Her

Rating: 8

Science fiction done in a way everyone can relate to, especially right now, when our interaction with technology is so intimate.  This is my favorite Spike Jonze movie so far.

Inside Llewyn Davis

Rating: 5

It's not that I think it's a bad movie, it's just that the experience of watching it was so unpleasant.  Except for the music. That was great.

Wolf of Wall Street

Rating: 8

The Departed is still my favorite Scorsese film and this one almost measures up...but not quite.  Having said that, it's a zippy wild ride and captivating for the full three hours.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Rating: 6

The movie was enjoyable but I wish it had delved a little deeper into the idea of an inner life.  To me it's a fascinating topic that hasn't been explored enough in cinema.

American Hustle

Rating: 9

When you go into a movie expecting to love it, you're usually disappointed. What is the opposite of disappointment? Satisfied doesn't cover it. Love love LOVED this movie.  Every actor is so amazingly good.  The screenplay, good. David O. Russell  keeps getting better every time. The first David O. Russell movie I saw was called Spanking the Monkey. Bad.  Then he did a shitty movie called Flirting With Disaster.  But THEN Three Kings happened. And then some other stuff, and then The Fighter, and then Silver Linings Playbook which wasn't as good as The Fighter but still pretty good, and then THIS. I hope he stays on this trajectory.

Blue is The Warmest Color

Rating: 2

Oh, French movies.  You are so bad and so good.  In the case of Blue is The Warmest Color, bad.
Very bad.  The subject matter and actresses are fantastic but why so boring and three hours long?  The movie is getting tons of press and being banned (in Idaho) for the sex scenes.  At Cannes it won the palme d'or.  I have heard that this award is notorious for recognizing mediocre movies so I checked and the list contains Pulp Fiction, Paris TX and Taxi Driver, among many other greats. So it's a way better measure of good than the Oscars by a long shot. So I forgive you, Cannes, and thanks for keeping it real.

Note to filmmakers of BiTWC: put the same sex scenes in a good movie and people will go nuts for it.

Note to Idaho:  If you have to ban it, do so because it's boring, not for the lady-love.  I'm kidding.  Don't ban movies, douches.

Philomena

Rating: 8

If the story weren't completely true I would have found it ridiculous but it's pretty amazing and, of course, Judi Dench. Say no more.