Starring Seth Rogen and James Franco as a pothead and his dealer on the run after witnessing a murder, this Judd Apatow produced moobie got some good rebiews.
It had some funny moments and some funny lines and the characters were likeable enough. Rogen doing his usual schlubby everyman schtick. Alright. Rosie Perez miscast as a policewoman. eh. Gary Cole miscast as the bad guy (wasn't bad enough). I kept thinking he'd ask Rosie Perez to come in on Saturday. James Franco was good as the sensitive drug dealer, and Danny McBride steals his scenes as a drug middleman with 9 lives. Maybe the fact that I'm not a pot smoker made this moobie just alright. Although I think the fact that the moobie was just alright made me feel that way.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Tell No One
E:
I was interested in seeing this moobie when it was in the theaters but we never got around to it. It was during our mad dash to see Oscar contenders and even though Tell No One had some good buzz, unfortunately we weren't focused on it...too bad. I loved it!
It stars François Cluzet (looking very much like a French Dustin Hoffman) as Alexandre, a man who lost his wife several years ago only to receive a strange email seemingly from her 8 years later.
It's a whodunit murder mystery cast in the best Hitchcockian mold I've seen in years. A lot of unexpected twists and turns right up to the end. This moobie was so good I was tempted to watch the DBD over again when it finished!
Tell No One has a wonderful supporting cast as well, including Marie-Josée Croze (one of the gorgeous women of The Diving Bell and The Butterfly) as Margot his dead wife, Marina Hands (also in Diving Bell) as his lesbian sister and Kristin Scott Thomas her lover.
This one is highly recommended.
Highly.
Recommended.
G:
I really wanted to contribute to this rebiew...cuz it was really good! I was hooked from the beginning. Good stuff. Watch it.
I was interested in seeing this moobie when it was in the theaters but we never got around to it. It was during our mad dash to see Oscar contenders and even though Tell No One had some good buzz, unfortunately we weren't focused on it...too bad. I loved it!
It stars François Cluzet (looking very much like a French Dustin Hoffman) as Alexandre, a man who lost his wife several years ago only to receive a strange email seemingly from her 8 years later.
It's a whodunit murder mystery cast in the best Hitchcockian mold I've seen in years. A lot of unexpected twists and turns right up to the end. This moobie was so good I was tempted to watch the DBD over again when it finished!
Tell No One has a wonderful supporting cast as well, including Marie-Josée Croze (one of the gorgeous women of The Diving Bell and The Butterfly) as Margot his dead wife, Marina Hands (also in Diving Bell) as his lesbian sister and Kristin Scott Thomas her lover.
This one is highly recommended.
Highly.
Recommended.
G:
I really wanted to contribute to this rebiew...cuz it was really good! I was hooked from the beginning. Good stuff. Watch it.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Towelhead
E:
It's a coming of age story about a young middle eastern girl growing up in the white world of early 90's Texas at the onset of the first Iraq War.
With the body of a girl much older and horrible role models in both her co-dependent mother and her ill-prepared, self-absorbed father she ends up victim to her own confusion in the gray area between acceptance and her own burgeoning sexuality. Lacking any direction and supervision, she's out there on her own facing racism and sexual advances. Summer Bishil gives a great screen debut as the central character Jasira. Aaron Eckhart plays a morally disorganized red state neighbor and Toni Collette plays the one guiding light in Jasira's life.
It's not perfect by any means, but it's an interesting moobie. And hopefully we'll be seeing more of Summer Bishil in the future.
It's a coming of age story about a young middle eastern girl growing up in the white world of early 90's Texas at the onset of the first Iraq War.
With the body of a girl much older and horrible role models in both her co-dependent mother and her ill-prepared, self-absorbed father she ends up victim to her own confusion in the gray area between acceptance and her own burgeoning sexuality. Lacking any direction and supervision, she's out there on her own facing racism and sexual advances. Summer Bishil gives a great screen debut as the central character Jasira. Aaron Eckhart plays a morally disorganized red state neighbor and Toni Collette plays the one guiding light in Jasira's life.
It's not perfect by any means, but it's an interesting moobie. And hopefully we'll be seeing more of Summer Bishil in the future.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Elegy
E:
I have mixed feelings about this moobie. For starters, even though it's portrayed as unusual, I still can't quite wrap my head around a young Penelope Cruz involved with an old Ben Kingsley.
Ben plays a professor given to anti-marriage rhetoric on talk shows, meeting regularly with fellow old man Dennis Hopper, intermittent trysts with a career woman who shows up when she pleases and a strained relationship with his son. Penelope plays a student who takes him up on his offer to go out once the semester is over. They end up in a relationship. He, once a master of his domain, finds himself anxious and insecure until - slowly but surely, it all implodes.
What does it all mean? This part I like...it reminds me of a 2nd century BC Greek philosopher I come back to time and time again - Epictetus. A Stoic, he asserts the following: we have control only over these things - our actions and our reactions to the actions done to us by others. That's it. And that, it turns out, is what this moobie is about.
I have mixed feelings about this moobie. For starters, even though it's portrayed as unusual, I still can't quite wrap my head around a young Penelope Cruz involved with an old Ben Kingsley.
