Pete Postlethwaite: Feb. 7 1946 - Jan. 2, 2011

I realize the last movie I posted on was "The Town", the penultimate movie Postlethwaite acted in before passing away earlier this week (his last film, "Killing Bono," will be out later this year).

Postlethwaite never was much of a starring character but remains one of my favorite supplementary characters. His British accent and distinct look make him a memorable character in anything he's in.

Reports say it's cancer that eventually claimed him and in "The Town," which he played ruthless gangster Fergie, Postlethwaite looked pretty skinny, but I didn't attribute it to health issues. It was sad news to hear he had passed.

He appeared in three films released in 2010, all three of which I have seen: "Clash of the Titans," "Inception" and the aforementioned "The Town." Personally, some of my favorites of his include "The Lost World: Jurassic Park," "Romeo + Juliet," "The Usual Suspects" and the remake of "The Omen" in which he meets a pretty ghastly ending. Postlethwaite received a nomination for his role as Giuseppe Conlon in the film "In the Name of the Father," which received seven Academy Award Nominations, including Best Picture.

We'll all miss Postlethwaite's presence on screen, one of the more underrated, understate actors of his time. Here's a montage of stills from movies he's been in:

An unforgiving "Town"

Ben Affleck, our favorite Boston-product actor (or is it second favorite? Matt Damon anyone?) has moved on to acting AND directing, this time churning out his second Boston-based movie “The Town.” His first, “Gone Baby Gone,” in which his younger brother Casey starred, was based on the novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane, who happened to write the book-turned-movie “Mystic River,” another movie based in Boston (but directed by Oscar-winner and Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood).

This movie takes on one of my favorite genres, the ever-exciting heist film. It’s easy to call this movie a blend of the classic “Heat” and “The Departed” (which won Best Picture and Best Director Oscars in 2006), and rightfully so because it’s a gritty crime movie based in Boston, with some epic shootouts and bank robberies, a la “Heat.”

Whereas “The Departed” takes place in the Boston neighborhood Southie, “The Town” takes place in Charlestown, a similar blue-collar area that boasts, at least in text at the beginning of the film, of virtually acting as a breeding ground for bank robbers.

Four residents of the neighborhood, Doug (Affleck), Jem (Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt Locker”), Gloansy (George Carroll) and Dez (Owen Burke) take the moniker to heart and rob a Cambridge bank, taking along bank manager Claire (Rebecca Hall) as a hostage. They let her go unharmed, but realize she lives near by, prompting Jem to encourage someone to “have a chat” with the witness.

Subsequent interviews with witnesses and an examination of the bank by FBI agent Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm, “Mad Men”) reveal the thorough, professional job done by the four friends in robbing the bank. Frawley is quickly onto the guys, but doesn’t have enough for a case.

Doug decides to “talk” to the witness, and ends up doing so — but falling for her. He’s got to balance hiding her from her his buddies and continuing his “day job” as a bank robber. And he visits his dad Stephen (Chris Cooper), who’s serving his own very long prison sentence for a bank robbery. Don’t forget the old-school Fergie (Pete Postlethwaite), a florist who has his fingers in some sticky business. It’s a tough line to toe for Doug, who seems to want to leave “the town” in his rearview mirror.

The plot is fairly original, but clearly draws from a wide-range of other films, namely “Heat” and “The Departed.” It’s a great mix that combines a love story, intense crime and chase scenes, plenty of violence and some edge-of-your-seat action. There’s an awesome scene at Fenway Park, which is cool for a baseball fan like me. The only thing missing is a role for our buddy Damon, who’s nowhere to be found in Affleck’s Charlestown.

I also wouldn’t be surprised to see some Oscar nominations for the film, in acting, directing or maybe even Best Picture categories. The “Bawstan” accent can be a little thick, so if you rent from Crazy Mike’s, you might want to turn on the subtitles to pick up the fast-paced dialogue. Renner and Affleck are great and so is the overall flick.

“The Town” is rated R for violence, blood, guns and shootouts, as well as profanity and some sexual content. Another film not recommended for the kiddies. Overall, 8 out of 10 stars.

Here's the trailer:

Finally, getting to "The Greek"

I waited quite a while to see “Get Him to the Greek” and finally watched it this past week, more than two months after its release on DVD. Frankly, I don’t know what I was waiting for.

For some reason I found myself nervous. I didn’t want to dislike it, but all I’d heard were fairly negative things about the film. The problem is, I enjoyed “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” of which “Greek” was supposed to be a spinoff, and I didn’t want to be disappointed. “Marshall” had gained a cult following after its release on DVD, and I was one of those that jumped aboard after watching it a few times.

