Tag: Matthew Lillard

Film Review: “Five Nights at Freddy’s”

Grin and Fazbear it: Frightfully fun feature fares fine

Abby (Piper Rubio) gazes upon some potential new friends at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. 

If you’re looking to take the family out for a Halloween movie this week, you could do worse than Five Nights at Freddy’s. It’s rated PG-13, which already makes it more kid- friendly than most R-rated Halloween fare. The rating no doubt was purposeful, so as to allow legions of young fans access: the film is based on a hugely popular video game of the same name. I’ve never played the game, so I may not be the film’s target audience, but as a lightweight horror movie, it’s amusing enough for a mixed audience of game fans, non-fans, kids and adults. The scares are mostly fun, the gore level is mostly low, and the plot is mostly silly.

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Spinning Platters Interview: Matthew Lillard on “Fat Kid Rules the World”

Matthew Lillard (far right) on the set of his directorial debut FAT KID RULES THE WORLD

“Oh, that’s just semen.” Matthew Lillard is trying to put me at ease about a mysterious glob on the chair I’m about to sit in. As I express my comfort with this substance and take a seat, I stare across the table and look directly into one of the most unforgettable faces of my teen years. Between Serial Mom, Hackers, and Scream alone, Lillard is arguably one of the key cult actors of that greatest of decades. Throw in SLC Punk!, She’s All That, Mad Love, and even If These Walls Could Talk, and we’re talking about a bona fide generational icon. By the time he hit paydirt with his uncanny embodiment of Shaggy in the 2002 blockbuster Scooby Doo and its 2004 sequel, Lillard seemed unstoppable. Then, after a decade of steady and successful work, Lillard entered a lengthy fallow period that tested his personal and professional resolve. But with two high-profile acting gigs over the last year and the victorious release of his long-gestating directorial debut, Fat Kid Rules the World, Lillard is back on the scene in a big way.

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Film Review: “Trouble with the Curve”

“An empty chair? What were you thinking?” Amy Adams and Clint Eastwood in TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE

starring: Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman, Matthew Lillard, Robert Patrick

written by: Randy Brown

directed by: Robert Lorenz

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for language, sexual references, some thematic material and smoking

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Spinning Platters Interview: Judy Greer on “The Descendants”

Judy Greer with Matthew Lillard in THE DESCENDANTS

The Descendants is a very strong contender for the best film of 2011. Directed by Alexander Payne (Sideways, Election) from a script he co-wrote with Jim Rash (Dean Pelton from Community) and Nat Faxon, it tells the story of Matt King (George Clooney), a Hawaii lawyer whose life is turned upside down after his wife is left comatose following a jet-skiing accident. He attempts to rally their daughters, troubled teen Alexandra (Shailene Woodley in a revelatory performance) and tween Scottie (Amara King), but is devastated when Alexandra spitefully informs him their mother was having an affair. As his wife’s condition continues to deteriorate, Matt and his daughters embark on a journey of emotional discovery that eventually leads to Brian Speer (Matthew Lillard, in a surprisingly potent dramatic performance), the other man. It also leads to his wife, Julie, who is played by Judy Greer.

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