Top 5 Thursday: Will Ferrell Moments

Will Ferrell always makes me laugh and he doesn’t even have to make an effort. Here are my five favourite Will Ferrell moments.

5. Dust in the Wind (“Old School”)
When one of their fraternity brothers dies (he was very old you know), Frank the Tank decides to sing at the funeral.

4. Excting elf (“Elf”)
Buddy the Elf is a character you just simply can’t dislike. When he hears Santa is coming to town, he is overly excited.

3. On fire (“Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby”)
Ricky Bobby crashes during a race and he thinks he’s on fire. He has a breakdown and this is what he says: "Help me Jesus! Help me Jewish God! Help me Allah! Help me Tom Cruise! Tom Cruise, use your witchcraft on me to get the fire off me! Help me Oprah Winfrey!"

2. Glass case of emotions (“Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy”)
Another breakdown, this time it’s as Ron Burgundy. After his dog died, he calls up his friend and he tells him he’s in a glass case of emotions. You really have to see this to know it’s funny.

1. Doing gymnastics (“Old School”)
In order to get his fraternity to win, all the guys have to participate in a sport. Frank does gymnastics, with a ribbon. It’s freakin’ hilarious!

They Almost Made the Top 5: Bunk beds (“Step Brothers”), What is love? (“A Night at the Roxbury”)

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 9: Wanderlust

Director: David Wain
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 114 minutes
Year: 2012
Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Paul Rudd, Justin Theroux, Malin Akerman, Alan Alda, Kathryn Hahn, Michaela Watkins, Linda Lavin

Description: After George (Paul Rudd) is downsized from his financial firm and Linda's (Jennifer Aniston) depressing documentary is cancelled, they can no longer afford their overpriced 'micro-loft' in New York. They find themselves with just one option - to pack up their lives and head south to move in with George's brother and his wife. George and Linda stumble upon Elysium, an idyllic community where the only rule is to be yourself.

Review: The last years producer Judd Apatow made some funny comedies. I wasn’t sure if “Wanderlust” would be as loved as “Bridesmaids” and “Knocked Up”. Some of the actors you know from his previous films and they make this movie very entertaining.
The plot doesn’t have many layers, but I don’t think that will bother anyone: Two yuppies from New York end up in a hippie community. Although they had a ton of chemistry in “The Object of My Affection”, they don’t seem to find it here. At least not as much. And they don’t shine either, because Alan Alda and Justin Theroux steal the show. I did like Jennifer Aniston going nuts. Although there are a lot of hippie clichés ( a nudist, free love), they know how to make it funny.
“Wanderlust” is a comedy that made me laugh, but it’s not very special.

Rating: 2,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 8: All Good Things

Director: Andrew Jarecki
Genre: Drama/ Thriller/ Romance
Runtime: 101 minutes
Year: 2010
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Kirsten Dunst, Frank Langella, Philip Baker Hall, Nick Offerman, Kristen Wiig

Description: Mr. David Marks (Ryan Gosling) was suspected but never tried for killing his wife Katie (Kirsten Dunst) who disappeared in 1982, but the truth is eventually revealed.

Review: Today the American Kathleen Durst is still missing. On January the 31st of 1982 the student from Manhattan, who was 29 at the time, disappeared. Thirty years later Andrew Jarecki makes the movie “All Good Things”. The movie is inspired by the life of Kathleen and her husband Robert Durst, son of an influential real estate agent.
The two main characters, Katie and David, are very well introduced and the movie has a strong start. The bond between them and the viewers is developed, so you can easily relate to the characters. The young David Marks meets student Katie. Very soon a passionate and tender romance develops. The natural chemistry between the actors Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst makes it all very believable and their relationship looks very real.
After David decides to work for his father, things start to go downhill for them. And even David’s behaviors changes and not in a good way. David is no longer the man Katie fell in love with.
From that moment on, and the moment where Katie disappears, the movie is going in a different direction. It gets a bit confusing and I find it hard to keep my attention. I loved the beginning, but disliked the last part of the movie.
The fact that we never find out what really happened to her makes the ending a bit more bearable. This movie could have been so much better.

Rating: 2,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 7: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Director: Tomas Alfredson
Genre: Drama/ Thriller/ Mystery
Runtime: 127 minutes
Year: 2011
Starring: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch, John Hurt, Mark Strong, Tom Hardy, Toby Jones, Stephen Graham, Ciarán Hinds

Description: In the early 1970s during the Cold War, the head of British Intelligence, Control (John Hurt), resigns after an operation in Budapest, Hungary goes badly wrong. It transpires that Control believed one of four senior figures in the service was in fact a Russian agent - a mole - and the Hungary operation was an attempt to identify which of them it was. Smiley (Gary Oldman) had been forced into retirement by the departure of Control, but is asked by a senior government figure to investigate a story told to him by a rogue agent, Ricky Tarr (Tom Hardy), that there was a mole. Smiley considers that the failure of the Hungary operation and the continuing success of Operation Witchcraft (an apparent source of significant Soviet intelligence) confirms this, and takes up the task of finding him.

Review: John le Carré is without a doubt one of the masters of spy thrillers. The author of this story once worked for the MI6, so he knows how things work around there. His writing style criticizes the successful stories of James Bond. His characters are a bit less heroic, but because of their weaknesses they are more human. Take for instance George Smiley, the main character of “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”. Smiley is a modest, middle-aged man, who wouldn’t reach for a gun but purely trusts on intelligence. He sounds dull when you compare him to James Bond, but George Smiley is a very intriguing figure. Especially when you let Gary Oldman portray him.
The writers stayed very true to the novel. John Hurt plays Control, the boss of MI6, who sends agent Jim Prideaux (Mark Strong) on a secret mission to Budapest. He has to persuade a Hungarian general. It appears there is a spy in MI6, who hands out crucial information to Karla, the biggest spy in Russia. The general knows who it is, but Prideaux never lives to tell the tale. George Smiley, who’s just retired, has to find the mole.
It sounds like an average whodunit scenario, but there is more to it than meets the eye. The atmosphere and the characters are so interesting. The way director Alfredson filmed it, with the raw glow and different shades of brown, makes you feel like you are in the seventies. And there is a tension throughout the entire runtime of the film.
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” proves that you don’t need an actionhero to make a good spy thriller. This is a breathtaking movie.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

Movie Trailer Sunday (120)

Here are this weeks trailers.

 

Veronica Mars

Description: Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) has put Neptune and her amateur sleuthing days behind her on the eve of graduating law school. While interviewing at high-end law firms, Veronica gets a call from her ex-boyfriend Logan who has been accused of murder. Veronica heads back to Neptune just to help Logan find an attorney, but when things don�t seem right with how Logan's case is perceived and handled, Veronica finds herself being pulled back into a life she thought she had left behind.

Director: Rob Thomas

Starring: Kristen Bell, Jason Dohring, Chris Lowell, Ryan Hansen, Krysten Ritter, Percy Daggs III, Tina Majorino, Francis Capra Ken Marino, Enrico Colantoni

Trailer: Trailer "Veronica Mars"

Comment: Never watched the show, so why not start now.

 

A Most Wanted Man

Description: Present day Hamburg, Germany. A mysterious, tortured and near-dead half-Chechen, half-Russian man on the run arrives in the city's Islamic community desperate for help and looking to recover his late Russian father's ill-gotten fortune. Nothing about this young man seems to add up; is he a victim or a thief or, worse still, an extremist intent on destruction? Drawn into this web of intrigue is a private British banker and a young female lawyer determined to defend the defenseless. All the while, they are being watched by the brilliant, roguish chief of a covert German spy unit (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who fights to put the pieces together as the clock ticks.

Director: Anton Corbijn

Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams, Robin Wright, Willem Dafoe, Daniel Brühl

Trailer: Trailer "A Most Wanted Man"

Comment:

 

Rob the Mob

Description: A couple targets the Mafia for heists and stumbles upon something big at an underground club.

Director: Raymond De Felitta

Starring: Michael Pitt, Nina Arianda, Andy Garcia, Ray Romano Trailer: Trailer "Rob the Mob"

Comment: Looks like a funny mob movie.

Brightest Star

Description: After the heartbreaking end of his first love, a recent college graduate sets out to win back the girl of his dreams only to discover a greater journey awaits him.

Director: Maggie Kiley

Starring: Chris Lowell, Allison Janney, Clark Gregg, Rose McIver, Jessica Szohr

Trailer: Trailer "Brightest Star"

Comment: This movie will probably be overlooked by everyone, but it caught my eye.

A Fall For Freedom

Description: The first comprehensive film to reveal the long and sordid history of the captive whale and dolphin entertainment business. Many of these marine parks and aquariums are directly or indirectly responsible for the death of thousands of the very animals they use for public entertainment. Premature deaths. Trainer injuries. Illegal practices. Educational misrepresentation. Government incompetence. Secret deals.

Director: Stanley Minasian

Starring: -

Trailer: Trailer "A Fall For Freedom"

Comment: Just the trailer alone breaks my heart.

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 6: The Magic of Belle Isle

Director: Rob Reiner
Genre: Comedy/ Drama
Runtime: 109 minutes
Year: 2012
Starring: Morgan Freeman, Virginia Madsen, Kenan Thompson, Fred Willard, Kevin Pollack, Emma Fuhrmann, Madeline Carroll, Nicolette Pierini

Description: Monty Wildhorn (Morgan Freeman), an alcoholic novelist of Westerns, has lost his drive. His nephew (Kenan Thompson) pushes him to Summer in quiet Bell Isle. He begrudgingly befriends a newly single mom (Virginia Madsen) and her 3 girls who help him find the inspiration to write again.

Review: After “The Bucket List” (2007) director Rob Reiner and actor Morgan Freeman work together again. He plays the grumpy writer Monte WIldhorn. He spends the summer in Belle Isle, where his cousin Henry thinks he might have some time for writing new material. Monte spends most of his time drinking, but when he meets the young Finnegan, one of the neighbours daughters, we see Monte change and he finds his inspiration again.
Like almost every other time, Morgan Freeman shines in this movie. With his charming and calm way of acting he wins over all the hearts. Especially the conversations he has with the dog are a joy to watch. Emma Fuhrmann, who plays Finnegan, is a talent to watch. It’s a movie for any age and Rob Reiner made a beautiful movie with, off course, a message. And he doesn’t sugarcoat the story, which makes is as good as it is.

Rating: 4/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 5: The Lorax

Director: Chris Renaud, Kyle Balda
Genre: Animation/ Family/ Fantasy
Runtime: 86 minutes
Year: 2012
Starring: Danny DeVito, Zac Efron, Ed Helms, Taylor Swift, Rob Riggle, Betty White

Description: In the walled city of Thneed-Ville, where everything is artificial and even the air is a commodity, a boy named Ted (Zac Efron) hopes to win the heart of his dream girl, Audrey. When he learns of her wish to see a real tree, Ted seeks out the Once-ler (Ed Helms), a ruined old businessman outside of town in a stark wasteland. Upon hearing of how the hermit gave into his greed for profits and devastated the land over the protests of the Lorax (Danny DeVito), Ted is inspired to undo the disaster. However, the greedy Mayor of Thneed-Ville, Aloysius O'Hare (Rob Riggle), has made his fortune exploiting the environmental collapse and is determined to stop the boy from undermining his business.

Review: The movie is based on a story by the popular children’s book author Dr. Seuss, so a lot was expected. And one of the directors, Chris Renaud, also made “Despicable Me”.
In the futuristic town Thneed-ville all the green has disappeared, there is not a three left. The richest man in town earns his money to sell fresh air to the people. Young Ted wants to find out why and he goes outside the city walls. He meets the Once-ler and he can tell him everything about it, for instance who the Lorax is.
The original story leads to an unoriginal film. A lot of the material has been seen before. An animated hero with a light form of ADD, singing fishes, slapstick humor and clumbsy and cute animals. Although this isn’t all very original, the makers deliver an inspiring movie though. There are some great jokes, fantastic sing-a-long songs and it all looks very colorful and fanciful. With that “The Lorax” has a good message as well, which is the true essence.
“The Lorax” is easy to watch, but also just as forgettable. It doesn’t live up to the standards of “Despicable Me” and “Horton Hears a Who”.

Rating: 3/ 5