Here we go! By popular request, I'm back on the blog and reviewing movies! My movie-watching was a bit slow to start the year - I was in PhD school after all - but picked up once I got home and had free time and free movies once again.
Previous 2016 Reviews:
Unscripted Ratings:
4/4 - Buy a ticket, poster, & DVD.
3.5/4 - Buy a ticket.
3/4 - Buy a matinee ticket.
2/4 - Wait to stream/rent it.
1/4 - Consider as last resort.
0/4 - Avoid at all costs.
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping: When it becomes clear that his solo album is a failure, a former boy band member (Andy Samberg) does everything in his power to maintain his celebrity status.
It's hard to get parody right - for every outrageously funny Robin Hood: Men in Tights and Shaun of the Dead classic, there are seemingly a million dreadfully unfunny Meet the Spartans and A Haunted House disasters. Parodies of musician-biopics, like the recent Walk Hard and Popstar, are often better than most, effectively skewering star singers and the movies about them. But Popstar still relies too heavily on the genre's traditional sophomoric absurdity and a-different-sketch-a-minute pacing, and has musical numbers that are disappointingly un-inventive when you consider they're from The Lonely Island (who have created so many classic SNL digital shorts and that "awesome" song from The Lego Movie). Ultimately, Popstar was simply not as good as it should have been. The Final Word: 1/4 - Consider as a last resort.
It's hard to get parody right - for every outrageously funny Robin Hood: Men in Tights and Shaun of the Dead classic, there are seemingly a million dreadfully unfunny Meet the Spartans and A Haunted House disasters. Parodies of musician-biopics, like the recent Walk Hard and Popstar, are often better than most, effectively skewering star singers and the movies about them. But Popstar still relies too heavily on the genre's traditional sophomoric absurdity and a-different-sketch-a-minute pacing, and has musical numbers that are disappointingly un-inventive when you consider they're from The Lonely Island (who have created so many classic SNL digital shorts and that "awesome" song from The Lego Movie). Ultimately, Popstar was simply not as good as it should have been. The Final Word: 1/4 - Consider as a last resort.
The Conjuring 2: Lorraine and Ed Warren (Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson) travel to north London to help a single mother and her children living in a house plagued by a malicious spirit.
Now-iconic writer/director James Wan (Saw, Insidious) established himself as a mainstay of horror cinema with 2013's commercially and critically successful The Conjuring, a retro-vibe film that was as clever as it was creepy. The sequel is bigger and more complex than its predecessor, and better for it, helping the film to break even despite a certain sense of franchise familiarity. Like the first film, there is more than one supernatural entity at work, though the plot device that connects them is more contrived in the sequel. The conclusion of the film does not do the marquee evil-spirit enough terrifying justice, but like Annabelle in the first movie, the demon is provoking enough to have earned its own upcoming spin-off, The Nun. The Final Word: 3/4 - Buy a matinee ticket.
Now-iconic writer/director James Wan (Saw, Insidious) established himself as a mainstay of horror cinema with 2013's commercially and critically successful The Conjuring, a retro-vibe film that was as clever as it was creepy. The sequel is bigger and more complex than its predecessor, and better for it, helping the film to break even despite a certain sense of franchise familiarity. Like the first film, there is more than one supernatural entity at work, though the plot device that connects them is more contrived in the sequel. The conclusion of the film does not do the marquee evil-spirit enough terrifying justice, but like Annabelle in the first movie, the demon is provoking enough to have earned its own upcoming spin-off, The Nun. The Final Word: 3/4 - Buy a matinee ticket.
A central criticism of the first Now You See Me was its lingering sense of unbelievability, despite filmmakers attempts to give the large-scale magic-tricks a sense of realism. Rather than correct course, Now You See Me 2 doubled-down, barely trying to help the audience suspend disbelief in favor of flashy spectacle that entertains but does not engage. The characters are similarly watchable, but not memorable. The illusion has faded, we see how the trick is done, and it is not done well. And how could you not call it Now You Don't?!? For shame. The Final Word: 1/4 - Consider as last resort.
