Posted on May 16, 2017 at 11:05 pm
I had a lot of fun visiting the Spy Museum to see their fabulous exhibit about the villains in the series of James Bond films based on the books by Ian Fleming. Aptly titled “Exquisitely Evil,” the exhibit includes props and costumes and fascinating behind-the-scenes details about the films and the culture they reflected and influenced over half a century.
Posted on May 8, 2017 at 8:00 am
You can win a copy of the heartwarming and inspiring “Lion,” starring Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman in the real-life story of a adopted man who used Google Earth to find his birth family.
Send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with “Lion” in the subject line and tell me about a special Mother’s Day moment in your life. Don’t forget your address! (US addresses only) I’ll pick a winner at random on May 17, 2017.
Posted on March 8, 2017 at 8:00 am
What could be more personal than a voice, and what can be more important in expressing our emotions? Famously, British scientist Stephen Hawking complained that the automated voice he was given had an American accent. This NBC news story shows how individualized voices are being created to help people express themselves.
If you want to participate, you can add your voice to the Voice Bank.
Posted on January 26, 2017 at 5:30 pm
In “Gold,” People Magazine Sexiest Man Alive Matthew McConaughey has more fun playing a bald, overweight, often obnoxious character than we have watching him. The problem, as so often the case when stars produce their own vehicles, is that the movie assumes more affection for the character than it is able to generate. McConaughey plays prospector Kenny Walls (based on real-life goldbug John Felderhof — don’t Google him if you don’t want spoilers). The film, directed by Stephen Gaghan (“Traffic,” “Syriana”) is a rise and fall (and rise and fall and I won’t reveal which one he ends up on) story of a third generation prospector, always on the search for gold. A dream inspires him to go to Indonesia, where he teams up with a legendary specialist in finding gold, Michael Acosta (Edgar Ramírez), who takes him deep into the jungle.
They don’t have enough money. The workers desert them. Kenny gets malaria. The assay reports come back negative.
And then great news. They’ve struck gold.
And then the real challenge comes. The jungles of Indonesia are not nearly as treacherous as the jungles of Wall Street. Once the gold has been found, everyone wants a piece of the action. The qualities that made Kenny succeed in finding gold may not be the ones he needs to keep it. A smooth investment banker (Corey Stoll) and the head of the world’s biggest gold operation want Kenny’s mine. They have the resources to get the greatest value from it. They also have the resources to make life very, very unpleasant if he does not cooperate. When Kenny rejects the first option, the second kicks in.
There’s a lot going on here. There’s the relationship between Kenny and his girlfriend (Howard brings enormous warmth and intelligence to a one-dimensional role). There’s the bromance between Kenny and Mike, the search for gold, the struggles with the money people, the issues with Kenny’s original colleagues. Kenny speaks feelingly about the quality that unites all prospectors: the belief that something is there. So we are supposed to think of him as a loveable dreamer. But the movie keeps undercutting that by portraying him as selfish, not very smart, and not nearly as interesting as his buddy Mike or the characters played by Bruce Greenwood and Toby Kebbell. Flash forwards give away too much, too early. The film keeps panning for the gold of storytelling and coming up with lesser metal.
Parents should know that this film includes constant very strong and crude language, some peril and violence including guns and predatory animal, and illness, some disturbing images, drinking and drunkenness, chain smoking, fraud and betrayal.
Family discussion: Would you trust Kenny with your money? Should he have taken the deal? What should he do with the package he receives at the end?
If you like this, try: “The Wolf of Wall Street,” also featuring McConaughey
Posted on January 12, 2017 at 5:21 pm
Tripp (Lucas Till, game but about eight years too old to play a teenager) lives in North Dakota with his mom (a barely seen Amy Ryan) and still misses the dad who abandoned them (Frank Whalley, suitably seedy). He does not like his mother’s boyfriend Rick (Barry Pepper), a cop who is fussy and by the book. And he does not like school, which he barely acknowledges. He spends much of his time working at the junkyard run by Mr. Weathers (Danny Glover) and spending his spare time using the parts he finds there to build a truck he can drive.
Nearby, a big oil drilling company run by ruthless Reece Tenneson (Rob Lowe) is under pressure to produce. Their scientists locate a water table above the oil reserve. Under environmental and endangered species laws, they should not drill without further investigation. But Reece insists they go ahead, and the drilling releases three squid-like creatures who live on oil. They capture two, but the third escapes and ends up in Mr. Weathers’ junkyard, where Tripp is at first terrified, then fascinated, then, after they bond over throwing stones at one of Reese’s trucks together, captivated by a creature he names, without much imagination, Creech.
Somehow, the best way to hide and transport Creech turns out to be using him as the engine of a tricked-up truck with big wheels. Soon Tripp and his classmate (Jane Levy as Meredith) are on the run to keep Creech from being captured by Reece’s enforcer, Burke (Holt McCallany) so they can poison the creatures and keep drilling for oil.
There’s nothing new here, but it is good-natured fun, with special effects that seamlessly integrate Creech into the action. It would have been nice to see Meredith as something more than the brainy girl with a crush and a credit card, and the film is half-hearted at best when it comes to Tripp’s careless treatment of a kid who wants to be his friend, expecting us to laugh at his presumption. As a January Saturday matinee or an outing for a third grade birthday party, it hits the spot.
Parents should know that this film has extended mild peril, with chase scenes and threats. No one is badly hurt. There is some schoolyard language and brief bodily function humor.
Family discussion: What qualities of the creatures made Jim decide they were worth saving?
If you like this, try: “Transformers” and “Free Willy” — and a Monster Truck rally!
