50x3: Say Anything (J-2)

Well, I have been very bad in posting these reviews - again. I watched this quite awhile ago and am just now finally getting to it.

Anyway, Say Anything is a movie I had never seen before, but is also sort of a cheat because this movie is pretty much iconic - and even though I had never seen it I did know pretty much the entire plot.

Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) is an average student with an above-average crush. He has feelings for the valedictorian of his school, and even though he has never spoken to her, decides that he is going to ask her out.

Diane Court (Ione Skye) was selected for a fellowship to study in England. She is a very smart girl, but does not have the greatest experience in social environments. Lloyd gives her a call to attend a party for their graduation - and feeling she should experience it she accepts.

Diane actually really enjoys her time with Lloyd and they begin a relationship. Diane's father, Jim (John Mahoney), is a nursing home owner and is also very overprotective if his daughter.

When he finds out that Diane is dating Lloyd he disapproves because he is such an underachiever and that he may drag his daughter down.

Jim, though, has his own problems as he goes under investigation by the IRS for tax violations at his nursing home. Diane feels she should be with her father, and eventually breaks up with Lloyd - offering him a pen as a consolation present.

As I said, I knew the movie pretty much all the way through - but it was finally nice it.

It's funny that I thought Jeremy Piven's character would have been in the movie much more - his character was absolutely crazy and hilarious. John Cusack pretty much plays the same character in all of his movies - and his sister, Joan, always seems to be his conscience.

Overall, a decent film. Pretty dated, but still glad I watched it.

Grade:

7/50x2: Smokin' Aces

I first wanted to see this film when it was in theaters. There was just something about the trailer that drew me in, perhaps it was that it starred a bunch of well-known actors, or because it looked like an action film on steroids. Either way, I wasn't able to check it out in the theaters. Then, I waited patiently for it to come via Netflix - and the disc wouldn't play in my player.

So, almost five years later I finally got see Smokin' Aces. And although it was a decent flick, it wasn't something I needed to wait five years to see.

Buddy 'Aces' Israel (Jeremy Piven) is a magician in Vegas, but also has his webs inside the mob somehow - which has made him filthy rich.

Well, in order to save his own ass he has agreed to turn over evidence against the mob - which makes him the No. 1 target for Primo Sparazza - so the FBI, believing Sparazza will go after Israel - use him to bring the entire operation down.

But, there is a huge hit out on Israel and every hit man (and woman) in the Vegas area are out to collect on the hit and take down Israel.

So, here is a bit of a rundown of those targeting Israel. Lazlo Soot (Tommy Flanagan), a master of disguise. Sharice Watters (Taraji P. Henson) and Georgia Sykes (Alicia Keys), a team of hitwomen, Pasquale Acosta (Nestor Carbonell) a torture expert, and the Tremor brothers, Darwin (Chris Pine), Jeeves (Kevin Durand) and Lester (Maury Sterling).

Oh, and a trio of bail bondsman, Jack (Ben Affleck), Pete (Peter Berg) and Hollis (Martin Henderson), who have been hired to bring Israel back into custody.

And finally, he is being protected by the FBI team of Stanley Locke (Andy Garcia), Richard (Ryan Reynolds) and Donald (Ray Liotta).

Talk about a bunch of heavy-hitters. And not to ruin anything, but a lot of the names above have a brief cameo or very little screen time at all.

The best part of this film has to be the Tremor brothers. They are insane and truly funny. Plus, I liked the relationship between Reynolds and Liotta, very father, son like.

There was at on of action, which I liked - but it wasn't an amazing film. It was just a decent, fun watch.

Grade:

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard

Let me first start off by saying that this film should have been WAY better than it turned out being.

For starters, they roped in a ton of great comedic actors and oddball types from television and film. And, for the most part, most of the ideas in the film are pretty good - they just didn't seem to follow through with the funny, which was disappointing.

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard is about a group of sniper salesman (my term) who are hired to come into an auto dealership and basically sell the place out. This is what they specialize in. The leader of the group is Entourage's Jeremy Piven, who plays Don Ready. In Ready's entourage are Jibby Newsome (Ving Rhames), Brent Gage (David Koechner) and Babs Merrick (Kathryn Hahn).

Ready is brought in by Ben Selleck (James Brolin), owner of the auto dealership over the Fourth of July weekend to sell each and every car on his lot. If Selleck is unable to sell these cars a rival salesman, Stu Harding (Alan Thicke) and his son, Paxton (Ed Helms) will take over the dealership. Another tossout, Helms' character just happens to be engaged to Selleck's daughter, Ivy (Jordana Spiro).

Like I said, a pretty bankable cast already with the funny and I haven't even mentioned that Tony Hale and Ken Jeong are part of Selleck's sales team. Or that Craig Robinson is brought in as the events disc jockey.

The premise seems great and a lot of the small things going on in the film can be funny, like Helms aspiration to become a hit boyband group, but while in his 30s. Or that Babs is really trying to score with Ivy's brother, Peter (Rob Riggle) despite the fact that he is a 10-year old with a pituitary issue.

Overall, I laughed a few times, but I have to admit I was hoping for more with the cast that was assembled. Sure, there were no A-list quality comedians in the bunch, but with the amount of second banana characters in the group it still could have been much more than it was.

Grade:

Entourage

I am not even sure how it happened. For the longest time I never even had any of the HBO or Showtime channels. But, I kept hearing about this hilarious show in HBO - and I so wanted to check it out. It had everything in a show that could keep me entertained.

Well, I finally was able to watch the first season a few years ago - and I was immediately hooked. I became an Entourage fan.

The fifth season (I believe it is the fifth) started last Sunday and already I am immediately into it. My wife always seems to make the comment, "What? It's over already" after every show. And you know what, it's true - you never feel satisfied, you are always wanting more.

The show's dynamic is pretty simple. A young, talented actor makes it big in Hollywood and two of his friends, and step-brother tag along and ride on his coat tails.

Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) is the character the show revolves around, although I wouldn't actually call him the star of the show.

Eric Murphy (Kevin Connolly) is Vince's best friend, and as the show has progressed, is now his manager and has a startup managing company. He is basically the brains behind Vince's talent.

Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) is Vince's driver and gopher for the most part. Although he did have a small side job as a rapper's manager.

Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon) is Vince's step brother, who years before was a star of a television show Viking Quest. At the start he basically relied on Vince to get him back in the game - but now has another hit show Five Towns.

Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) is Vince's agent. His character is one of the funniest on the show, especially with his one liners and interaction with his assistant Lloyd (Rex Lee).

The premise of the show has shown the ups-and-downs of Chase's film career as he became an overnight success, to an indie favorite, to a huge superhero, to where he is now: a failure.

Thanks to the craptastic Meddellin Vince finds himself on the outside looking in, as he is unable to get an A-list offer from anyone.

It's cool to see the behind-the-scenes struggle for an actor, instead of just the high times. Plus, seeing the rest of the friends have a little success and actually help take care of Vince is a nice reversal. This season is only two episodes in and I am very excited for the outcome.

It will be nice to see Vince plow through this down swing and bring himself back into the mainstream. It's also cool to see the emergence of Eric as a full-fledged manager.

If you haven't seen this show, I suggest checking it out. But make sure to start with season one. I know I would be a little lost without having seen all of the episodes. Some of them are a little less awesome than others, but I guarantee at least a few laugh out loud moments in each episode. Especially with Ari and Lloyd or Turtle and Drama - they all have great chemistry.