Movie Review Pitch Perfect 3

Pitch Perfect 3 (2017) 

Directed by Trish Sie

Written by Kay Cannon, Mike White

Starring Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Hailee Steinfeld, Brittany Snow, Anna Camp, Elizabeth Banks

Release Date December 22nd, 2017

Low expectations are sometimes key to enjoying a particular kind of movie. For example, the third movie in a franchise that was only barely capable of supporting one sequel. The trailer for Pitch Perfect 3 turned out to be the perfect introduction to the supposed finale of the Pitch Perfect trilogy. The trailer was so bad that I expected the characters in the movie to walk on screen, fart, and give me the finger before walking off. That would have been only a slight improvement over that trailer.

What a nice surprise then to find that Pitch Perfect 3 is way better than the trailer indicated. Sure, the film is yet another iteration of the comedy of the awkward pause which has come to plague modern comedy since its introduction in the mid-oughts, but those jokes really only hang around the first half of the film. In the second half we get actual funny jokes and a bizarre plot that works even as it has no business working.

We pick up the story of The Bellas, the A Cappella singing group at the center of this franchise, struggling to find their place in the real world. Becca (Anna Kendrick) has her dream job as a music producer turning into a nightmare when she deals with a talentless rapper who dislikes her changes to his terrible song. Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) is out of work except for her street show performances as Fat Amy Winehouse and the rest of the Bellas are either bored or merely dissatisfied.

When the group mistakes an invitation to a party for an invitation to perform together at a party, they throw on their Bellas gear only to find humiliation and embarrassment waiting for them. Drowning their sorrows, they concoct a plan to get themselves on a USO Tour where they can at least spend time performing together. That the USO Tour also carries the opportunity to perform and tour with rap god D.J. Khaled makes it all the more exciting.

Find my full length review in the Geeks Community on Vocal 

Movie Review Cocaine Bear

Cocaine Bear (2023) 

Directed by Elizabeth Banks 

Written by Jimmy Warden

Starring Keri Russell, Margo Martindale, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Brooklynn Prince, Ray Liotta, O'Shea Jackson, Alden Ehrenreich 

Release Date February 24th, 2023 

Published February 23rd, 2023 

Cocaine Bear makes a very big promise with its bizarre premise and I am happy to say that it mostly lives up to that promise. As directed by the very funny Elizabeth Banks, Cocaine Bear delivers a Black Bear that is, indeed, very high on Cocaine. Being high on cocaine, the Bear becomes highly aggressive, angry, and agitated. Thus, a bear that would normally prefer not to interact with humans becomes a violent, murderous beast, especially if you happen to have some more cocaine on you, this bear loves cocaine. 

The story of Cocaine Bear kicks off with a very funny scene. A man who is clearly high on cocaine is dancing around an airplane and tossing bags filled with cocaine off the plane and into a mountainous area of Georgia. The man plans on letting the plane crash to divert attention from the massive amounts of cocaine being dropped from it, but before he can leap out of the plane to accompany his cargo, the man manages to knock himself unconscious and fall out of the plane to his death. 

This death helps set to the tone for a violent, disturbing and quite funny dark comedy. Once we've established that there is cocaine in the forest and a bear has ingested a lot of it, we watch as disparate groups of people head into the forest, mostly unaware that cocaine has turned a mostly docile bear into a ravenous, cocaine addicted monster. Among our main cast are a pair of children played by Brooklynn Prince and Christian Convery, they're skipping school for an adventure. Hot on their trail is the girl's mother, played by Keri Russell. She's accompanied by Forest Cop played by Margo Martindale and her crush, an animal care advocate played by Jesse Tyler Ferguson. 

Then, there are the drug dealers, out to retrieve their drugs. O'Shea Jackson and Alden Erhenreich are flunkies for a drug dealer, played by Ray Liotta. They are to retrieve the drugs by any means necessary or possibly face the wrath of Columbian drug kingpins. They will be joined unwillingly by a police detective, played by Isaiah Whitlock. The detective has been looking for a way to bust Liotta's drug dealer and he sees getting these bags of cocaine as a chance to put Liotta behind bars. Naturally, they will all come face to face with a bear that is off its face on cocaine and each will be lucky if they manage to get out of the forest intact. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media 

Movie Review: W

W. (2008) 

Directed by Oliver Stone 

Written by Stanley Weiser

Starring Josh Brolin, James Cromwell, Elizabeth Banks, Ellen Burstyn, Scott Glenn, Thandie Newton

Release Date October 17th, 2008

Published October 18th, 2008

The best satire that Oliver Stone could bring to his latest controversial effort, W., was to quote his subject accurately. President George W. Bush is as well known for his verbal gaffes as he is for his Bush doctine of pre-emptive war. Quoting the President accurately Stone gets unintentional humor from a situation that isn't really funny in context.

The first ever film biography of a sitting President, W. stars Josh Brolin as both the young brash alcoholic George Bush and the faithful man who fought to get out of his father's shadow and become first Governor of Texas and then President of the United States.

It's a performance of great humor, warmth and humanity that, though it will not change perceptions of the President, it will give even his most ardent critics a look at a man they might not have expected. Directed by Oliver Stone, W. cuts back and forth in time from a young George Bush at Harvard to a confident chief executive who makes gut decisions he believes in without second guessing himself.

If you are someone who believed that Dick Cheney pulled the strings behind the scenes you will be surprised how the President kept the man he refers to simply as Vice in line. Richard Dreyfuss captures the Vice President with a perfect Cheney sneer and without any hint of the mustache twirling villain that so many perceive him to be.

Jeffrey Wright has the most dramatic turn in the film. Playing General Colin Powell, Wright is the voice of reason on the war in Iraq. A good soldier who does his President's work at the UN but privately argued vigorously over the propriety of a pre-emptive war including a dramatic rendering of his "You break it, you bought" analogy to the Iraq war.

Thandie Newton earns some of the films biggest laughs as Condoleeza Rice without ever actually saying anything funny. Her exceptional impression of Rice's voice is both an impressive piece of mimickry and a very funny unintentional send up. Scott Glenn, Bruce McGill and Toby Jones round out the main cast with spot on takes on Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet and Karl Rove respectively.

For those who presume W. is an attack on the President you likely can't be swayed. All I can tell you is what I believe and I believe that W. is relatively fair to the President even at its most satiric and biting. The best satire of President Bush is to quote him accurately and many of his most famous quotes are in the movie and get the biggest laughs. "Misunderestimate", "Strategery", "Fool me once shame on you Fool me twice.. you shouldn't fool people".

The best example of of Oliver Stone's fair appraisal of George W. Bush comes in the demonstration of the President's faith which is dealt with head on, without commentary. Stacey Keach is tremendous in the role of President Bush's spiritual advisor Earl Hudd.

The President turned his life around after being born again and it created in him the drive and determination to rise from a troubled youth to commander in chief. Oliver Stone observes the change without mocking, without commentary but with the same clear eyed take on faith that the President himself likely carries.

The most controversial aspect and the one with the most artistic licence is Stone's psychoanalytic approach to George W's relationship with his father, the man he calls Poppy. Stone portrays much of George W. Bush's life being driven by being in and trying to escape from George H.W Bush's shadow.

Whether the President has daddy issues is debatable but James Cromwell and Josh Brolin strike extraordinary chemistry in their father and son exchanges. The relationship is realistic if not historically accurate. It's also undeniably compelling and dramatic.

