Falls well short of its near competitor, Trainwreck. Reminded me more of Neighbors.
* * of 5.
Sisters
Tiny Fey and Amy Poehler get their 80s on in their version of an Apatow movie. When the two sisters find out their parents are "Selling the House?!" they rush home, turn immediately into whiny kids and decide to have one last blowout. If you remember what happens to nice cars in the 80s movies (Risky Business, Fast Times at Ridgemont High) you'll know what happens to the house.
Falls well short of its near competitor, Trainwreck. Reminded me more of Neighbors.
* * of 5.
Falls well short of its near competitor, Trainwreck. Reminded me more of Neighbors.
* * of 5.
The Big Short
When you start with a story by Michael Lewis, you know you've got just that - a story. Then you make it into a movie. Then the movie is written by Adam McKay of Anchorman and The Interview fame. So you can expect that an objective non-fiction overview is not in the cards. For that we must say... thanks!
The subprime mortgage meltdown and the traders who made money betting that the downside would occur "the short" are unlikely material. But a closer looks shows this is the stuff of many Ben Mezrich movies (21, the Social Network [based on his book Accidental Billionaires]). All have in common the smarter-than-you nerd out to exploit a weakness for their own personal gain. Add in the Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg figure (a barefoot Christian Bale) and you've got every modern day business fortune movie made.
Inventively done, with visual props and interview vignettes to move the story along (Margot Robbie, Anthony Bordain, Selena Gomez). Good casting with Steve Carrell and Brad Pitt. But my favorite parts were the interview at Standard & Poore along with the Las Vegas convention. I'm sure it didn't happen just that way, but it was a fun way to tell the story.
* * * * of 5
The subprime mortgage meltdown and the traders who made money betting that the downside would occur "the short" are unlikely material. But a closer looks shows this is the stuff of many Ben Mezrich movies (21, the Social Network [based on his book Accidental Billionaires]). All have in common the smarter-than-you nerd out to exploit a weakness for their own personal gain. Add in the Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg figure (a barefoot Christian Bale) and you've got every modern day business fortune movie made.
Inventively done, with visual props and interview vignettes to move the story along (Margot Robbie, Anthony Bordain, Selena Gomez). Good casting with Steve Carrell and Brad Pitt. But my favorite parts were the interview at Standard & Poore along with the Las Vegas convention. I'm sure it didn't happen just that way, but it was a fun way to tell the story.
* * * * of 5
The Shop Around the Corner (1941)
James Stewart stars as Alfred, an "insignificant little clerk" in this Ernst Lubitsch dramedy about two coworkers in Matuschek & Company, a shop in Budapest. As Christmas is coming, Stewart is carrying on a pen pal relationship with a woman he becomes more and more interested in. At the same time, a new co-worker arrives Klara (Margaret Sullivan) and they have a brother/sister antagonism.
As it turns out, it is they who are pen pals with each other, but they don't know that about each other. Remade in the 90s as You've Got Mail, it's a classic screwball comedy of the day. Fine dialogue and funny gags reminded me of some of the Astaire/Rodgers movies of the time as well.
* * * * *
As it turns out, it is they who are pen pals with each other, but they don't know that about each other. Remade in the 90s as You've Got Mail, it's a classic screwball comedy of the day. Fine dialogue and funny gags reminded me of some of the Astaire/Rodgers movies of the time as well.
* * * * *
Star Wars Eve
Twas the hour before Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It starts at 12:20 today. Will there be previews? Will there be after-credit actions? Lots of anticipation.
Flash back to 1977. I was 12 years old, living in Houston, Texas. What we know as Episode IV now opened in July. Since it was summer vacation, I think I was able to see it the opening day Friday. It was at the Galleria I theater. Yes Virginia, there was a movie theater in the Galleria back then.
I recall that summer was when I was able to go to movies by myself. I don't remember seeing it with anyone else. I remember that I liked it of course, and that I saw it a total of 3 times in the theater.
In retrospect, there was some anticipation of this new movie. The budget was supposed to be big and it was expected to be a success- maybe not number 1 of all time as it turned out (at the time) but big. The biggest grossing movies to that date were Jaws and Gone with the Wind, if you can believe that.
What marks the enduring nature of this universe? Perhaps it's because of the carefully crafted universe with lots of attention to not only the worlds but also the varied characters which have had a lot of continuity.
Some things I will expect - A hero will emerge to fight a dark enemy, with a determinative light sabre duel. There will be a lot of quirky evil aliens, and there will be cute non-human characters (robots, trolls). Sounds like some later classics made into movies: Harry Potter, The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings.
