sparkles and charms. The guy can write. A-
It’s Kind of a Funny Story
Pick of the Week
I worked my way through college at a mental hospital and this film quite wonderfully captures the zaniness, humor, hopelessness at times, but best of all the relatable humanity one finds in a closed world where troubled people need someone else’s key to get in and out.