Hard to remember way back when Katherine Heigl was the next "it" star. Here's she takes a romcom turn as the up and coming TV star whose life takes a turn when she gets pregnant from a one-night stand.
This being a movie, Allison decides not to get a "shemsbortion" and keep the baby while trying to make something work with the schlub of a father Seth Rogen (Ben). Allison lives with her sister Debbie (Leslie Mann) and her husband Pete (Paul Rudd) whose life is not quite as good as it appears. Pete and Debbie would late get their own spin-off movie This is 40.
The real stars are Ben's stoner friends who would all go on to bigger things, Jason Segal, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, Martin Starr.
Also memorable small performances by future stars Craig Robinson, Ken Jeoug, B.J. Novak.
It's a truism that some actors just never seem to be in a bad movie. Add Emma Watson to that list.
She stars with a few other no-names in this coming of age story telling a familiar tale: High school misfit moves to a new school, meets his new crew and comes into his own. Sprinkle with a good dose of sex, drugs and rock 'n roll. Add some bullying, and a few other taboo topics and as they say in the movie "it becomes an after school special".
Logan Lerman is Charlie, a freshman, just returned from the mental hospital. He enters high school and after the obligatory false starts, he meets and is befriended by two seniors Patrick (Ezra Miller) and Sam (Emma Watson). Charlie of course falls for Sam, but they have a brother/sister relationship unlike Charlie's actual sister Candace (Nina Dobrev).
Suffice to say each character has a deep, dark secret that gets revealed as the school year goes by. As noted it is like the After School Specials of the 1970s where the teenagers would be faced with very adult problems and situations.
Set in the 90s, it's got some good music and is kind of old fashioned in a pre-social media world.
I watched this recently for the first time in a century and was so impressed with it! Five Stars!
Directed by Penny Marshall, it tells the story of Dottie and her sister Kit, who grew up on a farm in Oregon during the 40s. With the men away at war, a baseball team owner had the idea to form a Girl's Baseball League and scouts were sent out to find women for tryouts. Dottie (Geena Davis) and Kit (Lori Petty) were recruited by the weasly Jon Lovitz to tryout and off on the train to Chicago they went.
Four teams form up and the rest of the movie is their coming together, with the skipper a washed up ballplayer Jimmy (Tom Hanks) who eventually comes around to his job and captains the team all the way to the championship. There we have an epic showdown of pitcher v. batter which is well done.
Some great things: the story was told in flashback and it is neat to see the old women together at the end, remembering what they did when they were young. The cinematography is very neat, particularly the photos evoking the old times. And there's just enough drama to keep it interesting while maintaining a PG rating. Certainly an adult story. The music by Hans Zimmer is excellent as well, with original music by Madonna to boot.
Ahead of its time for an all-female cast, female director, strong female lead stories, with the men being interesting but not schlubs. Also starring Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell, Bill Pullman.
A Sundance Film Festival 2020 favorite, which used to suggest an air of exclusivity, but in the era of Netflix, you can watch it for free, at home, right now.
A documentary of Taylor Swift, an unusual choice given her major current success and high profile. Obviously had a lot of her participation so it shows the softer side. She cares about our political future! She loves her parents! And her cats! But she just needs someone to call after the show.
Some cool visuals: Taylor at the conference room table running the meeting, Taylor on her private plane with "13" embroidered into the headrests, Taylor on her smartphone. Does Taylor ever love her phone!
A fun little look into her life. She's been singing and writing songs a long time and she sure makes it look easy. The music production process was the best part. The producer seems like her best friend.
* * * * * of 5.
Getting into Sundance is like getting into Harvard, but it helps to have a billion dollar name behind it.
