ROCK OF AGES by Pamela Powell

ROCK OF AGES is an all-star musical on the silver screen adapted from the stage production of the same name.   Starring Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Paul Giamatti, Rock of Ages retells the familiar story of the small town country bumpkin finding her way to Hollywood to make it big as a singer.  There are plenty of side stories of various relationships and struggles that occur at the infamous lounge called The Bourbon Room.  This movie is loaded with songs from the 80's and performed by this all-star cast.

The music from the movie was great as it took me back to my college years; ok maybe I was in grad school by then, but it was still fun to hear!  And the hair styles, the make up and fashion brought me back in time as well.  However, I think I will be haunted for a while by the fact that one of the "church ladies" was wearing a flower and lace dress that I wore in 1986!

Alec Baldwin plays Dennis Dupree, the long-time owner of The Bourbon Room on Sunset Strip.  He is close to closing his doors on the place due to unpaid taxes.  (This reminds me a bit of Burlesque!)  His only hope is the return performance of the rock 'n roll idol Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise).  We watch as all the characters intermix and their stories intertwine.  Patricia Whitmore (Catherine Zeta-Jones) tries to fight Dupree and rock 'n roll.  No movie or story is complete without a love story or two or three.  One of these might even shock you!  But don't get too caught up in any one story line because it quickly cuts to another scene or another song.  I was amazed at how many songs they could throw into each scene.  The dialogue between characters was choppy, cliche and sappy.  Even Russell Brand's signature style of humor as the assistant at the club, Lonny, doesn't help as the pacing is somehow off between him and Baldwin.  

I think this stage production should have been left on the stage.  It just didn't translate to the silver screen.  This was a run of the mill story made for over $70 million!  Was editing at fault?  Perhaps as I would have ended it LONG before the film editor did!  I think the story has been done over and over again which is fine for a live performance on stage, but not just a year and a half after Burlesque hit the theaters.  I think one of the most disappointing aspects to this movie is that I really love a few of the actors.  Paul Giamatti has never disappointed me from Sideways to Win Win and Barney's Version.  (I'm overlooking his role in The Hangover Part II.)  Then there is Alec Baldwin whose dead pan humor makes me laugh out loud in 30 Rock.  Such a disappointment as I found myself wishing I could look at my phone to see how many more of the 123 minutes were left.

I've had enough of musicals on screen from Mama Mia, Burlesque, Country Strong, and Chicago.  However,  I really loved Chicago and hope to see it at the Egyptian Theater, live on stage in Park City this summer!  Keep them that way to really enjoy.  If you do choose to see the movie, you will be amazed by the pole dancers.  Yes, I have a new appreciation for the "art" of pole dancing.  You truly have to be strong!  Seriously!

4 Reels....SKIP IT!
 

JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME by Pamela Powell

JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME will be released on June 19 so you can see it on VOD  or you can actually get into your car and drive to your nearest video store to rent it on DVD.  This movie never made it to a wide release and I base the term "wide release" on whether or not it made it to the sub- suburb of Chicago called Kankakee, so now is your chance to view this entertaining film.

JEFF (as I will now call it to abbreviate it), starring Jason Segel, Ed Helms and Susan Sarandon starts with a bong.  No, that's not a misspelled "bang."  It's a bong.  Jeff is the 30 year old son of Sharon, played by Susan Sarandon and Jeff lives in her basement.  The words "total slacker" don't do justice to Segel's character.  He lives his life based on the movie SIGNS with Mel Gibson and Abigail Breslin.  Jeff's older brother Pat, played by Ed Helms, has his own set of problems but is supposedly the "more together" brother.  However, we soon learn that Pat's marriage is on the rocks and Jeff is begrudgingly involved with helping his brother find out if Pat's wife is having an affair.  Meanwhile, Jeff just wants to follow "the signs" he is given to find Kevin.  Will he find Kevin?  Just who is Kevin?  JEFF is a fun roller coaster ride of relationships and responsibilities.  

Given the other movies that Ed Helms and Jason Segel have been in, I expected more of the raunchy and childish humor.  This wasn't the case.  The dialogue and reactions were so realistic in every interaction that I felt like I was peeking in on a real situation.  The conversations between mother and son were complete deja vu!  I KNOW I have had the same phone conversations with my son.  Yes, I will admit that I too, like Susan Sarandon's character, have nagged my son to complete a project over the phone and no matter how much yelling I have just completed, I always ended my phone call with an "I love you."  She did as well...softly and reticently, but still did it!  I am, however, hoping that I am not still doing that when my son is 30!    

