I know what you are thinking. Here goes Buffa on a remembrance prose sprint for a deceased actor. I get that but it won’t stop me. Every time an actor dies that I grew up watching, I feel saddened by it. Why go against how you feel if it may make others annoyed? That wasn’t the way I was raised or would like to think of myself in the writing world.  I remember seeing Good Will Hunting with my dad and being moved to tears by it. Other films, like Hook, Jumanji, Dead Poets Society, and Good Morning Vietnam, were also memorable and enlightening. Mrs. Doubtfire was a one man show. When he wasn’t performing on screen or stage, Williams had a different battle. He fought depression his whole life. It was a fight he lost on Monday. In case you missed it, here is an article I wrote Tuesday night on Williams.

Robin Williams had a gift as an actor and performer. He could make you laugh one moment and cry the next. He won an Oscar for playing a therapist in Good Will Hunting. He warmed hearts in comedies like Mrs. Doubtfire. He put on edge with his work in One Hour Photo and Insomnia, where he played demented killers or men detached from reality. In Good Morning Vietnam and Dead Poets Society, Williams combined his abilities of heartbreak, despair and energy to bolster two memorable films to legendary status.

On Monday right around noon, authorities in Marin County, California, found Williams dead in his home. He hung himself with a belt and died via asphyxiation. Williams battled severe depression for many years and had it contained for the last 20. In July, he suffered a relapse and went into rehab to hamper the pain. Apparently, his efforts weren’t enough and the disease got the best of him today. Depression is a hard affliction to explain. The warning signs are hard to detect and the severity can elevate for any given person. Comedian Richard Jeni committed suicide a few years ago. Williams was 63 years old. He truly connected with audiences throughout his career and this passing hit a lot of people hard, including myself. (more…)

As my good friend and fellow Film Addict Chris McHugh put it, Paul Walker went out of this world “2 Fast, 2 Furious”. He was young, good looking and had a good film career going. Whether you like the insane child like energy of the Fast & Furious films, you had to appreciate their appeal and how they fit into the summer action genre. Walker was born into that franchise in 2000 with Vin Diesel. They became friends, brothers and grew up in the film business together. Before he died last November, Walker made a small independent film called Hours that flipped everything movie fans thought they knew about Walker. I had a chance to watch this movie recently. While my original review posted on film-addict, here it is.

Movie-Hours

Rating-PG-13

Running Time-97 minutes

Written and Directed by Eric Heisserer

Cast-Paul Walker and Genesis Rodriguez

Plot-Stuck in a hospital without power on the day Hurricane Katrina strikes, a father must do whatever it takes to keep his infant daughter alive.

My Take-Before his untimely death, Paul Walker was known as an action star who didn’t mind giving the bulk of the spotlight to his co-stars. Whether it was the Rock or Vin Diesel in The Fast & Furious films or Idris Elba in Takers, Walker didn’t mind the spotlight but he wasn’t keen on standing in the middle of it. In Hours, a film released two weeks after his passing last November, Walker carries the movie on his shoulders alone. Take away a few flashback scenes with Genesis Rodriguez, and the rest of the film is Walker struggling to keep his daughter alive as a massive storm hits New Orleans. Hours is an actor’s showcase, and a film that sits next to Castaway in the sense that it’s one actor for the entire running time trying to do one thing. Survive. Walker isn’t just good in this role. He shows you a completely different side of his acting repertoire and reopens that wound of sadness that an actor was lost way too soon. (more…)

Briefing-A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier.  They reach a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earth’s dominant species.

My Take-Talk about a complete film in a lukewarm summer season. Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes is truly electrifying cinema and delivers on the promise of the original, Rise of The Planet of the Apes. This sequel delivers storytelling, action, age old morals and high wire thrilling filmmaking from director Matt Reeves.

I think it would primitive to go ahead and hand an Oscar of some kind to Andy Serkis for his amazing motion capture work as the leader of the apes, Caesar. Look, it’s not as easy as stepping into a green room with a tight speedo outfit on and creating emotion. You have to make it look great and connect all the dots of a character that won’t be finished and fully realized for months after your work is over. Serkis brings Caesar to life through movement, memorable facial expressions and a deep voice that will command your attention when you hear it.

The cast is aces across the deck. I remember the fantastic Jason Clarke from Showtime’s brilliant series Brotherhood, but many will recognize him from Zero Dark Thirty. He plays the everyman here to has to work with the Caesar in bringing order back to the world. Keri Russell is co-starring on the FX hit The Americans right now but she is strong and believable here as the doctor and wife of Clarke’s scientist/researcher. Gary Oldman is the tireless emotionally fried military honcho desperate to end the suffering for his country. After the events of the first film, a virus was unleashed on the human race and much of the population across the world has been wiped out. Women, kids, and families. Before we are quick to label Oldman’s old lion a fatalist, you will respect his reasons and grow a bit closer to him. Reeves and the screenwriting team(Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver) do a great job of developing every character and making you feel for them in the 130 minute running time. There’s something unique about a summer action film that dares to be provocative and not just deliver the thrills and leave us alone.

