Willie's View Movie Reviews

   Interstellar is Christopher Nolan's most grounded work yet as a film-maker and it's also the most humanistic of all of his films. It's also a complicated bind bender that we've come to expect from Nolan.   Plain and simple, Interstellar is the story of a father and daughter set in the distant future. Matthew McConaughey and Mackenzie Foy play the father and daughter combo that is the heart and soul of the movie. It's their incredible performances that make the movie. Many have said that Interstellar is a masterpiece in visual film making. I say that the film works best when it focus is on the father and daughter. The space exploration portion of the film has been done better in other films. But let's call Interstellar what it truly is -a mind bending drama about a Father and his daughter. I also can't forget the awesome score by film composer Hans Zimmer. I consider his score to be one of his best in years.  All that being said, Interstellar is also a ...

    DO YOU BELIEVE? is from the studio, Pure Flix, who brought you last year's hit, GOD'S NOT DEAD.    DO YOU BELIEVE? tells the story or stories of 12 people in Chicago, whose lives are intertwined in one way or another. What's the common denominator? Their belief or unbelief in God. That's the basic set up of the film. I will not go any further for fear of heading into spoiler territory,   When I saw the trailer, I thought that if I didn't believe in Jesus Christ, that this film would seem extremely to me. I understand that non-believers will think this about this movie. "Christian" movies do have that stigmata about them. That they are cheesy and over the top with sentimentality. I get that.   But here's the thing that will keep you from liking or not liking this movie-what you believe.  I believe that this movie is of sound Biblical doc-turn. It's what I believe. It's what I profess on a daily basis. My prayer is that non-believers wi...

 Netflix is littered with bad Nicolas Cage movies. Just take a look. Cage has been the joke of Hollywood for years for making many bad movie choices.  JOE is NOT one of those movies. It's Cage's best in years. JOE is the story of an ex-con trying to live as normal a life as he can, but his past actions keep coming back to haunt him. When he hires an abused teenager looking to make a living for his family and befriends him, Joe is forced more than ever to keep a reign on his life.  JOE, directed by David Gordon Green, is about two men trying to leave their pasts behind and build a life of his own. I must warn you that this is a hard core rated R film, with strong language, violence and some nudity.   Nicolas Cage is a good actor who's gotten a bad rap, especially making crappy choices. But JOE is a step in the right direction in redeeming himself of his "bad movie" reputation.   I give JOE a B+.

UNBROKEN is the true story of Louis Zamperini's time as a prisoner of war in Japan in W.W. II. The film is based on the best selling book by Laura Hillenbrand and is directed by Angelina Jolie, with Jack O'Connell as Louis Zamperini. I have not read the book and after viewing the film, I have a feeling that some of the story was left out. What the film does cover is his 47 days at sea in a raft with two fellow crewman after their plane is shot down and crashes in the middle of the ocean. From there, the rest of the film covers his time in a Japanese POW camp.   My problem with the film is that it lacks the emotional punch this sort of film needs. Instead of being an inspiring story, the film version is a listless paint by numbers Oscar wanna be. The key scene in the movie, for example, where (SPOILER WARNING!!!) a frail Louis is forced to hold a board over his head for a long period of time. If he drops it, he will die. This scene should have had the audience cheering. ...

Tom Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt in the new trailer for MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE-ROUGE NATION, due out in theaters on July 31. From what I've seen from the trailer, we should expect more action and thrills, just like the previous four high octane action thrillers. Most of the MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE:GHOST PROTOCOL cast is back for the fifth outing, this time being directed by JACK REACHER director Christopher McQuarrie. I can only hope he will bring the same invigorating energy that Brad Bird did with GHOST PROTOCOL. We will find out on July 31.

I Consider The Kendrick Brothers to be the best Christian Film Makers in the business. Their list of films include FLYWHEEL,FACING GIANTS,FIREPROOF and COURAGEOUS. Their fifth film, WAR ROOM, will be released August 28th. I for one cannot wait. From my view of the trailer that dropped yesterday, it looks to be their most evangelical film to date. I hope and pray that secular audiences will find out what all the fuss is about in regards to God gifted film making ability of the Kendrick Brothers. I get excited every time one of their films come out. Check out the trailer below.

  Can a movie have a second life on another platform outside of the box office? I believe it can.    AND SO IT GOES, starring Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton is such a movie. It's out on home video and is streaming on Netflix.  It was originally released in theaters last July and met a horrible box office death among all the summer blockbusters that were out at the time. A nice little romantic movie such as this is all wrong for summer, in my opinion.   I hate to use the word cute, but that's exactly what this film is. Nothing more. Nothing less. It's directed by film veteran Rob Riener (WHEN HARRY MET SALLY and A FEW GOOD MEN) and wriiten by Mark Andrus (AS GOOD AS IT GETS) and they bring their film pedigree to this light and fluffy romantic comedy. There's nothing wrong with light and fluffy.   Michael Douglas is the movie. He plays a mean widower who is at the end of his real estate career and his forced by his estranged son to take care of hi...