5 posts categorized "Memoir"

March 30, 2025

THE PENGUIN LESSONS

Jo JoWelcome!

Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does.

Punk heart still beating.

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ColeSmithey.comBased on Tom Michell's 2016 memoir about his time spent teaching English during a coup in Argentina in 1976, "The Penguin Lessons" is a stellar politically-minded comedy, packed with subtle and not-so-subtle humor, historic political perspective, and Steve Coogan's infectious wit.

And, there's a penguin. I know what you're thinking, another shaggy dog story. Not so fast.

"The Penguin Lessons" is all about metaphors. As such, our penguin guide gifts us with the power of identifying underlying meanings in pretty much everything that the movie has to offer.

ColeSmithey.com

Facing up to social responsibility is on the list for Steve Coogan's instinctively truth-telling rendition of Tom Michell. Lying takes too much effort. It's easier for Tom to rip off the band-aid when touchy questions arise.

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Throw in a dramatic tearjerker aspect, and you've got some sublime entertainment.

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Björn Gustafsson is excellent as Tom's taller-but-less-confident co-worker.

Serious and funny in equal parts, the well-paced narrative gravitates toward deeper truths than you realize until you are stuck in its deep water. 

ColeSmithey.com

However potentially treacherous the dramatic terrain of working with children and/or animals, Steve Coogan dances through the tricky narrative like the experienced dancer he proves to be in one of the movie's pivotal sequences.

It's always value-added when there's dance involved. This sequence shines.

ColeSmithey.com

Here is a family movie built to stand the test of time. "The Penguin Lessons" will be a safe bet when you see it available to watch on an airplane.

Steve Coogan's comic genius seems to always find its level. This thematically rich material perfectly matches Coogan's advanced skill-set.

ColeSmithey.com

Hilarious. I couldn't possibly count how many times I laughed or cried during this masterful picture.

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Director Peter Cattaneo ("The Full Monty") captures every microscopic nuance of comedy, tragedy, satire, romance, and mystery in this wonderful movie. 

Impressive.

Rated PG-13. 110 mins.

5 Stars

Cozy Cole

ColeSmithey.com

February 20, 2022

THE HAND OF GOD

Welcome!

Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does.ColeSmithey.comThis ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.

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Thanks a lot acorns!

Your kind generosity keeps the reviews coming!

ColeSmithey.com

 

 

ColeSmithey.comDreadful.

This movie is a dog.

Dogdamn it. 

Paolo Sorrentino's filmic coming-of-age memoir has some pretty scenery but plays like a train going .001 miles per hour.

Characters ostensibly based on real people are just hateful, mean, and socially destructive.

ColeSmithey.com

Rob Brydon's and Steve Coogan's "Trip To Italy" movie is a much better choice if a modern day Italian travelogue is what you're after .

ColeSmithey.com

Rated R. 130 mins. 

Zero StarsZERO STARS

Cozy Cole

Cole Smithey on Patreon

January 19, 2022

THE TENDER BAR

ColeSmithey.comGroupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does.

Welcome!

This ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.

Get cool rewards when you click on the button to pledge your support through Patreon.

Thanks a lot acorns!

Your kind generosity keeps the reviews coming!

Cole Smithey on Patreon



ColeSmithey.comAmateurish memoir adaptation.

George Clooney has lost his touch as a director.

Clooney's eighth feature effort is hobbled by myriad missteps. 

Rudimentary rules of filmmaking get broken at every turn.

Voice-over narration (show don't tell), inept acting (Daniel Ranieri's cringe-inducing performance), and an on-the-nose script (beauty-can-disguise-a-horrible-soul), doom this movie to the dust bin of history.

ColeSmithey.com

Memoir moral: J.R. Moehringer wasn't bright enough to realize he had a responsible father figure all along. Duh.

Dumbass.

Pulitzer — Schumilitzer. 

1 Star

Cozy Cole

Cole Smithey on Patreon

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