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About Last Night

8 Jun

I’ve been to Las Vegas twice, but thankfully, I’ve never experienced anything quite as crazy as what you’ll see in The Hangover.

This movie — a sort-of cross between Very Bad Things and Dude, Where’s My Car? — is about a bachelor party gone very wrong, and how the morning after, three guys attempt to piece together what happened the night before (and find the groom, who has gone missing).

The unlikely trio of Bradley Cooper (Alias), Ed Helms (The Office), and Zach Galifianakis (Between Two Ferns) generate plenty of laughs — to spoil any of them would just be cruel, although there are a bunch of clips available on the web that ruin a few surprises.

No matter. Continue reading →

Home Is Where the Heart Is

5 Jun

Watching the new film Away We Go, it’s hard not to think of Billy Joel’s classic song, “You’re My Home.”

The story of a couple traveling around the country in search of a place to live before their baby is born, Away We Go is a very sweet film and a very nice surprise. Written by Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius) and his wife, Vendela Vida, directed by Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road), and starring The Office‘s John Krasinski and Saturday Night Live‘s Maya Rudolph, it’s filled with enough quirky characters to fill a few independent films, and it defies a bit of logic (for example, how this couple that is just barely scraping by is able to afford cross-country travel), but it has so much heart and so many laughs, and the acting by Krasinski and Rudolph is so unexpectedly tender and good, that you can suspend your disbelief pretty easily. Continue reading →

The Sky’s the Limit

3 Jun

They say a picture’s worth a thousand words.

And then there are Pixar movies, where the beautiful imagery is just priceless.

So it goes in the company’s latest, the simply named Up, which is a gorgeous, bright, colorful movie that has as much depth and emotion as it does stunning visuals.

I just don’t know how those Pixar folks do it. Every single film they make is an impressive achievement, each one better than the last. Continue reading →

There They Were

1 Jun

I spent Sunday evening at the Coolidge Corner Theater, which was hosting a screening of the new movie Away We Go. It was a benefit for 826 Boston, the after-school writing and tutoring center founded by Dave Eggers, who most folks know from his awesome book A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (yes, I have actually read it). Eggers, who wrote the film with his wife, was billed as the headliner for the evening, and he was there to do a Q&A. However, he was not the only special guest. The film’s stars, John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph, were also there to take questions from the audience. (Sweet!!)

I’ll write more about the film itself closer to its theatrical release (it comes out in Boston on June 12), but suffice it to say, it’s a very sweet film about an unmarried couple three months from the birth of their first child, who travel around the country looking for a new place to call home. During the Q&A, Eggers talked of being inspired by the films of Hal Ashby and wanting to write a different kind of romantic comedy. In the film, the lead couple don’t go through the standard arc: there’s no meet-cute, courtship, breakup, and reconciliation, for example. The chance to be in a film where the couple is happy and together throughout was one of the aspects that drew Krasinski and Rudolph to the project. (As was the chance to work with Sam Mendes, who was apparently a very collaborative director.)

Not surprisingly, Rudolph and Krasinski drew the most laughs. Rudolph, who is currently pregnant in real life, talked about how she had a lot in common with her character and how awkward it was to film an oral sex scene on the second day. Krasinski (a Newton native, of course) was quite endearing with his Sam Mendes/Simon Cowell impression and tales of hanging out at Saturday Night Live tapings too often back in the day. He also gave some surprisingly insightful answers that were a long way from the sarcasm and dopeyness seen each week on The Office (maybe that’s because his family was in the audience).

On the other hand, I didn’t really believe Eggers when he said he wrote the screenplay with Krasinski and Rudolph in mind (really? You really thought of those actors?), and I thought his answer that none of the film was inspired by real-life people or events was less than convincing, given that Eggers’ personal story (well documented in AHWoSG) mirrors at least partly that of Rudolph’s character (in the film, her parents died when she was 22) and the overall journey they are on. But I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.

Krasinski and Rudolph were really great, and I wish the Q&A had been longer and had covered more than just the specifics of the movie, because obviously, it would have been fun to hear more Office and SNL talk. But, as Krasinski teased, maybe there’ll be a sequel to the film — Away They Went? — so we may have a chance to ask those questions at another time.

(Photos courtesy of Kirk Kittell)

Who’s That Girl?

26 May

In The Girlfriend Experience, director Steven Soderbergh explores the illusion of human connection.

