LEONARDO DICAPRIO & JENNFER LAWRENCE IN 'DON'T LOOK UP'

<p></p><p></p><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/a/AVvXsEhKBUqVcHUrtxZIJSoXj2eo3JIA2FVB1tytNFO6wvbh9nZ4c6YZP6y37W1Po3T6lwFHBcx00jUWIM3AcsiDO2cZrQe4Do2Ms0oatx4BY2qJNRy5LxGW8X8mVVWHYyDW_UJSqA31x3a8Pj8oPIuvZf9btX0h9XBVXTDbHqOUaKzQ7d42fxiWKePC-IKwSA=s1692" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="687" data-original-width="1692" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKBUqVcHUrtxZIJSoXj2eo3JIA2FVB1tytNFO6wvbh9nZ4c6YZP6y37W1Po3T6lwFHBcx00jUWIM3AcsiDO2cZrQe4Do2Ms0oatx4BY2qJNRy5LxGW8X8mVVWHYyDW_UJSqA31x3a8Pj8oPIuvZf9btX0h9XBVXTDbHqOUaKzQ7d42fxiWKePC-IKwSA=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: DON'T LOOK UP Year: 2021 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Adam McKay's DON'T LOOK UP is as much a satire of <span aria-level="1" class="yKMVIe" role="heading">the gigantic-falling-space-rock-about-to-destroy-Earth DEEP IMPACT and ARMAGEDDON as MARS ATTACKS was to INDEPENDENCE DAY, and the anticipated political bias by the unapologetic liberal director isn't completely one-sided since capitalistic big-tech Mark Rylance channels mousy Covid guru Dr. Anthony Fauci </span><span aria-level="1" class="yKMVIe" role="heading">— while Meryl Streep's intentionally-vapid female American President suffers a nude-text scandal liken to New York's once-beloved Democrat Anthony Weiner... </span></p><p></p><p></p><p><span aria-level="1" class="yKMVIe" role="heading">But the two genuine main-characters are both intensely camera-shy, awkwardly idealistic, science-minded astronomers, one a student the other academically-legit in Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio respectively (the latter falling into what aging sex symbols rely on when the movie itself has to continuously mention how handsome they are)...</span></p><p><span aria-level="1" class="yKMVIe" role="heading"><span></span></span></p>

2021, ada mckay, disaster, jennifer lawrence, leonardo dicaprio, mark rylance, meryl streep, netflix, new, political, satire

LEONARDO DICAPRIO & JENNFER LAWRENCE IN 'DON'T LOOK UP'

Title: DON'T LOOK UP Year: 2021 Rating: **1/2 Adam McKay's DON'T LOOK UP is as much a satire of the gigantic-falling-space-rock-...

MERYL STREEP IN RICKI AND THE FLASH

<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/AVvXsEgfw0GqUH4MEGhcRpKNtKbgMj6wOq3Ff8KcRiQkOjrJjcV46KfItc_vAa373d5bB4Jp7yEDTVNDAAlc0KcrJ9jx9mLolpnLG7bdrQAua3MFvfck9PWe9sFd2vsOqJn2dkJv4IHlwBpuUD0/s1600/Screen+shot+2015-08-10+at+11.39.11+AM.png" 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/AVvXsEgfw0GqUH4MEGhcRpKNtKbgMj6wOq3Ff8KcRiQkOjrJjcV46KfItc_vAa373d5bB4Jp7yEDTVNDAAlc0KcrJ9jx9mLolpnLG7bdrQAua3MFvfck9PWe9sFd2vsOqJn2dkJv4IHlwBpuUD0/s400/Screen+shot+2015-08-10+at+11.39.11+AM.png" width="256" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 rating: **</td></tr> </tbody></table> Family squabbles can be a nerve-wracking chore, for everyone involved. And that's the word of the day here... involved. Just imagine you hardly know the bickering clan, and are stuck, right off the bat, inside arguments that have more weight than can be lifted by the one person you're supposed to center on, feel for or side with. In this case it's a wannabe has-been rock n' roll singer... that is, she wants to be a has-been but actually, never-was...<br /> <br /> And in the title role, Meryl Streep is given potential to not only cross the line, but to move it along to fit her unpredictable rhythm: to hell with everyone else. She's even a staunch Right Winger, which holds (ultimately wasted) potential for arguments and opinions ala Archie Bunker that can give her a limitless rein of blunt terror. But Ricki's really just a singer in a mediocre bar band, still being judged for, years earlier, taking off on the family; and she refuses to dress normally, not even during a big finale wedding.<br /> <br /> Streep's real life daughter Mamie Gummer as Julie, recently dumped and suffering depression, is so high-strung and opinionated her wild mother fails to be as unpredictable as intended, visually contrasting with ex-husband Kevin Kline's mansion and hardly lifting us above the vapid drama. Meanwhile, 1980's rocker <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2014/11/thanks-mr-larson.html">Rick Springfield</a> (who was an actor before coveting "Jessie's Girl") plays the super nice guy musician in Ricki's corner. And that's part of the problem...<br /> <br /> Our heroine has very few enemies or obstacles within her "uphill climb" as a stranger in a strange land. By the end, this FLASH seems more like a reason for Streep to rock out in-between Lifetime Channel style melodrama, failing to connect with the viewing audience the way like she does that rowdy barroom crowd: they truly adore a woman that we hardly get to know.

2015, diablo cody, drama, jonathan demme, kevin kline, meryl streep, music

MERYL STREEP IN RICKI AND THE FLASH

2015 rating: ** Family squabbles can be a nerve-wracking chore, for everyone involved. And that's the word of the day here... involv...

GROUNCHY GROWNUP REVIEW OF INTO THE WOODS

<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/AVvXsEj6WVhMokHyBa-q6g7A5n_elBMR4t7DarMtztkivy-HXz6v2ZCOZfOplgBBO-DVI3pL2GPsIWwdmsU2Q9G5llNX7KsixJlPL4MDNgJ-wnv8sOaZ2oJJh4YfyZM8i4BeEWFWwlDI98hlj64/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/AVvXsEj6WVhMokHyBa-q6g7A5n_elBMR4t7DarMtztkivy-HXz6v2ZCOZfOplgBBO-DVI3pL2GPsIWwdmsU2Q9G5llNX7KsixJlPL4MDNgJ-wnv8sOaZ2oJJh4YfyZM8i4BeEWFWwlDI98hlj64/s320/1.jpg" width="210" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2014 rating: **</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> In any musical, the songs should be unique, setting apart each sequence while moving the story along instead of, in this particular case, every tune sounding so similar, it's like each character were taking a piece of the same thread, tying it around the same tree, over and over again… and again and again… like a scratched record... Or fingernails on a chalkboard.<br /> <br /> An hour feels like three, but INTO THE WOODS isn’t without artistic and creative value. Whereas TITANIC added unknown characters into a known (true) story, here we have a common baker and his wife intertwined within a handful of fairy tails including Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella and of course, Little Red Riding Hood… And with the promotion of Johnny Depp as the Big Bad Wolf, you would think he was more important – but JD's a tiny shriek of a howl compared to the other players, all lost within a busy maze that is sometimes entertaining and other times, just plain redundant.<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/AVvXsEiJ7i614coKGx0Rm2_pRjjlQvE14Vo9wN1LLx6YqWblaanKr_nU6vOBMa2giqdTvV8pkK4QJaAzcS4HcQZOGZ-OK-0Ans_oI2nl_zX4S-7von6VBbztbhZp3v_ZaY2tY7NMjAFGQKbrLl8/s1600/2.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ7i614coKGx0Rm2_pRjjlQvE14Vo9wN1LLx6YqWblaanKr_nU6vOBMa2giqdTvV8pkK4QJaAzcS4HcQZOGZ-OK-0Ans_oI2nl_zX4S-7von6VBbztbhZp3v_ZaY2tY7NMjAFGQKbrLl8/s1600/2.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Johnny Depp Cameo</td></tr> </tbody></table> The funniest number has our two handsome studs, Cinderella’s Prince and Rapunzel’s Prince, outdoing each other's sorrow and rejection, providing genuinely witty satire and giving the characters a tongue and cheek platform. At certain moments throughout, right when the movie gets humorous the characters take themselves too seriously, and vice versa. Yet Chris Pine in general seems to realize an important element: this is a parody liken to THE PRINCESS BRIDE… And here we catch the tail end of each famous tale: For example, Cinderella’s dance with the prince and Jack’s adventures in the clouds are spoken of and dealt with afterwards, which can be frustrating... It feels like we're missing all the good parts. <br /> <br /> Meryl Streep plays the Witch who cursed the Baker’s wife, sending the couple on a scavenger hunt (also the main plot) to retrieve one item from each story including Red Riding Hood’s Red Hood, Jack’s cow and Cinderella’s slipper. Streep, who gets nominated on an annual basis, feels like a special guest star; her input is nothing special, really. The two most talented performers are the youngest: Jack and Little Red were probably hired for their voices, both obvious "ringers" to legitimize this patchwork musical that occasionally breaks into dialogue.

