Tag: ben affleck

Review: ‘He’s Just Not That Into You’

he_s_just_not_that_into_you_movie_image_jennifer_connelly__jennifer_aniston

Melissa:

Oh, ladies… it’s so true! We sit around and feed each other complete nonsense about why   (insert guys’ name here) hasn’t called. “You’re so wonderful! He was probably just intimidated.”, “Maybe he’s really busy.”, “What if he lost your number?”… This movie, like the book, gets straight to the down and dirty of dating. It’s a realistic, straight forward look at dating behaviors and what the “signs” really mean… No more excuses! He’s Just Not That Into You!

The movie follows a group of characters in their 20’s and 30’s as they all try to figure out the relationships in their lives. I’m going to attempt to explain this as best as I can… so hang in there.

Gigi (Ginnifer Goodwin) has been on one too many dates where they guy just doesn’t call. She can’t quite figure it out, and usually ends up waiting by her phone or driving by the guys hangouts. After her date with Conor (Kevin Connolly) goes ok, but he doesn’t call, she proceeds to do the same… only to meet his best friend Alex (Justin Long). Alex seems to have the whole dating thing down to an art, understands it inside and out, yet continues to date without letting love in. He ends up being the blunt advise about guys that Gigi needs.

Conor, the date who blew off Gigi is actually obsessed with Anna (Scarlett Johansson), but he is not what she needs. She likes how perfect of a guy that he is, but she wants something more. She wants everything that they have, just not with him.

Ben (Bradley Cooper) is married to Janine (Jennifer Connelly). She loves him dearly but pressured him into getting married before he was ready. This is where the problems start.

Beth (Jennifer Aniston) and Neil (Ben Affleck) have the perfect relationship. The only problem is that Beth really wants to get married and Neil is against it despite living together and being together for seven years. She now has to decide how important marriage is to her.

Lastly, we have Mary (Drew Barrymore). Mary is completely lost in the dating sea of technology. If a guy myspaces you, is it a date or a booty call. Is a web chat over coffee a date? Between email, social networks, text, voice mail, and home phones, she is just completely clueless.

This movie really does point out all of the awkward, unnecessary confusion about dating and relationships and tells you like it is. One thing that they address is to think of yourself as the rule and not the exception. for example… You go on a date and then he or she doesn’t call you back… answer or rule… He or she is just not into you…Â   The exception would be that your best friends cousin once had a date where the guy didn’t call back for a month and now they are married. Don’t hold on to hope. Just move on.

I think that they did a great job with this film with the exception of the very end. They went for the super/ultra/mega happy ending that just didn’t need to happen. I think that with certain characters they could have just left things alone and it would have meshed better with the message and the story.

I would recommend this to anyone who is an active dater… or even to read the book. It will open your eyes to some pretty ridiculous habits that we all have. Plus, it’s just plain funny!

[overall: 4.25 stars out of 5]

‘State of Play’ photos

These are the first two photos to appear for the new movie ‘State of Play’ the newest movie form Universal and Focus Pictures. The movie stars an all-star cast of Russell Crowe, Rachael McAdams, Ben Affleck, and Helen Miren and is directed by acclaimed director Kevin MacDonald. The thriller  centers around  Ã‚  a rising congressman and an investigative journalist embroiled in a case of seemingly unrelated, brutal murders.

Crowe plays DC reporter Cal McCaffrey, who’s street smarts lead him to untangle a mystery of murder and collusion among some of the nation’s most promising political and corporate figures. Affleck stars as the dashing yet secretive  Congressman Stephen Collins. For some reason when I think of this movie the original   ‘Manchurian Candidate’ with Frank Sinatra comes to mind. This movie hits theaters April 17th, 2009

Source: www.focusfeatures.com

Ben Affleck is in the Director’s Chair Again

After the  success of his directorial debut with ‘Gone Baby Gone’, actor/director Ben Affleck might be moving to ‘Arizona’… a movie based on true events. The movie has to do with the death of Don Bolles, an investigative reporter for the Arizona Republic. In 1976, Bolles was killed in a car bomb explosion as he was investigating the infiltration of organized crime into state government. Bolles was a co-founder of a group called the Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE). The group’s members rallied after Bolles death to complete the work that he had begun. But, if you can’t wait to see that, remember that Ben is in two movies coming out after the new year… ‘State of Play’ and ‘He’s Just Not That into You’.

