MOVIE: The Lincoln Laywer (2011)

It’s been a while since I’ve seen a decent legal thriller, and even longer since I’ve seen Matthew McConaughey in anything particularly good, so when reviews of this movie came out and many of my favorite critics said it was fun, I was game.

And fun it is.  While the plot is nothing terribly original and definitely has a few weak spots (for example, when your friend is murdered while investigating something specific, it’s a pretty safe bet that the something-specific is what got him killed — you might want to start there, dummy), overall I found the film really entertaining and McConaughey thoroughly charming as its star.

Matty plays Mick Halter, a rich LA defense lawyer whose office is the back seat of his Lincoln town car, and whose license plate sums up both his track record and his cocky personality:  NTGUILTY.

He mostly specializes in getting bad guys off, living in perpetual fear of the day he’s forced to defend an innocent man and fails.  But when his pal Val (John Leguizamo), a bail bondsman, asks him to take the case of a super-rich young man accused of assault (Ryan Phillippe), Mick quickly realizes his greatest fear may be coming to pass.  The kid, Louis Roulet, seems innocent — his story makes sense, the woman accusing him is a known prostitute trying to get enough money to get out of the biz, and there’s even security camera footage that supports Louis’s description of what went down.

Things get complicated, though, when Mick discovers a connection between this case and one of his old ones.  A man he’d defended years ago and talked into taking a plea for a life sentence — in an attempt to avoid the death penalty — was accused of a crime that looked and sounded a lot like the crime Louis is accused of.  What’s the connection?  Who’s innocent and who’s guilty?  One?  Both?  Someone else altogether?

Though all the “twists” at the end were predictable and all-too-familiar to anyone who reads mysteries regularly (this flick’s based on a novel by Michael Connelly, by the way), I still found this movie good escapist fun.  McConaughey is great in this kind of part — intelligent, arrogant, and thrown for a loop — and the casting of Marisa Tomei, a middle-aged woman with wrinkles and everything!, as Mick’s ex-wife and occasional lover was utterly refreshing.  How nice to see a movie about a handsome guy dating a woman HIS OWN AGE!  Hear that, Harrison Ford?  Yeah, whatever, dude.

All in all, definitely a great way to spend an afternoon.  You can probably wait for the DVD to come out, since there’s nothing that spectacular about it visually, but it’s definitely worth watching somewhere, some how, some day for sure.  Recommended!

[Prequeue at Netflix | View trailer]

Genre:  Thriller
Cast:  Matthew McConaughey, Marisa Tomei, Ryan Phillippe, William H. Macy, Josh Lucas, John Leguizamo, Michael Peña, Bob Gunton, Frances Fisher, Bryan Cranston

New Boyfriend is Up!

My gift to you:  an absolute hunk!  Sure, he can’t act.  But hey, that ain’t nuthin’ but a thang.

Go check it out and then come back here for comments and discussion!

http://megwood.com

New TV This Week!

Got one great show returning and three new shows starting up this week — check ‘em out!

Monday, 3/28

Nurse Jackie — Showtime — 10pm — I’m a huge, HUGE fan of this series, which is sharply written, well-acted (love Edie Falco), and extremely thoughtful.  Last season ended with Jackie’s husband and best friend confronting her at last about her drug use.  Will she be getting help this year?  Or will she manage to wriggle her way out of the whole thing again?  My money’s on the latter.

Tuesday, 3/29

Body of Proof — ABC — 10pm — I’m really digging this uptick in new shows starring older women as the main characters (though Harry’s Law, with Kathy Bates, is absolutely wretched, if you ask me).  This one brings in Dana Delany as a medical examiner, and while the overall story sounds a bit been-there, done-that, Delany’s a talented actress and I have no doubt that if there’s anything interesting to work with here, she’ll find it.  Fingers crossed this one is really smart and engaging.

BONUS: A friend of mine, the brilliant and lovely Mia Henry, has some art work that will be featured in episodes 4 and 10.  The paintings are titled “Into the Wood,” “Solitary,” and “Birches One” and you can check them out in advance on her web site:  http://www.miatarduccihenry.com (hopefully they aren’t about to get sprayed with blood spatter, Mia!).

Friday, 4/1

Chaos — CBS — 8pm — This series, which costars Eric Close from Without a Trace, is described as a “comedic drama” about a group of CIA special agents.  I haven’t read any buzz about this one or seen any ads, but I do love stories about spies, so I’m game to give it a shot.  Will report back if it’s any good!

