Tag: True Story

Love & Mercy

2015   Lionsgate

Rated:  PG-13

Length:  2 hr

Biography ~ Drama ~ Music ~ Romance ~ True Story

Directed by:  Bill Pohlad

Starring:  Paul Dano, John Cusack, Elizabeth Banks,  Melinda Ledbetter and Paul Giamatti.

The Life, Love and Genius of Brian Wilson.

SYNOPSIS(From the Official Website):

Love & Mercy presents an unconventional portrait of Brian Wilson, the mercurial singer, songwriter and leader of The Beach Boys. Set against the era-defining catalog of Wilson’s music, the film intimately examines the personal voyage and ultimate salvation of the icon whose success came at extraordinary personal cost.

INTERESTING FACTS:

  • Brian Wilson thought the movie was very factual and that each character was cast so well that he “actually believed those characters were really who they were, like Paul Giamatti as Doctor Landry was so right on that it actually scared me.“
  • Paul Giamatti extensively researched Doctor Landy for his role:

“I played Dr. Landy, the crazy psychotherapist. It’s a great character. Brian Wilson had a severe freak-out and his family got in touch with a psychotherapist out in L.A. named Eugene Landy who took over. That’s where most of the story comes from, because the doctor was basically insane. He made Brian play in a sandbox, I mean crazy stuff.” Giamatti prepared for the role by engrossing himself in contemporary articles, meeting the real life Landy’s early career acquaintances, and listening to hours of tapes wherein Giamatti says “he’d just keep talking and talking, in these completely huge paragraphs. They were brilliant-sounding, but if you dug into them they didn’t make much sense.

Cusack’s performance as latter-day Wilson has been drawing praise from those closest to the musician, not only for the way he’s picked up on Wilson’s tics and speech patterns but for the underlying sweetness of his personality. His portrayal of Brian has drawn praise from Melinda who said of Cusack’s performance: “He’s amazing,” said Melinda Wilson. “I don’t know how he did it — he just morphed himself into Brian.”

  • Paul Dano completely immersed himself into Brian’s life, career and music learning as much as he could. He learned to play the piano and learned to sing Brian’s Beach Boy parts for the film. His voice was mixed with Brian’s in scenes of the movie. Paul gained 35 pounds by consuming 4200 calories a day to portray Brian at the time he had gained so much weight.

MY THOUGHTS:

I have seen this movie countless times and watched it again last night. It is one of my favorite movies. I added the ROMANCE category because I feel like it is a great Romance and Love story between Brian Wilson and Melinda Ledbetter. I think that is one of my favorite parts of the movie, how they met and fell in love amidst the chaos of Brian’s relationship and treatment with Dr. Landy. I love the scene in the dealership when they first met, in the Cadillac and Brian locks the doors and leaves her a note. I just love that. I really like Elizabeth Banks as Melinda Ledbetter, I am a huge fan of hers but there is something special about her portrayal of Melinda in this movie.

John Cusack and Paul Dano were both excellent as the differently aged Brian’s. I love both of their performances in this. The studio musicians portrayed in the movie were actual musicians hired to play the parts in the studio scenes. I thought they did a great job of portraying The Wrecking Crew. They were the actual group of studio musicians that Brian, The Beach Boys and so many artists of the 60’s and 70’s used on their recordings. The Wrecking Crew is a great Documentary about them currently streaming on Amazon. I love how they recreated the studio scenes down to the instruments and the equipment.

I grew up on The Beach Boys’ music and am a fan but watching this movie always gives me a deeper respect for their music and lives. Seeing Brian Wilson’s genius behind the scenes of the band is an incredible insight. I am always amazed and horrified by their relationship with their father. The audacity of Brian’s father informing him that “he sold the rights to ALL THEIR MUSIC for $750,000 because in five years time it wasn’t going to be worth anything.” is mind blowing and numbing at the same time. How is it that a father has nothing but disdain and animosity instead of unconditional love for his children? Watching the scenes between Brian and his Father is heartbreaking to say the least.

If you haven’t seen it you should watch it, If you have seen it….watch it again. It is worth it, it is a great story, a true story, a love story and a very insightful look into one of the most influential bands, Musician(s) and songwriters of modern American Music.

STREAMING ON AMAZON PRIME

The Burial

2023   Amazon MGM Studios

Rated:  R

Length:  2 hr  7min

Comedy ~ Drama ~ True Story

Directed by:  Maggie Betts

Starring:  Jamie Foxx, Tommy Lee Jones, Jurnee Smollett, Mamoudou Athie, and Bill Camp, and Alan Ruck.

“Jerry’s a… a dream client. He’s got a great narrative. He’s a war hero. A decorated war hero. He served in World War II. He was, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross… for service for his country.”

Tommy Lee Jones stars as Jeremiah O’Keefe, an honest hard working Businessman and Family Man from Mississippi. He runs a chain of Funeral Businesses and a Funeral Insurance Company. Jeremiah found himself in trouble with the Mississippi State Insurance Commission after one of his Business Associates got him involved in a Ponzi scheme and he lost a lot of money. His Contract Lawyer, Mike Allred (Alan Ruck) suggests they set up a meeting with The Loewen Group from Canada who have been buying up privately owned Funeral Businesses that find themselves in financial trouble. Jeremiah agrees and they meet with the head of The Loewen Group, Raymond Loewen (Bill Camp).

Jeremiah and Raymond reach an agreement for The Loewen Group to buy three of Jeremiah’s Funeral Businesses, but Jeremiah stipulates that they must promise not to sell them Funeral Insurance. Jeremiah wants to keep that aspect of their business for himself. They shake hands on it but months later the Loewen group is stalling on any payments and has sold their own Insurance to those businesses, reneging on the handshake deal. Infuriated, Jeremiah takes notice of a flashy personal Injury Lawyer from Florida named Willie E. Gary (Jamie Foxx). Jeremiah and his young Lawyer Hal Dockins (Mamoudou Athie) convince Willie to take the case and file a lawsuit against The Loewen Group.  The showdown is on as Jeremiah O’Keefe and his lawyers and the flamboyant Willie E. Gary and his team of lawyers take on the very successful and powerful Loewen Group.

I have to point out the racial overtones in the story because they play a part in the story and the trial. Jeremiah O’Keefe and his Contract Lawyer Mike Allred are successful old school white folks from Mississippi, who grew up in a very segregated and racist environment. White is white, and black is black. Although Jeremiah seems less prejudiced than Mike Allred who is definitely old school Racist, with family ties to the K.K.K.  Jeremiah’s Lawyer is a young well educated Black Lawyer, and Willie E. Gary and his team of Lawyers are all black. Raymond Loewen and his Corporate team of Lawyers are white Canadian. The Contract Lawyer that the Loewen Group hire to head the legal team for this case is a Black Female Trial Lawyer (Jurnee Smollett) with tons of experience winning cases.

The Lawsuit was filed and the trial was held in Hinds County, Mississippi, a predominantly African American Community. The filmmakers wanted to highlight the dynamic of a white plaintiff facing a predominantly Black jury, leading Jeremiah O’ Keefe to hire a prominent Black lawyer, Willie Gary, to navigate this situation and appeal to the jury composition. Jeremiah was confidant that his contract Lawyer and old friend Mike Allred was too white, southern and racist to win the case given the environment in which it was held. The Trial in itself is a study in racism in the deep south.

I love this movie, I have seen it several times. I am a Tommy Lee Jones fan from way back and I think this is one of his best. I have gained new found respect for Jamie Foxx recently after watching his special on Netflix, where he addresses the health and life scare that he had. I liked him in this as the flamboyant Willie E. Gary. And I love the True Story movies, and I love the underdog stories and this one is both. I think it is a really good movie and I would definitely recommend it. Amazon bills it as a Comedy Drama and it does have it’s comedic moments, but I would say it is more of a courtroom little guy against the big guy drama than a comedy.

Highly Recommended!

The Founder

2016   The Weinstein Company

Rated:  PG-13

Length:  1 hr  55min

Biography ~ Drama ~ History ~ True Story

Directed by:   John Lee Hancock

Starring:  Michael Keaton, Nick Offerman, John Carroll Lynch, Linda Cardellin, Laura Dern, and B. J. Novak .

“Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not, Genius will not, Education will not. Persistence and Determination alone will always solve the problems of the human race.”

Michael Keaton stars as Ray Kroc, a traveling salesman in the Midwest selling milkshake mixers to restaurants. Ray is 52 years old and has been struggling to make ends meet, not having much success with the items he has sold in the past. His office lets him know that a restaurant in California has placed an order for six Milkshake mixing machines. Confident that there must be a mistake, he calls the restaurant and is promptly told by the owner, Dick McDonald (Nick Offerman) that indeed it is not a mistake and that he should up the order to eight machines…..and hurry. Ray decides that he has to see for himself and drives to San Bernardino, California.

Upon arriving in the McDonald’s Brothers Restaurant he is amazed by what he sees. After purchasing a Burger, fries and a drink for 35 cents and receiving it immediately, he is astonished. Mac McDonald (John Carroll Lynch) offers him a tour of the kitchen where he shows Ray their “Speedee Service System”. Completely blown away by what they have invented and their restaurant, Ray takes them to dinner to pick their brains about their operation. Over the coming weeks Ray is so obsessed with the McDonald’s business he convinces them to franchise and to let him do all the work. They draw up a contract and from that day forward Ray Kroc does everything in his power to build a franchise empire of McDonald’s Restaurants as fast as he can.

The Founder Streaming Movie

In the process he goes from selling franchises to buying the land the restaurants sit on and then leasing that land to the franchisees. Eventually buying out the McDonald Brothers, and turning it into an 8 Billion dollar business with 7,500 stores in 32 countries around the world at the time of Ray’s Death in 1984. He is quoted as saying that that first day when he saw the San Bernardino store for the first time and saw the operation, the Golden Arches and the name McDonalds,” I knew I had to have it. It was a great business and the Speedee service was incredible, but the name and those arches were what I saw. That was the valuable thing. It was as American as Apple Pie and I envisioned one in every town. Every town has a courthouse with an American flag and a Church with a cross, and there should be a McDonalds in every town.”

Ray Kroc The Founder Streaming Movie

It is a fascinating look at the True Story of McDonalds, The McDonald Brothers and Ray Kroc the visionary who saw much more than just a restaurant. The Screenplay was based on the 1977 Autobiography by Ray Kroc Grinding It Out: The Making Of McDonald’s. Of course it is a little sad how Ray basically stole the business out from underneath them. He was a very persistent determined man who saw a vision and pursued it no matter what. Michael Keaton did an awesome job in this as Ray Kroc, Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch also as The McDonald Brothers. I have seen this quite a few times and still enjoy it. I love Entrepreneurship and the process of starting with nothing and building something out of a single idea. It is truly a fascinating true story movie.

Highly Recommended!

Two Thumbs Up!

Saturday Night

2024   Sony Pictures

Rated:  R

Length:  1 hr  49min

Comedy ~ Drama ~ True Story

Directed by:  Jason Reitman

Starring:  Gabriel LaBelle, Lorne Michaels. Rachel Sennott, Cory Michael Smith, Ella Hunt, Dylan O’Brien, Emily Fairn, Matt Wood, Lamorne Morris, Kim Matula, Finn Wolfhard, Nicholas Braun, Cooper Hoffman, Andrew Barth Feldman, Kaia Gerber, Tommy Dewey, Willem Dafoe, Matthew Rhys, and J. K. Simmons.

“The writers are stoned, the set is on fire, the sound system is fried, the actors are physically assaulting each other, the crew is in open revolt and they have 90 minutes to figure it all out or the network is pulling the plug.”

Saturday Night is based on the true story of the 90 minutes behind the scenes leading up to the first episode of the show now called Saturday Night Live (SNL) which aired October 11,1975 at 11:30 PM. The cast was an unknown group of comedians referred to as The Not Ready For Prime Time Players. They included Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, Garrett Morris, Jane Curtin, John Belushi, George Coe, Michael O’Donoghue and Laraine Newman. The name was a direct reference to their main competition, Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell. ABC’s program, which ran for only 18 episodes, was sports announcer Cosell’s stab at the comedy format.

Howard Cosell’s own rotating group of performers were called The Prime Time Players. That cast included Bill Murray, who’d go on to join NBC’s Saturday Night Live cast in 1977, and This Is Spinal Tap actor-director Christopher Guest, who eventually became an SNL season 10 cast member. The NBC show was renamed Saturday Night Live two years later after Howard Cosell’s show was canceled. SNL has had just under 1000 episodes and is currently in it’s 50th season. It has also featured over 170 cast members, a large number of whom went on to careers in film and tv.

I have been a life long SNL fan for as long as I can remember. I don’t always watch a season, sometimes it’s just not as good as I remember the show being so I pass. There are certain periods/seasons/cast in the show’s history that are just classic and very memorable. I love Weekend Update, that’s probably my favorite sketch. Well, that and the opening sketch is always the best. So when I saw this on Netflix I had to watch it. Wow, what chaos, it must have been quite the experience to have been involved in that first night.

The Cast of the First SNL Show posing at the foot of the stairs in a brick building. www.streamingmovienight.com
The First SNL Cast, The Not Ready For Prime Time Players: Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Laraine Newman, Garrett Morris, Jane Curtin and Dan Aykroyd.
The Cast of Saturday Night recreating the photo of the original SNL cast at the foot of the stairs in a brick building. www.streamingmovienight.com
The Cast of the Movie Saturday Night recreating the photo of the Not Ready For Primetime Players: Cory Michael Smith, Matt Wood, Ella Hunt, Emily Fairn, Lamorne Morris, Kim Matula and Dylan O’Brien.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don’t remember if I did watch that first show but I’m guessing that I probably did. I would have been a young teenager and loved staying up late. And I loved comedians, I was a huge fan of Flip Wilson, George Carlin and Bill Cosby to name a few. So I probably did see it but I have to say if you are going to watch the movie, I would check out the first show first. It is available on Peacock for free although you have to jump through a couple of hoops first. I enjoyed it, I thought it was a very interesting look at the drama, politics and resolve it took to make the show happen that first night.

I think they did a great job casting because the resemblances to the original cast are pretty good. And the actors did a great job mimicking the original comedians. The scenes in the original show look just like the scenes in the movie, so they did their homework.

If you are an SNL fan I highly recommend it. If you are not a fan but have an interest in the show and have seen some of the classics, it is worth watching. If you are not a fan of SNL or any of the comedians that have been on the cast or the show, I would say skip it. It’s just not going to make sense to you without the background of the show. So there you go, that’s Saturday Night!

NBC will be broadcasting the original episode Saturday February 15 at 10 PM. The next night Sunday February 16 NBC will air a three hour Prime Time Special commemorating SNL’s 50th Anniversary starting at 8 PM.

Last Known Location

2024   Quiver Distribution

Rated:  16+

Length:  1 hr  54min

Crime ~ Drama ~ Thriller ~ True Story

Directed by:  Danny Donnelly

Starring:  Aimee Theresa, Sophia Lucia Parola, Jennifer M. Kay and Danny Donnelly.

“Will Detectives find them before it’s too late?”

Last Known Location is an Indie movie made by Silver Octopus Productions, a small Production company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are owned by the Husband/Wife team of Aimee Theresa and Danny Donnelly. The movie was filmed in West Chester, Pennsylvania. It is reportedly based on a True Story but I couldn’t find info on the true story it is supposedly based on. It could be a Philly area story I’m guessing. Aimee wrote the script and plays the main character Callie Holloway. Danny Donnelly directed and starred as Matthew Martin.

It is the story of three women who were abducted one by one. Each of them not having many family or friend ties so their disappearance goes unnoticed for a considerable time before anyone notifies the police. A Detective and her partner are assigned to the case and start piecing clues together and decide it is foul play and the work of one person. The three women are seen chained up in a basement somewhere with only a toilet and a laundry sink. They arrived there one by one. I don’t want to say anymore about the plot so as not to spoil it.

It does keep you guessing right up until the end, because the end is a complete surprise you didn’t see coming. There are some things that bothered me about the movie. The acting was a little forced at times, kind of like a bad TV movie. There wasn’t enough depth to the characters, or the villain. And why didn’t the three girls fight harder, I saw opportunities early on they could have exploited. Why did he do what he did? The Movie alludes to it but doesn’t really say. The Hooks in the concrete basement floor the girls were chained to were obviously there for a long time. Had he been abducting women for a long time? Or was it something to do with the villain’s mother?

Later in the movie Callie finds two little green toy soldiers that boys play with hidden in a crack next to her Chain hook in the concrete? Was the villain chained there as a kid, perhaps by his mother because he was “bad”? The upstairs of the house has an old feel to it…the furniture, the decorations. It almost looks like he’s living in his mother’s house, but you never see the mother. It did leave me with those questions, I felt like it could have been better with a little more back story and depth. But it wasn’t all lacking, the plot and the girls kept me intrigued. Wanting to know more and see where it all ended up. And the end is a complete surprise, good one there!

From what I could find out this is a very young Indie film outfit with this being their first Major full length feature movie. Given all that, I’d say it was pretty good. In fact I’d say they would be ones to watch in the near future as they hone their craft and produce better and better movies.

So, yes, it’s worth a watch.