Posts tagged Devin Ratray
“Nebraska” Quirky Little Comedy
Feb 5th
“Quirky Little Comedy”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
NEBRASKA stars Bruce Dern in an award-winning performance as an old codger who is convinced that he has won a million dollars, because he received a letter in the mail that says he did.
Unfortunately, we have all received such letters, which say something like, “You may have already won one million dollars!”
So, when the movie opens, we see Woody Grant shuffling along the highway outside Billings, Montana, where he lives when a policeman stops him to find out what he is doing.
The policeman asks, “Where you headed?” and Woody points ahead of him in the direction he was walking.
The policeman says, “Where you coming from?” and Woody just points behind him.
Will Forte, who was a regular cast member on “Saturday Night Live,” plays David, Woody’s son, and when David comes to pick up Woody, he is told that Woody said he was walking to Nebraska.
You see, the headquarters of the marketing firm that sent Woody the letter is in Lincoln, and Woody believes that if he just shows them the letter, they will give him the one million dollars.
David drives Woody home, and Kate, Woody’s wife, is not sympathetic at all, saying that she never even knew that Woody wanted to be a millionaire, but if she had a million dollars, she would put Woody in a home.
David believes that Woody just needs something to live for, and so somewhat reluctantly he calls in sick at work and agrees to drive Woody to Nebraska just to prove that Woody didn’t win anything.
And so begins a road trip, with a stop along the way in Hawthorne, Nebraska, where Woody grew up and still has friends and relatives living there.
Well, the people in Hawthorne misunderstand the details of Woody’s trip, and the story goes around town that Woody won the lottery and really is a millionaire.
All of a sudden now, many people start pestering Woody and David, saying that Woody owes them money from the past and they want to be repaid.
One of them is Ed Pegram, played by Stacy Keach, who used to be Woody’s business partner and whom Woody believes owes Woody something.
NEBRASKA has a nice little surprise ending, and this quirky little comedy directed by Alexander Payne will make you pleased you saw it.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
Nebraska – Movie Trailer
Feb 2nd
Director Alexander Payne (Sideways, The Descendants) takes the helm for this black and white road trip drama starring Bruce Dern as a tempestuous Missouri father who’s convinced he’s won a million dollar magazine sweepstakes, and Will Forte as the son who grudgingly agrees to drive him to Nebraska to claim his winnings. Bob Odenkirk and Stacy Keach costar.
“Surrogates” Derivatives
Sep 30th
Derivatives
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
SURROGATES is a classy looking science-fiction thriller starring Bruce Willis, and the first thing you are going to notice is all the weird-looking blond hair he has.
No, wait! That isn’t Willis’s character with all the hair. That is his surrogate, a realistic android that most people use to go out into society in place of them while the owners stay at home in a room hooked up to a device that allows them to be the “operators,” the eyes, ears, mouth, and flesh of their surrogate.
So, right away the audience is going to be confused between knowing what is a surrogate and what is a real person, and that confusion is going to result in more than one plot point.
Now, here is where I should say that the film is based on a series of comic books–Excuse me! “graphic novels”–called “The Surrogates,” written by Robert Venditti, who went to college with the dream of becoming a novelist.
In fact, in an interview Venditti said, “I was going to be the next Hemingway.”
Venditti is 35, and I am surprised he even knows anything about Ernest Hemingway.
Anyway, back to our movie.
Willis and his surrogate play FBI Agent Tom Greer, who are investigating a seemingly random murder that involves an unregistered surrogate.
Agent Greer has a partner, Agent Jennifer Peters, and she is a beautiful young woman played by Radha Mitchell.
After all, this is based on a comic book, remember?
Their investigation leads them to Dr. Canter, played by James Cromwell, the man who invented surrogates and ran the company that built them.
But before you say, “Uh oh! Wasn’t this already done in the 1982 BLADE RUNNER?” you are going to be reminded of the 2002 MINORITY REPORT when we learn about Agent Greer’s dead son.
And, in fact, when Cromwell shows up, you are also going to be reminded of the 1996 STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT.
Now, I used to make fun of recycled plots by saying that Hollywood has run out of ideas. Now I am going to say that writers have run out of ideas.
The frame of reference for young writers isn’t literature anymore. It is old movies, and by “old,” I mean within the past 30 years.
SURROGATES is not bad, but should be called DERIVATIVES.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
