I got such positive feedback, that I'm back for more!
Today I wanted to try and tackle 3 genres. Drama, Action, and Comedy. Though I'm sure my brother in-law is shaking his head wondering how I am going to put Friends with Benefits into the comedy category. Come along on my adventure, and let's see how deep this rabbit hole goes.
First up...
Real Steel: 2012 (Action) - PG-13
Starring Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly, and Dakota Goyo
Overview - Jackman plays a burnt out boxer, who gets involved in the world of robot boxing. He feels he has skill and cunning, so he dives in head first. Things quickly go awry. While down on his luck, he discovers he has an 11 year old son, by an old girlfriend. He shows his son the world of underground robot boxing and he becomes obsessed. Through their journey, his son helps him to rediscover his passion for the sport of boxing.
Review - Depressed Wolverine, meet Optimus Prime's estranged nephew. This movie doesn't waste time on worthless things like backstory or anticipation. It jumps right into the action with a robot sparing off against a full size bull. That part is a bit dopey, but will give them a pass. its a movie about robots boxing for poop sake! I thought that the writers did a good job showing the reality of a life lived focused on past success, and not looking to the future. Jackman's character is a willfully retired boxer, though he believes he was beaten into the life he now has. He struggles with marrying his reality with the belief that he is a great athlete who deserves more. His girlfriend, played by Evangeline Lilly (yes please!) plays a young woman who has given up everything to support her man. What struck me about this character portrayal is that the camera shows very little of her world. It shows a couple short stills of her gym, and a quick scene on the roof. In the story she has inherited the gym from her father, and I feel these simple shots really make you feel that it's her father's gym, and not hers. Jackman's son (Goyo) previously played a young Chris Hemsworth in "Thor", and voiced Jaime Bennett in "Rise of the Guardians". This is one of the first times he has just been a kid on screen. I can't say that any other kid would not have played the role just as well but I thought his semi-burnout antics, like wearing wife-beaters and drinking a 24 pack of Dr Pepper in one sitting, put him a bit on the ridiculous side. We're supposed to buy that he's just seeing this side of life for the first time, but yet he adapts within seconds. A hoodlum at heart. How quaint. The story has been done before (I.E. Rocky, Cnderella Man, and Million Dollar Baby) but I felt the Transformers element added a little extra pizazz to the whole thing. Again, I simply love to be entertained, so that statement shouldn't shock you. The CGI is well crafted, and the story plays out well.
Overall I would give it a 3 1/2 out of 5. I would watch it again for sure. It may not make everyone's shelf, but I'll take a copy on blueray please.
There really isn't anything to be concerned with in this film, other than Jackman kinda treats his kid like crap up front. Nothing questionable though.
Up next...
The King's Speech: 2010 (Drama) - R
Starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham carter.
Overview - The duke of Whales has a stammer. The more nervous he gets, the more it kicks in. His father becomes ill and dies. While on the brink of war with Germany, the country turns to the next in line for the throne. The duke's older brother. Though quickly he discovers how degrading a life of debauchery and frivolity can be. With certainty that he will cause irreparable damage to his family name, he steps down from his crown. It is up to the duke, now king, to be the voice for the country. If only he could lose the stammer.
Review - Anyone who knows me is probably probably shocked I even watched this one. There are no explosions. No car chases. No one repels down the side of a 400 story building. But I had been told by many reliable sources, that this movie was worth a watch. It won many awards, and Colin Firth was hailed as a perfect cast for this role. I avoided this title originally because of the lack of action. I just couldn't see how you could make a 3 hour movie about a guy who had a stuttering problem. Though i guess you could say the same about a midget with a bad hair cut who spends half a century walking to simply drop a ring in a giant bowl of tomato soup. Firth plays the duke, who is always on edge and visibly nervous. Hmm...let me make sure I understand. A member of the Royale family who is under constant scrutiny is always on edge and nervous. I'm shocked! :-/ The film makers did an excellent job, however, capturing what lengths he had to go through to beat this problem. They caught the real emotions he was feeling, and they sent it through my tv with minimal effort. I will say this, though. I have a strong disconnect from this movie because I don't see why having a stammer is a big deal. No, I'm not being snarky or exaggerating. Watching this man go through, what was perceived to be, hell and back again didn't even strike a chord with me. I spent the whole movie wondering why anyone cared. My question was, "Why couldn't he just address the nation and say. Hey folks. I'm your king. I have a stammer, but I'm getting help to fix it. Stay tuned for updates. Kirk out."? It was explained to me by my penny pinching brother in-law, that you can't hope to be the voice of hope and direction if you stammer, stutter, and spit. How can you insight inspiration, if you can barely make it through the word inspiration? So I will say that this film crew did a wonderful job conveying the emotion of the parties involved. The script was inspired, and the score was very well done. Helena Bonham Carter doesn't know how NOT to commit to a character, so it was no surprise to me that she held up her end of the performance.
