Movies I've Seen...
Bad Moms
Equality means having to be in moderately funny vulgar comedies! “Bad Moms” could be the unofficial sequel to “Bridesmaids” just not as funny.
Mila Kunis stars as Amy Mitchell, a wife and mother of two who struggles with maintaining a work life while being the perfect spouse and mother.
When she and her man-child husband split (David Walton, “About a Boy” doing his best Napoleon Dynamite schtick) she finally decides to let the chips fall where they may and checks out of the demands on her through her children’s PTA. This puts her at odds with the PTA president Gwendolyn (Christina Applegate) who expects everyone to fall in line as her minions have (Jada Pinkett Smith and Annie Mumolo).
Amy finds supporters in fellow moms Kiki (Kristen Bell) a mother of four who has no other life but her family and Carla (Kathryn Hahn) a single mother who has checked out of mothering.
Enjoying her newfound freedom, Amy decides to run against Gwendolyn for PTA president in order to inspire other moms to embrace their imperfection.
And maybe find romance along the way with single-dad Jessie (Jay Hernandez>
It’s about as funny as any Seth Rogen or Judd Apatow comedy meaning when the jokes hit they hit and when they don’t there’s nothing worse. Everyone is game in the cast, the only questionable casting is Jada Pinkett Smith who, considering her cache, should have done more than just be the sassy friend of Applegate who cosigns on everything she says. Her dialogue was just, “Tell them, G” or , “Um-hmm”.
It covers all the freewheeling tropes of characters becoming unshackled, partying up a storm and then finding a balance and instead of the balance being found at the end of the film, the film does service the women as mothers and shows that while they hate stress that comes from parenting, they love their children. To cinch this up the end sequence is the cast and their real life mothers talking about how they were at parenting. Christina Applegate’s mother talks about bringing 9-year old Christina to see Al Pacino’s notorious sex thriller “Cruising”.
There was a Q&A with two of the producers, Cathy Schulman and Suzanne Todd.
From the Q&A:
*The film was originally in a bidding war between many studios due to it being a package deal with Judd Apatow and his wife Leslie Mann who would’ve starred . The film went to Paramount, but Todd and her company STX Entertainment kept track of it because they were really wanted the film originally. While at Paramount, Apatow and the studio had “creative differences” and the project left the studio. When STX finally got it Apatow and Mann had departed the project.
*The film was directed by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore who also wrote the screenplay, which is a love letter to their wives. Todd feels that having female directors is important but she felt it was only right to have Lucas and Moore direct their own screenplay in order to fully realize their vision. She commented that she doesn’t think the same courtesy would be extended two female screenwriters who wanted to direct their own screenplay. She feels that since culture is highly influenced by the images we see, she feels that having female stories is as important as having females behind the scenes, so getting women stories out there is paramount.
*She touched on wage disparity between women and said that this production was no different in that the studio wanted to pay Kathryn Hahn less than Kunis, Bell, Applegate and Smith since in their opinions she didn’t have the same popularity. Todd says that she and the other women banded together to ensure Hahn was given equal pay.
*During the Q&A a woman commented that she sees her mother in the characters. That her mother always felt she wasn’t good enough as a mother while her daughter thought she was perfect and wanted to be half the woman/mother she was. One guy who kept waving his hand and they (IMO) were purposely overlooking him because he looked like Santa Claus with a wild hair and beard and I think they were afraid he’d say something crazy. But when he ended up being the only hand up they had to pick him, he only wanted to thank them for the film. He was with his wife and he said she was crying during some scenes because he knows that she struggles with feeling overwhelmed and that she isn’t a good mother and he thinks she’s wonderful and is proud that there is a film that tells women to not be hard on themselves.
The producers said this is why they wanted to get this story out: that many women don’t talk about the struggles, the worries, the stress and they feel as a society we have to let women and girls know it’s okay to not take on too much.
Star Trek Beyond
There was the old adage that the even numbered Star Trek films were better than the odd-numbered one. With the reboot, it’s proven that the new adage is the odd-numbered ones are superior to the even numbered ones.
