48 Hrs. (1982)

 Genre: Action
Directed by: Walter Hill
Cast: Nick Nolte, Eddie Murphy 

Running Time: 96 minutes

 

Desperate to catch two cop killers, Inspector Jack Gates enlists the help of a former partner of theirs, Reggie Hammond, who has six months left to serve on a three year prison term for armed robbery.

After a slow start, the action picks up and 48 Hrs. becomes a very efficient buddy cop film. This was Eddie Murphy’s first movie role, and he was very good. His on-screen chemistry with Nick Nolte really helped carry this film to another level. Be warned that some of the language here age this film quite a bit. If you are easily offended, you might want to steer clear.

Rating: ««««

The Lost Valentine (2011)

Genre: Drama / Romance
Directed by: Darnell Martin
Cast: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Betty White, Sean Faris
Running Time: 100 minutes

 

TV journalist Susan Allison decides to do a profile on an older woman named Caroline Thomas. Caroline Thomas’ husband went MIA during World War II as a naval aviator over 60 years prior, and every year since then, on Valentines Day, she goes to the Union train station, where she saw him for the last time. In the process of doing this profile, Susan Allison will find more than she expected.

This is a Hallmark movie, so it is very cheesy and predictable. But the cast, especially Betty White, make it much better than it ever could hope to be. White is truly sweet and good in her role, and the rest of the cast is pretty good too. For what it is, this is pretty entertaining.

Rating: «««

Boy Erased (2018)

Genre: Biographical / Drama
Directed by: Joel Edgerton

Cast: Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Joel Edgerton, Russell Crowe 

Running Time: 115 minutes

 

Based on Garrard Conley’s memoir of the same name, this film tells the story of Jared Eamons, the son of a car dealer and Baptist preacher, who is sent to a gay conversion therapy program in Tennessee by his parents, as a teenager, with the hopes of changing his homosexual tendencies.

This film made me angry. It is shocking to think that this kind of crazy therapy still exists out there today. The acting was solid here. I was not sure about the choice of Nicole Kidman to play the mother, but she did fine. The story is complex, it rattles emotions, and it does it well.

Rating: ««««

Meatballs (1979)

Genre: Comedy
Directed by: Ivan Reitman
Cast: Bill Murray, Harvey Atkin, Kate Lynch 

Running Time: 94 minutes

 

Tripper Harrison is the free-spirited head counsellor of Camp North Star, a summer camp in Ontario, Canada. He his known for his many shenanigans. Year after year, Camp North Star enters into an intense rivalry with Camp Mohawk, a fellow camp with a much bigger budget and a more elite group of kids.

This is a fun Canadian comedy that is greatly helped by Bill Murray’s presence in the cast. He outshines everyone else by a whole lot. It is a little tame for that genre, in my humble opinion, but it is fine for what it is.

Rating: «««

Emma (1996)

 
Genre: Comedy
Directed by: Douglas McGrath
Cast: Gwyneth Paltrow, Alan Cumming, Toni Collette 

Running Time: 120 minutes

 

Based on the Jane Austen novel of the same name, this film tells the story of Emma Woodstone, a naïve young woman in early 19^th century England living by her father’s side. While not looking for a suitor for herself, she makes a habit of trying to set up relationships between people around her.

I have no idea why this title found itself on an old list of stuff to watch that I had. It played in the background, while I was keeping a distracted eye on it. These period pieces are really not my thing. I find these characters pretentious, pompous and aggravating. There is a talented cast at work here, but I could not care any less for the material. The thing was worse to me than the fishiest of candle.

 

Rating: «

Your Honor (2020-2021)

 
Genre: TV / Thriller
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Hunter Doohan, Hope Davis 

Number of episodes: 10

 

After finding out that the young man his teenage son accidently killed in a hit-and-run is the son of local mafia boss Jimmy Baxter, New Orleans judge Michael Desiato goes into overdrive to cover the crime and protect his son from the law and, more precisely, from the street justice of the Baxter family.

As usual, Bryan Cranston is solid here. He does the best he can with the material he was given. The main problem with this limited series, inspired by an Israeli TV show, is that it offers a convoluted story that stops making sense after a while. You identify with the father’s desire to protect his son, but the twists and turns weave a very confusing web. Had it not been such a short series, I probably would have given up on it long before the over-the-top Shakespearean ending.

Rating: ««

Dave Chappelle: The Bird Revelation (2007)

 
Genre: Comedy
Directed by: Stan Lathan
Cast: Dave Chappelle 

Running Time: 49 minutes

 

Live on stage (mostly sitting on a stool) in The Comedy Store, in Los Angeles, Dave Chappelle hits the crowd hard with his usual takes on difficult material. Here, again, there is talk of racism. There is also a big section on the sexual assaults accusations that was rocking Hollywood (and still are for that matter).

It needs to be mentioned that Chappelle’s work is not for the easily offended people. Again, he is solid in The Bird Revelation, though maybe not as much as usual. Maybe it was all the sitting, but it felt like he was not projecting the material as much, so it felt like some lines were getting lost. Also, he went way overboard with that banging the mic on himself and on stuff habit he has. I usually overlook that, but, here, it was difficult.

In spite of these little things, this was still a very funny show by a comic in top form.

 

Rating: ««««