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Know It All Joe’s Tales From The Fastfood

The “Is this for here or to go” Conundrum

I can’t imagine anything more interesting than a good fast food story – whether it be about receiving the wrong order to just having to deal with plain bad behavior.  I certainly have my tales.  But today, I’d just like to point out a maddening observation I have made over the years.  It’s the craziest little nitpick but seems to drive me nuts every time.

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And The Next Actor to Portray Indiana Jones Should Be…

Indiana-Jones-bannerSo there have been a lot of rumors going around as to who would pick up the “Indiana Jones” mantel once Harrison Ford steps down.  The top rumor of the day is Bradley Cooper.  Personally, I always thought Josh Holloway (Lost, Intelligence) would have made a great “Indiana Jones.”  Harrison Ford is a very hard act to follow, but I always felt that Holloway had just the right amount of charm and charisma to follow in his footsteps. 

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Pictures From The Grand Budapest Hotel

grand-budapest-hotelWes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel” was quite an interesting movie.  I happen to be a big fan of the visual style of his films.  To put it lightly, he is a true filmmaker in every sense of the word.  But I’m not here right now to give a full review of his career.  Instead, I just wanted to display some pictures of the Grand Budapest Hotel model currently on display at the Hollywood ArcLight Cinemas in Los Angeles.  It’s the actual one that was used in the film.

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Bad Words (2014) Recipe Card Movie Review

Movie Rating: 4 Joes

Four Joe's

Bad Words (2014)

Released March 14, 2014 /
Comedy /
R


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Cook Time
1 hr 29 min

Cook Time
1 hr 29 min

Ingredients
  1. Stars: Jason Bateman, Kathryn Hahn, Rohan Chand, Allison Janney, Philip Baker Hall
  2. Written By: Andrew Dodge
  3. Directed By: Jason Bateman
Instructions
  1. Jason Bateman makes his feature directorial debut with the subversive comedy Bad Words. Mr. Bateman stars as Guy Trilby, a 40-year-old who finds a loophole in the rules of The Golden Quill national spelling bee and decides to cause trouble by hijacking the competition.
  2. Contest officials, outraged parents, and overly ambitious 8th graders are no match for Guy, as he ruthlessly crushes their dreams of victory and fame. As a reporter (Kathryn Hahn of We’re the Millers) attempts to discover his true motivation, Guy finds himself forging an unlikely alliance with a competitor: awkward 10-year-old Chaitanya (Rohan Chand of Homeland), who is completely unfazed by Guy’s take-no-prisoners approach to life.
Notes
  1. “Bad Words” is not a bad movie. It’s actually very enjoyable. Even though many of the big laughs were presented to us in the trailers, there were still plenty of hilarious moments left for us to experience. The previews tend to highlight the main protagonist as a rude, foulmouthed jerk, but the film actually digs much deeper into his psyche and reveals to us the driving force propelling his ludicrous mission.
  2. Jason Bateman and Kathryn Hahn make a great comedic team. Their sexual, non-traditional relationship is one of the highlights to this film. And Hahn is no second fiddle here. She has a real meaty role and manages to pull off some big laughs. Rohan Chand’s character serves as a fantastic sidekick to Bateman’s Guy Trilby. The kid’s got enough charm and enthusiasm to disarm even the worsts of grinches.
  3. It doesn’t take long for Chaitanya to lower Guy’s defenses. Guy then helps Chaitanya to live out many of the fantasies he most likely wasn’t able to experience himself as a child, such as seeing a hooker’s breasts and getting drunk in a bar. Hey, it’s R rated for a reason. This just adds to the whole father/son theme which runs throughout much of the film.
  4. Is “Bad Words” funny? Yes, it’s very funny. And it’s not as cruel and mean-spirited as the trailers would make it out to be, but that’s a good thing. The film does have heart. At its core, it’s all about trust and relationships – and a lot of bad behavior. As for Bateman’s feature film directorial debut, I don’t really have any bad words to offer up.
Know It All Joe https://www.knowitalljoe.com/

Citation * The Instructions are from the Official Site for the film.

