Midnight in Paris, the opening film at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival was warmly received. That is expected, Cannes is in France, after all. But underneath this love letter to Paris, is an excellent film.
Gil (Wilson) and Inez (McAdams) travel to Paris. They are engaged, but they do not seem very close or compatible, and this gets more obvious as the film progresses. Additionally, his in-laws do not seem to like him all that much.
By chance, they run into Paul (Sheen) and his wife, Carol (Arianda), old friends of Inez. Paul is a pretentious blowhard, on a speaking tour.
At one time, he worked in Hollywood, movie scripts, a high paying gig, that he did not much care for. While in Paris, Gil is working on his novel about a ‘nostalgia store’ owner.
At this point, even as a member of the audience, you find yourself painfully bored with Gil’s present life.
Around midnight, Gil goes out on a walk; an old car approaches him. A car filled a lively, rambunctious group of folks, on their way to a party. They ask him come along and reluctantly accepts the invitation.
Arriving at the get-together, he notices something strange. Everyone dressed in old clothes, Cole Porter is playing the piano. He is surrounded by people who resemble his literary heroes, but these people cannot be real. Oh, but they are.
Gil figures this out, and he is not really freaked out. He takes advantage of this opportunity. Coming back to visit, several nights in a row.
Read More
New Cliff Bar
“Wow, it's like there's a party in my mouth and everyone's invited.”
-Ken Griffey Jr.
This new ‘Coconut Chocolate Chip’ Cliff Bar is scrumdiddlyumptious. If you are familiar with Girl Scout cookies; they taste like ‘Samoa’ cookies, (known in some parts of the USA as ‘Caramel deLites’). As health conscious person, with a sweet tooth, this newly branded confection is deLite-full, indeed.
For food I have three ratings:
Subpar, Par, and Überpar.
I rate this Überpar.
Well-Dunn
Horrible Bosses
HORRIBLE BOSSES
Director: Seth Gordon
R
100 minutes
Writers: Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley
Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Jamie Foxx, Colin Farrell, Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston
This is one of the worst movies ever made. I did not laugh one time. This week, I put together a presentation. A simple movie review will not suffice in this case. Here goes:
It would be best to view this on a full screen.
Final Verdict: 1 out of a possible 100.
Super 8 (Mini Review)
Super 8
PG-13
112 minutes
Writer: J.J. Abrams
Director: J.J. Abrams
Elle Fanning, Amanda Michalka, Kyle Chandler, Joe Lamb, Riley Griffiths, Joel McKinnon Miller, Ryan Lee, Gabriel Basso, Ron Eldard, David Gallagher
“I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?”
-Stand By Me (1986)
Now and Then (1995). Goonies (1985), Stand By Me (1986), and The Sandlot (1993). I remember being twelve, and being on summer vacation. The only thing I did was watch these movies like these.
Charles (Griffiths), and his friends, are creating a movie for a local film contest. While shooting a scene, they witness a train crash, and inadvertently capture it on film.
This is a realistic group of 12 year olds: they are a sharp group of kids, but underneath it all, they are all still kids.
Elle Fanning plays a big part in this movie. She reminds me of a young Kristina Ricci. That is to say, unlike her older sister, she actually has a future in acting.
David Gallagher has a small, but significant cameo. He decided to go the Jessica Beil route, eagerly wanting to move beyond his squeaky clean, TV persona. In Super 8, he plays a burnout stoner, working at the photo-mat.
"People know me as some school do-gooder: Saint Simon, son of a minister."
Read More
Blindfold: Acts of Obsession
More like 9021-Ho.
Every now and again, a bad movie slips through the cracks. This movie was never released on DVD (except in Japan).
Blindfold: Acts of Obsession The best worst movie you have never seen. Bad directing, writing, editing, and acting: this is a movie critic’s wet dream. There is a fine line between made-for-cable movies and pornography. People in porno films are much more believable.
Madeleine Dalton (Doherty) gets sexually involved with her psychiatrist, Dr. Jennings (Nelson).
“Ever since he did that Mighty Ducks movie, Emilio Estevez has been strutting around like he’s cock of walk.”
-Judd Nelson (1993 interview by Gore Vidal)
Coincidently, a real-life affair between Judd Nelson, and Shannen Doherty occurred, all while they were shooting Blindfold. Doherty was engaged to Dean Factor at the time.
Doherty is the Lindesy Lohan of the 90s. Showing up late on the set, yelling at cast/crew members, DUIs, and writing bad checks. Of all the things she done (including Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows), this movie is probably the least embarrassing.
On paper, she looks like a bad person, but…you know, I don’t know where I was going with that.
Read More
Dorf Goes Fishing
Alright, this injustice has gone on long enough. Dorf Goes Fishing is not available on Blu Ray. Yes, I would like the entire 'Dorf' collection put on Blu Ray. But we got to start start somewhere. If I died today, my tombstone would say, "Tim Conway is a genius". Please sign this petition.
Thank You
"If you will it, it is no dream."
-John Goodman
Read More
X-Men: First Class
…Knowing others is intelligent.
Knowing yourself is enlightened
Conquering other takes force.
Conquering yourself is true strength…
-Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
Yes, there has been way too many (mostly disappointing) comic book movies this year. That being said, I walked in to this film, knowing it would be at least half-way decent. With all those bad X-Men sequels, they are bound to make a good one…eventually.
This is the fifth X-Men movie. It takes place before the first. I guess you could call it the ‘Attack of the Clones’ of the X-Men film franchise; speaking chronologically, not in overall movie quality. For the record: this movie is much better than the worst Star Wars film ever made.
In this post 9/11 world, Cold War Nostalgia is all too prevalent. Things where so much simpler back in the day. The line between good and evil: The Berlin Wall. The only thing we really had to worry about was a complete nuclear holocaust.
Read More
Sinbad: It’s Just Family
Sinbad: It’s Just Family
Sinbad: It’s Just Family, just ended it inaugural season: a full six episodes. A reality show, which follows him and his family around. Most of the content was boring; each episode had about five minutes of hilarity.
I condensed the material worth watching. This is a historical moment; no one has ever put this much effort into anything Sinbad related.
He is trying to be the next ‘Cliff Huxtable’. I suppose it makes a little sense, considering the TV shows he has done.
A Different World (1987-93) (Spinoff of The Cosby Show)
Walter Oakes: graduate student, football/baseball/basketball/track coach, dorm director of all-male residence hall, involved in serious relationship with Jaleesa, co-dorm director of Gilbert Hall, engaged to Jaleesa, couple halts wedding at the altar and mutually separates, moves to Philadelphia to manage community center. (Taken from Wikipedia)
Cosby (1996-2000)
Del: single father of an 11-year-old girl. Not much else to the character. He found it challenging, raising a kid on his own.
(3 episodes, 1998-1999) (Taken From Personal Recollection)
But I digress, Sinbad is a different man now. He no longer appears in movies or TV shows (shows in the plural sense). Right now, Sinbad is just a ‘comedian’.
Read More