BATMAN VS SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE

<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/AVvXsEgv-Xp35skFOtcTiFZetL_gL4yPTKAGQTeIA7rZtF4LkUcrD_uE3FQRvYdFT7vZiOW7zjkpAyS8rMBPaMJe5jAC7tE45w6WVv7MaRnEJzkKITO2vuv_OCjrWvkCtUGM-a02OnBjLnILi_o/s1600/1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv-Xp35skFOtcTiFZetL_gL4yPTKAGQTeIA7rZtF4LkUcrD_uE3FQRvYdFT7vZiOW7zjkpAyS8rMBPaMJe5jAC7tE45w6WVv7MaRnEJzkKITO2vuv_OCjrWvkCtUGM-a02OnBjLnILi_o/s16000/1.jpg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Newcomer Ben Affleck steps up to the BAT while two-timer Henry Cavill merely stands around <i>looking </i>SUPER</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Lots to say here, so let's start out with the inevitable first question: "Did Ben Affleck pull off a decent Batman?" Well the opening credit sequence, going back to where his mother and father are slain walking out of a theater, this particular BATMAN, well, BEGINS all over again, with a new actor who, instead of hissing his lines (ala Nolan trio), seems to have a voice-box that sounds like the SCREAM prank caller doing a lighter yet still intimidating rendition of Orson Welles...<br>

amy adams, ben affleck, franchise, henry cavill, sequel

BATMAN VS SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE

Newcomer Ben Affleck steps up to the BAT while two-timer Henry Cavill merely stands around looking SUPER Lots to say here, so let's ...

TIM BURTON DIRECTS BIG EYES

<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/AVvXsEiNlxbwKVCzI6pDhyphenhyphenGsX7x5gVPTxxpVWN0SAcWqBDRM1e8y5lVTSuzIC-Ud13ZWikEFchOz1-OLob1LELlLnU4fo9F6FLRlHwGoiSQdsBjFAEvKL11VTGKhbOV3yDaTUOfGPFQEaQEwcAQ/s1600/sq_big_eyes.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/AVvXsEiNlxbwKVCzI6pDhyphenhyphenGsX7x5gVPTxxpVWN0SAcWqBDRM1e8y5lVTSuzIC-Ud13ZWikEFchOz1-OLob1LELlLnU4fo9F6FLRlHwGoiSQdsBjFAEvKL11VTGKhbOV3yDaTUOfGPFQEaQEwcAQ/s1600/sq_big_eyes.jpg" width="211" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2014 rating: *1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> What BIG EYES has in common with another Tim Burton film, BIG FISH, is that both are based on liars, but only one is a filthy, stinking liar. <br /> <br /> The 1950’s is never really shown in a positive light, and hasn't been since… well… the 1950’s. And here we’re reminded that men are the only people who had it good during that era… Especially if they marry well… The man, that is: For in the case of fast talking Walter Keane, played by fast talking two time Oscar winning Christoph Waltz, a strategic partnership earned him a career as a famous artist, "his" work going from galleries to posters to postcards...<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/AVvXsEiBEtXld-7WbaiSid2nvRmaZMx2UOO_xwf30hTPdR0rAZsBzPppYRsV-3JGiTL4bi-yukFEwaaAWKml28U_XntFBxidCvhUNAbpTNluG9HjP5B7OahuWNmmYxIRT4uLsiINUjHp5mZM0tI/s1600/Big-Eyes-new-poster1-e1417531566528.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/AVvXsEiBEtXld-7WbaiSid2nvRmaZMx2UOO_xwf30hTPdR0rAZsBzPppYRsV-3JGiTL4bi-yukFEwaaAWKml28U_XntFBxidCvhUNAbpTNluG9HjP5B7OahuWNmmYxIRT4uLsiINUjHp5mZM0tI/s1600/Big-Eyes-new-poster1-e1417531566528.jpg" width="121" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not A Bingo</td></tr> </tbody></table> And those Gothic looking waifs with huge sad eyes are about the only Tim Burton element of a film that, based on a true story, lives up to the chauvinistic time it's based: The woman, Margaret Keane, played by Amy Adams, not only lacks important pivotal screentime but hardly gets a word in edgewise... Which is intentional since she’s stuck with a con artist charlatan using her talent for his fame, and<i> their </i>money. The biggest downside is he’s a plagiarizing jerk and ultimately becomes borderline psychotic…<br /> <br /> Yet Christoph Waltz’s performance is so outrageously over-the-top right off the bat, there’s no progressive arc: Instead of going from A to B he starts on a frantic C and never slows down, waxing so much poetic there’s hardly a character visible at all... At least not a realistic one. Just another chance for Waltz to steal a movie that, unlike those paintings, is completely his to have and to hold, and never let go of.

