The Imitation Game

This was the best film of last year, of the ones that I've seen
It begins in 1951 when Alan Turing's (Benedict Cumberbatch's) apartment is robbed and ransacked though nothing appears to be missing, but the police start an investigation nevertheless, with one particular cop (Rory Kinnear) convinced that he was a Soviet spy during the war.
He starts telling his story, and it is interesting one.
Turing applies for a job at Bletchley Park but he is a mathematician and knows absolutely no German so Commander Denniston (Charles Dance) is not impressed but Turing knows that the British want the German machine Enigma solved so they can win the war. He gets the job but is immediately at odds with his fellow co-workers, Peter (Matthew Beard), John (Allen Leech) and Hugh (Matthew Goode). His plan is different than solving the impossible code that the Germans change every day. His idea is to come up with a machine that will solve every code instantly but Denniston hates the plan and all the money it will cost, but luckily he sends a letter to Winston Churchill who appoints Alan in charge much to Denniston's dismay.
Alan, along with another superior, Menzies (Mark Strong) set out to hire some new employees, one of whom is Joan Clarke (Keira Knightley). She gets the job but cannot keep it because her parents don't think it would be proper, though Turing wants her because she is brilliant so he sneaks her in under the guise of another job there and goes to her room at night where they work secretly on code-breaking.
Problems arise including the one where Denniston believes that one of the team members is a Soviet spy and then nearly threaten to shut down his operation, though by this time, Turing made nice with his team members so they stick up for him and Turing is allowed a little more time. Joan's parents force her to return home so she can find someone to marry, desperate for her to stay, Alan proposes despite being homosexual, something which John picks up on, though doesn't care much. At the time, homosexuality was illegal in Britain.
However, once the machine finally solves Enigma, and know the position of all the German submarines and such, they can't help everyone because they can't let the Germans know that they solved it, or else all their hard work would be for naught. It is devastating playing God, letting the German submarines sink a British ship carrying tons of citizens, including Peter's brother so the film takes on a whole new level.
They use statistics to decide which attacks they should prevent and which ones they should let happen and Turing finds out that John is the actual Soviet spy, though Menzies knew that the whole time. He wanted John on the team so he could feed him the information he wanted the Soviets to know and now wants Turing to help him decide which information he should let John leak to the Soviets and such. Alan breaks up with Joan and she is upset despite knowing the whole time that he was homosexual.
Of course, we all sort of know how the film ends and it ends sadly. Sure, the war ends and everyone must separate, pretend that they never knew each other because the whole thing was classified. Turing goes back to the university and gets arrested in 1951 for homosexuality. He picks castration and taking hormones to 'cure' him rather than prison so he  can continue working on his machine, dubbed 'Christopher' after a boy he knew years earlier in primary school.
Alan committed suicide in 1954 and was not pardoned until 2013. But his contribution to World War II was massively significant. The film mentions that historians believe his invention ended the war two years earlier and saved roughly fourteen million lives and that is truly remarkable. He made a huge difference.
Cumberbatch delivers a truly devastating performance, certainly his best one that I have seen and is undoubtedly worthy of his Oscar nomination, making his character both extremely unlikable and sympathetic. Knightley is also brilliant, also deserving of her nomination.
The film weaves in and out of three different time periods (including a time when young Turing was horribly bullied in primary school) flawlessly, and forces the viewer to think. Did Turing do the right thing in confessing for his 'crime' of homosexuality or sort of playing God? Should he have lied to Joan, saying that he didn't actually care for her? And how dare Britain treat a hero so cruelly? Can a man think like a machine or can a machine think like a man?
In addition to having an excellent plot, the film has the whole package with great cinematography, set decoration, costumes, editing and score, some of which also received nominations. This is a film that everyone should see. It portrays the outsider, a character that everyone, in some way, shape or form, can relate to. Your heart will ache for Alan, as it should. Grade: A

Selma

This film was nothing less than magnificent.
We sort of know the story, the marching in Selma, but this film shows us what really happened. Martin Luther King, Jr. (David Oyelowo) is adamant, with good reason, that President Lyndon Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) sign a bill that would guarantee African Americans the right to vote. Johnson is not against doing something like that, but he has bigger fish to fry, more problems than one could count. They even mention how ironic it is that he send troops over to Vietnam but not to the south to protect the marching African Americans terrorized by the southern whites, both in authority and the average working joe.
Sure, the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, and Johnson was proud of it, but things are still horribly unequal in the south and King decides that Selma is the place for it to happen. Sure, they've tried in other places before, and have failed to gather the attention of the nation and though King hates violence and death, he needs the white mayor to be against their actions and treat them horribly. This is what happens in Selma. A march goes wrong, and some African Americans escape to a diner but the police follow them in and kill the young son (Keith Stanfield). His elderly father survives the brutal beating. The first mass march from Selma to Birmingham is dreadful, with tear gas and batons, beating the African Americans, even after they had already started running away. John Lewis (Stephan James), leader of SNCC suffered a fractured skull but would continue with the fight.
The next time, King is back and leads the march and the Alabama State Police back off, but the marchers still turn back and King receives much criticism for this. But it didn't feel right for him. He tries legal action instead and luckily, the judge (Martin Sheen) sides with them so they are able to march, unimpeded from Selma to Birmingham, and when Wallace meets with the president, Johnson finally relents, not wanting to be grouped into the same category of history as Wallace. Within months, the Equal Voters Rights Bill comes to pass. Thank goodness.
We also see part of King's life behind the scenes, his family life. Coretta (Carmen Ejogo) is devoted to him, though she seldom joins him in the fight because she must care for the children. His unfaithfulness to her is also most upsetting, though the film only hits at that and probably should have gone into more detail. We see him interact with his fellow leaders, too numerous to count but his best scene is when the young John Lewis tells him how much his one speech meant to him. We see him urge everyone to come out to Selma, white, black or otherwise and we see him practically beg the President to give in to their not unreasonable demands. He never strays from his goal, not giving in to the bargains officials offer him and he is a brilliant public speaker and Oyelowo is spectacular and was totally robbed of his Oscar nomination as he is certainly in the same league as both Keaton and Redmayne for their respective films.  Ejogo is also great as is Wilkinson, but the film as a whole is amazing. From the first scene when King goes and accepts his Nobel Peace Prize to the church bombing in Birmingham where four innocent little girls are killed needlessly. But the scene that sticks the most with me, for some reason is when Annie Lee Cooper (Oprah Winfrey) tries to register to vote and the clerk asks her tons of ridiculous questions, and some she can answer, like the preamble to the constitution and how many county judges exist in Alabama (67, for the record) but she can't name each and every single one of them, who could?
Sure, some of the scenes don't fit together that well, as the film tries to tell both a personal story as well as one on a larger scope, but either way, it will be remembered. Unfortunately, this film was largely snubbed at the Oscars, receiving a slim two nominations, though one was for Best Film. The director should have been recognized for coaxing great performances from everyone, including Andre Holland, Wendell Corey, Lorraine Troussaint and Tessa Thompson. Tim Roth is effectively creepy as Alabama governor George Wallace and Dylan Baker is cruel as J. Edgar Hoover who even suggests that assassinating King would solve all of Johnson's problems. I also liked that the screenplay mentioned what happened to some of the most important characters as well as some minor ones, like how one white woman was murdered five hours after King's speech in Birmingham, driving home from the march.
You need to see this film, and I haven't said that about many films this year. Sure, there were other good films this year, none of them have been as important as this one.
The ironic thing is, just as they mention in this film how African Americans need someone to vouch for them so they can vote, perhaps that is why this film was ignored by the Academy, no one was willing to vouch for it and that is a real shame. Grade: A

