Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.
TUBE!
Available on Crackle
and the internet.
I used to love the show "Dinner For Five." Hosted by Jon Favreau, he and four eclectic guests would converge on some Hollywood restaurant after hours under the pretense of discussing independent films. In reality they just all enjoyed a great meal and told stories about weird experiences on movie sets and other show biz stories. I loved it. (It's available to stream on Netflix). To sort of hone this concept to a sharper point, there comes "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee."
This show, hosted by the brilliant Jerry Seinfeld, has Jerry in a different vintage wonderful car every episode, and he picks up a different comedian every episode, and they drive around awhile and then they go get coffee and sometimes breakfast. All the while they are cracking each other up, and we as the audience, also crack up.
There was the episode of Jerry in the vintage Corvette picking up Jimmy Fallon, and after the meal the car battery went dead and it took 45 minutes to get it running again all the while with fans around with the video phones. There was the episode with Patton Oswalt who was sooo excited to ride in the vintage DeLoren, only to get about 20 feet before it broke down. But at least they had coffee and scones.
My favorite episodes so far were the ones with Robert Klein, Sarah Jessica Parker (I know, right?), and Jay Leno. The one with Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks was priceless. As were the episodes with David Letterman, and Don Rickles. There isn't clinker in the bunch. Well, there was the episode with Miranda of Internet fame. And the french comedian. Kinda didn't feel it.
This is a simple concept and I'm sure Seinfeld's agent is having sleepless nights about this low budget, low payday thing, but this is fun stuff. I love this show, project, internet thing....whatever it is. I think it's a break-through idea and deserves serious recognition.
Please please please see some of this if you can. I get it through Crackle. (My wife bought me Roku for Valentine's Day and now Roku is my life.) Crackle isn't just about "Sports Jeopardy" by the way. Also there is an episode where the President of Crackle Dick Corcaran (played by Michael Richards) calls Jerry in his office with an idea to kill Snap and Pop.
I like this sort of format, and I do recommend this simple, pleasurable, fun, relaxing show.
GRADE: A-
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Interstellar
FLIX!
Interstellar is a film that requires a lot out of the audience member. It requires that you have a rudimentary understanding of astrophysics. It requires that you stay focused and do your best to follow it. And it requires the stamina to sit through 3 hours of staying focused and utilizing your rudimentary understanding of astrophysics.
I predict that these factors will lose a majority of viewers. But for the few that can pass that test, I think this film is worth the effort.
It begins sometime in the future. The climate change thing is affected more than we initially thought. The earth's atmosphere is beginning to change and we ultimately will run out of oxygen. It is time to search for another planet like ours that we can colonize.
Act one of this movie happens while Mr. Cooper's daughter complains of a ghost, or weird phenomenon in her bedroom. She is a gifted little girl who has a bedroom that looks like a library. Mr. Cooper is a farmer, and because of conditions - wheat, rice, barley, potatoes...well, the bottom line is that the only thing that can be grown is corn. And soon that will no longer be viable.
There are often dust storms. And the people have kind of learned to cope, at least deal with them. Mr. Cooper's family (deceased wife's father, son, and daughter), routinely keep breathing masks in the car. Cooper (Matthew McCanahey-hey-hey! as all the ladies know him) discovers some validity to his daughters claims and realizes that the dust patterns on her floor are binary code, and he ascertains they are GPS coordinates. They go to the spot and find that they are at a secret government facility planning a launch in search of an planet where upon human life could flourish.
Act two, literally hour two, Cooper is solicited to head the mission to go through the worm hole south-west of Saturn to look for the info predecessors have gained about the planets they've investigated. His daughter begs him not to go. He promises her he will come back. He promises he'll see her again. A lot of drama takes place on these planets, and in one they spend 7 years of Earth time for every hour they spend here, so they need to get in and get out. But nothing's ever that simple.
On the next planet, in between getting messages from home that people have died and that his children have grown up, met others, now have children, etc., they encounter the person sent to this world who reveals that they have been duped. They are never to return. He is a warped person whose over-zealous, and tries to kill Cooper to save what he believes is his mission.
