Starring: Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel and Rachel Weisz
Directed By: Paolo Sorrentino
Rated: R
Running Time: 124 minutes
Fox Searchlight Pictures

Our Score: 3 out of 5 Stars

We’re deep into Oscar season and we’re now being lured by plenty of potential prospects that have “pick me” written all over them. “Youth” has a highly regarded Italian director who has already won an Academy Award. It also features an aged, but at the top of their game, Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel. “Youth” also tackles the cumbersome talks about life, love, and some of the quirky things in between. On one hand, “Youth” is an audio, visual, and acting triumph, but on the other hand, “Youth” is a curious dud.

From the very opening, director Paolo Sorrentino establishes that “Youth” is a bizarre daydream that seemingly takes place in the real world. Fred Ballinger (Caine) and Mick Boyd (Keitel) are two rich, creative pals on an excursion to a Swiss spa. Boyd hopes to find the right amount of inspiration to polish off his latest movie script and withdrawn music composer Ballinger is looking to escape the suffocating demands of people who want him to come out of retirement and perform. There are very real discussions and very real people that intersect these two characters throughout their lavish vacation.

The main plot is diced up and evened out through visually surreal scenes. Some scenes are breathtaking while others haunt our mind, making us wonder what we’re supposed to feel and think. That’s a great thing though. I want to watch a movie that triggers emotions and makes me think about the topics it wants to discuss. But that flip that switched on in my head began to focus in on a lot of what makes “Youth” insufferable.

Ballinger and Boyd spend half their conversations reflecting on mistakes that have come and gone. It’s a universally tragic feeling to realize that as time slowly slips away, the past becomes blurry, but our future, death, becomes all too clear. It’s a difficult subject, that’s been tackled before and “Youth” does a good job reflecting on it, but at a resort filled with other elderly people, it seems slightly misogynistic to only view this wide ranging topic through such a narrow male lens.

The female characters in “Youth” are reduced to simplified stereotypes. Rachel Weisz plays Ballinger’s daughter who comes off as tearfully helpless because she doesn’t know how to handle her divorce. Jane Fonda, who actually adds to the dramatic heft on display, arrives for a brief cameo only to come off as bullheaded, childish, and finally, tearfully helpless. “Youth” then subjects us to a scene where a Miss Universe with heaving breasts walks into the steamy spa waters as Ballinger and Boyd longingly stare on.

Around the halfway point of “Youth”, I began to scrutinize Ballinger and Boyd’s topics of conversations. It seemed that their genuine expressions of remorse from the two came with a bitter price tag, talks of a swollen prostate gland and the disregard of other’s emotions. As much as I wanted to focus on the elegant conversations at hand, I began to feel that the emotions of these two were ultimately empty.

The existential questions of “Youth” are fascinating to ponder, but Sorrentino’s dour outlook seems to tell us that we shouldn’t bother. The lengthy nature of “Youth” seems to tell us that growing old is long, tedious, and filled with better memories than our current predicament. “Youth” left me thinking that all we have to look forward to later in life is what we’ve done with our existence, and the lives we’ve negatively impacted. While visually dazzling, “Youth” will not be a fond memory when I’ve entered my golden years.

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Robert DeNiro and Bradley Cooper
Directed By: David O. Russell
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 124 minutes
20th Century Fox

Our Score: 4 out of 5 Stars

For many, including myself, Christmas represents that rare time of year that you visit family members on a much deserved day off of work. For some, the holidays are absolutely dreadful and for some the holidays are absolutely delightful. Since some of my relatives read my online movie reviews, I’ll bite my tongue on which category I fall in. But when you get together with your dysfunctional family, try and keep one thing in mind: It could be worse, but it can always be better. Take Joy Mangano’s (Lawrence) family for example.

Living in Joy’s tiny New York home is her loving, caring, and always encouraging grandmother, Mimi (Dianne Ladd). Mimi has always been in Joy’s life, inspiring her to do better and keep that flame of creativity going. Then there are Joy’s two children, a girl and a boy, that she sees that same flame in. Joy holds that trio near and dear to her heart, and couldn’t see life without them. That living situation would be ideal, but her home is filled out with others.

Despite a bitter divorce, her parents are under the same roof. Her mom, Terry (Virginia Madsen) sits in the bed like a vegetable, watching soap operas all day. Her father, Rudy (DeNiro) recently got dumped and is living in the basement with Joy’s ex-husband, Tony (Edgar Ramirez). Those three she could easily live without, considering all three find something new to argue about every day. No matter how strong Joy’s mental and emotional fortitude is the living conditions are obscenely stressful.

What makes Joy strong-willed in her home of horror is her mind. She has a knack for crafting and creating things that come to her mind on the fly. Even at an early age she displayed a creative curiosity, but it was quickly ignored by her parent’s divorced and then buried when her loser husband entered the pictured. Despite being a charming gentleman, he makes for a lazy father and an even more slothful participant in the American workforce. Because of that, Joy attempts to hold up her home on her meager salary at an airline company. Through sheer chance, she comes up with an idea for the Miracle Mop.

