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The Kovak Box starring Timothy Hutton, Lucía Jiménez & David Kelly

Posted on October 20, 2011 Written by ripitup

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The Kovak Box starring Timothy Hutton, Lucía Jiménez & David Kelly
The Kovak Box starring Timothy Hutton, Lucía Jiménez & David Kelly. Image via movieposterdb.com


David Norton (Timothy Hutton) is an accomplished sci-fi writer who is invited to be the speaker at an exotic location. With lots of best-selling books under his belt, and a loving relationship with his girlfriend Jane (Georgia MacKenzie), he couldn’t be happier…that is until he starts receiving odd messages and Jane jumps out of their hotel room window…

Silvia (Lucía Jiménez) is at the same hospital, and unlike Jane she is lucky enough to have survived the fall. But as she tries to leave the hospital, she realizes that some people are after her.

As David and Silvia realize they are in this nightmare of a puzzle together, they try to understand what’s going on and why. Maybe someone is pushing David to write a story he didn‘t sign up for…

*

The Kovak Box has a very interesting premise, and it does live up to it to a certain extent. But the movie takes huge blows from the casting (excluding Timothy Hutton), the editing and direction in general. Not to mention the overall musical score.  The Gloomy Sunday track is creepy enough. But overdoing the rest of the score is just distracting and annoying- and not thrilling. It is a story that could have made more of an impact if it was told by somebody else. And it makes me wonder-would this be a better story just shot in one language, without the accents, subtitles – and most importantly, subtler actors?

Still, it might be an interesting experience for Timothy Hutton fans.

*

Other Posts on Timothy Hutton

Beautiful Girls starring Timothy Hutton, Matt Dillon, Uma Thurman, Natalie Portman and Mira Sorvino

The Absolute Timothy Hutton Trivia: 18 Facts About Leverage Star Timothy Hutton

City of Industry starring Harvey Keitel, Stephen Dorff and Timothy Hutton

The Killing Room starring Timothy Hutton

Ordinary People starring Timothy Hutton, Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore and Judd Hirsch

Serious Moonlight starring Timothy Hutton and Meg Ryan

Taps starring Timothy Hutton, Tom Cruise and Sean Penn

Leverage TV Series starring Timothy Hutton

The Ghost Writer starring Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan. Feat. Timothy Hutton

The Good Shepherd starring Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie. Feat. Timothy Hutton

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: David Kelly, Georgia MacKenzie, Lucía Jiménez, movies, mystery, sci fi, The Kovak Box, the kovak box movie, the kovak box timothy hutton, thriller, Timothy Hutton, timothy hutton movies, timothy hutton the kovak box

Haven starring Emily Rose, Lucas Bryant & Eric Belfour

Posted on October 13, 2011 Written by ripitup

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Haven starrng Lucas Bryant, Emily Rose & Eric Belfour.
Lucas Bryant as Nathan of Haven.

Young FBI agent Audrey Parker (Emily Rose) is sent to Maine on a mission to capture an escaped convict. However, the convict is already dead when she gets there, and despite the sheriff’s determination that it is an accident, he reluctantly lends her deputy chief/his son Nathan (Lucas Bryant).

Almost as soon as they start searching for clues, Audrey realizes that something isn’t quite right about the residents. Some of them have supernatural powers, such as mood swings affecting the weather or the ability to shove you a couple of feet with one little push. Oh, and her new friend Nathan can’t feel pain. Or anything else for that matter…

When the mystery is solved, another mystery-possibly one that can unlock Audrey’s past surfaces. She asks a couple of weeks from her boss, who lets her all too willingly to stay.

Then there is Duke (Eric Balfour), the charming, and not-always law-abiding guy who Nathan isn’t fond of.

The sheriff is impressed by case-solving skills, so Audrey joins Nathan in his office.  They become good friends, with implications that maybe we might expect more in the future.

But our main concern in Haven is not if Nathan and Audrey will get together. We want to know about Lucy Ripley, who looks exactly like Lucy- and looks to be the same age as Lucy. Yet she was here when Nathan and Duke were just kids and they don’t remember anything about the day (the day The Colorado Kid was murdered)….

*

Loosely based on Stephen King’s The Colorado Kid, Haven has found a nice balance between the micro events we deal with each episode and the clues as we try to solve who Audrey is, and also learn that maybe things about Nathan and Luke aren’t so straightforward either. The effects could have been better, but the drama/mystery /relationships are well balanced. Some episodes are better than others, but overall it is great for anyone who loves his supernatural without the horror or extreme romances.

As much as I love my vampires and werewolves, it is refreshing and fun where the supernatural come from humans who are just “troubled”. We are curious to see why it started, and how it is all related to Lucy.

Favorite Episodes

–          Season 2, Episode 6-  Audrey Parker’s Day Off offers the appropriate reference to Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day, it had the right amount of comedy, mystery and drama

 

Fun Facts about the Show and the Cast

–          Haven is set in Maine, USA but shot in Canada.

–          Emily Rose (Audrey) and Eric Balfour (Duke) are American and Lucas Bryant is Canadian.

–          Broadcasted on the same network as (the North American version of) Being Human.

–          Original Beverly Hills 90210 (1990-2000)’s Brandon  Jason Priestly appears in 4 episodes, serving both as a “troubled” guy and a love interest for Audrey.

 

–          Wrestler Adam Copeland  is a frequent co-star.

 

 

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Filed Under: TV shows Tagged With: drama, emily rose, eric balfour, fantasy, haven, haven cast, haven tv series, haven tv show, jason priestly, jason priestly haven, lucas bryant, mystery, stephen king the colorado kid, the colorado kid, TV shows

Crazy, Stupid, Love starring Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Ryan Gosling & Emma Stone

Posted on October 10, 2011 Written by ripitup

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crazy-stupid-love-movie-poster
Crazy, Stupid, Love starring Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Ryan Gosling & Emma Stone. Co-starring Kevin Bacon and Marisa TOmei. Hilarious, emotional and romantic.

 

When Emily, his wife of 25 years (Julianne Moore), announces that she has slept with a guy at work (Kevin Bacon), Cal Weaver (Steve Carell) finds himself depressed. He spends his nights in a bar, complaining about his wife to whoever he sees.

Jacob (Ryan Gosling) is the complete opposite. He is young, rich, well-groomed and he spends his nights easily picking up women, with the exception of Hannah (Emma Stone)-who would rather marry a nice but boring guy rather than sleep with a cocky player.

When Jacob realizes what a hopeless case Cal is, he decides to take him under his wing, gives him a make-over and teaches him how to pick up women.  But just when Cal has become the excellent student, Hannah decides that her life is indeed to boring and she decides to have sex with Jacob just for the hell of it.

And while Cal is conflicted between his current pick-up skills and his ongoing for his feelings for his wife, his new friend Jacob is nowhere to be found. He is just too busy falling in love with Hannah…

*

Crazy Stupid Love is all that I can ask from a modern romantic comedy. It is funny, it has its emotional moments backed up with more hilarity. It has likeable characters, a decent script and a couple of fun surprises. Not to mention the great cast: Steve Carrell, Julianne Moore, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Marisa Tomei and Kevin Bacon. Enjoyed every moment of it, and it is strictly recommended. Currently rated 7.8/10 on imdb.com.

 

Fun Notes

* In the movie, Julainne Moore’s son is reading The Scarlet Letter for school. At one emotiona outburst i class, he says that the “A” stands for “assholes, as the characters in the book fall in love like assholes and die like assholes”. But he decides to get a “J” on his chest to impress his 17-year-oldy babysitter, referencing the book.

* Emma Stone, who plays Ryan Gosling’s love interest, starred in a movie called Easy A, where she playe a high school student who kept comparing herself to The Scarlet Letter’s main character Hester.

Favorite Lines

Emily: They still make you read The Scarlet Letter? You’d think someone else would have written something better by now.

—

Hannah (to Jacob, after he has taken his shirt off): Seriously? You look like you’ve been photoshopped!

*

Other Posts on Ryan Gosling

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone Trivia

All Good Things starring Ryan Gosling, Kirsten Dunst & Frank Langella

Movie Reviews of 4 Nicholas Sparks Adaptations: A Walk to Remember, Nights in Rodanthe, Message in a Bottle and The Notebook

Other Posts on Emma Stone

Easy A starring Emma Stone, Penn Badgley, Amanda Bynes, Thomas Haden Church & Dan Byrd

 

Posts on Julianne Moore

The Kids Are All Right starring Annette Bening, Julianne Moore & Mark Ruffalo

Shelter starring Julianne Moore & Jonathan Rhys Meyers

Chloe starring Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried

Laws of Attraction and Pierce Brosnan

Benny and Joon starring Johnny Depp, Aidan Quinn, Mary Stuart Masterson and Julianne Moore

The Fugitive starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones

 

Other Posts on Kevin Bacon

Kevin Bacon Trivia: Kevin Bacon Movies, His Wife Kyra Sedgwick and More

The Awesome X-Men: First Class with James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon & Rose Byrne

 

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: comedy, crazy stupid love cast, easy a, easy a movie, emma stone, emma stone easy a, Julianne Moore, Kevin Bacon, Keywords: crazy stupid love, Marisa Tomei, romance, romantic comedy, Ryan Gosling, steve carell, The Scarlet Letter, the scarlet letter 1995 movie, the scarlet letter movie

Daydream Nation starring Kat Dennings, Reece Thompson, Josh Lucas & Andie MacDowell

Posted on September 5, 2011 Written by ripitup

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Daydream Nation starring Kat Dennings, Reece Thompson, Josh Lucas & Andie MacDowell. Written & directed by Michael Goldbach.

 

Caroline (Kat Dennings) has moved to a small town due her dad’s job and she is not exactly happy about it. Caroline lost her mother a short time ago, the small town life only adds to her boredom and depression: the mean school kids who already hate her on principle, the mind-numbingly dull small town with dirty air and the curfews established to protect residents from the serial killer lurking around.

Since there is not much fun to do except to get drunk and/or high, Caroline decides that she should at least deserve the slutty image and sleep with her English teacher Barry (Josh Lucas). When he insists on keeping up appearances to not to get caught, she starts hanging out with the likeable pothead Thurston (Reece Thompson). The bad thing is, he is already smitten and will not really be happy with her games. Add it to the fact that he has his own issues, things are about to get very complicated.

Can Caroline find happiness and not get killed by the serial killer in process?

**

Daydream Nation might be the only teen movie where the serial killer is added to the notion of drama. This is not a thriller or a teen-slasher. It is not a very romantic story or a very dramatic story. It is a weird mixture that provides some tragic comedy, and manages not to bore you. And while I would definitely not watch it again, it does provide a weirdly entertaining-enough experience for your first time.

Most of the time the characters are far too….annoying for my taste. And as far as teen movies that provide some depression and drugs, I prefer Charlie Bartlett, another Kat Dennings movie with more likeable male characters.

The 6 IMDB user-rating sounds just about right. Above average and interesting enough. But I realize I am not too fond of teen movies where I get to like the parents more than the teenagers. And here my favorite characters were Kat’s dad, and Thurston’s mom (Andie MacDowell). And be warned, the pace is slow.

*

My Favorite Teen Movies (Movies with High School Student Lead Characters)

–          10 Things I Hate About You starring Heath Ledger & Joseph Gordon-Levitt

–          Charlie Bartlett starring Kat Dennings and Anton Yelchin

–          Footloose starring Kevin Bacon

–          Saved! starring Jena Malone, Mandy Moore & Macaulay Culkin

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: Andie MacDowell, charlie bartlett, daydream nation, daydream nation 2010, daydream nation movie, drama, josh lucas, kat dennings, michael goldbach, reece thompson, romance, teen movie

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