The Descendents (2011)

Matt King (George Clooney) has a wife who's in a coma due to a boating accident.  Their marriage wasn't doing so well before that happened.  King hopes she recovers so they can work on making things better.  The man struggles to deal with the couple's two daughters -- belligerant teenager Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) and bratty ten-year-old Scottie (Amara Miller)  -- and their reactions to their mom's condition.  Unfortunately, King is hit with two bombshells.  He learns that his wife is dying, and he learns from his oldest daughter that his wife was having an affair.

King is also in the middle of a deal to sell some beautiful Hawaiian property that his family has owned for a couple of centuries. King, an attorney, is trustee over the property.  His cousins, including Hugh (Beau Bridges), are especially eager for King to sign off on the deal because all of them stand to make big money. 

I noticed the lovely Hawaiian scenery was in stark contrast to the family problems that King faced.  As his character states in the opening voiceover, just because people live in paradise doesn't mean they don't have troubles.  The film has been described as a coming age of story about a 50 year old man (and Clooney is the same age as the character), and that's correct.  King's character had been going through the motions before the tragedy happens that moves the story forward.  He's forced to stop ignoring the red flags that have been tearing his immediate family apart and take steps of correction.
Clooney recently won a Golden Globe for Best Actor for this performance; it was well deserved.  You can just about see his character's internal struggles even as he measures his words in reactions to all the situations crashing down around him.

Robert Forester has a small, but important role as King's gruff father-in-law, the type of man who never believed his son-in-law was good enough for his daughter.  I almost didn't recognize Matthew Lillard (who was in the movie Scream), as a real estate agent with a connection to the King family's plans to sell their land. 

Puss N Boots (2011)

In this prequel to Shrek, we learn how Puss N Boots (Antonio Banderas) got his swash-bucking, dashing ways.  The feline was wrongly accused of a crime that was orchestrated by his former best pal, Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis), and he had to go on the run.  A chance encounter with a thief named Kitty Softpaws (Selma Hayek) puts him in touch again with his former friend.  Humpty convinces Puss N Boots to go in with him and Kitty on a scheme to steal magic beans from outlaws Jack and Jill (Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris).  The goal:  find the Golden Goose and get some golden eggs.

I never got into Shrek (2001). . .I didn't think it was very funny.  But I always liked the Puss N Boots character, a rascal with swagger.  Banderas infuses the character with a lot of charm.  The animation is good; I liked the various details of the town Puss and Humpty came from, and I liked how Humpty's expressions were drawn.  The jokes and sight gags are the usual for 21st century animated movies.  Most are aimed at the kids, while a few are for the adults.  One character gushes about Puss' boots, stating they are made from "Corinthian leather".  I seemed to be the only one in the theater who got that joke.  Back in the 1970's, actor Ricardo Montalban did a series of car commercials where he pointed out the "Corinthian leather" of the car's seats.  I must have been older than everyone else in the audience for that showing.  The playing around with nursery rhyme and fairy tale characters was clever. 

The Ides of March (2011)

Stephen (Ryan Gosling) is a smart, ambitious staffer who works on the presidential campaign of Governor Mike Morris (George Clooney).  Morris is an Obama-like candidate; a campaign poster bearing his image is similar to ones the real life president used early on in his run for office.  Morris is good-looking, articulate, and says all the things the masses want to hear.  Paul (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) is the head campaign runner, and he and the staff work hard to put Morris ahead in the polls and drum up support.

There's the usual dose of political strategies and deals done.  Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti), the guy who's running the campaign of Morris' competition, convinces Stephen to meet with him.  This is a political no-no, but Stephen meets Tom in secret.  Tom claims that Morris has no chance.  He admires Stephen's work, and he wants him to come work for him.  Stephen turns it down, but somehow, the news of the clandestine meeting is leaked.  Ida (Marisa Tomei), a political reporter, wants Stephen to spill the details or else she's going to run with what she knows.  But this becomes the least of Stephen's problems when he learns of a scandal that could bring Morris' campaign crashing down.

I went to this movie with a friend who told me as the credits rolled, "I could never be in politics with all that going on."  I agreed.  As the daughter of a precinct captain, I was privy to how underhanded the political world could be, and still is.  My late father tried to get both my younger sister and I involved in that world, but the "one hand washes the other" mentality turned us off.  Clooney directed this film, co-wrote the screenplay, and helped produce it.  He did a good job of showing the fast paced, backroom dirty deals and compromises that politicians and their supporters do to win an office.  The Stephen character comes off as being a bit idealistic at first, but a cynical, dark side comes slowly comes out when he has to make some hard decisions throughout the story.  I also liked the Senator Thompson character, played by Jeffrey Wright, who operated purely from a "what's in it for me?" standpoint.

George Clooney appeared on series TV ("The Facts of Life" and "ER", both on NBC) before transitioning to the movies.  He has an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor 2005 (Syriana).  Ryan Gosling was in Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011) and The Notebook (2004).  Phillip Seymour Hoffman was in Capote (2005).  Paul Giamatti appeared in Cinderella Man (2005).  Marisa Tomei is a Supporting Actress Oscar winner for My Cousin Vinny (1992).  Jeffrey Wright was in two James Bond movies -- Quantum of Solace (2008) and Casino Royale (2006).

Real Steel (2011)

In the near future, boxing involving flesh-and-blood participants has been banned.  It has been replaced by boxing matches between super-charged robots.  Former fighter Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) is a down-on-his-luck, robot boxing promoter.  He seems to owe everybody money.  After running out on a bet that he lost to Ricky (Kevin Durand), one of his former opponents, Charlie learns that an ex-girlfriend has passed away.  The ex-girlfriend's sister, Debra (Hope Davis), wants no trouble out of Charlie as she and her rich husband want custody of Max (Dakota Goyo), the child Charlie fathered with the late woman.

When Charlie learns that Debra and her husband Marvin (James Rebhorn) are going on an extended getaway, he bleeds money out of  Marvin under the guise of wanting to watch Max while they're gone.  Charlie's plans to leave Max with Bailey (Evangeline Lilly), the owner of the gym where Charlie used to train is changed when Max decides he's going with him.  Turns out that Max loves robot boxing, and besides, he believes Charlie owes him for running out on him after he was born.  After a dangerous moment on the road, Max finds Atom, a robot that he intends to make a winner out of -- with Charlie's help, of course.

This is a different sort of entry into the genre of boxing movies.  I couldn't help but think of that old kids' game called Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots while I was viewing this film.  The fight scenes are nicely done, and the interaction between Charlie and Max is nice.  However, the movie is pleasant, nothing more.  The plot devices here have been seen too many times, and audiences know the outcomes.

Anthony Mackie, who played an arrogant boxer in the movie Million Dollar Baby, appears here as a guy who runs underground robot boxing matches.

Crazy Stupid Love (2011)

The opening scene tells that something's wrong with Cal (Steve Carrell) and Emma's (Julianne Moore) marriage:  all the other couples around them in the restaurant are playing footsie.  They're not.  Emma blurts out that she wants a divorce.  On the ride home, she admits to having an affair with David (Kevin Bacon), a co-worker of hers.  Cal is devastated, and he leaves the house that night. 

Cal starts spending his evenings in a trendy bar where a smooth playboy named Jacob (Ryan Gosling) is very successful with picking up women night after night. Jacob notices Cal moping around and telling his marital problems to everyone in the place.  He decides to make Cal his project by changing his look and teaching him how to get lucky with the ladies.

This is not your usual romantic comedy.  There are no "meet cute" moments, and none of the usual contrived obstacles that people have to overcome to get to true love.  Instead, characters muddle around -- like in real life -- to try and sort things out and handle the changes and surprises along the way.  The 'B' stories support the 'A' story very well: the love that Cal's son Robbie (Jonah Bobo) has for his babysitter, Jessica (Analeigh Tipton), unaware that Jessica loves someone else close to him and Hannah's (Emma Stone) lackluster relationship with a clueless lawyer named Richard (Josh Groban). 

