Favorite Movies Set in MIAMI

Below is a list of my favorite movies set in Miami, Florida: 

FAVORITE MOVIES SET IN MIAMI

1. “Bad Boys II” (2003) – Martin Lawrence and Will Smith starred in this hilarious sequel to their 1995 hit film about two Miami cops who, this time, battle a Cuban drug dealer. Directed by Michael Bay, the movie co-starred Gabrielle Union, Jordi Mollà and Joe Pantoliano.

2. “Miami Vice” (2006) – Michael Mann directed this remake of the 1980s television crime drama about two undercover cops for the Miami-Dade Police, who investigate a Columbian drug lord on behalf of the F.B.I. Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell starred.

3. “Absence of Malice” (1981) – Paul Newman and Sally Field starred in this high-powered drama about a liquor warehouse owner, whose life begins to unravel when a prosecutor leaks a false story about him being involved in the murder of a union leader. Sydney Pollack directed.

4. “2 Fast 2 Furious” (2003) – Paul Walker and Tyrese Gibson starred in this exciting second film in the FAST AND FUIROUS franchise about former cop Brian O’Conner and childhood friend Roman Pearce forced to help the Feds arrest a local Miami drug importer in order to clear their names. Directed by John Singleton, Eva Mendes, Chris Bridges and Cole Hauser co-starred.

5. “The Crew” (2000) – Richard Dreyfuss, Burt Reynolds, Seymour Cassel and Dan Hedaya starred as four retired mobsters who decide to make one last score to save their apartment at a South Beach retirement home. Directed by Michael Dinner, the movie co-starred Carrie-Anne Moss, Jeremy Piven and Jennifer Tilly.

6. “Bad Boys” (1995) – Martin Lawrence and Will Smith first starred together in this funny movie as Miami-Dade cops Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey; protect a witness to a murder, while investigating a case of missing heroin. Directed by Michael Bay, the movie co-starred Tea Leoni, Tchéky Karyo, Joe Pantoliano and Theresa Randle.

7. “The Birdcage” (1996) – Mike Nichols directed Robin Williams and Nathan Lane in this funny remake of the 1978 movie “La Cage aux Folles” about a gay couple who pretends to be straight for the conservative parents of their son’s fiancée. Gene Hackman, Dianne Weist, and Dan Futterman co-starred.

8. “Marley & Me” (2008) – Owen Wilson and Jennifer Anniston starred in this heartwarming adaptation of John Grogan’s 2005 book about the experiences of a journalist and his family with their incorrigible Labrador Retriever. The movie was directed by David Frankel.

9. “A Hole in the Head” (1959) – Frank Capra directed this engaging comedy about a womanizing widower who struggles to raise his son and hang on to his small Miami Beach hotel. The movie starred Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, and Edward G. Robinson.

10. “Moon Over Miami” (1941) – Betty Grable and Carole Landis starred in this charming musical about two Texas sisters who move to Miami in order to meet and marry millionaires. Directed by Walter Lang, the movie also starred Don Ameche and Robert Cummings.

Top Five Favorite “THE GOOD WIFE” Season One Episodes

Here is a list of my top five favorite episodes from Season One (2009-2010) of CBS’s “THE GOOD WIFE”, which stars Julianna Margulies:

TOP FIVE FAVORITE “THE GOOD WIFE” SEASON ONE EPISODES

1. (1.09) “Threesome” – Kevin Conway first appears as the firm’s senior partner, Jonas Stern, who is defended by Alicia after he is arrested. Alicia also has to deal with Amber Madison, the prostitute who had slept with Peter, after the latter appears on a talk show.

 

2. (1.22) “Hybristophilia” – Dylan Baker makes his second appearance as Colin Sweeney, Alicia’s wealthy client who is discovered by her, handcuffed to a dead woman.

 

3. (1.04) “Fixed” – Alicia suspects jury tampering has occurred in a class action suit against a drug company. In a second story line, Peter prepares for his appeal and Alicia is asked to testify on his behalf.­

 

4. (1.13) “Bad” – Dylan Baker made his first appearance as Colin Sweeney, a wealthy, immoral client of Alicia’s; whose innocence she questions in the death of his wife.

 

5. (1.02) “Stripped” – Alicia and Will represent a stripper who had been raped at a bachelor party by the groom, a man from a wealthy Chicago family. Also, Alicia confronts Peter about his indiscretions and the kids find doctored photos of Peter’s indiscretions, but hide them from her.­

Dropping “THE GOOD WIFE”

DROPPING “THE GOOD WIFE”

I am dropping “THE GOOD WIFE” Here is why:

After watching “Another Ham Sandwich”, I have decided to drop “THE GOOD WIFE”. That last episode and the fans’ reaction to it made my skin crawl.

It was very uncomfortable to watch two African-American female characters being portrayed as the villains of this episode. But what really turned me off was the fans’ reactions. Many of them reacted as if both Wendy Scott-Carr and Dana Lodge were two people who deserved to get their comeuppance. Was the idea of black females in their positions so offensive to them?

Why did they ignore Peter Florrick’s decision to put the investigation in motion? Why did they ignore his confession that estranged wife Alicia Florrick’s affair with Will Gardner led him to green light the investigation? Why did they ignore that Cary Agos probably told Wendy Scott-Carr of his suspicions regarding Alicia’s affair – something he has harbored since Season One? Why did he tell Scott-Carr about his suspicions in the first place? Why did the fans ignore that Alicia’s decision to sleep with Will without even filing for divorce got her into this situation in the first place? Or that she was too gutless to tell her kids about her affair with Will?

Instead, the fans gloated over Scott-Carr’s defeat inside the courtroom and Dana’s realization that she had been played by investigator Kalinda Sharma with a relish that bordered on exaggeration. Why did they do that? Did racism and a little sexism played parts in their reactions? I suspect so. And why did Robert and Michelle King portrayed both Scott-Carr and Dana in such a negative light?

I am simply too disgusted to continue watching this series.

“THE BOUNTY HUNTER” (2010) Review

“THE BOUNTY HUNTER” (2010) Review

When I first saw the preview trailers for both ”THE BOUNTY HUNTER” and ”COP OUT”, I had naturally assumed I would prefer this new action/romantic comedy starring Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that my opinions of the two movie proved to be reversed. I am not claiming that ”COP OUT” was an exceptional action/comedy film. Trust me, it was not. But I consider it a piece of cinematic artistry in compare to the incoherent ”THE BOUNTY HUNTER”.

To my knowledge, ”THE BOUNTY HUNTER” told the story of a New York journalist named Nicole Hurley, who jumped bailed and ignored a court summons over an altercation with a cop in order to pursue a promising story about a suicide that smelled suspiciously like a murder. Hot on the journalist’s trail is her ex-husband, a former cop-turned-bounty hunter named Milo Boyd. He had been given the assignment to find her and turn her over to the police. Once Milo found Nicole, the two were forced to contend with another former cop, who also happened to be a killer; and a pair of hired thugs who worked for a bookie to whom Milo owned money.

Judging from the plot’s outline, one might assume that it was not that complicated. I wish I could say that the movie was not complicated. After all, there were aspects of it that I enjoyed. For instance, I enjoyed the bed-and-breakfast scene where Nicole and Milo a moonlight dinner on the hotel’s terrace. Not only did it featured first-rate acting by Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler, but also allowed their characters to reflect upon their error in getting a divorce. I also enjoyed the rather humorous scene in which the pair tracked down a golf caddy, who could provide information on the killer, to a country club. And Nicole and Milo’s encounter with the killer on the road back to New York City, was filled with both humor and good action. I must almost admit that director Andy Tennant did a solid job in pacing the film, despite the unnecessary plotlines in the script. One last thing . . . I enjoyed Oliver Bokelberg’s crisp and colorful photography of Manhattan, Atlantic City and other parts of New Jersey and New York State.

As for the plot . . . what in the hell happened? What led screenwriter Sarah Thorp to take a straightforward plot and screw it up? What problem did I have with the story’s plot? Its execution made no sense whatsoever. I had no problems with the idea of a bounty hunter searching his bail jumping ex-wife. However, I had a problem with how Thorp handled the entire story. In the movie, it took Milo a few hours to track down Nicole from her Manhattan apartment, to her singer/mother at an Atlantic City hotel and finally to a race track. But once Milo caught up with Nicole, it took them two days to return to Manhattan. Why? Because Thorp had side tracked the couple with some unnecessary adventures.

One, Nicole and Milo stopped at an Atlantic City casino-hotel to gamble at the craps table. Milo had made a deal with Nicole that if she served as his good luck charmed and enabled him to win at least $5,000 (the money he was receiving for her capture), he would let her go. He ended up winning $8,000, she walked away, he eventually lost the money with more gambling and they ended up spending the night together at the casino-hotel. Their second day on the road included a close encounter with the killer (unmemorably portrayed by Peter Greene), a side trip to a country club to interrogate the golf caddy and an unnecessary stop at the very bed-and-breakfast where they had spent their honeymoon. Meanwhile, the movie also focused upon a pair of hired thugs for a female bookie portrayed by Oscar nominee Cathy Moriarty, to whom Milo owned money due to his gambling habit. A good deal of mistaken identity ensued when the thugs picked up Nicole’s newspaper colleague, whom one of them had mistaken for Milo. Finally, the movie ended with a showdown with the killer and Milo’s ex-partner. The entire sequence was nothing more than a vague, yet convoluted mess that left me feeling dissatisfied.

Some critics have complained about a lack of screen chemistry between Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler. I would have to disagree with that opinion . . . somewhat. I must admit that the two stars had failed to produce any sparks in their first scene together. Fortunately, Aniston and Butler managed to create some kind of chemistry, as the movie progressed. But they did not have the kind of chemistry that Butler had with Katherine Heigel in ”THE UGLY TRUTH” or Aniston had with Vince Vaughn in ”THE BREAK UP”. In fact, Butler’s role seemed like a remake of his Mike Chadway character in ”THE UGLY TRUTH”. Whereas his Chadway character had managed to perfectly contrast with Heigel’s prissy character in the 2009 comedy, his Milo Boyd character failed to do the same with Aniston’s more sardonic and extroverted personality in”THE BOUNTY HUNTER”. But the pair still managed to create some chemistry.

Only a handful of the supporting cast actually impressed me. Dorian Missick did a solid job of portraying the ambiguity of Detective Bobby Singer, the police detective who was Milo’s ex-partner, the couple’s close friend and of whom they suspected of being corrupt. Christine Baranski was charming and funny as Nicole’s mother, a nightclub singer at an Atlantic City casino. Siobhan Fallon was equally funny as the wife of the bail bondsman that Milo works for. Christian Borle gave a hilarious performance as the country club golf caddy who reluctantly gave Milo and Nicole the information they needed on the killer. I would have included Jason Sudeikis’ hilarious portrayal of Nicole’s wacky colleague and former one-night stand, Stewart. But once he got caught up in the useless bookie storyline, he became a nuisance and I eventually lost interest in him.

In the end, I do not know if I could really recommend ”THE BOUNTY HUNTER”. A forgettable villain and numerous subplots that made the movie’s story convoluted prevented it from going anywhere. Pity. The movie could have been a first-rate comedy in the vein of 1988’s ”MIDNIGHT RUN”. Instead, it turned out to be a second-rate movie with too many flaws.