Re: WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?
Posted: June 12th, 2014, 10:49 am
Great poster, T! And I know you watched your favorite this morning with Crazy Ida:
![Image](http://i312.photobucket.com/albums/ll360/tippy99/classic%20film/craZyIda.jpg)
I laughed so hard at the banter over Kim Novak. Thanks, guys, for the giggles. I really needed them.
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Last night I got a much needed night out and went to see CHEF. Run immediately to your nearest theater and check it out... another great movie about FOOD - it's preparation and it's meaning in our lives.
This gentle comedy has a great story, wonderful settings and cinematography, a kick-ass soundtrack and best of all, a really superb cast who all do exceptional jobs. Jon Favreau is not only funny, he has become an incredibly good writer and director, taking a slip of a story and imbuing it with music, color and flavor. There is nary a mis-step in this little indie comedy about the meeting of old cultures and the modern age. The characters are ones you will like, which seems unheard of in this day of reality TV and bad caricatures. I can't remember liking a recent comedy as much. The characters have real flaws... no one is a bad guy, really. Everyone has their reasons. It was a pleasure watching a film with such adult, sensitive, tolerant and humorous sensibilities.
Favreau plays a chef past his prime and inventiveness, frustrated, stuck in a job where he must prepare the same menu every day. His child, ex-wife, girlfriend and fellow cooks see him killing himself night after night to prepare food that even he knows is not worth the effort. After a scathing review and then losing his job, the chef is forced to confront his flaws as a chef and as a father, while traveling across the country with his son. It's an internal journey for the chef, or El Jefe, to find himself again, and to connect with his son.
Favreau is not only a really fine actor, he manages to tie food, landscape, family, friends and music together in such a colorful way that you feel like dancing out of your seat to the nearest ethnic restaurant with your loved ones and partying all night long after seeing it. The mostly latin soundtrack keeps the pace extremely lively. We went to dinner before the movie and I was starving halfway through the film... I would have killed for a Cuban sandwich or some smoky brisket by the end. There are no cliches here, we've seen the story before, but the movie goes on it's journey without any sense that we know what will happen. That's quite a feat. I just wanted to follow El Jefe and be delighted at the turn of events.
The language is quite off color, but the story is so well done, it doesn't matter. I would take my 13 year old daughter to it (and will), who probably hears worse language at school now.
Besides Favreau, who is more likable here than in any of his other movies, the cast includes Sofia Vergara as the understanding ex wife, the wonderful John Leguizamo (who is as laid back as I've ever seen him) as the chef's 3rd in command who steps up to help him change his life, Bobby Cannavale (a totally underrated actor), Oliver Platt, Scarlett Johannsson, Robert Downey, Jr., Dustin Hoffman and a wonderful kid named Emjay Anthony, who holds his own among these greats. Everyone, including the kid, is very natural. If anything, the movie is more understated than over the top. It's hilarious, sweet, and quite good. It has a feeling of ...I don't know quite how to say it.... as if the actors were all friends in real life and just wanted to have some fun on film. See it.
![Image](http://i312.photobucket.com/albums/ll360/tippy99/classic%20film/craZyIda.jpg)
I laughed so hard at the banter over Kim Novak. Thanks, guys, for the giggles. I really needed them.
*******************************************************
Last night I got a much needed night out and went to see CHEF. Run immediately to your nearest theater and check it out... another great movie about FOOD - it's preparation and it's meaning in our lives.
This gentle comedy has a great story, wonderful settings and cinematography, a kick-ass soundtrack and best of all, a really superb cast who all do exceptional jobs. Jon Favreau is not only funny, he has become an incredibly good writer and director, taking a slip of a story and imbuing it with music, color and flavor. There is nary a mis-step in this little indie comedy about the meeting of old cultures and the modern age. The characters are ones you will like, which seems unheard of in this day of reality TV and bad caricatures. I can't remember liking a recent comedy as much. The characters have real flaws... no one is a bad guy, really. Everyone has their reasons. It was a pleasure watching a film with such adult, sensitive, tolerant and humorous sensibilities.
Favreau plays a chef past his prime and inventiveness, frustrated, stuck in a job where he must prepare the same menu every day. His child, ex-wife, girlfriend and fellow cooks see him killing himself night after night to prepare food that even he knows is not worth the effort. After a scathing review and then losing his job, the chef is forced to confront his flaws as a chef and as a father, while traveling across the country with his son. It's an internal journey for the chef, or El Jefe, to find himself again, and to connect with his son.
Favreau is not only a really fine actor, he manages to tie food, landscape, family, friends and music together in such a colorful way that you feel like dancing out of your seat to the nearest ethnic restaurant with your loved ones and partying all night long after seeing it. The mostly latin soundtrack keeps the pace extremely lively. We went to dinner before the movie and I was starving halfway through the film... I would have killed for a Cuban sandwich or some smoky brisket by the end. There are no cliches here, we've seen the story before, but the movie goes on it's journey without any sense that we know what will happen. That's quite a feat. I just wanted to follow El Jefe and be delighted at the turn of events.
The language is quite off color, but the story is so well done, it doesn't matter. I would take my 13 year old daughter to it (and will), who probably hears worse language at school now.
![Rolling Eyes :roll:](./images/smilies/icon_rolleyes.gif)