Shari K. Green, Author at tmc.io 🍿 watch movies with friends 201

American Made – Movie Review

September 29, 2017 Published by Shari K. Green

In this action, comedy based on the true story of Barry Seal, a pilot for TWA who starts taking pictures of drug smugglers for the CIA then become a drug smuggler himself, then become a… I’m getting ahead of myself. In American Made, Tom Cruise reunites with his Edge of Tomorrow director Doug Linman, who also directed the films, Swingers, Go, Mr. and Mrs. Smith and The Bourne Identity. He definitely knows how to put the comedy in action, not to mention the action in action, and him and Cruise pairing up to make this film is a truly winning combination. You’ll barely have a chance to take a breath watching the escapades Barry Seal gets into. The film is also very nostalgic in its presentation. As if to steal its cue from Tarantino, American Made is edited to look older on purpose to lend to the truth-telling it’s doing but also to keep up the fun. It certainly wasn’t wasted on the audience I watched it with. They couldn’t get enough.

While in a bar, Seal, unhappy and bored with his job as a commercial pilot, is approached by a member of the CIA, Monty ‘Schafer’ (Gleeson) who seems to know everything about Seal, especially about a little extra money-making scam he has going on. He could reveal it to the authorities or… Seal could work for them. Slimy Schafer wants Seal to fly above certain areas of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador and capture photos of Commies in the middle of doing illegal acts. Seal is worried if it’s something safe. Schafer isn’t worried. Seal wonders if it’s legal. Schafer assures him it is. Americans are the good guys! This does little to make Seal feel better about the job but takes the offer. What he never really realizes, and this is important, is that he is not a member of the CIA much like an informant isn’t a police officer. Had he stopped to think about this, he, as he tells us several times in the film in a documentary style that will be explained later, would have passed.

Seal lands at an airstrip and finds himself a not so happy reception from Pablo Escobar (Mejía) and Jorge Ochoa (Edda). They, like everyone else he has run into of late, know everything about who he is and what he has been doing. So, they make him an offer he can’t refuse… not that he could. He doesn’t know how to turn down money, even when he can no longer find a place to put it. Escobar starts having him taking flights full of cocaine to the states for them. The scenes with Escobar are some of the most comical in the movie. This was just before Nancy Reagan hit the country with her ‘Just Say No’ campaign so when you find out who is working for who, it makes that slogan look like a contrived scam to appeal to the little people and she a useful tool to frighten U.S. citizens.

Barry also becomes a gunrunner for Panamanian dictator, Noriega. It’s quite interesting seeing how he’s wrapped up in this, too. Seal’s life gets complicated and he’s often nervous, so is the audience as they’re trying to keep up with the players, but that’s what makes this film so likable. There is a lot going on and you’re just there for the ride. Maps are made available to make it easier to understand. Seal and his wife are moved from Louisiana to Arkansas, in the middle of nowhere, where he is given his own hanger, home and hideaway. On his land, the military begins training members of the rebellion. The not so bright rebellion.

The entire cast of American Made is glorious. They make the film work and help you with the flip-flopping back and forth of the tale itself… of what Barry Seal really went through. With what’s going on today in politics, seeing what the American government had a hand in doing while jailing Americans for smoking a joint will have you wondering just exactly what happens behind the scenes. It may have you questioning things and could make you a bit uneasy but this is well told and entertaining. I highly recommend you don’t skip it. It’s good that this serious issue was presented to the public in the manner of an action/comedy. It needs to be seen and understood and though it is only based on the true story, the Iran-Contra affair is a good reminder that there is always a reason to question.

Woodshock – Movie Review

September 29, 2017 (updated September 29, 2017) Published by Shari K. Green

WOODSHOCK

Kirstin Dunst has been working a lot lately, most recently in the remake of the film The Beguiled and her presence is very comforting. She’s showing range with the characters she’s picking… she’s not a little girl anymore. With this role, she’s a wee bit of a killer. She plays Theresa, and also plays Executive Producer to the film itself. Theresa is married to Nick (Cole), who works as a day laborer cutting down trees not far from home. They live in an area surrounded by trees, live and dead ones, in a tiny home where they’ve also housed her very sick mother. She talks to her mother about the pain she endures, which is making them both miserable. Knowing a lot about extracts, Theresa decides to roll her a joint. The joint has been laced with a few drops of something that will help the pain go away… forever. She promises her mother a painless release. Her mother smokes the joint and drifts away. Having been incredibly close to her, Theresa finds it difficult to move on. She does things anyone might do after the death of their mother. She wears her clothes, looks in the mirror to find her mother inside of her and lays on the bed where she took her last breath.

She starts to smoke some of the special herb herself and here is where the movie turns into a nightmare for her. Up until now, it has been a beautiful yet heartbreaking story of loss with fascinating cinematography by Peter Flinckenberg. If you don’t like movies that are too alive and filled with motion, this could bother you some but the old-fashioned look they were going for, using filters and interesting fades, makes the film much more appealing during the trips Theresa takes in her mind. She ends up there often and we see less and less of a truly clear picture. The score was equally as engaging if not more so. It was done by veteran Jake Jackson who has worked on such films as Love Actually, Lord of the Rings: Two Towers, The Road and Hell or High Water to name but a few. These two artists enhance the splendor of watching Theresa’s struggle as she moves between being lucid and delusional.

She doesn’t spend much time with her husband anymore which isn’t helping her with her loneliness. She starts working again at a friend, Keith’s (Asbaek), marijuana dispensary to feel a part of this world and to re-connect with life in general. Store regular, Johnny (Kilmer) comes into the store and they hang out at a party. This doesn’t lift her grief as she’d like so she retreats back into her habit of smoking her magic elixir. When she does this, she isn’t sure of what it’s doing to her or what she’s doing to herself while under its influence. She begins to rely on it and smokes so often that she’s starting to blend in with her surroundings and is barely able to recognize herself anymore. She doesn’t smile and walks around almost completely lifeless. Ed, an older gentleman who’s suffering from an unknown illness, comes into the store. Per Keith’s instruction, she gives him what was given to her mother. Somehow, the batches are mixed and it’s not Ed that gets the special mix. Johnny does. What has she done? Not only is she torturing herself over this question, but Keith loses his mind and unleashes a ferocity on her she’s unable to handle.

The film gets rather twisted, as much as she is internally. It’s very delicate in the way it treats her mother and Theresa’s clarity of mind to help her kill herself, but she is unable to handle her decision later and the filmmakers seem to somewhat lose the audience. Again, Theresa walks amongst live trees but is surrounded by dead ones. She doesn’t like trees being chopped down as they are alive and have the right to live. She killed her mother. She has a relationship with nature, loves it but is almost incapable of loving anything else.

The movie draws from her pain and her desire to love and be loved; to be like her mother but the way it gets you to the end credits is slow moving and sometimes tiring. A thrilling moment in the end when Theresa balances nature and rights things. How we get to this point is by seemingly taking a long path through a thick brush and though you may enjoy the harmony of the music, editing and cinematography working together to create this dream state… you might not be able to get to the clearing. If you’re a fan of the more ornamental, dramatic and eerily mysterious pictures, this is for you. If a movie that decreases in its pacing and uses little dialogue that often acts more like a 3D piece of art than a film distracts you from your enjoyment of the said film, it isn’t. Dunst and the rest of the cast are wonderful in their roles but will do little to help when the pacing gets you yawning.

*Playing exclusively at Harkins Camelview @ Fashion Square and Harkins Shea

Brad’s Status Movie Review

September 18, 2017 (updated September 18, 2017) Published by Shari K. Green

Meet Brad. He’s smart, he’s a good husband and father, he’s a philanthropist but, largely, he’s average. Well, to himself, he’s average and at this point in his life that’s the worst thing he could be. Brad (Stiller) is a guy who has found middle age an impossibly uncomfortable place to be. With his son Troy (Abrams) about to go to college, he recalls what he was like at that age and thinks about all the things he wanted, the opportunities he had and what he did with those opportunities. He has spent most of his adult life comparing himself to the friends he went to college with. This hasn’t helped his self-esteem because most of them are successful, even famous in some circles.

Throughout the film, Brad tells us, through voice-overs, that he doesn’t like himself. His inner thoughts, when he has a conversation with someone, is generally how awful a person he believes himself to be. Since college, all his best friends have done well for themselves so, ‘what’s to like about me?’ Watching his son advance in life to the point of starting his college days, he worries Troy could turn out like him. Another fear is, how will he feel if Troy turns out better? What if he has all the success Brad only dreamed of?

Brad owns and operates a non-profit and though he lives in a nice home and all his needs are met, he believes his life’s work to be, in his words, ‘Absurd.’ He can’t see through all of his jealousy and his need to have more, be more.

He continually focuses on his station or status in life, judging whether being wealthy or not speaks to what quality of a person you are. He wonders how life would be if he were rich like his old friends, who live life as if it was a giant playground while he walks the earth with bills to worry about, finding his ground more in the battle variety.

Where did it go wrong, he asks himself? The voice-over is there to stay but don’t fret, it works correctly to advance the story. He and Troy take a trip to Boston to visit some universities. Troy misses the interview with Harvard and Brad calls on a powerful and influential friend, Craig, played by Michael Sheen. Craig comes through for him, beautifully and gets Troy in to speak with the dean. This moment is big for this young musical prodigy and he’s proud of his father.

There are several touching moments in the film between father and son. Regarding the actual music in the film, it’s completely theatric and necessary. During Brad’s inner dialogue, generally, the scene is accompanied by a single hopping bow across the bridge of a violin. The sound emanating from the instruments F-Holes directed the mood Brad was in and highlighted the black cloud hanging over his head. Every note heard fits into the scene perfectly; the film wouldn’t have been as good without it.

Troy and Brad have dinner with a friend of Troy’s who already attends Harvard and within her, Brad sees the drive and the idealistic intentions he once had. This was the turning point of the film where he tries to explain to her that wanting to help will not be appreciated and that instead, her efforts will go unnoticed and she’ll be forgotten about. This conversation with her awakens him because through her judging eyes and her voice he hears and sees his own, or at least who he once was and would rather be again instead of this bitter man he has become. He has a nice life, doesn’t struggle, but always wants more. When will enough be enough?

He hears of the passing of a favorite professor which hits him hard. It’s this loss where Brad puts things more into perspective. Family. Love. Time. Those things are important. His son, who doesn’t see him as a failure is who matters, not old friends that don’t call and who, as it turns out, aren’t exactly who he thought they were, after all. Brad is alive. Time to be alive and live for himself, not for any of them.

Again, the music throughout every scene is spectacular. Though the character of Brad is depressing you a fair amount of the time, Ben does well with him, carrying the heavy load, so to speak. Brad will frustrate at times and will move you to tears the next. The best part is that at no time during this movie will you see a character like Derek Zoolander come through Stiller’s performance. This is some of the best work I recall seeing from him. Abrams’ portrayal of Troy is competent. He has a real grasp of the character and is the perfect complement to Stiller’s Brad. When Brad was at his most erratic, Abram watched his co-star and went completely in the opposite direction which thoroughly balanced the movie.

Photo Credit : Jonathan Wenk / Amazon Studios

*For more information, visit the website and check out the social pages:

WEBSITE: https://bradsstatus.movie/

FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/bradsstatus

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/bradsstatus

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/bradsstatus/

HASHTAG: #BradsStatus

Red Sparrow Trailer

September 15, 2017 Published by Shari K. Green

Here’s the first trailer for the upcoming spy thriller RED SPARROW starring Jennifer Lawrence has just been released by 20th Century Fox. Directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Charlotte Rampling, Mary-Louise Parker and Jeremy Irons

RED SPARROW 

Directed by: Francis Lawrence
Screenplay by: Justin Haythe
Based upon the book by: Jason Matthews
Produced by: Peter Chernin, Steve Zaillian, Jenno Topping
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Charlotte Rampling, Mary-Louise Parker and Jeremy Irons

SYNOPSIS
Dominika Egorova is many things.
A devoted daughter determined to protect her mother at all costs.
A prima ballerina whose ferocity has pushed her body and mind to the absolute limit.
A master of seductive and manipulative combat.

When she suffers a career-ending injury, Dominika and her mother are facing a bleak and uncertain future. That is why she finds herself manipulated into becoming the newest recruit for Sparrow School, a secret intelligence service that trains exceptional young people like her to use their bodies and minds as weapons. After enduring the perverse and sadistic training process, she emerges as the most dangerous Sparrow the program has ever produced. Dominika must now reconcile the person she was with the power she now commands, with her own life and everyone she cares about at risk, including an American CIA agent who tries to convince her he is the only person she can trust.

RED SPARROW Official Channels
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: RedSparrowMovie.com  
FACEBOOK: http://fb.com/RedSparrowMovie  
TWITTER: http://twitter.com/RedSparrowMovie  
INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/RedSparrowMovie

HASHTAG: #RedSparrow

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In Theaters March 2nd

http://www.fandango.com

Jamie Lee Curtis returns to her iconic role as Laurie Strode in HALLOWEEN

September 15, 2017 (updated September 15, 2017) Published by Shari K. Green

Universal Pictures will release Trancas International Films, Blumhouse Productions and Miramax’s HALLOWEEN on Friday, October 19, 2018!

Jamie Lee Curtis returns to her iconic role as Laurie Strode, who comes to her final confrontation with Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago.

Master of horror John Carpenter will executive produce and serve as creative consultant on this film, joining forces with cinema’s current leading producer of horror, Jason Blum (Get Out, Split, The Purge, Paranormal Activity). Inspired by Carpenter’s classic, filmmakers David Gordon Green and Danny McBride crafted a story that carves a new path from the events in the landmark 1978 film, and Green also directs.

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | #HalloweenMovie

HALLOWEEN will be produced by Malek Akkad, whose Trancas International Films has produced the HALLOWEEN series since its inception.

Green and McBride will executive produce under their Rough House Pictures banner.

HALLOWEEN will be distributed worldwide by Universal Pictures.

American Assassin – Movie Review

September 15, 2017 (updated September 15, 2017) Published by Shari K. Green

American Assassin is kind of your typical spy thriller in that it has a very Jack Reacher or Jack Ryan or whoever has the name Jack and is a detective of some sort these days, feel to it with one very big exception; those guys don’t have Michael Keaton walking around in their movie. Keaton gives every performance a little something special and this is no different. Mitch Rapp, the hero in the book series by Vince Flynn, and what will no doubt be a successful movie franchise now, does have Keaton.

Mitch has the drive, strength and the determination to get his immediate goals accomplished, even sometimes acting before he thinks. What I like about the characters is that he is rarely ever wrong and his mentor and guru, Stan Hurley (Keaton), has to bang his head against the walls to try and pound sense and procedure into him. However, Mitch runs on adrenaline and something else… the sense of what is right and wrong. Love drove him to be a vigilante and is what, ultimately, led him to Hurley, a retired SEAL. Hurley’s now training a Black Ops mission led by Irene (Lathan) of the CIA. Hurley knew and worked with Irene’s dad and though he doesn’t trust her instinct on young Mitch, he agrees to train him and see if he’s what they need for their counterterrorism operation.

Irene first stumbled onto Mitch while following his digital footprint. At the beginning of the film, Mitch (O’Brien) was proposing to his girlfriend on the beach when terrorists struck the area and started shooting everyone in sight. Mitch was struck several times but not fatally. While passing out from his wounds, his beautiful fiance’ lies dying beside him. After, he is determined to bring down every terror cell he can. He learns Arabic and studies their history and ideology. He learns to fight, practices martial arts and masters weaponry. He grows a beard and becomes a one-man killing machine out for revenge. Everything you could want in a good guy and your new spy.

On his own and without the help of anyone, Mitch gets close to a terrorist cell but is captured. He’s saved at the last minute by the CIA. When they tell him how stupid, naïve and dangerous his scheme was and tells him he was lucky to have been rescued, he reminds them of the fact that they followed him in, not the other way around. However, what remains a recurring theme in the film is a question, ‘is Mitch too driven by emotion to be any good to a team?’ A big lesson Hurley needs to get through to him is to never let it get personal… it clouds the judgment. The scenes where Mitch is being trained are difficult but he takes his licks and remembers his training. These scenes are entertaining and imaginative but in thinking of the training the actors had to go through to get all the training and fighting scenes shot, I couldn’t help but wince some watching it.

Before long, Hurley decides Mitch is their guy and they go out on a mission to recover stolen plutonium. Iranian operatives intend on making a nuclear weapon and must be stopped. There are other characters introduced and some character driven subplots come and go, which all work in the film’s favor, especially when it comes to the most important one of all, Ghost (Kitsch). He is a former student of Hurley’s with a chip on his shoulder. He has different plans for the bomb once the trigger and a physicist is found to make it complete. His plans are to get back at Hurley and the country that let him down. Taylor Kitsch does a good job in a scene having fun torturing his old guru. He may have had too much fun with it, in fact. Dylan O’Brien, almost a Taylor Kitsch look alike, is terrific in this film, both looking the part and handling the script. He’ll make a very admirable spy movie hero for both new and old fans of the genre, alike.

I liked American Assassin and I think you will, too. Don’t take it too seriously; know you’re going to be captivated by this world for a while. Just sit back and enjoy the show. I did and I was in no way influenced by the audience I watched the screening of the movie with, which were a whole lot of Phoenix police officers who have read the series, love Mitch Rapp and are going to be there to support this film and any that follow. I support it because it did one thing and that was, it entertained the hell out of me. I am looking very forward to the next one. This is a fresh perspective on an overly used but seemingly timeless subject and was appreciated. It’ll be enjoyed by anyone who likes action thrillers and it’ll please them more by giving them a new hero to look up to.

Join the Justice League in a thrilling Virtual Reality experience!

September 8, 2017 Published by Shari K. Green

Put your powers to the test in immersive VR experiences, leading up to
the film’s much-anticipated November 17^th release and beyond

Warner Bros. invites fans to join the Justice League in a thrilling Virtual Reality experience that allows you to step into the shoes and feel the powers of the iconic DC Super Heroes: Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg. The Justice League VR experience will be rolled out in stages—to be released prior to, during, and after the theatrical opening of Justice League, on November 17, 2017. The four-stage unveiling will culminate with the at-home Justice League VR: The Complete Experience.

The first taste of the VR experience kicks off globally with a promotional demo in partnership with Gillette: Justice League VR: Join the League – Gillette Edition. It will be available for iPhones and Android phones starting September 7 for free download from Apple App Store, the Google Play Store and at http://justiceleaguethemovie.com/vr. This demo version is an interactive, gaze-based experience and will have up to 90 seconds of gameplay per character. The experience requires Google Cardboard or an equivalent VR viewer to play.

The following month, the Justice League booth at New York Comic Con will offer attendees a more in-depth sneak peek of the HTC Vive version of the experience with the Justice League VR: Join the League – New York Comic Con Edition. Users will be able to use the HTC Vive’s controllers for an enhanced version of the Super Hero simulations. Located at the Javits Center, New York Comic Con runs from October 5 through October 8.

The IMAX VR: Justice League Experience will be unveiled at IMAX VR Centres beginning on November 17—the opening day of the feature film—and will be an IMAX exclusive for its first two weeks. This totally immersive and completely interactive adventure will test if you are able to master your Super Hero powers. For more details and locations please visit http://imaxvr.imax.com.

Finally, in December, the VR experience comes home with an expanded Justice League Virtual Reality: The Complete Experience, to be released for transactional purchase on multiple VR platforms. Featuring additional modes and expanded missions, the home-based VR experience will support controllers, spatial tracking and room scale tracking, depending on the platform. Targeted platforms include HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Samsung GearVR, Google DayDream and Sony PSVR (subject to change).

The Missions include:

Play as the Justice League members and see if you can master their powers:

Outrace your enemies as BATMAN
Fight Parademons as WONDER WOMAN
Face a creature from the deep as AQUAMAN
Stop a ticking bomb as THE FLASH
Take out enemy drones as CYBORG

In addition, other characters from the DC universe may be added to the VR experience.

You can’t save the world alone. Join the league!

http://justiceleaguethemovie.com/vr

About Justice League:

Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Raymond Fisher, Jason Momoa and Ezra Miller star in the action adventure Justice League.

Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes—Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash—it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

Justice League was directed by Zack Snyder from a screenplay by Chris Terrio and Joss Whedon, story by Terrio & Snyder. Based on characters from DC Entertainment; Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Charles Roven, Deborah Snyder, Jon Berg and Geoff Johns produced the film, with Jim Rowe, Wesley Coller, Curtis Kanemoto, Chris Terrio and Ben Affleck serving as executive producers.

Opening beginning on November 17 in 3D and 2D in select theatres and IMAX, Justice League will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

IT – Movie Review

September 8, 2017 Published by Shari K. Green

What IT gives you is a smart and psychotic action-thriller more than a horror film, to be honest. Yes, there were some fabulous jump-scares and a delightfully big creep factor going on, of course, but it didn’t really scare me all that often. The film is based on one of Stephen King’s bestselling books about a killer clown named Pennywise so that alone should tell you that it’s going to be worth the time. It was originally a TV miniseries in 1990. The original had the entire nation afraid of clowns and we may have that going on again. Creepy is definitely a good way to define what the character offers the audience but what you might not expect is some of the sound acting from its young cast.

Not surprisingly, some of the best comes from the Skarsgård in the group. There is plenty of talent to be had in his family and he’s no different. Bill, plays the movies evil clown. He’s the son of Stellan Skarsgård (Good Will Hunting, Thor) and the brother of Alexander Skarsgård (True Blood, The Legend of Tarzan). At age twenty-seven, Bill already has twenty-seven film credits to his name and now has gotten this opportunity to be the memorable Pennywise as did Tim Curry who originally played the role.

I would have preferred it if the script had given Pennywise more of a chance to be… scary! Skarsgård had what it took to frighten the pants off of you but the focus was more on the trials of the boyhood pals and their new friend Beverly. Beverly is played by Sophia Lillis who is another shining piece of the pie. Her story is that of an abused daughter who offers love and support to others in need rather than display the resentment and pain she may feel from the maltreatment and violation she is exposed to daily. She is not weakened from her struggles she is strengthened despite them.

The movie starts by giving us the information that children in Derry, Maine are disappearing. Little Georgie, (Jackson Robert Scott) an adorable boy afraid of his cellar who director Muschietti set us up to feel bad for right away, is Pennywise’s first victim. This is dreadful and sets up an expected tone. What you presume you’ll see is more of this but what you get is more like The Expendables when the men were pre-teens… facing their fears together and refusing to give up on defeating their biggest demons. At the end of the school year, Georgie’s older brother Bill (Lieberher) and Bill’s friends look for Georgie.

As the story plays out, each child’s inner skirmishes are displayed and what Pennywise ends up being is a metaphor of the life they are no longer willing to live. An emblem, even, of their fortitude. What one might wonder is, does this clown really exist? Is what they’re experiencing really happening or is he the manifestation of their trepidation to grow beyond childhood; to lose what they now have and be exposed to their vulnerabilities? Georgie was afraid of the cellar because of what his imagination made materialize. Bill and his boyhood friends are, essentially, suffering that same fate… each of which will get worse if they don’t confront their beast.

IT is an engaging watch that keeps you interested in the outcome of the characters. The friends are, for the most part, different from one another and you do care for them as they face their plight. The cinematography is beautiful and the humor and feeling sorry for all of them is a big part of what makes the kids more likable. You’ll be rooting for them every step of the way. I’d like to note for you that for the biggest chills, don’t miss the scene when Ben, (Taylor) follows the balloon into the back of the library or the scene in the garage.

Extended look at Darren Aronofsky’s “mother!”

September 6, 2017 (updated September 6, 2017) Published by Shari K. Green

See what this mysterious film has to offer at youllneveranswerthedooragain.com

Written and Directed by: Darren Aronofsky

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem

A couple’s relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence.

