PIRATE RADIO 3.0***(almost 3.5***)
In the summer of 1966, the British Invasion was at its peak. There were the Beatles and the Stones and a host of others. Meanwhile, Motown was also at its peak and a whole new heavy-metal sound was developing in the USA. It was a great time for rock and roll. Unfortunately, the government of the UK didn't quite see it that way, and the BBC stations could only play classical and progressive jazz most of the time.
To meet the public demand for pop music in the UK, pirate stations started broadcasting from boats in international waters just outside of British territorial waters. Thus began a battle between the R&R pirates and Her Majesty's government.. This is a movie about that struggle, focusing on one boat called Radio Rock.
The film stars some of the best comic talent in the British Isles, like Rhys Ifans and Bill Nighy. It features Philip Seymour Hoffman as the token American DJ aboard the Radio Rock ship. It even features Kenneth Brannagh and Emma Thompson ( although you’ll have a hard time recognizing her). The sound track is a non-stop celebration of the hits of 1966 and 1967… a must soundtrack buy for R&R fans.
Although it has a few laughs, and although there is a historical backdrop, the story is not wildly funny or historically accurate. It's more of a fantasy film about rock & roll music. The period covered by story corresponds with my last 2 years in law school when I was dating the cute little blond who was to become my wife. These were some of the best years of my life and the sixties rock & roll music reminds of them and many of my old friends. So I gotta admit that I pretty much loved every minute of this movie and I'm not even going to complain that it went a little too long, because the more than 2 hours flew by for me. This is unabashedly one of the best and most joyful love poems to rock & roll since “Almost Famous”. So I'm going to stop typing with my “Lone Typing Finger”‘ and watch it again in my mind. And I'll sing along. And I’ll remember. And I might even dance…the shag, of course, and rejoice.
Okay you Baby Boomers, rise up and “doo-wop” on down to see this movie and have some fun !!!!
Clark
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
PRECIOUS 3.5***
The catch-line for this movie is :” Life is hard. Life is short. Life is painful. Life is rich. Life is....Precious”. In a nutshell this catch-line just about sums up this compelling movie and a review could start and end with it. However, that would be too easy and some elaboration, some frosting on the cake will make it sweeter and more interesting.
The story: Clareece "Precious" Jones (Gabby Sidibe) is a rather obese 16-year-old illiterate black girl who lives in Harlem with her welfare-dependent, abusive mother (Mo'Nique). She has a Downs Syndrome daughter and is pregnant with another child, both from being raped by her mother's boyfriend, who is also her father. Her mother repeatedly tells her how stupid and worthless she is while kids taunt her for her obesity. She has become hardened and heartless. But Precious is blessed with an indomitable spirit that refuses to accept the negatives that bombard her. She is sent to an alternative school staffed by a caring teacher and with classmates who, although anything but perfect, possess enough compassion to become supportive friends. How she progresses with school and life and faces other adversities is the rest of the story.
This is one of those rare films that is so well written and directed and so well cast and acted, that you find yourself compelled to see and feel what Precious sees and feels, to walk in her shoes, to experience her pain, her despair, her hopes and her dreams. It will rock you to your bones, bruise your heart and open your eyes and mind ….it’ s an emotional ride and, despite the very dark tone, an uplifting experience. The movie also effectively conveys a Harlem existence that is profane, hard-edged and brutal, but with rays of humanity and compassion that leave room for hope.
Newcomer, Gabourey Sidibe, as Precious, delivers an earth-shattering performance as the sixteen year-old obese girl who suffers from having a mother so abusive, she makes Ike Turner seem like Mr. Brady of "The Brady Bunch". Mo'Nique is flawless the dominant, insufferable mother who makes it her duty to harm, torture and abuse Precious. Mariah Carey also turns in a surprisingly honest and passive performance as Ms Weiss, the understanding Welfare officer who works with Precious.
BRAVO for a truly fine film !!!!
NOTE: The movie has a “R” rating because of the heavy profanity which, for the story, is not inappropriate but still may be offensive to some.
Clark
The catch-line for this movie is :” Life is hard. Life is short. Life is painful. Life is rich. Life is....Precious”. In a nutshell this catch-line just about sums up this compelling movie and a review could start and end with it. However, that would be too easy and some elaboration, some frosting on the cake will make it sweeter and more interesting.
The story: Clareece "Precious" Jones (Gabby Sidibe) is a rather obese 16-year-old illiterate black girl who lives in Harlem with her welfare-dependent, abusive mother (Mo'Nique). She has a Downs Syndrome daughter and is pregnant with another child, both from being raped by her mother's boyfriend, who is also her father. Her mother repeatedly tells her how stupid and worthless she is while kids taunt her for her obesity. She has become hardened and heartless. But Precious is blessed with an indomitable spirit that refuses to accept the negatives that bombard her. She is sent to an alternative school staffed by a caring teacher and with classmates who, although anything but perfect, possess enough compassion to become supportive friends. How she progresses with school and life and faces other adversities is the rest of the story.
This is one of those rare films that is so well written and directed and so well cast and acted, that you find yourself compelled to see and feel what Precious sees and feels, to walk in her shoes, to experience her pain, her despair, her hopes and her dreams. It will rock you to your bones, bruise your heart and open your eyes and mind ….it’ s an emotional ride and, despite the very dark tone, an uplifting experience. The movie also effectively conveys a Harlem existence that is profane, hard-edged and brutal, but with rays of humanity and compassion that leave room for hope.
Newcomer, Gabourey Sidibe, as Precious, delivers an earth-shattering performance as the sixteen year-old obese girl who suffers from having a mother so abusive, she makes Ike Turner seem like Mr. Brady of "The Brady Bunch". Mo'Nique is flawless the dominant, insufferable mother who makes it her duty to harm, torture and abuse Precious. Mariah Carey also turns in a surprisingly honest and passive performance as Ms Weiss, the understanding Welfare officer who works with Precious.
BRAVO for a truly fine film !!!!
NOTE: The movie has a “R” rating because of the heavy profanity which, for the story, is not inappropriate but still may be offensive to some.
Clark
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
THE BOX 1.5****
I went into this movie with low expectations and thus was not surprised when I was underwhelmed. The story is poorly written and the film is misdirected or, I should say, missed-being-directed. The movie is like a race horse that starts off strong but by the middle of the race is lagging behind and finally collapses way before the finish line.
Set in Richmond, Virginia in 1976 ( why 1976 I have no idea ) the story involves a couple ( James Marsden and Cameron Diaz) who have a stranger with a severely deformed face ( Frank Langella) mysteriously show up at their home and offer them a tantalizing but awful proposition. He places before them is a box. Inside this box is a button. If they push this button, two things will occur. One, somewhere, someone they don’t know will instantly die. And two, the young couple will receive $1 million in cash..even tax free.. The couple, who currently find themselves in debt, partly because of an extravagant lifestyle, has 24 hours to decide and agonize they do as to whether or not they should push the button and get the money. However, once this initial conundrum is introduced, the story goes from slightly mysterious, to weird, to way-out-there, to what-in-the-heck is going on. I was left confused and frustrated with the ending…and there is no “feel-good” to it.
I enjoy Cameron Diaz but had a big problem with her attempt at a southern accent…for someone who was living in Richmond, it was too heavy and exaggerated and became a distraction. James Marsden is likable but not believable as a potential astronaut. Frank Langella on the other hand, was very creepy and frightening, and more or less ended up carrying much of the movie.
The movie gets bogged down in so much technical and mysterious exposition that you stop caring. And, much of the time Diaz and Marsden look zonked-out by their weighty dilemmas. What a shame that the pacing couldn’t keep up with some good Sci-Fi ideas…as a result, instead of sweeping you along, The Box just sits there like something unclaimed at lost and found. Damaged goods.
Clark
I went into this movie with low expectations and thus was not surprised when I was underwhelmed. The story is poorly written and the film is misdirected or, I should say, missed-being-directed. The movie is like a race horse that starts off strong but by the middle of the race is lagging behind and finally collapses way before the finish line.
Set in Richmond, Virginia in 1976 ( why 1976 I have no idea ) the story involves a couple ( James Marsden and Cameron Diaz) who have a stranger with a severely deformed face ( Frank Langella) mysteriously show up at their home and offer them a tantalizing but awful proposition. He places before them is a box. Inside this box is a button. If they push this button, two things will occur. One, somewhere, someone they don’t know will instantly die. And two, the young couple will receive $1 million in cash..even tax free.. The couple, who currently find themselves in debt, partly because of an extravagant lifestyle, has 24 hours to decide and agonize they do as to whether or not they should push the button and get the money. However, once this initial conundrum is introduced, the story goes from slightly mysterious, to weird, to way-out-there, to what-in-the-heck is going on. I was left confused and frustrated with the ending…and there is no “feel-good” to it.
I enjoy Cameron Diaz but had a big problem with her attempt at a southern accent…for someone who was living in Richmond, it was too heavy and exaggerated and became a distraction. James Marsden is likable but not believable as a potential astronaut. Frank Langella on the other hand, was very creepy and frightening, and more or less ended up carrying much of the movie.
The movie gets bogged down in so much technical and mysterious exposition that you stop caring. And, much of the time Diaz and Marsden look zonked-out by their weighty dilemmas. What a shame that the pacing couldn’t keep up with some good Sci-Fi ideas…as a result, instead of sweeping you along, The Box just sits there like something unclaimed at lost and found. Damaged goods.
Clark
Sunday, November 8, 2009
THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS 2.0****
George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey…a strong cast. So you wonder could this be another “Ocean’s Eleven” or “Three Kings”. Well the answer is a resounding “NO….not even close. Since there’s a lot of desert scenery, it could be called “Sahorrorible Nein”…maybe not that bad but it does involve a lot of wandering around in a desolate script with more mirages than oasis.
So why does it miss the mark..…primarily because of a poor script, ineffective direction and a concept that just doesn’t cut it as a comedy/spoof or a docudrama. At times it veers close to being funny... and then veers off and comes close to satirizing American military tactics... and then veers off in another direction. Too much veering.
The film is based on the book by Jon Ronson who investigated the extraordinary activities of a "psychic unit" within the US army during current Iraq war. Styling themselves as Warrior Monks and Jedi Warriors no nutty scheme was too far-fetched to try out, from killing goats with an intense stare to mesmerizing the enemy with "sparkly eyes"….and even “running through walls”. In the film, McGregor is reporter named Bob Wilton who's hanging around in a Kuwaiti bar trying to get into Iraq to cover the war. There, he meets the charismatic, self-styled former "Jedi Warrior" Lyn Cassady (Clooney) who claims once to have been involved in the top-secret army unit. When Clooney sets off for Iraq on a supposedly hush-hush mission, McGregor tags and gets taken for a ride in every sense.
The story is presented through a series of flashbacks which tell of the origins of the paranormal unit, led by a ponytailed, chilled-out Bridges whose character is disenchanted by the atrocities he experienced in the Vietnam War. So he tries to find a kinder, gentler way of killing people by physic powers. After a reasonably short but robust start, the story quickly crumbles into a series of fragmented skits, patched together by a voice-over narration, generally a sign of last-minute emergency surgery in a movie.
It would have been a whole lot funnier if the goat had won out in the stare down contest.
Clark
George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey…a strong cast. So you wonder could this be another “Ocean’s Eleven” or “Three Kings”. Well the answer is a resounding “NO….not even close. Since there’s a lot of desert scenery, it could be called “Sahorrorible Nein”…maybe not that bad but it does involve a lot of wandering around in a desolate script with more mirages than oasis.
So why does it miss the mark..…primarily because of a poor script, ineffective direction and a concept that just doesn’t cut it as a comedy/spoof or a docudrama. At times it veers close to being funny... and then veers off and comes close to satirizing American military tactics... and then veers off in another direction. Too much veering.
The film is based on the book by Jon Ronson who investigated the extraordinary activities of a "psychic unit" within the US army during current Iraq war. Styling themselves as Warrior Monks and Jedi Warriors no nutty scheme was too far-fetched to try out, from killing goats with an intense stare to mesmerizing the enemy with "sparkly eyes"….and even “running through walls”. In the film, McGregor is reporter named Bob Wilton who's hanging around in a Kuwaiti bar trying to get into Iraq to cover the war. There, he meets the charismatic, self-styled former "Jedi Warrior" Lyn Cassady (Clooney) who claims once to have been involved in the top-secret army unit. When Clooney sets off for Iraq on a supposedly hush-hush mission, McGregor tags and gets taken for a ride in every sense.
The story is presented through a series of flashbacks which tell of the origins of the paranormal unit, led by a ponytailed, chilled-out Bridges whose character is disenchanted by the atrocities he experienced in the Vietnam War. So he tries to find a kinder, gentler way of killing people by physic powers. After a reasonably short but robust start, the story quickly crumbles into a series of fragmented skits, patched together by a voice-over narration, generally a sign of last-minute emergency surgery in a movie.
It would have been a whole lot funnier if the goat had won out in the stare down contest.
Clark
Monday, November 2, 2009
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3.0 *** generally; 3.5*** for Scary Movie Genre What better time to see a scary movie than on Halloween at midnight. What better way to watch a scary movie than with a theatre full of people who are really ready to be scared. What better movie to make it all happen than, as it turns out, “Paranormal Activity”. AND what a scary, good time it was.
