RETRO REVIEW: ORDINARY PEOPLE (1980)

OK so I am a day late with this weeks RETRO REVIEW, but here it is. As the Oscars are approaching I figure for the next few weeks I will dedicate my Retro-view to somewhat forgotten Oscar winners of the past.

Today's selection is ORDINARY PEOPLE, which was a huge Oscar winner in 1980. The flick was Robert Redford's directing debut and took home Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor for Timothy Hutton and Best Director for Redford.

The movie is straight out one of the heaviest flicks you could ever watch, but absolutely spot on in it's storytelling. The story follows a crumbling family dealing with the recent death of one son and the even more recent suicide attempt of another. (Hutton)

Hutton makes his film debut in this one and you can almost immediately tell why he won awards for his performance, and he is brilliantly complemented by to dramatic heavy hitters in Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore. Moore's performance made even more powerful by how "against type" she is as the emotionally shut off and cold Matriarch.

This movie makes you very tense at times, especially in scene's between Hutton and his Therapist (an amazing performance by Judd Hirsch), you really find yourself waiting for one of these characters to explode.

As the movie reaches it's climax you are left with a lot of questions, but even more you are left with empathy for all parties involved.

DVD REVIEW: BIG FAN (2009)

From time to time I will review a lesser known film that perhaps didn't spend anough time in the theaters for you to catch it, but is now availiable on DVD.

Staying with the Football theme today is BIG FAN.

BIG FAN stars Patton Oswalt as Paul, an obessed New York Giants fan who is stuck with a tough decision after his gridiron hero assaults him in a strip-club.

The movie is the directing debut of Robert Seigel, writer of The Wrestler, and yet again he paints a dark and almost hopeless picture with this film. Oswalt, who is one of the funniest comedians on the planet, makes himself nearly unrecognizable in his creation of the character. You really do get sucked into the character of Paul, leading you up to a true feeling of anxiety and the story reaches it's climax. Seigel just plain knows how to write a story about sad and desperate individuals, and has presented another story that makes you want to take the characters off the screen and help them, while at the same time being infinitely entertained by their downfall.

RETRO REVIEW: EVERYBODY'S ALL-AMERICAN (1988)

Once again I am here to offer you your Friday night video store alternative. THE FRIDAY RETRO REVIEW.

Going with a football theme for the Super Bowl weekend I have picked EVERYBODY'S ALL-AMERICAN.

The flick, based on a novel by legendary sports writer Frank DeFord, stars Dennis Quaid, Jessica Lange, Timothy Hutton and John Goodman.

The story follows 25 years in the life of Gavin "The Ghost" Grey (Quaid) and the people in his life as he goes from College Football hero to Pro Star to frustrated retiree. Director Taylor Hackford (Officer and a Gentleman, Ray) offers a great representation of how people deal with reality once the glory starts to fade.

The film is extremely well acted and Lange really shines as Babs, the suffering Debutante come "Players Wife", and also features strong supporting roles from Hutton and Goodman.
If Bull Durham was the quintessential ROM-COM disguised as a sports film, then "ALL AMERICAN" is it's dramatic counter part, dealing with issues of love, adultery, betrayal and the civil rights movement much more than it deals with the gridiron.

That said, the football scenes in the movie are fantastic. The uniforms of the period are spot on, the sequences are beautifully shot and some spots are even imagined in a shockingly accurate "NFL Films" style. The portrayal of the characters or so specific that portions of the movie could only have been written by a veteran sportswriter.

FUN FACT: Real NFL players were used for the football scenes and one of them (Tim Fox of the New England Patriots) broke Dennis Quaid's collarbone while filming a scene. The footage was used for the film, so Quaid is not acting when you see him writhing in pain in the snow.

UPCOMING: UMMMMM...YES PLEASE!

So it looks like the next project for Zooey Deschanel will be an HBO movie based on the Pamela DesBarres autobiography. Still confused? Read further:

Zooey Deschanel has just committed to star in an HBO half-hour pilot that will be based on I’m With the Band: Confessions of a Groupie, the Pamela Des Barres’ memoir of bed-hopping with musicians and movie stars in the late 1960s… Des Barres bragged about her bedroom experiences with the likes of Mick Jagger, Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and actor Don Johnson. But along the with excitement of rolling with famous rockers, there was also the emptiness and heartbreak of being demeaned and discarded by stars once the next pretty young thing came along.

So let me get this straight. A woman I would step over a dying relative just to make out with is appearing in a film where she will be doing a ton of drugs and having even more sex? I think my bad girl fetish just went into overdrive.

BREAKING NEWS: CONAN AND FOX "TALKING"

So the word out of Hollywood is that the Fox network is having "Conversations" with Conan about bringing the show there in September, but that's where it stops.

FROM FORBES:

In a quarterly earnings call on Tuesday, Murdoch said the network was exploring different options for the time period. “If the programming people can show us we can do it … and make a profit, we would do it in a flash,” he admitted. In the meantime, he said he was “sure there have been some conversations” with O’Brien, but “no real negotiations.”

When pressed about resistance to the possible move, he explained that Fox affiliates are currently running profitable syndicated programs during the otherwise appealing 11 p.m. time period.

Thats all that I can report now on the topic, but I will keep you posted.

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT: MEL GIBSON vs DOUCHEY LOCAL ANCHOR

So here's a nice little interview between Mel Gibson (promoting Edge Of Darkness) and WGN-Chicago's Dean Richards. Richards tries to stray away from the fluffy questions and goes for the hardball. And Hilarity ensues!



You tell em Mel. I think it was kinda bush league to bring up a 4 year old incedent, but in Richards' defense it still is the first thing you think about when you see Mel...ADMIT IT. The only way this would have been better is if Mel called him "Sugartits"

And now for a blast from the past (NSFW):

Stewart on O'Reilly TONIGHT

Now, I am the last one that would ever suggest anyone watch Fox News. That being said, tonight is night one of a two-night interview featuring Jon Stewart on The O'Reilly Factor. These two have been on each other respective shows in the past, but either was pimping a book or something else at the time. This is a no promotion, mano y mano, showdown.

Below is a little preview of what happens when America's greatest "Fake" newsman goes head to head with "Real" news networks. Enjoy