Tag Archives: Beth Gallaway
Jeff Who Lives At Home
2011. 83 minutes. Rated R.
“Sharon: Jeff, what do you do in the basement? You’re not cleaning it.
Jeff: You really want to know? You didn’t like it last time we had this conversation.”
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Tagged Beth Gallaway, Comedy, Ed Helms, Jason Segel, JEFF WHO LIVES AT HOME, Susan Sarandon
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Les Miserables
2012. 157 minutes. Rated PG-13.
Do you hear the people sing? / Lost in the valley of the night / It is the music of a people / Who are climbing to the light / For the wretched of the earth / There is a flame that never dies / Even the darkest night will end / And the sun will rise.
Catch And Release
2006. 124 minutes. PG-13.
“I steal library books.On purpose. I have them from every town I lived in. Grady never knew that.”
I’ve never stolen a library book. I’ve never been to Boulder, CO. And I’ve never slapped a guy, then kissed him. Still, I find Catch And Release so compelling I’ve watched it multiple times, and I’m not sure why; really, it’s not that good (maybe I just find Timothy Olyphant incredibly sexy. Or Jennifer Garner...).
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Tagged Beth Gallaway, Catch And Release, Comedy, drama, Jennifer Garner, Kevin Smith, Romance, Timothy Olyphant
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Johnny Dangerously
1984. 90 minutes. Rated PG-13.
“You shouldn’t grab me, Johnny. My mother grabbed me once… ONCE!”
I’ve never seen the Godfather (gasp! sacrilege, I know!). I generally hate slapstick. And, I’m not really a B-movie fan, either. In spite of all of the above, I think Johnny Dangerously–a slapstick mobster movie–is one of the most underrated comedies ever.
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Tagged Beth Gallaway, Comedy, Danny DiVito, Joe Piscipo, JOHNNY DANGEROUSLY, Michael Keaton
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Counterpoint: 50/50
Response to the original TBBC Post on 50/50.
If you don’t like depressing films, you better limit your movie-going experience to Disney movies. Life is all about the balance of humor and pathos, and you cannot have one without the other.
Based on a true story of a 27-year old man’s struggle with a very rare form of cancer, 50/50 is a raw and honest portrayal of what’s it’s like to live through cancer treatment, and to face the very real possibility of having a finite timeline to your life expectancy — unlike the rest of us, who blithely go through our day even though we could be hit by a bus (or murdered by some wacko on Craigslist) at any moment.
Posted in Counterpoint, Reviews
Tagged 50/50, Anna Kendrick, Beth Gallaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen
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Friends With Benefits
2011. 109 minutes. Rated R.
“I really have to stop buying into this bullshit Hollywood cliche of true love. Shut up, Katherine Heigl, you stupid, little liar!”
I admit it. I’m a sucker for romantic comedies (let’s not talk about how many times I’ve watched 27 Dresses, mmkay? And I agree, Katherine Heigl is a stupid little liar! But hope springs eternal, and I can’t tear myself away from them). There is something satisfying about the boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back plot. FWB enhances the romantic comedy with strong realistic humor and dialogue, and allows the characters to acknowledge romantic comedies are ridiculous and misleading… but they’d still like real life to pan out that way.
The Descendants
2011. 115 minutes. Rated R
“Paradise? Paradise can go @#$! itself”
I’ve never been someone’s medical proxy. I don’t have teenage daughters. I’ve never even visited Hawaii. Still, I found this story of a struggling parent with a lot on his plate wholly engaging and believeable. I really enjoyed it, and weeks later, the story and scenes are lingering.
Steward of 25,000 pristine acres of undeveloped waterfront on the island of Kauai, Matt King (George Clooney), is charged with dissolving the family trust before the seven-year time limit. In the wake of this difficult decision, his daredevil wife (Patricia Hastie) has been injured in a boating accident, and is in a coma, with no brain activity. Matt must bring his clan together to vote on a buyer for the land. He circles the wagons and attempts to reign in his daughters– one a mouthy prepubescent brat and the other a wayward teen with an affinity for drugs and older men—to pay their final respects to their dying mother.
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Tagged Beau Bridges, Beth Gallaway, George Clooney, Matthew Lillard, Reviews, Shailene Woodley, THE DESCENDENTS
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Hereafter
2010. 129 minutes. Rated PG-13.
“A life that’s all about death is no life at all…”
I’ve never had a near-death experience. I’ve never been clinically dead. Heck, I’ve only been knocked out with anesthesia once (to have 4 wisdom teeth pulled). I do know people who claim to have had the experience of dying and coming back, and from a young age I’ve been fascinated with supernatural things: ghosts, astral projection, and things that go bump in the night, so I picked up Hereafter on DVD at my library on a whim (ok, I really just needed something to balance out all the romantic comedies I was lugging home for the Thanksgiving weekend).
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Tagged Beth Gallaway, Cecile de France, Clint Eastwood, Frank McLaren, George McLaren, HEREAFTER, Joy Mohr, Matt Damon, Reviews
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Somewhere
Somewhere
When his 11-year old daughter comes to stay, is forced to reexamine his meaningless, lonely (albeit well-paid) existence as a Hollywood actor.
Nothing much really happens in this slice of life pic. Actor Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff) has an endless string of wine, women and song in between gigs to abate his boredom, but when his ex decides she needs a break and sends their tweenage daughter Cleo (Elle Fanning) to live with him for a bit. He curbs his behavior, swapping twosomes with pole dancers with guitar hero and homemade eggs benedict (his kid makes an amazing hollandaise, I’m jealous) and brings his daughter with him to Milan to promote his new film. Their time together grows increasingly less stilted, and when it’s time for her to leave for summer camp, Dad has an epiphany about the Meaning of Life.
Super
SUPER
A line cook transforms himself into a homemade superhero, the Crimson Bolt, to rescue his fallen-off-the-wagon alcoholic/addict wife from a life of stripping and whoring. Along the way, he doles out vengeance to drug dealers, child molesters, and line cutters, but soon our hero–and his self-appointed, overzealous sidekick (Ellen Page) are committing more crimes than they are solving.