In the most unlikely of stories, David O. Russell has found a mix of holiday sentimentality and his own brand of awkward humor in the true life story of Mangano, a multi-millionaire entrepreneur. How much of “Joy” is true? Probably about as much as Russell’s last movie, “American Hustle”. Liberties with facts have to be taken and you have to craft something around Lawrence’s Oscar winning abilities. How else could you sell the story of the inventor behind a QVC goldmine to a major motion picture company?

The highlight of “Joy” is watching Lawrence at work. At this point in her career, it’s safe to say that anything she does (besides her cameo in “Dumb and Dumber To”) is going to be thespianism pay dirt. It’s a little tiresome to see Bradley Cooper and Robert DeNiro once again having to ham it up in a Russell movie, but their sight is welcome and their performances match the eccentric and quirky characters they play. The real gem of the movie Isabella Rossellini, who plays a woman that helps finance and guide Mangano.

By the time “Joy” wraps up, it loses a lot of its emotion because it slowly becomes a commercial for QVC; as long as you’re willing to believe that QVC and other home shopping networks are the good guys in corporate America who support and nurture entrepreneurship. Lawrence doesn’t quite sell that idea, but she helps sell “Joy” as a thoughtful holiday flick. So if you’re looking for an escape or even a way to spend time with your family on Christmas, bring a little “Joy” into your life.

Related Content

• Film Review “Room”
• Film Review “Hot Pursuit”
• Film Review “Men, Women & Children”
• Film Review “If I Stay”
• Film Review “The Other Woman”

Starring: Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson and Jennifer Jason Leigh
Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
Rated: R
Running time: 3 hrs 8 mins (includes Overture and Intermission)
The Weinstein Company

Our Score: 4 out of 5 stars

One thing (of many) that I love about Quentin Tarantino is that he knows the history of film. Not only the films themselves but how they were presented. For “The Hateful Eight” he has harkened back to the old days of “Road Shows,” when films would open in only a few cities in the country, before opening wide later. These presentations were events, featuring reserved seats and program guides, and when they began patrons would pay a quarter to see them when the normal price to see a film was a dime. “Gone With The Wind,” “Oklahoma,” “Ben Hur,” “The Alamo,” “The Sound of Music” and “Patton” were some of the films that opened this way. Now, four decades since the last “roadshow” film (“The Man of La Mancha”), the big event is back with “The Hateful Eight.”

A stagecoach makes its way through the snow, containing John Ruth (Russell) and fellow passenger Daisy Domergue (Leigh). As their driver, O.B. (James Parks, son of longtime Tarantino ensemble member Michael) tries to beat the blizzard closing in on them they are flagged down by a mysterious man on the side of the road who asks, “got room for one more?” Ruth is skeptical. His nickname is “the Hangman” and Daisy is his prisoner. Soon John Ruth, Daisy Domergue and the mystery man find themselves stranded at a stagecoach stop called Minnie’s Haberdashery along with five other people. These are the hateful eight!

If anyone can hold your attention for three hours with a film whose story takes place in one room it’s Tarantino. His way with dialogue has no equal. Neither do the performances of his cast. Russell, whose mustache and facial hair have him resembling Yosemite Sam, is gruff and no-nonsense. The mystery man, Major Marquis Warren (Jackson) is also a bounty hunter, though he claims to have no knowledge of the healthy reward being offered for Daisy. They also make the acquaintance of Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins), who claims to be the new sheriff in town. Waiting for them inside are Bob “the Mexican” (Demian Bichar), Oswaldo Mobrey (Tim Roth), Joe Gage (Michael Madsen) and former (the wrong side) Civil War General Sandford Smithers (Bruce Dern). Each has a story, as well as a story to tell, and it is here that we meet and begin to understand who is who.

If you paid attention to the running time you’ll see that the film runs in excess of three hours. This includes the Overture (a title card flashed on screen while the musical score plays) and an Intermission, which is just exactly what it sounds like. This divides the story and, more importantly, the film. Where the first half seems a little forced, the second half is pure Tarantino gold. Back in January 2014, the script to “The Hateful Eight” was leaked to the public, so angering Tarantino that he vowed to never make the film. Eventually cooler heads prevailed but the first half of the film seems almost unfinished, as if the draft of the script Tarantino used wasn’t completed fully. Both halves are propelled by another excellent group of ensemble actors. Russell, who never seems to blink, is cold and no-nonsense. Leigh is filthy and disgusting. Jackson is smooth and cool. Goggins is braggadocio. And the four who are there to greet them? Quiet and calculating. Of course, this is Tarantino, so nothing is ever exactly as it seems.

Technically the film is almost perfect. The opening sequences in the snow covered mountains are breathtaking. The film is slated to play in 70 mm in selected cities starting this Friday, and I can only imagine how it will look in that format. That being said, the majority of the film takes place indoors so I’m not sure how much of a difference the 70 mm format will make. The film is almost over-the-top bloody and, like “Django Unchained” before it, there are multiple uses of the “N” word, so be prepared for an adult evening out. And an entertaining one.

