Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Little Miss Sunshine was the debut movie by directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris.  Where have those names been heard before?  They are the team that has brought many incredible music videos to MTV.  The movie was released in 2006 and starred Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carrell, Alan Arkin, Paul Dano, and introducing the adorable Abigail Breslin.  Together they are a dysfunctional family, the Hoovers.  It is a lovely story of a family dealing with drugs, homosexuality, suicide, teenage angst, and a family near bankruptcy.  They all must go on a road trip from their home in Albuquerque to Redondo, California where the Little Miss Sunshine Pagent is being held.  On the trip they ride their Volkswagon T2 Microbus which hasn't been made since 1979.  It is clear they have little money.  The car becomes one of the stars of the movie which everything going wrong along the ride.  Along with the car, the family must also overcome death and realizations of their own lives.  Road Trip movies are great for bringing families together as this movie does.  Through all of their problems they come together in a wonderful dance routine.  

Alan Arkin, Edwin, won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role playing the Grandfather that got kicked out of a retirement home for having a heroin problem.  He doesn't have a care in the world, but he does have a close relationship with his granddaughter, Olive, played by Breslin, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.  She was the fourth youngest in the Academy's history (Tatum O' Neal in 1973's Paper Moon was the youngest.)  She plays the seven year old girl that qualifies for the beauty pagent, although she clearly doesn't have the look of a child beauty queen.  But, from his grandfather's advice, she understands that she has to be herself.  The other relationship in the movie is had by Steve Carrell, playing Frank, a homosexual, who after a failed attempt at love also failed at attempting suicide.  After coming to stay with the family, he forms a relationship with the silent Paul Dano, Dwayne.  He declares he hates everyone and has stayed silent until he can accomplish his dreams of being a jet pilot.  The two of them both lack enthusiasm of this trip, but are able to make a connection.  Greg Kinnear and Toni Collette play the husband and wife team of Sheryl and Richard.  I loved Kinnear in the role as a father whose persuing to be a life coach.  Something that in the beginning of the story doesn't seem like a good idea considering his family.  

It's a great story with excellent casting.  It also has a great soundtrack featuring DeVotchka, Surfjan Stevens, and of course, what movie would be complete without Rick James.   Along with Arkin's award, the movie also won a well deserved Academy Award for Best Screenplay to Michael Arndt, this being his first.  Look out for him as he is also working on the screenplay for Toy Story 3 in 2010.  Can't wait for that!  

 

So what do we learn from Little Miss Sunshine?  If your family is nuts, the best think to do, get a van, throw everyone in, and drive somewhere.  And when you get home, the family will be closer than ever...until the next day when everything is back to normal.  Here is the trailer:

And here is the music video from DeVotchka.  The song is "Till The End Of Time"

10 Items Or Less (2006)

10 Items Or Less is an independent movie directed by Brad Silberling.  It stars Morgan Freeman and Paz Vega.  It has some humor and not much drama.  It's not one of the greatest movies ever made, but for what it is, it is a nice independent movie.  It was shot in only 15 days and it stars Freeman as "Himself".  He is dropped off by Jonah Hill, who can't go a minute in a movie without saying blowjob, manages to be in this movie for just a minute and gets to say blowjob.  Bonus points for getting Morgan to say it too though.  The movie has nothing to do with blowjobs though.  It is actually a movie about Freeman not shooting any movies for 4 years and gets dropped of at a market to perform research for his next role.  There he meets Paz Vega (Spanglish) and they hit it off and get to know each other throughout the film.  He wants to help her get off her feet, to stop settling with the job she has, with the man she has, he wants to show her that she can do what she wants.  She just has to learn how to act that way. Freeman enjoys talking to her as he sees a reflection of himself in her.

It's a nice little indie-movie.  If the actor was anyone else it may not be as cool.  It has the feel of a reality show, dropping off a celebrity at some random place and then getting to know who is there.  Networks, come on, I got a hot idea here!

And speaking of ideas, Freeman had a great one with this movie.  The movie became the first film to premiere in theatres and then be able to be downloaded only two weeks after.  It was put on Clickstar, a site Freeman founded.  I'm not sure what is going on with the site right now, but it appears they have a deal with Intel to make it a larger venture, but it seems like a good idea to me.  

Here's the trailer:

Adaptation. (2002)

So this is my first post in my new blog.  This is where I will be making daily reviews of something, anything, just where I can talk about something.  It's New Years Day,  went to a great party last night.  Open bar til 3 AM, all I wanted to do today was sleep and watch the Twilight Zone marathon on Sci-Fi.  And I did, but I was also able to manage to take some time and watch a movie that has been on my "To See" list for a few years now.

Spike Jonze's 2002 flick, Adaptation. starring Nicholas Cage, Meryl Streep, and Chris Cooper.  It is a great story of Charlie Kaufman in the process of having writers block, trying to write a screenwrite for Susan Orlean's book The Orchid Thief which is a book written about John Laroche, an orchid pocher on trial.  Cage and Streep both received Academy Award nominations for their performances.  Cooper won Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Laroche.  I enjoyed this movie.  You always wonder what's on someone elses mind.  This movie gives you the opportunity to see what was going through the mind of a writer with writer's block.  And it seems like it was a great idea to have the movie Adaptation. instead of The Orchid Thief.  The story, I doubt, would have been very good.  From Kaufman's description of the story, the story was just boring, you won't care about the characters, theres no climax, there's just no reason for the movie.  Kaufman doesn't want to change the beautiful story of flowers, but he knows it sucks. He and his twin brother Donald (both whom received nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay)  added more to the story and certainly made it more exciting with sex, drugs, and car chases.   Kaufman took the story and made a wonderful Adaptation.  And we owe this movie to his writer's block and depression.  Thanks for going through it all Charlie, a great movie came out of it.  And you have to thank Donald, he certainly had his part in it.  And once this was done, he was able to work on another project, Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind.  

And if you find yourself in Hoboken, check out Willie McBride's, good drinks and friendly bartenders, good on New Years Eve and good any time!  Happy 2009! 

Here's the trailer for Adaptation.