Ben plays a professor given to anti-marriage rhetoric on talk shows, meeting regularly with fellow old man Dennis Hopper, intermittent trysts with a career woman who shows up when she pleases and a strained relationship with his son. Penelope plays a student who takes him up on his offer to go out once the semester is over. They end up in a relationship. He, once a master of his domain, finds himself anxious and insecure until - slowly but surely, it all implodes.
What does it all mean? This part I like...it reminds me of a 2nd century BC Greek philosopher I come back to time and time again - Epictetus. A Stoic, he asserts the following: we have control only over these things - our actions and our reactions to the actions done to us by others. That's it. And that, it turns out, is what this moobie is about.
Monday, March 23, 2009
What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?
E:
Bette Davis and Joan Crawford didn't get along. It's been well documented, it was legendary. I'm surprised they made a moobie together at all, but when they did they chose the perfect picture to showcase their dislike.
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane is about two elderly sisters. Bette plays Jane, a washed-up child vaudeville star. The other saw her star on the rise as her sister's was falling to become a star in her own right on the silver screen. Joan as the now paralyzed and wheelchair-bound Blanche gives a very understated performance in the face of the stellar Bette Davis' Oscar nominated turn. Bette's grotesque, gothic deterioration into madness is not one to be missed.
There aren't too many details one can provide about this moobie without giving away the fun. All I can say is, give it a try if you're in the mood for an old picture. It's campy old-school at its best.
Bette Davis and Joan Crawford didn't get along. It's been well documented, it was legendary. I'm surprised they made a moobie together at all, but when they did they chose the perfect picture to showcase their dislike.
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane is about two elderly sisters. Bette plays Jane, a washed-up child vaudeville star. The other saw her star on the rise as her sister's was falling to become a star in her own right on the silver screen. Joan as the now paralyzed and wheelchair-bound Blanche gives a very understated performance in the face of the stellar Bette Davis' Oscar nominated turn. Bette's grotesque, gothic deterioration into madness is not one to be missed.
There aren't too many details one can provide about this moobie without giving away the fun. All I can say is, give it a try if you're in the mood for an old picture. It's campy old-school at its best.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Frozen River
E:
I had heard about this one during all of the Oscar buzz but I wasn't in any hurry to see it. Kind of a mistake. The moobie is definitely worth the time.
It's about a down on her luck woman who's man just took the money and ran. Forced to try alone to keep a roof over her and her children's heads she resorts to measures far outside her comfort zone. Melissa Leo does in fact turn in a bravura performance here and the supporting cast, namely her son and her smuggling cohort, turn in great performances. The cold is almost its own character in the film - it kind of reminded me of Fargo. And it offers no pat answers about right or wrong, about judgement or apathy; it simply presents the choices and where those choices lead.
I highly recommend it.
One thing I am curious about though, is why did Melissa get such high (albeit well deserved) accolades while Michelle Williams was virtually ignored for her equally riveting performance in Wendy and Lucy?
I had heard about this one during all of the Oscar buzz but I wasn't in any hurry to see it. Kind of a mistake. The moobie is definitely worth the time.
It's about a down on her luck woman who's man just took the money and ran. Forced to try alone to keep a roof over her and her children's heads she resorts to measures far outside her comfort zone. Melissa Leo does in fact turn in a bravura performance here and the supporting cast, namely her son and her smuggling cohort, turn in great performances. The cold is almost its own character in the film - it kind of reminded me of Fargo. And it offers no pat answers about right or wrong, about judgement or apathy; it simply presents the choices and where those choices lead.
I highly recommend it.
One thing I am curious about though, is why did Melissa get such high (albeit well deserved) accolades while Michelle Williams was virtually ignored for her equally riveting performance in Wendy and Lucy?
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
To Have And Have Not
E:
This 1944 Howard Hawks picture was the very first onscreen pairing of Humphrey Bogart and newcomer Lauren Bacall. While not the best of either's oeuvre, it's a nice introduction. Based on some Ernest Hemingway material, the story takes place in the Caribbean in the 40s. An American fishing boat captain falls for a girl stuck in town and accidentally gets caught up in the local island resistance movement.
They sure don't write dialogue the way they used to, that's for sure. For me, that's the big draw here. The film itself is just alright compared to other films of that era. But that dialogue. Each exchange is filled with sharp dialogue, quick-witted repartie. It's so fun to listen. It's here Bacall utters her famous line " You don't have to act with me Steve. You don't have to say anything and you don't have to do anything. Not a thing. Maybe just whistle. You know how to whistle don't you Steve? You just put your lips together and blow."
G: 'Slim' (LB's character)....loved her.
This 1944 Howard Hawks picture was the very first onscreen pairing of Humphrey Bogart and newcomer Lauren Bacall. While not the best of either's oeuvre, it's a nice introduction. Based on some Ernest Hemingway material, the story takes place in the Caribbean in the 40s. An American fishing boat captain falls for a girl stuck in town and accidentally gets caught up in the local island resistance movement.
They sure don't write dialogue the way they used to, that's for sure. For me, that's the big draw here. The film itself is just alright compared to other films of that era. But that dialogue. Each exchange is filled with sharp dialogue, quick-witted repartie. It's so fun to listen. It's here Bacall utters her famous line " You don't have to act with me Steve. You don't have to say anything and you don't have to do anything. Not a thing. Maybe just whistle. You know how to whistle don't you Steve? You just put your lips together and blow."
G: 'Slim' (LB's character)....loved her.
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