Why didn’t they ever tell me what FDR stands for? We do learn that his name is Franklin, but did his parents really name him Franklin Delano Roosevelt Foster? We never learn, he is just called FDR. That would be Chris Pine’s (Star Trek (2009), Unstoppable, Just my Luck) character that I am talking about. One of three amazing stars in This Means War (2012) His best friend Tuck is played by Tom Hardy (Inception, Warrior) Tuck, another great name.
Tuck and FDR are CIA operatives. The movie starts out very James Bond. You see the two of them looking very sharp in Tuxes at a party after a bad guy. Awesome James Bond type music playing followed by a lot of action. You think you know what kind of movie it will be, unless of course you have been following the previews, which of course I have. Through a funny and strange turn of events they both unknowingly end up meeting, and falling for, the same girl. Laureen, played by Reese Witherspoon (Water for Elephants, Walk the Line, Legally Blond) is that girl. I really like all three of these actors. They made the movie, it would have been a huge disappointment without them.
I hesitate to say I liked this movie. There where a lot of things about it that I really enjoyed. The acting, as I said, is great. Chris and Tom play off each other so well. Their “bromance” was wonderful and it was nice to see Tom Hardy in a different kind of role. Reese is adorable as usual. She does have this very annoying friend, some call her the comic relief, I call her the gag reflex. Trish is played by Chelsea Handler (Chelsea Lately, After Lately) I didn’t like her character at all. The script falls short and is predictable but has some very adorable and funny moments. There was one line from Trish that I really liked, believe it or not. In the end she did finally have some words of wisdom. She tells Laureen, “Don’t choose the better man, choose the man that makes you a better woman.” I liked that.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
Now there may be a lot of you who have never even heard of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (2008). That would also mean you may not know Joss Whedon (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Dollhouse, Angel). Joss Whedon is a genius! I am a huge fan of his.
The brilliant Neil Patrick Harris (Doogie Howser M.D., How I met your Mother, Starship Troopers, Beastly) stars as Dr. Horrible. Nathan Fillion (Castle, Serenity, Firefly, Slither) plays his nemisis Captain Hammer. Joss Whedon and his family wrote the script and the songs. The songs are one of the best things about Dr. Horrible! They are wonderful. If you have ever seen the episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer entitled Once More With Feeling, you know what I mean. Joss did the music for that as well. His songs are so clever.
Dr. Horrible was written as a web series during the writer’s strike of 2008. Whedon was making a statement about the strike. It is full of tongue in cheek humor, which is one of the things I love about Whedon. An example of that would be a scene between Dr. Horrible and his friend Moist. Dr. Horrible asks “Hey how was the date last night? Conflict Diamond said you were doubling with Bait and Switch?” Moist replies “Oh, well …… I thought I would end up with Bait, but you know” “Oh yea ……” That makes me laugh every time!
One afternoon my dad watched Dr. Horrible with us. He asked “Do you think they regret doing this?” (Meaning Nathan Fillion and Neil Patrick Harris.) Are you kidding me? No they do not at all! They know exactly what to expect when working with Whedon. It’s like Johnny Depp and Tim Burton. Johnny Depp and Tim Burton make a wonderful team. Joss Whedon is the same. He enjoys working with the same people and they must like working with him because they keep coming back for more.
Joss doesn’t do anything flippantly. He does it on purpose and always knows exactly what he is doing and saying. I am a huge fan of Buffy and I like listening to his audio commentaries. He will tell you he knew what he was doing. He is awesome! I love to dissect his work and try to figure out what he is saying, especially Dr. Horrible and what it is saying about the writer’s strike.
The brilliant Neil Patrick Harris (Doogie Howser M.D., How I met your Mother, Starship Troopers, Beastly) stars as Dr. Horrible. Nathan Fillion (Castle, Serenity, Firefly, Slither) plays his nemisis Captain Hammer. Joss Whedon and his family wrote the script and the songs. The songs are one of the best things about Dr. Horrible! They are wonderful. If you have ever seen the episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer entitled Once More With Feeling, you know what I mean. Joss did the music for that as well. His songs are so clever.
Dr. Horrible was written as a web series during the writer’s strike of 2008. Whedon was making a statement about the strike. It is full of tongue in cheek humor, which is one of the things I love about Whedon. An example of that would be a scene between Dr. Horrible and his friend Moist. Dr. Horrible asks “Hey how was the date last night? Conflict Diamond said you were doubling with Bait and Switch?” Moist replies “Oh, well …… I thought I would end up with Bait, but you know” “Oh yea ……” That makes me laugh every time!
One afternoon my dad watched Dr. Horrible with us. He asked “Do you think they regret doing this?” (Meaning Nathan Fillion and Neil Patrick Harris.) Are you kidding me? No they do not at all! They know exactly what to expect when working with Whedon. It’s like Johnny Depp and Tim Burton. Johnny Depp and Tim Burton make a wonderful team. Joss Whedon is the same. He enjoys working with the same people and they must like working with him because they keep coming back for more.
Joss doesn’t do anything flippantly. He does it on purpose and always knows exactly what he is doing and saying. I am a huge fan of Buffy and I like listening to his audio commentaries. He will tell you he knew what he was doing. He is awesome! I love to dissect his work and try to figure out what he is saying, especially Dr. Horrible and what it is saying about the writer’s strike.
Friday, February 10, 2012
A Bear Named Winnie
Alright, I admit it; I am a huge cry baby. There are certain things that just get me emotional no matter what. I will never be able to watch The Fox and The Hound (1981) without crying. I cried like a baby while watching Hachi (2009). I have a bit of a soft spot for animals. They are such an important part of my life. Don’t even get me started about the military. (Just read my post about The Hurt Locker (2008) back in July) That gets me teary as well. Throw in a true story and oh my …….
