Way late review: Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work

It’s funny how our perception of celebrities often depends on when we’re introduced to them. Michael Jackson is pop genius to some, cultural oddity to others. Elvis was either skinny rock icon or fat Vegas crooner. The same can likely be said for Joan Rivers. To me she would likely be labeled the loud mouthed red carpet queen of cosmetic surgery. Not nice. To others she was likely a controversial comedian, breaking ground for women in that world. Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work is a documentary that sheds light on Rivers past and present that helps to both tear down and build upon our perceptions of her celebrity.

If only one thing came through in A Piece of Work it is that Joan Rivers is insecure. She is insanely insecure and it drives her to work harder than most. Insecurity also probably contributes to her image as washed up, as she makes it clear in the documentary that she’ll do just about any appearance for the right price. A bulk of the doc has Rivers fretting over people’s perceptions of her, worry of being relevant, worry about her work being well received. Most documentaries about a celebrity of Rivers’ age would try to clean up the image and build a legend but A Piece of Work doesn’t settle for that. Instead we get a more revealing look at Rivers which makes for a more compelling documentary.

A Piece of Work doesn’t shy away from the stereotypes Rivers has helped create for herself. She comes right out and celebrates her plastic surgery. She doesn’t make apologies for her blatant money grabs that have her appearing in everything from reality TV to hawking goods on the home shopping channel. She argues that it’s more than just her she has to support. She is a business unto herself, complete with a staff that depends on her for their work.

Unbeknownst to me, Rivers was a regular co-host with Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. She was so successful at that gig that she got her own night show on Fox. This ruined her relationship with Carson for good. He wouldn’t speak to her again. The Fox show failed. Joan was unwilling to fire her husband, Edgar Rosenberg, as the show’s producer so Fox fired them both. Shortly after that, Rosenberg committed suicide. Rivers took an unconventional step in the long healing process by later creating a made for TV movie with her daughter Melissa based on their story of dealing with the suicide of Rosenberg. She acknowledges that many probably think this was an absurd move but proclaims she has little care about that.

The relationship between mother and daughter was not a focus but the time spent there was telling. Melissa makes comments about having to share her life with her mom and her mom’s career. The time the two of them spend on screen for the documentary feels uncomfortable. Both of them share the same spotlight, especially in this later part of Rivers’ career and Rivers is outright competitive with her daughter when it comes to stardom. She is supportive of Melissa when they both appear on Celebrity Apprentice. She shows outrage when Melissa is one of the early contestants to be “fired”, but when she later goes on to win the game there is little vitriol shown to her opponent who she previously blamed for her daughter’s early dismal from the show. Rivers ultimately got what she wanted – the spotlight and some semblance of relevancy. Neither attacks one another but Melissa says that her mom, like any comedian, must have a rather large deficiency when she needs to get on stage and make people laugh, whether with her or at her, it doesn’t matter.

To say Rivers is outspoken is an understatement. Her comedy act is vulgar even by today’s comedic standards. Her disdain for certain people is never hidden. During one comedy act she puts on at a resort in Wisconsin she makes a joke using Helen Keller as the punch line. A man in the audience tells her it’s not funny, his son is blind. Rivers goes ballistic on the guy even as he’s walking out the door. After the show, Rivers is clearly shaken up by the incident as she rattles on trying desperately to defend her joke and reaction to the backlash. Her anger is a shield for the underlying insecurity. In a subtle scene where she’s entering a building before a show, one lone fan comes to her and asks for her autograph. While she signs, the gentleman says Rivers doesn’t get the recognition she deserves. This makes Rivers glow. As she makes her way inside, she makes a sarcastic comment about how she has at least one fan who loves her. Even when praised Rivers can’t hide her self-doubt.

Whatever one thinks of Joan Rivers, A Piece of Work will likely challenge that opinion. It will also entertain. In place of talking heads endlessly praising Rivers’ persistence, drive and talent we get an often times unflattering and raw look at her life. We get to see what drives her to success and come to understand that much of that drive is also what ails her.

[xrr rating=4/5 label=””]

This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.

[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_v-GwizMXK8[/youtube]

Way late review: Back to the Future

Nostalgia heavily tints a movie like Back to the Future for someone my age. It’s not just another movie. It’s a phenomenon. Michael J. Fox. Huey Lewis and the News. 1985. As my son likes to say, “good times, good times.”

Watching the movie always feels familiar and comforting. This time around I watched it in a wonderfully remastered Blu-ray. Wow! What a difference that makes. If you like the movies, then I highly suggest picking up the triology on Blu-ray. The picture is so much better than what I saw last on DVD.

Watching Marty McFly travel 30 years in the past, make a mess of his own history and then scramble to fix it and get back to 1985 reminded me how much I enjoyed Michael J. Fox growing up. Even in some fairly terrible movies that came later, I still enjoyed them if for no other reason than the energy Fox brought to the screen.

Back to the Future is a fun watch. There aren’t any big laughs for me but the twists with time travel, no matter how convoluted they can get towards the end, make for some funny moments. The action is lively but never over the top, something most adventure films these days should take note of. The constraints of movie making circa 1985 weren’t all that bad for films like this. Instead of over stylized action shots we get interesting set pieces and construction of scenes.

Nostalgia is strange, especially when it comes to movies. When I think of Back to the Future without having watched it for a while, I think “great movie”. When I watch it, I think “very good movie”. The opening act is uneven, with the McFly family and other characters like Biff and Mr. Strickland played way over the top. It’s intentional but the intended laughs don’t come as a result. The scene with Marty blowing away the high school dance with his 80’s style guitar shredding is awesome until they have Michael J. Fox lip sync the song. On Blu-ray it was painful to watch. There are some other smaller nitpicks that I won’t delve into mainly because they aren’t important other than it all adds up to making Back to the Future a less than five star movie for me. Still a fun repeatable watch and a strong start to a solid trilogy. More on the other two films in the future.

[xrr rating=4/5 label=” “]

This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.

[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yosuvf7Unmg[/youtube]

Way late review: Terri

Terri is an indie flick about an orphan (Jacob Wysocki) who lives with his uncle (Creed Bratton, yes, that Creed), struggles to fit in at school and finds an unlikely friend in his vice principal (John C. Reilly). With a synopsis like that, it may be hard to believe that Terri never falls into sappy sentimentality nor does it try to play things purposefully quirky in order to earn its hipster street cred. It’s true. Terri is a quiet, smart film that allows its characters to live and learn small lessons along the way without a triumphant ending.

Terri is overweight, wears pajamas to school, has no friends and is teased by his classmates. To top it all off, he’s responsible for his uncle, who suffers from an untold medical condition that renders the uncle unreliable much of the time. Terri doesn’t have an easy life and one can see it by the look of defeat in his posture and face. Enter Terri’s vice principal, Mr. Fitzgerald, who is concerned about Terri and sets up one-on-one meetings once a week with him. Mr. Fitzgerald is a fairly complex character. At first he comes off as an oddball, played for comedic laughs, but as time goes on we see that this is a man who is struggling to find his own way through life. His interest in Terri and some of the other students is genuine, though there are a number of times his motives come into question.

A turning point for Terri is when he decides to step up and defend Heather Miles (Olivia Crocicchia), who is close to expulsion due to sexual misconduct with a boy in her home economics class. Terri saw the whole thing go down (as did most of the class) and goes out of his way to plead Heather’s case to Mr. Fitzgerald. It seems to have worked as Heather is shown back in home economics, complete with sunglasses to hide her tears. Terri once again bravely steps up by shielding Heather from further humiliation by deflecting the awkward attention focused on her by the teacher and her classmates. From there Terri strikes up a quiet friendship with Heather.

Heather and Terri’s friendship grows to the point where Heather comes over to Terri’s house to meet his uncle. An unlikely friend of Terri’s, Chad (Bridger Zadina), shows up shortly before Heather arrives and he does his best to cause trouble. What ensues between the three high schoolers at first seemed like pure titillation. The indie version of a teen house party. However, it’s during this misadventure between Terri, Heather and Chad that we see the desperation each of the three desire true love, friendship and care that has alluded them. We learn a bit more about how and why each has grasped unsuccessfully for fulfillment with the scene ending in a way that shows Terri as both wise beyond his years and yet still a teenager. Heather leaves in the morning after writing a note begging Terri not to tell anyone about the night before. She fears her actions will only enhance the reputation she started in her home economics class.

Once Terri wakes up the morning after, he heads to the school and finds Mr. Fitzgerald sleeping in his car. Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald aren’t on good terms. The two go into the school and spend some time there talking and hanging out. There is no big moment where a big breakthrough occurs that wraps up the story neatly. Life doesn’t often work out that way and neither does the film.

