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Mr. Brooks starring Kevin Costner, Demi Moore, Dane Cook and William Hurt

Posted on January 14, 2010 Written by ripitup

Kevin Costner as Mr. Brooks — Kevin Coster goes psycho on us. Nice!!!

It is fun when an actor pleasantly surprises you. I am used to seeing Kevin Costner as a nice guy. It is not that he didn’t play a convict (A Perfect World) or something, but even there, he hadn’t gone all psycho on us.

Mr. Brooks is a very complex character and he really gives you the chills. First of all, he is a “perfect” guy as far as anyone who knows him is concerned. He is a loyal and loving husband and father. He is awarded Man of the Year. But he also has a terrifying addiction: Killing.

He doesn’t entirely enjoy it but he always fights with his alter ego Marshall (played by William Hurt) and his ego usually wins. He is smart, meticulous and impossible to catch. If he makes a mistake, it is conscious- part of him wants to get caught. Kevin Costner’s performance is brilliant and William Hurt rocks as always.

Demi Moore co-stars as the detective out to catch the killer. She has issues on her own. She has family money and her jackass of an ex-husband (Jason Lewis) wants her money. Wouldn’t really wanna be her.

As Mr. Brooks has to deal with her college drop-out teenage daughter (Danielle Panabaker) and the secrets she might keep and battle with his terrifying addiction, he encounters another problem. His last murder (curtains open) is witnessed and photographed and blackmailed by the victims’ neighbor (Dane Cook). But this guy doesn’t just want Money. He wants Brooks to kill, and participate in the event. And you thought Brooks was the only sick character in the movie?

The screenplay is original and the movie is good overall but the movie has some other subplots it doesn’t need and this makes the movie a little too slow and boring at times. Of course everything is subjective- there are people who consider this a masterpiece. I think it needed some extra editing. But kudos to Costner’s performance. I always think he is good but he overdid himself this time.

Not the greatest psychological thriller ever, but definitely a good, small one.

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQERrAfoNFk[/pro-player]

Other Kevin Costner Movies and Posts:

Nicholas Sparks vs Happy Endings- Kevin Costner’s Message in a Bottle

Kevin Costner: An Amazing Lead Who Should Just Stay Away From Sci-Fi

When Adultery is OK- Revenge (Movie Review of Revenge, Starring Kevin Costner and Anthony Quinn)

Cheating Celebrity Trivia: 8 Celebs Thay Cheated – feat. Kevin Costner

The New Daughter starring Kevin Costner

Whose movie is it? : A post on Actor/Directors, Screenwriters and Producers – And who gets the last word

Other William Hurt Movies and TV Series

The Big Chill starring Kevin Kline, Glenn Close and William Hurt

Children of a Lesser God starring William Hurt and Marlee Matlin

Damages Season 2 Review starring Glenn Close. Co-starring William Hurt, Timothy Olyphant and Ted Danson

Also on Demi Moore and Her Movies

Celebrity Break-Ups You May Not Have Seen Coming- feat. Demi Moore and Bruce Willis

Happy Celebrity Couples: Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Gwyneth Paltrow, Chris Martin, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher

The Scarlet Letter starring Demi Moore and Gary Oldman

Whose movie is it?

Posted on August 22, 2009 Written by ripitup

I am ashamed to admit it, but until recently I wasn’t all that familiar with the term director’s cut. But I ran into more and more such versions of movies. At first the term sounded a little off. I mean aren’t movies the director’s vision? As a person who writes screenplays, I was a little jealous of the directors. Let me explain:

