Three things struck me about this movie.
One is that I knew very little about Ray Charles, and I found this story about his life to be interesting.
Two is that I was really impressed with Jamie Foxx. He did a great job.
While I suspect that this movie is a bit of a fabrication because it says it was “inspired by a true story”, which has to be a step below “based on a true story”, there was some truth in there somewhere. We do know that Frank William Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio) was a con man who, before his 19th birthday, wrote millions of dollars of fraudulent checks and passed himself off as a pilot, doctor and lawyer.
FBI agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks), meanwhile, is his foil, who tracks him across the country and finally around the world to bring him down. Time after time they cross paths as Abagnale goes through identities and his checks get better and better. We’re watching a movie, but it’s probably somewhat accurate in that the first batch of checks he passes are little more than paper with some decals on them.
Caroline (Kate Hudson) has a new job as a nurse to for a couple at a plantation. It seems that the husband needs constant care these days and the wife can’t keep up by herself, and the nurses just keep running away. Something doesn’t seem right, but Caroline needs a job and the money is good.
Sure enough, as soon as she gets there things start to go all funny. There are noises galore and that attic is the worst. It’s got all sorts of spooky things in it and that Violet (the wife, played by the incomparable Gena Rowlands) has something up her sleeve.
Jack Black is always fun to watch. This time around he plays Nick Vanderpark, who just can’t seem to keep his focus at work.
Meanwhile, best buddy Tim Dingman (played by Ben Stiller) has great focus, as evidenced by the new office chair. It also happens that he lives right across the street. Tim also has a certain amount of contempt for Nick, so when Nick finally gains his focus with an idea for a new product, he dismisses it without a second thought.
This retelling of the Batman tale isn’t quite as cool as the 1989 version with Jack Nicholson and his “Did you ever dance with the devil in the pale moon light”, but let’s be honest – if you don’t have Jack, how can it be? So keeping that in mind, it’s not bad.
Borrowing a page from the George Lucas playbook with the inclusion of Liam Neeson as a philosophical mentor to a younger hero works here, as Bruce Wayne rises from a Chinese prison to assume a role within Wayne Enterprises, the titanic corporation his father created years before.
Samara has returned for another go-round at the land of the living, and to try and stir up some trouble in the world above. Unlike the first movie, this one is a bit less frightening, as it’s a little more focused on one person, and there is a bit more idea of what is going on.
This time around, Samara has decided that she wants to live as a real child, and so she tries to take over the body of Aidan (David Dorfman). Unfortunately, his mom sorta likes him, so she fights to keep Samara from doing so. Naturally, no one wants to believe her.
This is movie is absolutely made by Wanda Sykes. Without her one-liners, it wouldn’t be half as good. And without the five minutes near the end with Elaine Stritch, it would have been even worse. But with those two, it wasn’t bad.
Jennifer Lopez plays Charlie, a perpetually undecisive, dog-walker and doctor’s office receptionist, who meets Kevin (Michael Vartan) several times in a couple of days. Unfortunately, his mother (Jane Fonda) isn’t keen about the idea of her talented son being taken away from her by this woman who is so obviously beneath her.
Nicole Kidman stars as UN translator Silvia Broome in this political thriller from Sydney Pollack (who also has a smallish role in the film).
Early on, we find out that Silvia has overheard someone speaking an obscure African dialect about murdering a visiting dignitary. Even stranger, that dialect is spoken in her country of origin, a fact pointed out by Sean Penn, playing haunted secret service agent Tobin Keller.
Harrison Ford stars in this movie as title character Henry, a high-powered lawyer, slowed unwittingly during a holdup when he goes in to get some cigarettes. Guess that will teach him not to smoke. In a bit of trivia, anyone know who plays the shooter? In one of the shorter roles in recent memory, it was the always entertaining John Leguizamo. But I digress.
After the shooting, Henry loses his memory, and finds that he is unable to speak, walk, or even recognize his wife or daughter. Only a high-spirited physical therapist (and an unknown love for Ritz crackers) helps Henry back to a semblance of a real life), but he finds quickly that he’s no longer suited for the fast-paced corporate lifestyle.
Last night we had a chance to sit down for some adult time, and caught (sorry) Fever Pitch. It wasn’t our favorite, by any means, but it wasn’t bad, either. It’s probably worth watching if you have a discount theater nearby, or catch it in a discount DVD bin, but I don’t know if I’d go much further than that.
Drew Barrymore plays high-powered businesswoman Lindsey Meeks, who gets together with less-than-ambitious schoolteacher Ben Wrightman (Jimmy Fallon). Both are 30 and neither is taken, so obviously each has problems. Lindsey’s issue is her job. Ben’s problem is that he’s a Red Sox fan.
Welcome to Celluloid Heroes! Here you will find movie reviews of all shapes and sizes. No stone is left unturned, and that is meant quite literally. In fact, you are probably quite unlikely to find the best of the best, as that's something that you can find elsewhere. Here you're more likely to find the dregs of the movie world than anything else.
As to the name? It's actually from a song by The Kinks, and while it may or may not have anything to do directly with the movies, it does mention quite a few movie stars, and things that make you think about movies, and well, it just seemed appropriate. Hopefully you'll agree, and if not, I suspect it won't get in the way too much.
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