The Middle: A Quarry Story

Well, Sue (Eden Sher) is devastated when they put in a self-serving topping bar at her fast food baked potato job which cuts down on her hours and Frankie (Patricia Heaton) decides that she should get the small job at the quarry even though Mike (Neil Flynn) is reluctant to hire her. But she really turns the place around and Mike is so impressed that he even tosses her the keys so she can mop up the muddy floor when none of the guys are around. Big mistake. It starts out as something perfectly innocent, Sue just wants to show Brad and Carly (J. Brock Ciarlelli and Blaine Saunders) what the quarry really is. However, Brad's selfie, which he posts to instragram, gets out of control and random kids just start showing up, assuming that a party is happening. Sue tries to keep the whole thing under control, but it doesn't work. Kids crawl on the machines and go into the trailer where Mike and Sue works and one person even has the audacity to use Mike's World Best Dad mug. Somehow, Mike finds out about the party and arrives. The show cuts to Mike yelling at Sue, sobbing her eyes out on the couch. He tells her that the quarry has explosives and someone could have easily gotten hurt and Mike would be liable. And that meant he could have lost his job when the family is already poor enough. Mike is beyond upset at her, and begins the grounding off at six months but thanks to Sue's sweet letters, it trickles down to just six weeks though Sue doesn't feel that that is enough and gives herself two more, but, typical Heck move, they forget about it and after a month, the whole grounding thing is forgotten.
In the meantime, Frankie and Mike have finally reached their limit with the hole and hose instead of the kitchen sink so Mike begs his father (John Cullen) to surrender one of his seventeen sinks in his backyard because free is basically all they can afford. Big Mike does this and manages to get Axl (Charlie McDermott) to help him, forcing his lazy butt off the couch. Axl tries to shirk responsibility as he has done a million times before, but that crap doesn't work on Big Mike. He's retired and has all the time in the world. Big Mike forces Axl to look for the exact right screw in a whole pail full of them, but Axl gives up and just uses any old screw, meaning the water squirts in two opposite trails. Fortunately, Big Mike guilt trips him into actually looking for the right screw and the sink is perfectly fixed.
After last week, Frankie's plot line is small but still important. She finds an old, uncashed paycheck, void because ninety days have long passed. However, being the penny-pinching Mr. Ehlert (Brian Doyle-Murray) he forces her to work for him another day. But Frankie literally does nothing, could care less, and sells two cars, more than she has in her time working there. Unfortunately, their joy is short-lived because, as I've mentioned earlier, Sue had that party at quarry.
Now, I do have a few problems with the show. My dad pointed this one out. If Big Mike had so many sinks in his backyard, why did it take two months for them to ask him for one? That really doesn't make any sense. And how in the world did Mike find out about the party? He had to, of course, but how? He's barely online and hates his cell phone. Maybe someone told him? These are some pretty big plot holes and cannot be overlooked. Also, Axl was back at college last week, getting that girl to like him, and now he's back at home on break? Makes no sense. Also, Sue's cow from last week is gone, no consistency in this episode, something that always upsets me.
That being said, it was better than last week's episode and I am so glad that they brought Big Mike back to the show. He's a great character and lives right in town so they should use him more often. He hasn't been on the show since season four. His interactions with Axl are great. And I'm also glad to see Carly again. Where has she been? Grade: B+
Side Notes:
-Chuck (Greg Sipes) still manages to get a great line in his ten seconds of screen time, calling Sue, Little Girl Mike
-Mike informs Sue that this a place of  business and there should be no sparkly posters around. Sue immediately excuses herself to get something out of the break room.
-There is also a no singing rule at the quarry.
-Brick (Atticus Shaffer) has his own plot line of obsessing over 1970s game shows. Sue manages to win all his stupid games. It's the little wins in life.
-Frankie steps on a fork in the shower, something that shouldn't happen. Spoons in the shower, forks in the sink.
-Carly makes out with a guy from junior college at the party. Sue is slightly horrified.
-Mr. Ehlert makes it clear to Frankie that he is a married man.
-Because the kitchen is being redone, Frankie has to make a club sandwich in her bedroom as she can't find a plug anywhere else.