Seamlessly taking over for JJ Abrams in the director’s chair is Justin Lin (“The Fast and the Furious”)
, with a screenplay by cast member Simon Pegg and Doug Jung (“Banshee”, “Big Love”)
that I think perfectly utilizes the cast as a team ironically when the events of the film spreads them out into separate plotlines.
Three years into their five year mission Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) is feeling restless. He’s yearning to move beyond the same faces he sees everyday aboard the USS Enterprise.
Unbeknownst to him Spock (Zachary Quinto) is also questioning his future with the ship. All of this is put to the backburner when , while at a starbase the crew is dispatched to rescue a stranded ship. The crew realizes that they’ve flown into a trap by Krall (Idris Elba), an alien who feels that civilization has become too comfortable in peace time and wants to create anarchy.
As the Enterprise is attacked the crew jump into emergency pods with Kirk and Checkov (Pine, Anton Yelchin) in one location trying to find the others; Scotty (Simon Pegg) stranded with Jaylah (Sofia Boutella, “Kingsman: The Secret Service”) who managed to escape Krall’s prison
; McCoy and Spock (Karl Urban, Quinto) elsewhere trying to evade Krall’s minions
and Uhuru and Sulu (Zoe Saldana and John Cho) imprisoned and to keep their other crew members alive as they plot to escape Krall’s hold.
I think having Pegg as a writer (he and Jung took over after Roberto Orci, “Transformers”, “Cowboys and Aliens” left the project. Pegg and Jugg wrote a completely new script ) helped properly utilize the other characters. I think everyone has an opinion on who the leads are in “Star Trek” and it’s usually only Kirk, Spock and McCoy. In the films Scotty has been elevated because he’s the comic relief. I think Pegg recognizes he’s a part of an ensemble and wanted everyone to have a part of this film and wanted audiences to know how vital these character s are.
The irony of this being Yelchin’s last role in the Star Trek’verse is that he actually gets more screentime than ever before because he’s paired with Kirk (JJ Abrams who is a producer on the films says that there is no word on how they will proceed with Chekov.
They definitely won’t recast him so it’s either he leaves the Enterprise or he dies off-screen, which will cause confusion because this film acknowledges the Chekov in the Prime!Timeline. Can you exist if you lived to be an old age in the other timeline???)
Lin who is a billion dollar director thanks to his “Fast and Furious” films putting Universal in the black after a time in the red, brings a sleek vision to the film. He didn’t go over-the-top bombastic which is what he had to do with “Fast and the Furious”. Instead of being overtly stylized with lens flares a’la Abrams, it’s more utilitarian yet, not stark as “A Space Odyssey” or “Moon”. He shows the beauty of and in the movement of space. He also tasked Pegg and Jung with giving the film more of the series feel which is evident by the humorous opening scene where Kirk is given an audience with an alien race.
Ghostbusters
This was one of the many in the long line of films that didn’t need to be remade. It’s a shame that misogyny mired this film because people are going to think it tanked due to misogyny when it’s really not a great film. But women deserve to be able to be leads in not-great films since men have that locked down for ages now.
“Ghostbusters “ is a film that wanted to stand on its own but couldn’t resist bending the knee to the legacy of the existing film (which I hated. I only liked the cartoon.) and didn’t use the actors to their strengths.
Paul Feig fought the good fight for his stars and his film
Dr. Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig) is closing in on tenure in a respected career in physics as Columbia University when she finds out from a man seeking help for the apparition at his employment (Ed Begley Jr) that the book on the paranormal that she co-wrote with former best friend Dr. Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy) is being sold by Abby online. Fearing what it would mean for her reputation if her boss Harold Filmore (Charles Dance) found out that she believed in ghosts, she seeks out Abby to have her pull down the book. After telling her that someone sought her out for help, Abby and her coworker Dr. Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon) drags Erin onto their investigation. After witnessing a true paranormal experience and validating their belief in ghosts, Erin, Abby and Jillian team up to go into the business of investigating ghosts. They’re joined by MTA employee Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones) who has witnessed paranormal phenomena
and the four hire dim-witted hunk Kevin (Chris Hemsworth whose character is as dumb as Steve Carrell’s “Anchorman” character Brick Tamland) as their secretary.
As these phenomena become more frequent the scientists realize that it’s the act of a bitter man Rowan North (Neil Casey) who wants to destroy the world by activating paranormal hotspots creating an apocalyptic event. As the scientists try to stop Rowan they’re hampered by the Mayor (Andy Garcia) who doesn’t want the city to realize that ghosts exists.
Because it is a family film absent is McCarthy’s foul-mouth bawdiness and abrasiveness which is a loss. Wiig who was strictly utility on SNL-she can work with anything given to her- isn’t fully formed in this film. Though it’s nice seeing her in a straight comedy versus the dark ones she’s done of late where she’s played the most miserable person living the most miserable life (“The Skeleton Twins”, “Welcome to Me”, “Hateship/Loveship”). McKinnon and Jones’ energy definitely lighten the film in which it’s not the humor that is worthwhile but the effects.
Pretty much everyone from “Ghostbusters” cameos even the late Harold Ramis in form of a bust at Columbia University.
If Ghostbros want to vent about women becoming Ghostbusters they should take it to Bill Murray who refused to do a 3rd one turned out for this.
Absolutely Fabulous
I’m usually against film adaptions of TV series and really, other than to pay for the numerous cameos there is no reason why this needed to be a feature film, but it’s always great to see the gals of AbFab and this film is a natural progression of the series and the characters.
With her cards “broken” and ex-husband Marshall’s (Christopher Ryan) news that he would no longer be able to afford to pay for her house, Edwina (Jennifer Saunders) is in need of financial gain. When her partner-in-crime Patsy (Joanna Lumley) finds out that Kate Moss is ankling her PR person, Edwina plans to get her to hire her thus cementing her footing in the fashion publication world.
When Edwina causes an accident that leaves Kate missing she and Patsy are treated as pariahs. Needing an escape but lacking the funds to do so, they recruit Saffy’s (Julia Sawlha) 13-year old daughter Lola (Indeyarna Donaldson-Holness) and her credit card to fund their trip to find Patsy’s wealthy former love Charlie (Barry Humphries) in hopes she could marry him for his riches.
f
Hot on their tails are Saffy, her boyfriend Nick (Robert Webb) the detective who must see that Edwina is back for her parole hearing,
Lulu and Emma “Baby Spice” Bunton who wants Edwina to do time for not bolstering their careers .
It’s just like a prolonged AbFab ep and if you liked AbFab you’d love the movie. It was so great to see the cast again and everyone looks so good!
Sawalha always looked older than her age so she looks exactly the same and June Whitfield as Edwina’s mother looks remarkable at 90 years of age. The only person who looked markedly different is Christopher Ryan.
The film was just a testament to British talent with cameos by Mark Gatiss (Sherlock. I wonder how he feels when he has to work with material that is not as good as what he writes); Barry Humphries, Celia Imrie,
Graham Norton, Dawn French, Wanda Ventham (mum of Benedict Cumberbatch) Marcia Warren (Vicious) and the script was punched up by Ruby Wax.
And being AbFab it featured a brash, yet loving teasing of fashion and its noticeable figures including Jerry Hall being a good sport and portraying herself as a fawning Chanel name-dropper and Moss herself as a boozy party girl.
The comedy hasn’t changed and there’s a question on if it perhaps should for the times. There were a few transgender jokes that I felt unnecessary and there’s a pivotal Asian character named Huki Muki that is played by a white actress named Janette Tough. Think the fashion character in “The Incredibles” and you haveHuki Muki.
I knew it had a fanbase but I was shocked that so many people turned up for the screening in costume; females and drag queens alike. Getting in a crowded elevator with women wearing colorful Edwina-esque outfits one lamented that there was no LaCroix mention in the film. We all murmured in agreement.
The Suicide Squad
WB/DC comics films is back to go toe-to-toe with its biggest foe: CRITICS. Though the film took a grand pummeling critically and by many a fan, financially it stood its ground. I’m a ride and die DC Comics fan and I definitely agree with some of the assessments against the film and I have some problems with the film of my own, but overall it’s a greatly entertaining film that injects a bit of color in the dark pastiche that has been WB/DC Comics films for some time now.
Belle Reve, the home of the worst of the worst villains in Gotham City and beyond is the unlikeliest place to find reliable heroes but Belle Reve it is when Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) needs human weapons for her secret project Task Force X, a project created in light of the reality that invincible beings such as Superman are making themselves known.
With the assist of her own special ability having weapon in Katana (Karen Fushura) and soldier Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) who hates the idea of working with criminals who are not only untrustworthy but freaks, Waller puts together her Dream Team: Deadshot (Will Smith) an assassin who never misses, Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), as violent as she is insane, Killer Croc (Adewale Akkinouye-Agbage) a metahuman with indestructible skin), the jolly burglar Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), fire-wielding Diablo (Jay Hernandez) and Flag’s girlfriend Dr. June Moone (Cara Delevigne)
who is possessed by an ancient sorceress the Enchantress.
With the promise of a reduced sentence, Waller’s Squad is dropped into action when The Enchantress escapes from under Waller’s control and unleashes a force upon the city leaving Waller and Flag to contend not only with this new entity but the untrustworthy squadron of criminals they put together. As Waller and Flag try to get ahead of the situation, The Joker (Jared Leto) is plotting to rescue girlfriend Harley from Waller’s clutches.
Everyone loves Harley
It was fun-not big fun-but definitely more fun than any DC Comics film property. The casting was key to what made this film better than what it could have been.
Skwad!
Complaints about tone aside (rumor was that there were additional shoots in order to make it lighter and more comedic after the success of “Deadpool”, an account Jai Courtney says is untrue.) the problem with the film lies in the editing. There was an unnecessary call-back scene (think any M. Night Shamalayn film) that was confusing as well as annoying. There was no true score, instead they had a series of needle drops for each character. Example: instead of having one set music or a score in order to introduce the characters, each character had their own song which was tonally jarring.
The biggest complaint is the villain. There are great models turned actors but Delavigne has a long way to go before she becomes one of them. She fares better as Moone as all she has to do is blink and look frightened, but when it comes to being the Big Bad she’s laughingly bad.
It’s not the slam dunk my DC Comics loving heart wanted but it was miles and away better than the post-Nolan’verse DCEU films.
My hands-down favorite character?
El Diablo
The character with the most complete through-line is obviously a character director David Ayer loved the most as a lot of Ayer’s work centers around the Latino community (in a racial draft I’m sure the Latino delegation would adopt Ayers as the Black delegation would adopt Michael Pena because he was in “Friday”). There’s definitely cause for consternation that a Latino superhero character has to be portrayed as a gangbanger, but Hernandez mines the depth of the character and gives humanity and authenticity to the stereotype.
Florence Foster Jenkins
A quaint, yet treacley film that I don’t think reaches the emotional notes that it set out to reach. Meryl Streep, not learning the lesson from “Ricki and the Flash”, once again tackles a singer’s delusion of greatness in this biographical film.
Affluent socialite Florence Foster Jenkins (Streep) delights in the musical theater she created where she performs in shows with the aid of her failed actor husband St. Clair Bayfield (Hugh Grant).
Due to her stature and her philanthropy which cushions her from criticism, Florence believes she is a better singer than she really is. Only person who can see through the veil is her hired pianist Cosmé McMoon (Simon Helberg) who is at once embarrassed for her, and intrigued by her steadfastness.
The film requires no acting stretches for Streep or Grant who have played similar characters throughout their careers. I don’t know how many times Grant has played the sputtering, dismayed foppish type or Streep the fluttering hand, breezy type who plays to the rafters.
Helberg though is impressive as the meek and measured Cosmé. He’s truly skilled at the piano. I especially loved him playing Chopin's Prelude In E Minor.
He had a chance to display his skills on “The Big Bang Theory”
Click to viewGreat turns by theatre actress Nina Arianda (“Venus in Furs”) as the stereotypical, mouthy, brassy, blonde.
It’s an enjoyable enough film but it seems too obvious in its intent to be an award worthy film.
The real Florence Foster Jenkins and her admiring fan
Hell or High Water
The year isn’t done yet but already, for me, the two best films this year has been “The Nice Guys” and this film. Penned by actor Taylor Sheridan (“Sons of Anarchy”) who also wrote “Sicario”, “Hell or High Water” deals with personal toll stemming from the housing crisis in a more subtle, human and effective way than dealt with in “The Big Short” and to an extent, “99 Homes”.
Toby and Tanner Howard (Chris Pine and Ben Foster) embark on robbing banks in order to stave off foreclosure on their family home. Tanner, not too long out of jail is the muscle of the operations while Toby is the brains.
Hot on their heels are Texas Rangers Marcus Hamilton (Jeff Bridges) who is being forced out to pasture and his long-suffering partner Alberto Parker (Gil Birmingham) who have to anticipate where the pair will hit next.
The film is being described as a western and with its backdrop of Texas (despite being filmed in New Mexico) I certainly get that easy reference. But it’s more of a family drama with the backdrop of a heist film and we get to see the emotional impact of poverty and how that despair drives even the good person into being bad things.
I went to a Q&A with the cast and Pine and Foster both say the film is about the language of men in how they deal in the unspoken. So many of the moments between the brothers are done in the unspoken. Hamilton can only communicate fraternally with his partner by cracking xenophobic “jokes”.
A very quiet film which gives Bridges some of his best acting in the last half than he’s had in any films in a good decade.
My poor pictures at the Q&A (bonus some stranger’s head
Nothing too groundbreaking.
*While Pine did socialize with Bridges and Birmingham off-set, he didn’t really get to act opposite Bridges until much later because Pine had to film his “space movie”. He said he was envious of the audience because we got to see it at the Cinerama Dome where classics like “Giant” were screened. He believes at all films have value, so he’s more concerned about the script rather budget or genre, but he really wishes people would see mid to low range budget films in the theater were everyone can commune and “eat popcorn”.
He says he and Foster became close while shooting “The Longest Hours” and that Foster is his “brother from another mother”.
*Foster who was really loquacious at the “3:10 to Yuma” Q&A years ago seems more introspective now. I think he’s following in the footsteps of Ben Whishaw and Jim Broadbent who abhors talking about acting.
*The director David McKenzie strolled out looking like someone from “Duck Dynasty” and I thought, “Cool, an actual southerner directed this.” And then he opened his mouth and tea spilled out. He’s British and was very nervous about being authentic to the piece. He says he wishes the writer Taylor Sheridan was present because he’s an actual southerner.
The cast with McKenzie at the premiere
*Foster praised McKenzie’s hands-off technique that protected the actors, especially from studio interference.
Hands of Stone
A good film but lacks the….wait for it….PUNCH to be a great film.
This biopic about the rise of boxer Roberto Duran (played winningly by knock-out Edgar Ramirez)
yaasssss
Is a bit too quick on its feet in that it tries to rush to get to the bullet points of his life without any true introspection about who he is. As soon as they deal with his surprising win against Sugar Ray Leonard (Usher Raymond) we get his downfall.
As a scrappy youth Roberto had to steal in order to help his family. Realizing he could get money for fighting, he was taken under the tutelage of a local man and soon to promoter Carlos Eleta (Ruben Blades) who seeing the greatness in Durán gets him before famed American trainer Ray Arcel (Robert DeNiro). Edged out of boxing by Mafioso Frankie Carbo (portrayed by the nattily dressed John Turturro), Ray braves their wrath in order to bring Durán to fame.
A force of nature in the ring and a man of excessive delights outside, yet with a true passion and compassion for his native Panama, Durán begins to strain under the pressure from his meteoric rise.
I truly enjoyed the film on it’s own level but I really love it because I feel this is an accessible film for people to discover Edgar Ramirez (cos face it, no one cared about “Point Break” or “Joy”). His Durán is childlike fragility wrapped up in machismo. He can be charming and blistering all at once.
It’s also great to see DeNiro doing respectable work (I get it, “Dirty Grandpa” paid a lot of bills) and it’s a nice symmetry to see DeNiro in a boxing film so long after his portrayal of Jake LaMotta in “Raging Bull”.
Ellen Barkin pops up as DeNiro’s supportive wife Stephanie and Ana de Armas (“Knock Knock”) costars as Durán’s wife Felicidad who has been with him before his rise.
The screening I attended was introduced by Durán, Ramirez and Usher and director,
not my pic
The moderator asked Durán about why he agreed to the film and he explained in Spanish, so while he’s talking my friend is translating for me and I’m watching Ramirez animatedly whisper as he translated for him. Usher and I have to do better!
At Cannes
Now let’s see Dris in action!
War Dogs
Based on the Rolling Stones turned book Arms and Dudes “War Dogs” tells the story of David Packouz (Miles Teller) who reunites with his old friend Efraim Diveroli (Jonah Hill) who is now a successful small weapons dealer due to an initiative that government created that allows small business owners to compete amongst large ones for the same contracts.
Needing money after a failed business venture and expecting a baby with girlfriend Iz (Ana de Armas, “Hands of Stone”, “Knock Knock”) David partners up with Efraim which becomes a path to big money. Eying a large contract that would garner them millions, the duo enters a deal with the shadowy Henry Girard (Bradley Cooper)
which drives them into darker territory in the arms dealing world.
A breezy film, good performances given by Teller and Hill which I would’ve thought putting two annoying actors like that in one movie would be too much to take
Mama, don’t let your babies grow up to be douchebags
(originally Shia LaBeouf and Jesse Eisenberg were attached so being extremely annoying was a go-to character being sought for these roles) but from what I know about the true story it was hard to accept this film as entertainment.
The film treated these two men as if they were wild and crazy guys who lived in excess when the reality is that they were amoral criminals who only thought of their profit margins. It’s glossed over in the film but since their contract was for weapons for US backed foreign military they bought supplies (ammo, Kevlar, etc) that were known to be poor quality, or at least not up to the safety needs of the military. But since it was foreign soldiers they didn’t care about their safety. I wish the film would’ve viewed their actions through that lens. Mark Zuckerberg came off worse in “The Social Network” than Diveroli and Packouz did in this film.
So that’s one thing I took umbrage with this film co-executive produced by Bradley Cooper who I think only looks good when he’s portraying guys with slicked back hair and facial hair Seriously, he should keep the beard and the loan shark look. Every time he was on-screen I kept thinking that when he and Gaga film the ill-advised remake of “A Star is Born” they’ll fall in love and have little Italian-American babies.
Or at the very least Gaga rides his disco stick and they can take artsy post-sex photos like she and Uncle!Werewolf Taylor Kinney did.
Ben-Hur
WB’s decision making process in remaking “Ben-Hur”.
Based more on the novel “Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ” rather than the 1959 Chuck Heston film, “Ben-Hur” this unnecessary, unneeded and unwanted rehash tried to pull a bit of jiggery-pokery by marketing it as a faith based film in order to get a proven audience into the seats but like the old ladies in church say, “I rebuke you, satan Ben-Hur!”
Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston) lives a privileged life with his well-to-do family mother Naomi (Ayelet Zurer, “Daredevil”), sister Simonides (Haluk Bilginer),
father and this adopted Roman brother Messala (Toby Kebbell).
With unrest in Jerusalem due to Caesar’s abuse of the Jewish citizens, the family is divided: Messala wants to fight alongside the Romans, Simonides with the citizens of Jerusalem uprising against the Romans and Ben-Hur nestled in the middle not wanting to take sides. But after his family is accused of treason and imprisoned and Ben-Hur enslaved, Ben-Hur rallies to take revenge on Messala. He has the opportunity to do so when he meets Sheik Ilderim (Morgan Freeman)
who Ben-Hur urges to let him ride his chariot in the races he bets on.
And then there’s a Jesus (Rodrigo Santoro) subplot where He teaches Ben-Hur about forgiveness.
And Pilou Asbæk who played that dickhole Uncle!Greyjoy on “Game of Thrones” plays Pontious Pilate looking all the while like the Danish Michael Shannon.
All this film made me do is want to see Jack Huston play a breezy, playboy detective. His Ben-Hur is so unbothered and laissez faire at the start of the film that I envisioned Russell Brand playing him. It’s a great take on a privileged mindset but so off-kilter with the rest of the film.
Director Timur Bekmambetov is known for his action so it’s of no surprise that the race scenes are impressive.
