 |
| Jonah Hill & Miles Teller (r) star in War Dogs |
From our friend, Arch Campbell...
Hell or High Water - 4 Stars. A modern day western with Jeff Bridges as a Texas Ranger pursuing Chris Pine and Ben Foster, bank robbers hoping to steal enough money to avoid foreclosure on their family ranch. A brilliant portrait of the last days of the “Texas myth.”
The Jungle Book - 4 Stars. Dazzling Disney live-action update of the classic animated cartoon.
Finding Dory - 3½ Stars. Pixar’s follow-up to “Finding Nemo” provides fine and funny moments, and even a tear or two.
Café Society - 3½ Stars. Nostalgic Woody Allen story of lost love in glamorous 1930’s New York and Los Angeles. Nice roles for Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart.
 |
| Arch with Will Ferrell & Zach Galifianakis (r) |
Florence Foster Jenkins - 3 Stars. Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant make sweet comedy of the true story of a tone deaf Manhattan society matron and her love of performing.
Little Men - 3 Stars. Best friends Michael Barbieri and Theo Taplitz find their friendship in ruins because of a dispute between their parents.
Indignation - 3 Stars. Logan Lerman as brilliant, angry young man who leaves his parent’s butcher shop for college, but loses focus in an affair with an experienced, blonde Goddess.
Love & Friendship - 3 Stars. Jane Austen adaptation of seductive, conniving Kate Beckinsale looking for a new husband for both her and her daughter.
Best New Opening > War Dogs - 2½ Stars. Miles Teller falls under the spell of alpha male Jonah Hill in a less-than-moral scheme to sell guns and ammo to the government. Good acting, but nothing new as “Wolf of Wall Street” meets “American Hustle.”
Ghostbusters - 2½ Stars. Update of the 80’s comedy with Melissa McCarthy & Kristen Wiig and breakout performers Kate McKinnon & Leslie Jones. The first hour sparkles with hilarious one-liners. The last hour sags with tiresome CGI effects.
Nerve - 2 Stars. Emma Roberts joins an online thrill contest with Dave Franco as her partner. A zippy 90 minutes.
Jason Bourne - 2 Stars. Matt Damon Bourne again. Not enough.
Suicide Squad - 2 Stars. Fun at first, but gradually tedious. The government recruits a group of super bad comic book characters to save the world. Yawn.
Ben-Hur - 2 Stars. The chariot race sizzles, but the rest is not so hot.
Visit Arch's website for his (unrivaled) take on movies. He remains the only other (we're not self-hating) critic, whose opinion we admire and respect.'
