ALEXANDER PAYNE & PAUL GIAMATTI REUNITE FOR 'THE HOLDOVERS'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGek7Sz7Y0VIBHFoc-XjUJnSO-WL1PIYTjquUqUyW4SVXn3iICoPBCshEJHW2ZtsPhxMuZr62FhmrUa02Eq20K6ubCWf4RlW0CMPWoUQk_AsqM7tQRRDuNDySQEDxnt2CbC0CTpcQgDp4fsUwSCv6EedpRBd7XGtCfQAcnQLwOdwOMoCDHvSKnstMZqXQD/s1703/Screen%20Shot%202024-05-03%20at%2012.20.05%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="978" data-original-width="1703" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGek7Sz7Y0VIBHFoc-XjUJnSO-WL1PIYTjquUqUyW4SVXn3iICoPBCshEJHW2ZtsPhxMuZr62FhmrUa02Eq20K6ubCWf4RlW0CMPWoUQk_AsqM7tQRRDuNDySQEDxnt2CbC0CTpcQgDp4fsUwSCv6EedpRBd7XGtCfQAcnQLwOdwOMoCDHvSKnstMZqXQD/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-05-03%20at%2012.20.05%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE HOLDOVERS Year: 2023 Rating: ** </u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Director Alexander Payne is passive/aggressive when it comes to his previous SIDEWAYS star Paul Giamatti's character Paul Hunham, a stuffy, curmudgeon-like professor at an all-boys boarding school, who in one scene angrily lectures his students while glibly handing-out failing grades, and the next idealistically defends the institution's grieving African-American cook from one of a small-handful of HOLDOVER teens, unable to go home for Christmas and having to spend a melancholy "detention" (like THE BREAKFAST CLUB meets DEAD POET'S SOCIETY meets 1972's CHILD'S PLAY) stuck in an otherwise empty campus...</p><p>Ironically, that particular scolded brat winds up getting a last-minute Christmas vacation reprieve... a shame since he had the kind of antagonistic attitude that would inevitably transition by the end...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

2023, alexander payne, comedy, counter-culture, drama, new, paul giamatti, teen, time period

ALEXANDER PAYNE & PAUL GIAMATTI REUNITE FOR 'THE HOLDOVERS'

Title: THE HOLDOVERS Year: 2023 Rating: ** Director Alexander Payne is passive/aggressive when it comes to his previous SIDEWAYS star Paul G...

REVIEW OF STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON

<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/AVvXsEgFJXVCZkX-6BZgc0TISIfhweub9Wz0E7cyyaT5fFMozOOUM7AdNjtR_paSRN628huxMRN3SC1E-B40QVsIHR4lQ4TPJ-hDBdG0QJL5Y7dimeXSWuIyJUTrn3R4DcL0Bxa6UcP_1Z0osv0/s1600/3047304-inline-i-1-poster-captures-the-strength-of-street-knowledge-in-black-and-white.jpg" imageanchor="1" 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/AVvXsEgFJXVCZkX-6BZgc0TISIfhweub9Wz0E7cyyaT5fFMozOOUM7AdNjtR_paSRN628huxMRN3SC1E-B40QVsIHR4lQ4TPJ-hDBdG0QJL5Y7dimeXSWuIyJUTrn3R4DcL0Bxa6UcP_1Z0osv0/s400/3047304-inline-i-1-poster-captures-the-strength-of-street-knowledge-in-black-and-white.jpg" width="192" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 rating: **1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> Paul Giamatti is no stranger to playing sly manipulators of naïve yet successful musicians... Not after his venomous turn as Brian Wilson's con artist doctor in LOVE & MERCY and now, as "Gangsta Rap" pioneer Eazy-E's mentor/manager Jerry Heller, he's gone full throttle into jerk-off stratosphere yet he starts out nice and helpful: It's the overlong process of everyone else... from Ice Cube to Dr. Dre... figuring out the man that turns what could have been an edgy urban biopic into a music biz SOCIAL NETWORK given the distracting bias of the two surviving members (also the producers) of groundbreaking rap unit NWA, derived from the city we hardly see enough of...<br /> <br /> Beyond a rushed ghetto backstory, a few neat glimpses into the studio recording process and THE DOORS style "Say that and be sorry" problems on stage, much of the film takes place in either stuffy backroom meetings or rip roaring mansion parties where <i>all</i> conversations center on bitterness and business. Meanwhile, despite the restricted access into genuine "character" development, the three lead actors do a pretty decent job: Ice Cube's real life son, O'Shea Jackson Jr., has his old man's scowl and voice down pat; Corey Hawkins as Dr. Dre wields effective vulnerability despite being ultimately lost in the shuffle; while Jason Mitchell's Eazy-E turns in the best performance simply because he's loved, then hated, then loved again: providing the actor plenty to react to and against, stretching beyond limited propaganda centering more on post-fame financial struggles than the struggles that catapulted the music. Perhaps their controversial song should have been titled F**K THE ACCOUNTANTS!

