May 28th, 2010 . by Brad Newton
Lorne Michaels has made millions from SNL and has launched the big screen careers of a number of cast members. Some are rather successful like Dan Ackroyd, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, and some not as in: Joe Piscopo, Tim Meadows, Rob Schnieder, Chris Farley, Seth Myers and Molly Shannon. Where will Will Forte fall? Probably not in the success category, but let’s not be too judgemental. MacGruber is an extended parody of a sketch parody of Macgyver that recurs on SNL. It is really just a reinterpretation of Inspector Clouseau from the Pink Panther movies. This movie is so over the top with it’s bits and SNL cast cameos that you wonder if anyone in the production ever made a movie before. Now there are some off the wall funny scenes, if you like crude sophomoric humor. Everyone, but Forte, is the straight man and that is the only way to play it in this type of film. Val Kilmer is the villain, Powers Booth the general and Ryan Phillipe the competent side kick. How they got these guys together for this film must be a case study in Hollywood deal making and studio greenlighting. Will Forte has some comedy chops and displays them, but the final product isn’t up to the caliber of some of those mentioned earlier.
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May 26th, 2010 . by Brad Newton
How many Robin Hoods can you name off hand? Douglas Fairbanks, Patrick Bergin, Daffy Duck, Frank Sinatra, Errol Flynn, Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Cary Elwes to name a few (for extra credit tell me the movies and cartoon) and now Russell Crowe. I like Russell Crowe. I like epic movies. I like medieval warfare. This movie has all the elements for greatness, yet it left me scratching my head wondering why it didn’t work. The Story is simple enough, but not gripping since we know the characters pretty well. The acting is pretty good. The action is not bad. Cate Blanchette and Crowe have some chemistry and they look good together. Maybe the problem is their are too many movies here and not one new one. It seems Ridley Scott, and maybe the producers, thought it would be box office gold to take other successfull movies and “Robin Hood” them. Sort of take from the rich and hope the parts added together will make one big blockbuster. Unfortunately, they stole from the good movies and gave us a poor one. Let’s see…this was Braveheart, Gladiator, and Saving Private Ryan wrapped into a mess. The invasion scene was bizarre with WWII landing craft appearing to be skinned with wood and oars added. I thought Tom Hanks in armor was going to come out of one. The editor had his hands full I’m sure to make some sense out of it all. There were obviously cut scenes/footage waiting for a director’s cut or DVD filler. It was entertaining at times and some will overlook the technical horrors and enjoy a sort of romantic story that is the main interest overall. What might have been we’ll never know. Wait for it on Netflix if you must.
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May 14th, 2010 . by Brad Newton
This is a fun and thoroughly entertaining movie. You should see it just to find the Stan Lee cameo and the secret after credits scene. Robert Downey Jr. is excellent as Tony Stark. He’s funny, sexy, and brilliant. He may have gone a bit overboard, but I’d blame that on Jon Favreau’s direction and the script more than him. I don’t really care for Gwyneth Paltrow, but she is fine as the love interest and every superhero has to have a love interest. Scarlett Johannsen is nothing but eye candy and her action scenes are well done. Sam Jackson as Nick Fury was a good invention and keeps adding to the hype of an Avengers franchise (He’s in a 9 picture deal to play the head of S.H.I.E.l.D.). Sam Rockwell is a good weaselly bad guy. The biggest disappointment is Mickey Roarke as the super villain. He is kind of wasted here. It’s a good role, but I think Favreau under utilized it. Maybe there was just too many characters and not enough screen time. The effects were great and the settings too. New York, Malibu and Monaco are quite scenic. So, it is a fine movie, just not up to the excitement and vision of the first. Let’s see if they can throw enough money at Downey to do a third and kick it up a notch.
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May 1st, 2010 . by Brad Newton
If you grew up in the sixties and seventies, you remember The Wonderful World of Disney. The nature films were the best and really opened up new worlds for us at the time. Disney is still doing this kind of work in their Earth Day series. Last year it was Earth, this year is Oceans and next year is African Cats. Oceans is classic Disney nature stuff. The cinematography is excellent, the footage beautiful and often spectacular. These films seem to specialize in showing animals doing things in very human appearing ways. This helps us identify with the animals and promotes environmental concern. Thankfully, the politics is downplayed in this film and I don’t remember the term “climate change” used at all. Pierce Brosnan narrates and his cultured voice is cool and friendly. I wouldn’t call this educational, but informational. They show many vignettes of the life found in the oceans, but this isn’t a documentary like an episode of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. This is meant to visually inspire and communicate the diverse and exotic worlds found beneath the seas. You will be inspired and entertained and you might even learn a little in the experience.
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