LEE DANIELS' THE BUTLER

Forest Whitaker as "The Butler" who served through eight Presidential terms (have fun trying to identify the well known actors who took those roles!) must surely win the Oscar!   And Oprah Winfrey, as his wife, might easily take home her own statuette for supporting role.
     "Lee Daniels' The Butler" is worth all the accolades it's been given.   For me, however, the depiction of the racist discrimination and persecution of the Negroes back in the era of the Butler's early life in the South was so painful, so awful (and undoubtedly so accurate)  that I left the theater  horrified and deeply disturbed.   (I spent my early childhood in Minnesota, where there were very few people of color. Then moved to California, in 1942 where I grew up, near Hollywood and Beverly Hills, a similarly "white" area.)   The harsh reality of History is never pleasant, and often truly horrifying to see.

THE GRANDMASTER

Seldom does a move exceed my expectations, but this one certainly did! Fabulous,  amazing cinematography, outstanding martial arts scenes (and I'm not a martial arts aficionado by any stretch of the imagination). Stellar acting. The lead, who plays the legendary "Ip Man" is mesmerizing.    Masterfully directed by Kar Wai Wong; I was astounded by the excellence of this film, and how much I enjoyed it!    Bravo to all concerned!

:"IN A WORLD"

LAKE BELL is the name of the writer and director and star (playing "Carol") of this interesting film about the daughter of the most popular ( in the industry) of all the "Voice Over" actors. (Played by Fred Melamed.) Voice over actors  often introduce films, you never see their faces on screen.  For years, it has been only men who do this job, but Lake Bell breaks that tradition and competes with her father (Melamed) for a particular gig.  Very interesting and entertaining film.   

WAY WAY BACK

Steve Carell must be trying to present himself as a serious actor, instead of the wonderfully funny guy we are used to..  Well, sorry to say, he achieves that goal, and then some!  As the boyfriend of a single mother, played by Toni Collette, he picks on her 14 year old son, "Duncan" (Liam James)  saying mean and vicious things to him, to the point where I was hoping someone would shoot him.  What a depressing film!  What a lousy mother to let anyone treat  a child that way.  The only redeeming feature of the story is the part of a nice employee of a nearby Water Park played by Sam Rockwell, who befriends Duncan.   Frankly, I'm not a big fan of "coming of age" stories (I came of age a long, long time ago!) and that's what this is billed as.  It halfheartedly tries to end on a positive note (as if the mother finally , but not entirely, shows some fondness for Duncan.  Boo to Steve Carell -- please do NOT "play against type" ever again; I don't want to have to hate you.   (Acting is good, but story is depressing.)   Director: Jim Rash

BLUE JASMINE

Both Cate Blanchette ( "Jasmine") and Sally Hawkins (who plays her sister), offer Oscar winning performances.  In fact, every member of the cast is outstanding.  That being said, I have  also to say that Blanchette's portrayal of a woman going from the proverbial riches to rags, having a nervous breakdown, and resorting to booze and pills is so brilliant and heart rending that I left the theater almost in tears.  What a depressing, downer!!  (Instead of crying,  I went home and ate an entire pint of Vanilla ice cream.  It helped a little. {Carmel Ice Cream would have been even better.}) 

Other truly excellent, worthy of mention actors include Alec Baldwin, Bobby Cannavale, Louis C.K. (surprise:  he can act!) Peter Saarsgard, and Michael Stuhlbarg.  Directed by Woody Allen.  I guess he's lost his sense of humor. Humor used to be the redeeming feature of his neurotic films.  Sigh, moan groan, ugh.  (But, the acting is flawless throughout.)

RED 2

Was the original "RED"over the top violent?    I don't remember it as such, but I can tell you, the current film is extremely violent!     But, the redeeming feature is the clever dialogue (I laughed a lot), and the outstanding performance  of  each member of  the stellar cast, particularly  John Malkovitch, who was a hoot!   I've never been a great  fan of his, but I  am now! He was hilarious.. (You've got to love the cap with furry ear flaps he wears.) His inimitable facial expressions,  convey exactly  what he's thinking.  
Then there's the always wonderful, Bruce Willis (despite (or perhaps because of?) being bald, he looks as young as ever) . He' really likable..  
The inimitable Helen Mirren shoots straight as often as necessary (which is a lot), reprising her role from RED (though she doesn't have as much screen time in this sequel as I would have wished.)  
Surprisingly, Mary Louise Parker more than holds her own among this excellent group.  I think it's the best work she's ever done.   If you can get past the really heavy duty opening violence, the movie is great fun, so with that caveat, I recommend it.

THE HEAT

The boundaries of decency were not only pushed, they were knocked over, kicked and trampled to a pulp by the constant foul language coming out of the mouths of the two lead actresses.  How DEGRADING for Sandra Bullock (playing an FBI agent) and Melissa McCarthy (portraying a Boston Cop) who star in this "comedy." .  Yes, there were laughs, but the vulgarity and constant use of  the "F" word was beyond "offensive."  (to say the least!)  

  The question in my mind is, "would THE HEAT have been just as funny without the disgusting language?   

            How sad to hear fine actresses willing to utter such consistently vile dialogue.    Shame on the Director and the actresses who bought into this script.