Movies

Idiocracy is on.

Probably the star studded cast. Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Eli Wallach, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn. Sure I'm missing a few. 

Those westerns where the hero never misses a shot crack me up. My brother & I used to roll with laughter at Clint Eastwood's spaghetti westerns. Ever notice how every shot had the ricochet noise? And how about the moronic bad guy who refused to shoot Clint in the face when he was wearing that metal plate over his chest? 

"Shoot him in the face, Ramon!" 

I was watching Shawshank again for the 20th plus time. I’m not sure there’s a much more perfect movie than that one. Truly a deserted island DVD pick.

GO DODGERS!!!

The Angriest Man in Brooklyn is well represented by Robin Williams in one of his final screen roles before his death later that same year. He lets us know immediately in an opening narration about his hatred of just about everything and everyone while stuck in midtown NY traffic.

He is estranged from both his wife (Melissa Leo) and one son (Hamish Linklater, who elected to become a dancer rather than join pop’s firm following his of graduation from law school). His brother in the firm (an excellent Peter Dinklage) tolerates him to the extent he can.

He had another son that died, but they don’t really explain how or when it occurred. Williams’ character and demeanor is obviously affected by the guilt of this event.

He is on his way to see his doctor (Louis CK in a fairly brief but amusing cameo) and gets stuck with a “fill-in” played by Mila Kunis. His anger toward her is immediate after a fairly lengthy wait to see his real doctor.

He is diagnosed with a brain aneurysm and insists on knowing how much longer he has to live. After several minutes of derision and spite thrown at her directly, she blurts out he only has around 90 minutes to live.

The remainder of the movie involves him trying to make amends to EVERYONE while Ms. Kunis and his family try to track him down following his abrupt departure from the hospital.

Additional cameos by Richard Kind (Mad About You) and James Earl Jones as a stuttering shop owner are both fairly amusing and there are some other funny moments.

But for the most part this is more drama than comedy and a sad reminder of just how tormented Williams was prior to his suicide in 2014. And also just how talented he was to still be able to perform at such a high level, despite the demons and disease that led to his death.

A solid watch and a good 3.5 - 4 stars.

The Family Man - a classic if not somewhat subdued Nick Cage gets a “glimpse” of what his life might have been had he made a different decision earlier on. Teá Leoni, looking very yummy throughout the film, plays “the wife he left behind” to pursue a lucrative and heavily monetary career on Wall Street.

Don Cheadle plays an “angel” Cage meets in a bodega on Christmas Eve who provides him with a chance to see how things would have turned out had he not left his then fiancé Leoni at the airport with the promise to return after a year in London for his training and future job with Merrill Lynch.

After his encounter with Cheadle and upon retiring to his Park Avenue penthouse, he suddenly wakes up in bed the next morning with Leoni and two very young children in New Jersey not having a clue what has happened or how he got there.

He takes the family minivan (a far cry from the Ferrari he normally drives) into the city to find he is not recognized by his doorman and his name replaced on his company directory by another employee.

He spends the rest of the movie trying to get back to his previous bachelor life, but along the way learns what he could have had was just as good, if not better.

I’d be remiss if I did not mention to nearly perfect Lisa Thornhill as his New Jersey flirtatious neighbor. Those eyes, that face, that hair, that body! She’s right up there with Jessica Alba, although I don’t ever remember seeing her in anything else, dammit!

This is a pretty good Christmas dramedy and I have to say I’ve seen it or parts of it over a dozen times. One of those “feel good” flicks. A solid four stars.

GO DODGERS!!!

When all else fails, go to the movie channels.

Paranormal Activity was on over the weekend and while I’m not usually a fan of these types of “ghost / apparition” films or series, I was bored and decided to give it a shot.

It was filmed much in the same manner as the original Blair Witch Project, which I found dreadfully boring until around the last four or five minutes.

Anyway, a young couple move into a new home and find there’s someone or something already living there - a presence, if you will.

They begin setting up a camera to film the events that are making noises on a nightly basis. As the days pass, the entity becomes more bold and agitated.

Things continue to go “bump in the night”, bed sheets appear to show something crawling under them and the ending is about as creepy as I have seen.

I’m getting ready to watch Part II On-Demand. This series has at least two more sequels that I kinda cheated and went to IMDb to get synopsis’ on without reading far enough to spoil the endings.

I give Part I a solid three stars just for the ending alone.

GO DODGERS!!!