Mo' Movies (Mo' Problems)

About Time (2013):  This movie was right up my alley-- a Richard Curtis romantic comedy starring an adorable Weasley and Rachel McAdams.  The love story between the two leads was sweet, but I was more affected by the father/son love story.  4 out of 5

Captain Phillips (2013):  Holy smokes was I tense during this movie.  The acting was great and the directing of the action scenes was impressive.  It was fascinating to see how a small boat manages to take over a large ship.  Tom Hanks' performance at the end of the movie was so so good. 4 out of 5

The Golden Compass (2007):  I recently read Phillip Pulman's The Golden Compass and am currently reading the sequel The Subtle Knife.  The books are decent, but the movie was lacking.  A lot of information was extracted and they chose to end the movie at an odd spot that was different from the book.  2 out of 5

How I Live Now (2013):  I came across this sort of by accident, but found it to be entertaining enough.  It was like watching two movies jammed together.  The fist half is a fish-out-of-water teenage love story and then it turns into a war film that doesn't pull any punches.  Some genuinely upsetting stuff in there that you would not expect half an hour into the movie.  3 out of 5

The Spectacular Now (2013):  I read this book last year and really enjoyed it.  The narration by main character Sutter Keely is entertaining and original, which nicely balances the pretty dark material.  It is presented as a teen romance, which it is, but it also focuses very much on addiction and family issues.  Movies almost never measure up to books, so it was no surprise that I preferred the book to the movie in this instance as well. I did think Miles Teller did a good job capturing the essence of Sutter.  3 out of 5

Twenty Feet from Stardom (2013):  This won the Best Documentary Oscar earlier this month.  I enjoyed it.  Spoiler alert:  Phil Specter is a douche.  3 out of 5