Kevin Smith Week: ‘Chasing Amy’

What is the one thing that will drive two best friends apart? A cute blond bi-sexual girl of course. One of my all time favorite View-Askew films is ‘Chasing Amy’, Kevin Smith’s third installment in the Jersey Trilogy and his most critically acclaimed film to date. ‘Chasing Amy’ was the winner of the Independent Spirit Award for best Screenplay and  the launching pad for little known actress  Joey Lauren Adams. Adam’s also received a  Golden Globe nomination  for her performance of Alyssa Jones, the previously mentioned bi-sexual blond. Kevin Smith is a film maker with an eye for talent, gathering a group that today would  make up  an A-list cast (Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Matt Damon and Casey Affleck)  to do a movie with a shoestring budget close to $250,000.

Ben Affleck and Jason Lee return, after fighting over Shannon Dougherty in ‘Mallrats’, as life long friends Holden McNeil and Banky Edwards in 1997’s ‘Chasing Amy’. McNeil (Affleck) and Edwards (Lee) are roommates and successful comic-book creators. Their latest endeavor is the story of Bluntman & Chronic, a tale of  two stoner superheroes, that have a strong resemblance to Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith, himself) . If you haven’t picked up the books, you really should …they’re great! (and available at www.viewaskew.com).

While at a comic book convention, Holden notices an attractive artist on a Q&A panel, Alyssa Jones (Adams) creator of her own feminist comic ‘Idiosyncratic Routine’. One of my favorite scenes in the film happens at the convention, when Banky (Lee) is forced to defend his station in life: being an inker. Don’t even call him a tracer! Holden, Banky, Alyssa and black militant homosexual artist Hooper (Dwight Ewell)Â  all meet for a drink following the convention. Holden is convinced he and Alyssa shared a moment, and he is infatuated with her.

It’s not until the next time Holden meets up with Alyssa at the Meow Mix bar that he realizes she plays for the other team.  Holden catches  her playing a little tonsil hockey with a young blond. That’s when Banky realizes they are trying to pick up girls at a lesbian bar and smiles  from ear to ear.  Ã‚  This doesn’t stop Holden who eventually falls for Alyssa, and in turn,  she falls for him.  This forfeits  Alyssa’s membership in the she-woman man haters club.

The new romance also drives a wedge in the Bluntman & Chronic team.   Banky does what any best friend would do…he digs up some dirt on Alyssa. Banky discovers her high school nickname was “fingercuffs”, coming from her early sexual awareness. you need to check out the DVD to decode the meaning of… “fingercuffs”. (DVD available at www.viewaskew.com)

Holden, who thought he was the one who converted Alyssa back to the “sausage side”, is unable to look  at  a future with Alyssa, being  disgusted with her past sexual exploits. Following the break-up, we finally are treated to  the first  appearance of Jay and Silent Bob. Bob , not so quietly, explains to Holden the concept and basis for the title of the film “Chasing Amy” or in this case Chasing Alyssa. Basically letting your one true love get away and then spend the rest of your life chasing after that feeling you once had. Holden, after a failed suggested threesome with Alyssa and…Banky?,   pens a new graphic novel and apology called …yes you guessed it….”Chasing Amy” that chronicles his and Alyssa’s relationship culminating with a final panel “I’m Sorry Alyssa”.

Kevin Smith’s cannonball into the sexual revolution pool is a “10!” Chasing Amy is a wonderful story of how people react to  each other’s sexuality.  I have been to Red Bank, New Jersey (everyone should visit this cool small town). Every time I watch ‘Amy’ it’s like re-living the trip there, I can almost smell the pizza slices around the corner from the View Askew shop.   Chasing Amy is the perfect end to a hilarious threesome of buddy movies (Clerks, Mallrats), and it will make you laugh, it will make some cry (not me!) and mostly it will make you think! You will also see the graduation of a fine director (Kevin Smith) into the icon he has become today. Make ‘Chasing Amy’ part of your DVD library and don’t let Amy be a stranger… re-visit her often.

Affleck’s Next Possible Directing Gig

Ben Affleck is in talks to direct his followup film to last year’s, ‘Gone Baby Gone’. The new film, entitled ‘The Town’, is described as a dark heist-romance hybrid. Affleck is also rewriting the scrip, originally written by Peter Craig. Affleck will also star in the film.

The story follows a love triangle between a female bank manager, a longtime thief who stole more than her heart and an equally smitten FBI agent trying to bust the crook and his gang before they can pull another big job.

The film is based on the novel by Chuck Hogan, who will also do revisions on Affleck’s screenplay. Adrian Lyne was previously attached to direct ‘The Town’.

source: The Hollywood Reporter

Affleck’s New Look for ‘Extract’


No, that’s not Ted Kaczynski about to punch out a dude, it’s Ben Affleck, sporting a new beard and long hair for the new Mike Judge comedy, ‘Extract’.

The film, currently shooting in Los Angeles, is about personal and professional problems of the owner of a flower-extract plant.   It also stars Mila Kunis, Jason Bateman, and Kristen Wiig.

source: Just Jared

Review: ‘Gone Baby Gone’

Zac:

Another movie dealing with the loss of a child, this one excels on pretty much every level. Gone Baby Gone is an adaptation of the Dennis Lehane(Mystic River) novel by Ben Affleck in his directorial debut. I have always been a fan of Affleck and I am glad that he does a great job here which is supported by his great cast.
Leading the cast is Ben’s brother Casey who, along with Jesse James, is having a breakthrough year. Casey is just as good here as he is in Jesse James but is playing a completely different animal. As a private investigator contracted to help with the “neighborhood” investigation of the disappearance of a little girl he is a great as the evolving investigator gaining experience on the job. Affleck is accompanied by his girlfriend, Michelle Monaghan who helps with the detective work; though Affleck is usually figuring out most of the turns. As Affleck moves through his investigation we find twists and turns and fall onto some unexpected paths with some amazing tense scenes that get the blood rushing and wont let up.
The rest of the cast is rounded out by a couple of legends, Morgan Freeman as a police captain and Ed Harris as the cases detective. Freeman is more in the background, but good as always, while Ed Harris is fantastic as the rough detective willing to do anything to get the girl. He gets so intense and so scary with some of the investigated sometimes you are glad you don’t have to deal with his tactics.
Another great turn is by, Amy Ryan, as the mother of the missing girl. You completely forget she is some actor and totally buy into her as this horrible druggie mother that is lost in the trash and underworld of Boston. You just don’t really like her, might even hate her, yet she maintains some sympathy. But when you really hate a character, you know the actor is doing a pretty damn good job.
Ben Affleck does a great job at making this movie feel real as well, which makes it easy to buy into the world. No one is really attractive in this, its gritty and dirty, and it’s a place I wouldn’t want to be in. Even Amy Ryan and Michelle Monaghan some how manage to be not very appealing for being beautiful women. As the rest of the directing duties go, Affleck has some great moody scenes and shoots tension incredibly well and crafted a story that for the most part stays entertaining; rarely slowing up at all.
The movie is carried by a good story with great actors doing what they are supposed to do for a fantastic debut for Ben Affleck as a director. I hope he gets behind and in front of the camera a lot more in the future and that is brother becomes the star that he deserves to be sooner, rather than later.

[rating: 4.5/5]