SIP Movie Review Blog

  Just sort of a warning, here are some that we have seen on the airplane, or ordered ourselves on-demand, and were disappointed.  Green Lantern, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, not so good.  lots of computer generated graphics, some pretty scary stuff for small kids.  Our 9 year old grandson said it was dumb, so there ya go!  1.5 lanterns.

Iron Lady, Meryl Streep and Jim Broadbent, lots of history here.  She became the Prime Minister of England, the first female to tackle that job.  The movie starts out showing us an aged Margaret Thatcher, almost a prisoner in her home after the death of her husband.  It is told in flashbacks, lots of flashbacks, and to make matters worse, she imagines her husband Denny is back.  She has stubbornly refused to clean out the closets, throw out his clothes.  So we not only have flashbacks, we are treated to her visions of her dead husband, all in rapid succession.  It was a good story on how she took the Conservative party to prominence in the period of 1975-1990.  We see her as she started working in government in the late 50s, and as she moved up, how she handled the "men's club" she was moving into.  2.5 pairs of shoes (if you see it, it will make sense).

The Debt, Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkenson and Sam Worthington.  A good movie, but again, lots of flashbacks.  We see Helen and Tom as aged spys, thinking of one who got away.  So they decide to see if they can hunt him down.  Of course they can and do.  It was good, just not great, end was sort of a twist, ended OK.  2.5 paid-in-fulls (the debt, get it?).

Rum Diary, Johnny Depp and Giovanni Ribisi, a couple of reporters working in Puerto Rico for a newspaper.  They drink more than it would seem possible, and yet seem to be able to stay out of trouble.  At least till Johnny Depp gets hooked up with some developers who are out to skin some folks.  They believe Johnny can help them with publicity and making up some materials to sell the property with.  Johnny falls in love with the head guy's girl, it goes south from there.  They get thrown in jail, we have a funny scene with a small car that has been trashed, a bright spot in an otherwise depressing movie. 2 Rum and Cokes.

My Week With Marilyn, starring Michelle Williams (Dawson's Creek, Shutter Island) and Eddie Redmayne.  Both sort of new to the big screen, this was just not the best venue for them.  We watch as Eddie talks his way into the movie industry, and ends up working on location with Marilyn Monroe as they made a movie.  We expected her to be a complicated person, but she really is a mess, using alcohol and pills to get through the day.  2 movie posters.

Ides Of March, starring George Clooney and Ryan Gosling, good just not great.  George is running for office, Ryan is his point man, gets into a mess with one of the interns, gets fired.  Finds out something about his boss, gets his job back.  Would have been a good video rental, just not worth the $15 movie entry fee.  2 ballots.