Getting to the Nutcracker: This was a very well made and fun documentary. It was fun to see both life in a ballet school and the staging of a large production of the Nutcracker.

Lego: A Brickumentary: This was interesting, I learned about the history and culture of Lego. It was cool but there's also a fair amount of what, for me at least, is nerdy.

Under the Boardwalk: This is a documentary about about the game Monopoly. Did you know the original concept for the game was created by a woman? There's some interesting history, there's also apparently an international Monopoly championship. Who knew.

Midnight in Paris: A friend had recommended this when it first came out but I just now decided to give it a shot. I don't generally like Owen Wilson but he was alright in this. It's kind of a fun movie concept, being able to go back in time and see and meet an era and people that you love and revere. It was hard to watch parts, Wilson's character is in a very unhealthy relationship, I hate to think that there are people in such relationships and thinking about moving forward. Anyway, I don't know that this movie is going to be for everyone but it was enjoyable for me.

 The Man Who Knew Too Much: This is Hitchcock's original and it was interesting. I really think that Hitchcock might have created the action movie genera, I'd have to do research to be definitive. I think I like this better than the remake wit Jimmy Stewart

The Corpse Bride: I would have thought I'd posted about this before, apparently not. I re watched it around Halloween. It's a fun Tim Burton movie, if you like Nightmare Before Christmas, you'll probably like this. Nightmare is on a grander scale but I think maybe I like this story better? I don't know, give it a try.

The Theory of Everything: I didn't initially post about this movie because I stopped watching partway through the movie.  What I did see was beautifully filmed and I learned quite a lot about Stephen Hawking. I had no idea about his family life or even that he'd had one. I stopped watching because it was too hard, hard to watch what was happening to Stephen and hard seeing how his family life was falling apart. I didn't want to go on.

The Mask of Zorro: I don't know a lot about the Zorro story, I've seen some Zorro movies but I don't know how this movie compares to the original. It's an entertaining action movie, it's also one that you shouldn't think too hard about.

Spectre: So this may be the last Daniel Craig Bond film, it's also where the reset sort of rejoins the rest of the Bond-vers(?). I've really enjoyed the reset and I was worried that this would be too much like the super cheesy Bond's past. It did have cheesy moments but I think it was pretty good. It was also more tasteful than many of the Bond movies... more cutting away. There is still violence and some very unpleasant things and a lot of barely covered nudity in the opening sequence but over all it was a good movie.

The Wind Rises: Another beautiful movie from Miyazaki, he really is a master. I didn't realize going in but this movie is about the man who designed the Japanese bombers know as "zeros". I don't know how faithful the account is to life, honestly I've never given thought to someone designing those planes, I haven't given much thought at all to the actual planes. Anyway he's not a crazy war or death monger, he's just a gifted man who really loves airplanes and wants to make them the best they can be. It's a sad subject and story in a way but it's a really great movie.

I Am Big Bird: This is a documentary about the man who plays/performs Big Bird on Sesame Street. It was very interesting, I grew up watching Sesame Street, it was cool to see things like how Big Bird works under the costume etc. It was also a very sweet and uplifting story, the guy behind the bird is pretty cool.

Woman in Gold: This movie is fantastic, great actors, great filming etc. and a heart touching story. Everyone should see this movie, because it's good and because the subject matter is very important. We need to move on from WWII and other disasters and horrible things but if we forget them, if we pretend they didn't happen, then we risk repeating them.

Henry V: I've heard parts of this play quoted but I've never seen or read it before. I like a lot of the play, there are great speeches and some great morals, however in the end I couldn't get behind it. I was reminded of a quote from M*A*S*H "War isn't Hell, war is war and hell is hell and of the two war is a lot worse, there are no innocent bystanders in Hell." As always, Kenneth Branagh does a wonderful job. It was fun to see Judi Dench and a young Christian Bale in small parts.

Land Before Time: I realize there's great disparity between these two movies, I watched this while babysitting...three times. Land Before Time is not a cinematic masterpiece, but it's okay. I realized that LBT and Ice Age are the same story, they're different movies but it's basically the same story. Also, I was embarrassed for Spielberg and Lucas when I saw their names in the credits.

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: I really loved the first movie and this was still a fun movie but here's my problem with sequels: you get everyone all squared away in the first movie and then to create a plot for the second movie, we're back having the same problems we had in the first movie, it's frustrating to see characters regress liked that. Also they added Richard Gere to this movie and I can't stand him. An okay movie but not up to the original, however the original cast (except for the character who died) are back.

Death Comes to Pemberly: This is a mini series, but it's three episodes, each about an hour. When I first heard about this I got excited but when it comes right down to it, this is a murder mystery and a P&P fanfic. It's find but it's not amazing, for one thing, P&P times are a bit of a stretch for a murder mystery, you don't get murder mystery before you have the technology, for lack of a better word, and the officers of the law in place. (I'm struggling with the words but I hope my point comes across).
On a different note, I really liked seeing a different side of Darcy and Elizabeth, that maybe it wasn't always "Happily Ever After" as I've always supposed.

The Tempest: This is a somewhat recent adaptation, withing the last 5 years say, and Prospero is in fact Prospera, played by Helen Miren. I thought I was really going to enjoy this adaptation, I was fascinated by the making of included in the dvd and yet for all that, I didn't love this as I thought. I don't know if it's the tempest itself or some other matter. I don't know, it's very well made and so perhaps you should look into it for yourself.

Ballet 422: This is a documentary, sort of getting to be a fly on the wall as a young dancer and choreographer and the New York Ballet Company (and that that goes with that) bring together a new ballet. I enjoyed the tv show Breaking Point, it took us behind the scenes of a ballet company, this does the same, but focuses on the dance, rather than drama among the dancers. I really enjoyed it.

A Midsummer Night's Dream: This version, as I'm sure there are many versions, is set in turn of the century Tuscany and boasts a star studded cast. I really enjoyed this movie but there was a major flaw for me. It's no surprise that Shakespeare is not generally G rated, AMND has a lot of opportunity to be taken to a more adult rating, this version included a good deal of nudity and partial nudity, it's rated PG-13 but I was not prepared for quite so much nudity, it's not requisite for the story.

The Imitation Game: This was a beautifully made movie and quite fascinating. The movie portrays historical events of WWII that many people probably have never heard of but which were incredibly important.

Big Hero 6: I didn't quite know what to expect from this movie but I gave it a shot. It was a pretty good movie, it was funny, and it was action-y and intense and there were also quite emotional in parts.

The Grass is Greener: This is a Cary Grant movie that I stumbled across. It wasn't one of the greatest movies out there but it's alright. It follows the affair of a modern English Lady (1960s? and a titled lady, not just a woman). Cary Grant is the husband and they live in a big stately house in which they live in few rooms while the rest are set up for tourists to go through. A wealthy tourist comes and barges in on the private quarters and sweeps Deborah Kerr's character off her feet. Grant's character then goes about figuring out how to get her back. There are some profound statements made about marriage, I'm not sure that I agree with some, but I'm not sure that I don't either. It's an interesting movie.

Art and Craft: I believe this was a documentary, it was interesting, I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. It follows a man who forges masterworks of art and then gives them to museums at originals. Apparently it's not illegal, which is interesting. It also follows the man who discovered the deception. The forger is a quite little man with schizophrenia and a number of other mental health issues.  I don't know how ethical it is for the forger to do what he does, but I also am not so sure about the other side. It ended with the forger taking his skills to a new venue, reuniting people with their stolen paintings...which is again maybe not on solid moral ground but very sweet.

The Hundred Foot Journey: I was really excited for this movie and looked forward to seeing it and perhaps I had hopes too high. It was a good movie but as I watched it, it seemed familiar, like something I'd seen before. As I watched I found the first half of the movie at least, quite similar to the movie Chocolate. I think the second half of the movie was a bit better but over all I was a bit disappointed in the movie.

1735 km of Vietnam: So I enjoyed this movie, it was cute, it's also It Happened One Night, Vietnamese. It is more exotic than the original by virtue of it's being set in Vietnam and being in color. See both. Apparently you can watch it online here.

Guardians of the Galaxy: I didn't know what to expect from this movie but I ended up quite enjoying it. I think if I think too hard about the plot or the movie it might diminish a bit. I did like that it was kinda different from your standard action/super hero movie. I also realized that it bore quite a few similarities to Star Wars: A New Hope, so there you go.

It Happened One Night: This was one of the first dvds I ever watched, back when the format was new and I was young enough not to think much of black and white movie. This movie is a delightful...I'm trying to decide if screwball comedy is quite the right category, I think so; it also is a fine example of Frank Capra's celebration of the common people.

42: This is a biopic based on Jackie Robinson's autobiography, which I think had the same title. I read the book a while back. The movie seemed to stick quite closely to the book but the movie focused only on Robinson's ascension to and and rookie year with the Dodgers and the book covered the majority of his life. I thought the movie was really good, but as a warning, there's a lot of language in this movie which is only fitting, I'm sure it's only a tiny percentage of what the Robinsons had to endure. It's quite an inspiring story.

Spy Kids: I don't think I've written about this yet. So there's three Spy Kids movies, but I think this one is probably the best (because like many franchises, I don't think there was more than one originally planned.) Spy Kids had great actors, a good messages and special effects that don't actually look too out of date, which is an impressive thing.