Oscar Predictions and Wish List

Oscar nominations will arrive soon and, once again, I haven't seen nearly enough serious contenders but I will still voice my opinion. Birdman is the best film I've seen this year and though Michael Keaton is sure to get nominated, I thought Eddie Redmayne gave a better and harder performance for his brilliant portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. He will also surely receive a nomination. Sure, Get On Up was a horrible film, Chadwick Boseman was nevertheless great, though he won't receive a nomiation, it would be nice to see dark horse Ralph Fiennes get one for The Grand Budapest Hotel, which somehow managed to beat Birdman at the Golden Globes or Bill Murray for St. Vincent. On the other hand, though Big Eyes was a good film, Christoph Waltz doesn't deserve a nomination.
For Best Actress, for me, it is a two way race between Felicity Jones for The Theory of Everything and Reese Witherspoon for Wild. Amy Adams was pretty good in Big Eyes and could manage to get her sixth nomination, too bad she doesn't have a chance at winning. Gugu Mbatha-Raw was also great in Belle, but she doesn't have a prayer at getting a nomination.
For the supporting categories, once again, I haven't really seen enough contenders but I thought that both Edward Norton and Emma Stone were great in Birdman and I would love to see them nominated, as they are the top in each category for me. Naomi Watts is also great in St. Vincent though she won't win and as much as I love Meryl Streep, I didn't really think she was Oscar-nomination worthy in Into the Woods. Laura Dern, for Wild, and Melissa McCarthy, for St. Vincent were also pretty good, though neither has a shot.
Just for the record, no matter how many Oscars Gone Girl is nominated for and wins, I will not see the film because I read the book and hated the characters and they do not deserve to become parents, that is just terrifying. They are both crazy and unlikable characters thus, the film will not be viewed.

Big Eyes

This film should actually be called Big, Crazy Eyes.
Amy Adams shines as Margaret Ulbrich Keane, a determined woman leaving her suffocating husband only to marry someone much worse. She is an artist who finds a job painting baby furniture and exhibits her paintings at a local craft show, catching the eye of charmer Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz) who paints scenes of Paris streets but they are not selling, despite his best efforts but he sees potential in Margaret's work. Then, a problem arises, Margaret's ex wants custody of Jane (first Delaney Raye and then Madeleine Arthur) so Walter proposes and Margaret accepts, much to the dismay of her good friend, Dee Ann (Krysten Ritter). Walter exhibits both his paintings along with Margaret's but he goes to the jazz cafe alone while she stays at home to paint and a simple misinterpretation launches Walter's scheme. People believe that the paintings are his and he goes along with it. Margaret is, at first, incredibly furious as she should be but then, goes along with his plan. And he becomes famous and few see through his lies, though he does say that he paints with oil when Margaret actually used acrylic. He is a charmer and has a natural way with people.
He becomes famous and thrives on all the attention. Margaret seems fine with staying in the background, even after discovering that his Paris scenes were also frauds, and she supports him through some of his crazy schemes. Like when a critic (Terence Stamp) thinks 'his' work is awful and he has a breakdown but this leads to Margaret leaving him. He is drunk and is furious at Margaret for embarrassing him in public and starts throwing matches at her and Jane, and nearly burns down their nice, fancy house.
She goes to Hawaii, though Jane is distant from her because of all the lies Margaret kept from her for all that time. Here, Margaret discovers religion in the form of Jehovah's Witness and decides that she is going to stop lying. Which leads her to sue Walter. The court scene is outrageous, with Walter representing himself but fortunately, the judge sees right through his lies and orders that they both paint, and Walter fakes a shoulder injury while Margaret paints one of her beautiful paintings and the judge rules in her favor, thank goodness. As the narrator, columnist Dick Nolan (Danny Huston) said, all Margaret wanted was her daughter and her paintings and, in the end, she got them both.
The acting is great, with Adams delivering top-notch work again, fulling deserving her Golden Globe nomination but I'm iffy on Waltz. He is just a creepy, cruel character, not even telling his wife of two years (at that time) that he had a daughter from his first marriage. He can't understand why Margaret is upset, after all, he put up with her daughter for all this time, causing shock waves in the audience and gasps. But Adam's face is like her paintings, the eyes are the window to her soul.
The set decoration is also great, truly looking like how San Francisco would look in the early 1960s.
This is a sad film, and a film of the times, when women were supposed to obey their husbands because they knew best, but fortunately, Margaret gets the last word. Walter would die penniless, Margaret will live on in people's memories. There are far more important films than this one, but this one is still great and the story needed to be told. Margaret shouldn't have gone along with the lie, but she did and regretted every minute of it as the paintings meant everything to her. This film probably also meant a lot to her. Grade: A-

The Middle: Pam Freakin' Staggs

This was an interesting episode.
Kirstie Alley appears as Pam Staggs, a former classmate of Frankie's (Patricia Heaton's) from back in high school who appeared on Wheel of Fortune and won a million dollars. This was seen back on an episode of the show way back in season three.
She is richer and believes herself to be sophisticated and parties hard. And she drags Frankie with her. Drags isn't right. Frankie is thrilled that the popular girl Pam wants to hang with her. Turns out that Pam's husband took half her winnings in the divorce and her son is in South America helping people. But she's fine with everything, except for the horrible martinis at the bar. But during karaoke Pam reveals that everyone else she called moved away to pursue their dreams but not Frankie.
It ends sort of happily, at least for Frankie. Turns out Pam is miserable and hates all her money. Her husband didn't even cheat on her, he just didn't want to be with her anymore and her son is actually in South America but he grows pot. She wants what Frankie has and Frankie is thrilled, she takes pleasure in someone else's misfortune.
In the meantime, Sue (Eden Sher) is seeking out websites to figure out what will give her an edge when it comes to college acceptance. She tries playing the oboe, and then rowing before settling on the under-the-radar 4H. Hopefully this plot line will continue for the rest of the season.
Axl (Charlie McDermott) tries to get Devin Levin (Gina Mantenga) to go out with him but she doesn't feel that she has the time to devote to a real relationship so he tries to beat her at something sports related. But he loses at basketball and running, which is terrifying before she scratches at billiards, planting a kiss on his lips, not ever telling if she let him win.
Alley wasn't a bad guest star and I would like to see her back again though I doubt that will happen as the episode ends with Frankie announcing that Pam is dating the real estate agent who sold her her house in Orson. Good for her.
However, this was one of the weaker episodes for this season as it didn't give the main actors each their due and that is just upsetting as this is one of the strongest casts on television and they each need their time to shine. And, also equally upsetting, this episode wasn't even that funny, with the jokes just really falling flat. Grade: B+
Side Notes:
-The funniest bit was when Mike (Neil Flynn) was telling Frankie to stop sending so much time out with Pam Staggs and Sue is in the background trying to practice rowing in the Heck family pool but she falls off her little boat and thrashes around in the water.
-Brick (Atticus Shaffer) gets literally nothing to do in this episode, though he is annoying Mike the least during that week.
-Frankie insists on going out again because it is Ladies Drink Free Night so she will be the dutiful wife and return home to spit the beer in Mike's mouth. He grimaces because that is what happened the night before.
-The night before Frankie returns home drunk and passes out on Mike in a gross scene.
-At the end, Mike is out shooting hoops and returns inside the house when Pam licks him and Frankie begins her freak out which starts Pam's breakdown.
-Sue comes home with a calf because of her 4H joining. I hope that carries on through at least one more episode. That will be a wonderful gag for future episodes.
-Axl takes delight in Devin losing, though of course, she didn't really lose because the prize is him and that is a wonderful reward.
-The whole show starts when Frankie gets a friend request from Pam and Sue tells her to accept it right away because it might be a mistake. Poor Sue.

Galavant: Pilot and Just Friends

This show is hilarious and just odd. Galavant (Joshua Sasse) is a hero devastated over losing his love, Madelena (Mallory Jansen) to the nasty and childish King Richard (Timothy Omundson). He has abandoned his hero ways until Princess Isabella (Karen David) convinces him to battle against Richard for the sake of her kingdom. But she is double crossing him. The plot isn't important. The comedy is what drives the show. A song starts off the second episode and, by the end, Galavant is out of shape and declares that that was a very long song. Even better is the joust between Galavant and Jean Hamm (John Stamos) which is painful and hilarious as both are in such pain and agony that they are moving at a snail's pace and the joust is just pathetic.
Sure, it isn't much of a show, extremely thin on plot but heavy on songs, even some great dancing and jokes. The acting isn't bad and the sets aren't bad. I will continue to watch this show as it is just a limited series and if you like odd comedies, I would definitely give this one a try. Grade: B+

Downton Abbey, Season Five, Episode One

Well, season five has started. I don't know if I have any extra predictions for this season, so far.
Mary (Michelle Dockery) and Tony Gillingham (Tom Cullen) are almost engaged though she has high hopes for her potential second marriage, wanting it to be as happy as her first. Also desperate for the marriage to work, Tony offers to have a weekend by themselves wanting her to also be his lover before the two marry so they know everything about each other first. Mary is considering the offer. She's probably take it.
Edith (Laura Carmichael) is still visiting her secret love child, who was unfortunately given the name Marigold. Marigold is doing well living with the Drewes, though Edith is still somewhat depressed and Gregson is still nowhere to be found. My prediction? He's probably dead. I also don't think that Edith will be able to keep an acceptable distance from little Marigold.
Branson (Allen Leech) is still overseeing the land but is still having doubts and is sort of considering pursuing a relationship with the teacher Miss Bunting (Daisy Lewis) though her opinions largely clash with Robert (Hugh Bonneville) and Branson is hesitant to go against Robert's wishes. Speaking of Robert, he is not appointed to be on the veterans committee and Carson (Jim Carter) is appointed instead and takes the position.
As for the servants, we finally find out part of Baxter's (Raquel Cassidy's) dirty little secret. She's a thief though who knows what she did with the jewels. And Moseley (Kevin Doyle) attempts to dye his hair though that ends badly.
Thomas (Rob James-Collier) is actually friends with Jimmy (Ed Speleers) who is sleeping with his former mistress (Anna Chancellor). And because of a sudden fire, which starts in Edith's room, Robert discovers that his footman is sleeping with his former boss and is disgusted.
The fire manages not to damage much and at least Mary's first though once hearing of the fire is of her son, George, whom she spends little time with. Earlier, she even admitted that she loved Tony in her own cold, unfeeling sort of way. But the future of Downton depends solely on little George, that will all be his one day.
Though I am largely over this show, believing they dragged it out too long and have too much time between seasons, this was not a bad way to start the season as so much could so easily go wrong and lives will be forever changed. The acting is still great and dialogue snappy, not to mention the flawless sets and costumes. I just feel that the best days of Downton are long gone, just as it could be with society changing right before everyone's eyes. Grade: B+

Wild

If you've ever doubted that Reese Witherspoon is a good actress, this film will forever prove you wrong.
Reese Witherspoon is literally a one-woman show as Cheryl Strayed in this film. She is a damaged woman, suffering greatly from the unexpected death of her beloved mother, Bobbi (Laura Dern). Bobbi was diagnosed with cancer and died just one month later, when the doctor said that she could expect roughly a year. Her son, Leif (Keene McRae), never even got to say good-bye. After Bobbi's death, Cheryl turned to having casual sex with anything that moved, humping guys in broad daylight in alleys behind the diner where she worked. And then the heroin use started and, not surprisingly, her marriage to the kind Paul (Thomas Sadowski) was completely eroded. To turn her life around, she starts walking the 1,200 mile trek of the Pacific Crest Trail, starting in the desert near the Mexican border.
Her journey is perilous and lonely, not to mention dangerous. She nearly runs out of water because a water tank is dry. She is nearly raped by a creepy hunter who sneaks up on her when she is starting to make camp, plus her hiking boots fall off a cliff because she was stupid and placed one too close to the edge. Luckily, she was able to get new ones, thank goodness. Despite everything, she has incredible strength and manages to finish, curing herself of all the ills that troubled her life before. She managed to turn her life around and become the woman her mother raised her to be, just as Witherspoon's narration described.
Witherspoon's performance is magnificent, from struggling to lift her heavy backpack, stuffed with food, tents and supplies, everything she would need to survive along the journey, though she didn't read some instructions as she has the wrong fuel needed for her portable stove. And, despite being more than a decade older than her character, Witherspoon still looks fairly realistic as the young college student and waitress. She deserves every nomination she receives, if not the award itself.
Of course I had problems with the film. One is that Cheryl becomes pregnant during her addiction and casual sex stage, but doesn't have the baby. Whether she has the abortion or just had a miscarriage is unclear, though she would eventually get married and have two children with her husband. (She and Paul get divorced, big surprise there.) I also wish the ending would have showed all the good that happened to Cheryl, not just have her tell us what happened. And, to the nit-picky parts. In one of the first scenes, just as Cheryl is starting out on the trail, her watch and bracelet switch wrists between edits, bothering me to no end. Also, the fuel can she kicked away because it was no good, makes a return appearance, even after she buys the proper fuel. Sure, she could have gone to pick it up, but we never see the good fuel can again. I know I'm crazy nit-picky as the vast majority of the film was incredibly gritty and realistic with fairly authentic sets as Cheryl hiked the trail in 1995. The scenery is incredible and the cinematography breathtaking, but it is the little details that need to be great.
Though it is disturbing to see a woman let others treat her so horribly, Cheryl makes a true difference in her life and that must mean something; she made her life matter. And that does mean something, not just to her, but to the audience as well. Grade: A-

Into the Woods

This film was interesting.
There are a ton of characters and they interconnect in odd ways. The Baker and his wife (James Corden and Emily Blunt) must gather together an odd sort of ingredients to appease the Witch (Meryl Streep) so they can have a baby. They get the milky white cow from Jack (Daniel Huddlestone), the blood-red cape from Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), the golden locks from Rapunzel (MacKenzie Mauzy) and, after some persuading the golden glass slipper from Cinderella (Anna Kendrick). The other characters have their own battles: Cinderella must break away from her nasty stepmother and evil stepsisters (Christine Baranski, Lucy Punch and Tammy Blanchard), and decide to settle down with her prince (Chris Pine), instead of running away as she has done for all three nights of the ball, Little Red must face down her demon of the Wolf (Johnny Depp) and deliver bread to Grandma, the Princes must find either Cinderella or Rapunzel and the Witch just wants her youth back. Jack wants his cow back and his mother (Tracey Ullmann) wants money.
Just when I thought things worked out way too easily, things take a devastating turn for the worst, the Giant is back and she wants blood as Jack chopped down the first giant beanstalk, killing her husband. The Bakers are able to gather all the supplies they need so the Witch is able to drink the potion to turn her young again. She immediately becomes pregnant, nine months pregnant no less, giving birth in time for Cinderella's wedding which causes the weirdest look ever to briefly cross her face because earlier Baker's wife declared that she needed the slipper so she could have a baby.
The odd assortment of people must band together to defeat the giant, but lives are lost along the way: Jack's mother is the first to go. Then, the Baker and his wife separate so they can find Jack quicker but the wife stumbles upon Cinderella's Prince so is not as charming as he appears: the two have a hot make-out session before she falls off a cliff to her death and Cinderella (who can talk to birds) hears of Prince's straying from her. He only liked the chase. Once he caught her, he was bored. Who knows what happens to him.
In the end, the Baker, Cinderella, Little Red and Jack form a sort of family unit to defeat the Giant and then, with lingering advice from his wife, the Baker starts telling the story to his infant son, inheriting the orphaned Jack and Little Red as his other children with Cinderella to be either his wife or housekeeper. Though the two do not hook up, it would make sense that they end up together but who knows what will happen.
I have several issues with the film. First of all, Johnny Depp's song as the wolf when he wants to eat Little Red for dinner is just disgusting and then Rapunzel and her Prince (Billy Magnussen) don't get enough screen time and they are probably the only ones with the actual happy ending. Also, the Baker cutting the eaten Little Red and her grandmother out of the Wolf is just odd. And the whole Cinderella's Prince cheating on her with the Baker's wife was upsetting. And the Witch's sudden odd death was interesting also.
However, most of the acting was top-notch and the songs were mostly good and all the actors could sing which is wonderful. The sets were great and costumes and make-up were all good and it is interesting to see how the fairy tales interconnect and how a band of misfits can defeat the Giant and yes, the Baker can overcome his own troubled past. His father abandoned him and he almost abandoned his own son before changing his mind, but nothing can be taken away from this film but at least the journey was fascinating. Grade: B+

