Willie's View Movie Reviews

  LAST VEGAS stars Robert DeNiro,Michael Douglas, Kevin Kline and Morgan Freeman who play childhood best friends and are reunited years later when one of the characters gets engaged and plans on getting married in Las Vegas. The Four plan a bachelor party in Vegas before the wedding and craziness ensues.   That's the basic plot of this movie. It's the Geriatric version of The Hangover. It's also a much better movie than The Hangover for one reason (of many)-it has a heart, without being sappy. The four actors are basically having fun getting together and making a movie together. It's not any of these four men's best work, but it sure is a fun time watching them have a crazy,yet classy, good time in Vegas. Mary Steenburgen is terrific in a supporting role as one of the guy's love interest. No spoilers here.  LAST VEGAS is rated PG-13 for language,brief nudity and some PG-13 style debauchery. I give LAST VEGAS a B. You find it on Blue Ray and DVD just about ...

   CONCUSSION is Will Smith's best performance in years. Plain and simple.    CONCUSSION is the true story of pathologist Dr. Bennent Omalu, who dared to take on the NFL and expose the truth about the effects of football players who suffer from concussions on the football field.    The question that has to be asked before I go forward with my thoughts on this film is this-am I biased in a negative way towards football and the NFL in general because of my views toward football? Maybe. For those who know me personally, know that I played pee wee,junior high and a bit of high school football for 11 years straight. To say that I was burned out is an understatement. And living in Texas, probably the biggest football state in the country, didn't help matters. I had football shoved down my throat from every direction. I do like it to a certain extent, but I do not and never will understand why football consumes millions of peoples lives like a drug. Rant over. ...

   JOY is the third collaboration between writer/director David O.Russell and actress Jennifer Lawrence and is my favorite of the three. JOY tells the true story of Joy Mangano, the housewife who created the miracle mop. JOY is about believing in your dreams,believing in yourself and about sticking to those beliefs when everyone else seems to either turn against you or walk away from you and is about the people, her family, who turn their back on her and the ones who stick with her. As far as discussing the story further, I won't. Go see the movie.   If you like inspiring movies that make you feel good about life, then this is a film that I would not miss. I think everyone loves a film that makes you feel good. JOY is gritty,realistic,definitely not sappy and inspirational. Jennifer Lawrence gives another fine performance as the title character. The entire film is put on her shoulders and she gives a performance that the film its inspiring energy. You can also credit ...

    It's finally here. The sequel I thought I would never see in my lifetime.      STAR WARS:THE FORCE AWAKENS. Was it worth the wait? Does J.J. Abrams do the film justice? Is the new cast as good as the original cast? Is the original cast good in this? YES!!!!! Not only YES!!!! but YES!!!     THE FORCE AWAKENS is a return to what we loved about STAR WARS in the first place. That awe inspiring galaxy far,far,far away that contained cinema magic like no other films in the history of cinema. This movie has that. It made me feel like that 7 year old boy who cared less about movies and had his eyes opened to the wonders of film. It happened all over again. AMAZING!!!   I will not spoil this film for anyone who  has not seen it yet, because this movie is filled with surprises. One of those (No  spoilers.) is the new cast led by stage actress Daisy Ridley, who is beyond wonderful as Rey, a desert scavenger who stumbles upon her biggest fi...

                             CREED is referred to as a "spin off" movie, but I'm going to call it a sequel to the previous 6 Rocky movies, starring Sylvester Stallone. Before I get into my thoughts on CREED, let us define the terms "spin off" and "sequel".  Spin off is defined as the by product or incidental result of a larger product. A sequel is defined as something that takes place after or as a result of an earlier event. CREED, starring Michael B. Jordan (Friday Night Lights TV Series and The Fantastic Four) as Adonis "Donnie" Johnson and Sylvester Stallone reprising his iconic film role as Rocky Balboa and is directed and co-written by Ryan Coogler (Fruitivale Station, which featured Jordan).                             Is CREED any good? To my surprise, that answer is a resounding YES. This movie has so much going for it. First, i...