Upon watching the trailer for this, I decided that I really wanted to take a look at it. It seemed like a pretty untypical and upbeat comedy about friendships and comradery, and the beautiful scenery was enough to pull me in. Here we have one of those films that I feel can be described as "nice". It's just that simple, feel-good slice of life kind of story, where the biggest dramatic moments don't seem all that dramatic. A "Sunday Afternoon" movie, if you will. London music executive, Danny (Daniel Mays) heads to the remote fishing village of Port Isaac, Cornwall, for his colleague, Henry's (Christian Brassington) stag weekend. There, his boss, Troy (Noel Clarke), pranks him into approaching a group sea shanty singing fishermen; Jim (James Purefoy), Jago (David Hayman), Leadville (Dave Johns) and Rowan (Sam Swainsbury). They're a group of very likable men with life experience, and when they get singing, you can't help but get into it. Without realizing that he was being pranked the whole time, Danny gives the group his word that he can make them successful - his word meaning a hell of a lot around this town. The group, however, values their friendships, their community, and the living they make as fisherman far over fame and fortune, so it will take some convincing on Danny's part. However, soon enough, Danny finds a charm about the town's community, and simple lives in comparison to his own. He grows especially fond of Jim's daughter, Alwyn (Tuppence Middleton), and it's enough to make him re-evaluate his fast lifestyle altogether. There's not a whole hell of a lot to criticize about this movie. Really, it's just a nice, subtle romantic story that goes on while most of the Fisherman's Friends stuff is a bit more of a background thing. That may be my only real criticism here; it's another film whose title isn't really what it's all about. Kinda like with 'Inglorious Basterds', I came into it wanting a bit more of the film's namesake than I actually got. But it's still a perfectly good film. I think what really sells it, for myself, is a mixture of the likable fisherman who make up the group, and the scenery of the small village. It looks like the kind of place I'd see one day and decide "I want to retire right here". It's just so mpleasant and pretty, and reminded me a lot of my trip to UK I took a couple of years ago, where I saw several places like it. If you're living in Canada, one might compare it to the smaller fishing towns of Nova Scotia. If there's nothing else to like about the film, it's beautifully shot on location in Port Isaac, Cornwall. I can't honestly think of much more to say about this one. I wouldn't by any means consider it a Top 10 title for the year of 2020, but I can recommend it to anyone looking for something a little more upbeat and simple. It provides a nice escape from these hard times, you get to know and like most of the characters, and it's not trying all too hard to be anything more than what it is. So by all means, on your next day off, grab yourself a pint or two, sit, and enjoy one of the simpler pleasures of movie titles floating around out there right now. 3/5
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Cards on the table, I'm not much of a political mind. I know who I side with, I know who I vote for, but to discuss it with anyone always ends up being a terrible experience. I couldn't agree with Linus of 'Peanuts' fame more when he says "There are three things I've learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin." Pumpkin aside, that's just a great tidbit of advice. It's just an argument that's gonna upset everyone, waiting to happen... Sometimes though, we have to. However, while I may NOT be the best person to review a movie like this, I'll give it a whirl. I wanted to check it out based on the fact that it was written and directed by Jon Stewart. I'm not what you'd call a super fan, but I do appreciate what he has to say, often able to bring it down to my level so I can understand things a little better. This is why we don't see a lot of political thrillers on any of my review lists, but besides that, his perspective was something I felt would translate well to screen for a guy like me. On top of that, this was a comedy, so maybe it could be a little more up my alley. Our story involves (fictional) Democratic campaigner, Gary Zimmer (Steve Carell), who represented Hilary Clinton in the big election of 2016. After the results of an election he thought for sure was in the bag, he's left a bit desperate. He's soon shown a YouTube video, however, of Marine Colonel, Jack Hastings, shown standing up for undocumented immigrants who reside in his small, right-leaning hometown of Deerlaken, Wisconsin. Upon viewing the video, Zimmer is convinced that he can convince Americans of the heartland to vote Democratic in the next election by running Hastings as Democratic Mayoral candidate for Deerlaken. However, getting in his way is the conservative population of the town, as well as his opponent, Faith Brewster (Rose Byrne), who is pulling out all the stops for the repeated Mayor Braun (Brent Sexton). Can Zimmer, with the help of Hasting's daughter, Diana (Mackenzie Davis) convince a conservative town to start voting Democrat? When all said and done, as expected, Stewart's writing actually worked for me here. I pretty much got what was going on, and actually enjoyed the film for what it was. Without spoiling anything, there is an interesting twist with, what I think, is a great message to give to the world. Unfortunately, that message is perhaps a little bit oversimplified. Seeing a lot of disappointment with this title in its average ratings, I get the feeling the reasons lie somewhere between that oversimplification, and personal politics, which will always be a thing when it comes to a movie like this. I thought it was decent, myself, and I appreciated what the final message was. Even if it does come across as too simple, it's something I personally feel we kinda need right now with everything happening in the world. Take a look for yourself and see what you think though. You'll get some laughs along the way, especially if you're a fan of Carell and/or Stewart. Much like the way it works with politics, I have my opinion on this one, and it's obvious to me that not everyone will agree. If nothing else, it's a pretty light comedy to watch in such a dark time. 3/5 Every now and then, I see a trailer for a movie that looks like a good, simple story that I'd enjoy. No effects necessary, no gruesome whatnot, no confusing plot twists, just a good story with some good characters - especially if those characters have a chance to grow on you over the length of the film. This was one such movie that sprung to my attention, about a month ago with the trailer, but I didn't quite know what it all entailed. It looked like something that might be up my alley, and it would almost surely provide a nice escape into a COVID-19-free reality. For that reason alone, I can already recommend it. The story goes that at the tender age of 7, Scott Carlin (Pete Davidson) lost his father in a tragic fire, while on the job. He now lives at home with his Mother, Margie (Marisa Tomei), in his mid-twenties, and his only real ambition is to one day open a tattoo parlor/restaurant. While his dreams seem out of whack, some of his friends still allow him to practice his inking skills on them, though he's not exactly a pro. While his older, and more ambitious sister, Claire (Maude Apatow) heads off to College, Scott stays put, fulfilling his days with smoking copious amounts of pot, and hanging out with his burnout friends, Oscar (Ricky Velez), Richie (Lou Wilson) and Igor (Moises Arias); the only one who really still allows Scott to practice his skills on. He's also constantly, secretly hooking up with his childhood friend, Kelsey (Bel Powley), who might want a little more commitment than he does. Margie begins to date a firefighter named Ray (Bill Burr), who first comes to their door to give Scott hell for attempting to tattoo is 9-year-old son. Needless to say, it doesn't exactly go well. But Scott soon finds himself in a situation where he will have to set his differences aside in order to begin to move on with his life, ultimately suggesting that sometimes we have to sacrifice in order to move forward. The most interesting part of the story is that it's based on the reality of Pete Davidson's life. In reality, his firefighter father was tragically killed on 9/11, which would have him match his character's age of 7. Also, much like his character, he has to deal with