Movie poster courtesy of moviegoods.com
The fourth movie we watched for Elijah Wood was Green Street Hooligans, a film about a student who gets kicked out of Harvard and, while staying with his sister in London, gets swept up into football gang life.
Here is our review:
Andrea: I saw this movie a few years ago, and I really enjoyed it. I liked it a lot this time, too, although I’m not a huge fan of violence, especially when I think it’s unnecessary violence. Like when we reviewed Gangs of New York, and the gangs just perpetuated the violence because they had to get someone back for one thing, and then the other gang had to get them back for that, and so on and so on. In Green Street Hooligans, it’s like the same thing. But I still think it’s a good movie.
Courtney: I LOVE this movie! There is a small side of me that craves violence from time to time. Watching Elijah play a bad ass in this movie with a whole bunch of guys that all have British accents is complete satisfaction!
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Jeremy: I’d never seen this before, so it was a nice surprise to see Elijah kicking some ass. He did look funny throwing his first punches.
Courtney: I know exactly what you mean! I love the way Elijah’s arms were flailing about when he first hits a guy! He looks so absurd, but hey, he still got the guy! And it was really funny when the guys started teasing him about it.
Andrea: That was hilarious when he was hitting the guy for the first time! And I loved how the other guys called him out on it!
Courtney: I love all of the scenes at the pub when the guys are just all around being guys! Drinking, talking over each other, bursting out into song.
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Jeremy: I agree. My only thing with this movie was that it was hard to follow what they were saying some of the time because of the thick English accents, but it was still funny too, the boys being boys in the bar and singing and dancing.
Courtney: I love how all the guys just formed these instantaneous friendships.
Jeremy: I thought the revenge at the end was sweet and only thing that would’ve made it better would have been for Elijah to hit that stupid coke head in the nose. I don’t like it when characters with the same name as me are total jerks. Got to keep my name in good standing.
Courtney: I disagree, I liked that he didn’t hit him. I thought it was cool that he was able to instill that much fear in Jeremy without actually hitting him. And now that I know the actor who played Jeremy Van Holden was also the one who performed the song during the big epic fight scene, I kind of like him a little bit. I love that song! I love how it plays against the violence of the moment, plus it makes for a good song to listen to while you are closing your eyes and waiting for the hitting to be over.
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Andrea: I did like that – how they played this nice, sweet song against all the violence. I didn’t really care for that guy, but it was the character, not the actor, that I didn’t like. But Charlie Hunnam was really great. And I love what his character did in the end, even though the ending was so sad! And I loved the part when he was introducing Elijah’s character to all his students! That was so funny!
Courtney: Not to mention the scene when he walked around in a towel…HELLO!!! But no, seriously, I liked him too. His character was so funny and relieved a lot of the tension in the movie, as well as started a lot of it too.
Jeremy: Elijah showed a great range of emotion and I’d really like to see more of him in this type of role. Not necessarily a fighting goon, but just that type of person that Matt is. I would definitely give Elijah a 5 out of 5 because I thought he pushed himself to the limits on this movie and I would definitely watch it again.
Courtney: I loved this role for Elijah because he still gets to play the wide eyed innocent new guy that we know and love him as, but then he also gets to play angry and tough, brooding and slightly arrogant. I would give Elijah a 5/ 5 for this movie. It is one of my favorite movies that he has done!
Andrea: Elijah was really great in this. It was nice to see him become more of a bad ass, because you really don’t see him as being one, but he did a good job with it in this movie! I don’t absolutely love this movie, but I think Elijah did a great job with the part. I’d definitely give him a 5/5 for this one, too!
Movie poster courtesy of movieposter.com
The third movie we watched for Elijah Wood was Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a movie about a couple who hire a company to erase each other from their memories.
Here is our review:
Andrea: I really like this movie. It’s just such a cool concept, and it forces me to think every time I watch it.
Jeremy: I’ve seen this movie before, but I really couldn’t remember any details so it was nice to watch it again. I really enjoyed watching it.
