Author: robbie

Avid movie buff ever since seeing Jaws as a kid. Live and work in Toronto, Ontario.

July 30th, 2015 – Tom Cruise

I watched Going Clear, the Scientology movie last night and as much as I wanted to think about how astounding it all was, I also scratched my head wondering who DOESN’T see the abuse and all the crap around them?    Who doesn’t see videotaped confessions on a regular basis as a basic piece of evidence for later blackmailing.   HELLO!!!?!

Then who doesn’t wonder about Tom Cruise and his association with this multi-billion dollar “church”.  It’s mind boggling the crap, and how phoney they all are – but man, don’t get them upset or them will open up a major can of litigious whoop ass on you!  Still if someone says to me, I want to appoint you a Seaman, and you come and slavishly work on my boat to fix it up, and then get brow-beaten by me as I watch you do it with my horribly bad teeth — I would tell you to stick it where the sun don’t shine!!   Maybe Hollywood IS the best place for the celebrity church.
This was an interesting story and kept my attention.  I am glad that I watched it.   The higher levels of attainment are remarkable in that they turn into Hubbard Sci Fi writing from when he was a kid.   Those penny-per-word stories end up being useful!!
Today I stopped by rogerebert.com and saw the review for the new Mission Impossible movie.
I think that this is a great review!   I am pleased to see the movie got 4 stars.  It is a big screen movie that I will want to see.   I will review once I have seen it.

July 27th, 2015

This week was a catch up on Netflix.  I saw Maze Runner (previously reviewed by you) and then also Mockingjay.   Last night I watched the extended Directors Cut of Amadeus on BluRay.

Maze Runner I started watching this in the thinking I would watch an hour and turn it off before bed, but then watched the entire thing.  It was, as you say, not as disappointing as expected.   The bullying red haired kid I couldn’t get the We’re The Millers scene with the spider out of my head — but never mind.  This was better than I thought and held my attention.   I will not run out for the sequel, and the ending was disappointing with Patricia Clarkson as the Kate Winslet (Divergent) or Donald Sutherland (Hunger Games) acting as the Dictator baddy.
Mockingjay.   OMG was this a waste of time.   I was waiting for something, ANYTHING, to happen here.   If the entire 2 hours will hinge on itty-bitty Pita, then you lose me.    He is just so not important in the grand scheme of things.   Give JLaw some kick ass moments and have her do something.   This and her black hair, are just not it.   BTW, not for a MOMENT do I believe that an arrow shot from the ground (no matter what is on the tip) does it take out two jet fighters.   Yawn!
Amadeus is a fav of mine and in my top 5 list of all time.   I love seeing the creative process and the performances are excellent, least of all Academy Award winner F Murray Abraham.   The extended version on Blu Ray has more scenes added, and a sideline story with Soliari making a pass at Mozart’s wife (Costanza).   There is other dialogue added, and I think the extra scenes added very little.   Mozart sitting with a young student with dogs was unnecessary.  As well as him going back to beg for work.   A great film that did not need the extra scenes.
[Alison warned me about Mockingjay and it being a cash grab – my response]

I had known that you warned me away from Mockingjay.   I watched because it was on NetFlix and sometimes you just can’t say No when when there is NOTHING else to watch.    So I did.  And you were proven absolutely correct.  I really want Pita to take a bullet.   No wee-man like this is worthy of the time and attention paid to him like this guy.    Why risk all those lives to get this dwarf?

I saw Divergent in the theatre and was under-whelmed.   I like Shailene Woodley, from her breakthrough performance in The Descendants as the elder daughter. I like her in longer hair and wish she didn’t have to copy EVERYTHING that JLaw does.   But besides that, the first movie was slow and weak and did not really hold my attention.   Woodley and “Four” (now there’s a truly DUMB name for a potential hero) had no chemistry whatsoever in the first.  All these futuristic movies are blending into each other, from Hunger Games to Maze Runner, to Divergent to Ender’s Game.  There is always some punk kid that civilization, if not the UNIVERSE needs to put our faith into, and adults are all idiots or maniacs focused on running the world as a tyrant.   I am pleased to hear that Part 2 is better.  It HAD to be.   Woodley is a good actress and think that she could carry a film or franchise – JLaw can without a doubt but she was given no material in Mockingjay.  Throw her a flippin’ bone!
I re-watched Man of Steel the other night too.  Still can’t get over the flying penises for putting baddies in a black hole.  In hindsight, just leave them in a cell as the whole planet blows up a few hours later.  Problem solved!!!   No mess for Kal El to clean up either.   And the whole Lois Lane thing drives me bananas!!  Evil alien wants to take care of Kal El, but Oh, just for fun he wants the red haired girl too.   What are you doing?   You ask for her to accompany Supe, and then proceed to ignore her!!!  As she speaks to Supe’s Old Man, and figures out a way (“I can do it!”) to kill the aliens and the ship!   Amazing!!   Ridiculous!!!!
I am watching Weeds, and the ticky tacky episodes.  I like her.  Also like Elizabeth Perkins too!  It is funny, and a poor man’s Breaking Bad, but far less intense.   I am also getting through Season 3 of Home Land.

