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Money Monster starring George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Jack O’Connell

Posted on May 16, 2017 Written by Pinar Tarhan

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Money Monster starring George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Jack O'Connell.
Money Monster starring George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Jack O’Connell. Image via Amazon.

Money Monster Plot Summary – No Spoilers

Lee Gates (George Clooney) is the cocky and popular host of the finance show Money Monster where he puts on extravagant stage performances and sheds out investment out like the ultimate authority. And while he knows what he is talking about, an unexpected “glitch” at the investment company IBUS has him

cause a lot of people to lose money: a total of 800 million, to be exact. The company CCO Diane Lester (Highlander’s Caitriona Balfe) is apologetic and sticks to the talking points while the CEO Walt Camby (The Affair’s Dominic West) is nowhere to be found.

This doesn’t really affect the rich Lee or his director Patty (Julia Roberts) – until a blue collar victim named Kyle (Jack O’Connell) takes them hostage on live television. He puts a gun to Lee’s head and makes him wear an explosive vest. Kyle holds a deadman’s trigger and demands answers. He wants to know how a “glitch” could happen, how Lee could give such shitty advice so confidently, and most importantly, he wants a word with Walt.

The police get quickly involved, but they don’t count on Lee’s humanity taking over and deciding to help Lee. And the more Lee and Patty listen to Kyle, the less they buy Walt’s glitch story. Can they find out what went wrong before it is too late?

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Money Monster Movie Review

Money Monster is a modern movie in the vein of Mad City. While the plots differ, there are several similarities that got me nostalgic:

Mad City starring John Travolta and Dustin Hoffman.
Mad City starring John Travolta and Dustin Hoffman. Image via moviepostershop.
  • An otherwise sane and decent man going mad when he loses his money. In Mad City, John Travolta gets fired from his job at a museum and takes the manager hostage, with the unexpected surprise of kids being there at the same time.
  • A not-so-empathetic reporter tries to control things (In Mad City, the reporter is played by Dustin Hoffman), but then he gets on the gunman’s side as he learns more about his situation.
  • We end up rooting for the wronged family man, but of course, ****spoilers**** they will tragically pay the price of taking justice into their own hands, even if we badly wanted them to win.
  • The police will make things worse.

The good things about Money Monster, apart from the stellar cast and director Jodie Foster, is that it feels like the emotional, humane drama/thrillers of the 90s. The not-so-great thing is it feels like we have seen this movie before.

And for some reason, while I was sad at the ending and enjoyed the time I spent on the movie, I didn’t feel as touched as I was when I watched Mad City.

And while Money Monster made more money at the box office and is a bit more highly rated at IMDB, I still prefer Mad City.

That said, as a 90s kid, I still feel Julia Roberts and George Clooney are more my generation than say Scarlett Johannson or Chris Hemsworth. I love seeing them on screen in lead roles. So for nostalgia and the love of cast and director, I still recommend giving Money Monster a shot. As familiar and predictable the story might feel, it still has more heart than a lot of stuff out there.

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Money Monster is a 2016 movie written by Jamie Linden, Alan DiFiore, and Jim Kouf. The movie made over 93 million dollars worldwide. It’s budget is reported to be around 27 mil.

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: Alan DiFiore, Caitriona Balfe, dominic west, Dustin Hoffman, George Clooney, jack odonnell, Jamie Linden, Jim Kouf, Jodie Foster, John Travolta, Julia Roberts, mad city, money monster, money monster cast, money monster movie, money monster movie review

The Affair Showtime Series Episode 3 Highlights: Starring Dominic West, Ruth Wilson & Joshua Jackson

Posted on October 28, 2014 Written by Pinar Tarhan

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Episode 3 Highlights
The Affair cast: Joshua Jackson, Ruth Wilson, Dominic West,  Maura Tierney.
The Affair image via fan forum. From left: Joshua Jackson, Ruth Wilson, Dominic West and Maura Tierney.

