Posts tagged Hotshots
“State of Play” Damn Fine Filmmaking
Apr 22nd
Damn Fine Filmmaking
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
STATE OF PLAY is a very entertaining political thriller starring Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren, and Robin Wright Penn.
It was adapted from a BBC miniseries of the same name, but has been changed to take place in Washington, D.C., and to be about a reporter for an American newspaper who investigates a murder that becomes very personal for him.
The story begins with a man being shot and killed at night on the streets and an unlucky witness also being shot and sent to the hospital.
Cal McAffrey, a reporter for the WASHINGTON GLOBE, shows up at the crime scene the next day, and we see right away that he has a lot of sources and contacts in the police department.
Then a woman named Sonia Baker is killed in an accident in a subway station, and it turns out that she was the lead researcher and a member of the staff of Congressman Stephen Collins, who is the head of the committee that is investigating the outsourcing policies of the Pentagon.
McAffrey happens to know both Congressman Collins and his wife, Anne, because McAffrey and Collins were roommates in college.
Congressman Collins shows up at McCaffrey’s apartment one night, telling him that McCaffrey is the only real friend he has, and when Collins admits that he was having an affair with the dead woman, McCaffrey has to become both a friend to the congressman and a reporter for his newspaper.
Collins complains about reporters being camped out at his house now, and McCaffrey says, “Nature of the beast: public office.”
Meanwhile, McCaffrey’s newspaper has new owners who are concerned about the paper’s profitability, his editor wants McCaffrey to go with the story before McCaffrey believes it has been completed, and he has been teamed up against his will with the new blogger for the newspaper, Della Frye.
Then there is another murder, and McCaffrey suspects that a private military company that works for the Pentagon is involved.
You can think of the film and the story as “ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN with guns,” and when McCaffrey does something that Della believes is illegal, he tells her that it’s not breaking the law, but is “damn fine reporting.”
STATE OF PLAY is damn fine filmmaking, even though it does leave some unanswered questions.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
“Observe and Report” A Double Shock Ending
Apr 16th
A Double Shock Ending
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
OBSERVE AND REPORT is a very profane but also very funny movie about a shopping-mall security guard with aspirations to be more than he is and to have more than he currently has.
Excuse me. It is about a man who is “head of mall security,” and, no, I am not talking about the similar movie starring Kevin James that was released recently before this one.
This very funny, but very profane, movie stars Seth Rogen as Ronnie Barnhardt, and he has also broken into the ranks of leading-man status, most recently by appearing on the cover of PLAYBOY magazine.
Granted, there is a pretty girl on the cover with him, but as his “Playboy Interview” points out, only six times before has a man appeared on the cover of that magazine.
The story begins with a flasher in the parking lot, a man wearing apparently only a raincoat who targets women getting out of their cars, dashes up to them, and pulls open his coat.
Ronnie lives with his mother, and he says to her, “Part of me thinks that this disgusting pervert is the best thing that ever happened to me.”
You see, Ronnie wants to be a real policeman, and he believes that if he can solve the flasher case, he can apply to the local police department and get into the police academy.
Also, he might get the pretty girl at the cosmetics counter in the mall, played by Anna Faris, to go out with him.
However, when the flasher strikes again, the local police are called, and Detective Harrison, played by Ray Liotta, shows up, who not only puts a dent in Ronnie’s plans, but also disregards Ronnie and makes fun of him.
Also, whenever things start looking up for Ronnie and his aspirations, something happens to bring him back to reality, but then sometimes Ronnie surprises us and shows that he is more than we have come to expect.
The secondary characters are all also very good and funny, especially Ronnie’s mother, but when Ronnie goes undercover at the mall in an attempt to catch the flasher, you might think that the worst that could happen would be for Ronnie to blow his cover, right?
Wrong!
OBSERVE AND REPORT has a double shock ending you have to see to believe.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
“I Love You, Man” Overlook the Major Flaw
Apr 8th
Overlook the Major Flaw
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
I LOVE YOU, MAN is a very funny movie about a pleasant-enough man who intentionally tries to meet some men he can become close friends with.
Well, one, actually, and herein lies the major flaw in the story.
You see, Peter, played by Paul Rudd, has just gotten engaged to his girlfriend, Zooey, played by Rashida Jones, and it becomes clear that Peter doesn’t have any male friends, much less anyone he can ask to be his best man.
In fact, at a dinner with Peter’s parents, his mother, played by Jane Curtin, tells Zooey, “Peter always connected more with women.”
So, everybody and his brother try to fix Peter up with some men whom he can become friends with and maybe find a best man.
Naturally, the meetings are very funny, and naturally Peter doesn’t meet anyone he would like to become friends with, which means still no best man.
Peter is a real-estate agent, and his biggest project is to sell the house owned by Lou Ferrigno, the actor who played The Incredible Hulk on television.
So, Peter holds an open house for prospective buyers, and a man who shows up strictly for the food and perhaps to meet some recently divorced women is Sydney Fife, played by Jason Segel.
Peter and Sydney get to talking, and they exchange business cards.
Later, Peter decides to call Sydney, but he is so nervous that he rehearses what he is going to say, and when Sydney isn’t home, the message that Peter leaves is as funny as the rest of the movie.
However, they finally connect, agree to get together, and the rest, as they say, is what makes this movie worth seeing.
They share similar interests in music, they jam together, and Sydney gets Peter to open up more, although Peter tries too hard in practically everything he does, which is all the more funny.
And, of course, there are problems.
And, or course, they are overcome.
Now, the major flaw in the story is that I was being literal when I said “everybody and his brother,” because Peter does have a brother and you might wonder why Peter doesn’t ask him to be best man.
I LOVE YOU, MAN asks you to overlook this major flaw, enjoy the movie, and stay for the closing credits.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
