My Blue Heaven

For this year’s “Thanksgiving Movie Review,” I’m going to review 1990 comedy, “My Blue Heaven.”

What a pleasant surprise.

“My Blue Heaven” is an enjoyable film with two of our best comic actors – Steve Martin and Rick Moranis – in best shape.

Why is it a surprise? Because Warner Bros. purposely kept critics around the country from viewing this before its release. Chris Hicks said in his review, “That usually means the movie is a dog and the studio wants to avoid reviews for the all-important opening weekend.”

Hicks continued, “But "My Blue Heaven" is a bright comedy, and my guess is it will receive largely favorable reviews.”

The story is funny by itself, with Martin as a strange New York mobster who’s been relocated to a Caucasian San Diego suburb under the federal witness-protection program. Moranis is the tense over-organized FBI agent tasked to keep him alive and in line so he can testify in a mob hit case.

Martin’s signature manner of inserting himself into the community provides many of the film’s biggest laughs, as when he reprices food in the supermarket and mows the lawn in his Armani suit.

Also, he keeps getting thrown into jail by local authorities, under the supervision of assistant D.A. Joan Cusack – where even his cell gets a huge laugh.

Hicks said, “Moranis gets Martin out of one jam after another, so to repay him Martin fixes Moranis up with Cusack, perhaps the only person in the world more straight-laced than he is. Meanwhile, not unexpectedly, Martin has a profound influence on Moranis' character, helping him loosen up and enjoy life.”

There are flaws, scenes that don’t really work, gags that fail and a temporary slowness that comes in somewhere in the final third.

However, in the entirety, screenwriter Nora Ephron and director Herbert Ross keep things going with so many sight gags and clever, inventive parts of business and a surprisingly nice romance between Moranis and Cusack. This is a movie that rebels you not to like it.

Martin and Moranis are very good, both as a team and separately. Hicks noted, ‘If Martin's explanation of why a hitman uses a .22 instead of a .45 doesn't have you on the floor you're in serious need of a humor checkup.”

The rest of the cast is more than up to their level: Cusack’s wonderful straight woman. Melanie Mayron as a local cop. Carol Kane as a late-in-the-film romantic interest for Martin. Daniel Stern as Cusack’s obnoxious ex-husband. William Irwin as Moranis’ dancing partner. Finally, William Hickey, whose appearance as a pet-shop owner has a very funny plot device as a crowd of known hoods under federal protection are reunited.

Hicks said, “Patrons of the annual Sundance Film Festival in Park City may also recognize Irwin; under the name of "Bill" Irwin, he showed off his multiple talents for a live one-man show at the festival a couple of years ago.”

Hicks continued, “As a point of trivia, this is the third film to open in the past two weeks with a strong baseball subtext, the others being "Taking Care of Business" and "mo' better blues." And it was also interesting to see a plug for Warner's upcoming Clint Eastwood movie "White Hunter, Black Heart" on a local movie theater marquee.”

When I saw this movie a couple of days ago, I found myself enjoying this. It is definitely one of those comedies that everyone should check out and enjoy. If you’re a fan of Moranis and Martin, you should see this movie. This film was released the same year as "Goodfellas," which is surprisingly about the same person. Check it out and have an enjoyable time watching this during Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Hopefully everyone has a blessed day today celebrating with family. Just make sure you don’t overindulge, which everyone is guilty of doing. Tomorrow will be the conclusion of “Francis Ford Coppola Month.”

Jim Henson’s Turkey Hollow

For this year’s Thanksgiving Movie Review, I will be looking at a Lifetime movie that premiered in 2015, “Jim Henson’s Turkey Hollow.”

There is a reference to a famous cartoon series toward the end of the film. Robert Lloyd said in his review, “Whether it’s there as an act of homage or an admission of guilt, I don’t know, but the movie is very much a variation on a theme by “Scooby-Doo” — if the gang had some light family business to resolve.”

Written by Tim Burns and Christopher Baldi, the film is based on a story and characters created in 1968 by the late Jim Henson and his former writing partner, Jerry Juhl. As we all know, Henson created the Muppets and they now work Disney, which has made them stuck under contract to an ABC sitcom, while the Jim Henson Co. does other work (including Fusion’s puppet panel show, “No, You Shut Up!”).

Even though there are some small suggestive humor, this is an old-school film at you would see from watching it. Director Kirk Thatcher, who also made “A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie” and “The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz,” knows what to do.

Lloyd said, “The setup recalls a thousand such seasonal movies, another 600 of which will be made this year by the Hallmark Channel.” Jay Harrington plays a recently divorced father who goes to spend Thanksgiving with his eccentric aunt, played by Mary Steenburgen, in a famous town off the grid, in the woods.

He brings his two children: his son (Graham Verchere) is excitable and intrusive, and his daughter (Genevieve Buechner) is suspicious and bored. Lloyd mentioned, “Like Hansel and Gretel and their many fairy tale siblings, they will go into that forest, where a Bigfoot-type creature is said to lurk.”

The parts are classically assigned. Lloyd noted, “In addition to the family, there are a greedy villain (Linden Banks), henchmen in assorted sizes, an almost amorous sheriff (Reese Alexander) and — what I suppose might strictly speaking be considered a spoiler, but given the provenance, no less than you should expect — some friendly monsters, played by puppets.” They’re not Muppets and they’re in the ads.

Lloyd credited, “And, as in “Our Town” and, oh, lots of things, there is an onstage narrator, played by a very amusing Chris “Ludacris” Bridges in a Mr. Rogers cardigan. He brings the meta (“Am I on? I thought somebody called lunch,” “Does that say ‘tragically slayed’ or ‘magically saved’? I can barely see the cue cards”), and he brings it well.”

Everyone plays their part well, but Steenburgen is the highlight. Even in the one of the lesser moments, she’s always worth watching. Without changing much about her person, she can go from innocent to cruel with no problem at all.

Here, she has some grey hair to play a little bully, more than slightly grumpy old woman, someone who loves the world but is less sure about people. She is not a hugger. Strangely, the film respects this: Aunt Cly is not, in the usual way of things, someone who can be cracked open. She’s doing just fine.