For a thorough plot summary and review for the first episodes, please read The Affair starring Dominic West, Ruth Wilson, Joshua Jackson and Maura Tierney: The Good, The Weird, The We’ll See.

Warning: There’ll Be Spoilers.

Once again we have the story told first in Noah (Dominic West)’s point of view, and then Alison (Ruth Wilson)’s, and they continue to show the other one is the more active “pursuer.” But this time we get a bit more into their daily lives:

  • Alison is originally a pediatrics nurse, and her waitressing is way to help make ends meet until she can face sick children again.
  • Noah’s mother-in-law is actually as obnoxious as his father-in-law, if not more. She is still complaining about Noah not making enough money, in front of Noah, and mentioning the private schools they paid for. Noah has taken shit from his in-laws since he was 21, when he married Helen (Maura Tierney).
  • Noah starts to work on his book, though he mixes pleasure with business as Alison becomes his inside person. In Noah’s version, he asks to be friends, and that even though he is really into her, he can’t have an affair. In Alison’s version, Alison says she can’t have an affair because it’s her hometown. In Noah’s version the affair starts. In Alison’s, it doesn’t.
  • Alison’s boss at the diner, Oscar, wants to build a bowling alley next to the diner. Cole (Joshua Jackson) is against the change. He wants the town to stay the same. This gives us a great look into how he might not be into change as a person, and how this might have harmed their marriage. Because circumstances can change people, especially an extremely traumatic event like a child’s death. Alison has probably changed, and she is also likely going through depression as we find out she also has a self-cutting habit.
  • In Alison’s version, we get the impression she really doesn’t like Cole’s brother Scotty (Colin Donnell).

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3rd episode felt a bit slower in some parts, and it was a little less shocking (as opposed to what Noah’s older son pulled off during the beginning of episode one.). However, it got us a bit more into the daily lives of our characters, and where they were, especially mentally, when the affair started. The crime element, and the fact that we don’t know who was killed and why, keeps adding a bit more mystery.

We also don’t know where they are now. Is the affair still on? Did they leave their spouses and get together? Or are they with the families they started with? Alison mentions a sitter; she has a kid now. Whose kid is it? Maybe she adopted?

There’s still a lot to find out, and it’s told and shot humanely enough to keep me interested, and I’m seriously against cheating. Yet, for some reason, even though I’m pissed at what they are doing and I’m rooting for their spouses to find out (to kick their asses), I can’t hate either Alison or Noah. Maybe I was charmed a bit by Noah’s (Dominic West)’s cute curls and swimming body too.

Kidding aside, it’s a show that earns your attention and keeps it. Fingers crossed for it to stay this way.

More on Joshua Jackson

 Gossip starring James Marsden, Lena Headey, Norman Reedus, Kate Hudson & Joshua Jackson

The Shadow Dancer starring Joshua Jackson, Claire Forlani and Harvey Keitel

Cursed starring Christina Ricci, Joshua Jackson & Jesse Eisenberg

Fringe starring Joshua Jackson, Anna Torv & John Noble

Lay The Favorite Review: LTF starring Bruce Willis, Rebecca Hole, Joshua Jackson & Catherine Zeta Jones

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Filed Under: TV shows Tagged With: colin donnell, dominic west, Joshua Jackson, joshua jackson the affair, Maura Tierney, Ruth Wilson, the affair 2014 review, the affair cast, the affair episode 3, the affair series plot, the affair series review, The Affair tv series

The Affair starring Dominic West, Ruth Wilson, Joshua Jackson and Maura Tierney: The Good, The Weird, The We’ll See

Posted on October 26, 2014 Written by Pinar Tarhan

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the affair dominic west ruth wilson
The Affair image via variety.com.

The Affair’s airing its 3rd episode tonight on Showtime, and I wanted to catch you up on the plot before things got more complicated (and to help you decide if you were wondering whether the show was worth your time.)

