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Showing posts with label Ferrari. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ferrari. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Tower Heist

Q: What’s the movie about?

A:  When a group of high-rise employees lose their pension to a Ponzi scheme that one of their tenants got them involved in, they hatch a plan to rob the money back from the white collar criminal.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A:  Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Alan Alda, Matthew Broderick, Casey Affleck, Michael Pena, Gabourey Sidibe, Tea Leoni, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Nina Arianda, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Juan Carlos Hernandez,

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A:  PhotobucketGo!  It doesn't suck.  And at this point, that's good enough for me!

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A:  It's more of a light-hearted heist movie than a comedy, so don't be surprised if you don't laugh as much as you would in another Ben Stiller comedy.  And by another Ben Stiller comedy, I mean Zoolander, because let's be honest, most of the rest of them aren't all that funny.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A:  There's one part where Alan Alda explains why he (as a rich man) matters more than they do (as average incomed people).  That's sad because rich people really think this way, and they're wrong.  The only time they matter anymore than the rest of us is when they're giving their money away for a good cause. 

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A:  No, but speaking of awards, don't you think it's interesting that after the Oscar Awards producer, Brett Ratner, who happens to be the director of this movie made a homophobic slur, that caused him to resign, which caused the host, Eddie Murphy, who happens to be the star of this movie, to drop out, that Brian Grazer, who happens to be the producer of this movie quickly stepped in to replace Brett Ratner as the Producer of the Oscars.  No one has mentioned this, but here's my analysis of why Brian Grazer suddenly decided that he had to take on this thankless job: P.R. emergency.   Grazer, who I'm assuming never really wanted the job of producing the Oscars, is taking a bullet for the team, so that this movie, and his company, Imagine, don't continue to get the bad rap that started when Vince Vaughn had a similar debacle due to what some called a "slur" in the trailer for The Dilemma, and has been followed up with a series of high-profile flops, including Cowboys & Aliens.  Tower Heist is the first Imagine movie in some time to make any money, and Grazer has no choice but to save its face, by tying a positive image to someone involved with the movie (himself).  The happiest news, though, is that he somehow landed the best Oscar host of all time, Billy Crystal.  And by "somehow," I'm sure I mean, "Paying him way more money than anyone has ever been offered to host the Oscars before." (Disclaimer: The above paragraph is all hearsay, made up by me...  But think about it.)

Q: How is the Acting?

A:  Ben Stiller isn't annoying, even one single time.  Eddie Murphy is funny for the first time since Beverly Hills Cop II, and Michael Pena is quickly making his way to the top of my hilarious actors' list.

Q: How is the Directing?

A:  Everyone thinks Brett Ratner is a really funny guy, because he bangs all those chicks on Entourage and looks like an older Jonah Hill, but most of his movies are much more serious than you remember (see: The Family Man.)

Q: How is the story/script?

A:  The script had me wondering how they were gonna pull things off, and even sometimes thinking they were clever in the way they did it.  All that, while being simple enough to make screenwriting look easy-- which is one of the hardest things to do when you're writing a script.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: Tower Heist Trailer

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Monday, September 13, 2010

Heartbreaker (L'arnacoeur)


Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A man (Romain Duris) is hired to break up couples by seducing the woman.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Romain Duris, Vanessa Paradis, Julie Ferrier, Francois Damiens, Helena Noguerra, Andrew Lincoln, Jacques Frantz, Amandine Dewasmes, Jean-Yves Lafesse, Jen-Marie Paris

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: PhotobucketProceed with Caution. This romantic-comedy is France's entry into the Failure to Launch category. Meaning, it's impossible in every way, from the ridiculous premise about a non-existent job, to the cheesy romantic dialogue, that even the most passionate of French women would never fall for. But there's something about it that still manages to charm the pants off of you.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: If dialogue like, "You've awakened me, I feel alive again... But it's too late for me. You, you deserve better than what I can give," doesn't get you laughing, then try to imagine it being said at the end of a first date.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: No, but the fake crying the actors do will make you cringe.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Cutest use of spelling in a title (see original language title). You see, in French, the word for a swindler is "arnaqueur," which is pronounced the same way the French title of this movie would be pronounced if it were a real word. But what they did, instead of spelling it correctly, was to combine the word swindle (arnac) with the word for heart (coeur)-- get it?! He's a heart swindler!!!

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Romain Duris is currently one of the biggest stars in France. I've always enjoyed his movies, but I've never understood why France picked him. He's always reminded me of my first love, who I never found particularly attractive. In this movie, he is regularly referred to as extremely pulchritudinous, and he acts like he knows he's gifted with good-looks. I tried to just go with it, but in the end, the only line that rang true to me was when a bartender asked how a guy like him could end up with a girl like Vanessa Paradis, who in real life is married to Johnny Depp, and is absolutely his equal in the looks department, despite a gap the size of a tooth in between her two front teeth.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Very Hollywood.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: Apparently the original writer, Laurent Zeitoun, got the idea for this story when one of his cousins was gonna marry a jackass, and he joked that they should hire an actor to step in and break them up. While I agree that that is a great way to come up with an original screenplay idea, it's still a terrible idea for a screenplay.

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A: Tonally, this movie is reminiscent of the Audrey Tatou vehicle Priceless (hors de prix). I thought that movie was okay with a few good jokes, but ultimately pretty silly, but other people who saw it and mentioned it to me over the years almost unanimously enjoyed it more than they had expected they would. Because the response to that film turned out so positively, I expect this little French goof to have a similar effect on people.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/heartbreaker-larnacoeur/10026691/trailers

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Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Bedtime Stories

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: Skeeter Bronson (Adam Sandler) babysits his estranged niece and nephew for a week, and the bedtime stories he tells them start coming true.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Adam Sandler, Keri Russell, Guy Pearce, Russell Brand, Richard Griffiths, Teresa Palmer, Lucy Lawless, Courteney Cox, Jonathan Morgan Heit, Laura Ann Kesling, Jonathan Pryce, Nick Swardson, Allen Covert, Carmen Electra, Rob Schneider, Aisha Tyler

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: PhotobucketProceed with Caution. As far as children's fantasies go, this one is rather pleasant. And it's not boring for adults either, so long as those adults don't require too much edge in their entertainment.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Welcome to the softer side of Sandler. But don't worry, Adam Sandler light still comes with a fair amount of jokes that hit.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: The drama in the love story is the one place where the tension isn't quite built up enough to summon much-- well, really, any-- emotion.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Somebody's gonna get slimed! (If you don't know what that means, you're probably older than a Nickelodeon.)

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Nothing too remarkable amongst the human actors, but the computer generated guinea pig with bug eyes is pretty talented.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: With fantasy scenes that range from Greco-Roman Gladiator shows to zero gravity outer space battles, director Adam Shankman gets a chance to show that he can do more with special effects than you'd expect from the director of Bringing Down the House and Cheaper by the Dozen 2. Although the CG shot where the camera POV enters the Roman Colosseum is so vivacious that I almost threw up from the velocity.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: While the bedtime stories told are fantastical, the ways in which they come to life and play out in the real world setting are always very plausible, and that's what makes this film imaginative and clever.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/bedtime-stories/29706/trailers

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