We Need To Talk About Kevin

Cast
Tilda Swinton
John C. Reilly
Ezra Miller
Ursula Parker
Screenwriters
Rory Kinnear
Lynne Ramsay
Director
Lynne Ramsay
Running Time
112 minutes

Eva (Swinton), the mother of a teenager (Miller) who careers off the rails, struggles to cope with the aftermath of his devastating actions, reflecting on the boy’s childhood and the breakdown of her relationship with both him and her absent husband (Reilly).[Empire]

While watching I thought it was trying to be a mood piece but thinking about it afterwards its a horror movie. It's more moving and haunting in retrospect than at the time maybe because it's told out of sequence so you don't know the full story until almost the end. The murder weapon seemed a curious choice, I'm not sure you'd be able to do more than wound people most of the time, maybe that's in the book but why change from what is usually used.

Real Steel

Cast
Hugh Jackman
Dakota Goyo
Evangeline Lilly
Anthony Mackie
Hope Davis
James Rebhorn
Olga Fonda
Screenwriter
Dan Gilroy
Jeremy Leven
John Gatins
Director
Shawn Levy
Running Time
126 minutes

A gritty, white-knuckle, action ride set in the near-future, where the sport of boxing has gone hi-tech. Charlie Kenton is a washed-up fighter who lost his chance at a title when 2000-pound, 8-foot-tall steel robots took over the ring. Now nothing but a small-time promoter, Charlie earns just enough money piecing together low-end bots from scrap metal to get from one underground boxing venue to the next. When Charlie hits rock bottom, he reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max to build and train a championship contender. As the stakes in the brutal, no-holds-barred arena are raised, Charlie and Max, against all odds, get one last shot at a comeback. (Touchstone Pictures)

Good but over-long and talky.

Midnight In Paris

Cast
Owen Wilson
Marion Cotillard
Rachel McAdams
Kathy Bates
Adrien Brody
Carla Bruni
Michael Sheen
Kurt Fuller
Mimi Kennedy
Yves Heck
Alison Pill
Corey Stoll
Tom Hiddleston
Léa Seydoux
Screenwriter
Woody Allen
Director
Woody Allen
Running Time
94m 3s

This is a romantic comedy set in Paris about a family that goes there because of business, and two young people who are engaged to be married in the fall have experiences there that change their lives. It's about a young man's great love for a city, Paris and the illusion people have that a life different from theirs would be much better. (Sony Classic Pictures)

Wilson is a great Woody stand-in because the persona is close to his normal screen presence and so he doesn't seem to be doing an impersonation like previous actors have. The story was a delightful idea and well staged at first I was worried but when the guy playing Hemingway started speaking he blew me away. Over the years I've repeatedly regretted not taking time to read any of his stuff or the greats generally and this made me want to again.

Warrior

Cast
Tom Hardy
Nick Nolte
Joel Edgerton
Jennifer Morrison
Frank Grillo
Kevin Dunn
Screenwriter
Gavin O'Connor
Director
Gavin O'Connor
Running Time
139m 43s

An ex-Marine haunted by a tragic past, Tommy Riordan returns to his hometown of Pittsburgh and enlists his father, a recovered alcoholic and his former coach, to train him for an MMA tournament awarding the biggest purse in the history of the sport. As Tommy blazes a violent path towards the title prize, his brother, Brendan, a former MMA fighter unable to make ends meet as a public school teacher, returns to the amateur ring to provide for his family. Even though years have passed, recriminations and past betrayals keep Brendan bitterly estranged from both Tommy and his father. But when Brendan's unlikely rise as an underdog sets him on a collision course with Tommy, the two brothers must finally confront the forces that tore them apart, all the while waging the most intense, winner-takes-all battle of their lives. (Lionsgate)

Unconvincing in its drama, less so in the fighting. Overall it was alright.