The flaws include the predictability that you have seen in other holiday specials and “Scooby-Doo.” Lloyd pointed out, “And there is perhaps a little too much whimsicality in the score, which needlessly doubles down on the whimsy already on screen.” The film is best at its least sentimental, and it is mainly not sentimental.

Overall, this is nice, solid entertainment for everyone, modest in its ambitions yet far above the amount of made-for-TV holiday specials that were seen after that. This one has puppets.

This is currently streaming on Disney+ and Amazon Prime. If you check it out, I don’t think it will hurt as I think it does its job fine, but I don’t know if this is something I will remember. Check it out and enjoy.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I know probably like everyone else I am looking forward to the dinner tonight. Just make sure you don’t overindulge, even though I know we’re all guilty of doing that. Stay tuned tomorrow for the finale of “Buddy Cop Month.” 

Fantastic Mr. Fox

For this year’s “Thanksgiving Day Movie Reviews,” I had to look up films to watch around this time. Looking at one of the lists, I found the 2009 stop-motion animated film, “Fantastic Mr. Fox.”

Some artists have a way of exciting your vision with the certainty of what they do. This has nothing to do with subject or style. It’s mysterious. Roger Ebert made the following examples in his review, “Andy Warhol and Grandma Moses. The spareness of Bergman or the Fellini circus. Wes Anderson is like that. There's nothing consistent about his recent work but its ability to make me go zooinng! What else do "The Darjeeling Limited" and "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" have in common?”

Now here’s “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” an animated film with nothing in common with traditional animation, except that it’s mainly in one of the oldest animation styles of the time – stop-motion, the one used in “King Kong.” The animals aren’t smaller than people but are often larger, and more mature.

They sometimes live in a flat space. The cameras are happier moving back and forth than moving in and out. Ebert said, “The landscapes and structures of this world are mannered and picture-booky. Yet the extraordinary faces of the animals are almost disturbingly human (for animals, of course). We venture into the UnCanny Valley, that No Man's Land dividing humans from the devised. Above all, their fur is so real. I've rarely seen such texture in a film.”

The story is about a valley somewhere, by which is meant the world, which is under the supervision of:

Boggis and Bunce and Bean,

One fat, one short, one lean.

These horrible crooks, so different in looks.

Were nonetheless equally mean.

None of the animals are saints. Mr. Fox, voiced by George Clooney, was a successful chicken thief until things got tough. Ebert described, “Then, like a bootlegger after the repeal, he went straight -- or, more precisely, into journalism. He's the Walter Winchell of the valley, until he slips back into dining on takeout chicken, taking them out himself.” This he keeps a secret from his wife, Mrs. Fox, voiced by Meryl Streep.

His cover is blown, to everyone’s huge disappointment, when Boggis (Robin Hurlstone), Bunce (Hugo Guinness), and Bean (Michael Gambon) all get ticked off and want to murder them. Leading a team of other animals (Willem Dafoe, Bill Murray, Wes Anderson, James Hamilton, Adrien Brody, Mario Batali), Mr. Fox starts digging underground like the protagonists of “The Great Escape” – but in rather than out.

This film looks at personal issues, as doubt comes in between Mr. Fox’s immature son, Ash (Jason Schwartzman), and a cousin named Kristofferson (Eric Anderson). Kristofferson is everything a fox should be, as with that name how could he not? He’s the family's quintessential fox. Does Mr. Fox admire the cousin more than his son? What kind of a father has he been, anyway?

Ebert described, “All of the animals have excellent tailoring, which adds to their stature. They're not forced to wear silly sailor suits, or like Donald Duck, never to put on pants. The art design is a large part of the film's appeal. It stays fresh all the way through. Think back to the color palettes of "Darjeeling" and "The Life Aquatic."

The film is based on the famous children’s book by Roald Dahl, which like all his books, has threatening suggestions, as if evil can sneak in at any moment. These animals aren’t serving anyone in the audience. We get the feeling they’re seriously leading their own lives without slowing down for ours.

Like the protagonist of “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factor,” also based on one of his books, the animals of Dahl’s Valley seem to know more than they’re letting on. Maybe even secrets we don’t much want to know. Children, especially, will find things they don’t understand, and things that scare them. Excellent. Ebert suggested, “A good story for children should suggest a hidden dimension, and that dimension of course is the lifetime still ahead of them. Six is a little early for a movie to suggest to kids that the case is closed. Oh, what if the kids start crying about words they don't know? -- Mommy, Mommy! What's creme brulee?" Show them, for goodness sake. They'll thank you for it. Take my word on this.”

This film is nice to see with the family. I don’t see anything in here that would be harmful for kids. What I found especially funny is that everywhere there would have been a swear word, they replaced it with “cuss.” I laughed every time they did that. This is a film that shows you that you should be thankful for everything you have. Check it out on Max and have a great time.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Enjoy the dinner tonight that I know everyone is looking forward to, myself included. Look out tomorrow when I finish off “Steve Carrell Month.”

The War at Home

“The War at Home,” released in 1996, is a gripping and revealing film about the effects of the Vietnam War on American families even after it was over.

Jeremy, played by Emilio Estevez, returns home as a decorated veteran in 1972. However, he’s unable to put behind the torture of his war experiences that he keeps reliving. Jeremy’s father Bob, played by Martin Sheen, a car dealer, wants him to get a job. His suburban mom, played by Kathy Bates, insists on treating him like a ten-year-old who needs some discipline. His sister Karen, played by Kimberly Williams, criticizes his selfishness and calls him a “weirdo.” On top of all of this, Jeremy’s girlfriend, played by Carla Gugino, lets him know that she’s living with another person.

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat noted in their review, “Emilio Estevez does a fine job directing The War at Home which has been adapted from a play by James Duff.” The family just doesn’t have the patience, compassion, and understanding to live with the reality of their son who suffered PTSD in a senseless war. Ironically, the meltdown which separates Jeremy from his parents and sister takes place on Thanksgiving.

