Joanna Langfield's The Movie Minute

Love the Coopers When four generations of the Cooper clan come together for their annual Christmas Eve celebration, a series of unexpected visitors and unlikely events turn the night upside down, leading them all toward a surprising rediscovery of family bonds and the spirit of the holiday. By the Sea Set in France during the mid-1970s, Vanessa, a former dancer, and her husband Roland, an American writer, travel the country together. The 33 Based on the real-life event, when a gold and copper mine collapses, it traps 33 miners underground for 69 days.  

Spectre: An action extravaganza of diminishing returns, this Bond chapter left me a little bit shaken, but definitely not stirred. Miss You Already I’m obedient. I cried. But it wasn’t a good cry. Spotlight While Tom McCarthy’s beautifully crafted film about the Boston Globe investigation of the sex abuse in the Church is very much of a time and place, it also couldn’t be more important now. Brooklyn Set in the 1950’s New York borough, this especially charming, beautifully made story of an Irish newcomer sweeps us all off our sensibly clad feet.

Burnt Burnt is a remarkably funny and emotional story about the love of food, the love between two people, and the power of second chances. Our Brand in Crisis An American woman, well-versed in political campaigns, is sent to the war-torn lands of South America to help install a new leader but is threatened to be thwarted by a long-term rival.

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension Using a special camera that can see spirits, a family must protect their daughter from an evil entity with a sinister plan. The Last Witch Hunter The last witch hunter is all that stands between humanity and the combined forces of the most horrifying witches in history. Rock The Kasbah A down-on-his-luck music manager discovers a teenage girl with an extraordinary voice while on a music tour in Afghanistan and takes her to Kabul to compete on the popular television show, Afghan Star.  

Bridge of Spies An American lawyer is recruited by the CIA during the Cold War to help rescue a pilot detained in the Soviet Union. Crimson Peak In the aftermath of a family tragedy, an aspiring author is torn between love for her childhood friend and the temptation of a mysterious outsider. Trying to escape the ghosts of her past, she is swept away to a house that breathes, bleeds...and remembers. A teenager teams up with the daughter of young adult horror author R.L. Stine after the writer's imaginary demons are set free on the town of Greendale, Maryland. Goosebumps A teenager teams up with the daughter of young adult horror author R.L. Stine after the writer's imaginary demons are set free on the town of Greendale, Maryland.  

Pan 12-year-old orphan Peter is spirited away to the magical world of Neverland, where he finds both fun and dangers, and ultimately discovers his destiny -- to become the hero who will be forever known as Peter Pan. Steve Jobs It’s fitting, I suppose, that a movie about the complicated man behind Apple be complicated as well and, in that sense, this adventurous Danny Boyle/Aaron Sorkin spin succeeds. But, is that dazzle enough?  Using an unconventional and certainly theatrical conceit, Sorkin plots his story in three distinct acts, each set as Jobs is to unveil a revolutionary new product. The backstage dramas reveal his difficult relationships with his co-workers and family through the years and it’s a nifty trick.  

The Walk Philippe Petit thinks of his tightrope performances as art. Taking on a high-wire task himself, Robert Zemeckis, retelling Petit’s most famous walk, creates his own art, with a 3D mastery that is nothing but depth defying and beautifully sweat provoking. Yes, this is the story of Petit’s notorious walk between the just built towers of New York City’s World Trade Center. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, balancing the Frenchman’s arrogance and lithe charm, plays the ambitious stuntman and much of the early part of the film focuses on how Petit learned his craft and then, collected the people and plans to help him, almost literally and certainly illegally, walk on air. All of this is handled with a light grace, along with a few comic moments. We know we’re all building up to ‘the walk’, a feat every viewer knows was actually accomplished. So how does Zemeckis grab us? It’s visual. And what visual. The Martian A mass appeal movie that proclaims it’s going to ‘science the shit out of this’? Go figure: this genui

Joanna Langfield's The Movie Movie Minute Promo. 15 seconds. Promo for Joanna Langfield's Movie Minute Podcast.

Promo for Blog Talk Radio 30 second promo for Joanna Langfdield's The Movie Minute.

