Posted on March 10, 2015 at 3:12 pm
Guess who showed up on the Valentino runway for Paris fashion week! Derek Zoolander and Hansel! And Blue Steel, of course.
Derek (Ben Stiller) wears a custom Night Butterflies brocade suit with hand-embroidered overcoat and black Creeper shoes. Hansel (Owen Wilson) wears a Silk Continent print Pajama suit with Double Cashmere overcoat and Open sneakers. Both will be back in theaters for “Zoolander 2,” coming in 2016.
Posted on January 8, 2015 at 5:58 pm
B| Lowest Recommended Age: | Adult |
| MPAA Rating: | Rated R for drug use throughout, sexual content, graphic nudity, language and some violence |
| Profanity: | Very strong, explicit, and crude language |
| Alcohol/ Drugs: | Extensive substance abuse including drinking, smoking, and drugs, drug dealing |
| Violence/ Scariness: | Peril and violence |
| Diversity Issues: | Diverse characters |
| Date Released to Theaters: | January 9, 2015 |
We love mystery stories because they reassure us that questions have answers and justice is possible. But some mystery stories are there to remind us that life is complicated and messy, and sometimes answers are just more questions. This is one of those stories.
Inherent Vice
The original set-up is right out of a classic detective story. A beautiful woman named Shasta Fay Hepworth (Katherine Waterston) visits her ex-boyfriend, Doc (Joaquin Phoenix), some kind of hippie detective, to ask for his help. The narrator (singer Joanna Newsom), in a hypnotic, vocal fry deadpan, lets us know right away that Doc would be better off telling her to leave. But he cannot say no to Shasta or to a mystery, so he is on the case.
Shasta’s new boyfriend is a wealthy (and married) developer named Mickey Wolfman (Eric Roberts). Shasta believes that Wolfman’s wife and her boyfriend are trying to have him committed so they can get his money. As Doc begins to look into this, he encounters many odd characters, most with their own unsolved mysteries, some of which begin to intersect with the Wolfman story or with each other or both. And it all comes together, or doesn’t, in a haze of, yes, decay, corruption, and bruised innocence that is about the failure of the American Dream or existential chaos or the fragility of our concept of reality, or maybe just that the journey and those who accompany us along the way are more important than the destination. Also, something about the optimism and passion for changing society of the 60’s giving way to the me-decade and passion for individual self-exploration of the 70’s.
Doc encounters a number of extremely colorful characters as he explores a series of mysteries that appear to be linked, or perhaps all part of one big mystery involving a secret and very powerful malevolent force. The only one who seems to know what’s going on is the almost-never-seen narrator, and it’s not clear whether we’re supposed to root for the characters or laugh at them. But as always, Anderson’s impeccable casting and music choices are captivating, and there is an amusing contrast between his attention to every detail of camera placement, editing, production design, and dialog and the convoluted storyline and druggy fog surrounding the characters. I’m not sure what it was that I watched, but I have to admit I enjoyed watching it.
Parents should know that this film has just about everything we consider “adult content,” including constant very strong, explicit, and crude language, nudity and very explicit sexual references and situations including prostitution and adultery, drinking, drugs of all kinds and drug dealing, and violence including guns.
Family discussion: Why did Doc help Shasta? Why did he help Coy? Why is Doc a detective?
If you like this, try: “Boogie Nights” and “There Will Be Blood” by the same director and the book by Thomas Pynchon
Posted on December 18, 2014 at 5:23 pm
B-| Lowest Recommended Age: | 4th - 6th Grades |
| MPAA Rating: | Rated PG for mild action, some rude humor and brief language |
| Profanity: | Brief schoolyard language |
| Alcohol/ Drugs: | None |
| Violence/ Scariness: | Comic peril and violence |
| Diversity Issues: | None |
| Date Released to Theaters: | December 19, 2014 |
| Date Released to DVD: | March 9, 2015 |
| Amazon.com ASIN: | B00SSI2PKO |
Fans of the first two “Night at the Museum” films will like this one because it is pretty much the same film. They go to another museum, this time the British Museum in London, and the exhibits come to life and create chaos. The good news: it’s a zippy 90 minutes. The bad news: way too many of those minutes involve a peeing monkey.
The most popular characters from the earlier films are back, including the late Robin Williams in an especially poignant role as Teddy Roosevelt and the late Mickey Rooney as a retired museum guard. Dick Van Dyke almost steals the movie in a brief appearance showing that he can still get down and boogie.
But once again the focus of the story is on Larry (Ben Stiller), museum security guard turned wrangler of the exhibit figures when they come to life at night. The museum director, Dr. McPhee (Ricky Gervais), thinks that Larry has created some sort of special effects, but when a fundraising gala is held at the museum after dark so the guests can marvel at what they think is some kind of animatronic display things go very wrong. The ancient Egyptian tablet that creates the magic is becoming corroded and the result is like a corrupted computer code. The exhibits go wild, and the director is fired.
Young Egyptian King Ahkmenrah (the terrific Rami Malek) says that the only way to figure out what is wrong with the tablet is to take it to his parents, who are exhibits at the British Museum. With Dr. McPhee’s help, Larry brings Ahkmenrah to the British Museum for “conservation.” Once he arrives, he finds that there are some stowaways — Teddy Roosevelt and Sacajawea (the lovely, elegant Mizuo Peck), a prehistoric man who looks very familiar (Stiller again as Laa), Dexter the monkey, and our fierce little toy soldier-sized friends Octavius the Roman centaurian (Steve Coogan) and Jedediah the cowboy (Owen Wilson).
Ahkmenrah is reunited with his parents (Sir Ben Kingsley and Anjali Jay) who explain the problem — like an iPhone, the tablet need to be recharged. All it needs is moonlight, but getting it there in time is a problem, especially when it is stolen by a very confused Sir Lancelot (“Downton Abbey’s” Dan Stevens). Lots of hijinks and slapstick stunts ensue, with a highlight being entry into a vertiginous M.C. Escher drawing.
There are Muppet Movie’s worth of guest appearances, including Rebel Wilson riffing as a security guard. It zips along briskly, not wasting any time in this episode on any kind of love interest for Larry, though there is a dreary detour about Larry’s high school senior son (Skyler Gisondo taking over for Nick Daley) not wanting to go to college. We’re there for the stunts and special effects, and mostly for the dream that maybe some night at some museum, it does all come to life.
Parents should know that this movie includes comic/fantasy peril. Some characters appear to be hurt but are fine. There is also potty humor and brief schoolyard language.
Family discussion: Do you agree with Nick’s decision about the tablet? Which museum would you like to see come to life and why?
If you like this, try: the first two movies — and read about the real legends and histories of Theodore Roosevelt, Camelot, Sacajawea, ancient Egypt, and M.C. Escher. And visit your local museum to imagine your own adventures.
Posted on October 31, 2013 at 6:00 pm
Maybe it’s just me, but I think this may be the worst idea for a movie intended for children I have heard since the one about the kid bank robber. Does anyone think it makes sense to horrify children just before Thanksgiving with a movie about two turkeys who want to go back in time to prevent centuries of turkeys being eaten to celebrate America’s oldest holiday? Will children who see this movie burst into tears at Grandma’s house and insist on eating pizza for Thanksgiving dinner?
Food is everyone’s favorite part of holidays, a turkey named Reggie (Owen Wilson) tells us, “unless you are the meal.” Reggis is something of a Chicken Little, telling the other turkeys that they are being raised for slaughter, but they do not believe him. They think that the farmer is their friend, and they envy the lucky birds he takes away from the flock because they think it is a special treat. The President of the United States arrives at the turkey farm with his little daughter for the annual photo op “pardoning” ceremony. As happens in real life (but at the White House) an especially handsome bird is presented to the President, who smiles for the cameras and sends it to a petting zoo while the rest of the flock is sent to the butcher. The President’s daughter (Kaitlyn Maher) is a brat who is always obnoxiously throwing a tantrum to get her own way or bizarrely going to sleep on the spot (she might want to ask her pediatrician about narcolepsy at her next check-up). She likes the scrawny Reggie and insists that he not only be pardoned but that she get to keep him at Camp David as a pet.
Reggie is very happy, ordering pizza delivery and luxuriating in a terry cloth robe with the Presidential seal, until he meets another turkey named Jake (Woody Harrelson), who wants to go back in time to the first Thanksgiving, with the pilgrims and the Native Americans, to persuade them to start a different tradition by eating something other than turkey for dinner. They end up in an egg-shaped time machine adorably voiced by George (“Star Trek”) Takei, and soon are back to the Plymouth Colony in 1621, where they have to rally the wild turkeys who are the ancestors of today’s highly cultivated birds. The leader’s spirited daughter is Jenny (Amy Poehler), a practical-minded turkey who handles her lazy eye problem with aplomb.
Hiding somewhere inside the over-plotting, time-travel anomalies, inconsistent characterization and tone, and family-unfriendly themes of animal slaughter there are some brief moments of humor, but the premise is so ghastly that even that feels hollow. It is supposed to be about sensitivity and empowerment but it comes across as callous and pushy.
Parents should know that sensitive viewers may be disturbed by the theme of killing turkeys to eat on Thanksgiving. The movie includes cartoon-style peril and violence, some with guns, mostly comic but minor characters are injured and killed and there is a sad death of a parent who sacrifices himself. There is brief crude humor including joke about developmental disabilities and mixed marriages.
Family discussion: Why does Reggie question what is going on when the rest of the flock does not? Why was it important to learn about Jake’s past?
If you like this, try: “Babe”
Posted on June 6, 2013 at 6:00 pm
Co-writer and star Vince Vaughn brings us what is basically a remake of his “Old School,” a sort of “Revenge of the Un-Nerds” with a little “Legally Blonde,” and a lot from pretty much every story about a group of assorted losers who show the cool kids how it’s done.
Vaughn and his “Wedding Crashers” bro-star Owen Wilson play Billy and Nick, best pals and partners in selling the ultimate in old-school technology, luxury watches. When their company goes under — even the receptionist uses her phone to check the time — it is clear that even the ability to “sell prosciutto to a rabbi,” remembering to compliment the buyer on his daughter’s gymnastics achievements, and a “Get Psyched ” mix with fist-pumping sing-alongs to Alanis Morrisette is no longer a sustainable business model.
It is also clear, with an Adam Sandler-esque notion that any mention of pop culture between 1980-95 is automatically endearing and funny, a complete waste of John Goodman and Will Ferrell, and a dumb joke about a child’s weight that no one is shooting very high, here. It has a numbingly predictable comeback-setback-comeback structure. But as dumb fun, it’s not too bad.
To the surprise of no one who has seen the title, our good-natured but immature watch salesmen apply for the intensely competitive internships at Google. To the surprise of no one who knows anything about the control freaks at Google or the concessions one must make to use the logo and setting of a real-life corporation, Google is portrayed very, very favorably. And to the surprise of anyone who’s ever seen a movie before, Billy and Nick prove themselves to be completely clueless losers but then, when they are put on the team of outcasts, their team spirit and oddball skills will save the day. Even if you haven’t, the English accent of the arrogant bad guy (nicely icy Max Minghella) is kind of a giveaway.
It is all pretty tired, with its fat jokes and crotch hits, and “Flashdance” pep-talks. Then there is an extended portrayal of a drunken visit to a pole-dancing club with lap-dances (three separate shots of the nerd-boy frantically trying to use the hand-dyer on the crotch of his pants) as the ultimate signifier of liberation and empowerment. And really, when will they notice that women can be funny, too? Rose Byrne, so magnificent in “Bridesmaids,” is relegated to the “hyper-competent girl who needs to slow down and enjoy life” role. Vaughn has made a movie about having the courage to adapt to change that is itself stuck in the 90’s. What word would Alanis Morrisette use about that?
Parents should know that this film includes very crude and raunchy humor, strong and vulgar language and explicit sexual references, pole dancers, lap dancing, drinking and drunkenness (portrayed as liberating), and drug humor.
Family discussion: What would be your answer to the blender question? Ask the people in your family about their toughest job interviews.
If you like this, try: “Old School” and “Legally Blonde”
