Thank You for Fast Cars

24 May

Fast-Furious-6-PosterGentlemen, start your engines.

Again.

Fast & Furious 6 — yes, there’s a SIXTH Fast & Furious movie — hits theaters this weekend, bringing with it a now-trademark mix of testosterone, hot women, cool cars, ridiculous action scenes, and far-fetched plot twists.

This time out, the gang, still ably led by Vin Diesel’s Dom and Paul Walker’s Brian, teams up with the Rock’s federal agent Hobbs to bring down a British terrorist whose own team includes the love of Dom’s life, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez). Wait, didn’t she die two movies ago? Surprise!

So yeah, that’s the big difference between this film and the others: Our “heroes,” who usually fall on the wrong side of the law — including in the last movie, where they pulled off an Ocean’s Eleven/Italian Job–style heist in Rio — here are on the side of the good guys.

Like that really makes a difference.

Continue reading →

The Party’s Over

22 May

hangover-part-iii-posterThe marketing campaign for The Hangover Part III is largely centered around the idea that this movie marks the conclusion of the series.

Indeed, the film’s posters boast taglines including “The end” and “It ends,” and the movie itself includes lines of dialogue like “It all ends tonight.”

(It’s subtle, I know.)

But anyone who’s seen all three films, as I have, would agree: This is a series that should have ended after the first one. After all, the first sequel was nothing more than a carbon copy of the original Hangover, just set in a different city, with more raunch and a lot fewer laughs. Now we have a second sequel that’s not very funny and isn’t even about a hangover, but certainly feels like one.

It ends tonight? Damn. What took you so long? Continue reading →

Within and Without

9 May

great-gatsby-posterIt comes within the first few seconds of the film.

Tobey Maguire, playing Nick Carraway, utters the first lines of The Great Gatsby. Except, they’re not the words as written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. They’re a close approximation — just without the elegance and thematic context.

That’s your first indication that Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of the Fitzgerald classic will be good, but not quite as good as its source material.

But really, how could it be? Gatsby is a book that many (but not everyone) consider the Great American Novel. One that’s been a high-school-reading staple for generations. A novel that seems damned near impossible to adapt in any sort of satisfactory fashion, despite four big-screen attempts (including a 1974 version that starred Robert Redford and Mia Farrow).

So having Nick (and Luhrmann) reset the audience’s expectations right off the bat frees us up to just watch the movie and not be disappointed later.

It’s kind of a smart move, if you think about it. Continue reading →

Turn It Off

12 Apr

disconnect-posterThe new film Disconnect is meant to be a cautionary tale.

So is this review.

A laughable collection of stories whose moral is no deeper than “The Internet is evil,” the film covers the same ground that films like Identity Thief and Bully, and TV shows like Catfish, already have. Not only does Disconnect add nothing new to the idea that you need to be skeptical when it comes to communicating with others online, it way overhypes  the idea that there’s nothing good about the Internet, so you should stay far away.

Either the filmmakers — who include director Henry-Alex Rubin (the excellent documentary Murderball) — have been burned so badly by online relationships that they need to exact revenge, or they just don’t understand how the Internet works. My money’s on the latter. Continue reading →

You Let Me Love Baseball Again

11 Apr

42-movie-posterThe new film 42 is going to do a great public service for a new generation of baseball fans who may be familiar with the name Jackie Robinson, but who don’t know much about him.

It’s a rousing movie that casts Robinson in the role of noble baseball player — a man who earned admiration not just because he broke the sport’s color barrier, but because he was a terrific athlete on the field and, just as important, a class act off it.

Which is not to say it’s the best baseball movie ever. It’s not even one truly worthy of the man himself. Predictably, with its reverential tone, majestic music cues, and sometimes cheesy dialogue, 42 is a rather conventional biopic. It tells the story of this all-American hero, putting a fine point on his accomplishments, and hammering home the point that those who objected to the integration of baseball were on the wrong side of history.

For a more rigid critic, the manipulative sincerity of the film might be a turnoff. But not me. 42 isn’t a walk-off home run, but I still scored it a solid run-scoring double. Continue reading →

41 Things I Learned During My Year of Unemployment

1 Apr

back-to-workIt’s a big day for me today: I’m going back to work!

(Insert obligatory Soul II Soul reference here.)

If you’ve been following along over the past 12 months, you know I left my last job at the end of March, 2012. Since today is April 1, that means I had exactly one year “off.”

During that time, I had some fun, took on some freelance and short-term contract work, and applied for more than a handful of jobs. Obviously, most of the jobs I applied for didn’t work out. But the one that did work out is one I’m really excited about.

And given the timing of when I was hired, it just goes to show you that things will work out when, where, and how they’re supposed to. It just may take longer than you expect it to.

In other words, you have to be patient.

That’s one of the important lessons I learned this year. I thought I’d take a moment to share some others:

Continue reading →

Back to Work

26 Mar

It’s funny how things work out sometimes.

A year ago this week, I left my job and went in search of a new one.

I was optimistic, armed with a strong network of contacts and great experience, and had every reason to believe I’d be back on my feet in no time.

But things didn’t go exactly according to plan. While I was lucky enough to find freelance work (actually, most times it found me), and I enjoyed having time “off” (especially during the summer), the ensuing months were frustrating as job leads didn’t pan out and I intentionally downsized my social life.

All I wanted was something new, and for my life to move forward. Instead, I felt like my life was on hold.

But that’s over now.

Continue reading →

Die Hard at the White House?

22 Mar

olympus_has_fallen_posterThe White House and other Washington monuments get blow’d up real good in the new film Olympus Has Fallen — good news for anyone who wasn’t satisfied by that kind of sight in movies like Independence Day or The Day After Tomorrow.

The film, directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day), is big and loud, with lots of macho action and plenty of ’splosions to please the mostly male audience that’ll likely seek this one out.

Gerard Butler stars as Mike Banning, a former Secret Service agent who finds himself in the right place at the right time when North Korean terrorists take the President (Aaron Eckhart) hostage in the White House’s underground bunker. Through it all, Banning stays in touch by phone with national security bigwigs played by Angela Bassett and Robert Forster, not to mention Morgan Freeman’s Speaker of the House character, who is asked to step in as acting President.

Of course, Banning and those remote experts don’t always see eye to eye, but the former agent’s resourcefulness comes through more than a few times to prove them wrong and save the day.

Continue reading →

This Is Not What I Signed Up For

21 Mar

spring_breakers_posterOh, spring break.

The week when college kids head to warmer places and let their inhibitions run wild.

This rite of passage sounds so idyllic to so many people that it’s become a cliché over the years — one that’s played out in movies such as Where the Boys Are, The Real Cancun, and From Justin to Kelly, to name just three.

But whereas those movies have shown a mostly chaste version of what goes on when you put thousands of college kids together under the hot sun, add alcohol, and mix it all together, Harmony Korine’s latest film, Spring Breakers, gives a much different, much darker version of events.

Oh boy, does it. Continue reading →

Let the Right One In

20 Mar

admission-posterGrowing up, one of my favorite movies was How I Got into College.

It provided a light-hearted look (to put it mildly) at the college admissions process, and while some of the humor was typical of lame 1980s comedies, it touched a chord for this young applicant.

Cut to 24 years later, and the new film Admission tackles similar ground — albeit from the perspective of an admissions officer. But unlike that ’80s “classic,” this one won’t be earning a special place in my movie memories. Continue reading →

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →