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Reviews
Punch (2022)
Punched out
I am impressed by the allegory of fighting to get out, of your hometown, your surroundings, that which is known. Jordan Oosterhof who stirs the same feelings Matt Damon did 30 years ago fights to win and as a girlfriend says, he is a beast. Running nude on a beach, he encounters Colin Hayes, half Maori and all gay. Encountering a jellyfish, he renders first aid to our fallen hero. Things proceed between them as expected.
Antihero Tim Roth of Pulp Fiction fame is a dad who needs his son to win but as a drunk, he has limitations. Local gymowners want a piece of son Jim and a piece of Maori Waitu too so they conspire to coach Jim to win for them. Dad has an issue and tries to stand up for his son. He doesn't need to escape so he does. Maybe Waitu waiting? Maybe not? Freedom.
Book Club (2018)
thought it was a cute little movie
As one of my colleagues said, she probably could have written it but it is infectious in that I could watch it over and over, Jane Fonda chewing the scenery, Candice Bergen with a winning performance and Mary Steenburgen, Mrs Ted Danson in a role both funny and sad. Best in show to Diane Keaton, no one does stressed out better than she does, remember falling back into the snow in Baby Boom? I do.
It's Complicated (2009)
clean break
saw this in theater or tried to, film broke, how quaint. I think Nancy Meyers commentaries on the films she direct are hilarious, as she sweats every detail, even ones no film-goer would notice or care about. Ex-husband Alec Baldwin and former wife Meryl Streep get along very well until a new man Steve Martin comes along, hilarity ensues, although this may be the least funny movie he's ever been in. The Santa Barbara exteriors and Brooklyn interiors worked well. Particularly good the casting of the kids such as Hunter Parrish who went on to do Still Alice and as the son in law Mr Emily Blunt, John Krazynski, easily the most underrated actor in Hollywood. I found it believable and smart, even the 15th time.
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
all hands on deck
Owen Wilson is a knockout as a displaced Kentucky commuter pilot in search of dear old Dad, the one and only Steve Zissou and Angelica Huston never looked better as swell ex-wife Eleanor. Despite cameos by Bud Cort and Willem Dafoe, the movie is Bill Murray's to carry and even when flirting with Cate Blanchett, a knocked up journalist, it seems like he'd rather be somewhere else. The most memorable thing in the movie are the solos by Brazilian Seu Jorge, didn't occur to me until watching this recently, they are all remakes of David Bowie standards in Portuguese, timely with his recent passing. Also classy to dedicate the movie to the recently passed (then) Jacques Yves Cousteau. RIP.
The Queen (2006)
all hail the queen
don't think this movie holds up very well over time, as it pretty much is about the events of the death of Diana, the former HRH, I'm not sure it does Charles justice to paint him as a more sympathetic figure than dear old mom, given what he did or didn't do to Princess Di in life. I thought Dame Helen Mirren did the best she could with the same pincurl wig they used on Emma Thompson in Saving Mr Banks. James Cromwell seemed miscast as Prince Philip and I'm not sure why there was no Anne, the Princess Royal, given she got married the second time in Balmoral. The star is certainly Michael Sheen as Tony Blair, as I saw him once in NYC and almost addressed him as the PM himself. That said, the best thing in Stephen Frears direction were the aerial shots of the Scottish moors, as well as Her Majesty's one on one with a prized stag.
Becoming Mike Nichols (2016)
could watch this over and over
I think the narrator does a good job of staying out of the way and Nichols is obviously entranced by him, it is said Nichols can only direct good material so here, they focus only on his two biggest hits, the Graduate and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Not sure why he starts in on the films then suddenly has a flashback to his family coming into Ellis Island, I think maybe he said the word "father" but it didn't seem connected to the discussion. I think they made a serious error not discussing any other works of his, as the only recap is in the credits at the end as a montage. Sad that he's gone and sad for Diane that he's gone. He did great things in life.
Six Degrees of Separation (1993)
still one of my favorites
from production design by Patrizia von Brandenstein to direction from Fred Schepisi to the last performance of Kitty Carlisle Hart as a doyenne hostess, really first rate. Also first on screen appearance I think, for Heather Graham and Eric Thal, two kids from Utah. As for the back of the head kiss between lead Will Smith and the brat pack's Anthony Michael Hall, it came out this week that Denzel Washington advised Smith not to kiss Hall but frankly, I didn't miss it. Nice cameos from Sir Ian McKellen, Richard Masur, the always wonderful Mary Beth Hurt and Bruce Davison. It mostly takes place in a penthouse overlooking Central Park so that's why I love it so, that and a score that really gets under your skin. Stockard Channing will want to forget some of the 80s outfits but all in all, I could watch this one anytime. Watch for future director JJ Abrams as a bratty dorm phone thrower.
The Long Walk Home (1990)
long walk home again
I was in the final crowd scene of this film and made the big mistake of repeating my line of dialogue the next day at work. Since it contained the "n" word, not something I would normally say. I thought the director at the end was John Frankenheimer, father of Michael Bey but maybe not? I was perceived to be a "friend of John's," screenwriter John Cork who did not and don't know. I remember thinking Ms Spacek looked every inch a star, even at 40, and led the applause as she departed the set. She had almost no interaction with Whoopi Goldberg that night until they held hands at the end. I think the film holds up pretty well, as I doubt my hometown of Montgomery has changed in the years since. Couple of things I notice, when her family gifts Odessa with a coat, it looks a lot like her old one and when the Cosby Show's Erika Alexander tries to escape rape in a park, she's taller than they are and maybe even than the black man who saves her. RIP my uncle Carl Stephens who does 2 WSFA TV broadcasts, on bus boycott and on the whereabouts of Santa Claus Christmas eve on radar.