W. will not change anyone's position on President Bush, whose legacy is likely sealed with most of us. What it does is take the history of the Bush administration from insider accounts and public records and condense them into a believable ordering of history and in that is valuable,

That it is also quite humorous without trying is a byproduct of that history. President Bush's foibles are as much apart of the man as his faith and his father and Oliver Stone brings it all together with great artistry and craftsmanship.

Movie Review: Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2009) 

Directed by Kevin Smith

Written by Kevin Smith 

Starring Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Craig Robinson, Tracy Lords

Release Date October 31st, 2009

Published October 30th, 2009

The loquacious Kevin Smith is back with Zack and Miri Make Miri Make a Porno. For his first feature since 2006's Clerks sequel, Smith has ripped a page from the current king of comedy Judd Apatow. Stealing two of the Apatow repertory company, Seth Rogan and Elizabeth Banks, Smith goes for the same mix of foul mouthed maturity that Apatow has turned into a cash machine.

Zack (Seth Rogan) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) have been friends since the first grade. Now nearing 30 they find themselves stranded together in go nowhere lives, living in an apartment they can barely afford in a sex free friend zone. When the power and water get shut off and it looks like they may be booted from their apartment, they need a cash money idea and they need it now.

Over a few beers and following a bizarre encounter with a gay porn star (Justin Long) at their high school reunion, Zack hits on an idea. Make a porn movie. Miri is dubious of the idea but with no idea of her own she allows Zack to convince her if he can find the cash to fund the production. Enter Zack's co-worker Delaney (Craig Robinson).

Delaney has money he saved up for a flat screen TV. When Zack tells him that producing a porno movie could double that amount, and that a producer has to handle auditions involving nudity, he jumps at the chance. Zack writes the script and a ragtag bunch including the impressively tumescent Lester (Jason Mewes), the aptly named Bubbles (Tracey Lords) and bubble headed stripper Stacey round out the cast for what will be a star wars themed porno movie.

Issues arise and force things in a different direction but the biggest surprise of the shoot for Zack and Miri is their reaction to their own love scene which uncovers feelings both have ignored for many, many years.

Kevin Smith directs Zack and Miri with his usual ear for tight, funny, foul mouthed dialogue. Zack and Miri may in fact be even more foul than usual for the master of the f-word laced invective. The curse per line average on Zack and Miri is enough to make the great Sam Peckinpah cringe. It works however because stars Steth Rogan and Elizabeth Banks treat the dialogue as completely second nature. An old hat sort of patter that only old friends could share. Best of all, it's not just foul, it's funny.

That said, Zack and Miri isn't without excess. The casting of Brandon 'Superman' Routh and Justin Long as a gay couple and a scene so filthy that some may have to leave the theater in disgust aren't funny and are really unnecessary. In the case of that truly disgusting scene, Smith is even clumsy in his dialogue, setting the scene twice and tipping his hand repeatedly. I appreciate the warning Kev but the scene was still unnecessary.

Seth Rogan has grown quickly into one of the most likable actors working today. Whether it's his foul mouthed teddy bear veneer or his real talent for dramatic moments, Rogan earns every inch of your sympathy and care even as he can repel some viewers, not me but some, with his overly energetic cursing. Rogan may be an unlikely romantic leading man in the classical sense but in the post irony era Rogan's obscenity laced sincerity is the picture of the modern romantic icon.

Working with a maestro dirty word, Kevin Smith who has made a career of mixing troubled romance with manchild curse-laden coming of age, Rogan is right at home. His ease puts the rest of the cast at ease as seen in Elizabeth Banks' awkward but sweet performance and Craig Robinson's cantankerously loving turn as Zack's other best friend.

Robinson's briefly glimpsed relationship with his wife (Tisha Campbell) reminds me of a quote I heard recently, a well known woman was asked about divorce and said "Have I thought of divorce? No. Murder yes, but not divorce.

Zach and Miri make a Porno is not Kevin Smith's strongest effort. The casting invokes way too much of Judd Apatow's oeuvre and the disturbing sex scenes often cross that barrier between hilarious and creepy. Nevertheless, few writers have Smith's ear for the way characters speak, the way they interact. The dialogue is so natural and so naturally funny that you can't help but get caught up in the fun.

Yes, you will likely walk out of Zack and Miri Make A Porno cursing up a storm, in a good way. Just wait till you  get back to the car to start dropping those F-bombs.

Movie Review: Fred Claus

Fred Claus (2007) 

Directed by David Dobkin

Written by Dan Fogelman

Starring Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, Rachel Weisz, Miranda Richardson, Elizabeth Banks

Release Date November 9th, 2007 

Published November 9th, 2007

Holiday movies are low art to begin with. Hacky, cheap to produce garbage rendered as cash machines by hungry cable networks desperate for products to plaster on the screen throughout the month of December. The latest holiday film to chum the water is Fred Claus starring Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti. The story of Santa's bitter, misanthropic older brother, Fred Claus actually had some potential.

That potential was undone, as so often happens in Hollywood, by commercial concerns. A vain attempt to attract the family audience to what was an edgy Bad Santa-esque comedy, turned out a rather dull PG comedy that manages only minor laughs from its irrepressible star.

Sometime in the 1700's Fred Claus watched from the rafters as his little brother Nick was born. Though Fred vowed to be the best big brother ever things changed as they grew up. Nick's unending generosity and the constant adoration the little guy received turned Fred bitter and jealous. When Nick became the patron saint of gift giving, a divination that offered the whole family spouses included life without death, things became even more strained.

While Nick went off to the North Pole, Fred moved to Chicago. While Nick gave gifts, Fred became a repo-man and began taking things. Christmas became the happiest time of the year because of Nick, and Fred came to hate the season. Despite his overall bitterness, Fred still had a girlfriend (Rachel Weisz) and in order to keep her he needs to finally come through on a get rich quick scheme. Needing money, Fred calls Nick and a trip to the north pole is arranged.

If you guessed that all sorts of wackiness ensues when Fred arrives in Santa's village then congratulations you have basic cognitive abilities. If wackiness did not ensue that would be surprising. Fred hates being in the north pole, especially having to work for the money his brother is loaning him and that leads to Fred disrupting toy production, upsetting his visiting parents, and even drawing Saint Nick into a fight, an actual fight.

Is any of this all that funny? No, not really. The situations are rote and predictable. There are a few laughs in these scenes because Vince Vaughn is far too talented not to trip over a laugh here and there. Most of his humor however comes from rye observation and not from anything relating the undercooked plot of Fred Claus.

The major failing of Fred Claus is the many changes in tone that were necessary to make this a PG rated family flick. Raging beneath the family safe dialogue and slapstick is a story and a group of characters desperate to be the kind of adults that made Bad Santa such a gem. The moments wear Vince Vaughn looks to break out of the family flick constraints are edited painfully to avoid the fun we know he and the movie wants to have.

As a fan of Wedding Crashers and the work of director David Dobkin in that classic comedy, I know that what is on the screen in Fred Claus is not the movie he intended to make. I sense an honest attempt to make a different kind of holiday film, one that could straddle the line between families and older teens with smart, edgy humor.

Sadly, they came too close to the edge and when the studio saw that the film might not play it safe enough for the limp family audience, the clippers came out and much of the good stuff, the truth to these characters' stuff was lost. Maybe I'm giving David Dobkin to much credit, but watching the movie you really sense those missing scenes and the many unfinished ideas that seem like they must have existed in another edit of this movie.

I'm not saying that Fred Claus is some kind of holiday movie version of Blade Runner. Rather, I strongly feel that this talented group of performers had a different and far better film in mind when they started this. Maybe that is just my glass half full side.

Why do I feel that Vince Vaughn, David Dobkin and Paul Giamatti, amongst other talented performers and craftsmen in and around Fred Claus have more integrity than so many others who have used the holiday picture to line their pockets with residuals? Because, I saw the movie and I truly sensed a more interesting idea that was lingering somewhere in the editing.

I can't point specifically to one place in the film that proves my theory but I know it's there. Of course, that is reviewing the film that Fred Claus is not. The film that is actually on the screen is a trite, predictable little movie that will haunt these performers and creators for years to come thanks to the holiday setting.

Movie Review Role Models

Role Models (2008)

Directed by David Wain

Written by David Wain, Ken Marino, Paul Rudd

Starring Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott, Christopher Mintz Plasse, Elizabeth Banks

Release Date November 7th, 2008 

Published November 6th, 2008 

Paul Rudd had threatened to become a big star a couple of times. His work in Clueless received a great deal of positive buzz and his turn in Neil Labute's caustic drama The Shape of Things had a number of major critics talking about his dramatic chops. Rudd went a different direction. After a very funny role as Phoebe's boyfriend Mike on Friends, Rudd found his new home in comedy playing Brian Fontana in the wildly funny Anchorman.

Since then Rudd has been part of the Judd Apatow comedy repertory troupe, taking on supporting roles Knocked Up and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. And now Rudd moves into the lead of the new comedy Role Models. It's not quite the fulfillment of his leading man potential but it's a good start.

Danny (Rudd) hates everyone. He's been miserable much of his life but finding he has spent ten years at the same company, hocking horrible energy drinks to high schoolers, his misery becomes a full on meltdown of anger and desperation. He gets little help from his pal Wheeler (Seann William Scott) who only adds to Danny's stress with his constant smiling and good natured oafishness.

When Danny gets it in his head that marrying his girlfriend Beth (Elizabeth Banks) he is stunned back into his angry haze when she says no. Ticked off, depressed and high on energy drink, Danny gets kicked out of a high school assembly for praising drugs and insulting his own product. Then the company truck is being towed away so Danny jumps in and tries to run the car off the back of the tow truck.

He ends up shoving a police officer, recklessly endangering said cops life and property damage to the school when he drives his bull themed truck up onto the back of the school horse sculpture. Beth, a lawyer, manages to get the boys community service which is assigned to Sturdy Wings, a big brother style program where each will have to connect with a troubled kid.

Christopher Mintz Plasse, Superbad's charming McLovin, is Augie Fowler and Bobb'e J. Thompson is foul mouthed 10 year old Ronnie. If you think the two slacker doofuses are going to be energized and reborn through their connection to these two kids, well, you're right. Role Models is, if anything, a formula comedy. However, formula doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing.

Writer-director David Wain, best known for absurdist fare like Wet Hot American Summer and the little seen spoof The Ten, makes the formula feel fresher than you expect. Seizing on Augie's love of an elaborate role playing game, one where teens and adults dress up and play in the park with rubber swords and medieval costumes, Wain finds a twist on the formula that spurns your expectations of where you think Role Models are headed.

Keep an eye out for a nod to the Kiss Army that will have fans and non-fans rolling on the floor laughing.

Nearly stealing the whole show is a supporting performance by the sublime Jane Lynch. Playing the owner operator of this big brother program, Sturdy Wings, Lynch digs into her character's bizarre background to find big laughs. Constantly reminding whoever is listening the horrible things she did when she was a drinker and a druggie, Lynch's character takes no BS.

Her rants and Rudd and Scott's stunned, off balance reactions to them earn laughs that come in strings of unending giggles. It's fair to say that director Wain overindulges the comic wealth of Lynch's performance but it doesn't matter when it's so consistently funny.

As for Paul Rudd, his raging angry id is quite funny, especially his many pet peeves, but it's the restraint shown by Rudd and director Wain in not reveling in his anger that keeps Danny from turning into a downer. Yes, he's angry but that anger isn't his defining characteristic as it may have been in the hands of a less talented actor and director.

Role Models is a formula comedy that doesn't settle for the formula but improves on it. The final third of the film takes place during this medieval role playing game and you will be surprised by how natural and comfortable the ending in this setting is. Rudd, Scott, Plasse and Thompson work terrifically well together with Plasse delivering the heart of the film in his earnest passionate embrace of his geekiness.

Well observed with just enough big laughs to make you forget about the few issues in the plot, Role Models is worth checking out in theaters.

Movie Review Power Rangers

Power Rangers (2017) 

Directed by Dean Israelite 

Written by John Gatins 

Starring Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler, Becky G, Bill Hader, Bryan Cranston, Elizabeth Banks

Release Date March 24th, 2017

Published March 24th, 2017 

The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was a goofy live action cartoon that was never intended to be taken seriously. Even as the franchise became a marketing powerhouse and made the leap to the big screen in the late 90's, it was still just a doofy kids show with silly costumes and plushy, oversized villains. The new-fangled Power Rangers on the other hand are still silly but with an ever so slight edge. 

The Power Rangers have been the protectors of Earth for thousands of years, having sacrificed themselves to stop the Earth from being destroyed. The part of the Power Rangers that lived on are in the form of colored power coins which, when discovered by a disparate band of teens, kick off a new age of the Power Rangers and set the stage for an all new battle to save the Earth. 

Jason (Dacre Montgomery) is the leader of the group, a former Big Man on Campus turned teen criminal. Jason meets Billy (R.J Cyler) and Kimberly (Naomi Scott) during detention at Angel Grove High School and the three wind up together at a local quarry where Billy is sure he is going to discover an ancient artifact. Indeed, Billy does discover something quite remarkable when he accidentally blows up part of the mine, something that draws the immediate attention of Trini ( Becky G) and Zack (Ludi Lin) who happen to be nearby. 

What the five discover are the legendary Power Coins and the coins give them superpowers, strength, speed, and intelligence. This also leads to the discovery of an underground spaceship, home to the last of the original Power Rangers, Zordon (Bryan Cranston) who is trapped between the world of the living and the world of the dead, and his assistant, a robot named Alpha (Bill Hader). 

With the guidance of Zordon the Power Rangers are fitted for battle against Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks), a former Power Ranger turned villain who has returned to life and seeks to raise a dire monster called Goldar by stealing gold anywhere she can find it. With the aid of Goldar, Rita will battle the Power Rangers with designs on destroying the world on her way to conquest of the Universe. 

Yes, it's all very silly, especially Elizabeth Banks' wonderfully silly performance as Rita. The strength of this iteration of Power Rangers is that it has zero pretensions. The film owns its goofball past and simply improves on it with a more modern style of both action and storytelling. The film retains the doofy spirit of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, especially its goony villains but isn't imprisoned by the past. 

Each of the young actors cast as Power Rangers is able to make a good enough impression here that we care about them in the big fight. My favorite is Billy, who's last name "Cranston" is an homage to his co-star Bryan Cranston who has a past connection to the Power Rangers having voiced characters on the original show. R.J Cyler plays Billy as Autistic and while there is danger of slipping over into uncomfortable stereotypes, the young actor soft plays the character tics and delivers a lovable performance. 

This movie was not made with critics in mind, in the end this is a film for very young children. What I admire about Power Rangers is that it never feels limited by being 'just a kids film.' The story has brave and bold elements to it, a very, very very slight edge to it. The film is silly and playful but has just enough weight to it that I kind of cheered at the end and I wasn't ashamed of it. 