Paul Walker’s “Fast and the Furious 7” CGI Test Footage

‘Fast-and-Furious-7’-to-Cast-Cody-Walker-not-FinalizedSo I’m not a huge “Fast and the Furious” fan.  I don’t dislike the films.  But I’m not dying to see them either.  Actually, I haven’t even seen them all yet.  I liked the fifth one, but I wasn’t terribly crazy about the sixth.  Maybe they are just a little too over the top for me.  I love cartoon action, but I think I would enjoy these more if they were just a bit more grounded.  I have the same problem with the “Die Hard” films.  They started off with a character who was portrayed as a real person and as the film series progressed, that character became more and more superhuman.  I still enjoyed them (not #5 at all), but I did have a harder time embracing them.  (For the record, the first “Die Hard” is the best action film of all time.)

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Muppets Most Wanted (2014) Recipe Card Movie Review

Movie Rating: 1 Joe
One Joe

Muppets Most Wanted (2014)

Released March 21, 2014 /
Comedy, Adventure, Kids & Family /
PG


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Cook Time
1 hr 52 min

Cook Time
1 hr 52 min

Ingredients
  1. Stars: Ricky Gervais, Tina Fey, Ty Burrell, Ray Liotta, Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear,
  2. Miss Piggy, Gonzo.
  3. Written by: James Bobin & Nicholas Stoller
  4. Directed by: James Bobin
Instructions
  1. Disney’s “Muppets Most Wanted” takes the entire Muppets gang on a global tour, selling out grand theaters in some of Europe’s most exciting destinations, including Berlin, Madrid, Dublin and London.
  2. But mayhem follows the Muppets overseas, as they find themselves unwittingly entangled in an international crime caper headed by Constantine-the World’s Number One Criminal and a dead ringer for Kermit the Frog-and his dastardly sidekick Dominic, aka Number Two.
Notes
  1. The Muppets Most Wanted? I’d say after watching this overlong film they should rename it “The Muppets Least Wanted.” And even they know it. Lyrics from their opening song – “We’re doing a sequel. That’s what we do in Hollywood. And everybody knows that the sequel’s never quite as good.” Hmph!
  2. Let’s get right to it. What a boring, dreadful Muppet film. And believe it or not, I’m being kind. I am not a Muppet hater. I grew up with the Muppets. I watched the Muppet Show every week as a kid. And as a matter of fact, “The Muppet Show” was the first show I ever recorded on VHS tape. I watched that one episode at least ten times. I love the Muppets. But I hated this film.
  3. Some feel the Muppets died when its creator, Jim Henson, passed away. I tend to agree to a certain extent. Once the creative force behind an entertainment property moves on, it never seems said property is ever the same. Jim Henson was the Muppets. And even though I am happy to see it continue, this film really helped to dull that feeling.
  4. So exactly what’s wrong with it? It’s slow, repetitive, the songs are bland and forgettable, and that fun Muppet spirit just happens to be missing. And it’s criminally dumbed down to appeal to young children only. The way I look at it, the Muppets were created for all ages to enjoy. So when parents brought their kids to see these films, they could enjoy the film just as much. But I don’t believe the creators of this film understood that notion. And in this particular case, I don’t even think young kids will like this film. I sat next to a small child who was clearly bored throughout.
  5. To name a few other issues, the script was clunky, the acting was overly hammy (even for a Muppet film), and the cinematography was shamelessly simplistic. To top it all off, Ricky Gervais’ last name in the film is, get this, Badguy! Can you guess what role he played? Even for a children’s film, that’s hitting the nail on the head just a little too hard. And finally, our lovable cast of characters were greatly underused in this film. More Fozzy! More Miss Piggy! More Gonzo! I didn’t come to a Muppet movie to watch Ricky Gervais or an evil Kermit the Frog clone for most of it.
  6. I felt that the previous film in this series really got the tone and feel right. It was a nice reintroduction to the Muppet family. But this installment just didn’t feel like a Muppet Movie. The tone and feel of the film was greatly off and it was predictable from beginning to end. My suggestion to everyone is to go back and watch the very first Muppet Movie. It is superior in every way to this film and it never gets old. And I guarantee it will keep your children’s attention.
Know It All Joe https://www.knowitalljoe.com/

Citation * The Instructions are from the Official Site for the film.

The Know It All Joe Vault – Vintage “Star Wars” Interviews

694px-Star_Wars_Logo.svgSo I dug deep into my vault and found some old vintage “Star Wars” interviews from the early ’80’s.  To be more specific, they’re from “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi.”  These might already be available but I wasn’t going to do a huge search for them.  This was taken from old VHS tapes so the quality isn’t great but still watchable.

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