Posts tagged Eve Curtis
“He’s Just Not that Into You” Advice Movie from Hell
Feb 25th
Advice Movie from Hell
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU is one of those unfortunate movies that has everything going against it.
First of all, the title is too long and awkward, but it is the same title as the advice book for women on which it is based.
Second of all, a lack of audience is built into it, because it is a chick flick that gals don’t even have to bring their guys with them to see.
If any guys are dragged along to see it, they will feel as if they are attending a lecture, because it is nothing more than a chick flick for gals who want to feel good about themselves, and that is all it is.
However, that is only if they are in a good relationship. If they are in a bad relationship or no relationship at all, then they will feel bad about themselves.
And if they are in a good relationship and drag their guys along with them to see it, the movie will just give the guys some bad ideas that the gals won’t want their guys to learn.
The cast is pleasant enough. The movie stars Ginnifer Goodwin, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connelly, and Drew Barrymore as the gals, and Kevin Connolly, Bradley Cooper, Justin Long, and Ben Affleck as the guys, with Kris Kristofferson thrown in as a cameo as the father of one of the gals.
However, how is this for advice? One of the gals says to another one, “There are no rules anymore.”
And one of the guys who is giving advice to the most pathetic gal in the movie says to her, “If a guy doesn’t call you, he doesn’t want to call you.”
Here is the plot: Some of the characters are in a relationship and some are not, although they would like to be except for the one guy who says and acts as if he doesn’t want to be.
One couple is married, but guess what. Another couple have been together for seven years and are not married, but guess what. And some are just friends with each other, but guess what.
HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU is pathetic in its desperation and is nothing more than an advice movie from hell that is based on an advice book from hell.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
He’s Just Not that Into You – Movie Trailer
Feb 6th
Ken Kwapis’ adaptation of Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo’s best-selling self-help book He’s Just Not That Into You follows the love lives of a dozen or so characters. Ginnifer Goodwin stars as Gigi, a young woman attempting to understand the mixed signals she gets from the men she’s dating. She gets advice from a bar owner (Justin Long) who prides himself on understanding the ins and outs of the dating scene. Gigi’s co-worker Janine (Jennifer Connelly) finds herself involved in a major redecorating project with her husband, Ben (Bradley Cooper). Unbeknownst to Janine, Ben contemplates an affair with Anna (Scarlett Johansson), an attractive woman trying to make a career as a singer. Another of Gigi’s friends at work, Beth (Jennifer Aniston), enjoys a successful, healthy relationship with Neil (Ben Affleck), but storm clouds hover over them as he has no interest in getting married. Kris Kristofferson co-stars as Beth’s father.
“Frost/Nixon” Worthy Opponents
Dec 31st
Worthy Opponents
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
FROST/NIXON is the fantastic film based on the award-winning stage play, and if you think it is going to consist of two men playing David Frost and former president Richard Nixon just sitting down and conducting the interviews that resulted in the May 1977 broadcasts, think again.
Directed by Ron Howard and starring Michael Sheen as Frost and Frank Langella as Nixon, the film covers the time between August 1974 when Nixon became the only president to resign while in office and immediately after the last interview was broadcast three years later.
In other words, we also see the beginning of Frost’s idea to conduct the interviews in order to rejuvenate his own career in television, the tricky negotiations to get Nixon to agree, the preparations on both sides for the taping of the interviews, and then the interviews themselves, which resulted in Nixon’s famous exclamation, “I’m saying that when the president does it, it’s not illegal!”
Yes, there are many obvious parallels between Nixon’s presidency and the current President Bush Administration and the situation in Iraq, and those parallels are obviously intentional.
It was also obvious from the film that Nixon didn’t agree to the interviews just to set the record straight. He was paid $600,000 and would receive 20% of any profits, the interviews took place in a rented house not far from Nixon’s home in San Clemente, California, Nixon would not see the questions beforehand, and Frost had total editorial control of the finished product.
The only stipulation was that no more than 25% of the interview would be about Watergate, and as we see from the film, that led to a controversial discussion as to the definition of “Watergate.”
Kevin Bacon plays Jack Brennan, an aide to Nixon who figures prominently in the preparations, and based on the film’s publicity, you might not even have realized that he appears in the film.
Even given the importance of the two people involved and the subject matter of the interviews, Frost and his producer had a difficult time selling advertising for the project and even getting a television network to air the results.
If you want to see the finished product as broadcast, those interviews are now available on DVD.
FROST/NIXON is an excellent dramatization of those worthy opponents, and there is suspense up until the final shot.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
