Rush

Rush     Directed by: Ron Howard

"If my films don't show a profit, I know I'm doing something right."
 - Woody Allen

I am not a Woody Allen fan, but that doesn't take away from how much I respect his craft.  I thought of this quote when walking out of this Howard movie last night.  I am not knocking blockbuster big features, in fact, I tend to love them. BUT there is a place when the directing creativity no longer shows through because all concepts have already been bought and paid for. Maybe I am becoming old school here, but Ron Howard directed The Paper, and Willow for crying out-loud.
I am not sure that more success equals more success.

This was a BIG budget film that pulled out all the stops; even the word big seems small here.  Every effect I even knew existed was in a scene of this movie.  Now that I live in a Formula One town and have experienced that crowd, I can see that the target audience will definitely be reached. F1's followers if nothing else, have deep pockets.

The true story of how these two men's racing rivalry fueled their careers and their lives is captivating.   Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl) and James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) met with immediate disdain as young men while racing Formula 3.  Hunt, a British playboy, loved the thrill, the risk, and what rewards he got off the track from being on the track. There could never be enough money, woman, booze or adoration for Hunt.  Lauda, a cold Austrian, renounced his family's wealth to be a racetrack driver.  He was mechanically intelligent, calculated, and had no desire for the fanfare or limelight.  The polarity in these two's personalities and what put them in the seat was still out shown by their one thing in common....their skill in the drive.


The movie follows through their lives as each enters Formula One, gets married, and has numerous wins and losses to the other.  One rainy, raceday on a German track, Lauda calls a meeting to propose canceling the race due to the poor weather conditions making the track too dangerous.  Hunt sways the group to vote in favor of the race being continued.  This particular race, Lauda has a devistating crash and is stuck in his car aflame for over a minute.   He goes from fighting for his life in intensive care to being back on the track in 42 days.

Off season Hunt says to Lauda, "I feel responsible for what happened."
Lauda replies, "Trust me. Watching you win those races while I was fighting for my life, you were equally responsible for getting me back in the car."
This is why this was a good movie. People. People are mysterious and incredible.

90 (Way) Past Movie Reviews in 10 words or less. 2/9

Here are 10 more in no particular order.  I am going to really bang the rest of these out because my queue of new movies is growing at a rapid pace.


Inside Job  FANTASTIC documentary about the 2008 financial meltdown. Chilling.
See NOW|See Whenever|Meh

Scott Pilgram vs. The World Dorky kid fights new girlfriend's super ex-boyfriends. He wins.
See NOW|See Whenever|Meh

The Company Men Laid off business man learns blue collar life lessons.  Relevant.
See NOW|See Whenever|Meh

The Illusionist (L'illusionniste) Animated.  Poor magician trying to find his place. Enchanting.
See NOW|See Whenever|Meh

Red Old hit-men get back together for one last mission.
See NOW|See Whenever|Meh

Another Year A couple ages and watches life change around them.
See NOW|See Whenever|Meh

Biutiful  Bardem supports sweatshops.  Loses workers, son, and himself.
See NOW|See Whenever|Meh

I Love You Phillip Morris Two weirdos lying and cheating to stay together. Oddball love.
See NOW|See Whenever|Meh

Harry Potter and the Deathy Hallows: Part One  You know what it is: Harry Potter.  Magic Man.
See NOW|See Whenever|Meh (see whenever because anyone even slightly a fan saw this in theatre)

Blue Valentine Love as we make it for ourselves.  Emotional and real.
See NOW|See Whenever|Meh

90 (Way) Past Movie Reviews in 10 words or less. 1/9

I have a serious backlog of movie titles that I have been meaning to review for over a year now.   Let's be honest, I am never going to go back and write full reviews on all of these films.  So here is what I remember about them all in 10 words or less. 

