Peacock (2010)

  This is one of those movies that makes you want to take a long shower, possibly with bleach or steel wool.  The ick factor is that high, though you see nothing.  It reminded me of some of William Faulkner's short stories.

John (Cillian Murphy) leads a quiet life in small town Peacock, Nebraska until a train derails in his backyard.  Responders to the scene see a frazzled woman going into John's house.  They assume he married and just didn't tell anyone.  What they don't know is that John created "Emma" after the death of his tyrannical, abusive mother.  With his secret dangerously close to being revealed, John is visibly on edge.  Emma, however, sees her opportunity to finally achieve the dreams she's always had.

If you're thinking Psycho in the Midwest, you're not wrong.  This goes much further into the dissociative identity, pulling the viewer along into the deepening web.  Murphy is breathtakingly good in this double role, which goes far beyond just playing drag.  Emma is a totally separate character who just happens to share a body with John.  It's a phenomenal performance and I am shocked it didn't get more recognition.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)

  It's shaping up to be a Martin Freeman kind of weekend.

Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) is just a normal guy living in England when he discovers that his house is set to be demolished.  Coincidentally, that same day his entire planet is also set to be destroyed by an alien race of bureaucrats called Vogons.  Arthur's friend Ford Prefect (Mos Def) saves him moments before the Earth is disintegrated by jumping them onto a passing spaceship.  The ship has been stolen by Galactic President Zaphod Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell) and his human girlfriend Trillian (Zooey Deschanel).  With the Vogons close behind, the four adventurers travel across the galaxy, searching for the question to the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything.

The first time I saw this movie I didn't really like it, despite having read all the books in the Hitchhiker series and enjoying them.  I don't remember what I was expecting but I didn't get it.  This time, however, I had a much better time with it.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

  I'd been wanting to see this for a while but I didn't get around to it until this weekend.  It was cute, even if it didn't quite live up to my expectations.

Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) is the CIA's top agent in 1960's East Berlin.  Ilya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) is the KGB's top agent.  The two opposing sides are forced to work together to find a missing nuclear scientist, Udo Teller (Christian Berkel), believed to be hiding in Rome, before he can complete production on a warhead.  They have his daughter, Gaby (Alicia Vikander), as bait but it soon appears that at least one agent is falling for the beautiful mechanic.

Like I said, it's cute.  Like a lighter, fluffier version of Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes.  This might even be the only time I've ever liked Henry Cavill.  I always like Armie Hammer, but I would have loved to see him be a lot more violent.  It really felt like they were holding back on this production.

The Big Short (2015)

Nominated for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing  This was the most depressed I have ever been after seeing a comedy.  I came out of the theater actually despairing over the fate of the world.  Mother of God, what have we done to ourselves?  To our planet?

In 2008, the United States housing market collapsed, sparking a global recession.  In 2006, a handful of people only saw the writing on the wall and instituted measures to essentially profit off of the death of the American economy.  And they are the good guys.  Dr. Michael Burry (Christian Bale) was the first to come up with the idea to short mortgage bonds and was roundly laughed at for doing something -- at the time -- so unheard of.  Mark Baum (Steve Carrell) and his team answered a wrong number and got wind of the idea from a trader named Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling).  Two amateurs with a hedge fund saw Vennett's market proposal and talked a former market-savvy analyst turned paranoid anti-establishment nutcase (Brad Pitt) into using his clout to get them a seat at the table.

This is a comedy.  It reminded me very much of a documentary called Inside Job but this used big actors to dramatize the actual events.  It also used guests such as Margot Robbie and Selena Gomez to explain the more complicated financial terms.  Those parts were hilarious.  I wasn't in love with the editing, which seemed overly processed to feel like a documentary.  I didn't think that was necessary when coupled with the narration from Gosling's character.

This would have been a very funny movie if it wasn't about an actual event.  If this were purely fictional, I would have been fine.  But this happened.

People lost their homes.

People lost their jobs.

People around the world suffered.

And that just sucks all the humor right out for me.

Hercules (2014)

  This is a movie I probably never would have given a chance if Christy hadn't given me the DVD out of her combo pack.  It turned out to be pretty entertaining.

Myths abound concerning the warrior Hercules (Dwayne Johnson), most of them told with gleeful pride by his nephew, Iolaus (Reece Ritchie).  In truth, the "son of Zeus" is a mercenary with a loyal team, righting wrongs for profit.  When he is approached by Lady Ergenia (Rebecca Ferguson) to take sides in the Thracian civil war, he accepts but soon finds that Lord Cotys (John Hurt) is not what he appears.

