Movies always portrayed cattlemen as married to their life as if it was the only thing they thought about and their life was caught in a time warp of only having a horse or maybe an old pick up truck. Hud shatters that American image of the rancher as married to his land, to a degree. It's like a new generation has come to take the reigns of what once was, even if the old generation wants it to happen or not.
Paul Newman plays the title character, a life long rancher by day and a gigolo by night, drinking and fighting and leaving Mrs. Whoever's house at six in the morning. He lives and works with his father Homer (Melvyn Douglas). Their relationship is as estranged as you can get while living together. There's a definite chill in the air when both are present. Also on the ranch is Hud's teenage nephew Lon (Brandon De Wilde), an impressionable young man who is torn between the influence of his uncle and his grandfather. Patricia Neal plays the housekeeper Alma, a presence that represents the opinion of the opposite sex in a world full of men and causes some sexual tension within the household.
The film begins with one of the herd dying of an unknown ailment that suddenly becomes a dire situation when the fear of foot and mouth disease suddenly becomes a possible reality. Homer is despondent, worrying throughout the film while Hud continues trolling around in his pink Cadillac and drinking and fighting and screwing throughout the town. It's like a morality piece between the old ways and the new ways.
What Hud represents is actually the battle for Lon's soul. Homer shows his grandson that work and dedication are the ways to get where you want in life. Hud's philosophy is to take as much as you can. When the first talk of foot and mouth Hud's plan is to make a quick sell of the cattle and be damned if their sick or not, much to the displeasure of his father. The two are polar opposites with Lon stuck in the middle. The question that this film offers is what path will Lon follow? Is he strong enough to follow his grandfather's example or is Hud to much of an influence on the young boy.
Paul Newman gives a stellar performance as what is essentially the bad guy. Of course he was written as the bad guy, but in an era that was post James Dean and Marlon Brando you can see him as more of a rebel than an opportunist, though it can be said that Brando learned a lesson during the Wild One. Hud learns nothing from start to finish. Melvyn Douglas is Newman's equal as the old and broken down Homer. Homer is still calm and cool, even in the face of everything he's up against. He's old school all the way.
Directed with a great eye for the landscapes by Martin Ritt, the film doesn't let them overtake the film. There are no sweeping John Fordesque Monument Valley shots that become the centerpiece of the film, but there is some terrific landscape that fills in the areas that the actors aren't taking up. It's really a mesmerizing film based on the work of Larry McMurtry, whose work would later show the real life in a Texas town with The Last Picture Show.
Hud is really the first gleam of Paul Newman's excellence as an actor. His portrayal of Hud is a hypnotic piece of acting. Is Hud a bad man? It's hard to say. He could just be like every cattleman's son in Texas. Maybe no one ever fought for his soul?
Funny People is an examination of the world of comedy from both ends of the spectrum- the ones that have nothing to the ones that have everything. The lesson we learn is that none of them are happy about it. The film stars Adam Sandler as George Simmons, a conglomeration of stand up comics, including himself, that finds out he's dying. He decides to do some stand up shows, happening on Ira Wright (Seth Rogen), an aspiring comic who is better at his day job slinging meat at a deli. Eventually Ira becomes George's assistant as George goes through the whole "I'm going to die process" only to find out he's not dying. Does George learn anything? Not really and continues to make his own life miserable while he takes Ira along for the ride.
Funny People starts out great. I'll be the first to admit it. Following both lives in the comedy world is actually interesting and entertaining, especially when you throw in Ira's roommates played by Jonah Hill and Jason Schwatzman and George's old flame Laura (Leslie Mann). I was really into this movie until the last third, when they spend and eternity at Laura's house. It was like taking the Concorde and slamming it into the moon. This section feels like watching the second hand tick during your last class period of the day. I don't know if someone failed to have the balls to say that "You could probably cut this a bit" or what but this section is the biggest failure of the movie and the thing that takes it from a good movie to average. Perhaps director Judd Apatow got a little pretentious with this film and particularly this section because his wife and kids were in it- over and over again.
