Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

I have a question - when did Matthew McConaughey decide to strictly do these romantic comedies?

I mean, he has some quality films in his resume - namely Dazed & Confused and A Time to Kill - not to mention a lesser known film Frailty. But, for every one of those films he makes there seems to be at least three romantic comedies. Is it the southern drawl that brings the ladies in?

Anyway, here he is again in the film Ghosts of Girlfriends Past - which is an updated and modified version of A Christmas Carol.

McConaughey stars as Connor Mead, a high-profile photographer who has become a womanizer and basically modeled his entire existence after his Uncle Wayne (Michael Douglas).

Mead heads back to his uncle's old house as his younger brother, Paul (Breckin Meyer) is getting married to Sandra (Lacey Chabert). One of Sandra's bridesmaids just so happens to be a woman that Mead dated and left - and was also his best friend as a child - Jenny (Jennifer Garner).

As he begins to get those old feelings again for Jenny, he is visited by three separate ghosts a la Ebenezer Scrooge.

For me, it was the ghosts that truly made this film passable. They were extremely funny - especially the ghost of girls past, Allison (Emma Stone). Allison was Mead's first conquest back in high school.

Of course, the rest of the film is rather predictable as we see into Mead's past to find out why exactly he became the way he did. And, is it possible that he can change just like Scrooge did in A Christmas Carol?

Again, most of these films - in different ways - almost always end up telling the same story, so nothing should be a surprise when the ending comes. However, some do end up telling the story in a good way - and like I said, the ghosts definitely made this film somewhat enjoyable, but without them it probably wouldn't have gotten as high of a grade (and no the grade was not planned).

Grade:

LWITM: Angels in the Outfield

Every so often when I am strapped for something to write about, I like to dive deep into an older movie, perhaps one someone has seen in awhile, and see just how many talented actors were in that movie.

Perhaps some of these actors just had a bit part in this movie, it was before they hit it big. So, I have come up with the LWITM (Look Who's In That Movie) Series.

This is my fifth entry, and this time I have chosen the Disney film Angels in the Outfield.

The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt of Third Rock From the Sun fame. Gordon-Levitt has become a pretty large star as of late, and been in some pretty high-praised films. In this movie, he is known as Roger, a foster child who was told by his father that they will be together again when the lowly Angels win the baseball pennant.

So, Roger prays for the Angels to win so he and his father can be reunited.

Along comes 'AL' (played by Christopher Lloyd) to help things along. And all heck breaks loose, as the Angels begin to play well thanks to a little help from a handful of angels.

Also starring in the film is Danny Glover as the Angels' manager George Knox and Brenda Fricker is Roger's foster mother Maggie.

The team, however, is where a lot of now-famous actors are hidden. The most notable at the time was Tony Danza, who starred as a washed-up pitcher named Mel Clark, who gets rejuvenated and helps lead the Angels to the title.

But, if you look deeper you'll also see Ben Williams in center field being played by Matthew McConaughey. Utility infielder Danny Hemmerling, just so happens to be future Oscar winner Adrien Brody. William Bass, another pitcher on the team, is talented actor Neal McDonough. Not as well known, but seen in a lot of movies/television shows is catcher Triscuitt Messmer, played by Tony Longo.

In a very brief part is Dermot Mulroney, who plays Roger's father. Another actor who is seen in a lot of different parts through movies and television is Taylor Negron, who plays David Montagne, Knox's assistant. Finally, Ranch Wilder, the voice of the Angels, is played by Jay O. Johnson.

It's pretty amazing to see now, especially the McConaughey, Brody and McDonough parts. Neither of the parts in the movie was really a large part, in fact out of the three, McDonough probably had the larger roll - and it is so different then the parts he is playing now.

Well, there you have it the fifth installment of LWITM. Hope you enjoyed it.

Two Decent Flicks

It had been quite awhile since I have actually been able to watch a movie. The summer months have actually made my weekends pretty busy, and this past weekend might have been my last free one for awhile.

I have also been catching up on the Weeds' seasons, and have just finished Season 3. I am caught up, except for the two episodes that I have missed this season so far.

Anyway, my wife and I watched a pair of movies this weekend - the first of which was the Matthew McConaughey-Kate Hudson flick, Fool's Gold. I must admit, that whenever I go into these romantic comedy movies my standards are set pretty low. They appear to be basically the same story re-written in a bit of a different way.

I am, however, a McConaughey fan, and Hudson is nothing terrible to look at.

This movie is actually more of a treasure hunt-type film than it is a love story (although there is a bit of that going on as well). It's nothing like National Treasure or any other find the clue movies, but it was pretty decent. It was also nice to see Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) in a movie, although with a weird Jamaican accent.

The movie had some fun action moments, some decent humor and a lot of gratuitous McConaughey shirtless scenes for the ladies - although in my wives' words 'he doesn't wear deodorant', so I guess he has lost some pizazz with her. The shirtless McConaughey shots more than outnumber the Hudson bikini shots (which I believe is only one).

Grade:

The second film we watched was Bee Movie, the Jerry Seinfeld-driven cartoon movie.

The film also stars the voice characters of Matthew Broderick, Renee Zellweger, Patrick Warburton, John Goodman, Chris Rock and others.

Barry (Seinfeld) is a bee who has just graduated into the workforce. On a tour the day before he is supposed to start he finds out that once you pick a job that you are there for the rest of your life, until you die.

Barry decides that he wants to see the world first - and heads out to discover the world. One of the main bee rules is to never talk to humans, but after Vanessa (Zellweger) saves his life, he thanks her - and forms an odd friendship.

Through his visits with her, they go grocery shopping and Barry finds out that the humans are stealing the bee's honey. He tracks down the source of the honey and discovers that bees are being held against their will to make honey for the humans.

So, Barry sues the human race - and ultimately wins the case, forcing humans to stop using the bee's honey. But, because of this decision the world itself (including the bee's world) changes and it's up to Barry to restore the nature of things before it's too late.

The movie was pretty good, nowhere near Shrek or Toy Story quality, but good in itself. I found myself laughing out loud on a few occasions during the film. As for re-watchability, I wouldn't say it was good enough to watch over and over, but possibly a once a year watch.

Grade:

Dazed & Confused

It's been a few weeks now, but I was surprised one day by wife heading into the back room to find a movie for us to watch together, only to bring out one of my favorite movies of all-time: Dazed & Confused.

Now I admit, the first few (possibly 10) times I viewed this movie was at a party with my classmates. But, over time, it has truly grown on me.

The move takes place in 1976, the last day of school for a bunch of junior about to turn seniors - and also those eighth graders about to make the jump into high school.

Dazed is one of those movies that you love to throw in only to see the star power. A handful of actors in this movie, who were not well known at the time, are not huge Hollywood stars.
Matthew McConaughey is probably the most well-known actor in the movie. His portrayal as Wooderson is a classic. Wooderson is the high school graduate who has never really moved on. He still hangs out with those in high school, and even tries to hook up with the high school girls. -"That's what I love about these high school girls. I get older, they stay the same age."

O'Bannion is a high school senior, who absolutely loves to haze the new crop of freshman. He loves it so much, in fact, that he flunks his senior year - and gets to be the bad ass two years in a row. He is played by Ben Affleck.

Other notable stars, not as well known, are Parker Posey (Best In Show), Jason London (Out Cold), Rory Cochrane (CSI:Miami), Joey Lauren Adams (Big Daddy), Adam Goldberg (Saving Private Ryan) and Milla Jovovich (Resident Evil).

Dazed is in one of my top: Can Watch Anytime, Wherever It Is movies. Meaning that you accidentally stumble across it on TNT some night, and it's half way through, you would still finish it. But, that's another blog.

If you have not seen this movie, or you haven't in awhile, might be time to throw it in the DVD player. It was certainly a present surprise for me, it had been too long.

"Look at the blood stains." - Slater.