Monday, May 11, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST
In a modern day spoof of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," Matthew Mconaughey portrays Connor Mead, a rakish professional photographer who--unlike Ebenezer Scrooge--spreads the wealth (of himself) around to his legion of adoring female fans.He's phobic about anything that smacks of commitment, and why shouldn't he be when he has a bevy of young lovelies to choose from--most of them portrayed as sex-starved
and brainless? Except for Jenny Peroti, (Jennifer Garner) the girl he's known since childhood--"the one that got away."
Connor meets up with Jenny again on the eve of his younger brother Paul's wedding, and the old hidden away feelings they still harbor for one another begin to stir. Then the ghost of Connor's "Uncle Wayne," (Michael Douglas) who taught him all he knows about women, appears to him in a bathroom. (I, for one, don't like to be approached by ANYONE in a restroom--let alone a ghost.)
Uncle Wayne tells Connor he's got to change his ways, and that he'll be visited by 3 other ghosts (all women) who'll take him on a journey of enlightenment through his past, present, and future.
At this point, we can see what's coming. Just as Scrooge was shown the error of his ways, Connor must be made to see that all that womanizing will, in time, leave him a lost and lonely man, (ahh---but the MEMORIES) and that Jenny is the one he's been carrying a torch for all this time.
But will they be together in the end?
Mconaughey and Garner are a far cry from Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn, but their on-screen chemistry works okay.
Lacey Chabert, as younger brother Paul's MERCURIAL BRIDEZILLA, Sandra, is a RIOT--and nearly steals the entire movie. Maybe that's why they toned her down in the second half of the film.
Anne Archer has a cameo as an older gal who's been around the block too many times to fall for any of Connor's shenanigans.
The soundtrack should bring you smiles, with good old nostalgic stuff like "I'll Keep Holding On" by Simply Red and "Burning Love" by Elvis.
For all of its IMPLIED casual sex (it's a PG-13 flick, remember) Ghost Of Girlfriends Past is selling the old-fashioned tenet that love conquers all--and there's enough sweet sentimentality here to bring a little tear to the eye of even the most jaded lothario who thinks he's having too much fun (and probably is).
GRADE: B
Monday, May 4, 2009
YES MAN
Yes Man is a formulaic romantic comedy--but the formula, which is to turn Jim Carrey loose for all of the pratfalls and spasmodic creativity he's noted for--works splendidly in a script where just about anything goes.
Carrey is Carl Allen, a man mired in negativity. He's reeling from his recent divorce, and his career is going nowhere. He avoids socializing with his friends--he'd rather hang out at the video store.(I can identify with that!) Then he finds himself at a seminar run by a fanatical guru named Terrence (Terence Stamp) who exhorts his followers to say YES to every possibility. Carl drinks the Kool-Aid, and his personality is transformed.
This is where the laughs get rolling.
Because he can't say no, Carl gives a ride to a homeless guy. (I won't reveal what happens, but it's one of the quirky/funnier scenes in the movie.) Carl ends up out of gas and stranded. We'd all view that as being a bummer, but that's when he meets Allison, (Zooey Deschanel) a free-spirit who writes off-beat lyrics and sings with a band. On Allison's motorbike, the two of them embark on a series of adventures and misadventures that will test the limits of Carl's new philosophy and his fledgling romance with Allison.
Deschanel is right for this part--she's just so darn wholesome looking and cute that I am hereby declaring that ZOOEY DESCHANEL IS THE NEW MEG RYAN! (The OLD Meg Ryan still has plenty left in the tank, but she'll have to be replaced eventually.)
There are some interesting philosophical issues in play here. In line with Buddhist thinking is the idea that what may initially be interpreted as an unfortunate occurrence may, in time, turn out to be just the opposite. And something we're going ape-shit with ecstacy over (like Tom Cruise on Oprah's couch) might come back to bite us on the butt, because all of the future ramifications have yet to be revealed.
Brainwashing of any sort--whether it stems from religious dogma or military-style indoctrination that induces one to follow orders blindly and disregard one's own moral or ethical compass--denies the existential responsibility of making up your own mind in compliance with that little thing called your conscience. Saying yes to everything would undoubtedly open up a whole new world of possibilities--but, as Carl soon learns, it also exposes him to those who would take unfair advantage.
Who woulda thunk that a Jim Carrey movie would be this deep?
GRADE: B
Carrey is Carl Allen, a man mired in negativity. He's reeling from his recent divorce, and his career is going nowhere. He avoids socializing with his friends--he'd rather hang out at the video store.(I can identify with that!) Then he finds himself at a seminar run by a fanatical guru named Terrence (Terence Stamp) who exhorts his followers to say YES to every possibility. Carl drinks the Kool-Aid, and his personality is transformed.
This is where the laughs get rolling.
Because he can't say no, Carl gives a ride to a homeless guy. (I won't reveal what happens, but it's one of the quirky/funnier scenes in the movie.) Carl ends up out of gas and stranded. We'd all view that as being a bummer, but that's when he meets Allison, (Zooey Deschanel) a free-spirit who writes off-beat lyrics and sings with a band. On Allison's motorbike, the two of them embark on a series of adventures and misadventures that will test the limits of Carl's new philosophy and his fledgling romance with Allison.
Deschanel is right for this part--she's just so darn wholesome looking and cute that I am hereby declaring that ZOOEY DESCHANEL IS THE NEW MEG RYAN! (The OLD Meg Ryan still has plenty left in the tank, but she'll have to be replaced eventually.)
There are some interesting philosophical issues in play here. In line with Buddhist thinking is the idea that what may initially be interpreted as an unfortunate occurrence may, in time, turn out to be just the opposite. And something we're going ape-shit with ecstacy over (like Tom Cruise on Oprah's couch) might come back to bite us on the butt, because all of the future ramifications have yet to be revealed.
Brainwashing of any sort--whether it stems from religious dogma or military-style indoctrination that induces one to follow orders blindly and disregard one's own moral or ethical compass--denies the existential responsibility of making up your own mind in compliance with that little thing called your conscience. Saying yes to everything would undoubtedly open up a whole new world of possibilities--but, as Carl soon learns, it also exposes him to those who would take unfair advantage.
Who woulda thunk that a Jim Carrey movie would be this deep?
GRADE: B
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
THE WRESTLER (now playing at home where the wrestling is behind closed doors)
I'll admit it. I wanted to see The Wrestler to feast my eyes upon Marisa Tomei in her role as a stripper as much as any other reason--those reasons being the buzz that it was an excellent film, and Mickey Rourke's Oscar nomination for Best Actor.
Rourke is Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a professional wrestler of some note whose best days are behind him. Tomei is "Cassidy," an aging stripper whose friendship (and budding romance) with Randy progresses in halting fashion, as she second guesses herself all the way. Randy's wrestling gigs are few and far between. He gets locked out of his trailer for non-payment of rent, and has to supplement his income with a demeaning job behind a deli counter--where his flowing locks are reigned in by a hair net, and his patience is tried by fickle customers.
For everything he's been through, The Ram's mellow demeanor and sense of humor stay intact, for the most part, and this is why Rourke's performance was Oscar worthy--he played Randy as a gentle giant with a heart. The relationship (or non-relationship) with the wrestler's estranged daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) is the subplot that's as bittersweet as they come.
True wrestling fans will not be disappointed with the action here. We know that pro wrestling is "fake" in that the moves are choregraphed and the outcome is predetermined, but the pounding physical punishment these guys endure is real. But I'd have preferred a little less ring action and a little more development of Tomei's character, which remains flat. We don't learn what motivates her or what she really wants out of life. HOWEVAH...there's something intriguing about an established star, who doesn't normally appear in the buff, putting it all out there for the sake of art. (Though the continuity of the film suffers when you have to keep pressing rewind on your remote, hitting pause, and zooming in to try to get the best view of her--but that's the cross we bear as red-blooded all American guys!)
While Randy's fate plays out in the way we might expect--given the events leading up to the final scene--Cassidy is more or less left hanging in the wind. In my view, she's the more tragic figure of the two. They've each plopped all of their eggs into one basket, but Randy LIVES for wrestling, so he doesn't care--he's going to put it all on the line for one last shot at glory. Whereas Cassidy, like many in her profession, feels that what she does is beneath her--it's not who she is. They all seem to have a plan (don't ask me how I know this) to put enough money together to get a fresh start doing something else, but it doesn't alway pan out that way. Cassidy's no spring chicken, and it appears she's been trading on her looks for some time. The desperation of "Where do I go from here?" is setting in.
