2014's Top Movie Picks!

As always, this is the start of the list of what's grabbed our attention here at Ace38.  Must see's are as always, in bold.  Check local listings as release dates are subject to change.

JAN. 17 - Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.

FEB. 7 - The Monuments Men

FEB. 21 - 3 Days to Kill

MAR. 14 - Walk of Shame

APR. 4 - Captain America: The Winter Soldier

APR. 18 - Transcendence

MAY 2 - The Amazing Spider-Man 2

MAY 9 - Chef

MAY 16 - Godzilla

MAY 23 - X-Men: Days of Future Past

JUN. 6 - Edge of Tomorrow

AUG. 1- Guardians of the Galaxy

AUG. 8 - Into the Storm

AUG 15 - The Expendables 3

AUG. 22 - Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

SEP. 19 - The Maze Runner

SEP. 26 - The Equalizer

10 Best Films of 2013

10 BEST FILMS OF 2013    

10.  White Reindeer:  A touching look at a woman coming to grips with her husband’s murder and other revelations that come to light during her favorite time of year; Christmas.

9.  Warm Bodies:  A different type of zombie film, leaning more towards Hunger Games than Dawn of the Dead, but never crosses the line into schmaltzy.  Loads of fun.

8.  Europa Report:  A return to slow boil, atmospheric space horror in the vein of (but not as good as), Alien.

7.  The World’s End:  The close of the Cornetto trilogy with a bang, as five friends plan to relive a youthful drinking expedition and stumble into the apocalypse. 

6.  Pacific Rim:  Giant robots battle giant monsters in a fight to save mankind.  Great way to prime audiences for next year’s return of Godzilla.

5.  Bad Milo:  A movie about a guy with a murderous demon living in his ass makes the best of list?  Yup, it’s very well done and has more lurking under the hood than you’d think….no pun intended.

4.  Blackbird:  What happens when you make a threat out of anger?  We’ve all done it…but what if you threatened to do it at school with no intent of carrying it out?  How would you clear your name?  This film shows you just how hard it would be.

3.  Captain Phillips:  Tom Hanks and Paul Greengrass take a story we know the ending to, and put us on the edge of our seats again.

2.  The Way, Way Back:  Sam Rockwell with another tour de force performance as the manager of a water park who befriends a timid young man with a difficult family situation and brings the boy out of his shell.

1.  Gravity:  There was simply no other film this year that matched the beauty, story and emotional response generated by this simple tale…what if you were stranded in space?  Outstanding film.

It's that time again...the 10 WORST movies of 2013!!

10 WORST FILMS OF 2013

10.  How I Live Now:  Popular teen angsty drama lit turned into a woefully crappy film. 

9.  Lovelace:  A fascinating story, a good cast, and no one bothered to act.

8.  Elysium:  Beating the euphemism dead horse a bit too severely.

7.  The Wolverine:  YAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWN.  Stupid premise, stupid writing. 

6.  White House Down:  The more stupid and less interesting takeover movie this year.

5.  Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters:  Fun fiction turned into a plotless bore.

4.  Movie 43:  Glad there wasn't really 42 others before...

3.  A Good Day to Die Hard:  More like a good way to suck hard...

2. Grown Ups 2:  Cause it feels weird to not have a Sandler movie on this list…

1.  This Is The End:  These guys can’t even play themselves without looking like dumbasses.

Mini Review: "Escape From Tomorrow"

A great premise, combined with the guerrilla style filming, was tremendously intriguing.  Execution, however, was sub-horrible.

F

3 movie reviews to catch up!

How I Live Now:  Yet another teen-lit novel brought to film, this schizophrenic film offers nothing whatsoever worth seeing, and in fact you're rooting for the enemy very early on.  F

Blackbird:  Haunting look at what happens when you express your anger a little too much in this post Columbine world, and if its ever possible to prove your innocence when all it was was words to release anger.  A-

White Reindeer:  A touching look at a woman's life after a tragedy right around the Christmas holiday and what she learns about her late husband.  B

Mini Review: "Ender's Game"

A nicely done piece of sci-fi with an interesting view on ethics and morality in warfare.

B

Mini Review: "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire"

Overlong, abrupt ending and focused too much on the setup when the book placed most of the action and story in the arena part of the plot.  Also, at times it felt as if star Jennifer Lawrence was sleepwalking through the part.  Jena Malone was a scene stealer though.

B-

Non Film Post: Winter Weather Incoming!

As my son and girlfriend can attest to, around 6PM on Monday I stated that I thought the risk of prolonged sleet was higher than was being predicted, and by yesterday morning the local meteorologists were calling for added sleet.  Now, I grant you, I dont have fancy computer modeling software and tons of records and access to all of NWS data, but I do have a pretty good feel for weather based on a lifetime spent following it, access to a lot of NWS mapping data and the know how to read it.

Here's my call on the incoming winter storm and its output.

THURSDAY 12-5-13:  Sleet should begin in the Tulsa area before noon, and my hunch tells me we should be seeing it here by 10AM.  Sleet will come in waves, meaning you'll hear it bouncing off the roof sometimes and others you'll have to be outside to see that its still occurring.  Road conditions are still warm enough that travel should be acceptable during daylight hours, however the melting that occurs from travel will result in slick spots on bridges and overpasses starting around noon.

Sleet should end around 5PM, leaving approx 1/2" of accumulation.  Travel conditions will remain acceptable during the evening rush, with slick spots on bridges and overpasses being a concern.  Those same areas should become slick around 8PM with arterial and residential streets showing slick spots around 10PM.

FRIDAY 12-6-13:  Snow should start around 1AM in the metro, and continue through the day.  Roads will be slick and hazardous during the morning rush as the layer of water and sleet freezes with the insulating blanket of snow.  Heaviest bands of snow will be just to the south and east of the city (think Okmulgee, Wagoner).  Snow should end by 8PM as the storm exits the area.  3-3 1/2" of snow will accumulate across the city.  Roads will continue to be slick and hazardous through the weekend, as a secondary storm adds a trace to 1/4" of additonal snowfall during the overnight hours of Sat/Sun

Hot Picks Updated!

Hottest picks are in bold

Zero Dark Thirty:  A-

Mama:  B-

Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters:  D

John Dies at the End:  A

Warm Bodies:  A

A Good Day to Die Hard: D

Dark Skies:  C-

The ABC's of Death:  F 

Evil Dead:  C-

Oblivion:  A

Iron Man 3:  B-

Star Trek Into Darkness:  B

The Purge: C

World War Z:  B

The Heat:  D-

Pacific Rim:  A+

Red 2:  B+

Elysium:  D

We're the Millers:  B+

Kick-Ass 2:  A

The Worlds End:   A

Parkland:  A

A Single Shot:  B-

Gravity:  A+

Bad Milo!:  B+

Machete Kills:  A-

All The Boys Love Mandy Lane:  A+  

CBGB:  F

Captain Phillips: A+

Carrie:  (Waiting for DVD)

Ender's Game:  (Waiting for DVD)

Thor: The Dark World:  B+

How I Live Now:  (Will review this weekend)

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire:  (Review coming 12-5)

American Hustle:  DEC. 13

August: Osage County:  DEC. 25