For a moviegoer, these are the dregs of the season - comparable to mid-January, when the studios just dump out inferior product. That said, there are two new movie this week that looks pretty good:
Premium Rush I'm usually interested in the work of writer-director David Koepp (who wrote Jurassic Park, Carlito's Way, Death Becomes Her) and any movie that has Joseph Gordon Levitt and Michael Shannon raises my hackles. I feel like I first saw the trailer for this movie a year ago: Levitt is a New York City bike messenger - a daredevil-ish profession - who finds out that someone is trying to kill him. Not many critical reviews are in yet, but Roger Ebert likes it - he says it's fast and furious and technically impressive.
Verdict: Very Interested
Hit and Run Parenthood's Dax Shepard wrote, co-directed, and stars in this junky-looking road comedy, which also stars Shepard's wife, Kristen Bell. The two play a couple who are forced to hit the road to LA, all the while being pursued by various types - from Tom Arnold to a dreadlocked Bradley Cooper. Critics don't like it.
Verdict: Not Interested
Robot & Frank Uh, Frank Langella in a small comedy as an aging, retirement-age jewel thief who decides to start carrying out heists with his robot helper. Um, yes please. Co-starring James Marsden, Susan Sarandon, Liv Tyler, and the voice of Peter Sarsgaard.
Verdict: Very Interested
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Julia and I watched Cocktail last night. It's not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it was easy to see why women went gaga over an impossibly-young, pre-Scientology Tom Cruise. Where have all the good bar movies gone?
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Another entry in my list of the 500 Greatest Performances of All Time:
Zach Galifinakis
as Alan in The Hangover (2009)
In one of the freshest, most unique breakthrough performances in a comedy in a long time, Galifinakis steals the film as the infantile Alan, a character who needs to seen and heard to be believed. Galifinakis' style is so individualized and bracing, that he can make an audience crack up just by the way he looks. Spewing non sequitirs, making pseudo-poignant speeches ("four of us wolves, running around the desert..."), and gallivanting through the action with a glazed, knowing demeanor, the actor walks away from the movie - no mean feat, considering how funny everyone else is.
*
Next up in Professional Photographer's list of the "100 Most Influential Photographers of All Time:"
Lord Snowdon
(#58)
From 1962-1990, the British Snowdon worked for the Sunday Times. Two years before that, he married Princess Margaret, whom he was married to for 18 years. He was born into money but contracted polio at the age of 16. His early career was dedicated to design, fashion, and theater, but during his tenure at the Times, he became a well-known portraitist, often shooting British royals. He wasn't just a royal photographer, though - he shot all areas of society, his works often showing loneliness and old age. He was, according to his own biography, quite a bed-hopper too! He has also worked for Vogue and Telegraph Magazine too.
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Finally, because I have a few minutes before I start drafting from my second Fantasy Football team, here is another NFL list today.
Greatest Coaches of my Lifetime:
1. Bill Walsh
2. Bill Belichick
3. Bill Parcells
4. Bill Cowher
5. Don Shula
6. Dan Reeves
7. Tom Coughlin
8. Joe Gibbs
9. Jimmy Johnson
10. George Siefert
11. Dick Vermeil
12. Marv Levy
13. Marty Schottenheimer
14. Andy Reid
15. Jeff Fisher
16. Mike Holmgren
17. Mike Ditka
18. Jon Gruden
19. Brian Billick
20. Mike Tomlin
Images:
http://clothesonfilm.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/The-Hangover_Zach-Galifianakis_baby-breakfast.bmp.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4gF6YuGUwVM/S4rbmCeVNtI/AAAAAAAANHE/R0NRy8eZO_8/s320/aaasnowden1.jpg
http://postalheritage.org.uk/uploads/Snowdon1982.jpg
http://www.photoicon.com/images/3887big.jpg
Information:
http://www.biography.com/people/lord-snowdon-20846059
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PtjAaI_3EWE/Rq7Op9meTlI/AAAAAAAAAk8/2eOYR0nx0qk/s400/hyver-bill-walsh-297x372.jpg
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