This is a fun movie.  It's based on a graphic novel so it's very action-heavy and the characters have been stripped down to basic archetypes.  There's nothing stunningly original about it but it's decent enough to throw on for an evening.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)

  It's been a long time since I've seen this movie.  It's one of the rare sequels I like better than the original.

Hellboy (Ron Perlman) and his team are called upon to stop Nuada (Luke Goss), a Prince of Faerie, from reclaiming a magical mechanical army and using it to wipe out all the humans.  Complicating matters are the addition of a new leader, Johann Krauss (Seth MacFarlane), and Abe's (Doug Jones) infatuation with the prince's twin sister, Nuala (Anna Walton).  To top it all off, Liz (Selma Blair) discovers she is pregnant with Hellboy's children.

This is much more signature Del Toro with fantastical creatures, lush visuals, and crazy over-the-top action.  Where the first film tended toward moody darkness, this is practically candy-colored.  I never read the Hellboy comics but I did see the two animated films.  I really wish there had been more interest in this world.  I would have liked to see more on the backgrounds of the secondary characters or even a third film where Hellboy finally confronts his birthright.

End of Year 2015

Well, another year has come and gone.  It was not a great year for me and the movies.  I only saw 15 new releases this whole year.  15 out of 221.  Then again, 221 movies in a year isn't terrible.  It's not my record, which is 287 in a year (2013) but I was unemployed for part of that and had nothing else to do.  But you probably don't care about any of that anyway.  Let's get to some movies!

10.  Mockingjay, Part 2 -- I was just really disappointed in this film.  I think it was a bad idea to split it into two parts.  Fully half of the movie is denouement and it just drags.  Not a good way to end a series.  If I had seen more movies, this might not have even made my top 10.

9.  Mission Impossible:  Rogue Nation -- I'm a little surprised this wasn't higher on the list but this year had too many good action movies.  I had to be really nit-picky.

8.  Kingsman:  The Secret Service -- This movie was a blast from start to finish and a welcome entry from the early part of the year.

7.  Pitch Perfect 2 -- Don't get me wrong, I love my Bellas.  Everything from here up was painful to rank.

6.  Ant-Man --  I didn't have high expectations for this movie and that may have been what made it so enjoyable.

5.  Inside Out -- Pixar's entry this year showed surprising depth and subtlety.

4.  Spectre -- It kills me this is so low.  I loved this movie.

3.  The Avengers:  Age of Ultron -- I thought for sure this was going to be my number one but when I was looking at them, I just couldn't do it.  I'm sorry, Quicksilver.

2.  Jurassic World -- I really loved this movie.  I had such a good time watching it and I feel like it's a worthy successor to the franchise.

1.  Mad Max:  Fury Road -- I had dreams about this movie.  It was amazing and weird and disgusting and balls out crazy with just enough of the sublime to render it as art.

So there you have it.  Comments and arguments are welcome.

And now, let's look ahead to what's coming in 2016.

Kung Fu Panda 3 got a release date!  Here's hoping that it continues the spirit of excellence it had in the second film.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a real thing.  But it's coming out in February, which means it'll probably suck.

Deadpool already has my money.  Ryan Reynolds was born to play this role.

The live-action Jungle Book is coming out in March.  I don't know how I feel about that.

I've avoided trailers for Captain America:  Civil War.  I already know I'm going to see it and I want every frame to be as fresh as possible.

Alice Through the Looking Glass could be good.  I enjoyed Alice in Wonderland more than I thought I would.

Of course I'm going to see X-Men:  Apocalypse.

I didn't even know there was going to be a sequel to The Conjuring.  But apparently, The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Poltergeist is a thing.

I'll probably see Finding Dory but I don't have high expectations.

Ugh.  I don't know how I feel about Star Trek Beyond.

Suicide Squad.  Yes, yes, yes.

They remade Pete's Dragon.  Right in the childhood.

They also remade The Magnificent Seven and I have no idea why.

Doctor Strange is coming in November.

Moana looks really cool.  It'll be nice to see Disney do something Polynesian.

Assassin's Creed is a video game adaptation and those typically do not do well.  This one has Michael Fassbender in it, however, and that's a huge endorsement.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is coming out on Christmas Day.  I haven't read the books but they come highly recommended.