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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Entourage (2015) in Movies
Jun 19, 2019
When we last saw the crew from the smash HBO series Entourage, they were jetting their way to Europe to celebrate the pending marriage of movie star Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier). Taking up soon after the events of the series finale, “Entourage” opens with a spectacular deck party hosted by Vinnie after his marriage lasted all of 9 days. He has his friends Turtle (Jerry Ferrara), Eric (Kevin Connolly), and his half-brother Johnny (Kevin Dillon), join him at his party set aboard a lavish yacht.
At the same time, former Agent to the Stars and now studio head, Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) has called Vincent to offer him the lead for what he plans to be his first blockbuster under his watch. Vincent accepts the role but on the condition that he makes his directorial debut on the picture.
Despite his reservations, Ari uses his influence to get Vincent the job and attempts very hard to keep his end of deal he made with his wife that they could take the job and move back to Hollywood as long as Ari can keep his anger in check and make sure he has fun moments with his family often.
When the film runs over budget and Eric is forced to ask Ari for more money, Ari must travel to Texas to meet with the main financer of the film, Larsen McCredle (Billy Bob Thornton), Larsen is not willing to part with more money and he assigns his son Travis (Haley Joel Osment), to travel back to L.A. with Ari and oversee the completion of the film.
Naturally things do not go as planned and Ari’s slow burning fuse is ramping to overdrive with hysterical results and despite their best intentions, Vincent’s friends cannot seem to get out of their own way as they have numerous funny and embarrassing subplots around them and their romantic interests.
If you are a fan of the series you know what to expect, plenty of male bonding, women, jokes, and Ari pouring gasoline on every fire he attempts to put out.
The film is well-paced and very funny and it was great to see the gang back in action, especially when they had a script that enhances the show and does not treat it as a movie of the week reunion.
The supporting cast is solid and it is great fun seeing all the celebrity cameos and characters from the series that appear in the film.
The big draw is Piven, as he commands every scene that he is in. Running from full on rage to subtle submission in a blink of an eye, he reminds us of why he won three Emmy Awards for his portrayal of the character, and I will honestly say I think he should be given Oscar consideration for his performance in the film.
In the end if you are a fan of the series you will likely enjoy the film very much and if not, then what are you waiting for? See the show and you will fast become a fan.
http://sknr.net/2015/06/03/entourage/
At the same time, former Agent to the Stars and now studio head, Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) has called Vincent to offer him the lead for what he plans to be his first blockbuster under his watch. Vincent accepts the role but on the condition that he makes his directorial debut on the picture.
Despite his reservations, Ari uses his influence to get Vincent the job and attempts very hard to keep his end of deal he made with his wife that they could take the job and move back to Hollywood as long as Ari can keep his anger in check and make sure he has fun moments with his family often.
When the film runs over budget and Eric is forced to ask Ari for more money, Ari must travel to Texas to meet with the main financer of the film, Larsen McCredle (Billy Bob Thornton), Larsen is not willing to part with more money and he assigns his son Travis (Haley Joel Osment), to travel back to L.A. with Ari and oversee the completion of the film.
Naturally things do not go as planned and Ari’s slow burning fuse is ramping to overdrive with hysterical results and despite their best intentions, Vincent’s friends cannot seem to get out of their own way as they have numerous funny and embarrassing subplots around them and their romantic interests.
If you are a fan of the series you know what to expect, plenty of male bonding, women, jokes, and Ari pouring gasoline on every fire he attempts to put out.
The film is well-paced and very funny and it was great to see the gang back in action, especially when they had a script that enhances the show and does not treat it as a movie of the week reunion.
The supporting cast is solid and it is great fun seeing all the celebrity cameos and characters from the series that appear in the film.
The big draw is Piven, as he commands every scene that he is in. Running from full on rage to subtle submission in a blink of an eye, he reminds us of why he won three Emmy Awards for his portrayal of the character, and I will honestly say I think he should be given Oscar consideration for his performance in the film.
In the end if you are a fan of the series you will likely enjoy the film very much and if not, then what are you waiting for? See the show and you will fast become a fan.
http://sknr.net/2015/06/03/entourage/
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Miss Congeniality 2 - Armed and Fabulous (2005) in Movies
Aug 14, 2019
As the weather starts to warm, indicating the coming spring and summer seasons, scores of sequels arrive at local box offices. Sequels have always been desired by Hollywood because, thanks in part to the success of previous titles in the series, a built in audience helps assure big openings.
