Big Sur 2013

      Jack Kerouac had immediate success and celebrity status after the release of his novel, On the Road.  Jack had a self-destructive lifestyle that was taking wrecking his mind and his body.  He is looking as himself now as a shadow of his former self because of abuse of alcohol and drugs.  In 1960, three years after the publication of On the Road and at the age of forty, he left New York for Big Sur in California.  He feels the isolation and beautiful landscape will be able to cleanse him.  He will have a renewal of both mind and body.  He does find the surrounding very healing but he begins having delirium, paranoia and madness with culminating in a breakdown.  His experience results in a novel of the same name. 

     This film relies too heavily on voiceover to convey what is going on instead of relying on the actors to inhabit the story.  There are beautiful scenes of the fog, redwoods, waves, clouds and the sea but their grandness as portrayed pushes away instead of inviting us in.  The film does convey how sudden success, alcohol and drug abuse can pull you into its web and destroy everything you have plus push away those around you.  I found this to be boring and droning with only moments that caught my attention and interest.  It is better to watch this while reading a very interesting novel.  2* (I didn't like this movie)

81 min, Drama directed by Michael Polish with Jean-Marc Barr, Kate Bosworth, Josh Lucas, Anthony Edwards, Balthazar Getty, Patrick Fischler, Stana Katic, Henry Thomas, John Robinson, Radha Mitchell.

Note:  Imdb 5.8 out of 10, 45% critic 39% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2*.

Special Note:  I also didn't like the other film based on the novel On the Road.  Kerouac lived only 10 years after his period in Big Sur.  He died October 20, 1969 from an intense bleed from his esophagus due to damage from alcohol and his liver was not able to clot the blood because of cirrhosis.  He also had complications from an untreated hernia received in a bar fight several weeks prior.

The Other Woman 2014

     Carly Whitten usually dates several men at a time but now she is exclusively seeing Mark King.  She goes to his house to surprise him and she’s the one getting the surprise.  Mark’s wife answers the door.  The next day, Kate King comes to visit Carly at her office.  They become friends and they find out there is a third woman.  They meet Amber at the beach and the three of them become friends.  They begin a plan to find out what Mark is up to in his business and his life.  They follow the money so Kate can divorce Mark without him cheating her out of what she should have in the settlement.

     There are some very funny moments and there was a lot of potential here but this film settles for OK and becomes just another situation comedy.  All the actors deserve a lot more from this screenplay. 2 1/2* (This movie is so-so)

109 min, Comedy directed by Nick Cassavetes with Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, Kate Upton, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Don Johnson, Taylor Kinney, Nicki Minaj.

Note:  Imdb 6.1 out of 10, 23% critic 62% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2*.

Special Note:  The costume designer is Patricia Field of Sex and the City and The Devil Wears Prada.  Also this is the first film role for Minaj and the third role for Upton.

20 Feet from Stardom 2013

     The backup singers are always in the shadow of the featured artists.  They can be on the stage in front but they are still overlooked.  Several backup singers struggled to make their living in this low profile art.  A lot of times their names are not included on the label even though they provide the foundation for the music.  A few tried to become stars but were unsuccessful.

     I thought this would be interesting and good but the filming style makes it very boring.  It is an interview and archive based film and not much is said about backup singers who went on to succeed with their music.  3* (This movie is OK)

91 min, Doc directed by Morgan Neville with Darlene Love, Merry and Kyliyah Clayton, Lisa Fischer, Stevvi Alexander, Patty Austin, Amy Christian.

Note:  Imdb 7.5 out of 10, 99% critic 83% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 4*.

Philomena 2013

     In 2009, Martin Sixsmith is a former BBC correspondent and he has been working with the Labour Party in Britain but he’s dismissed.  He’s at a loss and he doesn’t know what to do with his life.  A young Irish woman talks to him about her mother, Philomena.  When Philomena was an unwed teen, she gave birth to a baby boy at a Catholic convent.  She was required to work at the convent for four years to pay them back for taking her in.  Her son was adopted and taken away from the convent at about the age of 2 years.  She has gone back to the convent to ask about him but the nuns say the paperwork was burned in a fire.  This is the first time she has spoken about this part of her life in many years and even her family doesn't know.  Martin is usually not interested in “human interest” stories but he signs a contract to write about Philomena and her experience.  The Lost child of Philomena Lee is published as a result of his investigation.

