Hancock

"You're gonna change the world. Good job."

Ragged alcoholic John Hancock (Smith) has superhuman abilities: he can fly, incredible strength, and invincibility.  He has no memory of his past, and avoids human contact as much as possible.  Despite numerous acts of heroism, people are not impressed... especially when he leaves significant damage in his wake.  One day he rescues Ray (Bateman) from a collision with a train.  Ray is a public relations pro, who offers to revamp Hancock's image.

Hancock agrees to undergo a stint, complete with anger management classes, in prison.. and emerges a hero (complete with superhero suit).  While Ray's son, Aaron (Jae Head), is impressed, Ray's wife Mary (Theron) wants Hancock out of their lives.


The anti-superhero movie.  Unlike most superhero movies, Hancock is not a good guy.  He isn't trying to make the world a better place... he is just trying to keep people away.  It is an interesting character, and an interesting choice of Will Smith, who usually portrays good guys.  Jason Bateman is a good partner: the good guy that wants to change the world.  He is good at his job, and a loving husband / father.  Smith and Bateman have good chemistry.

Prior to renting this film, I saw the last 15-20 minutes on television... so I knew how it ended and understood the characters a little better.  Sadly, I already knew the big reveal, but it changed the way I felt about certain sequences... and noticed little clues throughout the film that relate to the big reveal.  A good movie, with a decent cast and story that is unique.

Hancock (2008) 92 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for some intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, and language.
Director: Peter Berg
Starring: Will Smith as John Hancock
Charlize Theron as Mary
Jason Bateman as Ray

Hot Rod

"Did you reinforce the take-off ramp?"
"No, we didn't have time."
"Cool."

Rod Kimble (Samberg) is an aspiring daredevil, like Evel Knievel.  He performs stunts, like jumping the public pool with his dirt bike, with the help of his team: mechanic his brother Kevin (Taccone) is the manager and records all the stunts and training, Dave (Hader) is the mechanic, and Rico (McBride) who makes the ramps.  The only problem, Rod is a terrible stuntman.

After an unsuccessful stunt, Rod learns that his stepfather, Frank (McShane) is very sick and needs an expensive operation that the family cannot afford.  Desparate to win his approval, Rod vows to perform an awe inspiring stunt to raise the money needed: he will jump 15 buses on his bike, one more than Evel Knievel... and then Rod will have more time to prepare to best Frank in battle and win the honor of being a man.  Meanwhile, Rod is distracted by the return of his childhood crush, Denise (Fisher), who is dating a jerk (Will Arnett), but wants to join Rod's team.


This film is another example of a movie I didn't really want to see, because the previews looked stupid, but ended up watching because my friends loved it... and ended up enjoying as well.  Similar to comedy hit Napoleon Dynamite, this film is stupid... but that's what works: it is ridiculous, but you can't help but laugh.  Director Akiva Schaffer and stars Adam Samberg and Jorma Taccone have been working together for years, and found a nice rhythm with this film.  While the script was originally written with Will Ferrel in mind, they were able to retool it to fit Samberg's comedic abilities.  And they found the right people to fill the rest of the cast: SNL regular Bill Hader and Danny McBride play off each other well.

The women of the film are forced to be the more serious, adult characters, without putting them in a different league: they love the men in the film, and understand / put-up-with their shenanigans.  Ian McShane is ridiculous as Frank, still taunting / baiting Rod's anger while laying on a couch.  He is gruff and sarcastic, and still able to beat the crap out of Rod.... their interaction is laugh out loud funny!

No, you won't be smarter for watching the film, but you will leave with some great new quotes... the whiskey conversation is great, especially when someone else is around finish your lines.  Check it out!

Hot Rod (2007) 88 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for crude humor, language, some comic drug-related and violent content.
Director: Akiva Schaffer
Starring: Adam Samberg as Rod Kimble
Jorma Taccone as Kevin Powell
Bill Hader as Dave
Danny McBride as Rico
Isla Fisher as Denise
Sissy Spacek as Marie Powell
Ian McShane as Frank Powell

Wasting Away

"I don't feel like a zombie."

"Yeah, well idiots don't feel stupid but they are."

When a government experiment goes wrong, they send the chemicals to be dumped... but an accident along the way leads to one of the containers spilling.  The green liquid contaminates the soft serve ice cream mix at the local bowling alley.  Four twenty-somethings: super cautious bowling alley employee Tim (Terry), his slacker best friend Mike (Davis), and the women they love Cindy (Beutler) and Vanessa (Robinson), eat the infected ice cream and die.

When they wake up, none of their works work and no one else can understand them... except for Nick Steele (French), a government agent.  According to Nick, everyone else in town was infected with a virus, and it is their job to protect humanity.  However, they are the monsters, the green goo turned them into zombies.