Courtney: Yeah, I agree with you guys, I do love this movie. But I have to say, I really don’t like it for Elijah. I remember when I first went and saw this movie I didn’t like Elijah in it because I thought he was sooooo creepy! I can’t stand clingy guys and so I just hated this role for him! As much as I love this movie and the story behind it all, I just didn’t like seeing him so creepy!
Jeremy: I liked how Elijah played a very different role than what we’re used to. I thought he portrayed the annoying “I’ll do anything you want” boyfriend well.
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Andrea: Elijah’s character, Patrick, was pretty creepy and clingy. But I think Elijah played the part really well! You can tell he’s just this young kid who really has no idea what he’s doing when it comes to relationships, and he does and says all the wrong things, even though he’s using all of her ex’s best lines.
Courtney: When I watch it now, it doesn’t grate on me so much and I’m able to laugh at all the crazy things he does. Like the stealing of the panties! That part really makes me laugh! I love that he is trying to say it all nonchalantly but at the same time he is so desperate to keep talking about it.
Jeremy: Yeah, the panties part is one of my favorite parts! I love that Joel could hear him talking in his memory. I thought it was just funny how Joel (Jim Carrey) kept looking in the sky trying to figure out where the voices were coming from.
Andrea: I think Patrick really cared for Clementine (Kate Winslet) but it was that young, infatuated puppy love where you basically give up your own wants, your own needs, your own personality, really, for that other person. Those kind of relationships are never healthy, but I think a lot of people go through them at one time in their lives.
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Courtney: I love one of the parts at the end when Clementine is listening to his message while brushing her teeth and he is all, “I don’t know what I did! Tell me what I did so I can make it better,” and she is all, “blah blah blah blah blah,” and rolling her eyes. There is still this little part inside of me that is like, “YES! Thank you!”
Andrea: I like how Clementine starts out as the cliched Manic Pixie Dream Girl, but as the story goes on, she becomes much more complex of a character. Her character annoyed me a lot, but I can see how people would want to be friends with her. And I think Kate did a fantastic job portraying her.
Photo courtesy of IMDb.com
Courtney: I do like all the other actors in this movie. I love Mark Ruffalo, I think he is adorable in anything he does! But I also especially loved Kate and Jim, I think it is some of their best work because they were each playing such different parts than what we were used to from them at the time.
Andrea: I really used to hate Jim Carrey, but movies like this have really made me like him a lot. I think he did a great job as Joel.
Jeremy: Since we didn’t see much of Elijah, it’s hard to give more feedback on his performance but I thought he played his character well as a secondary character to the storyline. I would give Elijah a 4 out of 5. I thought he did better than the average performance but not much more than what was required for the character.
Andrea: I thought Elijah did a wonderful job portraying his character, but, like you said, we didn’t get to see a whole lot of his character. For example we didn’t get to see how he reacts to everything at the end, so his character wasn’t completely fleshed out. Because of that I’m going to have to give him a 4/5.
Courtney: I would give Elijah a 3 for this movie. Yes, I think his character was supposed to be creepy and so he played that part well, but he really was kind of annoying and I know he can do better.
Jeremy: So our average for Elijah in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a 4/5.
Movie poster courtesy of moviegoods.com
The second film we watched for Elijah Wood is The Good Son, a film about a boy who goes to stay with his aunt, uncle, and cousins after his mother dies, and his cousin turns out to be a little less of a friend and a little more of a psychopath.
Here is our review:
Andrea: I remember when this movie came out – I was obsessed with Elijah Wood and my mom took me to see the movie since it was rated R and I was only 13. My mom said something about how if I was scared it was okay to hold her hand, but I think she was the one who ended up having nightmares!
Courtney: My mom had almost the same reaction! I remember thinking that the ending seemed fitting, but my mom was outraged! It was still fun to watch it again.
Jeremy: I think this movie was as good as I remember when I first saw it. Macaulay Culkin wasn’t as good as I remember, but I thought Elijah did better than he did.