the depression, anxiety and anger that it all left behind. Again, we have a great movie here that brings out those kinds of things in a very real character. I've never really seen Pete Davidson in anything before that I can recall, but he definitely left his mark with this. Thought it's a tad crude and low-brow at times, it also has a solid, if very dark sense of humor. The characters of Scott and Ray really carry the whole thing; both characters you don't particularly like at first, but the manage to grow on you. The side characters are just as entertaining with their screen time, providing the audience with characters you can decide for yourself how to feel about. His friends, for example, aren't exactly the best people, but for whatever reason you do kinda like them all the same. One last ounce of kudos to this movie goes to the fact that his father's fate on 9/11 didn't have to be a thing. It was enough that he passed in a fire, and it does nothing at all to shove any 9/11 cheapness down our throats (see 'Remember Me'). As tragic as an event that was, truth be told, movies have used it all too often just to get a heart string pull. Not to take anything away from those events, but it was a breath of fresh air that in this, it was enough that his father died a hero. Thus far, this is easily one of my favorite movies of the year. It's frankly a relief to have finally watched something this year that totally speaks to me. In such a time where I, and possibly all of us need something like that, I can fully recommend it to anyone dealing with some of their own issues when it comes to depression, anxiety, or even the struggle to get a move on with their own lives while dealing with the loss of another. It's worth checking out, and I hope you can enjoy it as much as I did. 5/5 Much like with 'Onward' and 'Trolls: World Tour', 'Scoob!' was to be released in theaters for the family to enjoy on the big screen. It's another case of coming straight to streaming, and questioning whether the original theatrical price (or more) is worth paying to watch it on our small screens. That decision seems up in the air right now, as people are extremely split on this movie, and that actually includes me. 'Scoob!' starts out with a cute, fun origin story where we see how Shaggy (Iain Armitage/Will Forte) met Scooby (Frank Welker) and the rest of the mystery gang - Fred, the "tank" (Pierce Gagnon/Zac Efron); Velma, the "brains" (Ariana Greenblatt/Gina Rodriguez); and Daphne, the "people person" (Mckenna Grace/Amanda Seyfried). Together, they solve their first mystery, old school Scooby-Doo style, decide to become good friends and keep doing this sort of thing. Fast-forward over the opening credits, and we see the gang 10 years later. They make a business deal with a certain celebrity cameo I don't really wanna spoil, but Shaggy and Scooby are excluded from the plan, as they don't have much to bring to the table. Distraught, Scooby and Shaggy go bowling, only to run into an army of small robots called Rottens who chase them right into an... "abduction beam", if you will. This beam belongs to the Falcon Fury, where we meet the original Blue Falcon's son, Brian Crown (Mark Wahlberg), along with his trusty sidekick, Dynomutt (Ken Jeong) and pilot, Dee Dee Skyes (Kiersey Clemons). They reveal that the sinister Dick Dastardly (Jason Isaacs) is after Scooby for his own selfish purposes. This all leads to an... interesting plan which adds to Scooby's overall lore, but you have to wonder if it's a bit too much. Eventually the rest of the Mystery Team also gets involved, and the film does become a collaboration of lesser-known Barbara characters. So, I'll start with the bad. The biggest problem I had was with some of the voice acting. If you've ever been a deep fan of these Hanna Barbara toons, a couple of major mistakes really stand out. First up, Dynomutt was originally the bumbling fool while Falcon was the straight-edge hero. That said, I can reluctantly let it pass, since in this case it seemed to be going for a sort of role reversal thing, and the Falcon here is the original Falcon's son. I guess I got what they were going for, but it will be irksome to some old school fans. The worst of it is when they come across Captain Caveman, voiced by Tracy Morgan, and everything you loved about Cap Cave is completely thrown out the window. It was just grating to me that Captain Caveman may as well have been renamed Captain Morgan, and not in a good, booze-related way. It was just Tracy Morgan wearing a Captain Caveman costume, and I kinda hated it. This is bothersome to any parents watching this with their kids, trying to find the nostalgia in all of it while it totally misses the mark. Getting to the good, though, perhaps my favorite parts revolved around the Mystery Team. Whenever Fred, Daphne and Velma are on screen, it definitely plays a bit more with the parental humor which makes up for some of the nostalgic disappointment mentioned earlier. There were actually a few jokes and gags here that got a genuine laugh from me, but they are unfortunately met with an equal amount that fall flat. The humour is a combination of clever jokes and annoying slapstick, and it makes you wonder who they were really making this for at times. I will say that I was actually quite impressed here and there at certain moments of prediction. There's a whole lot of "here comes a cliche" only to be surprised that they didn't follow through at the last minute. It's a relief that so much of it wasn't necessarily predictable, but with that said, these surprises are more a matter of "Oh, they didn't do it after all" as opposed to "Woah! I can't believe they did that instead!" But then they make decisions like they did at the very end, where there's a fake-out that genuinely bothered me. It's one of those endings that almost kills a film, because the lead-up is all actually pretty solid and even kinda mature. As far as I think, unless you have some kids who are chomping at the bit, and you're paying for a generously filled house to watch it, it's just not worth it. For adults like myself, there's some good moments here and there, but the screw-ups on familiar characters are kinda glaring, and it doesn't play into your nostalgia quite like you want it to. Again, these characters weren't broken, and they didn't need fixing. At the end of the day, it just made me appreciate the old cartoons much more. If you wanna see it, but you're not in a rush, I'd just as soon wait for it to cost less. 3/5 This one comes to us from slightly green director Jason Lei Howden. The only other film under his belt as far as being director goes is a 2015 horror comedy called 'Deathgasm'. He's otherwise best known as an effects artist with plenty of solid visual effects films under his belt, including 'The Avengers', the three 'Hobbit' films and 'War for the Planet of the Apes' just to name a few. His talent shines through here with the team he has assembled, as this is a fun, action-packed visual party for the eyes. In what seems to be an alternate near future (as modern references is made, but the environment is somewhat futuristic), Miles (Daniel Radcliffe) works a dead end job, pines for his ex-girlfriend, Nova (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), and uses his spare time to troll an internet sensation known as "Skizm"; a deadly video game-like competition using real people. It could be equated to a modern Coliseum wherein the killing is generally for entertainment value, and it acts very much like your average YouTube channel. If you might recall 'Death Race', it's similar. Miles trolls the wrong man, however, and soon finds himself thrown into the thick of things when his apartment is invaded, he's knocked out, and he awakens with his hand bolted to a couple of handguns. He's told that his competition is a girl named Nix (Samara Weaving) who just so happens to be the best at what she does. At first, there's a lot of running, but when Nova becomes a part of the game, Miles finds he has to overcome his fears and fight for the woman he still loves. I loved this movie, but audiences will generally be split. If you came here to see a good story and good character development, you're not gonna get much. The whole concept here is as simple as your average arcade beat-em-up. It hits the ground running, there's a lot of action, plenty of blood and gore, and it's sprinkled with a generous sense of humour. But this is not something you see as a piece of art. This is something you sit down and watch when your day sucks and you need an outlet. It's up there