With the Ring 2 kicking off the sequel frenzy to solid numbers this year, Warner Bros. is hoping to cash in on the success of the Sandra Bullock hit Miss Congeniality, with the release of Miss Congeniality 2 :Armed and Fabulous.
The film opens a few weeks after the events of the first film and underscores agent Gracie Hart’s struggles to get back into field work now that she’s a celebrity. When an undercover operation goes sour in part to Gracie’s new found notoriety, it is decided that she will be removed from field work and placed as the new face of the F.B.I. in an effort to increase public image. Assigned to watch her back, Gracie is partnered with a no-nonsense agent named Sam Fuller (Regina King), who has severe attitude issues and is less than thrilled to watch over Gracie especially when Gracie has become a diva thanks to her new found celebrity and numerous appearances on talk shows.
When the current Miss America, and good friend, Cheryl (Heather Burns) is kidnapped along with pageant host Stan Fields (William Shatner), Gracie sets off to Vegas in an effort to help with the case. Her notoriety and unorthodox tactics runs afoul of the local agent in charge Collins (Treat Williams), who wants nothing more than for Gracie to head back to New York and make his life easier.
While the film does have an interesting setup, it soon becomes an overlong sketch comedy as Gracie and Sam show up in costumes ranging from an old Jewish retiree to Tina Turner, with sadly very few laughs in between. I was a big fan of the first film but this effort seems like a project that was created simply to cash in on the success of the first without offering anything new.
The charm and wit of the first film are sadly missed, as this film just plods along without any real payoff. Bullock seems to be walking through her part without the sparkle and shine that made her the beloved girl next door. Fuller seems to have only two emotions and that is pure rage or exasperation. The rest of the cast does not fare much better as Shatner is forced to vamp it up with very little to work with. Only Diedrich Bader gets some laughs albeit cheaply playing the over the top flamboyant fashion consultant named Joel.
Michael Caine and Benjamin Bratt are noticeably absent from this sequel. It seems that they wisely decided to stay clear of this clunker. I had hoped that this film would recapture some of the charm of the original but it plays out as an uninspired effort that seems to have had very little care put into it. My advice, save this for a rental.
With the Ring 2 kicking off the sequel frenzy to solid numbers this year, Warner Bros. is hoping to cash in on the success of the Sandra Bullock hit Miss Congeniality, with the release of Miss Congeniality 2 :Armed and Fabulous.
The film opens a few weeks after the events of the first film and underscores agent Gracie Hart’s struggles to get back into field work now that she’s a celebrity. When an undercover operation goes sour in part to Gracie’s new found notoriety, it is decided that she will be removed from field work and placed as the new face of the F.B.I. in an effort to increase public image. Assigned to watch her back, Gracie is partnered with a no-nonsense agent named Sam Fuller (Regina King), who has severe attitude issues and is less than thrilled to watch over Gracie especially when Gracie has become a diva thanks to her new found celebrity and numerous appearances on talk shows.
When the current Miss America, and good friend, Cheryl (Heather Burns) is kidnapped along with pageant host Stan Fields (William Shatner), Gracie sets off to Vegas in an effort to help with the case. Her notoriety and unorthodox tactics runs afoul of the local agent in charge Collins (Treat Williams), who wants nothing more than for Gracie to head back to New York and make his life easier.
While the film does have an interesting setup, it soon becomes an overlong sketch comedy as Gracie and Sam show up in costumes ranging from an old Jewish retiree to Tina Turner, with sadly very few laughs in between. I was a big fan of the first film but this effort seems like a project that was created simply to cash in on the success of the first without offering anything new.
The charm and wit of the first film are sadly missed, as this film just plods along without any real payoff. Bullock seems to be walking through her part without the sparkle and shine that made her the beloved girl next door. Fuller seems to have only two emotions and that is pure rage or exasperation. The rest of the cast does not fare much better as Shatner is forced to vamp it up with very little to work with. Only Diedrich Bader gets some laughs albeit cheaply playing the over the top flamboyant fashion consultant named Joel.
Michael Caine and Benjamin Bratt are noticeably absent from this sequel. It seems that they wisely decided to stay clear of this clunker. I had hoped that this film would recapture some of the charm of the original but it plays out as an uninspired effort that seems to have had very little care put into it. My advice, save this for a rental.
Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated I Was Here in Books
Jan 23, 2020
Well, here's to my first contemporary audiobook.
Gayle Forman's latest novel didn't exactly give me the feels as much as <i>If I Stay</i> did. <i>I Was Here</i> mainly focuses on Cody, a girl who finds her best friend Meg's suicide a bit fishy and decides to look deeper into her death.
From all of the flashbacks, Cody is obviously a follower – a shadow to Meg. After Meg's death, Cody is a little lost – she's grieving, she wants to find out if Meg actually did commit suicide (or if someone coerced her into it), and all of that leads her to dig deeper into Meg's past year at college. With Cody trying to find her own footsteps after Meg's death, <i>I Was Here</i> felt like a coming of age story.
It's also a story where all of those online safety rules that I learned in elementary school are flipped upside down. I don't know if I should say Cody is just a really stupid character, or a really brave character. Perhaps both. In her digging, Cody is led to an online suicide support group that Meg frequented on, which eventually leads her to a user Meg communicated off the boards as well. In an attempt to weed out the user, Cody decides to pose as a suicidal person as well, which eventually leads her to finding out the person's address (with help) and Cody actually decides to go to that person's home.
I still don't know whether to call Cody an idiot or not. Obviously she has balls to try and find out what really caused Meg's death, and she's obviously not an idiot if she brings someone with her.
Jorjeana Marie seemed quite platonic throughout most of the narration – either for the possible effect of Cody being platonic as she finds her path, or another reason entirely. It was also difficult at times to tell if Marie was making an attempt to have a different voice for male and female characters. If the character was angry or snapping at another character, you can tell there's a bit of rage or snap if you listen closely, but when you're walking to work when there are cars driving by, it's actually hard to tell if Marie did snap.
Marie does, however, do a fantastic job in the very emotional parts of the book, especially when Cody or Ben or any of the other characters are crying. I almost believed the narrator was actually crying, or an actual kid came in and narrated a kid part. I doubt there are books that mainly consists of crying, but if there are, I'm half expecting to see Jorjeana Marie's name on the back. :p
The entire novel is really just about a girl who lived under a shadow of another girl, and when that girl died, the shadow has to try and find her own path without that person. <i>I Was Here</i> isn't exactly emotional unless you can <i>really</i> connect with the story and the main character.
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/audiobook-review-i-was-here-by-gayle-forman/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
Gayle Forman's latest novel didn't exactly give me the feels as much as <i>If I Stay</i> did. <i>I Was Here</i> mainly focuses on Cody, a girl who finds her best friend Meg's suicide a bit fishy and decides to look deeper into her death.
From all of the flashbacks, Cody is obviously a follower – a shadow to Meg. After Meg's death, Cody is a little lost – she's grieving, she wants to find out if Meg actually did commit suicide (or if someone coerced her into it), and all of that leads her to dig deeper into Meg's past year at college. With Cody trying to find her own footsteps after Meg's death, <i>I Was Here</i> felt like a coming of age story.
It's also a story where all of those online safety rules that I learned in elementary school are flipped upside down. I don't know if I should say Cody is just a really stupid character, or a really brave character. Perhaps both. In her digging, Cody is led to an online suicide support group that Meg frequented on, which eventually leads her to a user Meg communicated off the boards as well. In an attempt to weed out the user, Cody decides to pose as a suicidal person as well, which eventually leads her to finding out the person's address (with help) and Cody actually decides to go to that person's home.
I still don't know whether to call Cody an idiot or not. Obviously she has balls to try and find out what really caused Meg's death, and she's obviously not an idiot if she brings someone with her.
Jorjeana Marie seemed quite platonic throughout most of the narration – either for the possible effect of Cody being platonic as she finds her path, or another reason entirely. It was also difficult at times to tell if Marie was making an attempt to have a different voice for male and female characters. If the character was angry or snapping at another character, you can tell there's a bit of rage or snap if you listen closely, but when you're walking to work when there are cars driving by, it's actually hard to tell if Marie did snap.
Marie does, however, do a fantastic job in the very emotional parts of the book, especially when Cody or Ben or any of the other characters are crying. I almost believed the narrator was actually crying, or an actual kid came in and narrated a kid part. I doubt there are books that mainly consists of crying, but if there are, I'm half expecting to see Jorjeana Marie's name on the back. :p
The entire novel is really just about a girl who lived under a shadow of another girl, and when that girl died, the shadow has to try and find her own path without that person. <i>I Was Here</i> isn't exactly emotional unless you can <i>really</i> connect with the story and the main character.
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/audiobook-review-i-was-here-by-gayle-forman/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Airplane! in Apps
Mar 27, 2020
Holds Up Well
Doctor: Can you fly this plane, and land it?
Striker: Surely you can't be serious.
Doctor: I am serious... and don't call me Shirley.
And that, in a nutshell, is the humor to be found in the 1980 laugh-a-minute comedy AIRPLANE brought to us by the demented minds of David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker. If you haven't seen this flick in awhile - or if you have NEVER seen it - check it out, you'll be glad you did.
Parodying Disaster Movies that were all the rage in the 1970's, AIRPLANE tells the tale of an airliner who's flight crew is incapacitated by food poisoning and it is up to a Stewardess and her on again/off again former fighter pilot (fighting PTSD) boyfriend to land the plane and save the passengers.
And...along the way we have a hodgepodge of quirky, weird characters that are not afraid to sling a joke in a deadpan style. It is an unusual film to watch.
And...make sure you put your phone down and actually WATCH this film, for there is quite a bit of visual humor that you need to be paying attention to to catch it...humor such as...
Kramer: Steve, I want every light you can get poured onto that field.
Steve: Bein' done right now.
[On the runway, a truck dumps a full load of lamps onto the ground]
Also...the verbal humor needs to be paid attention to...
Doctor: What was it we had for dinner tonight?
Elaine: Well, we had a choice of steak or fish.
Doctor: Yes, yes, I remember, I had lasagna.
All of this delivered with a deadpan wink in the eye by such dramatic 1960's and '70's TV stalwarts as Leslie Nielsen, Lloyd Bridges and Robert Stack. Add to that the wholesome cuteness of leads Robert Hayes and Julie Hagerty with fun cameos by the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Mrs. Cleaver herself, Barbara Billingsly ("Excuse me stewardess, I speak jive) and a fun time was had by all.
Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't single out the craziness of the character Johnny (Stephen Stucker). He flits in and out of this film (in some cases quite literally) throwing non-sequiturs at the screen that had me laughing out loud on my umpteenth viewing of this film. Non-sequiturs like...
Steve: Johnny, what can you make out of this?
[Hands him the weather briefing]
Johnny: This? Why, I can make a hat or a brooch or a pterodactyl...
This film gave myself and my family some much need yuks - even my "eye rolling" 19 year old College Freshman was heard guffawing out loud from time to time.
So...check out AIRPLANE - you'll be glad you did.
Letter Grade:: A
9 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Oh...and one other thing...
Kramer: Do you know what it's like to fall in the mud and get kicked... in the head... with an iron boot? Of course you don't, no one does. It never happens. Sorry, Ted, that's a dumb question... skip that...
Striker: Surely you can't be serious.
Doctor: I am serious... and don't call me Shirley.
And that, in a nutshell, is the humor to be found in the 1980 laugh-a-minute comedy AIRPLANE brought to us by the demented minds of David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker. If you haven't seen this flick in awhile - or if you have NEVER seen it - check it out, you'll be glad you did.
Parodying Disaster Movies that were all the rage in the 1970's, AIRPLANE tells the tale of an airliner who's flight crew is incapacitated by food poisoning and it is up to a Stewardess and her on again/off again former fighter pilot (fighting PTSD) boyfriend to land the plane and save the passengers.
And...along the way we have a hodgepodge of quirky, weird characters that are not afraid to sling a joke in a deadpan style. It is an unusual film to watch.
And...make sure you put your phone down and actually WATCH this film, for there is quite a bit of visual humor that you need to be paying attention to to catch it...humor such as...
Kramer: Steve, I want every light you can get poured onto that field.
Steve: Bein' done right now.
[On the runway, a truck dumps a full load of lamps onto the ground]
Also...the verbal humor needs to be paid attention to...
Doctor: What was it we had for dinner tonight?
Elaine: Well, we had a choice of steak or fish.
Doctor: Yes, yes, I remember, I had lasagna.
All of this delivered with a deadpan wink in the eye by such dramatic 1960's and '70's TV stalwarts as Leslie Nielsen, Lloyd Bridges and Robert Stack. Add to that the wholesome cuteness of leads Robert Hayes and Julie Hagerty with fun cameos by the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Mrs. Cleaver herself, Barbara Billingsly ("Excuse me stewardess, I speak jive) and a fun time was had by all.
Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't single out the craziness of the character Johnny (Stephen Stucker). He flits in and out of this film (in some cases quite literally) throwing non-sequiturs at the screen that had me laughing out loud on my umpteenth viewing of this film. Non-sequiturs like...
Steve: Johnny, what can you make out of this?
[Hands him the weather briefing]
Johnny: This? Why, I can make a hat or a brooch or a pterodactyl...
This film gave myself and my family some much need yuks - even my "eye rolling" 19 year old College Freshman was heard guffawing out loud from time to time.
So...check out AIRPLANE - you'll be glad you did.
Letter Grade:: A
9 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Oh...and one other thing...
Kramer: Do you know what it's like to fall in the mud and get kicked... in the head... with an iron boot? Of course you don't, no one does. It never happens. Sorry, Ted, that's a dumb question... skip that...
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Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated In the Heights (2021) in Movies
Jul 18, 2021
I love me some musical action, so I'm not sure how I never knew this existed. Not to worry though, I was quickly reeducated.
Usnavi is saving up everything he can as he plans a future back in the Dominican Republic. Living at the centre of his neighbourhood, we join his story and the dramas of the community.
In The Heights dives into the stories in the hot spot of the community as a heatwave bears down on them. Families, friendships and business dealings, all come out of the woodwork as they try to cope with the heat... and it does all of that with some and dance thrown on top.
I know that Lin-Manuel Miranda is all the rage these days, but I don't enjoy the talky-singing that's a bit of a trademark. Here though, the jazzy beats and hip-swaying tunes really helped. Had I not been restricted by the fact I was in public and it's generally frowned upon to do it in the cinema, I would have been dancing. With that restriction though, it was dropped to toe-tapping and shimmying in my seat.
There's a lot of talent in the cast, though not all the singing was music to my ears. With so many cast members I'm not going to go into the individual performances because, while a handful of characters are bigger in the story, it's very much an ensemble piece. Together they have great chemistry, and those relationships shine because of it.
Choreography during the numbers is fantastic, and the use of space in and out of those moments worked well with the confined spaces. There's one scene in particular that was very inventive and (even though it gave me a vertigo wobble) it helped to make the song stand out from the others... though there's probably something in every song that I could pick out for the same reason.
Design of... everything... is great in In The Heights. There's not really a point where your eyes aren't darting about looking at the sets or following the performers. If there aren't awards in this film's future then I'd be surprised, it would have to be something epic that beat this.
I didn't have that previous connection with the theatre production, and I think that would definitely have helped matters. In the theatre setting the long runtime never feels like it's actually that long, you have the intermission and scenes are broken up by the nature of it being a live performance. 2 hours and 23 minutes isn't really that long in that context, and these days it's not even particularly long for a film. But as a film, I did feel its length. I'm also one of those people that goes to theatre productions and likes to see what peripheral characters are doing, and that's not something you can easily do in a film. I may listen to the soundtrack at some point, but I don't think I'm in any rush to rewatch In The Height even considering all the things I enjoyed about it.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2021/07/in-heights-movie-review.html
Usnavi is saving up everything he can as he plans a future back in the Dominican Republic. Living at the centre of his neighbourhood, we join his story and the dramas of the community.
In The Heights dives into the stories in the hot spot of the community as a heatwave bears down on them. Families, friendships and business dealings, all come out of the woodwork as they try to cope with the heat... and it does all of that with some and dance thrown on top.
I know that Lin-Manuel Miranda is all the rage these days, but I don't enjoy the talky-singing that's a bit of a trademark. Here though, the jazzy beats and hip-swaying tunes really helped. Had I not been restricted by the fact I was in public and it's generally frowned upon to do it in the cinema, I would have been dancing. With that restriction though, it was dropped to toe-tapping and shimmying in my seat.
There's a lot of talent in the cast, though not all the singing was music to my ears. With so many cast members I'm not going to go into the individual performances because, while a handful of characters are bigger in the story, it's very much an ensemble piece. Together they have great chemistry, and those relationships shine because of it.
Choreography during the numbers is fantastic, and the use of space in and out of those moments worked well with the confined spaces. There's one scene in particular that was very inventive and (even though it gave me a vertigo wobble) it helped to make the song stand out from the others... though there's probably something in every song that I could pick out for the same reason.
Design of... everything... is great in In The Heights. There's not really a point where your eyes aren't darting about looking at the sets or following the performers. If there aren't awards in this film's future then I'd be surprised, it would have to be something epic that beat this.
I didn't have that previous connection with the theatre production, and I think that would definitely have helped matters. In the theatre setting the long runtime never feels like it's actually that long, you have the intermission and scenes are broken up by the nature of it being a live performance. 2 hours and 23 minutes isn't really that long in that context, and these days it's not even particularly long for a film. But as a film, I did feel its length. I'm also one of those people that goes to theatre productions and likes to see what peripheral characters are doing, and that's not something you can easily do in a film. I may listen to the soundtrack at some point, but I don't think I'm in any rush to rewatch In The Height even considering all the things I enjoyed about it.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2021/07/in-heights-movie-review.html
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