Hotshots Movie Reviews
Hotshots Movie Reviews by Dan Culberson
“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.”
“Revolutionary Road” Death of the American Dream
Feb 19th
Death of the American Dream
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD has admirable qualities, but it is also a disappointment in many more ways than one.
Admirable, of course, is that it stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, it was directed by Winslet’s husband, Sam Mendes, and it is based on the acclaimed 1961 novel by Richard Yates.
One of the disappointments is built into the story, which takes place in 1955 and is about what was known as “the American Dream.”
According to BREWER’S DICTIONARY OF PHRASE & FABLE, the American Dream is “a phrase epitomizing the democratic ideals and aspirations on which America had been founded, the American way of life at its best,” and back then that included a happy marriage, two children, a house in the suburbs, and a fulfilling job that is rewarding.
When the film opens, we see Frank and April meet at a party in New York City. Frank is a veteran of World War II, and April is studying to be an actress.
We skip ahead to when they are already married and April is appearing in a community-theater production with disappointing, humiliating results. Frank says to April, “Well, I guess it wasn’t exactly a triumph or anything, was it?”
On the way home, they get into an argument, Frank stops the car, he calls her “sick,” and she calls him “disgusting.”
Then we see a flashback to when they bought their house in Connecticut on Revolutionary Road.
Frank commutes to his boring job in New York City, and on his 30th birthday he does something that we hope is out of character.
April believes that Frank is the most interesting person she has ever met, and she tells him her idea that will change their lives forever. She wants to sell their house and everything else they have, move the family to Paris, and she will work to support the family while Frank will have all the time he needs to figure out what he wants to do.
Frank agrees, because their whole existence is that they are different from everyone else and that they are “special.”
However, they aren’t really special; they just think they are and have deluded themselves into believing that, especially when something happens at work that makes Frank get cold feet about Paris.
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD is the death of the American Dream with many false endings.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
“The Pink Panther 2” Dumbed Down Even More
Feb 11th
Dumbed Down Even More
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
THE PINK PANTHER 2 is the most recent version of an Inspector Clouseau movie that started in 1964 with Peter Sellers in the lead role, the second with Steve Martin as the bumbling French detective, and hopefully it will be the last one.
The 2006 THE PINK PANTHER with Martin attempting a silly French accent was bad enough, but this one is even worse.
Hollywood has not only run out of ideas, stories, and characters, but it has also run out of titles.
It has run out of actors, too, it appears, because John Cleese has replaced Kevin Kline as Chief Inspector Dreyfus, but that still isn’t enough to make you bother to see this unfunny waste of time.
The premise is that a master criminal named The Tornado has stolen the Magna Carta from Great Britain, the Emperor’s Sword from Japan, and the Shroud of Turin from Italy. An international “dream team” of detectives has been formed, and the world’s greatest detective is chosen to lead it.
That would be the Inspector Clouseau, but only for comedic reasons.
Except in this movie.
Watching the opening titles, you might ask, “Is this the best thing in the movie?” And the answer is “Yes.”
Another question you might ask is, “What is Lily Tomlin doing in this movie?” She plays Mrs. Berenger without making any attempt at a French accent, good or bad, and she is supposed to teach Clouseau how to be more politically correct in his attitude and comments.
In actuality, however, all she does is interrupt the plot, which isn’t going anywhere anyway.
In fact, there are too many subplots having nothing to do with catching The Tornado, which just distract from the main plot, which is to catch The Tornado, expecially after the Pink Panther diamond goes missing.
However, when you dumb down Inspector Clouseau, what are you left with? Absolutely nothing.
The ending is ridiculous, and the whole movie is ridiculous.
In fact, the movie is so boring that at one point I didn’t even feel like watching any more of it.
Peter Sellers and Blake Edwards, the director of the good Pink Panther movies, are undoubtedly rolling over in their graves.
THE PINK PANTHER 2 has been dumbed down even more than the 2006 version with Steve Martin, and let us hope that this is the last one.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