I remember seeing a little bit of this movie a long time ago on TV. I was shocked at how the son was acting to his family and I was thinking he had a serious drinking issue, since we do see Jeremy drinking in the movie. Then, years later, I looked up on the internet what the movie was. I remembered Martin Sheen was in it, but I didn’t know that he had starred in it along with his son, Emilio Estevez. Yesterday, I ended up watching the entire movie and it was quite an emotional movie.

For a movie that is supposed to be Thanksgiving themed, this is one movie that will really hit you in the feels. Even though Martin Sheen and Charlie Sheen had starred in movies that took place during the Vietnam War (Apocalypse Now and Platoon, respectively), this movie is a very underrated film. Even though the other two are more famous and better recognized, “The War at Home” should not be swept under the rug. You should definitely see it because it will really show you the effects of PTSD and how people couldn’t deal with it back then. I only need to see this once and never again because of how emotional it is, but if you end up watching this again after one time, you have more willpower than I do.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I hope everyone will have a blessed dinner and spending some time with the family, as I know it is something we all need. Just be safe and enjoy a holiday that I feel is continuously being overlooked, which it shouldn’t be.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the finale of “Benicio Del Toro Month.”

Garfield's Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is here, and it is time for another review on a special based on the holiday. Let’s take a look at the 1989 short, “Garfield’s Thanksgiving.” I remember watching the cartoon somewhat growing up, so I thought of checking it out in celebration of today.

Garfield is ready to celebrate Thanksgiving! A trip to the veterinarian has Liz putting Garfield on a diet and John getting a date for Thanksgiving. When John messes up the Thanksgiving dinner, will his grandmother be able to save him and will Garfield get to enjoy his Thanksgiving by eating whatever he wants?

Directed by Phil Roman, Gerard Baldwin, Bob Nesler, and John Sparey, “Garfield’s Thanksgiving” aired on November 22, 1989. It aired for a few years, but “A Garfield Christmas” and “Garfield’s Halloween Adventure” aired more frequently. It has been put on with Garfield’s other two specials on one DVD. Jim Davis also did a Garfield storybook adaptation of this special. This also was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program.

There aren’t many Thanksgiving specials or movies. With “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,” “Garfield’s Thanksgiving” is one of the few cartoons (special or even movie) that is about the holiday, so if you want a Thanksgiving special to watch yearly, this is one of your choices. That’s not to say that it’s necessarily a bad thing.

“Garfield’s Thanksgiving” is a rather nice episode that feels a lot like the Garfield cartoon. The show starts out about Garfield’s diet on the holiday but quickly changes to Jon’s date with Liz. JPRoscoe said in his review, “The Jon/Liz relationship was always a theme in the old comic and the series, but it never made much sense because of shows like this which shows Liz and Jon having a great time together.”

JPRoscoe continued, “I like how the show forces the Thanksgiving issue by having Jon tell Liz about Thanksgiving to stall for the dinner.” It is funny because Thanksgiving is promoted as a reason to eat a lot in the special and then Jon uses Thanksgiving as an excuse to keep Liz busy so they can eat a lot. It is almost a little ironic.

“Garfield’s Thanksgiving” is a decent short for a holiday that doesn’t get much attention from Hollywood or TV. JPRoscoe ended his review by saying, “I wish there were more specials on Thanksgiving, but Thanksgiving is a tricky holiday.  I wish that there were more options but Thanksgiving location between Halloween and Christmas hurts it…so enjoy Garfield’s Thanksgiving and have some turkey.”

I don’t know if I have ever said this in the past, but this is a holiday that just gets overlooked and no one seems to really give it as much attention as it deserves. This short really captures the essence of preparing for a dinner and making everything perfect. Find this online and watch it because it is really good. Especially if you’re a fan of Garfield.

Happy Thanksgiving. Make sure to enjoy the dinner tonight, but don’t overeat to a point where you get exhausted. Stay tuned tomorrow for the finale of “Lou Diamond Phillips Month.”

Prisoners

For this year’s “Thanksgiving Movie Reviews,” I thought of looking at the 2013 film, “Prisoners.”

When two young girls go missing and the police release the main suspect, one of the girl’s father starts fighting with the young officer in charge of the search, before taking matters into his own hands to rescue them himself.

Dan Jolin noted in his review, “Having earned an Oscar nomination for his last film, Incendies, French-Canadian director Denis Villeneuve crosses the border for his English-language debut, Prisoners, a very American crime mystery. Villeneuve’s never been the cheeriest of filmmakers, so his portrait of US suburbia squats beneath dirty-white skies, draped in a thin snow that you know will never make for good angels.”

The main topic is really harsh, focusing on the mysterious disappearance of two girls. Jolin mentioned, “But this isn’t a straight investigation — when are they ever? — as the cops arrest the likely abductor just a few scenes later: a greasy-haired creep with a Michael Jackson voice and “the IQ of a ten-year-old” played by Paul Dano.” Wouldn’t that be too obvious and it couldn’t have been him? The father of one of the girls, Keller Dover, played by Hugh Jackman, would disagree, and being a good, Christian, American survivalist, with gas masks and lime bags in the basement, decides to look for his daughter himself. On the release because of not having enough evidence, Dano’s Alex Jones is captured and jailed in Dover’s DIY torture cage until he mentions the girls’ location. However, the search continues by desolate cop Loki, played by Jake Gyllenhaal.

Jolin said, “Prisoners is a smartly structured, solidly performed thriller, executing intertwining races against time — to save both the girls, and prove Alex’s innocence or guilt — within the same psychological labyrinth. And the political undercurrent is not hard to detect: Dover is the America that invaded Iraq, believing his grief-fuelled quest for justice places him beyond morality and the law.”

Jolin continued, “Back on the surface, there are all the expected turns and twists, and anyone familiar with the genre will sniff out one particularly plump red herring.” Also, it is sad the film has a clichéd character that sees an important clue after throwing all the files to the floor when stressed. However, Villeneuve and writer Aaron Guzikowski keep you hooked and guessing, never allowing either the tension, or the coldness, to yield.

