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Cameron Crowe's "Aloha"

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  • Cameron Crowe's "Aloha"

    https://www.yahoo.com/movies/s/camer...045036078.html

    Aloha on the Like Like Highway.

  • #2
    Re: Best / WORST Movie that takes place in Hawaii?

    http://www.inquisitr.com/2118648/cam...g-whitewashed/

    Does Aloha means goodbye?

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Cameron Crowe's "Aloha"

      I'm a bad Hawaiian, I guess. I'm looking forward to this film. Apparently it's not a very good film (per the Sony hack leaks), but I like Cameron Crowe. I find it weird that suddenly you need permission to use the word 'Aloha,' though I'm not surprised that Walter Ritte found his way to the the tip of the "outrage" spear.

      Not every Hawaiian is outraged, obviously.

      http://www.pressreader.com/usa/honol...10360/TextView

      "It deserves the name aloha," Kanahele said of the film, which he had seen in a private screening for local participants... "They did their homework when it was anything to do with our culture..." In the film, Cooper plays a military contractor brought in to negotiate an agreement with the leader of a Hawaiian sovereignty organization, Kanahele said... He said he hoped the film might stimulate a greater interest and engagement in Hawaii’s history and the process of establishing a sovereign government. "This movie is maybe going to help get the word out," Kanahele said.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Cameron Crowe's "Aloha"

        I have no problem at all with the movie title "Aloha". This is not the first time that a movie has had "Aloha" in its title. Several other movies and dozens of TV episodes use the word "Aloha". Here is a quick list I pulled from Internet Movie Database:

        Aloha (2015 movie)

        Aloha (2012 TV Series)
        Aloha (2013 TV Movie)
        Aloha! (2009 TV Series)
        Aloha (1984)
        Aloha (1931 movie)
        Aloha Summer
        Aloha Vet (2015 TV series)
        Aloha Bobby & Rose (1975)
        Elvis Aloha From Hawaii (TV Concert)
        Aloha Scooby Doo
        Aloha Paradise (1981 TV series)
        Aloha (several TV episodes of various series)
        Aloha Daze
        Aloha Action
        Aloha Hooey (1942 - short)
        Aloha Oe (1915 movie)
        Aloha Means Goodbye (1974 TV movie)
        Aloha Buddha
        Aloha Parade (1998 TV Movie)
        Aloha Hawaii (1958 TV series)
        Aloha My Love (1972)
        Finding Aloha
        Hawaii Songs of Aloha (TV movie)

        Several are these are quite obscure.

        What the current flap with the new movie does is just creates more buzz and curiosity about the movie and probably works counter to boycott pleas.

        Checking BoxOffice Mojo this weekend will yield sales results.

        If the movie flops, then Sony makes it up on DVD, and streaming rights.

        Mind you if one looks in the yellow pages there are dozens if not hundreds of businesses that use the word "Aloha".

        The word is not sacred. Sorry folks.
        I'm still here. Are you?

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Cameron Crowe's "Aloha"

          Sometimes confusing and often self-indulgent, Aloha is also kind of fabulous to watch. That's mostly thanks to a great cast.
          http://www.torontosun.com/2015/05/28...ant-experience

          I’m recommending it for its sometimes loony sense of wonder, its trippy spirituality, its brilliant cast and because I seem to be a sap for even the Cameron Crowe movies almost nobody else likes.
          http://live-sun-times-entertainment....al-commentary/

          He may have set out to serve audiences a luau spread featuring a crispy roast pig, but the results taste more like Spam.
          http://www.thewrap.com/aloha-review-...cameron-crowe/

          Cameron Crowe's Hawaii-based rom-com drama "Aloha" suffers not only from a low ha factor, but from overwritten, inflated dialogue that makes its characters sound like they've just stepped out of a graduate student's play oozing with clever verbosity.
          http://www.dailyherald.com/article/2...ife/150528888/

          It’s an imperfect picture littered with flaws, but sometimes those movies can be the most interesting ones. The doors to the Aloha cult fan club are officially open. I'll take one ticket, please.
          http://www.miami.com/039aloha039-pg-13-article

          Crowe displays a willingness to reach for ambitious ideas and bighearted, emotionally naked moments that other name-brand filmmakers are too terrified to explore. Aloha is a big mess, but it's also at war with American cynicism, and wars get messy.
          http://www.npr.org/2015/05/28/408836...ance-to-hawaii

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Cameron Crowe's "Aloha"

            Is this movie a more realistic view of Hawaii than Pearl Harbor, the movie with Katy Perry's ex-husband, or Adam Sandler's movies?

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Cameron Crowe's "Aloha"

              No one says "no" to the Sexiest Man Alive.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Cameron Crowe's "Aloha"

                Box Office Mojo's Weekend Estimate:

                Aloha (2015)

                Total Lifetime Grosses
                Domestic: $10,000,000
                Domestic Summary

                Opening Weekend: $10,000,000

                (#6 rank, 2,815 theaters, $3,552 average)
                % of Total Gross: 100.0%
                > View All Weekends
                Widest Release: 2,815 theaters

                In Release: 3 days / 0.4 weeks

                According to Wikipedia the movie cost $37 million to produce.
                I'm still here. Are you?

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Cameron Crowe's "Aloha"

                  A friend and I saw the 2nd showing of the day for this movie on Sunday morning (5/31/15) at the Ward Theater and it was presented in one of their large screens. It was lightly attended so we had a lot of room around of us.

                  The major reason why we went to this movie was because it was filmed in Hawaii, which turned out alright. There are times that this movie was confusing at times, vague at other times, funny at still yet other times, and then they throw in a minor conspiracy into a rather strange romantic comedy.

                  My suggestion go to the Tuesday $6 showings. You might need to see it twice just to figure out what is going on.

                  Also made the comment to my friend that if the Varsity Theater was still around this movie would be playing there.
                  Last edited by helen; June 1, 2015, 01:07 AM.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Cameron Crowe's "Aloha"

                    http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/b..._to_Aloha.html

                    Would it be better if Emma Stone's character last name would be Nagel instead of Ng?

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Cameron Crowe's "Aloha"

                      Oops! Slammed into the PAYWALL.

                      Free content, probably same story....

                      http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...ewashed-aloha/
                      Last edited by mel; June 4, 2015, 05:10 PM.
                      I'm still here. Are you?

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Cameron Crowe's "Aloha"

                        Emma Stone should have speak in a fake cartoon Asian accent like local radio deejay Taka.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Cameron Crowe's "Aloha"

                          Crowe's apology confirms how I was interpreting reports of the Allison Ng's characters repeated assertions of her mixed heritage. Not as ham-handed writing to browbeat us into accepting that character point, but that the character was conditioned to counter assumptions made of someone who looked like her.

                          Unfortunately, every movie exists in its own world and its own meta universe, so I agree it was still problematic for an actor to play a character struggling specifically with ethnic traits and stereotypes that the actor couldn't.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Cameron Crowe's "Aloha"

                            From this weekend's Box Office.... June 5 - 7
                            http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/

                            9 6 Aloha Sony

                            Weekend gross: $3,240,312 -66.5% 2,815 - $1,151

                            Total Gross - $16,282,116
                            I'm still here. Are you?

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Cameron Crowe's "Aloha"

                              Sorry. This is long, but for once my verbosity isn't self-indulgent. I felt I had to address the controversy and review the film. As a person who has been accused (in usually a well-meaning way) of not looking Caucasian (I'm as Caucasian as I am Asian), I'm sensitive to Allison Ng's experience, but man: this is not a good film.

                              Aloha (2015)
                              Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams, Bill Murray, Alec Baldwin, John Krasinski. Written and directed by Cameron Crowe.

                              I’m going to address, as succinctly as I can, the controversy stirred up by Cameron Crowe’s Aloha, and then review the film on its own merits, which of course it deserves as an artistic creation for its own sake.

                              Emma Stone is Allison Ng, an air force captain stationed in Honolulu. She has a half-Chinese father and a half-Hawaiian mother, making her half Caucasion, a quarter Chinese, and a quarter Hawaiian. In Hawaii, that’s not an unusual mix, and Crowe has stated that this character was always meant to look Caucasian and to have issues about not looking Hawaiian. This, too, is not unusual; in fact, it demonstrates a deeper understanding of Hawaii’s mix of ethnicities than Hollywood is known to represent.

                              I admit that I’m still confused about the controversy, but if I get most of it, the two major issues among complainants are (1) that very few characters in leading roles in mainstream films are Asian or Pacific Islanders, so when a prominent character like this comes along, it should be given to an Asian or Pacific Islander actor, since Asian and Pacific Islander actors almost never get a fair shot at ethnically non-specific parts, and (2) that Stone doesn’t look at all Chinese or Hawaiian, and therefore is undeserving of the part. Boiled down to its essence, the problem with casting Stone is that (1) she isn’t actually Hawaiian or Chinese, thus taking a role someone else should get, and (2) she doesn’t look Hawaiian or Chinese, thus representing these ethnicities poorly, or white-washing a character of color.

                              I agree with where the first complaint comes from, but I do not think a director should cast a lesser actor merely because he or she is descended from certain people. In much of the published outrage when Aloha was in theaters were lists of actors from Hawaii who would have been great. The sentiment is admirable, but I wholeheartedly disagree with the assessment of those actors’ chops. Emma Stone is a very, very good actress, with a presence and likability matched by very few actors her age. If you first saw her in Superbad, as I did, you know what I’m talking about. Even in that minor role, she had the presence of a star. Sure, she’s had a few bad films and bad performances, but it’s tough to argue against her talent. To be clear, I am not saying those local actresses are not good. I am saying that what I’ve seen of them does not tell me they are clearly better choices for a starring role opposite Rachel McAdams and Bradley Cooper. And yes, I understand the irony of not being able to picture those actors in these roles when those actors have never been given a shot at these roles. It’s a problem I don’t deny, but I will repeat my assertion that even in small, supporting roles, Emma Stone gave every indication that she would someday be the star she is today.

                              I’m less objective about the second complaint, which implies that Hawaiian-ness or Chinese-ness must be represented by a certain look. Like the Allison character, I am of mixed ethnicity, and I’ve been told my whole life that I don’t look Caucasian. I’m totally okay with that assessment, but it’s unfair to deny me my racial identity, as some have, just because I don’t look a certain way. My sister looks much more Caucasian than Asian, and I’ve seen the way some people treat her with a certain mistrust because of it, a treatment I have never received despite the fact that our lineage is identical. Stone looks as Asian as I look Caucasian, so I don’t see a disconnect between her appearance and this character’s racial composition, and neither should anyone who spends even a little bit of time in Hawaii.

                              It is a conversation worth having, because representation is no small issue. I wrote my Masters thesis on sex representation in children’s literature, so I am sensitive to the cause. Still, a concern about the issue doesn’t have to be expressed in outrage, especially not the sort that implies an artist’s responsibility to serving any issue other than the realization of the artist’s vision. If the writer-director’s vision says Emma Stone will best serve his art, he owes an explanation to nobody. If it succeeds, the success belongs to him and the other contributors to the film’s production. Likewise if it fails. And if it fails, maybe it is because he didn’t cast a more Hawaiian-looking actress in the role, but that’s his decision to make, with no apology. It’s unlikely Crowe would tell you how to make your film; why is it your place to tell him how to make his?

                              So strong are my feelings about art for art’s sake that the more I read about the outrage, the more determined I was to like Aloha. Alas. Despite my fervent efforts, that just isn’t meant to be, because Aloha is a bad movie, and the casting of Emma Stone is a huge, huge reason.

                              But it’s not because Stone isn’t Hawaiian or Chinese. It’s because she hasn’t spent enough time in Hawaii. Her pronunciations, which are mostly okay in a textbook sense, sound forced, as if she’s just learned them and is auditioning for a part. The syllables are all there, but the inflections and rhythms are all off, and while someone not from Hawaii might not recognize a mispronunciation, just about any reasonably attentive moviegoer can recognize a struggling actor, and that’s where Stone’s performance fails.
                              I was convinced of this during a few scenes near the end, when Stone is forced to reach into that place actors go whenever they really have to emote sincerely. For those short moments, you see the actress she usually is, and you see why Crowe thought she was right for this part.

                              Unburdened with unfamiliar ethnic backgrounds, Cooper and McAdams are their usual magnetic selves, with McAdams performing especially well. As well as possible in a pretty bad story, anyway.

                              I’ll spare you too much of a summary, but the guts of it look like this: Cooper is a former military pilot hired to work with a billionaire in launching a satellite from Hawaii. He needs the permission of a native Hawaiian group (modeled after an actual group), and because he’s friends with the group’s leader, he’s well suited for the job. But the military doesn’t trust him, so Allison Ng is assigned to tag along and keep him out of trouble. Meanwhile, he reconnects with a former lover (McAdams), now living on base with her pilot husband (John Krasinski) and two children. She’s unhappy with her marriage, and it seems Cooper has come along at just the right time for the saying of long-unsaid things.

                              Crowe tries to do a lot with this script, most of it admirable but misguided. He calls this film his “love letter to Hawaii,” and it’s a sincere letter, but it betrays an insufficient relationship with the fiftieth state for what the movie tries to do. Casting Alec Baldwin and Bill Murray in cartoonish roles exaggerates the story’s lack of authenticity, and there are a few silent exchanges between Cooper and John Krasinski that are well imagined but cartoonishly executed. Combined, these missteps remind me of those maddening days in the Sunday funnies, when the inking is off by just a few millimeters, bleeding over the black lines meant to give them their purpose.

                              4/10 (IMDb rating)
                              48/100 (Criticker rating)
                              But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
                              GrouchyTeacher.com

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