2014, amy adams, biopic, christoph waltz, tim burton

TIM BURTON DIRECTS BIG EYES

year: 2014 rating: *1/2 What BIG EYES has in common with another Tim Burton film, BIG FISH, is that both are based on liars, but only on...

THE MOTION PICTURE OF JACK KEROUAC'S ON THE ROAD

<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/AVvXsEjBO-4mRqMo_JbVxaoyfW_8Oh1ZSJc4MgQuPYQ2nSPiD1b1PXuAPzxCIt4TsvqRDWI5B8zW_SJNmXM0fxyZLeIj7OrPm3siSyMdXovZXjFzZ_Hfhm6FpohdDtvGSmC3VIpL4nA0sLKg2Sg/s1600/on_the_road_ver11_xlg.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBO-4mRqMo_JbVxaoyfW_8Oh1ZSJc4MgQuPYQ2nSPiD1b1PXuAPzxCIt4TsvqRDWI5B8zW_SJNmXM0fxyZLeIj7OrPm3siSyMdXovZXjFzZ_Hfhm6FpohdDtvGSmC3VIpL4nA0sLKg2Sg/s320/on_the_road_ver11_xlg.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 rating: **</td></tr> </tbody></table> To all newcomers of Beat Literature, beware when reading Jack Kerouac’s groundbreaking 1957 novel ON THE ROAD...<br /> <br /> You won’t find any actual plot and the only purpose is a chaotically wonderful cross-country adventure had by Jack Kerouac aka Sal Paradise and his instigating, womanizing muse Neal Cassady aka Dean Moriarty…<br /> <br /> Meanwhile, Jack (most likely) wrote the book to not only glorify his best friend but to also describe the landscape of America. Much of the literary content are cerebral observations, not an easy transformation onto the big screen. <br /> <br /> And so, when watching this much-anticipated film, don’t except two otherwise capable actors… Sam Riley as Paradise and Garrett Hedlund as Moriarty… to stretch beyond an edgy countenance and do anything but talk, drive and, with a little help from their friends, take part in random sexcapades. <br /> <br /> These freespirited fellas, along with Kristen Stewart’s highway moll, Marylou, one of Dean’s two disenchanted love interests, wield a desperate edge that should be followed by bank robberies… That is, if ON THE ROAD were a pulpy thriller, this rowdy trio would work just fine… But they, along with several miscast beatniks –  who seem more 1990’s than 1940’s –  are part of another journey altogether, having little to do with the "generation defining" source material.   <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/AVvXsEj85JpNuXW1NyiViQyUXD_jSnYSdqYH7KgaL44zki1qXB2Uz-XWXI5CTHeBx-8Ugklu01Sb-q8HviVqyBWVW7FtmlqAgV1hgseaOVD1SD0AW_T2PCrJFi7VdxF29hjCh2f9NbGT8SqddKs/s1600/on-road-jack-kerouac-paperback-cover-art-1.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/AVvXsEj85JpNuXW1NyiViQyUXD_jSnYSdqYH7KgaL44zki1qXB2Uz-XWXI5CTHeBx-8Ugklu01Sb-q8HviVqyBWVW7FtmlqAgV1hgseaOVD1SD0AW_T2PCrJFi7VdxF29hjCh2f9NbGT8SqddKs/s320/on-road-jack-kerouac-paperback-cover-art-1.jpg" width="217" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Real Neal & Jack</td></tr> </tbody></table> However, the film does follow the book in a skeletal frame, including stopovers in New York, New Jersey and Denver; Sal’s brief romance with a working girl; a visit at Old Bull Lee aka William Burrough's New Orleans pad; and a climactic illness in Mexico. What’s left out could have made the author more optimistic, like Kerouac himself, who, despite being a pivotal founder of the Beat movement, didn’t write dreary, somber prose to be whined about in darkened, bongo-thumping coffeehouses: But it's obvious director Walter Salles wanted to turn an upper pill into a downer. <br /> <br /> A personal favorite novel selection has Sal and his fair-weather friend, Remi, working as night watchmen for a merchant sailor boarding camp, and then stealing a boat for kicks… The chapter is offbeat and humorous, setting our grungy heroes apart from the status quo during that "uptight" post-war era, something the cinematic ON THE ROAD fails to do since <i>just about everyone </i>acts as proudly progressed, wildly perverted, wickedly pontificating and downright smug as these central characters...<br /> <br /> Begging the questions: If everybody's crazy, why bother centering on these particular "mad ones" – and what makes them so special, anyhow? 

