Movie Review Downsizing

Downsizing (2017) 

Directed by Alexander Payne 

Written by Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor 

Starring Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, Hong Chau, Kristen Wiig 

Release Date December 22nd, 2017 

The soulful Alexander Payne has ventured into new territory with his part sci-fi, part romance, Downsizing. Starring Matt Damon, Downsizing tells the story of Paul Safranek, a Midwestern schlub dealing with the daily grind of a job he doesn’t love, a home he can’t afford, and a wife, Audrey, who may or may not love him, played by Kristen Wiig. Paul’s typical Midwestern domesticity is upended by the discovery of Downsizing which gives humanity the chance to shrink to about 5 inches tall and help save the environment by consuming less.

Paul and his wife are not immediate adapters to Downsizing. In fact, the process of Downsizing is nearly a decade old when Paul decides that he is interested in the process. Paul is particularly intrigued when he’s told by a friend played by Jason Sudeikis, that downsizing means living like a millionaire on the salary of a middle class nobody. Paul and his wife’s savings turn into millions of dollars in assets if they choose to downsize.

Where the film goes from there is a real trip. Paul undergoes the procedure and is set to live out his life at 5 inches tall. Audrey pulls out at the last possible moment and Paul is left to fend for himself in this strange new world called Leisureland. Losing half his mini fortune in the divorce (I have no insight as to why Kristen Wiig was cast for such a small role), Paul is forced to take on another job he doesn’t like and begins dating another woman he doesn’t particularly like and seems content to live the same life he lived at regular size.

Thankfully, Paul’s neighbor Dusan, played with charm by two-time Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz, has other plans for his new best friend. At a party at his neighbors' home Paul drops acid and has his first trip. Then in the aftermath he meets Ngoc Lan (Hong Chau) and the two become friends. At the behest of Ngoc Lan, Paul begins following his long ago dream of being a doctor, he was a physical therapist before Downsizing, treating those who may or may not have willingly downsized, a relatively minor but intriguing plot point.

Find my full length review in the Geeks Community on Vocal 

Movie Review Mother

Mother (2017) 

Directed by Darren Aronofsky 

Written by Darren Aronofsky 

Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer 

Release Date September 15, 2017 

Published September 14th, 2017 

I can’t decide if Mother(!) is Darren Aronofsky’s way of pleasuring himself on screen or if it is a legitimate work of art simply out of the grasp of my pea brain. The film has some seemingly obvious metaphors but they are metaphors that are so blatant that your brain fights the idea that they could be so simple to untangle. At least we can all agree that Mother(!) is a pretentious as all get out work of an egotist artist who’s either far too oblique for his own good or a complete troll.

Mother(!) is the title character played by Jennifer Lawrence who opens the film completely engulfed in flames before waking up in bed. Was it a dream? Stick around, the movie has a little something for you on that later. Mother and her writer husband, played by Javier Bardem, are living in an idyllic old home that has been recovered from a fire. This unique home sits in the middle of a field or perhaps a ‘garden,’ one might call it Eden-like.

The idyll of their country home is upended by the arrival of a snake-like gentleman, played by a skinny, leathery, Ed Harris, who claims to be one of the Husband’s biggest fans. Considering there is no place to stay for miles around they allow the man to spend the night. Then the next day his wife arrives played by Michelle Pfeiffer followed by their warring children played by Domnhall and Brian Gleeson who set about acting out a version of Cane and Abel inside these strangers’ home.

This portion of the film ends with a funeral and a finale in which Mother accuses her husband of not wanting to have sex with her to which he replies with what begins as attempted rape and then becomes a brief sex scene leading to a bizarre reveal and an even more bizarre final act of the film that I will leave you to discover on your own. The portentousness of the reveal is kind of fun and exciting but that pay off was a deal breaker for me, I was pretty much done with Mother(!) at this point and there was still a whole act of full on madness to come.

The lead up to the sex scene in Mother(!) basically states that a woman who is angry or unhappy with her husband to the point where she’s ready to leave him can be satisfied with a good sexing. This, to me, is such a gross and simplistic notion, so remarkably, ludicrously sexist that it seems like a provocation just to get that accusation. Unfortunately, Mother (!) doesn’t offer any rebuttal to this idea. Lawrence’s Mother is ready to leave her husband for not loving her, he attempts to take her by force, she eventually acquiesces because his forcefulness is a turn-on and the movie moves on. There is no attempt to satirize this notion, it is merely presented and that, for me, knocked me out of the movie.

Read my full length review in the Geeks Community on Vocal. 

Movie Review Despicable Me 3

Despicable Me 3 (2017)

Directed by Pierre Coffin, Kyle Balda

Written by Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio 

Starring Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Trey Parker, Miranda Cosgrove, Jenny Slate, Julie Andrews 

Release Date June 30th, 2017 

Despicable Me 3 is so wildly mediocre, so achingly adequate, and so puzzlingly prosaic, I can barely bring myself to write about it. In all honesty, I have spent more research time for this review googling synonyms for mediocre than I have considering anything related to the production of Despicable Me 3. The latest bit of barely above average animation from the company Illumination is so very much just OK that just trying to find the energy to type words about it is taxing.

Despicable Me 3 picks up the story of former super-villain Gru (Steve Carell) as he continues his career as a newly formed hero. Alongside his now wife Lucy (Kristen Wiig), Gru is hot on the trail of the newest super-villain, a stuck in the 80’s former child star named Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker), who uses gum and rubix cubes as super-weapons. It’s a clever idea for about 5 or 6 minutes and then it becomes tiresome and then forgettable.