For your drive-by pleasure and in no particular order:

Pirate Radio  Illegal broadcast goes to sea.  Kid loses virginity on boat.
See NOW|See Whenever|Meh

Kick Ass   Dorky kids fight crime and end up killing people.
See NOW|See Whenever|Meh

Get Low  Premiered at SXSW; I saw Robert Duval.  True Story.
See NOW|See Whenever|Meh

Knight and Day  Cruise has a secret identity.  Diaz has a secret identity.
See NOW|See Whenever|Meh

The Fantastic Mr. Fox  Animation hurt my eyes.  George Clooney is a fox.
See NOW|See Whenever|Meh

The Expendables   Damn, those dudes are old....and awesome.
See NOW|See Whenever|Meh

The Other Guys  Dumb movie about being dumb cops.  Ferrell and Wahlberg.
See NOW|See Whenever|Meh

Made in Dagenham  English girl fighting for equal pay.  Girl Power.
See NOW|See Whenever|Meh

All Good Things  Gosling and Witherspoon defy daddy.
See NOW|See Whenever|Meh

Machete  Trejo is a badass and gets all the badass babes.
See NOW|See Whenever|Meh

Fruitvale Station

Fruitvale Station   directed and written by Ryan Coogler


Due to a mix up on another movie time, some friends and I replaced our initial screen plan for Fruitvale Station. Here's to innocent mistakes.

The actual Fruitvale Station shooting of Oscar Grant happened on New Years Day, 2009.  Sadly, I don't remember this exact incident even though there was much press around it at the time.  Like all other unforgivable news it was put into the mass crime bucket, this one as "another race related shooting."   

Fortunately, there are creators like Ryan Coogler who can shove the issue in our faces in such a beautifully, tragic way that we walk out forced to address our own willful ignorance.

Oscar Grant, played by Micheal B. Jordan, was a drug dealer, boyfriend, loving son, ex-con, doting father, and a mere 22 years old at the time of his death.   He wasn't perfect, but he wasn't cruel.  I fall into that same category along with most of you.

In the beginning hours of January 1st, 2009 he and his friends rode the Bart from San Fran back to Oakland. A fight broke out with some other guys in the same train car that resulted in the Bart Police forcefully detaining Grant and his friends on the platform.  As the tensions between the group of guys and the police ran higher and higher so did their physicality to one another.  The screaming from the passengers in the stopped train only increased the hysteria of the police as they bring in reinforcements to better restrain the group.  First officer on the scene, Caruso (played by Kevin Durand) orders that Grant be arrested.   Officer Ingram (played by Chad Michael Murray) turns Jordan on his stomach, cuffs him, and only moments later shoots him in the back. Not even 7 hours later, Jordan dies.
*In the film aliases were used for the 2 lead officers.  Real names are Officer Mehserle and Pirone.*

The acting in this film is as hard hitting as the story.  Micheal B. Jordan brings the realness to the man, showing his humanity while not shying away from his faults.   His subtle expressions bring stress and sympathy in at just the right moments. 
Melonie Diaz may not have been a name that was formerly familiar but knods to the casting director on this supporting lady. 
Octavia Spencer is definitely keeping up her reputation in the acting world as well.   I started to tear just in anticipation of her character's reaction to hearing of her son's death.
Ariana Neal shouldn't go unnoticed for playing Tatiana Grant either.   Such a precious little girl that easily pulls the heartstrings with her innocence. Neal and Jordan's closeness was so real that they must have spent significant time together off screen. 

If you are curious to learn what happened to the officer and family then please go see this film.  Coogler will bring you right where he wants you and leave you there to stew on the injustice; a sad, uncomfortable feeling that I thank him for.

Everything Must Go

Everything Must Go  directed by Dan Rush

Drive-By Blog

On a movie night with a friend I suggested that we rent this movie.  From the preview you see Will Ferrell, defeated and living in his yard, a couple lines of silly dialogue with him and the neighborhood kid he befriends. Get this - This movie is not funny or light in anyway.