The acting across the board is tremendous. The dialogue is authentic, the story strong enough, and the characters are interesting without becoming stereotypes. The first act of the film may test the patience, as it takes its time introducing the characters, but the reward is there for those who wait.

[xrr rating=4/5 label=” “]

This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.

[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLGW6sdHy0g[/youtube]

The lost Hoover Christmas newsletter of 2010

I forgot I put together this quick one page Christmas newsletter last year. My wife has been writing them and is doing it again this year. I actually don’t like these types of newsletters. They often do too much bragging or are just plain boring. Plus, with today’s world of over sharing everything online, chances are I know more about your past year than you do. But, every so often inspiration strikes and the end of 2010 was one of those moments. My wife was struggling to write so I sat down right at that moment and wrote the following newsletter in no time flat. It took me longer to find just the right images. We never sent it out, as my wife didn’t find it all that humorous at the time. It made her laugh tonight. Here it is:

Download a PDF or view the embedded doc below:

The Hoover Christmas Newsletter 2010

Way late review: Soul Surfer

If my six year old daughter was reviewing Soul Surfer I think she’d give it two big thumbs up. She’s watching the movie again for the second night in a row. Some might think that’s quite sweet until they discover this is a movie based on the true story of Bethany Hamilton, a teenage surfing sensation who lost her arm in a shark attack.

While my daughter was fascinated by the early scenes of surf life, I was aghast at the contrived dialogue. I wasn’t expecting Aaron Sorkin or David Mamet rapid fire prose, only competence. Setting that aside, it’s hard not to get beautiful shots of Hawaii and Soul Surfer doesn’t disappoint. The ocean is beautiful, the surfing shots are gorgeous, and the music just right. The director, Sean McNamara, doesn’t waste opportunities to get under water shots of surfers wading, looking like shark bait. Once the attack scene comes it happens so quick it’s almost easy to miss. Regardless, the panic of the situation is made clear by the menacing tribal soundtrack and reaction of the parents.

Bethany’s recovery, coming to grips with life after such a traumatic event, and return to competitive surfing makes up the rest of the film. Despite the fairly weak dialogue throughout, there are steady performances by Bethany’s parents, played by Dennis Quaid and Helen Hunt. The same cannot be said for Carrie Underwood, who plays Bethany’s church youth group leader. She takes some poorly written lines and regurgitates them with robotic like discipline. AnnaSophia Robb, who plays Hamilton, gives a decent performance, but it seems to hit Meryil Streep levels when compared to Underwood’s performance.

There are no shortage of clichés throughout the story but it’s almost expected in a sports centered movie. Fortunately the pacing of the film is fairly quick, making for a tolerant experience. Any time the cheesy dialogue or forced plot points seem too much to take, we get the music pumping and the surfing taking over. Not a bad technique.

While I understand the need to use typical sports movie tropes, it’s hard to ignore the creation of a villain in Malina Birch, Bethany Hamilton’s arch nemesis in the film. Birch is pure fiction. She exists only to provide someone to root against. I couldn’t help but think that if Birch was a real person she was either one of the all time great real life villains or she needs to sue for defamation. No need for a lawsuit and no need for Birch in this movie other than to hit a tired note. It’s as if the screenwriters didn’t feel that Hamilton’s story was compelling enough. The forced rivalry between Hamilton and Birch leads to the inevitable sports movie ending.

Soul Surfer is enjoyable when you go along for the ride. As long as expectations are more along the lines of Rocky IV rather than Rocky, the movie is harmless and fun. There are far worst movies for my six year old daughter to be enthralled by.

[xrr rating=3/5 label=” “]

This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.

[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWeOjBCi3c4[/youtube]

Way late review: Rabbit Hole

I hope I never have to experience what the couple of Rabbit Hole experience, the loss of a child. Becca (Nicole Kidman) and Howie (Aaron Eckhart) struggle with the death of their four year old son. The film is set about eight months after the accident that takes their son’s life. Not a happy time.

Rabbit Hole is all about watching a couple deal with the loss of their young child and the different ways they go about coping with life. It would appear that Howie is doing better than Becca. Early on we see them go to a grief support group and watch Becca explode in anger as she hears another couple tearfully express comfort in knowing their child is with God. In that scene we get a clear picture that Becca is not receptive to spiritual consoling and Howie is at a loss for what to do. He’s in a different place than Becca, trying hard to move forward while never forgetting the love for his child. Throughout the film we see this tension between Becca and Howie played out in some emotionally tense scenes. The acting is superb, which is critical when your story hinges on character development with only a loose plot to carry things forward.

When dealing with such an emotional subject it’s hard to fault any character for their behavior. Yet Rabbit Hole made it hard throughout the film to empathize with Becca. I felt as though I was supposed to empathize with the couple as a whole, but as time passed it got harder to pull for Becca. Her behavior was erratic and only seemed to get worse as time went on, which seemed to be a key driver for Howie’s poor choices in the second half of the film. By the end, I was finding it hard to like either character because both seemed to dive deeper into self absorption with little hope for redemption. And maybe that’s OK. It’s all about a couple reeling from the hole the death of their son has left in their lives. That makes for an emotionally grueling movie with excellent acting yet little to truly enjoy in the end.

[xrr rating=3/5 label=””]

This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.

[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlFXY6_eomI[/youtube]

Way late review: The Company Men

Let’s start with the synopsis to give an idea of why I spent nearly two hours of my life watching The Company Men.

Written, directed and produced by John Wells (“The West Wing”), this indie drama stars Ben Affleck as a successful businessman who comes face-to-face with America’s downsizing epidemic when he loses his job and is forced to take a construction gig. Rounding out the all-star cast are Kevin Costner as Affleck’s brother-in-law, Tommy Lee Jones as a conflicted corporate bigwig and Chris Cooper as a paranoid executive.

How can a film with a cast like that be so boring? How can it be so empty in regards to emotion, storytelling, and character development? These are questions I cannot answer. However, when I think about it, The Company Men may have achieved the unthinkable – taking a great cast and promising premise and churning out blah. Yes, “blah” is the best term I could think of to describe The Company Men.

One might wonder why 1.5 stars after such harsh words. I think it’s because, even in a poorly made movie, Chris Cooper and Tommy Lee Jones still manage to hold my interest despite the odds. Or maybe it’s because I don’t want to admit that those two could help create such a snoozer of a film.

[xrr rating=1.5/5 label=””]

This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.

[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLjjAk2k1aw[/youtube]

Way late review: The Color of Money

It is hard to review this movie because I watched it on a HD screen while the movie (on DVD) was displayed in a tiny square box. Not only that, but the sound mix was even worse, with dialogue barely audible but the soundtrack was cranked to 11. A Martin Scorsese film has never looked nor sounded so bad. Since Scorsese is a big proponent for the archival and restoration of films, I’d recommend he take a look at The Color of Money DVD and get it remastered on Blu-Ray ASAP.

The Color of Money is the 25 year later sequel to The Hustler, a film I enjoyed quite a bit. The story picks up with Fast Eddie Felson (Paul Newman) as a once famous pool shark now retired to the life of a liquor salesman. Eddie runs into a young cocky Vincent (Tom Cruise) who shows much the same promise at billiards as Fast Eddie once showed 25 years ago. Eddie sees an opportunity to make some real money with Vincent. After convincing Vincent that he’s wasting his time working at a toy store, Fast Eddie takes Vincent and Vincent’s girlfriend Carmen (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) on the road to hustle money in pool halls around the country. Eddie and Vincent are too much alike and Vincent pulls one too many thick headed moves for Eddie. The two have a falling out and decide to go their separate ways.

The movie meanders quite a bit. The inevitable lead up to a big match between mentor and student doesn’t feel as important as it should. Even a twist at the end isn’t nearly as effective as it could have been due to the long lulls leading up to the final reveal.

I was surprised I didn’t find the interactions and tension between Newman and Cruise more engaging. The tension felt manufactured. The more compelling relationship was that between Newman and Mastrantonio. I was never sure if Newman’s character was toying with her in order to get to Vincent or if there was more to it than that. The tension between them often created the best scenes.

I’d like to give Color of Money another chance, but only after it’s remastered properly. In its current form, it’s hard to say whether the movie is only average at best or overcomes some slow pacing and a lackluster final act with Scorsese’s magic touch. Thus I’m giving it a generous 3 stars, more for the promise than for what I tolerated.

[xrr rating=3/5 label=””]

This post is part of my Way late reviews. Read more reviews here.

[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7gmrKAFshE[/youtube]

Way late review: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

I work in tech. I know far more about pop culture than I’d ever like to admit. I’m not a gamer but I enjoy video games occasionally. Based on all of this, I should, at the very least, be OK with Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. I too was surprised to find my disdain for the movie. Had it been as exciting, funny, and enjoyable as its own trailer I would have given it four stars. Unfortunately, Scott Pilgrim isn’t 2 minutes long. It’s 113 minutes long and a chore to watch.

Despite all its 16-bit video game flash, comic book visuals, and rocking soundtrack, Scott Pilgrim manages to be a downer of a film. The sarcastic, hard to tolerate characters (yes, all of them) make it difficult to enjoy the deliberately quirky elements. Even worse is a plot that drags us through seven dreadful video game inspired battles between Scott Pilgrim and the exes of the girl he has his sights on. The battles are highly stylized to the point where there is never any sense of danger. I’ve felt worse watching Mario take a beating at the hands of Bowser.

Everything about Scott Pilgrim felt cold and distant. The characters were caricatures always ready with rapid fire snide remarks that were neither funny or smart. Caricatures are hard to root for, hard to feel emphathy for, hard to muster up the energy to care about. Put caricatures in a video game tinged, comic book fueled setting and the results are emptiness. Worse than hate is apathy and Scott Pilgrim generated much apathy.

I would dare to give Scott Pilgrim vs. The World a half star if it weren’t for the innovative visuals. I’ll give director Edgar Wright credit for that. Bump it up 1/2 a star for the interesting visuals. They play well in the trailer. Too bad the rest of the film is almost two hours of sludging through long repetitive scenes of shallow characters making it to an end that doesn’t matter all that much.

[xrr rating=1/5 label=””]

This post is part of my Way late reviews. See more reviews here.

[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1qaLmfzW3I[/youtube]

Way late review: Searching for Bobby Fisher

I recall seeing Searching for Bobby Fischer in the theater when it came out in 1993. I also recall enjoying it, but if you asked me for any details about the film I would have been hard pressed to give you more than: chess, a kid savant, and Bobby Fischer wasn’t the focus of the story. When I saw that Netflix was streaming the movie I decided to refresh my memory and see if it was as good as I vaguely remembered.

The story, straight from the synopsis:

After watching speed chess in Washington Square Park, 7-year-old Josh Waitzken (Max Pomeranc) gets hooked on the game. Josh’s father (solidly played by Joe Mantegna) learns that his son is a chess whiz and decides to hire an implacable chess master (Ben Kingsley) to coach the boy. When Josh is entered into high-stress competitions, what was once a pleasant hobby turns into a source of anxiety and indignation, forcing dad to reassess his decision.

Random thoughts as I watched the story progress:

  • I don’t know how to play chess
  • Ben Kingsley has hair and an Irish accent?
  • Soundtracks can be soooo manipulative
  • Do that many people play chess in the big city?
  • Max Pomeranc looks like Elijah Wood
  • Before he was Frodo, Elijah Wood was in the movie North – AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
  • When in doubt, show Josh’s puppy dog eyes
  • Laurence Fishburne here vs. Laurence Fishburne in the movie 21 – same person?
  • I really do enjoy typical sports movie narratives and the Karate Kid, teacher/student type relationships
  • Why is this movie failing to capitalize on those narratives and that relationship?
  • Why is everyone so deadly serious in this movie?
  • I wonder if Bobby Fischer watched this
  • Did Robin Williams get some of his ideas for his role in Good Will Hunting from Ben Kingsley in this flick? Hmmm…
  • I still don’t know how to play chess
  • We like to think there are two kinds of “sports parents” in this world – those who go overboard and those who could care less
  • Do the kids ever get in arguments with each other in these chess tournaments?
  • I kind of like the two polarizing teachers element – Ben Kingsley the traditionalist vs. Laurence Fishburne the streetwise
  • Is this movie responsible for motivating the mind boggling “we don’t keep score” movement in youth sports these days? Hmmm…
  • Why doesn’t Netflix allow me to use half stars in my ratings?
  • I like Rudy. I like sappy (sometimes). I still like this movie overall.

[xrr rating=3.5/5 label=””]

This post is part of my Way late reviews. See more reviews here.

[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pdY47NJv-g[/youtube]