lawkansas Reviews

The Wedding Ringer (2015)

Surprisingly hilarious

[8/10 · 24 August 2015]

Stumbled across this movie on cable a few days ago, and my wife and I were not expecting much. To our delight, this turned out to be hilarious with a great story line.

Sure, there are all sorts of wedding comedy movies out there, and some of them are terrific. This movie made me want to see it again.

Gad and Hart...I had not seen much of them before on the big screen. But this must be because I am a Baby Boomer who generally sticks to sports, political news, and biographies. A favorite network of mine is TCM, and it will most likely be a few decades before this one happens to make their show list. But meanwhile, I will enjoy it again asap

Vacation (I) (2015)

Hilarious

[9/10 · 24 August 2015]

My wife and I saw this movie yesterday (Sunday afternoon August 23), and it was hilarious. Yes, we were both surprised at how Chevy Chase looks. Maybe he just needs to "move around more" and a few large doses of Just For Men !? Christina Applegate is really good in her role, and Ed Helms, too.

We loved how the movie seemed to speed along very quickly with many many laughs from beginning to end. Got a kick out of the sorority girls scene...the scene with the bull...the swimming in "brown water", and seeing the Family Truckster again !

We hoped to see more of Beverly D'Angelo. What was up with that ?

Love & Mercy (2014)

Wow, I was not expecting this at all

[17 August 2015]

My wife and I saw this movie a few weeks ago, and we were looking forward to seeing a fun movie with plenty of great music. But the time frames were very choppy, even skipping between the 2 actors who played Brian Wilson. Back and forth, back and forth. This did not work for me at all.

Cusack was pretty good, and Elizabeth Banks is easy on the eyes, as they say.

Yes, I know that Brian Wilson had...and probably still has...all sorts of mental and emotional problems. But why not put more fun scenes in this movie to balance out all the stressful scenes. More songs would have improved this movie, for me, quite a bit.

Jayhawkers (2014)

Go Jayhawks

[17 August 2015]

Well, I attended KU Law School from 1969 to 1972, and I was really looking forward to seeing this movie. We bought the DVD as we could not find "Jayhawkers" on TV, even On Demand.

My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the movie as we are die hard KU fans...basketball and every other sport as well. Lawrence is a unique town, and this movie captures the atmosphere perfectly...back then. Nowadays, we get back there every chance we get.

It is hard to get seats to see KU play at Allen Field House, so this movie is kind of a good substitute. The cast of this movie is superb, and the actor who played Wilt did a great job.

Ricki and the Flash (2015)

We both hated this film and walked out after 30 or 40 minutes

[7/10 · 17 August 2015]

My wife and I (both Baby Boomers) went to see this movie on a Sunday afternoon in August, 2015. The audience consisted of mostly women who were older than the two of us. The movie started off good enough...as we both were enjoying the music in the opening scene/s involving the band. We have seen Rick Springfield in concert, by the way, and we both are big fans of his.

The scene at dinner, however, with all the people arguing and hating each other literally drove us out of the theater. This is a comedy ?? Who wants to see this kind of hatred and bickering on the big screen? Not funny at all for us, so we left and I could not wait to write this review.

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them (2014)

Very disappointing

[3/10 · 10 February 2015]

Sorry, but I had trouble understanding the words that the characters were speaking. This was particularly true for Jessica Chastain's mother with a French accent. Was this intentional for some unknown reason? OK, so there were 3 different versions of the same movie. So maybe I should reserve judgment until viewing all 3. But viewing the first one with my wife, we just did not "get it." Jessica Chastain was depressed. OK, we get that. But it was very hard to sit through 2 hours of watching her in that state, believe me. So hard that I really do not care to watch the other 2 versions.

Normally I would look forward to any movie with Jessica Chastain. But now, I will really have to think twice.

Joe and Max (2002 TV Movie)

Really enjoyed this movie

[29 May 2014]

Had heard some things about both men, but this movie brought it all into focus. From beginning to end, this movie made me feel good about both fighters by showing their personal lives and their relationship with each other. They both had plenty of ups and downs, and here it is all put into perspective. This is a film for sports fans and it will also appeal to a much broader audience as well.

The music helps the story portrayed here, and the actors realize their place in history. Both men are solid citizens above and beyond their occupations and nationalities.

I particularly liked the scene in which Max comes to the south side of Chicago when searching for Joe. They find each other, and the dialog is excellent.

An Unlikely Weapon (2008)

Really enjoyed this hard-hitting documentary

[9/10 · 20 May 2014]

Eddie Adams says in this movie that he is "not a good guy," but he felt good about his photograph of some Viet Namese people adrift on a boat, trying to find a new home. He says that this photo had a positive impact on the United States making it possible for 200,000 of these people to find a new home in the United States.

And of course his most famous photo is most likely the photo showing a shooting, point blank, of a Viet Cong which may have brought about the end of the Viet Nam War.

Adams has been described as the quintessential war photographer, and this film shows why this is true.

Adams did have a sense of humor when describing his work for Penthouse Magazine. He claims he never touched the scantily clad female models but then says "you'll never know."

Good Dick (2008)

hard movie to watch

[3/10 · 30 October 2013]

This was a hard movie for me to watch as I felt that Jason Ritter was really wasting his time with this young woman. Sure, he was no doubt physically attracted to her, but wouldn't he have been totally turned off by her negative language and behavior? OK, he was sleeping in his car and needed a much better place to call home. And he may have seen a future with her. But it just seemed to me...wow, how could he have put up with her? As far as movies go, it had some good qualities, but for me a movie has to be more "watchable" than this one. The drab interior of her apartment was supposed to be depressing, of course. But watching this movie on a rainy morning just made me want to turn this movie off and find a happy and uplifting concert on You Tube or talk to a happy person and get on with my life.