2012, amy adams, based on literature, francis ford coppola, garrett hedlund, jack kerouac, kristen stewart, road movie, sam riley, viggo mortensen

THE MOTION PICTURE OF JACK KEROUAC'S ON THE ROAD

year: 2013 rating: ** To all newcomers of Beat Literature, beware when reading Jack Kerouac’s groundbreaking 1957 novel ON THE ROAD... ...

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...

AMERICAN HUSTLE W/ BRADLEY COOPER & CHRISTIAN BALE

<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/AVvXsEi5eFeRVW8hCwdBpIVkRH9IlMVKzXzqunnvbLCgyrWMatIMvrMneZaARVrYqHVp7-is8aIqQH62zAQka9OBhNWxfmp7YF3AERxnsDh-Ej0J3QUuz7FguE0-GXNUnr9YzwqJA965wC0K-_s/s1600/american-hustle-bradley-cooper-christian-bale1.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5eFeRVW8hCwdBpIVkRH9IlMVKzXzqunnvbLCgyrWMatIMvrMneZaARVrYqHVp7-is8aIqQH62zAQka9OBhNWxfmp7YF3AERxnsDh-Ej0J3QUuz7FguE0-GXNUnr9YzwqJA965wC0K-_s/w320-h294/american-hustle-bradley-cooper-christian-bale1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 rating: **1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> Never trust a movie that’s having a better time than you are… When New York con man Irving Rosenfeld meets his lady luck, an English accent faking Sydney Prosser, their business-honeymoon provides more excitement and pleasure for the characters than the first act of David O. Russell’s GOODFELLAS clone AMERICAN HUSTLE allows the audience to be part of: What’s really needed is that special someone to shake things up… <br /> <br /> Let’s first point out that, like the work of newspaper caricature artists, two leading men can be transformed into average, goofy looking slobs… Christian Bale’s Irving resembles a balding Sea Lion while Bradley Cooper’s shifty FBI agent Richie DeMaso is a pointy gnu with a really bad perm… And both dolts are extremely in love with Sydney… Meanwhile, unlike the uglified males, Amy Adams looks better than ever.<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/AVvXsEjy3DZYoQ0KQHVF0zOkEUOQZ70oxvcqNR7m8twc-DAx2vadRc5HriK31nww6g32HSnh8OSwY-xLPQ8sIyZUmpGhZ4ggrXElIyDQMusfiFolflLSETYwbMUBOzdO3WYo3F8YStlBaGBQhro/s1600/jennifer-lawrence-first-american-hustle.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/AVvXsEjy3DZYoQ0KQHVF0zOkEUOQZ70oxvcqNR7m8twc-DAx2vadRc5HriK31nww6g32HSnh8OSwY-xLPQ8sIyZUmpGhZ4ggrXElIyDQMusfiFolflLSETYwbMUBOzdO3WYo3F8YStlBaGBQhro/s320/jennifer-lawrence-first-american-hustle.jpg" width="232" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jennifer goes bonkers</td></tr> </tbody></table> After setting up and taking down Irving and Sydney’s scams, ranging from fake art to business loans, the main plot involves Cooper’s Richie making a deal: the couple have to turn in four lucrative con artists in order to regain freedom… This labored sting involves a bogus sheik, an idealistic politician and a dangerous mobster played by a surprise guest, who not so surprisingly wields the most intense scene that ends much too quickly.<br /> <br /> The 1970’s are brought to life in all the glorious polyester by SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK director Russell, zooming cameras in the Martin Scorsese fashion as classic rock provides an ongoing soundtrack to the tantrums and heartaches, which often distract from the pivotal cons being dealt in a whirlwind pace. <br /> <br /> And while every flashy deck needs a wild card, here it’s Jennifer Lawrence as the young and shallow, conniving and deliberately annoying Rosalyn, Irving’s trophy wife who, like Sharon Stone’s manipulative gold-digger from CASINO, is a bad luck charm thwarting the hard work earned by the real players.  What’s more tragic is she eventually pushes Adams… who had genuine femme fatale potential… into a somewhat benign backseat: To give away the twists would be a crime, and to fill in the clues a sin, but ultimately HUSTLE unveils who we were subliminally rooting for <i>and</i> against… It’s too bad we didn’t have more reason to love and hate these people along the way… Although, for better or worse, they do take us for a ride.

2013, amy adams, bradley cooper, christian bale, crime, jennifer lawrence

AMERICAN HUSTLE W/ BRADLEY COOPER & CHRISTIAN BALE

year: 2013 rating: **1/2 Never trust a movie that’s having a better time than you are… When New York con man Irving Rosenfeld meets his ...

