Faith On The Gridiron... "Woodlawn"

Woodlawn (2015)

Rated PG

Starring Nic Bishop, Sean Astin, Caleb Castille, Sherri Shepherd, Jon Voight,

Directed by Andrew Erwin and Jon Erwin

The Story:

Coach Tandy Gerelds (Bishop) takes over the Woodlawn High School team in Birmingham Alabama at the height of desegregation in the 70s. Trying to integrate his racially mixed football team proves to be challenging, but Hank (Astin) comes to ask if he can give the team a pep talk. Hank preaches about the love of Jesus and how they should all work together towards a common goal, and the message of love makes the team bond together and they go on a remarkable run through the season that inspires the entire community.

This is their story.

Faith.

Football.

Mix these two together and it should be a slam dunk (wrong sport, I know) yet there was something slightly off with this film. I can't pinpoint exactly what it was that just didn't register with me on this film.

Perhaps it was the length of the movie (a bit over 2 hours) or the repetitiveness that seemed to happen during the season. Sure, I get it, it's football after all, but it really seemed to just keep pushing the same three buttons over and over again and never really expanding any of the character focus.

Granted, these based on a true story films, you can only take so much creative license with, but it just seemed like there should have been more conflict based on the desegration or the faith inspiration than was really portrayed.

The cast was fine, with a lot of focus put on Castille who portrayed Tony Nathan in the film. The nice part, that while Woodlawn doesn't go on to have the happy ending you normally get in the movies, they do tackle a bit of Nathan's story to end on an upbeat note when he does finally win a championship and one of the first people that he calls is his old coach.

It's a good movie, just not a great one.


Final Grade: C

It's "A Christmas Eve Miracle" That I Watched The Whole Thing

A Christmas Eve Miracle (2015)

Not Rated

Starring Olivia d'Abo, Anthony Starke, Josh Reid, Dina DeLaurentiis, Jon Voight, Johnathan Silverman, William Riley, C. Thomas Howell,

Directed by R. Michael Givens

The Story:

Sharron (d'Abo) is a workaholic who always wants more on her plate, often to the detriment of her marriage to Dustin (Starke) and their two kids (Reid, DeLaurentiis). On a vacation during the holidays, the innkeeper (Riley) overhears Sharron's wish that the kids had better parents and that she could have had a more successful career like she wanted.

Be careful what you wish for.

Where to begin on this one?

A spin on It's A Wonderful Life, and more in line with the thinking of The Family Man , Sharron gets to wake up the next morning and see what life would have been like if she had never had kids.

The problem, the kids she never had are next door and being raised by another family at the lodge and they aren't nearly as well behaved or apparently happy as they used to be.

Sharron desperately wants them back, but she made the wish, and now she's stuck with it.

Unless of course she gets really desperate and wishes everything to be back to the way it was.

I know you've heard me mention how 2 hour movies sometimes don't feel like it...

Well, this 80 minute movie feels like you're there a lot longer than you really are.

And, I'm still not certain why the movie begins, ends and at times in the middle, is narrated by the family dog (Voight).  And unusual narrative choice, to be sure, and that they bother to include it at all is odd and sadly sets the tone for the whole movie.

I'll be kind and not fail my 2nd Christmas movie of the year.

Nah, on second thought...

Final Grade: D+

Nicholas Cage Is A "National Treasure"... More Or Less

National Treasure (2004)

Rated PG for language and peril

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Sean Bean, Jon Voight, Havey Keitel,

Directed by Jon Turteltaub

The Story:

Benjamin Franklin Gates (Cage) is the latest historian in the lineage of the Gates family to seek the rumored Templar Treasure hidden by the Founding Fathers since the Revolutionary War.  However, his reasons are noble, and wants to ensure the treasure doesn't fall into the hands of mercenaries led by Ian Howe (Bean), so Gates and his pal Riley (Bartha) do whatever it takes, including stealing the Declaration of Independence to discover the clues to find the treasure.  But will they succeed?

Of course they will!

It's been 10 years since this movie came out, and was critically bashed.

Boo.

This movie is fun.

Check your brain at the door, and let Nicholas Cage have some fun on the screen and just enjoy it.

It's the most enjoyable trip in history, this side of Indiana Jones.

The sequel was decidedly less enjoyable, but nope, I still have a soft spot in my heart for this one.

It's a family-friendly popcorn film, courtesy of Disney.  Good action sequences, competent acting, some funny bits...


There's something for everyone, except the haters.

;)

Cage rules!

:)

Final Grade: Solid B

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor:  I already own it and it gets a spin every few years.

Need For Speed Weekend: "Getaway"

Getaway (2013)
Rated PG-13 - Language

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Selena Gomez, Jon Voight

Directed by: Courtney Solomon

The Story:

Brent Magna (Hawke) is an ex-race car driver.  He lives in Bulgaria now with his wife.  He comes home to find she's been kidnapped and he must steal a car and follow instructions to complete several tasks if he hopes to see her alive again.  When the kid (Gomez) that owns the car tracks him down, she becomes his unwilling accomplice, putting her computer hacker skills to good use to try and save them both from their mysterious captor.  Will they succeed and save the abducted wife, or will they all wind up dead?

I couldn't put my finger on where I've seen this movie before.

Then about halfway through, it hit me: 12 Rounds.  Or 12 Rounds-Reloaded.

It's True...it's True!

:)

When you start remaking WWE Studios projects, you know you're reaching for artistic heights.

;)

However, this movie is purely speaking, a B movie that knows it, and lives it.

Heck, when the movie takes place solely in the car as they race from the cops to try and pull off the next caper, the movie is rather engaging.

Part of that would be due to the fact that they strap mini cameras all over the inside/outside of the car, so you really get some good car chase footage through the streets.

Plus, many of the stunts are very well done and keep you riveted to the screen.

What Are The Odds For An Academy Award?

It's when the dialogue focuses on the two captives that the movie is just silly.

It's a quick 90 minutes of fluff that goes down easy.

Final Grade: C+
Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I could watch it again someday, no time soon, but if I was channel surfing on a slow weekend someday, I could let it ride.