In “Marshall,” Russell Brand plays Aldous Snow, the airheaded, crazy pop-singer boyfriend of Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), an “accomplished” actress best known for a CSI-type show. The two run into Marshall’s ex-boyfriend Peter Bretter (Jason Segel) at a Hawaii resort, where shenanigans ensue. Jonah Hill is also in the film as a worker at the resort who is a mega fan of Snow’s ridiculous songs. The movie is directed by Nicholas Stoller and produced by Judd Apatow, who has had his fingers in quite a few winners the last five years.

“Greek” brings back the main components of “Marshall” from director and producer to main characters. While Brand again plays Snow, Hill is a whole new character, which kind of threw me off when I originally heard about the film. Hill plays Aaron Green, an employee at Los Angeles music label Pinnacle, owned by the rambunctious, eccentric Sergio (Sean “P. Diddy” Combs). Combs appearance surprised me as well. The first CD I bought as a kid was “No Way Out” by Puff Daddy, and to say the man has changed in the last 14 years is quite an understatement. But, Combs does a great job and is actually quite funny in what I believe to be his first foray into acting.

Green comes up with the idea for Snow to perform a 10-year anniversary show at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles and his boss Sergio eventually agrees, giving Green the assignment of picking Snow up in London and bringing him back to LA in time for a concert three days away.

The problem, of course, is that Snow is severely depressed and back to his old ways of excessive drug and alcohol use. During his time in “Marshall,” Snow says he has been sober for seven years (except for a memorable, awkward dinner during the film). He’s having woman problems again and his latest album, “African Child” has completely bombed. Snow is down and out, making appearances on TMZ drunk and reckless, constantly getting into trouble.

Green arrives in London, fresh off a break-up with his long-time girlfriend, and finds himself under the influence of Snow, whom he reveres, pretty quickly. While Green is worried about catching their flight to New York City for an appearance on the “Today” show, Snow continues to put it off, insisting on chasing girls and getting drunk.

One of the funnier scenes is in New York on the way to Snow’s “Today” appearance. Sergio insists on Green keeping Snow sober for the bit, which Green attempts to do by guzzling whiskey and imbibing other drugs in the limo on the way to the show. The scene even includes a cameo by renowned Princeton economist Paul Krugman.

Cameos abound, as do funny scenes and jokes, as the duo makes their way across the country to Snow’s show at the Greek. At times, it tries to be a little too serious, but in the end, goes back to slapstick and some gross-out humor that doesn’t lack for laughs. Brand is great as snow, Combs is not bad as Sergio and Hill does well as the straight man for once.

Despite my initial reservations, I found myself laughing out loud, by myself, quite a bit. And even Sarah Marshall makes a short cameo when we see the preview for her newest TV show titled “Blind Medicine” where she stars as a blind surgeon: excellent.

“Get Him to the Greek” is rated R for sexual content, drug use and lots of profanity; definitely not recommended for younger folks. I rate it 7 out of 10 stars. Check it out at Crazy Mike’s in Polson where it’s available for five-day rental.

Here's the trailer:

Hardly "Unthinkable"

Since the attacks of Sept. 11 almost 10 years ago, many movies have been made about other terrorist attacks being carried out on American soil. While these types of movies were also made prior to the attacks, the intensity, and realism, has certainly picked up in the more recent entries in the terror-genre. The relevance remains to this day, as we’ve heard reports, even as recently as two weeks ago, of plots to unleash destruction on American civilians. Most recently was the alleged planned attack in Portland, Ore. by Mohamed Osman Mohamud, a 19-year old apparently bent on “violent jihad.”

Many of the movies about terrorism have received flak because of their portrayal of Muslims from the Middle East as the attacker(s). We’ve seen “The Siege,” an incredible film that predicted, in a way, some of the backlash in post-9/11 New York City. A recent entry in the terrorism genre, released straight to DVD in June of this year, is “Unthinkable,” and deals with terrorism, torture and human morality in a deadly scenario: Would you kill one person to save many?


Terrorism may have felt like a far-away concept for many in Lake County, but the news out of Portland must have brought it home a least a little more. “Unthinkable” stars Samuel L. Jackson as a tough-as-nails secret government asset named “H,” Carrie Ann-Moss as FBI Special Agent Helen Brody, head of the Los Angeles counter-terrorism unit, and Michael Sheen as Steven Arthur Younger, who has converted to Islam and now goes by the name Yusuf Atta Mohammed. Younger has submitted a video to law enforcement implicating that he has placed three nuclear bombs in three different American cities; his film shows him standing in front of the bombs in nondescript rooms at the different locations.

An elite task force is comprised, including Agent Brody, not to find the suspect Younger but to determine the location of the bombs. When Brody is transported to a classified location, she runs into H, who her team had previously detained as a potential terrorist, but who turns out to be a world-class, Guantanamo Bay-type interrogator.

Once on-site, Brody learns Younger has already been detained and is being tortured to force him to reveal the bombs locations. Brody is upset by the tactics, and would rather speak to him and learn where the bombs are. The seasoned H knows this tactic won’t work, and takes to more extreme torture, which Brody at first detests, until she realizes it may be the only solution in a war that has no boundaries…even when the unthinkable is a reality.

The acting is great, and Jackson, as always, is one bad mo-fo. Something about the guy oozes confidence and smugness, as if he’s the only one in on the joke. This works perfectly for a character like H. Sheen, who was brilliant as David Frost in “Frost/Nixon,” is similarly great in his role as Younger, though his accent from the other side of the pond seems to leak out quite a bit, especially under extreme duress which, let’s face it, he’s in almost the whole movie. Ann-Moss (“The Matrix”) is competent as Brody and complements the other characters well as one of the main characters.

While some of the plotlines are 100 percent realistic, that isn’t what makes this movie great. It’s the situations that force the characters hands, that make them think about their moral code and how to act in certain scenarios. Like I said, something like this could happen in the future; the question remains, how will those that need to make the decisions act under fire?

I’d give the film 9 out of 10 stars. I really enjoyed it and watched it more than once. When you play the DVD, you’ll have an option to watch the original or extended version; trust me, watch the extended. It’s not much longer but well worth the added twist.

Here's the trailer:

Oldie but goodie: "The Hunted"

The big movie news of late was the release of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I” last week. Boy, did that sucker make a lot of money: $330 million worldwide in its opening weekend.

I did not contribute to those millions of dollars, but I know plenty of friends who were more than willing to fork over some cash to see Harry, Ron and Hermione in the penultimate Potter movie. Facebook was atwitter with status updates concerning the film: “OMG!! Opening night of HP 7 :)” and other such musings remain common on the social networking site.

Plenty of people in Lake County were among those to see the film as well, as the Polson Showboat Theatre sold out at least four times, theater owner Becky Dupuis said Tuesday afternoon. Dupuis said the Potter-mania began with a midnight showing last Thursday night that came close to selling out, and has continued to bring in dedicated Potter fans.

“Despite the weather, it seems people are willing to risk life and limb to come,” she said with a laugh. “We’re just glad we could bring it to the community when it opened and glad for the support we have gotten from the community.”

Dupuis said it’s been so busy that she herself hasn’t had a chance to see it, but she’ll have opportunities in the coming days. The film will show for two more weeks in Polson, she said, and may play for a week at the Ronan Entertainer too. This holiday weekend should be busy as well, so if you want to see the flick, head down to Main Street Polson early to catch one of three daily showings.

Because I’m scared of snowy streets and Harry Potter fanatics, I bundled up in my house and turned on the instant Netflix. I much prefer to rent from Crazy Mike’s in town, but with my vehicle’s aversion to snow, I was a little bit stranded.

Instead, I went with an old movie that I’ve seen parts of on TV: “The Hunted”, which is also available at Crazy Mike’s in Polson.

Starring Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio del Toro, the film came out in 2003 and is the sort of action-thriller that can be enjoyable on a cold winter night.

Del Toro plays Aaron Hallam, a special-ops military guy who’s quite obviously good at his job: finding and terminating targets. The opening scene shows him in Kosovo in 1999, as ethnic cleansing means for a pretty brutal battle scene, filled with explosions and mass murder.

Later, we’re brought to the woods of Oregon, where Hallam brutally murders four hunters, showing off some of his insane knife skills that he’s seemed to have picked up during his special military training. That training came from L.T. Bonham (Jones), a deep-woods FBI tracker, who is brought to Oregon to find his former student. Bonham finds and detains him, but Hallam proves a slippery asset that may know more than he should.

Del Toro is good in his role as a posttraumatic stress disorder military man that seems to have brought his experience in Kosovo back with him stateside. The fight and chase scenes are pretty epic, though the plot and script are a little bit lacking.

Overall, I’d recommend the movie if you’re looking for a fun, older film.

Here's the trailer:

Over"Due Date"

Ahh, winter. A time of snow, cold, early darkness and the holidays. But more inside time also means more movie time, to cuddle up and watch your favorite flick, or visit your local theater, the Showboat in Polson or Entertainer in Ronan, to see some of the hottest new films out.