The third act/hour is where is gets weird and really hard to follow. There are a few questions that are never answered but if you just go with it, it maybe kind of works. The bottom line is, Cooper finally gets to see his daughter again. Sadly he's about the same youthful age he was when he left, and she is a very old woman, on her death bed, who gets to say, "I knew I'd see you again." He asks how she knows. She says " My daddy told me so."
My wife kept mumbling in the last hour "I'm lost." I kind of followed it, but honestly, this film asks you to accept a lot that really doesn't add up. Nevertheless, it is one of those movies that will have you thinking about it for 3 days after.
And it will certainly make you pray Republicans at least admit there's a Climate Change (global warming) problem soon. We can still fix this. And I'm glad that "Interstellar" made me think about that.
Grade: B
Interstellar is a film that requires a lot out of the audience member. It requires that you have a rudimentary understanding of astrophysics. It requires that you stay focused and do your best to follow it. And it requires the stamina to sit through 3 hours of staying focused and utilizing your rudimentary understanding of astrophysics.
I predict that these factors will lose a majority of viewers. But for the few that can pass that test, I think this film is worth the effort.
It begins sometime in the future. The climate change thing is affected more than we initially thought. The earth's atmosphere is beginning to change and we ultimately will run out of oxygen. It is time to search for another planet like ours that we can colonize.
Act one of this movie happens while Mr. Cooper's daughter complains of a ghost, or weird phenomenon in her bedroom. She is a gifted little girl who has a bedroom that looks like a library. Mr. Cooper is a farmer, and because of conditions - wheat, rice, barley, potatoes...well, the bottom line is that the only thing that can be grown is corn. And soon that will no longer be viable.
There are often dust storms. And the people have kind of learned to cope, at least deal with them. Mr. Cooper's family (deceased wife's father, son, and daughter), routinely keep breathing masks in the car. Cooper (Matthew McCanahey-hey-hey! as all the ladies know him) discovers some validity to his daughters claims and realizes that the dust patterns on her floor are binary code, and he ascertains they are GPS coordinates. They go to the spot and find that they are at a secret government facility planning a launch in search of an planet where upon human life could flourish.
Act two, literally hour two, Cooper is solicited to head the mission to go through the worm hole south-west of Saturn to look for the info predecessors have gained about the planets they've investigated. His daughter begs him not to go. He promises her he will come back. He promises he'll see her again. A lot of drama takes place on these planets, and in one they spend 7 years of Earth time for every hour they spend here, so they need to get in and get out. But nothing's ever that simple.
On the next planet, in between getting messages from home that people have died and that his children have grown up, met others, now have children, etc., they encounter the person sent to this world who reveals that they have been duped. They are never to return. He is a warped person whose over-zealous, and tries to kill Cooper to save what he believes is his mission.
The third act/hour is where is gets weird and really hard to follow. There are a few questions that are never answered but if you just go with it, it maybe kind of works. The bottom line is, Cooper finally gets to see his daughter again. Sadly he's about the same youthful age he was when he left, and she is a very old woman, on her death bed, who gets to say, "I knew I'd see you again." He asks how she knows. She says " My daddy told me so."
My wife kept mumbling in the last hour "I'm lost." I kind of followed it, but honestly, this film asks you to accept a lot that really doesn't add up. Nevertheless, it is one of those movies that will have you thinking about it for 3 days after.
And it will certainly make you pray Republicans at least admit there's a Climate Change (global warming) problem soon. We can still fix this. And I'm glad that "Interstellar" made me think about that.
Grade: B
The Judge
FLIX!
In a small town in Indiana there is a judge who is not afraid to be harsh with the people who come before his court. He is a staple in his small town, albeit not always well liked.
Far away in Chicago there is a hot-shot lawyer who just happens to be the middle son of this Judge back here in Nowheresville, Indiana.
And then the Judge's wife and the estranged son-hot-shot lawyer's mother dies. The son returns home to attend his mother's funeral and it becomes clear that the Judge and this son are way, way less than close. They are very, very estranged. The can't wait to get this over with and get back to Chicago, but he has just left his wife and they are battling over their daughter and then there is the old girlfriend who owns the local restaurant and has a hot daughter. Yep. There's a lot going on in this movie, but the meat of it is that it appears the Judge went out and got in an accident and killed a local villain. Or was it an accident? And therein lies the meat of this movie.