Screenplay formats advice you not to spend precious lines describing camera angles, suggesting it would make it slower and harder to read and it would ultimately be the director’s decision anyway. Oh, and we-the writers- are not supposed to give too detailed information about the facial expressions of characters and stuff, since it is the actor’s expertise: He will portray the character. Don’t interfere. So the screenwriter needs to produce something to satisfy the agent,and eventually the producer.
So after your baby (this is how most writers see their work: after all it takes such hard labor to come up with something that makes them happy) has been cut and edited, the director and the casting people decide who will play the characters you created. Then the director will direct. But after the movie is finished, the producers will have the final say about the length of the movie, the scenes to be involved and the ending. OK-I know the producers are finding the money and everything but it seems unfair that that the person who wrote it, directed it and acted in it have not much to say in the end. Of course multi-tasking has its benefits here. If you are Edwards Burns and writing/directing/acting/producing at the same time, you are the one in charge in all areas. Often actors produce/or co-produce, directors produce/co-produce and/or write the story. In that sense as hard as it must be, it makes sense to take risks and responsibilities so that you can launch your project and compromise as little as possible. Because movie-making is personal. Story-telling is personal. It is Your Baby. Sure sometimes you can go wrong. Remember Kevin Costner in the Water World? He produced the movie. It cost $175 million and it flopped at the box office. I really didn’t like the movie so I can’t say that I’m surprised but I can only imagine how disappointed he must have been. Yet on the other hand, you have the multiple awarded- Braveheart; it has been directed and co-produced by Mel Gibson. He is the leading actor. As for the producing part, the studio granted a budget of $10,000,000. Braveheart cost $70,000,000. The extra 60 came from his pocke. Wow! He made a movie, had his say about everything and the results were nothing less than glorious.

But it is all very complicated, isn’t it? As an actor, when you are just starting out and going to as many auditions as you can and barely making the rent, you can’t afford to be selective. But after you have made your name and fortune as an actor, you can take risks. You can tell your own story. Kevin Costner did it with Dances of the Wolves. His directing and producing won him two Oscars. He also starred in it. Clint Eastwood did it with Unforgiven. He has kept on directing and I prefer him as a director/actor than only as an actor who plays in other people’s films.

And as a screenwriter, you have to prepare yourself for rejection. Even when you establish your name, you will have the studios to deal with. Yet, it is no reason to give up trying. After all, if you have put your sweat and blood and tears into it, it is YOUR MOVIE.

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

Posted on August 6, 2009 Written by ripitup

SPOILERS!

I really like the 4 movies I mentioned above. They feature talented and beautiful stars, they are beautifully directed and they have been adapted from the works of the same author: Nicholas Sparks. I have never read him, and I am not exactly tempted to. Although I am a romantic who likes her emotional stories, I am also big fan of escapism- I like the movies that take us to a more beautiful place. But Sparks does seem to like giving this feeling and then abrubtly taking it away.

Let’s go over the movies shortly, shall we?

*Message in a Bottle (1999)

Starring: Kevin Costner, Robin Wright-Penn

message-in-a-bottle-posters — Kevin Costner and Robin Wright-Penn in Message in a Bottle. Co-starring Paul Newman as Costner's dad.

Garret Blake (Costner) is a sailor and he builds boats for a living. He is yet to overcome his beloved wife’s death. He has written love letters to her and sent them out into the open sea.

Theresa (Penn) finds the letters on the beach and decides to find the writer. She is a single mother- and having previously been cheated on, she wants to find the man who is so in love with his wife. And being a journalist, she does convince her boss that it is a business trip.

When she does get to meet Garret, she of course can’t tell him the truth. Garret is attracted to this fragile and beautiful stranger- the first woman he has ever felt close to after the loss of his wife. Theresa was already in love with the idea of the man. Real Garret only exceeded her expectations…

So two previously hurt people find love again. It is beautiful. We sail, laugh and cry with them. Of course they have obstacles. Theresa lives in the city and has a son, plus she can’t really get over feeling that he will never love her the way that he loved his wife…And he is bound to find out how Theresa got to find him… Couldn’t we have just sorted out these and moved along? Couldn’t we have let these likable characters be happy? Well, I could… But Nick had other ideas. It is a lovely story. But the truth is if you are looking for realism, why would you watch this in the first place? How many people love so unconditionally like that? How many people love like that for the second time? (in Theresa’s case-Garret might be her only true love) And what are the odds that they are going to look like Wright-Penn and most of all- Kevin Costner? So if we have let go all of the cynism and stretched our imaginations so far, why not let us have a happy ending?

