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The Ides of March feat. George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Evan Rachel Wood, Paul Giamatti & Philip Seymour Hoffman

Posted on January 6, 2012 Written by ripitup

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The Ides of March Plot Summary- with some spoilers
The Ides of March movie poster
The Ides of March. Image via stuffistumbledupon.com

Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) is a smart and ambitious political campaign specialist, and he is co-managing the presidential campaign of Governor Mike Norris (George Clooney), an idealistic politician who might be just what the USA needs: anti-war, pro-choice and refusing to let go of his principles in order to secure a win. In the meantime, Paul (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is having a difficult time getting senate votes because of Meyers’ ideals.

Stephen has little time apart from managing the campaign and the press –especially journalist Ida (Marisa Tomei). He starts hanging out with the 20-year-old intern Molly (Evan Rachel Wood), and is quite happy with his situation until two things happen:

1)      The campaign manager of the opponent, Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti), wants to meet with him and when Stephen goes for curiosity’s sake – and someone leaks this to Ida.

 

2)      Intern Molly confesses that she slept with the happily married Morris, is pregnant and needs $900 to have an abortion.

From then on, everything seems to work against Stephen. While he works to manage the crisis, Paul fires him- because he met with Duffy. And when Molly can’t manage the idea of a very angry Stephen looking to take revenge, things get even more complicated for Stephen….

**

Review

The Ides of March is a solid political drama with an impressive cast, and while it is not a thriller, sometimes it manages to be as engaging as one. It is hard to do a political drama this interesting, and director/co-writer/co-star George Clooney has pulled it off, no doubt with the help from Gosling, Giamatti, Hoffman, Tomei and Wood.

The only problem with the movie is the stereotype George Clooney’s character turns out to be. One minute he is this idealistic and principled guy who refuses to “bribe” his way into getting votes, and the next he is screwing a 20-year-old intern. So he is too decent to be a corrupt politician, but not a decent enough husband to keep it in his pants…Yes, politician with some nice views who has a problem staying loyal to his wife. Gee, where did we see this guy before?

The sad thing is, when Morris turns out to be a little moral than Meyers thought, he still wants to run the campaign. Who cares about his bedroom habits if he can manage the campaign right? But of course Morris only plays the game by his own rules, and Meyers just might to lose his self-respect to get back what he lost…

In the end, the movie engages you, depresses you and makes you question morality, loyalty, ethics and ambitions. It is well-done, even though you may not get any characters that you like or respect at the end.

Currently rated at 7.4 on IMDB.com

Fun notes on the cast:

Max Minghella, who plays Ben (one of the campaign staff) is the son of the deceased director Anthony Minghella, who is best known for the movies The English Patient and Cold Mountain.

 

Other Posts on the Cast

Also on Ryan Gosling

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

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

 

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: drama, Evan Rachel Wood, George Clooney, george clooney the ides of march, Jennifer ehle, Marisa Tomei, Max Minghella, movies, paul giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ryan Gosling, ryan gosling the ides of march, the ides of march, the ides of march cast, the ides of march movie, the ides of march movie review, the ides of marcn plot

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

The Lincoln Lawyer starring Matthew McConaughey, Marisa Tomei & Ryan Phillippe

Posted on December 26, 2010 Written by ripitup

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The Lincoln Lawyer starring Matthew McConaughey, Marisa Tomei & Ryan Phillippe
The Lincoln Lawyer starring Matthew McConaughey, Marisa Tomei & Ryan Phillippe. Based on the novel by Michael Connelly.

Mickey Haller (Matthew McConaughey) is a good litigation attorney whose office is the back of his (Lincoln) car. He has a young daughter with Maggie (Marisa Tomei), whose work environment is pretty conventional.

Matthew’s life changes when he signs on a big client – Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe) who is charged with assault. He is claiming that it is all a big set up. Is it really entrapment or he is a psychopath capable of killing women as well as destroying Mickey and his family?

**

This legal thriller is right up my alley. I am obsessed with legal thrillers, something I owe to John Grisham. In fact while I was watching the trailer, it all felt Grishamesque and which drew me in the first place.  This one is based on Michael Connelly’s book The Lincoln Lawyer.

This loving family member lawyer type is exactly the role I want to see McConaughey in. God knows he played in enough romantic comedies and if he is going to stereotype himself, I’d rather have him in a legal thriller. It was a John Grisham drama/thriller that had made me a Matthew McConaughey fan in the first place. The movie was A Time to Kill, a solid Grisham adaptation co-starring Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson, Ashley Judd and Kevin Spacey.  I loved the movie, despite having read and loved the book so that has got to say something.

It might be full of clichés but some clichés just work. Add the Grisham atmosphere, the cast (Marisa Tomei is one of my favorite actresses and Ryan Phillippe makes a perfectly unexpected villain with that baby face of his).

Coming to theaters in March. Watch The Trailer here.

**

Interested in upcoming thrillers? You can also check out Limitless starring Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish, Anna Friel & Robert De Niro.

Also on Matthew McConaughey:

Matthew McConaughey : Wanna see him act? I have the movie for you…

Sex and The City TV Series – guest appearances feat. Matthew McConaughey

Also on Marisa Tomei:

The Watcher starring Keanu Reeves, James Spader & Marisa Tomei

6 Hollywood Stars That Would Make 20-Year-Olds Jealous feat. Marisa Tomei

Someone Like You starring Hugh Jackman, Ashley Judd, Greg Kinnear & Marisa Tomei,

Also on Ryan Phillippe:

Playing by Heart starring Phillippe, Angelina Jolie, Madeleine Stowe, Sean Connery, Dennis Quaid …

10 Celebrity Couple Break-Ups You May Not Have Seen Coming

Cheating Celebrity Trivia: 8 Male Celebrities That Cheated on Their Wives or Girlfriends

On John Grisham:

People who screwed us over…in a good way.Part 2: John Grisham

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: A Time to Kill, a time to kill book, a time to kill movie, drama, John Grisham, legal thriller, Marisa Tomei, Matthew McConaughey, Michael Connelly, movies, Ryan Phillippe, the Lincoln lawyer, the lincoln lawyer book, the lincoln lawyer matthew mcconaughey, the lincoln lawyer michael connelly, the lincoln lawyer movie, thriller

The Watcher starring Keanu Reeves, James Spader and Marisa Tomei

Posted on July 25, 2010 Written by ripitup

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The Watcher starring Keanu Reeves, James Spader and Marisa Tomei
The Watcher starring Keanu Reeves, James Spader and Marisa Tomei.Directed by Joe Charbanic. Image via histreaming.com

Joel Campbell (James Spader) is an ex-FBI agent. He has left active duty due to disability: He has severe migraines, suffers from lack of sleep, forgetfulness and more. He goes to therapy two times a week. His psychiatrist – beautiful Polly- (Marisa Tomei) is sure he can handle being an agent again.  Joel’s home-therapy-restaurant ritual in Chicago is totally disrupted when the smart serial killer Griffin (Keanu Reeves) strikes again. And he is not just any serial killer. He loves being chased by Joel and when he moved to Chicago, he has followed him. This man targets young women and he has also killed Joel’s beloved wife. He starts sending Joel pictures of his next victims. Being the only man experienced with this case, Joel involuntarily starts working to catch him.

Somehow, the killer manages to be ahead of them. But of course the killer loves risks and targeting young women without an emotional attachment stops being exciting. Can Joel save himself, and the next target? And do keep in mind, Joel doesn’t even know what the killer looks like!

The Watcher is a very decent drama/thriller. Its atmosphere and acting add a lot to the plot. It is refreshing to see James Spader as the good guy and Keanu Reeves as the psycho. Of course if you are a single woman alone, there is a chance this movie might get under your skin more. It is also creepy that Keanu Reeves’s character seems and acts totally charming and normal in public, meets his victims and talks to them. His cool makes it all more chilling when he gets to “work”. His fascination with Joel is equally daunting.

I have to say I enjoyed this film more the first time I saw it. But the first time was in a dark movie theater, not knowing what will happen next- racing against time with James Spader as he tried to prevent the murders. I watched it a second time and even though I still enjoyed it, it wasn’t so exciting.

However, keep in mind that this is not a horror film. It is a thriller-drama and it is not gory at all.  I think this movies is a must for Keanu Reeves, James Spader and Marisa Tomei fans. Written by Darcy Meyers, David Elliot and Clay Ayers. Directed by Joe Charbanic. 2000.

7-7.5/10 after watching it the first time

6-6.5/10 after watching it a second time

But it is definitely underrated at 5.2 on IMDB.

 

All Posts on James Spader

Wolf Movie Review

White Palace

Posts on Keanu Reeves

Keanu Reeves Trivia 101

Something’s Gotta Give Movie Review

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Lovely and Weird: “The Private Lives of Pippa Lee”

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Brad Pitt or Keanu Reeves?

A Walk in The Clouds movie review

6 Celebrities That Aged Well

Can he or can’t he?:  Keanu Reeves Trivia

 

 

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: Clay Ayers, Darcy Meyers, David Elliot, drama, James Spader, Joe Charbanic, Keanu Reeves, keanu reeves movies, Marisa Tomei, movies, The Watcher, thriller

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