1 - middle aged man who hasn’t really grown up yet
Several - zany friends who look to the main character as their leader
1 - hot blond who is grown up but finds herself attracted to childish 30 something with potential
1 - nice old lady who wows us with her coolness
1 - crazy guy who is in competition with the main character
Garnish with several SNL veterans sprinkled in roles throughout
Directions: Provide impetuous for main character to get his act together in some way. Love interest aids him in getting act together and falls in love with him along the way. Throw in some funny stuff along the way and you have a Gilmore/Madison production.
As canned as this setup is, it still works for me. Why mess with a good formula? I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. I thought the zany side characters were all in nice doses and there were a couple of really good scenes, mostly involving the best friend. A lot of the gags are just telegaphed way ahead of time, but maybe this is just comedic foreshadowing? Most of the enjoyment stemmed from how nerdy all of the videogame people were and I guess that was enough to carry the film.
So a guy started documenting an acquaintance as he took over the Roosevelt basketball program several years ago (seven?). In many ways, it seems as though he hit the documentary jack pot. The coach ends up doing some quirky stuff, that is effective. The team gets good. And the team has a couple of players who go through some serious drama. Then it all culminates in the state championship tournament. While some of the things that happen with the Roughriders are unusual, I think that anyone following a high school program for seven years would get some good material. I think there are several women’s teams that have had to deal with pregnancy and innappropriate coach - player contact. So I think this is a nice blow for women’s sports in general, showing some drama and benefits involved in athletics.
As a movie, it was very entertaining. Lots of drama, some humor and some good basketball footage. I don’t give it four stars because the pacing seemed a little bit off to me. Perhaps it is just because it is a documentary, but I felt like the narrative was a bit all over the place. I did leave thinking that the WIAA were jackasses, but I felt unfulfilled regarding sevearl of the other sub plots of the film. And there were parts which I didn’t really need to know about.
I kind of worry about kids who like this movie. It looks pretty nice, but there is death and pain over and over. I had a little trouble buying how easily the bad guy kept infiltrating the kids lives, but got over it. The different settings are all cool looking and teh scenes do come accross as being creative. Kind of a Nightmare before Christmas meets Dr. Seuss sort of thing. Jim Carrey is good, but not enthralling. The kids do a good job of not being annoying, though it does seem like they should react a little more when all these people die. And there are some truly funny parts, I didn’t think they overdid the baby subtitles either. Anyway, entirely watchable with no real bothersome parts and some real entertainment value thown in throughout.
This is the first movie I have seen as part of the Seattle International Film Festival. It is a Spanish film about a teen who gets out of juvy to attend his brother’s wedding. He and his buddy pull all kinds of shenanigans and general trouble-making. It was fun to see street gangs that just beat eachother up with sticks instead of shooting eachother. I also liked how he just seemed to be muddling through his confusing life. No real turning points or dramatic, “aha” moments. The whole group of people seem a little ridiculous and pathetic in their own way.
I can state with a clear conscience that this is the greatest movie I have not seen in its entirety. That is because I had to bring it back to the library so I tried to get it in during my plan period and after school. Sadly, I only got to the point where Fast Eddie agreed to go to Louisville with the professional gambler. I did get to see how he broke the news to his girl, but had to leave to catch a bus (which I missed).
Anyway, who knew that you could get that much tension into a slow black and white with almost no background sounds. I thought that the first big pool game was awesome. “Fats, lets you and me play straight pool for a thousand dollars a game.” And Gleason actually made a smoking ring look cool. Though maybe the idea of a 24 hour pool game is too ridiculous. Can anyone really do that? I only ask this in retrospect and at the time I was just thinking “No way! That guy is awesome!” I also really liked how Eddie talked about Fats. “Those big thick fingers with that smooth stroke”
Throwing a woman into that story could risk being a little pointless, but I thought it was a valuable part of the wound-licking stage of the story. Watching Eddie talk to the gambler about being a loser for some reason reminded me of Million Dollar Baby as it layed out the philosophy of the profession. I was real excited to see more of that guy. I just wish I knew what happened next. I am guessing Eddie built himself back up only to be destroyed again. Poor sucker.
In 1993, Hollywood powerhouses Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton and Keanu Reeves got together with Shakesperean’s Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh to exhibit their acting chops in Much Ado About Nothing. Even Keanu turns out okay in this well turned adaptation. In addition to enjoying the performances, I always find myself admiring Denzel for taking the role. “He just cares about his craft and wants to be in good stuff” I think to myself. Perhaps I am projecting my own prejudices, but it seems like many of the Hollywood types are doing this to show how cool they are rather than do something interesting. Christian Bale and Kevin Kline seem to do all right, but Calista Flockhart and Michelle Pfeiffer seem a little over the top here. They also try to throw in some fancy effects to do all the fairy stuff, but it isn’t quite good enough to look good. Still, there is some good acting and it the writing is pretty tolerable.
I had heard good things about this film and found it a little too much on the vulgar side. While I enjoyed Steve Carrell, the jokes about what he did with all his extra time, and the cute relationship stuff; the way they talked about sex was just a little to crude for my delicate sensabilities.