Starring: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Christian Bale
Directed by: Adam McKay
Rated: R
Running time: 2 hrs 16 mins
Paramount Pictures

Our Score: 5 out of 5 stars

They said it could never happen. That any financial institution could do so poorly that it could affect the world. But that is what happened in 2008 when the housing industry imploded. Thousands of people lost money and even thousands more lost their homes. Yet, even in the toughest times, a fortuitous group of investors bucked the odds. Such is the story of “The Big Short.”

The year is 2005. We meet Dr. Michael Burry (Bale). Burry is not your typical money guy. He spends days in his office, sans shoes, and is more apt to have a pair of drumsticks in his hands then a prospectus. However, his uncanny ability to read upcoming trends in stocks and banking has made him a valuable asset to his firm, where he is given carte blanche to invest the firm’s money as he sees fit. And he’s seen fit to invest $1.3 billion in home mortgages. Rather, in home mortgages that will fail. Is he a genius? Or did he just blow a lot of people’s college fund?

Smartly written and skillfully directed, “The Big Short” is the last film you’d expect to see from Adam McKay, best known for his long association with Will Ferrell. But McKay delivers here in spades. He is helped by an amazing script, based on the book by Michael Lewis and co-written by McKay and Charles Randolph. Here we are introduced to the key players, headlined by Bale, Carell, Gosling, Brad Pitt and others. The dialogue is sharp (“who the hell doesn’t pay their mortgage?” one character asks early on) and the actors are up to the challenge. Characters sometime break the fourth wall to explain things and the film also contains some very funny cameos who also keep the audience up to the minute on the events unfolding. As the film progresses we learn more about the characters and what motivates them. Each has a reason they’ve arrived at the same conclusion and no two are the same.

To say any more would equate to “spoiling” the film so I’ll leave you with this: make an investment in “The Big Short”…it’s a sure thing!

Mad Max: Fury Road was chosen as the Best Film of 2015 by The Kansas City Film Critics Circle, the 2nd oldest critics group in the country. The winners were announced this afternoon during a ceremony at the Alamo Drafthouse Theatre in Kansas City. Among the voters were MediaMikes own Michael Smith and Jeremy Werner.

The film, which had been nominated in four categories by the group, also took home the Robert Altman Award for Best Director for George Miller and Best Actress for Charlize Theron. The film was the only multiple winner announced by the group. The directing award is named in honor of seven-time Academy Award nominee and Kansas City native Robert Altman.

Leonardo DiCaprio was named Best Actor for his work in The Revenant. In the supporting categories, Michael Shannon received the Best Supporting Actor prize for 99 Homes while Alicia Vikander was named Best Supporting Actress for Ex Machina. PIXAR’s Inside Out was named the year’s Best Animated Feature.

Below is a complete list of winners:

BEST PICTURE: Mad Max: Fury Road

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR: George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST ACTOR: Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant

BEST ACTRESS: Charlize Theron – Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Michael Shannon – 99 Homes

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Alicia Vikander – Ex Machina

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy – Spotlight

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Charles Randolph and Adam McKay – The Big Short
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: Inside Out

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Phoenix (Germany)

BEST DOCUMENTARY: Amy

VINCE KOEHLER AWARD FOR BEST SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY or HORROR FILM: Ex Machina

Related Content

• GET OUT and CALL ME BY YOUR NAME Dominate the Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards
• Kansas City Film Critics Name “Manchester by the Sea” the Best Film of 2016 During Presentation of 51st Annual James Loutzenhiser Awards
• Kansas City Film Critics Announces Nominees for the 50th Annual James Loutzenhiser Awards
• Kansas City Film Critics Name The Year’s Best
• You Can Be The Kansas City Alamo Drafthouse Movie Host

Kansas City, Missouri – The Kansas City Film Critics Circle, of which both Moviemike and Jeremy Werner are members, and the second oldest film critic organization in the country, released their nominees for the 50th Annual James Loutzenhiser Awards, recognizing the best in film for 2015.

Sicario, a fall release that addressed the war on drugs in both the United States and Mexico, led all films with five nominations including Best Picture and Best Director for Denis Villenueve. The film also earned nods for Emily Blunt for Best Actress, Benicio Del Toro for Best Supporting and Original Screenplay.

Right behind are the summer action film Mad Max: Fury Road and the upcoming Leonardo DiCaprio film, The Revenant, which each earned four nominations, including Best Picture. Also earning Best Picture nominations: Room and Spotlight. DiCaprio was nominated as one of the year’s Best Actors, along with Steve Carell (The Big Short), Bryan Cranston (Trumbo), Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs) and last year’s Academy Award winner in this category, Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl).

Charlize Theron was nominated as Best Actress for her role as Imperator Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road. Nominated alongside her and Blunt are Cate Blanchett (Carol), Bel Powley (The Diary of a Teenage Girl) and Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn).

Besides Del Toro, the list of nominees for Best Supporting Actor include Tom Hardy (The Revenant), Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies), Michael Shannon (99 Homes) and Sylvester Stallone, reprising his role of Rocky Balboa in Creed. In 1976 the group named Stallone the year’s Best Actor for playing Balboa in Rocky.

