Stan's Recent Reviews

Pete and Debbie (Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann) have birthdays that fall in the same week.  Both are about to turn 40 but Debbie refuses to acknowledge she’s entering middle age and insists she’s only 38.  The couple has two kids, 13-year old Sadie (Maude Apatow) and eight-year old Charlotte (Iris Apatow) who’s constant bickering, and Sadie’s entering puberty, adds stress to a marriage that has plenty of pressure from other factors.  First, Pete’s dad Larry (Albert Brooks) has been borrowing money from Pete for quite some time.

A writer (Rafe Spall) is looking for a new idea for a book when he’s told he should speak with Piscine Militor Patel (Ifran Khan), an Indian who now lives in Canada.  The two meet and get to know each other. Piscine, who is known to his friends as Pi, begins to weave a tail about his early life as the son of Santosh and Gita Patel (Adil Hussain and Tabu).  We learn he was named after a beautiful public swimming pool in France.

Jack Frost (voiced by Chris Pine) has no recollection of his early life.  His memories start when the Man in the Moon called to him and gave him his ability to manipulate cold.  Now he travels the world bringing snow and ice to all the lands and snow days off from school for the children.  Jack is called to the North Pole to meet with the Guardians:  A collection of heroes who defend the dreams and ambitions of children.  The Guardians are the Tooth Fairy (voiced by Isla Fisher), the Easter Bunny (voiced by Hugh Jackman) and the Sand Man (who doesn’t speak).

James Bond (Daniel Craig) is dead; accidently shot by another MI6 agent named Eve (Naomie Harris) while the two were on a mission in Turkey to recover a computer hard drive containing the names of every NATO agent who had infiltrated terrorist groups around the world.  The bad guy got away with the hard drive and the Intelligence and Security Committee Chairman Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes) is displeased.  He begins the process of replacing MI6 director M (Judi Dench).