The Judge is played by the masterful Robert DuVall. The hot shot lawyer son is played by Robert Downey Jr. Both incredibly gifted actors. The prosecutor is played by Billy Bob Thorton. Another gifted talent. Toss in a fine supporting cast and you have all the makings of an interesting piece of movie making. There are scenes that are heart wrenching. Such as when the Judge who is suffering from cancer and can't make it to the bathroom in time and the son forces the old man to let him help. They want to connect. They almost connect. But it never seems to hit.
And then the son's daughter arrives for a visit. And the whole "Grandpa" thing kicks in. But the hot-shot lawyer is still faced with trying to get off a client (his dad, the Judge), who refuses to cooperate, even a little bit. Pride stands in the way. And Billy Bob Thorton is a skilled prosecutor. So that is where the drama really happens.
I have a feeling this film will get some mention at Oscar time. But then again, this time of year we are going to get buried in Oscar fodder. "Selma", and on and on.....
I don't think you can see this anymore in the theater. But go for it on DVD. I think it's worth the time.
B+
In a small town in Indiana there is a judge who is not afraid to be harsh with the people who come before his court. He is a staple in his small town, albeit not always well liked.
Far away in Chicago there is a hot-shot lawyer who just happens to be the middle son of this Judge back here in Nowheresville, Indiana.
And then the Judge's wife and the estranged son-hot-shot lawyer's mother dies. The son returns home to attend his mother's funeral and it becomes clear that the Judge and this son are way, way less than close. They are very, very estranged. The can't wait to get this over with and get back to Chicago, but he has just left his wife and they are battling over their daughter and then there is the old girlfriend who owns the local restaurant and has a hot daughter. Yep. There's a lot going on in this movie, but the meat of it is that it appears the Judge went out and got in an accident and killed a local villain. Or was it an accident? And therein lies the meat of this movie.
The Judge is played by the masterful Robert DuVall. The hot shot lawyer son is played by Robert Downey Jr. Both incredibly gifted actors. The prosecutor is played by Billy Bob Thorton. Another gifted talent. Toss in a fine supporting cast and you have all the makings of an interesting piece of movie making. There are scenes that are heart wrenching. Such as when the Judge who is suffering from cancer and can't make it to the bathroom in time and the son forces the old man to let him help. They want to connect. They almost connect. But it never seems to hit.
And then the son's daughter arrives for a visit. And the whole "Grandpa" thing kicks in. But the hot-shot lawyer is still faced with trying to get off a client (his dad, the Judge), who refuses to cooperate, even a little bit. Pride stands in the way. And Billy Bob Thorton is a skilled prosecutor. So that is where the drama really happens.
I have a feeling this film will get some mention at Oscar time. But then again, this time of year we are going to get buried in Oscar fodder. "Selma", and on and on.....
I don't think you can see this anymore in the theater. But go for it on DVD. I think it's worth the time.
B+
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Friday Night Lights
TUBE!
Friday Night Lights was a TV show that I started watching enthusiastically. Some of my very favorite TV critics rave about this show, and so I started watching with high hopes.
But after a couple of episodes of this hand-held mess (yes, viewer, all they think you're worth is hand-held), I just couldn't take it anymore. It came off in 3 episodes as a kind of soap opera, but because of the low budget hand-held shakiness I gave up. It might be the best of the soap operas critics love (behind Mad Men), but I'll never know. I want more than hand-held trash. Take the Blair Witch Project and shove it. It has no place in serious television.
Friday Night Lights was a TV show that I started watching enthusiastically. Some of my very favorite TV critics rave about this show, and so I started watching with high hopes.
But after a couple of episodes of this hand-held mess (yes, viewer, all they think you're worth is hand-held), I just couldn't take it anymore. It came off in 3 episodes as a kind of soap opera, but because of the low budget hand-held shakiness I gave up. It might be the best of the soap operas critics love (behind Mad Men), but I'll never know. I want more than hand-held trash. Take the Blair Witch Project and shove it. It has no place in serious television.