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* A Walk to Remember (2002)

Starring: Shane West, Mandy Moore

17911633_406pxA_Walk_To_Remember_Poster — Shane West and Mandy Moore in A Walk to Remember

Yeah, of course you have all heard it before. Bad Boy. Good Girl. They fall in love. It turns out Bad Boy is actually a great guy- given the faith and chance. But…Before the but, let’s describe the good and bad in this movie.

The bad boy is Landon Carter (Shane West). He is your typical angry and popular teenagers. His grades are low, the headmaster isn’t too fond of him, the girls love him,hates his father who left him and his mom for another woman and of course he thinks being unpopular is worse than death.

But one day he gets into trouble he can’t get out of, and the headmaster has the pleasure to make him do everything he despises. As if it is not enough that the trouble gave him temporary crutches…

Jamie is everything Landon isn’t. Nice, unpopular,uncool,a religious jamie%20sullivan virgin.They have known and despised each other for a long time. But now, Landon has to play the lead in the theater group,tutor kids with learning problems- basically has to turn to Jamie for help. At some point though, they get to be less judgemental about each other and even get to be some sort of friends.

Landon goes for an impulsive, unscripted kiss

However Landon doesn’t seem to be ready to leave his previous lifestyle and lets his friends believe he is definitely not friends with Jamie-right in front of her. At the play night, Landon will realize not only he misses Jamie’s friendship, but that he is attracted to her…

Everyone is shocked- his friends, Jamie, him,…Now he has to prove to Jamie that he is not the bad-ass she thinks he is. He gets the chance when his friends play a horrible joke on Jamie and he sticks with Jamie, leaving his group. He persuades Jamie and her dad (the priest) to go on a date. OK- since I really like this movie, I can gladly explain why the clichés do not bother me:

1) Jamie isn’t quite an ugly duckling. For one thing, she is not ugly, just plain. For two, She just doesn’t believe in expressing herself with clothes. She sings and shows her beauty at the play and yet doesn’t maintain the glamorous attitude afterwards.

2) Landon only hates his father (played by David Lee Smith) – he is actually helping out his mom at home.

3) Jamie shows him just like he sees her as a loser, she does see him as loser who will have nothing in life after high school. And as they are forced to spend time together, they realize that maybe things aren’t so black and white…

After this, it is so romantic. They go on dates, they have great fun together- Landon respects Jamie’s boundaires.

31509189_bff8dc9208 — OK. So the bad boy turning to the romantic in every girl's dream is a bit of a strecth. But hey, movies are for escapism. And where else are we going to see this kind of character looking like Shane West) anyway?

Perfect. Landon turns out from the guy who you would wanna have sex with yet wouldn’t be able to have a relationship from to the most amazing boyfriend on the planet. Does it last? Of course not. Jamie tells Landon one big secret that turns his life upside down. She has cancer. She has had it for a long time. And she is not responding to treatment. Landon is crushed. He is bitter and he is furious. I would be to. You fall in love head over heels and to find out you are going to lose that person forever? Life’s way of giving you the bird. He even asks for his dad’s help. But he can’t go around being angry at Jamie, right? She might die anytime…

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So he sticks by her bed. He tries to do everything she has ever wanted. He makes her happy. It is great. Seriously. Previous asshole is the soulmate we have been dreaming about. And he looks like Shane West. Too unrealistic. So let’s kill the girl and make it even…

A-walk-to-remember-a-walk-to-remember-692352_962_716 — A collage of A Walk to Remember Scenes

* The Notebook (2004)

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams

Two time frames:

Present, retirement home. We see the interactions with two old people (played by Gena Rowlands and James Garner).