Sunday, 4/3

The Killing — AMC — 9pm –This is the new spring show I’m the most excited about. AMC has never let me down when it comes to their original series; they’re always well-written and smart, and this one looks absolutely fantastic.  Set in Seattle (though I think it’s filmed in Vancouver), The Killing ties together three distinct stories around a single murder focusing on the detectives assigned to the case, the victim’s grieving family, and the suspects.   The ads I’ve seen look fantastic, and so far, critics seem to be just as enthusiastic about tuning in as I am.  Can’t wait to see this one, and at the very least, it ought to help us kill time waiting for season two of The Walking Dead.

Let’s go SPRING!

MOVIE: Due Date (2010)

Sometimes you just want to laugh at something really stupid for 90 minutes, you know?  This movie fits that bill rather nicely.  Bonus:  Blooper reel!  Goddamn it, I love Zach Galifianakis.

Recommended!

[Netflix it | Buy it]

Genre:  Comedy
Cast:  Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis, Michelle Monaghan, Jamie Foxx, Juliette Lewis

MOVIE: 127 Hours (2010)

As you all know, I love horror movies.  I have absolutely no problem watching people have their heads chopped off by a maniac with an axe.  Spurting blood, gushing wounds, terrible maimings?  No sweat!  But realistic violence is a whole other game for me, and it’s why I didn’t go see this film in theaters.  I knew how the story ended — not only because of all the buzz about it, but because years and years ago I saw an episode of I Shouldn’t Be Alive about Aron Ralston, and I never, ever forgot it.  If I was going to watch this film, I needed to watch it at home with one finger over the fast-forward button.

So, let me jump to the end for those of you with similar concerns so I can tell you it’s all going to be okay.  Suck it up and go rent this movie.  Yes, he cuts his own hand off with a dull pocket knife, just like everybody says.  Yes, you see parts of this in the film.  But though I looked away a few times, I made it through that scene and I came out okay.  And, more importantly, so did Aron Ralston.

For those living under a rock, this is the true story about the day Aron Ralston was out biking and hiking in Utah and fell into a crevasse along with a very large rock.  On the plus side, the rock kept him from crashing all the way to the bottom.  On the minus side, however, it pinned him between the two walls of the crevasse, trapping his hand and leaving him dangling for — yep — 127 hours.

Low on water and food, Aron did what most of us would have done in the first 48 of those hours — he screamed for help, he thought about his family, he tried desperately to free himself.  But when it became clear no help was coming, and as he watched the exposed thumb of his trapped hand turn blue and die from lack of circulation, he knew there was only one thing left to do if he wanted to live — he had to get out.  And he had to do it himself.

This film is beautifully made and extremely well-told.  I’ve never been much of a James Franco fan — loved him in Freaks & Geeks but haven’t been terribly impressed by him since.  But now that I’ve seen this film, I get why everybody’s all ga-ga these days.  He was incredible.  I believed every minute.  His fear, his sadness, his regrets, his courage, and his incredible desire to live all came through with so much intensity I was almost startled at the end of the film to see an actual picture of the real Aron Ralston.  I forgot there WAS a real Aron Ralston.

So, inhale, pop in the DVD, exhale, and get ready for a truly amazing film.  Danny Boyle has long been one of my favorite directors, and movies like this are why.  Excellent!

[Netflix it | Buy it]

Genre:  Drama
Cast:  James Franco, Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn, Sean Bott, Treat Williams

BOOK: How I Made it to Eighteen: A Mostly True Story by Tracy White (2010)

I don’t know much about graphic novels — I think this is only the third one I’ve read (the other two were Watchmen and Maus) — but I know what I like, at least, and I really liked this one a lot.

It’s the “mostly true” tale of the author’s six months in a psychiatric hospital when she was 17, after severe depression left her suicidal.  It follows her through intake, making friends with her fellow patients, counseling sessions, and explorations and revelations about the myriad sources of her sadness (including body image issues, drug addiction, and some pretty crappy mothering).

In between chapters are little interviews with her friends, providing an outsider’s view to balance out her insider perspectives on her personality, problems, and coping strategies.  It’s sarcastic and moving, and the art is simple (black and white ink drawings) and clean, yet somehow managed to convey a wide range of emotional depth.

The only problem I had with it was that I felt it ended incredibly abruptly — suddenly, we turn the page and bam!  She’s cured!  Well, but, er. . .   I would’ve liked a smoother transition, and more of an explanation, somehow, of what finally pulled her the last measure out of her sadness.  Perhaps she doesn’t know, though — fair enough.

Aside from that (minor) quibble, though, I found this short book extremely honest and darkly funny — two very grand qualities in any kind of art, if you ask me.

Highly recommended, and here’s hoping White is working on a sequel right now!  I’m definitely interested in exploring more works in this genre, by the way, so if you have any favorite graphic novels, hit the comments for me?

[GRAPHIC NOVEL, FICTION]

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MOVIE: Skyline (2010)

This aliens-invade-Earth flick is one of the dumbest movies I have ever seen.  And that’s really saying A LOT, my peoples.  There’s absolutely nothing interesting or original about Skyline.  It’s essentially 85 minutes of screaming and stomping and running followed by the most ridiculously stupid ending of all time.

That’s pretty much all that needs to be said about it, I think.  I mean, I could go on — talk about the foreshadowing thing that didn’t end up foreshadowing anything, talk about the horrible dialogue, talk about all the many, many elements that made me roll my eyes (braaaaaains!).  But, yeah — I think you get the picture.

BAD!  BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD!  Will Battle: Los Angeles be any better?  Hard to say.  But, naturally, I aim to find out.

[Netflix it | Buy it if you're a glutton for punishment]

Genre:  Science Fiction, Crap
Cast:  Donald Faison, Eric Balfour, Scottie Thompson, Brittany Daniel, Crystal Reed, David Zayas, Neil Hopkins

MOVIE: Rango (2011)

Okay, professional movie critics (Ebert exempted — he loved it), what IS your problem?  This extremely kooky and delightful film got kind of trashed by most of the reviewers I read regularly, and the primary reason for it seemed to be that the cartoon critters weren’t cute enough.

What the. . .?  What do you have against warts, whiskers, and waddles?  Lizard bigots.  Sheesh.

This entertaining, clever Western is about a chameleon who is on a road trip through the desert with his human family when the car swerves after hitting an armadillo (who was pretty ugly, I’ll grant you, but hey, looks aren’t everything!), sending our new amigo flying out the back.

Totally lost and completely out of his element, he starts walking and eventually stumbles across a little town named Dirt full of a variety of other desert animals.  He moseys into the local saloon in search of a glass of water, and is immediately approached by a gang of locals who ain’t too keen on strangers.  This gives the chameleon an idea — he loves to act, so he decides to pretend to be a gunslinger named Rango, regaling the saloon’s sots with a Wild West tale about the time he took out seven bad guys with a single bullet.

As Rango settles into town, eventually given the rather dubious honor of being named sheriff (none of the other sheriffs have lived too long, he’s told AFTER accepting the gig), he begins to pick up on the fact Dirt is in trouble.  It’s the middle of a terrible drought and the town is nearly out of water.  But when he and his new gal pal, a lizard lady named Beans, start to notice strange things going on (what looks like a large dumping of water outside of town, the fact the mayor doesn’t seem terribly worried, the robbery of the last of the town’s water), they begin to suspect a conspiracy.

Can Rango and Beans figure out who’s keeping the town dry (and why) before the bad guy comes after them?

Well, of course they can, duh — this is a kid’s movie, after all; it’ll have a happy ending (though I want to note here that this movie is really more suitable for older kids than little ones — there are a lot of truly scary scenes and I’m also not sure little kids will be able to follow the story).

Any fan of Westerns will get a kick out of this smart, satirical flick, which affectionately incorporates almost every classic Western element, from rolling tumbleweeds, angry mobs, bank robbers, posses, and High Noon duels, to bar brawls, a rancher who won’t give up her land, a bad guy who wants to keep the town squished flat under his thumb, and a romance between a drifter and the woman who seems destined to help him put down roots.

There were also some pretty clever additional touches for adults, including a cameo by Dr. Gonzo and Raoul Duke (on their way to or from Vegas, no doubt), a batty take on the helicopter scene from Apocalypse Now, and a sweet hat-tip to The Man With No Name (voiced perfectly by Timothy Olyphant, who really does a mighty fine Clint Eastwood).

The animation is absolutely gorgeous too — there were several scenic shots that were true works of art, in my opinion, and though the critters might, in fact, be a bit on the homely side, they’re intricately drawn, with tons of character in their faces, and even the ugliest of the ugly good guys had an irresistible charm that will win you over by the end.

“No man can walk out of his own story” is a great moral to this classic tale, and I think Rango is a movie both kids and grown-ups will really enjoy (though, again, it’s rated PG, not G, for a reason).

Also glorious:  it was made in 2D and it’s being shown in 2D and there is NO OPTION to see it in 3D.  Utterly refreshing.

And highly recommended!

[Prequeue at Netflix | View trailer]

Genre:  Animation, Western, Kids
Cast:  Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Ned Beatty, Alfred Molina, Bill Nighy, Harry Dean Stanton, Timothy Olyphant, Ray Winstone

MOVIE: Megamind (2010)

Super-powered aliens Megamind (Will Ferrell) and Metro Man (Brad Pitt) grew up together in Metro City after crash-landing (separately) on Earth as infants.  In school, Metro Man was constantly being honored for using his powers and considerable charm for good (you can tell he’s the good guy by his hulking, square chin), while Megamind, blue-headed being of the puny jaw, was continually punished for acting out.

After years of being picked on and, in his opinion, unfairly judged as “bad,” Megamind decided it was time for a change — he was going to become as famous as Metro Man.  Only he was going to become a famous super VILLAIN instead.

Thus began years of conflict between the two supers, as Megamind developed dastardly plot after dastardly plot, all foiled time and again by Metro Man.

Then one day, Megamind came up with the perfect plan — well, okay, technically he didn’t come up with it; it was “perfect” plan mostly by accident.  But NO MATTER.  Victory was finally his and Metro Man was kaput.

At first, Megamind was ecstatic — now he was the ruling super of Metro City (which he pronounces “Metrocity,” rhymes with “atrocity”).  Only, as it turned out, being an evil genius without a nemesis is pretty, well . . . dull.

So, Megamind and his minion, Minion (a fish with a robot body), decided to create a new superhero to combat, turning a dorky news cameraman named Hal into the super-powerful Titan.

What Megamind didn’t count on, however, was Titan’s reaction to his new abilities.  And before you could recite Megamind’s “presidential” motto, “No you can’t,” Titan had gone over to the dark side.

This animated film is a true delight with tons of quirky humor, much of it clearly designed for parents my age — references to Marlon Brando as Superman’s dad, Donkey Kong, the Karate Kid, and more.  And it’s loaded with all the stuff kids love too — silly jokes, archetypal battles of good vs. evil, and ridiculous cuteness.  Stellar voiceover work by Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, and Jonah Hill and bright, colorful animation round the picture out, making it a blast for the whole family.

I had a great time watching this one, and so did my 6 and 4 year-old nephew and niece.  Definitely recommended!

[Netflix it | Buy it]

Genre:  Kids, Animation
Cast:  Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, David Cross, Justin Theroux, Ben Stiller, Jessica Schulte, J.K. Simmons

BOOK: The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman (2010)

This witty, engaging novel is a collection of vignettes about a group of journalists living in Rome and working for an English-language international newspaper.  From the copy desk staff to the reporters to the editors to an avid reader, the novel takes us deep down into the complex world of newspapers, a world Rachman, himself a former reporter, knows like the back of his notepad — and man, does it ever show.

My husband is a newspaper reporter himself, so I can attest to the accuracy and ubiquity of a lot of the newspapery elements of the story — the competition, the financial pressures, the attitudes, and the waxing/waning dedication and apathy.  Not to mention the snarky relationships between copy editors and reporters.  All perfectly, perfectly captured here.

But these elements, while obviously important to the framework of the story, aren’t really what make up the true meat of the novel.  Instead, the stories are deeply emotional profiles of the various players as individuals, with each vignette opening with their name and job title, along with a subtly prophetic headline that describes the current character as well as it does the current event.  Each story is a snapshot of a life, weaving in and out of the other lives in the book, and showing us each person’s weaknesses, wants, motivations, idiosyncrasies, hilarious foibles, and aching tragedies.

To say anything more about this book would, I think, strip some of the magic out of your reading experience — part of the pleasure lies in the discovery of the nature of each character, hunting for clues about the time line (oh, still using typewriters in this one; aha, dude has a Blackberry in this one), and figuring out the intricate ways in which the stories connect with each other.

Sharply written and both hilarious and sad — sometimes simultaneously — the moment I was done with this book, I immediately flipped back through to reread some of my favorite passages a few more times apiece.  They were that beguiling.  That moving.  That clever.  Rachman clearly loved being a newspaperman; here’s hoping he loves writing his second book as much as he obviously loved writing this one.

Pure perfection — I could not recommend this book more highly (and damn, that’s two brilliant books in a row for me — I’m on a roll!).

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