Fast Times at Ridgemont High Table Read: Aniston, Pitt, Roberts, Morgan Freeman, and of course Sean Penn

Fast Times at Ridgemont High Table Read: Aniston, Pitt, Roberts, Morgan Freeman, and of course Sean Penn

Posted on September 18, 2020 at 10:14 am

Copyright 2020 Jimmy KImmel
Imagine the 80’s classic “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” starring Oscar winners Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, John Legend, Matthew McConaughey and, of course, Sean Penn, plus Jennifer Aniston, Henry Golding, Jimmy Kimmel, and Shia LeBoeuf, and some comments from the original author, Cameron Crowe, who based the film on his own experiences as an undercover adult reporter pretending to be a high school kid, and director Amy Heckerling. As host Dane Cook and cast member (Mark “Rat” Ratner) reminds us, some changes have occurred since then so watch it with a sense of how far we’ve come rather than being surprised or offended. As much fun as it is to see these pros take on these roles, by far the best part is watching the actors enjoy each other’s performances, especially Sean Penn watching Shia LeBoeuf take on his iconic role of Spicoli.

And be sure to support Sean Penn’s charity, CORE, which supports COVID-19 testing and relief efforts.

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Cool Stuff

Roadies — A New Series from Cameron Crowe

Posted on June 13, 2016 at 8:00 am

Cameron Crowe, whose teenage adventures covering groups like The Allman Brothers and The Eagles for Rolling Stone inspired Almost Famous, has a new behind-the-scenes rock music drama, this time a Showtime series called “Roadies,” starring Luke Wilson, Carla Gugino, Imogen Poots, and Rafe Spall. It looks great!

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Music Television
Aloha

Aloha

Posted on May 28, 2015 at 5:37 pm

Copyright 2015 Columbia Pictures
Copyright 2015 Columbia Pictures
Writer/director Cameron Crowe presents us with an attractive and talented but messy and compromised hero in “Aloha,” and asks us to root for him. The problem is that the film itself is attractive, talent-filled, messy, and compromised, and harder to root for than the hero of the story.

That hero is Brian Gilcrest (Bradley Cooper), once an 11-year-old who loved the sky so much he wanted to identify everything in it. In a quick narrated recap that opens the film we learn that after he grew up things went well for him (in the military) and then not so well, and then badly. While working for a private contractor in Kabul, he was badly injured, and apparently not in the way that gets you a Purple Heart.

Brian arrives in Hawaii and needs to prove himself. His former employer, Carson Welch (Bill Murray) is one of the wealthiest men in the world, presiding over a telecommunications empire. He and the Air Force are working together on a big project that involves the development of land on the island that was a burial ground for the indigenous people. The Air Force assigns a “fast burner” named Sergeant Ng (Emma Stone) to work with get the cooperation of the King of the native population to build on that property, and to show that by performing a blessing ceremony. The King is played by real-life King Dennis “Bumpy” Kanahele, and he is one of the few from Brian’s past who seems to like him much. Welch does not. The Air Force General (Alec Baldwin, volcanically angry) does not. Then there is Brian’s ex-girlfriend, Tracy (Rachel McAdams), now married to an Air Force pilot and the mother of two children.

It totally goes off the rails several times, with a plot that would daunt a Bond villain thwarted by a completely ridiculous hacking scene, plus a last-minute redemptive reconciliation that is so far off the mark of any known human response the characters would be just as likely to sprout feathers and levitate off the ground. While the Hawaiian natives and their struggle against what they see as American imperialism and colonialism are sympathetically portrayed, it is still a story that is about white people and their problems. And the casting of Emma Stone as bi-racial is insensitive at best.

But like its hero and its writer/director, it won me back with the crackle of its dialog and charm of its poetry, even in the hacking scene, and especially in a statement of romantic intent that is one of the best I’ve seen in many months. It is also very funny, with a wonderfully expressive performance from Krasinski as the taciturn Woody, and thoughtful work from Cooper, who keeps getting better at finding moments of surprising insight and nuance with every performance.

Parents should know that this film includes strong language, sexual references and non-explicit situation, paternity issue, references to war-related violence and injuries and to weapons of mass destruction, references to imperialism and colonialism, and alcohol.

Family discussion: Why did Ng talk so much about being one-quarter Hawaiian? Why was the King the only person from Brian’s past who seemed to like him? What happens when billionaires make decisions that used to be made by government?

If you like this, try: “The Descendants,” and “Almost Famous”

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Comedy Drama Romance
We Bought a Zoo

We Bought a Zoo

Posted on December 22, 2011 at 6:07 pm

B+
Lowest Recommended Age: 4th - 6th Grades
MPAA Rating: Rated PG for language and some thematic elements
Profanity: Some mild crude language, s-word
Alcohol/ Drugs: Some drinking
Violence/ Scariness: Sad offscreen deaths of parent and animal, some mild peril
Diversity Issues: None
Date Released to Theaters: December 23, 2011
Date Released to DVD: April 2, 2012
Amazon.com ASIN: B004LWZW9W

This is a good, old-fashioned family movie grounded in Matt Damon’s best-ever performance, inspired by the real-life story of a young widower who, without knowing a lot about animals or running a business, impulsively decided to buy a zoo.

Benjamin Mee (Damon) is a reporter still mourning the loss of his wife.  His young daughter Rosie (the very gifted and almost impossibly adorable Maggie Elizabeth Jones) is sad.  His teenage son Dylan (Colin Ford)  is angry and sad.  When Mee’s editor tries to reassign him, Mee realizes that the family needs something completely different.  And there is not much as different as a zoo.  At first Dylan is even angrier.  He has already lost his mother and now he has lost everything else that is familiar to  him.  And the zoo, which has been closed down will be very expensive to get into operating condition.  It makes no sense, as Mee’s practical brother (Thomas Hayden Church) keeps reminding him.  But after so much loss, Mee needs to feel that he can help something come alive.

The animals are cared for by Scarlett Johansson, looking sensational without make-up, as Kelly the zookeeper.  Mee survived a lot of dangerous situations as a journalist, covering dictators and hurricanes, but now he must be a participant, not an observer, and people, animals, and his family are depending on him.  Fortunately, he is handy with tools and has a fix-it frame of mind.  Unfortunately, that does not work with teenagers.  But Dylan is befriended by Kelly’s niece, played by Elle Fanning, who shows herself already a masterful actor by creating a distinctly different character from her equally sensitive performance earlier this year in “Super 8.”

This could easily have been sit-com-ish or corny — there is a persnickety inspector who has to sign off on the zoo before it can open and  a group of quirky but lovable staffers, a mostly-humorous search for an escaped animal, and a discreet but sad farewell to one of the big cats.  But director Cameron Crowe (“Jerry Maguire”), who co-wrote the script with “The Devil Wore Prada’s” Aline Brosh McKenna, makes it work with the help of a superb soundtrack by Jónsi.  And Damon’s performance centers the story with such presence and commitment that even viewers who pride themselves in being impervious to the charms of animals and children will find themselves melting.

 

(more…)

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