Past, a rich girl called Allie (McAdams) falling for the poor boy Noah (Gosling). They are mad about each other. They fight a lot but they can’t and won’t stay away from each other.

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Somehow her mother manages to drive a wedge, yet neither of them forgets. We get to hear their story from the notebook the old guy in the retirement home is reading to the old woman. She loves the story of these two lovers who cross paths years later- when his name is on the newspapers for a lovely restoration he has made. She is about to be engaged to a guy (played by James Marsden) she actually loves. But she can’t resist the urge to talk to him. The house belongs to both their pasts. So she visits him. They get to let out their feelings, and face why they were driven apart. Then Noah wants her to leave her fiancé- she is torn. But her feelings for Noah are just too strong…

It is beautiful. They stayed together. They had lovely children. They are still togeter- in the retirement home. You see, the guy is Noah- reading the story to Allie. How can you not be touched by that? Where’s the drama, you ask? Noah has to read the story to her over and over again because she has Alzheimer’s and she has no clue who he is. She flashes and remembers maybe for a minute- and then she forgets again…

Lovely,touching and tragic. It might be how it happens in real life. We don’t get to be in love forever, I get that. But sometimes I feel like the sad parts are thrown in just to make you cry. I love the movie, just like I love the ones mentioned above. Still, couldn’t have Allie remembered? Couldn’t she have a more managable disease and have her memory??? Of course, it wouldn’t be so powerful but…you get the point.

* Nights in Rodanthe (2008)

Starring: Richard Gere, Diane Lane

29d9v6o — Richard Gere and Diane Lane in Nights in Rodanthe

Actors are supposed to play all kinds of parts but let’s be honest, some actors do some roles better than others. And Richard Gere is great at drama- especially he is playing a romantic role. In Nights in Rodanthe, Richard plays a doctor named Paul. He is staying at the inn for a couple of nights. He is an unhappy man- he is being sued, his grown son doesn’t like him…

The only other person at the inn is Adrienne (Diane Lane), looking after the place for a friend. She is not having the time of her life either. Her husband has left for another woman now wants forgiveness, her daughter isn’t fond of her and her son has a condition…

They find it easy to get along, to open up to each other. They understand what being a parent is….They know about disappointments and mistakes. They truly see each other and they fall in love. It is the kind of romance that you dream about.

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nightsinrodanthee

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And it is so easy to fall in love with Gere. 59 at the movie, he is still hot. Diane Lane is also naturally beautiful. You like them. You don’t want them to be apart. But Paul has to do one thing before they can be together in the long run- he has to go see his son, renconcile with him and help him with his patients.

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Long distance doesn’t ruin things. To the contrary. It empowers their feelings. They are looking forward to meeting again. The day finally comes. But Paul doesn’t. The next day, the door bell rings and Adrienne gets to meet his son. He doesn’t have good news…

Yes, Sparks did it again. He took the lovely fantasy and took it away in the end.

How am I supposed to read his work- when I know there’s a 99% chance at least one main character will die? Where is the fun in that?

Kevin Costner: An amazing lead who should just stay away from sci-fi

Posted on July 6, 2009 Written by ripitup

Kevin Costner and Clint Eastwood in A Perfect World. One of my all-time favorite movies. Funny how Kevin Costner has made movies to get into my favorite and least favorite list.

: Kevin Costner in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. The movie is very entertaining and it also features Christian Slater and Morgan Freeman. The soundtrack is also quite memorable. Remember Bryan Adams’ Everything I do, I do it for you?

-So,who is your favorite actor?

-Kevin Costner

-Kevin Costner? He is too old even for me!

This funny and weird conversation took place between me and my English teacher over a decade ago. I have a great memory that saves only the fun stuff. She was in her late 20’s and I was too stunned to reply to her comment. She thought I was too young to name him as my fav. actor. C’mon,it is not like I said I wanted to marry the guy! (Even if I had, which sane woman could blame me? ) and it is not like she could/would say no, were he to be interested…

OK-so I was 12 and loved Kevin‘s movies.As I grew up, he sure as hell made some bad ones. Such as Waterworld and The Postman. He doesn’t really pull off the whole post-apocalyptic era well. Men drinking their own urine for water, having fish-like organs (Waterworld…) C’mon!

I have no idea why he invested money from his own pocket. I know he believed this is a good idea…but… the guy was a marketing major at uni for God’s sake!!

Confession: Couldn’t watch the whole of these two. I just couldn’t.

And he has played in one too many baseball movies:

Field of Dreams? Classic. Bull Durham? Classic. For love of the game? C’mon- it is more a not-so-well-done combination of clichés. He also must be the only actor who has appeared in so many sport-themed movies (in addition to baseball, he has played a golfer and a cyclist).

Kevin Costner with Susan Sarandon in Bull Durham (1988). The movie features Tim Robbins as well.

For Love of the Game. Another baseball movie. Kevin just might be the most sports loving actor ever.

But for every one movie that I didn’t like, he has done 5 that I have loved. The War and A Perfect World have touched me immensely. In fact, the latter belongs to my all time top 10 movies list. I daren’t give any spoilers on these two. But The War is one of the best anti-war movies I have ever seen and A Perfect World is a greatly different from the romantic/politic heroes he plays so often. I love his romantic roles. But it was quite a different ride to watch him as an escaped convict, turning into an unconventional father role model in this amazing Clint Eastwood movie.

The Romantic Roles…

Before I talk about the Bodyguard, Revenge, Robin Hood, Message in a Bottle and such, I want to mention Rumor Has It” first. Some fans of the classic “The Graduate” did not enjoy this supposed spin-off. I didn’t think it was great, but it was entertaining. And it really had the perfect cast.

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The plot of this movie has it that the events taking place in the movie “The Graduate” were based on Sarah Huttinger’s (Jennifer Aniston) family: Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner) has slept with the grandma (Shirley MacLaine) and has fallen with the mother. And when Sarah suspects that Beau might indeed be her father, she learns that he is not (he has become infertile after an incident) and begins a romance with him herself. It is a weird concept. But what I find interesting about this movie is that three generations of women are attracted to Costner. My own grandmother thinks he is good-looking, my mother thinks he is gorgeous and I find him truly attractive in most of his roles. Guess what? My dad did not like this movie: )

You may not want to acknowledge his talent but I think he has more than proven it with Dances with Wolves, by directing it and playing the lead. He personally won two academy awards with it: Best Picture, Best Director.

Dances with Wolves (1990). Kevin directed and starred in this epic film.

But it all adds up to have a talented actor on your hands who also happens to very handsome.

He was great as the passionate and romantic Robin Hood. He was more than seductive in Revenge, where his attitude was a mixture of boyish,confident- and romantic.It took a couple of encounters for him to seduce us the females. He made me watch a movie with Whitney Houston in it with The Bodyguard ,which turned out to be surprisingly good. Of course it has clichés. Of course it has a masculine,self-protecting,strong guy who inevitably falls for “the girl” and all that. But it is a feel-good movie and it delivers. And Message in a Bottle? As much as I love comic book movies and good action, oras much as it is fun to watch gothic elements and some thrilling scenes, a big part of me will never be able to give up on the allure of the romantic film. And Kevin is a lovely choice to play the lead.

I guess this last part is a “girls only” zone:

He is charming, even as he gets older. He can pull off sexy and cute at the same time.

He can make you feel as if the character he is playing is real- that he can be real. Of course you know you have not met guys like that. You probably won’t. Hell, I’m almost certain they don’t exist. Even if they do, what are the odds they will look like that? Suppose they do exist, looking all dreamy- what are the odds you will be his type? Right? But for the duration of the movie, it is just good to let go, relax and let yourself live in a simpler world, even it carries some sad elements…