Saturday, September 6, 2014
The 100 Foot Journey
An Indian Family from Mumbai owned a restaurant that was lost in a fire. They ended up moving to England to start over. But according to the son and cook of the family, they had to leave their home in England's Heathrow flight path, because the vegetables in England have no soul. So they end up in France. And through a mishap, they end up in a small village.
In this village the father, Papa Kadam (played by Om Puri) spots a decrepit old building and has a vision of it being a restaurant. What he soon finds out is that a Michelen 1 star restaurant is across the street, owned by a driven and obsessed owner, Madam Mallory (Helen Mirren). Madam Mallory is disgusted by Indians opening a restaurant across the street. She hates their music and the smell of curry in the air. The two owners declare war on each other, and a lot of trouble ensues. And as you might suspect it is exactly 100 feet from their door to hers.
The "Maison Mumbai" has as it's primary cook (chef actually), son Hassan. One of Madam Mallory's up and coming chefs is a young woman Margurite (Charlottes Le Bon) who first befriended the family when their van broke down...(the aforementioned mishap). Young Hassan can prepare magical meals as he was taught by his mother to not just cook the meals but to feel it and feel the ghosts in those that came before it. Sadly, Mom died in the fire that destroyed the family restaurant in Mumbai.
Eventually to seek peace, and because he yearns to learn about all cooking, Hassan asks to prepare a omelet for Madam Mallory. He has learned that this is how Madam Mallory judges potential chefs. She has him prepare an omelet, and then takes a single bite. She can tell by that single bite whether the chef has what it takes. The problem is that Hassan has had his hands burnt in a vandal set fire, and he cannot hold a utensil. So he instructs Madam Mallory on the exact way to prepare it; how to whip the eggs, how much of each ingredient and so on. Finally as it is ready, Madam Mallory takes that first bite, and in true acting genius, done entirely with the eyes Helen Mirren lets the audience know that this is one of the most extraordinary things she's ever put in her mouth. She ends up - after spending a night sleeping in Maison Mumbai - convincing Papa Kadam to let her help train his son.
He does go to her posh restaurant, and in a year, not only does he get her another Michelin Star, but Papa and Madam Mallory become friends. And of course Chef Hassan is taken to Paris, hired by a 2 star that wants to become a 3 star (which is the top). In the ensuing year, he becomes the star of the Paris cooking world, and achieves great success. But something is missing, and it is mostly Margurite. So Hassan returns to the small village, determined to get the third star there.
This was a light hearted, fun, family-friendly movie that left us feeling good. Papa and Madam Mallory ended up being close friends. Hassan and Margurite acted as if they were on their way to the altar. Both restaurants seemed to have a niche.
This was a great cast directed by Swedish Director Lasse Hallström (Chocolat, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, The Cider House Rules). This movie had a lot of heart, and we had a genuine care about the characters. The bad guys get fired, the good guys get hired and go on to achieve great things, and it all works out in the end.
Disney has embraced the idea of doing Indian friendly movies (The Million Dollar Arm and this to mention a couple) because they understand that the film will do well here, but will be explosive in the huge huge huge Indian market. This wonderful film will probably make more money for Disney there than it will in the good old USA. And that's okay. Indian actors maybe could use more exposure. My wife couldn't get over how handsome Hassan (Manish Dayal) is, and I thought the actress playing his sister Mahira (Farzana Dua Elahe) was a babe beyond belief. Indians are such good looking people after all.
This is a no brainer. Is it The Godfather or Citizen Kane? No. But it is a fun, nice, and entertaining reason to spring for some over-priced popcorn. If you decide to check it out, I can't believe you'd be disappointed.
GRADE: B+
In this village the father, Papa Kadam (played by Om Puri) spots a decrepit old building and has a vision of it being a restaurant. What he soon finds out is that a Michelen 1 star restaurant is across the street, owned by a driven and obsessed owner, Madam Mallory (Helen Mirren). Madam Mallory is disgusted by Indians opening a restaurant across the street. She hates their music and the smell of curry in the air. The two owners declare war on each other, and a lot of trouble ensues. And as you might suspect it is exactly 100 feet from their door to hers.