I like Steve Carrell (Get Smart, Little Miss Sunshine) because he always has this hangdog look about him when playing characters who have been put upon.  Emma Stone (The Help) is good as a woman who's dangerously close to settling for the wrong man.  Marisa Tomei ("A Different World") makes the most of her role as a woman whom Cal meets after his break-up with his wife. 

Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story (2005)

On March 24, 1962, professional boxers Emile Griffith and Benny "The Kid" Paret met each other in the ring.  The bout was shown on NBC on national television.  It was the third time the two had faced each other in a fight.  The first time, Griffith won the welterweight title from Paret in 1961 via knockout.  Six months later, Paret won the title back from Griffith.  The third time would change Griffith's life forever.

Griffith backed Paret into a corner during the sixth round, and punched him repeatedly.  Several of the people interviewed for this documentary differed as to how many punches Paret took.  Some said 17, others said 25, and still others came up with different numbers.  Paret was knocked out cold while still on his feet, then he slumped into the corner.  Griffith was declared the victor, and said during an interview immediately afterwards that he hoped Paret was okay.  Unfortunately, Paret would never be okay again.  The Cuban slipped into a coma, and died ten days later.  I box as an amateur, I've been hurt in the ring.  I've seen others get hurt in both amateur and professional fights on TV and in person.  But the footage of Griffith and Paret's fight had me flinching.  The fight was very brutal.  Some think that Griffith may have been getting payback on Paret for using a gay slur against him during a weigh-in. 

The documentary follows Griffith's life with all its ups and downs after that fateful night, as well as the effect of that tragic bout on boxing.  I learned that the fight brought up calls from politicians to ban the sport (although nothing came of the protests). That fight was also the reason why boxing disappeared from network TV in the 1960s, not to return until the 1970s.  Griffith himself is somewhat of a mystery, especially concerning his sexuality, and how the impact of Paret's death really affected him mentally and emotionally. 

Tyson (2008)

James Toback directed this documentary about the boxer who was once known as "The Baddest Man On The Face Of The Earth".  "Iron" Mike Tyson became the youngest heavyweight boxing champion at the age of twenty, beating out Floyd Patterson's record of being the youngest champ.  The film opens with the fight where Tyson captured the win.

Tyson does most of the talking, which is a switch from other documentaries where there a lot of talking heads discussing the main subject.  The soft-spoken man who breaks into sobs about the close relationship he had with his late trainer Cus D'Amato is in stark contrast to the fighter who brutally beat down opponents.  Tyson appears in middle age to be a much more contemplative person.  The fighter is one who has regrets, but who has learned to recognize patterns that led to past problems.  All of those problems are highlighted -- the time spent in jail on rape charges, the substance abuse, biting Evander Holyfield's ear during a fight, the failed marriage between Tyson and actress Robin Givens, losing his title belt to Buster Douglas.  But there's the feeling that the angry juvenile delinquent from New York still bubbles underneath the surface.  This is a excellent documentary that sheds some light on a man who is praised and downgraded at the same time.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

The story begins where the last one left off -- Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) steals the elder wand out of Dumbledore's (Michael Gambon) coffin, believing that it will grant him unlimited power.  Meanwhile, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermonie (Emma Watson), and Ron (Rupert Grint) continue their search for horcruxes, the things where Voldemort has hidden pieces of his soul.  By destroying the horcruxes, Voldemort's power weakens.  Voldemort gathers an army and declares a full-scale war, and the weight of destiny bears heavy on Harry's shoulders.

Those who have read all of the books should find this last chapter of the film series satisfying as it follows the story without leaving too much out.  They will recognize references to things that happened earlier in the books.  Those who just watched the films without reading the books will find much to be surprised about, especially concerning Professor Snape's (Alan Rickman) role in all that has transpired before.  Warning:  have tissues ready at the end of the film.