Done with a super-low budget, it pretends to be a true story and is shot entirely inside a modern house in sunny Southern California. Something is bothering a couple. At night, it moves things, stomps up and down hallways, opens and closes doors. Writer/Director Oren Peli understands horror. He knows exactly what effects/tricks can scare the you-know-what out of you…and it’s primarily done through the suddenness of it – not just because the event is scary. The psychology of fright says we can deal with what we can see. It’s what we can’t or don’t see that is frightening. The movie subtly hammers you senseless.
A young couple named Micah and Katie come to believe she is being haunted. In fact, Katie thinks she's been haunted most of her life and Micah is just now being introduced to this scary, troubled side of Katie's life. So, from the beginning, the Director wisely eliminates one element of haunted house movies that usually frustrates the viewer. Most ghost story movies never answer the question – if the house is so haunted, why not just leave the house? In “Paranormal Activity”, it's not the house, it's the girl who’s haunted, and leaving will get them nowhere. So, Katie is haunted by “something.” To prove it and try to figure out what it is and what it wants, Micah sets up a camera which is left on while they try to sleep in their bedroom. The entire film is seen from the perspective of this camera, giving the viewer the impression that they're watching some horrific surveillance video from hell.
I enjoyed the pace as it slowly builds the tension throughout the film and then breaks it with the next even scarier encounter, thus ratcheting up the suspense and terror. I haven't experienced a night at the movies like this in quite a while…it gave me chills and goosebumps, and made the hair on the back of my neck stand-up. Others in the theatre were screaming, laughing, crying and gasping, and there was one guy in the back who every 10 minutes or so cried out for a cigarette.
“Paranormal Activity” is a phenomenal achievement…it’s a really scary movie.
Clark
NOTES: it was filmed in one week for $15,000 and grossed $9.1 million in its first week in the US, breaking the record of highest-grossing weekend ever for a movie playing at less than 200 theaters ( It has grossed as of Nov.1, $84.6 Million dollars !!!!). The director filmed the whole movie in his own home. He got the idea for the movie from a personal experience. Late at night he was sleeping and a box of detergent fell off the shelf. The box was pushed too far back for it to just tilt and fall. AND, guess what….there will be a sequel.
Done with a super-low budget, it pretends to be a true story and is shot entirely inside a modern house in sunny Southern California. Something is bothering a couple. At night, it moves things, stomps up and down hallways, opens and closes doors. Writer/Director Oren Peli understands horror. He knows exactly what effects/tricks can scare the you-know-what out of you…and it’s primarily done through the suddenness of it – not just because the event is scary. The psychology of fright says we can deal with what we can see. It’s what we can’t or don’t see that is frightening. The movie subtly hammers you senseless.
A young couple named Micah and Katie come to believe she is being haunted. In fact, Katie thinks she's been haunted most of her life and Micah is just now being introduced to this scary, troubled side of Katie's life. So, from the beginning, the Director wisely eliminates one element of haunted house movies that usually frustrates the viewer. Most ghost story movies never answer the question – if the house is so haunted, why not just leave the house? In “Paranormal Activity”, it's not the house, it's the girl who’s haunted, and leaving will get them nowhere. So, Katie is haunted by “something.” To prove it and try to figure out what it is and what it wants, Micah sets up a camera which is left on while they try to sleep in their bedroom. The entire film is seen from the perspective of this camera, giving the viewer the impression that they're watching some horrific surveillance video from hell.
I enjoyed the pace as it slowly builds the tension throughout the film and then breaks it with the next even scarier encounter, thus ratcheting up the suspense and terror. I haven't experienced a night at the movies like this in quite a while…it gave me chills and goosebumps, and made the hair on the back of my neck stand-up. Others in the theatre were screaming, laughing, crying and gasping, and there was one guy in the back who every 10 minutes or so cried out for a cigarette.
“Paranormal Activity” is a phenomenal achievement…it’s a really scary movie.
Clark
NOTES: it was filmed in one week for $15,000 and grossed $9.1 million in its first week in the US, breaking the record of highest-grossing weekend ever for a movie playing at less than 200 theaters ( It has grossed as of Nov.1, $84.6 Million dollars !!!!). The director filmed the whole movie in his own home. He got the idea for the movie from a personal experience. Late at night he was sleeping and a box of detergent fell off the shelf. The box was pushed too far back for it to just tilt and fall. AND, guess what….there will be a sequel.
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