Mockingjay parts 1 and 2

Sandy and I watched the final two (?) films in the series. They were better than I expected.

Donald Sutherland and Woody Harrelson are excellent. Julianne Moore and
Philip Seymour Hoffman good too, of course. And I have to admit Jennifer Lawrence is quite believable.

The Hunger Games is the 15th highest-grossing film franchise of all time, … over US$2.9 billion worldwide. …

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2

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Jason Bourne 2016

Jason Bourne is a 2016 American action film directed by Paul Greengrass …

The fifth installment of the Bourne film series and the direct sequel to 2007’s The Bourne Ultimatum, Matt Damon reprises his role as the main character, former CIA assassin and psychogenic amnesiac Jason Bourne. …

Bourne in “a post-Snowden world” …

Jason Bourne received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating of 57% …

The return of Jason Bourne seems anticlimactic. Matt Damon had said he’d not want to do it.

Though it’s the weakest of the five by far, I still enjoyed it.

Click PLAY or watch a trailer on YouTube.

The Nice Guys (Gosling and Crowe)

“The Nice Guys” takes place in 1970s Los Angeles, when down-on-his-luck private eye Holland March (Gosling) and hired enforcer Jackson Healy (Crowe) must work together to solve the case of a missing girl and the seemingly unrelated death of a porn star. During their investigation, they uncover a shocking conspiracy that reaches up to the highest circles of power.

A surprising instant classic. Unpredictable and very funny.

Born 1957 I can relate to all the 1970s references. 🙂

Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.

spotting Orcas

San Juan Island was a long day on the bike. At least 70 miles.

Late in the day, however, I stopped at Lime Kiln State Park where folks were gathered for a fun evening. The park is considered one of the best places in the world to view wild orcas.

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I’ve seen many rare animals: Red Panda, Himalayan Bear, 2 Snow Leopards. But I’d somehow managed to miss seeing Orcas on any of my many, many trips around the Pacific N.W. coast. Until now. 🙂

The Blackfish crew was there.

Click PLAY or watch the documentary trailer on YouTube.

Blackfish is a 2013 American documentary. It concerns Tilikum, an orca held by SeaWorld and the controversy over captive killer whales.

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a score of 98% based on 119 reviews.

DiCaprio, The Revenant both excellent

I’ve always like DiCaprio as an actor. But wasn’t particularly keen on seeing this film even though it was partly filmed in Alberta.

But it was much better than I expected. Especially the cinematography.

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The Revenant is a 2015 American survival drama film directed, co-produced and co-written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu.

The screenplay by Iñárritu and Mark L. Smith is based in part on Michael Punke‘s novel of the same name, inspired by the experiences of frontiersman Hugh Glass in 1823, in what is now Montana and South Dakota.

It stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Glass, and co-stars Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson and Will Poulter. The film follows Glass’s quest for revenge after one of his men betrays him, kills his son, and leaves the severely wounded Glass behind.

I’ve got no problem with Leo winning the Oscar for best actor.

Revenant

As of May 1, 2016, The Revenant has grossed $183.5 million in North America and $343 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $526.5 million, against a budget of $135 million.

Hateful Eight – Tarantino now dead to me

The Hateful Eight (informally titled The H8ful Eight and The Hateful 8 in some marketing materials) is a 2015 American western mystery film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino.

It stars Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Demián Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, and Bruce Dern as eight strangers who seek refuge from a blizzard in a stagecoach stopover some time after the American Civil War.

Click PLAY or watch a trailer on YouTube.

I’ve liked all previous Tarantino films. And liked Samuel Jackson in 6 of those eight.

But Tarantino relies too much on ultra-violence. Hateful Eight seems to have no purpose other than violence.

I’m boycotting all future Tarantino films.

Creed

I hate boxing. But love the Rocky franchise, especially Rocky IV.

Click PLAY or watch a trailer on YouTube.

There’s no way anyone from Creed should have been nominated for an Academy Award, by the way. It was fun. But lightweight. 🙂

Spotlight – Best Picture 2016

The film follows The Boston Globe‘s “Spotlight” team, the oldest continuously operating newspaper investigative journalist unit in the United States and its investigation into cases of child sex abuse in the Boston area by Roman Catholic priests. It is based on a series of stories by the “Spotlight” team that earned The Globe the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. …

Quite good, I feel. Definitely worth seeing.

Click PLAY or watch a trailer on YouTube.

As much as I admire the new reform Pope, he’s done very little (so far) to protect children and make criminals under his watch accountable. 😦

Read the Washington Post – The Catholic Church’s defiance and obstruction on child sex abuse

Restricting people from marrying is a mistake. Some day the Catholic Church will start to allow Priests to wed.

Red Rising trilogy – Pierce Brown

Red Rising is a 2014 science fiction novel by American author Pierce Brown, the first of hisRed Rising trilogy.

A sequel, Golden Son, was released in January 2015, and the third novel, Morning Star, was released in February 2016.

Set on Mars, the novel follows lowborn miner Darrow as he infiltrates the ranks of the elite Golds.

In February 2014, Universal Pictures secured the rights for a film adaptation, to be directed by Marc Forster. …

Red-Rising-Pierce-Brown

I did like book 1. And have now downloaded book 2.

Black Mass – Johnny Depp

Black Mass is a 2015 American film … based on the 2001 book Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob by Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neill.

The film has an ensemble cast including Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kevin Bacon, Jesse Plemons, Peter Sarsgaard, Rory Cochrane, Adam Scott, Dakota Johnson, and Corey Stoll.

The film follows the criminal career of infamous Irish-American mobster Whitey Bulger (Depp). …

Depp’s pretty good as Bulger.

depp_bulger

On June 22, 2011, Bulger was arrested outside an apartment in Santa Monica, California. Arrested with him was his long-time girlfriend Catherine Greig. Bulger was 81 years old at the time of his arrest.

Click PLAY or watch a trailer on YouTube.