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This film, is my humble opinion, is awesome. Of course, if you watched our video, you’d know that the other half of Two Jews On Film, did not think so.

In any case, for those of you who aren’t comic book readers, here are the cliff notes…

Thousands of years ago, a race of really scary looking beings, known as the Dark Elves, led by the equally freaky looking, Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) tried to send the universe into darkness, using a powerful weapon known as the Aether.. Guess these dudes don’t like the sun, hence their extremely pale skin.

These evil beings were defeated by the supremely handsome Asgard warriors, led by King Odin (Anthony Hopkins)

The Asgard sent the Elves into exile and hid the Aether in a place where no one would ever find it…Seriously…When did that ever work?

Anyway Malekith escapes and rallies his troupes, determined to find the Aether and send all the 9 realms, including Earth, into complete darkness.

At the same time, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) has been busy busting heads with his hammer, in an attempt to bring peace to these 9 realms. He’s also pining away for his human love, astrophysicist, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman)

Speaking of Dr. Jane, in between, longing for Thor’s godly touch, she discovers an anomaly similar to the one that brought him and his hammer to Earth in the first place.

When the doc and her over the top sarcastic intern (Kat Denning) go to investigate, Jane is sucked into a wormhole.

Meanwhile back on Asgard, Thor’s bro, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) has been imprisoned for treason and dealing with mommy (Rene Russo) issues.

When Thor, thanks to his buddy (Idris Elba) finds out that Jane has disappeared, he tells his daddy, King Odin, that he wants to return to Earth to find her. Odin says, No way…your place is here and of course, as sons often do, Thor disobeys…

But just as Thor lands on Earth, Jane reappears. Only problem is, during her trip through the wormhole, the Aether entered her body.

This is not a good thing, since apparently us humans, can’t handle its power. So, unless Thor can find a way to get the Aether out of Jane’s body, she will die.

Faster than the speed of light, he whisks his soul mate back to Asgaard to keep her safe until he can find a solution to Jane’s problem.

This turns out to be a not so great idea, since, Malekith senses the Aether on Asgaard and he gathers his forces to attack.

To say anymore would spoil the fun…And this film, shot in 3D, IS fun…a lot of fun and it’s also funny, as well as exciting, with dazzling special effects, and great characters…There’s even a couple of surprises.

The cast is wonderful, with Hiddleston being one of my personal favorites and let’s face it, Chris Hemsworth is quite pleasant to look at.

Also worth mentioning is Chris O’ Dowd, who has a very funny cameo as Jane’s blind date and of course Stellan Skarsgard, who returns as the discredited scientist, Erik Selvig.

‘Thor: The Dark World’ directed by Alan Taylor (‘Game of Thrones’) and written by Christopher L. Yost, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, based on the comic book by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby, opens in theatres, Friday November 8, 2013.

I gave the film 5 bagels out of 5…John wasn’t even close with his.

Check out our video for more of our thoughts and John’s bagel rating.

I have to say, this movie pleasantly surprised me, since I never read the book, written by Orson Scott Card, that the film is based on.

That might have something to do with the fact, that I’m not a 12 year old teenage boy or girl. Apparently the book and its sequels sold zillions of copies.

So for those of you, who don’t know what ‘Ender’s Game is about…Here you go…

If it wasn’t for the legendary heroics of International Fleet Commander, Mazer Rackham (Ben Kingsley) the Formics would have destroyed the planet and all us humans in a blink of an eye.

But, that’s not what happened. We did major damaged to these creatures and they haven’t been heard from in over 50 years. But that means nothing to the men in charge. They believe that any day these creatures will come back and finish the job, so we must be prepared.

Prepared to finish the job…aka…Destroy every single one of these ugly bugs, so they’ll never again come knocking at our door.

In order to achieve this, The International Military led by Colonel Hyrum Graff (the very stern looking Harrison Ford) are training the best and the brightest guys and girls to find another ‘Mazer’. And I should mention, that the best and the brightest, are all teenagers. Seems grownups aren’t that good at killing…Could have surprised me… So it looks like the saviors of humanity, are kids who never even frenched…

Unfortunately, Graff hasn’t found anyone who he believes could destroy the Formic…That is until he meets…

Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield) a shy, but strategically brilliant 12 year old, whose brother and sister both flunked out of the program.

Graff sees something special in Ender and he’s brought into Battle School to begin his training.

Watching Ender quickly and easily master the increasingly difficult challenges and simulations that come up, as well as seeing him deal with the other kids at the school, is what kept my attention.

Butterfield is an intense actor and commands the screen. He definitely holds his own against Ford.

The rest of the cast, including Abigal Breslin as Ender’s sister are all quite good.

The visuals are great, and the finale has a really good twist.

For that reason, I gave ‘Ender’s Game’ written and directed by Gavin Hood, 4 bagels out of 5 and John came pretty close with his score.

The film opens in theatres Friday, November 1, 2013 and it’s definitely a fun ride.

Check out our video for more of our thoughts.

‘Last Vegas’, directed by Jon Turteltaub (‘National Treasure’) and written by Dan Fogelman (‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’) is what I and many others would call ‘Hangover’ for the geriatric set.

That doesn’t mean, the film isn’t funny, because it is…at times.

This is the story of four guys from Flatbush who form a friendship as kids (they are known as the ‘Flatbush 4’) and remain friends for nearly 60 years.

When we first meet the characters as grown up men, Sam (Kevin Kline) is living in Florida with his wife and bored out of his mind.

Archie (Morgan Freeman) is going crazy living with his overly protective son in New Jersey. Archie, the oldest of the group at 70, has had a little stroke, or episode as he likes to call it, and now spends most of his time, playing with his grandson.

Paddy (Robert DeNiro) is mourning the loss of his wife hardly ever stepping out of his Brooklyn apartment.

When the guys receive a phone call from Billy (Michael Douglas) their rich, overly tanned, lawyer friend who lives in Malibu, announcing that he’s finally getting married at the age of 69, the men decide to reunite in Vegas for a bachelor party.

It’s important to note at this point two things…One, Paddy is tricked into going, since he hasn’t spoken to Billy in over a year. He’s pissed off at him for not attending his wife’s funeral and, two…Billy’s girlfriend is 32 years old.

When the men arrive in town, they realize that this is NOT the Vegas of their youth…But that doesn’t stop them from quickly getting the lay of the land and partying like it’s 1979…or thereabouts.

Along the way, an older, but still beautiful woman, Diana (Mary Steenburgen) who sings the blues at a local lounge decides to join the guys as they storm the town.

‘Last Vegas’ is about the difficulties that come with growing old, especially when you still feel like a kid inside, but more importantly, it is the story of friendship and what binds us to one another.

The film which opens, Friday November 1, 2013 will make you laugh, at times groan at some of the obvious corny jokes, but I promise, you will leave the theatre feeling good.

For that reason, I gave ‘Last Vegas’ 3 1/2 bagels out of 5.

Check out our video for John’s rating and more of our thoughts.

First thing I must say is that Matthew McConaughey has become one hell of an actor…

From ‘Killer Joe’ to ‘Paper Boy’ followed by ‘Mud’ and now ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ he gives nothing less than stellar performances.

‘Dallas Buyers Club’ is based on true events and is the story of one man’s determination to survive against all odds.

The year is 1985…The place Dallas Texas.

McConaughey plays Ron Woodroof, a 35 year old electrician and rodeo cowboy. He lives a life filled with unprotected sex, booze, drugs and hanging out with his homophobic friends.

Except for a few bouts of dizziness, Ron’s life is one big party.

But that soon changes, when he’s diagnosed with the H.I.V. virus and given 30 days to live.

At first, Ron is in denial of his situation. Like most people at that time, he believed that AIDS was a ‘gay’ disease. How could he possibly have it?

But soon Ron’s body gives out and he’s hospitalized, sharing sharing a room with fellow AIDS patient, Rayon (Jared Leto) a beautiful transsexual, who’s on AZT, a drug that was so toxic at the time, it was killing patients faster than the disease.

Refusing to spend his last days in a hospital bed, Ron checks himself out and proceeds to learn everything there is to know about AIDS.

His research leads him to Mexico, where he finds a doctor treating HIV and AIDS patients with alternative medicines, including vitamins and peptides.

Realizing that these treatments are deemed illegal by the FDA, because of pressure from the pharmaceutical lobby, Ron winds up travelling all over the world, smuggling various medicines into the U. S.

He eventually teams up with Rayon and together, they form a ‘Buyer’s Club’ where patients pay monthly dues and have unlimited access to alternative medicines.

With a growing community of friends and clients, Ron goes up against the FDA, fighting for patients rights, their dignity and most importantly, for their acceptance.

‘Dallas Buyers Club’ directed by Jean-Marc Vallee, from an original screenplay by Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack, is a beautiful, inspiring film about never giving up.

Come Oscar time, I’m sure both McConaughey and Leto will get well deserved nominations for their fantastic performances.

Rounding out the cast is Jennifer Garner who plays Dr. Eve Saks, Ron’s personal physician, who reluctantly becomes his ally.

I gave ‘Dallas Buyer’s Club’, which opens in theatres Friday, November 1, 2013 five bagels out of five.

Check out our video to see John’s score and for more of our thoughts.

”The Counselor’ is one of those films that I really expected to love. After all, it was directed by Ridley Scott and written by Pulitzer Prize winning author, Cormac McCarthy (‘No Country For Old Men’)

If those credentials weren’t enough, the cast included Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz and Penelope Cruz. What could possibly go wrong?

Actually, a lot.

Fassbender plays The Counselor. That’s right…The guy doesn’t have a name…Everyone simply calls him, Counselor.

The Counselor, for unexplained reasons, needs to make a great deal of money fast. Maybe it’s because he just got engaged to the love of his life, played by Penelope Cruz and he wants to spend every day in bed with her instead of working.

In any case, he ignores the advice of his good friend/client, Reiner (Javier Bardem) a crooked, larger than life nightclub owner, who brings him into the shady deal and then tries to talk him out of it…

Reiner, in one of his many monologues, tells the Counselor…’If you pursue this road that you’ve embarked on, you’ll eventually come to moral decisions, that will take you completely by surprise. ‘Ones you didn’t see coming at all.’

Yep, that’s how everyone in the film talks…No one just says…’Dude, it’s a bad idea to get involved with the cartel’…Nope it’s one long soliloquy after another.

Even Brad Pitt, who plays Westray, a shady middleman, gets in on the philosophizing, as does Cameron Diaz – Reiner’s malevolent, sociopath girlfriend, who has this thing for sports cars.

Cormac describes the Fassbender character as a classical figure in tragedy. ‘He’s a decent man who gets up one morning and decides to do something wrong…And that’s all it takes’.

I agree…Fassbender’s character makes a very big mistake, but you don’t know enough about him to really care…and for that reason, I gave ‘The Counselor’ which opens in theatres Friday, October 25, 2013, only 3 bagels out of 5.

Check out our video for more of our thoughts and for John’s bagel rating.

Some films are works of art…that you’ll remember for years…Films you’ll want to watch over and over again…’Escape Plan’, directed by Mikael Hafstrom, is not one of them…

However, it is very entertaining, in a predictable sort of way.

Sylvester Stallone plays Ray Breslin, the world’s leading authority on prisons…building them…securing them and most importantly, breaking out of them.

He’s paid big bucks to engineer real life jailbreaks from high security correctional facilities. In fact, Ray has a 100 per cent escape rate.

When Breslin and his associates at B & C Security, Abigail (Amy Ryan), Hush (Curtis ’50’Cent Jackson) and Lester (Vincent D’Onofrio) are offered double their normal rate to evaluate, The Tomb, an off the grid privately run maximum security prison, which is supposedly escape proof, Breslin can’t resist the challenge.

Big Mistake.

Once inside this high tech warehouse, for some of the world’s deadliest felons, Breslin realizes that he cannot communicate with his team on the outside. In other words, he is on his own.

Now this is a very bad thing, since the prison is run by Willard Hobbes (Jim Caviezel) a super sadistic warden, who employs equally sadistic guards, who carry big guns and wear really scary masks.

What’s a guy to do?

Well, lucky for Breslin, one of his prisoner mates, happens to be a very large muscular dude, named Emil, played by California’s ex governor/body builder extraordinaire, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who would like nothing more than to escape this joint.

So will Breslin and Emil put their super sized heads together and escape or will they spend the rest of their days watching reruns of ‘Terminator’ and ‘Rocky 3’.

All joking aside, I do have to admit that I enjoyed ‘Escape Plan’ while I was watching it. And I think you will too, as long as you don’t expect anything else besides a fun roller coaster ride..

For that reason, I gave ‘Escape Plan’ which opens in theatres Friday October 17, 2013, three bagels out of five.

Check out our video for John’s rating and for more of our thoughts about this film.

’12 Years A Slave’ directed by the extremely talented, Steve McQueen, (‘Shame’) is simply put…Brilliant.

Written by John Ridley, based on Solomon Northrup’s best selling memoir, published over 160 years ago, this is a true story of one man’s fight for survival and freedom.

Eight years before the Civil War, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) a free black man, from upstate New York, is abducted on a trip to Washington D.C.and sold into slavery.

Facing extraordinary cruelty, by a malevolent slave owner, Edwin Epps (the always wonderful, Michael Fassbender) Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. When the film opens, we find Northup, an accomplished musician, living with his wife and children, in a lovely middle class neighborhood in Saratoga Springs, New York. He is surrounded by people who like and respect him. Life is good.

Unfortunately, It’s not long before Northup is drugged, stripped of his papers, shackled and sold to a heartless slave trader,(Paul Giamatti) Are there any other kind?

He is quickly shipped off to Louisiana, where he is at the mercy of a series of plantation owners, including William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch) and the above mentioned, Epps.

While Solomon takes comfort in his friendships with his fellow slaves, Eliza (Adepero Oduye) and Patsey (Lupita Nyong’o) his mind and body are pushed to horrific limits at the whims of his captors.

Still, no matter how much brutality he is forced to endure, Solomon never succumbs to hopelessness and holds onto the belief that one day, he will be a FREE man.

’12 Years A Slave’ is powerful, intense, inspiring, and at times, extremely hard to watch…But at the same time, this exquisite film is a testament to the human spirit.

The supporting cast includes:…Alfre Woodard, who plays Mrs. Shaw, a black woman, who was once a slave, but now, she’s married to a white plantation owner, with slaves of her own…

Paul Dano, as a sadistic plantation overseer and Sarah Paulson, Epps jealous, angry wife, who takes her rage out on the slaves and…

Brad Pitt, who’s not only one of the Producers, but also plays a pivotal role in the film as a Canadian abolitionist.

I gave ’12 Years A Slave’, which opens Friday October 18, 2013, five bagels out of 5 and watch our video for more of our thoughts and to see John’s bagel score…HINT: It was the same as mine.

There are many reasons to see this film.

Number One:This is one of the best directed films I’ve seen in 2013 and…

Tom Hanks as Captain Phillips has never been better. If that isn’t enough to convince you, John, the other half of Two Jews On Film…(The super critical half) awarded it five bagels out of 5.

‘Captain Phillips’ directed by Paul Greengrass is an edge of your seat thriller. It’s based on a true story that took place in 2009 off the coast of Africa.

Somali pirates take an American sea captain hostage, while simultaneously exposing the underlying economic divide that sets the events in motion.

The story begins in Vermont where Capt. Phillips (the wonderful Tom Hanks) leaves his wife (Catherine Keener) and family to sail cargo halfway around the world.

At the same time we travel to Somali where pirates led by a former coastal fisherman, Muse (Barkhad Abdi) is planning to overtake one of the high value ships that passes through his coast daily.

The film basically focuses on the intense relationship between Muse and Phillips as the Captain tries everything in his power to protect his crew.

The first time actors playing the pirates are absolutely fantastic and they definitely hold their own against Hanks.

Even though everyone knows how the story turns out, it doesn’t spoil the edge of your seat tension that you will experience.

This film is not only non stop action and excitement, but the ending, thanks to Hanks incredible performance, will bring you to tears. I know it did me.

As I already said, John and I both gave ‘Captain Phillips’ which opens in theatres Friday, October 11, 2013 five bagels out of five and I bet you will too.

Check out our video for more of our thoughts.

There are a few things that scare me…The thought of being ‘buried alive’…Being locked in a room with snakes and rats, and now, after seeing the brilliant, heart stopping thriller, ‘Gravity’, being stranded in space has now been added to my list.

‘Gravity, directed by Alfonso Curaron (‘Children of Men’) wrote the script with his son Jonas. This film is not only breathtaking, but it’s ground breaking.

When I left the theatre, I definitely felt that I’ve been to deep space. That’s how amazing the visual effects are.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with what it’s like up there…There is nothing to carry sound…There is no oxygen and there is no air pressure.

Of course, it’s not all bad…The beauty is astonishing.

But that’s not necessarily the case, when you find yourself stranded in such an environment.

The film opens in the silent abyss 800 kms above the Earth’s atmosphere, where the Shuttle Explorer is in orbit.

Mission Specialist, Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) who is attached to a robotic arm, is installing a new scanning system on the Hubble Telescope.

Dr. Stone’s obvious discomfort in zero gravity, is in stark contract to the Mission Commander, Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) who happily rides around space in his jet pack, while listening to old skool country western music on his radio.

This is his final voyage into space and Matt is having a blast.

At first things are relativity calm, filled with random chit-chat, but of course, it doesn’t take long for all that to change.

A voice (Ed Harris) from Mission Control in Houston, tells Kowalksi, that on the other side of the planet, the intentional demolition of an obsolete satellite has sent sharp fragments hurtling into space, setting off a chain reaction that puts the fast growing debris field on a collision course with the Explorer.

They are told to get back to the shuttle and get the hell out of there. But…that isn’t quite what happens.

The debris comes quick and and the inescapable impact is catastrophic, destroying the shuttle and leaving Stone and Kowalski as the lone survivors.

To make matters worse, all communication with Mission Control, has been lost and with it, any change of rescue.

These really nothing else to say about this incredible, innovative film expect this…Sandra Bullock…Sandra Bullock…Sandra Bullock…She is absolutely amazing. She brings out so many shades of Dr. Stone and you can’t help but route for her.

She hits all the right note and in the end, you realize that ‘Gravity’ is a story of a woman’s passage from a place of loss that makes her emotionally numb to a place where she rediscovers her purpose and her passion for life.

Do not miss ‘Gravity’ which opens in theatres, Friday October 4th 2013 and see it in 3D and IMAX if you can.

I gave ‘Gravity’ five bagels out of five and John came pretty close with his score.

Check out our video for more of our thoughts and John’s rating.

First I have to say that I love Joseph Gordon Levitt. He is one talented actor and with his new film, ‘Don Jon’, he shows us that acting, is not the only thing he’s good at.

Not only does Levitt star in this film, he wrote and directed it as well.

Levitt plays Jon Martello, (aka Don Jon) an Italian American from New Jersey. Jon is single…Works as a bartender…Loves to hang out with his buddies at the local clubs, loves to pick up girls and have sex with them and…loves to watch internet porn.

In fact, Jon is addicted to porn…Watches it before sex, during sex and after sex. The dude can’t get enough of it…And he just doesn’t watch it…He gets off to it…at least 17 times a day. That’s right, 17 times a day, give or take one or two times.

He’s also a good Catholic boy. Every Sunday, in the confessional, Jon tells his priest, all about his sexual escapades. The priest gives him a bunch of Hail Mary’s and Our Father’s to recite and then Jon, having been absolved of his sins, is free to start sinning, over again.

Jon’s one happy guy…But of course, this being a movie, his contentment cannot last. Conflict is just around the corner…and it comes…

In the form of a gorgeous, bright, extremely high maintenance, New Jersey girl, Barbara Sugarman (the wonderful Scarlett Johansson).

Barbara, who loves Hollywood movies, is determined to find her Prince Charming…Well Jon isn’t exactly her Prince Charming, but that’s not a problem for Babs. She’ll just turn him into one and Jon, thinking he’s in love, is more than happy to oblige.

Jon even returns to school and of course, promises (after he’s caught) to give up watching porn, forever.

‘Don Jon’ is a funny, touching, romantic film that even has a couple of surprises.

It also has the always excellent, Julianne Moore, who plays Esther, a woman who comes into Jon’s life and turns it upside down.

I liked ‘Don Jon’ which opens in theatres, Friday September 27, 2013 a lot and gave it 4 bagels out of 5.

Check out our video to see John’s bagel rating (Hint: He actually liked this one) and for more of our thoughts.