Rush

So now I finally see what all the fuss was about Rush.  It's a superb Ron Howard film that chronicles the true life of iconic car racers Niki Lauda (David Bruhl) and James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) during their competitive years.  Now I don't have much interest in car racing personally, but I quickly discovered that the racing aspect wasn't what the movie was really about.  It was about the approach to life of these two very different men and how they ultimately learned respect for one another.  The movie just has a great story with racing as a backdrop.  It never lags, thanks to the directing and editing.  Hard not to compare it to the classic Chariots Of Fire. 

The Wolverine

This long awaited film is good on many levels, but it's biggest detractor is that its been too long awaited and delayed.  It picks up where 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand left off, which is an inconveniently big shift given the more recent  X Men and Wolverine movies that have gone back to their origins, and can therefore get a bit disorienting.  In this film, Logan reluctantly goes to Japan at the request of a former Japanese soldier he saved in WW2, only to find himself quickly caught up in a treacherous war with ultimately a bit too many shifting alliances and revelations. There's more character exploration of Logan that's good and an intriguing international backdrop with interesting new characters, but the aforementioned problems with an over the top plot, delayed timeline between films, and some overdone cgi sequences, including a finale with too much obvious borrowing from The Transformers movies, diminish The Wolverine considerably to just entertaining. 

The Hunt

Scandinavian movies have been so interestingly good in recent years, and 2012's The Hunt is no exception.  It takes a look at the life of a schoolteacher (played by Mads Mikkelsen) in a small town dealing with the accusation of child molestation towards his student.  The nature of people and what it can morph into is examined.Even beyond the somberness the subject matter would suggest, is the unexpected tense and the masterful, suspenseful heights director Thomas Vinterberg elevates it towards combined with the superb acting of Mikkelsen and the rest of the cast.

2 Guns

Two undercover law enforcement officers of different agencies find themselves at great odds with each other, their respective agencies, a drug cartel, and the CIA. A great cast in Denzel Washington, Mark Wahlberg, Bill Paxton, Edward James Olmos, and others are one of the keys to elevating this movie to extremely fun to watch. Washington and Wahlberg both, of course have enough on-screen charisma and they seem to really be having fun in this action-comedy, Mexican standoff style.  That genuine combination of a cast having fun with comedy and action, is exactly what make 2 Guns enjoyable, as the improbable and excessive twist and turns in the plot aren't exactly its strong suit.

All Is Lost

A man alone tries to survive on his damaged boat in the middle of the ocean. The premise may not sound too exciting, but writer and director J.C. Chandor and a sole cast of Robert Redford really deliver well in this tale of survival and humanity.  I was really impressed at the real acting ability of Redford (hardly a line of dialogue) to portray a man alone trying to hold it together in the vast ocean.  The fact is that the movie not only held my attention for that long, but had me caught up in the character's plight and looking inwards.  Real acting in real quality movie, justify it's recent nominations.  Hard to believe Redford was 77 years old while making this.