The player of games

The second "Culture" novel is better than the first.  Recommended, 4/5 stars.

Southpaw

Another rags to riches boxing movie celebrating the sport where you try to concuss your opponent. Should we ban the sport of football because of concussions?   Fun drama, good editing and post production.  3/5 stars, entertaining.

I'll see you in my dreams

Not bad.  A little slow.  Good twists.  3/5 stars, worth watching.

Aloha

Better than expected, worth watching, 3/5 stars.

A Brilliant Young Mind

Excellent movie!  Don't miss this gem.  4/5 stars.

San Andreas

Terrible!  1/5 stars.

Phoenix

Ein Kabarettsängerin in Berlin überlebt die Konzentrationslager und versucht, zu ihrem früheren Leben zurück zukommen. Sehr gutes Schauspielen; knackigen Dialog, schmerzhafte Tragödie, sehr berührend. Sehenswert, 3/5 Sternen. 

Boulevard

Robin Williams' last film is slightly better than the critical panning it received.

However it is not good enough for a recommendation to watch it.  Weak actors, bad timing, formula dialogue, extreme predictability, and bad post production doom the film.  Miss it.  2/5 stars.

The Universe in a Nutshell

I listened to the audio version of this book while walking to/from work.  It is a wonderful, dense, witty, humorous compilation of the latest science associated with Hawking's search for grand, unified quantum gravitation theory.   The analogies are awesome.  I enjoyed it immensely and recommend it  4/5 stars.

Longest Ride

We watched this simple, formula film and it was slightly better than the critics wrote.  It is an entertaining chick flic with a good performance by Alan Alda, great pacing, and engaging (though slightly formulaic) dialogue.  3/5 stars -- worth the time.