Thursday, June 12, 2014

Movie #920 ........................."My Name is Bill W."







Movie #920 "My Name is Bill W."  is about the founder of AA, and it is a lot like all the other movies on the subject of alcoholism.  It is difficult to watch and like someone who gets drunk and is abusive to the people who love him.  So the beginning of this movie I was about ready to turn it off because his character was such a turn off (excuse the pun).  But then it started to pick up when AA finally starts to come into existence.  What a simple, yet practical solution to a huge burden on our families and on our societies  --------- to have people with the same problem find each other and sit down and discuss what it's like to be an alcoholic.  And from that two person discussion he had with Bob, AA was born.  Once again, such a simple idea, but one that works ---- and it doesn't take a lot of money thrown at it ---- people do the work themselves and reap rewards out of it --- people who have made it, come out the other side and pull others along with them.  Why can't it work for other problems we have?  Something to consider.  I recommend this movie to those interested in how AA started.  It's well acted and shows the time period really well.





My Name Is Bill W.

1989NR
Average of 36,617 ratings:
3.6 stars         I would give it 3 out of 5 stars
Based on the inspiring true story of the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, this moving drama stars James Woods in an Emmy-winning performance as Bill Wilson, a successful stockbroker who loses everything in the 1929 stock market crash.
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Monday, June 9, 2014

Movie #919 ........................."Love Crazy"


Movie #919 "Love Crazy" pairs William Powell and Myrna Loy AGAIN, in something other than the thin man series, and it is screwball comedy from the get go.  How enjoyable!  And I came into this about 30 minutes late, so I missed the set up, but it was easy to follow, and watching these two actually arguing, for real, was lots of fun because that's something they don't seem to do much in the thin man series.  It's silly ---- almost too silly at times, but not enough to cross the stupid line --- just enough to carry the plot until the end.  Lots of fun, is all I can say............and it's so much fun to see these two at their best ---- antagonizing each other!  This is a classic, and I recommend it!











Love Crazy1941NR99 minutes     I'd give this 4 stars out of 5
Steve and Susan Ireland (William Powell and Myrna Loy) host Susan's mother (Florence Bates), who's recuperating from a sprained ankle. When a misunderstanding prompts her to goad Susan into divorce, Steve plays at being mentally ill as a defense. But Susan calls his bluff and has him committed. Gail Patrick, Sig Ruman and Jack Carson co-star in director Jack Conway's sidesplitting screwball comedy.
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Sunday, June 8, 2014

Movie #918 ........................."Boy Meets Girl"











Movie #918 "Boy Meets Girl" should have been a film I was delighted to watch, but that wasn't the case.  I normally would enjoy a teaming up of Pat O'Brien and James Cagney in a farce on Hollywood writers, but I found it tedious and boring.  After 15 minutes, I was working on Facebook and not paying much attention.  And I was still able to follow the plot.  This one is a "don't waste time on it" film ---- skip it and go to something that is classical and worthwhile.  There are so many more screwball comedies out there that you WILL like. Enough said.



Boy Meets Girl (1938)  -  Comedy  -  27 August 1938 (USA)                       I give this 3 stars out of 5.

Gotta' credit Warner Bros. with a lot of guts for taking its top gangster star, James Cagney, and stiffly heroic Pat O'Brien and teaming them as a pair of screen writing con artists in a zany farce. But thanks to the wordplay of Sam and Bella Spewack, who adapted "Boy Meets Girl" from their Broadway hit, it works beautifully. And often hilariously. The set-up is simple. Challenged to come up with a script for sputtering cowboy star Dick Foran, Cagney and O'Brien are at wits' (or more like halfwits') end until commissary waitress Marie Wilson collapses while serving lunch. Seems she's about to have a baby (sans husband, a surprise given the strength of the Hays Office in 1938 although her slim figure suggests at least some degree of censorship.) The plucky screenwriters build a storyline around the baby who's born shortly thereafter and goes on to become an 8-month old superstar, eclipsing the increasingly furious Foran. There's also Ralph Bellamy as a pretentious mini-mogul, Bruce Lester as a British extra who's not what he seems, Ronald Reagan in a brief bit as a radio announcer, pre-Blondie Penny Singleton seen even more briefly as a manicurist, a squad of angry rock-throwing Indians and a relay team of slide trombonists to add to the comic confusion. All-in-all, a very entertaining movie -- and when Cagney illustrates a story point with an impromptu tap dance, you get a preview of the "Yankee Doodle" dandy he'll play five years later.

Director:

 

Writers:

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Stars:

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Thursday, June 5, 2014

Movie #917 .........................."Romantics Anonymous"


Movie #917 ---- if you like awkward relationships portrayed on screen and romantic comedies, you have to see this one.  Yes, it has subtitles, but it is really really funny, and has great secondary characters, too.  Because the two leads have emotional/social problems to the extreme, some of the situations they get into seem a bit far fetched some times, but really that was the only complaint I had.  Overall, I found this delightful and witty and entertaining.  And, I almost forgot, very original.  Check it out if you are looking for something entertaining and you don't mind subtitles.











