Al's Top Rated Films: 2014

Fantastic jazz-inspired drama from Damien Chazelle, and arguably the greatest music drama of all time. The story follows a talented 19-year-old drummer named Andrew Niemann who attends class at the prestigious Shaffer Conservatory of Music—which is considered the best music school in the country. The esteemed leader of the jazz band is named Terence Fletcher, and every musician in the school aspires to be a core member of his band. He's a ruthless teacher, who uses intimidation, fear, and negative reinforcement to push his students to their maximum potential. Terence soon recruits Andrew to his class after he meets a challenge of playing double time swing. Performing in class proves to be a terrifying challenge as Andrew becomes more obsessed with gaining Terence's acceptance and fulfilling his dreams of being an exceptional drummer. Terence ends up pushing Andrew so hard, that he reaches his breaking point after a number of dramatic and painful events. Excellent story, dialogue, music, sound, cinematography, production design, and the ending unfolded quite spectacularly. There's not a dull moment throughout the entire film. Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons are extraordinary together. Both deliver the best lead performances I've seen from either actor yet. Simmons in particular delivers one of my favorite characters I've seen in any film. Melissa Benoist, Paul Reiser, Austin Stowell, Nate Lang, and Chris Mulkey had excellent roles among a solid supporting cast.

Outstanding action-packed comedy adventure from James Gunn, and just about my all-time favorite superhero franchise. The story follows an Earth man and criminal named Peter Quill (Star Lord) who travels to the planet of Morag to steal a mysterious orb that's also being hunted down by a wicked villain named Ronan the Accuser. Peter soon finds his life in grave danger as he becomes Ronan's main target. While on the run, he meets up with a mixed bag of intergalactic criminals known as Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Drax the Destroyer, and Gamora; and they make it their mission to take down Ronan and save the universe. The hilarious comedy, epic action/effects, and the fantastic writing and acting is top notch in every way. It's going down as a classic in the genre for myself. The cast is phenomenal. Chris Pratt (Star Lord) arguably delivers his greatest lead performance to date. Zoe Saldana (Gamora), Dave Bautista (Drax), and Bradley Cooper (Rocket) also delivered superb lead performances. Michael Rooker (Yondu Udonta), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Lee Pace (Ronan), Vin Diesel (Groot), Benicio Del Toro, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, and many others had excellent supporting roles.

I adore the entire John Wick series. When it comes to action-packed crime thrillers, they are at the top tier of the genre, and ranks as one of my all-time favorite film franchises. While the first film isn't my favorite in the series, it's certainly a fantastic film that perfectly introduces extremely high quality forthcoming sequels. The story follows a former hit-man and trained killer named John Wick who's mourning the devastating death of his wife who was suffering from a terminal illness. He attempts to adapt to a normal peaceful life with the help and closure of a final gift in the form of a loving letter and precious puppy dog from his late wife. He soon meets the wrong group of pushy Russian mobsters who want to buy his 1969 Ford Mustang at a gas station. After they follow John back to his home, steal his car, kill his dog, and nearly kill him; he ends up re-entering the dangers of his former life to take personal revenge on these mobsters and the rest of their villainous organization. Keanu Reeves delivered a top-notch lead performance. It's my favorite role of his since Ted 'Theodore' Logan. He's perfect for the role. Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Willem Dafoe, Lance Reddick, John Leguizamo, Ian McShane, Adrianne Palicki, Dean Winters, Daniel Bernhardt, and many others had great supporting roles.

Fantastic crime drama/mystery from John Michael McDonagh set in a small town in Ireland, and follows an honest and kindhearted priest named Father James who sits down in his confessional booth to take a man's confession. The man shockingly reveals that he was regularly beaten and sexually abused for several years by a priest when he was young. He then informs him the he, Father James, is going to pay the price for his suffering, and threatens his life with murder. He gives Father James one week to get his affairs in order and make his peace with god before he kills him. The rest of the film follows Father James facing troubling demons of the townspeople, which end up correlating with his own. Tension builds to the final unrelenting conclusion. Fantastic story with superb direction. Brendan Gleeson delivers one his greatest lead performances to date. He drove the movie brilliantly, and how he responds to shocking and startling dialogue works perfectly for this film. The cast was arguably perfect, with so many actors delivering fantastic performances. Chris O'Dowd and Kelly Reilly also delivered great starring roles. Aidan Gillen, Dylan Moran, Isaach De Bankolé, M. Emmet Walsh, Marie-Josée Croze, Domhnall Gleeson, David Wilmot, and others also had excellent supporting roles.

