by Marty Coleman | Oct 7, 2013 | Movies & Events, Reviews & Sponsored Posts |
Prisoners – 2013
How many of us with children have watched a TV news report about a child abduction and not said or thought something along the lines of, “If someone ever did that to my child I would hunt him down and torture him to death.”? If so, this movie is for you. The center of the movie is a torture/revenge fantasy for all those who would like to take action in the face of evil but can’t. It’s angry, it’s violent and it’s hard to watch at times.
It’s hard to watch because of the violence, but for me it was equally hard to watch because we as viewers know it’s premature. But we also feel the panic of the parent, knowing they only have so many hours to find the children or it will probably be too late. We would not and could not choose to do what this parent has done, but we wish we could to some degree.
The laconic, world-weary detective in charge of the case, played by Jake Gyllanhall, thinks the main suspect is creepy and knows he was in the vicinity, but he also has no evidence to hold him and believes he is mentally not really capable of pulling off a kidnapping crime like this. The torturer, a rough-hewn blue collar family man played by Hugh Jackman, is convinced that the guy is the guilty party. After he is let go, he kidnaps him and tortures him to exact information about the whereabouts of his child. It doesn’t work as expected but he does come close to destroying his family and the family of the other abducted girl in the meanwhile.
The film is shot in somber tones of grey and brown in low, natural light. With the outdoor locations shot in either driving rain or heavy dark skies and indoor scenes shot in boring living rooms and abandoned buildings the mood is of unrelenting tension and anxiety. What isn’t shot in those conditions is shot at night with it’s accompanying feeling of being lost and unable to discern what is really there and what is the product of a paranoid, angry mind.
The reason behind the movie’s title is evident as the movie moves along. All the characters, not just the abducted girls, are prisoners (mind you, you don’t know if the abducted girls are alive or dead throughout the movie but the title does suggest it might be the case). The parents and siblings are prisoners of the waiting game and of guilt. The detective, covered in telling tattoos, likely has a gang background of some sort, maybe even was in prison himself at one point. Besides that he is a prisoner of a Captain who is not helping his investigation very much, prisoner of a fatalistic mentality, prisoner of having to go by the book. The suspect is a prisoner, his mother is a prisoner, and even innocent (or not so innocent) bystanders are prisoners as well.
Is it a successful movie? Yes it is. The plot is convoluted but believable. The possible directions the story could go are manifold. The script and characters are believable and compelling, playing off each other’s personalities in intense and unexpected ways.
The main deciding factors in whether you might want to see the movie or not are whether you:
- Like intense portrayals of anger and personal violence (not guns, but fists and other close up type violence and torture)
- Like police work procedurals with evidence and emotion based hunts for criminals.
- Like intense, character and plot driven drama.
Overall I give the movie 3 out of 5 napkins.
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Movie review by Marty Coleman
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 18, 2013 | Movies & Events |
Linda and I saw a really good movie last night, ‘The Way Way Back‘. It’s a coming of age story about Duncan (Liam James), the awkward teenage son of Pam (Toni Collette – one of my favorite actors), on vacation with her and her new and insufferable boyfriend (Steve Carell) at his summer home. Great characters abound, including Allison Janney as Betty, the boozy, cleavage showing neighbor, her sensitive teenage daughter Susanna (AnnaSophia Robb), Sam Rockwell as Owen, a very likable cutup from the local water park, and Maya Rudolph as his put upon co-worker, Caitlin.
Duncan is the most awkward teen you can imagine. He doesn’t know how to talk to anyone, much less girls. He doesn’t know how to express his disdain for the boyfriend and his pouty daughter. He doesn’t know how to tell his mother she is more of an adolescent teen than he is. He’s pretty much disgusted with the world and himself and lets it show.
He meets Owen playing Pacman at a pizza parlor and later meets him again at the Water Whizz park (where he shows up in button down shirt and jeans, completely out of place). The park becomes his secret refuge from the dysfunctional beach house and his first real foray into being a confident, happy teenager.
It has some predictable elements of a coming of age story, but not to enough of a degree to ruin it. The characters and the sweetness of the 2 teenage leads carry the movie and make it worth seeing. Since the cinematography isn’t spectacular or unique, it’s the kind of movie you can rent or watch on Netflix instead of in the theatre, if you are so inclined.
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On a related note
With 10 minutes left in the movie, an entire entourage of at least 12 people, all grown adults, and seemingly family related to each other, came into the theatre, stopped IN FRONT OF THE MOVIE, and started to talk about where they wanted to sit. They were big and loud and slow and sat all over the theatre, plopping down right next to complete strangers in the darkened theatre, all the while talking to those still standing up, telling them where else they could sit. With about 2 minutes left in the movie a usher came in and told them they had to leave, which they did, AS THE MOVIE REACHED ITS CLIMAX! To say it was distracting is an understatement.
We came out at the end of the movie and complained to a cop (yes, a cop) who was in the walkway. The whole crew of people were sitting on benches waiting to go in and they gave us the stink eye as we walked by. It was so absurd to think not one, not two, but at least a dozen full grown adults, could all think it ok to walk in and do that. Teens? I would be pissed but understand they are idiots who don’t know better, YET. But adults? One old enough to have a CANE? I mean, really. come on.
