Posts tagged true story
“We Bought a Zoo” All’s Well That Ends with Animals
Jan 7th
“All’s Well That Ends with Animals”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
We Bought a Zoo is based on a true story in which the location has been moved from England to southern California and was directed by Cameron Crowe.
Crowe is also the writer-director of the 1989 Say Anything…, the 1996 Jerry Maguire, the 2000 Almost Famous and the 2005 Elizabethtown.
Starring Matt Damon as Benjamin Mee, the movie starts with the information that Benjamin’s wife had died six months earlier, and Benjamin is left to raise their daughter, Rosie, who is 7, and their son, Dylan, who is 14.
Benjamin doesn’t want to go to any of the places that he and his wife used to attend, but he reluctantly tells his brother, “I shall try to start over.”
Consequently, he quits his job at the newspaper where he works, decides to move to a different location, and is shown a “unique” option by the realtor, which is exactly what Benjamin says he was looking for.
The house is unique because the 18 acres on which it sits comes with a zoo that was shut down two years ago, and a stipulation requires the owner of the house to also maintain the zoo.
The zoo already has a staff, and it includes Kelly Foster, the head zookeeper, who is played by Scarlett Johansson.
Of course, we can predict that a romance between Benjamin and Kelly is in the future, as well as one between Dylan and Kelly’s niece, Lily, who is 13.
Naturally, however, the main part of the story is to get the zoo ready for its grand reopening, pass the required inspection, and take care of the animals, which are more than just a lion, two tigers, and a bear, oh my.
Benjamin also has to overcome the resistance of his brother, who calls Benjamin insane, the grumblings from his employees who think he will never last, and the fact that Benjamin is running out of money before the zoo can even open.
In addition, the zoo is so far out in the country that Benjamin has to drive nine miles to the nearest grocery store, which causes a problem when there is no butter to go on the corn on the cob that he prepares for Rosie and Dylan.
We Bought a Zoo shows that all’s well that ends with animals ends, well, with animals.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
We Bought a Zoo – Movie Trailer
Jan 1st
Acclaimed filmmaker Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous) directs an amazing and true story about a single dad who decides his family needs a fresh start, so he and his two children move to the most unlikely of places: a zoo. With the help of an eclectic staff, and with many misadventures along the way, the family works to return the dilapidated zoo to its former wonder and glory.
“My Week with Marilyn” Delightful and Believable
Dec 10th
“Delightful and Believable”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
My Week with Marilyn tells the true story of what must have been every young man’s dream back in the 1950s: spend time on a movie set with Marilyn Monroe and get paid to take care of all her needs and wants.
The time is 1956, the 23-year-old man is Colin Clark, and the movie is The Prince and the Showgirl, which was being made in England.
Marilyn is played wonderfully by Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh plays Laurence Olivier, and, yes, that is Emma Watson playing Lucy, a wardrobe assistant working on the movie.
Judi Dench plays an actress in the movie being made, which was based on a play called The Sleeping Prince, and one could ask, “Is Judi Dench in every movie these days?”
Colin says that he will do anything to be in the film business, and he remarks, “Everyone remembers their first job. This is the story of mine.”
Through family connections, Colin is able to get a job as a gofer on the production and is even given the title of Third Assistant Director, a position that nowadays is called Second Second Assistant Director, so that people will stop referring to the person by a rude word that rhymes with “third.”
Marilyn is having personal problems in her life, she is terribly insecure, and she arrives with her new husband, Arthur Miller, along with a large number of handlers who like to keep Marilyn medicated because it is easier to keep their cash cow under control that way.
After Marilyn keeps everyone waiting on the set and slowing down the production, Olivier tells Colin to “Be a good boy and keep an eye on her.”
Then after Arthur Miller leaves and goes back to the United States, Marilyn starts noticing Colin and calls him at all hours when she just wants a friend or to have someone near whom she believes she can trust and is on her side in the conflict that is going on.
Marilyn claims that she just wants to be loved like a regular girl, but Olivier believes that she knows exactly what she is doing, and now Colin is in a very fortunate and privileged position that gets him in trouble with her handlers and other members of the crew.
My Week with Marilyn is delightful and believable.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”