Still Alice:  

Julianne Moore won the Oscar for Best Actress in this portrayal of a linguistics professor named Alice Howland, married with grown children, who begins to forget little things, and then bigger things, and then faces the diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s.  Moore is exceptional in the role, Alec Baldwin plays her husband, and the dynamics of a family facing the inevitable end to this story is a look into what may well be the lives of many people who deal with this issue when a family member is diagnosed.  Many movies have been made with this theme, and each has great merit.  Moore’s Golden Globe, Oscar, and SAG awards were well deserved here. Rated 14A.

Mortdecai:  

Johnny Depp stars as the title character here, in a film that died a terrible death at the box office, although personally, I don’t think it deserved that fate.  Mortdecai  is a sometime art dealer, a bon vivant and man-about-town who learns of a special code on the back of an old painting that leads to Nazi gold.  Everyone is soon in on the act – MI5, the CIA, all manner of former Nazis, and the local constabulary as well.  Depp plays the role as if the late British Actor Terry-Thomas was channelling Inspector Clouseau.  I found it funny enough that fans of silly British humour should quite like it.  I quite liked it.  Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Bettany and Ewan McGregor also star.  Rated 18A.

Blackhat: 

Chris Hemsworth (Thor) is a computer genius incarcerated for cyber-crime who gets a deal from the government – help out with an international cybercrime network that threatens to reveal everything from Pentagon secrets to movie star personal data (didn’t this already happen?), and get out of jail free.  Or don’t help, and just stay locked up.  Surprisingly, the character is based on a real person who received a similar offer in exchange for a pardon.  The movie is “peculiar ...”  it doesn’t look or feel right initially, and when I saw it in the theatre, I thought that if this was a DVD or download, I’d quit ten minutes in.  Too bad, because it gets better, and by the midpoint, is a real pot-boiler. Viola Davis also stars.  Directed by Michael Mann (Miami Vice).  Rated 14A.

42  (2013):  

Chadwick Bozeman is superb as Jackie Robinson, the first major league player of African-American origin, to play in the major leagues.  His days in the “Negro Leagues” are recounted, along with his time in Montreal, and then finally with Brooklyn playing for the Dodgers.  A great time capsule of the ‘40s and ‘50s, and a well-presented film.  Rated 14A.

Someone Like You (2001):  

Ashley Judd stars as Jane, producer of a daytime talk show, and carrying on a hot romance with the show’s host Ray (Greg Kinnear) who suddenly dumps her.  Now a woman scorned, she writes a blistering tirade about men’s behaviour that makes her a sensation, and the go-to person for bad relationships.  Hugh Jackman also stars, as does Marisa Tomei and Ellen Barkin.  Good performances all-round, and some good laughs in what is essentially a romantic comedy gone bad. Rated  14A.