Blanchett’s Carol co-star, Rooney Mara, earned a nod for Best Supporting Actress, alongside Elizabeth Banks (Love and Mercy), Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight), Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina) and Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs).

Directors joining Villenueve in competition for the Robert Altman Award for Best Director are Alex Garland (Ex Machina), Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (The Revenant), Tom McCarthy (Spotlight) and George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road).

The group also handed out nominations for Best Animated Feature, Original Screenplay, Adapted Screenplay, Foreign Film, Documentary Feature and for the Vince Koehler Award, which is chosen as the year’s best Science Fiction, Horror or Fantasy Film.

Winners will be voted on and the results released this Sunday, December 20th.

Below is a complete list of nominees:

BEST PICTURE: Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant, Room, Sicario, Spotlight

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR: Alex Garland (Ex Machina), George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road), Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (The Revenant), Denis Villenueve (Sicario), Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)

BEST ACTOR: Steve Carell (The Big Short), Bryan Cranston (Trumbo), Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs), Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant), Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)

BEST ACTRESS: Cate Blanchett (Carol), Emily Blunt (Sicario), Bel Powley (The Diary of a Teenage Girl), Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn), Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Benicio Del Toro (Sicario), Tom Hardy (The Revenant), Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies), Michael Shannon (99 Homes), Sylvester Stallone (Creed)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Elizabeth Banks (Love and Mercy), Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight), Rooney Mara (Carol), Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina), Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Ex Machina, The Hateful Eight, Inside Out, Sicario, Spotlight, Trainwreck

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: The Big Short, Carol, The Martian, Room, Steve Jobs

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: Anomalisa, Inside Out, Minions, The Peanuts Movie, Shaun the Sheep

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: The Assassin, Goodnight Mommy, Phoenix, Son of Saul, The Tribe, White God

BEST DOCUMENTARY: Amy, Best of Enemies, The Look of Silence, Where to Invade Next, The Wrecking Crew

VINCE KOEHLER AWARD FOR BEST SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY or HORROR FILM: Ex Machina, Goodnight Mommy, It Follows, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian

Starring: Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega
Directed by: J.J. Abrams
Rated: PG 13
Running time: 2 hrs 16 mins
Walt Disney Pictures

Our Score: 4.5 out of 5 stars

38 years ago…in a galaxy far, far away, George Lucas introduced the world to what would become one of the most beloved film series in the history of Hollywood – “Star Wars.” In the ensuing years we’ve seen two sequels (well received) and three prequels (not as much). As the most anticipated film release that I can remember in some time, “The Force Awakens” has some big shoes to fill. And fill them it does.

As the film begins, the opening credit crawl tells us that Luke Skywalker has vanished. We are then introduced to three very different characters. Ace pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Issac), with his droid B-88, may have a piece to the puzzle that is the missing Jedi. Finn (Boyega) is a storm trooper who, during battle, has a “what the hell am I doing here” moment. And Rey (Ridley) is a scrap collector looking out for herself. They have nothing in common yet they have everything in common. It is their stories that fuel the film.

As someone who grew up with the films, they were an important part of my youth and I won’t deny that I was skeptical about another film, especially after the middle-of-the-road quality of Episodes One-Three. But I needn’t have worried. What director J.J. Abrams, who so successfully returned the “Star Trek” series to prominence, has created, along with co-writers Lawrence Kasdan and Michael Arndt, is an adventure that you will want to take again and again. New characters take their place alongside familiar faces and if you don’t get misty eyed the first time Han Solo (Ford) shows up you probably have the heart of a gundar!

Technically the film is amazing. The one problem many fans had with the prequels was that the computerized special effects looked too perfect. Here, with a blend of practical effects and CGI, the universe is back in balance. Abrams utilizes these effects to move the story along smoothly. Those new to the series can enjoy this film without seeing any of the previous films but for those who have, Abrams and company have included a couple nods to the original films that will surely have you smiling, among them the fact that the imperial storm troopers are still HORRIBLE shots! I just caught you smiling, didn’t I?

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker and Cillian Murphy
Directed By: Ron Howard
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 121 minutes
Warner Bros. Pictures

Our Score: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

I’m sure like most American children who enter the public education system, there came a point in your schooling that you had to read or were told you need to read “Moby Dick”. It’s a tale of revenge, obsession, and camaraderie, but one I barely remember. I’m actually not certain if I’ve read it or if I’ve ever watched the myriad of movies that have been created in its wake. I guess you could say that’s a same since it’s considered an American literary classic. After watching Ron Howard’s “In the Heart of the Sea” I can easily say it’s a shame it’s not going to be a classic.

What immediately separates “In the Heart of the Sea” from other “Moby Dick” tales is that Howard’s film is about the events that inspired Herman Melville’s novel. So say goodbye to the insane Captain Ahab, the curious Ishmael and the stoic Queequeg, and welcome your new narrator, Thomas Nickerson. The story is framed by the aged and rustic Nickerson, played by Brendan Gleeson (and Tom Holland in the past). Nickerson recounts the tale of the whaling ship, Essex, to the aspiring author, Melville (Ben Whishaw).

Despite being from the viewpoint of the young cabin boy, we recount much of the past through the life of Owen Chase (Hemsworth). He’s a young, but experienced whaler who’s attempting to establish the Chase name and put the failed farming past of his father behind him. He’s the first officer of the Essex, but may as well be the leader. Chase scowls behind Captain George Pollard Jr. (Walker), but Pollard scowls back, fearing that Chase’s presence is a threat to his young career as Captain.

The crew of the Essex sails off to warmer seas to find whale oil riches, but come up dry. While recharging and metaphorically refueling in a small South American village on the west coast of the continent, they hear rumors of a treasure trove of whales. There are two problems with this hearsay. The aquatic gold mine is thousands of miles away from land, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The other problem is a disturbing tale about a massive whale with a thirst for man’s blood and an axe to grind.

“In the Heart of the Sea” is one part historical events, one part embellished action sequences, and one part that can only be described as the Donner Party meets the Uruguayan Rugby team. Each part, in its own regard, is very interesting pieces to the cinematic puzzle, but Howard can seem to put them together. It’s a three act tale that handles different themes and tones, but the transitions between them feel unnatural and glaringly bad.

“In the Heart of the Sea” finds entertainment when it relies on the strength of its actors and captures the feeling of isolation amongst the crisp, calm sea. Our character’s plight is diminished by Nickerson’s interjections and Meville’s follow-up questions to the story at hand. As for the monstrous whale that always becomes the focal point of these movies, it’s well handled. It’s a classic man vs. nature, without nature running amok and becoming too unbelievable. In a sea of movies hoping to become Oscar contenders, Howard’s latest movie can only compete at the JV level.

We all know that when we’re playing our favorite video game, all that we want is to win. When we’re playing our favorite strategy games, fighting games or RPGs, winning rests on our skill and knowledge of the game. However, casino games are another thing altogether – here the rules of probability can help us a bit when we’re trying to win. But how does probability work in different casino games?

It isn’t called gambling for nothing you know – of course there’s never a guarantee, or else casino or bingo sites would never make any money! Although this is the case – there are definitely some probabilities that if you are aware of could tip some of the bets in your favor!

Bingo Probability
Where you have frequented Luke Hartley’s Top 10 Online Casinos or not, we all know you have asked yourselves how much you could win whilst playing your favorite bingo and slot games, right? At an established online bingo site – the average return to a player is somewhere between 40 and 50%. Essentially that should tell you that bingo should be played as a pastime rather than as a way to win money. As the probability of you leaving a bingo site with a profit is low – it’s a good idea for you to spend only what you can afford.

Dice Probability
When playing a dice game it’s definitely a good idea to try and figure out the probability of each throw to allow you to make an informed decision when betting. There are a total of 36 combinations and the probability ranges from 2.78% up to 16.67% – as you can see there is quite a difference there – so it’s best to swot up! What is also handy to calculate is the “House Edge”. For example in Craps the field bet is even money, however on the next throw if a 3, 4, 9, 10 or 11 comes out – it would double the bet on a 2 and treble the bet on a 12. The average probable return for craps is quite low as for every $1 a player spends – they can expect to lose 28 cents – and of course whatever the player loses – the house gains.

Casino and Table Games
A common technique used when playing Blackjack is what is known as card counting. It tends to be very experienced gamblers that do this and it’s a way for them to try and gauge the probability of a winning card coming out the pack. The object is to get your hand as close to 21 as possible without boing “bust”. To count cards – you would need to keep track of the cards that are already dealt – to see what could be coming next. This could be useful as the probability will change depending on the cards that are dealt.

Roulette is completely different. There are 38 spaces and after the wheel is spun a ball will be dropped into one of them. You can bet on colours, numbers, combinations, odd and even and ranges. The safest bet would be to bet on a colour or odd and even as they are evens.

One thing both video games and casino games have in common is the ability to find help online. There are hundreds of thousands of sites out there that give you cheats and walkthroughs of the video game you’re obsessed with. Maybe you’ll be surprised to learn that there are similar casino and bingo sites, that offer advice on your favorite games. Good luck, and remember that playing online games isn’t all about winning – it’s also about enjoying the game.

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, James McAvoy and Jessica Brown Findlay
Directed By: Paul McGuigan
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 109 minutes
20th Century Fox

Our Score: 1.5 out of 5 Stars

As I type this, we are 24 hours away from a marathon of Thanksgiving food, watching the Detroit Tigers lose, and tolerating relatives we rarely see. The last thing that feels remotely like the holidays is a movie about Frankenstein and his monster. But “Victor Frankenstein”, seemingly scared off by the month prior and all the competition, is out before the holidays to bore audiences instead of terrifying them.

It’s disheartening to see good actors in subpar movies and “Victor Frankenstein” has roped in Daniel Radcliffe and James McAvoy. Radcliffe plays Igor, who in this retelling is a hunchback because of a enlarged cyst and works in the circus because of his deformity. He has a bizarre and natural knack for medicine and human anatomy. How the picked on “creature” at a circus learns to pop a broken collarbone back into place is beyond me.

