Tuesday, August 14, 2012

THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN

Latest movie from the folks at Disney.  Safe for the kids but will really distort the reality to younger ones as to where babies come from.

I have always dreamed what would happen if movies went more to Frank Zappa styled music and this is abliut as close as it will get.  This movie is based on a story by Ahmet Zappa (son of Frank) and it goes round and round and round until oops look there are the credits.

Movie is basicially, wife Jennifer Garner and husband Joel Edgerton can not have children of their own.  They write up a list detailing what traits they would love to have in their child and bury it in the garden.  Lo and behold Timothy sprouts and is everything they wanted in a child.

Fun and games as they decide to take him in as their own and then explain his arrival to friends and family.

Movie is a mess.  It is an enjoyable mess but a mess.  Surprises are telegraphed pretty openly.

Rated G

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

The Bourne Legacy

I want to start this by telling you how much I have enjoyed the last 3 Bourne movies.  All are in my DVD collection and I still view them.  I will even stop when channel surfing if I catch them on USA or another cable outlet.  The fact I am not a Matt Damon fan, does not matter with these movies.  They play fast and keep my attention glued to the screen, not my watch.

So the fourth movie in the Bourne franchise comes out.  No Matt Damon, yeaaa, Directed by Tony Gilmore, the writer of the first three Bournes, double yeaaaa.  Rachael Weisz and Jeremy Renner to star and many former antagonist back also.  What could go wrong here?

Backstory.  Oh My Gosh.  I am a fan of backstory, I usually complain when there is not enough backstory.  I want to know why characters act the way they do and what inflictions they have endured to say what they say.  I am a voracious reader, reading up to 5 books a week on many topics.  I love backstory in the books.  Now this movie in my opinion is 95%  backstory.  It moves with the pace of the glacier that Renner is near at the beginning of the movie.  45 minutes late we find him 1/4 mile down the road but know his history. ( maybe slight exaggeration there )  45 minutes later we know the back story of almost everyone in the cast.

There is a new bad guy, Edward Norton as Eric Byer.  He is a go getter and he wants all the participants of PROJECT BLACKBRIER removed from the scene.  He does a good job with the antagonist role and you reallycan not wait to see how the Bourne operatives destroy him, or maybe he will get them all?

The movie is rated PG-13 for violence, Drug use.  No real profanity and no sex.

In the future I will not complain so loudly about backstory.  I have seen where it leads.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

The Campaign

Recently screened the new Will Ferrell movie, THE CANDIDATE.  First let me say that I was not totally disappointed.  Just, that I was partially disappointed.  More on why coming.

Will Ferrell plays a 4 time United States Congressman from the 14th District in North Carolina named, Cam Brady.  Cam is the perfect politician, telling his constituents what THEY want to hear and promising anything to get reelected.  Zach Galifianakis plays a local town tourism director with extremely non-male tendencies named, Marty Huggins.

John Lithgow and Dan Aykroyd play the Motch Brothers.  Two multi-billionaires who want control of the district and want to be in control of the congressman of that district.  Cam Brady runs unopposed so they hand-pick Marty to be their man and pour 1 million dollars into his PAC to fund a very dirty campaign against Cam.

Do not feel sorry for Cam as he knows how to fight fire with fire, tit-for-tat, and this is where the funny of the movie goes.  Slapstick and profanity riddled commentary comes from both political camps.  Got a little much for me, although I chuckled when the baby got punched.  The CGI for that was awesome.

Where I was disappointed was with Will Ferrell.  He seems to just reuse story plot points from movie to movie.  That just gets old.  What was refreshing is the humor that Zack Galifianakis brings to the movie.  I have enjoyed his work since TRU LIVES and he has yet to make me laugh.

The movie cast is rounded out nicely by Dylan McDermott, Katherine LaNasa and Sarah Baker.  The scene stealer award goes to Karen Maruyama as the maid.

I will not tell you here who wins.  Email me at Mark@salsatv.com for that.  Or go see it yourself and find out.

Rated R for crude sexual content, language and brief nudity

Universal Pictures hits 1 Billion Box Office

I like most of the movies that Universal puts forth.  Looks like I am not the only one out there. - Mark Kennedy
 
NEWS RELEASE
UNIVERSAL PICTURES SETS STUDIO RECORD FOR FASTEST CLIMB TO $1 BILLION AT NORTH AMERICAN BOX OFFICE


Studio on Track for a Record Best Year at Domestic Box Office
UNIVERSAL CITY, CAAugust 6, 2012—Universal Pictures announced today that the studio has reached the $1 billion mark at the domestic box office, three months earlier than at any time in history.  The previous record was set during the weekend of November 7, 2008 with films that included Mamma Mia!, The Incredible Hulk, Wanted and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.  This will be the seventh time Universal has reached this milestone.  With five films yet to be released in 2012, the studio is on track to have its highest-grossing year ever at the domestic box office, a record also set in 2008. 
Universal’s 2012 success at the North American box office has been fueled by a strong slate of films including five that became No. 1 (Contraband, Safe House, Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, Snow White and the Huntsman and Ted), two that grossed more than $200 million (Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax at $214 million and Ted at $203.6 million*) and two that grossed more than $100 million (Safe House at $126.4 million and Snow White and the Huntsman at $153.8 million*).  Universal is one of only two studios so far this year to have two films that have grossed more than $200 million domestically.  Currently, Universal has four of the 15 top grossing films of the year, more than any other studio. 

Other Facts of Note:

  • Universal and Illumination Entertainment’s Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax was the highest opening for an animated film in 2012 ($70.2 million) and the highest-opening film for Universal this year. 
  • As the breakout comedy hit of the summer, Ted set a new record for the highest opening for an original R-rated comedy in history ($54.4 million) and is well on its way to becoming one of the all-time highest-grossing R-rated comedies ever.
  • The studio’s February hit Safe House was Denzel Washington’s second biggest opening of his career and his second highest-grossing film ever.
  • Universal Pictures International passed $1 billion at the overseas box office on July 17, also setting a new studio record.

This week, Universal will release the next chapter in the studio’s hugely popular espionage franchise, The Bourne Legacy.  In October comes the new out-loud comedy Pitch Perfect, and the action-thriller The Man With the Iron Fists arrives in November.  Universal will close out 2012 with two films in December: Les Misérables, the motion-picture adaptation of the global stage sensation seen by more than 60 million people in 42 countries and in 21 languages around the world, and This Is 40, the latest comedy from writer/director Judd Apatow.

*These films are currently in theaters.  






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