Ah the movie that might have been…Sometimes a movie has such potential which is then squandered by bad writing and acting. For instance, Disney’s Brother Bear frustrates me to no end because it had potential and then it makes one bad choice after another. Unfortunately Woman in Gold is another such movie. The true story at its core could have been a good movie but instead we get a tedious poorly acted melodrama.
It is the story of Maria Altmann who fought to reclaim the painting of her aunt by Gustav Klimit called Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer which was stolen from her family by the Nazis.
Old Altmann is played by Helen Mirren who does what she can with the bland role and script but we never see any uniqueness to her character, anything that feels authentic or real. Instead she is just a victim we feel sorry for but don’t really get to know .
Ryan Reynolds plays her friends son Randy Schoenberg who she hires as her attorney. He has a wife and new baby and a new spot in a firm so taking on a side case with a long shot request is a risk. Again this sounds interesting but Reynolds is really bad. I didn’t buy him for a second in the part and he was completely flat except for when he had to get emotional but even that seemed to come out of the blue.
I think a little more of a serious actor like a James McEvoy might have worked better. I kept feeling like Reynolds was going to bust out laughing and instead he just rattles off legalize about the case. He really was bad..
Katie Holmes plays his wife and she’s beautiful but a terrible actress and Tatiana Maslany plays the younger Maria who flees Austria with her husband. The flashback scenes go on way too long and it is all stuff we have seen before and not a lot of tension because we already know that they made it to America. I actually nodded off for a few minutes I was so bored with the bad guys chasing the innocents around Vienna.
Then we get some courtroom scenes that I felt I had seen a hundred times and were completely predictable. They even make it to the Supreme Court and hmmm I wonder if she loses and all the effort was for not?
A movie with a predictable ending is fine (for goodness sakes I just praised the Longest Ride) but I have to like the characters or the writing is sharp or something for me to latch on to. At least in Longest Ride the couples had chemistry and it wasn’t trying to be all deep and meaningful just a dopey romance. This has airs of an important movie but it fails in nearly every respect.
Helen Mirren is good and it is shot adequately but honestly I was bored and I normally don’t use the B word in my reviews. I feel terrible about what happened to Altmann and her family but this movie isn’t the tribute they deserved.
In those annoying paragraphs at the end of the movie telling you about the rest of their lives we learn that Altmann gave most of the money to charities and the paintings are on display in New York. That sounds much more interesting than a court procedural squabbling with Austria.
Sometimes I also felt that the movie treats the ‘bad guys’ at the Austrian government as if they are on the same level as the actual Nazis shown in the flashback sequences. That’s a little ridiculous. They want to keep a painting not murder 7 million innocent citizens. I’m not saying Maria’s cause isn’t just because it is but the movie could have given some nuance to the Austrians.
No real content problems aside from some mean Nazis and 1 f bomb but that’s about it.
Overall Grade- C- just for Mirren and a worthy story at its core. Content Grade- A-
So far 2015 has not been a strong year for movies IMO. Aside from the carry-overs of 2014 the only thing mainstream to really dazzle me is Cinderella and Paddington but there have been a lot of single base hits even without the home runs.
I looked at the movie options this weekend and it seemed pretty dry. I could see a poorly reviewed sci-fi film like Chappie or Jupiter Ascending or go see the new Nicholas Sparks movie The Longest Ride. I went with the latter figuring I could at least make fun of it. But so help me I actually enjoyed it. Is it a masterpiece? No but its a heck of a lot better than anything he has made in a long time. I’d put it right up there with his best The Notebook. I really would.
It’s actually similar to The Notebook in a lot of ways. We get the story of an older couple and a young couple and we see their love stories play out. In this the young couple is Sophia played by Britt Robertson who is a budding art history graduate with a big job in New York coming up and Luke played by Scott Eastwood who hopes to mount a comeback as a professional bull rider.
The two have a meet cute but there is also genuine chemistry and the script is passable. Robertson is especially winning although she feels a little young for the part. She reminds me a little of Rachel McAdams innocent sweetness in The Notebook or Mandy Moore in Night to Remember. So much of these kind of movies depends on the connection between the lead couple and these two had it and I bought them being together.
While they are on their first date they come across an old man who has crashed his car and they are able to save him. He is played by Alan Alda who is so good in the part. It is a bit of a plothole that Alda would have to be 95 years old to be the character in the flashbacks but I will give it that.
The two younguns become friends with Alda and Sophia ends up coming and visiting him and reading him letters he wrote to his wife Ruth over the years. (Some of the letters don’t quite make sense because they are supposedly written in 1941 but cover events after that…but again I will give it that). In the flashbacks young Ira and Ruth are played by Jack Huston and Oona Chaplin. I really liked her but for some reason never liked him and so their chemistry wasn’t as good as the modern couple.
Their accents were also extremely corny but I liked how Ruth loved art and that love carried them through some tough times. They couldn’t have children so she taught and they collected art. Of course modern Sophia responds to this because she also loves art. (Opposites attract on both stories but I didn’t mind it).
I kept waiting for the cancer or terrible event to happen like in every other Nicholas Sparks movie but this actually stays away from that trope (spoiler I guess). This is just a love story about 2 couples. Hurray!
Luke’s career begins to terrify Sophia because of the chance he will get hurt again. She meanwhile must decide whether she can sacrifice her job in New York for this guy she just meant.
Maybe I’m just a sucker for a man in a cowboy hat (that would be true…) but I liked it. It’s a sweet, simple love story with an appealing cast and actually a little bit of a sports movie thrown in there too. I can see why some people would hate it but like I said compared to other Nicholas Sparks movies this is one of the best. Take that for what you will.
The ending surprised me because I was expecting something more melodramatic but it was sweet and simple. I teared up but not in the emotionally manipulating ways of many Sparks films. This was because I was genuinely moved.
A lot of my readers are men for some reason and they will probably hate the movie but if you have a girl I can think of a lot worse you might have to sit through. But I would suggest to the girls out there get a few of your friends and go together. There were 3 women who sat behind me and were a little vocal whenever our hunky cowboy took off his shirt, smiled, tipped his hat. Whenever something sweet happened they sighed. Normally that might be annoying but I found myself jealous and wishing I could have gone with a group of my girlfriends. That is totally the way to see this movie.
Now I’m ready to be rebuked and mocked for liking a Nicholas Sparks movie. Bring it on! At least you know I’m being honest with these reviews. Why would anyone pretend to like a movie like this? 🙂
As far as content its a pretty strong PG-13. The sex scenes are very racy so I would check it out on screenit.com for more details before recommending it to your teens. I probably would say this is adults only although the language and other aspects are fine.
It doesn’t reinvent the wheel so I can’t give it an A but I feel a solid B- is fair. It is above average but not spectacular. Still I enjoyed it.
As most of my readership is not Mormon you probably haven’t heard of the film Freetown which opens this week. It is the story of missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or Mormons) in Liberia in 1990. At the time there was a brutal Civil War and a group called the krahn was systematically eliminated by the rebel forces.
This of course makes for a tense situation for the missionaries some of whom are krahn and it is determined by local leadership they must be taken to Freetown in Sierra Leone where the mission president is and things are safer. There are 6 missionaries and a member named Brother Abubakar played by Henry Adofo.
Abubakar is a man you don’t see often in faith based films. He has a strong faith but he is also extremely practical which makes him less optimistic than some of the naive young elders. Adofo is so good playing a well rounded man who is strong, scared, brave and weak all at the same time. On one hand it seems like he resents having to deal with the elders and put his life at risk but on the other you can tell it is a great honor and burden which he fears he might not succeed in. I really related to his character and can imagine that most members would feel exactly as Brother Abubakar does in such a scary time.
Nevertheless, he crams all 6 of the elders into his small car and they face one challenge after another. Whether its rebel base stops or running out of fuel I was completely engrossed in the journey.
The entire cast is native African actors and they are all fine. Some of the missionaries you can tell are new at acting but it fit their fairly innocent personas and didn’t bother me. As someone who was a missionary I thought they got the little details just right. It might seem hard to believe Elders would pass out pamphlets to people waiting for a fairy after such a trek and in such a tense situation but they totally would. The exuberance and faith in miracles they showed was just what such elders would do in the situation. I loved one of the elders when they are finally free the greatest joy is they can teach after 6 months! That long not teaching as a missionary would feel like an eternity.
Not to say that the elders were simplistic because they weren’t. They face a lot of tough questions of when to lie, when to be brave, when to expect miracles and when to use your head. It felt like the way missionaries would actually behave and there were soft moments especially with the krahn elders that were very touching.
I was surprised how gritty it got. It is not a movie for small children. Far too scary for them. The rebels are pretty terrifying and will shoot women, even old women without giving it much thought. I flinched more than once and had to look away (I’m a violence wimp in movies!). The missionaries come very close to being shot on several occasions and it is very tense.
It also can be a very hopeful picture with moments of joy. The missionaries are still 19 year old boys and the cast has a good chemistry together. It felt like an authentic group racing to get to safety while still maintaining their individual personalities and struggles.
Freetown is directed and written by Garrett Batty who did Saints and Soldiers and Saratov Approach and he does an excellent job crafting a story that should inspire anyone of any faith. The preaching and Mormon dogma is at a minimum. I really think the average moviegoer would find it a touching, gripping story.
It also looks great with wonderful cinematography by Jeremy Prusso where we get the grandness of Africa contrasting with the tightness of the compact car. I loved the music too.
I really loved everything about Freetown. It is a moving depiction of normal people of faith facing an extremely difficult situation in a real and honest way. If you can go see it!
Overall Grade A+ Content Grade C+
Here’s my youtube review if you want to check it out. Give it a thumbs up that would be awesome.
I agree with what she is saying. Let’s praise first and criticize last. Let’s try to be positive and understand where others are coming from, their unique perspective. We can criticize even hate something but we can also do it in a way that is thoughtful, reasoned, kind, respectful of others who think differently and in a spirit of fun. I will do better and I hope you will too.
It’s now April and since I finished watching the Oscar films, Scrooge Month series in December and my Disney Canon reviews in the Fall, I’ve been contemplating my next project. It doesn’t look like there will be that many movies in April I want to see and aside from a certain comic book movie in May I don’t know how many reviews I will get then either. So a new project seems like a good idea.
I am curious for your feedback. I have had a few ideas that might be fun but would like to know what you would like to see me pontificate on. Please select your top 3 choices out of the list below or add your own idea and I will consider it.
Thanks in advance for help and for reading my silly posts. I really appreciate every comment even if we disagree. Sometimes I might get a little passionate about a film I love but it is all in good fun. I hope you know that.
Look forward to seeing what people are in the mood for.
When I tell you that Furious 7 is one of the most ridiculous movies I’ve ever seen I mean it. Now that’s not necessarily a bad thing but it is completely absurd. So let me try to explain why it might be worth your seeing…
First of all, there is a friend of the blog who I had a recent discussion with about Guardians of the Galaxy being a ‘turn off your brain popcorn movie’. I disagreed with that conclusion; however, my friend Guardians should win a Pulitzer prize compared to this nonsense. I guarantee you will not like Furious 7. It is not the movie for you.
I kept trying to decide why such insanity is better than the explosions and over the top antics of a Michael Bay movie. Why are his films so nauseating but something like this still feels fun? I honestly don’t know if I can explain it. If any of you have insight I’d love to hear it. The best I can determine is Michael Bay movies attempt at humor distances the audience from the characters and then he tries too hard to create a reverence around characters instead of just being an over the top action film.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was probably the best he’s done (I know not technically directed by Bay but having his stamp) in a long time. The problem with turtles is it was edited so poorly I had no idea who they were fighting and where they were so it was just confusing when it should have been fun. The villain was also muddled and confusing when it should have been awesome Shredder.
Furious 7 has over the top set pieces but I always knew who they were fighting, who the bad guy was and what they were after. It isn’t as coherent and exciting as 5 and 6 which were basically heist pictures but it ups the anty on the insanity. Plus, the actors sell the crazy scenes in a way that Bay’s films never do. It feels like they are having a blast
Anyway, the plot to Furious 7 (not that it matters) is Owen Shaw’s brother played by Jason Statham is out to get revenge for his brother. He attacks Dwayne Johnson’s Hobbs and they fight (The Rock against Statham not much of a fair fight but it works). Statham ends up getting information about where the team are and how he can hurt them.
Then Kurt Russel’s Mr Nobody makes a deal with Dom, Brian and the team if they get a macguffin known as the God’s Eye away from terrorists played by Djimon Hounsou he will help them deal with Shaw. The rest of the movie ends up being a search for the hacker who created God’s Eye and then all over the world to find the actual device.
I wish that the trailer didn’t spoil a couple of the over the top scenes. It would be more fun for the audience if they didn’t know a car was going to jump from one skyscraper to another but when it is actually happening my theater was laughing and I don’t think that is a bad thing. It’s so over the top they are asking for that kind of response. Plus, the actors play it like it is no big deal. There is no Kate Capshaw type character screaming at all the antics . They are all tough guys and girls with tough guy one liners that made me laugh every time.
Maybe it helps I went into this with extremely low expectations, just wanting to be entertained and I was. As far as flaws it’s a little too long. By the end I was starting to grow less amused with the antics. The quick cuts and shaky cam in some of the fight scenes is a little nauseating and got old and some of them go on a little bit too long. They also don’t use The Rock very much. He’s in the movie for about 15 minutes which seems like a shame with his charisma. Although when he rips his own cast off and says something like ‘it’s go time…’ I was on the floor laughing. Still, he could have been used more. They also love the booty shots of the women which got a little old after a while but at least the women actually did something unlike a Michael Bay movie where they are only gratuitous eye candy.
They did a flawless job dealing with the death of Paul Walker. Evidently some of him was added in CGI, some was using past movies, film he had shot and his brothers standing in. I certainly couldn’t tell. It all looked like him from beginning to end to me. They also have a lovely tribute to him and a very nice sign off.
With certain movies you have to look at what it is trying to do and then ask ‘did it do it well?’. With Furious 7 they were trying to make an over the top action film and they do a great job with it. I’m normally not a big fan of those type of movies but I was entertained by it. I had a good time. Take that for what you will. It’s kind of a hard movie to give a grade too because its so absurd but entertaining.
I will go with…
Overall Grade- B-
Content Grade- C for violence, fighting and gratuitous booty shots.
My youtube review. If you could watch it and give it a thumbs up that would be amazing.
Happy April Fools! I’m honestly not a big fan of practical jokes but I do enjoy a good laugh. I thought given the day I would share with all of you 10 of my favorite comedies.
For these 10 I tried to pick all out comedies, not romantic comedies, dark comedies or movies like the Apartment that have comedic elements. These are roll on the ground, laugh out loud, make me laugh every time films. Humor is completely subjective (all films are but especially comedies) so these are just what I find most funny. You may not and that’s cool. Instead of just critiquing my list (easy to do) share with me your favorites and what makes you laugh.
1. Monty Python and the Holy Grail- Almost everyone I know thinks this is funny. There are so many jokes and the script is so well written. Some highlights are the Sir Bevedere and King Arthur debating about the witch, the knights that say ni, the black knight with no arms and legs screaming ‘Come on ya pansy!’, The Castle of Aaaauuuggghhhh (he must have died while carving it), “Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!”… So funny.
2. Napoleon Dynamite- A somewhat polarizing movie that some either think is hilarious or it drives them nuts. I’m in the hilarious camp. Maybe partly because everyone involved is from my alma mater (for the most part) and I really relate to the rural Idaho setting? Who knows? It’s so likable and has one of the most endearing lead characters in modern movies so I love it.
If you haven’t read my character profile on Napoleon please do. When you really think about it he has a sad life. They are obviously poor, his parents are nowhere to be seen, his brother and uncle are a mess, his grandma has just been injured and he get’s rejected by the girl he asks out. But you’d never know about it from watching Napoleon. He’s walking around, looking at things and happy with his life.
