Tag: review

MOVIE REVIEW: Million Dollar Arm

My wife thought Bill Paxton was so convincing as pitching coach Tom House, she thought he was the actual guy.

milliondollararmI suppose I should not have been surprised that the Daughter expressed tremendous interest in seeing the film Million Dollar Arm. She watches these annoying Disney shows on TV, and I imagine they have promoted the movie incessantly. A Memorial Day matinee trek to the Spectrum Theatre was in order.

There is an inherent problem with most movies based on real life. Additional issues come from sports movies, which generally slip into cliche. Still, the premise was interesting: a struggling sports agent, JB (Jon Hamm) comes up with a wild idea. What if he could find a baseball pitcher or two from India, perhaps kids who grew up playing cricket? This would attract a brand new market of a billion people to start watching American baseball.

Of course, the process does not go smoothly, but eventually, two young men make the trip to the US to learn the game and experience the fish-out-of-water hijinks one might expect. Finally, the big tryout is scheduled.

Here’s the thing: I rather liked much of the movie anyway. The parts in India were especially interesting. And a scene where one of the players was leaving home for the first time and had to say goodbye to his mother I found touching.

Much of the cast I enjoyed, including Suraj Sharma (star of Life of Pi) and Madhur Mittal (Slumdog Millionaire) as the young pitchers, Pitobash as the coach wannabe, and Aasif Mandvi (The Daily Show) as JB’s partner. Lake Bell (In a World…) was fine as Brenda, JB’s tenant, even though their eventual relationship is telegraphed. My wife thought Bill Paxton was so convincing as pitching coach Tom House, she thought he was the actual guy. Alan Arkin is always good; he plays a scout.

Possibly the weakest link was Jon Hamm. I have liked him on Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock, but here he was more mechanical, or maybe it was the writing. Ken Levine wrote: “The one thing I took from seeing MILLION DOLLAR ARM is that Jon Hamm needs Matthew Weiner’s words. Don Draper’s really a boring guy without great writing.”

The Daughter loved the music, and danced to the Bollywood hip hop at the end of the film; the other dozen patrons had already left. Despite its 2:04 running time, I was seldom bored, and it was a decent pic to see with the kids.

In the end, we see the real people in the story. The fact that Million Dollar Arm used the hidden fact trick did not diminish the story.
***
Saw Monsters University, the Pixar film, at my daughter’s school on a recent Friday night. I’d never seen Monsters Inc., so barely knew the characters. I enjoyed it, though I missed some dialogue; sometimes the audience was louder than the film.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Grand Budapest Hotel Is a cleverly oddball screwball comedy caper, yet melancholy tale of murder,

Grand_Budapest_HotelIn the first scene of The Grand Budapest Hotel, a young woman or girl walks through a cemetery, and I realize “She looks like a Wes Anderson character.” Is it the sensible shoes, or the way she walked? Not sure. Strange, because I had only seen two earlier Anderson films, The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), which I did not love, and Moonrise Kingdom (2012), which I enjoyed greatly.

This is “The adventures of Gustave H [Ralph Fiennes] , a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars, and Zero [newcomer Tony Revolori], the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend” during a period when the world is rapidly changing. The tale is told by Mr. Moustafa [F. Murray Abraham], owner of the title structure. It’s a cleverly oddball screwball comedy caper, yet the melancholy tale of murder, theft, and love.

It’s so well made that one forgets how much skill is involved. It includes some stop-motion animation bits which I can only imagine would be diminished on home video. I laughed aloud more than a few times, almost all in the second half.

I rather liked this summary from James Berardinelli of ReelViews: “It offers an engaging 90+ minutes of unconventional, comedy-tinged adventure that references numerous classic movies while developing a style and narrative approach all its own.” Some elements of homage, yet its own film.

LOTS of familiar faces in the large cast, well used. Special props to Tilda Swinton, who plays an 84-year-old woman. My friend Steve Bissette noted that the highlights for him “included Willem Dafoe’s monstrous boogeyman/family hit man and Harvey Keitel’s appearance.”

He called the film an “absurdist faux-continental adventure and among Anderson’s most entertaining confections (and that’s saying a lot), with the usual precocity those who don’t enjoy Anderson’s work will revile and those of us who do savor.”

This was one of those exceedingly rare times we went out on a Friday night, to the Spectrum Theatre in Albany, and actually saw at least five people we knew, two in that very showing. So people really DO go out on date night. I never knew…
***
I read a review of someone recently seeing Frozen. The reviewer wondered “Why on earth did this movie become a cultural touchstone?… It just wasn’t nearly as fantastic as people have made it out to be…” Then she answers her own question: “I suspect I would have enjoyed it much more if I hadn’t gone into watching it with the knowledge that it has become so popular. I was expecting a lot more, and I think high expectations kind of ruined it for me.” I totally agree, And if she saw it on video, rather than in the theater – I don’t know – THAT would be significantly important in a first viewing.

 

Movie Review: The LEGO Movie

I’m still uncertain that The LEGO Movie was designed for children.

lego_movieThe Wife recently purchased, as a fundraiser item for our school’s PTA, this coupon book called SaveAround; I had never heard of it.

One of the items in the Albany edition is an opportunity to go to one of the Regal Cinema locations, for free, on one’s birthday. Hmm, I had a birthday coming up, AND I had taken the day off from work, per usual.