As far as Marisa Tomei taking on this kind of role, I don't believe an actor is going to accept a part that he or she can't identify with in some way, and Tomei's dancing scenes prove that she can sleaze it up with the best of them. It must have been a relief to finally get that out of her system!
Ultimately, what The Wrestler is about is the hand that fate typically deals to those who are more adept at using their bodies than their minds.
GRADE: B+
Rourke is Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a professional wrestler of some note whose best days are behind him. Tomei is "Cassidy," an aging stripper whose friendship (and budding romance) with Randy progresses in halting fashion, as she second guesses herself all the way. Randy's wrestling gigs are few and far between. He gets locked out of his trailer for non-payment of rent, and has to supplement his income with a demeaning job behind a deli counter--where his flowing locks are reigned in by a hair net, and his patience is tried by fickle customers.
For everything he's been through, The Ram's mellow demeanor and sense of humor stay intact, for the most part, and this is why Rourke's performance was Oscar worthy--he played Randy as a gentle giant with a heart. The relationship (or non-relationship) with the wrestler's estranged daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) is the subplot that's as bittersweet as they come.
True wrestling fans will not be disappointed with the action here. We know that pro wrestling is "fake" in that the moves are choregraphed and the outcome is predetermined, but the pounding physical punishment these guys endure is real. But I'd have preferred a little less ring action and a little more development of Tomei's character, which remains flat. We don't learn what motivates her or what she really wants out of life. HOWEVAH...there's something intriguing about an established star, who doesn't normally appear in the buff, putting it all out there for the sake of art. (Though the continuity of the film suffers when you have to keep pressing rewind on your remote, hitting pause, and zooming in to try to get the best view of her--but that's the cross we bear as red-blooded all American guys!)
While Randy's fate plays out in the way we might expect--given the events leading up to the final scene--Cassidy is more or less left hanging in the wind. In my view, she's the more tragic figure of the two. They've each plopped all of their eggs into one basket, but Randy LIVES for wrestling, so he doesn't care--he's going to put it all on the line for one last shot at glory. Whereas Cassidy, like many in her profession, feels that what she does is beneath her--it's not who she is. They all seem to have a plan (don't ask me how I know this) to put enough money together to get a fresh start doing something else, but it doesn't alway pan out that way. Cassidy's no spring chicken, and it appears she's been trading on her looks for some time. The desperation of "Where do I go from here?" is setting in.
As far as Marisa Tomei taking on this kind of role, I don't believe an actor is going to accept a part that he or she can't identify with in some way, and Tomei's dancing scenes prove that she can sleaze it up with the best of them. It must have been a relief to finally get that out of her system!
Ultimately, what The Wrestler is about is the hand that fate typically deals to those who are more adept at using their bodies than their minds.
GRADE: B+
Monday, April 27, 2009
TIMMY'S HEAD-SCRATCHER QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
Are you annoyed by the common practice of theatres' posted "show times" actually being the time when the commercials and other stuff you might not necessarily want to see begin, and the film really starts 15 minutes later?
COMMENTS...
COMMENTS...
Saturday, April 25, 2009
TRANSSIBERIAN (now playing at home where watching movies is good for your mental health--watching the news is not)
I dig trains. Started riding them around age seven. There is a romance (of the road) to train travel that no other mode of transportation can match, and you never know who you'll run into(speaking of romance) in the dining car. In Transsiberian, Woody Harrelson's character, Roy, loves trains and he knows a lot about them--knowledge that will prove essential to his and wife Jessie's survival on the Beijing to Moscow run in this engaging mystery/thriller.
Roy's kind of a good ole boy. Jessie's been around--trying to settle down now, but maybe she wasn't quite ready for it and their marriage is a bit shaky, like some of the hand-held camera shots in this film that we've come to accept since the days of NYPD Blue, when connoisseurs of the female form (such as myself) were too busy checking out the ubiquitous semi-nudity on the show to pay much attention to the fine points. (The hand-held camera is supposed to give the action more of a gritty feel, I guess--like when you discover there's dirt in your spinach when you're chewing it.)
Jessie (Emily Mortimer) and Roy share quarters with a young couple--Carlos (Eduardo Noriega) and Abby (Kate Mara). Tension builds because the Russian narc police are going to be shaking down train passengers at one of the upcoming stops (like the federales on the trains in Mexico do-but all they made me and my companion do was take off our shoes--thinking maybe they'd nab a couple of really STUPID gringos). When Abby hears about the impending drug search her expression gives her away and clues us in to what she and her companion might be up to.