with things like 'Dredd' or 'Upgrade'. You're there to enjoy the roller coaster ride that it is. This fits in very nicely with that odd sub-category that 'Scott Pilgrim' made so famous - video game movies that aren't based on actual video games (again, I'd lump both 'Dredd' and 'Upgrade' in there). It always kinda blows my mind that movies like this can be made and enjoyed while actual video game-based movies still seem to struggle. That said, I feel like this does owe a bit to 'Scott Pilgrim' for a lot of its style, and 'Deadpool' for a lot of the humour - even taking the "this is NOT a love story" line right out of it. So it's not without a few odd weaknesses. However, if you've had a rough day and you wanna just unwind with something that's kinda angry but fun all at once, this is a good go-to. Despite a few editing issues (there's a lot of cuts in several action scenes) it's visually appealing, funny, and it gets straight to the point. Perhaps not entirely original, but I'll be damned if I didn't still have a great time watching it. It may seem odd, but it pumps you up. Again, audiences will be split down the middle, but it's a great watch for the audience it's actually aimed at. 4/5 Isn't it interesting that Hollywood can take a classic book, and kinda just keep screwing it up? The original 'Doctor Dolittle' wasn't one I particularly liked, myself, but it does have its following. Then we have the Eddie Murphy remakes that might have been fun as a kid, but are hard to go back on. And now, we have this, which may be the worst attempt yet. I mean, to be honest, I've never actually read the book, but it does seem abundantly clear that the original version is a stand-alone classic of sorts, and doesn't really need to be revisited. Dr. John Dolittle (Robert Downey Jr.), after losing his wife, has since kept himself hidden from the world, amongst his beloved animals, Each animal is representative of an otherwise promising voice cast, that includes Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, John Cena, Kumail Nanjiani, Octavia Spencer, Tom Holland, and several more. One day, he is approached by a boy named Tommy Stubbins (Harry Collett), who implores him to help a squirrel (Craig Robinson), eventually forming a friendship with him. When Queen Victoria falls ill, Dolittle is approached by a young girl, representing the Queen. He is asked to set sail to an untouched island, to find a cure that apparently only exists there. Taking his animals, and Tommy along for the ride they encounter old adversaries, finding himself again along the way. Meanwhile, Tommy slowly learns Dolittle's talent for talking to animals, himself. Trust me when I say that this is much worse than I might make it out to be, potentially becoming a front-runner for worst film of 2020, according to yours truly. I know it's early, but there are several reasons to reach such a conclusion. For starters, it ends up being one of those kids movies that tries very hard to be "cool", completely ruining a period piece by saying words like "bro" to try to relate to the kids. To compare it to other movies that have tried this, 'Alvin and the Chipmunks' or 'The Smurfs' come to mind. It seems to be something Hollywood can't quite wrap their heads around - never assume that you know what's cool for kids. The best movies for kids out there never try so hard to be culturally hip, they just tell a really good story. If you want proof, look at the 'Toy Story' trilogy, or even better yet, 'The Iron Giant', which takes place in the 50's. Unfortunately, the biggest problem is, this is about all there is for kids in theaters right now. Beyond that, we get toilet humor out the wazoo (no pun intended), and just terribly written dialogue for these animals. I heard it said best that it's as though they let all these voice actors in, let them all adlib where they could, each with their own completely separate act, and then it all gets thrown together. The film is kinda just loud and obnoxious, and makes absolutely no sense for the fine period piece it ought to be. I'm saying this aware of what I just mentioned about Victorian Era stuff in my 'Little Women' Oscar review, but I can at least respect it for what it is. It also has no idea who its trying to speak to. It's a silly mess that little kids could potentially have fun with, but they try a lot of adult humor here as well. The whole thing feels like too many ideas at once all coming together, and the finished project is an unfortunate mess. It's early, but this one unfortunately stands the chance of being one of the worst films of the year. 1/5 I've said it before, and I'll say it again - nowadays, there's at least one hidden gem that can be found within the deep, dark pit that is the January/February dumping zone. They tend balance it out with the high ranking Oscar stuff, saving big releases for the Summer and Holiday seasons. Here we have a title that probably should have sucked, just based on what it is - a third title that no one was really asking for, cranked out 15+ years too late. Plenty have failed before, so why should this have been any different? But I'll be damned if they didn't grasp at our nostalgia and fully succeed. Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) come speeding back into our lives, and we welcome them with open arms, not realizing how much we actually missed them - Mike ever confident in his driving skills, while Marcus reluctantly goes along for the ride, on the edge of vomiting all over that sleek interior. The perfect scene to snatch us back up after 17 years. After a bit of fun chaos, we find out Marcus has a newborn grandchild, and during a celebration, Marcus mentions retirement. This pretty much goes against Mike's thoughts of being partners forever, representing their mantra - "we ride together, we die together, bad boys for life". Before they know it, their friendship is tested, when a case very personal to Mike pops up, and Marcus refuses to get back into things, and become the family man he wants to be. There's actually quite a bit that happens in between all that, I'm not gonna lie, but this is one of those movies that's full of interesting surprises along the way. In its own way, even for a 'Bad Boys' movie, things get pretty deep here. It was actually a great film for developing both Mike and Marcus, as it peels back some never before seen layers to them. In case you might be wondering about it being too Michael Bayish, not to worry. This one is directed by the fairly green team of Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah (here credited as Adil and Bilall). They must have been good fans, 'cause they did a bang up job here. There's just enough Bayishness, maintaining the fun, popcorn action movie that it should be. But it also tells a good story that moves things along with these two characters, as they start to deal with things like retirement, and family a little more than usual. What more can I say? If you were a fan of the first two movies, you'll probably get something out of this. I might recommend rewatching them before going in, as well, just because of how things unfold here. I found it referring back to them more than I expected, and I hadn't watched either of them in years. I also think you'll get more out of Mike and Marcus' character development here, 'cause they do still play their respective characters very well. All in all, this was a pleasant surprise that I certainly did not see coming. 