But that is a very small part of the whole of the film and most definitely not worth the price of admission.
Bridget Jones Baby
Wags should stop focusing on Renee Zellweger’s face and focus on how dreadful this film is. I was amazed that the director Sharon Maguire wasn’t a newbie but had directed “Bridget Jones’ Diary”. The direction is lackluster and the use of stock footage of the worst grade possible-it’s as if the film was dragged across gravel-is a distraction. Cliched and uneven, the cast does their best with what is given to them.
With all of her friends married and with children Bridget (Zellweger) ushers in her 43rd birthday with the help of her freewheeling coworker Miranda (the welcomed breath of fresh air in this film, the MVP of the film IMO Sarah Solemani, “Him and Her”)
who takes her to music fest where she has hooks up with the dashing Jack (Patrick Dempsey).
When circumstances forces Bridget to spend time with her ex Mark Darcy (Firth), the two fall into bed together.
After falling pregnant Bridget decides to tell both men as she decides to wait out her pregnancy to see which man is the father, both of whom want to have a relationship with her.
This is my first foray into “Bridget Jones” so I think fans of the books and previous films will like it more as the supporting cast from the other films do appear.
For a someone just going in and judging it on the merits of the film itself, it’s tries to be topical (lawyer Darcy is representing a band like Pussy Riot; Bridget chastises her mother for her old fashioned views about gays, lesbians and single mothers; Bridget’s new boss is a Millennials who wants to take her hard news show into Buzzfeed territory) but all of these things would’ve served in a film about Bridget navigating her work life as it has evolved versus of stuffing into the baby-daddy drama which on its own is serviceable thanks to a charming Dempsey (who they had shave his chest which is so bizarre seeing as in “Enchanted” -a kids film-it was all there in its hairy glory).
In the “Thanks” during the end credits the director thanks Mark Rylance, Hugh Grant and Richard Curtis-all three who would’ve been welcomed to make this a better film.
Firth’s oldest baby-the 26-year old Will Firth was credited in the film as “Dreadlocked Guy” but apparently he was cut out of the film.
Colin, you are most certainly the father
young!Colin
However, “Bridget Jones’ Baby” is miles better than the trailer for Zellweger’s Hallmark-y movie “The Same Kind of Different as Me” which stars hottie Djimon Honsou
(made to look like Uncle Remus) as a homeless guy who makes Zellweger and Greg Kinnear learn life lessons or something.
It’s as mawkish as that SNL vid “Wishin’ Boot”.
Don’t Breathe
There’s nowhere to go but up with the majority of horror films which rely on the fact that since that the genre only puts out a handful of films a year the studios know that they will get an audience no matter how cheap and amateurish the film is. “Don’t Breathe:” is made on the cheap (filmed in Hungary with a $10 million budget) but director Fede Alvarez (“The Evil Dead” remake) aims for new heights with this home invasion thriller.
Rocky (Jane Levy, “Surburgatory”), Alex (Dylan Minnette, “Scandal”) and Money (Daniel Zovatto, “Revenge”) are three teens hoping to get out of their squalid existence in Detroit by robbing wealthy homes.
When Money is tipped off about an rich old blind man (Stephen Lang, “Avatar”) who lives in an abandoned part of time, he and his friends decide it’s an easy target that will help fund Rocky’s new life away from her drunk/drugged out mother.
But the trio soon become the prey as they’re trapped in the heavily secured house with the blind man who is not against using deadly force to protect his money.
Alvarez employs swooping hand-held shots that make you feel like you’re moving along with the characters-a method that is fresh but also a bit dizzying. His main strength, though is building a nerve-wracking tension that, at times, left me so frustrated because it was so strong that it became unbearable. Which is actually a plus because the film gives an unexpected tautness that is a hallmark of classic filmmakers like Hitchcock and not the standard jump-scares that filmmakers use today in horroe.
With sparse dialogue the only thing that stands out is the tension, the direction and Stephen Lang’s body.
64-year old Stephen “Mr. Steal Your Grandma” Lang
Who knew the buttoned up suit from “Crime Story” would turn beefcake zaddy?
