Silver Linings Playbook

Year: 2012
Directed By: David O. Russell
Written By: Matthew Quick (novel) David O. Russell (screenplay)

RYAN’S REVIEW

I read recently that this movie was over rated and undeserving of all the awards it amassed. I could not disagree more, if for no other reason than I think the content is important for audiences to understand. The movie comes off a bit different but it reflects what the characters are going through and what they are going through is an increasingly prevalent problem in our society. This day and age more and more people are being diagnosed with mental problems and the answer seems to always be the same. Take this pill or that pill. To the point that we have heavily sedated the person and populous.

In this movie we see that Pat doesn’t want to take his pills because of the way they make him feel. He spends eight months in a mental health facility after a violent incident brings light to an undiagnosed case of bi-polar disorder. He needs those pills and it’s more obvious than ever in the scene when he can’t find his wedding video. Pat prefers different methods in his quest to find a Silver Linings and I think he is on the right track. Keeping to a schedule, staying physically active, and rediscovering who he

is are all great ways in which Pat works to overcome his issues. I think that while medication is necessary we can still all learn something from Pat and get our own lives in order by practicing some of his techniques.

The truth to it is that the way Pat does things are the harder way. Yeah he’s totally unhinged and a little bit crazy but he’s working as hard as a person can to better himself. His ultimate goal is a blinded effort at something unrealistic but it keeps him working to get better. It’s an easy out to simply take pills and forget about what’s really in front of us. So many have problems and it’s just too easy to swallow those problems away with medication. How often would exercise turn things around before it came to medication? Who knows but I like the way Pat does things and I take joy in how his story ends.

This movie was the one that won me over on Jennifer Lawrence. I had stubbornly avoided The Hunger Games, often joking that “I had seen The Running Man before.” I also really didn’t like her portrayal of Mystique in X-Men: First Class. So I hadn’t given her the time of day as an actress but in this movie my opinion changed dramatically. She is fantastic in this movie and I specifically love the scene when she confronts Pat about missing their dance practice and argues with his father. While I still prefer Rebecca Romijn as Mystique I have since watched The Hunger Games and agree that it is a good movie too. I will watch anything that Lawrence does now and I think we have a lot to look forward to from the young actress.

I’ve always loved Robert De Niro but his career has dropped off so much in the last decade or so. He is really quick to do just about anything these days despite his prestige. Yet I think this movie offers one of his finest performances ever. He is so emotionally captivating as Patrizio and proves to be capable of the magic he delivered in his youth. He had terrific chemistry with his costars and I specifically liked his relationship with Jacki Weaver. I think under the direction of David O. Russell that De Niro is as good as he was under the direction of Martin Scorsese.

I used to be such a fan of Chris Tucker, and then he got into the Rush Hour movies and just fell off the map after that. I liked him before his collaborations with Jackie Chan when he was playing parts like we saw in Dead Presidents, Money Talks, or The Fifth Element.  He has a wildly funny personality and showed so much promise in his youth. I caught his stand up routine on Netflix last year and thought it was awful. He didn’t sound funny at all but seemed depressed and desperate instead. In this movie I just think it is cool that he is involved and he has a really funny part the way he just shows up and gets taken away again later.

The article I read recently said that this movie was great but that didn’t make it a good movie to watch. Having just finished it I kinda agree but mostly disagree with the statement. It suggested that the way the movie was shot reflected the feelings of the characters and that it took away from the movie. I feel like it gives you such a better insight into these characters and actually enhances the film. I find this movie to be so uplifting because Pat and Tiffany are such sad characters who manage to overcome so much. When they dance at the end it’s so much fun as a prelude to their moment of understanding when they accept that they are in love with one another.

I think this a a great movie that was well deserving of all it’s awards. David O. Russell has collaborated with many of these actors multiple times now and they obviously work really well together. This is the type of movie that can turn your spirits around and influence you to do things differently. I think it is an excellent movie that is easily worth your time to see.

NEXT MOVIE: The Simpsons Movie (2007)

 

Money Talks

Year: 1997
Directed By: Brett Ratner
Written By: Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow

RYAN’S REVIEW

OK maybe this movie doesn’t belong.  Maybe it’s simply a vehicle to showcase the talents of Chris Tucker. Talents which Brett Ratner would utilize to the max in coming years.  I love Chris Tucker, I didn’t watch all the Rush Hour movies because I had seen this one and it was enough.  The guy does a mean Michael Jackson impression; his Tony Montana is good as well but I find that one too stereotypical.  This movie was part of the family movie collection I grew up with so that’s the main reason we own it.  I don’t know if my parents would ever admit it or not but they loved Chris Tucker.  Even Friday sat on the shelf and it was probably the most out of place movie in the family collection. Chris Tucker has fallen out of the spotlight for a long time now but he had a significant role in Silver Lining Playbook so hopefully he is in the early stages of a comeback.

Is it necessary to discuss anything beyond Chris Tucker in this film? 1997 was not a time when Charlie Sheen was “winning” and when you look at his performance in this film you can understand why.  Heather Locklear has never been more than a pretty face.  Paul Sorvino is boss in everything he does but there is only so much he can do to enhance the film.  This film starts and stops with Chris Tucker and that’s all good because Tucker was quite the character in his time. What I love about this movie is it’s more Raw than the family friendly Rush Hour movies ever could have been.  I love the unfiltered version of Tucker in his element.  I thought his performance in The Fifth Element was specifically impressive and I am a loyal fan of whatever he is doing, excluding the Rush Hour movies.

This film reminds me so much of the nineties.  It seemed like the time for movies with lots of language and action with unnecessary explosions. Maybe movies like this are still being made only I just don’t watch them anymore.  I’ve mentioned it many times throughout this blog but it is the type of film I grew up watching.  I like this one by comparison too.  It’s all about Chris Tucker because it’s his humor and personality that drive the film.  The way I see them most of these films were the same.  At the end of the day the only difference was who played the lead role and how many bad guys he killed.  This is different from that as Tucker isn’t a badass killing all the bad guys but I think it still fits in with that same type of film. This has all the witty dialogue of a Shane Black film, enough fire power to compete with any Stallone or Schwarzenegger film, and a car chase with a classic automobile to boot. It works, while not Die Hard–esque enough, it still fits with that genre of action films we saw in the 80s and 90s.  That time back before mainstream internet use and before we were accessible at all times by way of cell phone.

This is a fun movie and I have enjoyed watching it again.  It’s an easily forgettable film but if you ever get a chance to see it you should give it your attention.  It is worth your time to see because it is fun.  It’s not suitable for your kids to watch but if your looking for something to kill an evening on your own with you can’t go wrong watching this one.  Chris Tucker makes the most of his opportunity and everyone else does just well enough to keep everything moving along smoothly. Under most circumstances I will tell you not to waste your time with anything made by Brett Ratner but this is a rare, possibly only, exception.  This Ratner film is worth your time to see.

AMBER’S REVIEW

I have seen this movie so many times, but in different pieces as it use to play on television all the time. We all know how stations like TBS get a hold of one movie and play it over and over and over again. This is a silly movie, but is ultimately funny and easy to watch. It is definitely one of those movies that you can watch and do something else, if just for some background comedy. I don’t really know anyone who hasn’t at least seen parts of this flick.

Well, it’s a movie poster. I guess the personalities of the characters come through in this poster. And if you didn’t know what money looks like, they illustrate it for you. The typography is red and yellow. RED AND YELLOW. Maybe it’s because anything retail makes my eye twitch. This title even has a drop shadow, so do the typography of the actor names. I think it is quite obvious that I do not like this poster. Not at all. Too staged and too retail-looking. Not a fan. Definitely not the comedic print piece to accompany this comedy.

NEXT MOVIE: Monster’s Ball (2001)

Jackie Brown

Year: 1997
Directed By: Quentin Tarantino
Written By: Quentin Tarantino (screenplay) Elmore Leonard (book)

RYAN’S REVIEW

This was actually the first Tarantino film I ever saw when I watched it in the theater at 13 years old. It would actually be years before I would know either Tarantino or Samuel L Jackson by name but I swear that they spoke to me with this film.  Even to this day I can’t pinpoint what it was that drew me to this movie or what it was that I liked so much about it but something here fascinated me.  I thought Jackson was so smooth and devious as the main criminal and it may have been the role that initially made me fall in love with him as an actor.  It wasn’t just Jackson though, the whole movie seemed to draw me in and I saw it a couple times in the theater.  I was too young to understand the art behind film making when I was 13. Looking back now I find it interesting that this movie, made by a true artist, took hold of my premature imagination and managed to absorb my full attention even though plenty of the film went over my head.

