MICHAEL DOUGLAS & MATT DAMON GO 'BEHIND THE CANDELABRA'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlV86w0T4aSSbRLTXx_1i11PPjRpMotVSu2fYKHCaC_ZgZH4MwAo7LfUovwbPwa3jEF8Z4ELTjCw8WSR6lSFs7HhBR-OVtMX8lxfzB1PAM-udvhUCzKtYgf0RU8hYdTY3xWnXIi3VQ08T3/s1600/1.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="616" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlV86w0T4aSSbRLTXx_1i11PPjRpMotVSu2fYKHCaC_ZgZH4MwAo7LfUovwbPwa3jEF8Z4ELTjCw8WSR6lSFs7HhBR-OVtMX8lxfzB1PAM-udvhUCzKtYgf0RU8hYdTY3xWnXIi3VQ08T3/s400/1.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Michael Douglas and Matt Damon in Behind The Candelabra 2013</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> At one point, Michael Douglas, after enough time channeling the ultra-effeminate, Las Vegas piano playing virtuoso, Liberace, gets a surge of Alpha Male via Gordon Gekko from WALL STREET when Matt Damon, as the glittery star's boyfriend for around five years, Scott Thorson, defends himself in a Charlie Sheen/Bud Fox put-upon whine when their relationship is compared to a classic sit-com...<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMrfDJ2Z0Dnpd3EVK3YXDyMoHNKi3VmDSDnWl11j7pqi8YjhYMCwykF9333fddh3biXxcpxUcE9qfhgPdkWb0DIk4_nzvWiO_f5mholbGENvhXigQYjHrUGvuByftTuPlwUlgk185a0TIw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-12-16+at+6.48.38+PM.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1298" data-original-width="440" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMrfDJ2Z0Dnpd3EVK3YXDyMoHNKi3VmDSDnWl11j7pqi8YjhYMCwykF9333fddh3biXxcpxUcE9qfhgPdkWb0DIk4_nzvWiO_f5mholbGENvhXigQYjHrUGvuByftTuPlwUlgk185a0TIw/s400/Screen+Shot+2018-12-16+at+6.48.38+PM.jpeg" width="135" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Caught in Lib's Web</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> "Why am I the 'Lucy'?" Scott complains. "Because," says Douglas's Liberace with blunt finality, "I've got the Nightclub Act!" And Michael doesn't hold back in Steven Soderbergh's HBO original BEHIND THE CANDELABRA, centering on Liberace just as he's nearing has-been status: but only outside the perpetual gleam of Las Vegas, where he reigns with enough glitter and gold to make Fort Knox blush... <br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0vigtHS2IeGiIvBbq4Cr9fMTnjMp_gQ0JfCgaea5s5fTmW7XpOS4RHc2y0ZPdPBoIG-YBRVZoD58xtvzycDJyKx9HVHGxBWJDeQfk61vmmp147DjstNMfFHw9_oqtIfu8RB3oYdv4hZNj/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-12-16+at+7.11.59+PM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="1370" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0vigtHS2IeGiIvBbq4Cr9fMTnjMp_gQ0JfCgaea5s5fTmW7XpOS4RHc2y0ZPdPBoIG-YBRVZoD58xtvzycDJyKx9HVHGxBWJDeQfk61vmmp147DjstNMfFHw9_oqtIfu8RB3oYdv4hZNj/s320/Screen+Shot+2018-12-16+at+7.11.59+PM.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dan Aykroyd's Seymour Heller's ongoing damage control</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> With a stubborn and blunt Jewish agent Seymour Heller (Dan Aykroyd resembling Andy Kaufman's bogus lounge singer Tony Clifton) making him the hardest-working act in Sin City, we're able to experience not only what's BEHIND all the sparkle, but random performances on stage to make our centerpiece seem talented enough to base a movie on... Which of course he was, but as an actor persuading a movie or TV audience, imitating a musician (one of the best in the world) isn't always easy, or realistic... And according to both Thorson and Liberace's buddy (Scott Bakula playing a sort of White Rabbit character that doesn't mean much beyond introducing the couple), Mr. Entertainment's audience supposedly had no idea he was a homosexual, and, well, let's be honest here: most people <i>must have</i> known, deep down, but just didn't dwell on it: enjoying his immense talent in a sort of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Care" before "coming out" meant (and still means) more than having the talent to make it matter in the first place: gay first, celebrity second seems to be the new politically-correct standard, but at one time, from the likes of Montgomery Clift to Paul Lynde, talent meant everything.<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS71smQu2eXppHBnDkd6BLO_wARzRsSiLFxrUbWgDHMuv1hyphenhyphene5RMjV3K8Z1V_lyVKds5bdknTymPn8brisoCa4dl61_Rp8smZZBffPPeFwO9jlSU7p9dGyviER6ediA4EROkigLFJqFTcY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-12-16+at+6.43.02+PM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1287" data-original-width="453" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS71smQu2eXppHBnDkd6BLO_wARzRsSiLFxrUbWgDHMuv1hyphenhyphene5RMjV3K8Z1V_lyVKds5bdknTymPn8brisoCa4dl61_Rp8smZZBffPPeFwO9jlSU7p9dGyviER6ediA4EROkigLFJqFTcY/s400/Screen+Shot+2018-12-16+at+6.43.02+PM.jpeg" width="140" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Soakin' in Libbie's Lair</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Beyond his big secret, Liberace's life was a non-stop work ethic that, according to him, didn't derive from his mother, played by an accented Debbie Reynolds in a tour de force fashion... and taking this reviewer a few seconds to realize it's her... or his long dead, deadbeat musician father... But his source was from God Himself... A proud Catholic! <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw_Xs57HzQFu7nSqQIW0CAFmYjIrjanpInaC6wA6WjmIM83R7rVsCqt1eqCYhL75BVdzzxPtgPs4WupuR2AGnaDx0cEH1ogZFdgjk72X_86ID7_1R2Eg4v7UZaUC8VenTtFU-WwEW1a7x6/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-12-28+at+6.24.47+PM.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw_Xs57HzQFu7nSqQIW0CAFmYjIrjanpInaC6wA6WjmIM83R7rVsCqt1eqCYhL75BVdzzxPtgPs4WupuR2AGnaDx0cEH1ogZFdgjk72X_86ID7_1R2Eg4v7UZaUC8VenTtFU-WwEW1a7x6/s320/Screen+Shot+2016-12-28+at+6.24.47+PM.png" width="301" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Debbie Reynolds vanishes in the role as Lee's mother</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> And perhaps even a Republican as, in one extremely ironic scene, as the outspoken liberal Damon is seen in the foreground, we see and hear Liberace complaining about how Jane Fonda and Ed Asner put politics above being entertainers... And there's a fine line with what Liberace was hiding from the press to what he was open about in the presence of hired help within the multi-million dollar mansion, and was no stranger to secret spots around Vegas where gay sex wasn't being practiced in the safest manner. Yet most of the film occurs during the pre-AIDS era, following the loose disco decade and rolling into the "Conservative 1980's" (which, with the number of raunchy sex comedies, and tons of movies and music videos against President Reagan, it really wasn't... at least not the media) wherein a licorice curving font, beginning in 1977, displays sporadic years, and 1985 flashes on the screen right after a magazine ad about a dying Rock Hudson is shown...<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtbOyv6fY0wZmU_5KhOUCpxwKNNZq_uOjArSVPIlspHkeomg-B8JGqlwyBbpHRLtrvdjjdplJlMRVOszTZxzqXANw3_qIgAp8gsM_KhJ55NylYF85SUeqn7T8z6325JRM0tGCBouXMrDk9/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-12-16+at+6.36.00+PM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1369" data-original-width="749" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtbOyv6fY0wZmU_5KhOUCpxwKNNZq_uOjArSVPIlspHkeomg-B8JGqlwyBbpHRLtrvdjjdplJlMRVOszTZxzqXANw3_qIgAp8gsM_KhJ55NylYF85SUeqn7T8z6325JRM0tGCBouXMrDk9/s400/Screen+Shot+2018-12-16+at+6.36.00+PM.jpeg" width="217" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Damon's glam rockstar look</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> At this point, after the media-blitzed breakup, it's pretty much a downhill Disease of the Week that does, in fact, resemble a TV movie (let's call it an After-College Special)... despite cable being the new cinema nowadays... Thus the most risque scenes occur right before their love story becomes truly bizarre and morbid... Liberace passively ordering Thorson to go under the knife to surgically resemble his, Liberace's, younger self, which is the epitome of fact being stranger than fiction. Although, Damon still looks pretty much the same: like Matt Damon. But some of the best use of computerized-cleansing occurs in the beginning, as the still semi lucrative box-office actor is made to look even younger than when his fame ignited in GOOD WILL HUNTING...<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOtTFzqQaTBq7NP1f-mul5CObofQ9-LPMUykhye79N5jqmxRNcTg3DCUDqXScKFlWrnVkauTtiylRm5adiUBv9AW07Xh8FAM6lB3uoRTXtI9WQ4RWaeT5otTuXvxe2QQbIUEyC2O_SUTI/s1600/4.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOtTFzqQaTBq7NP1f-mul5CObofQ9-LPMUykhye79N5jqmxRNcTg3DCUDqXScKFlWrnVkauTtiylRm5adiUBv9AW07Xh8FAM6lB3uoRTXtI9WQ4RWaeT5otTuXvxe2QQbIUEyC2O_SUTI/s320/4.jpg" width="175" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The bad doctor</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Eventually, Scott turns into a boy-toy primadonna, and it's fun seeing Liberace's futzy partners and/or young stud "assistants" being literally shoved out the door (with a check handed to them by Aykroyd's Heller)... And so, when Scott eventually realizes he could be next on the list, that Disease melodrama becomes a sort of mundane Anti-Drug programmer... yet more realistic and intense than most. In one scene, Thorson and Nicky Katt's coke/speed dealing Mr. Y are sitting around, moaning to themselves while rocking back and forth: which is actually what intense "tweeking" really looks like...<br /> <br /> Although originally, Thorson didn't need a secret source when scene-stealing Rob Lowe, playing plastic surgeon Dr. Jack Startz (resembling a cross between Michael Jackson and something out of THE DARK CRYSTAL... which is what Jackson resembled as well), follows Liberace's orders to not only alter the aging kid's mug, but to make him skinny again with an endless prescription of speed pills leading to Thorson's eventual drug-riddled downfall, which is probably why he wrote the book that inspired this movie in the first place: he didn't get much of a payoff since, during the 1980's, exposing a beloved cash cow (especially in Vegas) wasn't the wisest choice. Plus he had to admit that Liberace wasn't only his lover, but an adopted father. Strange days indeed!<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkdQXezCkBk7_tpGRooWZALnRVsKAoyUJ36UJHn8baK3XSSLu2u-ZJoi2PfeCyMJmdgGK_fiCcfNg-Dn5HdX0aD_-aAWRShElwZbkoK1FhV2rlIJwLyLLAAgpHSc4O1gfkv5qOE_VMRfbU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-12-16+at+7.06.33+PM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1367" data-original-width="1222" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkdQXezCkBk7_tpGRooWZALnRVsKAoyUJ36UJHn8baK3XSSLu2u-ZJoi2PfeCyMJmdgGK_fiCcfNg-Dn5HdX0aD_-aAWRShElwZbkoK1FhV2rlIJwLyLLAAgpHSc4O1gfkv5qOE_VMRfbU/s400/Screen+Shot+2018-12-16+at+7.06.33+PM.jpeg" width="357" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Scott gets a Rolls Royce for Christmas BTC RATES: ****</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> Thorson's denial of his own sexuality is as intriguing as Liberace's stubborn drive to remain not only straight in the eyes of his die-hard old-time fans, but to keep any rumor out of the papers, ultimately Thorson's ace in the hole that, like everything else, unfolds...<br /> <br /> And with a BOOGIE NIGHTS vibe propelling two straight actors not exactly taking a risk in a politically-correct era, but truly stretching beyond their usual mainstream characteristics, on cable providing more than a glimpse into where motion pictures won't go...<br /> <br /> The only really noticeable, distracting downside is that, at times, this BEHIND <i>feels</i> a bit too much like Thorson's own one-sided propaganda piece. For example, on their first "date" as he's looking bashful and shocked, reluctant, vulnerable and apprehensive sitting in Liberace's hot tub (did he really not know what would happen next after bathing naked with the Gayest man on Earth?). For the most part, Thorson's portrayed as an oblivious babe-in-the-woods under the predatory eyes of the famous pianist, who becomes somewhat infamous here, at times bordering on DADDY DEAREST... and he's interesting too. Or is that Douglas's doing? Sometimes it's tough to tell good from bad, right from wrong, real from fake, what or who's going or has already gone too far. And yet, CANDELABRA is a ultra-entertaining biopic either way. Let's the viewer be the judge, but not without the jury being swayed. 

2013, biopic, cable, dan aykroyd, drugs, matt damon, melodrama, michael douglas, music, scott bakula

MICHAEL DOUGLAS & MATT DAMON GO 'BEHIND THE CANDELABRA'

Michael Douglas and Matt Damon in Behind The Candelabra 2013 At one point, Michael Douglas, after enough time channeling the ultra-effem...

HOUSE OF CARDS BINGE NOTES: SEASON ONE CHAPTERS 2-3

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVNJUcqcdgCk0TZxf2gEiHRuTZH2E5Nv4iT2iy8WFCW2lplxNRakDXT86wroPgps1seF9opN0u66XVl5WxBzocRYpmDQX1YrRemMhfeQzxQg-ioK0PWxcQHT1hZi_rbRPXGk0pNa-kGmg/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVNJUcqcdgCk0TZxf2gEiHRuTZH2E5Nv4iT2iy8WFCW2lplxNRakDXT86wroPgps1seF9opN0u66XVl5WxBzocRYpmDQX1YrRemMhfeQzxQg-ioK0PWxcQHT1hZi_rbRPXGk0pNa-kGmg/s1600/1.jpg" width="177" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kevin Spacey as Frank</td></tr> </tbody></table> <i>HOUSE OF CARDS binging continues, from the second episode following the pilot, these were all written watching and experiencing the show while catching up to Season 3...</i><br /> <br /> <b>CHAPTER 2:</b> Like DALLAS tycoon J.R. Ewing, Frank Underwood's a guy you love to hate… Only there’s little hating going on since no one else is very lovable in comparison… We’re talking Washington here so Frank is probably the most likeable of the lot… He turns and looks right at us, and says what’s going on… So his lies are honest and he’s serves his audience a promise to, for better or worse, deliver... <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ9wLR1lXN2zHKf6hi2U0YWIPqTIRSCFv0YVO-HRWLvjuwAVWAVtWXxBvuQKQl0y3xGXn8UX0yIs2iPA7z1V8bOone6wmca_e_N0-d7rcX9biGhKWZXCuEcV-7TR7jIlaZAGnQ854nLi0/s1600/2.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ9wLR1lXN2zHKf6hi2U0YWIPqTIRSCFv0YVO-HRWLvjuwAVWAVtWXxBvuQKQl0y3xGXn8UX0yIs2iPA7z1V8bOone6wmca_e_N0-d7rcX9biGhKWZXCuEcV-7TR7jIlaZAGnQ854nLi0/s1600/2.jpg" width="204" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hillary & Carville inspired?</td></tr> </tbody></table> And this fourth wall breaking has gone even further – he tells us an opinion about a rowing machine and a few other more mundane things, less important than the important political maneuvers during the first chapter… This time we journey deeper into the knockdown of his possible replacement for Secretary of State… Perhaps it’s a bit farfetched to think an education bill would get so much media scrutiny in the first place, especially manned by Democrats, but by digging up the past, Frank, using his blog medium Zoe Barnes, pounds his surreptitious rivals (as in, they don’t know he hates them) while the most vulnerable and flawed of the cast, Peter Stoll’s Rep. Peter Russo, snorts coke and smokes pot (rarely are both of these actions done at the same time... why medicate a catapult?)... Russo's getting loaded with a libertarian recluse (with a really hot stripper girlfriend) who… well that’s one of many things set up for further episode… We’ll only highlight what’s memorable...<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz5hQP9NmYFoamUM6d_i3NLzK-cmG5okwwBQb-7dYCTDoHMeP_13dOPdDOXmCrVPjb-QEBpxJf9imdlxIQj5alrrySYWfEMNnkdcQ6BHiVM9kwKC1T155t2oPxZwk2kJxp59rpvqsydes/s1600/rowrow.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz5hQP9NmYFoamUM6d_i3NLzK-cmG5okwwBQb-7dYCTDoHMeP_13dOPdDOXmCrVPjb-QEBpxJf9imdlxIQj5alrrySYWfEMNnkdcQ6BHiVM9kwKC1T155t2oPxZwk2kJxp59rpvqsydes/s1600/rowrow.png" width="174" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rowing Underwood</td></tr> </tbody></table> And it’s a good chapter, sort of a slick version of the pilot, moving forward at a nice pace… And least we forget the secondary character, Frank’s wife Claire, played by Robin Wright, who, taking over a non-profit clean water association, proves equally cutthroat as her husband... And he does use that rowing machine he’d moaned about earlier – seeing Spacey shaping up is reminiscent of AMERICAN BEAUTY, only without Bob Dylan on the radio in a dusty garage. "Said the joker to the thief..."  <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5KzDNXuBtl2_BoWirbDTgKupoVosE9L1JFf2IdXyWZXrEzb966rlBWotUMPF-3r8AqSkBH0dq9RC2QT23sPsHP6-lg48sg8YZ1yU_eSjW91NOZLJjE5J-LaWGFCDBNSfJaCfa75_B9RM/s1600/ab1.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5KzDNXuBtl2_BoWirbDTgKupoVosE9L1JFf2IdXyWZXrEzb966rlBWotUMPF-3r8AqSkBH0dq9RC2QT23sPsHP6-lg48sg8YZ1yU_eSjW91NOZLJjE5J-LaWGFCDBNSfJaCfa75_B9RM/s1600/ab1.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shaping up in Beauty</td></tr> </tbody></table> <b>CHAPTER 3:</b> The first episode not directed by David Fincher… Kevin Spacey’s GLENNGARY GLEN ROSS pilot James Foley takes the helm, and this chapter finally settles us into Congressman Frank Underwood’s menial job with the down and outs, progressing from the edgy pinpointed revenge theme of the pilot and continuous follow-up… <br /> <br /> Almost feels like the start of an actual series now, as happens when the initial kickstarting pilot/movie ends and a real story begins, an aftermath with legs... Because of an electric tower that resembles an X Rated Peach on the South Carolina highway... that Frank had signed into fruition (partial pun intended)... a young girl is killed while driving and texting, and we venture with Frank to his roots, where he represents but has far surpassed mentally… And that accent now fits the setting…<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmwi5OrJ6IT1XvXX8FTn1GLEsuXoEZc9w1O-lckUYfxxO4Y8AkgYND3ug9E3oEunGhguNscZj-MdA1qpF6jq7xFH_sW6N46VGFUAB0LBy3MY1EuDcIIKjLupsHpOn_kizBVYSV7ALALXI/s1600/Picture+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmwi5OrJ6IT1XvXX8FTn1GLEsuXoEZc9w1O-lckUYfxxO4Y8AkgYND3ug9E3oEunGhguNscZj-MdA1qpF6jq7xFH_sW6N46VGFUAB0LBy3MY1EuDcIIKjLupsHpOn_kizBVYSV7ALALXI/s1600/Picture+1.png" width="214" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kate Mara in Fantastic 4</td></tr> </tbody></table> One very important scene shows the difference between a D.C. shark and a small town minnow when the latter, sitting on his porch and irate to the bone, doesn’t invite his enemy up for a drink… Frank points this out, and we learn a deeper lesson in the political beast: never show your real feelings and always be kind... Friends close, enemies closer kind of thing… <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixuHwkFqGCFUcZahvjEfxIK4wF_wX6UWM-di4b9z0h0jkxz9rl1UvP_qTlhUw0Bef3rasvxQ_3A40dNCAf8WlNxer1stiaZnUrnrSpcAg4C395NNp8H0L55o860phTxq-vtzla8woG1oc/s1600/fur.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixuHwkFqGCFUcZahvjEfxIK4wF_wX6UWM-di4b9z0h0jkxz9rl1UvP_qTlhUw0Bef3rasvxQ_3A40dNCAf8WlNxer1stiaZnUrnrSpcAg4C395NNp8H0L55o860phTxq-vtzla8woG1oc/s1600/fur.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sexy Kate Mara</td></tr> </tbody></table> Meanwhile, the fourth-wall breaking hits a new high – or low depending on your perspective as Frank turns to the audience during a Sunday morning church vigil, telling us about his father, who he cared little for… No surprise there… And the show’s young hot sexpot Zoe (starring in the upcoming FANTASTIC FOUR reboot) seems to have sights above and beyond her newspaper for a newscaster job at cable news… And things are subliminally heating up between her and her mentor… Nice soapy element… After all, all these addictive high-end cable serials have their roots planted in the nighttime soaps of yesteryear, only now we can watch ‘em whenever and wherever… Long live technology… No more waiting a week and being tortured with commercial breaks. <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF7gIo7NXALmKIfWhfKt0LybKlvKPZOWmGM-e4n5GT9wPQD33gzagPVBuN7VXIJGiZdwAlu63w7PmpLAvFopXXdG721I2Cad9xH08DvKjgfDU5ipo_vPm9EF_YvXrg61PXNLnOE1R0dhw/s1600/Picture+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF7gIo7NXALmKIfWhfKt0LybKlvKPZOWmGM-e4n5GT9wPQD33gzagPVBuN7VXIJGiZdwAlu63w7PmpLAvFopXXdG721I2Cad9xH08DvKjgfDU5ipo_vPm9EF_YvXrg61PXNLnOE1R0dhw/s1600/Picture+2.png" width="70" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">RIP</td></tr> </tbody></table> Now a word or two about THE WALKING DEAD and how it’s been the last season… (NOTE: The following was written before the positive post about the episode <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2015/03/wdead-remember.html">REMEMBER).</a> Seems to be stuck in a sort of malaise, which isn’t entirely a bad thing… In this zombie apocalypse future there would be a lot of meantime… Wandering around searching for life, in a sort of investigatory element, is always welcome, and sometimes surpasses high drama and battles and such… Only we’re getting our feet stuck in the sand…<br /> <br /> A beloved character, Tyreese, died last episode, the second of the fifth half-season and while surprising and bittersweet, and pretty shocking, must an entire episode dwell on an important character buying the farm? Just a thought, and more on THE WALKING DEAD as it goes... And perhaps we’ll venture back to the beginning, during those first two seasons when, like the entire BREAKING BAD run, it seemed like a really long epic film with a beginning, middle and end… Lately it feels like a story that doesn’t quite know how to end in order to continue further… Or something... But for that you can venture into the CABLE page by clicking here. More <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/p/cable.html">HOUSE OF CARDS</a> binge notes coming soon...

2013, cable, kevin spacey, robin wright

HOUSE OF CARDS BINGE NOTES: SEASON ONE CHAPTERS 2-3

Kevin Spacey as Frank HOUSE OF CARDS binging continues, from the second episode following the pilot, these were all written watching and...

BEGINNING A BELATED BINGE ON HOUSE OF CARDS: CHAPTER ONE

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4B2I6tEB2e4KeTlKR2xkWeeTE764t0dhfc-dIdou9amvGtFwSG0FSAlBNYqTst0Z7ZT1UKOy79Dr-PivJETydnOQnDpafbIVrQ7Eu9xW5sR4AGoRmRO-qNH2-pUcNgElvZtEqMecDTp0/s1600/Picture+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4B2I6tEB2e4KeTlKR2xkWeeTE764t0dhfc-dIdou9amvGtFwSG0FSAlBNYqTst0Z7ZT1UKOy79Dr-PivJETydnOQnDpafbIVrQ7Eu9xW5sR4AGoRmRO-qNH2-pUcNgElvZtEqMecDTp0/s1600/Picture+1.png" width="120" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2013  rating: ****</td></tr> </tbody></table> Who would have thought Secretary of State was that important? Well for Kevin Spacey’s Francis Underwood, a Congress Whip for the House Majority who more than helped get the President Elect elected in the first place, it’s just about everything. When he gets pushed aside for the coveted position, we’re catapulted into a cerebral revenge-driven original Netflix series that, judging by the David Fincher directed pilot already seen and beloved by millions, HOUSE OF CARDS could make an entertaining ride for this Pop Culture Fanatic desperately in need for some serialized escapism…<br /> <br /> And it isn’t the first time an established movie actor, much less a two time Oscar winner, is “downgraded” from movies to television – those days are over. The quality of cable TV shows have actually trumped what we overpay for on the big screen. It’s no wonder people usually only flock to particular features based on comic book or teen novel sagas. And what used to be theatrical quality writing is now experienced inside the living room…<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> For instance, Quentin Tarantino hasn’t done anything that comes close to Vince Gilligan’s BREAKING BAD since… well… the nineties. And yet, without QT’s inspiration, BAD (or LOST or a handful of others) might not have been so good… At least not without the non-linear approach wielding a groovy hybrid of ultraviolence, twisted dark comedy and a retro soundtrack. And all the George Clooneys in the world, attempting to rebuild the Robert Redford 1970's political thriller template, can't come close to even this first hour of HOUSE OF CARDS wherein Kevin Spacey’s performance is more subtle than melodramatic, and shockingly non-polarizing...<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1jA-zVAYF0DWSYYMmhO-4VWUEUZvKBM9QxxnG9PJpLxTqKEOaV969UZRxo1ee8rh4_L6BlMLh5ZZmWyOZsybyt9RfvtbmuwiOMUqegNmjAaU8MZ6LetcD0l_FHhwESFLfXGPO5lQCAqo/s1600/pennsatucky.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1jA-zVAYF0DWSYYMmhO-4VWUEUZvKBM9QxxnG9PJpLxTqKEOaV969UZRxo1ee8rh4_L6BlMLh5ZZmWyOZsybyt9RfvtbmuwiOMUqegNmjAaU8MZ6LetcD0l_FHhwESFLfXGPO5lQCAqo/s1600/pennsatucky.jpg" width="155" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bitch killed ORANGE</td></tr> </tbody></table> Whether manipulating those around him, or narrating the twists and turns directly to the audience (like Woody Allen, Ferris Beuller... or before them, Sally Field's Gidget), the talented cast falls nicely under his formidable shadow and hypnotic spell: including an injured dog, the white rabbit of the series. Particularly intriguing is Kate Mara as Zoe Barnes, a persistent blogger who, along with a few others, quickly becomes a puppet to the master’s string-pulling genius. And that genius took an intense actor like Spacey to bring to life – without trying very hard. The good ones make the most complicated roles seem all too easy.<br /> <br /> So it’s a breath of fresh air to discover this show after having fallen prey to the woman-in-prison drama/comedy ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK, which began splendidly. But since the side-characters took over the ship (especially that annoying brown-toothed tweaker zealot), the eclectic ensemble has completely imploded upon itself, pushing the two best players (Piper and Alex) into a benign backseat. Thus, like Eugine's ruse in THE WALKING DEAD, for the time being Washington D.C. holds the only cure. <b>OVERALL RANK FOR HOUSE OF CARDS CHAPTER ONE: <u>Jedi</u>, Rebel, Droid, Sith...</b>

2013, cable, kevin spacey, politics

BEGINNING A BELATED BINGE ON HOUSE OF CARDS: CHAPTER ONE

2013  rating: **** Who would have thought Secretary of State was that important? Well for Kevin Spacey’s Francis Underwood, a Congress W...

CHOMPING ON THE PHENOM OF SHARKNADO WITH ROBBIE RIST

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHkKUK-yA6qJGc2YeAAnRD5ERfhQrrPPm1SwWtMPXMq02o0UL9HxCnIzvhY7mwoCC7LFlxkbj17vBYzx9maYcLTpgjmU-55JJl1ixvEATmw10QLCllnl7U9KUPZXEjkOP4OjJZjLIDsSE/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHkKUK-yA6qJGc2YeAAnRD5ERfhQrrPPm1SwWtMPXMq02o0UL9HxCnIzvhY7mwoCC7LFlxkbj17vBYzx9maYcLTpgjmU-55JJl1ixvEATmw10QLCllnl7U9KUPZXEjkOP4OjJZjLIDsSE/s320/1.jpg" width="206" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 camp value: ***1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> “Like an adorable puppy with really huge feet,” actor Robbie Rist describes SHARKNADO, the 2013 SyFy Channel cult thriller about, well, a tornado full of sharks attacking Los Angeles from the sky. “It doesn't know that it is supposed to fade into the background, so it will probably be in your face for the next decade or so.”<br /> <br /> Well thanks to the RiffTrax team of Mystery Science Theater 3000 veterans Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett, the glorious SHARKNADO is back in the spotlight...<br /> <br /> As a deliberate, schlocky venture inviting a bevy of jokes and hilarious insults to be hurled its way, the movie is, like any camp classic worth poking fun at, something of a phenomenon, and actually holds up as a terribly entertaining motion picture in its own wonderful right: With melodramatic one-liners coinciding with a tongue in cheek, or in this case, tooth in flesh underline, SHARKNADO stars BEVERLY HILLS 90210 bad boy Ian Ziering as Fin Hunter, a former surf champion who, when not hitting the waves with his Australian sidekick Baz Hogan (BAYWATCH alumni Jason Simmons), runs a tavern on the pier that peaks out at the bikini-clad beach. And here’s where the madness begins… Well, not exactly…<br /> <br /> The pulpy prologue takes place on a fishing boat far out at the storm-drenched sea, where a below-deck conversation between a spooky, lantern jawed sailor and an Asian businessman provides a literal snack before the meal: When the desperate, gun-toting suit grabs the briefcase of cash, and tries escaping on the boat’s thunderous deck (where he plans to go is the real mystery), the first of many sharks appear, leaping from the water and eventually dusting off both rudimentary characters, who made little sense to begin with… <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFuJWA0JcE2nX4TP-u56ydTq_eY_lX1qGJWao2UB56772oW5DC7dHKD-o3gPM6Z-e4f8SXtJUNz27n5vygOO_1UMlZXuLChbUT-SqzikTd3Nj5NO2GAJSUFtQQ7qmmu1walI-Ye2nnWBY/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFuJWA0JcE2nX4TP-u56ydTq_eY_lX1qGJWao2UB56772oW5DC7dHKD-o3gPM6Z-e4f8SXtJUNz27n5vygOO_1UMlZXuLChbUT-SqzikTd3Nj5NO2GAJSUFtQQ7qmmu1walI-Ye2nnWBY/s1600/3.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Driving  Under Sharkfluence</td></tr> </tbody></table> It’s when our important and relatively likable heroes Fin, Baz, John Heard’s local drunk, George, and the movie’s Robert Shaw in the form of a young barmaid with her very own Quintesque backstory monolog, Cassandra Scerbo’s Nova Clarke, witness the thunderous hurricane outside... causing one shark to torpedo through the window and land chomping inside the bar... that the story really begins. <br /> <br /> The best scenes have the characters battling and/or escaping from the killer fish in various locations throughout Los Angeles. The 90's style CGI Effects actually compliment various insert shots where the budget seems so abysmal, the graphics look straight out of, as one RiffTrax member pointed out, something from a used car advertisement. <br /> <br /> In-between the action, as the cast drives Fin’s car from one location to the next, witnessing Los Angeles in flooded ruins while various sharks gobble freeway pedestrians, the conversations drag: An obvious attempt to flesh out characters that are merely flesh to begin with – especially compared to the headlining sharks, either riding the roving tornado or swimming throughout the swamped city streets.  <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdFmvBaMBbKLFn4-iGAfemPsHbP2RkHuTiE_uW8qB0qsFWW8oE16844s-qDmvrC2abJYgvedcljPsM21i4RUE-fTZ9AnviSg9e3EYjn2nGVGPjOInnz3Stbm6vYsUUbLDgmcQMxUnDELQ/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdFmvBaMBbKLFn4-iGAfemPsHbP2RkHuTiE_uW8qB0qsFWW8oE16844s-qDmvrC2abJYgvedcljPsM21i4RUE-fTZ9AnviSg9e3EYjn2nGVGPjOInnz3Stbm6vYsUUbLDgmcQMxUnDELQ/s1600/8.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ian Ziering rocks</td></tr> </tbody></table> And as happens in the horrendous Matthew Broderick GODZILLA (which is the next RiffTrax Live victim), you’ll be surprised at how soon the characters forget the impending peril around them. Like complaining about a toothache during the Apocalypse, human nature never fully surrenders to its own banal narcissism.  <br /> <br /> Yet all the superfluous chum makes the shark battling scenes that much more important, and downright bad ass. Especially after the introduction of Tara Reid as April, Fin’s ex wife, his pouty daughter and eventually their intrepid pilot son, the literally explosive third act plays out at an airport connected to an old folk’s home: an extremely bizarre OK Corral for a monstrous climactic showdown.  <br /> <br /> But hey, wait a minute... We’re missing one important scene earlier on: Reminiscent of the kind of suspenseful setup by Irwin Allen in the 1970’s, when the gang happens upon a busload of kids stranded beneath a bridge – sharks circling the vehicle with formidable rancor – it’s a do or die effort on our lead hero’s part to save everyone on board…<br /> <br /> That includes not only the children but also their longhaired hippie bus driver, Robbie, played by Robbie Rist, who you’ll recall as Cousin Oliver from the last half of the final season of THE BRADY BUNCH as well as Michelangelo in the original TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURLES flicks, child genius Dr. Zee on GALACTICA 1980, and many other cinematic and television appearances and voice-overs... <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDMOPo2Zo7isEvOrqwxgJzXjxMKyauE61UPwkGuXw3EXszSZ4Zrj8su9A35yuUGtZ8FdeCx0jwhz5ilN0ib-PtD6Zp53Aek6MHrpPFJeuozWvmjb53sJgQGjVOSaNfIt3gPzvcsQfR0MA/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDMOPo2Zo7isEvOrqwxgJzXjxMKyauE61UPwkGuXw3EXszSZ4Zrj8su9A35yuUGtZ8FdeCx0jwhz5ilN0ib-PtD6Zp53Aek6MHrpPFJeuozWvmjb53sJgQGjVOSaNfIt3gPzvcsQfR0MA/s1600/2.jpg" width="226" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A scruffy Robbie Rist</td></tr> </tbody></table> <b>How did your part as the Bus Driver come about in SHARKNADO?</b><br /> <br /> <i>I had worked with the director, Anthony C. Ferrante, doing music for his films for gosh... maybe 20 years, or something like that. </i><br /> <br /> <i>As we were wrapping music for The Asylum's Hansel and Gretel movie, Anthony told me he was offered the directing gig on SHARKNADO. I knew the film was going into production as I had talked to another huge genre fan friend I have, and we had lost our minds over the title alone when we saw it at AFM (American Film Market).</i><br /> <i><br /></i> <i>So, Anthony tells me he is being offered the job and I LEAPT out of my chair, grabbed him by the lapels and said, “Look... Two things. First off, you HAVE to direct this movie. I don't know why. I just... have a feeling about it… And also, if you DO direct this movie, I want to be in it!" </i><i>He wrote me the part, I mostly improvised my lines and.... how nutty I end up being in yet ANOTHER pop culture smash to go along with my TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES run and THE BRADY BUNCH…</i><br /> <i><br /></i> <i>By the way, want to up the odds of your project becoming culturally significant? Put me in it!</i><br /> <br /> <b>Your scene with Ian being lifted up to the bridge – what kind of physicality was involved on your part?  </b><br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzy34QZKzT3_PX3U5xcWrXddmW87vCKPFX_RwDil-J6LDX0PLlLA1Z2h1DrONACDo3gM4_7G4AlWx6Lc2cdGHNzZjhyDMx6aEV3pmhUhnc6_uKt0bvCIBKfebYvUmvPZgwUTpASKmdLEc/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzy34QZKzT3_PX3U5xcWrXddmW87vCKPFX_RwDil-J6LDX0PLlLA1Z2h1DrONACDo3gM4_7G4AlWx6Lc2cdGHNzZjhyDMx6aEV3pmhUhnc6_uKt0bvCIBKfebYvUmvPZgwUTpASKmdLEc/s1600/5.jpg" width="188" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some stuntwork</td></tr> </tbody></table> <i>Well, they pulled me up about 20 feet and, being the professional I am, I said, "Thank you. That's high enough!" Then a stunt person took over… I’m terrified of heights!</i><br /> <br /> <b>Your  death scene is great, especially the backstory leading to the inevitable Hollywood Sign demise...</b><br /> <br /> <i>It was my first death onscreen! I think we shot a couple of takes of me trying out different lines. The Hollywood one apparently struck a chord!</i><br /> <br /> And so, after the fate of poor Robbie, and many other unlucky L.A. residents, at the climax of SHARKNADO, as two characters fly a helicopter to drop homemade bombs into the formidable, swirling menace... And down below, as Ian Ziering intrepidly slices approaching sharks with a chainsaw... The theater was so immersed in the action, cheering wildly at the incredibly taut hilarity of the proceedings, the RiffTrax guys were, along with everyone else, simply an audience reveling in a cult phenomenon that will only get better (as in, awesomely worse) with time… <br /> <br /> Especially thanks to the actors and actresses delivering campy lines so seriously, the very special effects ultimately seem peripheral to the characters that make SHARKNADO such a wonderfully guilty pleasure. <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKCMQVlxOhhKnkLXNGN9qEUmUC_yBpDHBbBYBoe6ilHr0xqq2hFz6SxCV-O8cg3qrmtE0cmDsw3EbUfLDod2257YU3GH_CfpJsakjD1yyfOD7WYIn42tWURDou6fM9v0TFRiNoI8DFuTo/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKCMQVlxOhhKnkLXNGN9qEUmUC_yBpDHBbBYBoe6ilHr0xqq2hFz6SxCV-O8cg3qrmtE0cmDsw3EbUfLDod2257YU3GH_CfpJsakjD1yyfOD7WYIn42tWURDou6fM9v0TFRiNoI8DFuTo/s1600/6.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rist about to be finished</td></tr> </tbody></table> <b>Do you think the movie meant to be bad from the very conception? </b><br /> <br /> <i>Well, look at the title! I think it came front-loaded with a sense of humor. It knew that it wasn't re-writing THE BARD’S CANON... </i><br /> <br /> <i>What actually amazes me about it (well there are lots of things, actually, but this is big) is that The Asylum gave Anthony basically nine dollars to make what really could have been a hundred million dollar budgeted movie (I mean, it's got something like 300 visual effects in it... That is madness for the budget they had).</i><br /> <br /> <i>I really hope the industry wises up and sees what an asset Ferrante is to any project he attaches himself to. The guy is a frigging wizard... </i><br /> <br /> <i>The dude has serious skills and I would love to see what he could do with an actual budget... not to mention the appropriate payday for the guy who does all of his music!</i><br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgySasOfijhzWe45CmdsamTc7sd1GK1tTUh_ArBOiJyX5ulD-MGevJx58g_I8PElIVopB7hnvPrFClNUUooP9IYZ_QyoqpD-xuXJGFePBFfwVz4je-I0oGwRhXo3-HkCzBg_4y7edbf3kQ/s1600/Sharknado.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgySasOfijhzWe45CmdsamTc7sd1GK1tTUh_ArBOiJyX5ulD-MGevJx58g_I8PElIVopB7hnvPrFClNUUooP9IYZ_QyoqpD-xuXJGFePBFfwVz4je-I0oGwRhXo3-HkCzBg_4y7edbf3kQ/s1600/Sharknado.jpg" width="129" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Open Wide</td></tr> </tbody></table> <b>What do you personally think of the growing cult status of SHARKNADO? </b><br /> <br /> <i>When Anthony and I started doing the music (we wrote all of the pop songs that appear in the movie, with Anthony singing and playing guitar and keys and even singing… That's him singing on the theme song), we made a joke about it being like The Little Engine That Could, and started joking that SHARKNADO is the movie that didn't know there were things it wasn't supposed to do.</i><br /> <i><br /></i> <i>It looked bigger than most films done at the same budget level. And it turned out he had a great leading man in Ian Ziering, the FX were looking way better than imagined... So yeah, that is my take on SHARKNADO and its cult status. </i><br /> <i><br /></i> <i>In three syllables, SHARKNADO tells you everything you need to know and what you are in for… A TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL doesn't do that, does it?</i><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaBAUtU0XPelN0vqoBRilasxQUAMtZOzXC26snrse11AT2QH5sfz7B7eW7bpjcd4QBoiARNSFUpBqQIo72GGyCVSu0dDzfVmHJJs7aXUKJjYTLGj-dcLHUwAQrC8BAPHfDSFB0H64UstM/s1600/Sharknadoposterpart.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaBAUtU0XPelN0vqoBRilasxQUAMtZOzXC26snrse11AT2QH5sfz7B7eW7bpjcd4QBoiARNSFUpBqQIo72GGyCVSu0dDzfVmHJJs7aXUKJjYTLGj-dcLHUwAQrC8BAPHfDSFB0H64UstM/s1600/Sharknadoposterpart.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And along with sporadic JAWS references, Steven Spielberg's 1941 unhinged ferris wheel evokes bonus homage</td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEyFRvMnQuluubs83niG2OVSTnLXa3MCacMmavzcbbcl2Jl84gwr_k3516uPaw7DWcM56PUl3JZvXWy6ILYwykDNWwBbGN-5hKVj10-pcUwYdyWOUY38VmR5ATMPbsmCsrRxKsMXqG93I/s1600/10336721_10152497260453904_2886258321754073399_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEyFRvMnQuluubs83niG2OVSTnLXa3MCacMmavzcbbcl2Jl84gwr_k3516uPaw7DWcM56PUl3JZvXWy6ILYwykDNWwBbGN-5hKVj10-pcUwYdyWOUY38VmR5ATMPbsmCsrRxKsMXqG93I/s1600/10336721_10152497260453904_2886258321754073399_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GOOGLE RIFFTRAX LIVE AND MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU</td></tr> </tbody></table>

2013, creature, cult, disaster, ian ziering, john heard, made-for-TV, shark

CHOMPING ON THE PHENOM OF SHARKNADO WITH ROBBIE RIST

year: 2013 camp value: ***1/2 “Like an adorable puppy with really huge feet,” actor Robbie Rist describes SHARKNADO, the 2013 SyFy Chann...