     This is good and interesting, the nuns did a disservice to many young Irish women during this time period.  They treated them harshly and withheld pain medications during the births as a punishment.  Some of the mothers and babies dies during the births.   They received money for the adoption of the babies but kept the women as unpaid servants in the laundry room for their four years.  They were also required to sign a statement saying they would not attempt to find out information or contact their children after the adoption.  4* (I really liked this movie)

98 min, Bio directed by Stephen Frears with Judi Dench, Steve Coogan, Sophie Kennedy Clark, Mare Winningham, Barbara Jefford, Ruth McCabe, Peter Hermann, Sean Mahon, Anna Maxwell Martin, Michelle Fairley.

Note:  Imdb 7.7 out of 10, 92% critic 89% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3 ½*.

Old Goats 2011

     This film is a comedy with Bob, Britt and Dave playing the elderly men they actually are but in a fictitious story.  There is also some reality blended into the story.  Bob is the oldest and he writes a memoir about his life in his younger days.  He was a soldier, para-trooper, bush pilot and he also had a lot of romances.  Britt lives alone on a boat in the harbor and he’s been planning a long distance voyage.  He’s done a lot of gathering of necessary supplies for the journey, especially food.  David says he retired but he was actually let go and he’s trying to adjust to not going to work every day.  He is the only one of the three that is married and his wife is rather particular and bossy.

     This is a funny movie based on the real golden years.  You cannot help but laugh and compare the men to people you know, bumped into or are related to.   Bob is pretty surprising as the oldest of the men.  He’s always got something to do or a story to tell.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

91 min, Bio directed by Taylor Guterson with Bob Burkholder, Britton Crosley,  David Vander Wal, Gail Shackel, Benita Staadecker, Stephen Stolee.

Note:  Imdb 6.3 out of 10, 64% critic 63% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.5* out of 16 reviews.

Special Note:  I didn't know until after I watched this that the story was fiction.  I wondered why they were telling so much information about themselves. 

Prisoners 2013

     The Dover family is a neighbor of the Birch family.  The Dover’s go over to be with the Birch family for a holiday feast.  Everyone is eating, relaxing and having an enjoyable time until they discover the two youngest girls are missing.  Anna and Joy are both six years old.  The police are called but as the time passes, panic begins to set in.  The only clue about their disappearance is there had been an old RV parked on their street.  Alex Jones is the driver and he his brought in for questioning but there isn’t any evidence in the RV.  Keller Dover decides to take matters into his own hands, the police are not doing enough and they are not working fast enough.  He’s going to get information out of Alex Jones.

     This film is overlong and would benefit from tighter editing.  There are so many distracting incidents brought into the mix that you sometimes don’t know what is going on?  Jackman wears the same face throughout and Maria Bello has been in a lot of films requiring intense weeping and emotional weariness.  3* (This movie is OK) 

  

153 min, Crime directed by Denis Villeneuve with Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Mellissa Leo, Paul Dano.

Note:  Imdb 8.1 out of 10, 82% critic 87% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2 ½*.

Better Living Through Chemistry 2014

     Doug Varney has taken over the local pharmacy from his father-in-law, Walter Bishop.  Doug would like the sign to say Varney’s but it has always been Bishop’s and it seems it will stay that way?  Doug’s wife is very busy with her cycling and her fitness shop with cycling.  They have a son, Ethan and he is having problems at school.  Elizabeth Roberts moves into the neighborhood and she’s the trophy wife of wealthy Jack Roberts.  Doug starts filling their prescriptions and hanging out with Elizabeth.  Maybe his life is about to change?

     This film had a lot of potential but it seems to be wasted.  Jane Fonda does narration and she has an appearance at the end of the film that is not worthy of her talent.   Everything seems dramatic but everyone is too passive toward the drama?  2 ½* (This film is just so-so) 

 

91 min, Comedy directed by Geoff Moore and David Posamentier with Sam Rockwell, Olivia Wilde, Michelle Monaghan, Jane Fonda Ray Liotta, Ben Schwartz, Norbert Leo Butz, Jenn Harris, Harrison Holzer.

Note:  Imdb 6.2 out of 10, 21% critic 37% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 1 ½*.