The porn star Sasha Grey stars as Christine, a high-priced escort, who is so skilled that she charges $2,000 an hour. Christine treats what she does like a business, staying detached from her clients, obsessing about increasing the SEO of her website, and always looking for ways to expand her livelihood (including seeking the advice of a character named “Sugar,” played by an old college chum of mine).

Christine’s clients go to her because she’ll listen to their problems and won’t judge. She’s like a therapist, only more fun.

Oh, and of course, she’s beautiful — in her designer Michael Kors dresses and sunglasses, she looks like a sexier, younger Audrey Hepburn.

But for obvious reasons, Christine keeps her clients at a safe emotional distance. They don’t know much about her beyond what’s on the surface. They don’t even know that her real name is Christine — they think it’s Chelsea — and that’s how she likes it.

After all, wouldn’t the fact that Christine has a serious boyfriend, for example, spoil some of the mystery?

If these clients wanted to know the “real” Christine, they wouldn’t be paying her. Continue reading →

He’s Given It All He’s Got, Captain

11 May

Like Casino Royale did to James Bond, the new Star Trek movie reboots the franchise, doing away with the history that so many fans have grown up knowing and living by, and making the story accessible to folks like me who aren’t even fans of the genre to begin with.

My Star Trek knowledge is limited, but I know I should be embarrassed to admit that the only film of the first 10 that I saw was number four, The Voyage Home (aka: the one with the whales).

I love the classic SNL skit where William Shatner tells the fans to get a life.

Point is, the fact that I really liked this film only goes to show what a great job director J.J. Abrams has done. Continue reading →

Man vs Wild

3 May

Part of the fun of superhero origin stories is watching how an ordinary person is changed when they’re given a super power. Think Peter Parker after he’s bitten by the radioactive spider. Or Bruce Banner, after he’s exposed to all those gamma rays. So it’s sort of a bummer when, early on in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, we see that Wolverine has had claws all his life (though they’re bone, not adamantium ones), not to mention an ability to heal quickly and not age (how else to explain his ability to fight in the Civil War, World Wars I and II, and the Vietnam War). Then again, Wolverine is a mutant, and he was born a mutant. Thus, this movie is not so much an origin story as it is the story of how Wolverine became a super mutant. Hmmmm … Perhaps the film should have been called X-Men Beginnings instead of X-Men Origins — or perhaps I shouldn’t take it quite so literally.

Title aside, Wolverine is pretty good, not great — it’s more X-Men: The Last Stand than the other two films in that series (i.e., it’s more an action film than anything of any higher meaning). Hugh Jackman, back again in the role that made him a star, still emits cool and the film does include some decent action scenes. On the other hand, the script isn’t really top-notch, and sometimes it veers into forced, lame comedy (like in the scene just after Wolverine’s injection where he has a mishap in he bathroom thanks to his new blades). It’s good to see that director Gavin Hood (who directed the truly awful Rendition) isn’t a total hack, but I wish he had allowed the actors to have a little more fun (for example, it’s nice to see Liev Schreiber playing a bad guy, but he doesn’t look like he’s enjoying himself very much).

Wolverine is definitely not essential viewing — especially if you saw X2: X-Men United, which also included Wolverine’s origin story. But it’s not the kind of movie you’ll regret paying eight or nine bucks for, either. It’s only May. Better films are still to come. For now, this one only gets a B– from me.

He’s Got a Friend

26 Apr

“I’ve had a few setbacks,” says Nathaniel Ayers by way of explaining why he, a talented musician, is living on the street. The same could be said about Jamie Foxx, who, after starring in Ray and winning an Oscar, went a long time before he found a role as good. With The Soloist, Foxx finally has a chance to show filmgoers how good an actor he can be. As Ayers, a schizophrenic, Julliard-trained homeless man, Foxx gives a moving performance. He never once resorts to caricature, and he makes you wish he took on such serious roles more often.

The Soloist is not a one-man movie, of course. Robert Downey Jr. plays Steve Lopez, a Los Angeles Times columnist who meets Ayers one day by chance and becomes his friend. He, too, gives an impressive performance. In a refreshing change from most movies of this type, Lopez is no perfect white knight. He’s wary of getting too involved with Ayers, and he loses his patience at times. Screenwriter Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich) and director Joe Wright (Atonement) don’t give Lopez some cheesy realization scene either when he realizes the impact he’s had on Ayers’ life, nor do they create a lame montage of reader reactions. Both are much appreciated. (By the way, this film is based on a true story, and on Lopez’s book of the same name. )

Like State of Play, The Soloist seeks to canonize newspapers and newspaper reporters, showing the lengths they will go for a story and the ways their work can be effective. There’s a welcome believability to it here that doesn’t feel forced or heavy-handed. Further authenticity comes from the fact that Wright uses actual homeless people as extras and in small supporting roles, not actors. And I suppose it should also be noted that the music is quite nice, even if it is mostly string instruments (and you know how I feel about those).

The Soloist was originally supposed to be released last fall, in the heart of Oscar season, but it was delayed. Usually that’s a bad sign, but not here. That said, the film’s good, but I don’t think it would have been a strong awards contender. Releasing it now allows The Soloist to get a little more attention, something it deserves. I’m giving it a strong B.

Like, OMG! It’s That Zac Efron Movie!

19 Apr

17 Again is one of those easygoing, contrived, suspension-of-disbelief, body-switching movies that asks so little of its audience — just that it believe most every plot point and most every character development are totally plausible. Easy, right? So in that spirit, I thought I would review this movie as if I was one of the 14-year-old girls who were in the theater with me. Here goes …

OMG, Zac Efron is, like, totally hot!! When 17 Begins, he is playing basketball with his shirt off and he’s, like, all sweaty. But Zac’s not just hot, he’s also, like, totally a nice guy. And we know that because his best friend is, like, the biggest loser in the school. But that’s okay, because Zac is the captain of the basketball team — OMG, just like in the High School Musical movies! — so no one says anything bad. Okay, but things go wrong because Zac gets his girlfriend pregnant and then he doesn’t go to college, and when he grows up, he’s, like, a total loser who isn’t good to his wife or his two kids. Oh, and he’s played by that guy Chandler, from Friends. So because it’s much cooler to be Zac Efron, he asks to go back to when he was 17. And then he tries to make up with his wife and kids, only they don’t know that this totally hot, cool guy is really their husband/father! And no one really cares that he looks EXACTLY like he did when he was 17 — not even his wife, who was his high school sweetheart! Can you believe it?! I know! They’re all, like, “OMG! We get to hang out with Zac Efron!” And Zac is so dreamy, with his bangs and all, and he gets to wear cool clothes and play basketball again. And of course, he gets his wife to totally forgive him for everything because, well, Zac is so sweet. So yeah, this movie is, like, so good …

Yeah, I’m not really a 14-year-old girl. (Really.) So suffice it to say, 17 Again wasn’t Best Picture material for me. I only went to see it because somebody has to support Matthew Perry’s career. But thankfully, the movie is tolerable if you know what you’re going to get. Oddly, it does get really geeky at times — I think all the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings references are going to be lost on all the tween girls in the audience — but then Zac reappears and his amiable, easy charm distracts effectively enough. Hot or not, the kid can carry a movie effortlessly. There’s also a decent soundtrack, which includes the Kooks’ “Naive,” so that makes it enjoyable too. Have I written more than enough about this movie by now? Yeah. So I’ll just give it my grade (C+), move on, and ask that we not speak of this review ever again. Thanks.

Solid State

15 Apr

In the new film State of Play, Russell Crowe plays Cal McCaffrey, a hard-working beat reporter for the fictional Washington Globe, who is trying to solve a murder case. Then his old college roommate, Congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck), gets thrown into the mix when his research assistant, who he was having an affair with, turns up dead. Is there a connection between the two cases? McCaffrey will find out — if his conflicting loyalties don’t trip him up in the process.

As if ripped from today’s headlines, SoP feels current — and it may make Boston audiences chuckle a little too much. That’s because McCaffrey’s paper, the Globe, is also in financial straits with a parent company breathing down the editor’s neck to print more sell-able stories. In fact, McCaffrey’s biggest competition for his story is not another paper but an in-house blogger who is able to write and publish much quicker than he can. In other news, Collins is on a subcommittee that’s going after a Halliburton-like military contractor. Oh yeah, and Harry Lennix, who plays a cop, bears an almost too-striking resemblance to Barack Obama.

Those distractions aside, SoP works as a political thriller. There are twists and turns, and the person (or people) responsible for the murders turns out to be not who you’d instantly suspect. (That said, people around me seemed to figure it out — or at least they said they did as they were walking out.) The top-notch cast — which also includes Jeff Daniels, Helen Mirren, Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, and my old high school chum David Harbour — elevates the material, making what could have been a more conventional film that much more entertaining. Is SoP going to be remembered at year’s end as one of the best films? No. But it’s a solidly entertaining two hours that’s worth seeing. I’m giving it a strong B.

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