Jolin ended his review by saying, “A decent, cogent, greyly atmospheric thriller with something to say about War-On-Terror America.”

Now this isn’t the type of Thanksgiving movie that you can watch with the whole family. Still, for those who are old enough to watch “Prisoners” should because you will absolutely love it. The movie plays with your deductive reasoning when it comes guessing who and where the girls are being held captive. Don’t miss your chance on watching this because you will love it, I promise.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my online viewers! Please be safe out there today and do not travel. Just have a Zoom chat with the extended family. That would be best in the times that we’re in and try not to stress out too much with making the dinner. Just keep it simple and enjoy whatever you have. Make sure to be thankful for everything and hope that society will get better soon so that we can go back to way things were before.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the finale of “Jarhead Month.”

The Blind Side

For this year’s Thanksgiving movie review, I thought I would look like 2009 biographical film about Ravens football player, Michael Oher, “The Blind Side.”

Leigh Paatsch started her review by saying, “A vision worth seeing if you can look past the obvious. Based on a sincerely inspirational true story, The Blind Side pours its audience a straight shot of full-strength uplift, with a corn-syrup chaser on the side.”

Not everyone will have the ability to take all of this in, but the creators of this film look like they don’t really care. Paatsch said, “As a work of middle-of-the-road entertainment for middle America, The Blind Side unashamedly revels in the hokey, the homespun and the heartfelt.” Very powerfully, as it turns out.

Paatsch described, “At the centre of the familiar, yet fascinating feelgood tale told here are two radically contrasting figures. Summarised in Hollywood shorthand, one could be described as a plus-size Forrest Gump, while the other is a posh Erin Brockovich.”

Michael Oher, played by Quinton Aaron, is a homeless teen, just one of a handful of children projected alone in a terrible society by a drug-addicted single mother.

A friendly tall person that is one the spectrum and a dishonestly unemotional personality, Michael gets enrolled into a very good Christian school in Memphis.

One of the sports coaches thinks Michael might have the look of a great defensive football player. Michael thinks he might be able to quietly sleep in the gym at night.

That will not go under the radar of Leigh Anne Tuohy, played by Sandra Bullock. Paatsch said, “Once this well-heeled wife of a fast-food tycoon gets wind of Michael’s plight, she throws open the doors of her McMansion and sets about getting the kid back on his feet.”

Leigh Anne’s husband (country singer Tim McGraw) and children (Lily Collins and Jae Head) know better than to go against with, as Paatsch described: “her when she’s on feisty fairy-godmother form.” The sincere friendship and support the whole family gives to Michael leave a huge impact on the audience as his eventual rise to football popularity.

Paatsch said, “Performances here are perfunctory across the board. Though Bullock is exceptionally well-cast, there is certainly no "wow" factor to her work that warrants red-hot favourtism for the next Best Actress Oscar. Bullock’s unknown castmate Aaron achieves just as much in a far tougher role.”

Hands down, “The Blind Side” has its own amount of flaws. The script can be easily pointed out for everything but not pointing out the racial problems that had to have made Michael accomplishing his dream so much harder.

Paatsch noted, “In what is clearly the film’s worst (and painfully whitest) scene, Leigh Anne goes to lunch with a flock of socialites who condescendingly peck at her charitable efforts with Michael.”

“Honey, you are changing that boy’s life,” says one of the nicer women at the table.

Leigh Anne responds happily as you fear she would: “No…he’s changing mine.”

Paatsch said, “There are several ouch-worthy moments like this in The Blind Side, but they are spaced just far enough apart not to devalue the real worth of Michael Oher’s story.”

If the film influences even a little group of the audience to be nicer organized to other people, then it looks like they have done that.

As good as the movie is, when you look at the real story of Michael Oher, it feels like they just insulted the man. In reality, he is a very intelligent man and the family did take him in, but it wasn’t because he had nowhere to go. He still had a home that he could go to. Michael Oher did not have any disabilities or anything because, like already mentioned, he is very intelligent. However, this is still a feel good movie that you should watch on Thanksgiving, but I think if you just watch it once, that would be enough. However, if you can watch it more than once, good for you.

Happy Thanksgiving my online readers! I hope everyone had a good dinner tonight. Look out tomorrow for the finale of “Highlander Month.”

You've Got Mail

Thanksgiving is here once again, so that means it is time to look at another Thanksgiving classic. Today, we will look at the 1998 romantic comedy, “You’ve Got Mail.”

The charm of “You’ve Got Mail” is as old as love and as new as the Internet. It has Tom Hanks and the great Meg Ryan as incredibly likable people whose task is to show their likability for two hours, while we really want them to solve their problems, confess how they feel for one another and get on with their future filled with love.

They meet in a chat room on AOL, and they’re telling personal secrets (but no personal facts) in each day and even hourly e-mail sessions. Roger Ebert said in his review, “The movie's call to arms is the inane chirp of the maddening "You've Got Mail!" Voice (which prompts me to growl, "Yes, and I'm gonna stick it up your modem!").” However, the e-mail is simply a MacGuffin – the device needed to keep two people who fall in love online from knowing they already know and hate each other in reality.

Ebert said, “The plot surrounds Hanks and Ryan not only with e-mail lore, but with the Yuppie Urban Lifestyle.” It’s one of those movies where the characters enter Starbucks and we don’t really point “product placement!” because, sadly, we can’t think them anywhere else. Where the generations are confused by current loving desires that Joe Fox (Hanks’ character) can walk into a bookstore with two young children (Hallee Hirsh and Jeffrey Scaperrotta) and introduce them as his brother and his aunt (“Matt is my father’s son, and Annabel is my grandfather’s daughter”).

Meg Ryan’s character, Kathleen, has taken over the children’s book shop that was left to her from her mother. She and her staff read all the books, know all the customers, and give full service and love. Joe Fox is the third generation to be in charge of giant book megastores. When the new Fox Books opens close to Kathleen’s store, it doesn’t take long for the little store is forced out of business. Kathleen goes to her unknown online friend for advice and comfort – who obviously is Joe.

Ebert said, “And yet this is not quite an Idiot Plot, so called because a word from either party would instantly end the confusion.” It has the confusion only to a degree, and then does something interesting: lets Joe find out who Kathleen is while still letting her stay really in the dark. The moving irony is that Joe just let himself be insulted by the woman he loves. “You’re nothing but a suit!” she says. “That’s my cue,” he says. “Goodnight.” As he kindly hides his pain, we are comforted only by the knowledge that eventually the balance will fall from her eyes.

The movie was directed by Nora Ephron, who casted Hanks and Ryan in “Sleepless in Seattle,” and has made an emotional, if not an actual, sequel. Ebert noted, “That earlier film was partly inspired by "An Affair to Remember," and this one is inspired by "The Shop Around the Corner," but both are really inspired by the appeal of Ryan and Hanks, who have more winning smiles than most people have expressions.”

Ebert said, “Ephron and her co-writer, her sister Delia, have surrounded the characters with cultural references that we can congratulate ourselves on recognizing: not only Jane Austen, but also the love affair carried on by correspondence between George Bernard Shaw and Mrs. Patrick Campbell. Not only "The Godfather" (which "contains the answers to all of life's questions"), but also Anthony Powell and Generalissimo Franco.” (It is one of the movie’s silently hilarious prides that the little store’s elderly bookkeeper, played by Jean Stapleton, was in love years ago with a man who couldn’t marry her “because he had to run Spain.”) Ebert mentioned, “The plot I shall not describe, because it consists of nothing but itself, so any description would make it redundant.” What you see are two people the viewers want to see together, and so many things separate them. There is an additional difficulty that both Hanks and Ryan begin the movie dating other people (Parker Posey and Greg Kinnear – respectively, obviously). The partners break up without many complaints, and then we’re left with these two lonely bachelors, who have decent jobs but no one to love, and who are stuck by fate somewhere where he is destroying her career, and she is turning to him (without knowing it is him) for comfort. Excellent!

The movie is nice enough to not make the giant store the villain. Say anything, those giant stores are fun to be in, and there is a scene where Kathleen walks unknowingly into Joe’s big store for the first time and browses around, at the magazine racks and the café and all the books – and we have an emotional moment when she eavesdrops a question in the children’s section, and she knows the answer but obviously the clerk doesn’t, so she says the answer but it makes her cry, and Joe overhears everything. Shocking!

As you might have already known, this is a movie that has to be seen. Especially since there is a Thanksgiving dinner part, so it fits well with the holiday today. If you’re a fan of Tom Hanks and/or Meg Ryan, don’t miss the chance to see this movie. You will fall in love with it, I promise you.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope everyone had a great dinner because I know I did. Stay tuned tomorrow for the next installment in “Vietnam War Movie Month.”

Grumpy Old Men

Alright everyone, it’s time for another Thanksgiving movie. I got a classic for us today, which is “Grumpy Old Men,” released in 1993. I remember my brother watching this movie when I was a child, but I only remember a few funny parts. Now that I have seen it entirely, I thoroughly loved it and will let everyone my thoughts.

James Berardinelli started his review out by saying, “Sometimes the films I enjoy the most aren't the ones that get four stars. For example, while Farewell My Concubine is an example of superior, powerful film making, it isn't the sort of movie you embrace for the pure magic of the entertainment it offers. Grumpy Old Men, on the other hand, is such a film, and while it won't come close to my top 10 best list for 1993, it will be right up there among the pictures that I had the most fun watching.”

John Gustafson (Jack Lemmon) and Max Goldman (Walter Matthau) have been neighbors since they were kids, and the fight between them has been going on just as long. A sense of not liking to see one another is in place, with insults and set of traps being the main thing that starts the fights. However, their bitterness is now really serious when both of them have fallen in love with the new neighbor across the street. Ariel, played by Ann-Margaret, is lively, beautiful and charming, and both John and Max are interested.

While not without its problems (some of which are really noticeable), “Grumpy Old Men” works a lot of the times. Berardinelli said, “It's an example of a frothy, good-natured holiday picture that adults can relax and enjoy.” As a comedy, the movie has enough great humor to keep you laughing. Dramatically, however, it’s really delicate. Berardinelli said, “There are formulas at work here, and anyone admitting to be surprised by the "plot twists" should hang his or her head in shame.”

Thankfully, drama always plays second note to comedy, and this is a completely funny motion picture. There’s everything from slapstick to puns, with a lot of smart references and jokes. Berardinelli notes, “Witness Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau's "performances" to the famous Right Said Fred song, Lemmon's send-up of Macaulay Culkin's aftershave scream from "Home Alone", and the little dance number Lemmon does in his underwear.” The end credit bloopers have got to be the comedy highlight of the movie.

Lemmon and Matthau are perfect for their roles as lifelong fighting enemies. Berardinelli said, “Of course, these two are no strangers to this sort of interplay, having done it several times before, most memorably in The Odd Couple.” This is an example of perfect casting, as is the casting of Burgess Meredith as the tough-talking, dirty-minded head of the Gustafson family.

Ann-Margaret is fine as the medium of the newest fight in the Gustafson/Goldman feud, giving an energetic but not really memorable performance. Kevin Pollack and Daryl Hannah stay in the background. Ossie Davis, complete performance that he is, has a minor role and makes in something special.

Most watching “Grumpy Old Men” will finish the movie with a smile, and that’s basically what the movie wants. Berardinelli said, “The overly-sentimental melodramatic elements don't appreciably degrade the movie-going experience. I can't think of many better ways to spend the holiday season than with John Gustafson and Max Goldman.” They may be grumpy and stubborn, but they’re a lot of fun – as long as you don’t have any holiday dinners with them.

This is a must watch every year around the Thanksgiving time. You will have a great, laughing time watching this, and you will not stop laughing until the movie is done. I personally am happy that I have seen the movie and will watch this again the next chance I get. Just watch the film and see it for yourself, if you’re a Meredith, Matthau and/or a Lemmon fan.

Once again I would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy the turkey dinner tonight, because I know I will. Stay tuned later today for a review on the new Pixar movie. I’m really looking forward to seeing that because I think it will be a good movie, as the trailer is showing it to be one of Pixar’s best.

Home for the Holidays

I really want to apologize for posting this late for I had a really busy day, especially since I just came back from Thanksgiving dinner. For this year's Thanksgiving post, I will review the 1995 Jodie Foster movie, "Home for the Holidays."

There's a part in the movie when a brother and his brother-in-law are in a physical fight on the front lawn and the father breaks it up by spraying them with the hose. When he notices the neighbors are looking at them, he shouts, "Go back to your own holidays!"

The movie, which centers around a Thanksgiving family reunion going horribly wrong, is not a comedy or a drama. Like a handful of family reunions, it does not have a lot of those genres, and is high on the insanity level that is relatable. Roger Ebert asked, "Have we not all, on our ways to family gatherings, parked the car a block away, taken several deep breaths, rubbed our eyes and massaged our temples, and driven on, gritting our teeth? That is not because we do not love our families, but because we know them so very, very well."

We get that feeling at the beginning as Claudia Larson (Holly Hunter) finds out that she has been fired from her job at a Chicago art museum, and responds by kissing her boss (Austin Pendleton). She's already preparing for the disaster ahead. Claudia is taken to the airport by her daughter Kitt (Claire Danes), who tells her that she "might" be sleeping with her boyfriend for the first time ever on the weekend. On Claudia's end, she's met by her parents, Adele and Henry, played by Anne Bancroft and Charles Durning. Henry's recording a video, Adele has brought an extra winter coat in case Claudia misplaced hers (she has).

The Larson family home is like a historic home. Ebert noted, "It has been furnished with dozens if not thousands of the sorts of objects found in mail-order gift catalogs. Not expensive catalogs, but the kinds of catalogs with 16 gifts on each page, each one a "miniature" of something you would not possibly want the full-size version of, such as a reindeer or a barbershop quartet."

Henry is a retired airport maintenance man. Adele chain-smokes all the time and is able to tell what is going on in Claudia's life. ("Mom, I'm thinking of a change...I may not be at the museum all that much longer." "They fired you!") Along comes Claudia's gay brother Tommy (Robert Downey Jr) who has brought a new friend named Leo Fish (Dylan McDermott). The parents appear to accept the fact that their son is gay without acknowledging it, which appears to be right in many households. Claudia is wondering what has happened to Tommy's former boyfriend, played by Sam Slovick, who has popular with the entire family.

Next arrives Claudia's sister Joanne (Cynthia Stevenson) and brother-in-law Walter (Steve Guttenberg). Walter hates Tommy, Tommy hates Walter or Joanne, and shows this by throwing a turkey on her lap without looking like he meant to.

Everything is usual family issues compared with the arrival of Aunt Glady, played by Geraldine Chaplin, who is really insane in her own way of passionate eccentriciy, and has had a crush on Henry ever since she first saw him (he appeared, as she remembers, like a horse in a uniform).

What is accurate about "Home for the Holidays" is that every character does not act like they are going through any of this for the first time. Even when Aunt Glady drinks heavily  and admits that Henry kissed her the first time they met, the response is just dead silence. We get the feeling she admits this so many times over the course of the year.

Foster directs the film with the accuracy of revealing every single moments. She knows that even though Holly Hunter's character gives the movie's central view, it is up to Durning and Bancroft to give the center - just as parends to at real family gatherings. Ebert noted, "Bancroft and Durning have each been guilty, from time to time, of overacting, but here they both beautifully find just the right notes of acceptance, resignation, wounded but stubborn pride - and romance. There are moments when they dance together that help to explain why families do get together for the holidays, and Durning describes a memory of one perfect moment in the family's history, and we understand that although life may not give us too much, it often gives enough."

With Tommy, the gay brother, he gives a counterpart to the shear insanity. Foster and her writer, W.D. Richter, do not make a single mishap of making his character be about homosexuality. Ebert mentioned, "He is gay, but what defines him for the family is more his quasi-obnoxious personality, his way of picking on his boring brother-in-law, his practical jokes, his wounding insights, and finally his own concealed romanticism. Downey brings out all the complexities of a character who has used a quick wit to keep the world's hurts at arm's length." When he brings his friend, the mysterious Leo Fish, he has made a surprise that no one, even Claudia, was expecting.

Ebert credited, "Holly Hunter is a wonderful actress. Here she has a more human and three-dimensional role than in her other current movie, "Copycat," but her performance in "Copycat" is even better, maybe because it stands alone, and in "Home for the Holidays," she reacts and witnesses as much as she initiates. It's not hard to guess that with her stature and presence she represents, to some degree, Jodie Foster." It appears as if there is some real-life stories spread out in the film throughout the cast, but that's not the point: What Foster and Ricter have made here is a film that understands the reality told by Robert Frost when he wrote, "Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in."

If you haven't seen this film, make it a tradition to see this every year. This movie will bring about the realism for those who have gone through family reunions. I still live at home, so I don't go through this at all, but when that time comes, I will be able to relate to this movie.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Look out tomorrow for the finale of "Jim Carrey not in Sequels" month.

Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Seeing how this is the third year I’m doing a Thanksgiving-themed movie review, I will review a classic John Hughes movie that is right to see around this time of the year. Ah, John Hughes. He was definitely innovative of his time to release a handful of movies that have been loved or hated by people, but then again, who hasn’t? Well enough of that, let’s get to today’s review.

The tortuous journey that is got on in John Hughes’s 1987 classic, “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” is supposed to go from New York to Chicago, but its final destination is surprising. The two traveling friends, Neal Page (Steve Martin) and Del Griffith (the late John Candy), do actually make it to the Windy City, but they also arrive at the place where confidences are made, insecurities are expressed and friendships are created.

You don’t have to be a fan of Hughes’s teen leaning films to know that these are not normally the worries of middle-aged traveling businessmen. Janet Maslin mentioned in her review, “However, Mr. Hughes conceives of this film's adult characters as lost adolescents, and seems to regard their mature status as a terrible burden that they will, with luck, be able to shed. So Mr. Martin, in the film's earlier sections, is the epitome of corporate stiffness, doing most of his acting with his cheek muscles and bristling murderously when someone steals a taxi from him at rush hour.” The film is not in anyway comfortable with this exaggerated version of grown-up store than it is with the misplaced, confessional goodness that forms its conclusion.

The real trouble with “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” is simpler: there wasn’t much of an idea here to begin with, and when Hughes works with non-teenage characters he has smaller stories of spoken humor upon which to make. It’s harder to have one man complain that traveling with the other is “like going on a date with a Chatty Cathy doll” than it would be to have a teenager say that line. None of Hughes’ earlier films have focused around anything more complicated than prom dates and parent troubles and becoming friends with classmates, but they had a surface and accuracy that “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” lacks.

Martin and Candy are an easy duo to watch even with small material, though, and the film is never worse than slow. Actually, it’s even promising at first, with the bound-for-trouble promise of a quick trip home for Neal Page, who phones his wife, played by Laila Robins, to tell her he’ll be there by 10. Maslin mentioned, “As a blow-by-blow anatomy of a horrid traveling experience, replete with flight cancellations, snowstorms and unscheduled detours, ''Planes, Trains and Automobiles'' has great potential, but it begins to meander once Neal and Del become a reluctant duo. Neal detests the loud, tirelessly jolly Del on sight.” However, fate makes them share a plane ride, a frustrating taxi trip and even a bed.

Maslin said, “The great, embarrassed flurry of man-talk with which these two leap out of bed the next morning is indeed funny, and the film does have its scattered moments.” However, too often, the audience has as every reason as Del and Neal do to question where, if anywhere, they are going.

I saw this movie for the first time yesterday and I fell in love with this movie after I had finished watching it. This movie easily makes one of my favorite comedies that I will watch whenever I get the chance, even if it is or isn’t around the Thanksgiving time. Now, if you haven’t seen this movie, you have to, especially if you are a fan of John Hughes, Steve Martin, or even the late John Candy. Maybe you might be a fan of one, two, or maybe even all three of them. Whatever the case might be, you have got to see this movie because you will be laughing a lot and really feeling happy and sad when those parts come up.

Happy Thanksgiving online readers! I hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving dinner and will be watching some good Thanksgiving-themed movies along with it. Stay tuned tomorrow for the finale of “Hunger Games Month.”

Four Brothers

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Let’s share this joyous holiday with my review of the 2005 movie, “Four Brothers.” This movie, directed by John Singleton, is an urban Western, or an urban movie inspired to be a Western. Whatever the case, it’s planned to be mythic than realistic. It pieces together with fundamental moral currents exactly like Westerns used to be, before greed, fear, anger, and “society” provided action movies with all the motivation they needed.

The movie starts with a sweet looking grandmother who arrives in a Detroit convenience store late at night. Wrong store, wrong neighborhood, we’re thinking (Ebert asks, “was it only last week that somebody was gunned down in a store just like this in "November"?”). But Evelyn Mercer, played by Finnoula Flanagan, has a reason to be there: A scared young boy (Tahliel Hawthorne) has been caught shop-lifting some candy and she handles the situation with the store owner (Pablo Silveira) and makes the kid scared of God. The two stickup men, played by Richard Chevolleau and Awaovieyi Agie, walk into the store and Evelyn is shot.

At the funeral, we meet her four adopted sons, two black, two white. She was always a foster mother, and these were the only four she couldn’t find homes for: Bobby (Mark Wahlberg), Angel (Tyrese Gibson), Jeremiah (Andre Benjamin) and Jack (Garrett Hedlund). Bobby is the oldest, the Leonardo of the brothers, and has a temper. Angel is the cool guy with the hot Spanish girlfriend, played by Sofia Vergara, currently playing Gloria Delgado-Pritchett in the sitcom "Modern Family." Jeremiah is the successful one. He’s married to Taraji P. Henson, has a family and has a job with a real estate deals. Jack, as Ebert puts it, “is a rock-and-roller.”

They all have the name Mercer and they all look at Evelyn as their mother, but they grew up on bad streets and have not spent a lot of time getting all sentimental about being “brothers.” All of that changes at the funeral, when they all agree that their mother’s death needs vengeance. Jeremiah, the businessman, says, “The people who did this are from the same streets we're from. Mom would have been the first to forgive them.” That would have been the truth about Evelyn, but not these four.

Ebert said in his review, “This story is inspired by Henry Hathaway's "The Sons of Katie Elder" (1965), unseen by me but cited by my fellow critic Emanuel Levy. (I am awed by the number of films I have seen, and awed by the number I have not seen.)” First off it looks like an open-and-close case: Witnesses saw two members of a street gang walk in and shoot the store owner. Mom was a bystander, shot in cold blood. As the brothers look at the tape from the security camera, they’re shock by how cruelly she was murdered. They look at the evidence thinking that there’s possibly something more to the murder. Ebert also mentions, “As long as we're talking about the influence of old movies, a crucial clue in "Four Brothers" involves when the lights are turned off on a basketball court; I was reminded of the almanac in John Ford's "Young Mr. Lincoln" (1939) that provides the phases of the moon.”

He goes on by saying, “I won't describe the rest of the plot, which unfolds like a police procedural, but I will note a nice touch involving the way Jeremiah looks guilty for a moment simply because he is successful and generous. And I'll mention the key supporting characters.” Terence Howard and Josh Charles play two cops on the case, and Chiwetel Ejofor, who in reality is one of the nicest men out there, plays one of the biggest jerks in all of Detroit. He’s a crime boss whose tactics for overwhelming his minions pass beyond more cruelty into uncontrolled skill.