So, it goes without saying I cried at the end of A Bear Named Winnie (2004). You put the love of animals with the military and I really don’t stand a chance. The fact that it is based on a true story of something I grew up loving as well doesn’t help at all.
A Bear Named Winnie is the true story of a Canadian soldier who adopts an orphaned bear cub. It took place during World War I and he was on his was to England from Winnipeg. That is how the bear got her name. It is actually Winnipeg but they call her Winnie for short. The movie is one of those that begins at the end. A man and his son are at the London Zoo admiring a bear named Winnie. The boy is curious about her story. That leads into her back story which is very sweet. In the end you find out that the man was A.A. Milne with his son Christopher. This story was the inspiration for the Winnie The Pooh stories. So cute but yea, bring the Kleenex. Speaking of which, box of tissue for when I see War Horse (2011)? Oh yes! Definitely!
So, it goes without saying I cried at the end of A Bear Named Winnie (2004). You put the love of animals with the military and I really don’t stand a chance. The fact that it is based on a true story of something I grew up loving as well doesn’t help at all.
A Bear Named Winnie is the true story of a Canadian soldier who adopts an orphaned bear cub. It took place during World War I and he was on his was to England from Winnipeg. That is how the bear got her name. It is actually Winnipeg but they call her Winnie for short. The movie is one of those that begins at the end. A man and his son are at the London Zoo admiring a bear named Winnie. The boy is curious about her story. That leads into her back story which is very sweet. In the end you find out that the man was A.A. Milne with his son Christopher. This story was the inspiration for the Winnie The Pooh stories. So cute but yea, bring the Kleenex. Speaking of which, box of tissue for when I see War Horse (2011)? Oh yes! Definitely!
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Moneyball
I really enjoy a good, uplifting, inspirational sports movie. If it’s based on a true story, which most of them are, that is even better. I am not a huge sports fan in the general sense, but I like the uplifting stories that can come out of any situation. When I first heard about Moneyball (2011) there was really no question about it, I was going to see this movie.
Moneyball is the true story of Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane. I would have to say that one of the first things that surprised me about this movie is how recent the story actually is. It takes place in 2001. Interesting fact, the movie is based on the book written by Michael Lewis who also wrote The Blind Side (2009).
Brad Pitt (Troy, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Fight Club, Legends of the Fall) plays Billy Beane. He did a pretty good job, I enjoyed his performance. One of my favorite scenes of his was when he first meets Peter Brand. Billy sits on the edge of Peter’s desk and asks “Who are you?” You get to see a bit of this scene in the trailer but the whole scene was great. Peter is played by Jonah Hill (Superbad, Knocked Up, Get Him to the Greek, The Sitter) He was my only hesitation for watching the movie. I do not like Jonah Hill’s movies. However, he really won me over in this role. He did such a great job. Does that mean I am a fan of his now? No Way! But he was really good in Moneyball.
This is kind of what some may call a slow movie. I have even heard it called a spots documentary. I would agree with that. Sometimes in sports movies the games are the big action, intense parts. That really wasn’t the case with Moneyball. It focuses more on the strategy and a whole new approach to putting together a winning team. As I mentioned I am not a huge sports fan. I don’t know names, follow rankings or anything. I don’t know if a team is any good or not. I know nothing about money and how that works in the sports industry. So, you could say that Moneyball was a bit of an educational film for me. I learned so much! I think that is why I found this movie so fascinating. The way players are traded, just gone, expected to move or whatever. The relationship between the general manager and the manager was very interesting. First of all the fact that they called him the manager and not the coach was new to me. Secondly I had no idea the role a general manager played. The way Billy chooses to deal with his scouting staff was very fascinating as well. Like I said, very educational for me. I like that, when I can learn something new.
Moneyball is the true story of Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane. I would have to say that one of the first things that surprised me about this movie is how recent the story actually is. It takes place in 2001. Interesting fact, the movie is based on the book written by Michael Lewis who also wrote The Blind Side (2009).
Brad Pitt (Troy, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Fight Club, Legends of the Fall) plays Billy Beane. He did a pretty good job, I enjoyed his performance. One of my favorite scenes of his was when he first meets Peter Brand. Billy sits on the edge of Peter’s desk and asks “Who are you?” You get to see a bit of this scene in the trailer but the whole scene was great. Peter is played by Jonah Hill (Superbad, Knocked Up, Get Him to the Greek, The Sitter) He was my only hesitation for watching the movie. I do not like Jonah Hill’s movies. However, he really won me over in this role. He did such a great job. Does that mean I am a fan of his now? No Way! But he was really good in Moneyball.
This is kind of what some may call a slow movie. I have even heard it called a spots documentary. I would agree with that. Sometimes in sports movies the games are the big action, intense parts. That really wasn’t the case with Moneyball. It focuses more on the strategy and a whole new approach to putting together a winning team. As I mentioned I am not a huge sports fan. I don’t know names, follow rankings or anything. I don’t know if a team is any good or not. I know nothing about money and how that works in the sports industry. So, you could say that Moneyball was a bit of an educational film for me. I learned so much! I think that is why I found this movie so fascinating. The way players are traded, just gone, expected to move or whatever. The relationship between the general manager and the manager was very interesting. First of all the fact that they called him the manager and not the coach was new to me. Secondly I had no idea the role a general manager played. The way Billy chooses to deal with his scouting staff was very fascinating as well. Like I said, very educational for me. I like that, when I can learn something new.
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