​Classics never fall by the wayside. The Intern is a wonderful feel-good movie that stirs your emotions. I give it an A.
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Robert DeNiro plays Ben Whittaker, a widower and retiree with time on his hands who decides to return to the workforce as an intern at a new start-up hip company run by Anne Hathaway as Jules Ostin. The age difference is a big part of the jokes as Jules’ company is cutting edge with IT and social media. Enter a man who still uses a slide-rule and the fun ensues. Ben has much to catch up to, and finds the family he’s been missing, but it’s his classic character and gentlemanly manners that ends up changing the younger generation as well.

DeNiro in The Intern is a kinder gentler DeNiro and I suspect that he didn’t have to act much for this role, which reminded me of Mrs. Doubtfire. I could see Robin Williams in this role. DeNiro can still convey much in a glance or lift of his brow. As we’ve moved away from the past where men carried hankies and wore ties, we’ve lost some of the class and dare I say…quality of man. 

​Hathaway is wonderful as the fashion forward woman (Devil Wears Prada) with emotional baggage. She’s someone who others want to reach out to and care for. And while neither of the leads show their acting chops, they’ve created characters you want to hang out with or be, emotional messes who need each other.

​The Intern is a movie you will smile about long after the movie is over. Without any dazzling special effects or convoluted scripts, it pulls at your heartstrings and leaves you feeling good.

Johnny Depp is scary as Whitey Bulger in Black Mass but it’s not enough to make this movie a blockbuster. I’m giving it a B-.

James “Whitey” Bulger grew up on the streets of South Boston and made a name for himself as a thug. After a stint in Alcatraz, he sets out to hit the big time as a leader of the Irish Mafia in Boston. With the help of the FBI, his killing spree becomes legendary.

Black Mass comes across as a documentary, detailing the rise and fall of James Bulger. Johnny Depp is almost unrecognizable with the bald patch and blue eyes but it’s the stillness, the obsessive control that shows his depth of getting into the mind and personality of this killer. It might garner him a few award nods. 

There’s really no characters to connect with in this story and that’s what makes this movie hard to love. You come away with a better understanding of James Bulger and his team, but you’re not sorry for the choices they made. Everyone was fodder if they got in his way or went against him. I found myself admiring his cunning at using others for his own benefit (such as the FBI), but hated that he used everyone in his life…his brother, friends…and no one was safe from his retribution. He gives new meaning to cold-blooded killer.

Benedict Cumberbatch did an amazing job as James’s younger brother who was an important figure in Boston’s government. The question of how much his influence kept Whitey safe, was never really answered. I don’t think we will really know. But he wasn’t the only big name…Dakota Johnson and Kevin Bacon also had wonderful performances.

Black Mass would make a wonderful drinking game movie, since there’s so many F bombs that you would be smashed in the first fifteen minutes of the film. The numerous cold-blooded assassinations make this a movie not for the faint of heart.

Have you ever seen a movie that was only pieces of a puzzle and it wasn’t until you finally saw the missing piece that you understood? The Visit was like that. I give it a B.

Not a fan of scary slasher movies, I listed to M. Night Shamalan talk about how this movie was more of an intellectual frightfest, I’d give it a try. In The Visit, two grandkids go to spend a week with their grandparents whom they’ve never met, so that their divorced mom would have time to go on a cruise with her serious boyfriend.