Movies: Talk About What You've Seen Lately--Part 3
04-13-2017
, 07:02 PM
04-16-2017
, 11:34 AM
04-16-2017
, 08:16 PM
Quote:
The Founder
This is an excellent slice of Americana, served fresh with a great performance by Michael Keaton, and a side order of a great cast, fantastic cinematography, a witty script, and spot on direction.
This is the story of Ray Kroc, the 'founder' of McDonalds. The true story, at least according to this movie, is slightly more complicated. The McDonalds brothers, played as hardworking good guys by Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch, developed what is likely the first successful 'fast food' restaurant in San Bernadino California. Kroc finds them partially by accident while selling milkshake machines, and wants to franchise their idea.
Before we get to that point, there's a fantastic sequence where the brothers spill the beans as to how they came up with this great idea, and while on paper it may sound boring to describe going from 30 minutes to make a hamburger to 30 seconds, this film made that one of the most fun moments of the movie.
Kroc eventually convinces the brothers to let him franchise the place, and that's where we see Kroc's true colors. He's a ruthless businessman, and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. We kind of hate Kroc, but we're also kind of rooting for him as well, because Michael Keaton has that special quality to be completely shady, and yet likable at the same time. The phone calls between the brothers and Kroc are some of the funniest moments in the film.
Along the way, we learn how he got around his ironclad contract with the brothers, how he convinced the right people to run the restaurants, how he changed the milkshake formula, and other seemingly boring events that are so much fun to watch on the screen.
Does Kroc only care about the bottom line, or is he interested in the greater good of the common man? Is he just a ruthless cutthroat businessman, or does he just want to make a great product? This movie tows the line between those two competing ideas. Not many would say Kroc was a great man, but those same people would all agree that he accomplished great things.
A 2 hour primer on capitalism at it's best (or worst). I highly recommend it.
This is an excellent slice of Americana, served fresh with a great performance by Michael Keaton, and a side order of a great cast, fantastic cinematography, a witty script, and spot on direction.
This is the story of Ray Kroc, the 'founder' of McDonalds. The true story, at least according to this movie, is slightly more complicated. The McDonalds brothers, played as hardworking good guys by Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch, developed what is likely the first successful 'fast food' restaurant in San Bernadino California. Kroc finds them partially by accident while selling milkshake machines, and wants to franchise their idea.
Before we get to that point, there's a fantastic sequence where the brothers spill the beans as to how they came up with this great idea, and while on paper it may sound boring to describe going from 30 minutes to make a hamburger to 30 seconds, this film made that one of the most fun moments of the movie.
Kroc eventually convinces the brothers to let him franchise the place, and that's where we see Kroc's true colors. He's a ruthless businessman, and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. We kind of hate Kroc, but we're also kind of rooting for him as well, because Michael Keaton has that special quality to be completely shady, and yet likable at the same time. The phone calls between the brothers and Kroc are some of the funniest moments in the film.
Along the way, we learn how he got around his ironclad contract with the brothers, how he convinced the right people to run the restaurants, how he changed the milkshake formula, and other seemingly boring events that are so much fun to watch on the screen.
Does Kroc only care about the bottom line, or is he interested in the greater good of the common man? Is he just a ruthless cutthroat businessman, or does he just want to make a great product? This movie tows the line between those two competing ideas. Not many would say Kroc was a great man, but those same people would all agree that he accomplished great things.
A 2 hour primer on capitalism at it's best (or worst). I highly recommend it.
Great review
I really enjoyed The Founder
04-16-2017
, 11:51 PM
04-17-2017
, 01:14 AM
The Third Man
Warning: If you haven't seen this movie, stop reading right now, turn on your netflix, and watch this without reading anything about it. Just trust me on this one.
I recently participated in the movie character draft. I picked Hannibal Lecter early on as the best villain of all time. A bit later, someone picked Harry Lime. I had never heard of him, but I made a mental note to watch this movie, just so I could still feel justified in picking Lecter. I was wrong. This Hitchcockian thriller was beautifully filmed in a postwar Vienna, used unusual camera angles, had an incredibly haunting score, and had one of the finest performances by any actor ever in Orson Welles to tell this twisty tale of murder and corruption.
Holly Martin is an American writer who comes to Vienna at the request of his friend Harry Lime, who has a job for him. When he arrives, he is informed that Lime is dead. He goes to the funeral, and meets the usual suspects. We see from the start that not everything is as it seems. He starts investigating, and in the process falls in love with Lime's girlfriend.
When Harr Lime is finally revealed, it is the best reveal of any character ever. The lighting, the music, the buildup, and then the face
I don't know what's the best part of this movie. That introduction to Lime, the scene on the ferris wheel (the cuckoo clock line floored me), the third act chase in the sewers, or that final shot.
Let's talk about that final shot for a second. Throughout the movie, Reed (the director) used long shots of characters off in the distance, and held onto those shots longer than we normally expect. Lawrence of Arabia did a similar thing with the introduction of one of it's most iconic characters. But this final shot did something to me that not many movies can do. Not only was it shot absolutely perfectly, but the payoff was something that will likely stay with me for quite some time. What an absolutely brilliant way to end a film. I don't know if I can think of too many movies that had an ending as fitting.
This movie must've been the inspiration for pretty much every film noir that followed. The use of shadow and lighting is so suspensful and intense. Even something as benign as a balloon man gets the treatment to seeing him three stories tall from the shadows.
When I romanticize about cinema and the potential that it has, I think I had this movie in mind, even though I hadn't seen it yet. This is about as close to perfection a movie can be.
Warning: If you haven't seen this movie, stop reading right now, turn on your netflix, and watch this without reading anything about it. Just trust me on this one.
I recently participated in the movie character draft. I picked Hannibal Lecter early on as the best villain of all time. A bit later, someone picked Harry Lime. I had never heard of him, but I made a mental note to watch this movie, just so I could still feel justified in picking Lecter. I was wrong. This Hitchcockian thriller was beautifully filmed in a postwar Vienna, used unusual camera angles, had an incredibly haunting score, and had one of the finest performances by any actor ever in Orson Welles to tell this twisty tale of murder and corruption.
Holly Martin is an American writer who comes to Vienna at the request of his friend Harry Lime, who has a job for him. When he arrives, he is informed that Lime is dead. He goes to the funeral, and meets the usual suspects. We see from the start that not everything is as it seems. He starts investigating, and in the process falls in love with Lime's girlfriend.
When Harr Lime is finally revealed, it is the best reveal of any character ever. The lighting, the music, the buildup, and then the face
I don't know what's the best part of this movie. That introduction to Lime, the scene on the ferris wheel (the cuckoo clock line floored me), the third act chase in the sewers, or that final shot.
Let's talk about that final shot for a second. Throughout the movie, Reed (the director) used long shots of characters off in the distance, and held onto those shots longer than we normally expect. Lawrence of Arabia did a similar thing with the introduction of one of it's most iconic characters. But this final shot did something to me that not many movies can do. Not only was it shot absolutely perfectly, but the payoff was something that will likely stay with me for quite some time. What an absolutely brilliant way to end a film. I don't know if I can think of too many movies that had an ending as fitting.
This movie must've been the inspiration for pretty much every film noir that followed. The use of shadow and lighting is so suspensful and intense. Even something as benign as a balloon man gets the treatment to seeing him three stories tall from the shadows.
When I romanticize about cinema and the potential that it has, I think I had this movie in mind, even though I hadn't seen it yet. This is about as close to perfection a movie can be.
04-17-2017
, 12:02 PM
04-17-2017
, 03:42 PM
04-18-2017
, 11:12 PM
04-19-2017
, 12:06 AM