Central Intelligence: After he reconnects with an awkward pal from high school (Dwayne Johnson), a mild-mannered accountant (Kevin Hart) is lured into the world of international espionage.
Both Hart and Johnson have become workhorses in Hollywood recently, pushing out over 20 movies between them over the past 5 years alone, in addition to television and live appearances. So it is more than fair to question quality among so much quantity, which may be why Central Intelligence surprised me by being as entertaining as it was. The script is entirely generic and predictable, it must be said, but with the charisma of each lead at full steam, the chemistry between Hart and Johnson is undeniably and infectiously fun. Both actors are at their best here and provide a decent way to pass a couple hours of time when you can spare it. The Final Word: 2/4 - Wait to stream/rent it.
Finding Dory: Clownfish Marlin (Albert Brooks) and his son Nemo help Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), the friendly-but-forgetful blue tang fish, reunite with her family, meeting new friends along the way.
Both Hart and Johnson have become workhorses in Hollywood recently, pushing out over 20 movies between them over the past 5 years alone, in addition to television and live appearances. So it is more than fair to question quality among so much quantity, which may be why Central Intelligence surprised me by being as entertaining as it was. The script is entirely generic and predictable, it must be said, but with the charisma of each lead at full steam, the chemistry between Hart and Johnson is undeniably and infectiously fun. Both actors are at their best here and provide a decent way to pass a couple hours of time when you can spare it. The Final Word: 2/4 - Wait to stream/rent it.
Everyone has their favorite Pixar film, but 2003's Finding Nemo is unequivocally the exemplar that epitomizes everything that is great about the animation production powerhouse. Finding Dory captures much of that - captivating visuals, endearing characters, and lovely poignancy - though its grander sense of introspection (the title is a double entendre, as Dory is discovering herself more than anyone else is finding her) renders the action less-urgent than that which compelled the original. Ultimately the film is a strong, but not penultimate, entry in Pixar's collection of modern animated classics, yet better still than most films for children or adults. The Final Word: 3/4 - Buy a matinee ticket.
Count Free State of Jones among the movies I was most excited to see this year. Also count the film as the most disappointed I've been all year. Preachy, but without inspiring conviction, and thematically heavy, but without stirring inflection, Free State of Jones was an ultimate frustration, wasting what I thought to be one of the most intriguing historic movie premises in recent years. It was graphic when it needed heart, it was shallow when it needed visceral depth, and it was unbelievable dull throughout the whole thing. This is one of the first films in years where I didn't even stay the whole time; I wish I had left earlier. The Final Word: 0/4 - Avoid at all costs.
The first ID is such a classic action film from many of our childhoods. The sequel, I think we can all agree, we would do best to ignore so as to not stain our memory of the original. Yes, with some honesty, the 1996 film was also a bang-whiz blockbuster, but it had heroes we cared about because between the destruction of buildings and the F/A-18 vs. UFO firefights, we spent time with a select few characters who had clear motivations and challenges. ID2 is much too all-over-the-place, with characters much too shallow to care about, and action extravaganzas that become less fun the bigger they get (and they get plenty big). Overall, this delayed follow-up film is more of a preposterous flop than the popcorn-flick its predecessor was. The Final Word: 0/4 - Avoid at all costs.
It is not as classic a thriller as Jaws - in which humans attempt to hunt a shark as much as they are being hunted - but The Shallows emulates just as great a sense of victim desperation and is most certainly creepier. Lively is an exemplary lead, mustering fear, regret, anger, and willful grit as she more-than-capably carries the film and learns to hold her own against an age-old predator. Accepting cliches when they work, but defying them at times too, The Shallows can be predictable, but it remains ideal summer escapism. The Final Word: 3/4 - Buy a matinee ticket.
Swiss Army Man is a truly bizarre film; at times disarmingly funny, at times uncomfortably surreal. Dano and Radcliffe work well together, encapsulating both self-inflicted isolation and a sense of childlike wonder. But the movie is not half as clever as it thinks it is and would have, I think, worked more effectively as a short-film. At feature-length, the quirky attempts to balance intellect and sentiment make Swiss Army Man relatively interesting, but in the end more confounding than satisfying. The Final Word: 1/4 - Consider as a last resort.
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