2015, biopic, music, paul giamatti

REVIEW OF STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON

2015 rating: **1/2 Paul Giamatti is no stranger to playing sly manipulators of naïve yet successful musicians... Not after his venomous ...

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, ...

12 YEARS A SLAVE

<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/AVvXsEhp9Lg4ndxemUkVyk4eiymXdtS4zzauCZux9BdlIDJJHCtSZMUy7gszpmHC82gOnQb5M_6HRfC7So6f_ZGuyO3kU67yE0a70HZyyH61WAN-ZRcGSi6Vw9kTvnchnHP79cEzBYwqjbdxGEs/s1600/12-years-a-slave-chiwetel-ejiofor-600.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp9Lg4ndxemUkVyk4eiymXdtS4zzauCZux9BdlIDJJHCtSZMUy7gszpmHC82gOnQb5M_6HRfC7So6f_ZGuyO3kU67yE0a70HZyyH61WAN-ZRcGSi6Vw9kTvnchnHP79cEzBYwqjbdxGEs/w640-h320/12-years-a-slave-chiwetel-ejiofor-600.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 2013 cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch rating: **1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> The<i> </i>best<i> </i>thing about 12 YEARS A SLAVE is Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon Northup, a free man from New York who was abducted and sold into slavery... With limitless potential, the African American actor deserves this starring role. The worst thing is he’s mostly stuck providing stock reactions to other characters, ranging from beaten slaves to formidable slavers.<br /> <div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"> <br /></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"> Director Steve McQueen (who should add a middle initial to separate him from the legendary actor because he will NEVER BE AS FAMOUS) <i>might</i> have been influenced by Spielberg’s holocaust epic SCHINDLER’S LIST… There's already a score of comparisons between both films. What’s missing in 12 YEARS are the reasons and/or motivations for showing the atrocities other than being a true story about the infamous Antebellum South.</div> <div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"> <br /></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px;"> In LIST, Ralph Fiennes's Goeth commits random acts of unfathomable violence that are not only examples of Nazi rule, but cause the protagonists to counterbalance in a mental game of cat and mouse. Here all Solomon Northup's left to do is witness the maniacal madness of Michael Fassbender’s sexually-driven plantation owner after surviving over-the-top henchmen Paul Dano and Paul Giamatti. One good scene has Solomon outsmarting a bullying overseer, coming up with a more useful idea that winds up benefiting the plantation owner. But this is too soon followed by a prolonged and torturous beating that keeps the story dragging within an exploitative and limited storyline. And while it's ultimately moving and historically significant, and Ejiofor does have moments to rise above the increasing and unceasing torment, Solomon Northup's plight feels more like a single prolonged experience with various characters and locations than a multi-layered biopic for the audience to get <i>completely</i> lost in, making those grueling 12 YEARS seem more like months... even days.</div>

2013, benedict cumberbatch, biopic, chiwetel ejiofor, michael fassbender, paul dano, paul giamatti, steve mcqueen director

12 YEARS A SLAVE

year: 2013 cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch rating: **1/2 The best thing about 12 YEARS A SLAVE is Chi...