Overall I would give it only a 2 out of 5. Only because I can't see watching it more than once, and because I still have a strong disconnect from the emotion of the movie. Though i would recommend it to a friend. Maybe someday when I am king, and the moon is fully blue, I will understand why having a stutter means you get a movie made about you.
There is nothing to be weary of in this one, other than Colin Firth shouting obscenities every now an again. But heck, we can all just pop into our local gas stations for that. :-)
Finally...
Friends with Benefits: 2011 (Romantic Comedy. I think) - R
Starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis
Overview - 2 colleagues meet and decide to pursue friendship. She is a bit of a cold wench, and he is a charming newcomer to the big city. He befriends her because she's the only one he knows, and she is taken by his charm. During the course of the film they decide that sex for the sake of sex is ok. That you do not have to be dating, or attached in any way to simply have sex. That it is recreational, like tennis. They discover, of course, that this is not true in the long run.
Review - Most everyone reading this is thinking the same thing. "Why would anyone willingly watch this movie?" The answer is simple. Curiosity. I had a morbid curiosity to see if it was as bad as I expected. Sometimes I find that seeing a movie that sucks is almost a way to cleanse the pallet, if you will. So my wife and I sat down and checked it out. It starts off stereo-typically. They meet, there's a spark, but they both pretend there isn't. They decide to engage in "casual sex" but wind up falling for each other (it's spelled out in the previews). I was expecting to want to gouge my eyes out at some point, but then I wouldn't be able to see Mila Kunis and......yea, not going to miss that. So, about 20 minutes in, I realized I had been laughing quite a bit. I started getting concerned that my brain may be misfiring. So i checked IMDB.com for answers. Turns out the director, Will Gluck, also directed a movie called "Easy A" starring Emma Stone. And that movie contained a ton of great back-and-forth banter, as well as great family conversation and comradery. Throughout this movie I laughed repeatedly. The jokes and quips were funny and unpredictable. Patricia Clarkson (also from "Easy A") is a great cast for an awkward mother role, and she pulls it off well. Woody Harrelson plays a VERY openly gay man. Typically I do not laugh much at gay humor, simply because they do it for shock-value laughs, and it's simply overdone. But Harrelson's over-the-top character hit a few funny bones and actually makes me laugh. As you would guess, the so-called "casual sex" does not last long between our starlets. It binds them closer than they wanted it to. So, naturally, they pull away. What I find interesting, and actually a positive, is that the writers stumbled across a message that is not getting sent to our youth today. That sex is a binding agent. For lack of a better phrase, sex is the glue that holds marriages together. Chemicals get released in us when we have sex that gives the man a sense of peace and calm, and creates a sense of hope a security in the woman. It is because of this that "casual sex" can not, and will not, work. The bonding agent was specifically created by God to help a marriage stay together. When you are sleeping with someone you are not married to, you do not want to be bonded to them. It is a very long way of saying that I do not believe the writers intended for this, but it came through anyway. So if you see this movie, pay attention to the details. Timberlake actually does an ok job delivering his lines. His character is a cutesy rural boy alone in the big city. Which is exactly how most people view Mr Lake. So it's not like this story was way out of his comfort zone. In his other movie, "In Time" on the other hand....He fell out of his comfort zone into a basin of broken glass lined with anthrax and Drew Barrymore's career. Mila Kunis can not do anything but look hot. I think she is a decent actress, but looking like she does helps give the viewers beer goggles to her talent. Unlike Megan Fox, however, she she'dn actually deliver an emotion besides "wha?"
Overall I would give this movie a 2 1/2 out of 5. I do so because it made me laugh, and if a Rom Com makes me laugh, it is head an shoulders above the rest. I do not know who decided that all Romantic Comedies have to follow the same formula, hit the same points, repeat the same steps, and be formed of the same mold, but anything that even steps just a hair outside the stereotype is ok in my book.
Things to watch out for in this movie...
1) There are some fairly raunchy words thrown around. So if you have a weak constitution for names for parts and actions, then pass on this one.
2) You see at least 6 shots of Timberfake's naked buttox. And as much as ladies make a stink that they only ever show female nudity on movies, have you ever seen a man represented naked in a movie and said "Yes!"? I don't think so.
Have any suggestions of movies or music you would like to hear me talk about? Any comments or questions, just email me at entertaindave@gmail.com
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