This unnatural habit is viewed by Frankenstein, played by a scene chewing James McAvoy. This version of Frankenstein is more like a young kid who had way too much fun making disfigured monsters in his little sister’s Easy-Bake Oven than a mad scientist. While Frankenstein attends school and plots out bringing the dead back to life, Igor, who does not attend school or intends to raise the dead, consistently corrects biological and neurological mistakes that the alleged science student makes.

Stumbling into the picture and further complicating matters is an overzealous, literally and metaphorically, detective and an old crush that Igor has. The eye candy of “Victor Frankenstein” is supposed to spark some humanity in Igor’s character, but it bogs down the pace of the movie instead. As for the detective, he constantly twirls a necklace cross in between his fingers, delivering Sunday sermons when he condemns Frankenstein. It’s the movie’s attempt at stating morals on science, life, religion, and the lines in the sand drawn between them.

But what the writers and director of “Victor Frankenstein” don’t understand is that every theme and bit of morality is in Frankenstein and the inevitable monster he creates. The monster in this doesn’t appear until the end and the big twist on the monster is lame, no matter how much scenery McAvoy chews up and spits at the audience. The values and ethics of the movie are too jumbled for anyone to feel any sympathy.

Much like Mary Shelley’s monster that was created in 1818, this possible reboot is just as cold and lifeless. The reimagining, the retelling, and re-anything needs to stop in Hollywood. “Victor Frankenstein” feels like “Sherlock Holmes” met “Dracula Untold” and couldn’t decide on how to balance the stupid and action in the movie. If you’re looking for a way to punish your relatives for their company this holiday, look no further than “Victor Frankenstein”.

Starring: Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone
Directed by: Ryan Coogler
Rated: PG 13
Running time: 2 hrs 12 mins
Warner Brothers

Our Score: 4 out of 5 stars

A group of boys gather around a couple of youngsters inside a juvenile facility. Suddenly the one surrounded takes charge, dropping his tormentor with one punch. You have to admit…the kids got it. So did his dad.

“Creed” tells the story of the son of the late Apollo Creed, who audiences last saw dying in the arms of Rocky Balboa after taking on the Russian boxing champion in “Rocky IV.” The young man with the lethal fists is one Adonis Johnson, who has been bouncing from juvie hall to foster home on and off since his mother died. Adonis has no idea who his father is until, shortly after his latest incident, he is introduced to Mary Anne Creed (Phylicia Rashad), the widow of the former champ. She takes the young man in and encourages him to make something of himself.

When we meet the adult Adonis (Jordan), he is a successful young man who secretly boxes in Mexico. He is confident in his talents. So confident that, despite a recent promotion, he quits his job and heads to Philadelphia, intent on having a certain ex-boxer train him. That boxer is Rocky Balboa (Stallone). Rocky wants nothing to do with the young man, but we’re not sure if it’s because he’s genuinely not interested or if he harbors some guilt over the death of Apollo. Eventually the two get together and Adonis begins to make a name for himself. He also finds a girlfriend in upstairs neighbor Bianca (Tessa Thompson), an aspiring musician.

Things go well for all concerned until it is discovered who Adonis’ father really is. He is offered a shot at the title, but only if he fights under the name Creed. The fight is set. The bell has rung. Will he go the distance?

Fans of the “Rocky” series will embrace this film as a natural fit in the saga. There are enough references to previous films to make it so. However, even if you’ve never seen any of the previous films, you will find “Creed” entertaining, in part thanks to the great chemistry between Jordan and Stallone. As the story progresses both men learn more about each other, setting the scene for some emotional revelations. I’m not afraid to say that Stallone could earn some award consideration for his work here. Jordan, who was so good in his previous film with director Coogler, “Fruitvale Station,” has just the right swagger to keep you rooting for Adonis, no matter what the circumstances.

Technically the film is especially strong. Early fights are filmed without an edit – a single camera surrounds the fighters in the ring, giving the audience a unique look from inside the square circle. Coogler’s script borrows a little bit from the original “Rocky” (champ’s opponent can’t fight so a gimmick is used to set up the match, Rocky spouts some profound words of wisdom), but it mostly stands alone as an original story.

Whether you look at it as a continuation of the “Rocky” saga or take it in as a stand-alone film, “Creed” is a crowd pleaser!

Starring the voices of: Jeffrey Wright and Frances McDormand
Directed by: Peter Sohn
Rated: PG
Running time: 1 hr 50 mins
Walt Disney Pictures

Our Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars

65 million years ago a rogue meteor hit the earth, changing the world drastically. One of the big changes was the extinction of the dinosaurs. But what if that meteor had missed?

Meet the Apatosaurus family. Momma and Poppa welcome the arrival of three eggs and their contents. Soon, the family is complete with Libby, Buck and Arlo. These particular dinosaurs are farmers, and they’re bodies allow them the opportunity to act as both the plow and the sprinkler system. Brainy Libby helps out, as does brawny Buck. Sadly, tiny Arlo can only feed the chickens (or at least the prehistoric version of chickens) and help fill the silo with corn so the family can survive the winter. Things go well until, like most films, tragedy strikes and Arlo finds himself on his own. Cue the sad music.

