Posts tagged running
A Single Man – Movie Trailer
Jan 19th
George Falconer (Colin Firth) feels lost. Not only is he still grieving the death of his longtime companion, Jim (Matthew Goode), but he’s also a Brit teaching English at a California college. He’s so distraught with heartbreak that he’s decided to kill himself, and proceeds to get all his affairs in order while carrying on with what otherwise would be a normal day. He gives an unusually forceful lecture to his class, revealing enough that a perceptive student, Kenny (Nicholas Hoult), senses something is wrong with the professor; collects his important financial papers from his bank; buys bullets for a handgun he owns; and makes a visit to his best friend (Julianne Moore). But throughout these methodical preparations, George keeps running into people — a colleague’s daughter, a attractive gay hustler, and the sympathetic Kenny — who offer him glimpses of why he should stay alive. A Single Man is the directorial debut of legendary fashion designer Tom Ford.
“The Princess and the Frog” Too Sophisticated for Its Own Good
Jan 13th
Too Sophisticated for Its Own Good
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG is the latest animated film from the Walt Disney Studios, and it received a lot of publicity for having the appearance of the first Disney African-American princess.
Well, not exactly.
That may be true at the end of the movie, but what is probably more noteworthy is that at the beginning of the movie there is the appearance of one of the main characters who is an African-American prince.
And although the story is inspired by a fairy tale and contains many bits of fantasy, it is not a fairy tale, but takes place in the reality-based early 1900s down in New Orleans.
The story contains stereotypes right and left, and it panders to children up and down, and then you realize that the stereotypes were all mostly created by old Disney movies to begin with. In fact, this movie even steals from old movies.
When it opens, we see two young children, Tiana and Charlotte, who love to be told the story of “The Frog Prince.” Tiana is black, Charlotte is white, and through the magic of movie editing they become grown up, and the story becomes nothing more than “Cinderella” turned upside down, inside out, and inverted.
In addition, it contains messages that adults might consider suspect to be taught to children, such as you can get what you want just by wishing for it.
One character says to another, “The real power in this world ain’t magic.
It’s money.”
And then you realize that this movie isn’t for kids. It is for adults under the guise of being for kids. That fact is made obvious by all the drinking that is shown, and I don’t mean milk and juice.
To its credit, however, the movie redeems itself about the money bit and even the bit about wishing for what you want.
However, forget about any moral of “Love conquers all.” The moral of this movie that makes you wonder if Disney even tries anymore is “Magic conquers all.”
And as further proof that this movie isn’t really for kids, the children in the theater at the showing that I attended all got bored during it and started running all around the auditorium.
THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG is too sophisticated for its own good, which makes it perfect for adults.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
“Pirate Radio” Will Never Sink
Nov 18th
Will Never Sink
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
PIRATE RADIO is based on the fact that back in the Sixties the British government–meaning “the Establishment”–didn’t approve of rock ‘n’ roll music, and so it wasn’t allowed to be played on traditional radio stations.
As a result of that ban, “pirate” radio stations developed, some even broadcast from ships anchored off the coast of Great Britain and thus outside the law and safe from the long arm of the Establishment. This is one story, which takes place in 1966.
Philip Seymour Hoffman plays The Count, an American disc jockey on one such ship in the North Sea playing rock ‘n’ roll music 24 hours a day to an enthusiastic audience, one of whom isn’t Sir Alistair Dormandy, played by Kenneth Branagh, a government official who spends his time in the film trying to shut down the radio station by the end of the year.
This causes the following response: “They can’t shut us down. We’re pirates!”
There is one woman on board, Felicity, but that is okay, because she is a lesbian, or as one character says, she is “of the lesbionic tendency.”
Serving as the catalyst to the story is Carl, a young 18-year-old lad who has been kicked out of school and sent into the care of his godfather, Quentin, who owns the pirate-radio ship and is also in charge of running it.
Carl’s father had sex with his mum and then left without leaving his name or address, and the search for the identity of Carl’s father is a subplot of the film.
Now, you might think that life aboard a ship would be cramped in terms of a story, but we have many colorful characters, and occasionally Quentin arranges for adoring female fans to be brought aboard in order to meet their favorite deejays–if you know what I mean.
Also, the music might not be historically accurate, but it is great nonetheless.
One disc jockey even gets married, which allows his wife to come live aboard with him, but that causes more problems than he bargained for.
The film doesn’t exactly have a TITANIC ending, but it might be the only time that the expression “rock ‘n’ roll” brings tears to your eyes and a smile to your lips.
PIRATE RADIO also shows that rock ‘n’ roll will never sink.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
