Indie Gems: Thank You For Smoking

-
Don't hide the truth. Just filter it.
Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) is a tobacco lobbyist. He's a talented public speaker and serves as the chief spokesperson for Big Tobacco. He takes his young son (Cameron Bright) along with him on what he thinks will be a routine business trip, but it wouldn't be a movie if everything went according to plan, right?
This was the first Jason Reitman film I'd ever seen. I guess it appealed to me because even though I don't smoke, I grew up constantly around it. So when I hear people complain about smoke in a bar, I kind of just want to slap them and tell them to get over it. That aside - this was the start of what became Reitman's classic style. It's funny, deadpan, and the cast is fantastic. Even Katie Holmes manages to turn in a performance where she doesn't suck.
One of the things I enjoyed the most about the film was the subtitles that appeared at the bottom of the screen occasionally. That was a nice touch. And another fun fact: Even though this film is about smoking, there's not a single character that's see smoking on screen.
Grade: A
Memorable Quote" "These environmentalists." (pussies) - BR (J.K Simmons)

Comments

  1. AnonymousJune 14, 2013 at 8:10 AM

    Loved this movie! I haven't seen it in ages, but I really remember being pleased with it, especially Eckhart's tremendous performance (funny, but with heart).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJune 16, 2013 at 9:51 PM

      Eckhart was great. I was happy when he scored a Golden Globe nom for this.

      Delete
  2. UnknownJune 14, 2013 at 8:47 AM

    I really like this one as well!

    ReplyDelete
  3. s.June 14, 2013 at 10:12 AM

    LOVE this movie. So smart and funny. Eckhart was fantastic here.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownJune 14, 2013 at 11:21 PM

    Saying Katie Holmes doesn't suck is a great selling point to this review Brittani. I'm glad you liked this one. I had no idea that smoking is never shown on screen once. Great review

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJune 16, 2013 at 9:52 PM

      Yeah, this is probably the least terrible Katie Holmes has been in a movie.

      Delete
  5. John GilpatrickJune 16, 2013 at 12:34 PM

    Gah, I love this movie and haven't rewatched it in WAY too long. Thanks for the reminder, and well done, as always :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by, let's talk movies!
(comments are moderated to reduce spam)

Popular posts from this blog

Random Ramblings: The Radio Flyer Conundrum

-
Image
Recently, I was talking to someone about who I thought were the best child actors when I was also a child.  Two that really stood out to me were Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazello, and one film those two were in together was called Radio Flyer.  Then I was reminded about the uniqueness of this film. Instead of reviewing the film, I wanted to have an open discussion about the ending. It deals with a tough issue; child abuse. What I’ve noticed is the way that the film ends is interpreted many different ways, and the filmmakers never came forward to say what was right and wrong. I’m interested in hearing everyone’s opinions on it. How did you interpret the ending? Obviously spoiler alerts will follow.. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, the basic premise is this: Two young boys, Mikey (Wood) and Bobby (Mazello) move in with their single mother and her boyfriend, who refers to himself as ‘The King’. It doesn’t take long for The King to start physically abusing Bobby, and the
Read more

Indie Gems: Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

-
Image
Passionate about your profession? I had never heard of this film until it ended up on one of Jason's favorite horror movie lists around Halloween. It immediately sounded interesting to me, so of course I threw it in my Netflix queue. (and if I'm just now watching it after adding it around Halloween, you know how ridiculous my queue is) Taylor (Angela Goethals) is a journalist who, along with a film crew decides to follow around a serial killer named Leslie Vernon. (Nathan Baesel) He plans on doing the typical slasher thing - getting a bunch of drunk teens in an abandoned house and knocking them off one by one. He gets advice from a retired serial killer, Eugene (Scott Wilson) and is threatened by a man who's on to him, Doc Holloran (Robert Englund) Taylor and crew are there capturing it all. Leslie Vernon is fucking hilarious to start with, and clearly very passionate about what he does. He tells Taylor all of his secrets and can barely contain his excitemen
Read more

Please join me in my Favorite Movie Titles Blogathon!

-
Image
Earlier this week I made a post where I ran through the letters of the alphabet with my favorite movie titles. There were a few people that suggested I turn it into a blogathon, and I've never done that before. So here goes nothing! Since this is my first attempt at a blogathon, it's all pretty simple, and it's hopefully a quick post that everyone can join in. Rules: 1) Going through the alphabet, list your favorite movie title beginning with each letter.  2) You don't have to necessarily  like the movie to use it's title.  3) Use the banner at the top of this post in yours. 4) Please have submissions in by Friday, May 30th*. (But I'll be honest, if you send them to me after that date, I'll still add them to my post.) You can either leave a link to your post in the comments here or tweet it to me, ( @ramblingfilm )  Thanks everyone! :)  *I had to move the date back a week due to Photobucket threatening me with bandwidth issues. But
Read more