2014, disney, emily blunt, johnny depp, meryl streep, musical

GROUNCHY GROWNUP REVIEW OF INTO THE WOODS

2014 rating: ** In any musical, the songs should be unique, setting apart each sequence while moving the story along instead of, in th...

TOMMY LEE JONES DIRECTS THE HOMESMAN

<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/AVvXsEijlTpLoqchlJedVC2zcxW6J4R04zIGgRW03Yoyg6-G-vhkqeptLRroPtK7E_L_Zl4oYTTJLIpk53MOf79zhwwr73E-x_o_4YgIAWO-nOf6cZ6BdEaCTB2WkoI6Geld_l6dciJ51ZQrJDY/s1600/the-homesman-poster.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/AVvXsEijlTpLoqchlJedVC2zcxW6J4R04zIGgRW03Yoyg6-G-vhkqeptLRroPtK7E_L_Zl4oYTTJLIpk53MOf79zhwwr73E-x_o_4YgIAWO-nOf6cZ6BdEaCTB2WkoI6Geld_l6dciJ51ZQrJDY/s320/the-homesman-poster.jpg" width="205" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2014 rating: **</td></tr> </tbody></table> Right before the journey gets underway, a helpful blacksmith tells Hilary Swank’s Mary Bee Cuddy that the townsfolk like talking about death and taxes, but when “crazy” is brought up, everyone hushes…<br /> <br /> That hush occurs way too often as Cuddy and reluctant hired-hand George Briggs, played by veteran actor Tommy Lee Jones, take three demented women across the barren landscape with a few obstacles including Indians and narrow minded white folk: yet when Briggs is really needed to alleviate the hopeless melancholy, he doesn't always deliver. <br /> <br /> As director, Jones attempts a dark, brooding art house anti-Western, only there’s a mismatch of disturbing images and the odd couple relationship between the independent woman and the gruff rogue drifter: Clichés aside, the latter plays out a lot more natural. Too bad they weren't just hauling grain. While important catalysts, the human cargo distract from the two people we should have known much better. <br /> <br /> THE HOMESMAN is nicely bookended with an intriguing setup, first learning about our assertive Plain Jane heroine and concluding with a table-turning epilogue. Unfortunately, the hard trail in-between is but a tedious stretch of prolonged, awkward silence.

2014, hilary swank, meryl streep, tommy lee jones, western

TOMMY LEE JONES DIRECTS THE HOMESMAN

year: 2014 rating: ** Right before the journey gets underway, a helpful blacksmith tells Hilary Swank’s Mary Bee Cuddy that the townsfol...

REVIEW OF THE GIVER STARRING JEFF BRIDGES

<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/AVvXsEhe4Dd-PWVDHO16ZJE-ccZ3zZuM7GvlgDDEXLm9JfH1JN9QlqN-Vy_JN9xyIl_tXN-iHNWqAyinpCRyTiJNNgw-QZMJyaAlkVeTNYbB8kDduUIUIJJGN3HsDa-mo7s3v-0WZQsNeWxsWAU/s1600/The-Giver-Odeya-Rush-character-poster-690x1024.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/AVvXsEhe4Dd-PWVDHO16ZJE-ccZ3zZuM7GvlgDDEXLm9JfH1JN9QlqN-Vy_JN9xyIl_tXN-iHNWqAyinpCRyTiJNNgw-QZMJyaAlkVeTNYbB8kDduUIUIJJGN3HsDa-mo7s3v-0WZQsNeWxsWAU/s320/The-Giver-Odeya-Rush-character-poster-690x1024.jpg" width="215" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2014 rating: **1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> Think of a movie where a snowy sled represents lost youth… No not that movie… Now there’s another… And this particular youthful reverie is not only lost, but non-existent... <br /> <br /> In the kind of future liken to those politically correct children’s baseball leagues where no one keeps score, THE GIVER is set in a perfect world utopia on what seems like an island surrounded by clouds – and King Kong is nowhere in sight. Seriously speaking, it’s a pretty neat place without any hatred, vengeance, vanity, jealousy or... freedom.<br /> <br /> Well that last thing is what young and gifted Jonas (wielding all the powers at once ala DIVERGENT) discovers when he’s given the occupation as the community’s Receiver of Memories... His job is to ride a bike to a lonely place near the cloudy Cliffside where The Giver, played by a Kris Kristofferson-looking Jeff Bridges, provides him with memories of the past to help guide the Elders, led by a monotonic Meryl Streep, with decisions, or something. Yet what Jonas learns is all about the good things absent in the steely paradise: from kissing his girl/friend (Odeya Rush), to riding that sled to some things not so nice, like flashes of war, hunger and rioting.  <br /> <br /> The story is mysterious and builds nicely until about halfway through when the plot becomes a message so clear, the creative use of B&W cinematography, in gaining various hues, gets too preachy and predictable for its own good. Ironically enough, THE GIVER is far more vibrant without any color.

2014, jeff bridges, katie holmes, meryl streep, odeya rush, science-fiction

REVIEW OF THE GIVER STARRING JEFF BRIDGES

2014 rating: **1/2 Think of a movie where a snowy sled represents lost youth… No not that movie… Now there’s another… And this particula...

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY W/ MERYL STREEP & JULIA ROBERTS

<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/AVvXsEi6Xb3a-NzpJLli5LR8fh9DoxMXub1f_VkWK4lIXl801Wp9RHuMASBVICmyHWTRyphJ05PerTHTd-LABMB0jpcPCBzzCnx3iDEsDATbywBunzE-Ba8GSP3WbPQo1w6hYj8j_l8i9TUWoaI/s1600/august-osage-county-poster1.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/AVvXsEi6Xb3a-NzpJLli5LR8fh9DoxMXub1f_VkWK4lIXl801Wp9RHuMASBVICmyHWTRyphJ05PerTHTd-LABMB0jpcPCBzzCnx3iDEsDATbywBunzE-Ba8GSP3WbPQo1w6hYj8j_l8i9TUWoaI/s320/august-osage-county-poster1.jpg" width="242" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2014 rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> In AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, a play-based film using a handful of eclectic characters within a limited space, unexpected twists are some of the most intriguing aspects… But let’s not give anything away...<br /> <br /> Like THE BIG CHILL, the plot centers on a group of people, in this case a semi-estranged family, gathered in one large rural house after the death of patriarch Sam Shepard as Beverly Weston, who, along with his blunt pill-popping wife Violet, played by Meryl Streep, begins the story taking enough venomous heat to last a lifetime… One can only imagine this man’s long, horrible marriage and may sympathize, or for that matter, completely understand his immanent suicide.<br /> <br /> Violet’s returning daughters aren’t so lucky, especially her hardy eldest, Barbara. With a cheating husband and moping teenage daughter, Julia Robert’s put-upon character is not only Streep’s best match, she spouts the surliest dialogue: without being overly medicated as an excuse (her loud mom, ironically, has mouth cancer). Scenes where the two leading ladies argue are intense but can go overboard, making you wish someone would step in to break things up.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> Nothing doing with this family, a somewhat passive lot including Chris Cooper as the mellow uncle, his discontented wife and a son so fragile he should wear a sticker. While Barbara’s other sisters include Julianne Nicholson as Ivy, keeping a secret that, unbeknownst to her, has an uncomfortable layer and Juliette Lewis as Karen who, playing the dizzy-headed youngest, is the least important in the mix. But it really comes down to Streep and Roberts even though, into the third act, mom’s part dwindles while Barbara alone holds the key to an already unlocked door. <br /> <br /> The direction is crisp and never feels staged, painting a vivid picture that often exceeds an overindulged, melodramatic script with too much edgy banter… If a ringside bell clang before each “couple” squared off, the soundtrack would be a perpetual alarm clock. And while Meryl Streep turns in a solid performance, her addiction and illness provides too much of a safety net, making it hard to shine past her demons: handing the mysterious energy to Julia Roberts.    <br /> <br /> Tempered by sporadic flashes of the Oklahoma countryside and/or sunsets, it’s clear this meloncholy clan spends too much time self loathing when they should appreciate the peaceful, gorgeous exterior. Who knows – maybe that’s what poor dad wanted all along.

2014, abigail breslin, based-on-play, benedict cumberbatch, chris cooper, dermot mulroney, drama, ensemble, ewan mcgregor, julia roberts, julianne nicholson, juliette lewis, meryl streep, sam shepard

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY W/ MERYL STREEP & JULIA ROBERTS

year: 2014 rating: *** In AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, a play-based film using a handful of eclectic characters within a limited space, unexpec...

FANTASTIC MR. FOX

<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/AVvXsEg9PoPzXq5OGwiaaFccFK67yD9Yc3OEYhIOVwhkSQZZWS4MMqN4OS23SH6GciNHDD-YyBtPZsgwExPuKM9jacR4Z3ub6jyO41D-ZPSavou2RZaFK4W1KtOnWPE0LguezHmFCIeGEfseQADR/s1600/foxy1.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9PoPzXq5OGwiaaFccFK67yD9Yc3OEYhIOVwhkSQZZWS4MMqN4OS23SH6GciNHDD-YyBtPZsgwExPuKM9jacR4Z3ub6jyO41D-ZPSavou2RZaFK4W1KtOnWPE0LguezHmFCIeGEfseQADR/s320/foxy1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clooney does the Fox</td></tr> </tbody></table> title: FANTASTIC MR. FOX<br /> year: 2012<br /> cast: George Clooney<br /> rating: **1/2<br /> <br /> Having grown up with the Rankin/Bass stop-motion animation, there’s an energetic dreamlike quality that brings back FANTASTIC memories when watching MR. FOX. Based on the book by Ronald Dahl, this unique fable centers on a classy group of human-like animals who forget they’re wild beasts. Except Fox, a dapper "family man" who can’t exist without exerting his true nature of stealing chickens from locals – three big farm/corporations owned by greedy cutthroats. The best scenes have Fox on stealthily missions with his dimwitted opossum sidekick: bringing chicken dinners home to his wife, teenage son and visiting nephew. George Clooney’s deadpan voice fits the character well enough (later on imitated by Bryan Cranston for Anderson's next animated feature ISLE OF DOGS); he doesn't falter when his wife (voiced by Meryl Streep) starts figuring the content of his moonlit excursions. It’s too bad the evil farmers also catch wind of Fox, making the last half a bit ponderous. When the bad guys move in, Fox Family and Friends tunnel into the sewers and eventually fight back against the bad guys, which sounds more exciting than it actually is. Director Wes Anderson lets his hipster-laden artistic side, which includes pointless jingles and relentless navel gazing, distract what began as a fun, lightweight adventure. Overall it's like being read a bedtime story but someone half asleep. <br />

2012, animation, bill murray, george clooney, meryl streep, wes anderson

FANTASTIC MR. FOX

Clooney does the Fox title: FANTASTIC MR. FOX year: 2012 cast: George Clooney rating: **1/2 Having grown up with the Rankin/Bass st...

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...

IT'S COMPLICATED

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSSgXTn8J_dz3A43nKdftgqKgvAMZz0t31Odxe1fc8X4DMNN3GW0gTm43TkWEhGb6okOEcrzSPFbVwFaiKWBoIrm3mKxBF1VaavzRNRJYXEg2bUjOeIN3j8XSMuH0WUasZ1Ovs_Fv61Gsx/s1600/Its-Complicated-Meryl-Streep-Alec-Baldwin-Steve-Martin-51_mid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSSgXTn8J_dz3A43nKdftgqKgvAMZz0t31Odxe1fc8X4DMNN3GW0gTm43TkWEhGb6okOEcrzSPFbVwFaiKWBoIrm3mKxBF1VaavzRNRJYXEg2bUjOeIN3j8XSMuH0WUasZ1Ovs_Fv61Gsx/s320/Its-Complicated-Meryl-Streep-Alec-Baldwin-Steve-Martin-51_mid.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b>title: </b>IT'S COMPLICATED<br /> <b>year: </b>2009<br /> <b>cast: </b>Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin<br /> <b>rating: </b>**1/2 <br /> <br /> There's something very comfortable about IT'S COMPLICATED. The usually serious, multi-Oscar nominated Meryl Streep doesn't dumb-down for comedy. Playing a divorced woman whose spark rekindles for her former husband (married to a beautiful young woman), she plays the role with natural ease. But Alec Baldwin, as the cheating ex who gets more and more invigorated by his former wife through random sleepovers, turns in a somewhat phoned-in performance, sounding like a smooth-talking disc jockey on a late night jazz station. On the peripheral, Steve Martin's nice guy architect character, designing an add-on to Streep's plush home and becoming a potential significant other, doesn't have enough screen time, or motivation therein, to add a needed baseline to the not-so-complicated proceedings: making Streep and Baldwin's sneaky trysts seem like excuses for the duo to keep repeating the same lines: "I can't believe we're doing this" or "Why is this happening?" And during the third act, when Baldwin gets a little too unbelievably clingy... And Streep and Martin spoke marijuana (the always dependable icebreaker device from the 1980s)... the plot derails. But it's Streep alone, holding all the cards throughout, that makes this romantic comedy worthwhile.

alec baldwin, comedy, meryl streep, steve martin, zeroes

IT'S COMPLICATED

title: IT'S COMPLICATED year: 2009 cast: Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin rating: **1/2 There's something very comforta...

THE IRON LADY

<table align="center" 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/AVvXsEjx5CDhxCkTUanA3u8UwfQn9q0r837RyEvIwG_ZAh256TxMgltt5WWOKgIa5p1b6z71Ex691LI65Bi8aQN2XrYVBgaWBENPu4zbfyS5lotXdqrfp1IOS-pzV3T0NZXiu-_FIbZ43c2QBdnH/s1600/the-iron-lady-movie-poster-01.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697787890135416210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx5CDhxCkTUanA3u8UwfQn9q0r837RyEvIwG_ZAh256TxMgltt5WWOKgIa5p1b6z71Ex691LI65Bi8aQN2XrYVBgaWBENPu4zbfyS5lotXdqrfp1IOS-pzV3T0NZXiu-_FIbZ43c2QBdnH/s320/the-iron-lady-movie-poster-01.jpg" style="float: right; height: 320px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 178px;" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hear the click?</td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-weight: bold;">title:</span> THE IRON LADY<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 2012<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">cast:</span> Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">rating: </span>*1/2<br /> <br /> During a montage where Margaret Thatcher's rising in the polls and is, for her party at least, on top of her political game, an aggressive punk rock tune blasts over the scene – and it’s<span style="font-style: italic;"> against </span>Margaret Thatcher. There you have the underlying tone of this biopic weaving back and forth from an aged Thatcher, hallucinating her dead husband and trying to recall pieces from a jigsaw puzzle life, to the young climber growing up poor, asserting herself as a lone woman amongst the barking men of Parliament, and eventually becoming Prime Minister of England. But we never get to know who she was, what she did, or why she did it; unless you count sporadic jump cuts of mobs protesting against her, which, like that punk song, provides a subliminal cue card to remind the audience how and what to feel, but never <span style="font-style: italic;">why</span>. Now the question: How was Meryl Streep’s performance? Well the iconic actress, donning surprisingly realistic Aged makeup, does a fine job as the older Thatcher struggling to hold her mind together – but it’s impossible to judge her as the historical figure since another actress played the assertive young woman who fought for that place where, by the time Streep takes over, is lost in a jumbled collection of newsreels and pointless monologs... always returning to the old lady suffering the beginning stages of dementia, who, like the film itself, is never quite sure what's going on.

biopic, meryl streep, tens

THE IRON LADY

Hear the click? title: THE IRON LADY year: 2012 cast: Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent rating: *1/2 During a montage where Margaret T...