Welcome to the Riley's

Welcome to the Riley's was surprisingly good.  Despite having two award winning actors, James Gandolfini (The Sopranos) and Melissa Leo (The Fighter), in the film, I thought Kristen Stewart (The Twilight saga) would bring it down.  Welcome to the Riley’s was a drama I liked because it taught the lesson that no matter how hard we try to change someone, some people just can not change.  But it doesn’t mean that we didn’t touch them in anyway.

Doug and Lois Riley (Leo and Gandolfini) have grown apart since their 15 year old daughter died ten years before in a car accident.  Lois is hasn’t left the house since then, and continues living her life inside her home.  Her hair dresser comes to her, and she leaves even getting the mail up to Doug.  Doug reacts differently, carrying on with his life and his plumbing supply business, but he’s having an affair.  At a conference in New Orleans, Doug meets Mallory (Stewart) a 22 year old stripper who he later finds out is a 16 year old runaway.  Having a special connection with Mallory, which is related to the loss of his daughter, he decides to sell the company and extend his visit.  He offers Mallory $100 a day to let him stay in her home.  He immediately goes into fatherly mode, fixing up her place and picking her up at random motels, where she often goes after leaving the strip club with random men.

    The news of her husband staying in New Orleans is shocking to Lois, so much so that she leaves her house after a decade and drives to find her husband.  After first running away once she finds out what he husband has been up to, she warms up to Mallory and takes her in as her own.  She helps her with female issues, even going bra shopping with her.  Lois and Mallory share secrets with each other, helping the audience to understand the characters better.

Stewart actually plays a pretty convincing troubled teen.  There were times, however, when the awkward Bella Swan came out in her dialog, just with a few f bombs in her sentence, but all in all, it was a pretty good performance.  Mallory was more independent and less whiny than Bella.  She was a strong woman, despite some bad choices she made.  This was probably one of Stewart’s better characters.  There were a few scenes that showed Stewart’s ass that I could have gone without, but at least she’s willing to show the audience that she can do grown up roles as well and be convincing about it.

I liked Welcome to the Riley’s because I like trying to help people.  I’m always getting in relationships with the wrong people in hopes that I can fix them.  This film showed me that we can’t fix those that don’t want to be fixed, and sometimes the only people that need fixing is ourselves.  Don’t let your hated or dislike for Kristen Stewart get in the way of seeing this movie.  I promise you, it is time well spent.

It's Kind of a Funny Story

It's Kind of a Funny Story, is just that.  After feeling depressed, 16 year old Craig (Keir Gilchrist; United States of Tara) decides to check himself into the psychiatric unit of a hospital, not because he's suicidal, but because he wants to take a break from his stressful life.  Inconveniently, the adolescent unit is being renovated causing Craig to have to bunk with the adults.  (BTW, don't watch a film about psychiatric patients with a psychologist, because they always have a comment to make, e.g., I learned that you're not suppose to put the adults with the adolescents.  Don't worry, I informed my sister that is why it's fiction.  Anyway, after being there about five minutes, touring the facilities to see the local schizophrenics and  manic depressive people, Craig learns that he doesn't belong there.  Unfortunately for him, there is a minimum stay of five days until he can be discharged.  In those five days, naturally, Craig makes a friend in Bobby (Zach Galifianakis; Due Date, The Hangover), falls in love with Noelle (Emma Roberts; Valentine's Day, Nancy Drew), and learns about himself.

Funny Story was written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (both known for Half Nelson).  I think they did a pretty good job considering they haven't done too many films.  This film was a nice dramedy, making jokes at the appropriate time so as not to bore the audience or pull away from the mood of the story.  I asked my psychologist sister and she assured me that it was pretty accurate to a psychiatric unit.  It was nice to watch a non horror film for once that took place in a mental hospital.  Of course Girl, Interrupted is another good example of this.  The characters were viewed as normal people with some serious problems.  You didn't need to feel bad for them because they didn't feel bad for themselves.  The film was also filled with hope.  Hope that the patient will have a home to go to after being discharged, or hope that the patient will feel better and not want to harm themselves.  I like how the film focused on what was happening to Craig and the other patients right now.  It didn't focus too much on the past and how they got there.  Of course there was a quick back story because it's nice to know a back story, but other than Craig mentioning a few times why he was there, the film didn't dwell on it.  The directors wanted to show someone growing because of experiences and other people, and they were successful with this.  I liked the quick summary of his life after the hospital at the end because it was reassuring to know that he had changed and his visit had helped him, not because he was suicidal, but because it showed him he could be a different person.  This film was a really nice film, and I highly recommend it.  You may not crack up with laughter, but you won't cry your eyes out either.  It's a nice mix between comedy and drama, so enjoy!

Broken and Beautiful

Sorry readers that I've been slacking on this blog.  I've actually been busy working on my film career!  I know, how exciting!  I actually get to work on a film set instead of just watch them.  Well, it sucks for you readers because I haven't had the time to watch movies let alone blog about them.  I do have a film I've seen that I want to blog about soon, as well as an unwatched film waiting for me, which I need to watch very soon as my other DVDs are anxiously waiting to be watched as they sit patiently in my Blockbuster Queue. So let me tell you what I've been doing with myself.

I'm currently the Location Manager for the film, Broken and Beautiful, produced by Erin Dalian through her production company D.A.S.H Entertainment, LLC.  Being location manager is a pain in the ass, especially for a low budget film.  People never call you back, and those that do, want lots of money for the use of their facilities. It's been frustrating, and many rewrites have been done due to this problem.  That's why we are extremely thankful for those that have cooperated and provided their homes/business; Chicago Blower Corporation, Generoso Pizza, Playhouse 111, Crosstown Bar and Pub, Stella's Diner, Calvary Memorial Church, St Michael's in Old Town, Trinity College, and New Hope Community Church, just to name a few.  And yes, with all these I'll still need more!  Airport, motel, restaurant.  And it's getting close to the first day of filming (April 14th).

So when I'm not calling people everyday and annoying the hell out of them until they say yes just for me to get off their back, I will try to update this blog. 

If you have some extra money laying around from taxes or just won the lottery and don't know how you should spend your winnings, why not donate some to this film project.  We could use all the funding we can get, because right now everything is out of pocket.  Check out www.brokenandbeautifulthemovie.com.  If you don't want to help fund it, that's ok too.  You can check out the website anyway to see what's been taking up all my time.  If you find yourself terribly bored, and need something to read, that website will be updated as soon as filming starts.  Of, if you absolutely need my opinion before renting/buying tickets to a movie, then just give me a call, or "drop me a line" (this is linked to my Facebook account and my website www.teresadevlin.com which both have my email address) and I'll try to help you out as best as I can.  But here's a suggestion, summer time is coming, the weather is getting nicer, so get your lazy butt off the couch and go outside and do something!.  K?  Till next time!