True Story

True Story 

Rating 6 out of 10

This movie didn't get much press.  Most have not even heard of it.  True Story is actually based on a true story.  Back in 2001 Michael Finkel while writing for the New York Times was found guilty of plagiarism.  He embellished his story on some African children and lost his job and creditability.  Not long after he found out that accused murder Christian Longo was picked up in Mexico telling everyone he was the writer.  Guess he didn't hear about the plagiarism.  In real life the two looked a good bit alike.  In the movie not so much. Finkel is played by the chubby again Jonah Hill and Christian Longo is played by the creepy again James Franco.

Longo was accused of killing his wife and children, stuffing them into suitcases and throwing them into the Oregon ocean.  Finkel having no work reaches out to Longo only to find out he is a big fan.  He agrees to give Finkel the scoop on his story if he will in return help him with his creative writing.  The guy is clearly nuts.

The movie is interesting although it creeps along at a fairly slow pace.  Finkel's wife is not crazy about her husband hanging with a murder.  Finkel thinks of this as a way to get back on top. The movie tracks from their meet on through the murder trial. The acting is pretty good even though I'm not a fan of Jonah Hill or James Franco.

This would make a good rainy day rental.

So that Happened: A Memoir

So that Happened: A Memoir

Rating 8.5 out of 10

I have been trying to get back into listening to audio books again on my long drives rather than my XM radio or podcasts.  I like audio biographies.  Just about any audio biography will do.  I wouldn't call my self a big fan of Jon Cryer, but I knew a good bit of his work and consider myself a Two and Half Men fan.  I have seen Cryer on several talk shows pushing the book and thought I'd give it a try. I am very glad I did.  

Cryer is a funny guy and turns out knows how to write an entertaining book while making fun of himself more than anything else.  One thing about audio biographies tho is the people always tend to over explain their childhood.  Jon does this a bit although not enough that I was tempted to skip ahead.  

He does not leave anything out or sugar coat any lumps he may have taken.  One of his first movies was with Demi Moore called No Small Affair (which I actually saw in 1984).  During this film he and Demi had a romantic fling.  Which became a crazy topic when he later co-stared with her second husband Ashton Kutcher.  He talks about making Pretty in Pink and how he didn't really care for Molly Ringwald or Andrew McCarthy.  Talks about plenty of his failures.  About people thinking he was gay (he likes girls) roles he almost got (Chandler on Friends).  He goes into detail about landing the part of Alan Harper on Two and Half Men and goes into great detail of the meltdown Charlie Sheen had.  

I found the book highly entertaining and flowed quickly.  Laughed alot.  I consider myself more of a Cryer fan than when I started.  

Furious 7

Furious 7

Rating 7.5 out of 10

The blockbuster season has begun with the seventh edition of the Fast and Furious series that began with few expectations back in 2001.  Hard to believe that when the first one came out no one knew who Paul Walker or Vin Diesel was.  Jordan Brewster was considered the star name of the movie.  Fourteen years and billion$ later we roll into one of the biggest money making franchises in movie history.  The first movie was mainly based on fast cars and hot women.  The series has evolved into more of a super hero fantasy where cars fly and our stars can leap buildings with a single bound.  That makes for some loud exciting park your brain at the door/ don't think about the plot sort of way.

Seven begins where Furious 6 left off.  The brother of the bad guy the gang disposed of is mad and out for revenge.  That is a bad thing when that brother is Jason Statham.  He is out to kill the whole Furious gang and has the tools to do it.  The movie starts with an epic fight scene between Statham and The Rock inside the LA FBI office.  Testosterone flies as they crash thru glass walls.

Once the gang figures out Statham is out to kill them they fight back to avenge the death of their Asian friend by going on the attack.  They join forces with Kurt Russell who runs some unnamed CIA type of government special unit.  Russell wants a chip that a computer guru invented that can use   all existing cameras to locate anyone in the world.  Unfortunately the computer person has been kidnapped by bad guys. The Furious gang are the only ones that can save her by parachuting in cars from 10,000 feet that drop their fast cars on the winding road behind the caravan taking her to the torture room.

As I said park the brain at the door.  Maybe leave it at home.  It's been rumored that I can pick a movie apart from time to time and it took real effort here.  Of course you can drive a car off a 300 foot cliff and survive without a bruise if your car has a metal cage on the inside to protect you.  This movie has several laugh out loud crazy stunts that had me rolling and impressed.

If you liked the other Furious movie you will be entertained with this one.  Duane Johnson has taken the movie to a new level and Statham is on of the best bad guys around.  I was entertained even though all the absurdity.