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Matthew Huntley: I've managed to see all the high-profile releases, including Gravity, Captain Phillips, Carrie, 12 Years a Slave, Thor: The Dark World and most recently, Enough Said. Here are my short reviews of each:

Gravity: Intense filmmaking style mixed with not-so-intense/demanding screenplay. Worth it for the visuals alone, and that's saying a lot in this case.

Captain Phillips: Strong acting in a competently-made thriller, but would have been more interesting as a documentary.

Carrie: Another pointless horror remake that brings nothing new/different to the table. Skip it.

12 Years a Slave: Bravura acting combined with unabashed, graphic imagery; film brings to light aspect of one of America's worst practices that many might not know about. Definitely worth seeing on several levels.

Thor: The Dark World: Sufficiently serves the Saturday action movie audience; light and fun, but also forgettable. It's like an appetizer before the next big feast (i.e. Avengers 2).

Enough Said: Great chemistry between the two leads and natural, fluid dialogue keep this rom-com moving. All things considered, film is a high note for James Gandolfini to go out on.

Max Braden: I've fallen way behind, and I don't think it's going to improve with the Xbox One releasing at the end of the week. I haven't been to the theater since seeing Gravity (and I feel like I need to see 12 Years a Slave and Dallas Buyer's Club before they get nominated). Just a handful of movies on DVD:

Just Like a Woman: This is a road-trip belly-dancing movie featuring Sienna Miller. To be honest, I rented it mostly for midriff gyrations and when it turned out to be a girl-bonding movie I lost interest. I've liked Sienna Miller ever since Layer Cake and Casanova, so I'm always on the lookout for appearances by her.

Blood of Redemption: Dolph Lundgren, Billy Zane, Vinnie Jones, and Robert Davi all together in a mob movie! Surprisingly, Zane turns in a decent performance in this movie. Davi's attempt to have the same accent as Vinnie Jones is hilariously wrong.

Much Ado About Nothing: Thirty seconds in to this movie I wanted to shut it off. I think I'm only inclined to like Shakespearean dialogue when it's spoken in period costume, so the modern setting threw me. But I stuck it out and warmed to it by the end. Fillion's comedy definitely helped.

Before Midnight: Before Sunset was among my top ten favorite movies of 2004, but I found Before Midnight a miserable watching experience. I can't remember a single instance where Delpy's character was supportive or complimentary to her husband, and she couldn't seem to go five minutes without starting a fight. It made it hard to see why Hawke's character would bother.

Evidence: Radha Mitchell and Stephen Moyer star but take a backseat to found footage of a brutal mass murder, which is even less palatable because of the static-strewn recordings. There's a twist at the end but it wasn't worth the effort.

I know it's not a movie but I want to take the opportunity to mention that Brooklyn Nine-Nine is my favorite new show of the season and is easily one of my most anticipated episodes to watch every week. It has a similar atmosphere to Parks and Recreation, but Parks can be a little "we just made a joke, did you see it?" while there's no breaking of the fourth wall in Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Brooklyn Nine-Nine is just fun, and all the cast members deliver great comedy for the show.

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