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I like Chris Hemsworth and think the Thor character he portrays is an entertaining one. The man was born to play the part. Chalk him up on the list of men I will say in public is good looking and I had a gun to my head I would smooch to be set free. Hemsworth is a talented actor who slums it as this rather stoic blank slate hero who hopelessly defends his planet, Asgard, and romances Natalie Portman. There could be greater troubles in real life than this man has in these movies.

Here’s the problem. I find the bad guy or bad brother, Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, a lot more interesting than I do Hemsworth’s hulky Thor. It’s not a matter of who is the better actor. It is a matter of the better part and how it’s written. Loki is cool, sly, funny, and cunning. Hiddleston acts the shit out of the part and has fun. Hemsworth is stoic, strong, and lacks a second facial expression. The best parts for Thor are when he smiles like David Ortiz does after a walk off home run after smashing a large monster made out of stone. It’s cool and show a different side to this very serious hero. It’s too bad they happen once or twice a film.

Anthony Hopkins and Rene Russo are back as the mom and pop of this Asgard operation. Idris Elba has one real face to face scene as a noble warrior but otherwise looks funny in a big costume and helmet. Portman is the damsel in distress and Kat Dennings is her sidekick friend who puckers her lips for the entire film.

Thor: The Dark World or as I call it, Thor 2, is just okay. It’s entertaining and funny at times, but it never comes close to the sheer coolness of the Iron Man films or the depth of the Captain America stories. Alan Taylor(known for directing many episodes of The Sopranos) tackled the sequel after Kenneth Branagh handed off the duties from the first film in 2011. While The Dark World is better than that dull fish out of water ride, the end result is still less than appetizing.

This movie is like a chewy steak that looked great on the menu. Colorful characters. Action. Big muscle bound beach blonde lock hair carrying dudes  and bad people trying to steal the world all in one movie and it’s Marvel! Once I cleared my plate, I basically shuck my head and left.

Thor is better off sharing a part of the Avengers movies. Like the Incredible Hulk, they haven’t figured out a way for an entire movie to be complete and great yet. There isn’t enough depth to the character of Thor and I find myself wanting more Loki and less stoic bland blonde Conan. Sorry ladies. It’s all eye candy here.

This was worth the 1.67 at the Redbox near you but it won’t be a film I highly recommend. Save for the final scene of the movie and maybe the bonus credits sequence, it’s kind of forgettable.

Briefing-An acclaimed writer, his ex-wife, and their teenaged children come to terms with the complexities of love in all its forms over the course of one tumultuous year.

Starring Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Connelly, Lily Collins, Nat Wolff, Kristin Bell, Liana Liberato and Logan Lermann.

Written and Directed by Josh Boone

My Take-This movie snuck up on me and knocked me on my ass. When you go searching into the depths of Netflix on a quiet Friday night, a wondrous cinematic experience isn’t on the docket. You are trying to find something to pick up you interest and hold it for a couple hours before you drift away. Stuck in Love floored me and did so because it was sharp and to the point, carried a great cast and a special script.

A movie about writers struggling to figure out the complexities of life and how it’s harder to convert a real moment with a girl in front of you than it is to write about it on a computer. Greg Kinnear is the accomplished novelist who is divorced from his wife and quietly reeling from the split. He spends his days moping around in his robe in a beautiful house off the coast and having guilty pleasure sex with a neighbor. His daughter is getting published for the first time yet stays as far away from true love as possible. The son is figuring how to talk to a girl that makes him hurt inside while searching for his own story. The instant you see these characters, you are convinced they’ve spent their lives together. That’s hard to find movie magic. Kinnear, Collins, and Wolff are excellent here as a complex, disconnected yet passionate family reeling from a few unfortunate events.

Josh Boone directed this film in 2012 from his own script before he was anointed the honor of adapting The Fault In Our Stars(along with Wolff) this summer. Boone seems to have framed the Kinnear character around himself, because famous novelist Raymond Carver is referenced and there are certain lines and moments in the film that seem true to life. The way a Thanksgiving turkey is made. The awkwardness of talking to your ex-wife who hasn’t let go of your heart yet. Connelly is so underappreciated in Hollywood and doesn’t work enough. She can play conflicted emotion with little effort and she’s great here as a mother who can’t reach his kids anymore due to the separation. Collins and Wolff are exceptional in roles that seem one note at first glance yet seem to develop as the running time climbs. Logan Lerman(Perks of Being a Wallflower) is very good in a smaller role as a fellow writer who makes a run for Collins.

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Ladies, eat your damn heart out! The Fifty Shades of Grey trailer is here and only gives a hint of the freaky naughty activity that will going on inside this film. Husbands and boyfriends across the world, think of this as a field trip without the name tags. You will accompany your wife to the film, and for once, won’t be subjected to boring melodrama that exists in the standard romantic dramas. This isn’t Nicholas Sparks. This is Real Sex Meets Pretty Woman with extra nudity. Let me run over the plot very quickly.

Innocent young bookworm Annabelle Steele(Dakota Johnson) meets Christian Grey(Jamie Dornan) and before you can check your watch, an attraction is built and manifested between the two people. She looks into those dreamy eyes and has no idea a certain brand of freak lies behind them. They have lots of sex. Talk a bit. Have more sex. Parents and siblings come into play. They probably have more sex after that. There is no distraction. If director Sam Taylor Johnson is smart she will stick to the sex and don’t disappoint in that area. I don’t mean to sound crude, but fans of the book didn’t read this thing for the intimate lovely fairy tale. They escaped to it for the erotic nature of the content. Anybody can write a boring sex novel about a playboy who toys around with a sweet young girl but very few can turn this story into something that sells 100 MILLION COPIES IN STORES!

Dornan and Johnson are relatively new and will be good for the roles because all you will associate them with is Annabelle and Christian. There is no need for Henry Cavill because he is superman. There is no need for Emilia Clarke because she is Queen of Dragons. In order to fully digest this wicked sex drama, all bets must be off once you enter the theater.

Expectations for this film have to be modest. Fans of the book must know that filmmakers can only go so far before they abandon the casual moviegoer. Money must be made if the rest of the series is to see the light of day at the cinema so don’t be disappointed if a few anal sex scenes and extreme parts of the book are left up to the imagination. I do see a hard R rating coming on here but nothing more than that. Fans of the book probably wished the film was made in Europe by an indie filmmaker who could go all out and show everything. That is not the case.

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There’s a scene during Tammy, where Melissa McCarthy screw up lost soul tells her grandma(Susan Sarandon, slumming in the movie ghetto here) that she can sleep with anyone in the restaurant. We all know she can’t and she fails miserably on his first try. Less than 10 minutes later, when nice guy Mark Duplass comes along, suddenly, Tammy says its best to not rush into things. That’s the fast forward too quick to think character development going on in this movie. It’s terrible. Skip it.

What’s the problem with this movie? A lot but let’s start with McCarthy. Ever since she stole Bridesmaids with her fat disgusting branded humor, she has played the same exact character in every movie. Tweaked a bit here and there but the same annoying lovable loser type who is supposed to steal our hearts in the end. Unless you pair her with other more talented actresses, she basically flops. Remember last year’s Identity Theft with Jason Bateman. She is playing the same person in Tammy, a movie that isn’t funny, edgy or even halfway enjoyable.

The strokes of Ben Falcone’s script(written with McCarthy) are so broad and predictable that you’d rather have an ice cream cone dumped on your head than sit through the meandering cliched recycled plot. There’s nothing new here or engaging enough. With the summer heat in full swing outside, I thought for a second about going outside and running in circles while screaming the number of reasons people shouldn’t see this movie. It’s bad. Very bad.I wouldn’t report it for spam, but I wouldn’t recommend it to a kid.

Sarandon tries to play a dirty old cool grandma but the dialogue doesn’t do her enough good for having so many scenes. It gets very tired very quick. Kathy Bates shows up for a handful of scenes, nails a poorly written speech and even she can’t redeem this flick. Toni Collette is wasted in a two bit role. Dan Aykroyd shows up for a scene and looks like he just walked onto the set as a last second hail mary plot device. Gary Cole and Allison Janney also have fleeting meaningless roles. Nothing works in this film and it’s hard to watch.

I have never been a fan of McCarthy but the preview made me think this one could be different. McCarthy was so good back in the day when she played the best friend of Lauren Graham’s lead character on Gilmore Girls. She mixed drama, sass and a fine dose of comedy into a very enjoyable role that went down like candy. These days, she is happy to hack up scripts doing the same pratfall fat jokes that should have been retired years ago.

Tammy isn’t edgy enough to redeem it’s tired premise and the heartwarming finale rings as false as anything I have seen in a resolution this entire year at the movies.

I left wanting to know which movie I would see again if I had a gun to my head and my life on the line. Transformers: Age of Extinction or this pile of junk? Is it really bad that I would probably choose the one that’s 75 minutes longer than the other? You bet.

Tammy is terrible. Don’t see it. Don’t even rent it. Just pay me the compliment of convincing you it may not exist.