Not Again

I'm sure you'll all be thrilled to hear that I am once again making ...

... squares. And taking phenomenally crappy pictures of them as well! My word, can you believe the hideousness that is this picture? Out of focus, washed out, over exposed, I hit the trifecta of bad photography with this baby. Any way, the Pine Ridge Elders group is focusing on squares for the month of February. I will try to keep photos of squares to a minimum (especially bad photos) but ya know, sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

I typed that last line with a Boston accent as a clever segue into today's movie review, so go back and re-read that line, k? First and foremost, 5 stars out of 5 for this amazing movie. Ben Affleck stars as a career criminal by the name of Doug MacRay who specializes in bank jobs with his three childhood friends. But this movie is more than just a shoot 'em up cops and robbers film. It's about redemption. (Doesn't that sound all film critic-y?).

During the course of a robbery, the boys take a young bank manager, Claire (the lovely Rebecca Hall), hostage. Although she is eventually released unharmed, there is still concern that she may be able to identify one of them. It falls to Doug to "scope her out" and see if she remembers anything incriminating. Eventually, this being a Hollywood movie, they begin to develop a romantic relationship which leads to Doug questioning the direction of his life. Once a promising hockey star who succumbed to the lure of drugs, Doug is now 12 steppin' it and rethinking his career.

But not everyone in Charlestown is on board with the idea of Doug going straight. His boss, Fergie, played by the incredible Pete Postlethwaite, threatens to do to Claire what he did to Doug's mom. And so, Doug plans what he hopes is his final heist.

The movie also stars Jon Hamm, of Mad Men fame, an FBI agent who always seems to be ten minutes too late. I was concerned that all I'd be able to see was Don Draper but kudos to ol' Jon, he did a fine job. And last, but certainly not least, there's Jeremy Renner, who is up for Best Supporting Actor, as Doug's closest friend James Coughlin. His performance alone is worth seeing the movie for. The proverbial loose cannon, you never know which way Jem is going to go. Usually, it's the wrong way. So there you have it, my first attempt at a movie review longer than 10 words. In closing, see this movie. You won't be disappointed.