Mr. Robot

My kids were discussing this series so we watched the pilot.

It is a little better than expected with great "tech" portrayal.  3/5 stars.

Star Wars vii the Force Awakens

Better re-boot than the Star Trek series, 4/5 stars.

The Martian

Disappointing, thin shell of a great book but still ok, 4/5 stars.  Great book, good movie.

A Hard Day

We saw this film a few weeks ago.  It is much better than we expected.  The story is really good and the acting is great.  4/5 stars, very entertaining. 

Force Majeure

Fantastic film, One of the best we have seen this year.   It reminds me of the film "Ordinary People" because of the great acting and psychology.  5/5 stars, highly recommended.

Solar Express

Fantastic book 5/5 stars.  

Dead Wake

Engaging history book without any new revelations 3/5 stars.

Apollo 13

Wow!  I am so thrilled my daughter had to watch this film for homework from school.  We watched it again with her and it was just as awesome, 5/5 stars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4IBT5e60uI

"With all due respect, sir.  I believe this is gonna be our finest hour."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2YZnTL596Q

"Well, gentlemen, I suggest you find a way to put a square peg in a round hole -- rapidly."

"If they could make a washing machine fly, Jimmy could land it."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhoXFVQsIxw

"Failure is not an option."

Empire of Light

The thrilling conclusion to the Schoal trilogy is as good as the first two, with a bit too much deus est machina and an odd introduction of yet another ancient power with its own motivation.  Still awesome, though 4/5 stars.  The English title is "Empire of Light."

Nova War

I really enjoyed Gary Gibson's "Schoal" books.  It is fun, action-packed space opera, complete with mysterious ancient powers and brilliant, manipulative aliens.  4/5 stars.

American Ultra

I enjoyed this one. 3/5 stars.  Jesse Eisenberg is great.

Ant Man

The first 45 minutes are terrible.  But the last hour of the film are great.  3/5 stars.

Heist

Although I agree with all of the criticisms that gave this film bad reviews I still loved it and recommend it highly!  4/5 stars.  Extremely enjoyable.  Great story with a fantastic ending.  Cliche? Yes.  Old retread bromides?  Yes.  Love it.  Watch it!

Kreuzweg

Puke awful horrible.  0/5 stars.

Trainwreck

I did not find this film very appealing but it was not bad, either 3/5 stars.

The End of the Tour

This film was not bad.  We enjoyed it.  3/5 stars.

Fiasco by Stanislav Lem

I enjoyed reading the translated works of Stanislaw Lem 45 years ago in English and more recently read some of the German translations of his later works that I had not read previously.   His last novel, translated in 1986 is a typical, paranoid, depressing story and I enjoyed it.  5/5 stars.

Man from U.N.C.L.E.

We really enjoyed this one!  It was extremely nostalgic.  I grew up watching the original TV series and the (many) 1960's cinematic techniques (off-camera deaths, split screen, long shots) went perfectly with the terrible fashion, values, and cold war.  4/5 stars.  It's not a 5 because they cast Hugh Grant as Alexander Waverly, yuck!

Evolution

A billion year historical fiction novel that is unsatisfying, dated, boring, and disengaging.  2/5 stars.

Komische Geschichte, nicht gut 2/5 Sterne

Self Less

not bad.  3/5 stars.  enjoyable, great post-production.

Ricky and the Flash

Meryl Streep still has the juice.  3/5 stars.

Hitman Agent 47

Last night we sat through Agent 47.  No plot, no acting, no dialog, no problem.  3/5 for the explosions and video-game-action.  Not as terrible as it looks.

Diesel Fumes

In Tokyo, diesel is prohibited:

. . . and the air is clear, breathable.

In Paris, diesel is encouraged:

. . . and the air is approaching China's level of toxicity.

אפס ביחסי אנוש

אפס ביחסי אנוש 

Extremely funny.  Very odd story, unsatisfying ending, great slice-of-life movie. 3/5 stars, worth watching.

Jurassic World

Check out her heels above.  Running in the jungle?  With heels? Really?  This one is as bad as the last one 20 years ago, where a 20-foot drop became 200 feet during the car-teetering-on-edge scene. Trash.  Hackneyed bromides.  Miss it, 2/5 stars.

