See it at the Movies

with Joyce & Don Fowler
Posted 11/5/15

BURNT

* * * * 

(Great foodie movie)

Any movie about food catches our attention. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just needs to take us inside the restaurant kitchen, show …

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See it at the Movies

Posted

BURNT

* * * * 

(Great foodie movie)

Any movie about food catches our attention. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just needs to take us inside the restaurant kitchen, show us how a creative meal is put together, and provide stimulating photos of luscious food.

“Burnt” fills the bill in this regard. It also gives us a great performance by Bradley Cooper as Adam Jones, an arrogant, obsessive-compulsive chef whose only desire in life is winning Michelin’s three-star rating.

Adam lands in London after some disastrous personal problems force him to leave a successful career in Paris. Those problems come back to haunt him, but not before he takes over an upscale restaurant and turns it into the “in place” to dine.

In spite of his temper and arrogance, people want to work for him and are attracted to him, including a talented chef who reluctantly goes to work for him and eventually saves him from his demons. Sienna Miller is wonderful in the role.

There are some interesting relationships developed, including his doctor/therapist (Emma Thompson) who gives him weekly drug tests, and his maitre’d (Daniel Bruhl), who is attracted to him in more ways than one.

Adam Jones is a compilation of many of the chefs we see on TV, and the food preparation outshines everything else in the movie. We got a kick out of Adam preparing an exquisite dinner and then heading to a local diner for a sandwich. We did the same thing. While we couldn’t afford to eat in his restaurant, we could dream about it.

Rated R, with the profanity that we understand goes on in the kitchen. 

SCOUTS GUIDE TO THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE

*

(Revolting garbage)

Any resemblance to the A.S.S. (American Scout Society) and the B.S.A. (Boy Scouts of America) is as ridiculous as the revolting plot to this terrible zombie movie.

Troop 264 Deerfield is made up of three teenage jerks and a Dolly Parton worshipping Scoutmaster. The town has been taken over by zombies while the Scouts are off on a camping trip. They set out to warn the “cooler” teenagers who are all partying at a secret location, joined by a former classmate who works at a strip club.

That’s it. The complete plot. Highly unoriginal and highly vulgar. It could be subtitled “The Scout and the Stripper,” because the innocent scout and the experienced dropout connect, even though they have absolutely nothing in common.

As expected, the writers make fun of the Scouting movement, changing the official name and uniform enough to avoid a lawsuit. Parody is fine, but not when you have young men drinking beer, fondling breasts and using the F word at least once in every sentence. Cloris Leachman lowers herself to a new low as the cat lady.

The film has an R rating because of gross language, nudity, prurient sex, violence and all around poor taste. It’s not even a good zombie movie.

OUR BRAND IS CRISIS

* * * ½ 

(Political drama)

Sandra Bullock stars as Calamity Jane, a retired, washed-out, political operative who is lured back into action to help a losing Bolivian senator win an impossible race for governor. Her recent record has been negative, especially against her cold-blooded nemesis, Pat Candy (Billie Bob Thornton), who will use any means possible to win.

Castillo (Joaquim de Almeida) is an arrogant SOB who once was president and is not held in high esteem by his countrymen, who fear that he will lead them into bankruptcy by making a deal with the IMF.

It’s all about the poll numbers, as we watch the American team mold the campaign to their liking, make mistakes, then use tactics that swing the polls in the candidate’s favor. He’s still the underdog, forcing Jane to take on the opposition with negative campaigning and some shrewd tactics. She comes up with the key word, CRISIS, and changes the image of Castillo to a fighter who will lead the country forward.

Bullock creates a fascinating character, one deeply flawed, with some serious mental health issues and an obsessive-compulsive personality. Winning the election is secondary to beating her political rival.

There is an interesting twist at the end, which takes the cynical aura of the campaign in a new direction.

If you enjoy the inner machinations of political campaigning and the role of the press in shaping the outcomes, you will enjoy this movie. Politics is politics, whether in the United States or in Bolivia.

Rated R, with profanity.

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