This movie is based off a book by Elmore Leonard called Rum Punch that Tarantino acquired the rights to back in the 90’s. Tarantino wrote the screenplay and did a great job with it but from what I understand he more or less stayed true to the story and followed the book closely. I think it is a great movie and have since it first caught my eye over fifteen years ago. It’s not Tarantino’s best film but only because the competition is so steep.  I think Tarantino experienced a significant slump in his career following this movie.  Until 2005 when he blew me away with Inglourious Basterds I had considered this the last good movie he had made.  To the best of my knowledge this was Tarantino’s last collaboration with Roger Avary and until Basterds and then Django Unchained turned out to be so incredible I had given up hope on him as a director.  Tarantino’s greatest work for a long time came while he was working with Avary.  Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, and this movie were all done in collaboration with Avary and they were all incredible films.  During the seven years between this movie and Inglourious Basterds I began to think that he wouldn’t succeed without Avary.  I will admit now that he can and will.  His last two films, Basterds and Django Unchained, were incredible films and prove Tarantino can do it all on his own.

Like most Tarantino movies this one sports an incredible cast.  It revived the career of Pam Grier who took on the lead role.  Tarantino had long been a fan of Pam Grier movies and specifically changed the lead role of the story so he could cast Grier in the part.  I think she did a terrific job and looked incredible doing it.  As great as she did though, I happen to think the greatest role was played by Jackson.  He thrives in the roles he gets from Tarantino and he did great with the largest he has had in any of his films.  As Ordell he was so calm, cool, and collected that he entranced me as a new teenager figuring out what it was that really made movies great.  Jackson has played many great characters over the years. Literally doing everything from Star Wars to Snakes on a Plane. He is a tireless actor who has left his mark on the industry by making more movies than any other actor out there and being really good at it. I like that Robert De Niro was part of this film but I don’t really think that he fit his role all that well.  De Niro was still a headliner at this time and I don’t think this side role was right for him; it didn’t suit him very well.  Michael Keaton on the other hand did a great job in a supporting role and I was happy to see him playing a part.  I have always been a fan of Keaton and liked his collaboration with Tarantino.  There has always been a big fuss over the role Robert Forster played but I have never seen what he did that was so significant.  He was nominated for the Academy Award for the part and I don’t think he did a bad job, I liked his role I just don’t think it was anything special.  Bridget Fonda does well enough in the role that she had but all she had to do was look good and tanned.  Truth be told I think the part could have been cast better despite that but Fonda sufficed.  Last but not least Chris Tucker can’t go without mention.  His part was small but he still played a significant part.  Also worth mentioning is Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister who has a small part.  My wife and I actually met him in Las Vegas this past October.  She had her picture taken with him and I shook his hand.  He is an incredibly intimidating man both on screen and in real life but he was really courteous to my wife. 

The biggest problem with this movie is that it really runs far too long.  Somehow is seems to be a great movie without really being any good.  That’s a strange thing to say but it is the best way I can think to describe the movie. There are too many long scenes simply honoring the soundtrack of the movie. Tarantino has said this movie wasn’t a play on blaxploitation but it seems like that kind of throw back to me. He is obviously a fan of that genre as he specifically cast Pam Grier in the lead role.  I read that when she came to his office to read for the part he actually had posters from her films hanging on the wall in his office.  She assumed he had done this for her but said that they always hung on his walls in there.  Between that and the music choices for the film I do feel he was referencing the old blaxploitation films but I am no one to argue with what the director specifically said it wasn’t.

One thing I did notice while watching the movie and would like to point out was something Samuel L Jackson said during the film.  In one scene he is sitting across from Robert Forster in his office when he points to a picture of Tiny Lister and asks, “Whose that Mandingo motherfucker right there?” I found the phrase to be interesting specifically because Tarantino’s most recent film Django features and practically focuses on Mandingo fighting during slave times.

In closing I will simply say that this is not my favorite Tarantino movie but it is one that I like and will always have a special sentiment for.  I like the cast, I like the story, and I like the direction.  Given how incredibly successful Tarantino has become in the last few years I look forward what else he has to offer in the future. This may not be his best movie but it isn’t one of his bad ones and that makes it absolutely worth your time.

AMBER’S REVIEW

I don’t mind this movie. I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it either.

This poster follows in the true Tarantino style. He has a very unique look to each and every poster for his films. I can always tell immediately who they belong to. I love this poster. It is simple and to the point. The fact that she is holding a gun alludes to the genre of the movie. The font of Jackie Brown is a little decorative for my taste, but I think it works here. Especially for the era.

NEXT MOVIE: Jaws (1975)

Dead Presidents

Year: 1995
Directed By: Albert and Allen Hughes
Written By: Albert and Allen Hughes

RYAN’S REVIEW

This movie screamed out to us over the weekend from one of those convenient $5.00 movie bends Wal-Mart sticks all over the store these days.  Honestly I was just happy to find a movie I wanted. We own so many movies now that something that used to be so much fun often ends in disappointment now. I used to love looking through the media section of Wal-Mart and find DVDs at a good price I could add into the collection.  These days the only movies we buy are the new ones though and we hardly ever come across an older movie we both want.  I had seen this movie after it came out when I was much younger and always liked it.  Amber had never seen it before but had always wanted to see it so the decision was made.  Having re-watched it now with much more mature eyes I am really glad we decided to add it into the collection.

I was about 12 years old when I saw this movie for the first time and admittedly, there was plenty I wasn’t old enough to understand.  In all honesty it was a movie I probably shouldn’t have been allowed to watch but it had no nudity, which seemed to be the standard for what my parents would and wouldn’t let me to watch. This movie tells a story that has been told before, but this time through the eyes of an African American veteran.  Soldiers all around have a hard adjustment coming back to the world and that seems to be the ultimate theme to the movie.  While it is through the eyes of an African American there are not any real themes of racism throughout the film and I like that about it.  Racism was a real and serious issue at the time but it is an awful reality I don’t enjoy seeing brought up in films.  We all need to understand the dangers of such feelings but there are plenty of films out there that convey those messages, they don’t all need to and I am thankful this one chose to tell a different story.

In this movie Larenz Tate plays a young African American who grows up in The Bronx and is drafted into The Vietnam War.  He spends four years there serving multiple tours and distinguishing himself well but when he returns back to the world he has trouble adjusting as so many soldiers do. He has a girlfriend that he got pregnant before leaving but she has had to survive without him while he was overseas.  To support her child she had to turn to a less than savory man to provide for her and that is specifically hard for him to deal with.  He has difficulty getting a job and the job he manages to get isn’t good enough.  When he gets laid off from that job he turns to crime in his desperation.  Tate plays a character we can relate to and understand. What he does is wrong, but he didn’t deserve to be called a disgrace by the judge who sentences him in the end played by Martin Sheen.  Sheen’s comment that he was a veteran himself who fought in “a real war” speaks volumes to the way many saw the conflict in Vietnam.  Tate’s character is given no mercy in his sentencing and is destine to spend the rest of his life in prison serving time for the country he fought for in a thankless and unappreciated effort.  Tate does a great job in the lead role and I have always liked him.  I know him better from his role on Rescue Me when he played “Black Shawn,” a great show that fell apart in its closing seasons.