Severely underrated action-packed crime thriller from Antoine Fuqua that follows a mysterious former U.S. Marines operative named Robert McCall, who leaves his vicious and dangerous career in an attempt to live a normal, quiet and peaceful life. Since he can't sleep well, he spends his nights at a local diner where he frequently meets a young, innocent, and kind prostitute named Teri that he eventually becomes friends with. But once he learns that her life is in serious risk involving Russian mobsters who run the prostitution ring she's part of, he once again re-enters his former violent life to take vengeance against these ruthless criminals with his superior knowledge in combat. Denzel Washington arguably delivers his most badass character to date. It's easily one of my favorite lead performances from him. Marton Csokas is equally vicious, and also delivers a great starring role. Chloë Grace Moretz, David Harbour, Haley Bennett, David Meunier, Johnny Skourtis, Melissa Leo, Bill Pullman, and several others had excellent supporting roles.

Incredible action-packed war drama/biography from Clint Eastwood on the life of patriotic cowboy turned United States Navy SEAL sniper, Chris Kyle. The story is mainly set from 1999–2013, and highlights his skills as being the most heroic, deadly, and accurate sniper in American history. It also follows the relationship and struggles with regarding his wife and kids, as well as his dramatic struggles with the Iraq War, in which he was credited with 160 kills. Fantastically written and acted all around with excellent cinematography and action as I would expect from Eastwood. Bradley Cooper's portrayal of Chris Kyle was amazing. It's arguably the best performance of his career. His mannerisms and sharp dialogue fit the role perfectly, and really drove the film. Sienna Miller, Luke Grimes, Jake McDorman, Cory Hardrict, Eric Ladin, Kyle Gallner, Ben Reed, Sammy Sheik, Mido Hamada, Kevin Lacz, Sam Jaeger, Chance Kelly, Jonathan Groff, Troy Vincent, Jason Hall, and many others had excellent supporting roles.

Powerful drama romance that follows a 16-year-old girl named Hazel Grace Lancaster who has terminal thyroid cancer, and can't breathe without carrying an oxygen tank wherever she goes. She is obviously depressed since she is dying, and feels she has nothing to live for. Her parents and doctors urge her to go to a cancer support group. The only reason she goes is the only reason she does anything these days—to make her parents happy. However, she ends up meeting a fun-loving 18-year-old boy named Augustus Waters, who's bone cancer has caused him to lose his right leg. Augustus is immediately taken with her looks and personality, and with some time, they form a beautiful romance and fulfill each other's distressing lives. Augustus ends up becoming obsessed with Hazel's favorite book "An Imperial Affliction", which is about a girl that has leukemia. And through a thrilling turn of events, they decide they must travel to Amsterdam to speak to the author personally. Fantastic and gripping story and dialogue all around. Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort both deliver superb lead performances. Nat Wolff, Laura Dern, Sam Trammell, Willem Dafoe, and many others also had great supporting roles.

Excellent and thrilling crime drama about a quick-witted con artist who becomes obsessed with the world of crime journalism after witnessing a freelance camera crew (known as nightcrawlers) capturing action immediately after an accident occurs. He soon becomes consumed with the life, and starts to stage certain parts of the crime scenes to benefit his video footage; which quickly gets out of hand as he attempts to capture bigger and better videos to get his work shown on the nightly news. Jake Gyllenhaal arguably delivers his finest performances to date. He fits the role beautifully. I'd also have to say the same about Rene Russo's superb performance...one of her finest roles. Bill Paxton and Riz Ahmed also had great roles among a solid supporting cast.

Fantastic drama/mystery/thriller from David Fincher about a man's wife and celebrity fiction author that mysteriously goes missing, and causes an explosion of media attention surrounding the case. After the police learn of their marital problems, he soon becomes a prime suspect in her disappearance. But there proves to be many layers of deception, lies, and deceit that get uncovered as the mystery unravels. Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike both deliver incredible lead performances, and have great chemistry together. Neil Patrick Harris, Carrie Coon, Tyler Perry, Kim Dickens, Patrick Fugit, David Clennon, Lisa Banes, Lola Kirke, and others had excellent supporting roles.

Powerful drama that follows a passionate linguistics professor who loves her work, husband, and family; when she learns she has Early-onset Alzheimer's Disease at the early age of 50. Not only does she face the horrific challenges of the disease, but it shows the pain her family goes through as they support her as they slowly see her mind deteriorating as time goes by. Julianne Moore's Oscar-winning performance has to be the best role I've seen from her. She was amazing in every respect. Alec Baldwin, Kristen Stewart, Kate Bosworth, Shane McRae, Hunter Parrish, Stephen Kunken, and many others has excellent and moving supporting roles.

Fantastic biography and historical drama from Ava DuVernay that recounts Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s campaign to acquire equal voting rights by setting out on a monumental non-violent protest march from the extremely racist southern area of Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965. He battles with President Lyndon B. Johnson on many points as they work to the achieve the same goal at different speeds. Consequently, King increases protests and marches against Johnson's wishes in an effort for the horrific oppression black people are experiencing will be splashed all over the newspaper and television for the rest of the world to recognize; which will hopefully force Johnson's hand to make changes happen immediately. This is my favorite film I've seen about Dr. King, and much of the credit has to go to David Oyelowo, who delivered an amazing portrayal and lead performance as Dr. King. Tom Wilkinson, Carmen Ejogo, André Holland, Colman Domingo, Common, Omar J. Dorsey, Oprah Winfrey, Giovanni Ribisi, Tessa Thompson, Lorraine Toussaint, Dylan Baker, Niecy Nash, Corey Reynolds, Wendell Pierce, Stephan James, Trai Byers, LaKeith Stanfield, Tim Roth, Nigel Thatch, Cuba Gooding Jr., Martin Sheen, and many others had fantastic supporting roles.

Superb music biography/drama from Bill Pohlad that follows the painful and troubled life of one of the most innovative and outstanding musicians that ever lived—Brian Wilson. Much of his trauma stems from the relationship with his physically and verbally abusive father, which as troubling effects in the 1960s when his vision of the Beach Boys' music changes to the avant garde and inventive sounds of their classic Pet Sounds (1966) album, accompanied by experimentation with drugs. That soon results in sever depression and signs of paranoid schizophrenia, and losing control over his mind. Then there is a "future" aspect of the story, which follows Brian in the 1980s as he starts a relationship with a beautiful and caring Cadillac salesman named Melinda Ledbetter. This period of his life is equally disturbing, as his unethical legal guardian Dr. Eugene Landy has complete control over him and is systematically destroying his life for his own benefit. This film was unique for a biopic, and one of the finer examples I've see in the genre. The future and past shots with Paul Dano playing young Brian and John Cusack playing old Brian was surprisingly effect throughout. They both delivered a couple of their best lead performances. I'd also have to say that Elizabeth Banks delivered the best lead performance Ive ever seen from her yet. Paul Giamatti also had a great hard-hitting starring role. Jake Abel, Kenny Wormald, Brett Davern, Graham Rogers, Erin Darke, Bill Camp, and others also had great supporting roles.

Superb coming-of-age drama from Richard Linklater that follows the challenging life of Mason—growing up with a broken family, re-establishing a relationship with his father, dealing with rotten step-fathers, money struggles, moving, adolescence, relationship, drugs, alcohol, and so much more. The movie took 12 years to shoot, and I didn't even realize that Ellar Coltrane played Mason throughout the movie (I thought the casting was just perfect). He delivered an amazing performance throughout. Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke were also excellent as the parents. Lorelei Linklater and Marco Perella were great among the excellent supporting cast.

Powerful action-packed World War II drama about a dedicated tank commander and his driven 5-man crew that face near impossible odds during battle when making their way across Germany in April, 1945. They're miserably outnumbered and outgunned, but they have a powerful tank they call "Fury" that gives them a fighting chance at survival. Brad Pitt and Logan Lerman who both steal the show with their excellent lead performances. Shia LaBeouf, Michael Peña, Jon Bernthal, Alicia von Rittberg, Scott Eastwood, Laurence Spellman, Jim Parrack, Anamaria Marinca, and many others also had great supporting roles.

Excellent biopic on the life of 'The Hardest Working Man in Show Business': James Brown. Great story that flashes back between his young troubled poverty-stricken upbringing to becoming one of the most influential Funk/R&B/Soul musicians of all time with his unique vocals, sound, arrangements, and stage presence. Chadwick Boseman is an amazing young talent we lost way too early, and this is the best performance I've seen from him yet. His transformation as James Brown was superb. Nelsan Ellis also delivered a great lead performance as Bobby Byrd. Viola Davis, Dan Aykroyd, Lennie James, Octavia Spencer, Craig Robinson, Jill Scott, and several others had great roles among the supporting cast.

Excellent action-packed sci-fi adventure from Doug Liman set in a time when a race of aliens called Mimics invade and start destroying the earth. The story follows an American public relation officer named Major William Cage with zero combat or fighting experience, that's forced onto the front lines in the horrific war against the Mimics. After being killed within minutes, he finds himself in a mysterious time-loop that enables him to awake the same morning and relive the same day every time he is killed. After realizing he must complete the mission to break free of the loop, he relentlessly works with Special Forces warrior Rita Vrataski to destroy the Mimics, no matter how many times he must reset the day. The action was excellent, and it's held together by a fantastic story and great acting. Both Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt deliver excellent lead performances. Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, Noah Taylor, Kick Gurry, Franz Drameh, and others also had great supporting roles.

Excellent and adventurous biopic about a troubled woman named Cheryl Strayed who lost her way after the untimely death of her mother, which led to drug and sex addiction, and eventually leads to the end of her marriage. When it seems like all hope is lost, she leaves her Minnesota home to hike over 1,100 miles through the Pacific Crest Trail with no hiking experience, to essentially find some ambition and aspirations to continue living life. Reese Witherspoon delivers a superb performance...easily one of her best roles. Laura Dern, Thomas Sadoski, Michiel Huisman, Cliff De Young, and many others had very nice roles among a solid supporting cast.

Excellent biography from Philippe Falardeau that follows a family of South Sudanese refugees in the early 1980s during the Second Sudanese Civil War. After their entire village was destroyed and everyone is murdered, they luckily escape. They are led by their chief, Theo, and they walk for several days while avoiding enemy soldiers. After Theo is captured and their brother Daniel dies along the journey, and the young Mamere becomes chief. They eventually make it to the refugee camp in Kenya, where they wait 13 years for their chance to be resettled in the United States. Unfortunately, the three men are sent to Kansas City, while their sister is Abital is sent to Boston. Once the men arrive in Kansas City, they are greeted by a caring employment counselor named Carrie Davis. She's initially frustrated with their lack of knowledge about American culture, but soon learns about what South Sudanese refugees have gone through, and makes it her mission to help them enrich their lives. Excellent story with a great cast and some nice humor for such a heavy topic. Arnold Oceng, Reese Witherspoon, Ger Duany, Emmanuel Jal, and Kuoth Wiel all had fantastic lead performances. Corey Stoll, Femi Oguns, Sarah Baker, Peterdeng Mongok, Okwar Jale, Thon Kueth, Deng Ajuet, Keji Jale, Mike Pniewski, and many others had great supporting roles.

Excellent historical crime drama from Ramin Bahrani set during the 2010 home foreclosure crisis in Florida. The story follows a recently unemployed construction worker named Dennis Nash who's evicted from his childhood home in horrifyingly messy fashion; which forces him, his son, and his mother to move into a low-class motel along with many other poor families who have been displaced from their homes. Real estate tycoon and millionaire Rick Carver is in charge of the eviction, and thrives on ruining the lives of others. Through an odd series of events, Rick offers Dennis a job after Dennis has exhausted all of his possibilities to find work, when he learns Dennis is an excellent worker and has the potential to follow in his footsteps. Dennis hates the idea at first, but the money is outstanding, and he's desperate to save his childhood home and make a better life for his son and mother. However, the pressure soon reaches its boiling point. Sad story all around, but makes a fantastic eye-opening film. Andrew Garfield and Michael Shannon both delivered a couple of their finest lead performances. Laura Dern, Tim Guinee, Jayson Warner Smith, Noah Lomax, and many others also had great supporting roles.

Very unique comedy drama that follows an actor named Riggan Thomson who's famous for his work in the 1990s playing the superhero "Birdman" in a very popular movie trilogy. Now it's 20 years later, he's washed up and seemingly irrelevant in Hollywood, and decides to write, direct, and star in his own dramatic Broadway production that will hopefully garner artistic credibility from his fans, peers, and critics alike. He faces many many challenges along the way, but the confidence he has in himself and his work mostly stands in his way. The acting and writing is great throughout, which contains many very long uniquely done takes. Michael Keaton delivered one of his best lead performances. Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, Naomi Watts, Andrea Riseborough, Amy Ryan, Lindsay Duncan, and others has excellent roles among a solid supporting cast.

Underrated music biography from Clint Eastwood set in a poor neighborhood of Belleville, New Jersey, 1961; and tells the story of the influential vocal R&B/Rock quartet, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. It covers their early beginnings and delinquent background of the band's small start when Frankie was only 16-years-old. The group founder and manager Tommy DeVito is a big influence on Frankie's life, but also squanders the band's money and opportunities, while Nick Massi (the Ringo Starr of the group) is along for the ride. Tension really starts coming into play when talented songwriter and keyboardist Bob Gaudio joins the band and joins Frankie in providing all the musical direction for the band, which eventually creates a falling out. The story was excellent all around, and the music was superb since all the very talented actors/singers performed the music live on set. I walked away from this film as a much bigger fan of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons than I thought I ever was, and that's the best I could have hoped for with a film like this. John Lloyd Young delivered a fantastic lead performance. Vincent Piazza, Erich Bergen, and Michael Lomenda also had excellent starring roles. Christopher Walken, Renée Marino, Mike Doyle, Donnie Kehr, Erica Piccininni, Freya Tingley, and others also had very nice supporting roles.

Very underrated satirical comedy drama from Justin Simien that follows four black students that face struggles at the distinguished Winchester University, which mostly wealthy white kids attend. Samantha White is a popular biracial black rights activist who uses her radio show "Dear White People" to spread her messages throughout the campus. Lionel Higgins is a young gay black man who isn't accepted by the black folks or the white folks, and struggles to make connections with everyone. Colandrea 'Coco' Conners is a beautiful black woman who wants to be famous, and would prefer to live with, socialize with, and date whites. Troy Fairbanks is the son of the school's dean, which finds him pressured to socialize with whites and date white woman to heighten his perceived value as a black man. The story leads up to an exciting conclusion that finds all of these characters breaking out of their shells and realizing their true selves. Great story and acting all around, and a lot of laughs for such heavy subject matter. It reminds me of an old-school Spike Lee joint in all the best ways. Tyler James Williams, Tessa Thompson, Teyonah Parris, and Brandon P Bell all delivered fantastic lead performances. Kyle Gallner, Dennis Haysbert, Brittany Curran, Justin Dobies, Malcolm Barrett, and many others also had great supporting roles.

Great biopic and historical crime drama from Tim Burton on the life of the famous and gifted painter Margaret Keane. After leaving her husband and moving to San Francisco with her daughter in the late 1950s, she finds what work she can and tries to sell her alluring paintings that mostly consist of children with big and mysterious story-telling eyes. She quickly falls in love with a smooth-talking womanizer named Walter Keane and they get married. He soon talks her into selling her paintings, and ends up taking credit for her work early on, seeing how "nobody" will buy a "woman's" painting in the 1960s. Tensions rise as he pressures her to keep the massive secret from the public for 10 years, until she finally decides to take action and fight for her work in a heated legal battle. Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz both delivered excellent lead performances. Krysten Ritter, Madeleine Arthur, Danny Huston, Jason Schwartzman, and others had great roles among a solid supporting cast.

Excellent biopic about the life of mathematical genius Alan Turing, and how he and a team of other code-breakers work to crack the German Enigma code during World War II, which was a cipher device the Germans used to encode strategic and secret messages that were previously unbreakable. Meanwhile, he suffers with being homosexual in a time of sheer intolerance, which has troubling results. Benedict Cumberbatch delivered an excellent lead performance. Keira Knightley, Allen Leech, Matthew Goode, Rory Kinnear, Matthew Beard, Charles Dance, Mark Strong, Alex Lawther, and Jack Bannon all had great supporting roles.

Powerful crime drama from Elliott Lester and Frederick Mensch that follows a lonely and depressed U.S. Army veteran named Peter Snowden who has a psychological and emotional breakdown after his time in the service. When he is pushed too far, he violently snaps, which results in a major tragedy. He continues to fall apart throughout the course of the story as he desperately attempts to reconnect with his old military buddy, Edward. When Edward's wife blocks all of Peter's attempts to contact Edward, Peter becomes irrationally obsessed with restoring this relationship with who is seemingly his only friend in the world, which he feels will solve all of his life problems. Intense drama builds as he shares his story with videos on social media. Emotional and excellently done film. David Oyelowo is the only actor in the entire film, and he arguably delivers his best and most powerful lead performance to date.

Hilarious crime comedy and sequel from Sean Anders. The story follows best friends Dale, Kurt and Nick as they start their own business after the crazed events of the first film. After receiving a call from a big time businessman and investor, they strike a handshake deal for 500,000 units, spend all their money producing their invention, just to find out they've been swindled by a man just as slimy as their old bosses. Dr. Julia Harris, Dave Harken, and Dean Motherfu***r Jones all return to help the guys take their revenge against these rich corporate pigs. While this film is rated a bit lower than the first, I thought it was just as good as the first, had a great story, and a ton of laughs. Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, and Chris Pine all had excellent lead performances. Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Kevin Spacey, Jonathan Banks, Lindsay Sloane, Keegan-Michael Key, Lennon Parham, and many others had great supporting roles.

Epic sci-fi adventure from Christopher Nolan set in 2067 that follows a former NASA test pilot/engineer and a team of other explorers that travel through a wormhole in space to find a sustainable planet to live on once Earth is running out of the crops, food and natural resources necessary to survive. This film was visually awesome and nicely done, but along with similarly hyped sci-fi films Christopher Nolan, they aren't my favorite among his catalog. That said, it's a wonderful film for sci-fi fans, and definitely included some excellent acting and writing. Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, and Michael Caine all had great lead performances. Wes Bentley, David Gyasi, Matt Damon, Mackenzie Foy, Timothée Chalamet, John Lithgow, Casey Affleck, Topher Grace, Ellen Burstyn, and others had very nice supporting roles.

The third Hunger Games movie may be the weakest in the entire 4-film series, but it is still very well done, and undoubtedly and essential piece of the story. After the absolutely epic ending in the previous film when Katniss destroys the dome to end the Hunger Games forever, she's saved by President Coin's team as they build a plan for Katniss to become the "Mockingjay" and trigger a rebellion against President Snow in Panem. Meanwhile, Peeta was kidnapped and brainwashed by President Snow, and is using him to inject fear among the people and stop the rebellion. Jennifer Lawrence delivers an excellent lead performance once again. Liam Hemsworth, Donald Sutherland, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, Elizabeth Banks, Sam Claflin, Natalie Dormer, Elden Henson, Mahershala Ali, Jena Malone, Jeffrey Wright, Stanley Tucci, and many others had great supporting roles throughout.

Fascinating sports drama that follows the General Manager of the Cleveland Browns, and the stress, strategy, negotiations, and luck that he's met with in the final 13 hours leading up to the NFL Draft. It's also a struggle for his position in the franchise, his relationship with the salary cap manager and girlfriend, Ali. Not generally a film that I would go for, but I throughly enjoyed it. Kevin Costner delivered a great lead performance. Jennifer Garner, Chadwick Boseman, Denis Leary, Frank Langella, Ellen Burstyn, Patrick St. Esprit, Chi McBride, Josh Pence, Sean 'Diddy' Combs, and others also had great supporting roles.

Excellent true crime drama that follows a mysterious man named Günther Bachmann who runs an independent rogue anti-terrorism organization in Hamburg, Germany, set in the years following the 9/11 terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. When a political refugee from Chechnya named Issa Karpov who has been tortured by the Russian government shows up in Hamburg, Bachmann and his team feel they know what is best for this man, who they believe is innocent. But as a caring lawyer and other government agencies become interested in his case and frightened by his presence, things take a troubling turn. Very interesting real-life story all around. Philip Seymour Hoffman delivered an excellent lead performance as he usually does. Grigoriy Dobrygin, Rachel McAdams, and Willem Dafoe also had great starring roles. Homayoun Ershadi, Mehdi Dehbi, Robin Wright, Nina Hoss, Daniel Brühl, Vicky Krieps, and others had very nice supporting roles.

Excellent action-packed Marvel adventure that shows a grim future of humans and mutants being killed by powerful robots called Sentinels. The X-Men set out to send Wolverine back to the year 1973 in an attempt to prevent the horrific future with the Sentinels in power. Very nice story with some nice performances throughout; but not necessarily one of my favorite Marvel franchises. Hugh Jackman (Wolverine), James McAvoy (Charles Xavier), Michael Fassbender (Erik Lehnsherr), Jennifer Lawrence (Raven), Ian McKellen (Magneto), Patrick Stewart (Professor X), Halle Berry (Storm), Nicholas Hoult (Beast), Anna Paquin (Rogue), Elliot Page (Kitty Pryde), Peter Dinklage (Dr. Bolivar Trask), Shawn Ashmore (Iceman), and many others delivered excellent performances.

Excellent sequel to the original Dreamworks gem from 2010. I'd have to say it's just about as good as the first film, making it another fantastic action adventure throughout. This time we follow Hiccup and Toothless 5 years after they united the dragons and vikings on the island of Berk, as they discover a mysterious ice cave that is home to hundreds of wild dragons, which finds them in the middle of another dangerous battle in order to keep the peace. Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, T.J. Miller, Kristen Wiig, Djimon Hounsou, Kit Harington, and others had great voice performances.