From the PIXAR division of Disney, “The Good Dinosaur” is a visual treat for the eyes. From the ice covered mountains to the rushing river waters it is amazing the advances that have been made in computer generated animation. Like most Disney films, the hero soon finds himself in trouble, where he is rescued by a young boy that Arlo names “Spot.” The best way to describe Spot is to ask if you remember the Feral Kid from “The Road Warrior.” If so, you now have an image of what I’m talking about.

The film follows Arlo and Spot as they make their way back to Three Claw Mountain. Along the way they meet some colorful creatures, including a trio of T-rex’s led by Sam Elliott. The many characters are vividly rendered and all are memorable. And frightening. I have no idea how this film received a PG rating. There is death in and around the story, including a scene where a cute, saucer-eyed animal is suddenly gobbled down and then torn to shreds by a pair of dueling pterodactyls! If you’re taking children under the age of 7 prepare to dry their tears.

Starring: Dorothy Tristan, Grace Tarnow and Jeff Puckett
Directed by: John D. Hancock
Not Rated
Running time: 1 hour 50 mins
First Run Features

Our Score: 4 out of 5 stars

A young girl loses her mother and is sent to live with her grandmother. A familiar plot in many a Lifetime movie. But in the talented hands of writer/star Dorothy Tristan and director John Hancock, “The Looking Glass” becomes so much more.

Julie (a very talented Tarnow, making her film debut) is un-aware that she and her grandmother, Karen (the still beautiful Tristan) share a love for performing. Karen, like Tristan herself, was once a talented actress and when she overhears Julie singing she helps her prepare to audition for a local musical production. As the two begin to bond, Julie begins to bury the grief she feels. No longer feeling alone in the world, she takes up with a local boy (Griffin Carlson) and learns to once again enjoy her life.

In his four decade career, director Hancock has always excelled in smaller, personal films. From “Bang the Drum Slowly” to the Nick Nolte prison drama “Weeds,” Hancock manages to give the characters meaning, bringing them to the forefront of the story. He achieves that again here. The quiet scenes between Julie and Karen a deeply moving and heartfelt. You almost feel as if you are eavesdropping on a personal conversation. Hancock is helped by a well-written screenplay by star Tristan. The storyline offers many opportunities to travel into “movie of the week” territory but Tristan refuses to take that easy route, instead giving the film real dialogue and situations.

On-screen, the talent abounds. Young Miss Tarnow proves herself an up-and-coming talent to keep an eye on. Matching her is Tristan who, after a successful acting career in the 70s, makes a return to the big screen after a three decade break. She hasn’t missed a beat. As the holiday season ascends upon us, I hope you find the time to take a trip through “The Looking Glass.” You will be entertained by what you find.

CAROL

The works of author Patricia Highsmith have been crafted into some truly great films including Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train and Anthony Minghella’s The Talented Mr. Ripley. This weekend, Todd Haynes’s latest film Carol from Highsmith’s The Price of Salt adds to these successes with brilliant work from a cast lead by two-time Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett and Oscar-nominee Rooney Mara. Blanchett plays the Carol Aird, a wealthy soon-to-be-divorced socialite in 1950s New York who begins a complex relationship with Mara’s younger shop girl Therese. The two navigate their feelings for one another while being challenged by the social norms of that time period. I attended Carol’s New York press conference this week where they, along with screenwriter Phyllis Nagy and fellow castmates Kyle Chandler and Jake Lacy joined moderator and WOR Radio film critic, Joe Neumier to discuss the film.

Director Haynes began the conference by discussing his approach to Highsmith’s work and this powerful romance at the center of the film:

Todd Haynes: I really was taking it on, as if for the first time, looking at the love story. Something that I felt I hadn’t really ever accomplished directly in my other films. And that really began with reading The Price of Salt, Patricia Highsmith’s beautiful novel, and the gorgeous adaptation of Phyllis’s script that first came to me with Cate attached. So it was quite a bundle of incentives when it first landed with me in 2013. But love stories are, you know unlike I guess war which is about conquerring the object, love stories are about conquerring the subject. And so it’s always the subject who is in a state of vulnerability and peril at some level. And through much of Carol that is the character of Therese who occupies a much less powerful position in the world in Carol…is younger, is more open, is sort of experiencing this woman with a freshness that is different from Carol’s life and experience. But what I loved about this story was how what happens between the two women really moves them through a series of events which change them both. And ultimately by the end of the film, it’s shifted sides. Carol is the one who comes to Therese with her heart on her sleeve at the end of film. So all of that made a lot of the smaller elements of looking and who’s being looked at and who is doing the looking and all of those questions, something that was very conducive to the cinematic language.

I asked Cate Blanchett, who had a supporting role in The Talented Mr Ripley in 1999 if she had studied Highsmith’s work in preparation for that film and how her perception of Carol changed upon revisiting it for this role:

Cate Blanchett: Yeah it’s one thing entirely reading a novel and quite another when you’re then reading it again when you’re going to play a character in the book. I mean I read everything of hers I could at the time we were making Ripley. It was actually, much to shame, the first time I’d ever encountered her work. But I also was very interested in you know all of the sort of filmic incarnations of her work as well…And there’s some wonderful observations and parts of internal monologue–well more internal monologue that Therese has–but observations of Carol that’re in the novel that were really really useful to read. I just read at the time, the first time I read the book as a reader but to then to try and make that stuff manifest was really exciting.

