Escape from Alcatraz

Who:  Amber
What:  Escape from Alcatraz
Where:  @ home on AMC
Why:  I think Alcatraz is cool

I was shocked to find out that Clint Eastwood played the main character (Frank Morris) in this movie.  I read that in the credits.  I didn't even recognize him!  I'm so embarrassed.

This movie was slow moving, and not much action.  And the title pretty much gives away the ending ... 3 men successfully escape from Alcatraz.  After I watched the movie, I tried to find out if it was true, and nobody can really confirm or deny it.  Nobody ever found the 3 men or their bodies.  And they never got arrested again (even though they were career criminals - only the worst of the worst end up in Alcatraz).

Basically this movie shows how day to day life is in Alcatraz.  You have a teeny tiny cell all by yourself.  You eat crappy food.  And working for 15 cents a day is a big time privilege.

Escape from Alcatraz chronicles Frank Morris and 2 brothers who hatch a plan to escape.  Over the course of about a year, they slowly chip away at the grates in their cell.  They made paper mache' (sp?) grates out of newspaper, so during the day nobody could see a huge gaping hole in the cell.  They also made paper mache' heads, so guards would think they were sleeping at night.

They managed to steal small tools to chip away at the cement.  They stole hair from the barbershop to make their paper mache'.  And they stole some raincoats to make a life raft for the final escape across the San Francisco Bay.

There wasn't much action in this movie, but it was interesting to watch their plan, and see how it all worked out.

Now I'm in the mood to watch The Rock!

Leatherheads

Who:  Jonathan and Amber
What:  Leatherheads
Where:  @ home - recorded off HBO
Why:  It's about football

While I won't classify this movie as "great" nor in the "I will watch it again category", it was an enjoyable flick.

In the 1920's, professional football is crap. It's played on cow pastures, nobody is making any money, and teams are folding like crazy. On the other hand, college football is super awesome, and over 40,000 people show up to watch it!

George Clooney (Dodge) has been playing pro football forever. His team is about to fold. When he hears about how many fans college player (and war hero!) John Krazinski (Carter) has, he has a brilliant idea. Invite Carter to play for the Duluth Bulldogs, and all his fans will flock to pro football.

Carter agrees to a huge salary, and the fans arrive!  Pro football is becoming super awesome.

Did I mention Carter is also a war hero? America just loves him. He's cute, a great athlete and an all American hero. Although his war story seems a little too good to be true. A bunch of Germans just dropped their guns and gave up for no reason. The Chicago Daily Tribune is suspicious.

Send in Renee Zellweger (Lexi Littleton). She travels aroaund with the now super famous Duluth Bulldogs and tries to get the REAL story out of Carter. Meanwhile, Carter is falling for her, and so is Dodge.

Who will Lexi pick?  Will the world ever find about about Carter's real war story?  Can old man Dodge (he's like 45 and still playing football - impressive) survive the new, faster game of pro football?

Side note:  Randy Newman (of Pixar fan - "You've Got a Friend in Me") did all the piano side music in this movie.  Watch the scene in the bar, and you'll see Randy playing his piano.  You go Randy!

To Kill A Mockingbird

Who:  Amber
What:  To Kill A Mockingbird
Where:  borrowed it from a friend at work
Why:  2nd book in the Summer Fun Book Club

Am I the only person who never read this book in high school?

I wasn't very pumped about reading an "old" book for my book club.  Honestly, I'm normally ot a fan of "old things" or "things that win awards".  Black and white movies - forget it.  Oscar winning movies - snooze patrol!  But, it's 1 book a week, so I had to get over it.

I actually really enjoyed this book!  It confused me for a while, because the back cover said, "something about a black man raping a white woman ...".  But after 7 or 8 chapters there was no word on the rape.  I was just about a bunch of kids playing and going to school.  Not that I was excited for a rape, but where was it?  And it's not one of these cute kids is it?!?

Thankfully, this book wasn't all about a rape, it was more about a family living in the 30's (I think?).  Atticus is the father, who is a lawyer.  He defends a black man (the N word is in abundance in this book) who is charged with raping a white hill billie girl.  The trial only lasts about 1 chapter.

Most of the book is about Scout and Jem, Atticus's kids.  They are normal, smart, inquisitive children.  Scout is a little girl, who is a total tomboy, which is really frowned upon.  She should be wearing cute dresses and drinking tea.  But Atticus (a single dad) is a super smart dude, and he's raising his kids to think on their own.

Read about their adventures before, during and after their father's trial.  Defending a black man is not the normal thing to do back then, but he stands up for what he believes it.

Read on!

Water for Elephants

Who:  Amber
What:  Water for Elephants
Where:  Cagan Crossing Library
Why:  1st book in the Summer Fun Book-a-week club

My friend Julie wanted to do a book club this summer for 2 reasons:  stop watching so much stupid summer TV and to read more books.  Even though I don't really read much at all, I decided to go for it.  Water for Elephants was the first book on the list.  I believe the author is Sarah Gruen (sp?).

I highly recommend this book!

The first chapter is awesome.  It details an animal stampede at a circus and a murder.  Oooooo.  Who is murdered?!?

Fast forward 70 years, and Jacob Jankowski is in a nursing home, miserable.  He's over 90 and bored out of his mind.

The chapters go back and forth talking about Jacob randomly joining the circus and working as a vet and then old Jacob in the nursing home.

I don't really want to give anything away, but Jacob has some crazy circus stories and he's dying to get out of the nursing home.  I'm not sure how accurate all these circus stories are from the 1930's, but I bet most of them are pretty true.  It sounds like a wild and wacky place to work!

I'm probably making it sound lame, but it's a great book!  I little romance, a lot of wackyness and a little drama thrown in.  I may have even shed a teeny tiny tear at the end.

The Hangover

Who:  Amber & Jonathan
What:  The Hangover
Where:  AMC Pleasure Island
Why:  It's got "Andy" from the office

I love a good 'ole raunchy comedy (Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall), and this movie was no exception.  It was raunch and hilarious!

Doug (the sidekick from National Treasure) is getting married.  He is headed to Vegas with his 2 best friends (Bradley Cooper who is so cute and Ed Helms) and his future brother in law, who looks like a cave man.

They check in to a huge hotel suite, do a few shots to toast the evening then .... it's morning.  The room is trashed, a chicken is walking around, a tiger is in the bathroom, a chair is slightly on fire, a baby is crying from the closet and Doug is nowhere to be found.

The 2 best friends and the brother in-law try desperately to remember what happened the night before, but they have no clue.  Cutie pie Bradley Cooper is wearing a hospital wrist band, so they start there.  As the day goes on, and Doug is still lost, the boys discover more and more about what happened last night.  

Why is Ed Helms missing a tooth?  Why is Mike Tyson in their hotel room?  Whose baby is this?  And where is Doug?!?

As the boys drive around Vegas following their clues, each gag is funnier and funnier than the first.  If you love comedies, I highly recommend this movie!

I think the credits were actually my favorite part of the movie.

Duel

Who: Bill
What: Duel
Where: Turner Classic Movies (TCM)
Why: One of the first movies directed by Steven Spielberg

Mild-mannered salesman David Mann (Dennis Weaver) is on his way to meet a client. Traveling on a remote two-lane California highway he gets behind a slow-moving, exhaust-spewing old tanker truck. He bypasses the truck, but very quickly the truck bypasses him. Soon, Mann finds himself in a high-speed, life-threatening "duel" between his four-door sedan and the menacing tanker truck, whose driver's face is unseen. Call it an extreme case of road rage.

Duel was first seen Saturday, November 13, 1971 on ABC's "Movie of the Weekend", which along with that network's Tuesday night "Movie of the Week", consisted entirely of made-for-TV feature films. Each movie was budgeted at no more than $450,000 and just long enough to fit into a 90-minute time slot. "The Movie of the Week" was a huge hit upon its debut in 1969, as viewers enjoyed the World Premiere of a new motion picture presented for free each week. When Steven Spielberg was assigned to helm Duel, he had already established himself as an ambitious young director for Universal Television, working on episodes for popular shows such as Rod Serling's Night Gallery, Marcus Welby M.D. and Columbo. What could have been an average TV movie thriller, Duel is made unique by Spielberg's direction with minimal dialog and effective camera angles which add to the overall suspense of the story. These are especially effective in the chase scenes between the plain red early-70's Plymouth Valiant and the dirty, sinister tanker truck squaring off in a fight to the death. Of equal merit is Dennis Weaver's performance as the stalked driver, who can't understand why he is being terrorized for simply passing another vehicle on a lonely road.

Duel is one of the most famous films presented as part of ABC's "Movie of the Week" franchise. A few weeks after its airing, another acclaimed TV movie had its premiere: Brian's Song. Both movies were so well received by critics and viewers that they were even given theatrical releases. In the case of Duel, this involved the addition of several scenes and some mild profanity. This is the version that has aired on TCM, and seen on a special edition DVD. Duel is recommend not just to observe some of the best early career work of Steven Spielberg, but as an effective suspense thriller.

By the way, if you want to see how Duel was first presented to viewers, check out its preview clip on You Tube by typing "ABC Movie of the Weekend" in the search box. You can also see openings from "The Movie of the Week" and other network movie programs from the 1960's through the 1990's.

Star Trek

Who: Scott & Kerri
What: STAR TREK
Where: Showplace 14, Machesney Park, IL
Why: Cause we were kidless and wanted to see a movie

I must preface this - I am NOT a Trekkie. I repeat I am not a Trekkie. I'm totally a Star Wars Girl. Although had this movie come out when I was a kid instead of that first piece of crap Trek movie, I would have been all in. This movie Rocked!

Even though I'm not a Trekkie, I know a "little" about the Star Trek Universe, but I don't know the ins and outs. Like I cracked up at "Dammit Jim I'm a Doctor not a Physicist." But was like "Spock's half human, did I know this?"

Just so you know where I'm coming from on this.

Again, This movie flippin Rocked!

It was fun, the effects were great, it had a lot of humor without being a parody of itself. It had action without making you feel worn out. There was really great character development, it let those of us who weren't born Klingon feel that we got a chance to know the characters and didn't feel left out of the film.

It starts off with James T Kirk being born, following him and Spock both through their childhoods with some quick scenes, where they meet at an Academy, and are suddenly thrust into action on the USS Enterprise. Did I mention the effects were great?? Did I mention it also made me laugh?

I don't want to really say too much more as to give the plot away, although everyone else in the world has probably already scene it, but for you three that haven't, GO WATCH NOW! We'll wait for you.

Are you back? Wasn't it great?

(Am I the only Star Wars Geek that was waiting for Han to show up on the snowy planet? That was HOTH wasn't it? ;) sorry, I digress)