Premium Rush (2012)

"I like to ride. Fixed gear. No brakes. Can't stop. Don't want to, either."

IMDB Rating: 6.9

It's not a 10 star film but it is a fun ride with action that makes up for a few flaws in plot and the flow of storyline. The best issue in this film is almost constant action and wild biking through the New York streets. A movie that while thin and silly, moves with such joyous speed that you almost want to throw your arms in the air and scream. One of the elements that were new to the screen and highly workable were the sudden stop of action to follow the split-second decision making of a messenger/biker. Choices (usualy three) that have to be made in the moment. The bad guy in the film is nasty and very believable. Enjoy the earthy feel of the cameras that capture the life of a messenger on two wheels competing with trucks, cabs, and cops.

Arbitrage (2012)

"World events all revolve around five things: M-O-N-E-Y."

IMDB Rating: 7.0

It's instructive to note what a killer actor Richard Gere can be when a movie rises to his level. Arbitrage is such a movie, a sinfully entertaining look at the sins committed in the name of money. Richard Gere as Robert Miller is very convincing as a sophisticated , wealthy man who loves his work , loves his wife, daughter, son and of course his own girlfriend Julie. Arbitrage reminds of Disclosure, in that the intensity of it doesn't come from action but from the escalating drama, the talented actors and the plot. You don't know whether to hate Robert Miller or feel sorry for him, because even though he's doing bad things he doesn't have bad intentions. And Richard Gere pulls it off without a hitch, his first major role in years.