Country Icon bio-pics are nothing new. There have been some really great ones, and Walk The Line comes to mind as maybe the best.
Nothing wrong with Coal Miners Daughter, Ray, or Sweet Dreams either. All with great performances from our stars, some even Oscar worthy and Oscar winning. This has a great performance, but is not quite on par with the aforementioned in an overall movie. And that's a shame. Although, this is good, it could have been way better with just a touch of tweaking.
Tom Hiddleston stars as Hank Williams Sr., and is terrific! Great acting, did his own singing and really dove into the part. Fact is, he is better than the movie. This movie chronicles the wild life of Williams pretty well who died at 29. But there lies the problem. We all knew Williams was a heavy drinker, drug abuser, and overall led an exceptionally unhealthy lifestyle. His womanizing and his problems with his young wife are the focal point here and not his amazing music. And that's the main flaw.
Hank Williams Sr., may be one of the most important songwriters ever. He came prominence in the late 1940's and died in the early 1950's. He was a "country" singer and songwriter, but he was so much more. He was the absolute bridge between the Big Band Era and Rock And Roll (which hadn't happened yet.) Williams changed country music forever and influenced performers for the next 50 years in that genre. He also absolutely laid the ground work for Rock And Roll, as he put a swing and swagger into music in general that had not been heard before. He is honored in both Hall's Of Fame, and should be. His songs are still recorded by people in all formats and is one of the most recorded songwriters ever.
That is really not talked about much here. This movies best scenes far and away are the ones where Williams in on stage singing. They are as good as the ones from Walk The Line. Problem is, there are not enough of them. There is so much placed on his lifestyle and not his music, and that's a huge opportunity missed. Hiddleston is terrific, and it's a shame that they didn't turn him even more loose and let Williams really shine more.
I Saw The Light. This is good. But for the giant that Williams was, this should have been great. He deserved it.
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Monday, April 11, 2016
MOVIE REVIEW - The Boss
The new Melissa McCarthy flick, The Boss only proves more and more she may have done everything funny she is ever going to to on camera.
This is flat out not funny. There are a few scenes of some clever stuff, but they are too few and far between. There are a couple I laughed out loud at, but they can't carry this piece to meal that borders on the terrible, and even walks near the demeaning.
McCarthy plays a character somewhat reminiscent of a Martha Stewart type. She is this incredibly successful business woman that loses everything when she goes to jail for insider-trading. So she has to rebuild her career. She decides that a brownie selling business with the help of a Girl Scout type of civic group is her ticket. And that's about a interesting as this gets.
This then becomes a terrible, awful, gross-you-out fest. There are so many scenes and things seen and heard here that we don't need to see or hear. And to make it worse, they just are not funny. For the exception of a very original scene at the beginning, SHE is not funny. It's just more of the same, only worse than the time before. I liked Spy. The Heat was decent. But Tammy, and Identity Thief were so bad, and this is worse.
This is gross, offensive, and borderline demeaning to women as it goes way out of it's way to make many look as stupid and stereotypical as they can. I know some will say, "It's just a movie." And that's true. But what this really is, is a chance for McCarthy to take a ton of your cash, and give you a product that is so bad, you may wish you had it back after 2 hours.
The Boss. A moment or two, but really, really bad
This is flat out not funny. There are a few scenes of some clever stuff, but they are too few and far between. There are a couple I laughed out loud at, but they can't carry this piece to meal that borders on the terrible, and even walks near the demeaning.
McCarthy plays a character somewhat reminiscent of a Martha Stewart type. She is this incredibly successful business woman that loses everything when she goes to jail for insider-trading. So she has to rebuild her career. She decides that a brownie selling business with the help of a Girl Scout type of civic group is her ticket. And that's about a interesting as this gets.
This then becomes a terrible, awful, gross-you-out fest. There are so many scenes and things seen and heard here that we don't need to see or hear. And to make it worse, they just are not funny. For the exception of a very original scene at the beginning, SHE is not funny. It's just more of the same, only worse than the time before. I liked Spy. The Heat was decent. But Tammy, and Identity Thief were so bad, and this is worse.
This is gross, offensive, and borderline demeaning to women as it goes way out of it's way to make many look as stupid and stereotypical as they can. I know some will say, "It's just a movie." And that's true. But what this really is, is a chance for McCarthy to take a ton of your cash, and give you a product that is so bad, you may wish you had it back after 2 hours.
The Boss. A moment or two, but really, really bad
Sunday, April 3, 2016
MOVIE REVIEW - God's Not Dead 2
The new trend of faith based movies from Hollywood continue to do well at the box office and this will be no exception.
GND2 will find an audience like the first one did. The original had a measly 2 million dollar budget and brought in over 70 million. This will be similar. This movie is the story of a middle school teacher, Grace, Melissa Joan Hart and her mistake of mentioning Jesus in her public school classroom as she answered a students honest question. She is then fired, and is sued in a fictional landmark court case. But this case is based in part, on numerous true cases that are cited country wide at the movies end which gives it credence. Will her faith pull her through?
This is overall an entertaining movie, but that does have its problems same as the first one. The writing isn't the best, some of this is awkwardly edited, and some of the acting is highly questionable. But much of what is not favorable is in the technical movie making and not the movie itself. The story is solid. And it's good to see Hart on the screen.
Melissa Joan Hart is a very likable actress that is always easy to watch on the screen. Regardless of what sometimes swirls around her in her personal life that Hollywood may fall out of favor with, she is always solid on camera. Hart looks like someone you would actually know. That is a rare and good thing in Hollywood these days. Her nice, but everyday looks and ways, makes her very welcoming in this movie. That has served her well since she was a childhood actress from the 1990's. She's natural and easy to relate to, and in this role, and she is perfectly cast. She is completely believable as our embattled teacher.
The returning cast around her is solid again, and some of the new supporting cast around her is adequate as well, which includes Jessie Metcalf, Pat Boone and others. Some will have no interest in this and that's fine. The movies are at their best when there is something for everyone in each auditorium at the movies.
God's Not Dead 2. This is fine, will find an audience and do well. It's easy to watch and there will be more in this series.
GND2 will find an audience like the first one did. The original had a measly 2 million dollar budget and brought in over 70 million. This will be similar. This movie is the story of a middle school teacher, Grace, Melissa Joan Hart and her mistake of mentioning Jesus in her public school classroom as she answered a students honest question. She is then fired, and is sued in a fictional landmark court case. But this case is based in part, on numerous true cases that are cited country wide at the movies end which gives it credence. Will her faith pull her through?
This is overall an entertaining movie, but that does have its problems same as the first one. The writing isn't the best, some of this is awkwardly edited, and some of the acting is highly questionable. But much of what is not favorable is in the technical movie making and not the movie itself. The story is solid. And it's good to see Hart on the screen.
Melissa Joan Hart is a very likable actress that is always easy to watch on the screen. Regardless of what sometimes swirls around her in her personal life that Hollywood may fall out of favor with, she is always solid on camera. Hart looks like someone you would actually know. That is a rare and good thing in Hollywood these days. Her nice, but everyday looks and ways, makes her very welcoming in this movie. That has served her well since she was a childhood actress from the 1990's. She's natural and easy to relate to, and in this role, and she is perfectly cast. She is completely believable as our embattled teacher.
The returning cast around her is solid again, and some of the new supporting cast around her is adequate as well, which includes Jessie Metcalf, Pat Boone and others. Some will have no interest in this and that's fine. The movies are at their best when there is something for everyone in each auditorium at the movies.
God's Not Dead 2. This is fine, will find an audience and do well. It's easy to watch and there will be more in this series.
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
MOVIE REVIEW - Hello, My Name Is Doris
This is a short, little movie, and so will this review be. Because this is a funny little movie you need to go see.
Sally Field stars as quirky Doris Miller of New York City. She is a strange little woman who has lived with her mother her whole life. Doris is about 60ish, and finds herself alone after her mother dies. She lives in Staten Island, and works in New York at a dead end job. Buit she takes an interest in a new man who has been transferred into her office. He is about 25 years younger.
They strike up a friendship, and somehow find common ground to build a friendship. But Doris wants more. She thinks. She strays way out of her comfort zone to make herself available to him in his world. Will this EVER work out? Is she this wonderfully fun strange little woman? Or is she simply lonely and out of her mind? It's close, and she's very fun to get to know.
Sally Field is simply amazing in this wonderfully written role, and gives one of the best performances of her career. This movie has the strength to create this wonderful character, and great characters all around her, but address many of the tougher issues facing many aging people today. This movie has a story to tell, tells it, and moves on. Every single decision in the making of this was a good one. It is so nice to see a drama/comedy that is topical, original and just quirky enough to be completely fresh.
Hello, My Name Is Doris. Simply charming, and great!
Sally Field stars as quirky Doris Miller of New York City. She is a strange little woman who has lived with her mother her whole life. Doris is about 60ish, and finds herself alone after her mother dies. She lives in Staten Island, and works in New York at a dead end job. Buit she takes an interest in a new man who has been transferred into her office. He is about 25 years younger.
They strike up a friendship, and somehow find common ground to build a friendship. But Doris wants more. She thinks. She strays way out of her comfort zone to make herself available to him in his world. Will this EVER work out? Is she this wonderfully fun strange little woman? Or is she simply lonely and out of her mind? It's close, and she's very fun to get to know.
Sally Field is simply amazing in this wonderfully written role, and gives one of the best performances of her career. This movie has the strength to create this wonderful character, and great characters all around her, but address many of the tougher issues facing many aging people today. This movie has a story to tell, tells it, and moves on. Every single decision in the making of this was a good one. It is so nice to see a drama/comedy that is topical, original and just quirky enough to be completely fresh.
Hello, My Name Is Doris. Simply charming, and great!
MOVIE REVIEW - My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2
The first time you hear a real funny joke, you laugh hard, maybe even hysterically. Then second time, you can't recover that huge laugh. That's the problem here.
The original in this franchise was really, really funny. This is not. Wow, the first 30 minutes of this is so bad, it's almost walk-out-able. This is nothing but a series of Greek jokes and cliches that get old right out of the gate. There are some laughs, but mostly this is rehash of stale old hash that once was tasty. The entire original cast is back (which is amazing) since it's been about 15 years. And there is some introducing of some new characters, but it doesn't matter.
Here we go again, a wedding in the family and unlike the first, this is boring and flat. It is stunning to me that the makers of this didn't see all of this coming, and have second thoughts. This basically flopped at the box office, and will slip nquietly into Bad Idea Land, where it will lay motionless harmlessly forever.
MBFGW2 - Same characters, same jokes, same premise, not the same result. Painful at times.
The original in this franchise was really, really funny. This is not. Wow, the first 30 minutes of this is so bad, it's almost walk-out-able. This is nothing but a series of Greek jokes and cliches that get old right out of the gate. There are some laughs, but mostly this is rehash of stale old hash that once was tasty. The entire original cast is back (which is amazing) since it's been about 15 years. And there is some introducing of some new characters, but it doesn't matter.
Here we go again, a wedding in the family and unlike the first, this is boring and flat. It is stunning to me that the makers of this didn't see all of this coming, and have second thoughts. This basically flopped at the box office, and will slip nquietly into Bad Idea Land, where it will lay motionless harmlessly forever.
MBFGW2 - Same characters, same jokes, same premise, not the same result. Painful at times.
Saturday, March 26, 2016
MOVIE REVIEW - Batman V Superman
Interesting movie to review, because fans of these kind of movies and characters love every frame of this movie before they ever walk into the theater.
This movie is being met with not so good reviews, and that is apt. Yes, there are some really cool things about this movie. I am not bothered by Ben Affleck as Batman. Henry Cavill is fine as Superman again. And the supporting cast such as Jessie Eiesenberg, Diane Lane, Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne, and especially Jeremy Irons are among the best things in this movie. It's just a shame they couldn't put the cherry on the sundae.
This movie, for the first two hours cruises along and is pretty entertaining and smart. Then at about the 2 hour mark, they dumb this thing down to about a th grade level, and the whole thing not only becomes silly, but actually LOOKS silly. 50 year old Godzilla movies look today about as silly as this does, only the effects are better here because of technology.
Why? What were they thinking? The final crescendo is so dumb I forgot I was watching the same movie from the hour previous. And Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) is introduced here that is no secret. She's beautiful to be sure. But fighting this possible end of the world battle in virtually no clothes just looked ridiculous, despite her real beauty. This veers so far into the dumb end of the pool it boggles the mind.
This is set up now for more Justice League movies and there will be more. Many more. Hopefully they will keep their thinking caps on till the very end. This CG fest does have some incredible effects and does have some nice angles to it. But overall, this gets worse as the minutes tick by.
Batman V Superman. Proof that even a can't miss idea, can be messed up.
This movie is being met with not so good reviews, and that is apt. Yes, there are some really cool things about this movie. I am not bothered by Ben Affleck as Batman. Henry Cavill is fine as Superman again. And the supporting cast such as Jessie Eiesenberg, Diane Lane, Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne, and especially Jeremy Irons are among the best things in this movie. It's just a shame they couldn't put the cherry on the sundae.
This movie, for the first two hours cruises along and is pretty entertaining and smart. Then at about the 2 hour mark, they dumb this thing down to about a th grade level, and the whole thing not only becomes silly, but actually LOOKS silly. 50 year old Godzilla movies look today about as silly as this does, only the effects are better here because of technology.
Why? What were they thinking? The final crescendo is so dumb I forgot I was watching the same movie from the hour previous. And Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) is introduced here that is no secret. She's beautiful to be sure. But fighting this possible end of the world battle in virtually no clothes just looked ridiculous, despite her real beauty. This veers so far into the dumb end of the pool it boggles the mind.
This is set up now for more Justice League movies and there will be more. Many more. Hopefully they will keep their thinking caps on till the very end. This CG fest does have some incredible effects and does have some nice angles to it. But overall, this gets worse as the minutes tick by.
Batman V Superman. Proof that even a can't miss idea, can be messed up.
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
MOVIE REVIEW - The Bronze
Here comes a small movie that has a ton of local flavor in it, The Bronze.
But a word of caution up front. This movie although a "gymnastics" movie, is a HARD R rated flick. Quite frankly this is a pretty funny, naughty movie that isn't for everyone, as this has tons of highly offensive dialogue, and some crude sight gags as well. But this did make me laugh.
This is the story of Hope. She was a bronze medalist in the 2004 Olympics as a gymnast. She pulled off a miracle much like the real life Kerri Strug did in 1996, but competing with a badly injured foot. Hope is from Amherst, Ohio and was supposed to win the gold that year. So her career ended and she is now years older, and severely bitter about the old says. She hates pretty much everything and everyone. She is back in her hometown and is a completely out of control, horrible to be around narcissist. She is then charged with coaching the next possible Olympic champion, Maggie who is also from Amherst. Will Hope lose her mantle as her little towns "darling?"
This certainly is not a perfect movie, and it will miss the mark with many. The crudeness is hard to take after a while, and does get very old. But this is funny parody at times of the entire gymnastics climate. Haley Lu Richardson is very funny as the overenthusiastic Maggie, and the entire ensemble cast is pretty darn good. This was filmed in Amherst, and that's fun to see, and there is a nice use of an eclectic musical soundtrack. This may be about 15 minutes too long as well, shorter would have been a bit better.
The Bronze. It doesn't medal at all, but does have a nice showing. Being honest, I did see some people walk out, I believe because of the crude and crass. But this does have its moments, and will strike a humor chord with the right audience.
But a word of caution up front. This movie although a "gymnastics" movie, is a HARD R rated flick. Quite frankly this is a pretty funny, naughty movie that isn't for everyone, as this has tons of highly offensive dialogue, and some crude sight gags as well. But this did make me laugh.
This is the story of Hope. She was a bronze medalist in the 2004 Olympics as a gymnast. She pulled off a miracle much like the real life Kerri Strug did in 1996, but competing with a badly injured foot. Hope is from Amherst, Ohio and was supposed to win the gold that year. So her career ended and she is now years older, and severely bitter about the old says. She hates pretty much everything and everyone. She is back in her hometown and is a completely out of control, horrible to be around narcissist. She is then charged with coaching the next possible Olympic champion, Maggie who is also from Amherst. Will Hope lose her mantle as her little towns "darling?"
This certainly is not a perfect movie, and it will miss the mark with many. The crudeness is hard to take after a while, and does get very old. But this is funny parody at times of the entire gymnastics climate. Haley Lu Richardson is very funny as the overenthusiastic Maggie, and the entire ensemble cast is pretty darn good. This was filmed in Amherst, and that's fun to see, and there is a nice use of an eclectic musical soundtrack. This may be about 15 minutes too long as well, shorter would have been a bit better.
The Bronze. It doesn't medal at all, but does have a nice showing. Being honest, I did see some people walk out, I believe because of the crude and crass. But this does have its moments, and will strike a humor chord with the right audience.
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