Newsroom

The Newsroom—Created, Directed and mostly written by Aaron Sorkin/ co-produced by Sorkin, Scott Rudin, and Alan Poul/starring Jeff Daniels, Emily Mortimer, Olivia Munn, Alison Pill, Dev Patel, Sam Waterston, Thomas Sadoski and John Gallagher, Jr./Airs on HBO, Sunday at (approximately) 8 p.m./1 hour Bifocal Reviews by Barbara Rich and The Other Guy (B) Words can be used as weapons and Aaron Sorkin is once again armed and dangerous. I like the show. I wait with great anticipation all week, for HBO’s Sunday evening program, Newsroom. I love the fast pace of the back-stage network newsroom and I particularly like Jeff Daniels’ performance. He is able to capture the character of a quick-witted, well-informed and even tempered intellectual responder to world events, as well as, from out of nowhere an explosive, emotional real-life human being. Each character has their own unique quality that draws you into the multiple plotlines, just as Sorkin has done in his other great works. I’d like to also add that Sorkin’s genius is not only in dialogue, but in character development. For instance, he has made Jeff Daniels’ anchor character a Republican…who often gets called a ‘liberal’ by members of his own party. Contrary to those who are trying to knock a good show because it doesn’t glorify a narrow political agenda or publishing perspective, I appreciate a chance to look at my own behavior through this obviously conflicted pair of eyes. Will McAvoy (the name of Daniels’ character on the show) at least tries to make his decisions based upon uncovering the truth and doing the right thing, rather than just what will make the investors happy. To the journalists and info-tainment mongers who are quick to react negatively to the show, I say: Don’t dish it out if you can’t take it. Definitely four binoculars are due to this one. (OG) Just as Sorkin’s West Wing, The Social Network, Charlie Wilson’s War and Moneyball all served to establish the defining role of many (already notable) actors, as well as put socially significant institutional changes into pinpoint perspective, this latest Sorkin adventure lays bare the Fourth Estate. Newsroom takes on the current state of affairs in the News-Entertainment industry and juxtaposes it against the somewhat nostalgic notion that our First Amendment right to free speech and freedom of the press work hand in hand with the truth and are essential elements to creating an informed democracy. The notion that “fluff is not news” has raised the rancor or many of those who call themselves journalists, because they are NOT what they claim to be. It’s all right to be an entertainer, whose primary medium is words, but not to pretend that somehow your opinion or manufactured position is actually a conscientious search for the truth. The reviews I’ve seen of this ABSOLUTELY RIVITING, BRILLIANT AND PERFECTLY ACTED HBO show demonstrate exactly what Sorkin is saying about what is wrong with the news these days, as well as how to go about fixing the problem. The quest for making money with a total disregard for whom gets hurt, it is clear, is the root of most of our problems in the U.S. In this regard, Sorkin is saying simply what was said in a book written by 82 year old martial artist, inventor and international ambassador for the United States, Jhoon Rhee (Trutopia): That the first order of business should always be, simply telling the truth. Let’s not make it easier for liars or the selfish to succeed. As Daniel’s character points out in last Sunday’s episode, “Why can’t we just call a lie a lie?” I pray that HBO continues to allow Sorkin to produce these wonderful, thought provoking commentaries on current events, in a way that demonstrates the difference between what goes on behind the camera, and what SHOULD air as an honest-to-goodness television newscast. I applaud him and—if it matters to anyone--will continue to watch. Bravo! Four binoculars!

To Rome With Love

To Rome with Love—Written and Directed by Woody Allen/Starring Woody Allen (Jerry), Flavio Parenti (Michelangelo), Roberto Benigni (Leoplodo), Alison Pill (Hayley), Alessandro Tiberi (Antonio), Judy Davis (Phyllis), Allessandra Mastronardi (Milly), Alec Baldwin (John), Ellen Page (Monica),Penelope Cruz (Anna)/Greta Gerwig (Sally) and Jesse Eisenberg (Jack)/Rated R/1hr35min Bifocal Reviews By Barbara Rich and the Other Guy (B) Having just returned from vacationing in Italy made this film even more meaningful to me. I was surprised to see so many subtitles, but being of Italian decent, I welcomed it. The film lost nothing because of the beautiful flow of this romantic language, besides you can see with your eyes what is happening. Italians, as they say, talk with their body. This movie might just cross over and be a candidate for a foreign film award and is so Woody Allen. After all, he is the writer, director and one of the many stars. Woody just gets better with age. Early on I was not a big fan, but last year’s Midnight in Paris and this year’s To Rome With Love has given me a new appreciation. Uniquely funny situations with Roberto Benigni were sidesplitting. Another memorable situation with Woody’s character going to Rome to meet his prospective son-in-law provided many laugh-out-loud moments. All the cast of characters found themselves in common situations amplified by the genius of Woody Allen. If you want to “forget your troubles come on get happy” this is the movie to see. Alec Baldwin is wonderful as a kind of Roman chorus, along with some other characters who speak to the audience and to other characters while the action is taking place. I recommend this film, if for nothing else, the trip to Italy. Beautiful country. I give it three binoculars, or as the Italians would say “Molto Bene!” (OG) Maybe it’s just the fact that this was a Woody Allen film—I LOVE Woody Allen-- and I was programed to like it from the outset. On the other hand, that’s exactly what this film was about…perspective. Woody Allen holds up the quirks, flaws and idiosyncrasies of being human like a mirror where he stands in front of it with us. He never leaves himself out of the reflection because, he knows, in the end that even though he is a celebrity, the director and a great comic writer…he’s just one of us. That’s the central theme and the strength of this film and most of those where Woody is allowed to be Woody. I think that the last two films are refined and improved versions of some of his previous classics that may have been a little ahead of their time for some audiences. Play It Again, Sam and Bananas come to mind as two previous Allen films that allowed him to explore basic human themes released from the bounds of reality. His comic imagination is allowed to soar in To Rome With Love on so many levels. It is a series of loosely bound stories of lovers and celebrity in what is called The Eternal City. Everything is based upon perspective, though. The movie starts, as if a series of vignettes are being presented by a traffic cop—he talks directly to the camera, so it’s easy to see why this is the case. The film ends with a different guy opening a window onto the street where the original scenes take place. He has a whole different view of the same city, and wants to tell different stories about the people there. In To Rome with Love the stories have very little connection to one another and within each, we are continuously being asked to suspend “just a little bit of disbelief” for the sake of the overall impact. When a character (who has yet to come on camera) is spoken of as “really beautiful and sexy” we assume it is going to be Penelope Cruz, but when the “actress” arrives, it is Ellen Page. No slight on Page, but she is no Cruz. In another story, a newlywed, played brilliantly by Allessandra Mastronardi, is seduced by a fat, balding actor who she says “is the most sexy” man alive! Then, Benigni (who we are told at the outset is completely average and uninteresting) becomes the star of a reality show, who can’t stand fame, but hates it worse when he looses the spotlight. For me, the funniest bit was how Woody’s character decides to do an opera with a man he heard singing in the shower. As he turns out, like many of us, he can ONLY sing while in the shower. So, Woody decides to put on a production with this guy standing naked, under running water. It’s hilarious and would be worth the price of admission, even if the rest of the film weren’t great! I am giving this one four binoculars, and I don’t speak any Italian.

ROCK OF AGES--movie

ROCK OF AGES--Directed by Adam Shankman/Starring Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, Tom Cruise, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Alec Baldwin, Paul Giamatti and Russell Brand/screenplay by Justin Theroux, Chris D'Arienzo, and Allan Loeb/from the musical book by Chris D'Arienzo/rated PG-13/2hr23min Bifocal Review by Ageless1der (Barbara Rich) & The Other Guy (B) We viewed this film with our 45 year old son and 13 year old granddaughter (her uncle). I have to admit I was not a fan of the 80’s music, but just watching my son thoroughly getting into the decade and loving the music really made it worthwhile. My granddaughter seemed to enjoy it too. I was disappointed to see so little dancing from Julianne Hough. That is what she does best. For me, Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand, along with Paul Giamatti as the rock star manager made the movie tolerable. They were very funny. Tom Cruise was quite impressive as a rock star, and quite amusing. It showed off his flexibility by stepping out of his normal roles in Mission Impossible. All in all, it was an afternoon well spent with my son and granddaughter. I’m sure it has generation appeal, but not my generation. I give it 2 binoculars. (OG) Although, I keep thinking that this movie had more negatives than positives (I always say that I’m not a fan of 80s music) I found several segments of the film entertaining, the music was mostly well-selected and I laughed out loud a few times). Julianne Hough is a a better dancer than a singer, but in this film (except for Catherine Zeta-Jones being an Academy Award Winner for doing just that) seeing actors and dancers singing along with the most memorable music of an era was part of the appeal for me. Tom Cruise is perfectly campy. A few days after viewing this movie, all the negatives had slipped away and I now can only remember back to some pretty enjoyable scenes, acting and music. There is so much here that should NOT have worked. First, the stars do not fit the generation who is likely to enjoy this film. Second, 80s rock? Really? And, third, Russell Brand…I’ve never seen him in anything that I’ve enjoyed. However, Brand’s chemistry (if you want to call it that) with Alec Baldwin is hilarious. After all is said and done, this movie (like the musical play from which it is spawned) is not supposed to be anything more than tongue-in-cheek, and leave you with a certain familiarity…like a name you can’t place with the face, which reminds me Malin Akerman was delightful as well. Her PG-13 sex scene with Tom Cruise was hysterical! I’m going to bump this one up to 2 ½ binoculars.