I was lucky enough to screen this movie at the Chicago International Film Festival last October where one of the directors, Jay Duplass explained some very interesting details of the movie.  He said that he filmed the movie in a "naturalism documentary way."  Also there was no script!  With no script, the actors were placed in a scene, told the general idea of that scene and then they filmed!  Sometimes, the actors were told individually and secretly what their role was and had no idea with the other actors were going to say!  This created the "real" environment of conversation and dialogue.  Genuine reactions and expressions were captured on film.  In fact, to make it even more authentic, there was only one camera and one sound guy in the filming area so that the actors could react and resond as you would in a real situation without the interference of 40 crew members checking make up.

This 83 minute movie, which is apparently the gold standard for a movie duration took 9 months to shoot with an unbelievable amount of editing.  83 minutes...that explains the fact that my Adult Onset Attention Deficit Disorder kicking in at 84 minutes!

Be sure to rent this DVD or stream it to your home screen.  After learning how the film was made, you can appreciate it even more!

8 Reels

FAVORITE VOD,DVD, AND RENTALS! by Pamela Powell

I've put together a list of all my more recent viewings of DVDs and VODs.  Take a look and see some of the movies that are truly well-done, but not highly publicized.  E-mail me YOUR favorite movies available to view at home!  Go to the link below to see the list...

www.reelhonestreviews.com

EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR By Pamela Powell

Theatre Seven of Chicago presented EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR on Tuesday, June 7th.  Written by Lauren Gunderson and directed by Cassy Sanders, this production featured a small ensemble of actors, but the performance was nothing shy of enormous!  The main role of Nan Carter played by Tracey Kaplan, was supported by her fellow actors Ryan Hallahan (Kyle Carter, the husband), Ryan Lanning (her gay best friend and cheerleader Simon Beaufort) and Elizabeth Hope Williams (her newly found best girl friend and stripper extraordinaire Sweetheart aka Peaches).  Described as a revenge comedy, Nan has duct taped her husband to a swivel chair reinacting her not-so-happy marriage with the help of her friends Sweetheart and Simon.  I had to see this play that, in the synopsis, stated that we would watch “the simple joy of tying a dickhead to the living room chair.”  Sounds like a perfect Girls’ Night Out!

As I entered the theater, I took in the ambiance of the set before me.  I couldn’t help but notice the man duct taped to the tacky swivel chair apparently passed out.  OK.  You’ve got MY attention! EXIT took place in rural (super-rural) Georgia.  The house set could have been out of anywhere in the back hills of the US, but the perfect southern accents hammered home the locale.  Introductions to each character took place in very creative ways so the audience understood each person’s relationship and perspective.  Poor Nan has been not just verbally abused, but physically abused all of her 7 years of married life.  Nan has knocked out her husband with a frying pan and then duct taped him to the chair.  This was completely planned out as she and her friends have written out a script to act out the last 7 years of Nan and Kyle’s life together.  Their audience?  The captive Kyle.  Sweetheart, the stripper and wannabe Shakespearean actress, and Simon, her best friend and gay cheerleader, have memorized their parts and with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, acted out Kyle’s behavior.  How is it possible to take such a serious and sad topic like spousal abuse, address the issues tastefully, and still make it really funny?  EXIT did just that.  That’s not to say there weren’t some serious parts to it.  There definitely were.  But not enough to drag you down while watching it.  Just enough to help you learn and understand.

The humor with the dialect was somewhat campy and at times, over-the-top, but not in a bad way!  I found myself laughing out loud, much to the chagrin of the gentleman next to me.  This well-written play took you through various highlights and lowlights, if you will, of Nan and Kyle’s marriage.  Through these snippets, you gained understanding into why so many women stay in marriages like this.  It’s tough to leave.  It takes courage and support which is where her two quirky friends came into play.  They both loved Nan and wanted desperately for her to leave.  These two definitely had their own issues, but they did not let it overshadow their friend’s immediate needs.  

With the common thread of Jimmy Carter quotes sewn throughout the entire comedy, Nan, Kyle, Sweetheart, and Simon all learned life lessons, bless their hearts.  There are many lines that are absolute gems, but I won’t tell you as I want you to go see this and hear them for yourself.  A play that (please read with a southern dialect) “I ain’t never in all my born put-togethers” (translation:  I have never in my life) seen the successful combination of humor and depth about a very serious issue.  Let’s face it, we all know someone who is in a marriage that may be verbally and/or physically abusive.  Unfortunately, it’s more common than we want to admit.  Get some friends together and see this well-written, well-directed, well-acted, and well-done show!  You’ll laugh and then you’ll understand.

Go to the following link to get your tickets:

www.theatreseven.org

Or call 773-404-7336

Curtain times are Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2:30 pm

Tickets are $20-$22 in advance and $30 at the door.

There isn't a bad seat in this intimate theater!

