Some Capsule Critiques of what I've been watching of late....
In this filmed-in-(parts of) Pittsburgh movie, based upon a best selling novel, Hanks plays a crotchety misanthropic curmudgeon - one critic I read calls it "Forrest Grump" - who, seemingly, hates everything and everybody. Why does he have to pay for six feet of rope, when he's only buying five feet, because that's all he needs, and the home improvement place (Busy Beaver; I didn't know there were any of those around anymore) only sells rope by the yard? That kind of stuff. He treats everyone in his neighborhood with a get-off-my-lawn contempt that makes Clint Eastwood from "Grand Torino" look like a pussycat.
There is a reason for this, of course, which doesn't take too long to figure out, even if, like me, you haven't read the book, and this whole thing becomes a redemption story. I mean, this is TOM HANKS here. No movie can end with Tom Hanks being an unlovable old bastard can it? Of course, Hanks is great in the role, but equally great is Mexican actress Mariana Trevino who plays new neighbor Marisol. The scene where Otto comes to Marisol's house and asks if he can use her phone is the best one in the movie, I think.
A warning. A someone who was widowed two years ago, there were a couple of scenes in this one that struck way too close to home for me. That doesn't make it a bad movie, but since I wasn't expecting it, it sure gave me a jolt, and brought tears to my eyes.
Two and One-Half Stars from The Grandstander.
Emily, played brilliantly by Aubrey Plaza (who was so good in Season 2 of HBO's "White Lotus"), is a late twenty-something young woman stuck in a shit job with over $70,000 of student debt to pay off. She can't get a "real" job because of a felony conviction in her past. One day she gets a text saying that for two hours of her time, she can make $200 cash, but she will be doing something illegal (no, it doesn't involve prostitution). Thus begins a taut and suspenseful thriller that I cannot recommend highly enough. I'll say no more other than SEE THIS ONE. This movie was released in 2022, and while I haven't thoroughly perused all fo the Oscar nominations released yesterday, I don't believe that it received any love from the Motion Picture Academy, For my money, though, it may well be the best of all the 2022 movies that I have seen thus far.
Three and One-Half Stars from The Grandstander.
This is a sequel to the "Knives Out" movie from two years ago. Once again, Daniel Craig plays world famous detective Benoit Blanc. Looks like Craig, after quitting his James Bond gig, has found another franchise character to play in a string of movies. He's very good at this type of thing.
This is another murder mystery Whodunit, set in a gorgeous locale, and featuring a terrific cast that includes Edward Norton (has ever been bad in anything he's ever done?), Kate Hudson, Janelle Monae, Kathryn Hahn, and Leslie Odom Jr. All of them have secrets to hide. One of them ends up dead, and it's up to Blanc to unravel the whole thing.
No one will ever call "Glass Onion" a great movie, but it's a good one, and, perhaps more importantly, it's fun to watch and entertaining as all hell.
Three Stars from The Grandstander.
Were you a fan of "That 70's Show", a sitcom that ran on network TV from 1998-2006? I was. It was funny. It produced Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, the two young actors in the show who became breakout stars in movies and TV. It brought Tanya Roberts back into our living rooms. However, the best part of that show were Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp who played Red and Kitty Forman, the parents of central teen character Eric Forman, played by Topher Grace. Well, Netflix has rebooted this series as "That 90's Show", and the even better news is that Red and Kitty are back and are the central part of the show.
In the first episode, Eric and Donna (Laurie Prepon) return to Wisconsin with their teenaged daughter, Leia, and arrangements are made for her, much to Kitty's delight and Red's exasperation, to stay with her grandparents for the summer. Leia becomes friends with other kids from the neighborhood, including Michael Kelso's son, and the now happy and content empty nester Red sees his nightmare with teenagers beginning all over again, as he calls them "dumbasses" and threatens to put his "foot up their ass." Hilarity will no doubt ensue.
In episode one, Grace, Prepon, Kutcher, and Kunas all made appearances as their former characters, and previews tell us that Fez will be back, too, but I am guessing that they are not going to be appearing regularly. As in the '70s, Red and Kitty are going to be the stars here.
Not assigning Grandstander Stars just yet, but this series has a lot of potential.
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