Snow White and the Huntsman

Snow White and the Huntsman--Directed by Rupert Sanders/Starring Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, Charlize Theron/screenplay by Evan Daugherty, John Lee Hancock, Hossein Amini and Evan Daugherty/based on a Brothers Grimm Fairytale/Rated PG-13/2hr7min Bifocal Reviews by Barbara and Gordon Rich (B) This film was entertaining and I enjoyed it. I won’t say it was a great movie. What was great, were the special effects. The storyline was what you would expect, so no surprises there. I found the acting mediocre. Charlize’s beauty played well for her, but the harshness of her character did not work for me. I should mention that these types of films are not my favorites, but I’m glad I saw it. Only two binoculars from me and they are mostly for the special effects. (G) Let’s not belabor this. Barbara summed it up perfectly. The special effects were what they should be in EVERY movie…They were special. They were well done and not overwhelming, just enough to add to the movie rather than become the soul purpose for the film’s existence. The alleged “reinterpretation of the Grimm Tale” that we were promised in promotional materials, just never well…never materialized. The acting was sluggish and the writing was often pointless. The sage advice, “if the action shows it, then the characters don’t need to say it,” was never followed. Sometimes a character would say something it seemed, just because no one had said anything in a while, like: “There she goes!” for instance. Two other things kept bothering me throughout the whole two hours plus: 1) When Charlize looked in the magic mirror, wondering if she was the fairest in the land, I found it silly that Kristen Stewart was the source of the worry and 2) How did an Academy Award winning actress overact in this shallow fairytale? I didn’t find it that annoying, but I didn’t actually enjoy myself either. I will give this one two binoculars, for special effects and because I want to agree with my wife.

Bifocal Reviews Naples, Sorrento, Pompeii Italy

Here are the next two entries in my journal:

Day five-- Olbia, Sardinia A minor disappointment in some regards was had today. We docked at Olbia, a pitiful representative of the formerly grand Roman empire, but reminded Barbara of seeing older ancestors and hearing them talk passionately about virtually everything. I noticed also that Italian police are about 50% women, and all of the cops look like Italian models.

Day six--Detour to Naples We were scheduled to port in Amalfi...Our driver, Francesco Campion (like champion without the h). Our scheduled destination of Amalfi was cancelled and in it place...Napoli! This was a big bonus for me, since I had wanted to visit Napoli, but was originally told that this cruise just "couldn't go everywhere!" One of my mother's parents was born in Napoli, so I wanted to be able to say that I'd been here. I thought I'd only be able to say that I had been to the land of my "Richiusa" ancestors. The only problem though? The rain. 

Bifocal Reviews Tuscany,Florence, Pisa

Day four Livorno/ Pisa, Florence (Tuscany) From the ship we shared a taxi with George, Karen,Jim and Jan to the train station. They had convinced us that (even though none had done it before) it would be easy. On the dock (bolstered by great success in Rome and other "foreign language" ports), we found a taxi driver who spoke perfect English. Karen (who shared my same birthday) made sure we negotiated a price BEFORE getting into the cab. For all six of us, we were told that it would be 20 euros total. Naturally, through some hard haggling and shrewd negotiation we ended up paying 24 euros. The driver couldn't figure out what was going on, but took the money anyway and was happy. From there things took a good turn.

Bifocal Reviews Cannes, France

Well, we ARE entertainment reviewers! So, we were glad to have this little side trip to Cannes, France home of the famous International Film Festival.
Here is my daily blog entry:

Day two--Cannes, France

We slept like whatever sleeps soundly. I fell asleep aboard ship at around 8 pm after struggling to stay awake for several hours. Barbara had decided to iron some clothes last night and while trying to keep her company I nodded off two or three times, seated on an all-too-comfortable couch in the ship’s laundry room. This morning we met Bill and Jan, from Minnesota at a nearby table and shared some dining conversation. He is a retired veterinarian and described how it felt to have his whole arm up the backside of horses and cattle.

Below is our Bifocal Review Video. Enjoy!