Posts tagged Hotshots
“Before Midnight” What All Films Should Be
Jul 13th
“What All Films Should Be”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
Before Midnight is the third in the series of films that began with the 1995 Before Sunrise and continued with the 2004 Before Sunset.
All of them were directed by Richard Linklater and star Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy.
First of all, it is refreshing that none of the films in this trilogy has a number in its title.
Second of all, you don’t need to have seen the first two films in order to enjoy and understand this one, although seeing them in order would certainly heighten the enjoyment and refresh your memory about what is discussed in this one.
And third of all, don’t be put off by a description of this excellent film that like the first two it consists mostly of the two lead characters talking. The subjects they talk about are fascinating, they are relevant to the relationship of all couples, and at some point they become surprisingly heartbreaking.
And I don’t mean when Celine tells Jesse, “You never stop ogling girls” or when she says “I’m stuck with an American teenager.”
Yes, Jesse is American, Celine is French, and they met 18 years earlier on a train when they began talking and Jesse convinced Celine to get off with him in Vienna and share his last night in Europe.
Jesse wrote a successful novel based on that accidental encounter, and nine years later they met again in Paris when he was on a book tour, and again they spent a romantic night together even though Jesse was married and Celine had a boyfriend.
And now it is again nine years later, Celine and Jesse are not only together, but they also have twin girls, and they have all just spent six weeks on vacation in Greece with close Greek friends.
This time the extensive dialogue is broken up into four distinct parts.
The first part is when Jesse and Celine are driving back from dropping off his son at the airport, and they discuss Jesse’s son and Celine’s concerns about taking a new job in Paris.
The second part is a long discussion over lunch with their friends, and they discuss sex in the future, gender differences, and family appearances.
And the third and fourth parts are Celine and Jesse talking about their future.
Before Midnight is what films should all be.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
“The Heat” Good Enough to Reheat
Jul 6th
“Good Enough to Reheat”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
The Heat is another comedy about buddy cops, but the difference in this case is that the two buddy cops are both women.
In fact, I have read that this is the only film this summer in which the two stars are women, and yet it is definitely not a chick flick.
Sandra Bullock stars as Sarah Ashburn, an FBI agent who is slim, prim, and grim, so much so, in fact, that none of her fellow agents like to work with her.
Melissa McCarthy stars as Shannon Mullins, a Boston police detective who is rude, crude, and lewd, and whose unorthodox methods make her very successful.
After Shannon captures one criminal, she tells him, “It’s not about luck, Pal. It’s not about luck.”
Now, Sarah’s boss is going to be moving up and out, and Sarah wants to be promoted and to take over his job. So, she is transferred temporarily to Boston to find and capture a drug lord, and if she is successful, her boss tells her that they will talk about the promotion.
Well, Sarah is forced to partner with Shannon on the case, even though neither of them wants to, but again Sarah’s boss tell her that she has to show that she can work with Shannon before they will talk about her promotion.
Shannon tells Sarah that Shannon is intuitive and says what she feels, especially when they go undercover into a nightclub and they change Sarah’s appearance to make her more attractive in order to get close to a criminal that they are after.
Shannon also isn’t afraid to use Russian Roulette in order to get a suspect to talk during an interrogation.
Naturally, there will be times for Sarah and Shannon to go out socializing together, and naturally they will all be funny.
Shannon also has occasion to take Sarah home to meet Shannon’s family, which is interesting because the family doesn’t like Shannon for what she did to her brother, but ultimately funny in the discussion between “narc” and “na’c.”
You can imagine that Sarah and Shannon are successful in catching the drug lord, and you can also imagine that a sequel to this very funny film might already be in the works.
The Heat is good enough to see again, especially if the second time is Part II.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
“The Bling Ring” Shows Stealing from the Rich and Famous
Jun 29th
“Stealing from the Rich and Famous”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
The Bling Ring is based on actual events, was directed very nicely by Sofia Coppola, and serves as a many-layered warning to perpetrators, victims, fans, and viewers alike.
Heck, it should also serve as a warning to the police: Appearing in a movie about an actual case you were involved in can hurt not only your career, but also the prosecution of the case itself.
The story is about a group of teenagers who blatantly broke into the homes of Hollywood celebrities and stole whatever they wanted, clothing, jewelry, makeup, and any drugs they could find.
Or, as one of them says as they are about to ransack a home, “Let’s go shopping.”
We meet Marc on his first day at a new school that is for troubled teenagers, he is lonely, he has no friends, and he meets Rebecca when she shows him some kindness and attention.
Rebecca introduces Marc to checking parked cars to see if they are unlocked and taking anything they can from inside them.
One day Rebecca gives Marc a ride after school and asks him if he knows about any families who are out of town. He does, they go to that house, and Rebecca introduces Marc to finding a way inside and stealing items from the house.
When they see on the news that Paris Hilton is hosting a party in Las Vegas, it is easy enough to use the Internet to learn where Paris lives, easy enough to find the key to the front door underneath the welcome mat, and easy enough to be bedazzled by everything that Paris owns and puts on display, again taking whatever they want.
Incidentally, Paris allowed the filmmakers to use her house for filming all the scenes there, and we can also assume that all the clothing and jewelry are hers, too.
The victims have no shame, either.
And then everything gets out of hand. Friends of theirs at school want in on the action. Everyone is obsessed with taking “selfies” of themselves in their stolen swag and posting them on the Internet, but when some of the celebrities’ homes have security cameras, you can guess the rest even if you don’t know what actually happened.
The Bling Ring shows just one of the downsides to our obsession with the lives of the glitterati.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
