For the first half of my life I wanted to be the successor to Bill Mazeroski. What could have been better than spending 20 years or so playing second base for my beloved Pittsburgh Pirates? For the second half of my life I’ve wanted to be the next Roger Ebert. I was far from the talent level needed on both counts, but we can dream, can’t we?
Roger Ebert was the first person to win a Pulitzer Prize for criticism, and his movie reviews were often more entertaining than the movies he was writing about. Yet it was his syndicated TV show with Gene Siskel that cemented my love of film that had first blossomed in college. Col Albers film class at The University of Southern Mississippi had me at hello, and Siskel and Ebert’s weekly love letters to film gave me sustenance, even if you often had to search for the show. I remember when it was scheduled for midnight on Saturday night in New Orleans, which means I couldn’t hit the discos to almost 1 am. Believe it. I waited.
Roger Ebert joined Gene Siskel in death yesterday, both
victims of cancer, and both too young. Their
unbridled love of movies made them beloved in the industry, and their influence
made movies better and more popular.
They taught us how to evaluate and enjoy, how to critique and
appreciate. Roger had been unable to
speak for years due to thyroid cancer, but his voice spoke loudly through his
internet presence. His writing and his
insight never flagged. I’ve read his
stuff every week for years, and I’ll sure miss him. There are only a few writers/pundits I’ve
remained a fan of spanning decades. Ebert, George Carlin,
George Will, Dave Barry on the short list. The ultimate
compliment is this, even if Ebert went “thumbs down” on a movie, you could tell
whether or not you would enjoy the movie.
I’ll always remember how much Ebert loved Apocalypse Now and Raging
Bull, and Siskel loved Saturday Night Fever and Fargo, and
how they both loved My Dinner With Andre, by themselves elevating it to
prominence. For many years I’ve averaged
a movie a week, and that 2 hour escape was made more relevant by Roger Ebert’s
insight.
So here’s what I loved this month:
So here’s what I loved this month:
The Call – 9
You’ll like this movie if you like
a. Sustained Suspense
b. Silence of the Lambs
c. Halle Berry
It’s a small joy in the scheme of things, but a joy nevertheless, when you love a movie that you didn’t expect much from. The Call is such a movie. Imagine Silence of the Lambs with an extended kidnapping scene. I guess it’s really not that hard to make a suspenseful movie about an abduction. If you’ve seen 2 million CSI’s and Law and Order’s you’ve probably seen everything this movie has to offer, but for some reason that I can’t really explain, it just works. About half of the movie is an abduction in progress, and the director sustains the suspense throughout. You’re on the edge of your seat and you stay there.
Now anyone who has seen the gazillion TV crime dramas will immediately see and hear what Hero Halle Berry picks up on that the police didn’t, and the ending is as far-fetched as it is strange in a way that deflates the drama just a little, but sometimes a movie just captures you.
You’ll like this movie if you like
a. Sustained Suspense
b. Silence of the Lambs
c. Halle Berry
It’s a small joy in the scheme of things, but a joy nevertheless, when you love a movie that you didn’t expect much from. The Call is such a movie. Imagine Silence of the Lambs with an extended kidnapping scene. I guess it’s really not that hard to make a suspenseful movie about an abduction. If you’ve seen 2 million CSI’s and Law and Order’s you’ve probably seen everything this movie has to offer, but for some reason that I can’t really explain, it just works. About half of the movie is an abduction in progress, and the director sustains the suspense throughout. You’re on the edge of your seat and you stay there.
Now anyone who has seen the gazillion TV crime dramas will immediately see and hear what Hero Halle Berry picks up on that the police didn’t, and the ending is as far-fetched as it is strange in a way that deflates the drama just a little, but sometimes a movie just captures you.
Halle plays a 911 operator who makes a mistake and pulls
herself from her job only to get sucked back in when a killer she is all too
familiar with strikes again. The “hive”
where the 911 operators work is a cool setting (I can see a TV series coming)
and there’s a realistic urgency as the crime unfolds. Little Miss Sunshine Abigail Breslin is all
grown up and as the victim of the kidnapping makes it all believable. Thumbs Up
Olympus Has Fallen – 8
You’ll like this movie if you like
a. Die Hard
b. Action
c. Patriotism
Gerard Butler is the John McClane character in this obvious retread of Die Hard taking place in The White House. The similarities are funny after awhile, but it’s still so well done, you can’t help but get involved. A North Korean terrorist (timely, huh?) captures the President (Aaron Eckhart), the Vice President and the Secretary of Defense and they have a foolproof plan to start a nuclear holocaust from the White House bunker. They don’t count on Butler, but you should. Not original, but cool nonetheless. Thumbs Up
You’ll like this movie if you like
a. Die Hard
b. Action
c. Patriotism
Gerard Butler is the John McClane character in this obvious retread of Die Hard taking place in The White House. The similarities are funny after awhile, but it’s still so well done, you can’t help but get involved. A North Korean terrorist (timely, huh?) captures the President (Aaron Eckhart), the Vice President and the Secretary of Defense and they have a foolproof plan to start a nuclear holocaust from the White House bunker. They don’t count on Butler, but you should. Not original, but cool nonetheless. Thumbs Up
Dead Man Down – 7
You’ll like this movie if you like
a. Revenge films
b. Colin Farrell
c. Killing bad guys
This is a well done revenge movie centered around a man, a properly intense Colin Farrell, trying to avenge the death of his wife and child. It’s well done and effective, but the scene I’ll always remember because I could barely watch, was the scene where rats begin eating a man alive. Whoa, was that really necessary? Some ingenious plot twists and action sequences will have you trying to forget that rat scene. Thumbs sideways.
Apocalypse Now - 10You’ll like this movie if you like
a. Revenge films
b. Colin Farrell
c. Killing bad guys
This is a well done revenge movie centered around a man, a properly intense Colin Farrell, trying to avenge the death of his wife and child. It’s well done and effective, but the scene I’ll always remember because I could barely watch, was the scene where rats begin eating a man alive. Whoa, was that really necessary? Some ingenious plot twists and action sequences will have you trying to forget that rat scene. Thumbs sideways.
Fargo - 10
Raging Bull - 10
Saturday Night Fever - 10
My Dinner With Andre - 10
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