Film: The Ides of March

GENRE: Drama
RATING: R for strong language
RUNTIME: 1 hours and 41 minutes
STARRING: Ryan Gosling (Crazy Stupid Love, Fracture)
George Clooney (Michael Clayton, Up in the Air)
DIRECTOR: George Clooney (Good Night & Good Luck)
WRITERS: Clooney & Grant Heslov (Good Night & Good Luck)
PLOT: A political consultant finds himself in dirty politics trying to help an idealistic governor trying to run for president. Scandal ensues.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 I often get Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt) and Paul Giamatti (Sideways) mixed up. It’s nice to see them in the same film. They both give great performances. Of course, Gosling and Clooney also bring some awesome acting to the screen. Great all around.
2 Clooney and Heslov wrote a captivating script. It moves along like a Sorkin-inspired West Wing episode. The twists work well, the dialogue is fresh and the plot is nicely paced.
3 I wish there were some more creative shots in this film. There are a couple like the conversation in front of the giant flag but Good Night and Good Luck had much more artistic cinematography.
4 I guess Clooney is assuming that the average moviegoer knows what The Ides of March refer to. It’s the prediction of Julius Caesar’s assassination in case you’re wondering too.
5 Love the poster. Looks cool and interesting.

RECOMMENDATION: See it on DVD
UPCOMING REVIEWS: In Time

Film: Moneyball

GENRE: Drama
RATING: PG-13 for strong language
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 13 minutes
STARRING: Brad Pitt (Tree of Life, Ocean’s Eleven) Jonah Hill (Superbad, Get Him to the Greek)
DIRECTOR: Bennett Miller (Capote)
WRITERS: Steve Zaillian (American Gangster, Schindler’s List) & Aaron Sorkin (Social Network, West Wing, A Few Good Men)
PLOT: True story of Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane tries a new strategy of putting together a team on a small budget.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 Zaillian and Sorkin have crafted a pretty great script. I don’t know who wrote what but it is full of great lines and moments. The scouting and trade talks crackle with sparkling dialogue.
2 The pace runs a little too slow. There is too much space between the pieces of dialogue. It’s like when my students add extra lines between paragraphs to lengthen an essay.
3 Jonah Hill has come a long way from Accepted and Superbad. He is pretty subtle and is fun to watch especially when he is interacting with Brad Pitt.
4 Pitt plays it cool once again (with a hint of quiet desperation). Just like his character in the Ocean’s movies, his Billy Beane is always eating on the run. It’s like Pitt has that in his contract or something. He sure likes to eat.
5 Those who know the sport of baseball will most likely appreciate this film better than me. What I did love was the message behind this film; there is value in everyone, you just have to look for it and help them see it in themselves.

RECOMMENDATION: Wait for the DVD
UPCOMING REVIEWS: Ides of March

TV: New Series Review

It’s time to take stock of the new shows that have debuted this fall. Most are only a couple episodes old but I’ve already made some snap judgements. Here’s what I’m watching (in order of likability so far) and what I’m ignoring.

WHAT I’M WATCHING THIS YEAR

New Girl
Tuesdays at 9pm (FOX) – already picked up for a full season
1 Zooey Deschanel is so freaking adorable with her bizarre sense of humour and constant need to sing little tunes to herself
2 The other guys are pretty funny. Loved the douchebag jar in the pilot. I miss Damon Wayans Jr. but the new black guy will have to do.
3 The humour reminds me of Happy Endings, another fine show.

Up All Night
Wednesdays at 8pm (NBC) – already picked up for a full season
1 Christina Applegate and Will Arnett have great chemistry together.
2 Maya Rudolph’s Oprah-esque Ava has its ups and downs.
3 The baby is not too distracting so far. Just a cute prop.

Person of Interest
Thursdays at 9pm (CBS)
1 Michael Emerson and Jim Caviezel intensely work well together
2 Love the surveillance footage stuff.
3 While a lot happens in each episode, I’m more interested in Emerson’s back-story as opposed to the case of the week.

Suburgatory
Wednesdays at 8:30pm (ABC)
1 Great writing on this show! Jane Levy’s voice over is spot on.
2 Wonderfully quirky characters with mean girl mentality
3 Nice to see Rex Lee as the guidance counsellor

Terra Nova
Mondays at 8pm (FOX)
1 More compelling than I thought it would be. Kind of Lost-like.
2 The CG is pretty good so far, for a television show.
3 I’m pretty interested in the relationship between Jim and Taylor

Homeland
Sundays at 10pm (SHOWTIME) – have to download it
1 Only seen the pilot but it had a nice twist at the end.
2 Claire Danes and Mandy Patinkin are pretty wonderful
3 Don’t know if the premise can last all that terribly long.

WHAT I’VE GIVEN UP ON

FREE AGENTS
1 Some funny moments but not incredibly funny throughout
2 Some great fast-talking but not connected to the co-workers
3 Anthony Stewart Head seems like he’s bored in this show

PAN-AM
1 Storylines are pretty boring and predictable
2 Like the espionage but not the actress performing it
3 Not a fan of the glorified airline travel of the 60’s

HOW TO BE A GENTLEMAN
1 David Hornsby’s high pitched voice is pretty annoying
2 Kevin Dillon is just doing a sadder version of Johnny Drama
3 David Foley used by funny (Kids in the Hall, Newsradio). I think the poker commentary sucked the funny out of him.

RINGER
1 Sarah Michelle Gellar doesn’t get to be funny, at all
2 The premise is stretched a little too much for my liking
3 Not at all interested in any of the characters. Too bad.

THE PLAYBOY CLUB
1 Only David Krumholtz was interesting and that’s not enough
2 Didn’t get any sense of female empowerment
3 Thank goodness NBC cancelled the series already

What’s your take on the new shows this year.