It seems impossible to believe it myself, but I actually recommend Power Rangers. It has a positive message, solid thrills and a story that is safe enough for kids without having to pander, a rather remarkable feat for a film based on a series that was almost entirely pandering in its heyday, as much marketing machine as it was a TV series.

Movie Review Invincible

Invincible (2006)

Director Ericson Core 

Written by Brad Gann 

Starring Mark Wahlberg, Greg Kinnear, Elizabeth Banks, Kirk Acevedo

Release Date August 25th, 2006

Published August 24th, 2006

The Disney sports movie has become an annual experience. From Remember The Titans to The Rookie to Miracle to Glory Road, they aren't just reliably rousing sports adventures they are also consistent money makers. The latest in this long line of sports underdog stories is called Invincible and it stars Mark Wahlberg in the role of real life NFL walk-on Vince Papale, a teacher /bartender who rose from the streets of South Philly to the turf of old Veterans stadium.

In 1975 the Philadelphia Eagles were getting booed out of town by their own fans in venerable Veterans stadium. The team was a woeful 3 and 13 in 1975 which lead to the firing of their head coach and the hiring of UCLA wunderkind Dick Vermeil (Greg Kinnear). Moving from the cozy confines of college football to the NFL city where fans once booed Santa Claus off the field, is quite the culture shock for the new coach.

Desperate to spark fan interest in the new look Eagles, Vermeil launched a wild idea. In his first press conference, Vermeil offered open tryouts to anyone in Philly who felt they had the talent to become an Eagle. Of the hundreds who took the chance, only one man, Vince Papale, a teacher and part time bartender, had the guts and talent to be offered a shot at a training camp.

For Vince the opportunity could not come along at a better moment. His wife (Lola Glaudini) has left him. His part time teaching job has just eliminated the need for subs like him and his bartending gig is not paying the bills. He has been reduced to borrowing money from his father (Kevin Conway) who is facing the possibility of a lengthy strike at the plant where he works.

Even given his desperate circumstances Vince does not approach training camp with great optimism and it is in fact the surprisingly dark pessimism with which Mark Wahlberg plays Vince Papale that separates Invincible from typical Disney sports flicks. Wahlberg and director Ericson Core take risks in allowing Vince to be a real glass half empty type who is not concerned with being likable. Vince is a good guy, a nice guy but he does not have the typically lovable characteristics of your average feel good movie hero.

That is not to say that Invincible in any way breaks the mold of the typical Disney feel good sports movie. It lives comfortably within the genre's conventions. What director Ericson Core, writer Brad Gann and star Mark Wahlberg do is simply apply the formula better than other similar films like the saccharine Remember The Titans, the unfocused Glory Road or the simpleminded rah rah enthusiasm of Miracle.

The best thing about Invincible is Mark Wahlberg who continues to mature into a combination of character actor and superstar. Wahlberg has the star power to open a picture and the talent to make it memorable beyond that opening. Two years ago he dazzled as a thug hero in the highly underrated Four Brothers. Now in a 180 degree turn from that blood and guts actioner, Wahlberg courts family audiences, without simply pandering, in a piece of genre product. He brings more to the role of Vince Papale than most other actors would such an uncomplicated role.

The football scenes in Invincible are not groundbreaking but they more than pass as believable because star Mark Wahlberg actually performs his own football stunts.. Especially entertaining are Vince's games against his neighborhood pals in the rain on a sandlot lit by car headlights. These scenes have a music video quality to their rapid fire edits timed to the music of the scene whether its BTO or Grand Funk.

The music video feel also applies to the slick cinematography of director Ericson Core who slows the street ball scenes down, speeds them up and brightens the images just a little to make them stand out from the rest of the picture which has a sepia quality.

Invincible doesn't break the mold of the Disney sports movie. Rather, it just makes a more quality version of the product within that mold. This is not an entirely satisfying experience for a discerning audience. However, given the realities of modern studio filmmaking you have to grade on a curve. On that curve Invincible's ability to do what's been done before better than it's been done before is a welcome change of pace.

Movie Review Slither

Slither (2006) 

Directed by James Gunn

Written by James Gunn

Starring Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Rooker, Gregg Henry, Jenna Fischer

Release Date March 31st, 2006

Published March 30th, 2006 

I am in a major conflict with myself over the movie Slither. On the one hand, I laughed a lot while watching it. On the other hand, Slither is so vile and so disgusting I'm not sure that I can recommend it in good conscience. I know you believe you have a strong stomach and a love of ironic humor but Slither is so polarized in its humor and horror that many audiences will find it hard to enjoy both of those aspects at once.

In the tiny town of Wheelsy the most important time of the year is the opening of deer hunting season. The entire town seemingly shows up at one tiny little bar in the middle of town to drink beer, sing songs and plan their hunting parties for the following morning.

This year however hunting season will have a whole new meaning. Somewhere in the forest a meteorite has struck the earth and what is inside is an insidious alien being bent on consuming the entire human race. First up is the lecherous businessman Grant Grant (Michael Rooker), no typo his first and last name are Grant. In the woods after a night of drinking and preparing to cheat on his wife Starla (Elizabeth Banks), Grant stumbles across the meteorite and becomes the aliens first victim.

Grant is not dead, rather, he has become the alien delivery vessel. He carries the alien seed that will infect the entire town and eventually the world. The aliens take the form of slimy, disgusting slugs that leap into the mouths of victims turning people into flesh eating zombies.

Standing between the aliens and world domination is Wheelsy's easy going sheriff Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillion). An unassuming slacker, Pardy has remained in Wheelsy his whole life because he really had nothing better to do. He has, for years, nursed a serious crush on Starla but sadly watched as she tried only to leave Wheelsy before settling for a life of comfort with Grant.

Now the sheriff and Starla have to team together to find Grant and stop the alien invasion. They are aided by the venal Wheelsy mayor Jack McReady (Gregg Henry) and a teenage girl, Kylie (Tania Saulnier) who survives an attack by the aliens and gains the power to see their plan in full completion.

Much of Slither plays like the kind of ironic detached horror comedy that I truly love.

Minor touches like Starla and Grant's song being a super-cheeseball tune by Air Supply which we hear at the most unnerving moments are just brilliant.

The humor extends to the casting where the ultra-creepy Michael Rooker could not be more suitably cast as the sad, tragic and disgusting Grant Grant. Rooker, who played, arguably, the most terrifying screen villain in the history of the horror genre in Henry: Portrait of A Serial Killer, is unafraid to tweak his creepy persona for a few big laughs. His commitment to the character is unnerving leaving this critic with the wonderful inside joke of Rooker maybe having played Grant in a full on method performance, never breaking character.

Written and directed by James Gunn, who did an exceptional job adapting a new version of George Romero's Dawn of The Dead, Slither is one of the most stomach churning horror films in the history of the genre. That is not surprising considering Gunn's history with the ultimate purveyor of disgust in the industry, Troma films founder and filmmaker Lloyd Kaufman.

No one knows gross, not the box office kind, like Lloyd Kaufman and his influence can be felt throughout the more stomach turning moments of Slither.

The film plays like Gunn's attempt to fuse Troma style gut churning gross out with a mainstream sci fi, horror and comedy film. The attempt is brave but the results are mixed. Slither works in making its audience ill from its brand of gross out gags, eviscerated animals, oversized exploding humans and those dreadful slugs, but fails at times to keep up the energy needed to keep the audience fully engaged beyond needing pepto-bismol.

