StInSanDiego
Joined Aug 2008
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Reviews9
StInSanDiego's rating
Monday Morning is an intellectual exercise mixed in with an intriguing plot, in-your face imagery and a slight bit of something surreal, and it pays off big time.
In the beginning we follow a conservative Minnesota radio host Thomas who is approached to run for the the MN senate. He is also a diabetic. He needs to finalize some personal business in Los Angeles, and then is attacked and finds himself homeless and without his memory. Once in the land of the extremely unfortunates, Thomas (and so are we) is confronted with graphic images on what happens on the streets of Los Angeles. Mind you, some of the images may be offensive to some.
From a screenplay by Nat Christian, who also directed the movie, Monday Morning is very seductive, in that the harsh images come as a surprise to us, they kind of wake us up to the homeless situation. We follow Thomas like the rabbit to where he is attacked, and then we are in another world so to speak.
The director (Christian) very effectively sets us up, hits us hard and then asks us to look inside ourselves when our hero makes some surprising choices.
Thomas is played by Victor Browne who is in almost every scene. He goes from a "playboy" type to being a homeless beggar and to being a political candidate with a lot on his mind. And he gives a hell of a performance. Veteran actors Robert Axelrod, Michael Cohen, Rick Montoya and Bobby Jay Mills give delicious characterizations of homeless people. And Jessica Spotts shines in a very brave performance as "Beth" a homeless mother. Nat Christian is solidly real, implosive and sympathetic as a homeless war veteran. Molly Kidder is delightful as an idealistic aide to a liberal senator performed truthfully by Robert Pike Daniel. Ken Melchior is fun as a manipulative senator.
Monday Morning is the kind of movie that will get people talking maybe even arguing. People will grasp it wholeheartedly or they will turn away from the explicitness and some of the progressive thoughts when the homeless sit around a campfire. But, no mater what, Monday Morning has to be dealt with.
In the beginning we follow a conservative Minnesota radio host Thomas who is approached to run for the the MN senate. He is also a diabetic. He needs to finalize some personal business in Los Angeles, and then is attacked and finds himself homeless and without his memory. Once in the land of the extremely unfortunates, Thomas (and so are we) is confronted with graphic images on what happens on the streets of Los Angeles. Mind you, some of the images may be offensive to some.
From a screenplay by Nat Christian, who also directed the movie, Monday Morning is very seductive, in that the harsh images come as a surprise to us, they kind of wake us up to the homeless situation. We follow Thomas like the rabbit to where he is attacked, and then we are in another world so to speak.
The director (Christian) very effectively sets us up, hits us hard and then asks us to look inside ourselves when our hero makes some surprising choices.
Thomas is played by Victor Browne who is in almost every scene. He goes from a "playboy" type to being a homeless beggar and to being a political candidate with a lot on his mind. And he gives a hell of a performance. Veteran actors Robert Axelrod, Michael Cohen, Rick Montoya and Bobby Jay Mills give delicious characterizations of homeless people. And Jessica Spotts shines in a very brave performance as "Beth" a homeless mother. Nat Christian is solidly real, implosive and sympathetic as a homeless war veteran. Molly Kidder is delightful as an idealistic aide to a liberal senator performed truthfully by Robert Pike Daniel. Ken Melchior is fun as a manipulative senator.
Monday Morning is the kind of movie that will get people talking maybe even arguing. People will grasp it wholeheartedly or they will turn away from the explicitness and some of the progressive thoughts when the homeless sit around a campfire. But, no mater what, Monday Morning has to be dealt with.
Silent Night is one of those movies that you go to with high expectations. Expectations of terrifying suspense and scary surprises.
Writers Gustavo Hernández and Laura Lau deliver a script that was supposed to deliver just that, something highly suspenseful. Lau directs the feature with Chris Kentis. The premise of this story is very good. And the cast is appealing enough with Elizabeth Olsen, Adam Trese, Eric Sheffer Stevens, Julia Taylor Ross, Adam Barnett and Haley Murphy. So, what happened? I don't know.
A young woman finds herself sealed inside her family's secluded lakeside house. With no contact to the outside world, events start to happen causing extreme panic and fear.
The elements are there. Maybe one too many directors. Maybe there is no fault. Sometimes a movie just does not work. I mean, it was watchable and there were a few jolts here and there. And the lighting (Igor Martinovic of Nurse Jackie and other features and shorts) was pretty ominous at times, which made me feel anxious. I felt that Martinovic had a handle on the mood.
So, I did enjoy the movie to a limit, but it did not absolutely thrill me.
Writers Gustavo Hernández and Laura Lau deliver a script that was supposed to deliver just that, something highly suspenseful. Lau directs the feature with Chris Kentis. The premise of this story is very good. And the cast is appealing enough with Elizabeth Olsen, Adam Trese, Eric Sheffer Stevens, Julia Taylor Ross, Adam Barnett and Haley Murphy. So, what happened? I don't know.
A young woman finds herself sealed inside her family's secluded lakeside house. With no contact to the outside world, events start to happen causing extreme panic and fear.
The elements are there. Maybe one too many directors. Maybe there is no fault. Sometimes a movie just does not work. I mean, it was watchable and there were a few jolts here and there. And the lighting (Igor Martinovic of Nurse Jackie and other features and shorts) was pretty ominous at times, which made me feel anxious. I felt that Martinovic had a handle on the mood.
So, I did enjoy the movie to a limit, but it did not absolutely thrill me.
Okay, The Big Miracle is not an epic or a grand movie. What it is, is a totally enjoyable feature with a good and simple story with no unusual surprises that people can relate to. It is good to see the Hollywood factory machine put out a movie like this. Much credit has to be given to Drew Barrymore (sort of a mogul herself these days).
Ken Kwapis does a really good job in telling this story without relying on massive special effects. He also works very well with his actors. He was given a good script from Jack Amiel and Michael Begler, both of whom also resisted going for any kind of cheap humor.
Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski have a nice chemistry together as they deliver fine performances.
This movie was, I am told, inspired by a true story about a small town reporter and a Greenpeace volunteer who are joined by rival superpowers to save a family of gray whales that are trapped by ice in the Arctic Circle.
The story, the visuals and the very fact that whales are a main character in this movie, all tug at the heart strings.
Ken Kwapis does a really good job in telling this story without relying on massive special effects. He also works very well with his actors. He was given a good script from Jack Amiel and Michael Begler, both of whom also resisted going for any kind of cheap humor.
Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski have a nice chemistry together as they deliver fine performances.
This movie was, I am told, inspired by a true story about a small town reporter and a Greenpeace volunteer who are joined by rival superpowers to save a family of gray whales that are trapped by ice in the Arctic Circle.
The story, the visuals and the very fact that whales are a main character in this movie, all tug at the heart strings.