Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

I like books.  I like movies.  Sometimes I like movies based on books.  Sometimes I like movies based on fictional characters.  And I always like Kevin Costner movies.

Shadow Recruit is a reboot of the Tom Clancy Jack Ryan series.  Unlike most origin stories, this one is not faithful to the time.  It restarts Jack Ryan in the present.  (Jack Ryan is an accountant turned CIA dude.) While a 2013 recruited Ryan is not part of the Clancy set, the spirit of the story is maintained.  And as Jack Ryan has been played by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, and Ben Affleck it hardly matters that we have yet another young actor portraying the idealistic young man.  Chris Pine was a great choice.  I loved him as the young Captain Kirk in the new Star Trek movie series and he does not disappoint as a young master spy.

And, of course, there is Kevin Costner as the recruiter.  I've followed Kevin since 1987's No Way Out.  He does American heroes well.  And . . . he just turned 59 on the 18th.  Let's hear it for the old guys!

Swing Vote!

I vote it a winner, though it opened disappointingly at the box office last week. Full disclosure: I am a Kevin Costner fan, albeit not as much of a one lately. However, this movie brings me right back into the fold. It's a lovely political morality tale in that it highlights the two major parties attempts to kowtow to various "demographics" instead of standing for beliefs. It also takes shots at those in the electorate that do not vote . . . while some have called the final speech in the movie sermonizing, I found it stirring.

Costner and Madeline Carroll, as his very together 12-year-old daughter, unflinchingly portray the intense relationship between children and alcoholic parents. Well done for both actors.

I really did enjoy this movie.

Winter Movies: Definitely, Maybe

Saw Definitely, Maybe, last night. It was definitely, well maybe, a good movie. It was a treatise on love, guised in the tale a father wove for his daughter of the three women he had been in love with as a younger man. Maya, the daughter, played by the perfect Amy Breslin, had to guess which one was her mother. Along the way, the father realizes that true love is about liking someone.

Score: 2/4

Winter Movies: Mad Money

Mad Money . . . a perfect heist committed by women. Interesting set of women carrying it off: Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah, and Mrs. Cruise. I saw this with my friend Deb. She leaned over and whispered, "why, Katie Holmes can act!"

It was a cute movie, good to see with a friend, probably will adapt well to a television near you.

Rating: 2/4

Winter Movies: Ever Been a Maid-of-Honor?

The heroine of 27 Dresses has been just that, 27 times! I was maid three and bridesmaid once, and have never been married, so if I thought back I could relate a bit. The movie was definitely a chick flick. Katherine Heigl fielded the role of a perennial bridal attendant fairly believably, which surprised me. James Marsden is a little cutie, and I enjoyed him much more as a reporter than I did as the goofy prince in Enchanged. Let's see, a rating? 2/4

How many times were you an attendant at a wedding? Did you enjoy it?

Movies: Bucket List

Okay, so I'm a glutton for punishment. When I was in the throes of thinking I had two weeks to live, I went to The Bucket List. However, it was a fine, life-affirming movie. I like old Jack Nicholson (wasn't much of a fan when he was younger, but he does old so vibrantly), and Morgan Freeman is always just right for me.

So: what is in your Bucket List? What would you like to accomplish before you pass on?

Charlie Wilson's War

Saw it last night. I went into it unprepared. I was looking for a movie that was short. I know, I know, bad reason to pick a movie, but the roads are still icy and I wanted to be home at a reasonable hour. I knew the movie starred Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, but that wasn't a real draw. I mean, they're Hollywood darlings, and sometimes that can be kind of boring. (sheesh, i didn't realize I had a bit of rebellious streak in picking favorite actors and actresses.) Anyway, the movie has won five Golden Globe nominations, for picture, Hanks, Roberts, Philip Seymour wazziz name (and dang, is he good), and script (Aaron Sorkin, based on a biography of Charlie Wilson).

The movie's Golden Globe nomination comes in the Comedy/Musical category. That is a misnomer. The movie is funny, but is probably the most thought-provoking movie I've seen in recent years. If you get a chance, go see it!

Strange Movie

It is "military month" for some reason on the Community College old movie channel. The movie we saw was The Big Lift. Made in 1950, starring Montgomery Clift . . . well, I expected more. However, it was an interesting period piece.

Becoming Jane

Becoming Jane is the story of Jane Austen before fame. It is a wonderfully filmed tale that leaves you wanting more. Anne Hathaway has become such a great actress. Princess Diaries has launched a terrific young actress.

I have to admit, I haven't read Jane Austen. The movie made me want to read her, or at least rent Pride and Prejudice. I understand I've been missing a lot by not seeing Colin Firth play Darcy in that movie.

After seeing Becoming Jane I had to stop and think what books we did read in English Lit. Boy, that was a long time ago. Excerpts from Beowulf and Canterbury Tales. Dickens, both Great Expectations and Christmas Carol. Thomas Hardy, if I remember correctly. Return of the Native. I bet that was it.

Now, I'm curious. If you took lit classes, what books did you read? I'm going to try to remember the Am Lit and World Lit selections also, but it is too late tonight.

Anyhoo:

Shirl's Rating: 3.5/4

This concludes the summer season of movies.

Summer Movie Review - Chuck & Larry

I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry. Hmmm. Somehow, this movie didn't work for me on much of any level. It played for too broad of laughs at the expense of various groups for my taste. That watered down the effect they were going for, of making people think positively of same sex marriages. At least, I THINK that was the effect, but I couldn't be sure. At some level I think they just liked to use the "fag" word.

Shirl's Rating: 1/4

Summer Movies in Review - No Reservations

I've never worked in a restaurant, and I had never considered the behind the scene mechanizations until I read Elin Hildenbrand's book, Blue Bistro. Set on Nantucket, the book takes the reader behind the scenes of a fictional first-class restaurant and the people and chefs that make them the signature places to visit. No Reservations takes us to the same place in film.

This movie got terrible reviews, and I'm not sure why. I loved it. Catherine Zeta Jones role as a tough chef and scared aunt was well played. Her love interest is played by Aaron Eckhardt, whom you may remember as the lead in Thank You for Smoking. Abigail Breslin, "Little Miss Sunshine", portrays the niece, and continues to provide real kid performances. And then there is the food. Perhaps that's it. Perhaps I am a foodie after all.

Shirl's Rating: 3/4

Summer Movies in Review - Ocean's Thirteen

Ocean's Thirteen. Boys having fun. Eye candy for girls. 'Nuf said.

Shirl's Rating: 2.5/4

Non-related. I kept hearing "Oprah is coming" on the Today Show this morning. Wrong. "Okra is coming" is what they were saying. Oops.

Summer Movies in Review - Evan Almighty

Speaking of Steve Carell, he played the lead in Evan Almighty. I found Evan to be a pleasant diversion. Carell is perfect as the perfectionist congressman who becomes a modern day Noah. Morgan Freeman plays God with a laughing seriousness that is wonderful.

Evan Almighty lacks the heartfeltness of the death scene of Bruce Almighty, where Bruce learns to pray. I still think that prayer is the most beautiful prayer scene I've seen on the big screen:

God: Grace. You want her back?
Bruce: No. I want her to be happy, no matter what that means. I want her to find someone who will treat her with all the love she deserved from me. I want her to meet someone who will see her always as I do now, through Your eyes.
God: Now THAT'S a prayer.

oh Great! Now that I'm looking at imdb.com on this, I see they really do go together! Evan Baxter was in Bruce Almighty! He got Bruce's job. Oh man. I am so forgetful. Wow!

Shirl's Score: 2.5/4

Summer Movies in Review - Knocked Up

Knocked Up was written and directed by Judd Apatow, who performed the same duties on last year's 40-Year-Old Virgin. While Virgin was quite bawdy, I enjoyed it and had high expectations for Knocked. They weren't met *sigh*. I think Virgin worked in large part because of Steven Carell's turn in the lead role. He looks like a normal guy, where the male lead in Knocked looks and acts mighty strange. There is a lot of drug usage in Knocked Up, which may put me off quite a bit. And now that I've imdb'd both movies, I see that Carell is also listed as co-writer of Virgin. That might really have something to do with Virgin's success.

Shirl's rating: 1.5 out of 4.

A River Runs Through It is still one of my top three favorite movies

Rev. Maclean: Each one of us here today will at one time in our lives look upon a loved one who is in need and ask the same question: We are willing help, but what, if anything, is needed? For it is true we can seldom help those closest to us. Either we don't know what part of ourselves to give or, more often than not, the part we have to give is not wanted. And so it those we live with and should know who elude us. But we can still love them - we can love completely without complete understanding.

Waitress

I saw the movie Waitress last night. It's a bit of a riff on Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, minus the terrific Kris Kristofferson character but with a main character who has lines like this:

Jenna: Dear Baby, I hope someday somebody wants to hold you for 20 minutes straight. All they do is wrap you up in their arms without an ounce of selfishness to it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jenna: I don't want you to save me. I don't need to be saved.

A sad note on the film: The writer/director was murdered during the post-production of the film. Adrienne Shelley's death was first assumed to be a suicide, but the perpetrator confessed. Shelley also has a role as one of the three waitresses.

Andy Griffith plays Joe, the elderly owner of the pie restaurant, to perfection.

Premonition

I saw Premonition this afternoon with Sandra Bullock. I had read no reviews of the movie, so had no preconceived notions about it. The movie kept my attention, but there were a few parts that didn't quite jibe. Only, that might be okay. If you like Bullock, go see it. Otherwise, wait for the DVD.

Have you ever had a premonition that came true?