Romantics Anonymous2010NR78 minutes    I gave this 4 out of 5 stars!
Love and chocolates may yet win the day in this delightful romantic comedy, which follows the slow-burn romance of talented chocolatier Angélique and chocolate-factory owner Jean-René, lonely souls who secretly share a debilitating anxiety disorder.
Availability: streaming until 6/12/2014
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Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Movie #916 ........................."Welcome to the Rileys"

Movie #916 "Welcome to the Rileys" is a tough one to critique........first, I must say that even though it has a stellar cast, it slows like an indie film, which shots of everyday moment to moment life of these people.....The film really centers just on the three --- the husband, a slouch of a guy with no life left in him (Gandalfini, who, in my opinion, always plays this part), the wife, an uptight, grief stricken woman who is afraid to go outside after her daughter has died (Melissa Leo, whom I have never seen play this part --- but then, she's a chameleon --- wonderful actress), and the stripper whom the husband befriends (for obvious reasons).  This girl is played very well by Kristin Stewart, but I'm beginning to think she is best at playing these wounded, angst-ridden young girls --- what's in store for her next?  So the film has these people play at their best (while giving a bit of a challenge to humanize the robotic woman for Leo) , and they mostly  all deliver stellar performances, in my opinion.  You could take scenes out from this film and show in an acting class --- little bits of the lives of wounded souls, for sure.  Your heart is breaking for some of the time.  The other times, the down times, seem to be like watching out your window at every day life ----- the scenes are still well acted, but the high point seemed manufactured.  It's the Kristin Stewart character that seems a bit out of character --- the script asks her to do a big turnaround toward the mother, and I'm not sure she quite delivered it.......too quick, for me, so it was unbelievable.  And this is a pivotal scene that precipitates the end.  The catastrophe, I guess, didn't quite work, and that affected the whole film for me.  I like the arcs the characters all went on, and they just moved small steps, but oh so important ones, and I liked that about the film.  The so what was well focused.  By the end, you felt like it was worth the whole ride.













Welcome to the Rileys2010R111 minutes  I would give it 3.5 out of 5.
Devastated by their daughter's death eight years ago, Doug and his guilt-ridden wife, Lois, lead depressing lives without much meaning. But by forming an unconventional relationship with teen call girl Mallory, the couple begins to rediscover hope.
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Movie #915 ........................."The Very Thought of You"

Movie #915 "The Very Thought of You" is a romantic comedy that I thought I would LOVE, since Joe Fiennes and Monica Potter are the leads, but I just LIKED it a lot, which is fine for me.  Because of the way the two outstanding actors chose to play the characters (overlapping dialogue, and long, huge gaps in conversation), the pacing of the film was greatly affected.  Put that together with the two other good looking guys that are after Potter (Tom Hollander and Rufus Sewell - terribly British) who talk a mile a minute and are all very showy, you have kind of an uneven film, but it is one that keeps you on your toes, because I found myself going back because I missed something important that was said.  This is not a typical comedy, and it isn't very believable either, and that's another reason I didn't LOVE it --- too many coincidences (come on, isn't London bigger than this film shows us, with her bumping into the same 3 guys???)  but because the two leads are so winning, I stuck with the plot and got to the end, and was happy with how it ended.  I laughed out loud a few times ---- as far as recommending, not sure on this one -- it is an unusual romantic comedy, if that helps.  But it starts and stops a lot, so you have to be patient.









The Very Thought of You1999PG-13    I would give this 3.5 out of 5
Looking to leave behind romantic complications, Martha flies from America to start a new life in London, where she meets lifelong friends Daniel, Frank and Laurence at separate times. But problems arise when all three fall in love with her.
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Sunday, June 1, 2014

Movie #914..........................Bad Teacher

Movie #914 "Bad Teacher" did not disappoint --- I had hugely low expectations, and I was right.  I actually was writing some critiques for the Naperville film festival while I watched it, so I didn't feel like I wasted that much time.  But if you seek this out, I want to warn you that this is a waste of celluloid.  Nothing redeeming.  I think I smiled once, and it was physical humor with Phyllis from "the Office" because I think she is funny naturally.  I don't like Cameron Diaz's acting and this didn't change my mind.  I LOVE Justin Timberlake, and I like Jason Segel, so I wonder what was on their minds when they read this script.  Scathing about teachers.  So why would I like a movie like that anyway, but if it had good humor, maybe there would be something redeeming, she would learn a lesson and be nicer.  Well, they had her do that in the very last scene with no motivation.  Bad, bad, bad. Bad Teacher, Bad movie.  Bad me for even bothering to watch it.









Bad Teacher2011UR92 minutes     I'd give this one star out of 5
Cameron Diaz stars as Elizabeth Halsey, a scheming and coarse-tongued middle school teacher who gets dumped by her wealthy boyfriend and rebounds by sinking her claws into a handsome substitute teacher (Justin Timberlake).
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