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Reading some of the reviews on here, I've come to the conclusion many film critics' knowledge of life - or finance - only comes from watching other movies. This movie has NOTHING in common with Wolf of Wall Street or The Big Short. Maybe Treasure of the Sierra Madre? It's about mining and a notorious mining scandal. Maybe critics lost their bearings because there haven't been enough mining films? I liked the film very much. My husband loved it. It's really a 'guy movie' and as such, will appeal more to a male audience. It's also an incredibly complicated film that delves into a very convoluted story (which actually happened). So checking your emails while watching or trying to live tweet the film would be a mistake. You'll lose the plot and never catch up again. McConaughey and Ramirez work beautifully together, creating a believable bromance where two guys down on their luck join forces to "prove 'em all wrong". McConaughey's desperate and obnoxious huckster/prospector and Ramirez's enigmatic, elegant, legendary geologist make intriguing protagonists. And Bryce Dallas Howard brings a great, earthy charm to a woman who loves not wisely, but too well. McConaughey never tries to gain the audience's sympathy, no winks at the audience to signal "I'm a nice guy movie star, not this jerk" which takes a lot of brash honesty. The movie's "punchline" is an absolute killer and well worth the trip to get there.

So much fun. Very funny, the humour is distinctly British which may not appeal to all Americans. The voice cast is simply superb. Matthew McConaughey, after his great turn in Kubo and the Two Strings, gives another outstanding vocal performance. Tori Kelly and Taron Egerton are amazing. The music is tremendous, great selection. A lot of laugh-out-loud lines, one classic sequence (the carwash) and, surprisingly, it veres from very funny to incredibly moving. Great for kids and adults. Surprisingly, one of the very best animated films in a great year for animation - especially surprising coming from Illumination whose work I have never previously appreciated. A perfect Christmas film, warm hearted and kind.

If you've ever seen the excellent movie "The Commitments" you don't really need to see this one. It's like an awkward tween version of that far better film. Might be suitable for middle schoolers who loved Glee, but otherwise?

I don't know what film the critics saw given the superlative reviews on here, but Moana was the most disappointing Disney film in a long time. The story was, frankly boring, and still managed to be difficult to follow for kids and the parents who, when asked, 'why did she do that?' had to say 'no idea'. Why did she keep falling in the water? Who knows? Was it supposed to be funny? Who knows? Moana's a pretty generic Disney princess heroine (despite the fact she is, to differentiate her from every other Disney princess heroine, only the daughter of a chief), full of moxie (as per usual Disney princess heroine) who must do something to save her island.. or learn something about herself.. or.. I'm not sure! The Rock is marginally amusing as the comic relief. He isn't helped by the dumb jokes he's given. The young actress voicing Moana does her best but isn't noteworthy (I think she was a non-professional and it shows.. or is heard). Lin-Manuel Miranda, who has done such a majestic job with Hamilton, hasn't done himself proud here. The songs just drag on. One song is the chirpy 'You're Welcome' sung by the Rock. It's catchy if nothing else. Frozen's a hard act for a Disney musical to follow, but Moana doesn't even try.

I watched this on VOD. I expected to be bored stiff or infuriated or even laugh - given the reviews. I don't know why the film inspired such vitriol. The ending was Shymalanesque so it was somewhat annoying, or would have been but McConaughey totally sold it. The Shinto religious undertones were probably disturbing to Western critics. If the film had been made in Japanese by a Japanese director, I assure you it would be proclaimed a masterpiece! Ken Watanabe and Matthew McConaughey work very well together and give great performances and the scenes of them wandering lost in the forest are powerful (and beautifully photographed). Hats off to the cinematographer. The film has flashbacks to McConaughey's life with Naomi Watts (whose character has died before the film begins). Some of these work well, others less well and the screenwriter introduced a silly, soap operaish plot contrivance that the film could have done without. If there are films focussing on suicidal ideation, I've never seen them. It's a topic which could be very depressing (and did it disturb the critics more than they would openly admit?) or enlightening. Sea of Trees addresses the issue honestly for the most part. The story is original. The plot is original. The setting is original. The acting is superb. It's not a masterpiece, but it's among the best films I've seen during this horrible-for-movies summer. The film is far more successful than the critics gave it credit for.

Kubo is staggeringly beautiful both visually and aurally. Dario Marianelli's score is sublime. The stop-motion animation has so advanced that nothing previously done is comparable in quality. The story is simple. The hero Kubo must acquire the arms to protect himself from the evil Moon King, his grandfather. Along the way he is helped by Monkey a magical being Kubo's mother created from a talisman and Beetle, a giant man-beetle hybrid who suspects (he doesn't have a memory) that he must have been a warrior serving Kubo's father the greatest samurai. The story is incredibly moving with great flashes of humor alleviating the mournful tone. Matthew McConaughey provides the comic relief as Beetle and, ultimately, a great poignancy. Charlize Theron is very forceful as the determined Monkey. The constant banter between the two is very amusing and gives the viewer the chance to catch their breath between stunning action sequences and the terrible sadness of events in the film. As Kubo, Art Parkinson gives a performance that is haunting. It may only be a voice performance, but it is one of the best a child actor has ever given. Rooney Mara playing both of Kubo's evil aunts is as creepy as the twins in The Shining. Ralph Fiennes was the only (slightly) disappointing performance. When the audience discovers the significance of the "Two Strings" of the title, it may be hard to hear the rest of the dialogue for the audible sobbing in the theater!

Metacritic: the same person has obviously posted with several different user names negative reviews (0) for this one and positive reviews for Independence Day (10) over and over. Allowing a troll to stick up several reviews obviously renders users' reviews nonsensical. Not to mention the person obviously hasn't even seen this movie.

Hotshot legal thriller with a great cast. McConaughey shows the chops he'd kept on hold for the romcom decade. I had never seen this film and just watched it recently. It holds up great. I love reading the reviews on here when it came out, peppered with insults of McConaughey. How strange. Didn't realize some critics hated him so much. Kind of pathological, I'd say. Well, he showed them, didn't he?

It's always interesting to read reviews of older movies. You can see how often reviewers totally don't get how influential a film will become. You quite often read sterling reviews for films that have totally been forgotten. And then find reviews for a film like this one (judged mediocre by critics when it came out) that still speaks to people. A film that can be seen over and over on TV and still maintain its force and passion. Sadly, the issues addressed in A Time to Kill are ever more present with us. The speech "imagine she is white" is so timely today. Amazing to see such a collection of future Oscar winners and nominees in this: McConaughey, Bullock, Spacey, Fricker, Judd. And how is it possible neither McConaughey nor Samuel L. Jackson were nominated for their superb performances?

A paint-by-numbers biopic with a lead performane from Eddie Redmayne which won an Oscar.. now to my astonishment having seen the film. He contorts his face and body. He speaks unintelligibly. Oh yeah, he wears his glasses lopsided before he falls ill. That's it. His wife miraculously remains looking 22ish throughout the film. Not recommended.

How do you take a story as dramatic as Louis Zamperini's and turn it into a borefest? Hell if I know, but Angelina Jolie has the secret! Stolid, tedious, she has turned his 'chockful of incredible incidents' life story into an interminable, dramatically inert TV movie. The acting (which was much praised by the critics) is inept. The lead actor is devoid of charisma or talent. Boring. Apparently, he's a Brit. Which goes to show the UK can produce mediocre actors too - so why are they getting work?

An over-long and annoying exercise in (sort of) magical realism. Michael Keaton is fine in the title role and goes a long way towards redeeming the project. But Edward Norton and Emma Stone's aggravatingly over-the-top performances are exhausting to watch. The conceit of the 'single take' is claustrophic and ultimately pointless. I had been looking forward to this one. Very disappointing.

I am not a Nolanite. Maybe I'm an anti-Nolanite. I have nothing but contempt for movies about comic book superheroes. I hated Inception. I went into this movie with enough baggage to get me thrown off a plane. It was superb. It was mind-blowing. I'm old. I saw 2001 when it originally came out, when everybody who saw it, came out saying "WTF?" Then, people discovered watching 2001 while high - and everything fell into place! During the (controversial) 3rd act, I was back in 2001 (and wondering where I left my bong years before..). I didn't really need to heighten the sensation though, Nolan bombarded the audience with son et lumieres and McConaughey bombarded the audience with the most beautifully wrought portrayal of abject desperation and unconditional love I've ever seen on screen. It broke my heart and I'm cynical as hell. The screenplay was serviceable, the dialogue was atrocious (this is Nolan after all), but it didn't matter. The visuals made Gravity look like it was filmed on an IPhone. The performances? Even Anne Hathaway was fine. Jessica Chastain and Mackenzie Foy, I shall forever revere. But McConaughey? Good God, this man is working on a level unknown to other actors. Absolutely electrifying. Not the Oscar bait that the Academy usually rewards, I think a Nobel Prize is in order. I never suspected a film would come along this year that could threaten my beloved Boyhood's hold on my heart, yet Interstellar comes perilously close.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

A comedy as black as Beelzebub's soul. Brutality, sexual violence - not a film for the faint of heart or easily shocked. William Friedkin shows he hasn't mellowed in old age. Matthew McConaughey gives a brilliant performance as a cop who moonlights as a hit man and exploits with glee a family whose stupidity is matched only by their greed. This is Tennessee Williams on steroids.

Mud was my favorite movie last year. A lovely fable about the friendship between a drifter on the run from the police and two teenage boys, growing up in dysfunctional families, on the Arkansas River. It brought to mind Carson McCullers as much as Mark Twain. McConaughey as a man who had been a feral child and had never really become an adult, gave a beautifully modulated performance, making a touching portrait of a simple man easily the equal of his Oscar-winning work in Dallas Buyers Club. Jeff Nichols' film is even more emotionally involving than his stunning "Take Shelter", a lovely portrait of a simple society being torn apart by "progress". Superb work also by Tye Sheridan and Sam Shepard.

Just saw this on TV after it was recommended by 'Mystery Exec" on twitter. Excellent thriller. Great performances from Bill Paxton and Matthew McConaughey. Bill Paxton should direct again. Strange it got such poor reviews when it came out. Only Ebert seems to have seen what a compelling film it is.

There were some funny lines and amusing performances, but overall it was noisy, incoherent, everything was thrown at the screen (including the kitchen sink). Obviously, Marvel views its audience as a bunch of 10 year olds (probably is, too) whose attention can only be maintained if something explodes every 30 seconds. After an hour, it gets incredibly boring.

Saw it for the second time last night. The theater was packed. Though the film is 3 hours long, when the end credits came up, people applauded and sat till the end of the credits. The first time I saw it, I thought how moving it was. The second time I saw it, I realized how funny it is, full of great lines. I also appreciated even more the performances: Ellar Coltrane is incredible, Patricia Arquette is that rarity: a beautiful and earthy American actress. Ethan Hawke does the best work of his career and Lorelei Linklater has to be one of the funniest kids ever born. She steals every scene she's in. This movie won't be liked by people who love plot contrivances, OTT acting, explosions, gang warfare, superheroes, monsters, Megan Fox, the list goes on... It will never be forgotten by people who love cinema in its purest form. It will never be forgotten by people who fought with their siblings in the backseats of cars, single mothers who fought like crazy but could never pull off a miracle, deadbeat dads who wish they weren't and by any kid who grew up - ever. Here's to Richard Linklater, the Texan Truffaut!