CLINT EASTWOOD IN TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE

<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/AVvXsEhYjMa0JHnjR_UStcJ0tHV_JppyYmzsO6TIht-Y6R4Sdz01zIbh6ZUroH4XzFnTszBIaZ-bvFlIpqF_LxbQ5eub1ljps814WWv912GyQtj59vEa_HdQzbttmpyWs1MNNUxPPzZ85LB8HQn4/s1600/Trouble+With+The+Curve.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYjMa0JHnjR_UStcJ0tHV_JppyYmzsO6TIht-Y6R4Sdz01zIbh6ZUroH4XzFnTszBIaZ-bvFlIpqF_LxbQ5eub1ljps814WWv912GyQtj59vEa_HdQzbttmpyWs1MNNUxPPzZ85LB8HQn4/w640-h332/Trouble+With+The+Curve.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2012 cast: Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> Okay, so Clint Eastwood’s Gus is very familiar. Take away the racism and he’s the surly yet endearing old-timer from GRAND TORINO – but this coot has a pretty good job.<br /> <br /> As a baseball scout, an aged Gus is losing his sight, but he still has a way of picking the best players: although it takes time and he doesn't need a computer. He passes this inherent talent to daughter Mickey, played by blue-eyed pixie Amy Adams, joining him on the road to help out (but what she really wants is closure from a rocky past).<br /> <br /> The best moments occur whenever Gus and Mickey sit down at random small town bleachers to figure if a new prospect lives up to his reputation. Throw in Justin Timberlake's rookie scout for a little romance, in an old-school courtship with Mickey, who, like her father, is used to going alone.<br /> <br /> This is a cozy film about baseball and especially father/daughter bonding, and the parallels between the two leads are right up front: both have to keep working (Mickey's a lawyer) or they’ll be replaced. The problem with this curve are the side characters, all either really nice or extremely rotten. And the ending piles on so much comeuppance for the jerks begging to be punished, you’ll feel the writer forcing applause from your knuckles.<br /> <br /> Yet despite the clichés, and some corny filler dialogue, this is a decent little jaunt around bases: Just don't expect a home run.

2012, amy adams, clint eastwood, drama, ed lauter, justin timberlake, road movie, sport

CLINT EASTWOOD IN TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE

year: 2012 cast: Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman rating: *** Okay, so Clint Eastwood’s Gus is very familiar. ...

JULIE & JULIA

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitXW-QAQMqSRGa3C__bp88bPIzzwSrzuDzD8ID3tdqSz9voXHyAZAljUZaJ5T1lRslPCobxaSsRjGhGSBe74uOHz31l8j4SDnChfI5ALnEYBAxY1C6vVGC6WeQm4l10aiD7qscNySMTnxe/s1600/julie-and-julia-chromoz-5.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitXW-QAQMqSRGa3C__bp88bPIzzwSrzuDzD8ID3tdqSz9voXHyAZAljUZaJ5T1lRslPCobxaSsRjGhGSBe74uOHz31l8j4SDnChfI5ALnEYBAxY1C6vVGC6WeQm4l10aiD7qscNySMTnxe/s320/julie-and-julia-chromoz-5.jpg" width="251" /></a></div><b>title: </b>JULIE & JULIA<br /> <b>year: </b>2009 <br /> <b>cast: </b>Meryl Streep, Amy Adams<br /> <b>rating:</b> ***<br /> <br /> "That's what's so great about blogs. You don't have to be published. You can just go online, press enter, and there it is, out there." Finer words have never been spoken in a motion picture. This by the husband of working girl Julie Powell, who decided to make every recipe in Julia Child's famous first cookbook... from desserts to ducks and equaling over 500 dishes... in a year's time. And most importantly, to journal them in her very own blog. Meanwhile, the real thing, Julia Child, is shown in Paris in the 1950's learning how to cook and then deciding to write a cook book for "serventless Americans" who yearn to serve French food. The iconic Hollywood actress Meryl Streep obviously savors the role as Child, but her voice and mannerisms often border on imitation. While Amy Adams plays Powell with the kind of spunky animation you'd see in a sitcom. As Child struggles to get her book published, Powell has fewer problems and her blogging seems a mere shortcut to the real work done by her mentor, who, it turns out, wasn't Powell's fan for this very reason. But as a movie, both characters provide an equally interchangeable meat and potatoes to a nice dish that'll keep you interested in either outcome. While you know Child will succeed, and that Powell's blog resulted in the movie being watched, there's still a page-turning intrigue to this duel tale of a legend and her dedicated superfan's clever idea. Because that can be all it takes to climb the fence. Some coattails go a long way.

amy adams, biopic, comedy, meryl streep, zeroes

JULIE & JULIA

title: JULIE & JULIA year: 2009 cast: Meryl Streep, Amy Adams rating: *** "That's what's so great about blogs. You do...