BRUCE DERN & WILL FORTE IN ALEXANDER PAYNE'S 'NEBRASKA'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEpzLGDwvoRwE3G0QIMIQnyVGHhYOFA_xxZH9XOk1vjGraUzmkSNp8fNk4MyCq9zIKvnTIZMVjPh__IJBAnioMA2aRzUfcmuLAjjky2mJNQGUU7o5eyfYzm1WWMQRcQajOTjMgtU-xAjBx/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-06-12+at+5.02.52+PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="870" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEpzLGDwvoRwE3G0QIMIQnyVGHhYOFA_xxZH9XOk1vjGraUzmkSNp8fNk4MyCq9zIKvnTIZMVjPh__IJBAnioMA2aRzUfcmuLAjjky2mJNQGUU7o5eyfYzm1WWMQRcQajOTjMgtU-xAjBx/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-06-12+at+5.02.52+PM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Alexander Payne's directs Bruce Dern and Will Forte in NEBRASKA Year: 2013</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Will Forte has an interesting face, his mouth naturally curved to a frown. His character David Grant has very little to celebrate: His girlfriend dumped him and his father Woody, played by veteran actor Bruce Dern, is bent on taking a trip from Montana to NEBRASKA after receiving a Mega Sweepstakes Marketing Prize in the mail...<br /> <br /> David knows it’s a gimmick to sell magazines, but Woody, a lifelong drinker with rudimentary signs of dementia, keeps physically threatening to walk the impossible distance… Not an easy task of course, especially given his frail physical and mental status making even a hundred yards difficult… Thankfully, David decides to give poor dad a ride...<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJpMdmFEz6_JYFUbCwR1QV-jP27AMrofr8scb6U4sqLQ-m_T7pdcini-1Pp1zEb_aKzJtIz2nB-cEW6anG1AUcCZeugrEiknTKmLidAta0bXYTLwj4YVbOQHaLitgke4pkQQAAu8wE4Fww/s1600/103607075_992457751183401_7699488076419443338_o.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="1406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJpMdmFEz6_JYFUbCwR1QV-jP27AMrofr8scb6U4sqLQ-m_T7pdcini-1Pp1zEb_aKzJtIz2nB-cEW6anG1AUcCZeugrEiknTKmLidAta0bXYTLwj4YVbOQHaLitgke4pkQQAAu8wE4Fww/s1600/103607075_992457751183401_7699488076419443338_o.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Rance Howard and Will Forte flank Bruce Dern and a lotta old men from NEBRASKA</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> Like director Alexander Payne’s SIDEWAYS and ABOUT SCHMIDT, this deadpan odyssey is a “road movie” epitomizing that niche; although most of the time’s spent sidetracked at Woody’s NEBRASKA hometown of Hawthorne...<br /> <br /> This is where most of the story takes place; and his brother (Rance Howard) — and then later on, several brothers — aren’t much different in tone: passive and mundane “men of few words.” But Woody has a destination and the entire town thinks he’s a millionaire already...<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjloIQDptUGiKy1YHzhGfs6xTjOA8Czh03sXhgSwXQpB6j0P8RLQRRdwPxhvtu_8q0Vr6zPTlRfKuxe1ygVmX-hm2PblDAAWu2msA3h0q13_BSaFO_6JHzzks9Wy7DQiC8PZR4hA6lMNIRr/s1600/Picture%25252B6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="1135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjloIQDptUGiKy1YHzhGfs6xTjOA8Czh03sXhgSwXQpB6j0P8RLQRRdwPxhvtu_8q0Vr6zPTlRfKuxe1ygVmX-hm2PblDAAWu2msA3h0q13_BSaFO_6JHzzks9Wy7DQiC8PZR4hA6lMNIRr/s1600/Picture%25252B6.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Will Forte with Bruce Dern and Stacy Keach in Alexander Payne's NEBRASKA Rating: ****</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> Enter initially subtle antagonist Stacy Keach who, like Dern himself, is known for and reveled in edgy, borderline insane guy roles during the 1970’s and 1980s… His laidback yet investigative Ed Pegram also likes to drink and hang around the local tavern, and now there’s an agenda — he wants a payoff and Woody’s family wants some too; particularly two fat oddball nephews straight out of the Coen Brothers' quirky universe.<br /> <br /> David becomes a shadow on the wall during in-house family scenes, and his barroom conversations with Keach are reminiscent of George Clooney and polite-for-a-financial-purpose Beau Bridges as his cousin in Payne's previous film, THE DESCENDANTS: a polite, friendly tone obscuring an underlying rancor.'<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbzG5zjUl66jOOT6J19T6X8UM3RyxFFX9ZOtBydB3OeAMKO_heVvPfeiHmyRdp2oAJeFLQVoOzyPg7B1DAqDSn1h9u9TyXWDwX8_9a_gi3_zrIc9I97ozDqee4GKCKtcP0DHo6UwkmScMX/s1600/Picture%252B3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="1137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbzG5zjUl66jOOT6J19T6X8UM3RyxFFX9ZOtBydB3OeAMKO_heVvPfeiHmyRdp2oAJeFLQVoOzyPg7B1DAqDSn1h9u9TyXWDwX8_9a_gi3_zrIc9I97ozDqee4GKCKtcP0DHo6UwkmScMX/s1600/Picture%252B3.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bruce Dern, June Squibb, Will Forte and an unseen Bob Odenkirk visit Woody's childhood home</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> In a story replete with intentionally sparse characters, June Squibb is the obvious audience-favorite (perhaps <i>too</i> obvious, forced) as Woody’s sarcastic, foul-mouthed, hen-pecking wife Kate, stealing scenes mostly because she has the funniest lines, and is a breath of fresh air from the monotone surrounding her presence...<br /> <br /> She seems more realistic than your typical actress/actor playing down to cliché (but not condescending) small town mentality the director previously covered in ABOUT SCHMIDT (where June was Jack Nicholson's wife)...<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhauRQIlIwlis7WdtOHOQS8m7_G-u6XaAsTcqEPQxuO6I2P6sgc0dZRXRrO-OpnTTCJiqArK0SExTQ97DQVirSzzR2XNfRfiYI5IvhC4ZeWujM_OAgBeJfDsI-qxkiIMj7Gb3lNbAuPiifb/s1600/102412448_992464481182728_1783299078159423778_o.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1532" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhauRQIlIwlis7WdtOHOQS8m7_G-u6XaAsTcqEPQxuO6I2P6sgc0dZRXRrO-OpnTTCJiqArK0SExTQ97DQVirSzzR2XNfRfiYI5IvhC4ZeWujM_OAgBeJfDsI-qxkiIMj7Gb3lNbAuPiifb/s1600/102412448_992464481182728_1783299078159423778_o.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gorgeous yet sparse scenery from the movie and the location of NEBRASKA</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> In fact, NEBRASKA often feels like an extremely subtle art film satire, while the plush yet primitive B&W cinematography turns the titular state into a rustic hybrid of paradise and purgatory… Some of the best scenes are the scenery, taking place <i>outside</i> Woody's passenger seat window...<br /> <br /> In Will Forte's case, he initially doesn't seem up to the job (his successful brother's played by Bob Odenkirk and might've fared better)... A comedy actor, his deadpan often seems somewhat reached for instead of naturally holding back...<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUBXo66orZTYOpdGXj3560prUwPROg9Co9uk-CGnQ69vi4doJ0M7GHz-2TY8Cj040SRr0rURH91MooNohdGELkHFmJh6qVrtudDiw4lZXUYpzTv0k3lLcP-Dx9O5RKRWLtuJAGshJlG-z-/s1600/47391779_611151372647376_7915830141928865792_o.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="1064" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUBXo66orZTYOpdGXj3560prUwPROg9Co9uk-CGnQ69vi4doJ0M7GHz-2TY8Cj040SRr0rURH91MooNohdGELkHFmJh6qVrtudDiw4lZXUYpzTv0k3lLcP-Dx9O5RKRWLtuJAGshJlG-z-/s1600/47391779_611151372647376_7915830141928865792_o.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u> Bruce Dern and Will Forte at the dead dive of two NEBRASKA bars</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> But (after a recommended second, third or fourth viewings) once you realize his fourth fiddle status to the location, and the overall journey, and especially to his father... it becomes more clear...<br /> <br /> Forte's an awkward yet ultimately wise choice opposite Dern, existing <i>beneath</i> the father's jangily rhythm instead of playing loggerhead to his unnerving, unapologetic neurosis. His David Grant seems to have given up long ago; and despite being the driver on this trip, he’s merely along for the ride.<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHvyjw0-diU-UWOgNwHnLqWhHw6lUvGbiIhydRZ693T-lb7nMIWNUVn3ZPoDvFqham_cLsF6HJn-cfnZqOn89MAaqX69cmfpekrnhc7K8-7YItizvuSQ5ahu6XGoEFqHGLuSOxhVHxMw1x/s1600/47305792_611153559313824_5308624305645420544_o.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="589" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHvyjw0-diU-UWOgNwHnLqWhHw6lUvGbiIhydRZ693T-lb7nMIWNUVn3ZPoDvFqham_cLsF6HJn-cfnZqOn89MAaqX69cmfpekrnhc7K8-7YItizvuSQ5ahu6XGoEFqHGLuSOxhVHxMw1x/s1600/47305792_611153559313824_5308624305645420544_o.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bruce Dern and Will Forte in NEBRASKA</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> Meanwhile, the “man of the hour,” Bruce Dern (nominated for an Oscar) seems almost too authentic. The sporadic dialogue and a few blunt moments of passion aside, his expressions are what really matter…<br /> <br /> Old Woody's a man who's kept everything inside while traces of a buried life seep out from his gently confused, timeworn face, painfully etched with age and mileage but not without a faint glimmer of hope, no matter how unavailing and desperately futile: therein lies the mystery and adventure of Alexander Payne's NEBRASKA.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0b_V-WCiRXpzb2OH_P3_qK3ZIqxx5uExI8Yy8BR1LRq19PSVUkr7nU6T0swCkJn8ndyeJ1Fe9EWq08XWdTkPkTXmrgg65_FtlMp1-TBoRvZhnwIfCk1jJ398ZPacKSQ1XFa_LXIEQzgbM/s1600/Picture%25252B1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="464" data-original-width="932" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0b_V-WCiRXpzb2OH_P3_qK3ZIqxx5uExI8Yy8BR1LRq19PSVUkr7nU6T0swCkJn8ndyeJ1Fe9EWq08XWdTkPkTXmrgg65_FtlMp1-TBoRvZhnwIfCk1jJ398ZPacKSQ1XFa_LXIEQzgbM/s1600/Picture%25252B1.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Missy Dotty in NEBRASKA who had played Cammi the Waitress in Payne's SIDEWAYS</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <i><span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u>MISSY DOTTY</u>: Working with Alexander is a dream for any actor... because he's an actor's director...</span></span></i><br /> <i><span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span">And what I mean by that is he lets you do your work and gently guides you so that he can let the camera discover the character as it comes to life... </span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">Much like an audience member watching the characters come to life on screen.</span> </span> </span></i> <br /> <i><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></i> <i><span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Working on SIDEWAYS was so much fun... the whole crew, production team, cast... we all felt like family. And it's highly known that Alexander is loyal to anyone who works with him, so walking onto the set of NEBRASKA, it was like coming home... Comfortable and welcoming.</span></span></i><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUrSbehTC1Df_cfVVzXxvGYt0qyYSDEPW4e7cgZujUPO1xdStn7_X0iJUq6y8zjxVHcGZ1uyoZc0iUi-e2TsG__nsmmldE7UgSAjj4LwsjRhVHsgcHwJ_SRHkLcY46cwlDbf06iL5HW213/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-06-12+at+4.58.27+AM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="838" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUrSbehTC1Df_cfVVzXxvGYt0qyYSDEPW4e7cgZujUPO1xdStn7_X0iJUq6y8zjxVHcGZ1uyoZc0iUi-e2TsG__nsmmldE7UgSAjj4LwsjRhVHsgcHwJ_SRHkLcY46cwlDbf06iL5HW213/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-06-12+at+4.58.27+AM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Missy Dotty as Cammi in Sideways turned black and white so to fit the non-color scheme of Nebraska</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYNzkaOwTMqlBH3QN-DINX2-stMjpqw6B1exsg44tnFgjRY52RT_DahL0ImpjeOcmk7sTdbJnfFA-6vTBUKyOGAPeuClNRTcAbqcz5PGMKpQmEMHrHuivC7JCLVJHPPubzoSVd12b1hd9v/s1600/nebraska-alexander-payne.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="979" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYNzkaOwTMqlBH3QN-DINX2-stMjpqw6B1exsg44tnFgjRY52RT_DahL0ImpjeOcmk7sTdbJnfFA-6vTBUKyOGAPeuClNRTcAbqcz5PGMKpQmEMHrHuivC7JCLVJHPPubzoSVd12b1hd9v/s1600/nebraska-alexander-payne.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>And Alexander Payne himself (resembling Richard Gere's kangaroo) directing Bruce Dern for Nebraska</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkB6PpwPuFyTuZY3suDMlATBZL-z4Dpqym6r0Y0pD9bsJ-Z7KWW55E-ZxKVKKpBdfyaBJVWSzbHhqbT9oNs5L4r1LuMcmS5YjCaFrDQ6vRUxKtySEgFM-dJXIRymvhh_RfBrw1-MgCcvnv/s1600/DERN.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="707" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkB6PpwPuFyTuZY3suDMlATBZL-z4Dpqym6r0Y0pD9bsJ-Z7KWW55E-ZxKVKKpBdfyaBJVWSzbHhqbT9oNs5L4r1LuMcmS5YjCaFrDQ6vRUxKtySEgFM-dJXIRymvhh_RfBrw1-MgCcvnv/s1600/DERN.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bruce Dern and Will Forte as father and son in Alexander Payne's NEBRASKA</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtmoXPxqMzCOqNfARGrk5p13W7XYNaHN5jLE9r93zFlKjv0VlgyXPVY93fUAbLccbLvFMPyaRqGntBi1kFsNhaKijaoF4wpElv8s5uGaHbGwozkArHGu2ul8KjP4yRLGltpOQvHiAAPyrC/s1600/Picture%25252B7.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="449" data-original-width="1076" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtmoXPxqMzCOqNfARGrk5p13W7XYNaHN5jLE9r93zFlKjv0VlgyXPVY93fUAbLccbLvFMPyaRqGntBi1kFsNhaKijaoF4wpElv8s5uGaHbGwozkArHGu2ul8KjP4yRLGltpOQvHiAAPyrC/s1600/Picture%25252B7.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bruce Dern plays father to Will Forte as son in Alexander Payne's NEBRASKA Year: 2013</u></td></tr> </tbody></table>

2013, alexander payne, bruce dern, drama, june squibb, rance howard, road movie, stacy keach, will forte

BRUCE DERN & WILL FORTE IN ALEXANDER PAYNE'S 'NEBRASKA'

Alexander Payne's directs Bruce Dern and Will Forte in NEBRASKA Year: 2013 Will Forte has an interesting face, his mouth naturally c...

ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnB_9FPVtsUHIqJj9E61GGuXHRRDcxB8Lhyfmt9IIkWeaKd9ObD3Xw7nKKsksVIEm07MWqoI4pDc397gI5lcmW3FAeijOJw9ZiYZke1KlE4OqT_MWjnfEwTM2BK1AkwKF4KhC79vWz_9g/s1600/a2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnB_9FPVtsUHIqJj9E61GGuXHRRDcxB8Lhyfmt9IIkWeaKd9ObD3Xw7nKKsksVIEm07MWqoI4pDc397gI5lcmW3FAeijOJw9ZiYZke1KlE4OqT_MWjnfEwTM2BK1AkwKF4KhC79vWz_9g/s1600/a2.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 rating: **1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="background-color: white;">In an extremely cautious time where Political Correctness dictates the media, from scolding a bearded Reality Show redneck to throwing Steve Martin under the Twitter bus, it’s nice to revisit an era when men were men and spoke bluntly with obnoxious confidence, all the while perched on top of the world… </span>Well in this particular case the last part’s not entirely true.<br /> <br /> 1970's mustached anchorman Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) is a maligned celebrity stuck in the wrong era, for it’s 1980 (despite references to mid-decade GHOSTBUSTERS and CUJO) and, having been fired as Network co-anchor, he doesn’t have a pot to <i>relieve himself</i> in… He does however have his friends, gathered up within the first ten minutes, and a new job for a "groundbreaking" cable station providing news 24 hours a day.<br /> <br /> Much of the underlying theme pokes fun at FOX, centering on zealous patriotism Ron creates to boost ratings to win an in-house bet with the new handsome bully… Although the idea to cover celebrity gossip and police chases, and subtle glimpses into an O.J. Simpson trial future, makes the agenda-based target any other outlet besides the big three networks that dominated for many years… You’ll hear the line “This isn’t news,” referring to the modern brand of pop culture coverage, about a half dozen times.<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicfx3E_7Bn3ZPn-Pjk5aSN18QbQT1B946D6GJyxGmv-Hc8E1llAFsUziw8GpjyU2x7F6OEijFs4A5u2oeHQWc-3DnTkajhMVmLK-kxhDyHD4GYC5OXE94i6q6TlBBP1_TomGrzpHQqLfQ/s1600/a23.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicfx3E_7Bn3ZPn-Pjk5aSN18QbQT1B946D6GJyxGmv-Hc8E1llAFsUziw8GpjyU2x7F6OEijFs4A5u2oeHQWc-3DnTkajhMVmLK-kxhDyHD4GYC5OXE94i6q6TlBBP1_TomGrzpHQqLfQ/s200/a23.png" width="144" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Shark Scene</td></tr> </tbody></table> Ron’s old school buddies, including Brick (Steve Carrel), Brian (Paul Rudd) and Champ (David Koechner) are all but peripheral, simply along for the ride… Brick has the most solo time, having met his awkard Girl Friday who also speaks from left field: alas their relationship is boring and pointless… Even love-interest Veronica Corningstone, being promoted (sans her husband) as sole network anchor, has taken backseat to Ron’s sudden popularity in the 24-hour phenomenon. Basically, Veronica represents the "good old fashion" news media, providing the moral compass.<br /> <br /> What’s most important is that Burgundy’s an obnoxious stud once again, having hooked up with his sexy black boss… Here’s where the non-PC jokes fly and our oblivious “Legend” is truly enjoying himself... Then something extremely bizarre and completely unfunny happens... The revamped superstar literally goes blind, holes up in a lighthouse, gets back together with his family, and rescues (then nurses) a shark! At which point the movie gets so absurd one can only look back at the good times: that being either the original or the initial setup of this one.

2013, comedy, judd apatow, paul rudd, steve carell, vince vaughn, will ferrell

ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES

year: 2013 rating: **1/2 In an extremely cautious time where Political Correctness dictates the media, from scolding a bearded Reality S...

STALLONE VS DE NIRO IN GRUDGE MATCH

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmNGayqwPoz6ZsAwOSX9HD3V2_vNJ1sZeVy_FpLWOTqloVKGVGhrmyllEBYNT4Vpz_9cqD45UGroasMnDOMMcehi42ZqdY0oeZiDqBTfJcq9XOTtgBU4ECuK1OP40nJ0Lpc3Di-cJCEos/s1600/gm0.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmNGayqwPoz6ZsAwOSX9HD3V2_vNJ1sZeVy_FpLWOTqloVKGVGhrmyllEBYNT4Vpz_9cqD45UGroasMnDOMMcehi42ZqdY0oeZiDqBTfJcq9XOTtgBU4ECuK1OP40nJ0Lpc3Di-cJCEos/s320/gm0.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 rating: **1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> There are probably more people curious about seeing ROCKY and RAGING BULL square off than a COP LAND reunion… Either way, with Rocky Balboa and Jake LaMotta in the same movie, they might want something edgy, dramatic and uplifting. Well good luck with that... <br /> <br /> Sylvester Stallone as Henry “Razor” Sharp and Robert De Niro as Billy “The Kid” McDonnen are two retired boxers who had three… no, actually two matches in the past… Kid won the first, Razor the second and then, for mysterious reasons, Razor canceled the anticipated final bow at the last minute, making Kid hold a <i>grudge</i> till a new opportunity arises, many years later (too many years to really matter)... <br /> <br /> First let’s get some ROCKY references out of the way: Razor is forced into drinking raw eggs by his elderly manager Lighting, played by Alan Arkin, a "Mickey" (Burgess Meredith) type character… Also like the original Oscar-winning classic, Razor punches hanging beef in a meat locker… Then, like ROCKY II, he's fired from a menial job, buys new clothes, drives around in a hotrod and fumbles lines off “dummy cards” during a commercial shoot… In the backstory, after the success as a fighter, he loses his money and returns to hometown poverty like ROCKY 5… He trains in a grueling, hands-on fashion like ROCKY 4 (physically pulling a truck named Road Hawk care-of OVER THE TOP).... Then takes part in a virtual reality "What if" bout lifted from ROCKY BALBOA...<br /> <br /> And at one point later on, during the promotional circuit, he and Kid wind up at an Ultimate Fighting venue where Razor, comparing the popular sport to scripted Professional Wrestling, is threatened by a melodramatic blowhard brawler: reminiscent of Hulk Hogan in ROCKY 3… As for De Niro’s Kid character, he retired from boxing with a lucrative car lot but also runs a nightclub where he, like RAGING BULL himself, performs a laconic stand-up routine...<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiSRuxTg1vqyuX7cs6dCwM0vAJA1ThhB6vh3SoYxMRVNBahdQsjEq7Es2tzQbCxwl4neszDaEV6Hu-A0DSKMG2zlnot-mnIHfDdLUYuHFBwgIZpitC7HHkHOtRARIyJavg61NRkP4LH0E/s1600/rocky-meat1.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiSRuxTg1vqyuX7cs6dCwM0vAJA1ThhB6vh3SoYxMRVNBahdQsjEq7Es2tzQbCxwl4neszDaEV6Hu-A0DSKMG2zlnot-mnIHfDdLUYuHFBwgIZpitC7HHkHOtRARIyJavg61NRkP4LH0E/s200/rocky-meat1.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stallone pounds meat in ROCKY</td></tr> </tbody></table> So while not as good as it should be with the talent on board, GRUDGE MATCH isn't as god-awful as the maligned (and already Razzie nominated) reputation… The lightweight banality sheds an endearing glow, and Kid has a few moving conversations with his estranged son, played by WALKING DEAD actor Jon Bernthal…<br /> <br /> Their scenes fare better than the contrived dialogue between Stallone and Arkin. Perhaps more tragic than De Niro and Stallone playing down to light comedy is that Arkin, no stranger to evoking genuine audience laughter, isn’t funny at all. But he's not the comic relief...<br /> <br /> In that department is Kevin Hart as the motormouth promoter keeping a reluctant Razor on board the upcoming payday, trying way too hard with an annoying Chris Tucker imitation. After a while his frantic intrusion tappers off, which leads to something even more ghastly, blunting the dynamic of Bernthal’s character: One of the worst child actors in history, playing Kid’s grandson, enters the show and never leaves... <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwifCHR_2osMume5G1oHZKL7VGa8nug_HqoB2qxojxUCkHhOC6mbznMJoYhlMq1rZzn8F3t8xEUvtgQy3TMr9QASu73Up_NdTqW8JlzSWt81tfdYLHUaERf2Cgj0szfS00KqkXkvG_RBc/s1600/gm1.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwifCHR_2osMume5G1oHZKL7VGa8nug_HqoB2qxojxUCkHhOC6mbznMJoYhlMq1rZzn8F3t8xEUvtgQy3TMr9QASu73Up_NdTqW8JlzSWt81tfdYLHUaERf2Cgj0szfS00KqkXkvG_RBc/s200/gm1.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">DeNiro in RAGING BULL</td></tr> </tbody></table> Meanwhile our two rivals seem to be going through the motions. Their constant bickering is liken to GRUMPY OLD MEN sans the essential cantankerous anti-chemistry. Supposedly these guys hate each other yet seem pretty content, making us forget the entire purpose. But their combined scenes are merely sporadic: Much of the film involves dragging conversations with side-characters, ranging from trainers to the sole love interest played by a not-aged-so-well Kim Basinger...<br /> <br /> Will or won’t Razor stay in the fight becomes the only suspense till the final match where two old dudes beat each other raw like that frozen beef. Here’s where we finally get some old school blood and gusto, but it’s much to late to save a missed opportunity involving this rare superstar collective, intriguing and disappointing both cult and mainstream audiences.

2013, alan arkin, boxing, comedy, jon bernthal, robert deniro, sylvester stallone, team-up

STALLONE VS DE NIRO IN GRUDGE MATCH

year: 2013 rating: **1/2 There are probably more people curious about seeing ROCKY and RAGING BULL square off than a COP LAND reunion… E...

HER BY SPIKE JONZE WITH JOAQUIN PHOENIX

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY4i7iwMEwptRw0i9iyqmmDxhSM5va4Z4kHOzTCoyaylzL3h5WuFk9G-oPrElUse-KaZJ45Wb6uEfrKL62vL6qsqS_Di7MwWbwdIVp4jkqgAIt363x4NCLudFUyHlHXXmjJKcV5svbgNw/s1600/her.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY4i7iwMEwptRw0i9iyqmmDxhSM5va4Z4kHOzTCoyaylzL3h5WuFk9G-oPrElUse-KaZJ45Wb6uEfrKL62vL6qsqS_Di7MwWbwdIVp4jkqgAIt363x4NCLudFUyHlHXXmjJKcV5svbgNw/s200/her.jpg" width="171" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 rating: **</td></tr> </tbody></table> Back when THE TWILIGHT ZONE episode TO AGNES WITH LOVE showed antisocial, lust-burdened geek Wally Cox falling hard for his female-voiced computer, it probably seemed pretty bizarre since office-sized computers weren’t exactly a commodity...<br /> <br /> Skip to the early eighties with the obscure movie ELECTRIC DREAMS: since PC's had barely taken off, it was downright extraordinary that a talking computer would behave in a humanly if diabolical fashion...<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2DTTW2ubX91SYAVvO4rmZNluaKWy8R_QRdw74qq1PhEu9shsKq3qAv3NtBJIdzpOcKkJnnKdi6YcTicNNOeHJ21_UwyiMWJ9uCGCvO4IA35KEjEg0opFBxOEYLBNf1BqzS5YJ-vo2GgE/s1600/electric+dreams.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2DTTW2ubX91SYAVvO4rmZNluaKWy8R_QRdw74qq1PhEu9shsKq3qAv3NtBJIdzpOcKkJnnKdi6YcTicNNOeHJ21_UwyiMWJ9uCGCvO4IA35KEjEg0opFBxOEYLBNf1BqzS5YJ-vo2GgE/s200/electric+dreams.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Electric Dreams</td></tr> </tbody></table> But the last twenty years with Internet chat rooms, social networks, dating websites and the navigating Siri herself, having a physically benign relationship via machine isn’t entirely farfetched. And in the near-future world, brought to life by writer/director Spike Jonze, it’s an all too normal occurrence.<br /> <br /> Joaquin Phoenix plays Theodore, a lonely writer working at a job perfectly suited for quirky arthouse fare: writing actual letters for other people by speaking into a computer. But things happen after Theodore gets home. Brooding through a divorce, he downloads a brand new operating system, OS1, which includes the girl of his dreams, Samantha, a computer taking care of just about every task, voiced by a soothingly silky-toned Scarlett Johansson.<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0YVyeMv2mm34JLRhyphenhyphenuG0xju9JPrjeu7Cw-On1KkY6vdLNK5DZpMi2R4_GYcXnmjQbyl8K56nL-OqZ8GfEzpKOHENvUWr4kLDqA7oXJKB9zPPolaIdGPf42ei703eTrpcs8E4yDtUv5eI/s1600/hal900.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0YVyeMv2mm34JLRhyphenhyphenuG0xju9JPrjeu7Cw-On1KkY6vdLNK5DZpMi2R4_GYcXnmjQbyl8K56nL-OqZ8GfEzpKOHENvUWr4kLDqA7oXJKB9zPPolaIdGPf42ei703eTrpcs8E4yDtUv5eI/s200/hal900.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hal 9000 from 2001</td></tr> </tbody></table> <span id="goog_1222744115"></span><span id="goog_1222744116"></span><span id="goog_1222744118"></span><span id="goog_1222744119"></span>The setup is intriguing. Theodore and Samantha get to know each other as he ventures outside and, with a camera in his phone and hearing her voice from an earpiece, she can view the real world: from outdoor malls to beaches to the wilderness, Samantha experiences life while not only saying the right things things but singing and composing music to fit each location and mood. <br /> <br /> An intriguing premise is hindered by the relationship seeming way too normal – to Theodore and just about everyone else. Since he admits outright to having a personal relationship with an OS, there’s no mystery or guilt involved with such a unique concept. Not only that but Phoenix, no stranger to intense/bizarre characters, isn’t given a chance to shine in his usual askew light. And the sappy, downright embarrassing scenes where Theodore and Samantha confess their mutual adoration is like overhearing a smitten couple whispering sweet nothings, making the audience a third wheel… that ultimately goes flat. <br /> <br /> Perhaps if, like 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, Samantha got real dirty we’d have a relationship worth the experience. FATAL ATTRACTION goes viral would beat this searing hipster flick with more naval-gazing theme than plotline. Although there is one particular "baby alien" on Theodore's virtual realty game console that, like the sassy, foul-mouthed teddy bear TED, would have made a much more unpredictable, entertaining sidekick.

2013, amy adams, joaquin phoenix, quirky, spike jonze

HER BY SPIKE JONZE WITH JOAQUIN PHOENIX

year: 2013 rating: ** Back when THE TWILIGHT ZONE episode TO AGNES WITH LOVE showed antisocial, lust-burdened geek Wally Cox falling har...

THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY WITH BEN STILLER

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitjtUryLrxngKSVUa62Ep0aWgcBlkCBRVg3rNc9qXIAjeKdPvMtgh0irao8eahCjIFQ28xCzeXzleUny3ExSUAsA_qm7mqVbwQNtTF6OY2PUmHOgTGe4aeeW9l6h5IDOIuOx5mDc7KJxY/s1600/secret-life-of-walter-mitty-ben-stiller-585x323.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitjtUryLrxngKSVUa62Ep0aWgcBlkCBRVg3rNc9qXIAjeKdPvMtgh0irao8eahCjIFQ28xCzeXzleUny3ExSUAsA_qm7mqVbwQNtTF6OY2PUmHOgTGe4aeeW9l6h5IDOIuOx5mDc7KJxY/s200/secret-life-of-walter-mitty-ben-stiller-585x323.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 rating: **1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> The secret of Walter Mitty’s life is that he daydreams a lot: From walking out of snowy photographs as an intrepid mountain climber, to beating up his new "boss" in an elevator, to comic-book-battling the same bearded weenie in the streets of New York, Walter always lets his imagination get the best of him: You can say it defines his entire character. With more cerebral experiences than actual ones, he even has trouble filling out a dating website resume.<br /> <br /> Based on a short story and rebooted from a classic Danny Kaye film, THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY stars actor/director Ben Stiller in the title role: a passive man whose daydreams keep him distracted until something real happens. Working for the soon defunct LIFE magazine, a negative to what’s to be the last cover is lost… So right as we’re getting to know the man through his creative reveries, Walter cuts loose on a real adventure. To find the missing picture he treks in search of Sean Penn’s Sean O’Connell, an intrepid globe-trotting LIFE photographer, and winds up in both Greenland and Iceland: battling sharks, riding a skateboard down a gorgeous mountain road, and much too easily connecting (via cell phone) to his <i>dream</i> girl. Not only is the original theme a thing of the past, it’s difficult to tell what’s real, what's in his mind or, at this point, if that device even matters.<br /> <br /> It’s fine to make a big budget arthouse film about discovering one self through an existential journey, but why did those daydreams happen at all? During the second half of MITTY, his wild imagination became something looked back on in melancholy shame, and yet Walter’s secret life was the best thing he had going. 

2013, ben stiller, kristen wiig, sean penn

THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY WITH BEN STILLER

year: 2013 rating: **1/2 The secret of Walter Mitty’s life is that he daydreams a lot: From walking out of snowy photographs as an intre...

MARTIN DIRECTS LEO IN THE WOLF OF WALL STREET

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyNUtT5cIrc1UaIA1bG3AxxWIfKXqspbwGY0hXuZWgKoGSSL9SR6utfIxnmmQPmSDivRQ3Z5tDfrxqo-B6ROIRKODj1bA4AAtsflxZ5yvMXBHovjYDIPuQWlvpK_AION510ZQkS49RzGM/s1600/wolf_of_wall_street_fan_poster_by_crqsf-d6p5x0s.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyNUtT5cIrc1UaIA1bG3AxxWIfKXqspbwGY0hXuZWgKoGSSL9SR6utfIxnmmQPmSDivRQ3Z5tDfrxqo-B6ROIRKODj1bA4AAtsflxZ5yvMXBHovjYDIPuQWlvpK_AION510ZQkS49RzGM/s400/wolf_of_wall_street_fan_poster_by_crqsf-d6p5x0s.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 rating: *1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> Motivational Speakers have gotten a bad reputation throughout the years, and perhaps rightly so. They can talk up a storm yet there’s not much behind the curtain...<br /> <br /> The same can be said of Leonardo DiCaprio’s energetic performance in THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, providing intense pep-rally speeches without any real games to follow: In fact the narration by DiCaprio’s con artist stockbroker Jordan Belfort gives just about everything away. Imagine if, during the first minute of GOODFELLAS, Ray Liotta described the mafia as a bunch of worthless, lowlife, backstabbing killers: What's left to learn and experience?   <br /> <br /> Based on a true story centering on unapologetic greed and making gross amounts of money, director Martin Scorsese provides so much flash there’s very little substance, despite several attempts for a worthwhile baseline...<br /> <br /> When Belfort starts his career as a low-end stockbroker, he almost suffers the necessary hunger before getting a quick bellyful of other people's money. Instead, right off the bat, his boss (Matthew McConaughey) unveils the nefarious sleight-of-hand before it’s even played out. And later on, as Belfort’s team of shady brokers join his own Wall Street corporation, with the exception of sidekick Donnie Azoff, played by A-list sidekick Jonah Hill, no one… not even Belfort’s gorgeous trophy wife… amounts to anything beyond wallpaper.  <br /> <br /> One scene works the best: when a straight-laced FBI agent meets with Belfort on his yacht, there’s a beginning, middle and end to a somewhat intriguing conversation. Here we finally learn what our antihero's up against. Perhaps an example of an <i>honest stockbroker</i> would make us learn more about what makes Belfort particularly crooked. Besides an immense rockstar appetite for women and drugs, we never get past the man’s perpetual debauchery. <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcZBsIBIquZ4SZkxA4OjLIFtYOvmbPAILhYkRk80sg42qn-zqdBUKarfIulZOgn-NbkV1V9_aLzStQI1OeGhKFo-3zxqFms1z5tsOlzVbtcBXOoY2ibaUZtcQ2XPta3eExyeUToKUsiWQ/s1600/Leonardo-Dicaprio-Wolf-Of-Wall-Street-11062012-05-e1371532246946.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcZBsIBIquZ4SZkxA4OjLIFtYOvmbPAILhYkRk80sg42qn-zqdBUKarfIulZOgn-NbkV1V9_aLzStQI1OeGhKFo-3zxqFms1z5tsOlzVbtcBXOoY2ibaUZtcQ2XPta3eExyeUToKUsiWQ/s200/Leonardo-Dicaprio-Wolf-Of-Wall-Street-11062012-05-e1371532246946.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leo and his Trophy</td></tr> </tbody></table> This bloated and overlong howler of a WOLF could very well contend with SHOWGIRLS if an otherwise talented movie star, along with his iconic director/collaborator, weren’t on board...<br /> <br /> When Belfort and Donnie take too many drugs there’s a surreal twenty minutes that seemed like part of another movie… perhaps LESS THAN ZERO if written by Judd Apatow… Which is nothing compared to a storm-riding yacht sequence that should have ended like Leo’s other ship movie, sparing us an extra half-hour... <br /> <br /> Bringing us back to the Motivational Speaker concept: If DiCaprio’s best moments involve convincing a group of born cheaters they’d be better off rich and dishonest, he’s merely preaching to the choir. The rest of us might need a reason to trust this jovially narcissistic, intentionally likable shyster before buying three long hours of his crap.     

2013, biopic, jonah hill, leonardo dicaprio, martin scorsese

MARTIN DIRECTS LEO IN THE WOLF OF WALL STREET

year: 2013 rating: *1/2 Motivational Speakers have gotten a bad reputation throughout the years, and perhaps rightly so. They can talk u...

DISNEY PRESENTS SAVING MR. BANKS

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyblS5oG2hfaYf2029NutjGkA4Ho0hibVZoloQ8j6l3KMywwdpMthGuA1nzWAJGatybtt6OC6qULkreFPmEB59YhUkfSZ6Ke01yr3KKUKPWtP4PETb5n70Dx4cu72VcNneuQoMNkW0m_M/s1600/mary-poppins1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyblS5oG2hfaYf2029NutjGkA4Ho0hibVZoloQ8j6l3KMywwdpMthGuA1nzWAJGatybtt6OC6qULkreFPmEB59YhUkfSZ6Ke01yr3KKUKPWtP4PETb5n70Dx4cu72VcNneuQoMNkW0m_M/s320/mary-poppins1.jpg" width="252" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> If you thought Nurse Ratched was bad, by the end of dealing with P.L. Travers, author of the MARY POPPINS books, Walt Disney would have probably preferred a frontal lobotomy...<br /> <br /> Although we know the beloved Julie Andrews musical will be made, there’s enough suspense of whether Travers, played with an uncompromising, neurotic nitpicking by Emma Thompson, will sign over the rights, thus allowing... in her opinion... Walt Disney to make a cartoonish mockery of her literary work.<br /> <br /> Flashbacks into her past show us the author’s family in Australia, and eventually the influence of the Mary Poppins character: Scenes with her banker dad play out like dreamy (and often nightmarish) vignettes... And while providing a nice break from the linear story, these segments distract from the pivotal Travers verses Disney relationship... Ironically, during Tom Hanks' heartfelt soliloquies into Disney’s own past, you’ll forget there’s anyone else in the room.<br /> <span id="goog_996330989"></span><span id="goog_996330990"></span><br /> Emma Thompson does a pretty good job but lacks the snappy charm to make an antagonistic grouch fun and/or completely interesting… Then, when she does come around, it seems a bit too easy and contrived and yet, like Disney and his staff, you’ll be glad the inevitable change occured: her stubborn determination grows exaggeratedly one-dimensional and downright tiresome after awhile... Perhaps this was needed to make the contented Walt Disney struggle like a hungry artist instead of grinning like a jovial tycoon… At first Tom Hanks seems like he’s doing an imitation, but as stress piles on a much more genuine and resilient persona shines through. And don’t leave the theater till after the first wave of credits: you’ll hear tape of the real Travers laying down the law to the studio… Which must have been a grueling adaptation process, yet for fans of the cinematic MARY POPPINS it was, like all things of the artworld, well worth someone else’s struggle.

2013, biopic, emma thompson, paul giamatti, tom hanks

DISNEY PRESENTS SAVING MR. BANKS

year: 2013 rating: *** If you thought Nurse Ratched was bad, by the end of dealing with P.L. Travers, author of the MARY POPPINS books, ...