That's probably the hardest pill to swallow. I like all of Apatow and Co.'s previous work, but Funny People feels like a glamour project from it's length to some of the scenes that go way too long. Rogen tends to great on you, but- and I can't believe I'm saying this- Sandler is great in his role. It's a funny movie, but it drags a bit. No, it drags a lot.
Hey! You want to know why Eddie Murphy didn't win an Oscar for Dreamgirls? This is it.
I've learned not to expect much out of Eddie Murphy. Has he actually done a good movie in awhile? I can't remember. What makes Norbit so special? Why is Norbit accepted as such a horrible film across the globe? I couldn't figure it out. It bothered me, it tore at my soul. So I had to find out for myself. And within the first few minutes I had my answer. The film also stars... drum roll please.... Cuba Gooding, Jr. That's right, the guy that won the Oscar and then let his career swim in a sewage treatment plant is in Norbit. It's not Eddie Murphy! It's Cuba!
The film has Eddie Murphy playing Norbit, his rotund wife and probably some other characters that I didn't care about. It was cool twenty years ago Akeem, but that stuff got old and we get enough of that in Mike Meyer's movies. The orphanage plot is horrid with acting that isn't really acting but trying to keep up with Mr. Eddie's ad-libbing. The film centers on saving an orphanage. No, Norbit isn't on a mission from God, he's playing a foil to his large wife and her criminal family, who are the ones that want the orphanage for other investment gains. Of course there's the cute girl (Thandie Newton) that got away, who- that's right- is there to save the orphanage because in the movies only good looking people are good and people that look like me are evil.
I have to say once again that the fact that Eddie Murphy is in this should have been a brown crap flag from the start. It's OK, we can blame Eddie since he also helped write this piece of shit. Shame, Eddie. Shame. I don't know what to tell you. What happened to the Eddie Murphy that wore blue leather suits with 75 zippers and was going to be the next Richard Pryor. I guess Eddie really has followed Richard Pryor in that the movies he did in the twilight of his career were crap too.
Every once in awhile and actor comes along that you just want to beat the hell out of. That actor is Mike Meyers. I don't know why but with him doing the same schtick over and over again, constantly flashing that god awful Canadian smile at us I just pisses me off. I don't get it. I just hate his guts.
It's probably because The Love Guru is just another version of Austin Powers with Meyers playing up excrement and masturbation humor to its fullest. Wait a minute! I can't use the word humor because they're not funny. Now before you label me a prude, I enjoy a good joke about poop. One of my guilty pleasures is a film called Night Patrol, a 1984 film featuring a farting Billy Barty and a masturbating Pat Morita. Even a scuzzy film like that can make it funny. After years of Mike Meyer's doing it as Austin Powers and now as Guru Pitka it just seems desperate. Very, very desperate.
The Love Guru is about a hockey player named Darren Roanoke (Romany Malco) who leaves his wife (Meagan Good) for some "bitches", but becomes obsessed with her coming back after she hooks up with goalie Jacques "Le Coc" Grande (Justin Timberlake). The Maple Leafs owner (Jessica Alba) decides that the way to win the Stanley Cup is for Guru Pitka (Meyers) to come to Toronto and cure Roanoke of his problem and get him back together with his wife.
Yeah, the movie sucks just as much as the plot. I could bash Meyers some more, but we all know what his problem is. Instead of actually having his face in films he decided to take the quick payday and voice Shrek for half the decade (I really, really, REALLY wish that they would give us a cut of the first film with the original voice of Shrek- Chris Farley). So what happened? Austin Powers got stale real fast and people like Sandler and Rogen took over Mike Meyers spot. As I said, the Love Guru is just another Austin powers movie that was rewritten to not quite be an Austin Powers movie. This film is such a piece of utter garbage that words can't describe how universally awful it is. If Ed Wood was alive he would say that The Love Guru is shit. I could talk about the acting, but it's awful and there's no point in wasting the time. Ben Kingsley is in this! Ben Kingsley who won and Oscar for being Gandhi! He goes back to the well and use his Gandhi skills for this piece of shit? What the hell's wrong with you, Ben? Remember Schindler's List? Just say no, man. Just say no.
God, even thinking about this movie again is giving me a headache. I just realized something. Some people like to be whipped. Some people like to use clothespins in areas. I like to watch toilet remains like the Love Guru. Isn't it kinky?
I have been looking forward to this movie for so long. Why? Because I'm a huge fan and have read all the books? No. Because Robert Pattison is such a fine actor? No. Because I enjoy films starring Shark boy? No. I have been looking with great anticipation because I knew how horrible the movie was going to be. And guess what? I GOT MY WISH!!!New Moon picks up where Twilight leaves off with Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) having a birthday. Bella is afraid she's getting too old at the ripe, old age of 18 and goes birthday Nazi, except for the bloodsucker birthday hosted by Edward Cullen (Robert Pattison). While at the party Bella gets the worst paper cut in the history of the world, causing the Sideshow Bob look vampire to go all after all that, causing the ruin of a perfectly good piano. Edward decides to leave as a way to protect Bella, even though other vampires and werewolves, and Crips are lurking in the Washington forest. She soon becomes and adrenaline junkie that gets visions of Edward playing Smokey the Bear where she does dangerous stuff, leading her to hang out with Jacob (Shark Boy) and spend weeks working on a pair of motorcycles that they only ride for two minutes. Jacob cuts his hair, takes his shirt off, becomes and ass, and becomes a dog. Edward decides to kill himself (thank God) and it's up to Bella to stop the Liberace Vamp from getting pulled apart by Michael Sheen and Dakota Fanning.Did you get all that? The movies as messy as that paragraph and even worse than its predecessor in the "lets make the tweenies swoon" department. Robert Pattison's introduction in this film made me laugh out loud, being so damn ridiculous. It looks like a bad Abercrombie commercial complete with music. This is the happiest depressed vampire I've ever seen. And another thing: the next time I hear people complaining about William Shatner's acting, I want this guys name brought up. He pauses every two words. Bella....................................................do you.......................................................want............................................................black olives......................................................on your..................................................................sub? No wonder this movies over two hours! Could you imagine if these guy was in the film more than the small amount he appears (give me an AMEN!)? Kristen Stewart is a better actress than this garbage, but it's a steady job that will get great PR. Just don't pull a Mark Hamill, dear. We can't forget Taylor Launtner, who obviously has gone to the McConoughey school for acting which means you need to have your shirt off as much as possible- who cares if you act for shit? Even on a rainy day in Washington in February. What's better than that? Four guys with their shirts off. What's even better? Edward Pattinson showing off his Michael Jackson post-mortem physique near the end of the picture. I'm serious folks. It's like comparing me in 1996 to The Rock. I could go another hour about the dialogue. It's hilarious. I have to applaud these actors and actresses because I don't know how they can say this shit with a straight face. The one redeeming thing about this movie was Michael Sheen as the Lestadt like head vampire that is always so damn happy. The reason he's got a smile on his face is because he can't believe that script either. He is actually very good in the movie, though he won't be noticed because he doesn't take his shirt off and have crappy metro sexual rock tunes playing in the background.The film is too long by at least fifteen minutes, which could have been fixed by having Pattinson talk a little faster and cut the depressed looks of the cast down by about 50. There's also a storyline dealing with another vampire named Victoria that gets no real resolution and didn't need to be in there other than to pad the numbers. If the books are as badly paced as this movie its no wonder the world is going to hell in a hand basket.But at the end of the day it doesn't matter what I think. Ladies between thirteen and 90 and their mothers, aunts, and sister will all flock to this movie and bring some poor schmuck of a guy with them to see the vomit that is being projected onto the screen. Just like Star Wars fans would flock to a movie with George Lucas wiping his ass with one hundred dollar bills for two hours as long as there's the big title sequence and a light saber, ladies will flock to this cess pool vampire soap opera as long as it has unkempt hair and topless child stars. Even more so than the first film, this is an example of a huge money making enterprise that has no redeeming value other than selling tickets, merchandise, and more books.
