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To write a film that is funny, touching, clever, insightful, quirky and have it work, is incredibly hard to do…Jonathon Tropper has done it brilliantly. Of course, he also wrote the novel.

This dramatic comedy, directed by Shawn Levy is based on Tropper’s hilarious and poignant best selling novel.

The plot: Four grown siblings are forced to return to their childhood home and live under the same roof with their mother for a week after their father dies.

But these aren’t just any siblings and this isn’t just any mother.

The film opens with Judd Altman (Jason Bateman) coming home early from his job as a producer of a popular radio show, to surprise his wife, Quinn (Abigal Spencer) on her birthday. Unfortunately, Judd is the one that gets surprised. He finds Quinn in bed with his boss, Wayne (Dax Shepard)

And that’s the end of Judd’s perfect life. No more beautiful wife…no more job…no more great New York City apartment.

It’s in this dysfunctional state, Judd gets a call that his father has died and he has to return to his childhood home and reunite with his fiercely supportive but bossy big sister, Wendy (Tina Fey), older brother, Paul (Corey Stoll) the responsible member of the family, younger brother/flake, Phillip (Adam Driver) and his mother, Hillary (the wonderful Jane Fonda) who loves to voice her opinions about everything, especially sex and display her newly acquired breasts.

Added to this mix, is Philip’s older, rich fiancee, Tracy (Connie Britton) Horry, (Timothy Olyphant) Wendy’s first love, Paul’s wife, Annie (Kathryn Hahn) who is desperate to have a baby and next door neighbor, Linda (Debra Monk).

Rounding out this eclectic group is Penny (Rose Byrne, a hometown girl who’s carried a torch for Judd since high school and Ben Schwartz as Rabbi Grodner aka boner, a moniker he’s been trying to shake for years.

‘This Is Where I Leave You’ is a film about a family confronting their history…It’s also about the people in our lives that even though they might drive us crazy, in the end, they will always be there for us, because they are…our family.

Check out our Two Jews On Film video for more of my witty observations.

‘There are three reasons to see ‘The Drop’ They are…Tom Hardy… Tom Hardy..Tom Hardy. He’s in practically every scene and is absolutely awesome. For those of you that may not be familiar with his name, he played the evil masked villian, Hugo Strange in ‘The Dark Knight’.

In ‘The Drop’ is a gripping crime thriller, as well as a profoundly interesting character study. Hardy plays Bob Saginowski, a bartender who lives and works in a low income section of Brooklyn. The bar was once owned by his cousin Marvin (the excellent James Gandolfini, in his last film role) but has been taken over by the Chechen mob, who use it as ‘drop’ a place to launder their dirty money.

Bob spends his days tending bar, sweeping up and staying out of the way of his super nasty crime bosses.But it doesn’t take long before his mundane, dull life changes.

One night the bar is robbed. Even though only $5000 was stolen, Bob and Marv realize that they could be in for an even bigger heist what with Super Bowl Sunday coming up.

But this isn’t the only event, that disrupts Bob’s quiet life. One night walking home, he hears the cries of a dog coming from a garbage can. He opens the lid and pulls out a badly beaten pit bull puppy, that even with his wounds, is so adorable, it would warm even the coldest of hearts. Despite trying not to, Bob falls instantly in love with the little guy and names him Rocco.immediately in love with the little guy and names him Rocco. I should mention there’s a girl involved with this puppy. Her name is Nadia and the dog belonged to her. She also had a very abusive, ex-con boyfriend, Eric Deeds (the wonderful menacing Matthias Schoenaerts) who hurt them both.

She teaches Bob everything he needs to know in order to be a good ‘dog daddy’ and soon the two of them are living in perfect harmony.

There are a couple of problems Bob needs to deal with…One is Deeds demands for $10,000 or something tragic will happen to Rocco as maybe even Nadia. If that’s not stressful enough, Super Bowl Day is fast approaching and there’s a good chance the bar will be revisited by the thieves.

The film directed by Michael R. Roskam was written by Dennis Lehane (‘Mystic River’ ‘Gone Baby Gone’ ‘Shutter Island’) from his short story entitled ‘Animal Rescue’ is definitely a film you don’t want to miss.

‘The Drop’ opens Friday, September 12, 2014 and I gave it 4 bagels out of 4. I gave Thomas Hardy 5 bagels out of 5.

Have to say, this film was a very happy surprise. Is it silly? At times, over the top? Unbelievable? Of course…But it’s also, thanks to director, Patrick Hughes (‘Red Hill’) and screenwriters, Stallone, Creighton Rothenberger & Katrin Benedikt extremely entertaining, filled with lots of humor and killer action scenes.

Okay first let’s talk about the cast…

At the beginning of the film, in one of the best edge-of-your-seat, action scenes, we meet what’s left of the original Expendables… founder, Barney Ross, (Sylvester Stallone) his BFF, second in command, knife expert, Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), Gunter Jensen, (Dolph Lungren) Toll Road (Randy Couture) and Hale Caesar (Terry Crews)

They are about to rescue former team member, Doc (Wesley Snipes) who’s been imprisoned in some country I never heard of, for the last 8 years. Needlessly to say, the mission is a success.

It takes Doc, a mere 24 hours, to be up and running. And I mean RUNNING. Okay, so here’s one of the many places you need to suspend belief, because, personally, I don’t know anyone who, after spending 8 years in a tiny cell, can leap from tall buildings and run across a speeding train, while dodging bullets from several automatic weapons.

That aside…After this amazing rescue, the team is immediately assigned another mission by their CIA handler, Max Drummer (Harrison Ford) Barney and his men, have to find and bring back alive, Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson) Barney’s former partner and Expendables’ co-founder.

To say hearing this name shocks him, is an understatement, since Barney thought he killed Stonebridge, over a decade ago.

Not ony is Stonebanks very much alive, he’s also a very wealthy, ruthless, arms dealer, How bad is this dude, you might wonder? Well, The Hague wants to try him for war crimes. That’s how bad.

After their first attempt to capture Stonebanks fails and leaves veteran Expendable, Caesar, gravely wounded, Barney is forced to make one of the most difficult decisions of his life…

He retires his remaining crew and with the help of mercenary broker, Bonaparte, (Kelsey Grammar) recruits a group of youthful hotshots (Kellan Lutz, Ronda Rousey, Glen Powell and Victor Ortiz) to bring fresh energy and updated skills to the team.

Also along for the ride, is non other than the Terminator himself, Arnold Schwarznager, as well as Jet Li, and a scene stealing, Antonio Banderas, who plays Galgo, a former soldier, who talks incessantly and just wants someone/anyone to ‘like him’.

‘The Expendables 3’ in my opinion, is the best of the trilogy and an extremely fun ride. The film opens in theatres, Friday, August 14, 2014.

The Hundred Foot Journey’ directed by Lasse Hallstrom, is a film about food, the senses, cross-cultures and love.

The film, written by Steven Knight (‘Locke’ ‘Eastern Promises’) is based on Richard C. Morais’ 2010 novel which to date, has sold over 100 million copies world-wide.

After an uprising in their native Mumbai, the Kadam family decide to close their restaurant and move to Europe, where they can continue to share their delicious Indian food with the locals.

After a brief stay in England the family, led by the very outspoken and very opinionated father, (Om Puri) wind up settling in a small French village. It’s here that Papa Kadam decides is the perfect place to settle and open their new restaurant, Maison Mumbai. Only problem is, the restaurant is 100 feet across the road from the Michelin starred, Le Saule Pleureur, owned by Madame Mallory (the wonderful Helen Mirren).

To say cultures clash, would be an understatement.

Hot, spicy, Indian food versus expensive classic French cuisine.

Added to the mix, is the very good looking and very talented son, Hassan (Manish Dayal) who is interested in being the best chef in the world even if it means going against his father. But his life isn’t just about cooking. Somehow he makes time to flirt with the Marguerite (Charlotte Le Bon) who works for Madame Mallory.

‘The One Hundred Foot Journey’ is a beautiful film about the sensuality of food, the art of cooking, the coming together of two different cultures and realizing they may have one or two things in common after all.

All the actors are wonderful, with Helen Mirren and Om Puri being the standouts.

I gave ‘The Hundred Foot Journey’ 5 bagels out of 5. This is a film that everyone, no matter what your age, should see.

It’s also a perfect ‘date night’ film…

Check out our Two Jews On Film video for more of my thoughts.

Once upon a time, a young boy, named Peter Quill, who just lost his mother, is abducted by aliens and taken to a galaxy far, far away.

Peter winds up stealing an Orb… We all know what an Orb can do right?

In case you don’t (I certainly didn’t) this Orb is all powerful and can destroy a civilization faster than you can tweet…You must see this film…

Through a series of events, Peter finds himself in prison, where he teams up with some of Marvel’s coolest comic book characters.

Including…Gamora, (Zoe Saldana) who’s a genetically altered assassin…A big tattoo dude, appropriately named, Drax, the Destroyer (Dave Batista), a very opinionated, talking raccoon, (Bradley Cooper) who can drive a spaceship better than Hans Solo, and his BFF, tree beast, Groot (who I want to take home with me) voiced by Vin Diesel, in one of his best roles.

Even though they have different motives and aren’t too fond of one another, these oddball beings agree to work together.

Now all they have to do is…Break out of prison, kill an army of gun toting guards, steal a spaceship and bring the Orb to someplace safe.

If all that seems a wee bit tricky, a super evil, super powerful, super angry alien, named Ronan (Lee Pace) is after the Orb. He basically wants to use it so he can destroy whatever civilization annoys him and become the leader of the free world.

‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ directed and co-written by James Gunn, shot in 3D and IMAX is one of my favorite comic book films, ever.

It’s funny, exciting, original, clever and in the end, even touching, thanks to the use of 80’s classic rock music and it’s theme about ‘friendship’.

Rounding out this wonderful cast is…Glen Close (Nova Prime), John C. Reilly, who wants to lock up Quill and throw the key away, Benecio del Toro (The Collector) and Michael Rooker, a mean, vicious bandit, who beamed Peter up way back when..

I gave ‘Guardians of the Galaxy, which opens in theatres, Friday August 1st, 2014, 5 bagels out of 5. Don’t miss it.

Check out our Two Jews On Film video for more of my thoughts and of course, to see my guest, Mango the Pek.

‘Lucy’ starring the uber talented Scarlett Johansson, is a sci-fi, thriller that includes a lesson in evolution and the brain….Our brain to be exact and how us humans are not using it to its full capacity.

No kidding….all you have to do is turn on the news and you’ll realize how un-evolved our species is.

First thing to know when watching ‘Lucy’ written and directed by the always interesting Luc Besson, forget logic. Just sit back and enjoy.

When the film starts, we meet Lucy (Scarlett Johansson)a ditzy blonde living in Tapei, whose sleezy boyfriend is trying to convince her to delivery a case to a Mr. Jang (Choi Min-Sik) When she continues to refuse, he handicuffs the briefcase to her arm. Poor Lucy she has no choice but to do his bidding.

CPH4 a highly potent synthetic substance is sewn into Lucy’s stomach and along with several other unsuspecting victims, she’s turned into a drug mule. However, in Lucy’s case something quite unexpected occurs. The drug package explodes inside of her and the CPH4 goes soaring through every one of her cells. As all this is going on, Besson takes us to Paris where Professor/Researcher Norman (Morgan Freeman) is giving a lecture about the human brain and how we only use 10 percent of this organ. Back to Lucy, where thanks to CPH4, her brain power keeps increasing. How do we know this, it flashes on the screen…20 percent, 30 percent…and so on. With each increase Lucy develops new powers. So while the bad guys are shotting everything in site, Miss Lucy is moving objects, and gaining super human strength, among many other very interesting abilities.

‘Lucy’ which opens in theatres Friday, July 25 is a very entertaining, exciting, interesting and really fun film. For that reason, I gave it 4 bagels out of 5 and recommend that everyone sees it.

Check out our Two Jews On Film video for more of my witty observations.

Rarely is a sequel better than the original…Of course, there are exceptions, such as ‘Godfather 2’ and now ‘Dawn of The Planet Of The Apes’. This film is absolutely fantastic on every level, starting with…

Andy Serkis as Caesar, the soulful, emotional, kind and fair ape that we met in ‘Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes’ starring James Franco. Okay right off the bat, I have to say that Serkis is amazing. He gives such a beautiful, nuanced performance that we, as an audience, are able to feel everything that Caesar feels and thinks.

The film, shot in 3D, is brilliantly directed by Matt Reeves (‘Cloverfield’) from Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver’s script.

‘Dawn of the Planet Of The Apes’ takes place a decade after most of the human race has been wiped out by the man-made Simian virus.

Caesar who now has a wife, Cornelia (Judy Greer) a teenage son, son, and a new born baby, is the well respected leader of thousand of apes, who reside in Muir Woods, outside of San Francisco.

The apes haven’t seen humans for years, and wonder if they are now extinct.

But that’s all about to change.

Into their peaceful home, comes Malcolm (Jason Clarke) a former architect who lost his wife to the virus, his teenage son, Alexander (Kodi Smit-McPhee), Ellie (Keri Russell) a former CDC nurse, along with a few not-so friendly companions.

Immediately sides are drawn…Koba, (Toby Kebbell) the ape who spent years in captivity, having to endure horrendous experiments by scientists hates humans with a vengeance. Can you blame him?

It doesn’t take long for the apes to find out, that there are in fact, a great deal of humans that have survived and they are living close by, in the ruins of San Francisco. Many of them, including their leader, Dreyfus (Gary Oldman)a former law enforcement dude, blame the apes for the virus.

Adding to the tension is the knowledge that the colony will soon be out of power. That was one of the reasons, Malcom and his group were in the forest. They are looking for a source of energy and just happened to find one…unfortunately it’s right next to the apes habitat.

So the question is…can apes and humans co-exist peacefully and put aside their mistrust and blame or…will they do their best to wipe each other out? What do you think?

Well, we all know the answer to that question.

‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ is basically the story of two families – one human and one ape. And it’s through these families, we get to experience their struggle to survive among the ruins of civilization.

The film is beautifully shot thanks to cinematographer, Michael Seresin and the performances, including that of Maurice, the lovable Orangutan and Rocket (Terry Notary) Caesar’s closest allies, are all amazing.

I should mention that the apes have now evolved to a point where they communicate using sign language and Caesar’s vocabulary is better than a lot of people I know.

‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ opens in theatres, Friday July 11, 2014. Do not miss it.

Check out the Two Jews On Film video for more of my thoughts.

The BOTS are back…The good, the bad, the ugly…And to my surprise not only did I enjoy the robots, I actually liked this film.

Now that’s something, considering I disliked the first three intensely.

The Plot: Although, If anyone sees this franchise for the plot is very doubtful, but here it is…Don’t worry, no SPOILERS.

Even though, the Autobots led by Optimus Prime saved the planet and the human race from extinction (see ‘Transformers 3’) the CIA, led by the super evil, Harold Attinger (Kelsey Grammer) is out to destroy every single one of them. He wants Earth for us earthlings. Now what does he do with all the Autobots he destroys, you ask? He gives them to, Josha Joyce, (Stanley Tucci)a rich, semi-evil inventor/genius, who uses their various parts to build his own…Transformers, which he believes he can control and sell to the Defense Department for the same amount of money this movie will probably make…Billions.

So these guys along with an Autobot who will remain nameless are the ‘evil doers’.

Now for the Good Guys/Girls…The funny, charming, Mark Wahlberg is Cade Yeager, a struggling, broke inventor, who lives out in the boondocks of Texas with his gorgeous, long legged, blond daughter, Tessa (Nicola Peltz)who he wants to stay a virgin until she dies (well I exaggerate, but only a bit)

Tessa is about to graduate, daddy is about to lose the homestead, when he finds something that will change their lives forever.

Enter, Shane Dyson (Jack Reynor) a killer car driver/racer who just happens to be Tessa’s secret boyfriend. Yeager’s reaction to their relationship is just the beginning of the humor that flows through this film. Yes this 3D, IMAX SCI-FI epic has humor…quite a lot of it.

Some other interesting plot points: We also find out what really happened to the dinosaurs way back when and the Joyce character goes from being semi-evil to a wise cracking, comedian in the fourth half of the film…complete change. In fact, the last 45 minutes of this over-long film is laugh out loud funny…At least it was for me. Not sure if that’s what Bay and writer, Ehren Kruger had in mind. There are way too many car chases and way too many battles. I guess Bay thinks more BATTLES equals more BILLIONS.

Having said all that, in the end, I was extremely entertained by ‘Transformers: Age Of Extinction’ and for that reason, I gave this film which opens, Friday, June 27, 2014, four bagels out of five.

Please check out our Two Jews On Film video for more of my thoughts.

I’d love to know what you think.

For me, music is one of the most powerful forms of entertainment. I can be in the worst mood and a certain song comes on the radio and instantly, my bad mood is gone. I’m transported to another place…I think music elevates the moments of our lives.

Having seen the Tony Award winning musical ‘Jersey Boys’ on Broadway and in L. A. and loving it, I was really looking forward to the film, directed by Clint Eastwood.

Oh Clint, I think it’s amazing that you’re still directing and acting at the age of 83. Bravo for that. But Clint, musicals…don’t think that’s exactly your thing…because Jersey Boys’ just doesn’t work.

