90s Movie Review - That Thing You Do!

Director: Tom Hanks
Genre: Comedy/ Drama
Runtime: 108 minutes
Year: 1996
Starring: Tom Everett Scott, Liv Tyler, Jonathan Schaech, Ethan Embry, Steve Zahn, Tom Hanks, Charlize Theron, Giovanni Ribisi, Bill Cobbs, Kevin Pollack, Rita Wilson, Chris Isaak

Description: A local Pennsylvania band scores a one-hit wonder in 1964 and rides the star-making machinery as long as they can, with lots of help from their manager (Tom Hanks)

Review: “That Thing You Do” follows a young, ambitious group of young men, in the 1960s, that love music. They start a band. When their drummer breaks his arm, right before an important show, they hire Guy Patterson. He has a different view on music and tries something more up-tempo. This works well and it turns their band, “The Wonders”, into a rock ‘n roll sensation.

It’s the directorial debut of star actor Tom Hanks, who also wrote the script. Hanks also has a role as the manager, but wanted young actors to steal the show. Jonathan Schaech plays lead singer Jimmy, who is very ambitious and talented, but the stardom changes him. Steve Zahn is always excellent at playing the funny supporting characters and does that very well in this movie. Liv Tyler, as Jimmy’s very supportive girlfriend Faye, is lovely as ever. But the real star is Tom Everett Scott, as Guy Patterson. This was his first movie he starred in. Tom Hanks first didn’t want him to star, because he resembles a young Hanks. His wife Rita Wilson, who also has a small role in the movie, finally convinced him. And it was the right choice, because Tom Everett Scott steals every scene he is in.

“That Thing You Do” is one of those fun comedies you can watch over and over again, and you never get tired of it. Even when the song, titled ‘That Thing You Do’, is played so many times. Because you hear it a lot! It’s the perfect movie for a night you don’t want to think too much and just enjoy a fun film.

Rating: 4/ 5

Movie Review - Kimi

Director: Steven Sodenbergh
Genre: Thriller/ Crime/ Drama
Runtime: 89 minutes
Year: 2022
Starring: Zoë Kravitz, Byron Bowers, Rita Wilson, Erika Christensen, Devin Ratray, India Beaufort, Derek Delgaudio, Darai Kooi, Jaime Cahill
 
Description: An agoraphobic Seattle tech (Zoë Kravitz) tech worker uncovers evidence of a crime.

Review: “Kimi” builds on older films, but is also very much or our time. In Steven Sodenbergh’s latest thriller, seventies paranoia and pandemic psychology come together in a thrilling way.
The Kimi of the title is a device that, like Siri or Alexa, respond to your voice and executes commands. However, the Kimi does not work with algorithms to improve its service, but with people. Angela is one of them: her work consists of listening to anonymous recordings where the Kimi misunderstood the customer. Then she enters some new code into the system, which prevents that particular mistake from happening again. Until one day she thinks she hears a possible murder in an audio clip.
When Angela puts on her headphones to start working, for a moment the entire soundtrack of Kimi falls silent. It is an oasis in the sound design, which on the contrary constantly emphasizes the hum of machines around us. This emphasizes the fear and mental turmoil of Angela, who even before the pandemic hardly dared to leave her apartment. Although there is no longer a lockdown in the story of “Kimi”, Angela still lives in a mental lockdown that she cannot get out of.
As a result, meeting up with the neighbor across the street for breakfast out of the house already becomes a hassle. All kinds of actions before going out the door are given extra emphasis by close-ups and the editing, up to the moment when she has to turn the key in her door. An everyday act that most of us never think about.
But for her, it’s too much of a task. As Angela slumps down in frustration at her door, Sodenbergh cuts from a close-up of the key in her hand to a shot from far above. To make palpable how small she feels at that moment, and to emphasize her isolation and physical distance from the rest of the world. Before she can recover from that, in the apartment above her, remodeling is underway with cozy pneumatic drills. So far, this is the best depiction in a movie of what lockdown might feel like for many of us.
When she does have to go outside to report a possible murder to someone at the company and call the FBI, the sound really becomes overwhelming. The image also changes and seems to race by as Angela stumbles through it. In this way you can see and hear very clearly what it feels like for Angela just to go outside.
These expressive scenes are therefore exciting in themselves, and then the tension is heightened by a literal chase through the streets of Seattle. Sodenbergh cleverly plays on modern fears surrounding privacy and surveillance, while the indebtedness to those aforementioned classic as well as “Rear Window” indicates how timeless these concerns actually are.
All of this could perhaps have been fleshed out a bit more, but there’s also a lot to be said for the length of Kimi”: Under 90 minutes. This effective thriller with bold stylistic choices is a breath of fresh air.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

Top 5 Thursday: Celebrity Couples

Celebrity couples hardly ever last, with off course you occasional exception. But that doesn’t mean we can’t love them and hope for their relationship to stay. I have my fair share of favourites in Hollywood, here is my top five of most beloved celebrity couples (both have to be celebrities).

5. Ellen Degeneres and Portia de Rossi

I always love it how Ellen talks about Portia on her show. This is such a great couple.

 

 

4. Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks

This is one of those rare exceptions. This couple has been married since 1988! And every time I see them on TV or on pictures, they still look so happy.

 

 

3. Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield

They have great chemistry on screen, but are also adorable together in real life. If I were gay, I wish I were Andrew Garfield.

 

 

2. Emily Blunt and John Krasinski

This is how my marriage would be, they are amazing together. They aren’t very public about it, which I like. And they have an adorable baby girl names Hazel.

 

 

1. Anna Faris and Chris Pratt

They rule. I think both actors are hilarious and they are an awesome couple. They were made for each other, because they both have a great sense of humour and quirkiness. And they have a cute son Jack.

 

 

They Almost Made the Top 5: Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher, Charlize Theron and Sean Penn, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake, Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, Rachel Weisz and Daniel Craig, Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling