Three independent films worth watching this 4th of July weekend.

Just because a film doesn't have a big budget doesn't mean it doesn't have big ideas or something to say.  Three films that I have seen in the last month have not only caught my attention but my imagination as well.

Chef - Comedy
First from Open Road Films is John Favreau's summer film "Chef.”  The film may not make tons of money, but it will make many people happy.  "Chef" is a story of one man's search for happiness and finding it at the most essential level: food, family, and personal self-worth.  "Chef" includes “Iron Man" alums Robert Downey Jr. and Scarlett Johansson in supporting roles.  But the big stars along with Favreau are Emjay Anthony, John Leguizamo, and Sofia Vergara.  The MPAA gave "Chef" an R rating for language, and some suggestive male bonding references.  The film runs just under 2 hours and worth every minute.

The Rover - Crime Drama

Secondly, I recommend the Australian film from A24 studios titled "The Rover.”  A carefully paced film that loves wide-open spaces, and with a sense of turmoil that burns below the surface.  Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson star in a film that typifies Australian cinematic style with long periods of silence and then sudden bursts of violence that shatters the narrative and reminds the viewer that the world that we are wandering in. is a wilderness of pain and violence.  "The Rover" is a film about the search for humanity, civility and the safety of structure.  The film is violent and deserves its R rating, and runs about 1 hour and 40 minutes.

The Signal - Sci-Fi

Last, but not least is "The Signal" from the art house Focus films.  Director William Eubank takes us on a journey into the depths of conspiracies and into a world of interesting concepts.  Is it Alien contact, or is it something from "The Twilight Zone?"  That is the question "The Signal" asks.   The film stars Brenton Thwaites, Olivia Cooke and Laurence Fishburne star in this well-made stylish Science Fiction adventure.  "The Signal" is Science Fiction in its true form, unaltered by fantastical elements from fantasy or the horror genres.  If you don’t see “The Signal” in theaters, make sure that you catch it on Blu-ray or DVD. Rated PG-13 and runs 85 minutes.

Summer 2014 Independent Film | A Constantly Racing Mind

Chef: Jon Favreau's Fun, Fresh, Feel-good, Family, Food Fest

John Favreau's summer film "Chef," may not make tons of money, but it will make many people happy.  "Chef" is a story of one man's search for happiness and finding it at the most essential level: food, family, and personal self-worth.  Jon Favreau ("Iron Man," "Elf," "Zathura") leads us on a journey that celebrates the art of food, music, friends, traveling, and family.  "Chef" is loosely based on Chef Roy Choi who was chef de cuisine at the Beverly Hilton in 2007 and then left to follow his passion by creating a menu that could be sold from a food truck.  Favreau wrote, directed, and stars in "Chef" with an ensemble cast that includes Robert Downey Jr. ("Sherlock Holmes," "Iron Man," "Less Than Zero"), Scarlett Johansson ("Iron Man 2," "The Prestige"), John Leguizamo ("To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar," "Ice Age") and Dustin Hoffman ("Rain Man," "Tootsie").  Sofia Vergara, ("Modern Family") plays Favreau's ex-wife.  She is the semi-mythical hot sexy ex-wife who will do anything for her ex-husband.  Yeah, that's her. There is a saying in show business about never starring with kids and animals, as they will always steal all the scenes.  That is exactly what Emjay Anthony ("It's Complicated") does as he plays Favreau's and Vergara's 10 year-old son.  Oliver Platt has a few scenes as the staunch food critic that 'ruins' Favreau's character's career.  The MPAA gave "Chef" an R rating for language, and some suggestive male bonding references.  The film runs just under 2 hours and worth every minute.

Be forewarned this film has some scenes that can only be categorized as 'Food Porn.'  For 'El Jefe' Chef Carl Casper (Favreau) who is at the peak of his career as chef de cuisine at a respected Los Angeles restaurant, owned by Riva (Hoffman).  As usual, Carl's day is busy and revolves around dinner at the restaurant.  Hurriedly he must go to the market, find ingredients, and pick up his 10 year-old son to take him to school, get back to the restaurant, and get the line cooks prepping for dinner.  Unlike "Hell's  Kitchen's" celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, or British comedian Lenny Henry from the old BBC TV show "Chef!," Carl conducts his kitchen in a professional and respectful manner when motivating his kitchen staff including his two line cooks, Tony (Bobby Cannavale) and Martin (Leguizamo).  That night, food critic and blogger Ramsey Michel (Platt) is coming to review the restaurant, and most importantly, the food.  Carl wants a new exciting menu that is creative and fresh.  Riva wants the same tried and successful menu that has worked for a good part of 10 years.  Needless to say, as perfect as the meal was, Ramsey Michel gave Casper and company a horrible ad hominem shots at Carl about his weight and lack of creativity.  While contemplating how he is going to come back from this humiliation, he talks 'dirty' to restaurant host and Carl's current love interest, Molly, played by the lovely Scarlett Johansson.  When I say talking dirty, I mean the decadence that is fine food created by a master chef.

Although the year is 2014, many people aren't technically inclined as others and Carl falls in with the technically challenged crowd when it comes to Social Networking.  This is where Percy (Emjay Anthony) comes in.  Armed with a cell phone, Percy is Facebook, Twitter savvy, and helps his dad get onto Twitter.  Carl asks, 'This is just like texting, right?'  Percy, tells him no, but it's clear Carl doesn't get it when he starts flaming Ramsey on Twitter thinking the texts are private.  

After a throw down where Carl not only loses his job as head Chef, he also loses his mind and has a meltdown that another restaurant patron felt obliged to capture for YouTube, he finds himself a flash in the pan of an Internet sensation.  

Throughout the scenes leading up to his exit from Riva's, Carl performs for the camera some amazing culinary prep work, and displays the magic in making the most extraordinary and mouthwatering grilled cheese I ever saw.  When I was a kid, on Sunday afternoons, my parents would take my brother and I to a little restaurant in the Santa Ynez valley just north of Santa Barbara. That is where I would watch (and take mental notes) of the proprietor making a proper Grilled Cheese sandwich with plenty of butter, sourdough bread grilled to perfection, and cheese melted into liquid gold.  The menu for Ramsey Michel's visit includes but not limited to Caviar Egg, French Onion Soup, and Filet Mignon, and for desert, Carl serves his famous chocolate lava cake.  For the throw down, which Carl prepares while at home includes a roast pork belly, with a garlic chili paste rubs, on an heirloom carrot purée with green salsa and pickled radishes.  He also makes a spicy octopus stir-fry that looks mouthwatering.  To go with the stir-fry Carl cooks up a well-seasoned ribeye steak seared to perfection, sliced thinly, and served with roasted potatoes, cauliflower, lemon, and garlic.  For desert, Chef Casper creates a dessert with macerated berries, and real whipping cream.  Unfortunately, Chef Casper never actually allows Ramsey to sample his new fresh menu delights.  

Baking is a science, but cooking is an art, and so is filmmaking.  Sometimes people like what you cook or the film you made or the painting you created, and sometimes they don't.  Like all art, it is subjective and that is where ex-wife Inez (Vergara) comes in.  She knows that his food is excellent and although she and Carl are divorced, their son Percy ties them together.  Seeing that her ex-husband isn't happy with his life, she makes him an offer to start over.  The couple started in Miami, and that is where Carl's initial inspiration came from.  In Miami, they visit the nightclub where Inez's father plays in a salsa band.  Abuelito (Jose C. Hernandez) leads the house in playing Salsa favorites that get the house and the audience moving.  Later, Abuelito reminds Carl that his sandwiches are the best Cuban sandwiches and should make one for his son.  Carl says the food you buy off the street in Miami is better, but finds himself intrigued with the idea.  Inez says she can arrange a meeting with her ex-husband Marvin (Robert Downey Jr.) who can help him get started in the Food Truck business.  As usual, Downey plays an eccentric entrepreneur, who like "Mad Men's" Burt Cooper, doesn't like shoes touching his floors.  Wearing booties, Carl and Marvin's conversation weaves around the subject and the awkwardness that only two ex-husbands of the same woman can conjure up.  The food truck Marvin gives him is a 'fixer-upper' but ultimately, like anything else in this world, with hard work and some love can actually shine.  With the help from Martin, his loyal line cook from LA, and his son's need for a father, the three of them put together one badass food truck.  What kind of food will they sell?  Cuban sandwiches of course. 

Of the music, one can say that the soundtrack is liberally seasoned with R&B and Salsa hits such as Al Green's "Tired of Being Alone,"  Jose C. Hernandez's "La Quimbumba," and Willie Colon "The Hustler," to name a few.  Knowing that one can film a major blockbuster and do it well, allows a cinematographer like Kramer Morgenthau  who was director of photography on "Thor: The Dark World Thor: The Dark World," "Fracture," and a resume that includes a whole slew of television shows like "Game of Thrones," "Boardwalk Empire," and the TV movie "The Five People You Meet in Heaven," to take the simple and direct route.  Morgenthau doesn't try to razzle-dazzle the audience, but instead takes pride in photographing the actors in their best light, and the food as if it were the film's star.  

The journey back to Los Angeles, is inspirational and in some ways somewhat schmaltzy.  Nevertheless, the trio has fun, as they go from one town to another with Percy teaching his dad the art of Social Networking, while Carl shows Percy what kind of dad he really is.  Martin shows us all a unique use for cornstarch during the long night drive in the hot muggy South.  It is said that eating and sharing food is an act of communion, not always religious, but can be very transcendent  In "Chef," the making and sharing of El Jefe's Cuban sandwiches not only puts the fallen chef back on his feet financially but also spiritually.  The cast is exceptional in supporting Favreau's passion film.  It is summer 2014 and the major summer blockbusters are holding the top spots at the box office, however, "Chef" is a film worthy of your time and attention, and when you do see it, makes sure you don't watch it on an empty stomach.  Actually, after watching "Chef," I decided to get my smoker ready, smoked myself a nice pork roast, and made my own Cuban sandwiches for my family and me.

Movie Data

Genre: Comedy

Year:  2014

Staring: Jon Favreau, John Leguizamo, Scarlett Johansson, Dustin Hoffman, Emjay Anthony, Sofía Vergara, Robert Downey Jr. 

Director: Jon Favreau

Producer(s): Sergei Bespalov, Sergei Bespalov, Karen Gilchrist, Olga Lesnova

Writer: JamesJon Favreau

Rating: R

Running Time: 114 Minutes

Release Date: 5/30/2014

Iron Man 3 MTV Movie Award Trailer

Last night on the MTV Movie Awards, the new Iron Man 3 trailer debuted. 

Here it is if you missed it. 








Written and directed by Shane Black, "Iron Man 3" stars Robert Downey, Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, James Badge Dale, ,Jon Favreau, and Ben Kingsley.  Lots of action in this 2 hour and 9 minute film, which opens on May 3, 2013.

Get More: 2013 MTV Movie Awards, Latest Movie News

Don't forget to stay to the end of this film, as there is usually an extra scene after the credits.

Iron Man 2: A Review of the Summer Season's Opener

A Better Clash of Titans

A re you ready for an action-adventure thrill ride? Good, well buckle up for "Iron Man 2" as Robert Downey, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell, and Gwyneth Paltrow hit the big screens Friday. Once again Downey pulls an over the top performance as the man with the cool suit. This two-hour fast paced, rocket ride of a film, advances the Iron Man story, giving us an opportunity to re-enjoy the experience of the first film without rehashing too much of the first story. Fun for the whole family, actor, and director Jon Favreau maintains the directing the helm for "Iron Man 2" while continuing his part as Stark's sideman, Happy Hogan. Like the first film, "Iron Man," make sure you stay for the end credits for the sneak peek of "Iron Man 3."

Picking up where "Iron Man" left off, media images recount Stark's rise to fame as he announces his identity as Iron Man. The scene settles somewhere in a dingy apartment in a squalid Russia city, Anton Vanko and his son Ivan (Mickey Rourke) watch Stark making his announcement. As Anton lies dying, Ivan promises revenge. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) aka Iron Man has problems of his own. Apparently, the device Tony stuck in his chest in the last movie is causing his blood to toxify and he is slowly poisoning himself to death, unable to create a new source of power to keep him and the suit working, Tony figures his end is near. After 35 years, Tony throws another Stark Expo, a yearlong extravaganza of technology and advancement. A bread and circus for the 21st century man, showing a film clip of his father, Howard Stark, played by John Slattery ("Mad Men"), looking like Walt Disney, shows of his, World of Tomorrow where, Everything is achievable through technology. George Lucas once said, "A special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing," and writer/actor Justin Theroux, strives to give "Iron Man 2" a story, failing that he gives it plenty of action. The story meanders a bit, but with all the explosions going on most folks won't notice. Like the James Bond films, auto placement is key in marketing "Iron Man," leaving Stark Expo, and heading for his Audi R8 Spyder V10, Tony and Happy meet with a court subpoena delivered by a U.S. Marshal played by Kate Mara (The Shooter) in a brief appearance. Look for Stan Lee ("Iron Man" creator) in the expo crowd.

The United States government, led by Senator Stern (Garry Shandling), along with Stark's principal competitor, Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) of Hammer Industries, conspires in a plot to gain control of the Iron Man weapon. Stark, in a scene before a congressional hearing that is reminiscent of Howard Hughes in 1947, appeals to the audience with his charisma and his popularity. At the end of the scene, Tony declares that he, Tony Stark, is Iron Man and that he and the suit are one and the government can't have either. Sam Rockwell ("Moon"), playing corporate rival Justin Hammer, gives the film yet another main character to wander off into. In addition to Cheadle, enter Scarlett Johansson as Natalie Rushman, legal aid to Tony and Pepper Potts. Oh, yes Pepper Potts played once again by Gwyneth Paltrow, taking a backseat in the movie, while taking charge of Stark Industries. The trailer for "Iron Man 2" shows a developing relationship that never seemed to make it to the theaters. My only thought there would be; is something going to happen in "Iron Man 3?" Replacing Terrance Howard as Stark's military buddy and confidant, 'Rhodey' Rhodes, Air Force Colonel, is Don Cheadle. In my mind, either Cheadle or Howard could have pulled off this part. Both are brilliant actors; however, this part is only a fourth order part as the real credit goes to Mickey Rourke. Rourke has a plain and ugly, tattoo ridden, smelly, bad greasy-hair look that genuinely makes his villain of a character work. Ivan (Rourke) puts a suit together that rivals Tony's and he presents it at the Monte Carlo Grand Prix. Like a gladiator with electric whips, as part of Ivan's suit's weaponry, Ivan destroys formula one cars, until he crashes Tony's car, Tony barely escapes with the help of Happy, and Pepper and a nice big Roll Royce. With Ivan in prison, Stark must confront the fact that without a power supply that does not poison his blood, he is going to die. Convinced by Natalie/Natasha (Johansson) that he should do whatever he wants for his last birthday, Stark dons the Iron Man suit, gets drunk, and dances around foolishly embarrassing himself, and puts his guests in danger. Rhodes intervenes by donning one of Tony's spare suits, and the two battle it out in true clash of the Titans form. After the battle, Rhodes steals the suit and escapes to Edwards Air force Base, in the Mojave Desert, in the California desert. The military, in league with Justin Hammer, plan to militarize the stolen suit. Hammer has Ivan busted out of prison and recruits him to build working Iron Man suits for his company. Ivan, on the other hand, decides to make Iron Man drones for Hammer, instead of Iron Man suits. George Lucas's Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), the industry standard in special effects since 1977, is an expert on creating drone armies, and on behalf of Ivan Vanko create a set for the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines.

As promised in the first movie, at the very end, after the credits Nick Fury, (Samuel L. Jackson), appears in "Iron Man 2" as behind the scenes guiding force for Tony Stark. As a friend of Tony's father, Howard, Jackson, and agent, Natasha/Natalie, the girl from legal that Pepper hired into Stark Industries, provide and direct Tony toward the key to solving the problem of a clean power supply for himself and insight to his father's intentions for Tony. Robert Downey is "Iron Man," and his charisma is what carries this character and the film. Downey spends more time out of the suit than in the suit, developing the narcissistic, unstable, flawed yet brilliant, Tony Stark. Scarlett Johansson and Gwyneth Paltrow, as Cheadle and even Jackson, are minor characters compared to Rourke and Rockwell. Both actors add to and compliment Downey's role. The special effects are fantastic, and help to tell the story and not overcome it. Favreau does an excellent job, putting an extremely action oriented story in a cohesive manner that gets the story across, develops the multitude of characters, keeps the pace moving and give himself just enough screen time to make his part more than a cameo. Favreau features AC/DC songs from their long career, ranging from "Highway to Hell," "Back in Black" and about twelve others, adding to the sheer thrill to the film.

As the summer movie season begins, "Iron Man 2" is a worthy successor to Iron Man. This film moves the story, and characters to another level. Iron Man2 lives up to the viewer's expectations of what an action-adventure film sequel should be. Heed my warning do not leave the theater until after the credits, to see for yourself what may be coming in "Iron Man 3."

Movie Data

Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Year:  2010

Staring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke

Director: Jon Favreau

Producer(s): Kevin Feige

Writer: Justin Theroux, Stan Lee, Don Heck, Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby

Rating: PG-13

Running Time: 124 minutes

Release Date: 5/10/2010

Originally published on Associated Content on 5/10/2010