“Kevin Costner
seems to be making a comeback into mainstream cinema”. That’s what a fellow writer
/ critic said at the preview of 3 Days to Kill. My response was that legends like Costner
really don’t need to make a “comeback”.
They will always have age appropriate roles available for them – if they
want to give it a shot.
Showing posts with label McG. Show all posts
Showing posts with label McG. Show all posts
Friday, 14 March 2014
Thursday, 22 March 2012
The Means War
I think I have seen all the movies that were worth seeing from the director with the shortest name I that I have ever heard of. I am certain there would be someone which less than 3 letters to his/her name. Like Z or X or something like that somewhere in this world. But McG is a really cool I say. The only movie from his table that I have reviewed to date is one of the best Sports movies ever made to date called We are Marshall. The others include the Charlies Angels pair of movies which was also quite good I thought. So, although I kind of knew that This Means War (TMW) is more of a romantic comedy, I was also quite sure that with McG involved it would be a reasonable Romantic Action Comedy. And it turned out to be pretty much that all the way.
Lauren (Reese Witherspoon) works at a product testing laboratory of sorts which helps organizations understand what works with consumers. Not surprisingly, that is not going to be too much help for her – in terms of her love life that is. She has just been dumped by a quite stunning male specimen (not that Lauren is any less mind you) and she keeps bumping into him along with his new girl friend.
The emotional strain that comes from the bumping, coupled with her best buddy Trish (Chelsea Handler) drives her to date not one but two men together – FDR Foster (Chris Pine) and Tuck (Tom Hardy). But what she doesn’t know is that Tuck is not the Travel Agent he claims to be. Tuck is a totally different kind of agent. The kind who jumps out of airplanes. The same kind who also beats the shit out of bad guys who are trying to cause harm to the US of A. Yep. The dreaded 3 alphabets – C – I – A (guttural laughter follows). And whats worse? FDR is Tuck’s best friend and also an agent. Talk about having problems.
TMW has a screenplay that borders on being corny at times but is mostly quite funny. The situation that Lauren finds herself in – torn between 2 men who are both equally good to go – is one that a lot of women would really dream of. But they would not be prepared to go through the complications that come with it for certain. And after watching TMW you can be quite certain of not dating 2 men at the same time – just too complicated. I am sure those with experience will agree with me.
McG’s direction is as typical as he has always been. The action sequences are slickly done and will be loved by the guys. Ditto for the dialogues. The women will also love it thanks to the even balance between the girly stuff and the guy things. There are enough of girl to girl talk scenes thrown into the entire scheme of things. A very enjoyable movie to say the least. 6.5 on 10. Better than some of the RomComs we have seen of late. Watch it.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1190305305/
Lauren (Reese Witherspoon) works at a product testing laboratory of sorts which helps organizations understand what works with consumers. Not surprisingly, that is not going to be too much help for her – in terms of her love life that is. She has just been dumped by a quite stunning male specimen (not that Lauren is any less mind you) and she keeps bumping into him along with his new girl friend.
The emotional strain that comes from the bumping, coupled with her best buddy Trish (Chelsea Handler) drives her to date not one but two men together – FDR Foster (Chris Pine) and Tuck (Tom Hardy). But what she doesn’t know is that Tuck is not the Travel Agent he claims to be. Tuck is a totally different kind of agent. The kind who jumps out of airplanes. The same kind who also beats the shit out of bad guys who are trying to cause harm to the US of A. Yep. The dreaded 3 alphabets – C – I – A (guttural laughter follows). And whats worse? FDR is Tuck’s best friend and also an agent. Talk about having problems.
TMW has a screenplay that borders on being corny at times but is mostly quite funny. The situation that Lauren finds herself in – torn between 2 men who are both equally good to go – is one that a lot of women would really dream of. But they would not be prepared to go through the complications that come with it for certain. And after watching TMW you can be quite certain of not dating 2 men at the same time – just too complicated. I am sure those with experience will agree with me.
McG’s direction is as typical as he has always been. The action sequences are slickly done and will be loved by the guys. Ditto for the dialogues. The women will also love it thanks to the even balance between the girly stuff and the guy things. There are enough of girl to girl talk scenes thrown into the entire scheme of things. A very enjoyable movie to say the least. 6.5 on 10. Better than some of the RomComs we have seen of late. Watch it.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1190305305/
Friday, 13 August 2010
We Are Marshall
Now this one is an out and out A Grade Sports Movie. Must watch and must rank in the top 10 sport movies of all time. Easy pick for anyone who is looking for videos for a team building or an inspiration building class. And it definitely rates along with the likes of Miracle on Ice & Remember the Titans. However, the message is distinctly different and that makes it even more enjoyable and long lasting.
In December 1970, the entire Marshall University Football Team along with support staff and a few fans – dies in a plane crash. All 76 of them. In one sad but true instance – they are all gone. A team that more or less held the fabric of the town together. They were not really the best ever to play the game. But played it with a zeal and passion that would get them all the way to the top of the ladder when the time for judgement came. All of a sudden, the entire town, shell shocked comes to a grinding halt. Almost every family has lost a dear one – a son, a father, an uncle, a cousin, a very close friend, a hero.
Completely crippled by this, President Dedmon (David Strathairn) is about to call of the entire football programme for the year. However, the football team co-captain, Nate Ruffin (Anthony Mackie) will not give up without trying. Prior to the fateful game, Nate has dislocated his shoulder and therefore is not with the team when the flight crashes. He rallies every student in the university who assemble that evening to push the committee to reverse its decision to stop the football programme.
Prez Dedmon then begins his arduous task of firstly hiring a coach. Red Dawson (Matthew Fox) Assistant Coach is approached first. Red decided not to take the flight @ the last minute and drive home instead. He is obviously ridden with guilt and shock and still reeling under the impact. He politely declines. No coach, obviously so, is willing to take up the challenge of stringing together a football team when only 3 members of the original team are alive currently. No one with the exception of Jack Lengyel (Matthew McConaughey) who in his words thought, “what if I were to lose my kids – that would hurt. And then I thought get that to a family, a team, a whole town – that must hurt real bad”. Much to the surprise of Prez Dedmon, he offers to take up the job and starts with the tiring task of putting together a football team that would get some sense of semblance and self respect back into the lives of the people in the town.
Director McG (surely in the Guiness Book for the director with the shortest name in Hollywood) stitches together a multifaceted movie which examines the stress that we go through with a loss of a loved one. Every possible relationship has been dealt with to the best possible manner. Starting with that of Paul Griffen (Ian McShane) who is one of the most influential people in the town and loses his star quarterback son, Chris, in the crash. Paul goes on to become the biggest stumbling block in the lives of the group that want to restart the Football programme. His inability to cope with the loss of his son has been handled extremely well. Then there is Annie Cantrall (Kate Mara) who is Chris’ girlfriend and is engaged to be married to him. What does she do with the ring that Chris gave her? There is Tom Bogdan (Biran Geraghty) who misses the ill fated game because he overslept. Now how is he going to come to terms with the entire concept of being alive because he was irresponsible?
We are Marshall is one of the sports movies that really takes the focus out of the winning part in most such movies. It focuses more on the building of a team from scratch. It focuses on building relationships block by block, day by day. It focuses on how we need put several times of a higher effort to get things done when the chips are down. It focuses on how we need to really get creative in times like the Marshalls faced in the 70s. It focuses on the all important – never say die – spirit that epitomizes successful sportsmen. Definitely a must watch. Add to your collection if you can – 7 on 10 from my side as a movie.
In December 1970, the entire Marshall University Football Team along with support staff and a few fans – dies in a plane crash. All 76 of them. In one sad but true instance – they are all gone. A team that more or less held the fabric of the town together. They were not really the best ever to play the game. But played it with a zeal and passion that would get them all the way to the top of the ladder when the time for judgement came. All of a sudden, the entire town, shell shocked comes to a grinding halt. Almost every family has lost a dear one – a son, a father, an uncle, a cousin, a very close friend, a hero.
Completely crippled by this, President Dedmon (David Strathairn) is about to call of the entire football programme for the year. However, the football team co-captain, Nate Ruffin (Anthony Mackie) will not give up without trying. Prior to the fateful game, Nate has dislocated his shoulder and therefore is not with the team when the flight crashes. He rallies every student in the university who assemble that evening to push the committee to reverse its decision to stop the football programme.
Prez Dedmon then begins his arduous task of firstly hiring a coach. Red Dawson (Matthew Fox) Assistant Coach is approached first. Red decided not to take the flight @ the last minute and drive home instead. He is obviously ridden with guilt and shock and still reeling under the impact. He politely declines. No coach, obviously so, is willing to take up the challenge of stringing together a football team when only 3 members of the original team are alive currently. No one with the exception of Jack Lengyel (Matthew McConaughey) who in his words thought, “what if I were to lose my kids – that would hurt. And then I thought get that to a family, a team, a whole town – that must hurt real bad”. Much to the surprise of Prez Dedmon, he offers to take up the job and starts with the tiring task of putting together a football team that would get some sense of semblance and self respect back into the lives of the people in the town.
Director McG (surely in the Guiness Book for the director with the shortest name in Hollywood) stitches together a multifaceted movie which examines the stress that we go through with a loss of a loved one. Every possible relationship has been dealt with to the best possible manner. Starting with that of Paul Griffen (Ian McShane) who is one of the most influential people in the town and loses his star quarterback son, Chris, in the crash. Paul goes on to become the biggest stumbling block in the lives of the group that want to restart the Football programme. His inability to cope with the loss of his son has been handled extremely well. Then there is Annie Cantrall (Kate Mara) who is Chris’ girlfriend and is engaged to be married to him. What does she do with the ring that Chris gave her? There is Tom Bogdan (Biran Geraghty) who misses the ill fated game because he overslept. Now how is he going to come to terms with the entire concept of being alive because he was irresponsible?
We are Marshall is one of the sports movies that really takes the focus out of the winning part in most such movies. It focuses more on the building of a team from scratch. It focuses on building relationships block by block, day by day. It focuses on how we need put several times of a higher effort to get things done when the chips are down. It focuses on how we need to really get creative in times like the Marshalls faced in the 70s. It focuses on the all important – never say die – spirit that epitomizes successful sportsmen. Definitely a must watch. Add to your collection if you can – 7 on 10 from my side as a movie.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)