There are so many great lines like “I told you! I spent it with my uncle in Alaska hunting wolverines!”, “A liger…It’s pretty much my favorite animal. It’s like a lion and a tiger mixed”, “How was school? The worst day of my life, what do you think?”, “You know, there’s like a boat-load of gangs at this school. This one gang kept wanting me to join because I’m pretty good with a bo staff”, “No, but who would? I don’t even have any good skills…You know, like numchuk skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills… Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills.”
When he dances and shows the ultimate confidence it is hilarious and such a great victory.
3.It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World – The dream cast that will never be beat and the ultimate cat and mouse chase story that has every kind of humor. It’s a mad cap race to find the treasure and hilarious all the way through it. Jonathan Winters , Ethel Merman and Buddy Hackett are particular favorites.
It’s the kind of movie that could never be made today because the studios would be so lazy. Movies like New Years Eve, Movie 43, and Grown Ups figure all we have to do is have a bunch of famous people and it will get folks in the theater. They don’t have a good script or funny setups. It’s just disgusting crass and vulgar and not funny! It’s a Mad Mad World did it right.
4. What About Bob- What makes What About Bob one of the funniest movies ever made is it is a classic example of someone driving another human being nuts and being completely oblivious. Bob is having a great time. He’s happy as a clam, and he isn’t intentionally annoying, but just trying to be loving and his shrink’s biggest fan. But the shrink played by Richard Dryfuss lets one thing get to him and then another and another until it is this huge volcano. So often in life do we allow someone to get under our skin and they are completely unaware. That is funny and totally rings true. Bill Murray is so likable in the role and has an innocence that makes you root for him all the while he is making Dryfuss crazy.
It is so well written with great scenes like the dinner ‘um, this corn is delicious. Is this hand shucked?’ or “There are two types of people in this world: Those who like Neil Diamond, and those who don’t. My ex-wife loves him”. “It reminds me of my favorite poem, which is, “Roses are red, violets are blue, I’m a schizophrenic… and so am I!”
5. Clueless- My favorite comedy for many years. Based on Jane Austen’s Emma it tells the story of rich socialite Cher and her best friend Dion as they try to do a little matchmaking with their friends in high school. I love scenes like the Haitians and the dinner party or Cher’s description of her diet- “I feel like such a heifer. I had two bowls of Special K, 3 pieces of turkey bacon, a handful of popcorn, 5 peanut butter M&M’s and like 3 pieces of licorice”. Ha.
Almost every line of this movie makes me laugh and yes I think it is funnier than Mean Girls although that is also great. Amy Heckerling does such a brilliant job making Cher and Dion, who would be the mean girls, into likable endearing characters.
My favorite scene by far is when Dion ends up on the highway for the first time. I love his scene because I remember when a similar event actually happened to me in high school and I freaked out.
6. Better Off Dead- this is an admittedly stupid movie but it makes me laugh every time. It’s about this kid named Lane Meyers played by John Cusack who obsesses over his girlfriend. When she dumps him he doesn’t think it is worth living until he challenges her boyfriend to ski the K12.
The plot is really just an excuse for a lot of hilarious gags like the newspaper boy who menaces Lane for his $2, the taxi drivers who learned English from Howard Cossell, Lane’s stoner best friend who says ‘this is pure snow. Do you realize the street value of this stuff?’, his brother who collects coupons before the cereal is done, his neighbor who is teaching a foreign exchange student ‘the international language’, his mother who is such a bad cook it walks off the plate. It’s hilarious and I love it.
7. Bringing Up Baby- This movie starring Kathrine Hepburn and Cary Grant taking care of a Leopard named Baby is hilarious from start to finish. Grant is the uptight paleontoglist professor and Hepburn is a rich doner’s daughter who is a massive klutz. They have to transport this leopard and all hell breaks loose and it has great dialogue, slapstick, hijinks, and mistaken identities. It’s one you could watch with the entire family and all have a hearty laugh.