The Affair :The Plot

Noah Solloway (Dominic West) is a public school teacher with one published book and a creeping existential crisis. How can he not? Married to his college sweetheart Helen (Maura Tierney) with 4 kids (one teenager and one about to become one), obnoxious in-laws (though the father makes the mother seem like an angel) and a second book he’s too blocked to write.

Alison (Ruth Wilson) is a younger, depressed waitress who has lost her child a few years ago, and she’s still not recovered from it. Her husband, Cole (Joshua Jackson) runs the family ranch with his brothers, and even though he seems better than Alison, he’s not exactly the picture of happiness either.

Noah and Helen pack their kids to spend the summer at her rich parents’ house, and on the way, they meet Alison at the diner she works for. There’s instant connection between her and Noah, though we’re given two different accounts as to how the affair came to start:

Both Noah and Alison are giving their separate statements at the police station. There’s apparently been a murder, which Noah thought to be an accident, or so he says.

As we listen to the start of the affair in two parts, we realize both sides show the other one as the pursuer, and themselves as the more emotional, and hesitant-to-cheat one. We also realize they’re keeping some bits to themselves as their voices tell one thing and the scenes show another.

Two episodes in, we don’t know who the victim is, or whether Alison and Noah are viable suspects.

The Good

I really like how both Noah and Alison’s versions differ from each other. In addition to painting the other one the “pursuer”, they also tend to show the other one’s spouse worse than they actually are.

For instance, in episode 1, Noah started first, and when we were first introduced to Cole, I thought he was a total ass. Then I listened to Alison, and I thought he was a really decent guy struggling in his own way.

Neither spouses are monsters, though Alison’s marriage seems a bit more troubled because of the loss of her son and her inner turmoil.

Noah also comes across as humane enough, even though he doesn’t have much more reason to cheat than some resentment towards in-laws and monotony of such a long-term relationship.

It’s refreshing to see marriages and spouses reasonably fine and nice, as opposed to making one or both sides insufferable so that the audience will empathize more with the cheaters.

The “cheaters” also do a fine job at coming across flawed but likeable. Sure, you’d not like to be their spouses, but these are people you wouldn’t mind being friends or family with.

The two different points of view add a nice level of mystery, and make us doubt both Alison and Noah, as we know the actual version is somewhere in between. Or maybe they are telling an agreed-upon version. Or maybe one of them is more honest than the other. We don’t know.

The series also has an honest, realistic and non-soapy feel despite the subject matter.

The Weird

Adultery is not the world’s most comfortable subject, especially if you are a romantic at heart and never have cheated on someone.

And it’s one thing to watch a habitual cheater who keeps cheating on their partner again and again. You’d like to believe those people would be easier to catch and dump (I’m on the let’s dump all cheaters wagon, unless the cheated party is a psychopath). But portraying Noah as a decent, family-oriented man who’d normally not do this… It’s a bit creepy. And scary.

Alison doesn’t seem to be the cheating type either.

Because it offers this disturbing theory: Anyone can, and will, cheat under the right circumstances: they just need to be depressed enough, disconnected enough, lonely enough, misunderstood enough, attracted enough….

And it’s the ultimate pet peeve of mine when Noah at some point will say :I’ve never cheated before.”

What does he want? A medal for keeping it in his pants for so long? Sorry, pal, you made your decision to keep it in your pants when you proposed. You don’t just get to have a family and a young mistress simultaneously without suffering any consequences.

I’m cutting Alison a bit more slack. I’m not condoning her cheating, but she’ll be more susceptible to questionable behavior – she has lost a child. That does give her the right to be off the rails; though I’d rather she did therapy instead of someone else’ husband.

The We’ll See

Currently The Affair fun and interesting enough to keep following. I like the cast, the location and the storytelling method.

It just might put you a bit further off marriage, though.

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Have you seen The Affair yet? What did you think?

Fun note: One of Cole’s (Joshua Jackson)’s brothers is played by Colin Donnell (Tommy from Arrow).

