Tim joined Brian Zepp, Tony Lee and Candice Wheeler on the “The KQ Morning Show” on KQRS-FM to review the new theatrical release “The Fabelmans.” Tim also reviewed the film and new streaming series “Wednesday” with Adam Carter on “Adam and Jordana” show on WCCO-AM, and Kelly Cordes on “It Matters with Kelly Cordes.” Click to listen to below. All of Tim’s segments are brought to you by Michael Bryant, and Bradshaw and Bryant.
ABOVE: Tim reviews “The Fabelmans” with Kelly Cordes on WJON-AM
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for “The KQ92 Morning Show” with Tom Barnard on KQRS-FM, “Adam and Jordana” with Adam Carter and Jordana Green on WCCO Radio, “It Matters with Kelly Cordes” on WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere, and reviews streaming programming on WCCO Radio’s “Adam and Jordana” as well. On TV, Tim has made hundreds of guest appearances on NBC affiliate KARE on the news program “KARE 11 News at 11.”
VIDEO: Watch Tim review “A Star is Born” and “Venom” with Ellery McCardle on KARE 11.
“Venom” (PG-13)
Tom Hardy takes his career to dizzying new heights with “Venom,” his second comic book movie role after playing the ominous Bane in Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises.” In “Venom” he plays Eddie Brock, an investigative reporter who gets a bit too close to the story of a corrupt scientist (Riz Ahmed) and encounters an alien substance that bonds with him and creates this monstrous alter-ego.
Directed by Reuben Fleischer (“Zombieland”), “Venom” marks the second time we’ve encountered the Marvel Comics creation on the big screen, 11 years after critics and fans blasted Topher Grace’s version in “Spider-Man 3.” Here, though, there’s no Spider-Man to be found and instead of being a villain, Venom is more of an anti-hero that audiences can get behind, mainly because the bad guy is battling an even-worse guy.
There’s no question that “Venom” is trying to capitalize on the irreverent tone of Ryan Reynolds’ “Deadpool” movies with its humor, and for the most part it works thanks to the brilliance of Hardy, who delivers yet another strikingly original performance opposite the always great Michelle Williams.
And while the film isn’t nearly as polished as his eccentric Marvel cousin and plays it safe with a PG-13 rating, “Venom” is still very entertaining and leaves the door open for more, as teased by the film’s end credits scene.
Lammometer: 7 (out of 10)
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.
After an impressive supporting turn in the military drama “Thank You for Your Service,” Amy Schumer has returned to comedy territory with “I Feel Pretty,” a mildly entertaining, light fantasy that’s far from the sort of raunchy humor that Schumer has come to be known for with her stand-up act and in films like “Trainwreck.” And while it’s great that Schumer is not relying on the same brand of ribald humor that helped her make her name, “I Feel Pretty” ultimately feels like the comedian is trying to find her way to a new, much milder type of comedy. Unfortunately, you get the feeling that it’s a type of comedy Schumer’s not entirely comfortable with it.
Schumer stars as Renee Bennett, a sheltered employee of an elite cosmetics comedy who lacks complete confidence in her looks. Yearning for the same sort of supermodel appearance that represents the face of the company she works for, Renee in a painful way gets her wish with a nasty crack on the head during power workout. When she awakens, she sees herself as the most beautiful woman in the world, although people’s perceptions — particularly snooty supermodels — of Renee haven’t changed; leaving the one-time wallflower the opportunity (albeit in a blissfully unaware way) to prove that true beauty lies in one’s confidence of themselves, and nothing more.
Especially to fans of the Farrelly brothers, “I Feel Pretty” will feel like the mirror opposite of “Shallow Hal,” the 2001 hit comedy where a shallow, single man (Jack Black) is hypnotized into seeing people’s “inner beauty,” thus completely changing the perceptions of other people around him. In comparison to that film alone, “I Feel Pretty” hardly feels original, although the message of the film — where beauty lies in confidence, is well-intended and should be taken to heart.
The problem is, the predictable nature and restraint Schumer imposes upon herself in “I Feel Pretty” does more harm than good. It’s a double-edged sword. One, while it’s great Schumer isn’t leaning on her brand of gross-out humor, you almost feel like “I Feel Pretty” could have benefited by just a little bit of it.