This is a riveting psychological thriller about love, devotion and sacrifice.

mother! official channels

hashtag: #mothermovie

facebook: /officialmothermovie

twitter: @mothermovie

instagram: @mothermovie

website: mothermovie.com

for tickets: http://tickets.mothermovie.com

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In Theaters September 15th

http://www.fandango.com

The Trip to Spain Movie Review

August 25, 2017 (updated August 25, 2017) Published by Shari K. Green

Two good friends, Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, have taken journey’s together eating wonderful food while Coogan writes about their experiences at the restaurants and the food they enjoyed. The Trip to Spain is the third adventure they’ve had so far. The first go-round was to review the best restaurants that the UK had to offer. He was thrilled with the opportunity but when his girlfriend couldn’t join him, it was Rob who took her place. Rob and Steve are very similar and constantly nag one another but they got through the trip without killing one another and the writing was successful. Their second trip was to travel around Italy. They went to Rome and Tuscany and though it has the same spirit, their travels and the film itself wasn’t quite as entertaining.

Well, the boys have decided to do it once again and I’m very pleased they did. Here, Brydon will work on a series of restaurant reviews while Coogan fits in time to put pen to paper on that new novel. They take a week to wine and dine their way through beautiful Spain, enjoying one another’s repartee while basking in the magnificence of the scenery around them. I’m not sure they take enough time to truly appreciate where they are for they are probably cracking wise too often to take it all in but director Winterbottom makes sure that we absorb the beauty of the land. Once again, we go through every breathtaking moment of the trip simply in awe of where they are and what they get to do for a living and he makes the film better by accompanying the backdrop of Spain with the most marvelous music. He takes us through the winding roads, the tiny villages and into the kitchens of the restaurants as the food is being prepared. Most of the dishes will have you wanting to jump through the screen to join them.

And then we have Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. It seems Coogan is having a rough time of things. When the trip started, everything was fantastic but as we move further and further into the week, more and more of his life seems to get complicated and plans begin to fall apart. On the contrary, Rob’s life couldn’t be better, especially since he can get away from his crying baby for a week without question.

But evading everything when he can and concentrating only on the trip, Coogan battles Brydon as he did before in impersonating stars they romanticize and respect such as Robert De Niro, Sean Connery, Mick Jagger and John Hurt. One of the best moments is when they, like a couple of gossips, discuss men having children too late in life. They take it deep with how old Jagger was when he had his last child. Never being able to avoid doing it, they both give their best Jagger impression and then get into specifics of why theirs was better than the others. It’s a classic moment because they then start feeling their age but bury it quickly by adding they feel they are in the ‘sweet spot of life.’ I don’t think either of them convinced the other of that either.

This banter continues throughout and rarely gets old. Speaking of never getting old, Brydon takes out his ‘small man trapped in a box,’ at one point and when the topic of the death of so many celebrities enters the conversation, they examine another favorite; David Bowie. Coogan defines Bowie’s death as almost an ‘artistic act’ and starts to sing some notes. Rob topped Coogan with explaining how he found out that before his death, Bowie followed him on Twitter. This, of course, could never beat Coogan’s relationship with Dame Judi Dench or his Oscar nomination for Philomena so, of course, there’s plenty of time to mention this in case Brydon has had a chance to forget. There are several musings which are hashed out in the previous films brought up again in this one but this adds to the charm of this The Trip to Spain. It proves these characters know one another very well. You buy into the characters more and by doing this, it makes you feel like you’re a part of this friendship, as well.

As if it would be hard to tell they were fans, they give a nod to Monty Python’s brilliant work and award a fair amount of time to the Spanish Inquisition. Being a big Monty Python fan, I applaud them for this decision. Python has touched us all at some point so it was special to see them included here in this very witty film. They also talked about Terry Gilliam’s work. The dialogue surrounding this accomplished writer/director’s is another highlight as they get into how much they value him.

The film isn’t perfect because I must point out that on occasion, Braydon did get irritating. The most bothersome is when Coogan explains the history of the Moors, and is even getting a little political, Brydon constantly interrupts with his Roger Moore impression. I was enjoying what Coogan was saying and the interruption by Brydon was a bit much but, again, it makes the film authentic and maybe this was the intention.

At the end, with Coogan blissfully upset that he is being dropped by his agent, replaced as the writer of an upcoming film, his son (who he was looking forward to seeing) can’t fly in now… he’s feeling lost. That said, the ending couldn’t have been better. The trip wraps up with the line, ‘It’s always good to say goodbye in the mist.’ Steve is left alone and when you think things may turn around for him… they don’t. We are perfectly set up for The Trip to…???

Author: Shari K. Green