Nudge

This book is a little dated but still pretty good.  4/5 stars.  Worth reading.  Needs a new edition with even more updates based on recent political events and trends.

Excession

I read this one on the plane.  The space battles and mysterious powers that could beat the culture ships and minds were cool.  I did not enjoy the love story, though.  3 / 5 stars.

A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder

Wonderful, funny, entertaining, Tony-award-winning musical with fantastic music, good acting, and witty humor.  I had low expectations that were exceeded by my experience.  The performance I attended received a standing ovation.

Pros:  Amazing music with complex harmonies, clever, hilarious lyrics; good acting, fantastic choreography, staging, lighting, sound; good unpredictable plot

Cons: Acting is good but not spectacular take-your-breath-away; fake accents; musical trios and duets in round or canon were a bit over-done; American attempt at British wit falls short (wrong idioms & sensibilities).

Net:  See it! Very enjoyable experience!

Mr. Holmes

Interesting, low-key, drama with great acting, good characters, good dialog.  Worth watching, 3/5 stars.

Apex

Fantastic ending to a great trilogy of books.  5/5 stars.  Lots of fun.

Max

Great puppy movie for dog lovers.  Terrible acting, contrived story, awful dialog.  Turn the sound off and it is much better!  1/5 stars.

Copenhagen

interesting story arc of a bad person who gets a little better via interactions with wise girl.  well-acted, and great showcase for Danish tourism.  Not a good film. 2/5 stars.

Darbareye Elly altyazı (About Elly)

A very-sad story of lies, deceit, and a tangled web of tragedy.  Well-acted.  3/5 stars.

Crux

Mez's Nexus books keep getting better.  5/5 stars.  Fantastic.

Inside Out

Another instant classic from Pixar.   4/5 stars.

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation

Non-stop action, thrills, and Hollywood spy movie contrivances, exactly what you expect. Awesome! 4/5 stars.  Enjoy the explosions. 

me and earl and the dying girl

I really loved this one.  It has a big heart, great chemistry and fantastic acting.  4/5 stars.  Don't miss this gem.

Particle Fever

Not as good as the critics said but not terrible.  The physics was distilled down to meaningless Hollywood nonsense.  3/5 stars.  Interesting inside look at the people who work on the Large Hadron Collider.

Man Up

Slightly better than the critics said, 3/5 stars.  Big heart, great acting, dialog, plot twists, post production.  Weak message, shallow Hollywood values.  Nice rom-com chick flick.

Terminator Genesys

Extremely disappointing!  Bad acting, terrible story.  2/5 stars.

Zwischen Chaos und Krieg Wer zerstört die Ukraine

This documentary is extremely insightful.  The fragility of the status quo in Europe is exposed in detail.  4/5 stars.

Use of weapons

P

This one is better, examining the boundaries of ethics in the "culture" utopia. 4/5 stars. 

The Silver Ships

This book is great!  4 / 5 stars

Tomorrow Land

I really liked this one; but the rest of the family was on the fence.  3/5 stars.  Worth watching.  Great social commentary.  Up-beat, positive, optimistic.  George Cloony still has the juice.

Air

Awful!  0 out of 5 stars.

Schiller: Der Verbrecher aus verlorener Ehre

Beautifully written, gritty story with well-crafted characters, tight dialog, and emotional appeal.  I loved the surprise ending.  4/5 stars.

State of the Art

The third "Culture" book by Iain Banks is another witty examination of the utopia and even more praise by faint damnation of Banks' ethics.  The "Culture" stories are getting boring.  However the humor is fantastic and the characters really come alive.  3/5 stars.

Aurora

Kim Stanley Robinson's latest book is a long story of a generation star ship's voyage.  I found a bunch of the crew reactions to be completely at odds with human nature and I intensely dislike the odd, unmotivated behaviors.  Worst for me was their reaction to the pathogens.  The pedantic evolution of the ship's AI, as well as the depressing view of the future round out my major problems with the book.  Still it was fun to read as the story unfolded through interesting plot twists.  2/5 star -- there are better space opera books out there.

Spy

Terrible!  0 out of 5 stars.