For John Singleton, the movie is a return to inner-city areas after some reasonably wild departures (“Shaft,” “2 Fast 2 Furious”). Between those two movies he made “Baby Boy” in 2001, and since I haven’t seen that one, I’ll let Ebert describe the movie, “which attacks some young black men who feel licensed to live at home with their mothers, thoughtlessly father children, avoid work, and perpetuate the cycle. That had the kind of critical insight into the kinds of realities that distinguish his first, and greatest, film, "Boyz N the Hood" (1991). (Singleton is also the producer of the current drama "Hustle & Flow," a more ambitious and insightful urban film that also uses the talents of Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson.)” “Four Brothers” wants basically for its audience to be entertained, although on purpose it makes the point that in an increasingly diverse society, people of different races may be related.

“Four Brothers” works as an urban thriller, if not exactly as a means of logic. For instance, there’s a violent and extended gun battle which has hundreds of rounds of machine-gun bullets and a pile of corpses, and a cop looks at it as “it looks like self-defense.” Yes, but since the cop can only make that conclusion after the smoke clears, why isn’t there any investigation to clean up the mess? Here’s what Ebert speculated: “I guess I shouldn't ask questions like that in a Western, urban or otherwise; bad guys exist to get shot and good guys exist to shoot them, with a few key exceptions to keep things interesting.” If you want to know the end results to this case, you would have to switch this film into a courtroom genre.

Anyways, I hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving. I know I’m excited tonight when I get a piece of that turkey for dinner. Stay tuned tomorrow when I look at the latest Transformers movie.

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! What a glorious holiday it is, the time of the year where you can have a turkey dinner. I know for a fact that I can’t wait until tonight so I can have a piece of that turkey. Until then, I think it would be appropriate to look at a Thanksgiving-themed movie. You want to know what I will look at: the classic Peanuts special, “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.”

Ah yes, Peanuts. I remember growing up watching those specials on a VHS that we had. My brother was a huge fan of the Peanuts growing up, and I can’t thank him enough for actually getting the rest of us into them. I even remember looking at the Peanuts comic strips in the Sunday paper, and boy were they a treat. For those of you who do not know about the Peanuts, here is a little history:

Cartoonist Charles M. Schultz debuted his “Peanuts” comic strip back in 1950, and by 1965 it had gotten to the popularity point that it had its own long series of TV specials, “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” and in 1967, the musical stage play, “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” was made. Schultz passed away in 2000, but an edict was made that the comic strip would not be discontinued after he died, and the final original strip that Schultz made appeared in the paper the day he passed.

Even though no new strips have been made in about a decade, we still get “Peanuts” TV and video specials, and the characters are so memorable, that we see them in our commercials, most famously in MetLife. You could call this an American phenomenon, since it has been kept alive with the TV specials that have maintained the same simple animation that you can see in the comic strips. It also is a big help that Schultz wrote the scripts for most of the TV specials.

But enough of that, let’s get on with the review: “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” was released in 1973, and you may think that the creators were trying to copy the earlier, successful specials, like “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” If you think that it’s not up to par like the other two, it wasn’t because writer Charles Schultz or directors Bill Melendez and Phil Roman weren’t trying.

The special begins with the famous running gag of Charlie Brown, voiced by Todd Barbee, getting tricked by Lucy, voiced by Robin Kohn, to kick the football to start the annual Thanksgiving football game, but she pulls it away, making Charlie Brown fly into the air and fall flat on his back. This begs the question: if he knows that she will do that, why is he so gullible to try it every single time she asks him?

Next up in the story, Charlie Brown and his little sister Sally, voiced by Hilary Momberger, are invited over to their grandmother’s for Thanksgiving dinner. Then disaster strikes when Peppermint Patty, voiced by Christopher DeFaria, calls and invites herself over to Charlie Brown’s house for Thanksgiving. Again, the usual gag where Peppermint Patty doesn’t let Charlie Brown tell her that he’s going to his grandmother’s. To add more to this tension, Peppermint Patty tells Charlie Brown that Marcie (Jimmy Ahrens) and Franklin (Robin Reed) are also coming.

Now Charlie Brown is in a jam that he can’t get out off, until Lucy’s little sister, Linus, voiced by Stephen Shea, comes in and helps. Turns out the Thanksgiving dinner Charlie Brown, Linus, and Charlie Brown’s dog, Snoopy, voiced by Bill Melendez, make are cereal, toast, popcorn, jellybeans, and pretzels.

Watch the rest of this lovable special if you want to know the rest. These are pretty much the problems you will see in a “Peanuts” special. On top of that, we get the usual sweet ending and a moral to the story that you should explain to your children. Also, Peppermint Patty is always after Charlie Brown, like she has some sort of a crush on him. I love the “Peanuts,” and the more I watch any of the specials, the more I think that they will never be dated. You will definitely love this special, whether or not you know who the “Peanuts” are.

Don’t think that the special will be over when you see the credits roll. Fast forward to after the credits to when they show the 1988 TV special, “Mayflower Voyages.” This is a twenty five minute history lesson for kids, and I think that they at least did a decent job trying to teach kids about the history of the Pilgrims coming to America. I know that this special is more geared towards kids, and if you have children of your own, than you should have them watch it. Personally, when I saw this, I thought that it was a good lesson that they were trying to teach, and they did a fairly well job.

“Mayflower Voyages” begins in 1620, when 102 men, women, and children leave the port of Plymouth, England, for the East Coast of America. The “Peanuts” gang is part of the children, as you would expect. Sixty-five days after they arrive and after a month or two of their exploration they discover a new Plymouth in what is called today, Massachusetts. The story tells the hardships and ultimate good fortune of the Pilgrims and their unexpected interaction with the Native Americans, resulting in their first Thanksgiving dinner.

Final verdict: make it a tradition to watch this special every year on Thanksgiving. Instead of watching the football game while eating, put this special on. You will love watching it with the family, and if you have small children around, they will get a good history lesson and life lesson about the meaning of Thanksgiving.

Anyways, enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner tonight. Stay tuned tomorrow when I conclude “Die Hard Month.”