War Dogs

Two young American guys turn international arms dealers and their ambitions to get paid, take them to the top and down.  This thriller/comedy/true story is interesting to be sure.  However, it fails to measure up in its execution ultimately.  It's a shame because a decade prior, there was its arguably better counterpart of a film  in Nicholas Cage's Lord Of War (also about arms dealers and with the same general story arc).  The best thing about War Dogs is frankly Jonah Hill's performance.  It's as simple as that, especially after great performances by him like in The Wolf Of Wallstreet.

Captain Fantastic

A father (Viggo Mortensen) raises his six children in an unconventionally holistic way away from modern society in the forest.  Upon the news of his wife's death, their journey to come to terms with that and how they are living is met with humor and heartfelt moments.  Captain Fantastic is that fascinating journey by writer and director Matt Ross and it is quite a gem of a unique film that is quite engaging in it's simple moments.

The 13th

Director Ava Duvernay's The 13th is a powerful and insightful documentary that explores the modern day incarnations of racism, particularly in the U.S. penitentiary system especially toward African American males.  It also importantly and intelligently shows the true historical origins and evolution of that sort of racism and how it continues to breed that in policy, procedure, and perception for all Americans. On that note, I think every American should see this film.  There's a real and growing divide in this country and lack of understanding our different historical experiences and how they shape our perceptions and actions/inactions, that only serve to threaten us as a whole.   The 13th looks at this for African Americans and the seemingly recent, racist biased violence that has ensued of late; and explains the systematic, economic driven strategy that allows it to flourish in different forms. 

Money Monster

I really wanted to like this, but all along it seemed flat as fuck.  Guess what, it was flat as fuck. George Clooney and Julia Roberts yeah ok, they are a good acting duo sure.  Jodie Foster is a good director, too.  I mean all the right people were here, but...  Probably the story.  White guy loses his money after a stock investment tip from tv's Money Monster show host Clooney and takes over the studio demanding accountability and truth.  Along the way, the police and people seeking the truth scramble.  Somewhere along the way, it loses much steam and just trails off the tracks....

In The Heart Of The Sea

Ron Howard and Brian Grazer's latest, In The Heart Of The Sea, is a true life story about an event in the sinking of the Essex whaler ship that helped to inspire the writing of Moby Dick. It stars Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Benjamin Walker, and Tom Holland.  Howard and Grazer seem determined to expand Hemsworth's range beyond Thor in their now second collaboration following Rush.  They'd be right, as Hemsworth is an obvious choice in fitting the bill for this role as seafaring whales man.  The rest of the cast is good and it's a great and fascinating story of survival.  The story is like Titanic, told thru the eyes of a young survivor.  What jumps out more to me were the rich visuals in the settings, set decoration/design and the mere story itself.

Hardcore Henry

This is a very fresh and unique international film full of surprises.  The action is like the title pretty bombastic and told from a first person camera point of view.  So if you like first person shooters, like me, you'll love it. I also give it a B effort for actually making pretty good sense in having the story plot match the what and why of it all.

Race

Race is a solid Jesse Owens biopic that focuses on the few years leading up to his gold medal victory leading up to the 1936 Olympics in Berlin prior to World War 2.  It stars Stephan James, Jason Sudekis, and Jeremy Irons.  The performances are really good.  Sudekis is really good at drama, too.  Like many other biopics, however, the story of the man gets a bit lost in all the other stories on it's importance and implications to the countries at the time.  I can understand that to a degree, but I also think it gets lost on an audience as a whole even in the title, as the obvious meaning of holding an important race is overshadowing the issue of race in the world.