Bamm-Bamm's Movie Review, "Conviction"

Saw a screening of this film last night, which was followed by a Q&A with the real Betty Anne Waters and Juliette Lewis.  Director Tony Goldwyn (yes, the bad guy from "Ghost") was supposed to be there, but he could not get a flight to Dallas in time.  Quick moral, kids: when you get screening passes to a yet-to-be-released film, and it says "this is purposely overbooked on purpose," BELIEVE THEM.  We were there about 2 1/2 hours early, and still would up on the first row of the theater, due to representatives from the USA Film Festival and Inoocence Project: Dallas sponsoring.  Was fully prepared for that, but some people in the line with us were not.  Not complaining, just teaching here.

Anyway, in 1983, Kenny Waters (Sam Rockwell), who was a "problem child" in a house of 9 children growing up and spent a lot of time getting into trouble, is sentance to life in prison for the murder of a local woman.  His sister, Betty Anne (Hillary Swank), avows his innocence and embarks on a journey to become an attorney to represent him and prove what she believes to be the truth.  It is a process that takes us (and her) through almost two decades of her life that entails loss, gain, frustration, hope, pain, tears, and even asks the audience how far they would go to fight in someone (or something) they believe in.

I went into this screening with a bit of apprehension, as I have determined that Swank is tending to pick projects that can be awards bait.  (Do something completely off of the beaten path, Hill.  Just get me a pallet cleanser here.)  What I was pleased to find was that there were at least three other people that I felt outperformed her here.  First off, Rockwell is purely RIVETING in his role as a man who could be falsely accused of a crime putting all of his faith in his sister, whom he has protected their entire lives.  If anybody scores an Oscar nod here, it's him.  Also, Minnie Driver (playing Abra Rice,  the woman who would become Waters' best friend and biggest supporter, and who can still get it DONE) once again makes you forget that she is European, delivering a Massachusetts accent worthy of a Ben Affleck film, and brings a performance that has to get recognized by her peers and the press.  Recognition also has to go to the kids playing the younger versions of Kenny and Betty Anne (Bailee Madison and Tobias Campbell), who will rip your heart out of your chest if you let them.

Goldwyn's direction (the first feature he has directed since the Greg Kinnear/Ashley Judd vehicle "Someone Like You" in 2001... he's done quite a bit of television directing since) here really gives the viewer the feeling of being there with the characters for the desired effect when necessary, but also knows when to pull back and let the story tell itself.  Pamela Gray (most known for writing "Music Of The Heart" and "A Walk On The Moon") tells the story and (by Waters' own admission) kept it very faithful, with little "artistic license".  When Waters told the audience that this movie was literally 9 years in the making, it was apparent in the final project.

So, on the standard scale of 1 to 10, I will give "Conviction" a 9, which means, "Almost there, holmes, but I can't be bought off that easy.  But go see it when you can."

Until next time, when I may even review a movie I see on U-Verse or Blu-Ray, or even another theatrical release...

BB

Bamm-Bamm's Movie Review, "Red"

Whoa.  How long has it been since I typed a title like THAT?

So... last night, I attended a screening of the latest big screen adaptation of a graphic novel called "Red," originally written by the great Warren Ellis.  Here's the lowdown:

Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) is retired from the C.I.A.  He lives a quiet existence that involves... well, not much.  He has found himself quite smitten with an operator at the Federal Building in Kansas City that he talks to on the phone, Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker).  The very night that he decides to get up the nerve to fly up and see her, these pesky little goverment agents show up to kill him for reasons Frank can only imagine.  From here, he speeds up his process to see Sarah, as he realizes that she may be in danger as well.  What follows is a tale of former friends, evil agencies, and a conspiracy that leads WAY up the ladder.  Also in this film are the likes of Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren (that's right, Helen Mirren... Oscar winner for "The Queen" Helen Mirren), Karl Urban (Dr. McCoy from "Star Trek," who was also at the screening I attended... pretty cool guy), Richard Dreyfuss, and Brian Cox (one of the most underrated actors of our time). 

As one would expect, there are a lot of bullets that fly around in this film, which comes in at just under two hours.  What one does not expect is a story that has a nice heart to it.  Willis, as he just about always is, comes off as the coolest cat in the room.  As Frank, his portrayal shows both vulnerability to want a normal life and a toughness to protect that and those which he feels to be most important to him.  Freeman is always great, Malkovich is always insane, which is VITAL to his role here, Mirren is always the portrait of grace and shows off some great comedic timing.  Urban's character, not his performance, was a little off-kilter for this guy, as there were a couple of points where he should have been a bit more stern in his reactions to certain situations (REALLY trying hard not to give too much away here), but that really is my only flaw to what is a film that really knows how to balance violence, comedy, romance, and drama to keep both the men and the women in the audience entertained.

Director Robert Schwentke (The Time Traveler's Wife, Flightplan) shows that he can give a comic book feel to a film without it being to comic-ish.  There is a bit of action that you know isn't really possible, but it's done in such a way that doesn't come off cheesy at all.  With a cast of talent like this to work with, he also did a very good job to spread the spotlight around so it didn't seem like he was letting one star chew too much scenery.  As much as Willis is the top billed star here, it very much felt to me like an ensemble picee, with everyone contributing equally to make the story work.

So, I guess on a scale of 1 to 10, I will give "Red" a solid 8, which means "Go see it in first run, and it's even OK to see for a date movie."

