Brian's Thoughts on Movies

The Idea of You tells the story of a romance between a 40-year old art gallery owner and a 24-year old pop singer starring Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine and directed by Michael Showalter. The film is based on a book that I have yet not read where apparently the age gap was bigger.   Showalter has a comic background but the only other film of his that I watched most was his honest adaptation of Kumail Nanjiani’s true story The Big Sick, about the early days of Najiani’s relationship with his wife.  The film had a lot of comedic moments but was touching.  The Idea of You is a much bigger production with numerous concert scenes and it captures a sense of the crazed public life of a popular young singer. Spoilers below: I first saw the film when it was released on Prime Video and four things about it stuck out to me.  First, Solene (Hathaway) does not recognize Hayes (Galitzine) because her daughter had been the fan, not she.   Solene speaks to Hayes him norm...

In 2023 I wrote blog post examining the Naked Gun films.  At the time a reboot starring Liam Neeson was in the works and in the post I hoped for the best but was a little concerned as I did not want to see a bad version of something I had really enjoyed.  Neeson is a fabulous actor and I’d always believed him completely in roles like the rebellious outlaw Rob Roy or as a man coping with a personal loss by bonding with his stepson in Love Actually along with his many tough guy roles in the wake of Taken.  In comedies I had only seen him spoof his own image in small roles like The Lego Movie or Ted 2.  Ed Helms had been mentioned as a new Drebin and that seemed a better fit given his broad comedic background.  Simon Pegg, a very inventive comedic actor (who has a good relationship with Paramount since he’s been in several Mission Impossible and Star Trek films) occurred to me.  Additionally no one from the original behind the scenes team (ie David Zucker) wer...

Rob Reiner, an immensely talented director, producer and actor, recently died alongside his wife, Michele.  Reiner was 78 and still sharp and very active but unfortunately he and his wife were allegedly victims of a drug fueled assault by their own son.  I have always been horrified at the idea that drugs and alcohol could cause people to hurt those we love most but I want this brief post to focus a little on some of the work Reiner left us with.  I will not apply my usual star ratings since I have not seen these films in a long time. I have never seen This Is Spinal Tap (or any other concert film) but I will get to it and its sequel one day.  I was born in 1972 so was too young for All In The Family but I have seen several clips of it and know that it was an extremely impactful and funny program. Reiner as an actor in the films I have seen him in is fast talking and had sharp comedic skills as did his father, Carl Reiner.  I think Carl was probably funnier over...