Anyway, AMC was kind enough to give us passes for another show, and we appreciated that. It still floors me though.
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by Marty Coleman | May 31, 2013 | Movies & Events |
I never got to see the Beatles in concert (my sister saw them twice) but I did see Wings at the Fabulous Forum in LA in 1976 and that was a great concert. But it was oh so long ago. I was looking forward to seeing him again after all these years.
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I got my first taste of how big a deal this was going to be in Tulsa when I took a long run around downtown last weekend and saw this street sign near the BOK Center where the concert was going to take place.
The concert actually started with a scrolling montage of photos and video from McCartney’s life. It made me want to watch this movie, one of my all time favorites, again.
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Once the concert commenced, Sir Paul did not disappoint. He and his band of 5 guys were incredible for over 2 1/2 hours.
Highlights included a solo Paul with a Ukelele singing ‘Something’ by George Harrison, after telling a funny story of how George and he played it on dueling ukeleles once. He then transitioned half way through the song to the full throated version of it with the band. It really was quite moving.
Courtesy of my friend, Julie Chin
I also really loved ‘Live and Let Die’, ‘Band on the Run’, ‘Paperback Writer’ and ‘And I love Her’. There was only one song through the entire night (and 55 years of recordings) where I didn’t know the lyrics. I had heard the song before, from a later album, but that was it. The pyrotechnics during ‘Live and Let Die’ were pretty spectacular.
photo courtesy of my friend, Julie Chin
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His odes to his wives, ‘My Valentine’ for his current wife, Nancy and ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’ for his late wife, Linda, were very touching and beautiful. I loved ‘Lady Madonna’ with the huge graphics of strong and successful women throughout the song, with scenes of Olympic runners hitting the finish line as the line ‘see how she runs’ was sung.
My own Lovely Linda and myself waiting for Sir Paul to arrive.
We had an amazing time surrounded by a huge diversity of people. Everyone sang along to almost every song but I beat Linda in the ‘know every song’ category for sure. It was great to meet a very cool couple sitting next to us before the show, hopefully we will meet up with them again. It was funny watching the long haired blonde (Cousin It) and her very tall, very gaunt BF (Lurch) in front of us think every song should be heard standing up,
and a bit sad watching the boy dragged along by his parents play a video game through the entire concert, non-stop.
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Most unexpected song: Helter Skelter. Very intense visuals and about as hard of a head banging heavy metal song that the Beatles ever did. And the band did it with some serious intensity. Sometimes you forget, due to Paul’s ballads and sweet love songs, what a hard core rocker he was and is. Linda didn’t like Helter Skelter, she had read the book about the Manson murders, and can’t hear it without thinking about that, but I thought it was a pretty amazing heavy metal song. The Beatles recorded a 17 minute version of the song that never got released while recording the White Album. Read more about here.
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He led up to one song by saying it had not been performed in public in many decades but he brought it out for this tour. It was pretty clear that there was a reason it isn’t brought out often, it was the weakest song of the night in my opinion – Lovely Rita (Meter Maid).
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Favorite song of the night? Hard to beat the second to last song in the encore, ‘Saw Her Standing There’ which he sang in honor of a girl named Charlotte in the audience who had a big sign saying she was turning 17…’she was just 17, you know what I mean’…
The Beatles – I Saw Her Standing There from – Thrive – on Vimeo.
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And the finale, not expected but great, was ‘Golden Slumber’. An amazing composition that had quiet moments, outrageous rock, searing solos on all instruments and a ear splitting finale. My favorite line? “… and in the end, the love you take … is equal to the love … you make.”
And in the end….we walked out under beautiful humid skies and saw this.
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We loved it and highly recommend going to see Sir Paul if you get the chance. It’s worth the money.
Did you go? What stood out to you?
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© 2013 Marty Coleman and Napkin Dad Publishing
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by Marty Coleman | May 23, 2013 | Movies & Events |
I went out to breakfast with the denizens of Social Media Tulsa this morning. We got together to show signs of support for the tornado relief efforts, literally, by making signs of support. The signs (or napkins as it were) directed people to where they could text their donations. This effort is in addition to making our own donations of course.
In addition the Restaurant, Dilly Deli in downtown Tulsa, gave 100% of their proceeds from their breakfast hours (7-11am) to the relief effort.
sign of support
I chose the Oklahoma Regional Food Bank because it was local.
Here are some of the other signs of support and the people who made them.
Social Media Tulsa member Erica Jordan came out with her entire family.
Erica’s daughter Kymberlee asks that you text the word ‘storm’ to 80888 to give $10.00 to The Salvation Army
Her little brother Josiah is asking you to do the same.
Michelle Sotkin and her 11 year old gymnast daughter, Alexi, have a personal connection to gymnasts down in the hardest hit area of Oklahoma. They are asking for support for their friends who lost everything.
Social Media Tulsa member Danica Jones is asking you to do the same to the OK Regional Food Bank.
And last but not least our esteemed leader, Cheryl Lawson and the #1 cowboy in the group, John Taylor (who knows a good hat when he sees one) asks you to do the same for the food bank.
There are many other ways to contribute of course, but if you have your phone handy why not do it this way.
Thanks,
Marty
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