Limitless

Movie: Limitless

Genre: thriller/drama

Synopsis: Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) is a bit of loser.  He has been working on writing a book for six months and has yet to write a single word.  Then his ex-brother-in-law gives him a pill.  This pill enables a person to go from using only 20% of his brain to using 100%.  It is as if he were blind before and now can see.  And he sees – and understands – everything.  After securing a supply of these pills, Eddie starts moving up in the world.  He ends up working for an industrialist played by Robert DeNiro.  Things start going south for Eddie when a Russian mobster comes after him.  There is also someone trying to kill Eddi and his girlfriend – but he does not know why.

My two cents: This was a great movie.  The scenes where the pill takes effect were really well done and did the job of conveying a sense of what it would seem like to have your IQ suddenly jump five-fold or more.  There are some great scenes between Robert DeNiro’s character and Eddie.  I was afraid that I was going to not like the ending, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it had a great ending.

Bottom line: See this movie.

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Jane Eyre

Movie: Jane Eyre

Genre: drama

Synopsis: When she is very young, Jane Eyre’s parents die.  She is taken in by Mrs.Reed (Sally Hawkins) who promised Jane’s mother she would take care of Jane.  Jane’s life with Mrs. Reed and her son is one of constant torment.  Finally, she is sent away to a boarding school where life really gets tough for Jane.  We skip forward to an older Jane (Mia Wasikowska) finally leaving (escaping?) the school when she is hired to be a governess by Mrs. Fairfax (Judi Dench).  Mrs. Fairfax is the manager of the country estate of Mr. Rochester (Michael Fassbender).  Jane is to be the governess of a girl who is the ward of Rochester. Jane proves to be extremely intelligent and perfectly willing to speak her mind when given the opportunity.

There is something not quite right about the estate. Things literally go bump in the night.  The movie follows the relationship between Rochester and Jane a mystery from Rochester’s past and Jane’s journey to come to grips with life.

My two cents:  A pretty good movie.  I loved how Mia Wasikowska played Jane – very prim and proper, but lurking close beneath the surface was a bright young lady with definite and erudite opinions on matters.  It was also interesting to see Sally Hawkins played a nasty vindictive old lady.

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Paul

Movie: Paul

Genre: sci-fi comedy

Synopsis: Graeme (Simon Pegg) and Clive (Nick Frost) are two die-hard sciencefiction/fantasy fans from England.  The movie opens with the two of them visiting San Diego to fulfill their dream of attending Comic-Con.  After the convention, they rent an RV to tour the west to see places like Roswell and Area 51.  Along the way, they happen upon a real alien (voiced by Seth Rogan) named Paul.  Paul is on the run from the government.  Naturally Graeme and Clive decide to help him.  The chase involves multiple run-ins with the agent chasing them (Jason Bateman) as well as a couple of red-neck good old boys who just want to kill them just because they don’t like them. 

My two cents: This was a really fun movie.  It was great two nerds fulfilling their fantasies as they visited places like Roswell.  Paul was really well done.  There were lots of tie-ins to classic alien movies.  For example, when they stop for snacks, Paul yells “Don’t forget the Reese’s Pieces”.  Thrown in also are some bits of wisdom from Paul that are worth thinking about.

Bottom line: Most definitely worth seeing

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