Your mood and expectations when you sit down to watch a movie can be as important as the movie itself. Perhaps, I was just not in the right headspace, but this movie didn't do it for me.  It was drab, depressing, and fell flat on most accounts; including Ferrell's character.

In the movie Ferrell loses his job the same day his wife leaves him, and later we find out she is also sleeping with someone else. His car gets repossessed, the wife changes the locks to the house and drains all the funds from their accounts.  He buys beer with the little bit of money that he has and lives in a recliner on the front lawn with all of his positions strewn all over.

They have a bit of a back story about him being a baseball player so you hope that at least he will find a way to offer some life advice to the chubby kid.  Which he does, minimally.  Then you think something sweet will arise from the pregnant neighbor across the street (Rebecca Hall), then it doesn't. I mean he gets some reprise with the cheating wife leaving him and losing his job right?  No, he's a loser deadbeat and that is the movie in a nutshell!

Obviously I was less than impressed, but again, I was in the mood for a dramcom.  In Everything Must Go, what should really go is the story entirely. To redeem Will Ferrel and his dramatic comedy abilities, if you haven't seen it you must watch Stranger Than Fiction!

Will Farrell in Everything Must Go

in Stranger Than Fiction

How Do You Know

Drive By Blog

How Do You Know directed by: James L. Brooks

I have been saving titles since July so that I will go back and do a write up later.  When I saw the title How Do You Know, I couldn't even recall which movie it was and had to go to IMDB to remind myself.  That alone should set the tone of the following "review"...

It's a romantic comedy with Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, and Owen Wilson.  Witherspoon's character is a softball player who is retired at the start of the movie.  She ends up dating another successful playboy athlete (Wilson) but then realizes later that she should have been with the more awkward geekier friend (Rudd).

That's the best that I can give you since their wasn't anything special or spectacular to make this film stick out in my mind.  Unoriginal and generic.   In the end, Rudd thinks the girl runs away, but she ends up waiting for him at the bus stop.

You're Welcome, I just saved you 2 hours of your life.

Crazy, Stupid, Love

Crazy, Stupid, Love   directed by: Glenn Ficarra and John Requa

Back to blogging with a movie that actually made me laugh out loud.  I would like to point out that the weekend before I saw this movie, I saw Ryan Gosling.  In.The.Flesh.  Not to mention he was here to shoot scenes from an upcoming Malick movie called Lawless. 



Ryan Gosling at FFF Fest.  Photo by Tim Griffin.

 This was taken at Fun Fun Fun Fest as Ryan Gosling was on one of the stages filming.  This guy is a bad ass and one of my favorite indie actors.  Later the same night I also scraped against him up close and personal at another show. :)  It was a good night needless to say!

Music photographer, Griffinshot.com  took this and a bunch of other amazing photos, if you are so inclined.



Crazy, Stupid, Love
All-star cast supporting a funny, touching, and sweet romantic comedy. 
Steve Carell and Julianne Moore are a married couple that have lost touch since they started years before as high school sweethearts.  The movie opens with Julianne Moore asking for a divorce and admitting to an affair with a coworker. 

Ryan Gosling is a handsome, successful play boy that frequents the same bar to find ladies to seduce and bring home. An arrogant womanizer full of techniques, he is never turned down except for one instance by the delightful and hilarious Emma Stone, a lawyer who is dating Josh Groban.  Well, Josh Groban as a character, not as himself.

Steve Carell wonders into the same bar that Ryan Gosling uses as his hunting ground, and Gosling decides that this broken man is so pathetic that he will help him get his life (and ultimately) his wife back.  The main story through the film is the development of Gosling and Carell's friendship, odd as it is, and how (in every good roco) everyone is only a degree from everyone else.

You really have to see for yourself. Every character in this was cast perfectly and they each made me laugh and feel for them.  After a streak of depressing dramas that I accidentally fell into, this was the perfect flick to get me out of my rut.  Would I watch it again?  Hell yes I would, I will own it!