I have always been a huge fan of Natalie Portman and Joseph Gordon-Levitt so when you combine the two and have them in a movie, I am probably going to watch. That was definitely when it came to today’s film which is called Hesher (the movie poster was also bad ass). TJ (Rubber‘s Devin Brochu) for the last two months has been having a rough time since the death of his mother whether it’s dealing with his dad (The Office‘s Rainn Wilson) who is also depressed or the school bully who beats up on the poor kid all the time. One day unexpectedly, a mysterious anarchist named Hesher (Levitt) moves into his garage and introduces a little bit of chaos into his life and turns things upside down for his family. The film also stars Natalie Portman (Star Wars: Episode III- Revenge Of The Sith) as Nicole, Piper Laurie (The Hustler) as Grandma, Brendan Hill (Dude, Where’s My Car?) as Dustin, John Carroll Lynch (American Horror Story) as Larry, Mary Elizabeth Barrett (There Will Be Blood) as Meryl, Frank Collison (O Brother, Where Art Thou?) as the funeral director, Monica Staggs (Tears Of The Sun) as Mom, and the film was written and directed by Spencer Susser (I Love Sarah Jane).
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is just absolutely brilliant in the film as he is the agent of chaos for the family. Sometimes in order to get people to see clearly when their minds are clouded is to introduce a little chaos and that is what Hesher does for them. The film is a dark comedy which means it’s not a film that contains stupid funny like the previous film I watched for this blog. Every character sort of has a balance with each other and there is a cause and effect for all of them when Hesher shows up. Natalie Portman’s character is a mess and she becomes even more of a mess when she meets Hesher, but she seems to turn out OK just like TJ’s family. When I was first watching the film, I felt like Hesher wasn’t real because it seemed that only certain people could see him and he never got blamed for anything stupid he did. It almost like he was an agent of God sent down to try and help them fix their messed up lives, but other people can see him. The other appealing thing about this film is the soundtrack because Hesher himself is a heavy metal maniac. If you love early Metallica and some Motorhead thrown in there, then you will love the soundtrack like me. Jospeh is an amazing actor and combine him with other amazing talents and you have a hidden gem here. That is why I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.
Ever since I heard the announcement of a new Pee Wee Herman film, I have been waiting anxiously for it and Netflix has finally delivered. Paul Reuben (Mystery Men) once again plays Pee Wee Herman in the new film Pee Wee’s Big Holiday. In this film, Pee Wee has never left the small town of Fairfield, but that is all about to change when by chance he meets Joe Manganiello (Magic Mike). Joe and Pee Wee immediately hit it off and Joe invites Pee Wee to New York to come to Joe’s birthday party. Considering this is Pee Wee’s first holiday, the film follows Pee Wee’s journey from Fairfield to New York and the mishaps in between in this take of friendship, adventure, and destiny. The film also stars Jessica Pohly (Theme Song Rebel) as Pepper, Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) as Freckles, Alia Shawkat (Whip It) as Bella, Patrick Egan (Where’s Marlowe?) as Gordon The Travelling Salesman, Frank Collison (The Village) as Clay, Lynne Marie Stewart (Pee Wee’s Playhouse) as Jimmy, Hal Landon Jr. (Eraserhead) as Farmer Brown, Michelle Meredith (Black-ish) as Linda Brown, Brad William Henke (Fury) as Grizzly Bear Daniels, Dionne Gipson (Black Dynamite) as Brook, Diane Salinger (Pee Wee’s Big Adventure) as Penny King, Charles Robinson (Night Court) as Police Captain, and the film was directed by John Lee (Wonder Showzen).
The question of the day is what did I think about this film? Was it worth the wait? Did Paul Reuben still have the magic to entertain? All very legitimate questions that I will now take the time to discuss. My thoughts on the film is that I actually enjoyed watching the film because it brought back so many great memories. Out of all three Pee Wee films, it’s definitely not the best one, but it was still enjoyable to watch even though Paul Reubens looks too old in HD to the boy Pee Wee Herman. For an hour and the half, it was fun to watch Paul Reuben play Pee Wee and if he decided to never do it again, I would be OK with it. This was a film that was made twenty years too late and while some of the gags and jokes were funny, there was a lot that was funnier back in the early 90’s/late 80’s. Again, I am not completely putting down the film because if you were a Pee Wee Herman fan like I was then it’s worth checking out. There’s a good cast with some cool cameos from various people who worked with Reubens at one time and even some actors I hadn’t seen in a while. There has always been some weird undertones where you think it’s just innocent and then other times you’re like wait a minute here. That is just how Pee Wee Herman roles and you can watch it on Netflix. I was surprised to see Judd Apatow’s name attached to this, but it made me excited to see it. I am going to give Pee Wee’s Big Holiday a B+ for a final grade.
365moviesin365dayschallenge 