From the get-go, it's evident that Carlos has an eye for Jessie. When Roy gets left behind
(drooling over old locomotives) at one of the stops, Carlos moves in on Jessie--who is too preoccupied worrying about Roy to notice it much at first. But there is something untamed (and wanton--even) in Jessie that is bubbling just beneath the surface, and Emily Mortimer brings that out in her character in a way that piques our interest bigtime in what might transpire between Carlos and Jessie.
What happens proves to be one of the film's major plot twists.
The wild card in all of this is Russian narcotics detective Grinko, (Ben Kingsley) who plays it close to the vest at first--but Grinko has all the conflicting good cop/bad cop traits within himself (played with cunning deceptiveness by Kingsley) and when the bad side emerges, Transsiberian becomes a harrowing thrill ride with unexpected twists and turns and a life or death struggle that will have you shouting, "GIT ME A BEER, MABEL!" cuz you won't want to leave your seat.
The cinematogrophy helps to establish a hypnotic mood with majestic aerial views of the train as it snakes along its icebound path. And the mesmerizing sound track by Alfonso De Vilallonga is one that I'd consider purchasing.
The only thing I'll deduct a few points for is the American muzak that plays over the train's PA system (somebody takes note of it when they finally shut it off). Guess you can't get away from it--even in Russia.
GRADE: A-
TIMMY'S TIDBITS: Woody Harrelson is a peace and environmental activist...he has dated Moon Unit Zappa. (I dated Betty from Pluto, but she's not famous).
Emily Mortimer doesn't like washing her hair, so she uses dry shampoo. (DRY shampoo? How do you "lather, rinse, repeat" with that?)
Roy's kind of a good ole boy. Jessie's been around--trying to settle down now, but maybe she wasn't quite ready for it and their marriage is a bit shaky, like some of the hand-held camera shots in this film that we've come to accept since the days of NYPD Blue, when connoisseurs of the female form (such as myself) were too busy checking out the ubiquitous semi-nudity on the show to pay much attention to the fine points. (The hand-held camera is supposed to give the action more of a gritty feel, I guess--like when you discover there's dirt in your spinach when you're chewing it.)
Jessie (Emily Mortimer) and Roy share quarters with a young couple--Carlos (Eduardo Noriega) and Abby (Kate Mara). Tension builds because the Russian narc police are going to be shaking down train passengers at one of the upcoming stops (like the federales on the trains in Mexico do-but all they made me and my companion do was take off our shoes--thinking maybe they'd nab a couple of really STUPID gringos). When Abby hears about the impending drug search her expression gives her away and clues us in to what she and her companion might be up to.
From the get-go, it's evident that Carlos has an eye for Jessie. When Roy gets left behind
(drooling over old locomotives) at one of the stops, Carlos moves in on Jessie--who is too preoccupied worrying about Roy to notice it much at first. But there is something untamed (and wanton--even) in Jessie that is bubbling just beneath the surface, and Emily Mortimer brings that out in her character in a way that piques our interest bigtime in what might transpire between Carlos and Jessie.
What happens proves to be one of the film's major plot twists.
The wild card in all of this is Russian narcotics detective Grinko, (Ben Kingsley) who plays it close to the vest at first--but Grinko has all the conflicting good cop/bad cop traits within himself (played with cunning deceptiveness by Kingsley) and when the bad side emerges, Transsiberian becomes a harrowing thrill ride with unexpected twists and turns and a life or death struggle that will have you shouting, "GIT ME A BEER, MABEL!" cuz you won't want to leave your seat.
The cinematogrophy helps to establish a hypnotic mood with majestic aerial views of the train as it snakes along its icebound path. And the mesmerizing sound track by Alfonso De Vilallonga is one that I'd consider purchasing.
The only thing I'll deduct a few points for is the American muzak that plays over the train's PA system (somebody takes note of it when they finally shut it off). Guess you can't get away from it--even in Russia.
GRADE: A-
TIMMY'S TIDBITS: Woody Harrelson is a peace and environmental activist...he has dated Moon Unit Zappa. (I dated Betty from Pluto, but she's not famous).
Emily Mortimer doesn't like washing her hair, so she uses dry shampoo. (DRY shampoo? How do you "lather, rinse, repeat" with that?)
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