The film is very funny, with especially humorous performances by Nathan Fillion and Elizabeth Banks. Fillion's deadpan humor in the face of so much disgustingness is a real treat. Banks for her part, is funny and sexy in equal measure. Watch the scene where the hunting party searching for the now alien infested Grant find him in a field and Banks' Starla talks of marriage as a sacred unbreakable bond, very funny stuff.

There is alot to love about Slither and yet I cannot fully endorse the film. Maybe this was the film's intent all along, but I was made physically ill by the end of Slither. Do not eat before you see Slither because you may not be able to keep it down, it's that disgusting. If the filmmakers were judging the movie on how many patrons ran for the bathrooms at the end, they have a major success on their hands. However when that sickly feeling makes you forget about so much of what you enjoyed about the movie, is that really a success?

Movie Review: Wet Hot American Summer

Wet Hot American Summer (2001) 

Directed by David Wain 

Written by David Wain, Michael Showalter

Starring Paul Rudd, Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Elizabeth Banks, Ken Marino 

Release Date July 27th, 2001 

Published January 15th, 2002

A few weeks back theatres were infected with the inept, unfunny, teen movie sendup Not Another Teen Movie. An exercise in stupidity, it quickly disappeared from theatres. To see how a teen movie sendup should work, see the new to video and DVD Wet Hot American Summer, a hysterical take on the teen movie sub-genre, the summer camp movie.

Summer is the brainchild of David Wain and Michael Showalter, better known as members of the comedy troupe The State whose short-lived MTV sketch show mastered the art of teen movie parody. Showalter also stars in the film as the nerdy camp counselor who on the last day of camp is going to win over the hottest girl. Janeane Garofalo also stars as the head counselor who is romancing David Hyde Pierce as a nerdy scientist. Indeed all the great camp movie cliches are in place, save for the evil rival camp whose owner wants to takeover the camp, a cliche that is referred to but then knowingly dismissed in one the movies funniest scenes.

The films best moments are provided by Law and Order SVU star Christopher Meloni as the camp cook, whose best friend is a can of mixed vegetables. Anyone who ever saw Meloni on HBO's Oz will laugh hysterically everytime he's onscreen.

If anything keeps Wet Hot American Summer from being a great movie instead of a good movie, it's Garofalo. At times, she can't seem to keep up with her costars outrageous-ness. It's not her fault, all the members of The State, Showalter, Ken Marino and Michael Ian Black have been together a long time and have a chemistry that can't be picked up in the time it takes to shoot a movie.

Wet Hot American Summer is everything Not Another Teen Movie wasn't. It's funny, intelligent and over the top in ways that don't involve excrement and bodily functions. Let's hope Michael Showalter, David Wain and the other members of The State get the chance to make more movies, though the film's box office makes that unlikely.

Movie Review: Definitely, Maybe

Definitely, Maybe (2008) 

Directed by Adam Brooks

Written by Adam Brooks 

Starring Ryan Reynolds, Elizabeth Banks, Rachel Weisz, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Derek Luke, Kevin Kline

Release Date February 14th, 2008 

Published February 13th, 2008 

In his first mature leading man performance Ryan Reynolds becomes a star before our eyes in the terrific romance Definitely, Maybe. Call it his Sleepless In Seattle moment, Reynolds becomes the new millennium answer to Tom Hanks as he establishes his romantic leading man street cred opposite not a single Meg Ryan but three tremendous young actresses on three completely different star tracks.

There is the capital A actress Rachel Weisz, already a hairs breath away from Oscar. Elizabeth Banks, the comic character actress. And then there is Isla Fisher, who is still too young to know where her career is headed. Reynolds sparks with each and makes you believe that indeed one man could get that lucky in his life.

Definitely, Maybe stars Reynolds as Will Hayes an ad exec who has just received his divorce papers. He's been headed for divorce for awhile it seems. Will see's his daughter Maya (Abigail Breslin) on Wednesdays and Fridays and is on his way to pick her up as the opening credits wrap. On this particular Friday Maya's school is abuzz. Today the kids took a surprise sex education course and all are bursting with questions. All of this talk of sex has Maya wondering where she came from, not necessarily the technical details, she learned all too much of that, rather about how mom and dad met and how they are where they are today.

Dad is not so hot on telling the tale and thus devises the story as a romantic mystery, leaving Maya to guess which of three women from his past is her mother. There is Emily (Elizabeth Banks) not her real name, who was his college sweetheart. They split up when he went to New York. It's more complicated and messy than that but that comes later. Then there is the copy girl aka April (Isla Fisher). She makes copies for a living in the Bill Clinton for President campaign office where Will has come all the way from Wisconsin to work. Politics of the early to late 90's play a big part in Definitely, Maybe.

And finally there is Summer Heartley (Rachel Weisz), a woman from Emily's past who Will meets when he delivers a present to her from Emily. What that present is has all sorts of surprises attached. Summer is an aspiring journalist sleeping with her esteemed professor (Kevin Kline) when she meets Will. They bounce around each other a little before the girly crush on the professor passes and Summer wants to get serious. She and Will share a relationship with many twists and moments you will not see coming.

So which girl is really mommy? Which girl is also the ex? That is the mystery and the secret charm of Definitely, Maybe.

Writer-director Allan Brooks isn't teasing the audience or screwing with us just to keep us off track. What he devises, structurally and with these terrifically charming and smart characters, is a romantic mystery that in-trances and enchants.This seemingly typical romantic comedy defies convention by mixing three different romances and allowing us to guess, take sides, and hope for our favorite to win out. Leading the guessing game is 12 year old Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin. In yet another devastatingly cute performance, Breslin charms us into a romantic journey that would be lonely and a little dreary without her hopeful, doe eyed presence.

The humor of Definitely, Maybe is warm and comfortable. It emanates naturally from these characters without the force of set ups and punchlines. The skill of Brooks' script may not occur to you until much later when you realize just how invested you are in the outcome of this mystery. Listen for the subtle ways Brooks uses politics as an undercurrent of Will's emotional state. His optimistic investment in President Clinton's promise of hope in 1992 juxtaposed against his disillusionment with his love life and the scandal that engulfs Clinton's presidency. This sets up a final moment in the movie so subtle; blink and you'll miss it. It's a minor scene but it means so much if you follow the context of the film as a whole.

Definitely, Maybe doesn't necessarily break the mold of the traditional romantic comedy. Rather, like the best of the gentrified genre lot, it takes the typical and improves upon it. The formula is familiar, it's just better performed, filmed and crafted in Definitely, Maybe. Rather than limiting himself to what is expected of the romance genre, Adam Brooks goes in slightly off kilter directions. He tweaks the formula, changes the expectations and, by creating wonderful characters with just the right actors, he changes the dynamics of the formula romantic comedy, bends it to the will of his story and creates something special.

Indeed, Definitely, Maybe is something special in the romantic comedy genre.

Movie Review Seabiscuit

Seabiscuit (2003) 

Directed by Gary Ross

Written by Gary Ross

Starring Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Banks, Gary Stevens, William H. Macy

Release Date July 25th, 2003 

Published July 24th, 2003 

The first trailers for Seabiscuit came in late January/early February and were not well received. They looked kind of dopey and sappy, like every other horse movie ever made. It didn't help that Tobey Maguire evoked the same winsomeness that made The Cider House Rules so relentlessly dull. It also didn’t help that the film was directed by the same guy who made Pleasantville a beat you over the head message movie, Gary Ross.

Subsequent trailers have managed to rehab the film’s image into that of the first Oscar contender of the year and that is somewhat accurate. Despite a number of reservations, I wouldn't be surprised to see Seabiscuit come roaring down the stretch in late February at the Oscars.

Adapted from Laura Hillenbrand’s surprise best seller, Seabiscuit relates the rise of a racehorse with the resurgence of an America in the wake of The Depression. Tobey Maguire stars as Red Pollard, a jockey and part time boxer who was sold by his parents to a horse stable after his parents lost everything in the market crash. Red grew up bouncing from race track to race track working in stables and riding in races while at night getting his butt whooped in bar room brawls. In one fight in Mexico, Red is beaten so badly he loses sight in one eye.

Parallel to Red's story is that of a bicycle salesman named Charles Howard who moved out west to find his fortune selling bikes in mining towns. One day a man asks Charles if he could fix a car, and though he's never done it before, Howard is ingenious enough to figure it out and in so doing found his true calling. Seeing the rise of the automobile, Howard opens the very first Western car dealership and becomes a millionaire. Though Howard was one of the lucky people who survived the market crash, his life was not immune to tragedy. While working at his dealership one day, Howard found that his young son Sean had died after borrowing one of dad's cars to go fishing. The death of his son was also the end of his first marriage.

Looking for ways to cope with these dual tragedies, Howard heads to Mexico where he meets a strange old horse trainer named Tom Smith. An old time cowboy, Smith still sleeps under the stars and trains horses not just to run races. He simply loves horses regardless of their abilities. Howard and Smith then look for a horse to run in races and find a real nag. An undersized, intemperate sire of a Triple Crown winner, named Seabiscuit. For a jockey they find the only man who wasn't afraid to ride the angry Seabiscuit, Red Pollard, and soon the too short horse with a too large jockey is running and winning every race.

The main story arc of the film is Howard's attempt to entice the owner of Triple Crown winner War Admiral into a match race with Seabiscuit. While the film posits the match up as a David and Goliath story, I couldn't help but see it as an ego contest between two rich guys at a time when people were starving. Call me cynical if you like, but as the owner of War Admiral and Howard negotiate the terms of the big race while sitting in a New York country club, I couldn't help but imagine the number of people in line for soup just down the road from them. I couldn’t help but think how truly insignificant a horse race is. 

I realize that the race was in reality very inspiring to poor Americans coming out of The Depression but in reality, they were watching one massive ego battle between two rich guys. I guess I can't feel sorry for the number of poor people who threw in their last quarter to sit in the infield to watch the match race, they gave their money willingly. However, at a time of such poverty should there have been a charge to see this race, especially when the money raised all went into the pockets of the already very rich owners? I realize politics has no place in this film’s glossy repainting of its period but if you're going to tie your story to the rebirth of the country, it's fair to take a more realistic look at this idealized story.

All that said, Seabiscuit from a filmmaking standpoint is a very competent professional production. Ross may present a glossed over version of reality but it's a beautiful rendering of said gloss. Seabiscuit is visually very well produced and far better than Ross' previous effort, the annoyingly overwrought message picture Pleasantville.

The performances in Seabiscuit are where its award chances are, especially the supporting performance from William H. Macy as the cartoony comic relief race announcer Tick Tock Mcglaughlin. As always, Jeff Bridges is outstanding and once again shows why he is the most underappreciated actor in Hollywood. Of course, Tobey Maguire is the film’s lead and though I find his dewy-eyed innocence routine somewhat grating, I don't think it's entirely his fault. The script betrays him in the hero department, painting Red as an innocent kid even as he grows into a man living in Mexico, dallying with prostitutes and fighting in bars.

Chris Cooper delivers yet another solid performance and though it may not be as memorable as his Oscar winning turn in Adaptation, it underscores his amazing range. Finally, some praise for real-life jockey Gary Stevens who plays Red's best friend and rival, George Woolf. Stevens delivers a very relaxed and real performance and his riding ability of course is well showcased in the film’s very well orchestrated racing scenes.

There are a number of good things about Seabiscuit, especially its acting. However, the falseness of the re-imagined reality of the period continues to nag at me and thus the impact of the film’s centerpiece, the match race between Seabiscuit and War Admiral, felt hollow to me. I just can't cheer what amounts to an ego contest between two rich guys no matter how athletic and beautiful the horses may be.

Movie Review Meet Bill

Meet Bill (2008) 

Directed by Bernie Goldman, Melisa Wallack 

Written by Melisa Wallack 

Starring Aaron Eckhardt, Timothy Olyphant, Logan Lerman, Jessica Alba, Elizabeth Banks

Release Date April 4th, 2008

Published July 10th, 2008 

The male midlife crisis has inspired many Hollywood writers. The twist in the new to DVD movie Meet Bill starring Aaron Eckhart is that it was written by a woman. Melisa Wallack wrote the script and was co-director of Meet Bill with veteran producer Bernie Goldmann and her gender doesn't really matter. Like most male midlife crisis movies Meet Bill has little to add in terms of any new insights from men, women or anyone else.

Living off of the wealth and generosity of his wife's family, Bill (Aaron Eckhart) has come to hate his life. With the stomach paunch that seemed to come out of nowhere and his lazy, floppy haircut; Bill looks as sloppy as he feels. At work he is a lackey and a joke as the guy whose job is to be the boss's son. At home, his wife Jess (Elizabeth Banks) is cheating on him with a local news talking head (Timothy Olyphant).

Bill's life changes for good when he is teamed with a teenager (Logan Lerman) who does what he wants when he wants. The kid, as Bill calls him, adopts Bill whether he likes it or not and soon Bill is living life the way he always wanted. As he decides what to do about his wife, the Kid introduces him to a lingerie shop clerk, Lucy (Jessica Alba), who becomes his friend and offers to help him with his marital issues.

The Jessica Alba subplot doesn't go where you think it will. In fact, like a couple of subplots in Meet Bill, it doesn't really go anywhere. Meet Bill is a movie filled with characters and actors who seem like they should be more important than they end up being. Alba is moved about the plot like nice looking furniture. Character actor extraordinaire Todd Louiso plays Bill's brother in law and despite a couple of awkward scenes he barely registers.

Craig Bierko plays Bill's brother and though he is given something of a back story, some kind local sports star or war hero or something, he is shown and shuffled off the mains stage with little notice. I like that the character is gay and that it doesn't seem to be any kind of issue, but it is yet another strand of plot that is left dangling in the end.

There is a certain charm to the fact that the movie Meet Bill is nearly as much of a shambles as Bill himself, but by the end, the film is an even bigger mess than Bill ever was. I had hoped the story would pull together the same way Bill the character seems to pull himself together but it never happens. Writer and co-director Melisa Wallick just doesn't know what to do with all of these characters she introduces and by the end she even loses her grip on Bill.

Even the history of the making and release of Meet Bill is a mess. A Canadian production, Meet Bill was briefly released in theaters and dumped. It made it onto the internet and now it arrives on DVD with little fanfare. Especially little fanfare considering a cast that includes Jessica Alba, Hitman star Timothy Olyphant, 40 Year Old Virgin star Banks and Eckhart who has been a well known presence in a number of movies and will soon be seen in the next Batman.

With a cast this big and talented the only way Meet Bill could fail this miserably is to stink up the joint. It did, so it failed.

Movie Review The Happytime Murders

The Happytime Murders (2018) 

Directed by Brian Henson 

Written by Todd Berger 

Starring Melissa McCarthy, Joel McHale, Maya Rudolph, Elizabeth Banks 

Release Date April 24th, 2018 

Published April 23rd, 2018 

A number of critics have called The Happytime Murders the ‘worst movie of 2018.’ These critics apparently forgot about 15:17 to Paris or The Maze Runner Death Cure. The Happytime Murders is undoubtedly bad, I completely agree with that sentiment; but not worst of the year level bad. Mostly, the film is a failure of a central idea, that idea being that puppets acting like raunchy, obnoxious humans is funny just because they are puppets.

Melissa McCarthy stars in The Happytime Murders as Detective Connie Edwards, the former partner of the first ever puppet police detective, Phil Phillips (voiced by Bill Barretta). Edwards and Phillips, now a private detective, are thrown back together when a series of murders involving the cast of a popular puppet television show comes to center on Phil as a possible suspect, one of the victims was Phil’s own brother.

Phil somehow winds up at the scene of each murder and though we know he’s not the killer, it’s no surprise that he becomes a wanted man. The plot then turns on whether he and his former partner can put aside their past and work to clear his name and solve the horrific series of murders. It’s a rather straight-forward plot and if it starred human actors instead of puppets you might have a hard time seeing Happytime Murders as a comedy.

Director Brian Henson, the son of Muppets creator Jim Henson, hasn’t had much experience directing feature films and his inexperience shows in how clumsy the approach to tone is in The Happytime Murders. Dark comedy is tricky and if you can’t get the tone just right your film will fail and Henson never finds the right vibe for this movie. Everything is far too serious and straightforward and the plot relies far too heavily on the idea that puppets are inherently funny.

Henson appears to believe that seeing a puppet act in a human fashion, especially an obnoxious or raunchy fashion, is funny regardless of the context and for me that was not the case. I found parts of The Happytime Murders downright bleak with one dark comic gag falling short after another. The film relies heavily on cop movie clichés but doesn’t do anything to deconstruct those clichés other than embody them with puppets.

Melissa McCarthy has the only good moments in The Happytime Murders. McCarthy’s Connie has a very funny Jerry Maguire moment when she thinks she's been fired from her job and delivers an unhinged monologue on her way out the door. Beyond that however, and an occasional funny line late in the movie, even McCarthy appears to take the material of The Happytime murders a little too seriously, or, at least, serious enough that the comedy fails to land.

Puppets doing human things just isn’t funny on its own. Comedy requires context and structure and timing and The Happytime Murders has little context, only modest structure and the puppets make timing jokes for the human characters difficult. Melissa McCarthy is an actress whose timing is impeccable in most of her movies but she’s off throughout The Happytime Murders because she’s stuck trying to bounce off of non-human characters who can’t react to her usually effective wordplay.

If it sounds like I hated The Happytime Murders let me assure you that I don’t hate it. I just don’t think it is very good. The film is far more forgettable than it is offensive. The badness comes not from a lack of effort, there is a clear amount of effort on display from the remarkable puppeteers who make the puppet characters feel alive. Rather, it’s the kind of badness that likely only came around as the film was being cut together and the filmmakers slowly realized they hadn’t written any good jokes, just a series of dramatic, clichéd, contexts that are only funny if you think puppets are funny regardless of context or character.

An example: is it funny that Melissa McCarthy encounters a puppet junkie? The puppet is a drug addicted former TV star. The character doesn’t have much to do, doesn’t do much in the way of jokes, aside from a shot or two at McCarthy’s appearance, and then he’s dead. Is it funny that this comes from a puppet? For me, the answer is no, I need the character to actually be funny, to do or to say something funny.

That said, if you find puppets always funny regardless of the context or content, then perhaps this movie is for you.

Movie Review: The Lego Movie 2

The Lego Movie 2 (2019) 

Directed by Mike Mitchell

Written by Lord and Miller 

Starring Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Tiffany Haddish, Stephanie Beatriz, Allison Brie

Release Date February 8th, 2019 

Published February 7th, 2019 

Has the magic of the Lego movies already worn out? The last Lego movie, Lego Ninjago, was a strong indication of the limits of the franchise. That film was so remarkably dull for non-fans of Ninjago, like myself, that I walked out halfway through the movie. I hadn’t laughed one time during the first 45 minutes of the movie and I had the distinct impression that what I was missing was something that perhaps only Ninjago fans would understand. Then again, I didn’t hear many of them laughing either as I took my early exit. 

I assumed however, that Lego Ninjago was just a case of a too insular, fandom servicing, cult piece that I was not meant to understand. The Lego Movie 2 however, is supposed to be welcoming. The first film roared out of the gates with a wide appeal story about an every-man, named Emmett (Chris Pratt), learning to become a hero in a world with actual heroes including Batman (Will Arnett) and Wildstyle aka Lucy (Elizabeth Banks). 

The broad pop culture burlesque of The Lego Movie proved to be an unexpected delight that Lego then capitalized upon with the equally unexpected and ingenious, Lego Batman. That film took the gags of The Lego Movie and turned the absurdity up to 11 and, in the process, exposed the all too seriousness of the DC Movie Universe by creating arguably the best characterization of The Caped Crusader not played by Christian Bale. 

Much of the success of those two films however, is owed to creators who would not be taking part in either Lego Ninjago or The Lego Movie 2: The Second One. Phil Lord and writing and directing partner Christopher Miller may have writing credits on The Lego Movie 2 but the film is distinctly lacking in their anarchic genius. Instead we get Mike Mitchell whose middle of the road vision has given us Trolls and Shrek Forever After, a pair of mostly forgettable efforts with just enough easy to process laughs to be passable. 

The Lego Movie 2: The Second One (and what an inspired title that is) picks up the story of Emmett and his pals, Lucy and Batman, just after the action of the first Lego Movie. Finn (Jadon Sand) is informed by his dad (WIll Ferrell) that his little sister will also be allowed to play with the legos in the basement and the two will have to get along or neither will have legos to play with. Five years later, with brother and sister at odds, our heroic lego characters are no longer city dwellers in a place where ‘Everything is Awesome.’ Instead, the lego world is a dystopian wasteland at odds with the aliens of the Sistar System. 

One day, the alien General Mayhem attacks and kidnaps Emmett’s pals and he must go on a journey through the dreaded ‘Stair-Gate’ and into the Sistar System to rescue them. Aiding Emmett on his journey is a newcomer who calls himself Rex Dangervest (Chris Pratt, again). Rex is introduced more than once by an announcer who puts over his Barbie-esque ability to master many, sometimes mundane, activities. 

The voice cast of The Lego Movie 2 is as spectacular as the original with Pratt, Banks and Arnett terrific in their memorable roles from the original and backed up by equally brilliant newcomers, Tiffany Haddish, Richard Ayoade and a cameo that I won’t spoil as it is the best runner in the entire movie. Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, and Will Ferrell also reprise roles from the original Lego Movie but these are little more than cameos. 

I can’t sit here and tell you I didn’t enjoy The Lego Movie 2: The Second One, because I did laugh plenty during the movie. I am however, a little letdown. The spirit is definitely lacking in this sequel. The premise is not nearly as consistently funny and inventive as the original. There is an over-reliance on pop references that feels lazy here even as it felt fresh and funny in the original. The lack of Lord and Miller’s anarchic spirit is definitely felt here. 

The Lego Movie 2: The Second One feels worn out, a little tired. The look is less exciting, the humorous Mad Max inspired animated dystopia has promise but is abandoned quickly for the excess of a space setting that is less inspired. Tiffany Haddish’s character, a Queen who can shape-shift into almost any character design, is not fully taken advantage of and becomes little more than a plot device by the end. 

