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Blazing Minds (92 KP) rated Finding Steve McQueen (2019) in Movies

Oct 29, 2021 (Updated Nov 2, 2021)  
Finding Steve McQueen (2019)
Finding Steve McQueen (2019)
2019 | Crime, Romance
7
5.0 (3 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
The film stars Travis Fimmel (Raised by Wolves), Rachael Taylor (Jessica Jones), William Fichtner (Armageddon) and Academy Award winner, Forest Whitaker (Last King of Scotland) and is directed by Mark Steven Johnson (Daredevil, Ghost Rider).

Based on the true story of the Youngstown mob, President Richard Nixon, the FBI, and the biggest bank heist in US history! In 1972, a gang of like-minded thieves plan a heist to steal $30 million in illegal campaign contributions from the President’s secret fund.

When it comes to a heist movie Finding Steve McQueen is undoubtedly one that is fun to watch, the true comedy element comes from Travis Fimmel’s Harry Barber character who was obsessed with McQueen hence his look and name change, the film takes on the journey of the heist as series of flashbacks as Harry tells Molly (Rachel Taylor) “the truth”, this is how we get introduced to Enzo Rotella (William Fichtner) the boss of the heist, I have to say that when it comes to Fitchner he always pulls off a great performance and he plays the character great as he tries to hold the mismatch of a team together.
  
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Biff Byford recommended Close to the Edge by Yes in Music (curated)

 
Close to the Edge by Yes
Close to the Edge by Yes
1972 | Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I don’t mean this in a derogatory way, but Graham Oliver and Steve Dawson of Saxon were into the bluesy bands - simple but with a lot of groove. But me and Paul Quinn were into more muso bands like Genesis and King Crimson. That was the type of stuff we played, with more jamming and improvisation. As a bass player and singer, my goal was to play like Chris Squire. I used to try and learn the songs – it took me about six months to learn ‘Roundabout’. I‘ve talked to Rick Wakeman about Yes, and he said Jon Anderson would structure melodies like I do it. They would sit in a room and arrange things around the vocals, and we do that because it gives me more freedom to write. I could listen to this all day. NWOBHM bands liked Yes because the musicianship was great - it moves away from blues feel to a jazz feel. A lot of these guys were university trained, but we learned from listening to music. We knew nothing about music theory or scales, but prog rock really made you better as musicians when you learned to play it. It seemed unattainable because it was so good."

Source
  
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Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Battle of the Sexes (2016) in Movies

Sep 29, 2021  
Battle of the Sexes (2016)
Battle of the Sexes (2016)
2016 | Biography, Comedy, Sport
8
7.9 (16 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Tennis and sex, but without the grunting.
Here’s a good test of someone’s age…. ask the question “Billie-Jean?”. Millennials will probably come back with “Huh?”; those in their 30’s or 40’s might come back with “Michael Jackson!”; those older than that will probably reply “King!”.

“Battle of the Sexes” (which I just managed to catch before it left cinemas) tells the true-life story of US tennis star Billie-Jean King (Emma Stone, “La La Land“). The year is 1973 and Billie-Jean is riding high as the Number 1 female tennis player. She is a feminist; she is married (to hunk Larry – no not that one – King played by Austin Stowell (“Whiplash“, “Bridge of Spies“)); …. and she is also attracted to women, not something she has yet acted on. That all changes when her path crosses with LA-hairdresser Marilyn (Andrea Riseborough, “Birdman“, “Oblivion”).

But this is a side story: the main event is a bet made by aging ex-star Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell, “Foxcatcher“); that – even at his age – as a man he could beat the leading female tennis player of the day.

The film is gloriously retro, starting with the old-school 20th Century Fox production logo. And it contains breathtakingly sexist dialogue by writer Simon Beaufoy (“Everest“, “The Full Monty”). Surely men couldn’t have been so crass and outrageous in the 70’s? Sorry ladies, but the answer is yes, and the film is testament to how far women’s rights have come in 50 years.

This is a tour de force in acting from both Emma Stone and Steve Carell, particularly the latter: a scene where Carell tries to re-engage with his estranged wife (Elisabeth Shue, “Leaving Las Vegas”) is both nuanced and heart-breaking. Stone’s performance is also praiseworthy, although it feels slightly less so as it is an impersonation of a (relatively) well-known figure: this is extremely well-studied though, right down to her strutting walk around the court which I had both forgotten and was immediately again reminded of.

One of my favourite movie awards are the Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG) “cast” awards that celebrate ensemble performances, and here is a film that should have been nominated (it unfortunately wasn’t). Andrea Riseborough; Natalie Morales (as fellow tennis player Rosie Casals); comedian Sarah Silverman (“A Million Ways to Die in the West“), almost unrecognisable as the brash publicist Gladys Heldman; Bill Pullman as LTA head Jack Kramer; the great Alan Cumming (“The Good Wife”) as the team’s flamboyant, gay, costume designer; Lewis Pullman as Riggs’s son Larry; Jessica McNamee (magnetic eyes!) as King’s Australian tennis nemesis Margaret Court. All bounce off the leads, and each other, just beautifully.

Cinematography by Linus Sandgren (“La La Land“) and editing by Pamela Martin (“Little Miss Sunshine”) unite to deliver one of the most sexually charged haircuts you are ever likely to see on the screen. For those put off by this aspect of the storyline, the “girl-on-girl action” is pretty tastefully done and not overly graphic: it’s mostly “first-base” stuff rather than “third-base”!

“What a waste of a lovely night”. Marilyn (Andrea Riseborough) and Billie-Jean (Emma Stone) get serious.
Directed with panache by the co-directors of the 2006 smash “Little Miss Sunshine” – Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris – all in all it’s a delight, especially for older audiences who will get a blast of nostalgia from days when sports were still played at a slightly more leisurely pace… and definitely without the grunting.
  
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David McK (3248 KP) rated The Running Man in Books

Jan 28, 2019  
TR
The Running Man
Richard Bachman | 1999
6
8.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
First and foremost, if you think this is anything like the Arnie movie, think again! That movie only shares the title, a few names, and the idea of a game show with the book.

Written by Richard Bachman (aka Stephen King), this is set in a future dystopia where the gulf between the rich and the poor has widened even further, to the extent that, while the rich have access to new gadgets, medicine and groceries, life is a daily struggle to survive for the poor (who are now treated as vermin by the rich).

The top TV shows are all game shows (OK: like the movie); in all the poor are more-or-less tortured (the shows have names like 'Swimming with Crocidiles' or 'Treadmill to Fortune') to earn money. Of these, the most popular by far is 'The Running Man', which is - basically - a televised manhunt.

This is a pretty quick read - only took me about one day - with the Ben Richards of the novel far more sickly and wasted than the muscular Arnie of the film (Steve Buscemi, perhaps?), with the novel also covering a wider area of land than the Running Man set of that movie (which, remember, is only set in four zones - here, it's more-or-less right across America). The ending is also far more downbeat!