MAGGIE  * * 1 / 2

Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Abigail Breslin, Joely Richardson, Bryce Romero and Jodie Moore. Screenplay by John Scott 3. Directed by Henry Hobson.

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“It feels like a Hallmark Channel movie that just so happened to land a couple of cinema legends in the leading roles. Swaddled in burnished cinematography and cozy music cues, 5 Flights Up is not an unpleasant film; watching Freeman and Keaton is too much of a treat. But it is a false one that was tantalizingly close to being true.” – Movie Mezzanine, 05/07/2015

“Playing It Cool makes a pretty convincing argument against post-modernism. It assembles an enormously appealing cast then and proceeds to trip over its own shoelaces for an hour-and-a-half, while writers Chris Shafer and Paul Vicknair attempt to prove their smart-alecky superiority to the genre in which they’re working.” – Movie Mezzanine, 05/05/201

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON  * 1 / 2

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth and Scarlett Johansson. Written and directed by Joss Whedon.

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“What do you think the odds are that during the journey she might show him how to loosen up a little bit and enjoy himself, while he teaches her a few valuable life lessons about adulthood and responsibility? If there was an original idea in Jesse Gabe’s screenplay it died of loneliness long before reaching the screen.” – Movie Mezzanine, 04/29/2015

“A brawny historical melodrama with a twinge of magic realism amongst the oft-conflicting tones, what the movie lacks in discipline and polish it makes up for in sheer sincerity. The Water Diviner is a proudly old-fashioned, genuinely heartfelt picture so damned earnest that Crowe seems to be all but daring you not to like it. I liked it a lot.” – Movie Mezzanine, 04/22/2015

THE FORGER  *

Starring John Travolta, Christopher Plummer, Tye Sheridan, Abigail Spencer and Jennifer Ehle. Screenplay by Richard D’Ovidio. Directed by Philip Martin.

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“There was a time when this might have felt perhaps not quite as exhausted as it does during this particular moment in pop culture. With the surfeit of podcasts, chat shows, and tell-all autobiographies, comedians seem to spend more time these days pontificating on the existential dilemmas of being comedians than actually telling jokes.” – Movie Mezzanine, 04/20/2015

“A slippery, enigmatic and altogether mesmerizing film about the passage of time, and the way our ideas about art evolve according to our life experiences. It’s a movie you’ll find yourself turning over in your mind for quite some time after the closing credits roll, marinating in the heady swirl of ideas and defiantly unresolved resolutions.” – WBUR’s The ARTery, 04/17/2015

“As Plummer explains, ‘He’s got a good heart. It’s just up his ass most of the time.’ I laughed a lot during Danny Collins and I cried a little bit, too. This is a hugely entertaining, mainstream crowd-pleaser about how we can all try to be our better selves, fail spectacularly, and then pick ourselves up and try again. Baby steps.” – Movie Mezzanine 04/08/2015