Photo courtesy of listal.com
Andrea: When this movie came out, there was a lot of controversy around it. For one thing, Macaulay Culkin was going to be playing a really evil character, and most people knew him and loved him from his roles in Home Alone and My Girl. Also, he uses the F-bomb in the movie. And I also remember at the time it was a big deal that Elijah and Macaulay were going to be in the movie together, because they were the two big male child stars at the time, and people were worried that they’d have issues with each other.
Courtney: It is kind of funny to see how time has shaped those kids. I mean back then with the success of Home Alone I would have pegged Macaulay to be the bigger star. I feel that between the two of them, Elijah has the more respected career.
Jeremy: I thought that Elijah seemed more grown up at times than a normal kid. I’m sure it was because his character’s mother died and he was supposed to seem that way.
Courtney: No, I definitely noticed that too! I hadn’t watched this movie in so long, but when I did I could see so much in his performance that I recognized from future roles that he did. I think that is why we love going back and watching these beginning movies for actors we review because it is amazing to see that transition when you see them actually becoming the actor that we know them for today.
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Jeremy: I thought Elijah did a better job in this movie than Radio Flyer. I also give him props for the extra stuff he had to do or put up with. I’m surprised he’s not traumatized after Radio Flyer’s story and then this movie.
Courtney: I agree, I felt like he was able to react more in this movie. In Radio Flyer he was playing the older brother who had to put on a brave face in order to comfort his younger brother. The script didn’t really require him to react to a lot of what was happening. But in The Good Son he got to have sad moments and shocked moments and scared moments and freak out moments. And I thought he did a great job. I would bet that he had a blast doing them all.
Jeremy: I also liked that this movie had the kids going on a lot of “expeditions” like in Radio Flyer, but this time it is with a psycho friend that makes it uncomfortable. Most of the scenes made me miss my childhood and how we were always anywhere but home all day long. I actually never remember stopping and eating lunch while exploring.
Photo courtesy of cineplex.com
Courtney: Yeah, my siblings and I never really had that. I remember going “exploring” but my grandfather was always with us. And we always knew when it was time to come home for food! But if I had a friend like Macaulay Culkin tagging along I would probably fake sick all summer long!
Andrea: I thought that all the actors did a pretty good job in this film, except, I’m kind of iffy with Macaulay Culkin. I think he did a good job being creepy, but some of his lines came off really strange and forced.
Courtney: I noticed that too and it really threw me off. I couldn’t tell if he was directed to say the lines that way or not, but if I had a child that acted like that I would have turned to him and been like, “What is wrong with you? What are you doing?”
Andrea: I thought Elijah did a better job in this film than in Radio Flyer, but I still don’t think he was as spectacular as I thought he was when I originally saw it. I guess my vision was clouded back then with that young puppy love. But I do think Elijah did a good job, so I’ll give him a 4/5 for this one.
Jeremy: I’ll give Elijah a 5 out of 5. I was still impressed as when I first watched it.
Courtney: I’m with Jeremy on this one and I’m going to give him a 5/5 too! I thought he did a great job, showed lots of range, and I could definitely see traces of the actor he would become in future roles.
Andrea: So I guess that means I’ve been outvoted and our average for Elijah in The Good Son is a 5/5. That’s okay, he’s a great actor so I guess he deserves it!
Photo courtesy of aceshowbiz.com
This month we’re reviewing five movies starring Elijah Wood, who was suggested by our viewer, Frank. We polled all of our viewers and the five movies that received the highest number of votes were Radio Flyer, The Good Son, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Green Street Hooligans, and The Oxford Murders.
Here is our first review, for Radio Flyer, a film about a man who tells his sons the story of his horrendous childhood.
Courtney: I can’t believe you guys finally got me to watch this movie! I have loved Elijah for so long, but I always hesitated to watch this one because I knew it would be somewhat depressing.
Andrea: I love this movie. I was obsessed with Elijah Wood as a preteen and teen, and this was one of the first movies I saw with him in it. It’s such a sad movie, but so good!
Movie poster courtesy of IMDb.com
Jeremy: This movie is so good. It has always been a classic to me. I think it was well written, directed and had some great acting in it.
Courtney: Well, I didn’t love the movie, but I am glad I finally watched it. Elijah was so young and cute!
Jeremy: I enjoyed seeing Elijah acting in one of his first movies. It really shows how much he’s grown and achieved. And I liked all the faces the kids would make, whether it was mischievous, innocent or just plain scared. I thought they portrayed all those emotions really well and I believed them.
Courtney: I would agree with that. Of course, it is easy to portray emotion when you have eyes as bright, and blue, and dreamy as Elijah Wood.
Andrea: I thought Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazzello were adorable and did a pretty good job with their roles. Although seeing it now, as an adult, I do realize that there were a lot of scenes with them that were overacted. But they were so young that it’s forgivable.
Courtney: I can see how it is hard to explain to kids when they are “over” acting, but as long as they are adorable then it is okay. I did like the first scene when you know that Bobby is getting abused and you see Mikey waiting for him by the bedroom door and crying, I thought that was a brilliant choice to just show him sitting there.
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Andrea: This movie really reminds me of my childhood. Not the abuse part! That did NOT happen to me. But all the other things that Mike and Bobby did, like how they would go on “expeditions” and just the way they acted towards each other and the things they’d say really reminded me of my brother and I growing up.
Jeremy: Going on “expeditions” was pretty much how I remember my childhood. You’d be gone all day long and you knew everything about your neighborhood.
Courtney: My sisters and I were like that at my grandparents’ house. They had a creek in their backyard; it was awesome!
Andrea: The ending is really pretty unrealistic, but then I guess you have to remember that Tom Hanks’s character is telling the story to his kids and he talks about “history being in the mind of the teller” so you get the idea that he was embellishing.
Courtney: I had a lot of problems with the ending, some of the writing just didn’t add up for me. I think that is the only thing that is keeping me from saying that I liked the movie. But again, as long as you have adorable children in the main parts a lot can be forgiven.
Photo courtesy of IMDb.com
Andrea: Well, along with the adorable children in the movie, most of the other actors did a great job too. I love Tom Hanks and I’m always glad to see him in a movie, even if it’s a small part like this one. But I loved his narration, too. Lorraine Bracco was really good, too, even though you really wish her character would have done some things differently. And I like how they only showed Adam Baldwin’s face in a few parts – it made his character that much more of a monster, I think. I think this movie is the reason why I really hated Jayne in Firefly (well, plus Jayne was just a jerk).
Courtney: See, I have always loved Jayne in Firefly, I thought he was funny. But I DO NOT like violence towards dogs in movies. Violence towards children isn’t good either, but trying to explain why I especially don’t like violence towards dogs would take too long. And now that I have seen this movie, Adam Baldwin may have some making up to do to get back on my good side. But I do love Tom Hanks, he is good in everything!
Jeremy: I thought Tom was great as a narrator and would probably watch anything that has him narrating. He just has such a great voice among his other talents.
Courtney: I agree, anything that has Tom, his son Colin, or his wife Rita in it, I’m totally watching! I’m very loyal to my favorite actors, but no one rates higher to me then Elijah Wood! I may not like everything he does, but if I can sit through Black and White I can sit through anything! I’d give him a 4 for this movie, but a very high 4. There were a couple of scenes that he may have struggled with, but I felt like the fault lied more with the director or writers than it did with him. But then again I am probably biased.
Andrea: I don’t think Elijah did a bad job in this film by any means, but I also don’t think it was the perfect performance, either. But like I said, he was young and I think his acting really has gotten better over time. I’d probably give him a 4/5 for this one.
Jeremy: I would give Elijah a 4 out of 5, too. I thought he was great, but like Andrea said there were some over-acting so I couldn’t give him a perfect 5. Not yet at least.
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We’ve watched and reviewed our five movies for Kevin Bacon: Footloose, The River Wild, Sleepers, Frost/Nixon, and X-Men: First Class. Now we’ve each picked our favorite movie, least favorite movie, and most surprising out of the five. We’ve also each decided on a movie starring Kevin that we want to watch, but wasn’t included in our five, and share our final thoughts.
Favorite Movie
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Courtney: My favorite performance was Kevin in Sleepers, because he was pure and unrelenting evil in that movie! But my favorite movie that we watched was X-Men: First Class! I loved it! It was so fun and fast paced! I definitely need to buy that one!
Jeremy: Sleepers was definitely my favorite for Kevin Bacon. I think it takes a very talented actor to play a character like his and still be able to do other roles that aren’t just pure evil.
Andrea: I think Kevin definitely was at his best in Sleepers (out of the five we watched), but I really hated his character so much! But I’d probably say that X-Men: First Class was my favorite movie out of the ones we watched, because I just love the X-Men and it’s definitely more of my kind of movie than the others. But I think Kevin’s best performance that I’ve seen from him was in Murder in the First, which we watched for Christian Slater. He was fantastic in that role!
Photo courtesy of thehollywoodinterview.blogspot.com
Least Favorite Movie
Jeremy: I’d have to go with Frost/Nixon. I don’t think Kevin did a horrible job, but he had a small part and it’s not a type of movie that I would watch again.
Andrea: I think, for me, it’s a tie between Frost/Nixon and Footloose. I didn’t hate either of them, but I didn’t really love them, either. But I think I liked Frost/Nixon a bit more so I guess I’d say Footloose. But I think as far as Kevin’s performance goes, my least favorite was Frost/Nixon, but only because he has such a small role.
Courtney: I don’t think Kevin turned out a bad performance in any of the movies we watched, so if I’m just picking my least favorite movie overall, I think it would have to be The River Wild. Really it would be a tie between The River Wild and Sleepers, because neither are the type of movies I would want to watch over again. But Sleepers had such a great ensemble cast, so out of the two I would rather re-watch that one.
Most Surprising/Unexpected Movie
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Andrea: I guess I was most surprised by Sleepers, simply because I went into it thinking it was going to be a lot worse than it was. For some reason I thought it was about them being kidnapped and tortured, but it wasn’t. So, yeah, Sleepers was the most surprising for me.
Courtney: I was most surprised by Kevin’s performance in Sleepers. I really can’t express how evil he was in that movie! I feel like we all said that in the review for that movie, and I’ve already said it once in this post, but really is there a word other than evil to describe him in that movie…atrocious? Vile? Repulsive? No, he really was just unadulterated evil!
Jeremy: I’m going with The River Wild. I wasn’t really surprised this time around but the first time I watched it, I remember going back and forth about Kevin’s character if he was evil or not.
Movie poster courtesy of moviegoods.com
Movie We Still Want to See
Courtney: I’ve always wanted to see Diner. I don’t know why, and I don’t know why I just haven’t watched it yet, but I haven’t and I really want to.
Jeremy: Even though he doesn’t play a big part in Crazy, Stupid, Love, it is definitely a movie I still want to see.
Andrea: I guess I’d say Crazy, Stupid, Love, too. Because I really want to see that, even though I guess he’s not one of the main actors.
Final Thoughts
Jeremy: Kevin Bacon is just one of those actors that has probably played almost every role. Personally I think he plays the villain really well. Overall, I think I would give Kevin a 4 out of 5.
Andrea: Everyone knows the name Kevin Bacon. Yet it’s funny, because I really haven’t seen very many of his movies (well, now I have). But I think he’s a great actor and he really has the villain part down. I look forward to seeing more of his movies. I’d probably give him a 4/5 overall.
Courtney: I really like Kevin Bacon, and even though we didn’t get to see him pull out the charm in the five movies we watched for him, I know he has it in him. And in the interviews I have seen with him and the television shows I’ve seen him make cameos on, he comes off as a very charming, well rounded guy, who doesn’t take himself too seriously. He was hilarious on Will & Grace! I think he is talented and I enjoy watching him play tortured characters, but I definitely prefer him a little more pulled together. If only because I like him, and I like rooting for him. I’d give him a 5 overall!
Our overall rating for Kevin Bacon? A respectable 4/5! Next month we’ll be reviewing movies starring Elijah Wood. Our first review, for Radio Flyer, will be posted on May 1st, so be sure to check it out!
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