Took the bus up to Colonie Center, and indeed got a free pass to see The Lego Movie. I was the first to arrive, and for a time thought that it might be a private showing. Eventually, three parents and a total of five children arrived.

Emmet, the main character, was initially such an unthinking cog in the wheel of society that I found his character mildly depressing. Yet he seemed quite believable as that guy who thinks that fitting in at all costs is actually a good thing. In general, I could not help but think about the bigger societal issues this movie addressed – corporatism, copyright infringement, the banal music industry, vapid television programming, to name a few – while watching this film.

I’m still uncertain that this was a movie designed for children. A lot of the jokes seemed geared towards adults who had grown up with some of the characters. I particularly enjoyed the relationship among Emmet, Wyldstyle, and Batman.

This is an impressive effort. I think it’s easy to take for granted the skill needed to put the thing together. With over 180 characters in the movie, LEGO VP of Design Matthew Ashton noted in a recent interview: “We had a huge chart on the wall of our design studio to keep a record of who had been approved and who was still work in progress.”

That interview, BTW, is in the 28th issue of the Brick Journal, in which one finds everything LEGO: “Many of the figures were designed the same way LEGO does when creating actual toys, being hand-sculpted and 3D-scanned, with accessories created in digital 3D programs, so the movie would look like real LEGO mini-figures had come to life.”

FOX Business news has attacked the movie as being anti-business. If by “business”, it means exploitative, mind-numbing, subsistence-wage paying drudgery, they may have a point, and I suggest that the irony of interchangeable Legos making that connection is part of the humor.

If I didn’t love this quite as much as most of the reviewers, I think it’s that raised expectations thing. But no doubt, this is a very good film.

MOVIE REVIEW – August: Osage County

I found something oddly compelling about the folks in August:Osage County.

august-osage-countyI was not sure I even wanted to see it. The reviews were decidedly mixed on August: Osage County. Worse, the campaign promoting the film changed from being a scene-chewing drama to a dark comedy, so I was suspicious. But then SamuraiFrog recommended it AND related to it. Also, it DID have a couple of Oscar-nominated actresses in it. So I went with a friend to the Spectrum in Albany, The Wife being out of town with The Daughter.

A negative reviewer complained that the movie was not as strong as the Tony-winning play – which I did not see – despite both being written by Tracy Letts; I did see some staginess, especially in particular snippets of dialogue occasionally. Others blamed John Wells’ direction.

Critic Richard Roeper called the movie: “A sometimes wickedly funny but ultimately sour, loud, draining tale of one of the most dysfunctional families in modern American drama.” Reviewer Anthony Morris said: “Instead of building to some tragic-comedic level of peak awfulness, [it] lurches from revelation to revelation without coming together as anything more than a sloppy weekend where a lot of nasty crap goes down.” I tend to agree with both of these assessments.

And yet, I found something oddly compelling about these folks. Do you know people who seem to attract drama in their lives? I certainly do. My friend suggested that the former in-laws were much like the matriarch, played by Meryl Streep, and her children. I think Streep came off playing her role so well because, she has noted, she attempted to emulate Margo Martindale, who played her sister.

Was it only coincidence that the three daughters were played by actresses with similar first names, Julia Roberts, Juliette Lewis, and Julianne Nicholson? They were convincing as siblings, the youngest of whom got stuck at home; I can relate.

The other roles, by Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper, Abigail Breslin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dermot Mulroney, Sam Shepard, and Misty Upham were all fine.

All this to say that I BELIEVED in these people, that there are, in Oklahoma or elsewhere, these complicated people in their screwed-up lives. It was a good, not great movie, but I’m glad I saw it. You may have to be in the right frame of mind to meet this clan.

MOVIE REVIEW: Nebraska

Younger son David decides to humor his father, and this leads to a road trip from Billings, MT to Lincoln, NE.

NebraskaWhen we can’t get a child sitter, sometimes the Wife and I will see the same movie on different weekend days so that we can compare notes. I went to NYC with The Daughter to see the Broadway musical Newsies on a recent Saturday, so The Wife visited the Spectrum Theatre and saw Nebraska. She deemed it quite worthwhile, so I watched it that Sunday; she was right.

This is a rare starring role for long-time character Bruce Dern, playing Woody Grant, who is convinced that he has won a million dollars some Publisher’s Clearing House-type mailing, despite the insistence of his family to the contrary. His wife Kate (June Squibb) and elder son Ross (Bob Odenkirk) think Woody’s losing it. But younger son David (Will Forte) decides to humor his father, leading to a road trip from Billings, MT to Lincoln, NE, with an important side trip to the family’s past.

This is, as described, “told with deadpan humor and a unique visual style,” and it is more than occasionally LOL funny, without telling any jokes. Great acting by Dern and Squibb, both rightly nominated for Academy Awards. Stacy Keach, as an old acquaintance of Woody’s, Oderkirk, and especially Forte, who is best known for Saturday Night Live, are all excellent, as are many of the minor characters. There’s one scene with some older men, and my wife suggested – as I thought – that they reminded her of some of her taciturn relatives.

The script is by Bob Nelson, who I do not know. The direction is by Alexander Payne, who has been the writer/director for several movies I have enjoyed, including The Descendants, Sideways, About Schmidt, and Election.

Did I mention that Nebraska was filmed in black and white? This enhances the feel of the story tremendously.

A friend asked which of the six Oscar-nominated films I’ve seen so far was the most ENJOYABLE; it had been American Hustle, but I think it’s been replaced by Nebraska.

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