6/22/05---Movies, movies, movies.....

I've been checking out a lot of movies over the past 4 or 5 days....let's take a look:
1) Ray--Jaime Foxx got a ton of positive reviews for his performance as legendary blues//jazz//pop singer Ray Charles, and he really is very good, but I wonder if his performance isn't more someone doing an impression of Ray Charles rather than a performance.  The movie itself is quite good, with the expected terrific soundtrack and a number of good supporting performances (and how about Curtis "Booger" Armstrong as Ray's first record producer?  He's almost unrecognizable in a bald wig).  What I really liked about the film was its "warts and all" approach, which I suppose must be credited to Ray himself, who was heavily involved in the production before his death.  Fact is, Ray apparently could be quite the s.o.b.
Besides his heroin addiction, there was the constant womanizing and the children born out of wedlock to other women--all the while with his wife knowing all about it.
There's a terrific scene where, when his mistress tells Ray that their affair finally over, he has her use the rage inside of her into the backing vocals on "Hit the Road, Jack".
Now THAT is great trivia.   ****  very good movie
2) Visionquest--yeah, I know.  Huge timewarp, huh?  This one was on cable the other night and I realized it was one of those movies that I've seen bits and pieces of here and there--but never actually had sat and watched in its entirety.  This is actually a step above the usual "teen coming of age" flick, primarily because of lead star Matthew Modine, who has made a lot of good movies come to think of it, the sexiness of Linda Fiorentino, and the usual solid supporting work by Ronny Cox, playing Modine's single father.  If you're a fan of 80's music, there's also some really good stuff on the soundtrack, including Journey, Sammy Hagar, Red Ryder & (gasp!) a pre-Madonna...um....Madonna.  The story is of course, fairly standard Rocky stuff, but the cast raises it up above the ordinary.  ***
3) The Aviator--here's one of the movies that I almost went out of my way avoiding the past few months, since I had heard from various sources that it was this bloated, overrated old style Hollywood epic.  Wrong!  And the scary thing is.....(brace yourself here people)....Leonardo Dicaprio actually ACTS.  He EMOTES.  He's, he's...(gulp)....pretty darn good!  (Wow, I never thought I'd be writing that)  Leo plays the legendary Howard Hughes, legendary filmmaker//aeronautical innovater//Lothario//weirdo//recluse//germ-a-phobe.  The film is a pretty good history lesson for early Hollywood, with the petty political mechanizations (another producer refuses to lend Hughes an extra camera, considering him an outsider) and wooing of this month's hot starlets.  Cate Blanchett portrays Kate Hepburn as a strong willed woman trying to get away from the  upper class eastern snobbiness
that runs through her family.  Kate Beckinsdale is Ava Gardner, legendary beauty.
Jude Law, who apparently IS in just about every film made, has a cute minor role as Errol Flynn....who would make a great subject for a film on that era.  But primarily, the movie is a look at the impact that Hughes had on aviation in the United States--most of which I had no idea about.  I mean, I knew about the Spruce Goose and other things of that nature, but I wasn't aware of some of the incredible innovations that Hughes helped develop, most of which sped up the development of the airline industry in this country.  Though it may not seem like it, that aspect of the story is really interesting with Dicaprio exchanging acting chops with the likes of Alec Baldwin & Alan Alda--both of whom are really good.  This is a long movie....bring a lunch....and enjoy an oldstyle Hollywood epic.   ****1/4
4) The Incredibles--an enjoyable look at the everyday lives of superheroes.  What sort of problems are they confronted with?  What about their kids?  How do they react as parents when their children start displaying.....um....superhero characteristics?  Your basic "cartoon that's not just for kids", ala Shrek & Toy Story, this film uses the vocal talents of Craig T. Nelson, Samuel L Jackson and, best of all, Holly Hunter as the matriarch of the family (formerly "Elasti-girl").  Hunter is really quite funny in a snotty, sarcastic way in the scenes with Nelson, who plays her husband (Mr Incredible), who's a vain, if not also slightly dimwitted superhero.
A very good movie for the whole family, with enough adult humor to keep everyone happy.  ****
5) Wayne's World--so lately my kids are getting into the music of Queen, and especially the song Bohemian Rhapsody.  I thought they might get a huge kick out of the famous "headbanging" scene from Wayne's World and sat them down to watch what was at the time, one of my favorite comedies.  Guess what?  It hasn't aged well.  A new generation of kids doesn't get a lot of the jokes in the movie (the whole scene where they spoofed Laverne & Shirley had my kids wondering what in the hell they were doing) and has me delivering a harsh verdict for the movie.  (Sigh)......
For fans only.  **1/2

Later,
Jeff