Spectre

Bond is back. In the capstone to Daniel Craig's run, we see him confront his most classic enemy, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the head of the shadowy Spectre. And, in a detail that I missed in the trailers, the political machinations of Max Denbigh, aka "C", better know to us Sherlock fans as James Moriarty. (I may have squeed a bit when he first came on screen, but you can't prove it.)

Short version: This is an excellent finish to the Craig Bond. It takes the style and plots built up over the last few movies and ties them up into a nice bow. While I still prefer Skyfall, Spectre is a solid film that I would be happy to watch several times (unlike, say, Quantum of Solace). The fact that Bond actually had a strong supporting cast helps tremendously.

Iron Giant: Special Edition

As some of you might have seen, Fathom Events recently screened the Iron Giant: Special Edition in select theaters. I love this movie, so we went to see it.

Short version: This may honestly be one of the best animated movies of all time. There are a few that I would put above it, but few enough that it would rank in the top ten. The animation itself is fun and very well done. The story is incredible. And the voice actors did a surprisingly solid job, given that they were, for the most part, celebrities who hadn't done much voice acting. And, above all, you can tell that this is Brad Bird's labor of love.

Megaforce (Rifftrax)

This past Saturday night, we went to a friends' house to "enjoy" a Rifftrax experience. This time around, it was an abomination of everything wrong with 80s action movies known as Megaforce. The short version is, don't watch it. It is a truly terrible movie with no redeeming value. Even when riffed, it was terrible. The plot is utterly incoherent, the acting is weak at best, the effects are sad, and the costumes are, in a word, ridiculous.

The Martian

Short version: See this movie. Now. Don't waste time reading this review, just go to a movie theater. I'll wait.

Are you back? Okay, then let's discuss. And I might get a little spoilery, since I know you just went to see it. (You did, right? You wouldn't lie to a partially omniscient narrator would you?)

The Intern

This is a fun, cute, fluffy movie. It doesn't say much that is important or new. It doesn't raise the bar on film as an art form. But this is the kind of movie that you can just, dare I say it, enjoy. De Niro and Hathaway have great chemistry (and are of course great actors in their own right). The script sticks close to the formulas, but knows when to veer slightly to make it feel more real. All of the hackneyed, cliched characters are there, but are handled with a deftness that makes you welcome them like comfortable old jeans.

The Scorch Trials

Short version: Not as good as the first movie, and I think probably suffers more from adaptation blues. The effects were strong, though, and the acting was decent. I really do wish someone had warned me that the middle bit was a goddamn zombie movie, though. I hate zombie movies.

Trailer: The Intern

We saw this trailer in front of both movies this weekend. I have to say, it looks pretty good.

Things to love:

• Robert de Niro
• Anne Hathaway
• A look at ageism from both angles (though de Niro doesn't seem to suffer much in the trailer)
• The comment about how modern men have largely become slobs (I'm guilty, too)
• The general tone

Things to fear:

• Doesn't look like it will be feminist-positive (I need a word for this)
• The inevitable twist (because movies have to have a twist) needs to be handled delicately
• I hope the supporting cast of guys are a little more than a peanut gallery of chuckleheads
• I hope the relationship doesn't go too deep too fast. There needs to be a sense of trust being built over time

I think I'll definitely be seeing this one.