4/5 Right off the bat, one might watch the trailer for this and wonder, after seeing how the previous film ended, how in the blue hell the game is back. But can I just say that we can't act like the game didn't already make an inexplicable return in 'Welcome to the Jungle'? Not only that, but it somehow turned itself into a video game. I think it's safe to say that Jumanji, the game, is just kinda unstoppable. If it wants to exist, it just will. It's fiction, but it's still kinda lazy from my perspective. With that little nitpick out of the way, the more important aspect of this are between two things - the characters and how well they do impressions, and what the characters take away from their experience in the game. I'm impressed that in this chapter they didn't just repeat the same characters with the same problems, or even introduce new similar characters, spinning its wheels. This plays with the concept of old, out of their league guys attempting to play a game. Let's face it, my generation, as kids, thought the idea of grandparents picking up a video game was kinda laughable (turns out it's not. My Grandpa LOVED 'Duck Hunt'!) At the same time, the main plot centers on them instead of the previous characters, but still gives the previous characters some good screen time. One year after the events of the previous film, Spencer (Alex Wolff) and Martha (Morgan Turner) are taking a break, with things not feeling quite the same between them. Their other friends Fridge (Ser'Darius Blain) and Bethany (Madison Iseman) have also gone their separate ways, but the group gets together for a reunion, missing Spencer. They soon discover that he doesn't show up, because he had gone back into Jumanji in hopes to feel that unstoppable feeling of being Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson) again. Reluctantly, the trio heads back into the game to rescue Spencer, but a glitch pulls in Spencer's Grandfather, Eddie (Danny DeVito) and his old business partner, Milo (Danny Glover), who are feuding over their past. Martha and Fridge also get pulled back in, but Bethany is left behind and has to somehow find her own way in. While Martha reprises her role as Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan), Fridge gets (suggestively) stuck as Sheldon Oberon (Jack Black), and to some, that might be a bit uncomfortable. Meanwhile, the role of Bravestone is taken by Eddie, and Milo ends up as Franklin 'Mouse' Finbar (Kevin Hart). The stakes are raised on the mission to find Spencer, as Eddie and Milo are completely inexperienced gamers who can't seem to take the hint that they've somehow been sucked into a game. I'm not gonna lie, it's a running gag that gets kinda old kinda quick, mostly based on Eddie's cluelessness. The game itself has also evolved, giving the characters new strengths and weaknesses, and bringing things to "the next level". Now, let's talk about one thing that make 'Welcome to the Jungle' so surprisingly fun - the impressions. I thought everyone did a respectively good job with their given personalities, but Kevin Hart didn't reach too far for his character. This time around, things felt a bit opposite. I didn't think The Rock did so great as DeVito, but I felt like Kevin Hart did very well as Danny Glover. Karen Gillan reprises the same role, but gave so much more in the first film. And then there's Jack Black impersonating Ser'Darius Blain. As I mentioned before, it's suggestive. I didn't personally feel like he went way over the top with it, but I can't speak for those who it may affect more, either. The best performance in this movie, though, goes to Awkwafina as Ming Fleetfoot, who has to heavily impersonate both Alex Wolf and Danny DeVito, and she does a great job with both of them. This performance alone shows how flexible she can be, and it puts her on a list of up and comers I wanna keep an eye on. Some may remember her from 'Oceans 8' or 'Crazy Rich Asians', but I get the impression this performance is gonna put her name out there a bit more than it already is. Putting it all together, it works pretty well as a fun sequel, where you can see all of your favorite characters again. But the first of them is just far superior. It's in the same realm as 'Ghostbusters 2' or 'Turtles 2: Secret of the Ooze'. There's enough fun to be had here, but it's got nothing on its predecessor. It's really more like an obvious cash-grab, but they do just enough to make it entertaining. 3/5 Let me start this one out by saying that I appear to be in a sort of minority when it comes to this film. It currently stands at a whopping 97% critic and 92% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and holds three Golden Globe nominations, including Best Motion Picture, Comedy/Musical. And do not get me wrong, it's totally enjoyable, I just don't find myself offering all that praise towards it. I liked it, I just didn't love it, and I feel like I've seen better this year. With that said though, it's a nice, impressive feat for writer/director Rian Johnson, fresh off of 'Last Jedi', which clearly didn't go over very well with the horrendously toxic Star Wars audience. Good on him for making something he can take pride in. Despite me sort of going against the grain on this one, it's another case of perhaps just not personally being a member of the audience this was made for. Murder mystery movies were never really my thing, and if I'm perfectly honest, without spoiling anything, I just felt like all was revealed too quickly. It catches us off-guard, and becomes much more about cover-up than the mystery itself. We know what's up, but the characters don't. But that might also be what's so good about it - the untypical telling of a murder mystery, making it a mystery for the characters, but not for us. Our basic plot here involves the discovery of a dead, but wealthy novelist named Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer), found just after his 85th birthday party. Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is called to the scene to investigate and interrogate, but he's unaware of who hired him for the job (which kinda ends up being the bigger mystery for the audience than the murder). One by one, he interviews the family and house staff to find out the truth behind Harlan's death. Among the all-star cast includes Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Evans, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette and several others. Our main character here is Harlan's personal caretaker and dear friend, Marta (Ana de Armas) an interesting piece to the puzzle due to a condition in which she tosses her cookies if she lies. That was definitely something I found hard to take seriously, but upon taking a Google, it seems like it's plausible, just not probable. We do briefly get an explanation that it has something to do with a past event, but not much more. So we roll with it, especially as she's basically a human lie detector to herself, which is an interesting idea. I think I appreciated the idea of a different execution for a mystery film like this. This had some interesting ideas, twists and turns, and it was neat that it gave us a parallel, and much more interesting mystery to the murder itself. The characters were all pretty solid, but I don't think any of them truly stood out to me as any kind of "favourite". Really and truly, the only character I genuinely liked was Marta, and even then, that's mostly 'cause she carried the weight of this movie on her shoulders. There's plenty to appreciate here, but despite all my praise, I'm not entirely sure I fully appreciated the mystery switch-a-roo when I noticed it. With some time to sit and think about things, I have gained an appreciation for how it all unfolded, as they did something different, and this wasn't just and old fashioned who-dunnit story. Still though, I just can't seem to cross that line to loving it. It's just not the type of thing I gravitate towards, typically. But I do still highly recommend checking it out for yourself at some point, as your opinion may very well differ for the better. It seems that way with he vast majority, already. 3/5 Director Taika Waititi has definitely become someone to keep an eye on in his continuing career. In the near future, he'll be regarded as one of the best modern filmmakers of this age, with such titles as 'Thor: Ragnarok', which single-handedly revamped the 'Thor' series to something much better, and 'What We Do in the Shadows', which is seriously one of the funniest vampire movies in existence. This one is his answer to an adaptation film, basing it on the book 'Caging Skies' by Christine Leunens. We meet a young German kid named Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis) who has an imaginary friend in Adolf Hitler (Waititi, himself), and allows him to guide his decisions, wanting more than anything to serve the real Hitler, and do everything a "good little Nazi" is supposed to do, without going into specific detail. Here we see a great example of kids being brainwashed, telling the German youth about the "horrors" of the Jewish race, in order to make them easier targets, painting them as actual monsters. During his time at a young Nazi training camp ran by Captain Klenendorf (Sam Rockwell), an accident befalls Jojo, and he's brought back home to heal up, with his mother, Rosie (Scarlett Johansson). Returning to the camp, he's allowed to do more light duty things like handing out fliers and such. It's here that Jojo sees some of the first horrors of Nazi Germany, even though he's still very much a Nazi boy, and we start to see what the film wants to do as part of its unfolding. While at home one day, however, Jojo hears a sound, goes to investigate, and finds a secret passage he never knew about. This leads him to a Jewish girl named Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie), and Jojo suddenly finds himself trapped about what to do, leading him to have to leave her be. During this time, he asks her to educate her on Jewish people, and she exaggerates everything to great comedic detail, which he takes seriously. Eventually, Jojo starts questioning the bigger things in life, and we realize that this is a movie that balances drama and comedy extremely well. The film is overall supremely acted, being one of the best roles I've ever seen Scarlett Johansson play, another great role for Sam Rockwell, and both Roman Griffin Davis and Thomasin McKenzie are completely believable in their overall awkward relationship they develop. Somehow, this is a movie that profiles a German kid in World War II, wanting to be a Nazi more than anything, and it makes you empathize with him. It's a whole untouched area when it comes to war movies, and in that sense sort of reminds me of 'Grave of the Fireflies', where the movie says "but wait, look what happened over here through all of this." Depicting a Nazi wannabe child's point of view seems a risky move, especially when he's lead by Hitler as his imaginary friend. But it also serves a purpose, and in a 'Breakfast Club' sort of way, we get to see just how much Jojo, a German, and Elsa, a Jew, have in common. It's hilarious, but also deeply profound, and will have you laughing just as much as tearing up. On a personal level, so far, this is my favorite movie of 2019! 5/5 It's been a while since I've talked about Tarantino, so allow me to fill people in on my humble opinion of the guy, which is somewhat updated - Tarantino is a great director. Like with many, 'Pulp Fiction' is still one of my big faves. It's a great flick to throw on for when you want a little bit of everything. Since then, however, my interest in Tarantino started to go downhill. But here's the thing - even his worst film ('Deathproof' in my opinion) is decent. It's a lot of "blah blah blah" leading to nothing, but that car chase at the end is just about worth the wait. Tarantino, like any other director, has his hits and misses with me; "misses" meaning "eh, that was dumb, but still fun", and "hits" being what I'd call my Top 5 of his 9. For me, top to bottom, that list would probably read something like 'Pulp Fiction', 'Jackie Brown', 'Reservoir Dogs', 'Hateful Eight' and... well, this. Yeah, it made it. And for the love of God, fanbase, do bear in mind that I've never fully hated any of his films - just a strong dislike for the first long while of 'Deathproof' (if you tell me that I just didn't get it, you'd be absolutely right!) The film follows two guys in the acting business in 1969. Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio - great to have you back!) is a well-known star of westerns, and Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) is his stuntman. Westerns, however, are dying out, and Dalton finds himself hanging on by a thread. Though Dalton's still able to find a bit of work, his superstar status has depleted. His new neighbours, however, are Roman Polanski (Rafal Zawierucha) and Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), whom he hopes to soon rub elbows with in order to restore his status. Meanwhile, Booth gets by on what little he has, seemingly without much of a problem with it. He stays in his trailer with his pitbull, and is happy to be Dalton's go-to guy, as they're also best friends. However, Booth also has a criminal record in his background, being accused of killing his wife. This, along with a fight involving Bruce Lee, pretty well led to his career's downfall, but Dalton still wants to keep him around. This is essentially a film about these two guys, and their careers reaching their end. For me, it's somewhat reminiscent of 'The Artist' in that way - but obviously completely different in execution. But the real question on a lot of peoples' minds has been "What about Sharon Tate?" to which I simply reply "Watch the trailer again". She's in it, but these two dudes are very clearly who the story is about. The Tate situation with Manson is what's happening in the background. I will simply add that it call comes together in the end, and things are reminiscent of 'Inglorious Basterds' with its execution. Those who have seen it, hopefully get what I mean by that. The ending will inevitably be what makes or breaks this movie for people, and it's totally understandable. For me though, it made it, and a lot of it has to do with the title of the movie itself. However, I won't say why, and kinda hope I haven't given too much away already. For me, this is probably my #4 or #5 of his, and that's an extremely relative list. 'Pulp Fiction' will almost always be #1 for people, but from there, it's a completely scrambled matter of opinion. And that, to me, is what really makes Tarantino a great director - he offers variety, while maintaining his own style that we're familiar with - comedic violence and swearing and feet, oh my! 5/5 By all accounts, in my humble opinion, this had the potential to be the next 'Zombieland' - and Bill Murray being in it would have been the icing on the cake. The trailer made this look pretty damn good. But while the film isn't without it's moments, I'm sad to report that in a zombie movie featuring Bill Murray, *deep breath* his jokes somehow mostly fall flat. It's weird 'cause in a way, his dry, nonchalant humor fits this film very well. But the writing has it so that he's not even the funniest character in the movie, and that's admittedly a pretty big bummer. Who is, you ask? It's only my humble opinion, but Tilda Swinton. More on that in a bit. The bottom line, this movie should have been better than it was. Especially considering it's all-star cast. The film opens up with a song called 'The Dead Don't Die' by Sturgill Simpson, which becomes it's own character. We soon meet two country cops, Cliff Robertson (Murray), and Ronnie Peterson (Adam Driver). They are called to take in a man known in town as Hermit Bob (Tom Waits), accused by Farmer Frank Miller (Steve Buscemi) for killing some of his farm animals. However, Bob is innocent, and this is the first strange occurrence which sets everything in motion. Through these characters, we meet the rest of town, consisting of fellow officer Mindy Morrison (Chloë Sevigny), Everyman character Frank Thompson (Danny Glover), joke store runner Bobby Wiggins (Caleb Landry Jones), reporter Posie Juarez (Rosie Parez), a group of passing-through teens, headed by Zoe (Selena Gomez), and last but definitely not least, and everything that made this movie remotely good, morgue owner Zelda Winston (Swinton - as mentioned earlier). We find out that the Earth is shifting its poles, causing odd hours of daylight, strange behavior in animals, and the dead coming back to life... wait, what? Well, anyway, that's what causes it here. I'll give it points for originality, at least. This is a straight up goofy comedy, too, so it's passable for a nice a ridiculous reason. Poles have shifted on this Earth before, and we weren't around yet to see what would have happened. Zombies are a stretch, but it's a neat, untapped reason. I'm gonna be perfectly fair. When looking at the execution of this movie, I can sort of get that it was going for an all-out farce, where there were no limits. My best comparison would be to 'Kung Pow: Enter the Fist' as an all-out farce on old Kung-Fu movies. This is doing the same thing with zombies and their respective tropes. And like Kung Pow, it's adding a bit of extra "WTF" to it all with a weird twist ending. I also believe that the dry humor comes from the idea that these tropes are all old news, and things are being treated as a sort of "oh-this-again" situation, which is understandable. Let's face it, even if you can be truly original with zombies right now, they aren't exactly being asked for these days. The point is, I think I totally get what they were trying to do here, and I'll give them some leeway on it. This is a title that's very self-aware, and breaks the fourth wall several times. In fact, the way they do fourth-wall breaking in this is a prime example of how the humor works. In one instance, Zelda asks for Ronnie's car keys. In handing them over, we see a Star Destroyer from Star Wars, and we all have a little fourth-wall snicker at the fact that Adam Driver is carrying around a mini Star Destroyer. On the other hand, it also goes all out when "reading the script" is mentioned, thus making the film a very obvious fake world, and eliminating any stakes whatsoever. It's really more of a fourth wall cliche. Let's get back to Tilda Swinton though. When I think of Ms. Swinton, I think of her as being very classy, wise, proper, and pretty well set on her serious roles. Here, she lets it all out. She's a bad ass ninja type, extremely strange and eccentric, funny in her delivery, and seems to be the only proactive character in the movie. It makes me wonder if they were also going for the Daryl trope (the "everyone's favorite" character). Anyway, she's the main reason for being in your seat as opposed to Bill Murray. That's a sad thought, but it's okay. Murray will be back in 2020's 'Ghostbusters' follow up, as the Venkman we all know and love. In closing, the humor is all over the place with more moments of giggling than laughing out loud. Following that, for such a cast, some of these characters are just tossed aside without a single thought. In fact, there's one group (I won't spoil who) who just run off and disappear, never to be heard of again. There were just so many loose ends here. Even if that was intentional as another sort of zombie trope, I can't give it a pass. I think the film's problem was that it didn't know where to draw the line. It just got too all-out ridiculous. But is it weird that I could see this becoming a cult hit in the near future, despite the fact that I didn't exactly love it? I guess time will tell. 2/5 'Men in Black' has been a sort of steadily sequelled franchise over the years, and altogether interesting. Every time there's a sequel, you don't really find anyone pumped to see it, yet it's still a strong enough name to still put butts in seats. The downside is that this particular sequel was obviously made to rake in some easy dough. It's generally more of the same, but with some new big names, two of whom exist in the MCU, and it's a pretty much by-the-numbers execution. It's almost like seeing a reboot of the first film. In 1996 Brooklyn, a young girl named Molly (Mandeiya Flory) witnesses her parents (Inny Clemons and Marcy Harriell) get neuralized by the MIB after the father comes face to face with a strange creature. The MIB decide to not do their job and skip over Molly completely, after told she was "upstairs sleeping", but hey, we wouldn't have a movie otherwise. Molly, Already interested in the unknown, then dedicates her life to locating and joining the MIB. She kinda represents all the sci-fi buff kids from the mid-90s era (or the 'X-Files' age, if you will). She manages pretty much from the beginning of the film through Agent O (Emma Thompson), upon impressing her by locating the NYC branch. Transferred to London, Molly becomes Agent M (Tessa Thompson) and ends up teaming up with the now legendary Agent H (Chris Hemsworth). H was made famous for stopping an alien race called "The Hive", along with Agent High T (Liam Neeson). This world-saving event is commemorated with artwork, along with Agents J and K from the first film, saving it from the bug - admittedly, a nice touch. The case H and M are working, however ends up being much bigger than it initially seems. This time around, the big bad guy looks to be a mole within the MIB, itself, and it looks like the Hive might be coming back for more. But yeah, as a standard 'MIB' movie goes, it's about saving the world again, but with different characters. This time around, however, the new recruit is the straight act, and the veteran is the comedy relief. Joining them is also a little green chess piece alien thing known only as "Pawny" (Kumail Nanjiani). His civilization (on a chess board) is slaughtered, and he ends up dedicating his services to M, who he believes is a queen of some sort. He's generally there to be that extra nudge of comic relief. Sometimes the jokes hit, sometimes they miss, and all in all the comedy is just kinda "meh" with a few decent laughs. I find this one to be some sort of blend of the first and second films. As I mentioned before, it's practically a reboot of the first film. But its overall quality is a bit closer to the second, in that it's just more of the same with nothing much new to offer. The third at least had time travel, and Thanos as young Agent K. I'll give it some of its imaginative creature creations, and a few laughs, and a mindless, fun time. I just feel like after so long, this could have been better. 3/5 I'll start this one off by openly admitting that I have not yet seen any 'Shaft' films, so my homework wasn't exactly at its peak going into this. But at the same time, I'm talkin' 'bout Shaft. If you're familiar with the title, even slightly, you pretty much understand what you're walking into. Shaft is kinda like the James Bond of a little subgenre of movies known as "Blaxploitation"; the exploitation of black people, especially with regard to stereotyped roles in movies (here's a Wiki article on the subject). Anyway, long story short, much like with 'Godzilla' where I paid to see monsters beat the crap out of each other, with 'Shaft', I know I'm paying to watch Samuel L. Jackson at his Samuel L. Jacksonest (which is still 'Pulp Fiction', by the way, don't be fooled). I wasn't exactly disappointed, but I have to admit that the film left a little to be desired. With that said, again, I hadn't seen anything 'Shaft' related before this, so I only very slightly knew the character. Top be perfectly fair, I went into this with my own expectations, didn't get them, and it's an "oh well, maybe next time" situation... not a "please rewrite this whole thing" situation - I'm looking at you, 'Game of Thrones' fans. Anyway, getting back on track, this chapter starts in the late 80's where we see John Shaft (Samuel L. Jackson) and Maya Babanikos (Regina Hall), one can only assume one of his many flings, get caught in the middle of a shootout. The catch, they have a kid together in the back seat, so John takes off in order to keep them protected. Fast-forward to present day, where we meet J.J. Shaft (Jessie T. Usher), the kid from the back seat. He's now a data analyst, working for the FBI, and was, shall we say, brought up very far away from the mean streets? Anyway, after his friend dies by what looks like a heroin overdose, J.J. discovers that the overdose quantity would have been impossible to self-inflict. He then calls on the help of his Dad, the legendary John Shaft, to help him get to the bottom of things. I ended up finding the film enjoyable, overall, but it wasn't exactly anything new or different. It was pretty much your standard buddy cop film, featuring non-cops John and J.J. Shaft - the reckless one and the straight and narrow one. We also get a cameo here from Richard Roundtree as John Shaft Sr., and that's surely a treat for people who are more familiar with the material, as he was the original Shaft from '71. But I guess he also showed up in the 2000 film, so again, not entirely new or special. It seems perfectly clear that you'd be going into this to be entertained, only if you know what to expect. The film wasn't without its charm, and I can't deny that I pretty much did get what I paid for. But really, one could wait for this to come along on home video or even TV, and you'd be fine. It's not a big-screen-must-see or anything. Just a fun, mindless action movie, maybe for a Sunday afternoon/evening. It's passable, but nothing special. 3/5 At this point in the game, it would be reasonably understandable that Seth Rogen fans are becoming fewer and further between. Many see the guy as pretty one-note nowadays, being the raunchy, random stoner. I'm still a fan, myself, but I can see where people are coming from nonetheless. Well guys, this movie might be just for you. Director Jonathan Levine returns, offering his delightful blend of heart-felt drama and adult comedy. You may also be familiar with '50/50' and 'The Night Before', which also feature Seth Rogen. He also did 'The Wackness' and 'Warm Bodies', all of which were received pretty well due to this blend. There's something very outlandish but very heartfelt and human to his direction. I'm a fan, personally. Anyway, onto the plot. U.S. Secretary of State, Charlotte Field (Charlize Theron) learns that President Chambers (Bob Odenkirk) won't be running for a second term. She soon convinces him to endorse her as a potential presidential candidate. A big deal, being in the running as first female president as well. Meanwhile, journalist Fred Flarsky (Seth Rogen) is working for a newspaper that has been bought by Parker Wembly (Andy Serkis), a media mogul with differing ethics to Fred's. Because of this, Fred quits immediately, but soon finds himself depressed and constantly on the search for a new job. In an attempt to cheer Fred up, his best friend, Lance (O'Shea Jackson Jr.), takes him to a charity fundraising event. Charlotte is also there, and there's a moment of them recognizing each other due to her being his babysitter when he was 13 and she was 16 (weird, but okay). Long story short, she hires him to be her speech writer, due to liking his sense of humor. From there, it plays out as your average slightly raunchier romantic comedy. This is still very much Seth Rogen being Seth Rogen, but here we see much more of a charming and human side of him than that typecast stoner I mentioned before... although that's here too, it's just not as in your face. This plays his character a lot closer to something like his role in '50/50'. But if I'm honest, Seth wasn't even the funniest part of the film. He was definitely the comedic relief, but Charlize Theron had some pretty out-there moments that certainly warranted a good laugh. I guess they were just less expected, whereas with Seth, you know he's there to be the funny guy. I've also gotta give it up to June Diane Raphael who plays Maggie Millikin, Charlotte's manager. More than anything, she's here to play the contrast to Seth Rogen's humor. Seth's the kinda goofy guy off the street whereas Maggie's the straight-laced character who has her back-and-forths with him. It's all pretty funny, and it doesn't turn into the annoying bickering acts you might see in movies like 'Temple of Doom' or 'National Treasure 2'. If you happen to be a couple who are fans of Seth Rogen and/or Chrlize Theron, I'd highly recommend checking this one out as a date movie. If you aren't fans, just keep in mind that this is the lighter side of things - still a bit raunchy, but in the most charming way possible (if that makes any sense). I enjoyed it, and would say that it's Seth Rogen's answer to Adam Sandler's '50 First Dates' or 'The Wedding Singer'. Not perfect by any means, but good laughs and lots of charm make it something to appreciate. 4/5 Let's face it, the DC universe hasn't exactly been my favourite place to be when Marvel is too busy keeping me in their glorious clutches. I've still given every DC film a fair shake, but for my money, 'Wonder Woman' was the only time I was thoroughly impressed. I gave 'Aquaman' a decent review as well, if only because it made me like a character I otherwise had no use for. So when the hell is DC's next big hit? Well, I think we pretty much have it here with 'Shazam!' We meet a foster kid named Billy Batson (Asher Angel), who gets placed in a group home after some trouble with the law while searching for his birth mother. It's here that we meet Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer) who eventually becomes Billy's close friend. One day after helping Freddy out with a bully problem, Billy gets chased into a subway where he is randomly summoned by an ancient wizard named Shazam, who has been on the search for someone who is pure of heart for centuries to pass his powers to. Billy is chosen, and in a hurry, as a man named Sivana, who feels that Shazam has wronged him in the past, becomes a bigger problem than Shazam can handle. As we probably know by the trailer, by now, by saying the name "Shazam", Billy turns into a full grown superhero (Zachary Levi) and vice-versa. He and Freddy go around town testing out his superpowers as 14-year-old kids probably would, and soon we learn that with great power comes great responsibility. It's all very well executed. Meanwhile, this Sivana character has joined forces with the 7 deadly sins, and is terrorizing anyone who may have wronged him in his past. Soon enough, Billy and Sivana discover each other, a rivalry is born, and the rest of it plays out as more of a superhero movie than a comedy. I'd equate this one to something more along the lines of 'Kick-Ass', where really, it's more of a comedy than anything, but it's not without moments of good action and drama. I hae to admit that it's pretty awesome to see one of the two big mainstream comic companies give a movie like that a shot. It's a giant step forward for DC, to be sure, and hopefully this helps nudge the gate open for more good DC material. Sure, at times the film gets really silly, but it eventually gets surprisingly dramatic towards the end. It kinda throws you for a loop, and before you know it, you're kinda sitting back, routing for Billy. It's a refreshing blend of totally silly and respectably thoughtful, and I have to agree with most that it's probably one of the better titles DC has cranked out. Here's hoping those guys are on the right track. 4/5 This is gonna be a bit off, as I have no reviews up for either of the previous two films. So I'll have to give away a bit of the whole story between the first two, but I'll try to keep it relatively spoiler-free (for those who care). To make a very long story very short, Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) befriends a "Night Fury" dragon, despite frequent dragon attacks on his Viking home town of Burk. He names him Toothless, and discovers that dragons aren't to be as feared as they are. Soon, Hiccup dedicates himself, along with a team of teenage misfits consisting of Astrid (America Ferrera), Snotlout (Jonah Hill), Fishlegs (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), Ruffnut (Kristen Wiig) and Tuffnut (Justin Ripple) to rescuing and housing captured and misunderstood dragons, giving them a home and protecting them from the various dangers of the human world. On this particular outing, we discover that Toothless isn't the only Night Fury out there, after the previous films have pretty much suggested it. Upon discovering this new dragon, legends come up of a "Hidden World" where dragons of all sorts live in harmony. This could potentially provide a better home for Berkians and their now overpopulated town of dragons. In the meantime, a dragon hunter named Grimmel (F. Murray Abraham) is discovered to be trying to capture this new Night Fury, and he and Hiccup find themselves at odds - Hiccup now being pretty much a leader-type since his first appearance when he was deemed a bit of a wuss. So much of the film is trying to get the dragons to the Hidden World with Grimmel hot on their heels the whole time. Granted, it's a bit of a rushed explanation for everything, but what you really need to take away from it is that it rounds the trilogy off really nicely. If you liked the first two, this one is really no exception as far as quality goes. The flying scenes look incredible, especially in in 3D, and it's our usual combination of comedy, drama and all out adventure. On top of that, I greatly appreciate the overall development of Hiccup's character through this trilogy. The film ends on a nice note where it genuinely seems to wrap things up. However, I said the same thing about 'Toy Story 3' which makes me almost dread a 4th movie just because of the fans and easy money. I'm not opposed to 'Toy Story 4' per se, but that really was a solid trilogy that ought to have just ended, saving whatever's left over for TV specials and the like. I'm kinda hoping this just sticks to what it is and doesn't feel the need to keep on going. Hopefully the same filmmakers can get another project off the ground instead. Anyway, this is a trilogy that I could recommend to just about anyone. It's great storytelling combined with likable characters and solid development that takes place over several years. We really do get to watch Hiccup grow up through this. Add to that the comedic aspect as well as a lot of it tugging at heartstrings, and we've got one of the more solid overall trilogies of the past decade. At least, that's my humble opinion. I know it's only the end of February, but this will get its Oscar nom for next year, I'm sure. 4/5 I'll just come right out and say it - I enjoyed the first 'Happy Death Day' quite a bit. It was essentially the 'Groundhog Day' concept (living the same day over and over again), but with a horror twist. It was also a pretty self-aware comedy of sorts (full review here). With that exposition out of the way, let's just dive right in. This picks up where the first leaves off. This time around, it starts happening with Ryan (Phi Vu), roommate of Carter (Israel Broussard) and all around secondary (maybe even tertiary) character in the first film. Anyway, he ends up passing the curse it back to Tree, and things start all over again. This time around, however, we're involving science fiction and experimenting with different dimensions. The murderous baby mascot guy takes a complete back seat. So, if you wanna see more of the same idea, you're not gonna get it. It's really hardly even a horror of any sort so much as a sci-fi comedy with horror, and even some surprising drama elements. For the most part, the whole idea is that Tree ends up having to make a very difficult decision as to which dimension she needs to stay in. It ends up hitting you in the feels pretty nicely, and it's easy to empathize with her situation. All the while, it still remains a mystery story, as Tree, Carter and Ryan team up to figure out how to break this loop of perpetual death. It's a difficult film for yours truly to rate. Hand down, I think I liked the first one much better. It just did its thing without need for explanation as to why it's all happening. It was really just a bit of horror/comedy slasher fun, and didn't need to do much to be entertaining. This, however, just goes too deep with things as far as the sci-fi element goes. It kinda blind-sides you. On the other hand, I can't help but appreciate that it tried something different - especially as a movie that's ABOUT repetitiveness. I considered how I felt about the two movies on the whole, and wondered if, in a way, this was just as good as the first. But then I considered my DVD/Blu-ray rack. 'Happy Death Day' might end up on there, if I find it for cheap. 'Happy Death Day 2U' probably won't, unless it's in a combo pack with the first film, also for cheap. Apparently, a third is also in the works, and it's apparently set to also go off the rails a bit more. So there's definitely a side to this wackiness that's intentional. But that doesn't mean I have to just go with it. The first was a lot of fun, but this was kinda just weird to me. Points for the emotional side of things, but that's about all I took away from this that I REALLY liked. Otherwise, it's just a bit over the top for yours truly. I came out of it not knowing at all what to think. It's passable, but it's no 'Happy Death Day'. 3/5 I say in my Stardust review that, even though we're only a couple of weeks into January, this is probably the feel-good movie of the year. Obviously a bit of an over exaggeration on my part, but I'll be damned if the movie didn't make me feel something by the end of it. I have the feeling it'll sort of remain in the back of my head all year, at the very least, as something that had me leaving the theater with a smile on my face. The story has to do with a wealthy quadriplegic man named Phillip Lacasse (Bryan Cranston) who needs help with his day-to-day life. Interview upon interview comes through, with more than experienced people, but Lacasse wants to land on a more unlikely candidate. Enter Dell Scott (Kevin Hart); an ex convict out on parole. He's on the lookout for work in order to support his estranged wife and kid. Despite Dell having no experience, and against his personal assistant's (Nicole Kidman) wishes, Phillip hires him on. The beginnings of the relationship are a bit awkward, but soon a friendship between them grows as Phillip cultures Dell with things like opera music, and Dell shows Phillip how to unwind and have a good time. The concept is nothing we haven't seen before, to be perfectly fair. Street-wise guy meets rich, stuck up guy and hey teach each other a thing or two about where they are from. All the while this generally formulates into the scenario of "we had more in common than we thought" ('Breakfast Club' style). But while perhaps formulaic, this film was certainly not without its charm. Bryan Cranston does a great job here, as usual. Nicole Kidman is decent in her role, however the role, itself, I wasn't a huge fan of. But Kevin Hart actually does a good job with flexing his acting muscles here. It's not like it's an Oscar-worthy, shocking performance; he's still joking around and having fun. But you do get to see a certain side of him here that isn't as common as his typical loudmouth comedy relief characters. There are no jokes about his height, either, which is SUPER refreshing, as that dead horse has been beaten so hard it died twice. This is pretty much an Americanized version of a French film, you may have heard of from 2011 called 'The Intouchables'. I haven't watched it yet, so I can't necessarily give a proper comparison, but from what I've heard, it's essentially the same story with a few odd changes here and there. The interesting thing is, this is the third remake of 'The Intouchables' after an Indian film called 'Oopiri', and an Argentinian film called 'Inseparables', which leads me to think that there's something appealing about this film, universally. Perhaps it's the clash of cultures, perhaps it's the good feeling of helping your fellow man. But despite any of the film's flaws, I have to say that for myself, I just left feeling kinda good and refreshed. There's an element of "hope" in this movie, as well, which for me, generally scores points. Weight it against something like 'The Bucket List' where you know from the get-go that the characters are gonna die (not a spoiler, it's the whole theme of the damned movie). For as much as I personally don't mind that movie, even I can admit that the premise is pretty cheap in order to get a few tears from the audience. So while this isn't overly emotional, you do still get a lot of heart from it. I found myself laughing with the characters a lot of the time, and that's what really did it for me. You just have a good time with these guys. I dunno, maybe that's just me 'cause I'm kinda going against the grain compared to other criticisms on this movie. But what more can I say? In a way, this film just spoke to me. 4/5 Taking place six years after the events of the 2012 film (makes sense), we revisit the world of Litwak's Family Fun Center and Arcade. A game villain named Ralph (John C. Reilly) and a game racer named Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) have become best friends, and they live among a variety of other famous video game characters like Pac-Man and Sonic the Hedgehog, just to name a couple. Vanellope mentions one day that she's kinda bored with the same old game routines, and wants a bit of change. Now able to freely jump between games, Ralph ends up making a secret track for Vanellope's racing game, 'Sugar Rush'. While Vanellope is fulfilled with something new and different, her actions cause the machine's steering wheel to break. With the company that made 'Sugar Rush' now out of business, the kids of the arcade turn to eBay in an attempt to help Mr. Litwack. The wheel is found, but it's too costly, and Litwack sees no alternative but to shut down the game. This leaves the racers and other characters pretty much homeless. However, Ralph and Vanellope jump into the new Wi-Fi that the arcade was recently hooked up with, in order to visit eBay, and get the steering wheel, themselves. Along the way, they find themselves having to turn to a deadly racing game called 'Slaughter Race' where we're introduced to newcomer, Shank (Gal Gadot), a kinda badass racer who gives Vanellope the thrill of her life, and causes her to start questioning whether she's happy enough with 'Sugar Rush'. Meanwhile, Ralph struggles with his feelings of jealousy, as he's afraid of losing her to this online game. So we have some generous development of these characters. However, the true charm of this movie lies within the internet world itself. I'd compare it to something like 'Inside Out' in that it's completely imaginative in its execution. It's essentially one gigantic city, with skyscrapers representing various internet companies; the most massive being Google. Pop-up ads are represented as those annoying people who throw signs in your face, eBay is seen as one big auction, the list goes on. For me, the highlight of the movie will probably surprise most, but it's honesty the scene we see in the trailers where Vanellope is mingling with the Disney princesses. This is mostly due to how incredibly self-aware Disney seems to be with these princess stereotypes, and it's even punctuated with a sort of jab at Pixar when it comes down to Merida from 'Brave'. The film is a generous combination of heart-felt experiences between Ralph and Vanellope, plenty of Easter eggs, a great sense of humor, and in the end, even a lesson or two here or there that are quite grown-up, and commendable for their execution. I absolutely loved this movie with how clever it was with everything, and I'd even put it one step above the original. One of the best animated films of the year! 5/5 |