50/50

by Edward Dunn

50/50
100 minutes
R
Director: Jonathan Levine
Writer: Will Reiser
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen,
Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Huston
Serge Houde, Andrew Airlie, Matt Frewer

'Everyone dies, you know.'
-Lowell (KINDERGARTEN COP, 1990)

Well, we knew this day would come; alas, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is no longer playing high school kids.

Adam (Gordon-Levitt,), 27,  works at a public radio station.  Best friend, Kyle (Rogen) works there as well. Working ever so diligently on a volcano story; until some important news erupted in his face: he has a malignant tumor. Kyle has a 50 percent chance of dying.

Eventually, you may see this movie on VH1—because this is a 'movie that rocks' (get it, with the volcanoes)

Rachael (Howard), his girlfriend is an abstract artist, Before he had cancer she didn't seem too attached to him. On one occasion, she was late picking him up from the hospital.

Abstract art, public radio, I know what your thinking, no, this doesn't take place in Milwaukee. They filmed this in Vancouver, but it genuinely looks like Seattle, really. I'm not sure if they built a life size replica of the Space Needle, or if it was stock footage.

During his chemotherapy sessions, he befriends a couple of much older patients: Mitch (Frewer) and Alan (Hall), old. The first time they met, they all got high on pot brownies.

Katherine (Kendrick, UP IN THE AIR, 2009) is a therapist-in-training, she isn't a doctor yet. Just 24 years old, she seems detached, disinterested, and impersonal. Adam is just a character in her dissertation. Underneath it all,  she understands the importance of her role in this particular situation.

One night, Kyle spots Racheal at her art show, she is making out with some Jesus-looking dude. He  takes a cell phone picture of the two, and confronts her at Kyle's place.

Adam: You should go.
Rachael: [Kissing him] I don't want to go. I want to stay here with you.
Adam: No, seriously... you need to get the fuck off my porch.

In one scene, Adam and Kyle take bong hits and watch TV all day. It seems Seth Rogen is always playing stoners. In this movie, he is just a guy who recreationally smokes pot, from time to time...everyday. Oh yes, there is absolutely a difference.

Normally, I would expect a movie about having cancer to be depressing. The people in this film are real characters, with real character.  You should rent this when it comes out.

So, what is 50/50?
Answer: One.

Final Verdict: 88 out 100

Sidenote: I refrained from making an Angels in the Outfield reference, having already done so in my previous review. 

Moneyball

by Edward Dunn

So why was this movie made?
My Theory

Brad Pitt is secretly envious of baseball managers, they don't have to care of 10 adopted children.
 
They say star athletes make bad coaches. This man proves the rule, Billy Beane turned down a scholarship to Stanford to play professional baseball. He failed miserably, yet he retains his romantic attachment to this game.  

"You sir, have the the boorish manners of a Yaley."

Peter Brand, an Ivy Leaguer, who has never really played the game, all he has is a degree in economics. A poster of Plato hangs in his bedroom. He believes in a detached, dispassionate, scientific approach to team building; which is challanging; baseball is like time, the variables are ever changing.

Read More

Warrior

by Edward Dunn


Without some damn war to fight, then the warrior may as well be dead, Stallion!
-Apollo Creed, Rocky IV

No rules, just right, MMA is the Outback Steakhouse of combat sports. Mixed Martial Arts has gained some legitimacy, it used to be a joke, now it's just less of one.

Our story takes place in Pittsburgh. Brothers, Brendan (Edgerton) and Tommy (Hardy), are about to duke it out in the most epic of battles, the battle of life.


...And a brother is born for adversity.
Proverbs 17:17

Brenden (Edgerton, used to fight for a living, but he gave that up for the sake of his family. It's a tough choice we all face eventually: should I teach high school physics or fight in the octagon?

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Set Up (Part 3)

by Edward Dunn

Normally, I would warn you about spoilers at the beginning of a review, but you can't spoil an egg salad sandwich, that's been sitting out by the radiator for 6 months.

This review took me a while to write. Last Friday, I locked myself in a room and listened to Get Rich or Die Tryin’ for 12 hours straight. Just kidding, that would be utterly ludicrous; those lyrics were committed to memory many years ago.

Department of Corrections

My favorite part of the movie
...is when it ended.

But really, when Sonny (50 Cent) visits William (Remar), (Vincent's  father) in prison, and says:

"Is there anything you want me to tell Vincent before I kill him?"
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Set Up (Part 2)

by Edward Dunn

Movie Intro: When I was younger, I wanted to be a priest. I was going into battle, to save man's soul from the evil of the world. But as I got older, I saw the world for what it really was. I wasn't so much who I was going to save, but what was going to save the world from me. As I lay there, gasping for my last breath, I knew God gave me a second chance, but I was too stupid to take it. I was gonna get what's mine.

This raised important theological and philosophical questions. A large chunk of the movie was spent exploring a wide array of existential questions. 

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Set Up Intro (Part 1 of 3)

by Edward Dunn

Set Up
125 minutes
R
Director:Mike Gunther          
Writers: Mike Behrman, Mike Gunther        
Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson, Bruce Willis, Ryan Phillippe, Jenna Dewan, Randy Couture, James Remar, Will Yun Lee

 

I was really looking forward to seeing this movie at a theater. As it turns out, this is a straight-to-DVD flick. Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson has lost his street cred; he's not making music. 'Fiddy' has not really done much since Get Rich or Die Tryin', not to be confused with the 2005 album, Get Rich or Die Tryin' [Music From and Inspired by the Motion Picture]. Ironically, he is the one who turned into a 'wanksta'.

I started writing a review for this movie. Then I realized, to do this film justice, I will have to split it up into three parts: Intro, Part 1 and Part 2.

Starring

  •     50 Cent as Sonny
  •     Bruce Willis as Biggs
  •     Ryan Phillippe as Vincent
  •     Jenna Dewan as Mia
  •     Randy Couture as Petey
  •     James Remar as William
  •     Will Yun Lee as Joey

This concludes Part One.

Our Idiot Brother

by Edward Dunn

OUR IDIOT BROTHER
90 minutes
R
Director: Jesse Peretz
Writers: David Schisgall, Evgenia Peretz
Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Emily Mortimer
Zooey Deschanel, Rashida Jones, Steve Coogan

I decided to do my duty honestly and firmly. Maybe it will be
boring and painful for me to be with people. In the first place I
decided to be polite and candid with everybody; no one can ask
more of me. Maybe I'll be considered a child here, too—so be it!                                                         

Dostoevsky, THE IDIOT p. 137

Look at this guy. You can tell, solely by his appearance, that he sells vegetables at a farmer's marThe key word is idiot: only an idiot could embody the highest of human values. Only an idiot would sell pot to a uniformed police officer.

Ned is an unassuming, non-judgmental type of guy. An idealist, always seeing the best in people. This catches up to him... eventually.

Ned serves a short jail sentence. His family pays his bail, but he just decides just to serve the rest of his sentence. Upon arriving home, he learns his girlfriend started going out with his best friend, and he no longer has a place to crash (or grow organic vegetables). 

Paul Rudd usually plays different characters. Mostly playing average guys, who are lacking in confidence. I was a little skeptical at the beginning of this film, he does not seem like the type of guy who could pull this off.

(Pictured on the left) Ned is at a meeting with his parole officer. He is incredibly candid with him. Later on, he tells the parole officer about the joint he smoked with the neighbor kid.

 

 

Has Three Sisters

They help him out monetarily, and give him place to stay. But Ned is wreaking havoc in the personal lives of his sisters, or at least it seems that way.

Liz (Mortimer) Middle Sister. Her husband, Dylan (Coogan) dooshy documentary film maker (as opposed to a non-dooshy documentary film maker)

Miranda (Banks) ambitious (at any cost), status seeking, boyfriend  is unpublished sci-fi writer.

Natalie-Ned's youngest sister, (Deschanel), and partner, Cindy (Jones).

 

 

Fictional Characters Similar to Ned


This type of character is rarely explored. Most people are not able to relate to saints, but they exist nonetheless.

HAPPY-GO-LUCKY (2008), a British comedy; Sally Hawkins played a similar character. A free spirited, elementary school teacher.   Acknowledging the bad things in life, while still remaining upbeat, and optimistic (I'm sure you can infer this from the movie title).

 Who's the boy that can laugh at a storm cloud?
 Who can turn a frown into a smile for free?
 Who's that kid with a heart full of magic?
 Everyone knows it's Butters!


This kid is pure innocence:

when Butters grows up, he will end up like this Ned character.

 


My Conclusion

The actors have real chemistry together (especially Paul Rudd and Elizabeth Banks); they all have experience both comedy and drama. By far, Paul Rudd's best movie, you can really tell how much fun he is having portraying this character. 

The conclusion seems a bit rushed, that is my only complaint. This movie is worth watching; I suggest viewing it at some point.

'The dude abides. I don't know about you, but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there, the Dude, takin' her easy for all us sinners.'

-Sam Elliot, Dodge Truck Spokesman

Paul Rudd on Conan.  Pretty Funny, especially toward the end.

Final Verdict: 90 out of 100