Troop Zero is a moving, inspiring, underdog story streaming on Prime Video. It’s about an unlikely gaggle of kids who stand up to the universe and say, “I am here.”
Continue reading “Review: Troop Zero”Tag: Allison Janney
Grace and Frankie Season 3 is the Best Yet
Grace and Frankie season 3 is the best yet. It fine tunes relationships and how they work – or don’t work. It’s hilarious, it’s heartfelt, and it’s true to life. Continue reading “Grace and Frankie Season 3 is the Best Yet”
Review: Tallulah
Tallulah is a fascinating character study of broken people and how they deal with their responsibilities and relationships. It features a neglected baby, a homeless woman, and a lonely writer. Continue reading “Review: Tallulah”
Watch This: Trailer for The Girl on the Train
The Girl on the Train stars Emily Blunt in a tale based on Paula Hawkins’ bestselling novel by the same name. I fell in love with Emily Blunt way back in Sunshine Cleaning in that exact moment when she climbed up a wobbly wooden train trestle as a train thundered overhead. I haven’t found any reason to lessen my admiration for her acting since then, and here she mucking about with a train again. It’s a beautiful thing, I tell you. Continue reading “Watch This: Trailer for The Girl on the Train”
Watch This: New Trailer for Spy
Spy starring Melissa McCarthy and a rasher of other tasty comedy stars has a new trailer.
Continue reading “Watch This: New Trailer for Spy”Watch This: Red Band Trailer for Spy
In Spy, Melissa McCarthy teams up again with writer and director Paul Feig in a comedy featuring McCarthy as a CIA Analyst. She works with agents played by Jude Law and Jason Statham.
Continue reading “Watch This: Red Band Trailer for Spy”Review: Liberal Arts
Liberal Arts is a charming indie written and directed by Josh Radnor. It looks like a straightforward love story in the trailer below, but it’s not exactly that. It’s a love story, but there’s no sex, hardly any kissing, and lots of moral choice involved in deciding who to love. Liberal Arts is also a story about where we belong in life, what we are meant to do, how to find happiness, and – most importantly – which books are best to read in every situation.
Josh Radner plays Jesse Fisher, an admissions officer in a college, but not the college in the story. Also in the film are Elizabeth Olsen as Zibby, the young coed you see charming Jesse in the preview. Richard Jenkins and Allison Janney are professors at the college in the tale. The parts Jenkins and Janney have are small but nuanced and add sub themes to the story about life and its meaning. Elizabeth Reaser as Ana isn’t shown in the preview, but you know from the first moment you see her in her bookstore that she’ll be an important part of the story, and indeed, she is.
I want to call out Zac Efron for his loopy portrayal of Nat – another small part that brings richness to Jesse’s quest to find purpose and love. Efron really shines as Nat, a character so unusual that Jesse asks him at one point, “Are you real?”
This film is full of seemingly small parts that add up to an elegant total. It’s one of the most fascinating features of the film: interesting actors in small parts that ultimately have an impact on how Jesse’s journey concludes.
The film was released in 2012. It’s currently available on Netflix. I absolutely recommend it.
Watch This: Another Trailer for Tammy
The preview made me laugh so much, I cannot wait for Tammy! And, if Melissa McCarthy wasn’t enough to make you love this movie, it also has Susan Sarandon and Kathy Bates.
Continue reading “Watch This: Another Trailer for Tammy”Watch This: Teaser Trailer for Tammy
Melissa McCarthy is coming our way again in July in Tammy. The teaser trailer is here now. Not only is McCarthy the star, she’s the writer.
Also starring in this extravaganza of funny are Susan Sarandon, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, Dan Aykroyd and Kathy Bates. What a cast!
Ben Falcone directs. He’s Melissa McCarthy’s husband.
What do you think? I think it looks fabulous!
The Way, Way Back is Way, Way Good
The Way, Way Back opens on the miserable face of Liam James as 14-year-old Duncan, sitting in the way, way back seat of a vintage woodie Buick station wagon. Driving this aging monster is Trent (Steve Corell), his mom’s boyfriend. His mom is Pam, (Toni Collette) and his possible future step-sister filling the middle seat with all her teen-age horribleness is Steph (Zoe Levin). They are on their way to Trent’s beach house to spend the summer.
Continue reading “The Way, Way Back is Way, Way Good”