I really liked the supporting cast around Tate as well.  I have always liked Chris Tucker although I don’t know what has happened to him lately.  He plays a soldier that begins using heroin while in the service and comes home to become an all out junkie, a problem shared by many vets returning from Vietnam.  I think Keith David is awesome in everything he is in from Platoon to There’s Something About Mary. In this movie he plays a Korean vet who mentors the younger guys going into Vietnam.  Bokeem Woodbine plays a soldier who is completely insane in the jungles of Vietnam but comes home to be a preacher, although he still joins his old comrades in the illegal heist.  Freddy Rodriguez plays one of Tate’s childhood friends who serves in a different unit in the war and comes home with only one hand.  The only other movie I have seen Rodriguez in was Planet Terror, but that one is real high up on my favorites list.  N’Bushe Wright looks awesome dual wielding pistols in this movie; the only other film I have seen her in is the first Blade. She is a very beautiful woman; I’m not sure why I haven’t seen her in more films.  There is a really young Terrence Howard in this movie playing a rival of Tate’s who has stayed in The Bronx during the Vietnam War and works for the man who took care of Tate’s family.

This movie is loosely based on the real life experiences of a soldier who came back from the Vietnam War but I don’t know anything about how accurate it was.  The real story can be found in the book Bloods: An Oral History of the Vietnam War by Black Veterans written by Wallace Terry.  If you are insterested in it I would suggest you find the book and find out for yourself how much this movie correlates with real life.  The soldier the events were partly based on was named Haywood T. Kirkland.  Whether the movie is accurate at all hardly matters here though because the story it tells is true enough.  Veterans from all wars have a hard time coming back to the real world and this movie does a great job of highlighting the many difficulties some of them face.

I am really glad we decided to buy this movie over the weekend and I really enjoyed watching it again.  It tells an interesting and important story about Vietnam as well as delivering on action and drama alike.  If nothing else the robbery scene is awesome.  The way the robbers paint their faces are distinctly memorable.  This is a good movie and I would recommend it to anyone, it is worth your time if you have an opportunity to see it.

AMBER’S REVIEW

I had never seen this movie before. I know that many friends have talked about this movie and I have even seen people dress up like these guys at Halloween. I was sucked into this movie from the very beginning. I really liked the main character in Rescue Me, so I was curious to see him in a different role.

Here is the poster for Dead Presidents. This came out in 1995. I feel like the poster resembles its time. I like the photo on the front. It intrigues you in some ways to wonder what this is about, which is ultimately the point of most posters. I am not a huge fan of the font choice, which is simply the font for American money. I felt like that was a little cliché.

This movie is well worth the time.

Friday

Year: 1995
Directed By: F. Gary Gray
Written By: Ice Cube and DJ Pooh

RYAN’S REVIEW

I remember this movie still being very popular nearly ten years later when I was in college.  I had always liked it before and we had owned it at my house growing up ironically enough.  I never liked it enough to actually purchase it for our collection though.  This movie, like many others we now own was simply assimilated into the collection when someone was giving away movies.  I like having this movie in the collection because it brings back a lot of memories but it isn’t one I watch very often and it’s not one of my favorites.

I have always been a fan of Ice Cube and usually enjoy his ventures into acting.  I don’t think this is his best role by any means but he became very popular as an actor after it came out.  I wouldn’t call myself a rap fan but I usually like most of Ice Cube’s music as well.  I think he is a good multi-talented entertainer.  This movie also opened a lot of doors for Chris Tucker who would have a brief stint as a headline actor.  I liked many of his movies, but I wasn’t a fan of the Rush Hour films.  I think The Fifth Element was far and away his best film but he was great in this one too. The late Bernie Mac played a small role in this movie and I for one really miss him.  His untimely death was so unfortunate, he was a really talented comedian that brought a lot to all the films he was part of.  John Witherspoon was really funny in this movie as Craig’s dad, and I think Tommy “Tiny” Lister was great as the neighborhood bully.  Tony Cox also makes a small but memorable appearance, and I am a big fan of his as well.

This is a fun movie and I can appreciate how funny it is.  I have outgrown it to a certain degree and don’t have much more to say about it.  I would say this was worth taking a chance on if you have never seen it because I have known many people who really LOVED it.  It’s not one of my favorites though and after this viewing I doubt it will be picked off the shelf for a long time if ever again at all.

AMBER’S REVIEW

This movie is referred to by Wikipedia as a “1995 stoner comedy-drama-buddy film” and I think that just about sums it up.

NEXT MOVIE: From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

The Fifth Element

Year:1997
Directed By: Luc Beeson
Written By: Luc Beeson

RYAN’S REVIEW

I mentioned this movie to a couple of friends of mine, people whose opinions I respect, and they turned their noses up at it. I told both of them that they were crazy and I was telling the world they had no taste in movies. While I can understand some criticisms of this movie I think no matter what anybody could say about it that it is still awesome. I have even gone as far as to call this my favorite Bruce Willis film and that’s putting it ahead of a lot of great movies. Watching it now I find that it is only reaffirmed as my favorite Bruce Willis movie, he is great as Korben Dallas. I think this movie is an interesting science fiction movie that manages to be both exciting and funny. It has a few great actors giving outstanding performances and great use of music. I will argue on behalf of this movie with anybody that doesn’t like it and encourage them to give it another chance.

This was a family favorite in my house growing up in the late 90s and that will always make it a little bit more special to me. With some of those movies, I watch them now and see that they simply reflect my immaturity at the time but not this one. Every time I watch this movie I am amazed at how much I still love it. I am not a fan of most of Luc Beeson‘s work, I think Taken was one of the dumbest movies ever made.  Nevertheless it has a sequel coming out sometime soon that will no doubt be equally as stupid.  Despite my opinion of Beeson he did do an outstanding job with this movie. Even going as far as to create an entire language for Leeloo to speak in the movie. He and Milla Jovovich would actually write each other letters in that language to learn it better. This movie is a Bruce Willis vehicle though and he does an excellent job.  As Korben Dallas he is cool, funny, and badass all in one.  This movie came off the heels of his latest installment of the Die Hard franchise in Die Hard with a Vengeance and it only built his status as a mega action star.  Milla Jovovich got her first starring role in this movie and immediately fan boys all over the world went wild.  I have never been a big fan of hers but I do think she was awesome in this movie and she looked great with the orange hair.  Gary Oldman was absolutely incredible as the bad guy Zorg.  That voice that he uses is so peculiar and he talks with the confidence and authority that comes with his position. Oldman has always been a very diverse actor and I think it is performances like this that prove that.  One of the greatest roles in this film was without doubt the role of Ruby Rhod and Chris Tucker delivered his finest performance with it.  I think the movie was funny in general but Tucker brought a lot of comedy into the picture as well, he is very funny in this one. There was a great supporting cast behind these actors as well including Ian Holm, Luke Perry, and Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister of all people playing the President.

I am not usually a fan of science fiction movies set this far into the future.  I think most of what we see in the movies is impractical and so much of it just looks silly.  We have no idea what the world will be like in the future and too many movies make the mistake of trying to predict what it will look like.  For example, 2015 is a mere three years away and we have no possibility on the horizon of the hover boards or flying cars we saw in Back to the Future II. This movie is set like 200 years in the future, I think, and it does have a somewhat interesting idea of what the world will look like then.  For the most part this movie does look a bit silly when it comes to some of the costume design (obviously not Leeloo’s outfit) and ideas about the future.  I have always been curious about how one actually hails a flying taxi cab, unless they all just dive right in like Leeloo did.

I have read before that Luc Beeson said the fifth element is never said to be but is intended to be sex.  That Milla Jovovich was preferct for the part because of her sexual dynamic.  Earth, wind, fire, water, and ….sex, well it works for me I suppose.  I think more than anything this is just a really fun movie to watch.  There is a lot to like about it but nevertheless there are haters out there, like my two friends who totally suck.  I think this is a movie that anybody would like and I think if you didn’t like it the first time it is worth a second chance.  Willis, Jovovich, Oldman, and Tucker are all so good in this movie that their performances need to be watched. I think this movie is worth your time and I would recommend it to anyone.

AMBER’S REVIEW 

I really enjoy this film every time we watch it. This is one of those movies Ryan made me watch a good handful of times, adding to that the amount of times he stopped to watch it on television. This movie is fun and has good ol’ Bruce acting his badass self. I love Bruce Willis and I think the chick that played the fifth element was accurate. I love the fiery “Agent Orange” colored hair. This movie is strange and fun, and is a definite movie that you should watch. It is interesting and out there and gives a look at an alternate or future Earth.

NEXT MOVIE: Fight Club (1999)