A unique perspective on a popular genre...  While most zombie films focus on the survivors battling / outsmarting the mindless killing zombies, this film focuses on a different perspective: the zombies side.  The first time director, Matthew Kohnen, allows the audience to see both sides of the story.  The film begins in black and white, establishing a narrative.  Once the main characters turn into zombies, the film goes to color.  If the film is black and white, it is the real world, and if the film is in color, it is the zombie perspective.

The story is funny, but doesn't take itself too seriously.  This allows the cast to transition between tones, without making any sections drag or seem cheesier than others.

A fun and consistently funny film... you won't see it coming.

Wasting Away (2007) 90 minutes
Director: Matthew Kohnen
Starring: Matthew Davis as Mike
Julianna Robinson as Vanessa
Michael Grant Terry as Tim
Betsy Beutler as Cindy
Colby French as Nick Steele

My Top Cancelled TV Shows ~ #11

Pushing Daisies

"You're supposed to be dead. You're pushing your luck."
"Yeah, well, luck pushed me first."

Ned (Pace), the Pie-maker, has a special gift: with one touch he can bring something or someone back to life, and a second touch causes the person or thing to die forever.  But keeping a person alive for more than 60 seconds causes something or someone else to die instead.

Ned uses his gift to help PI Emerson Cod (McBride) solve unsolved murders by touching the victims so they can ask questions for 60 seconds to solve the crime.  He is joined by his recently restored childhood sweetheart, Charlotte "Chuck" Charles," who vows to use her second chance at life to make a difference.  In between solving crimes Emerson, Ned, and Chuck try to keep Ned's secret from Ned's feisty waitress Olive (Chenoweth) and Chuck's agoraphobic aunts, naive Vivian (Greene) and abrasive Lily (Kurtz).


The only show on my Top Cancelled TV Shows list that I actually watched from start to finish when it was on network television, this show captured my interest from the beginning.  A unique visual style, filled with bright colors and a bit of whimsy, and interesting characters kept me coming back every week.  Every scene was bright and mesmerizing, with a slew of fascinating guest stars that delivered memorable characters.

Every episode includes narration, with a unique style.  Lee Pace is a great leading man... Anna Friel's Chuck is adventurous, and mildly grating in the first season.  Chi McBride makes Emerson a loveable, crocheting, cranky PI... he has a rough exterior, but actually does care.  Kristin Chenoweth's Olive is adorably clueless and hopelessly in love with Ned (and she sings)... and is the main reason I started watching this show.  But the funniest characters are the Charles sisters: Broadway star Ellen Greene and well-known actress Swoosie Kurtz.  Greene and Kurtz have believable chemistry as sisters and best friends, synchronized in life (and in their former profession as synchronized swimmers) despite seeing the world differently.

Creator Bryan Fuller has had two other successful quirky shows: Wonderfalls and Dead Like Me.  I am half-way through the first season of Dead Like Me, which has a much darker outlook / comedy style than Pushing Daisies, and focuses on Grim Reapers.  I have yet to see Wonderfalls, but plan to add it to my Netflix queue sometime soon.

A delightful, eccentric show... it broke my heart that it was canceled (after only 2 seasons).  BUT, Fuller plans to make a 3rd season available as a comic strip.

Pushing Daisies (2007-2009)
Created by: Bryan Fuller
Starring: Lee Pace as Ned
Anna Friel as Charlotte "Chuck" Charles
Chi McBride as Emerson Cod
Kristin Chenoweth as Olive Snook
Ellen Greene as Vivian Charles
Swoosie Kurtz as Lily Charles
Jim Dale as Narrator

There's No Business Like Show Business

"You start worrying about your kids the day they're born, and you never stop. Even after they bury you, I bet you never stop worrying."

Vaudeville stars Terry (Dailey) and Molly (Merman) Donahue have their hands full trying traveling across the country performing while raising a family.  They perform as a duo, with Molly singing and Terry dancing around her, and the children appearing for the big finale.  But Molly does not want to raise the children on the road.  They decide to send the children to a Catholic school, but after the children attempt to escape a few times, the family is reunited.

Years later, after all three children have graduated from high school, the act is expanded to include the entire family, "The Five Donahues."  Each family member has the chance to shine: oldest son, Steve (Ray) is a gifted singer / musician; daughter Katy (Gaynor) focuses on dancing, and youngest son Tim (O'Connor) is an all-around performer like Terry.  The show is a success, but not everyone is happy.  Steve leaves the family to become a priest, and Tim falls for Vicky (Monroe) a hatcheck girl with dreams of making it big.  With Vicky singing in the same show as "The Four Donahues" will the Donahue family stick together?


