The Couch Potato Report – December 14th, 2013
It has been two weeks now since actor Paul Walker died in a car crash.
The studio that produces the FAST & FURIOUS films that he starred in has announced that they’ll be donating a portion of the proceeds from the release of the latest in the series – FAST & FURIOUS 6 – to Walker’s non-profit charity.
Reach Out WorldWide is made up of a network of professionals with first responder skill-sets who augment local expertise when natural disasters strike in order to accelerate relief efforts.
Paul Walker was only forty when he died, may he rest in peace.
It is rare to see a series of films get better as they go on, but that is definitely the case with FAST & FURIOUS 6, which once again features Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto and Paul Walker as former undercover cop Brian O’Connor, who has not only become part of Toretto’s gang, but he is now also his brother-in-law.
If you’ve never heard of this series – which began in 2001with THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS – the films are primarily about beautiful people and incredible cars involved in one type of street race, or another, and that also occasionally see’s the characters cruising through the world’s most famous streets as part of several different types of heists.
And everything that takes place in the series happens fast and it happens furiously.
It was in 2011’s fifth film in the series – FAST 5 – where we first met Federal Agent Luke Hobbs – played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson – and he returns in FAST & FURIOUS 6 to get Dom and Brian to reassemble their now retired crew in order to take down another a bad crew, one that has just destroyed a Russian military convoy, and are on their way to bigger crimes.
They agree to help in exchange for full amnesty for all of their past crimes.
FAST & FURIOUS 6 is an amazing summer movie. It has beautiful people, in beautiful cars, in beautiful settings, doing some cool things.
I really enjoyed it and can easily recommend it. Shut of your brain and enjoy.
The most fun I had at the movies this year came courtesy of the criminal mastermind Gru and his awesome minions in DESPICABLE ME 2.
We first met Gru – and his workers, his minions – in 2010’s DESPICABLE ME. Voiced by Steve Carell from THE OFFICE and ANCHORMAN, Gru started off DESPICABLE ME using a trio of orphan girls as pawns for a grand scheme to beat his nemesis Vector.
As the story went on, Gru decided to adopt the girls as their love made him a better person.
DESPICABLE ME 2 actually softens Gru, he is no longer primarily a criminal mastermind, he’s a father now. But when he is recruited by the Anti-Villain League to help deal with a new super criminal, he goes back to work…reluctantly.
DESPICABLE ME 2 as adds more and more minions!! They are everywhere and as a result the film is fun and entertaining and funny and has great animation and action and is fun and so funny!!
I really enjoyed it, and can recommend it to every member of the family. Pick it up and enjoy the fun.
I also had some fun this week, courtesy of THE MUPPETS.
In 1981, the second film from Jim Henson’s Muppets was released. Called THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER it features Kermit, Gonzo and Fozzie as reporters who go to Britain to work on a story about jewel thieves and meet the rest of the gang there, including Miss Piggy. They all soon become wrapped up in a plot to steal the coveted Baseball Diamond, which is on display at the local Mallory Gallery.
The fifth film from the group was MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND. Released in 1996, it is based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island.
And now both THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER and MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND are available on blu-ray in one budget priced package – the OF PIRATES AND PIGS MOVIE COLLECTION.
Neither THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER nor MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND have ever been my favourite Muppet films, but each of them does have their moments and they do still make me laugh so I do recommend them.
Plus, with the release of the OF PIRATES AND PIGS MOVIE COLLECTION, all of the Muppets’ movies are now available on blu-ray, and that is great news!!
Up next is not a film for the whole family, but one about a family is not whole.
JAYNE MANSFIELD’S CAR is Billy Bob Thornton’s first directing job since 2001 and he has crafted a good, but slow and very long adult drama about a family in 1969 Alabama who are forced to come to grips with many of the family’s secrets when they have to spend time with the British side of their family, a side that only exists because the family matriarch left Alabama a few years earlier and married a British man, leaving her old family behind.
JAYNE MANSFIELD’S CAR actually plays a small part in the film, but it – and the whole cast – are used very effectively.
In addition to Billy Bob Thornton, the cast includes Robert Duvall, John Hurt, Frances O’Connor, Robert Patrick and Kevin Bacon.
Although I think it fit the film, I really didn’t like the ending of JAYNE MANSFIELD’S CAR, but otherwise I enjoyed it. It is a movie for adults about war and family and I do mildly recommend it.
Finally this week, a true cinematic classic, for the whole family.
Released on August 27, 1964, MARY POPPINS is now available in a 50th ANNIVERSARY EDITION and comes on blu-ray for the first time. She looks and sounds amazing in HD!!
Plus, the 50th ANNIVERSARY EDITION comes with a wealth of Special Features.
MARY POPPINS is the timeless story of a magic nanny who goes to work for a man and his unhappy family. It won five Academy Awards, including Best Actress for Julie Andrews and Best Song for “Chim Chim Cher-ee” and it continues to be a great film, one that I can easily recommend to the whole family.
The 50th ANNIVERSARY EDITION of the classic family film MARY POPPINS; Billy Bob Thornton’s good, but very, very slow adult drama JAYNE MANFIELD’S CAR; the still fun, but not classic OF PIRATES AND PIGS MUPPETS MOVIE COLLECTION featuring THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER and MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND; the most fun film of 2013, so far, DESPICABLE ME 2 (minions laughing); and the great action film FAST & FURIOUS 6, starring the late Paul Walker, are all available now, either on disc or on demand.
And that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here again next time on The Couch!