This sci-fi story is certain a credit to Star Wars. Legend has it that Valerian was what influenced George Lucas first. It's a comic book story come to life, so there's a lot of history to cover.
Dane DeHann and Cara Delevingne stars as Hans and Leia (er, Valerian and Laureline) who are tasked to go find the mysterious force that is threatening their space world. It's a complicated Christopher Nolan-esque plot, so of course you find the familiar of The Empire Strikes Back, Aliens, and Blade Runner. And it wouldn't be reminiscent of Blade Runner without Rutger Hauer who plays the Federation President.
Nice subplot involving Rihanna (Bubble) and Ethan Hawke (Jolly). One of the better parts.
Good lead casting - Dane and Cara reminded me of Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt in Edge of Tomorrow.
* * * * of 5
Logan Lucky
Another heist movie by Stephen Soderbergh, this one becomes a parody of the genre. In that end, it's a success. There's even a list of "How to Do a Heist" from 1. assemble a team to 2. shit happens to 3. know when to walk away.
It reminds of that classic Mickey Roarke line in Body Heat - "There are 20 things that can go wrong. If you're smart, you'll think of 10. And you're not smart".
The Logan Family (Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Riley Keogh) is not only Not That Smart, but also unlucky. Brother Clyde Logan is an amputee from his military service, where he volunteered to take the place of brother Jimmy Logan, the former high school quarterback. Now they are both bumming around Boone County, West Virginia.
When Jimmy loses his job and needs money for child support, he enlisted the ragtag bunch of family and hillbilly friends (Daniel Craig) to rob... The Charlotte Motor Speedway... NASCAR. What follows is an improbable run, even by heist standard movies.
Written by "Rebecca Blunt" this is believed to be a psedonym. I think this was just a mismash of writers trying get from A to Z while sticking every type of West Virginia caricature they could think of. And there's a lot, from the Charlie Daniels t shirt, to NASCAR, to the cars and bars, to the accents, to the fake tattoos. At least Jimmy is a good father.
Good lead performances by Channing Tatum and Adam Driver. Hilary Swank is wasted as the FBI Agent.
* * * of 5
It reminds of that classic Mickey Roarke line in Body Heat - "There are 20 things that can go wrong. If you're smart, you'll think of 10. And you're not smart".
The Logan Family (Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Riley Keogh) is not only Not That Smart, but also unlucky. Brother Clyde Logan is an amputee from his military service, where he volunteered to take the place of brother Jimmy Logan, the former high school quarterback. Now they are both bumming around Boone County, West Virginia.
When Jimmy loses his job and needs money for child support, he enlisted the ragtag bunch of family and hillbilly friends (Daniel Craig) to rob... The Charlotte Motor Speedway... NASCAR. What follows is an improbable run, even by heist standard movies.
Written by "Rebecca Blunt" this is believed to be a psedonym. I think this was just a mismash of writers trying get from A to Z while sticking every type of West Virginia caricature they could think of. And there's a lot, from the Charlie Daniels t shirt, to NASCAR, to the cars and bars, to the accents, to the fake tattoos. At least Jimmy is a good father.
Good lead performances by Channing Tatum and Adam Driver. Hilary Swank is wasted as the FBI Agent.
* * * of 5
Fall movie preview
Some movies to watch in the next 3 months:
It - 9/8 Pennywise the Clown by Stephen King
Stronger - 9/22 Jake Gyllenhall as survivor of Boston Marathon bombing after leg amputation
Flatliners 9/29 - director Niels Arden Oplev did Swedish version of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Blade Runner 2049 10/6
The Foreigner 10/13 - starring Jackie Chan
Suburbicon 10/27 - starring Matt Damon, directed by George Clooney
Justice League 11/17 - Wonder Woman returns
Coco 11/22 - Pixar goes to Mexico
It - 9/8 Pennywise the Clown by Stephen King
Stronger - 9/22 Jake Gyllenhall as survivor of Boston Marathon bombing after leg amputation
Flatliners 9/29 - director Niels Arden Oplev did Swedish version of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Blade Runner 2049 10/6
The Foreigner 10/13 - starring Jackie Chan
Suburbicon 10/27 - starring Matt Damon, directed by George Clooney
Justice League 11/17 - Wonder Woman returns
Coco 11/22 - Pixar goes to Mexico
Dunkirk
Directed by Christopher Nolan, its a lot like his other movies: sparse dialogue, multiple points of view, inventive cinematography. During May of 1940, the British army had been pushed back to the shores of France. A retreat was in order and normally that is the deadliest part of battle. But in homage to Churchill, "Never ever quit, in all things great and small".
The small boat rescue call went out and the smaller boats were able to ferry back 300,000 men from France back to Britain.
Mark Rylance has the most distinguishing turn in the movie. Like Robert Duvall, its going to be a good movie with them in it. See Bridge of Spies, which was a similar wartime movie. Also the aerial fighter pilot scenes were the best I've seen since Top Gun. High praise.
Hard to tell who is who as actors since there is little dialogue. It's mainly a survival movie. Well done.
* * * *
The small boat rescue call went out and the smaller boats were able to ferry back 300,000 men from France back to Britain.
Mark Rylance has the most distinguishing turn in the movie. Like Robert Duvall, its going to be a good movie with them in it. See Bridge of Spies, which was a similar wartime movie. Also the aerial fighter pilot scenes were the best I've seen since Top Gun. High praise.
Hard to tell who is who as actors since there is little dialogue. It's mainly a survival movie. Well done.
* * * *
The Big Sick
Back in the day, there was a common comedic storyline about the dark, slightly nerdly outcast (The Graduate, Last Picture Show, American Graffiti, the Sunshine Kid, When Harry Met Sally) chasing after the beautiful blonde from the other side of the tracks. Most of the time, the actor was Jewish and the blonde a Gentile, adding to the Romeo and Juliet nature of the story. True love usually won.
In the Big Sick, we have the same storyline, except the Jew is now the Muslim. Kumail Najiani plays the lead of... Kamail, and his love is Emily (Zoe Kazan), all fresh faced and rosy cheeked.
Kamail is a stand up comic (strong Seinfeld overtones) and he meets Emily at work of course. Their one night stand turns into a relationship which has its ups and downs until Emily falls into a coma. Kamail rushes to the hospital to meet Emily's parents (Ray Romano and Holly Hunter) who are thrown together for this difficult time for family and ... this guy.
A subplot involves Kamail's own family who is trying to make an arranged marriage for him, according to Pakistani culture. Another subplot involves Kamail's one act play, very similar to Leaving Boulder City in La La Land.
Judd Apatow produced and his prints are all over, from the no-name casting to the dry stand up comedy (Funny People)
* * * *
In the Big Sick, we have the same storyline, except the Jew is now the Muslim. Kumail Najiani plays the lead of... Kamail, and his love is Emily (Zoe Kazan), all fresh faced and rosy cheeked.
Kamail is a stand up comic (strong Seinfeld overtones) and he meets Emily at work of course. Their one night stand turns into a relationship which has its ups and downs until Emily falls into a coma. Kamail rushes to the hospital to meet Emily's parents (Ray Romano and Holly Hunter) who are thrown together for this difficult time for family and ... this guy.
A subplot involves Kamail's own family who is trying to make an arranged marriage for him, according to Pakistani culture. Another subplot involves Kamail's one act play, very similar to Leaving Boulder City in La La Land.
Judd Apatow produced and his prints are all over, from the no-name casting to the dry stand up comedy (Funny People)
* * * *
She has a beautiful pair of....
Allow me to discuss a woman's feature in photos that I find lovely. A shapely pair of eyebrows. Why, what did you think I was talking about?
The arched eyebrow has become a thing of beauty to me - accentuating the eye - particularly on the brunette.
Some modern examples are:
Gal Gadot
And of course, I must be inclusive - the star of Southlandview.blogspot.com,
Check out Pintrest - I'm not the only one whose interested in the subject.
The arched eyebrow has become a thing of beauty to me - accentuating the eye - particularly on the brunette.
Some modern examples are:
Gal Gadot
Cara Delevingne
Even Kim Kardashian
And of course, I must be inclusive - the star of Southlandview.blogspot.com,
Colin Farrell
Check out Pintrest - I'm not the only one whose interested in the subject.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)