Thankfully, impressive supporting turns from the likes of Michelle Williams as the cosmetics company CEO, Rory Scovel as Schumer’s love interest, and Busy Phillips and Aidy Bryant as her best friends all work to elevate the film, but just not to make “I Feel Pretty” anything more than a pedestrian comedy. Ultimately, “I Feel Pretty” is pretty average.
Lammometer: 5.5 (out of 10)
AUDIO: Listen to Tim’s review of the film with Tom Barnard on “The KQ Morning Show.”
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.
Late fall and early winter is generally a busy time in the movie business. Studios not only prepare to release big films for holiday season moviegoers, but debut awards season contenders that will hopefully go on to vie for a bevy of accolades, including Oscar gold. But for the true-life drama “All the Money in the World” — which chronicled the harrowing kidnapping of the grandson of legendary oil tycoon J. Paul Getty — making the film’s Christmas Day release date was truly a gift.
For screenwriter David Scarpa, being involved in “All the Money in the World” was certainly the most interesting project he was involved in, and not just because of the film’s compelling subject matter. No, it’s more about how as a filmmaker you can think your movie is good to go for its release — that is, until the whole world comes crashing down upon it.
“There are many numbers of crazy stories that happen in the course of a movie’s production, but this is certainly the most crazy public thing that I can think of and that I’ve been a part of. People always have their crazy stories, but this was pretty tumultuous,” Scarpa said in a recent phone conversation from Los Angeles. “What’s really weird is how smooth it worked out. Usually when there are problems with a production, it’s usually a crazy set, with some kind of a disaster or weird setback or weird revolution in the middle of the shoot or something. But in this case, everything happened when everybody thought they were in the clear, and we were about three weeks from our release, and that’s when it all went down.”
The tumultuous event Scarpa is referring to is the sexual misconduct scandal that rocked Hollywood regarding actor Kevin Spacey, who originally played the pivotal role of the elder Getty in “All the Money in the World.” Realizing how Spacey’s involvement would greatly hamper the completed film’s box office and awards prospects, director Ridley Scott decided in an unprecedented move to cut his performance from “All the Money in the World” and recast veteran Oscar-winning actor Christopher Plummer in the Getty role.
But given the fact that the Spacey scandal broke in late October, time was definitely not on the production’s side. Amazingly, all the pieces came together. Scott reshot the film’s Getty scenes with Plummer and stars Michelle Williams and Mark Wahlberg in a nine-day stretch in late November, and a cut of the film was assembled in time for an 11th hour screening for Golden Globes members in early December. The hard work paid off, as Plummer, Williams and Scott all earned Globe nominations, effectively boosting the film’s prospects for forthcoming nominations for the 90th annual Academy Awards.
For Scarpa, the experience proved to him that if something as tumultuous is going to happen to a production, a director like Scott is the person you’re going to want at the helm.
“Ridley has a team that he consistently works with, when he came back and said, ‘I can do this and do it pretty quickly,’ I’m sure he picked up the phone and called his right-hand man and producer, Mark Huffman, and asked, ‘Can we pull this off?’ Mark said, ‘Yes,’ and after that, it was really there was no question that they were going to be able to do it. For me, once they said they were got the actors back and they were going to do it, I was pretty confident that that they were going to get it done.”
As the film’s screenwriter, Scarpa was naturally involved in the reshoots. Nothing was changed from his original script, and he sent to Plummer only the dialogue that was shot with Spacey and in the film.
“We were warned by our editor, Claire Simpson, that the scenes we were shooting for the movie were going to have to conform to the Kevin Spacey movie in order to make our release date,” said Scarpa, who adapted his screenplay from John Pearson’s 1995 book “Painfully Rich: The Outrageous Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Heirs of J. Paul Getty.”
However, the screenwriter sent quite a bit more to the veteran “Beginners” Oscar winner — and Plummer naturally proved that he’s anything but a beginner when it comes to acting.
“Initially they asked me to send what is called ‘continuity,’ which is only the dialogue that made it into the cut of the Spacey version of the movie, but instead I sent all of the scenes, which included everything including the stuff that was cut into the Spacey version. Plummer actually went off and memorized all of them and used that,” Scarpa said. “As a result, there’s actually a lot more Getty material in the Plummer version than there is the Spacey version. Parts of individual scenes that got cut are now back in the movie because Plummer’s so good at them.”
“All the Money in the World” is currently playing in theaters nationwide. Scarpa’s next project will be an updated version of the classic film, “Cleopatra.”
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.