Nancy Meyer's The Intern is really the appropriate title for this chapter of the great looking sweet story comedies this filmmaker has been deliveringfor years. Mississippi Grind the gambling road movie, starring Ryan Reynoldsand Ben Mendelsohn. Both actors are terrific, but after a promising start, this road trip goes nowhere.

Black Mass While the whole is less than the sum of its parts, this retelling of the Whitey Bulger story sure has some magnificent parts. A virtually unrecognizable Johnny Depp stars as the notorious Boston mobster, a character and legend so compelling it has been the pulpy stuff of many books and films, most entertainingly in Scorsese’s throbbing The Departed.  Other Movies: Everest - in Imax and 3D The Scorch Trials- Another chapter in the Maze Runner Series.  

Movies for the Fall Season. Black Mass, starring Johnny Depp. Tobey Macguire as Bobby Fischer. The Intern, starring Robert Deniro and Ann Hathaway. The Walk, starring Joseph Gordon Levitt. Matt Damon in The Martian.

A walk in the Woods is a messy but sweet moviethat should entertain the armchair hikers. Robert Reford stars as the noted travel writer.

What's the most fascinating new releases to stream this weekend? Citizen Four, Ex Machina, The Water Diviner, (Russel Crowe stars and directs), Clouds of Sils Maria, What we do in the Shadows, Best Exotic marigold Hotel.  

Joanna Langfield's Movie Minute Review of Indie hits of the Summer.  What are the best smaller movies of the Summer? Actually, there are several, including this weekend. Lily Tomlin, Ben Kingsley, Jason Siegel. 

Even if it isn’t as much of grabber as the TV series, Guy Ritchie’s reboot sure gets points for style. In the high-concept mode of “well, it worked with Mission Impossible”, we’re reaching back to a popular network series from the 1960’s to kick off what is clearly intended as a new feature length series. Inherent problem: in those days, America was in the midst of the Cold War with the Soviets. The concept of odd-couple pairing a CIA and KGB agent was fun because it was timely. Now? Not so much. That Cold War has thawed; there isn’t even a Soviet Union anymore. So the teaming of an American and Russian spy just doesn’t have the same oomph. Ritchie, who co-wrote and directed, clearly doesn’t care. He plows ahead with the conceit, using it as a set up and then plunging merrily into a rather standard international mission thing which will save the world from nuclear bad guys (and remarkable sexy women). This “Man” is more style than substance and, in this case, that’s not so bad. Because the style is great. T

There’s a movie lover’s gift at the heart of Joel Edgerton’s terrifically entertaining thriller. Because this chilly chiller has a lot more on its mind than only getting you to jump out of your seat.  Edgerton, who wrote, produced and directed, as well as co-stars, takes us on quite a ride. Just when you think you know where we’re going, we’re not. And, while he makes sure we’re thoroughly entertained (when was the last time you watched a movie where the entire audience screamed in unison only to collapse into hysterical giggles immediately afterward?), he also sweetens the pot with a true moral punch to the gut, making this almost a classic drama that thrills rather than a traditional goosebumpy revenge flick. 

Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation You sure get your bang for the buck with this one.  Tom Cruise, as durable on screen as any movie star could be, and his team deliver an action packed espionage thriller that’s so eye popping you hardly notice you have no idea of why they’re really doing all that stuff.  Vacation Perhaps the funniest thing about this silly sequel is the shock and horror some are expressing in its wake. I’m not saying I didn’t cringe watching some of the stuff that happens in this movie; I’m also not saying I didn’t laugh out loud a few times, too.   

Pixels When aliens misinterpret video feeds of classic arcade games as a declaration of war, they attack the Earth in the form of the video games. Southpaw Boxer Billy Hope turns to trainer Tick Willis to help him get his life back on track after losing his wife in a tragic accident and his daughter to child protection services.          

Omar Sy is an actor and writer, known for The Intouchables (2011), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) andJurassic World (2015). He has been married to Hélène since July 6, 2007. They have four children.  His father is from Senegal and his mother is from Mauritania. Personal Quotes-"On emerging from the working-class suburbs of Paris, There are two Frances that exist side by side. For me, it was only when I started to work that I saw the other France, that I heard other ways of speaking. We knew it existed. But we didn't ever see it."