CliqueClack

You won’t feel scammed by American Hustle

In the late 1970s, the FBI launched an investigation into corrupt politicians under cover name Abscam. The Feds hired a convicted con artist conduct the operation which ended up nabbing one senator, six members of the House of Representatives, one member of the New Jersey State Senate, members of the Philadelphia City Council, and an inspector for the Immigration and Naturalization Service. David O. Russell’s new film American Hustle takes the basics of this operations and wraps it up brilliantly in a fictional narrative.

Christian Bale stars as Irving Rosenfeld, a Long Island businessman who owns a chain of dry cleaners. He also “helps” people with bad credit get loans. Except he doesn’t, he just scams them for $5,000 and the loan never materializes. Irving meets Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) at a party and the two hit it off, eventually becoming partners in crime and in love despite the fact that Irving has a wife (Jennifer Lawrence) and a son at home. A prospective client shows up one day, but he turns out to be Richie DeMaso (Bradley Cooper) of the FBI and he nabs Sydney (who is going by the name and accent of Lady Edith) taking his check in exchange for the non-existent loan.

Richie knows that Irving loves Edith (Richie has no clue she’s not really British, although he does know she is not of royal stock), so he makes them an offer they can’t refuse: help the FBI bring down four of their most wanted, and they walk away scot-free. The plan seems to be working, but the power and excitement goes to Richie’s head as the mayor of Camden, NJ (Jeremy Renner) is drawn into the scam simply because he is desperate to fund the redevelopment of Atlantic City. The operation then snowballs nearly out of control as Richie, Edith and Irving are drawn deeper into the criminal underworld that could have dire consequences if the plan fails.

Continue reading 'You won’t feel scammed by American Hustle' »

Throwback Thursday: A look at The Cabbage Patch Kids’ First Christmas & The Little Troll Prince

If you’re a fan of my blogs, you know I enjoy obscure Christmas specials from the 1980s. This week I’m reviewing a double gem courtesy of the Warner Archive Collection: The Cabbage Patch Kids’ First Christmas and The Little Troll Prince: A Christmas Parable. I enjoyed both of these in my youth, but how do they measure up to my more sophisticated adult tastes in 2013?

I’ll start by reviewing The Cabbage Patch Kids’ First Christmas. There was a time when it seemed the world just couldn’t get enough of the Cabbage Patch Kids. At the peak of their popularity in the early 1980s, they were a must-have item on just about every little girl’s Christmas wish list. I was born right around that time and my mom has told me stories about her attempts to get me my first Cabbage Patch doll. That quest does not sound like anything I’d wish upon even my worst enemy.

Continue reading 'Throwback Thursday: A look at The Cabbage Patch Kids’ First Christmas & The Little Troll Prince' »

Tears will roll courtesy of truTV’s hit (Impractical) Jokers

Remember those carefree, unencumbered days of our youth, when we were fearless, daring and pretty much immune to anything which might have crossed our paths? I certainly do.

And that’s precisely what Joe Gatto, Sal Vulcano, Brian “Q” Quinn and James “Murr” Murray — better known as the (Impractical) Jokers — do episode after episode with the release of (Impractical) Jokers: The Complete First Season on DVD. They place practicality (and pride) behind them and commit personal dares on one another for our entertainment.

I first caught truTV’s (Impractical) Jokers at the behest of my daughters who begged me to watch a couple episodes one lazy afternoon. Having witnessed one daughter’s obsessions with — *shudder* — Animal Planet’s Searching For Bigfoot, I was naturally reluctant. But being a father you have to give in to those requests on occasion. You just never know: You could lose minutes of your life you’ll never get back … or you could encounter a shining light at the end of the viewing tunnel. Continue reading 'Tears will roll courtesy of truTV’s hit (Impractical) Jokers' »

The Anchorman sequel fails to live up to the hype or its legacy

I’ve got to admit: I often times have to be dragged kicking and screaming to flicks like Anchorman 2, and end up enjoying them more than I expect. It happened with Old School; I wasn’t particularly looking forward to it, but have been shouting “You my boy, Blue!” at (seemingly) appropriate times ever since. Along those lines, it came to me that I’d never actually seen all of the original Anchorman prior to last week. I had caught a great deal of it switching through the channels over the years, but not all of it (an issue I did resolve before the screening).

The reason Anchorman works is because you weren’t expecting it. Saying it launched a genre of comedy is probably overstating things, but it definitely rode the wave (whether it was something new, or something old experiencing a revival is an argument I’ll leave for other people). But there was something to  “shock” comedy nine years ago that might have gotten lost after experiencing flicks like Borat or the 85 Jackass variants we have been subjected to since. Continue reading 'The Anchorman sequel fails to live up to the hype or its legacy' »

Win passes for The Wolf of Wall Street in Baltimore or DC

ALL PASSES HAVE BEEN CLAIMED. THIS OFFER IS CLOSED. PLEASE FOLLOW @CLIQUECLACK ON TWITTER FOR CONTEST, NEWS AND REVIEW UPDATES.

CliqueClack has partnered with Paramount Pictures and Allied Integrated Marketing to offer readers in the Baltimore and DC areas an opportunity to attend an advance screening of the Golden Globe nominated film The Wolf of Wall Street, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Matthew McConaughey, Jon Favreau, Kyle Chandler, Rob Reiner and Jean Dujardin. Distinguished filmmaker Martin Scorsese directs the true story of New York stockbroker Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio). Having started a morally conventional career in the late 80s, Belfort quickly rose from penny stocks and righteousness to IPOs and a life of corruption. Excess, success and affluence in his early twenties as founder of the brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont warranted Belfort the title The Wolf of Wall Street.

Continue reading 'Win passes for The Wolf of Wall Street in Baltimore or DC' »

Win passes for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty in Baltimore or DC

CliqueClack has partnered with 20th Century Fox and Allied Integrated Marketing to offer readers in the Baltimore and DC areas an opportunity to attend an advance screening of the new film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, starring Ben Stiller, Kristin Wiig, Shirley MacLaine, Adam Scott, Kathryn Hahn, and Sean Penn. Ben Stiller directs and stars in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, James Thurber’s classic story of a day-dreamer who escapes his anonymous life by disappearing into a world of fantasies filled with heroism, romance and action. When his job along with that of his co-worker (Wiig) are threatened, Walter takes action in the real world embarking on a global journey that turns into an adventure more extraordinary than anything he could have ever imagined.

Continue reading 'Win passes for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty in Baltimore or DC' »

Win passes to an advance screening of August: Osage County in Baltimore or DC

All passes have been claimed. Please follow @CliqueClack on Twitter for giveaways, news and reviews alerts.

CliqueClack has partnered with the Weinstein Company and Allied Integrated Marketing to offer readers in the Baltimore and DC areas an opportunity to attend an advance screening of the new motion picture August: Osage County, starring Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper, Abigail Breslin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Juliette Lewis, Margo Martindale, Dermot Mulroney, Julianne Nicholson, Sam Shepard and Misty Upham. tells the dark, hilarious and deeply touching story of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose lives have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Midwest house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them. Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name made its Broadway debut in December 2007 after premiering at Chicago’s legendary Steppenwolf Theatre earlier that year. It continued with a successful international run and was the winner of five Tony Awards in 2008, including Best Play.

Continue reading 'Win passes to an advance screening of August: Osage County in Baltimore or DC' »

CliqueClack Giveaway: Grudge Match passes for Baltimore or DC

This offer has expired. Follow @CliqueClack on Twitter for alerts on contests, news and reviews.

CliqueClack has partnered with Warner Brothers Pictures and Allied Integrated Marketing to offer readers in the Baltimore and DC areas an opportunity to attend an advance screening of the new film Grudge Match, starring Sylvester Stallone, Robert DeNiro, Kevin Hart, Alan Arkin, Kim Basinger, and Jon Bernthal. Award-winning movie legends Oscar winner Robert De Niro and Oscar nominee Sylvester Stallone star as old boxing rivals who come out of retirement for one final match. De Niro and Stallone play Billy “The Kid” McDonnen and Henry “Razor” Sharp, two local Pittsburgh fighters whose fierce rivalry put them in the national spotlight. Each had scored a victory against the other during their heyday, but in 1983, on the eve of their decisive third match, Razor suddenly announced his retirement, refusing to explain why but effectively delivering a knock-out punch to both their careers. Thirty years later, boxing promoter Dante Slate Jr. (Hart), seeing big dollar signs, makes them an offer they can’t refuse: to re-enter the ring and settle the score once and for all. But they may not have to wait that long: on their first encounter in decades, their long-festering feud erupts into an unintentionally hilarious melee that instantly goes viral. The sudden social media frenzy transforms their local grudge match into a must-see HBO event. Now, if they can just survive the training, they may actually live to fight again.

Continue reading 'CliqueClack Giveaway: Grudge Match passes for Baltimore or DC' »

There’s real gold in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

I really hated The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. I’ve never read the book, so it didn’t bother me that it wasn’t the book, or was a mish-mash of the book and appendices and other non-Hobbit material. No, I just hated it because it was long and boring and just meandered to nowhere with battle after battle that did nothing but show off the special effects crew’s CGI wizardry, and gave audiences little in the way of story or characters. I also really hated the 48 frames-per-second (HFR) projection which made the whole thing look like a really bad video production. Which also made me nauseous.

So it was with much trepidation that I went into the second film in the trilogy, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Thankfully, we were not subjected to the HFR 3D version, but we did get to see it in 3D. Now the movie at least looks like it belongs with the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, so points were earned right at the start. And the movie grabbed me right from the beginning with a prologue set prior to the events seen in the first film, with Gandalf (Ian McKellan) meeting Thorin (Richard Armitage) and setting him about his journey to reclaim his land and his kingdom from the dragon Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch).

Continue reading 'There’s real gold in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug' »

Win passes to see American Hustle in Maryland, DC or Virginia

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING POST VERY CAREFULLY AND FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS PROVIDED.

CliqueClack has partnered with Sony Pictures and Allied Integrated Marketing to offer readers in Maryland, DC and Virginia an opportunity to attend an advance screening of the new film American Hustle starring Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale, Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner. A fictional film set in the alluring world of one of the most stunning scandals to rock our nation, American Hustle tells the story of brilliant con man Irving Rosenfeld (Bale), who along with his equally cunning and seductive British partner Sydney Prosser (Adams) is forced to work for a wild FBI agent, Richie DiMaso (Cooper). DiMaso pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia that’s as dangerous as it is enchanting. Jeremy Renner is Carmine Polito, the passionate, volatile, New Jersey political operator caught between the con-artists and Feds. Irving’s unpredictable wife Rosalyn (Lawrence) could be the one to pull the thread that brings the entire world crashing down. Like David O. Russell’s previous films, American Hustle defies genre, hinging on raw emotion, and life and death stakes.

Continue reading 'Win passes to see American Hustle in Maryland, DC or Virginia' »