The truth of the matter is, when it comes to the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy, I'm not entirely sure which would be the one I'd deem to be my favourite of the bunch. However, I would probably argue that 'Hot Fuzz' is the overall best-done. 'Shaun of the Dead' does still play on fairly typical zombie horror elements, 'The World's End' takes a particular appreciation for Wright's imagination, but this - this is just all sorts of brilliance in its execution. What I love about it is that it seems to cover all grounds of action movies, while on the surface basically being a farce on police action movies. But really, you get the buddy cop movie, you get the creepy murder mystery, you get the Brit-com ensemble of colourful characters at the precinct, and you get the over-the top Michael Bay-like action flick. The film centers on Police Constable Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg); a highly skilled, high-ranking officer in the London PD. He is promoted to Sergeant, but due to him making everyone else look bad, he is reassigned to the small village of Sandford, Gloucestershire. Here, he meets his team of laugh-inducing fellow "policeman officers"; his new supervisor, Inspector Frank Butterman (Jim Broadbent), his new partner and Frank's son, PC Danny (Nick Frost), the "Andy's" (Paddy Considine and Rafe Spall), Sergeant Tony Fisher (Kevin Eldon), PC Doris Thatcher (Olivia Colman) PC Bob Walker (Karl Johnson), Sergeant Turner (Bill Bailey) and their K9 Dog, Saxon (Sampson). Sanford is largely considered "perfect", winning "Village of the Year" several years in a row. On the surface, things seem entirely peaceful, but there's definitely something off about some of the other villagers. While Angel can't seem to "switch off", and slowly starts noticing sinister things unfold, the rest of the police force is relatively ignorant, suggesting accidents happen. While the rest of the precinct are a little less apt to do their job, Angel tries his best to convince Frank that crimes are happening right under their noses. The film's three acts are relatively separate from each other in more ways than one. The first act probably has the most laughs, and acts very much as a buddy cop comedy with Angel playing the "fish out of water". The second act darkens the humour, and things take a more mysterious turn once Angel starts to really click in on something going wrong in town. The third, and probably best act, is the result of Danny showing Angel a couple of balls-to-the-wall action flicks; specifically 'Point Break' and 'Bad Boys II', so the film takes the humour to more of a farce on those hardcore action movies we love so much. It could be argued that this is a film that basically has everything. It even features a scattering of well-known British faces, such as Timothy Dalton as Simon Skinner, owner of the local supermarket, and Martin Freeman and Bill Nighy as Angel's superiors in London. I would have to say that as far as all of Edgar Wright's movies go, this is probably the one I'd recommend to anyone who wants to see what Edgar Wright's style is all about. He does a tremendous job as set-ups and call-backs through his movies, and this may be the best example of it. On top of that though, just take everything I mentioned about this movie before into consideration. It's arguably one of the most fun movies out there (at least in my humble opinion).
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With the release of Edgar Wright's latest film, 'Last Night in Soho', I thought this would be a good opportunity to focus on my all-time favourite director with a few re-writes. We kick things off with what put his name on the map in the first place, 'Shaun of the Dead'. Even at the time of its release, it developed a bit more of a cult following, and shockingly enough, I was actually iffy about checking it out. A part of me thought it looked kind of dumb, and I ended up passing on it. Eventually, I managed to rent it after its video release, and immediately fell in love with it. This is a film that I HAVE to show anyone who hasn't seen it yet, because it's just that awesome. It's one of Wright's films that does a good job of speaking to the masses as it's both a zombie survival movie (released in 2004, just a month after 'Dawn of the Dead'), and a "regular Joe" story. What some people still don't entirely realize is that Wright wasn't exactly going for a farce on zombie films with this. Generally speaking, if you see a zombie film, it's a lot of military, a lot of action, there's always some ex soldier etc. He just wanted to take a bunch of regular, everyday, people and depict how they might react in a zombie scenario. And of course, as British humour goes, it gets quite creative - especially in how it ends, but that's all I'm going to say about that. That dry British humour in an extreme situation always gets me, and I feel like this is where that appreciation all started for me. The film follows Shaun (Simon Pegg), who is in the middle of a breakup with his girlfriend, Liz (Kate Ashfield). It's fairly typical - to keep it short, she wants more than he's offering. While Shaun is comforted through this by his best friend, Ed (Nick Frost), Liz confides in her flatmates, David and Dianne (Dylan Moran and Lucy Davis, respectively). The tough times are about to get even tougher though, as there is a zombie apocalypse unfolding in front of them, slowly but surely. I love the way it's handled here, as it's so eventual, and Shaun seems so oblivious to everything around him. Once Shaun and Ed realize what's going on, however, they spring into action in an attempt to rescue Liz, her flatmates, Shaun's Mom, Barbara (Penelope Wilton) and her husband, Philip (Bill Nighy). The rest of the film is pretty much all of them trying to survive the night, often resulting in some hilarity, but it does a good job of offering up some true horror and drama as well. For as much as this is a straight up comedy, it's true that it doesn't feel entirely farcical, as there are certain elements to it taken from other, more serious zombie movies. The fact that this is able to gauge different emotions is honestly impressive, since going into this, one would easily assume it's just plain goofy. 'Shaun of the Dead' is the first film in the "Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy"; each film depicting comedy blended with a certain genre as well as a certain Cornetto flavour. For those unfamiliar, a Cornetto is essentially what a Drumstick (the ice cream kind) is in North America. This one is representative of red strawberry - the red depicting horror, or more specifically, zombie horror. At the time of its release it was a sort of stand-alone cult movie, but it has since picked up through word of mouth, and gained some popularity. To this day, it is my all-time favourite zombie movie, and it will be very difficult to dethrone. Going back to the days of my childhood, I was one kid who would happily sit down and watch any 'Peanuts' specials TV would have to offer. While 'Great Pumpkin' and 'Charlie Brown Christmas' are titles everyone's familiar with, I was a bit deeper with things like 'Race for your Life, Charlie Brown', and even a really deep one called 'Why, Charlie Brown, Why?' involving a new girl in town who has to deal with Leukemia. When it came to a 2015 movie adaptation of something as retro as 'Peanuts', of course, I feared the worst. The typical tends to be one of two painfully repetitive tropes (sometimes both). On one hand, they might try to "update" things as to what the studio thinks is "cool" - see 'Alvin and the Chipmunks'. On the other, you might get a fish out of water story involving fantasy characters in our world - see 'Smurfs'. But thankfully, the trailer for this ended up showing basically none of that. The only thing that has really changed here is the CG animated style. But what's truly amazing about it is that it's perhaps the most basic storyline Charlie Brown has ever really been through. The film opens with a bit of 'Peanuts' fan service. It opens in wintertime where we see the kids skating, and we see all of our favourites sort of doing their things. But then Charlie Brown (Noah Schnapp) enters the scene, trying to fly a kite while it's snowing, crashing into a tree, and the kid couldn't be introduced in a much better way. The rest of the gang gets distracted by a moving van that happens to be right across the street from Charlie Brown's house. Enter "The Little Red-Haired Girl" (Francesca Capaldi); the girl he ends up having an everlasting crush on. He wants to talk to her, but he's ultimately too shy, thinking she's something potentially too good for him. So the basic plot of the movie is simply Charlie Brown trying to do what it takes in order to win the Little Red-Haired Girl's heart. She has been a mainstay in 'Peanuts' for decades now, and this is sort of a more positive take on his feelings for her. Charlie Brown has to learn a lot about himself throughout the process here as well, whereas, in older specials, things were much more simplified and you just had a nervous boy with a crush. His faithful dog, Snoopy (the one and only Bill Melendez) helps him along the way as well, but he's got his own story going on with the origins of his ongoing battle with the Red Baron. In many ways, especially between the Red-Haired Girl and the Red Baron, this movie provides perhaps the best way to introduce the Peanuts gang to today's youth. On a personal level, I really, thoroughly enjoy this movie. While its most definite aim is at kids, there is something about the overall simplicity of it that I can't help but admire. It's incredibly respectful to the work of Charles Schulz, and does nothing to try to "make it hip". It was as though the creators watched every 'Peanuts' special and said "nothing that goes beyond any of this!" A good example is the fact that throughout the film, we see the kids using their home phones, still attached to their cords, and there's no sign of cell phone technology. Details like that really make things fit what 'Peanuts' is supposed to be. I truly admire the fact that they stayed true to Schulz's work. This has become one of my go-to movies for times of feeling blue, or inadequate. It's a bit nostalgic, considering it reflects a lot of those old 'Peanuts' TV specials. But more importantly, and as cheesy as it might sound, it just provides this ray of sunshine to the day. This is one of those nice little slice of life movies, it shows kids just being kids, it goes to no extremes with anything, and it