Tag: Austin Stowell

Battle of the Sexes

Finally opened in wide-release, “Battle of the Sexes” is a look at the events and true story of the 1973 Tennis showdown between World number one Billie Jean King and former men’s champ, Bobby Riggs.

The real live event was one of the most watched televised sporting events in history. At that time over 90 million viewers watched Billie Jean King hand Bobby Riggs his hat in a match that he was overwhelmingly favored to win, but lost in stunning fashion.

During this time Billie Jean King was championing the cause for equal pay for female tennis players, while Bobby Riggs was a flashy gambler who refused to stop even as it almost cost him his family.

Bravo to the movie for truly displaying 1973, no state-of-the-art electronic devices of any kind and no flashy tennis outfits.

This epic tennis match is still talked about to this day.

“Battle of the Sexes” is definitely worth a look.

This is a 4 Star Move!

Bridge of Spies

“Bridge of Spies” is “Cold War Espionage at its finest!!”

It’s basically “we got spies”, “they got spies”. We got their spies, they got our spies. We want ours back, they want theirs back. Let’s make an exchange on a bridge. That is the simplest unabridged version. Here are the details.

“Bridge of Spies” is based on factual events. Tom Hanks is James Donovan an American attorney in a major NY law firm. He gets tasked with providing legal counsel for a man who was captured in the US believed to be a Russian Spy. The man is convicted and sentenced to 30 years in a Federal Prison.

On another front, the military has a U-2 Spy plane that can fly at 70,000 feet in altitude. The plane is deployed, but during the mission the American pilot is shot down over hostile territory during the Cold War and is taken prisoner.

Attorney James Donovan and a team of CIA agents go to Germany and Russia to negotiate the release of the American Pilot. The story unfolds from there…

“Bridge of Spies” is excellent. The only problem I had with the movie is that some times it dragged a bit.

This is a 4 1/2 Star Movie!

Whiplash

“Whiplash” is probably the best non-blockbuster movie you aren’t watching. You need to check this out, but you must be a friend of Jazz Music!!

“Whiplash” is one of the eight Best Picture Nominees for this year’s Oscars.

Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller) is a young drummer attending an east coast music conservatory. He is very talented and wants to go far. Andrew’s father’s (Reiser) failed writing career shadows him and he wants to get out from under that shadow.

Andrew desperately hungers to be among the great Jazz musicians such as Charlie Parker. Music Instructor Terrence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) who is equally known for his talent as well as he terrifying teaching methods recognizes Andrew’s talent and tries in his own way to bring it out, but will dealing with Fletcher’s way of teaching cause Andrew to loose his mind first? The story unfolds from there…

The movie is awesome plain and simple. Maybe I am bias because I am a Jazz fan, but the movie is intense, brilliantly executed and well-acted. The music isn’t bad either.
J.K. Simmons’s role as Instructor Fletcher is a 360 degree difference from when he was Psychologist “Emil Skoda” in 46 episodes of the original Law & Order.

“Whiplash” is a must see!!

This is a 5 Star Movie!!