Tag: Amy Adams

The Muppets (2011)

2011’s “The Muppets” is bursting from the seams with self-aware cameos and nostalgia.

2011 was the year of nostalgia, and for college-aged students like myself there was no movie more nostalgic than “The Muppets.”

And even though the movie is notoriously self-aware, in awe of its own nostalgia and acts as a love letter to a group of fans I do not subscribe to (I have a much greater penchant for “Sesame Street’s” Grover), “The Muppets” is the sort of insanely irreverent, goofy and goodhearted movie that belongs in our pop culture lexicon.

They also deserve to be performers at the Oscars, even though that’s for sure not happening. “The Muppets” has the sort of random, viral video presentation that would make it perfect for an awards ceremony. Continue reading “The Muppets (2011)”

The Fighter

David O. Russell takes the boxing movie and makes it into a rich family dramedy.

I wasn’t looking at Mark Wahlberg when he was training in the boxing ring. I wasn’t watching his gloves either, moving swiftly and smoothly from blow to blow. I was watching Christian Bale playing Wahlberg’s coked out brother as he’s training in the ring along with him. In “The Fighter,” he’s not just bobbing and weaving to block the punches.

Bale portrays Dicky Eklund, the brother of Wahlberg’s Micky Ward. Ward is the fighter, training to win a title, looking for romance and struggling with his own sense of self. Dicky already had his chance. 14 years ago, he knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard and became the pride of Lowell, Massachusetts. Now it’s 1993, and he’s addicted to crack, but still he’s the life of the party. Continue reading “The Fighter”