Screenwriter Phyllis Nagy actually got to speak extensively with Highsmith before she passed away in 1995. Moderator Neumier followed up with Nagy as to whether Highsmith was nervous about this novel becoming a screenplay for film:

Phyllis Nagy: Well she was dead by the time this came to me. So we didn’t have that conversation…[laughs] I’ll have it with her later tonight. She didn’t like many of the film adaptations of her work.
Cate Blanchett: Didn’t she?!
Phyllis Nagy: Oh no, she couldn’t stand them. Especially Strangers on a Train.
Cate Blanchett: Oh what does she know!?
Phyllis Nagy: You know from her perspective–the guys trade murders in that book and in the film of course they don’t and it was one of the first arguments we had when I said ‘Oh, I love Strangers on a Train!’ she said [frowning] ‘Hmmm’ really with disgust. But she liked aspects of the films, Robert Walker she loved and she thought Alain Delon was extremely attractive, of course. So I hope that she would find this entire enterprise extremely attractive. I think she would. I think we are all of us not betraying the intent and the tone of the work. Which, really I think is the only thing you can do to be reverent to a source material. Everything else is up for grabs.

Rooney Mara praised Haynes’s film for portraying Carol and Therese’s romantic relationship honestly without preaching:

Rooney Mara: I think one of great things about the film is that it’s not a political film, it’s not a film with an agenda, it’s not preaching to the audience. So people are allowed to just watch it for what it is which is a love story between two humans.

Later, she addressed whether or not Therese having an older female lover lessened the chances audiences would see the age gap as something Carol was exploiting.

Rooney Mara: …Would it ever feel predatory? It’s not like I’m 17 years old. You know, Therese is younger than Carol and she certainly is–they’re at different stages in their lives but I don’t think that she’s so young that it would be…it never felt predatory to me and I don’t think it ever really would have, male or female.

Rooney’s character at the start of Carol is already in a relationship with an over-eager boyfriend Richard, played by Jake Lacy who spoke about Richard:

Jake Lacy: Todd spoke a little when we first met about the idea that, for Richard the world is there to take, you know. He’s young, he’s in New York, he’s first generation American. He’s smart, he’s handsome, he has a job and a girl. You know, the world is his for the taking and yet it slips away from him. And sort of without knowing it, thank god that it does because otherwise…he’s fifteen years or ten years earlier than Carol and Harge and that world if he and Therese stayed together and created a life like them. It wasn’t a life anymore, you know?…To me, for Richard the idea of a dream that then falls apart, or that someone is not willing to be a part of that dream and trying to wrangle them into it…

Kyle Chandler plays Harge, Carol’s husband who is grappling with losing his perfect family in his divorce from Carol. Chandler spoke about the importance of playing his character without making him stereotypical:

Kyle Chandler: …It allowed me, I think at some point I realized that it could be a stereotypical character very easily. And [to] portray what you would imagine Guy from the Fifties under these circumstances…but what happened was at some point, the worst possible moment in a man’s life or a woman, when they’re in love, and they realize they’re not in love anymore. And this character never realized he wasn’t in love anymore. He was always in love and he was intensely in love. And he also had this little child. Not just his wife, not just his child, but his family unit. So important to him, and so important to say nothing of his social status and what he was. But he refused to give that up. So that…allowed me I think, to stay within that and never lose love or respect; But still be very confused on what is going on. Which goes back to that one direction that [Haynes] gave me when [Sarah Paulson’s character, Carol’s ex-lover Abby] is walking in the room and I look across and I go, ‘Who ARE you?’ basically.

Paulson as Abby, Carol’s ex-lover, is one of Carol’s strongest bonds in the film, who she actually calls upon to pick up Therese when they hit some obstacles. Paulson spoke about her character being in this tricky situation.

Sarah Paulson: …I do think, I wonder what I personally would do if someone I loved and still had feelings for, if I was called upon to come in and rescue the person that she currently loves…I don’t know, I don’t know. It was to me a very big testament to her friendship and her love and I think the desire to be around Carol and in Carol’s orbit no matter what. I think that Abby’s sense of society–and I don’t mean literal society but her community, her friendships, you know they were probably quite narrow at that time. So to lose something like that would be…the consequences of that would be too enormous. I just started thinking about things like that…

Haynes also commented on how a modern audience views all of Carol’s female relationships versus how people within that time period in the film would have seen it:

Todd Haynes: There are also things that a modern audience has to keep reminding ourselves we’re quite different at this time, counterintuitively. Where an older woman could invite a younger woman to lunch and it was absolutely totally appropriate. Where she would have never invited the head of the ski department to lunch. Or they could check into a motel together as two women but if they were a heterosexual unmarried couple, checking into a hotel at this time would have been a scandal. So there’s ways in which the morays and the codes of the time are also things that we’re learning and reading against their actions and gestures.

Carol is now in theaters, you can read my 5-star review here.