8. The General- A movie that has to be seen to be believed. What Buster Keaton does with physical stunts is unbelievable. Most of this movie is shot on a moving train and all to get the gags. It’s an adventure and incredibly funny at the same time. Very few title cards are needed because Buster Keaton is so expressive in his eyes and face. It’s brilliant and hard to believe they could make a movie that holds up so well with action comedies of today, if not even slicker and more polished because it is actual people risking their lives instead of CGI.
Keaton can make picking up a log and putting it on the train hilarious It’s without a doubt one of the best movies ever made and that’s not just nostalgia. I’m telling you it still holds up today in every way. Trust me on this one. If you think you will never like a silent movie give The General a shot.
9. Office Space- I love movies about work and that includes laughing about work. I so related to this movie when I was stuck in the stupefying nothingness of cubicle life. (Cubicle Hell as I like to call it). The useless company protocol like TPS reports, the cheap attempt to replicate family celebrations like birthdays, having 5 different bosses who have no idea what your actual job is, the worst boss in movie history, the ridiculous employee reviews, and wanting to smash the tar out of the office copier. All of that rings true. I watch it and thank the Lord for a job I love. Thank you, thank you. At least this movie made me laugh when it was rough.
I love the ridiculousness of the plan they come up with ‘Isn’t that in Superman 4…” and when they get the magazine guy to tell them about money laundering or the flare at the chain restaurant ‘I want you to want to wear more flare’. It’s hilarious but it is the only R rated movie on this list and it earns the R so be forewarned.
10. Best in Show- My favorite of the Christopher Guest troop films although they are all hilarious. Using the mockumentary style to cover a dog show and their owners it is funny from start to finish. The entire team is at the top of their game including Jennifer Coolidge, Eugene Levy (literally has 2 left feet), Catherine O’Hara from Home Alone (which I could have put on this list but I already profiled it), Jane Lynch and more. I especially love Fred Williard as the commentator who has me in near tears laughing at his frequently improvised lines.
I have yet to show this movie to someone who didn’t laugh. (I’m sure there will be a barrage of comments saying they didn’t laugh but in my real life everyone loves it).
Here’s a completely alternative point of view from my own on Dreamworks Home. Just trying to share a lot of different perspectives. Check out Movies, Books and Ramblings for some great content. My review go to post
I got some new videos up on the channel I think you will enjoy. Definitely check them out. If you haven’t already please subscribe to my channel and give me some thumbs up if you think they are any good. Thanks!
Here’s one on movies I like to watch when I am sick.
Here’s the end of my blu-ray review series
Movies that I watched in theaters in March
Here’s one on why I think critics are particularly tough on Christian films but it would apply to any film with a narrow audience
Here’s my youtube review of Dreamworks Home
And finally here are the movies I watched at home in March. Not my greatest viewing month but Akira was pretty cool. I have to watch it a couple more times before doing a written review.
Again, thanks for giving them a watch and thumbs up. I really appreciate it. On to April!
Ah the movie that might have been…Sometimes a movie has such potential which is then squandered by bad writing and acting. For instance, Disney’s Brother Bear frustrates me to no end because it had potential and then it makes one bad choice after another. Unfortunately Woman in Gold is another such movie. The true story at its core could have been a good movie but instead we get a tedious poorly acted melodrama.
Old Altmann is played by Helen Mirren who does what she can with the bland role and script but we never see any uniqueness to her character, anything that feels authentic or real. Instead she is just a victim we feel sorry for but don’t really get to know .
I think a little more of a serious actor like a James McEvoy might have worked better. I kept feeling like Reynolds was going to bust out laughing and instead he just rattles off legalize about the case. He really was bad..
A movie with a predictable ending is fine (for goodness sakes I just praised the Longest Ride) but I have to like the characters or the writing is sharp or something for me to latch on to. At least in Longest Ride the couples had chemistry and it wasn’t trying to be all deep and meaningful just a dopey romance. This has airs of an important movie but it fails in nearly every respect.
Helen Mirren is good and it is shot adequately but honestly I was bored and I normally don’t use the B word in my reviews. I feel terrible about what happened to Altmann and her family but this movie isn’t the tribute they deserved.