just plain feels like 'Peanuts' should. This is one of those movies I can openly recommend to anyone. There's really nothing bad I can say about it. More than anything else, it's that final message the film has that some people could use sometimes. Otherwise, it's just a nice, warm throwback to those good old 'Peanuts' specials we all remember and love. We all have a few titles that are on our radar, but if ever brought up to anyone, are met with something along the lines of "what in the Hell are you talking about?". One of these for me, is 'Son of Rambow'. Generally, if I mention it, people wonder if I've ever even SEEN any bit of the 'First Blood/Rambo' series (which I basically haven't, but at least I can make it a project for the site). Moving on, perhaps it might interest newcomers that this is where both Will Poulter ('We're the Millers'/'Maze Runner'/'The Revenant') and Bill Milner ('X-Men: First Class'/'Dunkirk') got their respective starts as kids. The film follows the young and innocent Will Proudfoot (Milner) who belongs to the Plymouth Brethren church along with his mother (Jessica Hynes). The religion comes with the strictest of rules, one of which involves never watching any form of entertainment. One day, in class, he's sent out to the hall, as the class is about to watch a documentary. Here, another trouble-making, bad influence of a boy, Lee Carter (Poulter) gets thrown out of class, and the pair meet, only to break a fish bowl, getting them both into trouble. Lee makes a deal that he will take the punishment and "torture" for Will's dead father's watch, and Will acting as stunt man for the film Lee wants to make for the Screen Test Young Film-Makers' Competition. One day, when Lee brings Will to his house, he makes him hide from his brother, Lawrence (Ed Westwick). While in hiding, Will ends up watching 'First Blood', and becomes inspired to help Lee with his film. The pair form an unlikely friendship, but with the catch that Will has to keep this friendship hidden from his mother. This reminds me of some of my old friends, although they weren't nearly as bad as Lee Carter. I was a pretty innocent kid, but still managed to get into trouble with these other kids. Sometimes they weren't allowed over, and I got introduced to things like smoking, and other rebellious, boyish things, and none of it was particularly "good". But despite these guys being bad kids, we still had deep conversation, and fun times. Somehow, this brings a sort of dark nostalgia to the table. Back to the film, the main focus is the friendship between Will and Lee, but there are some of other sides to this story. In their home lives each boy is dealing with a very deep personal matter. Will has to deal with the irritating Brother Joshua of the Brethren, who has an obvious thing for his mother, and seems to be slowly replacing his father. Meanwhile, Lee has to deal with his ignorant brother, Lawrence, but is completely misguided with the thought that Lawrence is the only person in his life who really cares for him. I appreciate how the film takes the time to delve into these personal problems, as those are what make for the best conversation between two unlikely friends. It's so easy to brush off a kid you don't like, but you might empathize with their story if you just take the time to listen. Last and, honestly, probably least, there's the French exchange student, Didier Revol (Jules Sitruk). This kid rolls up to the school, becomes instantly popular (based on 80s punk/pop/WTF fashion), and it feels like he got lost on his way to another movie but decided to stick around and see the sights. Eventually, we get that he has this whole other side story about the toxicity that popularity can bring, and it does eventually blend into Will and Lee's story as he wants to help them with the movie. Of course this also leads to rivalries and such, which may or may not get in the way of the project Lee wants to do. Didier serves his purpose, and a valuable lesson is learned through him, but there was still something about him that felt altogether unnecessary (in other words, the film totally could have still worked with his absence, unless there was something vital I missed). This is another one of those movies I have a soft spot for based on the subject matter of imagination going towards filmmaking. Another such example is 'Be Kind, Rewind' or 'Brigsby Bear'; films that aren't necessarily golden in quality, but definitely show an appreciation for film and creativity while adding a healthy does of friendships and just plain good old warmth. This also takes place somewhere in the 80s, so the soundtrack is pretty full with nostalgic pop hits. If nothing else, it's pretty interesting to see these kids (namely Poulter) in their beginnings, both actually delivering really good performances. I consider this a feel-good movie as a whole, and well worth checking out... that is, if you can find it. Just getting a little something out of the way first, it looks as though I'm definitely an odd man out on this movie. I actually kind of love it, but if I'm being completely honest, this could have qualified as a "Film Negative" (also known as my "Bad Movie Reviews") based on my guidelines, and its Rotten Tomato average of a mere 32.5%. The main reason seems simple enough in that it's a John Hughes film that follows his own 'Home Alone' formula far too closely. Apart from that, however, there's a fair amount of low-brow toilet humour, and to be fair, I'm not the biggest fan either. But I feel like there's much more to like about it, and it's pretty easy for me to see past this movie's flaws and see its charm. For starters, from my perspective, following a 'Home Alone' formula is something I feel lends itself to 'Dennis the Menace'. I get that it's Hughes repeating himself, and it's hard to overlook that criticism in a way. But in another way, personally, I feel that formula just works for something like 'Dennis the Menace'. I grew up with the 1986 cartoon series, and I felt like they more or less nailed it when I saw it. The film features everyone's favourite pre-Bart Simpson trouble-maker, Dennis Mitchell (Mason Gamble), an ongoing source of curiosity and mischief, namely to Mr. George Wilson (Walter Matthau), his next-door neighbour. While Dennis is out of school for the summer, his parents, Henry and Alice (Robert Stanton and Lea Thompson, respectively) each have to work, leaving Dennis and his best friend Joey (Kellen Hathaway) to stay at the Wade's house, where a bossy girl named Margaret (Amy Sakasitz) lives, and neither boy looks forward to seeing her. However, the trio do find an abandoned treehouse in the woods they decide to fix up and make their own. Soon, the Mitchells have to both leave town on business and need a place for Dennis to stay, which leads to Dennis staying right next door with Mr. Wilson and his wife, the ever so sweet Martha (Joan Plowright). In the meantime, a dark figure rolls into town by the name of Swtchblade Sam (Christopher Lloyd), thieving throughout the neighbourhood and, admittedly, providing a pretty disturbing figure. This guy could be Harry and Marv's boss from 'Home Alone', if they ever had one. He's creepy to look at, but has this odd smoothness about him all while acting quite animalistic at the same time. Of course, as one can easily predict, he will have to face off against Dennis at some point. Anyway, perhaps it's a bit low-brow, perhaps a bit formulaic, and perhaps predictable. But there are some sweet moments here, namely involving Mr. and Mrs. Wilson. There's a nice moment here where Mrs. Wilson recites a poem for Dennis she remembers from her mother, and it leads to a discussion about missing out on having children. It's funny, I would consider up a quintessential "granfather/grandson" movie (in other words, it speaks to each extreme generation more than the middle) and I might say this is right there with it. Grandparents can relate to the Wilsons, and kids can relate to Dennis. I think that's where I find the real charm of the movie. It's something I feel I could have shared with my grandparents and they would have had as much fun as I did. I'd also like to point out that this does not follow the age-old formula of a kid being upset with their parents for having to work all the time. Short of a brief discussion in a car ride between Dennis and Alice, there's nothing to it. Dennis just goes with the flow, and it's not really brought up. I also love the way he's got these kids talking; the conversation they have about where babies come from is actually pretty funny. There are some comments about what it means to be a boy or a girl that might not sit too well with some, but I beg you to consider that these are established 5-year-old kids who simply don't know any better. I'm sorry, but when kids don't know what they're saying, I think it's a great source of comedy. And this is was Hughes was an expert at - he understood how kids thought, be they teens or adolescents. If you've seen it, and your mind is made up on it being a bad movie, I'm not here to try to convince you otherwise. As I said, I'm an odd man out on this one. But at the same time, I did want to say my piece in defence of the film, seeing as it falls under the category of "movies I like that others hate". Over the years, this has actually become a bit of a comfort food movie for me, and the warm suburban summer atmosphere it has really helps with that. This is a movie that reminds me what it was to be a kid, and really reflects childhood innocence much more than it does destruction of any kind, as one might expect. It manages to hold a place in my heart, despite the negativity towards it, and I might even recommend checking it out with a new perspective if you ever have the inkling to do so. So, the thing with this title as that as a real, true "screening suggestion" from yours truly, I probably jumped the gun on this. I remembered enjoying this when I was a kid, but watching it now, I really didn't get much from it. So, allow me to try to salvage that because if you're at home with kids this could still be okay for certain reasons. But there's no way I'd recommend it any higher than anything else I have on this Don Bluth lineup. In New Orleans, 1939, we meet dogs Charlie B. Barkin (Burt Reynolds) and his friend, Itchy Itchiford (Dom DeLuise) who escape a pound and return to their casino riverboat. Not wanting to share the profits of the casino with Charlie, his partner, Carface Caruthers (Vic Tayback) makes it clear he wants Charlie out of the picture, so has him killed by a dog named Killer (Charles Nelson Reilly). Charlie finds himself in Heaven where he's taught by an angel (Melba Moore) that all dogs get into Heaven due to being inherently good and loyal. However, instead of sticking around, Charlie winds back a pocket watch that represents his life in order to come back to life. To this, the angel states that due to such a stunt, he can never come back. Charlie keeps the pocket watch close as he returns to his life, soon finding out that Carface has since obtained a little girl named Anne-Marie (Judith Barsi) who can talk to animals, and therefore rig betting. Charlie and Itchy save her only to use her for their own purposes, while promising to find her a family in return. Of course this eventually leads to certain moral dilemmas on Charlie's part. We see this very clearly in a somewhat disturbing dream he has of a potential "Doggy Hell", and knowing he can't get back into "Doggy Heaven" is even more disturbing. But perhaps Charlie cares more for little Anne-Marie than he lets on and in the end, it could save his soul. When it's all said and done it is a genuinely odd mishmash of material. It's very much on the cutesy side of things with Anne-Marie, but often opposes that with very grown-up themes like Hell and demons, and even getting into the lifestyle of these gambling, drinking, smoking dogs. It's hard to really say who this movie is actually for. As a Screening Suggestion, however, I feel I should at least give it more justification. After all, there was something I enjoyed about this as a kid. What could it have been? I suppose if I really dig deep, there are certain aspects of this that introduced me to very real life situations while maintaining an innocence about it. For one, I had a dog at the time, and I actually do think that the way this ends is a heart-string tugger for anyone who has ever had the pleasure of a dog's company. So I suppose it's a good way to dabble in the darker aspects of life without getting too scary for the kids watching. It's not the best movie in Bluth's list, and I'd recommend it as a way to teach your kids about death and what follows, along with the concepts of "good" and "bad" the film carries with it. As an adult, you won't get much from this other than perhaps a little bit of nostalgia. Even I barely felt that aspect of it, and in truth, it was almost like watching it for the first time all over again. For me, it was an odd combination of things that suggested it was a touch more aimed at adults than kids, but the cutesy side of it gave it that balance. It felt like the movie wanted to be Batman but its mom told it that it needed to be 1960's Batman because anything beyond that was too dark. Other than it being a good way to teach your children about death, it does seem to have a certain appeal for others that I didn't completely get. So if nothing else, it may be worth checking out just to see how much you enjoy it for yourself.... Just be forewarned that the songs are generally pretty bad, so you might want that fast-forward button handy. This is one I haven't actually seen in years - long enough that the last time I saw it, I was totally ignorant to what this was really about. It's essentially a history lesson wrapped up in an adventurous package, giving you some idea of what Jewish families had to go through back in the late 19th century. The film was directed by Don Bluth, but produced by Steven Spielberg, and based on Spielberg's passion for history, this almost comes across as more him than Bluth. The two would sadly eventually part ways with their creative differences. However, not before establishing the classic titles that are 'An American Tail' and 'The Land Before Time'; a couple of staples of 80s childhood. It's a shame, they seemingly made a pretty good team. Bluth's style of animation along with Spielberg's imagination made for some pretty awe-inspiring stuff. I'm wouldn't pretend to claim this as one of my favorites in the Bluth collection, really. But it does make my list of Screening Suggestions for the month just due to it being a little piece of cinematic history. If you as any 80's kid now (we're all in our late 30s/ early 40s) about 'An America Tail', I think most of us would look at it with fond memories... but we'd probably go on to say 'The Land Before Time' was better. And I say that while maintaining that I still think this is well done. As the film opens, in 1885, we are introduced to the Russian-Jewish Mousekewitz family as they celebrate Hanukkah. Papa (Nehemiah Persoff) tells his children, Fievel (Phillip Glasser) and Tanya (Amy Green) about the land of America; a land where the threat of cats apparently doesn't exist. Meanwhile, Mama (Erica Yohn) doesn't want Papa scaring the kids with a story about cats. Almost immediately after Papa's story, the human family they live with are the victims of an anti-Jewish attack from a group of Cossacks ("people of southern Russia and Ukraine, noted for their horsemanship and military skill"). To the mice, the threat is represented by cats. When all is destroyed, the Mousekwitz family decides to head to New York and away from the threat - or so Papa believes. While the family is on board a tramp steamer headed for America, a storm stirs up, and Fievel manages to lose the hat Papa handed down to him during the Hanukkah celebration. While chasing it down, however, Fievel becomes separated from his family and the steamer altogether. He manages to ride a bottle to Liberty Island and arrive safely, but the family is otherwise convinced he was killed in the storm. While on a mission to find his family, Fievel inadvertently finds himself teamed up with a group of mice, lead by Bridget (Cathianne Blore); an Irish mouse trying to rally a group in order to fight off the cats who everyone discovers are a part of America after all. The main thing I managed to remember from this movie was the song 'Somewhere Out There', which is by and large probably the most famous song to ever come from a Don Bluth film. It was nominated for an Oscar that year, but managed to lose to 'Take My Breath Away' from 'Top Gun' - both would eventually get a ton of radio play. Otherwise, I barely remembered the likes of the comedy relief characters; a bumbling cat named Tiger (Dom DeLouise), and a cockroach named Digit (Will Ryan) who was basically second fiddle to the film's primary antagonist, Warren T. Rat (John Finnegan); a character I forgot about altogether. I remembered the basics of Fievel being separated from his family, and trying to get back to them. All of the other material was something I forgot about, probably because I didn't entirely understand it at the time. Having said that, I think one would probably actually get a little more out of this as a teenager or adult. It seems to be aimed at impressionable children, but some of them might not be able to grasp some of what's going on. Personally speaking, I definitely got more out of the story now than I did as a kid. In a way, however, that's a bonus, as the film does nothing to talk down to kids. This one is a little more based in history and reality and has a bit more of a serious tone than the wonderful fantasy worlds Bluth otherwise tends to present us with. Personally, I still get more out of 'The Secret of NIMH' and 'The Land Before Time', but I'd still consider this a classic in it's own right. If there was ever a movie that made me truly appreciate Emma Stone, it was probably this one. I tend to see this as the movie where Emma Stone essentially plays herself, at least as far as her character's personality goes. When I see her being interviewed, I certainly feel this character come through more than, say, Mia from 'La La Land'. Although, it's safe to say, she brings a lot of herself in just about anything she plays; it's part of what makes her so incredibly charming. Add to that her Oscar-worthy talent, and she makes for my favorite actress, and she has been for quite some time. Narrated by Olive Pendergast (Stone), she tells us a story via "web broadcast" after her high school life has taken a turn for the worse. She is here to tell us her side of the story as opposed to all of the hearsay around the school yard about her. So, she's speaking to us as though we're fellow students who may have heard some pretty nasty things about her, possibly judging her without hearing her side of the story - a habit I think we have all been guilty of, especially back in those angsty days of high school. It all stats with Olive lying to her friend, Rhiannon (Aly Michalka) about having a date in place of a weekend camping trip Rhiannon wants her to take with her parents. The following Monday, Rhiannon asks Olive for explicit details of the date, and presses her to "admit" to losing her virginity. At first, word gets around, and people start paying attention to Olive, which she appreciates after being overlooked for so long (by the way, yes, this is another teen movie cliche where the "unattractive" girl is in actuality gorgeous). Things begin to spiral a bit, however, when she agrees to help an unpopular gay student, Brendon (Dan Byrd) out by "taking his virginity", faking it at a high school party. Soon, her reputation gets out of hand and she has to learn about a few things the hard way, all the while trying to do the right thing. The whole execution is actually very well done, becase it allows the audience to understand both perspectives. It would be easy to get sucked into the rumor mill, but I feel like if you were ever a high school student, you have probably also been in Olive's position, one way or another. Directed by Will Gluck, this is sort of his shining star, and has often been toted as Emma Stone's 'Mean Girls' in the sense that it's her true breakout role. We knew her from things like 'Zombieland' and 'Superbad' before this, sure, but this was what really made the masses notice her; especially as a character just about anyone who has ever attended high school can relate to. Considering Lindsay Lohan in 'Mean Girls', it may not have been her breakout role, but it was definitely the highlight of her acting career, and when people noticed she wasn't just a child actress anymore. Back to the point, however, Stone would show her Oscar-worthy talent just one year later in 'The Help' (although she wasn't nominated that year). There is, of course, plenty more talent than just Emma here as well. Throughout the film, we meet the likes of her favorite teacher, Mr. Griffith (Thomas Haden Church) who is married to her guidance councilor, Mrs. Griffith (Lisa Kudrow), and both bring a good laugh to the screen. However no one quite tops her most awesome parents, Dill (Stanley Tucci) and Rosemary (Patricia Clarkson). To top the family's food name sequence off, they also have an adopted son named Chip (Bryce Clyde Jenkins). These are the open-minded, funny and totally casual parents one might envy, and they're easily one of the highlights of the movie. Of course, things wouldn't be complete without a perfect villain in the form of Marianne (Amanda Bynes) who we sort of love to hate, but her character is pretty hilarious with how over-the-top she is. I don't have a whole lot more to say on the matter, but I did choose to close out this month's theme with perhaps my favorite of the bunch. Besides the fact that it's Emma Stone (who I clearly love), there are many likable characters and funny lines throughout the film, and frankly, if you did like 'Mean Girls' and haven't seen this yet, you're totally missing out. There are a lot of similarities, but not the least of which is the film's sense of teen-angsty humor. The only thing that could have made it much better would have been if John Hughes was around to direct it, as he could have added his perfect teen movie touch to it. But it's still great as it is, and it doesn't deny any appreciation for John Hughes' classics from the 80s - hell, it mentions them throughout. So, if you're on the lookout for a very solid teen movie that you may have missed (I find there's still so many who haven't seen this), I highly recommend giving it a watch. In truth, I haven't actually watched this in ages. However, I'll always remember liking it back upon its release in '99, making me an 11th-grader at the time. So the timing was pretty good when it popped up that year. It was perhaps the first example I remember of leaving the theater thinking about how I enjoyed it, while one friend I saw it with passed it off as an awkward "chick flick", bt didn't care what he thought of my opinion on it, which was quite positive. The story here doesn't center on so much as revolve around bitter teenager Kat Stratford (Julia Styles). She's a bit of a loner, and not very-well liked due to her negative attitude towards basically everything. Her sister, Bianca (Larisa Oleynik), is the popular, pretty girl in school who everyone seems to desire. As a result, they have a pretty toxic sisterhood between them. The sisters live with their overprotective father, Walter (Larry Miller), under the house rule that they are not to date until after they graduate high school. While Bianca is interested in dating, Kat doesn't really want anything to do with it, and therefore their father makes a deal with Bianca; she can date if Kat starts dating. Meanwhile, smitten-with-Bianca, is one Cameron James (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). New to the school, he's shown the ropes by the awkward and geeky Michael Eckman (David Krumholtz) and warned about not pursuing his interest in Bianca due to their father's rule. As a result, Cameron works with Michael on devising a plan to get someone to date Kat so that he can have some sort of shot at dating Bianca. This plan involves bringing in tough guy, Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) who Cameron believes would be about the only guy who would potentially put up with Kat's attitude. Anyway, the whole thing does become a pretty big mish-mash of love interest vs love interest, and can get a bit complex at times. I haven't even mentioned Bianca's interest in the cocky senior model, Joey Donner (Andrew Keegan), but I could be here all day explaining away. For me, I suppose the charm of the film comes from the idea that the plot is so very "high school". It's also not so much about "getting laid" as it's about actually falling for someone and the desire to be with that person. It has its moments, but you can't very well look at this movie and say it's a raunchy, although it still feels very "teen movie". I'd put this one a little more alongside something like 'Can't Hardly Wait' than something like 'American Pie'. Being that it was '99, there's also that bit of a nostalgic factor. In the late 90s, teen movies really made a comeback, and I daresay this was one of the better of them. As far as this being a recommendation, I suppose it's for those of us who can appreciate something a little more "Hughes-esque" when it comes to a teen movie execution. It's for 'Breakfast Club' or 'Pretty in Pink' fans a touch more than it's for 'American Pie' or 'Superbad' fans. All that said, I'm fairly bias towards teen movies, myself. I really do enjoy a good coming-of-age movie, and this is quite a good one. If nothing else, it's fun to go back on, recognizing some of those forgotten faces, seeing Heath Ledger's breakthrough performance and seeing where we dropped Joseph Gordon-Levitt off as a young up-and-comer, before picking him up again in '500 Days of Summer' as an a sudden fan-favorite (although for me, that was 'Inception'). Believe it or not, there was a point in time when Lindsay Lohan was considered a sort of "America's Sweetheart" as she was growing up. Her big run spanned between 1998's 'The Parent Trap' to 2005's 'Herbie: Fully Loaded'. She's still going, but she sort of just pops up here and there these days, and she doesn't seem either welcome or unwelcome. Either way, it's probably safe to say that when it comes to Lohan, 'Mean Girls' would most likely be considered her magnum opus. Here, Lohan stars as 16-year-old Cady Heron alongside some fresh and now famous faces who include Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried, Lizzy Caplan, and to a lesser extent, Lacey Chabert, who some probably recognized at the time from 'Party of Five'. But it's interesting to note that this was a film that provided a few break-through roles for some pretty recognizable faces nowadays; namely Caplan, McAdams and Seyfried. It's a neat time capsule to go back on to see these women just starting out, and the roles that arguably spurred them into stardom. Getting back to the plot, however, Cady has recently moved from Africa to Illinois with her zoologist parents, Betsy (Ana Gasteyer) and Chip (Neil Flynn). After being homeschooled for the majority of her life, Cady now must face common, American high school in all it's horrendous glory. Though her first day doesn't exactly go well, she eventually becomes friends with classmates Janis Ian (Caplan) and her gay best friend, Damian Leigh (Daniel Franzese). The pair show her the ropes, which includes pointing out the different cliques throughout the school. The most popular clique, dubbed the "Plastics", consists of three of the most popular girls in school; Regina George (McAdams) is considered the "queen bee" of the group; Gretchen Wieners (Chabert) is the rich girl whose Dad invented Toaster Strudels; and Karen Smith (Seyfried) is the typical dumb blonde type, but honestly one of the funniest parts of the movie. One day the Plastics have Cady sit with them, and in their own way befriend her mostly due to the fact that she's very pretty and could be among the popular girls. When Janis and Ian find out that Cady's hanging out with these "mean girls", the three come up with a plot for Cady to take this opportunity to be a mole and spy on them. Eventually Cady learns about the "Burn Book"; a book the Plastics have created sporting photos and nasty comments and rumors about fellow students and even teachers. Soon, Cady finds herself stuck in the middle of a plan to use the Burn Book against Regina, and in the process finds that she may very well be turning into a mean girl herself. That's one of the great things about this movie, however, is that basically everyone in it is mean in their own way, when the title along with the poster pretty much points out the Plastics, so we are very ready to presume that they are the bullyish focus of the film. Following what was said about 'Clueless', once again, don't judge this one by its cover. The film's great cast extends beyond everyone already mentioned. We can also find some likable funny people among the adults, who mainly include Tina Fey and Ms. Norbury, Tim Meadows as Mr. Duvall, and Amy Poehler as Regina's Mom. Tina Fey also happened to do the writing for this one, based partially on Rosalind Wiseman's self-help book, 'Queen Bees and Wannabes'. Although the main focus here is very obviously on high school girls and how they act towards each other, I find this one very easy to watch in its overall hilarity. Truth be told, this one carries a lot of laugh out loud moments, and tends to carry a valuable lesson about the dangers of popularity. Unlike a lot of teen movies that are about wanting to be popular, this one tells more of a story about accidentally becoming popular, and having the right mindset to handle one's popularity appropriately. This really is a solid film, and it's kind of a shame that it's the last time Tina Fey cranked out a screenplay. She did an awesome job here, and I'd love to see more. In honor of Valentines Month, I thought I'd do something a little bit special and feature a few movies I tend to enjoy with solid female leads. Further to that, each of these is considered a "Teen Movie", so there's always a coming of age aspect to them, from the women's perspective. First up, we have 1995's 'Clueless'; a film that I completely ignored back in the day, considering it "far too girly" - how immature I was. Fast-forward a few years, however, and I actually watch it, developing a newfound respect for it. This is one of the prime examples I can think of when it comes to not judging a movie by its cover. Just to add a twist of class to it as well, this is also loosely based on Jane Austin's 'Emma', originally published in 1851. So it's like, totally one of those modern take flicks. We are introduced to socially popular material girl, Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone). She lives in California with her wealthy and successful father, Mel (Dan Hedaya), who we soon learn encourages Cher's success by manipulation when she shows him her grades. Cher sees herself as a matchmaker, and when she successfully hooks up a couple of her teachers, Mr. Hall (Wallace Shawn) and Miss Gueist (Twink Caplan), she continues to fancy herself the expert and tries to play "Cupid" for several other people, believing she knows what's best for everyone, and further considering these hook-ups "good deeds". Meanwhile, Cher's ex-stepbrother, Josh (Paul Rudd) visits during a college break. The two bicker over things like his idealism and her personality, but do so in a playful way. The thing is, Cher doesn't quite understand that some things Josh has to say about her may just be more accurate than not. This is more or less concluded when a new girl named Tai (Brittany Murphy) comes to the school, and Cher takes her on as a project, along with the help of her best friend, Dionne (Stacey Dash) assuming that they're helping her with her popularity. The thing is, it ends up working too well, and eventually Cher begins to question her place in the chain of popularity, along with her attitude and feelings towards certain people in her life. I think what I like best about this movie is that, if you haven't seen it before, it ends up taking you by surprise. This is a film that, on the surface, looks like it's just going to be about a handful of popular girls doing popular girl stereotype things. It pretty much starts out as one might imagine. The thing is, the film turns the tables on the viewer a little by portraying things like Cher not just being some blonde stereotype, she's actually pretty clever about certain things. Add to that the fact that we have a female lead whose love life isn't the focus of the film. The focus of the film, relationship-wise, has more to do with the side characters while she's in the middle of it all. It all becomes a learning experience for her, instead of just having her as some match-making hero. I'm not gonna lie, this never really dragged me into its cult following, but it does tend to be one I sort of admire from afar. I respect this movie and the story it tells, and I do love the way it surprises the viewer by giving us what we fear it might be, followed by something that catches you a little off-guard. It's a bit of a 50/50 film in that sense, at least from my perspective. I could easily see this as a go-to for a "feel-good" movie, and it certainly has developed a following over the years. It has been dubbed by some to be one of the best teen movies of all time, and it has gone on to be considered a classic of sorts. I would extend that to include 90's movies in general, as it's very representative of the era it was released - right in the middle, with a 1995 release date. This one is easily accessible through various streaming services, so don't let the movie poster deter you from what could be a pretty solid viewing experience like I did for so long. It all begins in 1985, when a boy named John Bennett (Bretton Manley/Mark Wahlberg) makes a Christmas wish for his new teddy bear to come to life and become his best friend. The wish comes true, and the talking teddy bear, aptly named "Ted" (Seth MacFarlane), becomes a celebrity for a short time. Eventually, however, his popularity wanes, and 27 years later, "nobody gives a sh*t". Now 35, John lives with Ted and his girlfriend, Lori Collins (Mila Kunis) in an apartment in Boston. With John and Lori's 4th dating anniversary, Lori wants to get their lives underway, but John is still very attached to Ted. After an incident in the apartment involving Ted and a few prostitutes, Lori has the last straw and convinces John to make Ted move out. The film's general premise has to do with John being torn between his life of leisure with his best friend, and growing up and being responsible for the woman he loves. In the meantime, Ted has to adjust to a new apartment, a new job, a new girlfriend named Tami-Lynn (Jessica Barth), and a creepy stalker named Donny (Giovanni Ribisi) and his kid, Robert (Aedin Mincks). This is pretty much the typical "tug-of-war" movie in which the lead has to make a decision between two extremes - in this case, the best friend and the girlfriend. It's all done in the 'Family Guy'-like style that only Seth MacFarlane can deliver, and if you're a 'Family Guy' fan, I see no reason why you wouldn't be into it. All in all, 'Ted' is a lot of fun for those of us who can somehow appreciate the often low-brow, potentially offensive, yet clever and satirical humor of Seth MacFarlane. I would probably sooner recommend this one over the second to a general audience, but there is something about 'Ted 2' I personally like just a bit more. 'Ted 2' is often ranked lower, if only because it makes all of the events of the first film seemingly meaningless. I totally get the criticism, as I've criticized other sequels for doing this - my go-to example being 'Alien 3'. With that said though, this is still a Seth MacFarlane comedy, and I personally feel that comedy is the most flexible genre for something like that. You wouldn't take 'Ted' and call it "the best story about a man torn between his friend and his lover" as much as you'd call it "a comedy about a man and his talking teddy bear". So the sequel never bothered me in that sense. They take time to explain, the explanation makes sense, and things move on. John and Lori get a divorce, pretty well based on Lori always wanting John to be something he isn't. It seems mutual, but John is nevertheless sad about it, and Ted's wedding to Tami-Lynn doesn't really help the way he feels. One year passes, Ted and John remain best friends, but Ted's relationship to Tami-Lynn starts to get rocky. Based on this, the couple decide to try to have a baby. This reaches complications based on Ted not having the appropriate gear, and Tami-Lynn is scarily infertile, so no sperm donor will do. The main plot comes into play when Ted and Tami-Lynn finally decide to adopt and find out, based on background checks, they can't adopt because the state sees Ted as "property" and not a "person". All sorts of complications follow this situation, so John and Ted seek legal help in attempting to fight the state. They seemingly get stuck with a fresh-out-of-school lawyer named Samantha (Amanda Seyfried), who will take their case pro bono. They are reluctant at first, but as the drug tends to do, they bond over their love of marijuana and their mutual disagreement on the War on Drugs. And yes, she is predictably the new love interest for John, which may or may not lead to complications in Ted's case despite the fact that she's trying her best. It's probably just me, but I tend to like Samantha over Lori. Lori was good for him in many ways, but Samantha is just more fun. John can just be himself without any issues around her, and Seyfried is really able to roll with the punches in this - she's made fun of a few times and just sportingly goes with it; something one ultimately HAS to be able to do, working for someone like MacFarlane. Meanwhile, Donny makes a return as well, working as a janitor for Hasbro. When he gets wind of Ted being seen as property, he convinces the CEO, Tom Jessup (John Carroll Lynch) to hire an expert attorney to make sure Ted remains "property". With this, they'd be able to take Ted, dissect him, and figure out what makes him tick so they could potentially make a whole series of him. Donny would keep one for himself, and Hasbro would rake in the profits. Again, there's a bit of a cliche thing going on here with "cutting him open to see what makes him tick", but at least it connects with the plot this time and isn't just some creepy stalker cameo to create a threat. There is something I like about 'Ted 2' a bit more, and if I had to try to place my finger on it, I'd say it's more about the subject matter than the jokes. I thought it was interesting and new to have the toy-come-to-life fight for his rights. These movies parody the child-like wonder situation by asking "what happens when they grow up?" I think it's funny that they go to such extremes which you feel could be real honest to God problems with the living toy situation. This one makes me laugh, but the jokes still may not be as solid as the jokes in the first one. So much of what made the first one hilarious was the very idea of it. 'Ted' was a trailer that came along and caught everyone off guard. 'Ted 2' didn't catch anyone off guard, it was simply fans wanting Ted's further adventures. Whether you like the first one or the second one more, one can still have a fun time just playing them back-to-back. I personally can't watch one without following it up with the other. There's something about MacFarlane's fast and loose comedy that I can't help but admire - it's the same idea I have with Trey Parker and Matt Stone in that their humor isn't afraid to just "go there". Audiences kind of accept them for who they are, and are able to decide they aren't their cup of tea without stirring up a whole lot of controversy (although don't get me wrong, it happens). I wouldn't just recommend this material to anyone and everyone, but if you enjoy MacFarlane's humor, I say treat yourself - just remember that you're bound to hear or see something that might get under your skin. Here we have another fun title that seems to have split people right down the middle. Speaking for myself, I find it to be one of those titles I can just have some dark, twisted fun with; much like 'Gremlins'. This is fitting, considering this comes from same director Joe Dante. He seems to know how to hit that note just right, where something cute and/or fun has the potential to be pretty scary. Despite what it looks like in its marketing, this is a PG-13 flick, and it takes advantage of that. If you can put a lot of the cheesy dialogue aside, it works pretty well in answering the question; "What if we made 'Toy Story' really dark?" Things start off pretty over the top when GloboTech; a top defense contractor acquires the Heartland Toy Company. Toy designers, Larry Benson (Jay Mohr) and Irwin Wayfair (David Cross) are given the job of developing fully interactive toys that will "play back" by Globotech CEO, Gil Mars (Denis Leary). Mars goes with Benson's "Commando Elite"; a group of tough-guy Army soldiers, and Wayfair's "Gorgonites" to be their enemies. Benson jumps the gun on providing the product with its "playability", and activates the toys with a very special microprocessor, which ultimately brings the toys to life, and gives them all a personality of their own. We soon meet Alan Abernathy (Gregory Smith), who signs off on a shipment of these toys for his family's toy store. Along with a friendly delivery driver named Joe (Dick Miller), they activate Archer (Frank Langella); leader of the Gorgonites and Chip Hazard (Tommy Lee Jones), not quite realizing what they were about to unleash. Chip is purchased by Christy Fimple (Kirsten Dunst), the object of Alan's affection, as a present for her little brother, Timmy (Jacob Smith), and Archer goes back to Alan's house in his backpack, where Alan realizes he's actually sentient. The lot of them soon learn what's really happening as the Chip activates the rest of the Commando Elite to hunt down and kill all of the Gorgonites, who they see as their sworn enemy. Meanwhile, the reality is that their roles are reversed, and Archer and the rest of his monster friends are the "good guys". Looking at it today, it's certainly one of those movies where you have to let the CG slide a bit. This was 1998, and CG was just getting good enough to get away with animation that looked a lot like plastic toys. This was one of those things that looked really good for its time, but we've also come a long way since '98, so I could see that being something viewers wouldn't appreciate as much today. On top of that, as mentioned before, there's a lot of dialogue here that's just corny and seems to cater to a younger audience, while some of the violence and action caters to the older, teenage crowd. In that sense, one might consider that it doesn't really know who it's for. From my perspective, however, this is one of those movies kids can watch that has a darker side to it. Again, comparing it to 'Gremlins', it's a good bit of a toe-dip into something that, while fun, is taken a bit more seriously. These soldiers actually do kill more than just a few Gorgonites. I don't see a lot of confusion in who it's catering to. Back when it was released, I considered it one for the kids looking for a darker side. 'Monster Squad' is another example I could throw out there where it's got some language and some violence, but it's something your parents would still let you watch. This doesn't come in as a super high recommendation, considering it seems very clear that this title has just as many disliking it as liking it. I would recommend indulging in your curiosity though, if you've always wondered what this one is like. You may be pleasantly surprised at some of the stuff it has to offer. I haven't even brought up some of the other appearances in this, which include Kevin Dunn and Ann Magnuson as Alan's parents and Phil Hartman and Wendy Schaal as Christy's parents. Hartman's probably the best part of this movie, honestly - his performance is very 'Simpson'-esque. While there are still a few cringe-worthy moments here and there, if you can just manage to make that part of the fun of it all, it works as something outlandishly fun and entertaining. To put a cap on this Schwarzenegger-themed Month, I figured I'd end things on a light note. Any real fan of Arnold will tell you that the man has a sense of humor about himself, and can be the epitome of a "gentle giant". This is a movie that shows it in a way that balances his action hero side with his sensitive side almost perfectly. This one's also directed by Ivan Reitman; director of my all-time favorite film, 'Ghostbusters', so I may have a slight bias leaning towards it. But at the same time, I just can't do a Schwarzenegger month without covering a bit of comedy. This film is proof that the man can be hilarious if given the chance. As the movie opens, we're introduced to Detective John Kimble (Schwarzenegger), chasing a drug dealer he's been tracking for years, Cullen Crisp (Richard Tyson). Kimble makes a successful arrest for murder after a witness, Cindy (Alix Koromzay) sees him kill an informant after gaining information on his ex-wife, Rachel's (Penelope Ann Miller) whereabouts. She evidently left him ages ago, taking with her a large sum of money as well as their son. Partnered with an ex-teacher, Phoebe (Pamela Reed), Kimble goes undercover in Astoria, Oregon. The job is to find Rachel and offer her immunity in exchange for testifying against Crisp in court, thus finally closing the case on him. Phoebe is to act as a kindergarten teacher for Astoria Elementary, and try to locate Rachel as well as Crisp's son. Without the names to go by, with the mother and son being in hiding, it could already be difficult. But things are almost immediately made worse by Phoebe getting sick, and Kimble having to take her place as the kindergarten teacher. Hilarity ensues as the big, tough guy is overwhelmed by the mouths, attitudes and hyperactivity of these 5-6-year-old kids. He can't even swap-out with Phoebe when she gets better, as it'll blow his cover. On top of all that, authorities let Crisp go too soon, and he heads straight for the location of his son in hopes to reunite with him via custodial kidnapping (which, by the way, does not mean "stealing a janitor"). While Schwarzenegger is best-known for being an action-hero, or even THE action hero, this is a good way of showing that he can be flexible for light-hearted stuff the whole family can watch. He has done other comedies like 'Twins', 'Junior' and 'Jingle All the Way', but I'd strongly consider this his quintessential comedy role. The plot sounds pretty dark, but this carries with it so many great Arnold moments when it comes to his interactions with these kids. One of the funniest images of Schwarzenegger I can think of is when he's dressed up as a country farmer singing 'Old MacDonald had a farm', using a ukulele. But this also has such great Arnold-one-liners as "I'm the party pooper.", "There is no bathroom!", and of course "It's not a tumor!" Even after all these years, this is a great, light-hearted, feel-good flick with just the right amount of dark plotline. It really delivers the laughs and the naive innocence of all these kids, but at the same time delivers a typical Schwarzenegger action movie in its background, which all comes to a head during an admittedly pretty intense climax. This was pretty much the start of the "tough guy with kids" subgenre, followed up with films like 'The Nanny', 'The Pacifier', 'The Spy Next Door' and the very recent 'My Spy'. It's safe to say that just about all of those titles took influence from this movie, and out of all of them, this still remains an untouched classic of sorts. It's just the right balance of light and dark, and it makes sure to teach kids who are watching a thing or two about "stranger danger". On a final note, I'd like to point out that this time around I kept a sharp eye on the kids and their behavior in the background, and I have to say it's worth re-watching to pick up on a few reactions and such. For example, the scene where he yells "SHUT UP!" and makes them all cry (it's funnier than it sounds, trust me) there's a girl by the classroom sink who must not have known how to fake cry, so she makes a "Duh!" face (as in someone saying "duh" sarcastically). That's just one example, but keep your eyes open, a lot of it is pretty funny. Either way, it deserves a re-watch for Schwarzenegger fans who just need a bit of cheering up from time to time. Wrapping up Sandler September, we have what I consider Sandler's last great comedy of his golden years. It's completely up for debate, but I find this to be where Sandler peaks in his comedy. His overall range is kinda complete here. We got the goofy Sandler with 'Billy Madison', the sarcastic Sandler with 'Happy Gilmore', the charming Sandler with 'The Wedding Singer', and the character acting with 'The Waterboy'. This brings it full circle where we finally get to see him act a little more serious while maintaining his sense of humor. I'd probably guess that this is about as close as he comes to playing himself. We meet Sonny Kaufax (Sandler), a slacker who refuses to complete his bar exam despite earning his law degree. In the meantime, he's living off compensation from an accident, and working an odd job as a toll booth attendant. In short, he's a bit of a low-life, but comfortable in how things are going; that is until his girlfriend, Vanessa (Kristy Swanson) threatens to break up with him if he doesn't get his act together. On top of that, his roomate, Kevin Gerrity (Jon Stewart) proposes to his girlfriend, Corinne Maloney (Leslie Mann), and he fears being left behind in the dust, not really knowing what to do about his situation. Enter a five-year-old boy named Julian McGrath (Cole/Dylan Sprouse) who shows up at Sonny and Kevin's apartment with a note that claims he's Kevin's son. Kevin, having headed to China on business, is confused by the phone call he gets about it from Sonny, but Sonny offers to help him out until he gets back. In doing so, he pretends to be Kevin in order to obtain custody of little Julian, mostly so that he doesn't have to stay in a group home until Kevin gets back to sort things out. This leads to an unlikely bonding between Sonny and Julian, and through their bond, they learn a lot about each other and themselves along with their individual potential. In the meantime, Sonny also falls for Lalya Malony (Joey Lauren Adams), Corinne's lawyer sister, so there's a bit of a love story here as well. But luckily, the brunt of the film is about the relationship between Sonny and Julian while Layla is more just a love interest to keep Sonny's development going - in other words, what will he do honestly to be with her. The pair are cute together, and it's easily one of the sweetest roles you see Adams ever play. It's also refreshing to see his three friends who are in almost anything with him together in more serious roles; Peter Dante, Allen Covert and Jonathan Loughran as his three best friends, again attributing this role to perhaps something closer to himself. This is another film that gives me the nostalgic vibe for 1999 for a variety of reasons. For one, the soundtrack is about as 90s alternative as a soundtrack can get (save maybe a couple of songs), but above that, I used to watch this one with my friends almost religiously. It was just that movie we'd throw on for something to laugh at almost every time. It's humor isn't so off the wall its crazy, but there's enough of that blended with a more straight-man type of humor, making this great for just about any Sandler fan. Again, I might mention that this is one of the first times we see Sandler really emote, and It shows his range pretty well. Sandler has gone on to impress and un-impress us time and time again. He can shine in dramatic roles like 'Rein Over Me' and 'Uncut Gems'. He's shown great voice acting as Dracula in the 'Hotel Transylvania' movies. But he's also just delivered a bunch of Netflix trash, most of which I've never seen because its reviewed so often as such. One day I'll give them a chance, but I do feel that much like with his counterbalance of 90s comedy, Jim Carrey, he had his time and there's a part of me that just sees him as yesterday's news. All five films I've reviewed this month hold a special place in my heart for different reasons, though, and I do claim this to be the last of the golden years of Sandler, ending those years on a truly sweet and memorable note. Here's about where Sandler really started getting on critics' nerves, and audiences started to get a little bit split on whether or not Adam Sandler was funny or annoying. Being 1998, and being that I was 16 at the time, it was still very much up my alley, and to this day, I have an appreciation for it, and it still gets a good laugh from me when I watch it. It's not quite in the classic vein like 'Billy Madison' and 'Happy Gilmore', but it stands on its own, featuring honestly one of the more charming characters he ever plays. As the film opens, we're introduced to the kindly but seemingly mentally disabled Bobby Boucher (Sandler); the water boy for the University of Louisiana's football team, the Cougars. The team bullies him, but he takes it because all he cares about is whether or not the team is hydrated. So just to forewarn audiences, there's definitely a mean-spiritedness to the film. But don't worry, without spoiling anything, it does lighten up significantly by the end. However the film does start with his being fired by the team's coach, Red Beaulieu (Jerry Reed), as he's such a distraction to the team. Bobby lives with his strict and overprotective mother, Helen (Kathy Bates) who explains her overprotectiveness away with the story of Bobby's father, Roberto (Frank Coraci) who apparently died of dehydration in the Sahara Desert while serving in the Peace Corps before Bobby was born. Even in such a goofy comedy as this, Kathy Bates is one of the best things about it. You believe she loves and cares for Bobby in such a way that it's almost disturbing. In some ways, she brings a bit of her 'Misery' role to the character; ready to kill anyone who messes with her son. Bobby eventually finds a job at South Central Louisiana State University, working for the failing and depressed Coach Klein (Henry Winkler), once again playing the role of water boy. Once the new team starts to dig into him a little, Bobby finally snaps and tackles one of the team members with such force that Klein asks him to play on his team, the Mud Dogs; a team on a forty game losing streak with a handful of alcoholic cheerleaders who have given up. While the main plot revolves around Bobby's newfound football career, there's a whole subplot involving Bobby torn between doing what makes him happy and following the demands of his Mother. While overbearing, she is one of the only people who care for him. But she soon finds competition in Vicki Vallencourt (Fairuza Balk), a rebellious, tough southern girl who has a bit of a thing for Bobby, mostly just because he's such a sweet guy. The real clencher to the whole thing is that Bobby sees Vickie and plays football behind his disapproving mother's back. As mentioned before, one thing that sort of stood out to me this time was just how mean-spirited things got with it. Nowadays, I would think the filmmakers would have trouble getting it off the ground because a lot of it has to do with people making fun of someone with a mental disability. On the other hand, it's not like Bobby doesn't come back with a perfectly decent revenge plan, somewhat equivalent to finally punching that horrible bully of yours right in the nose. These bullies get what they deserve, no more, no less. Again, it bears mentioning that it all ends very positively, and it's kind of a good movie for several different types. If you are a jerk who picks on people, here to watch Sandler, you might learn something. If you're an overprotective family member, you might learn something. If you're the person getting picked on, you might learn something. It's another very split movie where Sandler fans love it for what it is while critics pan it just because it's predictable, harsh and stupid. It is all of those, but it's also a lot of fun, clearly not to be taken too seriously, and most of the laughs you get aren't actually at Bobby's expense. It's just a solid underdog flick done in classic Sandler fashion. When it comes to Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, you're a little har-pressed to think of a lot of cuter couples. Between 'The Wedding Singer' and '50 First Dates', both are rather charming romantic comedies featuring the two falling for each other in one way or another. I never did see 'Blended', but I've also heard that it's not so good, so I may just stick with the first two. In Ridgefield, New Jersey, wedding singer Robbie Hart (Adam Sandler) performs at a wedding where he meets a waitress named Julia Sullivan (Drew Barrymore). Here we learn that Robbie is getting ready to marry his fiancée, Linda (Angela Featherstone), and Julia is anxiously awaiting a wedding proposal from her beau, a successful businessman named Glenn (Matthew Glave). On Robbie's wedding day, however, Linda ditches him, sending him into a downward spiral. He still attends weddings for work though, and eventually develops a solid friendship with Julia, as she helps him through his hard time. Meanwhile, she has finally been proposed to - a wedding Robbie promised to sing at when they first met. Holding to his promise, he starts to develop feelings for Julia, and though things are relatively predictable from here, the execution is interesting. It's one of the first (if not the first) films that call back the 80s, just 8 years after they ended. I remember going to the theater to watch this, and it seemed like a big deal to look back on what the 80s was like. But when you compare it to thinking of 2012 today, using that 8 year gap, it doesn't feel like enough time has passed for it to really matter. I suppose the best similarity nowadays would be 'Avengers: Endgame', as they time travel to 2012 and the setting of the first 'Avengers' film. It felt like time passed, but it didn't feel like a whole new era. It just felt like part of the same long 11-year era. That's just how big the divide was between what was considered "80s" and what was considered "90s" was (although it can't be denied a lot of the 80s spilled over into the early 90s). Back tot he film at hand, however, this was the film that made Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore a new, solid, on-screen power couple of sorts. I personally considered them to be taking the baton from Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan ('Joe vs The Volcano', 'Sleepless in Seattle', and 'You've Got Mail', released the same year as this). Drew is constantly charming us with her sweet, good nature, and Adam is constantly charming us with his sense of humor and music. The film ends with such a feel-good scene involving a new song by Robbie, and at the risk of presenting a spoiler (22 years later), he's accompanied by Billy Idol, who adds the little cherry on top of it all. I did have a bit of a hard time going between which romantic Sandler comedy was better; this or '50 First Dates'. Truth be told, there's a part of me that likes '50 First Dates' just a touch more, but this was the movie that started it all between Sandler and Barrymore, and we are looking at his "Golden Age" after all. I'd personally consider this one of the finest feel-good movies out there. It gets dark in moments during Robbie's breakdown, but it's very much a film that reminds you that when things look their darkest, there's some sort of light at the end of that tunnel. It always leaves me with a charmed smile on my face. Angela Featherstone If you were ever a Sandler fan back in the day, the coin flip tended to be between 'Billy Madison' and this for his best movie - the coin ultimately landing on this most of the time. The humor involved is a little less goofy than 'Billy Madison', leaning a little more on sarcasm, but still keeping enough of that randomized humor we've come to love so much with Sandler films (at least the older stuff). Though I do tend to lean towards 'Madison' a bit more, it makes more sense to recommend this one to the masses for what it is. Happy Gilmore (Sandler) is an aspiring hockey player, and though he's not entirely good on the ice, he has an insanely strong slapshot. We learn through the intro that since his Dad passed away, he became a bit of a trouble-maker with a short fuse, and he holds the record for the only skater in the league to take off his skate and try to stab someone with it. But there is balance in his life, as his kindly, loving grandmother (Frances Bay) shows us his soft side, as he'd do anything for her. That "anything" now involves paying the IRS a lot of back taxes that she owes, or else her house gets repossessed. During a bet with two of the repo men, Happy learns that he can makes some cash hustling people at the driving range when he smacks a golf ball an incredible distance. This eventually leads him to Chubbs (Carl Weathers); a former golf pro who sees Happy's skill, and takes him under his wing to play professional golf. Happy denies him at first, but when it comes to getting back his grandmother's house, he listens to the sound of the potential money he could make on tour. Here, he meets golf favorite, Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald) who quickly becomes his nemesis, disapproving of Happy's style, and claiming him as pretty much an insult to the game (like a punk rocker at a ballet). Public relations head Virginia Venit (Julie Bowen) on the other hand is very impressed by Happy's long drive and overall skill, and implores Tour Commissioner Doug Thompson (Dennis Dugan) to allow him to stay on, but while watching his outbursts, and trying to keep them under control. It's relatively predictable how it all goes, but it can't be denied that the execution of it all is hilarious, and it fits very well as a blend of the sports movie craze of the 90s, as well as the Sandler craze of the 90s. It would all eventually come around again with 'The Waterboy', but that's a review for a couple of weeks from now. A few more things that make this one a bit more memorable for people include some celebrity cameos, not the least of which is former 'Price is Right' host, the late Bob Barker - who gets in a fist fight with Happy, providing us with a pretty funny and unexpected fight. But also on board are the late Richard Kiel as Happy's former boss. He'd be most recognized as Jaws in the 'Bond' film 'Moonraker', but he was also the voice of Vlad in 'Tangled'. Let's also not leave out a fellow Canadian, Joe Flaherty, as "Jeering Fan" (or as I like to refer to him as, the "Jackass" guy) or Ben Stiller as a nursing home orderly with a short fuse. 'Billy Madison' didn't have much of that, unless you count Chris Farley as the bus driver, but even that's really just an SNL attachment. I'm not entirely sure what else can be said about 'Happy Gilmore', sadly. It's a great way to see Sandler in his prime, and it's great that the comedic formula does a sort of shift from 'Madison' to 'Gilmore', showing us a decent range for him right off the bat. I'd say that if you wanted to see a more stereotypical goofy Sandler, 'Billy Madison' is the one to watch, but if you prefer his comedy through anger and sarcasm, this is the one to lean towards. Otherwise, on the surface, it's really just another underdog sports movie with a bit of a twist. But still, it yields hilarious results, and a lot of the comedy in this isn't even from Sander as opposed to the dry and seemingly accidental deliveries from Christopher McDonald. So definitely check it out if you are a little curious about Adam Sandler's early work. Hell, back-to-back 'Billy Madison' and 'Happy Gilmore' just to say that you've seen the films that lead to Sandler's production company, 'Happy Madison Productions'. Let's face it, that's a company with more misses than hits, but there are a few titles under their belt that I can say I still enjoy. If it weren't for these movies bringing Sandler into the spotlight as almost a direct competition to Jim Carrey, who knows what could have happened to the randomized comedy I've grown to enjoy so much from Adam Sandler - unless we're talking about 'Zohan'... dammit, that was just too random. Taking place in 1886, we meet adventurer Sir Lionel Frost (Hugh Jackman). Frosts specialty is the seeking out and proving the existence of modern mythical creatures, which could lead to his dream of being accepted into the Society of Great Men, lead by Lord Piggot-Dunceby (Stephen Fry). To prove himself worthy, Frost makes his next mission to prove the existence of the elusive Sasquatch, after receiving a letter that claims them to be real. Frost then travels to the Pacific Northwest and soon meets the Sasquatch (Zach Galifianakis), who speaks perfect English and claims to be the one who wrote the letter that lead Frost here. His motivation is to have Frost help him find his relatives, the Yetis, so that he can find a home and not be so lonely anymore. Frost agrees to help, and get assistance from his old lover, Adelina Fortnight (Zoe Saldana), who has a map to the Himalayas, and along the way helps to develop Frost's character. On their tail, however, is a bounty hunter named Willard Stenk (Timothy Olyphant) who has been recruited by Piggot-Dunceby to seek out to kill Frost to ensure the views of the Society of Great Men go unchallenged. Though Stenk provides a constant threat through the film, a lot of the story is about accepting the "different", and looking past one's pride to see the good in that difference. This is perhaps most well-illustrated by the fact that Mr. Link (as Frost calls him) wants to change his name to Susan. On the surface, the simple reason he wants to be called Susan is that he remembers coming across an explorer named Susan who didn't freak out when she saw him, and she was therefore admirable enough to name himself after. It's played for laughs, but at the same time, it's LAIKA once again standing up for certain rights - Mr. Link wants to be referred to as a woman. Something similar comes up in 'ParaNorman' when we find out a certain character is gay, and to me, it's clear that LAIKA is a company that tries to do the right thing. They still have some ground to cover, but they do a better job than many. One thing all of the LAIKA films have had in common up until this point is playing with certain elements of horror. They all have something to fear in them, whether it be having button eyes, zombie attacks, mankind, the list goes on. In fact, "mankind" is a pretty common theme among them, but it's probably nowhere more evident than here. It's not so much about mankind being the hunter, as something like this would usually do, but mankind just being ugly altogether. Nowhere is that more evident than the "Society of Great Men", who are really just a bunch of snobby assholes who want Frost dead just so their conservative views aren't challenged - yeah, LAIKA can get pretty grown up. Of the collection, I'd have to say that this one is easily the most light-hearted (despite all that was just said) and easiest one to show the kids. LAIKA deals with mature subject matter a bit more to simply dub them as "family movies", but this one is also quite a nice story with a likable, well-developed lead. Somewhere between here and 'Boxtrolls', you have the LAIKA films that the whole family can pretty well watch with no real trouble. The others all have at least a little something that's very disturbing, but the storytelling is always great stuff. It's my humble opinion that LAIKA is easily one of the best animation studios out there, and year by year, they are robbed of a potential Oscar (generally by worthy movies), but it seems to go the way of Ghibli - often nominated, never winning, and even Ghibli got theirs for 'Spirited Away'. Regardless of awards, as we wrap up LAIKA month, I can fully admit that I would highly recommend any film within the LAIKA animation collection. 'The Corpse Bride', 'Coraline', 'ParaNorman', 'The Boxtrolls', 'Kubo and the Two Strings' and 'Missing Link' are all super high on my list for beautiful animation, wonderful storytelling, and above all else, not treating their youthful audience as a bunch of goofy, mindless kids. There are mature and even frightening themes within their list, and it may interest one to know that 'The Adventures of Mark Twain', whose Devil figure has pretty well become a disturbing meme nowadays, is theirs as well. LAIKA is a great company, not afraid to "go there", and I can't wait to see what they have in store for their next project. In the grand scheme of the LAIKA collection (at least the 6 full-length stop-motion features), I think it's safe to say that this one's likely my least favorite of the bunch. That's saying a lot about how much I enjoy LAIKA studios' creations though, because I still like this one quite a bit. It's just a touch more low-brow and gross-out than the others. LAIKA likes to play with horror elements, while maintaining a light-hearted, comedic tone - this one uses gross-out stuff. 'ParaNorman' was a modern B zombie movie, 'Coraline' is a bit of a 'Body Snatchers' thing, and 'The Corpse Bride' is a little more of an old school 'Bride of Frankenstein' deal (very loosely). That's how I see them, anyway. They all seem to be a bit of a love letter to older styles. The rest will be covered as the reviews for the month continue, but this one is a neat way of doing the reverse fear factor, where the real person to fear is scarier than the "threat" at hand - which, by the way, 'ParaNorman' already did, but there IS more morality to this than just that. Based on the children's novel, 'Here Be Monsters' by Alan Snow, the film tells the tale of a human boy known only as "Eggs" (Isaac Hempstead Wright) who is raised by a community of creatures called Boxtrolls. These creatures come out at night, after curfew, in a town called Cheesebridge. They basically come into town, steal a bunch of seemingly useless stuff, and retreat into their underground home. What they steal helps their community function, and the mean no harm to anyone, least of all Eggs. The town hates them, however, and accuses them of stealing a baby referred to as the "Trubshaw Baby", who we realize from the get-go is Eggs. The town villain, Archibald Snatcher (Ben Kingsley) wants nothing more than a White Hat, which is a high class status symbol that will allow him to sit at a VIP table and taste cheese - even if it does make him react, shall we say, negatively. Lord Portley-Rind (Jared Harris) strikes a deal with him that if he can exterminate all of the "evil" Boxtrolls, he will receive his own white hat. Everything happens very quickly, earning the movie extra points for fast set-up that one can follow very easily. One by one, the Boxtrolls get captured, and before long, Eggs sets out into the light where, with the help of Rind's daughter, Winnie (Elle Fanning), he hopes to rescue his underground family, and bring to the attention of all the townsfolk that Boxtrolls are not to be feared. I claim this one as my least favorite due to a few things that are easier to nitpick about it. The big one, for me, is how the hell Eggs can speak English when he was raised from his baby years by a bunch of grunting, gibberish-talking trolls. There's a few other things, but none of it actually ruins the movie for what it's trying to do. It's like bowling and picking up a spare rather than getting a strike. It's good, but a little adjustment would have made it better. Again, nitpicks. The fact of the matter is, it's aimed at kids, so it works just fine. But maybe that's part of my personal disappointment as well. Up until now, these movies had a genuine creepiness to them, and this is where LAIKA starts to lighten things up a bit. There's more to appreciate here than criticize. The animation and the underground Boxtroll home provides the viewer with a strange and twisted fictional world straight out of a dream. 'Coraline' did it better, but still, this is a well-detailed film with well-detailed sets and characters. The voice acting is great, too. Snatcher is assisted by three people who, in my opinion, really make the film; Mr. Trout (Nick Frost), Mr. Pickles (Richard Ayoade) and Mr. Gristle (Tracy Morgan), all doing great voice work for their respective characters, including Morgan, which means a lot coming from yours truly. Last time I heard him do a voice, he butchered Captain Caveman in 'Scoob'. Then there's the Boxtrolls themselves, voiced primarily by Steve Blum, Dee Bradley Baker, Pat Fraley and Fred Tatasciore - voice actors whose resumes are so huge they're ridiculous. I suppose I look down on this one a little more because I feel like it borrows from things that LAIKA has already done, specifically the moral of unnecessarily fearing something, which 'ParaNorman' did better. But that's also what 'ParaNorman' was all about. This film goes deeper by also giving us a moral about status and whether or not someone really needs it to be happy. So I guess it's easy enough to overlook my nitpickiness on this one, because it's one of those films where as soon as you see a flaw, it's forgiven by something it does well, and the good really does outweigh the bad here. It may not be my favorite in the collection, but it could easily be yours if you give it a chance. |
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