MOVIE - Rock the Kasbah

R (1:40)

Wide release 10/23/15

Saw this on Sat. 10/24 at Century Oro Valley Marketplace all by my lonesome....

RT Critic: 8   Audience: 39

Cag: 2/It was okay but sort of a waste of time and effort for Bill Murray's talents

Directed by Mitch Glazer

Open Road Films

Bill Murray, Kate Hudson

My comments: I was really looking forward to this, but decided it was pretty much a waste of time.  So disappointed.  The whole music contest show didn't make sense to me...the premise was pretty cool, but it didn't connect with me at all.

RT Summary:  A has-been rock manager from Van Nuys, California stumbles upon a once-in-a-lifetime voice in a remote Afghan cave in Rock the Kasbah, a dramatic comedy inspired by stranger-than-fiction, real-life events and directed by Oscar winner Barry Levinson. Richie Lanz (Bill Murray), dumped and stranded in war-torn Kabul by his last remaining client (Zooey Deschanel), discovers Salima Khan (Leem Lubany), a Pashtun teenager with a beautiful voice and the courageous dream of becoming the first woman to compete on national television in Afghanistan's version of "American Idol." Richie partners with a savvy hooker (Kate Hudson), a pair of hard-partying war profiteers (Danny McBride and Scott Caan) and a hair-trigger mercenary (Bruce Willis) and, braving dangerous cultural prejudices, manages his new protégée into becoming the "Afghan Star."

MOVIE - Saint Vincent

PG-13(1:43)

Wide release 10/24/2014

Viewed 10/31/14 with Cyra Sadowl at ElCon

RT Critic: 74   Audience:   83

Cag:  4.5 Liked it a lot

Directed by Theodore Melfi

The Weinstein Company

Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy, Naomi Watts

My comments: This is dubbed a COMEDY, but I think that is entirely wrong.  Even black comedy doesn't do it.  There is absolutely some humor in it, but for the most part it's the story of how people cope with sadness and grief in their lives.All four of the major actors were terrific.  Melissa McCarthy is NOT playing this for laughs, she's a mom with stress and problems and an injured past.  I had gone to this thinking it was a comedy, and as the credits rolled I realized it was so much more than that.  Good movie.

RT Summary:  Maggie (McCarthy), a single mother, moves into a new home in Brooklyn with her 12-year old son, Oliver (Lieberher). Forced to work long hours, she has no choice but to leave Oliver in the care of their new neighbor, Vincent (Murray), a retired curmudgeon with a penchant for alcohol and gambling. An odd friendship soon blossoms between the improbable pair. Together with a pregnant stripper named Daka (Watts), Vincent brings Oliver along on all the stops that make up his daily routine - the race track, a strip club, and the local dive bar. Vincent helps Oliver grow to become a man, while Oliver begins to see in Vincent something that no one else is able to: a misunderstood man with a good heart.

MOVIE: Moonrise Kingdom

Quirky.  Deadpan.  Funny.  In that order.
PG-13 (1:34)
Released 5/25/2012
Watched at El Con, hot Sunday afternoon 7/8/12, full house
RT Crit: 94 RT Audience:  92
Director:  Wes Anderson
Focus Features

Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, a small part with Harvey Keitel (!)

Setting:  a small island off the coast of New England circa 1965

Edward Norton is the leader of a small troop of "Khaki Scouts" who discovers one of his charges has run away. Sam has gone to meet Suzy, a fellow 12-year-old he had written to since the previous summer.  They are in love.  They take off together to camp on a remote part of the island.  However, a huge hurricane is brewing. The story goes back and forth from the island police chief (Bruce Willis) who has some sort of affair/relationship going with Suzy's mother (Frances McDormand), Suzy's home where her three brothers and father (Bill Murray) live their own weird lives, the Khaki scouts and their leader, all looking for the runaways.  The entire movie is tongue-in-cheek, deadpan, and very funny.  Odd and weird, yes, but different and a lot of fun.  Some of the audience even clapped at the end of the movie! (I didn't like it quite THAT much, myself...) It was a fun flick to see on a hot summer afternoon, and I love watching Bill Murray doing ANYTHING.... The Suzy and Sam actors were really great.