There are still enough laughs in The Lego Movie 2: The Second One but much like that lazy subtitle, the tiredness of The Lego franchise is showing. Instead of Lego Ninjago being a one off flop in this budding animated franchise, it now appears to have been a warning that this once flavorful franchise has already run out of juice. The uninspired title The Second One proves to be as much of a warning. They put no effort into giving the film a title and only slightly more effort into making something reminiscent of the first one. 

Movie Review The Hunger Games Mockingjay Pt 1

The Hunger Games Mockingjay Pt 1 (2014)

Directed by Francis Lawrence 

Written by Danny Strong and Peter Craig 

Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore, Elizabeth Banks 

Release Date November 21st, 2014 

Published November 20th, 2014 

"The Hunger Games" could have been a revolutionary box office bonanza with a brain. Sadly, thanks to the greed of Lionsgate Pictures, it's become an ironic symbol of the greed that the film is meant to satirize. I’ve been told not to hold against "Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1" how it came to be a “part 1.” But I must. Because what could have been a deeply impactful 2 1/2- hour epic finale has been beefed up into a bloated, four-hour-plus time waster that won't play out in full for another year. There was the potential for greatness in the "Hunger Games" series. 

"The Hunger Games" arrived on the big screen at nearly the same moment as the Occupy Wall Street protests dominated the headlines. It wasn't by design, but it happened that the plot about the desperate poor spoiling for war with the ruling elite coincided with an all-too-brief cultural moment. Of course, Occupy Wall Street had neither the marketing muscle nor physical will of the "Hunger Games" hype -- I'm speaking more of a fashionable attitude for revolution rather than an actual revolution. 

"The Hunger Games" was never meant to galvanize a movement. Still,  Gary Ross's original had an unmistakable edge with its themes centered on the “haves” and “have nots.” The denizens of the Capitol, first glimpsed in "The Hunger Games," are the picture of grotesqueness: Loud, proud fools adorned in their riches, flaunting everything in front of those who arrive with nothing. Those who arrive with nothing include our heroes, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson). 

Sport fighting the poor for the amusement of the rich has a historic flavor to it – think “Christians and the lions.” While our modern society hasn't devolved to that point, who hasn't heard someone compare America to ancient Rome? The rich under-girding of the first "Hunger Games" is the potential for class warfare and why such warfare is justified. The second film, "Catching Fire," doesn't carry the metaphor as strongly. While Katniss is used as agitprop for the Capitol, we're left with a story about the games and not the people in them. Simply getting Katniss and Peeta to the arena seems to be that film’s goal, and the journey is a bit of a drudge. 

"Mockingjay - Part 1," on the other hand, goes too far back the other way. Katniss, now the agitprop of the revolution, spends the film mourning the poor and the dead in the class warfare that she inspired. The film fails to take flight as an adventure movie without the propulsive effect of the games. This isn’t because director Francis Lawrence is incapable, but because he's been handcuffed to two movies instead of a single film. 

"Mockingjay" should have been written as a thrill-ride epic, a finale that combined tears and compassion with the kind of rollicking rebellion the series should have built toward. 

What should be a whipsaw ride of emotion, excitement and catharsis is instead an exhausting, 2-year trudge to an overstuffed conclusion. What a shame. Commerce has defeated art in "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1." While Katniss weeps for the districts, I weep for wasted opportunity for greatness. 

Movie Review: The Next Three Days

The Next Three Days (2010) 

Directed by Paul Haggis 

Written by Paul Haggis 

Starring Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Brian Dennehy, Olivia Wilde, Liam Neeson 

Release Date November 19th, 2010 

Published November 18th, 2010 

Paul Haggis loves a story that examines fate and chance and the seeming randomness of life. Bringing order to the chaos of life was part of what made his “Crash” such a fascinating drama. It was messy in the ways it brought characters together, crashing them together emotionally and sometimes physically, yet there was fate seeming to shine down on each character and reveal that there may have been no other way for these things to happen.

”Crash” is a remarkable film filled with powerful performances and emotions that deepen with repeated viewings. It's the opposite experience of Mr. Haggis's latest film, “The Next Three Days.” Ostensibly a prison break thriller about a husband trying to save the life of his accused murderer wife by busting her out of jail, “The Next Three Days” is, in reality, a gutless exercise in thriller machinations and not the kind of emotional, thoughtful examination of fate that Haggis would like you to think it is. 

Russell Crowe stars in “The Next Three Days” as Community College English teacher John Brennen. John is a great dad to 3 year old Lucas and a loving husband to Lara (Elizabeth Banks), his workaholic wife who, when we meet her first at a dinner with John's brother and overly flirty fiancée, has just left a rather confrontational day at the office. Lara and her boss were seen to have a wild screaming match just before each left for the day. The next day, as John is getting his son breakfast and mom is leaving for work the police burst through the door and Lara is arrested, charged with murder. Lara's boss was found dead in the parking lot and Lara's car was seen leaving the scene and her fingerprints are on the murder weapon.

Three years later, John and Lara have exhausted her appeals. Lara is going to spend the rest of her life in prison unless John does something drastic. He could appeal to the Supreme Court but without new evidence that won't help. His only real option, once Lara has attempted suicide, is to break her out of prison and get her and Lucas out of the country. Oh, but how will an average, pudgy, College professor plan a prison break?

My plot description is limited to portions of the first act. The second act, featuring a stellar cameo by Liam Neeson, is where “The Next Three Days” moves from sad family drama to attempted thriller. Where Haggis's talent for examining fate through the actions of characters in extreme emotional distress, The Next Three Days becomes a boilerplate thriller with very little interest in examining the motivations of the characters or allowing them depth beyond the function they perform in the hackneyed thriller plot. 

This is not the fault of Russell Crowe who pulls off quite an acting challenge in “The Next Three Days.” Crowe first has to convince us that he is not an action hero and then turn John Brennen into enough of an average action hero that he can do the things needed to break Lara out of prison. Given Crowe's movie born reputation as a tough guy whose characters could easily be capable of attempting a prison break it is remarkable to see Crowe show such vulnerability and then morph that vulnerability into desperate necessity.

If only the rest of “The Next Three Days” had Crowe's determination. Sadly, director Paul Haggis lacks his star's nerve. Surrounding Crowe's tour de force performance is a soporific movie that cannot bear the ambiguity needed to really give the thriller stuff a charge. Never for a moment are you allowed to see John as anything but heroic nor are you allowed to wonder too much about Lara's guilt or innocence.

A more daring film would allow John to do things less than heroic in order to achieve his goal. A more daring film might have asked some more daring questions about Lara's guilt or innocence. Instead we get a scene at the movie's end that removes all doubt and lets the characters and the audience off the hook. Rather than pushing us to question what we would do in a similar situation Paul Haggis keeps his questions superficial and easy to answer.

“Crash” could be dismissed as superficial but Haggis introduced an idea behind the heavy emotions on display; the idea of fate and that of the randomness of life a destiny, for good or for ill, could emerge. There are few, if any, challenging ideas behind the facile thrills of “The Next Three Days” and the film suffers mightily for it.

In the end, “The Next Three Days” has the compromised feel of a very Hollywood production, the kind of market tested drivel that is meant to leave audiences reassured that there values haven’t been challenged. Were it not for Mr. Crowe, I would call it boring, but with him and his determined performance, “The Next Three Days” is merely a failure.