TURBO VS DESPICABLE ME 2

<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/AVvXsEjQ3HJ1Dv-CEC6Y7ccb03YmL3_8lbx2whQ-qeCXG4WlpOlfp76D_R-jCE-T6Nw9SUIXj8EzdrkrmZPOuyZZS11Ro5wTVBT-aTfiM_mDL-2upWgnVdcBqUYbT7FlowuzSIb40zDS3OJyfVZw/s1600/turbo-movie-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ3HJ1Dv-CEC6Y7ccb03YmL3_8lbx2whQ-qeCXG4WlpOlfp76D_R-jCE-T6Nw9SUIXj8EzdrkrmZPOuyZZS11Ro5wTVBT-aTfiM_mDL-2upWgnVdcBqUYbT7FlowuzSIb40zDS3OJyfVZw/s640/turbo-movie-poster.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 cast: Ryan Reynolds, Paul Giamatti, Ken Jeong, Steve Carell, Kristin Wiig rating: *1/2 rating: **</td></tr> </tbody></table> Since Disney, many years ago, provided a human-like Volkswagen Bug racing in Monte Carlo, perhaps the competing DreamWorks could have a Snail competing in the Indy 500 make sense. Even for a cartoon this premise is farfetched and downright preposterous, but the worst scenes are those leading up to the big race.<br /> <br /> Actually, the first twenty minutes aren’t too bad: getting to know <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">TURBO</span>, a snail who dreams of being a race car driver… or rather, being the car and driver both… while working with his snail buddies in a community that lives a suburban home’s vegetable garden.<br /> <br /> While the movie works for kids during the initial setup in the colorful garden world, there are scenes where crows swoop down and quickly kill several snails. Of course we never get to know those particular characters to make those deaths sad, but they are shocking.<br /> <br /> Although when Turbo’s best buddy Chet (voiced with melancholy sarcasm by Paul Giamatti) gets snagged by one of the killer crows, Turbo, who gained the power of becoming a jet-powered hot rod after being sucked inside an engine during a local race, goes to the rescue and both snails wind up saved, or captured, or both, by one of the most annoying cartoon and/or computer-animated characters in history: a fat twenty-something Latino named Tito whose uncle owns a taco stand, one of several stores in a forsaken outdoor mall with shops run by other completely uninteresting characters. For some reason, Tito and his friends race snails in a mechanic's garage, and here they discover a lucrative potential for advertisement.<br /> <br /> The commercials and trailers set up the other hot rodding snails, voiced by Sam Jackson and Snoop Dogg to name a few, as if they were actually part of the storyline, and yet they have hardly anything to do with Turbo’s goal, instigated by Tito to save his uncle’s store: competing in the Indy 500 against a conceited human superstar. All scenes leading up are tortuous and lame, and you’ll be glad once the revving competition is underway since it means the end is near. <br /> <br /> Meanwhile <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #073763;">DESPICABLE ME 2 </span>is a kiddie film with potential… for adults. The premise centers on Steve Carell’s formerly world-renowned villain: after adopting daughters, Cru has, along with a bevy of one-eyed alien minions, turned into a mundane suburban father. Till Kristin Wiig’s Lucy brings Cru back into the  business to, like Hannibal Lecter, help find a similar bad guy. The best scene has obvious love interest Lucy taking Cru to her underground compound in a car much like James Bond’s in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME. Leading to an intriguing premise: within a large busy mall, one of the store owners could be the next villain who wants to take over the world. It’s during the undercover investigation the film drags with prolonged musical numbers and an overlong conclusion dealing with a familiar enemy (to Cru). The aliens running around clumsily are humorous but can get tiresome after a while.<br /> <br /> Despite the flaws, children <i>will</i> keep interested throughout, unlike TURBO: youngins were yawning halfway through that slugfest.

2013, action, computer animated, kristin wiig, paul giamatti, race car, samuel l. jackson, steve carell

TURBO VS DESPICABLE ME 2

year: 2013 cast: Ryan Reynolds, Paul Giamatti, Ken Jeong, Steve Carell, Kristin Wiig rating: *1/2 rating: ** Since Disney, many years ag...