FLIX!
Kevin James is at it again as Paul Blart, the Mall Cop that somehow in a bumbling way seems to save the day. His inflated sense of importance is part of his charm. I liked the first movie, and when the wife suggested we go see this, I didn't flinch. Kevin James has a way of entertaining one for and hour and a half no matter how mundane the storyline is.
But this is not a mundane storyline. In fact there is a lot to like about it. In the first film Paul saves the day on a Black Friday and gets the girl and apparently they were married. What we didn't get to see is that the marriage lasted nine days, and then she was out of the picture. However that is old history. In this story Paul receives a letter that he has been invited to come to a Mall Security Conference being held in Las Vegas, and since all expenses are paid, he assumes he is the keynote speaker for his heroics five years earlier in his Black Friday heroism.
As part of the convention they arrive and visit the expo where vendors are demonstrating the latest in non-lethal weaponry. There is the gun that sprays marbles all over the floor, or the gun that is an automatic rifle for bean bag ammo. Through the course of trying to check in, Paul has a lot of trouble, so he ends up talking to the hotel manager Davina (Daniella Alonso), and Paul mistakenly believes she is hitting on him and resents it. He then meets the head of hotel security Edwardo Furtillo (Edwardo Verastegis) who puts Paul down for being only a Mall cop.
Meanwhile, while all this is happening to Paul, a very wealthy patron has arrived with his entourage. Vincent (Neal McDonugh) is a high roller who lost a bundle here on his last visit, and secretly is plotting revenge. He and his crew headed by Robinson (DB Woodside) are involved in a intricate plot to swap out all the art in the hotel for duplicates, as they have a wealthy buyer waiting.
I must also mention that while Paul is in attendance he meets up with a crew of other Mall Cops that come from Malls all over America. One even comes from Mall of America. Most notably is Saul Gundermutt, who works at a Mall in Orange, New Jersey. He and his haircut are a stitch. Saul is played by Gary Valentine (who happens to be Kevin James' real life brother.)
Kevin James is once again joined by Ramis Rodriguez who plays his lovely daughter Maya like she did in the first movie. Maya has received news that she's been accepted at UCLA, but Paul has made a big deal out of the fact that without her he'd be all alone. So she is conflicted about telling him about it.
There are many more side stories going on here, and they somehow all seem to intertwine nicely. I love the corniness of Paul eventually by accident actually being the keynote speaker, and his speech says it all about his inflated sense of service to mankind. But it makes Davina fall in love with him.
And when Maya accidentally stumbles into the hands of the bad guys, Paul has to go to work. And this turns into nothing but zany fun.
Is this great cinema? No. Is this great fun? Yes. So if you feel like letting your hair down and just being entertained and laughing a lot for an hour and a half, this is the movie for you. Kevin James is a big man, but he uses his size to his advantage, doing lots of physical sight gags that always make me laugh.
Go escape from it all for 90 minutes. It's fun.
GRADE: B+
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Thursday, April 23, 2015
The Last Man On Earth
TUBE!
FOX
Will Forte stars as Phil Miller, the last man on Earth. He spends his days roaming from town to town but finally decides to stay awhile in Tucson, Arizona. On the off chance there is anyone left on Earth, he paints on a few billboards along the way "Alive in Tucson."
When Phil arrives in Tucson he finds a very nice home on a very wealthy cul-de-sac, and sets up residence filling it with items he as collected around the country. The carpet from the Oval Office bearing the Seal of The President of the United States, several Monets and Picassos, the Ruby Slippers, and on and on. He then goes about his daily life of being totally bored. He has a child-like mind to begin with, so he spends days building the worlds tallest Jenga tower, or donning a suit of armor and letting a tennis ball serving machine pelt him with tennis balls. He gives up on continually filling the toilet tank with water, so he cuts a round hole on the end of the swimming pools diving board and voila! A large toilet.
He creates electricity with generators and is able to watch the Tom Hanks movie "Cast Away" and during it he scoffs at Hanks talking to the volley ball Wilson. Not long afterward he's seen playing pool while all around there are balls of every ilk: volleyball, a basketball, a baseball, a ping-pong ball, and even a badminton birdie, all with faces drawn on, and all with names. He not only talks to them but they in turn somehow give him advice. Oh, and by the way Phil, they make generators that power your house, so you could have running water and the toilet would have worked....just a reminder writers....
Finally after two years of being totally lonely and bored, Phil comes to the conclusion that he can't take it anymore and decides to kill himself. He paints a big target on a boulder and while drinking a lot (which he did a lot of anyway), he puts the pedal to the metal and is speeding towards the boulder. I'm okay with that because these couple episodes were getting tedious and I was about to check out anyway. But while speeding toward his death, Phil glances to his left and hits the brakes, barely stopping before hitting the rock. Off in the distance he sees the smoke from a campfire!
After checking out the fire, Phil discovers a woman! Her name is Carol and she somehow, too, has survived. (There are vague references to "the virus"). So naturally they decide to hang together. Now, Carol is not the least bit attractive, even leaning to the homely side, and she has a nasally squeaky voice. But that's not the worst of it. She's the anal retentive annoying type that still thinks they should stop at stop signs and not park in the handicapped parking spots. All while there is no one else on Earth.
One day she comes to the conclusion that it is their responsibility to re-populate the Earth. Phil is appalled at the notion of sleeping with this woman, and even says "I wouldn't sleep with you if you were, and we know you are, the last woman on Earth" but eventually, finally, reluctantly agrees. But then of course in Carol's world this means they have to get married first. Phil is flabbergasted because really, what's the point? But finally, what the hey, what real difference does it make? They are the last two people on Earth after all. So they get married in their own little ceremony in a Church, her in full Wedding gown, he in a tee shirt and shorts. She then used crayons to draw their wedding pictures because apparently we don't know how to fire up a generator and use a computer to download pictures. Any now they are "married" and Carol loves the sex but Phil is appalled. It ain't good.
One day they are driving along and out of nowhere BAM!! They get hit by another car!! And when the dust clears, out of this car steps an exquisitely beautiful blonde bombshell. Her name is Melissa (played by January Jones, Mrs. Draper to "Mad Men" fans), and this is where it got interesting. I decided to hang with this show.
Phil is so in love with Melissa it hurts, but now he's married and this provides lots of comic opportunities. And Phil is truly a bumbling idiot, not even worthy of Carol, but he tries to woo Melissa, who is put off because he's married to Carol after all. And she would have been put off anyway, because he's a jerk. (This is a guy that likes to paint the walls in his house by feeding full paint cans into a wood chipper). And the plot thickens and thickens and thickens. In very, very funny ways.
I have seen all the episodes available, and encouraged my bride to take a look too. She liked it and binged watched them all. I don't know if this was just a one-season wonder, but it is definitely worth a look. Phil Miller is a one of a kind. Will Forte is an old alum of Saturday Night Live, and has written for lots of shows, and he is very good here. I don't want to say much more about the show, because I don't want to give too much away, but there are lots of funny things going on here.
If you get a chance, check this out. I think you'll enjoy it.
Grade: B
FOX
Will Forte stars as Phil Miller, the last man on Earth. He spends his days roaming from town to town but finally decides to stay awhile in Tucson, Arizona. On the off chance there is anyone left on Earth, he paints on a few billboards along the way "Alive in Tucson."
When Phil arrives in Tucson he finds a very nice home on a very wealthy cul-de-sac, and sets up residence filling it with items he as collected around the country. The carpet from the Oval Office bearing the Seal of The President of the United States, several Monets and Picassos, the Ruby Slippers, and on and on. He then goes about his daily life of being totally bored. He has a child-like mind to begin with, so he spends days building the worlds tallest Jenga tower, or donning a suit of armor and letting a tennis ball serving machine pelt him with tennis balls. He gives up on continually filling the toilet tank with water, so he cuts a round hole on the end of the swimming pools diving board and voila! A large toilet.
He creates electricity with generators and is able to watch the Tom Hanks movie "Cast Away" and during it he scoffs at Hanks talking to the volley ball Wilson. Not long afterward he's seen playing pool while all around there are balls of every ilk: volleyball, a basketball, a baseball, a ping-pong ball, and even a badminton birdie, all with faces drawn on, and all with names. He not only talks to them but they in turn somehow give him advice. Oh, and by the way Phil, they make generators that power your house, so you could have running water and the toilet would have worked....just a reminder writers....
Finally after two years of being totally lonely and bored, Phil comes to the conclusion that he can't take it anymore and decides to kill himself. He paints a big target on a boulder and while drinking a lot (which he did a lot of anyway), he puts the pedal to the metal and is speeding towards the boulder. I'm okay with that because these couple episodes were getting tedious and I was about to check out anyway. But while speeding toward his death, Phil glances to his left and hits the brakes, barely stopping before hitting the rock. Off in the distance he sees the smoke from a campfire!
After checking out the fire, Phil discovers a woman! Her name is Carol and she somehow, too, has survived. (There are vague references to "the virus"). So naturally they decide to hang together. Now, Carol is not the least bit attractive, even leaning to the homely side, and she has a nasally squeaky voice. But that's not the worst of it. She's the anal retentive annoying type that still thinks they should stop at stop signs and not park in the handicapped parking spots. All while there is no one else on Earth.
One day she comes to the conclusion that it is their responsibility to re-populate the Earth. Phil is appalled at the notion of sleeping with this woman, and even says "I wouldn't sleep with you if you were, and we know you are, the last woman on Earth" but eventually, finally, reluctantly agrees. But then of course in Carol's world this means they have to get married first. Phil is flabbergasted because really, what's the point? But finally, what the hey, what real difference does it make? They are the last two people on Earth after all. So they get married in their own little ceremony in a Church, her in full Wedding gown, he in a tee shirt and shorts. She then used crayons to draw their wedding pictures because apparently we don't know how to fire up a generator and use a computer to download pictures. Any now they are "married" and Carol loves the sex but Phil is appalled. It ain't good.
One day they are driving along and out of nowhere BAM!! They get hit by another car!! And when the dust clears, out of this car steps an exquisitely beautiful blonde bombshell. Her name is Melissa (played by January Jones, Mrs. Draper to "Mad Men" fans), and this is where it got interesting. I decided to hang with this show.
Phil is so in love with Melissa it hurts, but now he's married and this provides lots of comic opportunities. And Phil is truly a bumbling idiot, not even worthy of Carol, but he tries to woo Melissa, who is put off because he's married to Carol after all. And she would have been put off anyway, because he's a jerk. (This is a guy that likes to paint the walls in his house by feeding full paint cans into a wood chipper). And the plot thickens and thickens and thickens. In very, very funny ways.
I have seen all the episodes available, and encouraged my bride to take a look too. She liked it and binged watched them all. I don't know if this was just a one-season wonder, but it is definitely worth a look. Phil Miller is a one of a kind. Will Forte is an old alum of Saturday Night Live, and has written for lots of shows, and he is very good here. I don't want to say much more about the show, because I don't want to give too much away, but there are lots of funny things going on here.
If you get a chance, check this out. I think you'll enjoy it.
Grade: B
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Warehouse 13
TUBE!
Warehouse 13 is a Syfy channel original series.
After saving the life of the President in Washington D.C., a pair of Secret Service agents are whisked away against their will to a remote location in South Dakota to a warehouse that houses supernatural objects that the Regents, an authority above an outside any government, have collected over the centuries. Their assignment: To retrieve and secure any lost objects and investigate reports of new ones.
The agents, the male played by Eddie McClintock, and the female played by Joanne Kelly are fun, but still, demonstrate the limited budget of this show. Saul Rubinek as their boss and curator of the warehouse museum, is a veteran, but really, this is not his best work.....
The stories every episode revolve around the agents seeking out and securing for the Warehouse an artifact that is causing mystical mayhem. The US government's philosophy is, that if we can't explain it, let us warehouse it until we can.
This show has a very "X-Files" feel to it, and honestly I only saw one episode of the X-Files, but worms coming out of a guy's mouth left me cold. Still, I am betting my wife will really love this show. It's mystical, and just creepy enough to hold the interest of folks who like this kind of stuff.
So for me, I feel I cannot judge. My wife I truly believe is going to love this. But this just isn't my genre. Does that make it bad? Not necessarily. I wish the budget allowed for more dynamic actors, sure, okay. But these folks are doing the best they can.
So if you liked "The X-Files", give this a try. But based on the limited abilities of the actors and the sometimes convoluted scripts, I cannot give this a good grade.
Grade: B-
and I think that's generous. But that's just me.
My wife might give it an A.
Side Note: My wife didn't like it. She watched a couple episodes and went to other things. So, I think I was being waaaaayyyy generous.
Warehouse 13 is a Syfy channel original series.
After saving the life of the President in Washington D.C., a pair of Secret Service agents are whisked away against their will to a remote location in South Dakota to a warehouse that houses supernatural objects that the Regents, an authority above an outside any government, have collected over the centuries. Their assignment: To retrieve and secure any lost objects and investigate reports of new ones.
The agents, the male played by Eddie McClintock, and the female played by Joanne Kelly are fun, but still, demonstrate the limited budget of this show. Saul Rubinek as their boss and curator of the warehouse museum, is a veteran, but really, this is not his best work.....
