Posts tagged debt
“Confessions of a Shopaholic” Pretty Lame
Mar 11th
Pretty Lame
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC starts off bad, goes downhill from there, and then manages to redeem itself just enough that all in all it is not good, not bad, but just okay.
This says something about a movie that, after all, is making fun of what is a serious problem for some people.
No, I am not talking about compulsive behavior that causes some people to spend money beyond their means. I am talking about the compulsion that some people have to search for romantic love.
Isla Fisher plays Rebecca Greenwood, a young and attractive magazine writer in New York City who discovered the power of shopping when she was a little girl and the fact that you didn’t have to pay money for anything if you had a “magic card,” which is what she called a credit card.
Now she has 12 of them and the bills to prove it.
To explain her compulsive behavior, Rebecca says, “When I shop, the world gets better, and then it’s not anymore and I need to do it again.”
When the magazine that Rebecca works for fails, she buys an expensive green scarf that she cannot afford for an interview with a fashion magazine for a job that she believes will make her happy forever if she gets it.
Then through a series of ridiculous setups and even more ridiculous payoffs, Rebecca is hired to be a columnist for a financial magazine and to write about how to save money.
Hugh Dancy plays Luke Brandon, the editor of the magazine whom Rebecca lied to about her credentials, and so now she is in serious trouble, right?
Wrong. Rebecca’s even more serious problem is that she has a bill collector after her who she tells Luke is an ex-boyfriend who is stalking her.
So, Rebecca is advising people about debt and she is up to her eyeballs in it, she lied about herself to her editor to get the job, she has a bill collector after her, and what else could go wrong?
Well, for one thing she attends a meeting of Shopaholics Anonymous and when she talks about shopping, she causes all the other members to relapse.
CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC is pretty lame from beginning to end, but if you’re a sucker for romance–and who isn’t–it redeems itself.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
Confessions of a Shopaholic – Movie Trailer
Feb 13th
A Manhattan shopaholic (Isla Fisher) whose buying sprees have buried her in immense debt lands a columnist gig dishing out financial advice in this Touchstone comedy based on Sophie Kinsella’s series of books. P.J. Hogan (My Best Friend’s Wedding) directs, with producing duties being handled by Jerry Bruckheimer. Rebecca Bloomwood (Fisher) can’t seem to break her habit for making impulsive purchases, and while she’s always decked out in the latest styles, her credit card bills are as thick as a telephone book. If Rebecca could somehow manage to land her dream job at a high-profile fashion magazine, perhaps she could transform what is now a simple addiction into something that could really benefit her professionally. When Rebecca becomes an advice columnist at a financial magazine published by the same company as her favorite fashion magazine, her fresh approach strikes a chord with readers and she quickly becomes the toast of the town. Meanwhile, her bank account is still bone dry, wreaking havoc on her love life and placing her career in jeopardy. As Rebecca teeters on the brink of bankruptcy, she gradually begins to reassess her priorities in life. Joan Cusack, John Goodman, Hugh Dancy, and Krysten Ritter co-star in the Touchstone Pictures production.
“Gran Torino” Beyond Self-Parody
Jan 28th
Beyond Self-Parody
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
GRAN TORINO is the latest film directed by Clint Eastwood, he also stars in it, and he has said that it might be his final acting job.
That would be a shame, because it doesn’t represent his best acting work, nor does it show his best directing, either.
Clint plays Walt Kowalski, and the film opens at the church ceremony for the funeral of his wife, Dorothy. Walt is clearly uncomfortable, and he also makes it obvious that he doesn’t approve of the way his teenage granddaughter dresses and acts.
However, one of his sons says something to the other one that gives us an insight into Walt. He says, “There’s nothing anyone can do that won’t disappoint the Old Man.”
Walt is retired, after having worked for the Ford Motor Co. for 50 years, and his prize possession is a 1972 Gran Torino, which he tells people he even helped assemble. He doesn’t drive it, but keeps it clean and pristine in his garage.
I don’t believe that it is a coincidence that 1972 was also the year that DIRTY HARRY was released, and later we will see Walt use some mannerisms that an old, retired Dirty Harry Callahan might use.
Walt lives in the same Detroit neighborhood that he and Dorothy always lived in, only now it is almost unrecognizable with the influx of immigrants.
A family of Hmong people live in the house next door, and Walt reluctantly gets to know them better.
One night he catches their teenage son, Thao, trying to steal the Gran Torino out of Walt’s garage, which was to be the initiation requirement for Thao to get into the gang his cousin runs with.
When the gang tries to take off with Thao, Walt points his rifle at them and actually says, “Get off my lawn!”
However, Thao was being forced to join the gang, and when Walt prevents it, Thao’s family bring Walt food and flowers out of appreciation, which Walt doesn’t approve of one bit.
Walt becomes a hero in the neighborhood, and Thao is sent to Walt to work off the debt he now owes Walt.
Whatever humor is in the film is Walt teaching Thao how to be a man like him.
GRAN TORINO has loose directing, poor acting, not very good writing, and sinks to beyond self-parody.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”