I hope you enjoyed the first weekend of spring.
While it looked nice, it was a chilly one in the Quad Cities after Friday’s high of 62°! That was the first 60-plus temperature this year and the warmest day in more than four months!
Now, we have a little snow (an inch or two) on the way today and tonight. The good news is that it won’t last long and much warmer weather is expected by the weekend! Yes, I’m already thinking of the weekend and it’s just Monday!
So, if you want to cuddle up on the couch tonight and Tuesday and if you’re not watching “The Following”, I have a few suggestions to definitely check out if you want to rent movies! I love my Redbox!
“INSTRUCTIONS NOT INCLUDED”
This Mexican comedy-drama directed and written by star Eugenio Derbez stunned the American box office when it opened last fall and I can see why.
The $5 million dollar movie is now up to $90.2 million in box office revenues.
Of that amount, $39.3 million was made in the U.S. “Instructions” is now the highest grossing Spanish-language movie of all time and it’s the 4th highest grossing foreign film domestically.
In Mexico, by the second week in release, it had become the highest grossing Mexican film of all time.
Derbez stars as Valentin’, a bum that likes to sleep around. One day, a former fling shows up at his door while he’s entertaining a couple of women. She hands him a baby and gets money to go back down to pay the taxi. She doesn’t return.
Valentin’ begins tracking down the American mother and realizes that she may be in Los Angeles. He and the little girl, Maggie, head off in search of the baby’s mother, Julie.
He gets a job as a stunt man after saving the baby’s life in front of a director. Over the years, Valentin’ and Maggie grow close.
And, that’s where the drama comes in.
This movie is a definite must-see. You won’t even notice that you have to read subtitles!
GRADE: A
“NEBRASKA”
This black & white movie was nominated for six Academy Awards this year, including Best Picture, Best Director for Alexander Payne, Best Actor for Bruce Dern and Best Supporting Actress for June Squibb.
Dern stars as Woody Grant, an elderly Billings, Montana, man who thinks he’s won a million dollars in a sweepstakes. Since he’s suffers from memory loss, he heads off walking several times to Lincoln, Nebraska to collect his money.
You can see the stress that this brings to his wife, Kate (Squibb) and his son, David, played by former “Saturday Night Live” comedian, Will Forte, in a dramatic role that he aces.
David gives in and decides to drive to Nebraska with his father. On the way, there will be a family get together in Woody’s small Nebraska hometown the weekend before they arrive in Lincoln. Once Woody tells people he’s won a million dollars, family and friends all come forward to demand their share of the winnings.
The movie was very hard to watch at times because it was so awkward, but real. I felt like I was a voyeur in the Grant family’s life.
While Dern and Forte were amazing, June Squibb made the movie. The fact that she didn’t have a filter and said what she was thinking, her performance definitely deserved an Oscar nomination — if not for the cemetery scene alone and it was funny!
GRADE: A-
“OLDBOY”
Director Spike Lee’s remake of the 2003 South Korean cult film, Oldboy, was a box office bomb, but it was very entertaining and intriguing.
Josh Brolin stars as Joe, an alcoholic advertisement executive. He drinks during the work day just to get through it and he’s good at what he does.
However, one night, after he botches a pretty much sealed high-profile deal over dinner, he gets wasted and wakes up being held captive in a “room” after following an Asian woman with an umbrella through an alley.
In his captivity, he finds out the he’s being framed for the rape and murder of his ex-wife. His infant child, Mia, survived the attack.
Joe is held prisoner for 20 years and then he’s drugged and released in a box in the middle of a field with cash and a cell phone. While in captivity, he was forced to watch a video of his grown daughter, Mia, talking about how she’d feel to meet her father again.
That’s where it gets violent and very creepy.
The movie also features incredible performances from Samuel L. Jackson, Elizabeth Olsen, who’s one of the best new actresses out there, and Sharlto Copley (“District 9” and “Elysium”).
While I enjoyed this movie, when it hits theaters, it was one of the weakest openings for Thanksgiving of all time. It only grossed $850,000 in the first five days.
“Summer of Sam” is still my favorite Spike Lee movie, but this is solid, too.
GRADE: B
As you know, I love watching movies and I’m sure I’ll have a few more short reviews to share with you soon.
Anthony
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