 

Other Posts on Joshua Jackson:

 Gossip starring James Marsden, Lena Headey, Norman Reedus, Kate Hudson & Joshua Jackson

The Shadow Dancer starring Joshua Jackson, Claire Forlani and Harvey Keitel

Cursed starring Christina Ricci, Joshua Jackson & Jesse Eisenberg

Fringe starring Joshua Jackson, Anna Torv & John Noble

Lay The Favorite Review: LTF starring Bruce Willis, Rebecca Hole, Joshua Jackson & Catherine Zeta Jones

One Week starring Joshua Jackson

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Filed Under: TV shows Tagged With: colin donnell, dominic west, Joshua Jackson, joshua jackson the affair, Maura Tierney, Ruth Wilson, the affair 2014 review, the affair cast, the affair series plot, the affair series review, The Affair tv series

The Awakening starring Rebecca Hall & Dominic West: Good Enough

Posted on March 14, 2012 Written by ripitup

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The Awakening starring Rebecca Hall & Dominic West.
The Awakening starring Rebecca Hall & Dominic West. A 2011 movie.

Horror-thrillers are more inclined to be torn apart by the critics and movie-goers than any other genre.

Sure, romantic comedies are doomed to be put-down because they follow a formula, but nobody really expects a twist at the end. And even the haters know that the best thing a romcom can do is to provide some good jokes, better-than-average acting and some non-cheesy romantic moments.

And please don’t give me the “but 500 Days of Summer (I do like that movie by the way- just not as a romcom) was a different, unique romcom” reply. First of all, it is not a romcom, it is a romantic/comedy/drama. And yes, even that gave a happy ending-just not with the real girl.

Sorry if I gave you spoilers, but I am sure you knew something was different with that movie since it was rated at 7.9 on IMDB and it had Joseph Gordon Levitt in it as opposed to Matthew McConaughey in it.

Romantic comedies don’t typically feature drama and unhappy endings so that’s why even the ones that guys loved hardly ever see a rating close to 7.

But horror-thrillers are an entirely different story. Not only we want to be frightened, but we want it in a subtler, creepier way. We don’t want the director to think he can get us with big stars and stupid sound effects (aka What Lies Beneath- to this day I still don’t know what Harrison Ford or Michelle Pfeiffer ever saw in that script!)

It is very rare for a horror/thriller to pull off a twist to fool even the most-movie-going folks won’t see coming. But even those good-twist movies run the risk of being all about the twist and nothing else. I’m sorry, but The Sixth Sense was a bore until we found out about what happened to Bruce Willis.

I’ll be impressed, however, when you shoot a haunting type of movie where you are creepy without being gory, where you count on the story and the acting than sound effects to scare me. It is great if you can engage me throughout the whole movie using some clichés (but not too many), care for the characters, sit curious till the end and give me a twist that is not all The Sixth Sense or The Others.

And The Awakening is all that. Not that it doesn’t have its issues and some boy-we-have-seen-that-coming moments. But it also manages to be unique in its own way. Rebecca Hall and Dominic West were a joy to watch and the ending can be interpreted in different ways.

It has the atmosphere, good ideas, intelligent protagonists and solid acting. And in this day and age where all the stories were pretty much written, this story is done pretty well against the odds

P.S. I really simplified the story to avoid giving spoilers-so don’t think it is that plain.

The  Awakening: Story

Post WW1, Florence (Rebecca Hall) is a Cambridge graduate published author who exposes ghost scams whenever she can.

Her next mission is to expose the imposters at a boarding school. And at first she does find a prankster and unravel a mystery. Unfortunately, there seems to be other pranksters around. But the longer she stays, the more she begins to question her own sanity, will to live and her ability to connect with others. Could it be that there are real ghosts haunting the school? And if there are, what the hell do they want from her?

Dominic West plays one of the teachers/love interest/wounded ex-soldier with quite a few mysteries on his own.

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: dominic west, horror, nick murphy, Rebecca Hall, rebecca hall the awakening, stephen volk, the awakening, the awakening 2011 movie, the awakening movie, the awakening movie review, the awakening rebecca hall, thriller

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