Into the Woods
YOU MUST SEE THIS. It's a fantastic Broadway adaptation of a remarkable musical. Meryl Streep is a goddess, Johnny Depp is %@#$@# fantastic as the pedophilic wolf, and Anna Kendrick was surprisingly wonderful. The entire cast made me insipidly happy and I'm not ashamed to admit I've seen it three times already.
Annie
It's a hard knock life. Yep. It's Annie B. The new and improved. (Did you detect the sarcasm?) Although I liked parts of the movie, overall I wasn't impressed with the reboot. Music was a definite improvement, and I liked Annie herself. HATED Cameron Diaz as Miss Hannigan. Maybe it's because I can't picture anyone other than Carol Burnett in the iconic role. I also sorely missed Tim Curry in this version. The music was great and I LOVED the new version of Tomorrow.
Paddington
I am NOT a fan of most kids movies. I feel they talk down to kids on an absurd level, or they try too hard to hide adult jokes for the parents stuck watching it. This movie wasn't like either. It truly is the best kids movie I've seen in quite a while. Funny, great actors, and the insanely cute British accents made me love it even more. Great movie to see with the kiddos. I'm already looking forward to owning this one.
Wild
In 2005, age 26, Cheryl Strayed walked The Pacific Crest Trail, which runs up the entire Western spine of the USA from the Mexican to the Canadian border, to get clearance in her head after a grim decade of loss and personal meltdown. I immediately understood why and sympathized with her. Reese played the part beautifully and made me feel her pain and frustration. I completely admire Cheryl and the way she was able to turn her life around.
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
This is it. The last installment of Tolkien's magical adventures. I'm incredibly sad to see it all come to an end. This movie was a perfect ending to the Hobbit. I loved it, and although there were minor things I would've preferred to be different, I completely enjoyed the movie and the adventure.
Exodus: Gods and Kings
Let me start by saying an Easter story being released at Christmas bothers me. Okay, now I can discuss the movie. I truly don't understand the need to take so many creative licenses with this story. The Bible is written, you just have to adapt it to the screen with seriously talented actors and kick ass CGI. Seems like a no-brainer. Christian Bale was a strong Moses. In fact, I have zero issues with the cast. My complaints were the utter ridiculous attempt at making a Christian story more palatable for the general masses. Why is it a sin to make a GOOD Christian movie? Why do you have to tone down God in a story from the bible? Overall, it was one of the better Christian movies. It was good, just could've been so much better.