The stories every episode revolve around the agents seeking out and securing for the Warehouse an artifact that is causing mystical mayhem. The US government's philosophy is, that if we can't explain it, let us warehouse it until we can.
This show has a very "X-Files" feel to it, and honestly I only saw one episode of the X-Files, but worms coming out of a guy's mouth left me cold. Still, I am betting my wife will really love this show. It's mystical, and just creepy enough to hold the interest of folks who like this kind of stuff.
So for me, I feel I cannot judge. My wife I truly believe is going to love this. But this just isn't my genre. Does that make it bad? Not necessarily. I wish the budget allowed for more dynamic actors, sure, okay. But these folks are doing the best they can.
So if you liked "The X-Files", give this a try. But based on the limited abilities of the actors and the sometimes convoluted scripts, I cannot give this a good grade.
Grade: B-
and I think that's generous. But that's just me.
My wife might give it an A.
Side Note: My wife didn't like it. She watched a couple episodes and went to other things. So, I think I was being waaaaayyyy generous.
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Bosch
TUBE!
amazon.com studios
stream available on amazon plus.
I love the way everybody is jumping into the foray and helping re-invent television. Netflix is creating brilliant TV, not to mention AMC, or FX, only to name a few. Televison has finally become where the real art is happening. It is no longer movies. I think the day when the up-and-comers have to pay their dues by doing features before they can get into TV is on the horizon.
So amazon.com decides to roll the dice. They steal a guy from the cast of CBS's "The Good Wife" and turn him into Harry Bosch, a police detective in Hollywood, CA, who has just been burdened with the skeletal remains of a 12 year old kid in a 20 year old murder, and an active serial killer, all the while standing trial for a good shoot of a serial killer, and getting intimate with a below pay grade underling, and trying to re-establish an estranged relationship with his 15 year old daughter.
Titus Welliver stars as Harry Bosch, the troubled Hollywood Detective who has always been a rouge because he refuses to kiss any ass in the department. He gets saddled with two horrible cases and gets caught up in the intrigue that involves city politics, and department protocol. Thankfully he has a great partner played by "The Wire" alumni Jamie Hector as Detective Jerry Edgar.
There are too many great supporting cast members to mention, but this cast is first class all the way. A stand-out is Jason Gedrick as a villain Raynard Waits. And it was nice to see Veronica Cartwright in a very brave and outstanding performance.
This is a show that Elmore Leonard and maybe even my hero Raymond Chandler would have loved. It was filled with all the right elements. Ten episodes and out. But I really hope we have more coming. I sincerely wish for that.
I loved this show and would recommend this experience highly. It was ten episodes from amazon. Watch it, and encourage others to do that too. Maybe they'll give us more.....
Grade: A-
amazon.com studios
stream available on amazon plus.
I love the way everybody is jumping into the foray and helping re-invent television. Netflix is creating brilliant TV, not to mention AMC, or FX, only to name a few. Televison has finally become where the real art is happening. It is no longer movies. I think the day when the up-and-comers have to pay their dues by doing features before they can get into TV is on the horizon.
So amazon.com decides to roll the dice. They steal a guy from the cast of CBS's "The Good Wife" and turn him into Harry Bosch, a police detective in Hollywood, CA, who has just been burdened with the skeletal remains of a 12 year old kid in a 20 year old murder, and an active serial killer, all the while standing trial for a good shoot of a serial killer, and getting intimate with a below pay grade underling, and trying to re-establish an estranged relationship with his 15 year old daughter.
Titus Welliver stars as Harry Bosch, the troubled Hollywood Detective who has always been a rouge because he refuses to kiss any ass in the department. He gets saddled with two horrible cases and gets caught up in the intrigue that involves city politics, and department protocol. Thankfully he has a great partner played by "The Wire" alumni Jamie Hector as Detective Jerry Edgar.
There are too many great supporting cast members to mention, but this cast is first class all the way. A stand-out is Jason Gedrick as a villain Raynard Waits. And it was nice to see Veronica Cartwright in a very brave and outstanding performance.
This is a show that Elmore Leonard and maybe even my hero Raymond Chandler would have loved. It was filled with all the right elements. Ten episodes and out. But I really hope we have more coming. I sincerely wish for that.
I loved this show and would recommend this experience highly. It was ten episodes from amazon. Watch it, and encourage others to do that too. Maybe they'll give us more.....
Grade: A-
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee
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-
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-
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+
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