MOVIE - Chef

R (1:55)

Limited release 5/9/14

Viewed Friday 5/23/14 Last Day Of School!

RT Critic: 87 Audience: 87

cag:  4.5 Liked it more-than-a-lot

Directed by Jon Favreau

Open Road Films

Jon Favreau, John Leguizamo, Sofia Vergara, Bobby Cannavale, Dustin Hoffman, Oliver Platt, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson

Rotten Tomatoes Summary::  Chef Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) suddenly quits his job at a prominent Los Angeles restaurant after refusing to compromise his creative integrity for its controlling owner (Dustin Hoffman), he is left to figure out what's next. Finding himself in Miami, he teams up with his ex-wife (Sofia Vergara), his friend (John Leguizamo) and his son to launch a food truck. Taking to the road, Chef Carl goes back to his roots to reignite his passion for the kitchen -- and zest for life and love.

My comments:  What an absolutely delightful movie!  The overriding theme is about a father-son relationship.  The young man who plays the son, Percy (Emjay  Anthony) was terrific.  And what a great cast of characters!  It was a delight to see all the cooking, chopping, delightful food presentations. I loved that so much of the plot was centered around the social technology phenomena that is ruling our current world.   It was a long movie, (maybe just a tiny bit too long?) and totally enjoyable.

MOVIE - Fading Gigolo

R (1:38)

Limited release 4/182014 - but this was Opening Day in Tucson

Viewed at ElCon Friday, 5/9/2014

RT Critic: 57 Audience: 50

Cag: 3.5 - Liked it, a fun movie

Directed by John Turturro (he wrote it, too)

Millennium Entertainment

Actors:  Woody Allen, John Turturro, Liev Shreiber, Sofia Vergara, Sharon Stone

My comments:  This was a perfect Friday-after-a-long-day movie.  It was quite fun, nothing earth-shattering, but enjoyable.  I had no idea what it was about, and I always enjoy it when there's a Judaic element - part of the movie was about a very devout Orthodox woman in Brooklyn.... (I'll go to any movie as soon as I see the name "Woody Allen" in it.

Reviews:  Fioravante decides to become a professional Don Juan as a way of making money to help his cash-strapped friend, Murray. With Murray acting as his "manager", the duo quickly finds themselves caught up in the crosscurrents of love and money.