While winter also means the beginning of Oscar season, there’s always room for mindless comedy, and our favorite comedy director Todd Phillips (“Old School”, “The Hangover”) is back with another buddy-comedy movie. Also known as “bromances” or “bromedies,” Due Date fits the genre that Phillips has so skillfully and meticulously crafted with his previous films. You go into the film for a good laugh, but not much beyond that.


Peter Highman (Robert Downey, Jr.) is in Atlanta on business and heading home to Los Angeles to be back in time for the birth of his first child. When a stranger, Ethan Tremblay, (Zack Galifianakis) uses banned words “terrorist” and “bomb” on the plane, both men are kicked off the flight and placed on the No Fly List, meaning…road trip!

While Peter wants nothing to do with Ethan for obvious reasons, he finds himself forced into driving with him after leaving his wallet on the plane. From there, the duo makes their way across the country as the misadventures rack up.

Overall, it’s a decent movie but definitely not Phillips, Galifianakis or Downey’s best. Galifianakis plays his usual role: the weird outcast that people have a hard time getting along with. Think Alan in The Hangover, but not quite as funny. Downey plays a role he’s familiar with as well: cocky and sarcastic, the perfect straight man to Galifianakis’ comic role. There aren’t many gross out moments, which is a good thing, and most of the laughs come from quirks of Ethan, who claims to be 23 and is heading to LA to become an actor. He’s goofy and annoying, and he and Peter go through some crazy hijinks, mostly because of some way Ethan’s screwed up.

The problem, though, is that much of the story lays undeveloped; Phillips expects you to come for a few laughs and be happy with what you get. Instead, it’s really a barebones movie with not much of a plot. I like both of the main characters but they get a little stale after a few hours in the car. While the two men eventually form a bond of sorts, the secondary characters float through the film without much purpose.

It seems the producers of this film thought they could get by with big names, without also producing a substantive film with good laughs. Instead, it settles for cheap gimmicks that don’t really do these actors justice.

Here's the trailer:

"Inception"ally cool

It’s hard to go into a movie unbiased when the hype machine has taken a hold of it and blown the film way out of proportion before it has even been released. Luckily for me, I’d only seen one very non-descript trailer and read one review of “Inception,” director Christopher Nolan’s newest, biggest and baddest of summer blockbusters to hit cinemas world-wide. And before the opening weekend had even finished, “Inception” had taken over as the talk of Internet forums and blogs, like its predecessor, the “Matrix” trilogy, had years before. Hopefully your eyes and ears are clean and unhindered when you see this one so maybe you can make your own judgment. But just a warning: you might have to see it twice.
“Inception”, conceptually, is a great movie. It’s different in scale, concept and CGI then maybe any other before it, and this uniqueness is a pleasant, different cinema-experience. The plot revolves around the novel world of corporate espionage through stealing secrets from executives dreams. Recruiting a cast of thieves with different strengths, like the architect, who creates the dream area or the chemist, who creates a strong enough potion to knock out the target long enough to steal their secretive thoughts, these teams are powerful and wily, able to extract things that can destroy major corporations.
Main protagonist Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) leads such a team on one of their most daring missions yet. In this case, the skilled squad must perform “inception,” where the team enters a targets dreams and attempts to plant an idea, rather than stealing an already formed idea. Cobb’s troubled past and struggles with reality make the team’s goal harder than it already is, and could very well make, or break, their success.
Like I said, Inception is a very cool movie. The dream states that most of the film take place in mean Nolan can have fun with what he does and what he wants to make each “world” like. Cinematically, it’s beautiful and the concept is original and well executed. It does get a bit confusing, and I tried to keep up with all the twists and things that go on, but most people I spoke with about the movie agreed that the best tactic is to just let it go and enjoy what’s on the screen. I’ve only seen it once but I’d like to go have another watch because it’s a lot to take in and the film runs almost two and a half hours, which is pretty long. And when someone can make their own reality, whatever it is, they can get a little carried away, which Nolan does. When there are no rules, what is there to follow? Sometimes, that can mean a film is good or bad.
I did like the film; acting is good, concept is great, cinematically beautiful. But it’s hard for me to rave about it like others, and I can’t really decide what makes me feel that way. I’ll have another watch and see if I change my mind, but overall, it’s a worthwhile experience that you should definitely take advantage of. Now playing in Polson.

7 out of 10 stars. Rated PG-13 for violence, language and alternate reality.

Here's the trailer: