Robert De Niro (Raging Bull, Taxi Driver) reunites with director Martin Scorsese (Shutter Island, The Wolf of Wall Street) for this crime drama that sees everything from the mob to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in this three-and-a-half-hour effort that, if you stick with it, will give at least some sense of satisfaction to those willing to endure it. This all-star cast, which includes Scorsese teaming with Al Pacino (The Godfather, Scent of a Woman) for the first time, also includes Joe Pesci (My Cousin Vinny, Casino), Harvey Keitel (Bugsy, The Piano), Anna Paquin (The Piano, Almost Famous), Ray Romano (The Big Sick, CBS’s Everybody Loves Raymond), Jesse Plemons (Hostiles, The Post), and Bobby Cannavale (I, Tonya, Ant-Man).
Category Archives: Bobby Cannavale
I, Tonya (2017)
Boy, do I have a completely different opinion of Tonya Harding after seeing Craig Gillespie’s (Lars and the Real Girl, The Finest Hours) I, Tonya. The movie revolves around the 1994 Winter Olympics when her main competition for a gold medal that year (Nancy Kerrigan) had her knee taken out after a 1993 skating session in Detroit, MI, by someone on Harding’s payroll. Kerrigan’s recorded screams of “Why?! Why?!” that were then shown in media outlets worldwide still resonate in our heads. Harding became the punchline of every late-night talk show host’s monologue. Unlike any other time in history, we had a physical, life-altering altercation between two of the best competitors in their sport. Even without all the facts, we identified Kerrigan as the protagonist and Harding as the antagonist. And rightfully so. However, it is made clear from the film’s first scene that what we were about to see was a “mostly true, wildly contradictory” account of what happened. Yes, Gillespie only gave us one side of the story. Still, it’s a side that makes us think of Harding as an extremely sympathetic, misinterpreted, and even likable character who was, perhaps, as much a victim as Kerrigan was. I have a newfound affinity towards Harding that I hadn’t had in the 24 years since the nearly 25 years since the incident happened.
Ant-Man (2015)
I’ll preface this review by saying that I enjoyed Ant-Man, but that I know that if I do end up seeing Ant-Man 2, I will not enjoy it. I say that because traditionally I like superhero origin stories (except for when that same character gets retold over and over and over again like Superman, which…on a side note, I have yet to see a Superman movie that I’ve even remotely enjoyed, but that I am expecting HUGE things from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice). However, as with over 90% of movies that have sequels, superhero movies generally get worse (usually much worse) with each subsequent release. Of course, there are exceptions. Batman Begins was fantastic, but The Dark Knight is possibly the greatest superhero movie ever made. Iron Man and Spider-Man are both amazing movies, but there wasn’t much drop-off to Iron Man 2 or Spider-Man 2. Now Iron Man 3 and Spider-Man 3 were both much worse. But when you think about it, when is the 5th, 4th, or 3rd movie of a franchise ever really the best one? Hardly ever. 90% of the time, it’s the first franchise movie that is the best. I wish viewer franchises would make movies. I wish even fewer movies would be remade. But that is a different topic for another day. Regarding Ant-Man, the best thing that it had going for it was its originality. I cannot think of a scenario where Ant-Man 2 would have any originality that this first movie had. But, of course, we know Ant-Man 2 is coming. And then Ant-Man will probably end up in The Avengers movies, and I’ll look back on this first movie less positively.
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Chef (2014)
The feel-good movie of the year so far and one that completely flew under the radar (despite its 88% fresh rating and $31 million box office gross) without question is Chef, a movie written, directed, and starring Jon Favreau. Yes, that Jon Favreau. The same guy you’ve seen in character roles in films like Swingers, The Wolf of Wall Street, John Carter, Elf, and the Iron Man franchises for the last 20 years. Unbeknownst to me until a couple of days ago is that he is an accomplished director. He’s directed Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and Elf, among others. All three were satisfying movies that earned well over $150 million at the box office. I enjoyed all three of these movies. And while I would still rank the first Iron Man as his best film, Chef is an absolute gem. It is heartwarming, funny, poignant, and original. It does for 2014 what The Way, Way Back did for 2013. Both movies were lesser known. Each earned about the same amount of money at the box office. And each had about the same rating on Rotten Tomatoes. While I was a big fan of The Way, Way Back, there was something about Chef that has reserved a permanent place in my 2014 Top Ten list.
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Blue Jasmine (2013)
Woody Allen (Annie Hall, Midnight in Paris) has done more than enough in his latest venture to interest me in checking out some of his past films that I have yet to see. Blue Jasmine is a terrific little movie about crushed dreams, deception, and trying your best to accept the life you have, regardless if it is the life that you want. It stars Cate Blanchett (The Aviator, Notes on a Scandal) as the title character, a woman whose life is turned completely upside down when her life of luxury is uprooted as a result of her husband Hal’s (Alec Baldwin – The Cooler, The Departed) poor personal and professional decision-making. Instead of continuing to live her posh lifestyle in New York City with (what she thought) was her perfect husband, she is forced to move in with her sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky, Submarine) and her two sons in a rundown San Francisco apartment because she has nowhere else to go. Blanchett (Best Actress), Hawkins (Best Supporting Actress), and Allen (Best Original Screenplay) were all nominated for Academy Awards. While Blanchett and Allen were most deserving, I didn’t think Hawkins was great. It furthers the argument that the award is likely a two-person race between Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave), who should win, and Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle). Blanchett has a small chance to unseat the favorite Sandra Bullock (Gravity), but I just don’t see it happening. Bullock carried a Best Picture nominee by herself for more than an hour. Even if Blue Jasmine had been nominated for Best Picture, it would still have been hard for her to defeat Bullock.
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