PROMETHEUS by Pamela Powell

PROMETHEUS opened after SO much advertising and hoopla that I think I was expecting the second coming.  Trust me, it wasn't.  Let me put it another way, I wasn't blown away nor was I bored; I was something in between.  Prometheus, starring Noomi Rapace (from my favorite version of The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo), Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce and Michael Fassbender, was advertised more than The Hunger Games, believe it or not!  Every magazine had something on its cover about Alien, Ridley Scott, and/or Prometheus.  Hush, hush, secret stuff about is it really a prequel to Alien or is it its own story in its own right.  The marketing department did its job.  I was hooked and I hadn't even seen Alien in its entirety before!

OK, I'm going to get it over with right now.  It took me a good 20 minutes of the movie before I did NOT think about Michael Fassbender in SHAME and focus on his current role as David in Prometheus.  There.  Done.  No more references to SHAME.  Whew!  I was expecting sold out audiences so I purchased my NON-3D ticket ahead of time and ended up sitting with about 10 other people for the movie.  Shouldn't have paid that $1 service charge after all.  That was my first red flag.  I also spent the afternoon watching the original 1979 ALIEN to see all of it for the first time.  Don't even ask me why I hadn't seen it before.  Actually, here's the answer...I was too young when it came out! HA!  Anyway, it's a really good flick!  Relax all you Ridley Scott fans!  I know I have just offended you by referring to it as that, but hey, I'm just an everyday gal watching and reviewing movies.  I did think the special effects for that time were pretty good and I will admit to gasping and jumping in my comfy recliner a few times.    I loved the camera work and how they built suspense visually for an intellectual BOO!  It worked.  It wasn't your typical alien horror flick as it didn't try to capitalize on the gross-out factor, but there were some pretty gross scenes.  That being said, I don't think Prometheus measured up to its parent Alien.  It even had some duplication which in my mind wasn't creative.  And yes, Prometheus is the prequel which makes the original the sequel, but since it was made before the prequel, I'm going to call it the "pre-prequel sequel".

The location of the movie was Iceland as well as the United Kingdom.  They couldn't have found  more fitting locations to portray an inhospitable environment.  In addition, technology has advanced the special effects department tremendously which made this a visually intriguing movie.  As with Snow White and the Huntsman, I was in awe of what I saw on screen.  I'm not going to spoil anything for those of you who will go and see Prometheus so I will leave it at that.

The story answered a few questions left lingering in space from Alien.  It explained the Why's and Who's not known prior to this.  In hindsight, I could have and probably should have watched Prometheus this afternoon and Alien this evening.  Oh, well.  The story is now complete, but to me not wonderfully told.  I saw lots of explosions and chases and there was a major "gross-out" factor that I equate with today's horror flicks.  I would guess that that happened because it could:  special effects allow it.

If you're an Alien or Ridley Scott fan, you're going to see this whether I give it 1 Reel or 10.  If you don't fall into these categories, I would wait for the release of the DVD.  If you feel you must succumb to the over-the-top marketing and go to the theater to see it, you will be entertained.  Just don't expect it to out-do the original.

6.5 Reels

SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN by Pamela Powell

Snow White and the Huntsman, starring Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, and Kristen Stewart opened this weekend with much anticipation.  We've seen a year of super heroes and fairy tales reincarnated and the trend continued with this dark version of Snow White.    I'll be honest, as this is Reel Honest Reviews, I was never into the fairy tales as a kid and I really didn't dress my daughter up in princess outfits too often.  And continuing on my path of never being Mother Of the Year, I only took my daughter to Disney World once.  One time was more than enough.  Fairy tales, a charming prince to rescue you...concepts I didn't learn and didn't teach my daughter.  But, hey, this looked like it had promise with a great cast and a darker not so smarmy Disney type theme.  Even though I don't believe in a handsome prince saving me from "whatever," I might actually swoon if that handsome prince was Chris Hemsworth.  But I digress...

I'm going to start with the positives of this movie.  The special effects and make up (I'm not sure that the two can be separated) were spectacular.  The aging and un-aging of the Wicked Step Mother, Ravenna, (Theron) was unbelievable, or maybe I should say totally believable!  You watched the slow progression of a gorgeous woman transform into an older woman and then into an aged hag and back again.  You saw her become ravens who melted who then became Ravenna again seamlessly.  It was riveting.  The landscape and cinematography was wonderful.  Filmed primarily in the UK, the backdrop made you want to take a back to nature vacation.  It made me think of Lord Of the Rings it was so lush.  I didn't realize that England and Wales could look like that!  My other positive is solely a personal one and that is the performance of Chris Hemsworth.  I really don't think it was a tough role for him as he had to play the macho yet caring protector of Snow White (you do remember the story, don't you?), but ladies, let's face it,  the screen is always better with Chris Hemsworth on it!

The movie followed the main aspects of the traditional Snow White fairy tale, but with some brutal and scary twists.  Snow White's father was murdered by the evil step mother, Ravenna, who then locked up her step daughter for years.  After Snow White escaped, a huntsman was hired to bring her back so that Ravenna could consume the heart of Snow White and Ravenna could be immortal and young.  This had potential, but unfortunately it had no depth.  Yes, Charlize Theron can play a damaged and angry person well as she did in Monster, Young Adult, and now in Snow White.  But this was just a constant state of mind which got old after a while.  I had really hoped that the Dwarves would add some levity and interest to the movie, but alas, Hi Ho Hi Ho Ho Hum!  It didn't happen.  The camera took WAY too much time in looking at their teeth and their make up and their endless stories that did nothing in my mind, but drone on and on.  Yes, the make up was great and how they filmed Ian Mc Shane and others as dwarves still boggles my mind.  As you are watching a movie, you should not be so entranced by the make up that that is your focus and not the story.

Snow White and the Huntsman moved too slowly for me and became dull.  I was thankful for the special effects and for Chris Hemsworth's time on the screen.  The movie, as all movies do, had potential, but to me, it was so focused on how creative it was that it forgot to tell the story.  Just tell the story and tell it well.  The rest will fall into place.  I think that's a version of Robert Redford's mantra for Sundance.  I think he's on to something!

This movie is very dark.  I would not recommend taking young children to it.  Actually, I would not recommend taking anyone to it unless you are in the field of special effects or a make up artist.  Wait for the DVD if you really want to see this.  Do not waste your money in the theater and for goodness sake, don't pay extra for 3D.  Can we stop with the 3D now????

5 REELS/10 (for special effects and make up)

THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL by Pamela Powell

Thank God we are out of the Mediocre Movie Month of May!  THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL did open in May, but has just become available on a wide release so I'm considering it a June movie!  This film has a wonderful, recognizable and reputable cast including Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Maggie Smith, and the now older, but still adorable Dev Patel from SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE.  The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel follows a group of British Retirees to India in search of a variety of goals, but the primary goal is to not feel old.  The Marigold Hotel, according to the brochure, promises just that.  However, you can't always believe everything you read.

Who wants to grow old?  I guess I do because, as my older workout friend always tells me, the alternative isn't very attractive!  Truly, we all fight aging with hair products, facial products, supplements, workout routines, etc.  But the truth is we are all getting older.  We just don't want to admit it.  I know that what I see in the mirror is different than what I feel (I'm still 28, you know!) on the inside.  In the movie, a group of British retirees who initially are strangers to each other, fight a noble fight against aging in a way that would be daunting to most of us.  They don't want to be stuck away in a "bright little flat with an emergency call button in the corner" to use until their dying day.  They are all looking for a way to live life to its fullest.  Each retiree ends up at the dilapidated hotel called the Exotic Marigold in India.


We are introduced to the characters and their reasons for booking their retirement in Jaipur, India.  In all honesty, I was afraid this was going to be a Valentine's Day or New Year's Eve movie which just had superficial snippets of people who were on the screen for a total of 10 minutes.  Thankfully, that wasn't the case.  From the beginning we can see each retiree's personality and watch them as they try to bond with one another or, in some cases, repel.  The characters are all dealt the same hand by being in this run-down hotel with an enthusiastic but scattered young owner/manager.  But with the same hand, they all deal with it differently and it affects them differently.  We watch each of the retirees grow and learn about themselves, and not always for the better, but they do grow.

Let's face it, it would take a huge amount of courage to leave your home of 40 plus years and venture out into a new country whose culture is extremely different and into a land where you don't speak the language.   This overwhelmingly different place, but beautiful in its own right, shows an aspect of India that isn't always conveyed on the screen.  The people were caring and kind, the colors are vivid, and the energy electrifying.  Each person from the widow to the retired judge, see the city of Jaipur a little differently and take from it what they need to not just cope or survive, but to thrive.   They have all ventured out into this new world for a new life of some sort, proving that you're never too old to try new things.

The movie is definitely geared toward the 40+ population.  Although there is a focus on the young Sonny played by Dev Patel and his love interest, the concepts and focus is definitely on the older people and coping with the aging process.  For those of us in our 40's and/or those of us with aging parents, it was an enlightening film.  My father recently died and had always wanted to retire in Panama...the country...and at the age of 86 he never made it there.  I will always regret not supporting him in that decision to go.  Everyone deserves to live the life they want, in the way they want to live it.  And that, I think, is the lesson in this movie.

If you're over 40, go see this movie.  If you have aging parents, go see this movie.  If you live near your parents, take them to see it and treat them to the show.  Buy them popcorn AND candy, for God's sake!  And if they want to move to Germany to experience Octoberfest, then please encourage them to do so!

7.5 Reels/10