Posts tagged Julien Vialon
“The Counselor ” More Novel than Movie
Nov 3rd
Posted by Dan Culberson in Hotshots Movie Reviews
“More Novel Than Movie”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
The Counselor has so much going for it that you would think it has to be a successful movie, right?
Wrong!
First of all, it stars Michael Fassbender, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, Brad Pitt, and Rosie Perez, and of all the lineups of acclaimed stars in acclaimed movies, this is definitely one of them.
Second of all, it was directed by Ridley Scott, and of all the acclaimed directors who have won awards for their movies, he is definitely another one of them.
And third of all, it was written by Cormac McCarthy, who is an acclaimed novelist with many of his novels having been made into acclaimed movies, and of all the great screenwriters in the history of movies, he is a pretty good novelist.
This movie has three other things in it that are worthy of mention: a graphic sex scene, a graphic murder scene, and many scenes of too much talking and not enough action.
The sex scene involves a woman, a fancy car, and a man sitting in the front seat of the car watching, but it is more laughable than erotic.
The murder scene comes in an unexpected location, it involves an unusual device, but takes so long and shows such agony and pain and so much blood that it is more disgusting than effective.
And the scenes of too much talking that are also more philosophical than descriptive would be better read in a novel than heard in a movie. They sound as if they had been written by an acclaimed novelist instead of an acclaimed screenwriter.
Wait a minute! They were!
Anyway, here is the story. A successful attorney in El Paso, Texas, with a busy practice, a beautiful girlfriend, and an expensive car wants more, and so he gets involved in the illegal trafficking of drugs from Mexico into the U.S.
He meets with the necessary contacts he needs in order to arrange for a deal that involves $20 million of drugs to be shipped across the border on its way to Chicago, but as usually happens in the movies, something goes wrong.
Terribly wrong, disastrously wrong, and murderously wrong.
As a matter of fact, those are the very words that could be used to describe this movie.
The Counselor, as a movie, is a spectacular novel.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
The Counselor – Movie Trailer
Oct 26th
Posted by Channel 1 Networks in Movie Trailers
Legendary filmmaker Ridley Scott and Pulitzer Prize winning author Cormac McCarthy (No Country for Old Men) have joined forces in the motion picture thriller THE COUNSELOR, starring Michael Fassbender, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, and Brad Pitt. McCarthy, making his screenwriting debut and Scott interweave the author’s characteristic wit and dark humor with a nightmarish scenario, in which a respected lawyer’s one-time dalliance with an illegal business deal spirals out of control.
“Rush” about Two Beautiful Drivers
Oct 6th
Posted by Dan Culberson in Hotshots Movie Reviews
“Two Beautiful Drivers”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
Rush is the latest film from Ron Howard, maker of many successful films, and it is about the 1976 Formula 1 championship race, which was notable because of the closeness of the race and the rivalry between the two competing drivers on different teams, James Hunt and Niki Lauda.
The races lasted all year long, and the championship that year came down to the final race held in Japan.
However, that year the intense race for the championship was unique in what happened in August to Lauda, the 1975 world champion.
Chris Hemsworth plays Hunt, the flamboyant playboy driver from England, and Daniel Bruhl plays Lauda, the methodical brilliant technician from Austria, who was a genius at setting up his car for a race.
The two drivers met in 1970 when they were both driving Formula 3 races, and Hunt tells his current girlfriend, “The closer you are to death, the more alive you feel.”
However, they both want to move up and drive the more prestigious, more glamorous, and more dangerous Formula 1 race cars, and because of his family background, Lauda gets a ride first with the successful Ferrari team.
Then Hunt quickly follows by signing with the McLaren team, and the race to the top of their sport is on.
Then the movie starts following each race in 1976, and with beautiful cinematography and excellent camera work we get a terrific feel for how tight, how dangerous, and how exciting Formula 1 racing is.
In the meantime, we meet the love interests of the two drivers, Suzy, played by Olivia Wilde, whom Hunt beds and weds, and Marlene, who eventually becomes Lauda’s wife.
Incidentally, there is a hitchhiking scene with Lauda and Marlene that is reminiscent of the hitchhiking scene in the 1934 It Happened One Night, but with a much funnier ending.
Hunt begins to have trouble at home as well as on the racetracks, and Lauda is affected by marriage, because he believes that “happiness is the enemy” and now he has something to lose, which is a distraction while he is racing.
And then comes the race in August in Germany which changes everything for both drivers.
By the way, you don’t have to be a racing fan to enjoy this tremendous film.
Rush is about not one, but two beautiful drivers.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”