Flash back to 1977. I was 12 years old, living in Houston, Texas. What we know as Episode IV now opened in July. Since it was summer vacation, I think I was able to see it the opening day Friday. It was at the Galleria I theater. Yes Virginia, there was a movie theater in the Galleria back then.
I recall that summer was when I was able to go to movies by myself. I don't remember seeing it with anyone else. I remember that I liked it of course, and that I saw it a total of 3 times in the theater.
In retrospect, there was some anticipation of this new movie. The budget was supposed to be big and it was expected to be a success- maybe not number 1 of all time as it turned out (at the time) but big. The biggest grossing movies to that date were Jaws and Gone with the Wind, if you can believe that.
What marks the enduring nature of this universe? Perhaps it's because of the carefully crafted universe with lots of attention to not only the worlds but also the varied characters which have had a lot of continuity.
Some things I will expect - A hero will emerge to fight a dark enemy, with a determinative light sabre duel. There will be a lot of quirky evil aliens, and there will be cute non-human characters (robots, trolls). Sounds like some later classics made into movies: Harry Potter, The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings.
Spotlight
Michael Keaton stars in this old style drama of the Spotlight investigative reporting team at the Boston Globe. It portrays their scoop of the Catholic Priest abuse unfolding in 2001-2002 in Boston. With Boston being 53% Catholic the Church leans large. As one line say "The Church thinks in centuries - are you prepared to do the same?"
Director of Photography does a great job interspersing the shots of the characters with a church looming in the back. And Robbie (Keaton) has a nice subplot with his high school - as he notes, he's born and raised Boston. Good casting of Mark Ruffalo as the hotheaded reporter, Rachel McAdams as the more thoughtful one, and Stanley Tucci as the harried plaintiff's lawyer (e.g. A Civil Action).
Of course it reminded me of one of my top 10 All the President's Men - a mystery, a good v. evil struggle. Well done
* * * * * of 5
Director of Photography does a great job interspersing the shots of the characters with a church looming in the back. And Robbie (Keaton) has a nice subplot with his high school - as he notes, he's born and raised Boston. Good casting of Mark Ruffalo as the hotheaded reporter, Rachel McAdams as the more thoughtful one, and Stanley Tucci as the harried plaintiff's lawyer (e.g. A Civil Action).
Of course it reminded me of one of my top 10 All the President's Men - a mystery, a good v. evil struggle. Well done
* * * * * of 5
My All American
As you gather around the Thanksgiving table and settle in for some UT football on Thursday night, be sure to go see the movie showing now "My All American" starring Aaron Eckhart and Finn Wittrock.
Written by Angelo Pizzo who wrote Rudy and Hoosiers, the story is set in the late 1960s as Darrell Royal (played by Eckhart) recruits an undersized player from Colorado to play for UT.
Freddy Steinmark (Wittrock) proceeds to have a dream-like football career before he starts having pain he can't ignore during the 1969 season culminating in the Game of the Century Texas v. Arkansas [ which of course Texas won].
UT football, Darrell Royal, Austin are co-stars of the show. The scoreboard at DKR Texas Memorial Stadium (for many years) has been named the Freddy Steinmark Memorial Scoreboard - even a longtime fan like me did not know that).
A good story - keep a stiff upper lip - it's a sad one.
Mockingjay Part 2 * Hunger Games
I went to the double feature of Mockingjay Part 1 and Part 2, the last part of the Hunger Games (quad movie). The decision to break this into 2 movies was a pretty good one. Part 1 starts with Katniss waking up in recovery in District 13 after having caused the revolution to be televised. She is being groomed to be the leader, the Mockingjay.
Part 2 starts after Peeta attacks Katniss. As the group begins their assault on the Capitol, the team is created. Here it turns into Aliens, right down the line. But it is never a bad idea to mimic a classic movie. Not to spoil the ending but it does circle nicely to the beginning of the original Hunger Games (2012).
Both Hunger Games and Catching Fire were 4 of 4 star movies. Here both Mockingjay Part 1 and Part 2 are 4 of 5 stars under the new system.
Part 2 starts after Peeta attacks Katniss. As the group begins their assault on the Capitol, the team is created. Here it turns into Aliens, right down the line. But it is never a bad idea to mimic a classic movie. Not to spoil the ending but it does circle nicely to the beginning of the original Hunger Games (2012).
Both Hunger Games and Catching Fire were 4 of 4 star movies. Here both Mockingjay Part 1 and Part 2 are 4 of 5 stars under the new system.
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