Happy Holidays everyone! I hope you all had a blessed Christmas. Currently I am still in Spokane on vacation as I enjoy time with my family.

Speaking of enjoying time with the family, when us Resers are together we like nothing more than to go to the movies. This holiday season has proved no different as I have watched two movies in two nights with my loved ones at the neighborhood theater. Writing as a movie critic is definitely not my forte and I am definitely not qualified to do it, so please consider the explanations below as just a brief guide from a biased male movie-goer. I want to just provide what I thought of the movie and maybe make your decision easier on if you want to see it or not.

“American Hustle”: On Christmas evening my family winded down from the day’s festivities by watching “American Hustle”, a movie with a star loaded cast about a couple of con people who get caught conducting one of their schemes by a FBI agent during a sting. In order to avoid severe sentences, the con people (Christian Bale and Amy Adams) must participate in a much bigger, more elaborate sting operation orchestrated by the FBI agent (Bradley Cooper).

“American Hustle” definitely has its slow parts. By no means was I hanging onto my seat wondering what would happen next. In fact, the ending is quite predictable. But, even though the movie is slow and even though it is predictable, the plot is still good. What sets this movie apart though is the acting. The performances put on by Cooper, Adams, and especially Bale, are superb. Jennifer Lawrence also plays a big role in the movie and provides stellar acting as well while also being very easy on the eyes. Robert Deniro also appears in the movie.

I would recommend the movie to most adult audiences who want to watch a sophisticated crime drama containing the best acting talent available in 2013. My attention span is not always the best so many might not even think it was as slow as I made it out to be.

“Grudge Match”: Yesterday my brother and I returned to the theater to watch a movie that he had anticipated the release of for quite some time. Starring Slyvester Stallone and Robert Deniro, “Grudge Match” chronicles the build up and bout of two aging rivals who last fought 30 years ago. The rivalry came to an abrupt halt before the rubber match of the series could be staged. However, with money and unfinished business playing a role, both fighters agree to put the gloves on for one last time and settle the rivalry for good.

I actually really enjoyed this movie. I personally found Stallone and Deniro hilarious throughout the whole production. There is a great scene where the two make fun of mixed martial arts and another pretty good scene when the two parachute. Besides the funny scenes, the culminating boxing match scene is very good as well. The boxing itself is well done but the sportsmanship at the fight’s culmination is very heartwarming. Both of the men’s trainers, Alan Arkin for Stallone and Jon Bernthal for Deniro play solid roles. If you are anything like me, you will get very annoyed with Kevin Hart who serves as the over anxious promoter.

I know there are a lot of Stallone haters out there so I definitely wouldn’t recommend this movie to those people. However, I would recommend “Grudge Match” to most others. It is an easy going movie with lots of laughs, a great ending, and two iconic actors bringing the best out of each other.

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Lately I have had bad luck with movies so it was refreshing to watch two movies in a row that I actually enjoyed. I hope that all of you get to the theater this holiday season and see something you like! Don’t Blink.