Tropic Thunder (2008)

This film is odd. That is only one word to describe it.
It is sort of a behind the scenes look at how you make a war film with a bunch of egotistical actors.
Ben Stiller, who also directed and co-wrote the film, stars as Tugg Speedman, who is a huge action star but tried to go serious playing the mentally slow Little John in a film.  Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey, Jr.) is an Australian method actor who goes so deep into roles that he underwent controversial skin pigment surgery to darken his skin, deeply offending the actual African American in the film. Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson) is a great character who probably doesn't have enough screen time. Jack Black and Jay Baruchel finish out the cast of actors as the cocaine-addicted Jeff Portnoy and newbie actor Kevin Sandusky, who actually does have some military background. Each is an individual and must band together out in the Vietnamese wilderness to survive against the group of actual Vietnamese drug lords.
Then, there are the executives in Hollywood. Steve Coogan is the director who steps on a fatal land mind just after leaving the men alone in the forest. Danny McBride is the special effects guy who loves fire. Nick Nolte plays the guy who writes the book the film is based on, except that the book is all a lie, he was never in Vietnam. Even better are Matthew McConaghey as Tugg's agent and Tom Cruise as the producer. Cruise is unrecognizable but great.
Sure, the film has offensive parts, including the one where Lazarus tells Tugg that the reason he didn't do well in Hollywood was because he went 'full retard' when no one else ever has. Lazarus, of course, is also very offensive playing someone who is African American when he is not, but he also finally finds himself, ripping off his wig and fake mustache and dropping the thick southern accent.
However, the film is also hilarious, and, in an odd sort of way, clever. Stiller should probably direct more because this is a good film and proves that his directing skills are better than his acting skills. Downey, Jr. did receive an Oscar nomination for this film, and though he didn't deserve to win, he still is great playing an Australian, playing an African American.
My problems with the film are slim, though it can be seen as incredibly offensive, but there are no female roles in this film and that is just a shame and some of the fake special effects, with guts spilling out of Kevin's body are just gross. Still, I will probably watch the film again. Grade: B+

Music and Lyrics (2007)

This was actually not a bad movie. Alex Fletcher (Hugh Grant) is a former 80s singer who has long since become a has-been, without a hit for decades. Sophie Fisher (Drew Barrymore) lives in the shadow of Sally Michaels, a fictionalized version of herself, created by her college professor, Sloan Cates (Campbell Scott). Both Sally and Sophie slept with the above mentioned college professor and still, years later, he still has this power over her. One of my main problems with the film is that she never tells him off. Sure his movie is a huge flop but Sophie never gets justice, which she undoubtedly deserved.
Sophie is hired by Alex to help him write lyrics for the most famous pop star on the planet, Cora Corman (Haley Bennett) but Cora takes the good song and adds her own touch, ruining the song and when Alex does not stand up for his music, the relationship is over but of course, they get back together and Alex manages to convince Cora to go back to the original song just so he can get her back.
Sure, the plot is fairly basic, but the acting is actually decent and I don't like Hugh Grant but even he was pretty good. Barrymore is also delightful and there are fine supporting performances from Brad Garrett as Chris, Alex's managers and Kristen Johnston as Sophie's older sister who has taken over the family's weight loss business and was the biggest fan of PoP (the band Alex was a part of). Also, look for Friday Night Light's Scott Porter as the other member of PoP.
Though this was a simple rom-com, and it was funny, I didn't have many problems with it that aren't my usual problems with a rom-com. You know who is destined to be together from the beginning but at least this journey was slightly different from normal, though the male character knows he made a mistake and will do anything to correct it to win the girl back. I just wish that Barrymore would have stuck up for herself instead of having Grant fight her battle. Still, not a bad movie for New Year's Eve. Grade: B