Jurassic World (2015)

This is the sequel to Jurassic Park we’ve been waiting for.  I enjoyed the last two but in many ways this is the real sequel.  First and foremost it’s really fun and exciting.  On top of that it reboots the story without it feeling like a remake.   Sure you have some of the same story points but it’s forgivable because of the amount of time that has passed since the first one and also because it’s really entertaining.  Then there are the new elements that seem to justify this film’s existence.  Here is a world where seeing a living dinosaur is no longer amazing but just a ho-hum experience.  Here is a world where using dinosaurs as a weapon might sound like a good idea.  What can I say, I didn’t know I’d enjoy this film as much as I did.  Congrats to  Colin Trevorrow and crew for delivering.  A-

Inside Out (2015)

I’m going to keep this short because you just need to see it.  This is one of the most inventive and playful looks at human development ever put on film.  Watching Riley and the Emotions in her head learn and grow is magical to behold.  It speaks truths everyone will be able to relate to while at the same time being funny, heartwarming and exciting.  This film goes to places emotionally that most animated film just can’t go.  This is not a “Herman’s Head” clone(yes, I remember that sitcom). This is a beautiful story told beautifully.  I loved it and cannot think of any other word but masterpiece to describe it.  Best film of the year so far.  A+

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

The concept of this novel is wonderful.  I’ve seen it done before but never with such commitment.  What if you could experience the many alternate lives of an individual over the course of a life time.   See every life decision they made or did not make.  See their countless deaths based on where they were or what they did.  That’s what you get to do with Ursula Todd, a British woman born in 1910.  What makes this book work isn’t just that Kate Atkinson crafts a webbing of wonderful characters but that you get to see how characters change or don’t depending on the actions or inactions of the central character.   I adored this book and its writing which is superb.  A-

The Americans (Season 2)

The continuing saga of secret Soviet spy family the Jennings is one of my favorites right now.  I love this cold war drama set during the ‘80s so much.   There are no cellphones or hi-tech Mission impossible kind of gadgets.   It’s just two spies working with their contacts to steal as much info they can to help their country, which happens to be the Soviet Union.  Like Walt in Breaking Bad, Elizabeth and Philip are hiding the truth from their loved ones, as well as in many ways going against their own hearts.  It’s thrilling to see two people do such vile things only to turn out to be fairly complicated and passionate parents.  As well as the Jennings, there is FBI agent Stan Beeman and his double-triple agent Nina Sergeevna to seem to be setting up the show for even more drama in later seasons.   And then there’s poor Martha, oh so naïve and yet so committed.   I have no idea how her story will end but I’m assuming it will not be good.  I can’t wait to see the newest season.   A-

The Wind Rises (2013)

Hayao Miyazaki’s last film from Studio Ghibli is a treasure of the art form.  A love story set before WWII between a young aviation engineer and a young woman suffering from Tuberculosis.  Looking into the making of this film I’ve learned this is a fictionalized telling of the life of Jiro Horikoshi.   Miyazaki had adapted this story earlier as a Manga.  In many ways it’s also a love story between Miyazaki and flight, for you can see through Jiro’s eyes the joy and excitement of designing airplanes for the future.   This adult film is a must see for anyone who loves animation.  A

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

George Miller is back, directing and co-writing a return to the franchise he started decades ago, a film series that pretty much defined post-apocalyptic film making and of which all post-apocalyptic films are compared. Tom Hardy plays the title role (replacing Mel Gibson) as Max and Charlize Theron his female counterpart. Simply said, this is the best film I’ve seen so far this year, a bombastic, adrenalin ride through a nightmarish wasteland of mutants, road pirates and runaway breeders. It’s the kind of film action fans have wanted to see for some time. It’s violent, it’s well-crafted, it’s fun and surprisingly emotionally rewarding. There really is not a dull moment through the entire race across the desert. Miller doesn’t copy himself, he re-invents his world, making it bolder and giving us even more strange and disturbing images. This is the world after we nuke it, it’s the world we deserve after we wasted what was so precious. Unless someone didn’t care for the originals, I really can’t see how anyone would dislike this film. The art direction is superb and the acting is perfect. The only complain I have is that it ended at all. Bring me more Mad Max, please, and don’t make me wait another thirty years. Grade: A

Daredevil (Season 1)

This is how you adapt a comic book superhero.  As a fan of Daredevil, I am dancing with glee.   Drew Goddard nails it, giving us the dark crime fighter we all want to see and the complex villain in Kingpin we’ve always yearned for.  I’m so excited by this television series and the future of this Marvel television world.  For one, it’s not meant for younger viewers.  Which is great; this is for us adults who read the comics and want something dark and exciting.  It’s violent and gritty and doesn’t glaze over the fact that fighting criminals is dangerous.   My only disappointment is that DC didn’t choose this same outlet for Batman; this kind of treatment would be perfect for the Dark Knight.  In fact there are times I felt like I was watching a blind Bruce Wayne learn to become a hero.   That said, Marvel did it first, and I hope this show is the beginning of the end to cinematic superheroes.   Superheroes deserve this kind depth and attention to detail.   Cinema isn’t for serialized properties; this is where comics should go.  Save the movie screen for stories that actually have endings.  A