alec baldwin – Dose of Buffa

Moviegoers can pass on Diane Lane’s ‘Paris Can Wait’

Cook a big meal and turn on the Food Network instead.

Eleanor Coppola waited until she was 80 years old to give us her first Hollywood feature. Perhaps all those years of being married to the legendary Francis Ford Coppola finally required a filmmaking journey of her own. Coppola’s written and directorial debut, Paris Can Wait, has its charms and makes you very hungry for fine French cuisine, but what does it amount to in the end? The answer is a lighthearted romance that never quite finds its footing during a 92 minute running time that doesn’t feel brisk enough.

Diane Lane almost makes it worth it as Anne Lockwood-the wife of Hollywood producer Michael (Alec Baldwin, dropping in for a two scene cameo)-a woman in dire need of a real vacation. Her husband is more married to his career than he is to her, and with their daughter in college, the simmer in their life has disappeared.

As the couple prepares to leave Cannes for Budapest, a sudden ill-feeling Anne opts out of the plane, and just wants to get to Paris. Michael’s business partner, Jacques (Arnaud Viard) offers to drive her to the city of lights. What transpires is the unfolding of Anne’s soul across a two day trip full of detours, mini-adventures, and a few budding signs of unexpected romance. Continue reading “Moviegoers can pass on Diane Lane’s ‘Paris Can Wait’”

Boss Baby: An adult comedy trapped inside an animated kid film body

Alec Baldwin’s voice work elevates the film.

Thank you Tom McGrath and Marla Frazee for creating a kids film that parents can also appreciate. More than a mere animated film about the tyranny of an adopted “boss baby”, the film takes not so subtle glances at the responsibilities of a big brother and the effect that a new kid can have a household. It’s also a very funny film that will gather more chuckles out of its older audience than the preferred younger demographic, and that is for a simple reason: Alec Baldwin.

The actor’s voice work isn’t just spot on for the title role, but will remind cinemaholics of his brief yet legendary role in David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross. Instead of telling poor young Tim (voice as a kid by Miles Christopher Bakshi and as adult by Tobey Maguire) to put the coffee down, the cookies are restricted in Michael McCullers script. When I finished watching Glengarry for the first time, all I wanted was more of Baldwin’s shadowy yet vital figure. With Boss Baby, I was given a full serving of his anarchic personality.

What’s it all about? Tim isn’t pleased when his parents (delightfully voiced by Jimmy Kimmel and Lisa Kudrow) welcome a baby brother, who is dressed like a Quentin Tarantino Reservoir Dog instead of a onesie. From the moment the baby sits down and the dinner table and belts out a cry, the older brother knows he has met his match. The baby has the two adults firmly placed in the palm of his hand, but Tim knows its more than simple cute looks and endearing giggling. Continue reading “Boss Baby: An adult comedy trapped inside an animated kid film body”

Will Smith tackles head trauma in the NFL in “Concussion”

Will Smith stars in Concussion, the true story about NFL players and brain trauma.

“You’ve turned on the lights and given their biggest boogeyman a name.”

Watch out, NFL, because Will Smith and producer Ridley Scott are coming after head trauma in football with their latest film, Concussion.

Just in time for the kickoff of the regular season in the National Football League comes a movie about Bennet Omalu(Smith), a doctor who located the disease troubling football players. A condition called CTE(chronic traumatic encephelopathy), where the repeated hits to the head caused the brain to be “choked”.

The film co-stars Albert Brooks and Alec Baldwin as men who warn Smith’s Omalu about the door he is walking through. A door that started with Junior Seau taking his own life by shooting himself in the chest instead of the head, a maneuver that allowed doctors like Omalu to use his brain for research. No run knows if Seau did it on purpose or not, but it was the beginning. CTE was found in Seau’s brain.

The film arrives on Christmas and features Smith in a serious role that will command Oscar attention. He features an accent and is the face of a timely film that will get people talking, whether it’s in an NFL owners meeting, a family’s kitchen table or schools across the country. Writer/director Peter Landesman knows exactly what he is doing. Putting a well known face in front of a controversial movie about one man who decided to taek something further than anyone else and challenge the most popular sport in the world.

I’ll be there to watch it. Will you? The trailer is below.

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi162572313