Movie Reaction: American Hustle

Formula: Ocean's Eleven  / (Silver Linings Playbook + The Fighter)

Why I Saw It: You can't deny the quality of the cast and I've grown to like David O. Russell movies in general.

Cast: Does it get much better than this? Christian Bale can transform for a role better than anyone. His comb over alone is a sight to be seen. Amy Adams is simply tremendous. You can't take your eyes off her whenever she is on the screen (the fact that bras apparently weren't invented until 1979 certainly helps). I never expected to see Bradley Cooper in a movie as something to get excited about but he has a sly douchebaginess that is so shameless you have to love it. Jennifer Lawrence continues her run of being the best person in Hollywood. She is a force of nature in this and so frustrating, you can't help but love her. Jeremy Renner gets some good moments although he isn't in this at the level of the others. I have to mention Louis C.K. in this, both for my love of him and the fact that is character is the most pathetically funny character in the movie (even though he is basically playing Officer Dave from Parks & Rec.). If I knew accents better I'd probably have some complaints about how well the characters pull them off. Since I don't I'll stick with saying that when measuring the performances, the accents are not the first thing I would credit.

Plot: I don't know anything about ABSCAM so I wasn't bothered by all the embellishments in the story. I'm ok never knowing what was pulled from truth. The story this movie chooses to tell is about two scam artists, Bale and Adams, who get caught by Cooper in a sting. He leverages that into them using their scam to catch some crooked politicians. Lawrence plays Bale's wife and Renner one of the crooked(ish) politicians. I can't say the movie does anything new for the genre. Since it's David O. Russell, there's a little more edge and a lot more humor. The end is pretty clever. 

Elephant in the Room: I don't see how it's all that different from Argo. That's because it's not. Both are mostly based on actual events. Both have a healthy injection of laughs. Both collected great actors for an ensemble. I preferred Hustle since it doesn't take itself seriously and has a much better cast. It's weird how Argo won best picture last year and American Hustle is just hoping to pull off a nomination. That's the difference a year can make.

To Sum Things Up:
This is a fun movie. How else can I say it? It's not nearly as dark as Silver Linings Playbook is. Otherwise, I'd say the audience is the same. I was kind of hoping for a Top Ten list type of movie. While good, in a year of so many strong movies, this doesn't stand out beyond the performances (seriously, how great is Amy Adams?).

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

Delayed Reaction: Lovelace

The Pitch: We want to make Boogie Nights with real people.

What Took Me So Long: I wasn't going to see this by myself in a discount theater, which was my only option where I live. I had to wait for Netflix.

Why I Saw It: There's a couple reasons that played a large part in why I saw this and you can guess what those are. Beyond that, there was the fun of seeing who played what real-life roles. Amanda Seyfried is a little too pretty to play Linda Lovalace (my opinion). She does a good job though. After An Education and now this, Peter Sarsgaard is the go to asshole who goes after young girls. It's refreshing to see Adam Brody show up. I'm not used to seeing Juno Temple so clothed, in a movie about 70s porn, no less. Oh, and I can't forget James Franco as Hugh Hefner which was the most inspired choice. There's some clever editing of the story to show different sides to the story, most specifically regarding Chuck's abusiveness.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: I'd rather watch Boogie Nights. I already knew a good amount about Lovelace's story. I was hoping for something a little more nuanced. So much of the movie felt like Linda Lovelace going along for the ride. She was all hapless victim and I'd've rather seen a fully realized version of her.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Delayed Reaction: V/H/S 2

The Pitch: It's a horror, anthology, like the first. We've got more ideas.

What Took Me So Long: I just had to wait for it to make it to video since I couldn't find it in theaters.

Why I Saw It: I love, love, love the first movie and this one is every bit its equal. where the first movie is deeply unsettling in a way that follows you for a few days, this one is dialed up to 11 insanity. The zombie story is clever and inventive with a surprisingly non-horror ending and the cult story is intense. I have no idea how they could do all this on what I have to imagine is a limited budget. That's what I love about found footage movies.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: There's nothing I want to harp on. The first movie was a little more original but not by much and this improves on the production value. I hope for a new one of these movies coming out every year for as long as they can sustain it.

Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend

 Holy shit. That was insane!

Movie Reaction: Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

Formula: (Anchorman ^2) * Network

Why I Saw It: Even if I don't love everything from Gary Sanchez Productions, this sequel is one that promised a baseline level of enjoyment that mandated I see it.

Cast: You've got the regulars, the newbies, and the cameos. The regulars are pretty spectacular. Ron Burgundy is still Will Ferrell's single greatest character and he can milk as many laughs out of a scene as he wants. Paul Rudd, David Koechner, and Steve Carrell are all equally as funny as the first time around. Carrell, who's star has probably risen the most since '04, expectedly gets a lot more time to shine. Christina Applegate doesn't get as much to do, but she gets her moments to remind you why she belongs here. The primary newcomers are Megan Good, James Marsden, and Judah Nelson as Ron's son. Good is there primarily so they have a reason for some race humor. That's not a knock. She doesn't need much more to do. Marsden was a little underused versus what I expected. He fits into the world of the movie very well but is a very toothless foil for Ron. The kid is a generic comedy movie kid who says funny things that six year olds shouldn't. Does he need to be more than that? There's a fun mix of cameos, many of whom I did not at all expect, like Drake has a line. What up with that? A couple others like Amy Poehler and Tina Fey basically felt like guarantees. Oh, and those two killed it in their maybe 2 minutes. Whoops, nearly forgot Kristen Wiig. She believable plays Brick's one true love.

Plot: Does it really need a plot? I'll save you some time. The answer is "No". There is a plot here, a pretty good one about Ron getting a job at CNN GNN and subsequently destroying the practice of new reporting systematically and effectively. I could comment on how it is a smart examination of what is wrong with the news cycle these days, but I won't because that will lead to my opinions on the topic and that is so completely besides the point of the movie, which is laughs. Guess what, it delivers a bunch of those. It's clear that Adam McKay and Will Ferrell understand exactly what is funny in the first movie, used that, and expanded where they could. I don't think 2 hours is too long for a movie like this, but it did drag a little in the middle. There's at least a 15 minute period when the rate of jokes hitting takes a dip and you can feel it.

Elephant in the Room: What about the anchor fight? It was such a given that this movie would feature another anchor fight that I refuse to consider this a spoiler. You'd have to have no idea how sequels work to think that wouldn't be part of this. Needless to say, it is wonderful. They upped the stakes, the variety, and the caliber of the cameos (which was already ridiculously impressive). Telling you all the name in it would be a spoiler, so I won't do that. Of course, it lacked the surprise factor of the original but it was still the funniest sustained sequence in the movie.

To Sum Things Up:
I liked this every bit as much as I hoped to. It's unrealistic to ever assume a comedy sequel will be as good as the original. It's too hard to pull off. As long as it makes me laugh consistently, that's all I need. It's fair to say if you didn't like the original then this won't change your mind. For fans of the first though, it is everything you could want.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

Delayed Reaction: V/H/S

The Pitch: I have a bunch of ideas for a horror movie but not enough plot for any. I'll make them all and call it an anthology.

What Took Me So Long: I never learned how to watch horror movies correctly, so I'm a little hesitant.

Why I Saw It: I'd heard good things about it since its release in Sundance in 2012 and wanted to see how it was. Horror lends itself to the anthology structure better than any genre I know of because the scare is almost always more effective than the explanation. I'd say that all of these mini-movies navigate between having great scares without using too many cheap tricks (i.e. thinking that more blood means more scares) and having stories that linger with you. The four stories and the one it is structured around offer a good variety and none of them go on longer than they need to.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: Beyond the fact that I started it after midnight while watching alone in the dark intending to go to sleep afterwards, I have no regrets from watching this.

Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend

DVR Purge: 12/12-12/17

Past Purges

The Big Bang Theory "The Cooper Extraction"
I like the structure of the episode. It hints at something close to A Christmas Carol but does something of it's own with it. There's a big variety of types of stories and they mesh well. Even though I didn't love the episode, I appreciate that they did something different with it.
-I'm not wrong in remembering a time when Stuart was the coolest of the guys, to the point that he dated Penny before Leonard, right?
-Every once in a while, they need to remind me that Kaley Cuoco is unbelievably attractive like this one did.

The Crazy Ones "The Intern"
It makes sense that Zach would be the one still up on youth culture. Ashley Tisdale is a smart pick for her character in this, considering she's basically Sharpay. I think it is interesting that Zach and Lauren making out last week pretty much led to what they did this week without commenting on it as a direct consequence.

The Micahel J Fox Show "Christmas"
OMG. Sting! Like everything in this show, if this was 1987, I'd be stoked. In all seriousness, definitely a good use of a guest star. The episode hit one of my sweet spots too with Eve. I'm a sucker for gentiles picking up yiddish.

Parenthood "All That's Left is the Hugging"
The episode brought something up that I never before considered: What happens to all the victory cake for the loser of an election? Wouldn't it suck if that was the best cake you ever had in your life? There's some fallout from the election, which is better than the actual election story. I laughed every time someone talked about how good a mayor Kristina would've been. Joel and Julia's story is going to get better before it gets worse. No idea why she went to Roy's Ed's house in the first place. That couldn't end well...and it didn't.
-One thing's for sure after this episode: I'm never going to be able to feel bad for Drew. For a nervous, sheepish kid, he has a steady rotation of hot girls. How long before they cast Aimee Teegarden to start dating him.
-Did anyone else lose track of how many times Amber cried? I'll miss Ryan.
-I wonder why there was no Jasmine.
-I knew I should've done an over/under for how long before Sarah slept with Kyle Bornheimer.

SNL "John Goodman/Kings of Leon"
A lot of music this week. Like, a lot. Kings of Leon of course. The monologue is a song. The snowflake dance. The H&M song. John Goodman in drag dancing to music. None of my favorite parts were the music, but that's not to say they were a drag or anything. A few other scattered thought:
-I assume the Mimi impersonation was one Aidy Bryant never thought she'd have a use for.
-The three wise guys sketch was...not funny, but it was fun. We'll call it a draw.
-Drunk Uncles and Black Santa made for two of the stronger Weekend Update guests this season.
-I find the Nasim Pedrad classroom sketch extremely enjoyable. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's the simplicity of it.
-I'm not sure how I feel about The Christmas Whistle. It was annoying, sure. I also found it funny. Can something be incredibly irritating and humorous?
-The Donnelly's sketches as some of the weirdest in the 12:55 slot and work so well due to how awkward they are to sit though. I almost lost it when McKinnon got beard stuck in her mouth.

How I Met Your Mother "Bass Player Wanted"
I hate being so binary but  with maybe one exception (The at least, clever "Bedtime Stories") this season breaks down into two types of episode: With Mother good and without Mother bad. It's not that Christin Milioti is that good, although I've thoroughly enjoyed her so far. When they use her though, it's like the writers are engaged in a way they haven't been in a while.
I just binged the first two seasons of HIMYM this weekend and that is a show. In those days it was a show that didn't shy away from its heart and nearly weekly either invented or called back something quite memorable.
You virtually needed a glossary to follow all the references created in that world. This episode went back to all of that. "Bass Player Wanted" was packed with callbacks (The telepathic conversations, the slap bet, Pause/Unpause, and Aldrin Justice from seasons past, Linus and "The Kennedey Package" from this season, and introducing "The Dream" from this episode).
There were a couple genuine moments such as Barney and Ted talking about him moving (I'm tired of him being in love with Robin, but I'll take what I can get), which seriously impressed me because they let the scene end on an authentic note rather than undercutting it with a cheap laugh.
Oh, and I've determined that if I can't have Ted and the Mother together, I'll take some cat and mouse showing how they are perfect for one another. The only part of the episode that didn't work for me was the plot device that is Darrin. I like Andrew Rannells in general but he only existed in this episode as an easy way to stir up trouble. Where the characters ended up though I liked, so I'll forgive it.
More that anything, this episode reminded me that I'm still rooting for it. I complain a lot and I feel like I always have a negative caveat ready. In the end though, I'm just a fan who wants it to be as good as it has been in the past.

Movie Reaction: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Formula: The Lord of the Ring: The Two Towers - stakes

Why I Saw It: Like a Galaxy Far, Far Away, I will always visit Middle Earth when given a chance.

Cast: It's a suicide mission to go too deeply into this. The cast is too big. Ian McKellen as Gandalf spends almost the entire time in his own little movie. To be fair, he is the only character in the movie who can get away with that. It felt like filler though. I won't go into the Dwarfs too deeply because I couldn't identify more than two of them. They were individually a lot more distinctive this time around. I don't remember this much Legolas in the book but I'll always welcome back Orlando Bloom. For being the titular Hobbit, there wasn't a ton of Martin Freeman. It's weird how quickly I accepted Evangeline Lilly as an Elf even though I never for an instance thought of her as anything other than Evangeline Lilly. Then, there's Luke Evans playing Bard who, let's been honest, is a watered down Aragorn the way he's written.

Plot: I will preface this with saying that I haven't read the book in a decade so I don't remember the story too well, but damn this took some liberties with the story, didn't it? Or did it. I never understood how this warranted 3 movies and the first installment supported this. Part 2 does a much better job of having a story, throwing in some action sequences, and limiting character overload. Like the first movie, the nature of the action is a lot more childish, such as the over-the-top sequence with the dwarfs in the barrels (one in particular which defies the laws of gravity, inertia, and all that other smart people stuff). It has the PG-13 rating, but, like the book, this is Lord of the Rings for kids. Really, too much filler though. I'm bother by how neither of the first two movies have actual endings. Fellowship and Two Towers at least felt like the end of a chapter in a larger story. Both Hobbit films have the feel of "oh, we should stop here before we hit 3 hours".

Oliphaunt in the Room: Is it ever going to be possible to look at The Hobbit movies on their own merit? Nope. Simply impossible. It has both the direct comparison to the Lord of the Rings trilogy which has the stakes that this never will and enough material to warrant the run time and the unfortunate comparison to the Star Wars prequel trilogy, which was also something that people asked for and quickly realized the mistake of the approach. There's really no way for the third movie to blow my mind the way all of the Lord of the Rings movies did.

To Sum Things Up:
I'm sounding negative about the movie simply due to the company it keeps, which isn't fair but it is the hand it was dealt. I found this to be a big improvement over the completely expositional An Unexpected Journey. Just by being part of Peter Jackson's Middle Earth film universe, I'm going to like this better than most movies because I take the things it does right as a given. I have a hard time seeing if you enjoyed the original Trilogy how you could not find plenty to enjoy about this.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

Celebrity Death "Do I Care?" Index: Peter O'Toole

It's been barely two weeks since my inaugural "Do I Care?" Index. Luckily Sadly I have an excuse for another one. No accident this time. Just Hollywood royalty. No big deal, right? Let's break it down to find out.

Movies/Shows I Remembered Him In:
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) - His first Oscar Nomination. Well, the odds of me finally getting around to see this just shot up.
Troy (2004) - I liked the movie. He was basically just the old king being stubborn.
Ratatouille (2007) - One of the biggest surprises in the Pixar library and O'Toole's Anton Ego had one of the best moments.
Stardust (2007) - At some point, his career reached "We need an old king" stage.
Venus (2007) - '07 was a good year for him. He got to be an animated critic, a fantasy world king, and an old guy crushing on a very young girl. His final Oscar nomination. Never won a competitive Oscar somehow.
The Tudors (2008) - Playing Pope is virtually the same as being a king.

Movies I Forgot He Was In:
Becket (1964) - His 2nd Oscar Nomination.
The Lion in the Winter (1968) - Another Oscar Nomination.
Goodbye Mr. Chips (1969) - The 60s were good to him. Oscar Nomination.
The Ruling Class (1972) - Hey, look. An Oscar Nomination.
The Stunt Man (1980) - Third decade with an Oscar Nomination.
My Favorite Year (1982) - Guess what? Oscar Nomination.
The Last Emperor (1987) - Nope. No Oscar Nomination. He wasn't a big part of the movie, but...you guessed it, won best picture at the Oscars.
King Ralph (1991) - I didn't realize he was in this 90s classic film movie. All the more reason to see it, as if John Goodman wasn't enough.
And a bunch of others. The man was old and has been working since the 50s.

Movies That He Was Still Working On:
Mary (2014) - I have no idea what this movie is. It doesn't look like they started filming yet, so the net result here is that his legacy is already cemented.

I know what you are thinking. That was an honorary Oscar though. Basically, a make-up call.

Any Other Reason I Should Care:
Honestly, I wasn't entirely sure that he was still alive until I found out he died, so...no. We lost the Susan Lucci of Oscar Nominations. No, she eventually won...like, over a decade ago. We really need to retire that reference. Let's try, he was the Angela Lansbury of the Oscars. What's that? Oh, some context. Lansbury had earned 18 Emmy nominations (12 for Murder, She Wrote alone) and never a win...I've gotten off topic. Time to make my decision.

Verdict: His death is unfortunate, not shocking. I'll reflect on his work some now, but he wasn't all that active in project that I care about anymore.

Delayed Reaction: Real Steel

The Pitch: Rock-em Sock-em Robots: The Movie

What Took Me So Long: I refused to watch this on principal until they admitted the Rock-em Sock-em Robots connection/inspiration.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) My resolve is weak and it was on. I was surprised to see a PG-13 rating on this because it has "family action movie" written all over it. Instead, this is more akin to Small Soldiers in that there was clearly some audience miscalculation at work. This is one of those A and Bs casts where they get one big name (Jackman) and a bunch of "hey, it's that guy from that thing" actors to round it out. The kid was better than I expected given that generally when Hollywood finds a child actor who is worth a damn, they get put in every movie for the next couple years (see Fanning, Dakota and Moretz, Chloe). The robot fighting looked pretty good too and I like Jackman in deadbeat dad mode.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: I can't stress enough how much of a miscalculation there was about the audience. This movie is closer to...Toy Story than the Transformers comparisons I'm sure it wanted. I literally followed this up by watching Warrior because I needed to get the false stakes and generic conflict of a bad boxing/fighting movie out of my system.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend

Delayed Reaction: Sleepers

The Pitch: Men with troubled youths get revenge on one of their abusers and try to get away with it.

What Took Me So Long: I had my fill of courtroom dramas in the mid-90s.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) The cast is good. You can't go wrong with De Niro, Bacon, Hoffman, Pitt, and others who I can't easily reference by just their last names. If nothing else, I can't say the movie does do the expositional legwork. Given the cast, I was surprised that it takes almost an hour to get out of childhood and move to the marquee players. De Niro is good throughout though so that keeps it steady.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: While I appreciated that the movie feels the need to show us how the boys grew up, what went wrong in their lives, how they were abused, and all that, it really stretched out this movie and it really drags at several points.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend