Category: Drama

Draft Day

If you are an avid Pro Football Fan, You will be intrigued by “Draft Day”.

The 2014 NFL Draft is just hours away…The back room, under the table deals that occur between the front offices of NFL teams is mind boggling if not staggering.

Sonny Weaver (Kevin Costner) has the opportunity to trade for the number one player and thus rebuild his team, the Cleveland Browns. The fans, the coaches, the owner and his Mom are counting on him. Sonny makes what everyone believes is the best possible deal with the Seattle Seahawks to get the number one pick, but before the actual draft starts Sonny does his own homework on the number one pick and starts to have doubts. The story unfolds from there…

The movie starts off a bit “Ho-Hum”. It does pick up steam and really starts to roll, but a bit too late because the movie is almost over when it gets exciting. There are definitely a few surprises which make things interesting.

I found the on-screen chemistry between Jennifer Garner and Kevin Costner to be a bit strange. They are not the best “Love” match. I really like both of them as actors. The cinematography is great as you will get a different look at some of the best looking NFL Football Stadiums around the country.

The paid critics were a bit harsh on “Draft Day”, but I think it’s worth a look.

August: Osage County

Meryl Streep is “Brilliant” in “August:Osage County”

“August: Osage County” is about family dysfunction in the worst way. The strong willed woman of the Weston family have many issues. Family tragedy brings them together in the mid-west home that they grew up in, but after being together for a short time. Dark secrets come out that further divide them as a family. The story unfolds from there…
The movie is dark, very touching and at times very hilarious. It will definitely hold your attention. The cast is great together.

Meryl Streep deserves the Golden Globe nomination that she received for this movie.

Tracy Lett’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name debuted on Broadway in December 2007.

Saving Mr. Banks

Walt Disney promised his daughters that he would obtain the rights to make a movie from the bestselling novel P.L. Travers “Mary Poppins”. The only problem is that it would take over 20 years to accomplish.

Author P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) wasn’t really interested in allowing her book and beloved magical nanny Mary Poppins to become part of the Hollywood Mauling machine.
But after a while the book stopped selling and finances became a strain so P.L. Travers agree to come to Holly wood to meet with Walt Disney. The story unfolds from there…

The story is very well told. We see P.L. Travers childhood through her eyes throughout the movie via flashbacks that she has during her time at the Disney Studios.

This is a very delightful movie. It’s sweet in that Disney way, but not too sweet. Just think “Saving Mr. Banks” is a Disney movie about the making of a Disney movie. How can you go wrong with that?

American Hustle

“American Hustle” is one of those highly anticipated movies, it doesn’t disappoint. You will be intrigued from the first 20 minutes. My attention never wavered. The cast was excellent. Depending on whom you are rooting for you will either be pleased or pissed off.

“American Hustle” is about cons and swindles going down routinely. A couple of con artists believe they have the perfect money making scheme. They go about executing their plan flawlessly until one day they happen upon the wrong client. An FBI agent happens to meet with the con-artists; of course they do not know they are talking with an FBI agent. Once the scheme goes down, he identifies himself and arrests are made.

The FBI agent isn’t all on the up and up himself, but he forces the con-artists to work with him undercover to bring down a group of shady State Senators and Congressman. The story unfolds from there…

“American Hustle” is very much a Martin Scorsese like film, but he did not direct this. This was directed by David O. Russell. You must pay attention. Things are not always as they seem. There are plenty of surprises that materialize before your eyes. There is a lot of drama, quite a bit of sexuality, but the movie does not contain a lot of brutality.

The male audience will find this movie entertaining from a sensual perspective. Amy Adams never wears a bra and this is obvious throughout the movie. There are several scenes where it’s clear she isn’t wearing any panties either. I also found Jennifer Lawrence’s performance interesting. This movie is definitely not for the teenage set.

“American Hustle” is worth the price of admission.

Out of The Furnace

I saw “Out of The Furnace” in Atlanta this weekend while visiting my Posse.

“Out of The Furnace” is clearly a case of great actors navigating a horrible script. The music is really good and Woody Harrelson was insanely crazy in the movie. That’s about as good as it gets.

“Out of The Furnace” is about family, fate and justice. Christian Bale is Russell Baze who works a dead end job at a local Steel Mill. His brother Rodney (Casey Affleck) fresh from serving his country in Iraq plays the ponies and eventually hooks up with one of the most notorious crime syndicates in the area. Rodney soon gets caught up in something way over his head and mysteriously disappears. The story unfolds from there…

This is one of those movies that was minimally edited. There are no ebbs and flows and its strictly monotone. For the most part the movie will hold your attention because you want to get to resolution of the situation and events, but the lulls that occur will give you pause.

I would suggest waiting for “Out of The Furnace” to hit Blue-Ray, DVD or Cable.

The Counselor

Please do not waste your money! “The Counselor” is one of the worst movies of 2013!
What an utter disappointment. The movie is all over the map. There are long sex scenes that don’t make sense and have no real place in the movie. I am not sure what Ridley Scott was thinking when he was directing this.
The movie is supposed to be about an attorney who gets in too deep in the drug trafficking business. The story and plot are not obvious and everything is all over the place. The movie is brutally bloody. The previews are extremely miss-leading. I totally expected action, intrigue, drama and a bit of fun given the cast. There is none of that in “The Counselor”.
I have to say that I am not even sure that “The Counselor” warrants a look even when it comes out on DVD or Blueray. I can’t see spending any money on this film at all.

“The Counselor” should have been left on the cutting room floor.

Runner Runner

Sometimes the paid critics do get it right! This is the case with “Runner Runner”. It’s not good!!

Believing that he had been swindled by an online gambling site, a Princeton grad student Richie (Justin Timberlake) makes his way to Costa Rica to confront the owner of the gambling site a multi-millionaire by the name of Ivan Block (Ben Affleck). Ivan thanks Richie for bring the error to his attention. Ivan of course checks Richie out and uncovers that he is a grad student in need of money.
Ivan dangles the idea of making millions in front of Richie. Richie decides to take Ivan up on his offer, but quickly finds out that he could be in over his head and the FBI (Anthony Mackie) have been closely watching Ivan Block and are hoping to use Richie to get him. The story unfolds from there…

Yawn…I was bored out of my mind. Been there done that!! There are some similarities between “Runner Runner” and another movie centered on gambling and casinos that opened in 2010 call “21”. “21” was a lot better movie. It was more exciting and had more intrigue.
I found “Runner Runner” to be flat and uneventful. Ivan Block (Ben Affleck) is boring. The movie is a fast-paced thriller that has no real direction and it doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. There is no reason to hurry to see “Runner Runner”.

“Runner Runner” is from the director of “The Lincoln Lawyer”. “The Lincoln Lawyer” was an excellent movie. Too bad I can’t say the same of “Runner Runner”.

Lee Daniels ‘ The Butler

Based on a true story, Lee Daniels’ The Butler tells the story of a White House Butler who served eight American Presidents over a 30+ year period.

The story is excellently told and very well depicted. The movie at times is very emotional, but none the less it’s very good. It will hold your attention.

If you can tolerate the reenactment of 1926 thru the late sixties and how African American people were treated during this time period, then by all means do see “Lee Daniels’ The Butler”. There is a star studded cast that portrays history beautifully.

Tyler Perry’s Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor

This is one serious Drama. There is no “Madea”. Tyler Perry is strictly behind the camera.

“Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor” is about an ambitious young married woman who finds herself attracted to a Technology Billionaire.
The passion that she feels for the billionaire causes her work and home life to spin out of control. Decisions that she makes will have far reaching consequences and change the course of her life forever. The story unfolds from there…

Tyler Perry’s “Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor” limps along for almost two hours before you see some explosive scenes with a surprising but strange ending. Kim Kardashian cannot act!! The other stars are boring.
On the positive side, the story Tyler Perry is trying to tell does hit close to home as everything in the movie can and probably has happened in real life.

I am disappointed!! This is not Tyler Perry’s best work.

Side Effects

“Side Effects” is a tight Suspense Thriller that touches on the anxieties of depression and deals with the moral aspects of medical ethics.
Emily (Rooney Mara) and Martin’s (Channing Tatum) successful world collapses amidst a new experimental drug that is prescribed by Emily’s psychiatrist (Jude Law). The drug is intended to treat Anxiety, but of course has many side effects one in particular is sleep walking. The story unfolds from there…
“Side Effects” is a series of twists, turns, surprises, drama and deafening suspense. This is Director Steve Soderbergh at his finest. You will attempt to figure out what is going on in the movie and think you have it all figured out right up to the end, but you’d be wrong.
The sneakiness, surprises, suspense, twists and turns are what make “Side Effects” worth seeing. “Side Effects” isn’t great, but it is very good and has an excellent cast!!

If you love Drama and Suspense, “Side Effects” is your movie.