I'm actually trying to give this bit another go (even with movies I may watch on Blu-Ray or on TV), so feel free to give YOUR feedback, and make sure to hear all of the latest news and information on sports, movies, music, television, and sports entertainment on The Clubhouse With Rob & Cody, LIVE each and every Tuesday night at 8 Eastern/5 Pacific.  Get to it from The Official Show Website and until next time...

BB

Secret Origins, Part 5: The Modern Era

Yes, we are finally bringing this to a close.  The pressure you people put on me.  Geez...

Shortly after starting my career with Incredible Universe (and actually getting paid to DJ, as well as learning my karaoke hosting skills), I found out that my mom was taking a job in Dallas.  After doing a bunch of math, I realized that I could not sustain life on my own in South Florida, so I decided to move to Dallas myself.  I finished out the lease on the apartment that we were living in (moving on New Year's Eve sucks, by the way), spent a month living with the family of one of my church kids (shout out to the Parades, whom I believe are in Tennessee now), and then drove from Fort Lauderdale to Dallas with my buddy Jim Wolter (anybody know what's up with THIS guy?).  We took about three days, with stops in Fort Meyers (visited the South Florida United Methodist Church camp), Tampa (to see my grandparents), and Louisiana (coudn't drive any further), arriving in Dallas four days after the Super Bowl.

Incredible Universe was gracious enough to transfer me, so I started work within a few days.  I was also fortunate enough to meet the GREAT Buck Cueni-Smith, who let me work with him with the Walnut Hill United Methodist Church youth program, and also helped me out by lending me sound equipment to get my mobile DJ service up and running.   During my time with Incredible Universe, I met the Futrell family, whom would play a HUGE role in my life, and continues to be very close to my heart to this day.  Rick & his wife, Trinity, were even gracious enough to let me live with them for about six months before I could get my own place after my mom bought a house and wanted me out on my own.

I was able to get out on my own, after leaving Incredible Universe in the spring of 1996, but still kept on doing DJ work under Bamm-Bamm Productions (so the name remained).  The work was there, but not steady, so I got a day job working for PageMart, where I would make a lot more friends whom I still have today (and Rick worked there, too).  I ended up working at their corporate office, which was great, but the money wasn't exactly what I needed, as I had to buy a new car.

So, I picked up a second job at a local Blockbuster Video store, and wound up being a part-time manager there, which paid my car payments.  There, I met Adam Kennedy, another friend to this day.  While there, I got a call one day from Rick's sister, Lisa, telling me about a place they go to on Tuesday nights to do karaoke, which is something I had not been involved with on a regular basis in about 2 years.

This place was called... Sports City Cafe.

So, one night I went there, and the atmosphere was electric.  I wound up being a regular fairly quickly and having a blast.  One night, I was actually running a bit late working at the video store, and Lisa said she would just sign me up for a song, so I could have my place in line.  Up to this point, I had just put "Rob E." on the slips.

That night, she actually put, "Bamm-Bamm".

And the name returns again.  Greg, the host, would only refer to me that way from that point on.

A few weeks later, I asked a PageMart friend of mine, John "Doc" Howser, to meet me at Sports City Cafe.  Doc and I had lunch just about every day (along with our friend - AND NEWLYWED - Jeff Smith), and he asked me who did the show.  I told him, and his reaction was, "NO WAY!  He's the lead singer in my band!"  Aaaaaand... Kevin Bacon.

Doc met me there that night, and when Greg saw him, his eyes bugged out of his head.  Once that connection was established, it was just a couple of months later when Greg asked me if I wanted to do the show there.  Shortly after, I quit the video store and started doing two nights a week for Bravo Productions as "Bamm-Bamm" at Sports City Cafe.  And the REST, my friends, is well-documented history.

I hope you enjoyed ths little ditty that gives you a little deeper look into the history of my alter ego.  There are many stories that are embedded within this story, but I can't tell you EVERYTHING.

Until next time...

BB

Secret Origins, Part 4: The Second Defining Moment (On Multiple Levels)

OK, so here we go again...

Fast forward to the summer of 1994.  The sweetest mullet in HISTORY is in full swing, and I have just been laid off from my job at a local movie theater.  I was also working a job as the Summer Youth Worker for a (sorta) local church, and this was the silver lining for me.  Great group of young people (after spending a couple of years working with the youth of the church I grew up in, and also a great group of young people).  Losing my job the day after I returned from church camp with some of the younger youth was a rough deal, but those young'uns made it a lot less rough on me.

One day, I came across an ad in the want ads of the local paper for a place called "Incredible Universe."  I was very intrigued by the position of DJ/Karaoke.  At this point in my life, I had spent stints here and there doing DJ work for parties, mix tapes, and some such.  But, here was an opportunity to work with music EVERY DAY.  So, I went to an abandoned Publix (the building wasn't even constructed yet) and applied.  After about three different interviews and a personality test, I was offered the job as a temp in the DJ/Karaoke "scene" (it would become permanent pretty quickly).

During my week-long orientation class, there was a time when volunteers were needed for a skit on selling.  Naturally, given my department, I was volunteered.  Unfortunately, there was one more guy than there were guy parts, and I drew the short end of the stick, so I had to be an elderly woman.  A one-piece dress and three balloons later, and there we were.  Now, I was wearing one of my Bamm-Bamm shirts, so naturally, a guy had to yell, "BAM! BAM!" when referring to the location of the balloons.  This is also where I began what has become a 16 year karaoke career as well.

Thus, my "hero name" at Incredible Universe was born.

Is this where our story ends?  Nope.  There is one more chapter and another time zone to go, my friends, so until we conclude with Chapter 5, "The Modern Era..."