100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 164: Homefront

Director: Gary Fleder

Genre: Action/ Crime/ Thriller

Runtime: 100 minutes

Year: 2013

Starring: Jason Statham, James Franco, Winona Ryder, Kate Bosworth, Frank Grillo, Clancy Brown

Description: A former DEA agent (Jason Statham) moves his family to a quiet town, where he soon tangles with a local meth druglord

Review: In the opening scene of “Homefront” we see how Phil Broker infiltrates a drugs lab. One of the gang members has to watch his son being killed. The bad guys is going to jail and Broker starts a new life with his daughter Maddy. He does this in a town nearby and it’s hard for Broker to stay low. He draws the attention of the wrong people after his daughter gets into a fight with a classmate.

When Broker humiliates the aggressive father on the parking lot of his daughter’s school. Mother Cassie asks her brother Gator for help. When Gator breaks into Broker’s house, he finds evidence of him being an undercover agent.

Although this really sounds dumb, the movie isn’t half bad. Jason Statham is pretty good in this film and so are James Franco and Winona Ryder as the bad guys. “Homefront” isn’t anything special, but it’s better than you’d expect it to be.

It’s simple entertainment, a perfect no-brainer.

Rating: 3/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015- # 95: Still Alice

Director: Richard Glatzer
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 101 minutes
Year: 2014
Starring: Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin, Kate Bosworth, Kristen Stewart, Hunter Parrish, Shane McRea, Seth Gilliam, Stephen Kunken, Daniel Gerroll, Erin Drake, Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Maxine Prescott, Orlagh Cassidy, Rosa Arredondo, Zillah Glory, Caridad Montanez, Caleb Freundlich, Charlotte Robson

Description: A linguistics professor (Julianne Moore) and her family find their bonds tested when she is diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease.

Review: How it can change your life, when your memory suddenly starts to fail, is something Alice discovers. This intelligent woman is confronted with the Alzheimer ‘s Disease.
Alice Howland really needs her brain. She is a very spirited linguistics professor at a university, like her husband John. Together with him, their two daughters and son they celebrate her 50th birthday. Alice is enjoying her evening, but realizes that sometimes she doesn’t find the right words to say. She knows them, but can’t find a way to produce them.
No one seems to notice, but Alice is smart enough to mask it. John claims it’s her busy job, but Alice doesn’t trust it. When she goes jogging, she suddenly forgets where she it. This is reason enough for her to visit the doctor. The neurologist tells her she has a rare form of Alzheimer’s and it’s genetic, so her kids could have it as well.
It all sounds like one of those bitter sweet stories about a successful woman fighting a disease till the end. “Still Alice” has so much more to offer and all thanks to the brilliant acting by Julianne Moore.
She accepts her faith, but is also frustrates her. Although she is strong, her fear never goes away. It’s very touching to see how Alice’s disease is slowly getting worse. Julianne Moore received an Oscar for her performance, and it’s well deserved.

Rating: 4/ 5