Featured Movie: Wet Hot American Summer

The Featured Movie today is a bit of an oldie...let's go retro this time.
Released in 2001, but set in 1981, it's a throwback, throwback kind of day.

This movie is a hoot!  It's so silly and campy, if you'll excuse the pun, but it's an all-star cast of some really funny folks.  Starring (just to name a few):

Paul Rudd (I seem to be on a Paul Rudd kick!)
Bradley Cooper
Elizabeth Banks
Amy Poehler
Molly Shannon
Janeane Garofalo
David Hyde Pierce
Marguerite Moreau
H. Jon Benjamin

It's the last day of summer camp at Camp Firewood, and the counselors have one final day to leave their mark, and make the romantic connections they have failed to make all summer.

The movie is primarily a spoof of teen romantic comedies of that time.  But, it's quirky and silly, and endearing all at the same time.  In addition to ridiculous teenage romantic and sexual antics, there is also a piece of NASA's Skylab falling straight toward Camp Firewood.

As the camp director and a scientist, along with a group of nerdy kids, try to save the camp from the falling piece of Skylab; the camp cook, a disturbed Vietnam Vet, with the help of a talking can of vegetables (voiced by the hilarious H. Jon Benjamin,) are playing matchmaker with the teen counselors; and Susie and Ben (Amy Poehler & Bradley Cooper) attempt to produce the biggest choreographed talent show the camp has ever seen.  It's funny to watch the adult actors portraying teenagers.  Once again, Paul Rudd stole my heart... as the "bad boy" teen, he has mastered the art of rolling his eyes with his whole body!

I would definitely recommend this movie for a chuckle.

What did you think of "Wet Hot Summer?"

Featured Movie: Ant-Man

I really did not plan to see Ant-Man.  Honestly, when I first saw the trailer, I laughed.

While I have enjoyed the Marvel movies immensely, especially the Avengers movies, the whole concept of an Ant Man just seemed so silly.  I just wasn't interested, but Scott really wanted to see it, so we saw it in 3D yesterday.  And, I was pleasantly surprised.

Paul Rudd makes it.  Don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic cast:  Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Judy Greer, Michael Pena, and more.

Michael Douglas was great and looks amazing.

But, Paul Rudd is just so endearing, he brings a charm to this movie that I wasn't expecting.  There is something almost sweet about it.

The premise is based on the old comic.  A special suit gives a man the ability to shrink in size but increase in strength.  He also has a device giving him the ability to control the ants who are more or less his size when the suit is utilized.

Of course, the villain invents a similar suit and becomes the nemesis, the Yellow Jacket.

Ant-Man's encounter with the Avengers secures his place among their ranks.  He saves the world and accepts his role in life like all good super heroes do in the end.  It even ends by teasing us with the likelihood of a sequel.  

The effects were good.  See it in 3D for sure.  There is adventure, humor and even a little romance.

Overall I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.

What did you think of Ant-Man? 

Featured Movie: Jurassic World

The newest installment in the Jurassic Park movies is a great summer flick.  High adventure, laughs, screams...this movie has it all.  The story is light and predictable, and yet still heartwarming and well done.  In the same spirit as the first move, this one starts off innocent enough, "and then there is screaming and running." (quote: Dr. Ian Malcolm, Jurassic Park.)

The premise is familiar.  Someone decides it would be a good idea to open another dinosaur park on the same island as the original Jurassic Park.  But, this time there is a twist.  Kids today are jaded on regular dinosaurs, so genetic engineering is being used to create scarier monsters.  How could that go wrong?  

 

Of course they create the biggest, baddest dino ever, and of course it escapes confinement and goes on a killing spree.  There are a couple of kids, again reminiscent of the original movie; a good family story; and even a little bit of romance.  Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt have nice chemistry and good banter.  (I already loved Pratt from Guardians Of The Galaxy-another must see movie.) Vincent D'Onofrio is a great villain, and even the two boys were pretty good actors.  And the effects were amazing! 

I was skeptical of yet another Jurassic Park sequel, but was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.  Definitely worth catching on the big screen while it's still around.

What did you think of Jurassic World?

Featured Movie: Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

I finally saw "Birdman," and it definitely lived up to it's reputation.  What an amazing movie.

It was great to see Michael Keaton.  He looks good and his acting was superb.  He plays an aging actor, best known for his portrayal of a comic book hero, Birdman, 20 years ago.  Trying to prove himself as a serious actor and reinvent his acting career, he is writing, directing and starring in his own Broadway play.  Days away from opening night, he is beset with problems, from firing and replacing his leading actor; dealing with the ego and eccentricities of his new lead; working with his daughter recently hired as his assistant and recently released from rehab; an ex-wife he's still in love with and a girlfriend who may or may not be pregnant.  

Add to all of that, the character of Birdman who talks to him frequently, and even starts to materialize, advising him to forget the play and return to the superhero character.

The entire cast is fantastic, including Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis, Naomi Watts and Emma Stone.  

The filming and camera work were very interesting.  

I read that it was the directors idea for most of it to appear to have been filmed in a single shot.  

There are some twists along the way, and I'm on the fence about the ending.  But, over all I thought it was a great movie.  

What did you think of "Birdman" and what are your thoughts on the ending?

Featured Movie: Wild

“Wild” chronicles one woman’s solo journey of recovery and redemption.  Reese Witherspoon portrays a woman who has been through great trauma and loss in her personal life, including drug addiction, divorce and the death of her mother.  Her marriage has failed because of her multiple incidents of infidelity and drug use.  After her divorce, she changes her name to Cheryl Strayed, and decides to embark on an 1,100 mile solo hike on the Pacific Crest Trail.  With no experience or training, she provisions herself and starts her journey to find out who she has become.

Her adventures along the trail are interesting, humorous at times, and downright frightening and intense at others.  She encounters all kinds of people, some good, some not so much, and yet manages to find help and support in the most unexpected places.  No spoilers, but there is a more or less happy ending as she completes her journey both physically and emotionally, comes to terms with what she has done and who she is, and realizes that she can move forward.

Cheryl: “What if I forgave myself? I thought. What if I forgave myself even though I'd done something I shouldn't have? What if I was a liar and a cheat and there was no excuse for what I'd done other than because it was what I wanted and needed to do? What if I was sorry, but if I could go back in time I wouldn't do anything differently than I had done? What if I'd actually wanted to fuck every one of those men? What if heroin taught me something? What if yes was the right answer instead of no? What if what made me do all those things everyone thought I shouldn't have done was what also had got me here? What if I was never redeemed? What if I already was?”

Reese Witherspoon does an amazing job, perhaps the best acting of her career.  The movie is beautifully filmed and the scenery is breathtaking.  Laura Dern shows up in memory sequences as Cheryl’s recently deceased mother, and is great, of course, as the whacky and unconventional matriarch.

Based on a true story, “Wild” is definitely worth the watch.  

What did you think of "Wild?"

To Boldly Go

...to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.

The world lost an icon yesterday. 

Leonard Simon Nimoy
Born: March 26, 1931, West End, Boston, MA
Died: February 27, 2015, Bel-Air, Los Angeles, CA

The 83 year old actor died of end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.  He revealed he was struggling with the ailment in 2014, according to the New York Times. Nimoy had been a smoker, which contributed to the ailment, before he gave up the habit years ago.