This blog will soon be coming back from the dead… or… waking from its coma, more accurately. I miss writing here, even though I run two YouTube channels now. Writing for this blog activates a part of my brain that isn’t getting enough exercise these days.
It looks like we left off right before Back to 1942, so that’ll be first on the docket. As it so happens, I wanted to do a “Revisited” episode for it on my Brody-focused channel, so that’ll work out nicely (as I already planned to rewatch).
Hi there! Long time, no see, eh?
I’ve updated the Films page, as it was woefully out of date.
Also, I’ve launched a new YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/@adrienbrodywithsprinkles
I got my thoughts on Adrien’s latest movie, Ghosted, down on video.
Cast (alphabetical): F. Murray Abraham, Elizabeth Banks, Adrien Brody, Ellen Burstyn, Glenn Close, Hope Davis, Viola Davis, Jennifer Ehle, Ben Foster, Paul Giamatti, Jack Huston, Stephen Lang, Lindsay Lohan, Janet McTeer, Jeremy Piven, Oliver Platt, David Strathairn, Lili Taylor, Uma Thurman, Marisa Tomei, and Evan Rachel Wood
Written By: Liz Garbus, with excerpts by: Marilyn Monroe, Billy Wilder, Truman Capote, Arthur Miller, Natasha Lytess, Norman Mailer, Norman Rosten, Gloria Steinem, and Ralph Greenson
Directed By: Liz Garbus
Genre: Documentary
Running Time: 1 hour, 47 minutes
Release Date: September 12, 2012 (Toronto International Film Festival)
MPAA Rating: Not Rated (“R” type content)
The life of Marilyn Monroe is told via the writings of those who knew her, as well as her own journals and letters discovered in storage. Said writings are recited/interpreted by a long list of actors. There is also a fair amount of archival footage.
Cast: Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Mimi Kennedy, Kurt Fuller, Kathy Bates, Michael Sheen, Tom Hiddleston, Alison Pill, Lea Seydoux, Carla Bruni, Corey Stoll, Adrien Brody…
Written By: Woody Allen
Directed By: Woody Allen
Genre: Comedy/Fantasy/Romance
Running Time: 1 hour, 34 minutes
Release Date: May 11, 2011 (Cannes Film Festival)
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) is a frustrated and nostalgic screenwriter who wants to be a novelist. He’s also in a seemingly loveless engagement with a woman named Inez (Rachel McAdams).
Cast: Adrien Brody, Marcia Gay Harden, Christina Hendricks, Sami Gayle, Betty Kaye, Lucy Liu, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Zorich, Bryan Cranston, Blythe Danner and James Caan
Written By: Carl Lund
Directed By: Tony Kaye
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 1 hour, 38 minutes
Release Date: April 25, 2011
MPAA Rating: Not Rated (it’s an “R” style, though)
Cast: Adrien Brody, Caroline Dhavernas, Jacob Blair, Adrian Holmes, Ryan Robbins, Lloyd Adams, Adrian G. Griffiths
Written By: Christopher Dodd
Directed By: Michael Greenspan
Genre: Adventure/Drama/Mystery
Running Time: 1 hour, 31 minutes
Release Date: October 15, 2010 (Abu Dhabi Film Festival); April, 2011 (U.S.A)
MPAA Rating: R
A man awakens in the passenger seat of a wrecked car in the middle of nowhere. He has no idea who he is, or how he got there. While piecing together sparse clues and memory flashes, he has to try and sort out fact from fantasy and fear.
Oh, and did I mention he’s badly injured, and trying to survive in the elements?
This man is the only living character on screen for about 90% of this film. So, to say a lot depended on Brody’s performance is an understatement.
He fully holds your attention. Even in a movie like this, where the progress is subtle and slow, he keeps it from being boring. With a lesser actor, it may have been.
As with The Experiment, Wrecked is hard to watch at times. Adrien’s character goes through so much physical and mental suffering, and there’s nothing else going on to distract the viewer. Your focus is always on this man and his misery. He sells the pain so well with his physicality and expressions, it will bring a tear to your eye.
Movie in General: 6/10
Brody Performance: 8/10
Cast: Adrien Brody, Forest Whitaker, Cam Gigandet, Clifton Collins Jr., Ethan Cohn, Fisher Stevens, Travis Fimmel, Lavell “David Banner” Crump, Jason Lew, Damien Leake, and Maggie Grace
Written By: Paul T. Scheuring (screenplay), Mario Giordano (novel)
Directed By: Paul T. Scheuring
Genre: Drama/Thriller
Running Time: 1 hour, 36 minutes
Release Date: July 15, 2010 (South Korea), September 21, 2010 (U.S.)
MPAA Rating: R
A group of men, all in need of money for various reasons, sign up for a psychological experiment that pays $14,000 (if they make it the entire two weeks). Half of them are assigned the role of prisoners, the other half, guards. They are given a few rules, and then essentially abandoned by the people running the experiment.
Power changes people. That’s about all I can tell you about the plot without spoiling too much.
Travis is laid off from his job at an elder care facility. He has also started a relationship with a woman named Bay (Maggie Grace), who invites him on a trip to India. He spots the experiment in a newspaper, and it seems like the answer to his money woes.
Travis is assigned the role of prisoner during the experiment, and is soon fighting for the rights of the detainees. He endures a lot of backlash, to say the least.
Sadly, this is the type of movie where almost anything I say will give away plot points. What I’ll say is, Travis basically goes through Hell.
I’ll level with you: this movie is hard to watch. Seeing the mistreatment, and the gross conditions, is enough to turn your stomach.
However, the performances are good (especially those of Brody and Whitaker), and the story is compelling.
If you can handle it, give it a watch.
Movie in General: 6/10
Brody Performance: 8/10
I’ve started a YouTube channel, also named Every Brody Movie. It won’t be formatted quite the same as this blog, but will, of course, cover the same topic.
Here’s a link, if you’d like to check it out. I’ll be noting new uploads from now on, as well.
I will still be writing here, I just needed a little change.