July 20th, 2015

This weekend ended up being a Minions weekend.   Friday I took youngest son to go and see this movie.   He was excited and interested in seeing what was so popular with his age group.

He enjoyed himself and laughed a few times out loud.   He is one who likes the fart jokes and any other bodily function.   He chose to watch Despicable Me 2 then on the Saturday night.   I can say that level of film deteriorates in this title.
Here we have the affable, side kicks from the first two Despicable movies, who for their part played a quality distraction in the story.   Here they are the whole show.  The challenge with being the whole show, especially when you don’t speak the native language of anyone, is that it is mostly sight gags and Three Stooges humour.   The next major hurdle of course is that the best of these sight gags and humour is shown in the trailers.   So the running joke wears thin after a time.   The main storyline with following a Super Villian (here Sandra Bullock voiced) is that the premise falls flat.  Robbing the Crown Jewels, and more specifically the Crown, doesn’t necessarily make you a monarch.  Nor in fact does following a fable to its logical conclusion.  So then you have an implausible story with unsatisfying results.   The result is a weak film.   Maybe good for a 10yo, but not the adults.

July 13, 2015

I finally saw on Netflix (and in chunks) over the past few days the movie The Drop that you had seen at TIFF.   Can’t say that I was overly impressed with it.    I ended up watching it more to see Tom Hardy and his portrayal.   I saw him in Mad Max, and The Warrior where he played these “strong, silent types” much like more moody Ryan Gosling played in Drive and The Place Beyond the Pines (the latter being totally forgettable).    Also of course as Bane from Batman.

Here I found Hardy hard to hear and understand.    How can he become this mumbling guy with the thicker NY accent when can also play the sharp Brit accent guy from Inception.    The story was a simple one and has been told better by others , and it was predictable.   Dog lovers won’t like the pit bull story put forward, nor am I convinced that two thugs would be so enarmoured with a dog (although it in all likelihood is just an excuse to be difficult and settle and old score!).   Anyway, I couldn’t help but think that James Gandolfini could not be any heavier, as he was still smoking away.   Not a very healthy lifestyle.

June 29th, 2015

This weekend was seeing (and debating on seeing) either Inside Out, the Pixar film being praised as their best in a number of years and Me, Earl and the Dying Girl.   Ultimately the decision was Inside Out.   There was a negative review on rogerebert.com on Dying Girl, which contradicted the Best Film prize from Sundance and the overall positive reviews on rottentomatoes (93%).   Pixar won out.

Inside Out: This was an interesting film and does with animation what would be almost impossible with real actors, and sets.  Sure we could have CGI and green screen work everywhere, but the animation gives free reign to directors and story tellers.   You know the premise, it’s a story about an 11 yo girl (Riley) but the real characters and the emotions that rule her mind Control Room.    Joy, Anger, Fear, Disgust and Sadness work in her head, sometimes at odds with one another.   Riley is generally happy and has some strong core memories and relationships.   This is shaken and challenged when she moves from Minnesota to San Fran.   There is some tremendous psychological discussion here, and elements of the brain.  Abstract thought, dreams, lost memories and being forgotten are all tied in.   There is also a powerful message about happiness and joy, and how even sadness can temper and add to the overall life experience of a person.   It makes one think of your own make up.   Which character rules you?    It was worth the trip to the theatre.   It stays with you.
I re-watched The Intouchables on Saturday night and once again was moved by this movie and the friendship created between these two characters.  It is funny.   But also shows how people can have impact on others.   How getting out of your comfort zone is a good thing and leads to happiness.   One man learns responsibility and helping others, while another to find new joy and realize that he is more than an invalid in a wheelchair.
Starting watching Weeds (season 1) as a new series to catch and liked it.   Mary Louise Parker and Elizabeth Perkins give spunky performances of a widow selling pot to make ends meet.   It is a good social commentary and has some really good writing.    Watched the first three episodes.  It is 7 seasons, so there is much to watch.   I expect the arch to be similar than to Breaking Bad.   Likely just less violent.

June 22nd, 2015 – summer edition

I went and saw Jurassic World on Saturday night in a packed theatre with kids.  This was recommended by my elder son who had already seen it.   He thought that it referenced the older original well, but putting a modern spin on it.   I am thanking him for the recommendation.   I enjoyed it and so did the others who attended.

This is entertainment pure and simple.  You go to see something new and interesting while not thinking too hard.   The dinosaurs look great and the premise continues to build on the overall theme – dinosaurs are genetically designed and people try and control the situation.    Control of course is a myth, and nature “finds a way”.   Here the people try to generate new buzz about the park by introducing new “attractions”.  With corporate sponsorship, they want a bigger, badder monster with more teeth.  So the scientists create a new dinosaur species.   And it’s bad, and intelligent and dominant.   Fast forward and nature runs amok and there is a need to put the genie back in the bottle, after much carnage both on the dinosaur and human side.   This is fun.  There were some great action sequences, and a decent story.   Like Kathleen Turner in Romancing the Stone, Bryce Dallas Howard (Ron’s little girl) looks better as she becomes more sweaty and frazzled.   The littlest little boy has to lose the Justin Bieber haircut as it is simple distracting.   The raptors and Lego’s “most interesting person in the world” (Chris Pratt) is also good.    Worth seeing on a big screen with big sound.
I also watched Warrior with Tom Hardy, and the new Pharoah (Yul Brennar from Exodus).   It was better than expected with a story of a broken family with a recovering Father (Nick Nolte) playing his recovering alcoholic well.   The story is predictable as two brothers enter a tournament for $5 prize against the best MMA fighters.    It kept my attention and the two main characters are interesting.  You do root for them both.  Tom Hardy with Mad Max and Batman under his belt recently, he plays another guy who says very little.  He says a lot with his eyes, but I have yet to find him a role which was as appealing as in Inception.    He was good and charismatic there.  I am glad that I saw this too.  It kept me up when I should have been sleeping.

June 1st, 2015

Two reviews for this week.  The first is a movie from TIFF last year that had a good buzz around it called Nightcrawler with Jake Glyenhaal (or whatever his last name is).   Here he plays a drifter, and thief initially who is looking to find his way.  He is a character and has great charm and street smarts.   This is a movie that shows the power of negotiation and who wields the power.   Early Jake is in a poor position to negotiate and the back and forth dies quickly with the other party entrenched in their position.   Jake smiles it away but rarely lets the deal go.   Later he meets up with Bill Paxton who is roaming the streets of LA in the night and searching out accidents to film and then offer to the highest bidding TV station.   It’s a living.   Jake then gets involved and the story moves along from there.   It kept my attention and even had me cringing at times when you realize what he is doing – and to those around him.   Jake is not a people person, but uses people for his own advancement.   There is social commentary here as well, and what should be put on the news, and how news is gathered.   Like the paparazzi after Diana died, you wonder about the values and those gathering this information for mass consumption.   News is still a business, and it seems that sex and violence all still sell.

I read an interview not that long ago from Laura Dern about her career, and her explaining how her kids could see her in films but that Wild at Heart wouldn’t be one of them.   Not sure whether she is protecting herself of Grandma in this case (Diane Ladd).   Likely Grandma upon viewing.   I had realized that I had not seen this David Lynch film.   I don’t think that I can review as well as Roger himself does:
Basically he calls Lynch out as being not authentic.   I have not been much of a Lynch fan either, and this movie shows me why too.   I think it comes from the frantic and excessive Mother played by Ladd.   She makes very little sense, even when people are trying to put some sense into her.   Cage and young Dern have chemistry, but the ending falls flat and becomes cheesey.   Anyway I cannot recommend.

May 20th 2015 – Long Weekend edition

This past weekend I saw Once, the film.  Earlier in the year I had seen the live play here in Toronto and enjoyed it.   I had been exposed to Once, and the music from the Broadway cast (Tony Award winning) and Steve Kazee and his talent.   I liked the music, and looked forward to seeing both of these.    The musical theatre was alright, but I did not feel the chemistry between the two lead characters.  She was driving him and his talent, but there was not a lot of sharing.   But this is background.

The movie is what started it all.   Done in 2007, by the original artists of the songs.   In the movie, that was minimalistic if there ever has been, you have a simple story told with a handheld camera and production that is downright amateur.   But this story lives and dies with the music and the two leads were very good.   Better than I had expected anyway.   They sang beautifully together and brought these songs to life.    I know the songs well and they were performed well and the voices both very good.   Mom and step-Dad watched as well and without any background they liked the movie.   I agree.   It is worth a viewing.   Some nice scenes in Dublin.  Some thicker accents that can be hard to pick up, but songs that are good.
I have three more episodes in Mad Men.
I have watched three episodes of Turn Season 2.
I have watched episode one, second season of The Fall.
I am reading very positive reviews for Mad Max: Fury Road, and positive feedback from Cannes Film Festival.   Looks like a film to catch, as I have seen all Mad Max movies previously.    I don’t think that Mel could have pulled off this film from the previews that I have seen.
Jurassic World getting pushed quite hard in commercials, and I hope that they don’t screw it up.
The rogerebert.com review of Tomorrowland was positive although more for the spectacle than the story itself (not sure how rides get to be movies, but here is another one).   To me, it’s kind of like video games (like Mario v Luigi and Lara Croft).   Happy viewing!

May 8th 2015

Here is a review from Sietz at ebert.com   Much of this I would agree with:

I had not been to the movies in a theatre in a good long while.   There simply was nothing that I felt compelled to see.   Along came Ex Machina and the reviews being almost universally positive and I thought that I would check it out.   Bonus was that it was a Tuesday and I saw for half price.
This could be a play, as it involves three core characters and it all happens in just a few rooms in a remote house.   The challenge for any theatrical interpretation would be the machina!   The work on the female machine here is excellent, with a partially clad, and partially finished robot that has see through appendages and skull.   Remarkably,and to the film’s premise, you quickly forget that as she interacts with the other male characters.   This is a male/female driven story.   Men who wish to create and be God-like, and look for affirmation of their greatness and the women they keep subservient.   Oscar Isaac (previously discussed with Most Violent Year) looks very different with shaved head and full beard rather than shaved face and 80s hair.    He is very good here once again.   He is the eccentric billionaire inventor and also the guy with deep issues.   Add to this the sensitive everyman played by dude from About Time, and you have an interesting mix.
In the Ebert review I cannot agree with putting this in a double feature with Under the Skin.    I HATED that movie.   Better pairings to me might be Her, where human users fall in love with operating systems.   Until the humans can no longer hold the attention of those systems.   Also Blade Runner too is good with human-like robots who seek extended life, and interact with the humans on the same plain.    This was a thought-provoking film and I enjoyed the performances.   The robot here says a lot with facial gestures and subtle movement.   It’s human but not quite, and it’s acted very well (Alicia Vikander).   I was showed the NY Times listed of summer movies and there were a number of coming features that I will seek out.   Hopefully more movies in the theatre.
I finished Season 1 of Newsroom and really enjoyed it.   Into Season 2.   I caught Season 2 episode 1 of Turn (revolutionary war spy series) which still holds my attention.   Finally I am caught up with Mad Men and need to watch last few episodes.    Netflix took me to episode 6 in this season.    Now Rogers On Demand can fill in the blanks.

April 28th, 2015

This weekend was Hector and the Search for Happiness.   I wonder why it wasn’t the “pursuit” of happiness but never mind.    This was a TIFF film from last Sept which I picked up at the library.   Hector played by Simon Pegg is a psychiatrist in London with the same dreary clientele.   He has a girlfriend (Rosamund Pike) who I will speak of in more detail, but he is going through the motions.   He wants to explore happiness.   Pegg is generally very funny, but here that leaning and skill is little used.   Hector goes on a journey on his own to quite random places.   It becomes a travel log (Singapore?  Nepal?  Africa?  LA?)  There is struggles to make meaning of it all, while doodling on his pad and writing down nice sayings.

Pike had an interesting year last year with the Academy nominated Gone Girl performance where she played a manipulative psycho, and here a 180 turn as a simple and antiseptic girlfriend.   It is a bland performance, but there is not much material to work with.   It would have been better to see more of her.    As it was, she played the role of dutiful girlfriend.
This was given lukewarm reviews at TIFF and I can see why.   Glad I used my tickets on other films.
On second viewing, I am getting a lot more out of Interstellar.   Youngest son wished to watch it this weekend.   It did NOT hold his attention.  I think he was waiting for laser fights, light sabres and stormtroopers.   They did not happen.   For me, rather than trying to figure out the science, and follow the plot, I stuck to the relationship of father and daughter (both Cooper and the Doctors).   As I mentioned earlier, I am also getting much more out of the music and the church organ.  It adds so much, and much more noticeable now.   The blu-ray extra bit with Hans Zimmer was really interesting.    So I am glad that this was purchased.
I have now watched three episodes of Newsroom and have enjoyed it.  I always liked Emily Mortimer, but the star here really is Jeff Daniels, who shouldn’t ever play Dumb and Dumber again.   He is smart, intelligent, brash, bold, and makes mistakes.   The writing is excellent and the opening speech about America Not the Greatest Country and then the on-air Apology for pandering to poor news for ratings were brilliant.   I look forward to more.
Here is the speech: