Barney's Version

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: Based on a book by Mordecai Richler, Barney's Version is the story of some guy named Barney (Paul Giamatti), as he partakes in life, loves, and possibly the murder of his best friend. It's a character piece.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Paul Giamatti, Rosamund Pike, Dustin Hoffman, Scott Speedman, Minnie Driver, Bruce Greenwood, Rachelle Lefevre, Saul Rubinek, Mark Addy, Jake Hoffman, Anna Hopkins, Macha Grenon

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. The first two hours are very compelling, even though the final extraneous 20 minutes, meanders around until it became clear that the rest of the movie isn't really about anything either.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Paul Giamatti plays his usual slightly lovable curmudgeon, so there are a fair number of laughs from that, but my favorite humor comes simply from the names of the places. You see, he works at Totally Unnecessary Productions, and drinks at Grumpy's bar. And you even believe these locations are real, because the movie takes place in Canada... Oh, those silly Canadians!

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: The extraneous 20 minutes at the end are pretty sad, but I would've rather just cut that part altogether. Why? Because it's extraneous.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: It's currently in a one week Oscar qualifying release in Los Angeles, so that it can be considered for Academy Awards even though it's really coming out in a month, after it's too late to be considered for 2010. So obviously they think they have something.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Dustin Hoffman is fantabulous. His son, Jake, while much better looking than his father, seems poised to follow in the footsteps of John Ritter's and Tom Hanks' sons, by not even deserving to carry the same last name as a man whose shoes he will never come close to filling. Minnie Driver plays the most annoying character in the world, and yet, this may be the most attractive she's ever looked on screen. (Kristen Bell may want to take some pointers from her.) And Rosamund Pike, when her hair is dyed brown, looks indisputably half-Asian.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Most of the time it is fast-paced and engaging, and then suddenly, in just one or two places, it slips into photographic montages that don't match the style of the rest, and therefore come off like fixes to parts of the film that probably weren't working.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: If you've been reading along with me, you already know my feelings about why biopics rarely work. So what kind of person makes a biopic about a made-up person who's not even real or famous?

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OBd5jPBzOI

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Pirate Radio

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: Back in the 1960s, when British radio only allowed rock n' roll to be played for 1 hour a day, groups of DJ's formed rock stations off the coast of the UK, where they lived and partied together on boats, so they could rock out all day and night, without breaking the law. Over half the population enjoyed listening to these moderately legal radio stations on a regular basis.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Tom Sturridge, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Darby, Nick Frost, Chris O'Dowd, Kenneth Branagh, Jack Davenport, Rhys Ifans, January Jones, Emma Thompson, Tom Wisdom, Sinead Matthews, Ralph Brown, Talulah Riley, Tom Brooke, Ike Hamilton, Will Adamsdale, Katherine Parkinson

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. This is a high energy movie, based around the love of good rock n' roll music, with a lot of ambiance, and almost no st-argh-y.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Jokes there are a' plenty.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: When you watch a bunch of horny men together on a ship for months and years at a time, it quickly becomes clear why pirates obsess on wenches, ale, and walking the plank... They are bored out of their blasted minds!... But that doesn't mean their debauchery won't still make some more high falutin' moralists cry inside.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Best Soundtrack. This thing is wall to wall 60s music. And not the crappy stuff either. The kind that makes you think that for every $100 they spent, $99 of it when to ASCAP.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: I love the Brits... And Philip Seymour Hoffman is good, too. But I feel sorry for Tom Sturridge, because with his pasty white skin, dark hair and cherry red lips, if he'd come along a few years earlier, he could have had Robert Pattinson's career. The good news for old Tom is that Vampire movies seem to be getting more, not less, popular, and it shouldn't be too long before someone puts him in one.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: The directing injects electricity into a so-so script... But mostly, that's because the guy can pick some music. And speaking of electricity, am I the only one who wonders how a ship can sink with all sorts of electrical machinery on it, and no one gets electrocuted as they're wading through the flood waters? Or for that matter, speaking into a wet microphone?

Q: How is the story/script?

A: The script contains little hints of story in it, most of which are gravely underdeveloped (especially the storyline about the government shutting them down, which comes and goes like a ship passing in the sea.) Some of the moderately developed, meatless storylines have set ups and pay offs, but mostly it's a fun character piece about wacky djs taking the piss out of each other. (Please tell me I used that expression right, because it would certainly be the first time I did.)

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/pirate-radio/36833/trailers

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Me and Orson Welles

(Guest Review by Russ)

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A teenager (Zac Efron) is cast in the 1937 Broadway production of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” and comes of age in the shadow of actor/director Orson Welles’ genius.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Zac Efron, Claire Danes, Christian McKay, Ben Chaplin, Eddie Marsan, James Tupper, Zoe Kazan

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. You might try not to pay full price for it. Although, I guess this film could pique the interest of various fans, so here’s a handy guide. Screaming insane tween female Zac Efron fans: stay away and re-watch the High School Musical trilogy on DVD. Forty year-old gay men: sorry, Zac never goes shirtless, re-watch 17 Again. Orson Welles fanatics: it’s an interesting insight into a week of his life, pre-Hollywood filmmaker genius mode. Richard Linklater fans: I don’t know what to tell you, no one gets high in this film and Jack Black is nowhere to be seen.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Yes. The overall tone of the movie is light and there is good wordplay and joke set-ups that pay off with nice chuckles. The funniest revolves around “the Quadruple Space,” but I won’t ruin it for you with an explanation in this review.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: No. And it’s not built for it anyway so don’t hold that against it.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Nothing obvious. But depending on how it plays, a buzz could begin to circle for British stage actor Christian McKay’s portrayal of a young Welles... especially when they realize that he has never acted in a movie before.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: It’s all first rate if not spectacular. Christian McKay steals the show as a 22 year-old Orson Welles putting his budding genius on show. The performance sneaks up on you and builds into something completely authentic. Zac Efron might not blow you away, but there’s no denying his youthful charisma, perfect eyebrows and freakishly long eyelashes. He both naturally seduces and is seduced in a role that doesn’t call for much more than that.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: It’s serviceable and works on the relatively low budget the film was shot on. It doesn’t look cheap, but it doesn’t look expensive either. The period detail is all there, but it’s mostly done in medium and close-up shots, which undercut the grandeur of the period. Otherwise the whole thing skips along at a nice pace and never bores.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: Probably the biggest problem and the main thing holding the film back from a green light. Zac Efron’s character ‘Richard’ is the dual lead with Orson Welles and it’s an unfortunately underwritten part. Its purpose is for us, the viewer, to see Welles’ genius through the eyes of an everyman, but one can’t help wishing that we knew more about Richard and what he wanted out of life and his experience working in the theater. There also isn’t much conflict as Richard easily gets everything he wants up until the very end. There’s nothing glaringly wrong or bad with the movie, but as good as it is, it’s not hard to imagine how it could have been so much better with another script rewrite.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2003567129/

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