Elway to Marino

Movies to See Right Now

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MUD

Now you must catch up on these excellent movie choices before lesser summer movies clog the screens at the multi-plex: 

  • Mud, the gripping and thoughtful story of two Arkansas boys embarking on a secret adventure with a man hiding from the authorities – learning more than they expected about love and loyalty. Mud is also one of the best movies of 2013.
  • At Any Price is a thought-provoking psychological drama and a rare glimpse into modern corporate agriculture.
  • Another thought-provoking father-son drama is The Place Beyond the Pines with Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper.
  • The surefire crowd pleaser The Sapphires is a charmer about Australian Aboriginal teens forming a girl group to entertain troops in the Vietnam War.
  • The French In the House is clever, darkly funny and slightly creepy.

Other films out right now: 

  • The Reluctant Fundamentalist offers a compelling performance by Riz Ahmed and a thriller ending, but holes in the story and the miscasting of Kate Hudson dim the effect.
  • Kon-Tiki is a faithful, but underwhelming account of a true life 5,000 mile raft trip across the Pacific.

The compelling documentary The Central Park Five from Ken Burns, et al, is available streaming from Amazon Instant and other VOD providers. Football fans should tune into ESPN’s 30 for 30 for Elway to Marino, an inside look at several astonishing stories from the 1983 NFL draft.  Available on VOD, Greetings from Tim Buckley is a film for those who want to see an actor depict interior conflict with very little external action.

The Iceman, starring Michael Shannon as perhaps the most prolific real-life hit man, is opening this weekend. You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

You’ve got to get ready for the May 31 release of the year’s best romance, Before Midnight.  Therefore my DVD/Stream of the Week are its prequels, Before Sunrise and Before Sunset – director Richard Linklater’s two uncommonly authentic and intelligent romances with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy.  Both Before Sunrise and Before Sunset are available on DVD from Netflix and streaming on VOD from Amazon , iTunes, Vudu and other VOD outlets.  Before Sunrise is free with Amazon Prime.

Tomorrow night, Turner Classic Movies will be broadcasting Billy Wilder’s deliciously cynical Ace in the Hole, starring Kirk Douglas as a reporter exploiting and then manipulating a cave rescue.  Released in 1951, it’s as timely a comment on tabloid journalism and infotainment as if it had been made last week.  (Some folks may have seen it under the alternative title The Big Carnival.)

Movies to See Right Now

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Maika Monroe and Zac Efron in AT ANY PRICE

At Any Price is a thought-provoking psychological drama and a rare glimpse into modern corporate agriculture.   The Reluctant Fundamentalist offers a compelling performance by Riz Ahmed and a thriller ending, but holes in the story and the miscasting of Kate Hudson dim the effect.  Kon-Tiki is a faithful, but underwhelming account of a true life 5,000 mile raft trip across the Pacific.  The French In the House is clever, darkly funny and slightly creepy.

The best film in theaters now is the gripping and thoughtful Mud. Two Arkansas boys embark on a secret adventure with a man hiding from the authorities, and they learn more than they expected about love and loyalty. Mud is one of the best movies of 2013.

If you see the thought-provoking drama The Place Beyond the Pines with Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper, you’ll still be mulling it over days later.  I guarantee that you will enjoy the absolutely winning The Sapphires, a charmer about Australian Aboriginal teens forming a girl group to entertain troops in the Vietnam War.  Don’t overlook the heartwarming British indie The Angel’s Share about a hard luck guy’s struggle to turn his life around with unexpected help from some ultra-rare Scotch whisky.

The compelling documentary The Central Park Five from Ken Burns, et al, is available streaming from Amazon Instant and other VOD providers. Football fans should tune into ESPN’s 30 for 30 for Elway to Marino, an inside look at several astonishing stories from the 1983 NFL draft.

The dreadful-looking The Great Gatsby is opening this weekend.  You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD/Stream of the Week is Shotgun Stories, the first triumph by Mud writer-director Jeff Nichols and the breakthrough film for actor Michael Shannon.  Shotgun Stories is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Netflix and iTunes.

On May 14, Turner Classic Movies will be broadcasting the 1947 film noir Kiss of Death, which introduced Richard Widmark as one of the most unforgettable screen villains – a nutty thug named Tommy Udo who chortles maniacally as he pushes an old lady in a wheelchair down the stairs to her demise.

Movies to See Right Now

by

 

MUD

Go see the gripping and thoughtful Mud.  Two Arkansas boys embark on a secret adventure with a man hiding from the authorities, and they learn more than they expected about love and loyalty.   Mud is one of the best movies of 2013.

Best bets in theaters this week:

      • If you see the thought-provoking drama The Place Beyond the Pines with Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper, you’ll still be mulling it over days later;
      • I guarantee that you will enjoy the absolutely winning The Sapphires, a charmer about Australian Aboriginal teens forming a girl group to entertain troops in the Vietnam War.
      • Don’t overlook the heartwarming British indie The Angel’s Share about a hard luck guy’s struggle to turn his life around with unexpected help from some ultra-rare Scotch whisky.  

The compelling documentary The Central Park Five from Ken Burns, et al, is available streaming from Amazon Instant and other VOD providers. Football fans should tune into ESPN’s 30 for 30 for Elway to Marino, an inside look at several astonishing stories from the 1983 NFL draft.

There are two big releases this weekend:  The Reluctant Fundamentalist and At Any Price.   You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD/Stream of the Week is Flight, starring Denzel Washington as an airline pilot who becomes a hero after saving his passengers in a miraculous crash landing, but then risks legal jeopardy unless he can get his drinking under control. Flight is available on DVD from Netflix and Redbox and streaming from many VOD outlets.

On May 7, Turner Classic Movies will be broadcasting the three film noir classics: Out of the Past, The Asphalt Jungle and The Naked City.

Elway to Marino: a great story in 1983 and a better story now

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Dan Marino in ELWAY TO MARINO

ESPN’s fine documentary series 30 for 30 has produced another winner in Marino to Elway, an insider’s view of the 1983 NFL draft.  That year, an astonishing six QBs were picked in the first round, including Hall of Famers John Elway, Dan Marino and Jim Kelly.  That crop of QBs would lead the AFC Super Bowl teams in eleven of the next sixteen years.  The impact to NFL history aside, the draft contained some forehead slapping individual stories:

  • Elway’s threat to play baseball for the New York Yankees if he were drafted by the Baltimore Colts;
  • five QBs getting drafted ahead of Marino, whose stock dropped because of inaccurate rumors of drug use;
  • Jim Kelly swearing that he would never play in Buffalo and jumping to the USFL’s Houston Gamblers;
  • Steeler first round pick Gabriel Rivera, an amazingly fast defensive tackle who paralyzed himself in a drunk driving accident after just 6 games in the NFL;
  • plus an assortment of draft busts and the machinations of NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle and Raiders owner Al Davis.

Elway and Marino were represented by the same agent, Marvin Demoff, who kept a daily journal.  That journal, plus interviews with Demoff, Elway and Marino, is the core of the movie.  But there are also interviews with Colts General Manager Ernie Accorsi, and first-rounders Rivera, Ken O’Brien, Todd Blackledge, Chris Hinton and Jimbo Covert. 

It was a great story in 1983, and Elway to Marino fills in the blanks with nugget after nugget.  It’s a must see for NFL fans.