cult film freak: reese witherspoon

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2014 rating: **1/2</td></tr>
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WILD mirrors INTO THE WILD but with a happy ending. Not a spoiler since this is a completely documented true story, and a life-affirming one at that – perhaps too much so, taking away from what was probably a much more painstaking trek across the Pacific North Trail spanning from Mexico to Oregon.<br />
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Carrying a backpack almost as big as she is, Reese Witherspoon plays Cheryl with intense determination and bouts of dry humor, surprising for a young woman kicking heroin and fighting other mental demons – these things we catch during flashbacks throughout the arduous hike.<br />
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The non-linear backstory works and it doesn’t: while nicely edited, we don't really suffer through Cheryl’s pain beyond sporadic glimpses, making it hard to decipher which was more difficult: her tragic past or the present day (at that point, the mid-90’s) climb: While one is loaded with heartache, including the death of her mom, a divorce with a genuinely nice man and numerous sexcapades fueled by drug use, the other – what the movie is really about – has but a few obstacles that, while not altogether lacking tension and suspense, seems more like a breezy existential travelogue than a cathartic journey.<br />
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2014, adventure, bio, reese witherspoon

REESE WITHERSPOON PRODUCES AND STARS IN <b>WILD</b>

REESE WITHERSPOON PRODUCES AND STARS IN WILD

year: 2014 rating: **1/2 WILD mirrors INTO THE WILD but with a happy ending. Not a spoiler since this is a completely documented true st...

Written by James M. Tate / 10/06/2014 / No comments / 2014 , adam sandler , drama , ensemble , nicolas cage , reese witherspoon , thriller

JOURNEY THROUGH THE INTERNET, AFRICA & THE RAPTURE

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitCW3yiUtQm02bZv6aEpNnUH-m2x77rerfWlcwjI-Uq9b5s_ddyu0ZrUsCAeZNJSasZOpYQZ4WKpq_T0DXqfDWyTYu9LaS9Yuc8s7GvZmTNVBprptOD6-MaJhRV8nC9a7GacsicRDvS_Y/s1600/1.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitCW3yiUtQm02bZv6aEpNnUH-m2x77rerfWlcwjI-Uq9b5s_ddyu0ZrUsCAeZNJSasZOpYQZ4WKpq_T0DXqfDWyTYu9LaS9Yuc8s7GvZmTNVBprptOD6-MaJhRV8nC9a7GacsicRDvS_Y/s1600/1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2014 rating: **1/2</td></tr>
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<i>In a weekend dominated by a missing girl and a demonic doll, here's a three-pack including THE GOOD LIE, LEFT BEHIND and beginning with...</i><br />
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<b>MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN: </b>Seeing the Internet in a movie is like hearing a toilet flushing, in a movie… It’s so familiar we’d much prefer to escape life’s, um, personal necessities...<br />
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Nothing doing with Jason Reitman’s MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN, a film centering on an ensemble of characters, parents and teenagers, all using the almighty Net for various reasons: From dating sites to video games to modeling to texting: the latter appearing on the screen to showcase our distracted society. <br />
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The cast is loaded with potential talent, but Dean BREAKING BAD Norris should have had a lot more to do than passively navigate his son’s game-playing while Adam Sandler has a chance of reliving PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE… By turning in a serious role, perhaps he could prove something once again. But the males, including an existential high school ex football hero and a porn addicted jock, seem merely along for the ride... <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGKzDNSpPnXGZfPrex_s4_G-KBj87aG3GqQFxdaNgvqpCTTNJDhI9GZynxNd5G2WtGKzGsv5WgFfS1aco9UqZ2tGVTeZ4XRFOw-RINb7efFy66rW9c8aH_aWviSEtBMMrE54wDI4w26g/s1600/men-women-children-will-peltz-elena-kampouris.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/AVvXsEhCGKzDNSpPnXGZfPrex_s4_G-KBj87aG3GqQFxdaNgvqpCTTNJDhI9GZynxNd5G2WtGKzGsv5WgFfS1aco9UqZ2tGVTeZ4XRFOw-RINb7efFy66rW9c8aH_aWviSEtBMMrE54wDI4w26g/s200/men-women-children-will-peltz-elena-kampouris.jpg" width="148" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A cute blonde</td></tr>
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It’s the women who have the most interesting, risqué storylines. One wife cheats… A young girl persists on staying skinny and loses her virginity to a jerk… An uptight mother, played by the film’s main antagonist, Jennifer Garner, strictly monitors her mopey, lovestruck kid… Meanwhile, Judy Greer’s progressive single mom takes unconventional pictures for her sexy daughter’s modeling website. <br />
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Everyone eventually connects, romantically or otherwise. And like MAGNOLIA and many ensemble films, there’s a stream of conscious narrative bringing things  together…<br />
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In this particular case it's the Voyager Satellite hovering just beyond our solar system with Carl Sagan as the token philosopher, providing depth through the wise voice of Emma Thompson, the female Morgan Freeman here…<br />
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But going beneath the surface level, whether an inch or a mile, can be considered deep. Ironically, the most intriguing elements occur during the mundane, everyday observations, and not when the writers try for meaning: That’s when things get preachy and pretentious, and downright predictable.    <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVR4k4gmV584dRvTQpMiu9SpXKVaqkH7KlCS11rX6P7FeBXRBvbx4i9U7-p8ou_fb8YY0FVpOA7sAki24Ju9KAzQeLhcMBUO3JbaiST7M9O6ZfSojV9F56F0IJ3-IRFjRCP624SC8srts/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/AVvXsEiVR4k4gmV584dRvTQpMiu9SpXKVaqkH7KlCS11rX6P7FeBXRBvbx4i9U7-p8ou_fb8YY0FVpOA7sAki24Ju9KAzQeLhcMBUO3JbaiST7M9O6ZfSojV9F56F0IJ3-IRFjRCP624SC8srts/s320/2.jpg" width="203" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2014 rating: ***</td></tr>
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<b>THE GOOD LIE:</b> You would think, judging by the trailers and the poster, THE GOOD LIE centered mostly on Reese Witherspoon’s bitch with a heart of gold, Carrie, and her friendship with three African refugees… But Carrie has little to do with the film but “babysit”… Yet she hardly even does that…<br />
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The real story centers on a young "family", beginning with their on-foot journey from war-torn Sudan to Kenya. This prologue lasts twenty minutes but packs about every trial and tribulation you can imagine –  drinking their own urine, dodging bullets and battling fierce wild animals, the preliminary trek is rushed in order to segue into the feel-good movie it becomes once the children, grown into college age young adults, move to Kansas City where a moody Witherspoon sets them up with various jobs.<br />
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It would be impossible to delve into the immense pain these kids felt unless ample time and effort was provided for us to, as the old saying goes, walk in their shoes. There are sporadic flashbacks and conversations to shed light on their past, but THE GOOD LIE is really a fish out of water tale not about surviving, but adapting in the comparably soft American culture. <br />
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During the last twenty minutes, when the family "chief" returns to Africa in search of a very special person, not only does the title become perfectly clear, the movie fills in the gaps from a somewhat cushy interpretation of hardship and struggle, providing a satisfying conclusion – for the characters and the audience.  <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2014 rating: **</td></tr>
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<b>LEFT BEHIND:</b> Nicolas Cage, the once A-list superstar and Oscar winning actor, could be viewed as taking a serious downgrade by headlining the low budget Biblical-based thriller, LEFT BEHIND… Although, since he’s been demoted to Straight-to-DVD hell the last few years, perhaps this return to theaters is his way of serving in heaven, literally. <br />
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After a ponderous twenty-minute conversation within an airport terminal, the plot clunks underway… Based on a novel foretelling the predictions in Revelations – where God’s Rapture will take only Christians to heaven – much of the suspense takes place on a commercial airplane where Cage’s Rayford Steele is the sole pilot…<br />
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The children, a flight attendant and most important, co-pilot, have all been whisked away – all that’s LEFT are a pile of clothing… Same thing’s happened globally; but we center on Captain Steele’s hardened Atheist daughter Hattie, played by Nicky Whelan… It’s her character we followed through the overlong prologue, and she’s the focal point on the ground. In fact the Rapture begin on her “watch” when her little brother vanishes in the middle of a heartfelt hug.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nic Cage</td></tr>
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Skipping from the airplane to the city, the best scenes occur eight miles high. Take away the Rapture aspect and we have a selected group of paranoid passengers not trusting each other, resulting in our heroic pilot having to land the airplane back in New York, just like the AIRPORT films of yesteryear. Meanwhile, an attempt to wedge the Christian agenda is awkward and clumsy...<br />
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But since it's a tale about people who weren’t lucky enough to make the ethereal cut, if this particular vehicle works, a franchise about desperate heroes surviving a godless world might crossover to the mainstream… After all, who's around to preach Christianity? <br />
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With a distracting low budget and a cheap acoustic soundtrack, LEFT BEHIND might be just that in the box office: not faithful enough for the faith-based and not exciting enough for a suspenseful thriller. Yet there are times when Cage makes you forget he's stuck in a bad movie. After all, he's had plenty of practice lately.

2014, adam sandler, drama, ensemble, nicolas cage, reese witherspoon, thriller

JOURNEY THROUGH THE INTERNET, AFRICA & THE RAPTURE

year: 2014 rating: **1/2 In a weekend dominated by a missing girl and a demonic doll, here's a three-pack including THE GOOD LIE, ...

Written by James M. Tate / 2/18/2012 / No comments / 2012 , chris pine , comedy , reese witherspoon , romantic comedy , tom hardy

THIS MEANS WAR

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhltOtFV6yqGGli7T8sQ_z-KmRZpiBjN5mekxif0rJybtuuTtUG5zQ8AYxHh8KPQZbhxSlg1Vpx8Bu1lJ6_YuzBAnre8d77tSCHcST4zJXITKJm0PyNWSyLtvILYJJS1jItcGD4mkxRNCGZ/s1600/this-mean-war-movie-review.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhltOtFV6yqGGli7T8sQ_z-KmRZpiBjN5mekxif0rJybtuuTtUG5zQ8AYxHh8KPQZbhxSlg1Vpx8Bu1lJ6_YuzBAnre8d77tSCHcST4zJXITKJm0PyNWSyLtvILYJJS1jItcGD4mkxRNCGZ/s320/this-mean-war-movie-review.jpg" width="320" /></a><b>title:</b> THIS MEANS WAR<br />
<b>year: </b>2012<br />
<b>cast:</b> Reese Witherspoon, Tom Hardy, Chris Pine<br />
<b>rating:</b> *** <br />
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This movie might have the best, or perhaps worst, trailer ever made. Because in three minutes time you get the most important (and worthwhile) scenes involving two covert C.I.A. agents, Chris Pine and Tom Hardy, outwitting each other to win over the same girl, Reese Witherspoon. Well there’s not much more than that – although some scenes are funnier than others. Like whenever either spy sabotages one another, both sharing the same character traits as Burt Reynolds and Kris Kristopherson in the 1977 comedy SEMI TOUGH, which borrows the same triangular premise. Here the spontaneous womanizer (Pine) acts sensitive while the nice guy (Hardy) proves he's gutsy, and it’s up to Witherspoon, with a consistently fervent expression, to decide. While expecting the viewer to embrace the characters before they’ve earned it, perhaps we've lived it all before – this being a very clichéd rom-com, including Witherspoon’s snarky best friend dishing bad advice that eventually makes sense. The action scenes are decent and, although shot in a glossy fashion (mirroring the director’s CHARLIE’S ANGELS), all the running around make the two male leads seem legitimate in their trade – underlined by a somewhat contrived subplot involving a maverick assassin. But the dynamic duo, partners who risk their lives together, have more camaraderie with the girl than they do each other. Which isn't so bad – since it’s her they’re after.

2012, chris pine, comedy, reese witherspoon, romantic comedy, tom hardy

THIS MEANS WAR

title: THIS MEANS WAR year: 2012 cast: Reese Witherspoon, Tom Hardy, Chris Pine rating: *** This movie might have the best, or perha...

Written by James M. Tate / 10/25/2011 / No comments / comedy , jack nicholson , james l. brooks , owen wilson , paul rudd , reese witherspoon , romantic comedy , tens

HOW DO YOU KNOW

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAXsQbxNDJpOszy6JS1zGirKC4BnMR8EHsvB7NsjiR-aYrh-OGn4f32HYiy7VjkktsojExgPXZ4jIk5Gf85AudbRipwrdTZoAwltIbzQVSvnQIDQJoT6MAHZ1ecTe1raGtaw5i_6xB3pAK/s1600/how-do-you-know-movie.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5667583805620229858" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAXsQbxNDJpOszy6JS1zGirKC4BnMR8EHsvB7NsjiR-aYrh-OGn4f32HYiy7VjkktsojExgPXZ4jIk5Gf85AudbRipwrdTZoAwltIbzQVSvnQIDQJoT6MAHZ1ecTe1raGtaw5i_6xB3pAK/s200/how-do-you-know-movie.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 240px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title:</span> HOW DO YOU KNOW<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 2010<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">cast: </span>Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson, Jack Nicholson<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> *1/2<br /><br /><div></div>James L. Brooks is a hit or miss director. When he hits, he hits hard: TERMS OF ENDEARMENT, BROADCAST NEWS, and AS GOOD AS IT GETS are three of the best character-driven films balancing romantic comedy and searing melodrama. In other words, they’re brilliant soap operas. And he can turn out garbage like I’LL DO ANYTHING (although it’s a personal guilty pleasure), SPANGLISH, and this limp rom-com centering on Olympic softball player Reese Witherspoon and the two men in her life: Owen Wilson as a playboy big league baseball player and Paul Rudd as a sweet-natured tycoon’s son facing a prison sentence for his father’s wrongdoings. And guess who plays the dad? That’s right, James L. Brook’s stock actor Jack Nicholson in a throwaway role any old codger could have done. And although Witherspoon and Wilson are the crux of the trailer, the film’s bulk belongs to Rudd, who falls for the fallen blonde athlete… recently dropped from her team… thus beginning a life change i.e. he’s fallen in glorified lust. There’s a lot of talk about how athletic Witherspoon and Wilson are, yet we hardly see them in action – so it’s really just wordplay: they could have been accountants or McDonald’s employees for all it matters. The love triangle between the three leads is pointless, and the dialog seems as if spoken by people who had just enough to drink to be candidly (and unrealistically) honest with each other. Only Rudd, doing his usual genuine guy routine, turns in a somewhat involving performance as he’s torn between dad’s indiscretions and a possible future with Witherspoon, who herself has a dilemma: should she date a selfish jerk or a really terrific guy? You can only guess the outcome. And mind you, this drivel doesn’t end soon enough.

comedy, jack nicholson, james l. brooks, owen wilson, paul rudd, reese witherspoon, romantic comedy, tens