Author Archives: Brock Winspear
The Company You Keep (2012)
The Company you Keep (2012)
The Company you keep is based off of the novel with the same name written by Neil Gordon.
The film follows a journalist (Shia LaBeouf) who discovers the true identity of a former member of The Weather Underground (Robert Redford) who is wanted in connection to a murder.
I was excited to see this movie because I often enjoy movies about investigative journalism, not to mention the cast is fully loaded with talent. Redford directs and stars alongside LaBeouf, Julie Christie, Susan Surandon, Stanley Tucci, Terrence Howard, Nick Nolte, Chris Cooper, Richard Jenkins, Brendan Gleeson, Sam Elliot, Stephen Root, Anna Kendrick, Brit Marling, and Jackie Evancho. Redford may be getting old, but he still has the star power to bring together a big A-list group of actors to make a movie.
The Weather Underground is an anti-war activist group that was around during the Vietnam War era. I had heard about this group before, but I went into the film knowing absolutely nothing about them. The movie explains what the group was all about, but given the fact that the story is based off of a novel, they sort of mix fact with fiction.
Like most films about investigative journalism, the story moves along at a slow to steady pace as the reporter tries to figure things out about the story that he is trying to tell. There is plenty of time for character development and the dialogue is well-written. Great actors tend to pop up out of the woodwork like weeds when these types of movies are made and The Company you Keep is no exception.
It was refreshing to see Robert Redford acting again. He hasn’t been in a movie since Lions for Lambs (2007). Although he has always been a tremendous actor, he really has aged. They tried to make him seem younger in the film by dying his hair and having him jogging in one scene. But, when all is said and done, the movie icon was too old for the part he was playing. This fact took a little bit away from the film.
The person that really stood out the most was Shia LaBeouf. He has strong screen presence, and when he is not doing a Transformers movie, his charisma can really take over a movie. The rest of the cast played their parts well but, LaBeouf was the glue that held the film together.
The Company you Keep was quality filmmaking with a few flaws. The flaws weren’t very noticeable until a little over halfway through the film. Redford did his best with the story that he had, but ultimately the movie was anticlimactic and it became predictable. The dialogue was great, the acting was superb, but there were few surprises along the way to make the movie stand out.
The film was worth seeing, if only to watch masters of the acting craft at work.
I rate this movie a 7 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Rent.
If you liked The Company You Keep, then you will probably enjoy the following films:
Happy Birthday to Gary Cooper
Happy Birthday to Gary Cooper! The Hollywood legend would have been 112 years old today. He died on May 13, 1961 at age 60. He has been gone for almost as long as he lived. But, he lives on in his classic films.
I salute you Sergeant York!
Happy Birthday to George Clooney
Happy Birthday to George Clooney! He turns 52 today.
Clooney is a superb actor when he wants to be. He has been in a number of solid movies. However, he has also managed to be a part of a number of pretty terrible movies.
What do you think is George Clooney’s worst movie?
Happy Birthday to Dwayne Johnson “The Rock”
Happy Birthday to Dwayne Johnson! “The Rock” turns 41 today.
The big man has got 2 movies in the theatre right now (G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013) and Pain & Gain (2013)) with another one on the way in a few weeks (Fast & Furious 6 (2013)).
Do you like Dwayne Johnson better as a wrestler or an actor?
The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)
The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)
The Place Beyond the Pines was not exactly what I expected it to be. The film was unique because there were multiple layers to the story as well as to each of the characters. The storyline flowed nicely even though each layer of it seemed to change who the main characters were. The mood of the movie was rough and intense throughout with a darkness that few films are capable of.
Luke (Ryan Gosling) is a motorcycle stunt driver whose life gets turned upside down after finding out that he is a father. In order to try to provide for his kid, he quits his job and begins robbing banks. Avery (Bradley Cooper) is an honest cop. Eventually both men’s paths cross.
Rounding out the rest of the cast is Eva Mendes, Ben Mendelsohn, Mahershala Ali, Ray Liotta, Bruce Greenwood, Dane DeHaan, Emory Cohen, Rose Byrne, Harris Yulin, and Olga Merediz.
The film is written and directed by Derek Cianfrance.
Gosling is cast against type. He does not usually play the rebel outlaw type, but he proves once again that he is capable of widening his range as an actor because he nails his part.
Cooper has a strong presence and when his character arrives, it changes the whole dynamic of the movie.
I felt like Mendes did a good job, but we could have gotten more out of her character. I fault the writers for that. She did great with what she had to work with, but her character could have been developed better.
Liotta seems to have resurfaced after being pretty washed up the last few years. In this film he carried himself like the Ray Liotta of old. He did not seem like the train wreck that he was becoming. This was a welcomed surprise.
Both Cooper and Gosling continue to make smart decisions when it comes to which films to act in. This film is guaranteed to keep them both in the spotlight.
The Place Beyond the Pines is a movie filled with tough subject matter mixed with raw emotion portrayed by a fantastic cast of actors who are very passionate about their work. This combination makes for a very exciting and suspenseful film about people leading hard lives.
I rate this movie an 8 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Buy.
Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)
Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)
Crazy, Stupid, Love. is one of the better “dramadies” that I have seen in a while.
Sweet-talking ladies man Jacob (Ryan Gosling) takes newly, almost single Cal (Steve Carell) under his wing and tries to help him get back out into the dating scene. This sets off a dysfunctional chain reaction in both of their lives and hilarity ensues along with craziness, stupidity, and love.
The film has just the right blend of laughs and drama. It may go a little overboard in one direction or the other at times, but that just helps to capitalize on the subject matter and keep the film exciting.
Carell does better when more comedy is involved and Gosling is more of a serious actor. Both actors’ styles complemented each other very well and I think that working together enabled them each to go a little bit out of their comfort zones as to what is usually the norm for them. Gosling pulled off being funny and Carell managed to get serious. Carell has proved that serious doesn’t usually work for him (i.e. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)), but it did in Crazy, Stupid, Love. Gosling didn’t become a comedian by any means. He has always managed to be pretty witty and clever, but he added funny to the mix.
The movie also has strong female characters played by Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, and Marisa Tomei. Each woman was able to bring a level of wholesomeness to their roles with a touch of quirkiness. This complemented the film quite well and helped to make it a bit unpredictable.
Other supporting cast includes Kevin Bacon, Analeigh Tipton, Jonah Bobo, Joey King, Beth Littleford, John Carroll Lynch, Josh Groban, and Liza Lapira.
Josh Groban proved that he should stick to singing and leave the acting to the actors.
The film was directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa.
If you are looking for a good date movie (whether you are married or not), look no further than Crazy, Stupid, Love. It is humorous and touching at the same time. It is not a “chick flick.” It is a film that both men and women will enjoy.
I rate this movie an 8 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Buy.
If you liked Crazy, Stupid, Love., then you will probably enjoy:
Who Knew Michael Keaton and Heath Ledger Could be Brothers?
These two movie characters look strikingly similar. They could almost be brothers. I never would have noticed how much Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) from Beetlejuice (1988) looks so much like the Joker (Heath Ledger) from The Dark Knight (2008) if I had not seen this picture. Their characters were 20 years apart from each other on screen, but in this picture they could be twins.
Looking at this picture, I could totally see each actor play the other character. Heath Ledger (Rest in Peace) would have been a great Beetlejuice. At the time that Michael Keaton was Beetlejuice, I bet he would have been a great Joker. Ironically Keaton played Batman (the Joker’s nemesis) in Batman (1989) a year after Beetlejuice was in theatres.
Do you think that Beetlejuice is about to trade numbers with the Joker? Instead of shrinking Beetlejuice’s head, what do you think the Joker would do to Beetlejuice?
Trailer for The Heat (2013)
The Heat (2013) (click on the title for my full review)
Another comedy for Sandra Bullock. This movie looks suspiciously similar to Miss Congeniality (2000). In fact, it could just be part 3 without the oficial title. Everything about The Heat looks similar to Miss Congeniality. We have seen this movie before, twice. I’m sure it will still have its moments of humor, but I think I’ll wait for the DVD.
Besides Bullock, other notable cast includes Melissa McCarthy, Marlon Wayans, Michael Rapaport, Thomas F. Wilson, Bill Burr, Luis Da Silva Jr., Jamie Denbo, and Michael McDonald.
The movie is directed by Paul Feig and is set to release on 6/28/13.
Happy Birthday to Jerry Seinfeld
Happy Birthday to Jerry Seinfeld! He turns 59 today.
Although I mainly like to write about movies, I wanted to recognize Jerry on his birthday because I absolutely love his TV show Seinfeld.
What is your favorite Seinfeld episode?
Most of them are so good that I don’t think that I could come up with a favorite.
Happy Birthday to Daniel Day-Lewis
Happy Birthday to Daniel Day-Lewis! He turns 56 today.
He most recently won an Academy Award for Best Actor for Lincoln (2012). He was nominated for Best Actor 5 different times and he won 3 times. Besides Lincoln, the other 2 movies that he won for were There will be Blood (2007) and My Left Foot (1989).
My favorite Daniel Day-Lewis movies are The Last of the Mohicans (1992) and Gangs of New York (2002).
Can you name the 2 movies that he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, but didn’t win?
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