The Big Short (2015)

After a little mix-up with a free advanced screening that I got picked for, it cleared up and they ended up giving me The Big Short.  I’m not much of a finance person.  Fun fact is that, I actually started out studying in a major in finance when I first started university and then decided it wasn’t my thing and switched majors.  So I know a little more than the basics but its really not part of my interest although my husband is a huge fan and have read the book of the same name by Michael Lewis.  While he couldn’t go with me, my best friend did. Honestly, the cast looks great but I’m not much of a drama movie sort of person so I wasn’t sure what to expect.

Let’s check it out! 🙂

The Big Short (2015)

Director: Adam McKay

Cast: Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell, Brad Pitt, Marisa Tomei, John Magaro, Finn Wittrock, Jeremy Strong

Four outsiders in the world of high-finance who predicted the credit and housing bubble collapse of the mid-2000s decide to take on the big banks for their lack of foresight and greed. –IMDB

Drama movies and especially those based about finance is really not my cup of tea but I really liked The Big Short a lot. I might be the only person on the universe that has only seen snippets of Anchorman and never the entire movie so I don’t know anything about Adam McKay’s style however if this is an indication of anything, its that he manages to turn this true story into something where we can take away about the economy and government and social structure, even morals and make it also entertaining but with a good creative approach to make sure all the not so finance saavy audience will understand those fancy finance lingo and terms in layman terms. Now, that is a feat all in itself and I think he does a stellar job at it. The script is strong enough that I actually thought about digging out the copy of The Big Short that my husband owns and reading it. The main reason is because the movie also has quirky narration from various characters’ viewpoints as the story goes along and when its made for cinematic convenience, they add the narration to say how it actually went down. I thought that was a pretty unique approach.

Most of us know that scripts and directors are a part of the success of a movie. The Big Short is full of great actors.  Our main narrator is Ryan Gosling who seems to take a backseat in the situation but we soon realize is implicated into this situation as well. While, we’re also quickly introduced to the extremely smart but socially awkward Dr. Michael J. Burry played by Christian Bale.  I personally love Bale, more his earlier work that the more recent stuff.  But he did the role so well.  I think the compliment goes out to him and Brad Pitt (who I actually didn’t recognize until fairly later in the movie) who really changes the appearance and style of what we’re used to seeing them in (or its my lack of seeing movies from them in this genre) that made me not see them as the popular stars that we know them as.   But it would be unfair to leave out Steve Carell in this mix.  I never saw Foxcatcher so maybe that is his best role ever (which I’ve heard being said), but this is my favorite role of his as Mark Baum. There are no words to describe the truth these characters carry in a blunt and awkwardly social way, especially in the case of Bale and Carell’s characters.  They have gone through struggle and they manage to make especially those two characters very human but never enough to get in the way of the message this story is trying to send, whether its about the financial sectors or the morals of finally understanding what their predictions could mean in the bigger picture, especially when they are betting on the future of the economy.

In a movie like this, there are some supporting actors that I’d really like to see more of.  Some of them are familiar faces and some not so much (maybe to others who have seen their recent movies).  Just a quick mention of John Magaro and Finn Wittrock who buddy up in this one and give us an additional perspective as young investors who want to play with the big boys and fall on this betting against the market completely by chance but is lead by a reclusive ex-finance mentor (played by Brad Pitt). At the same time, Vinnie (played by Jeremy Strong) is part of the team with Steve Carell’s character Mark Baum and I liked his role a lot too.

I’m saying a lot of good stuff about The Big Short.  I truly enjoyed it immensely.  However, if I was to criticize it just one little bit although in the great spectrum of things, it didn’t bother all that much. Its the ending drags a little and the drama is totally there.  Up to that abrupt turning point, they managed to show us the gravity of the situation but also keep us entertained but when the deed actually happens, the tone shifts with the snap of our fingers.  The morals and ethics of the situation just slaps us in the face even for these guys who are the winners of this situation but then it begs the question, are they really the winners, right? And at what expense?  Although, in that defense, I could argue why it needs to have that tone which is why I’m okay with it.

Overall, The Big Short is a great drama who uses a unique approach to create a dramatized effect but also give us the story and the message its sending to clearly show us what happened during this credit crisis in 2008.  Its a story about greed but also about morals.   Its entertaining and thought provoking all at the same time. Definitely the surprise of 2015 for me!

Have you seen The Big Short? Do you intend to?

Date Night (2010)

I don’t have a lot of my  own movies that I’ve ripped the digital copy on my computer however, I chose this flick to test it out a while back.  So, on last Saturday morning, when I wanted something quick to accompany my breakfast, I switched this on and finished it later on the afternoon.

Director: Shawn Levy

Cast: Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg, Taraji P. Henson, Jimmi Simpson, Common, William Fichtner

A New Jersey couple Phil (Steve Carell) and Claire Foster (Tina Fey) has lost their flare in their marriage and go about their life driven by daily routine.  Right from the start, we know that Claire doesn’t trust Phil with a lot of chores because he forgets certain details.  Every week there is one night they schedule for date night where they go to the same restaurant, order the same food and talk about the same things.  Every part of their life is scheduled.  When one of their friends decide to separate and live life better instead of being friends in their own house, they start getting worried about their own relationship.  On the next week of Date Night, they decide to change things up, dress up and go into New York City to a fancy restaurant and enjoy themselves and bring back the spark.  At the restaurant Claw, they realize that they are too late and there are no tables available, thats when Phil decides to take the reservations of the Triplehorns, who were no show.  In the middle of their meal, they get order by two men, Armstrong (Jimmi Simpson) and Collins (Common) and thats when they learned that these guys are looking for something that were stolen by the actual Triplehorns.  Being mistaken in their identity, they end up running all over town, asking for help from a previous client of Claire, Holbrooke Grant (Mark Wahlberg) and realizing that this goes deeper not only into the gang, the police but also the red hot political figure DA Crenshaw (William Fichtner).  Date Night turns out to not only have changed it up but to be life-threatening and all the Fosters want is to get home to their children.

One of the most hilarious segment where I topple over with laughter every time!

I really enjoyed this flick and I always turn it on when I need a good laugh, especially since its a pretty hilarious.  There are some parts, I just topple over with uncontrollable laughter.  What do I like so much about the movie? Maybe its not the plot itself, but as much as the story is pretty straightforward, Steve Carell and Tina Fey together are phenomenal.  They are a blend of awesome comedy.  Their expressions, reactions and dialogue just carry the movie along so well.  This is the first movie I’ve ever seen of Tina Fey and man, she’s won herself another fan in me.

Another factor of awesomeness if that its an action comedy full of ridiculous things that happen.  Ridiculous in a super good way as in its just funny and hilarious moments one after the next.  On top of that, they had a little cameo with James Franco and Mila Kunis who play the actual Triplehorns and Mark Wahlberg who plays the hot muscular (and shirtless) ex-client of Claire’s.  There’s a short appearance of Mark Ruffalo and Kristin Wiig as the soon to be divorced couple and Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester as the babysitter.  Its loaded with a lot of cool cast.

There is lots of shooting and guns, panic and yelling, a hot car totaled mixed with some intense, exciting and laugh out loud moments.  I think that sounds like a pretty awesome formula for an action comedy, don’t you? I always mention this when I look at comedy, its very personal and that’s why even as I was checking up on the scores, there’s always a mix of people who find it funny or not.  Its just a personal preference.  I’m into Steve Carell’s humor and apparently Tina Fey’s as well so this works for me.  Because of that, I notice but manage to overlook any other flaws that it might have.

Have you seen this? Are you fan of Steve Carell and/or Tina Fey? What movies from them would you recommend for either of them? Have you read Tina Fey’s book Bossypants?

Horton Hears a Who! (2008)

After almost a week break from movie reviews, I’m ready to bring it on again.  I have a few more to write but at least now I’m a bit more charged up. Here we go! 🙂

Based on the children’s Dr. Seuss book Horton Hears a Who!, this animation is one of the first Dr. Seuss to be made in animation again.  I watched it on Saturday since I knew from a few posts floating around saying that it was Dr. Seuss’s birthday.  I had to celebrate it in my own way and seeing that I had already reviewed The Lorax before, this seemed to be a good choice.

Director: Jimmy Hayward, Steve Martino

Cast: Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Carol Burnett, Will Arnett, Seth Rogen, Dan Fogler, Isla Fisher

In the jungle of Nool, Horton the elephant (Jim Carrey) is minding his own business with his own day when he heard a little yelp coming from a speck floating around.  He imagines a man and his family in need on the speck so in case they will be in danger he runs after the speck to save it and ends up catching it on a clover.  When he says this story to the uptight and snobbish Kangaroo (Carol Burnett), she doesn’t hear anything and doesn’t believe him and warns him to not spread the nonsense to others.  He disregards her and then realizes that he needs to yell to allow these little people to hear him and he yells HELLO.  This one Hello travels down to the world on the speck called Whoville.  No one is aware of their tiny existence in the world until his one HELLO reaches the Mayor (Steve Carell).  The Mayor who is a slight goofball but notices that Whoville is incurring weird changes and when Horton confirms him of their tiny presence, Mayor goes to ask the scientist Dr. Mary Lou Larue (Isla Fisher) who predicts disaster if they were actually a small city.  It is then the Mayor asks Horton to help him move the speck and its clover to a safer location to help regain stability in Whoville.  As the Mayor tries to protect his city while convincing the Council about the dangers, Horton is also with his own problems as Kangaroo does everything to remove the speck from him because she believes all this is nonsense.

This animation is wonderfully adapted.  Its funny and awesome entertainment.  To start off, we have really good vocal talents, which is possibly one of the most important contributing aspects to a great animation.  We have Jim Carrey in the lead role as Horton.  I’m a huge fan of Jim Carrey and his voices along with his humor.  It probably all began when I first saw him in either Mask or Ace Ventura.  But then, we’re not to discuss that, but point being, in this one, he’s crazy fun and enthusiastic.  In his opposite lead, we have the Mayor voiced by Steve Carell.  I haven’t seen a lot from him but this man is quite comedic as well.  In this role, he’s just a super good goofball. He has funny reactions and exclamations.

I love the way they spiced up the dialogue but kept the book dialogue with a narrator in the back to help coordinate between the two worlds.  Its really funny most of the time and whenever I watch this, it puts a gigantic grin on my face and I start laughing out loud in a lot of parts.  It never hits the too serious area which is awesome because this is aimed towards children.  The colors are also fantastic because they are bright and sharp.  It helps keep the movie in the uplifting mood even if there is some dangers lurking about.

This is absolutely great family fun! Its great for all ages and guarantees lots of smiles and laughter.  It has amazing actors doing the voices aside from just Jim Carrey and Steve Carell.  Everyone does a fantastic job in their roles.  Its heartwarming, endearing, fun, comedic, enjoyable. I think this trailer captures it perfectly and its also the song I love renditioned a la Horton Hears a Who! Style 🙂

Before I let you go, I’d like to recommend this movie (if you haven’t realized yet) 🙂 And also as every Dr. Seuss story, we always have a little lesson to be learned so I’d have to share it here to end this off: