First Word

  Rating: ***** I love Tom Hanks so anything he appears in I know is going to be good. In fact, I can't really think of one bad movie he's been in... oh wait, I take that back, The Money Pit . He's a fantastic actor, period.  News of the World is so touching! You know one of those movies where you're talking to the movie screen? Well, this one qualifies. The story is about a lonely Captain Kidd who goes from town to town reading the newspapers to patrons as entertainment five years after the Civil War has ended. On his way to the next town, he finds a destroyed wagon with a young girl hiding in it. She's a lost "wild child" whom he tries to help. We soon discover that the German immigrant's name is Johanna, according to her papers, and that the feds were trying to take her "home" to her surviving relatives who live near San Antonio, Texas. Her parents, German settlers, were killed and she was adopted by the Kiowa Indians. She doesn't spe...

Rating: ***** Another delightful film just in time for the holidays. Saving Mr. Banks was a wonderful distraction during the bustle of last-minute Christmas shopping. It is a must-go but mostly for adults. It's not really geared toward children so don't get that confused. The movie chronicles the 20-year "courtship" of Walt Disney to get the author of Mary Poppins to give him the film rights to her books. The prim, proper and uptight Mrs Traverse is so married to her books and story she won't budge an inch. It is only after her financial needs necessitate she sell the rights that she reluctantly gives in and flies to the U.S. to help write the script. Mrs. Traverse isn't an easy sell, and the movie depicts through flashback the psychology and reason why she won't give up her stubborn need to have the story produced down to her every specification. Sweet and endearing, it was fun to see the world of 1961 Disney and Disneyland back in its early era....

Rating: ***** Just to show the movie studios a little something important -- grown-up movies done right still rule the box office. Two very grown-up films Captain Phillips and Gravity dominated the box office ticket sales in a refreshing change since a summer onslaught of terrible movies. After seeing Captain Phillips , I actually noted how refreshing it was that we weren't be subjected to films targeted toward 12-year-old boys and pre-teens. This gritty, realistic and action-packed movie is filmed in that handheld camera style that has become popular that gives it a sense of frenetic realism. Now I am not a fan of this style and find it hard to follow and a little annoying, but I soon got over it. The film has a documentary-style to it and creates such a normal everyday feel about it. Any stars in the film are hidden behind their average, everyday appearances. Hanks' Capt. Phillips comes across as a normal family man who runs his ship with a stern, polite manner. Then ...