The music is great…It’s the in-between parts that I had trouble with.

‘Jersey Boys’ is the story of Frankie Valli (John Lloyd Young) and The Four Seasons.

Frankie, born Frankie Castelluccio was from Belleville New Jersey. In the 50’s he worked as a trainee in a barber shop. Frankie’s neighborhood was filled with low level criminals, as well as a mob boss or two, one of them being, Gyp DeCarlo (Christopher Walken) who took a very special interest in the young singer.

This was a time, when street corners were filled with guys harmonizing and Frankie’s neighborhood was no different.

It’s here that Valli, along with his best friend, guitarist/thief, Tommy DeVito (Vincent Piazza) and bass player/thief Nick Massi (Michael Lomenda) formed a band. In between petty heists, the Jersey trio played anywhere that would have them without much success.

That all changed when a local wannabe talent scout named…are you ready?…JOEY PESCI aka Joe Pesci (Joseph Russo) introduced them to singer/songwriter, Bob Gaudio (Erich Bergen).

The trio became a quartet and with the guidance of the brilliant producer/lyricist, Bob Crewe (Mike Doyle)The Four Seasons were born and the rest is history…an amazing history.

But unfortunately what’s up on the screen is anything but amazing. It takes 45 minutes before there’s any music at all. What we have are trips to prison, squabbles, hookups with ladies, and the four lead characters, breaking the fourth wall talking into the camera…an annoying technique that rarely works.

I don’t mean to say it’s ‘all bad’. Once the music kicks in, it’s magic. To see the creative process behind many of The Four Seasons hits, including ‘Sherry Baby’, ‘Walk Like A Man’, Rag Doll’ and Valli’s biggest hit, ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You’ is a part of the film that really worked…As did the recreation of their appearances on American Bandstand as well as The Ed Sullivan Show.

But all the good parts, don’t save the film. Characters appear in the

For those reasons, I gave ‘Jersey Boys’ which opens in theatres, Friday June 20, 2014, only 3 bagels out of 5.

Check out our Two Jews On Film video to see my guest and for more of my thoughts.

Hazel Grace Lancaster (Shailene Woodley) is a 16 years old, who loves to read. She also has a killer sense of humor, which comes in handy, since she has cancer and must carry around an oxygen tank at all times.

Her super loving parents (Laura Dern) and (Sam Trammel) worry that Hazel doesn’t have friends. At their urging, she joins a cancer support group, which changes her life in the most unexpected way.

Hazel meets a guy named, Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort) who also has a killer sense of humor, which also comes in handy, since he has a prosthetic leg. His hopes of playing basketball were cut short due to a bout with cancer. He’s in remission but he’s joined the group to support his best friend, Issac, (the wonderful, Nat Wolff) whose cancer caused him to lose an eye.

Now I bet you’re thinking…Who wants to see a film about people with cancer? How depressing is that? The answer…It’s not just about cancer and it’s definitely not depressing.

‘The Fault In Our Stars’ written by the uber talented, Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber (‘500 Days Of Summer’, ‘Spectacular Now’) based upon the number one bestselling novel by John Green, is an absolutely beautiful, touching, uplifting film about ‘being alive’.

We follow Hazel and Augustus, as they become really good friends and eventually, fall in love.

But not before, they share their fears, their passions and their love of books, including Hazel’s favorite, ‘An Imperial Affliction’. She has several questions about the book’s ending and has tried many times to get in touch with the reclusive author, Peter Van Houten (Willem Dafoe) but to no avail.

Gus determined for Hazel to get her answers, manages to reach Van Houten through the author’s assistant and it results in an invitation to meet the writer in Amsterdam.

Once there, Hazel is so excited to meet Van Houten and finally get her questions answered…But the answers she’s looking for do not come from the author. They come from living a great adventure, that the teenager shares with someone, she’s not afraid to love, despite their numbered days.

This is a film that will stay with you long after the credits roll and that has a lot to do with the extraordinary performance of Shailene Woodley…She is one of those actresses that you can’t take your eyes off. She captures all the qualities that make Hazel one of those unforgetable characters.

‘The Fault In Our Stars’,.directed by Josh Boone, opens in theatres, Friday June 6, 2014 Don’t miss it.

After all, I don’t give 5 bagels out of 5 to just any film.

Check out the Two Jews On Film video for more of my thoughts and witty observations.