Friday, April 10, 2015

Danny Collins

Well, lookey here- finally Al Pacino uses his acting skills. I don't know what happened to Al Pacino. I thought he'd had a face lift a while back, so either this is incredible make up OR his face is melting. Either way, maybe he should worry a bit because he looks awful. I know he's 74, but he looks worn and tired. Or maybe it is that I once thought Al Pacino was gorgeous. I'll watch him the Godfather a million times. Oh okay, I'll stop being shallow and allow him to live as a cautionary tale. Just be prepared.  He plays Danny Collins, a sort of good former rocker a la Neil Diamond. Just as I am sure Neil Diamond is sick and tired of Sweet Caroline, Danny is tired of his signature song. But money is money. Surgeons probably get tired of performing appendectomies, too, but they do it. In his heyday, Danny had a liaison with a groupie that gave him a son- and the son is, of course, now an adult with a problem but hates Danny. It makes no sense because Danny did send money but the kid and his mom wouldn't use it. That's just plain stupid and not Danny's fault. Oh well- it turns out that Danny is going to always be an addict but a good hearted one. I am going to give him a break because the little girl in the film is so cute and is willing to give Danny a break, too. This is a pretty good movie. Predictable. But pretty good.

Wild Tales

What can I say? This is an Argentinian/Spanish production of a collection of vignettes. Think of it as short stories with great twists. It is one of the best movies I've seen in the past year, because the past year had such bad movies that I almost totally quit reviewing. You, as a likely American, will only recognize a couple of these actors (notably the guy from Nine Queens), but that is what really  helps. You don't need to care about what a celebrity is looking like these days- you don't know these people. I'd say ABSOLUTELY see this, or see it when it comes out on Netflix. It is as fun as it gets.