The "Maison Mumbai" has as it's primary cook (chef actually), son Hassan. One of Madam Mallory's up and coming chefs is a young woman Margurite (Charlottes Le Bon) who first befriended the family when their van broke down...(the aforementioned mishap). Young Hassan can prepare magical meals as he was taught by his mother to not just cook the meals but to feel it and feel the ghosts in those that came before it. Sadly, Mom died in the fire that destroyed the family restaurant in Mumbai.
Eventually to seek peace, and because he yearns to learn about all cooking, Hassan asks to prepare a omelet for Madam Mallory. He has learned that this is how Madam Mallory judges potential chefs. She has him prepare an omelet, and then takes a single bite. She can tell by that single bite whether the chef has what it takes. The problem is that Hassan has had his hands burnt in a vandal set fire, and he cannot hold a utensil. So he instructs Madam Mallory on the exact way to prepare it; how to whip the eggs, how much of each ingredient and so on. Finally as it is ready, Madam Mallory takes that first bite, and in true acting genius, done entirely with the eyes Helen Mirren lets the audience know that this is one of the most extraordinary things she's ever put in her mouth. She ends up - after spending a night sleeping in Maison Mumbai - convincing Papa Kadam to let her help train his son.
He does go to her posh restaurant, and in a year, not only does he get her another Michelin Star, but Papa and Madam Mallory become friends. And of course Chef Hassan is taken to Paris, hired by a 2 star that wants to become a 3 star (which is the top). In the ensuing year, he becomes the star of the Paris cooking world, and achieves great success. But something is missing, and it is mostly Margurite. So Hassan returns to the small village, determined to get the third star there.
This was a light hearted, fun, family-friendly movie that left us feeling good. Papa and Madam Mallory ended up being close friends. Hassan and Margurite acted as if they were on their way to the altar. Both restaurants seemed to have a niche.
This was a great cast directed by Swedish Director Lasse Hallström (Chocolat, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, The Cider House Rules). This movie had a lot of heart, and we had a genuine care about the characters. The bad guys get fired, the good guys get hired and go on to achieve great things, and it all works out in the end.
Disney has embraced the idea of doing Indian friendly movies (The Million Dollar Arm and this to mention a couple) because they understand that the film will do well here, but will be explosive in the huge huge huge Indian market. This wonderful film will probably make more money for Disney there than it will in the good old USA. And that's okay. Indian actors maybe could use more exposure. My wife couldn't get over how handsome Hassan (Manish Dayal) is, and I thought the actress playing his sister Mahira (Farzana Dua Elahe) was a babe beyond belief. Indians are such good looking people after all.
This is a no brainer. Is it The Godfather or Citizen Kane? No. But it is a fun, nice, and entertaining reason to spring for some over-priced popcorn. If you decide to check it out, I can't believe you'd be disappointed.
GRADE: B+
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Get On Up
Okay right from the get-go I have to admit that "A CD of JB" has always been in every vehicle I've owned since who knows when? It is one of 5 discs* I never go anywhere without. So I know this music. I've listened to it a lot. And, I'm proud to say I have the 45's "Please Please Please" and "Try Me" on the Federal Label.
I finally got to see this film, and because-it's-about-a-black-guy-flick, it ain't gonna be in Greenville, Michigan long. And I am grateful for local Cinemas so I attempt to support them when I can.
Okay, time to get down to business. Time to get on the good foot.
"Get On Up" is the James Brown biopic. Chadwick Bodwin is the lead here. Coming off last year's amazing "42" wherein he portrayed Jackie Robinson. ("42" was truly was the best picture of last year, but it was ignored by the Oscars.) Whenever the Oscars get it right, it seems like it's a total accident.
This guy is the real deal. I really hope Chadwick Bodwin gets the credit he deserves. This performance is astounding to say the least. And this starts to beg the question: How many astounding performances is an actor required to turn in before they start to get Denzel/Tom Hanks-like cred? But I digress.
Bodwin turns in one of the most amazing performances I have seen not only this year but in many years. He comes as close as anyone could ever hope to come in capturing the persona of this complex, bigger-than-life, pitiful childhood, Godfather of Soul, Super Funk, innovative genius, confused and at times deluded, hardest working man in show business, mysterious and at times lonely and confused man. And Chadwick had the voice down! The voice alone was incredible.