All this film is now marketed as a Marilyn Monroe film (she is the only person on the Netflix cover), the film really belongs to Ethel Merman.  Merman was a well-known, award winning Broadway star, creating the lead roles in Anything Goes, Annie Get Your Gun, Gypsy, and other star-making performances.  She has the highest billing, and leads the film as a woman who wants the best for her children and loves the rush of performing.  She even gets to sing the title song, yes it was featured in other movie musicals, but it really packs a punch when Merman belts it towards the end of the film.  Dan Dailey is the perfect counterpart to Merman, playing her laid back husband.  They have great chemistry and come alive while performing together.  Monroe is o.k., she gets a few good performances, but seems like more an afterthought to the story.  Donald O'Connor, best known for his iconic "Make Em' Laugh" in Singin' in the Rain, is great... showcasing his dancing and acting as the male lead.  Mitzi Gaynor, who starred in the film version of Rogers & Hammerstein's South Pacific, is an incredible dancer and shines in this performance.  The only casting hiccup is Johnnie Ray as Steve... yes, he can sing, but his acting is atrocious and slows down the rest of the film.  Thankfully he isn't onscreen much, but his acting even kills some of his songs.  Otherwise, a stellar cast.

It isn't the best musical out there... and some of the songs just don't translate well (Irving Berlin wrote many wonderful songs, but not everything the man wrote is gold)... but it is worth a look, if only for Merman's "There No Business Like Show Business:" that is how you sell a song and all the emotion that comes with it, without squeezing out the tears.  The woman was an musical icon, too bad she wasn't in many good movie musicals.

There's No Business Like Show Business (1954) 117 minutes
Director: Walter Lang
Starring: Ethel Merman as Molly Donahue
Donald O'Connor as Tim Donahue
Marilyn Monroe as Vicky
Dan Dailey as Terence Donahue
Johnnie Ray as Steve Donahue
Mitzi Gaynor as Katy Donahue

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

"You know I think you're the only girl in the world who can stand on a stage with a spotlight in her eye and still see a diamond inside a man's pocket."

Showgirls Lorelei Lee (Monroe) and Dorothy Shaw (Russell) are best friends, but completely different.  Lorelei dates wealthy men and wants diamonds, while Dorothy dates handsome poor men.  Lorelei's boyfriend, Gus Esmond (Noonan), is head over heels in love, but can't convince his wealthy father (Taylor Holmes) to agree to the match.  To encourage the proposal, and keep the Esmond family out of the way, Lorelei and Dorothy decide to go to Paris.

On the boat, both women get distracted.  Dorothy has her sights set on the Olympic team, but there curfew and training gets in the way.  Then she meets Ernie Malone (Reed), who is on a business trip.  Lorelei is distracted by Sir Francis "Piggy" Beekman (Coburn), who owns one of the biggest diamond mines.  The only thing standing between Lorelei and lots of diamonds is Lady Beekman (Norma Varden), Piggy's wife... and her relationship with Gus.  With a private investigator, hired by Mr. Esmond, keeping tabs on Lorelei, and Lady Beekman's tiara missing, can the two little girls from Little Rock stay out of trouble.


And so begins my Marilyn Monroe phase...

An iconic Marilyn Monroe film... not as known as "The Seven Year Itch" or "Some Like it Hot", but still as memorable.  Her Lorelei is a dizzy blonde, except when it counts.  This could be a throw away character, or an overly annoying or obnoxious character, but Monroe portrays a lovable, demanding woman: she knows what she wants, and knows how to get it.

Monroe and Jane Russell have an easy, believable chemistry.  They take care of each other, and genuinely care.  It is Monroe's film, but Russell gets some of the best lines and scenes, and a few solos.  With stars like these, the male characters just fade into the background, especially the suitors who don't bring much to the table.

Not the best musical ever made, but a fun one to watch... with a few good songs and funny dialog.  Worth renting... but don't pay too much.


For another take, check out the funny commentary (and a link to the YouTube video of Monroe's iconic performance of "Diamonds Are a Girls Best Friend") here

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) 91 minutes
Director: Howard Hawks
Starring: Jane Russell as Dorothy Shaw
Marilyn Monroe as Lorelei Lee
Charles Coburn as Sir Francis "Piggy" Beekman
Elliott Reed as Ernie Malone
Tommy Noonan as Gus Esmond Jr.

The Sting

"You have to keep this con even after you take his money. He can't know you took him."

Small-time con artists Johnny Hooker (Redford), Luther Coleman (Robert Earl Jones), and Erie Kid (Jack Kehoe) hit it big when they steal from Doyle Lonnegan (Shaw), a tough mobster from New York.  Lonnegan retaliates by having Luther killed and putting a hit on Johnny.  Johnny wants vengeance, and goes to Henry Gondor (Newman), a legendary con artist.

Gondor and Johnny plan pull off the ultimate con: to steal several million from Lonnegan without retaliation.  They pull the best of the best: J.J. Singleton (Walston), Kid Twist (Gould) and Eddie Niles (Heffernan), and Gondor's girlfriend Billie (Brennan), to get the perfect plan.  Conning Lonnegan will be difficult

"I don't know what to do with this guy, Henry. He's an Irishman who doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, and doesn't chase dames. He's a grand knight in the Knights of Columbus, and he only goes out to play faro. Sometimes plays 15 or 20 hours at a time, just him against the house."
"Roulette? Craps?"
"He won't touch 'em. The croupier at Gilman's says he never plays anything he can't win."

Meanwhile, they have to stay one step ahead of a crooked cop, Lieutenant Snyder (Durning), and a blunt FBI Agent, Polk (Elcar), and the killers after the bounty on Johnny's head.


The ultimate con movie.  I could go on and on about this...

A brilliant cast.  While it is ultimately Robert Redford's film, Paul Newman shines as Henry Gondor.  There is an easy chemistry between Redford and Newman, a product of their previous collaboration (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, also directed by George Roy Hill).  Robert Shaw is a menacing Doyle Lonnegan, incorporating a limp (from an injury) into the performance.  The remaining cast is comprised of well-known actors / character actors of the time, who dive into their roles and additional personalities as part of the con.

The script and editing are superb, and keep you guessing.  You will not see the ending coming!  Each section is set up with a title card and an illustration from the film, with the song "The Entertainer" playing throughout.

The costumes are great, by the incredible Edith Head.

An incredible story, that gets better with each viewing.  Definitely worth watching!

The Sting (1973) 129 minutes
Director: George Roy Hill
Starring: Paul Newman as Henry Gondor
Robert Redford as Johnny Hooker
Robert Shaw as Doyle Lonnegan
Charles Durning as Lieutenant William Snyder
Ray Walston as J.J. Singleton
Eileen Brennan as Billie
Harold Gould as Kid Twist
John Heffernan as Eddie Niles
Dana Elcar as FBI Agent Polk

The Rocker

"How dare you call yourself a musician?"
"Loads of bands use drum loops!"
"Loads of elevators play Celine Dion - that don't make it right. Now get your Devil Box outta here!"

In the 1980s, Robert "Fish" Fishman (Wilson) was the drummer for Vesuvius.  On the verge of making it to stardom, the rest of the band (Will Arnett, Fred Armisen, and Bradley Cooper) drop Fish to secure a record deal with Matchbox Records and make the owner's son the new drummer.

Twenty years later, Vesuvius is a huge success and Fish is miserable.  After getting fired and dumped, he moves in with his sister, Lisa (Jane Lynch).  Lisa's son, Matt (Gad) is the keyboardist in a teen rock band called A.D.D.  A.D.D. is offered the chance to play prom, but their drummer quits the band.  With prom only a few days away, they reluctantly convince Fish to be their drummer.

When Fish's antics get them in trouble, they kick him out of the band.  But realizes that the band is something special and goes back to convince singer / songwriter Curtis (Geiger) and cynical bassist Amelia (Stone) to give him a chance at redemption, and they agree.  Soon a video of their rehearsal goes viral on YouTube, and they are signed by Matchbox Records, and have a manager, David Marshall (Sudeikis).


Surprisingly good.  I expected gross or perverted humor, with a few good moments... but they managed to deliver a funny rock comedy.  While it is similar to Jack Black's The School of Rock, this film focuses more on rock musicians.  The characters, particularly the members of Vesuvius, are absurd, delightfully over the top with some entertaining lines.

The songs are catchy and fun... you believe that these tunes could become popular hits.

While I enjoy Rainn Wilson in NBC's The Office, I wasn't sure how to feel about him in this film.  But his portrayal of Fish is what sells the film.  He is talented, arrogant, heart breaking, hysterical, etc. at the right moments and you really want him to succeed.  Musician Teddy Geiger brings the teen angst as Curtis.  He has a great voice, and sells the songs well.  Emma Stone and Josh Gad are great in their respective roles, and get several funny moments.  SNL cast member Jason Sudeikis is smarmy and slimy as their manager David, who always wears a smile.  The rest of the cast, comedy veterans, brings the funny.

A decent, rocking comedy that doesn't go for the easy, nasty laughs.  It isn't tasteless or disgusting, and I appreciate that.  It may not be a "high brow" comedy, but it still makes me laugh.

The Rocker (2008) 102 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for drug and sexual references, nudity and language
Director: Peter Cattaneo
Starring: Rainn Wilson as Robert "Fish" Fishman
Christina Applegate as Kim
Teddy Geiger as Curtis
Josh Gad as Matt
Emma Stone as Amelia
Jason Sudeikis as David Marshall