Posts tagged detective
Observe and Report – Movie Trailer
Apr 10th
The Foot Fist Way director Jody Hill takes the helm for this Seth Rogen comedy concerning an ambitious mall cop who competes with a seasoned detective to bust an elusive flasher. Make a wrong move at Forest Ridge Mall, and you’ll have to answer to no-nonsense security head Ronnie Barnhardt (Rogen). Ronnie sees skateboarders as the blight of society, and any shoplifter unfortunate enough to summon his wrath will be promptly busted and booked. Sure, Ronnie may suffer delusions of grandeur when it comes to his job, but perhaps with a little effort he’ll eventually get to trade in his flashlight and patch for a gun and a badge. When a flasher begins tormenting the shoppers at Forest Ridge Mall, Ronnie seizes the opportunity to showcase his detective skills and impress gorgeous makeup counter girl Brandi (Anna Faris), who can’t be bothered to give him a second glance. Perhaps by catching the culprit, Ronnie will finally earn himself a prized position over at the police academy. But the one thing Ronnie hadn’t counted on was competition, and when Detective Harrison (Ray Liotta) of the Conway Police makes it his personal mission to nab the flasher, the two rivals begin working around the clock to crack the case before their counterpart.
“Sunshine Cleaning” False Promises
Apr 2nd
False Promises
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
SUNSHINE CLEANING is a quirky little film that wants to be so much better than it actually is, given that it actually does display a great deal of promise.
It stars Amy Adams as Rose Lorkowski, Emily Blunt as her sister, Norah, and Alan Arkin as their father, Joe, a sort-of dysfunctional family living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with a troubled past that is revealed about halfway through the film.
The film begins with a fairly dramatic and shocking scene that doesn’t so much set the tone of the film, but most likely was intended as a contradiction of what the film wants to be.
Then we see Rose in her bathroom reading what must be her daily
affirmation: “You are strong. You are powerful. You can do anything. You’re a winner.”
Rose works for a maid service, she was the head cheerleader in high school, where she dated the star quarterback on the football team, and she is the single mother of seven-year-old Oscar, who has a history of getting into trouble at school.
Rose’s high-school sweetheart, Mac, still meets with her occasionally, even though he is married to someone else, he is a detective, and he gives Rose the idea of starting her own cleaning service, which would specialize in cleaning up crime scenes, and thus is born the Sunshine Cleaning Service.
Rose convinces Norah to join her in the business, telling her that it is just like cleaning up a home, only there is blood and body fluids.
Norah just got fired from her job as a waitress, she likes weird stuff, and to say that Norah has quirks would be a gross understatement.
Their father, Joe, is a piece of work, too. He is always looking for a way to make some easy money, and when Rose leaves Oscar with Joe while she and Norah clean up crime scenes, sometimes Oscar works as Joe’s shill and Joe teaches Oscar what he calls “business acumen.”
However, when Rose attends a baby shower so she can see many of her old high-school friends, she sends Norah to a crime scene to begin the cleaning process, and Norah causes a disaster to occur.
SUNSHINE CLEANING has too many false promises that don’t deliver, just like Rose’s daily affirmation ritual, which doesn’t do much for her.
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.”