But this film is not great. Although the lead is great and there are a lot of great elements, this film lacks real cohesion. I know showing a life chronologically is Hollywood is verboten, but I think shooting a end-of-life moment and then going back to tell us the whole life in order would have served this film well.
James Brown would have been an amazing person for surviving his childhood alone. A dirt-poor, beaten, and ultimately abandoned child would have pretty much did a lot of people in. But not this guy. He sustained. He hung in there. He stayed on the good foot.
He busted into a car and stole a suit. He was sentenced to 14 years. Fourteen. (Most white guys now get about a 2-4, if they are chronic offenders). There I go digressing again. Anyhow, by a quirk of fate he meets a guy that gives him a place to parole to, and the story goes from there. (He actually only did about 3 years of his sentence). This guy goes on to be his bandleader and long time compatriot... the guy that always patted him on the back and put the robe on him....
James Brown, James Brown. You had such a complex, bigger-than-life quality, how is any actor supposed to play you? Well this guy did you proud. But this Director didn't. He shot all of the stuff with you as a kid, you in your early career, you in the super-funk era, and you near the end, and this director didn't have a clue what to do with it. He just flipped coins and strung it all together in the most of slipshod methods. The continuity here totally sucked.
I couldn't love this movie. The lack of any sense of continuity killed it from being great. Chadwick Bodwin is fabulous. Some of the supporters too. But even Chadwick's performance can't out-do horrible director choices.
The only thing that keeps me from totally hating this is Chadwick. He has garnered this flick a C+ from me. Mr. Director, you owe a lot to Chadwick. You might actually get another shot because of him, you hack.
Grade: Okay, Okay, A Reluctant B-. You convinced me Chadwick.....but all others, be warned.
I finally got to see this film, and because-it's-about-a-black-guy-flick, it ain't gonna be in Greenville, Michigan long. And I am grateful for local Cinemas so I attempt to support them when I can.
Okay, time to get down to business. Time to get on the good foot.
"Get On Up" is the James Brown biopic. Chadwick Bodwin is the lead here. Coming off last year's amazing "42" wherein he portrayed Jackie Robinson. ("42" was truly was the best picture of last year, but it was ignored by the Oscars.) Whenever the Oscars get it right, it seems like it's a total accident.
This guy is the real deal. I really hope Chadwick Bodwin gets the credit he deserves. This performance is astounding to say the least. And this starts to beg the question: How many astounding performances is an actor required to turn in before they start to get Denzel/Tom Hanks-like cred? But I digress.
Bodwin turns in one of the most amazing performances I have seen not only this year but in many years. He comes as close as anyone could ever hope to come in capturing the persona of this complex, bigger-than-life, pitiful childhood, Godfather of Soul, Super Funk, innovative genius, confused and at times deluded, hardest working man in show business, mysterious and at times lonely and confused man. And Chadwick had the voice down! The voice alone was incredible.
But this film is not great. Although the lead is great and there are a lot of great elements, this film lacks real cohesion. I know showing a life chronologically is Hollywood is verboten, but I think shooting a end-of-life moment and then going back to tell us the whole life in order would have served this film well.
James Brown would have been an amazing person for surviving his childhood alone. A dirt-poor, beaten, and ultimately abandoned child would have pretty much did a lot of people in. But not this guy. He sustained. He hung in there. He stayed on the good foot.
He busted into a car and stole a suit. He was sentenced to 14 years. Fourteen. (Most white guys now get about a 2-4, if they are chronic offenders). There I go digressing again. Anyhow, by a quirk of fate he meets a guy that gives him a place to parole to, and the story goes from there. (He actually only did about 3 years of his sentence). This guy goes on to be his bandleader and long time compatriot... the guy that always patted him on the back and put the robe on him....
James Brown, James Brown. You had such a complex, bigger-than-life quality, how is any actor supposed to play you? Well this guy did you proud. But this Director didn't. He shot all of the stuff with you as a kid, you in your early career, you in the super-funk era, and you near the end, and this director didn't have a clue what to do with it. He just flipped coins and strung it all together in the most of slipshod methods. The continuity here totally sucked.
I couldn't love this movie. The lack of any sense of continuity killed it from being great. Chadwick Bodwin is fabulous. Some of the supporters too. But even Chadwick's performance can't out-do horrible director choices.
The only thing that keeps me from totally hating this is Chadwick. He has garnered this flick a C+ from me. Mr. Director, you owe a lot to Chadwick. You might actually get another shot because of him, you hack.
Grade: Okay, Okay, A Reluctant B-. You convinced me Chadwick.....but all others, be warned.
Sunday, July 13, 2014
TAMMY
FLIX!
I saw this movie shortly after it opened, and I deliberately waited to get a feel of what everyone else, critics included, thought about it. I know what I thought and you're going to see that here, but I wanted to see if I was going to be going along with everyone else or be the lone voice crying in the wilderness. Turns out I'm neither.
What is it about Melissa McCarthy that is so darned lovable? Well for one thing, she's an enormous talent. And before any of you snicker at the use of the word enormous in regard to her, think about how much more of a struggle her career has been for her. As a person that is overweight too, I know how difficult it sometimes is. When you're "fat" your opinion doesn't matter. People don't see you. At the mall, you get looked through, you don't count. When you sit down at a job interview, you'd better be pretty spectacular, because you automatically have to overcome "slob and lazy" whereas other thin interviewees don't. So this has been a struggle that she has somehow overcome. I say Brava, Missy! In Hollywood, thin is an unspoken must.
Like I said, she's still lovable. There is a sincerity in what she does that comes through. But let's get back to TAMMY.
Tammy was written by Melissa McCarthy and her husband Ben Falcone who is also the director on this project. Tammy is a hard working middle class woman who has had to work in a fast food restaurant. One day on her way to work she is in an accident and hits a deer and her head on the windshield. Her car is seriously damaged, but still she somehow gets to work, and comes in with blood still trickling down her forehead. The restaurant manager, usually a person who couldn't be successful in any other environment, calls her in to his office/condiment storage area, to fire her because she's late. She goes home and discovers her husband has cooked a meal for the neighbor woman who he's having an affair with. In a huff, Tammy packs a few things, and enraged, leaves. She goes two doors down to her parents house. One thing leads to another and this turns into a "buddy picture." Tammy somehow agrees to drive her Grandma (Susan Sarandon) to see Niagara Falls. And here we go.
Tammy and Grandma stop somewhere in Louisville, Kentucky and end up in a bar. Grandma likes to hit the bottle. In the course of this, they pick up a couple of guys. Grandma picks up Earl (Gary Cole) and Tammy doesn't really pick up Bobby (Mark Duplass) because it turns out, he is a legit gentleman.
Unfortunately Tammy has to sleep outside of the motel room because Earl and Granny are on the inside of the room. And the story goes from there. They meet up with a lesbian couple and at a party at the lesbian's house, everything comes to a head.
There are those that will dis this movie because "all the best parts were in the trailer." I don't agree.
I liked this movie. It was real. It nailed the life of the middle class in a way that the snobby Hollywood elite will never understand. The whole Tammy character was way over the heads of most Hollywood execs and every other rich-ass movie critic, over 40K a year snob. It's only because they've never been there is that they don't get it. This was great stuff.....okay good stuff.
What can I tell you that was good about this movie? Tammy, Granny, Bobby, Earl, Cheating Husband, Cheating Neighbor, Mother of Tammy (Allison Janney), and lesbian Lenore (Kathy Bates) are all terrific. It's hard to beat terrific. And and a big part of that folks is the direction they were given. Ben Falcone, being a film director is like being a sports coach. When they win, that team was great!, when they lose, the coach was a moron! So you are bound to suffer here.
But why? Why other critics? What was so bad about this? Please enlighten me. Please overcome your weight prejudice for a minute and enlighten me. Did this movie hit it out of the park? Not even close. Did it break new ground and box office records? No. But was it the horrible picture you all described? No.
This was fun and entertaining for however long it ran, and whenever that happens I call that a success. I can't say that about the last three pieces of crap Star Wars pictures all the other critics gratuitously drooled over. And people lined up then to subjected to unabashed marketing. But I digress.
This was not the best comedy I saw this summer, but it wasn't the worst thing ever either. Give Melissa a break fat haters. She's funny. She's talented. She has amazing feel and delivery. And she got Bobby in the end.
Grade: C+
I saw this movie shortly after it opened, and I deliberately waited to get a feel of what everyone else, critics included, thought about it. I know what I thought and you're going to see that here, but I wanted to see if I was going to be going along with everyone else or be the lone voice crying in the wilderness. Turns out I'm neither.
What is it about Melissa McCarthy that is so darned lovable? Well for one thing, she's an enormous talent. And before any of you snicker at the use of the word enormous in regard to her, think about how much more of a struggle her career has been for her. As a person that is overweight too, I know how difficult it sometimes is. When you're "fat" your opinion doesn't matter. People don't see you. At the mall, you get looked through, you don't count. When you sit down at a job interview, you'd better be pretty spectacular, because you automatically have to overcome "slob and lazy" whereas other thin interviewees don't. So this has been a struggle that she has somehow overcome. I say Brava, Missy! In Hollywood, thin is an unspoken must.
Like I said, she's still lovable. There is a sincerity in what she does that comes through. But let's get back to TAMMY.
Tammy was written by Melissa McCarthy and her husband Ben Falcone who is also the director on this project. Tammy is a hard working middle class woman who has had to work in a fast food restaurant. One day on her way to work she is in an accident and hits a deer and her head on the windshield. Her car is seriously damaged, but still she somehow gets to work, and comes in with blood still trickling down her forehead. The restaurant manager, usually a person who couldn't be successful in any other environment, calls her in to his office/condiment storage area, to fire her because she's late. She goes home and discovers her husband has cooked a meal for the neighbor woman who he's having an affair with. In a huff, Tammy packs a few things, and enraged, leaves. She goes two doors down to her parents house. One thing leads to another and this turns into a "buddy picture." Tammy somehow agrees to drive her Grandma (Susan Sarandon) to see Niagara Falls. And here we go.
Tammy and Grandma stop somewhere in Louisville, Kentucky and end up in a bar. Grandma likes to hit the bottle. In the course of this, they pick up a couple of guys. Grandma picks up Earl (Gary Cole) and Tammy doesn't really pick up Bobby (Mark Duplass) because it turns out, he is a legit gentleman.
Unfortunately Tammy has to sleep outside of the motel room because Earl and Granny are on the inside of the room. And the story goes from there. They meet up with a lesbian couple and at a party at the lesbian's house, everything comes to a head.
There are those that will dis this movie because "all the best parts were in the trailer." I don't agree.
I liked this movie. It was real. It nailed the life of the middle class in a way that the snobby Hollywood elite will never understand. The whole Tammy character was way over the heads of most Hollywood execs and every other rich-ass movie critic, over 40K a year snob. It's only because they've never been there is that they don't get it. This was great stuff.....okay good stuff.
What can I tell you that was good about this movie? Tammy, Granny, Bobby, Earl, Cheating Husband, Cheating Neighbor, Mother of Tammy (Allison Janney), and lesbian Lenore (Kathy Bates) are all terrific. It's hard to beat terrific. And and a big part of that folks is the direction they were given. Ben Falcone, being a film director is like being a sports coach. When they win, that team was great!, when they lose, the coach was a moron! So you are bound to suffer here.
But why? Why other critics? What was so bad about this? Please enlighten me. Please overcome your weight prejudice for a minute and enlighten me. Did this movie hit it out of the park? Not even close. Did it break new ground and box office records? No. But was it the horrible picture you all described? No.
This was fun and entertaining for however long it ran, and whenever that happens I call that a success. I can't say that about the last three pieces of crap Star Wars pictures all the other critics gratuitously drooled over. And people lined up then to subjected to unabashed marketing. But I digress.
This was not the best comedy I saw this summer, but it wasn't the worst thing ever either. Give Melissa a break fat haters. She's funny. She's talented. She has amazing feel and delivery. And she got Bobby in the end.
Grade: C+
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