nbsp; Kill the Messenger

Drama/Thriller, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming
Run Time: 1:54       MPAA Rating: : "R"
Kill the Messenger is compelling material but the recognition that the core of the narrative is based on true events gives it additional power. In light of today's climate of leaks and revelations, one can't help but wonder whether similar tactics have been employed (with less success) in recent years. Thus, while this is putatively a biography of Gary Webb, it asks central questions that have contemporary relevance and whose answers may not be forthcoming.

nbsp; Nightcrawler

Drama/Thriller, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming
Run Time: 1:57       MPAA Rating: : "R"
Nightcrawler is a dark and cynical movie for a nihilistic age. It's tense and at times uncomfortable, perhaps because the viewer recognizes that, although the story is fiction, there's a lot of truth in what it has to say about local news. It's being marketed as a thriller, but it's more of a character piece, exploring the mindset of someone who is at best a misanthrope and at worst a sociopath. This isn't fun, escapist entertainment but, when it works, it's fascinating and compelling.

nbsp; Rosewater

Drama/Thriller, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray
Run Time: 1:43       MPAA Rating: : "R"
Jon Stewart takes the true story of Newsweek journalist Maziar Bahari, who was held captive and subjected to deprivation and interrogation in Iran for 118 days during 2009, and injects elements of wit and humor into an otherwise brutal tale. By detailing how Bahari was treated, Stewart is able to highlight the culture of paranoia and absurdity that led to his capture and torture. Ultimately, however, it's the psychological match between Bahari and his chief nemesis that keeps the viewer engaged.

nbsp; Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, The

Drama, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming
Run Time: 2:02       MPAA Rating: : "R"
With The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, first time director Ned Benson turns his lens on a couple once their union has been sundered. It shows how they traverse the rocky path to individual survival once their identity as "them" no longer exists. In the end, the film is perhaps more successful when viewed as pieces than as a whole. The performances are uniformly strong and there are some powerful scenes but the overall story arc is less insightful or affecting than one might hope.

nbsp; Dracula Untold

Horror/Adventure, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming
Run Time: 1:32       MPAA Rating: : "PG-13"
Dracula Untold purports to relate the origin of how the world's most famous vampire became the creature we all know and fear. Unfortunately, Gary Shore's film suffers from narrative issues and problems of execution. Some of these are likely beyond his control but they result in a generic vampire tale in the Underworld vein. Instead of being respectful of Bram Stoker's creation, it attempts to remake him as a tragic figure with superhero powers.

nbsp; Hector and the Search for Happiness

Adventure/Drama, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Streaming
Run Time: 1:54       MPAA Rating: : "R"
Hector and the Search for Happiness is about what one might get taking a male-slanted version of Eat Pray Love and crossing it with The Secret Life of Walter Mitty then grafting on a Jerry Maguire-inspired moment at the end. In order to show the "happiness" noted in the title, director Peter Chelsom ventures into some dark territory to provide a contrast. This may shock some viewers expecting to see a lightweight Simon Pegg dramedy about the meaning of joy.

nbsp; John Wick

Action/Thriller, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming
Run Time: 1:41       MPAA Rating: : "R"
John Wick is a rousing action thriller of the sort rarely encountered in theaters these days. The once popular genre, which was headlined by the likes of Stallone and Schwarzenegger during its heyday, has been a dying breed during the past two decades with the growing desire for PG-13 action and the emergence of computer generated imaging rendering old-school brutality obsolete. Then along comes unlikely candidate Keanu Reeves to ignite the flame once again.

nbsp; Book of Life, The

Animated, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming
Run Time: 1:35       MPAA Rating: : "PG"
The Book of Life represents Guillermo del Toro's most hands-on foray (to date) into the realm of family friendly entertainment; this is closer in tone and sensibility to one of Tim Burton's offbeat animated films than one of Pixar's more "vanilla" productions. The visual aesthetic is unusual with the characters being modeled as 3-D wooden puppets. And, although the movie isn't tailored to a specific demographic, some of the imagery may be familiar to Latino audiences.

nbsp; Fury

Action/Adventure, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming
Run Time: 2:14       MPAA Rating: : "R"
This is a memorable motion picture, accurately depicting the horrors of war without reveling in the depravity of man (like Platoon). Equally, it shows instances of humanity without resorting to the rah-rah, sanitized perspective that infiltrated many war films of the 1950s and 1960s. It's as good a World War II film as I've seen in recent years, and contains perhaps the most draining battlefield sequences since Saving Private Ryan.

nbsp; Judge, The

Drama, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming
Run Time: 2:21       MPAA Rating: : "R"
Two words that come to mind when considering The Judge are generic and predictable. It's also well-intentioned and earnest (perhaps to a fault). There are some good scenes and instances of strong acting but the project as a whole is so familiar that it feels like a collage of moments and scenes from other, better films. The film's lack of ambition is distressing, especially when one considers the quality of the actors involved.

nbsp; Boxtrolls, The

Animated, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming
Run Time: 1:37       MPAA Rating: : "PG"
A British-flavored, 3-D stop motion affair, The Boxtrolls channels more than a little Monty Python in telling its Tarzan-inspired story about a human boy who is raised by creatures called Boxtrolls. With top-notch animation, effective voice casting, and a screenplay that falters only toward the end when faced with the need to provide a resolution, The Boxtrolls offers solid entertainment for older children and the parents that accompany them.

nbsp; Drop, The

Thriller, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming
Run Time: 1:46       MPAA Rating: : "R"
Most films about gangsters focus on those at the top of the criminal food chain - the bosses, dons, and godfathers. The Drop puts the bottom-feeders in its cross-hairs; the characters in this film are bartenders and waitresses, men whose best days are either behind them or destined never to come. The strength of the narrative is twofold: it tells the kind of adult story often avoided by an increasingly teen-oriented movie industry and keeps viewers unsure how things are going to turn out.

nbsp; Lucy

Science Fiction/Action, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming
Run Time: 1:30       MPAA Rating: : "R"
Luc Besson's production is a sci-fi yarn that ponders the meaning of time and the importance of evolution while occasionally throwing in some shootouts. And, although the titular heroine develops superpowers, the most interesting thing about them is how they expand and where the journey ultimately takes her. And, since she's terminally ill, her mission isn't killing bad guys but finding a way to pass on the massive amounts of knowledge she has acquired to those who will come after her.

nbsp; Gone Girl

Thriller, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming
Run Time: 2:25       MPAA Rating: : "R"
Gillian Flynn's adaptation of her best-selling novel is brought to the screen under the capable guidance director David Fincher. No stranger to dark material, Fincher understands how to get the most out of Gone Girl and the result is 145 minutes of riveting drama and surprises. The movie captures key aspects of the book including multiple narrative perspectives, commentary on what "guilt" and "popularity" mean in today's media-saturated culture, and a Hitchcock-tilted storyline seeded with twists.

nbsp; Men, Women & Children

Drama, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming
Run Time: 1:59       MPAA Rating: : "R"
Men, Women & Children seeks to explore issues of communication in the digital era and the film's wide-ranging net ensnares a variety of subjects. Director Jason Reitman's approach is imperfect - there are times when his screenplay becomes heavy-handed and elements of pretentiousness impinge on the proceedings. In the end, however, it works, although more as a melodrama than as a piece of social commentary.

nbsp; Walk Among the Tombstones, A

Thriller, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming
Run Time: 1:53       MPAA Rating: : "R"
Nihilistic. Grim. Humorless. Misogynistic. Those are just a few words that could be used to describe the Liam Neeson thriller, A Walk Among the Tombstones. The title provides more than a clue about the movie's tone and intentions. Yet this isn't some run-of-the-mill, over-the-top revenge flick in which the good guys triumph and the bad guys get their comeuppance; it's about the elusiveness of redemption. The villains are twisted, cruel, and vile. The heroes aren't much better.

nbsp; Boyhood

Drama, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming
Run Time: 2:45       MPAA Rating: : "R"
One thing becomes clear upon watching Boyhood: director Richard Linklater is fascinated by the concept of following a fictional character through real time. This film tracks characters across a dozen years, visiting them once a year, but putting everything together into a single film rather than spreading the moments across multiple installments. The aging of the actors informs and enhances their portrayals of the characters - a simple concept brilliantly executed.

nbsp; Get on Up

Drama/Musical, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming
Run Time: 2:13       MPAA Rating: : "PG-13"
Get on Up is more notable for its music than for anything else that ends up on screen. The basic equation goes like this: if you're a fan of James Brown's oeuvre, the film will keep you interested. Get on Up provides us with about an hour of James Brown-inspired performances, all of which Chad Boseman infuses with passion and energy. Unfortunately, there's also about 70 minutes of other material, none of which merits more than cursory attention.

nbsp; Left Behind

Thriller, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming
Run Time: 1:50       MPAA Rating: : "PG-13"
There's no "rule" determining that religion-oriented movies are necessarily poorly made. Indeed, there are examples aplenty of serious minded, reverent motion pictures. Then along comes something like Left Behind... Not only is this an amateurish travesty combining fundamentalist Christian eschatology with disaster movie b.s., but it's plodding and tedious. Regardless of whether you're secular or spiritual, Left Behind's title offers the best option of how to treat it.

nbsp; Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Science Fiction/Adventure, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming (Rental, Purchase)
Run Time: 2:10       MPAA Rating: : "PG-13"
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes contains action but this is more about world building and storytelling than mixing adrenaline and testosterone cocktails. Especially during the first hour, the movie takes its time. It doesn't rush headlong into the central conflict. Most importantly, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes becomes the first Planet of the Apes movie made in the last 45 years to merit mention alongside the original in terms of storytelling aptitude and big screen prowess.

nbsp; Equalizer, The

Thriller, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming
Run Time: 2:13       MPAA Rating: : "R"
Director Antoine Fuqua, working from a screenplay by Richard Wenk, elects to develop The Equalizer as a slow-burn thriller rather than a fast-paced one. There are action scenes - some of which are bloody and brutal - but, partially keeping mind the age of star Denzel Washington (59), they are brief and use fast cutting to obscure some of the specifics. For the most part, The Equalizer is a character study about a man haunted by his past, seeking a path to redemption.

nbsp; Grand Budapest Hotel, The

Comedy/Adventure, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming (Rent/Purchase)
Run Time: 1:39       MPAA Rating: : "R"
The Grand Budapest Hotel is instantly recognizable as the output of director Wes Anderson - it possesses all the qualities that make him beloved by his admirers and disliked by those who find his films pretentious and inaccessible. Compared to his earlier work, this is a middle-of-the-road effort. It offers an engaging 90+ minutes of unconventional, comedy-tinged adventure that references numerous classic movies while developing a style and narrative approach all its own.

nbsp; Guardians of the Galaxy

Science Fiction/Adventure, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming
Run Time: 2:02       MPAA Rating: : "PG-13"
The narrative is the kind of light popcorn fare that comic books can get away with. The plot is riddled with seeming inconsistencies and threads are left dangling. However, the characters develop a nice rapport, the dialogue crackles with wit, and the '70s songs add an element of freshness to the proceedings. The anticlimactic resolution is a bit of a letdown but that's often the case with superhero movies, where the journey is more entertaining than the destination.

nbsp; Hundred Foot Journey, The

Drama, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming (Rental, Purchase)
Run Time: 2:02       MPAA Rating: : "PG"
There's something gentle, charming, and old-fashioned about The Hundred-Foot Journey, a non-confrontational movie about the power of food and family that makes use of the considerable talents of its veteran leads, Helen Mirren and Om Puri, to represent the cultural and culinary differences that exist between India and France. Elements of romance and whimsy are counterbalanced by instances in which the ugliness of xenophobia emerges. Only toward the end, when the narrative stumbles during an extended epilogue, does the concoction crumble.

nbsp; Magic in the Moonlight

Comedy/Drama, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming (Purchase, Rental)
Run Time: 1:37       MPAA Rating: : "PG-13"
Magic in the Moonlight is more of a throw-away than a keeper. It feels like an occasion for the cast and crew to take a holiday. There are some solid laughs and a palpable chemistry exists between Colin Firth and Emma Stone. On the whole, it feels more vapid than it should and never achieves the altitude necessary to soar. Allen is on autopilot and, as a result, despite the presence of magicians and mystics, there's no magic.

nbsp; Maze Runner, The

Science Fiction/Adventure, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming (Purchase, Rental)
Run Time: 1:53       MPAA Rating: : "PG-13"
Despite a strong opening and riveting first 45 minutes, The Maze Runner devolves into one of the weakest post-apocalyptic Young Adult movies to reach theaters in recent years. The film's inability to sustain the energy it starts with results in a disappointing experience. The muddled final act (with inconsistent and confusing "revelations") and open-ended conclusion add to the dissatisfaction.

nbsp; Pride

Drama, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming (Purchase, Rental)
Run Time: 2:00       MPAA Rating: : "R"
When it comes to feel-good movies with a social conscience, no one does it better than the U.K. With Pride, they've done it again. Specifically, second-time director Matthew Warchus and first-time screenwriter Stephen Beresford have brought to the screen a tale that's simultaneously touching and funny while being relevant to current events and respectful of the issues involved. Pride will get viewers cheering while reflecting upon how far we have come in 30 years... and how far we have yet to go.

nbsp; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Action/Adventure, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming (Purchase, Rental)
Run Time: 1:41       MPAA Rating: : "PG-13"
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles doesn't really work as a movie, but that's not surprising. It functions primarily as a 100-minute commercial for toys and looks and feels like a big-screen video game. The final confrontation plays out like a "boss level." By making TMNT come as close to the visual and audio immersion of a game, the movie's production crew gives it a chance with kids. Unfortunately, the film loses everyone else in the process. For most potential audience members, this offers little more than a headache and the loss of the $10 admission fee.

nbsp; This is Where I Leave You

Drama/Comedy, 2014
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray, Streaming (Purchase, Rental)
Run Time: 1:43       MPAA Rating: : "R"
Adapted by Jonathan Tropper from his novel, This Is Where I Leave You displays balance between comedy and drama, never leaning too far in one direction or the other. Humor flows naturally from embarrassing or ironic situations rather than being awkwardly shoehorned into the screenplay by a writer who wants to show off his comedic chops. Even considering some late-innings flaws, this is an engaging movie that doesn't mistake histrionics and bile for solid family reunion drama.

nbsp; What If

Romance/Comedy, 2013
Available: Widescreen DVD, Blu-Ray
Run Time: 1:35       MPAA Rating: : "PG-13"
There's nothing fundamentally wrong with What If - it does what one expects it to do and gets the two opposite sex pals to cross the line between friendship and romance - but its approach is perfunctory. There's nothing special about this love story. It feels familiar and the appeal of the leads can't fully compensate for unremarkable dialogue and the obligatory (but nevertheless irritating) "romantic complications" subplot.