Les Misérables

What I liked:

• It has a talented cast: Hugh Jackman, Russel Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Eddie Redmayne, Aaron Tveit, and Samantha Barks.
• The costume and set design was great.

Django Unchained

What I liked:

• Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz are just fantastic.
• It is written and directed by Quentin Tarantino.  It's your basic good vs. evil story but Tarantino always knows how to put an interesting spin on it.  If you liked his previous films, you will probably like this.
• Leonardo DiCaprio plays a wonderful evil plantation owner.
• It also stars Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Don Johnson, Bruce Dern, M.C. Gainey, and Jonah Hill. 
• 1980's flashback with Johnson and The Dukes of Hazzard's Tom Wopat.
• LOST's Mr. Friendly!
• It has an interesting soundtrack.
• It's quirky, funny, and can make you squirm in your seat all at the same time.

The Guilt Trip

What I liked:

• Barbra Streisand was lovely and funny.
• Seth Rogen was his usual sarcastic and humorous self.
• The characters were believable as a mother and son.
• It also stars Kathy Najimy, Yvonne Strahovski, Colin Hanks, Brandon Keener, Brett Cullen, and Nora Dunn.
• Gilmore Girls reunion: Gypsy and Jackson!

This Is 40

What I liked:

• Leslie Mann is beautiful, funny, and she can act.
• Paul Rudd is always lovable.
• Maude and Iris Apatow are talented kids with great parents.  I think it makes the story a little more believable that their movie mom is their real mom.
• Fantastic supporting cast: Jason Segel, Annie Mumolo, Robert Smigel, Megan Fox, Charlyne Yi, Graham Parker, Michael Ian Black, Chris O'Dowd, Lena Dunham, Albert Brooks, John Lithgow, Billie Joe Armstrong, Ryan Adams, and Melissa McCarthy. 
• It was written and directed by Judd Apatow based of the same characters from Knocked Up.
• It is funny but it is also real, complicated, and serious.  It's a dramedy.
• I LOVED all of the LOST love.  
• A Mad Men shout out!
• Great soundtrack including an incredible new Fiona Apple song.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

What I liked:

• It was beautifully made.  Most everything looks real.  The special effects are great.  
• Hair, makeup, and costumes are excellent.
• It has a great cast: Iam McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, Graham McTavish, James Nesbitt, Stephen Hunter, Dean O'Gorman, Aidan Turner, John Callen, Peter Hambleton, Jed Brophy, Mark Hadlow, Adam Brown, Elijah Wood, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Lee Pace, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Andy Serkis.

Parental Guidance

What I liked:

• Billy Crystal, Bette Midler and Marisa Tomei are all funny and fun.
• Tom Everette Scott!
• The kids are adorable and talented: Bailee Madison, Joshua Rush, and Kyle Harrison Breitkopf.
• The story is funny and smart.
• It's appropriate for all ages.
• Love all the baseball talk.

Hitchcock

What I liked:

• It is an interesting look at the making of Psycho and the relationship between Hitchcock and his wife.
• Anthony Hopkins played Alfred Hitchcock very well.
• Helen Mirren was great as Alma Reville.
•  Scarlet Johansson was a fantastic Janet Leigh.
• It also stars Danny Huston, Toni Collette, Jessica Biel,  James D'Arcy, Richard Portnow, and Kurtwood Smith.
• Michael Stuhlbarg was born to play characters from the past.  He just has that perfect look.
• The Karate Kid , Ralph Macchio?!
• There were beautiful flower arrangements everywhere!

Playing for Keeps

What I liked:

• Noah Lomax is super cute and a good actor.  
• Jessica Biel was ok.

Anna Karenina

What I liked:

• Amazing choreography.
• Beautiful set designs and costumes.
• Fantastic art direction.
• Great cast: Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald, Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, and Emily Watson.

Barrymore

What I liked:

• Christopher Plummer is always wonderful.  He originally performed Barrymore on stage which goes to show you that his memory is still as sharp as ever for a man in his 80's.
•   It also stars John Plumpis.

Life of Pi

What I liked:

• It is a very interesting and spiritual journey.
• Great directing by Ang Lee.
• Superb acting by Suraj Sharma.
• Great supporting cast: Irrfan Khan, Rafe Spall, Ayush Tandon, Gautam Belur, Adil Hussain, Tabu, James Saito, and Andrea Di Stefano.
• Beautiful cinematography.  Loved the use of light, colors, and 3D special effects.
• It makes you think.
• It is based on the book Life of Pi by Yann Martel . 

Lincoln

What I liked:

• Daniel Day-Lewis did an excellent job looking, sounding, and acting like Abraham Lincoln.
• The supporting cast is amazing: Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Hal Holbrooks, Tommy Lee Jones, John Hawkes, Jackie Earle Haley, Bruce McGill, Tim Blake Nelson, Joseph Cross, Jared Harris, Lee Pace, Peter McRobbie, Gulliver McGrath, Gloria Reuben, Jeremy Strong, Michael Stuhlbarg, David Costabile, Lukas Haas, Dane DeHaan, Adam Driver, and S. Epatha Merkerson.
• I never knew that Lincoln was such a comedian.  It was funny to hear him tell jokes.
• The set design, make up and costumes were fantastic.
• It is directed by Steven Spielberg.
• It was written by Tony Kushner based of the book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

What I didn't like:

• It was too slow and a little borring.
• Because that cast is so large, each person gets only a small amount of screen time.
• I would have liked to have seen more of Gordon-Levitt and Driver.

Grade: B+  

Rise of the Guardians

What I liked:

• They have some great voices to go with these characters: Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Jude Law, Isla Fisher, and Hugh Jackman.
• The animation is fantastic.
• The story is creative and interesting.
• It is a fresh take on some old tales.
• It is fun for the whole family.
  

Red Dawn

What I liked:

• Chris Hemsworth is a beautiful man.  And he can act!
• Joining Hemsworth are Adrianne Palicki, Josh Hutcherson, Josh Peck, Isabel Lucas, Jeffery Dean Morgan, Connor Cruise, Edwin Hodge, Alyssa Diaz, Brett Cullen, Michael Beach, Will Yun Lee, and Matt Gerald.
• It's got action, romance, and humor.
• Cruise (son of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman) did well for his first film.

A Late Quartet

What I liked:

• Superb acting by Christopher Walken, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Mark Ivanir, and Imogen Poots.
• Wallace Shawn!
• An interesting premise for a story.  The Quartet gives structure to look at the relationships these four have with themselves and others.

Skyfall

What I liked:

• Javier Bardem was hands down, my favorite part of this film.  He was crazy good.
• Daniel Craig makes for a nice Bond.
• I enjoyed Ben Whishaw as Q.
• Albert Finney!
• Great special effects.
• Lots of action.
• Adele's Skyfall is lovely.

Silver Linings Playbook

What I liked:

• Bradley Cooper is fantastic in this role.  When watching him, you forget about his other roles and that he is Bradley Cooper.
• Jennifer Lawrence is bold and real.  She has come a long way from Katniss.
• Robert De Niro is wonderful as usual.  It is a very interesting role for him.
• Jacki Weaver is a great scene stealer.
• Julia Stiles, Chris Tucker, Shea Whigham, (Felicity alum) Dash Mihok, John Ortiz, and Anupam Kher also star.
• It is an interesting look at mental illness.  
• It's serious, funny, deep, touching, and heartfelt.  

Flight

What I liked:

• Denzel Washington was good as an unlikeable guy.
• Great supporting cast: Nadine Velazquez, Tamara Tunie, Kelly Reilly, Bruce Greenwood, John Goodman, and Don Cheadle.
• Really good soundtrack.

Chasing Mavericks

What I liked:

• There are some great shots of the sea, above and below the surf.
• It shows how far dedication and hard work will get you.
• It's base on a true story.
• Great '90's soundtrack.

Cloud Atlas

What I liked:

• The hair, makeup, costume design, and special effects teams that it took to make this group of actors into multiple characters is Oscar worthy.
• It's fun to try to figure out which actor is playing which characters.  Some are pretty obvious and some are harder to spot.
• Fine acting by all: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, Keith David, James D'Arcy, Xun Zhou, David Gyasi, Susan Sarandon, and Hugh Grant.
• Most of the stories had interesting lessons and food for thought.
• I thought it was pretty easy to follow the stories...just give yourself the first 30 minutes to get use to it all.