Remember: Coffee Break is full of odds and ends I’d like to discuss including films I’m watching, links I like, stuff I’m into and oh yeah, coffee!
Well hello! It’s been a little while since I’ve put up a coffee break, mainly because I’ve been waiting until I had enough to post about. I think I’m good to go now so let’s dive in. For this edition’s mug I chose a basic little guy. I picked up this striped mug at a thrift store sometime back and was able to snag 5 of his brothers to get a matching set. I like the simple design and the smaller size of the mug because sometimes I only need a little cup of joe.
I was waiting on posting this coffee break until I had seen 3 movies that I felt like talking about but then it seemed like all at once I watch a whole slew of flicks. An interesting one from last week was a late night viewing of Lee Daniels The Paperboy. I had heard all the reviews, positive and negative, as well as all the craziness that went down in the movie (peeing on Zack Efron and oral sex… simulation? Anyway, it seemed like a good movie to throw on late at night when I was searching for something different. The director Lee Daniels is probably best known for his film Precious, a movie I didn’t care for overall and especially disliked the direction of. Daniels stamp on that film felt weak and slightly amateur. With The Paperboy, Lee heads straight for Crazyville but still manages to run all over the map. The plot is certainly intriguing as it follows a reporter investigating a case involving a death row inmate that may have been wrongfully accused. The movie does deliver fine performances from really everyone involved and does a nice job making the audience feel just as dirty and sweaty as they should feel watching it but the praises for the film stop there. The movie is so melodramatic and almost completely absent of focus. Some moments that could have held some weight for the characters were handled in such an exploitative and bizarre manner that I literally shouted “Are you fucking kidding me?” and “That was ridiculous” at the screen on numerous occasions. Because the movie is so scatterbrained and sometimes, bordering on a comedy, it’s hard to really care for or completely understand the characters on anything more than surface level. I could really go on and on here about this film, which was at least entertaining enough from the WTF angle, but I’ll refrain. If you still want to hear me go off on it though, you can queue up episode 147 of the FTS podcast where I rip it to shreds.
I wish I could tell you that I was switching up the tone here with this next movie but I can’t just yet. As much as I was disappointed by the half assed attempt that was The Hangover Part 2, it still held a lot of funny moments for me and I couldn’t deny my laughter. When the third film’s trailer released, I was actually a little excited (mistake #1.) It seemed like the film had a good vibe going for it and that the creators might actually have a solid madcap ending to the Wolfpack’s story. Then Nick reported back to me after his screening that it was really solid and a lot of fun. Nick’s review and comments about the series finale cleverness had my excitement level raised (mistake #2) so much so that I decided to check out the 10pm showing of the film on Thursday. Oh, Hangover 3. What the hell are you? I can tell you up front that it is the only departure in the series, which I did very much give it credit for. The problem is, in changing up the adventure, director Todd Philips also drastically changed the whole tone of the film. It sort of morphed into this ‘epic’ action conclusion that really wasn’t even heavy on the action. Chang, I’m sorry Chow (Ken Jeong) and Zach Galifianakis’s character Alan are much more prominent in this film, which should be funny in theory, but it seems as though both of these characters have morphed too, into almost caricatures of their old selves. Neither of them hold any sense of likability and do most of the heavy lifting in the film to no avail. Ed Helms does alright but really doesn’t have more than a scene to shine and Bradly Cooper is a completely pointless character in this installment. Overall, the film was just really unfunny and somehow felt even lazier than it’s predecessor. It makes me upset with Phillips who, might not be the most solid comedy director working today, but certainly has it in him to put out much better work.
Bad movies behind me, I trudge forward. Thankfully for me, Star Trek Into Darkness delivered on my high expectations. I was a a big fan of the first J.J. Abrahms Star Trek film so I was looking forward to the sequel quite a bit. I was again impressed by the outcome – a nonstop ride of top notch action and effects work. It took all of 10 minutes before I remembered how smitten I was with the whole crew/cast in the film. Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho and Anton Yelchin…more please! I’m pretty much ecstatic whenever the camera spends time with any of them. Then we get the fabulous villain played to fucking perfection by Benedict Cumberbatch, ah! He’s fantastic here. The chemistry was back and I was loving every minute of it. I thought this installment also did a great job making me question that outcome of all the character’s fate (even if a few scenes turned out a bit more predictable than others.) All in all, it was a total blast on the big screen and a great kick off to this summer at the movies.
Shaun of the Dead Diary by Edgar Wright: Mega-talented director Edgar Wright is one of the more accesible filmmakers working today. He’s a frequent user of his Twitter account and even updates his own blog Edgar Wright There. Recently on his blog, he has started posting daily photo updates of the behind the scenes filming of Shaun of the Dead. It’s a really fun look at the production of the film that I just can’t get enough of. Be sure to check it out if you’re a fan.
Inspired Ground Fashion Posts: I’m behind the curve on this one but I recently stumbled upon the blog Inspired Ground’s fashion related posts. Blog runner Andina showcases various film’s sense of style by looking at the character’s fashion choices. Her post on The Breakfast Club got me hooked on her fabulous takes on movie fashion.
Miles Fisher: Jess introduced my to Miles a little while ago after she looked into him for his performance in Final Destination 5. The talented actor and singer can also do some amazing impressions like this one of Tom Cruise and this music video homage to American Psycho. Recently, Miles put out a funny video for You Tube’s comedy week that takes us back to the 80’s. I think it’s worth the six minutes for the conclusion alone.
That’s a terribly blurry camera phone shot of my pre-Star Trek coffee I had after a delicious dinner of Indian food. Fantastic night,
And here’s another coffee shot from earlier in the week when I recorded an episode of The Lair of the Unwanted with Jason and Nohlan. As you can tell, I’m a fantastic artist. Also, the episode I was on is already posted and I talk about coffee on that too! Check it out here.
Here’s a shot of the delicious Sofia’s Crepes Jess and I ate before our screening of The Way Way Back. I can’t review the film until it’s out here in Baltimore but I’ll just say that it was a great day B-)
And lastly, there’s a ridiculous gif of Nick, Jason and I before we headed out to see The Hangover Part 3. I may not have cared much for the movie but I was definitely in good company!
For the movie mug shot I went with a screencap from Looper. I fell in love again after a recent rewatch and was still impressed by all the performances in the film. Joesph Gordon-Levitt’s young Bruce Willis impression is an overlooked gem from the great film.