Ah but don’t worry, Despicable Me 3 has a second uninspired plot. In this one we find that Gru has a twin brother named Dru. The joke of Dru is that he’s in good shape, has hair, and is bad at crime. That’s it, that’s the joke. On top of that, we’re supposed to find it hilarious when Gru’s mother cruelly hides his brother from him before telling him that he was her second pick. Hilarious familial cruelty you guys! Oh, and Gru’s mom is an old perv with two male swim coaches she leers at creepily, you know, to entertain the kids. (Yes, I remember that joke has been in the other films; it was creepy and unfunny then as well.

Read my full length review at Geeks.Media 

Movie Review MacGruber

MacGruber (2010) 

Directed by Jorme Taccone 

Written by Will Forte, Jorme Taccone, John Solomon

Starring Will Forte, Powers Boothe, Ryan Phillippe, Kristen Wiig

Release Date May 21st, 2010

Published May22nd, 2010 

There have been so many things written about the history of Saturday Night Live and the movies that adding to the pile seems a waste of time. I will keep the history lesson brief, we all know the translation between sketch and feature has been less than stellar. I'm sure I am not the only one who thanks heaven there was no Church Lady or Hans and Frans movies, thank you Dana Carvey for your restraint.

And as evidenced by the dearth of SNL-movie related content written in relation to the latest SNL feature, I know I wasn’t the only one dreading the release of MacGruber. Based on a series of interstitial gags created by star Will Forte, MacGruber held little promise of feature length success. It's great to be surprised; MacGruber doesn't suck.

Will Forte is MacGruber, an ex-military man hiding out as a priest in some unspecified jungle on a self imposed Rambo-esque exile when he is approached by his former commander Colonel James Faith (Powers Boothe). There is a threat to the homeland and it comes from the man who killed MacGruber's bride on their wedding day, the evil weapons dealer Dieter Von Cunth (Val Kilmer).

Colonel Faith wants MacGruber to come back to the US and stop Cunth from using a massive nuclear weapon on the US. He also wants MacGruber to work with top new military man Lt. Dixon Piper (Ryan Phillippe) but MacGruber has other ideas. Our hero has a team to put together, one that fans of the WWE will absolutely love. What happens to that team and how MacGruber ends up working with Piper and Mac's old flame Vicki St. Elmo (Kristen Wiig) is something for you to discover. All I'll say is 'classic MacGruber.'

I have brought a little more order to the plot than actually exists on the screen; MacGruber doesn't really play as a straight narrative feature. Will Forte and director Jorme Taccone wrote the script for MacGruber and kept true to the sketch show roots of the character by creating a feature that is really just a series of gags. Sure, there is something of a narrative line that travels throughout but mostly MacGruber just hits one gag after another and somehow the form holds.

The gags of MacGruber work one after the other after the other. A few build throughout, including MacGruber's odd attachment to his car stereo, but most are one off jokes and references to 80's pop tunes. And then there is the filth. MacGruber is shockingly filthy with R-rated material that might make the Judd Apatow crew uncomfortable. 

Part of the shock comes from the unexpected, MacGruber can't use so many variations of the F-word when he's on network TV. He also cannot have two of the most awkward, off-putting and hysterical sex scenes since Leslie Nielsen and Lisa Marie Presley donned giant condoms in Naked Gun. 

MacGruber's supporting cast is right along with him making the awkward into the hysterical. Kristen Wiig is expectedly up to the task but Ryan Phillippe is the one who gets the big assist late with a sight gag that lives up to the word gag. Val Kilmer is a rich choice for the goofy bad guy. The now chubby cheeked star plays a wonderfully straight bad guy to MacGruber's over the top good guy. 

Tossing dignity and good taste to the wind, the cast of MacGruber crafts a series of jokes that somehow adds up to a feature film. MacGruber doesn't really tell us much about the future of Will Forte as a star but as a gag writer with a great ear for just the right cheesy 80's pop song; he's kind of a genius. MacGruber thrives on Forte's instinct for brilliant bad taste.

Movie Review The Brothers Solomon

The Brothers Solomon (2007) 

Directed by Bob Odenkirk

Written by Will Forte

Starring Will Forte, Will Arnett, Kristen Wiig, Lee Majors

Release Date September 7th, 2007

Published September September 9th, 2007

Bob Odenkirk is a really funny guy. Anyone who has seen his all too brief HBO sketch show Mr. Show with his good friend David Cross, has seen his talent on display. His first directorial feature, Melvin Goes To Dinner was a terrific movie. A talky, brainy, low budget comedy that displayed Odenkirk's ability to let a joke build without ever forcing a punchline.

Since that mini-success Bob Odenkirk's career has gone in the toilet. His follow up to Melvin Goes To Dinner was a spectacularly misguided prison comedy called Let's Go To Prison. Now comes an equally inept, though funnier -not that that was a big challenge-, The Brothers Solomon. Written by Saturday Night Live cast member Will Forte, the film plays like a comedy of what not to do when making a comedy.

In The Brothers Solomon, Will Arnett, of TV's beloved Arrested Development, and Will Forte, play John and Dean Solomon, brothers who did not grow up like most folk. Following the tragic death of their mother, thei father (Lee Majors) moved the boys to the north pole, they asked to move there and dad abided, where they were homeschooled and went years without contact with other human beings.

The social shortcomings of the boys has contributed to lifelong virginity and them living together; likely for good. When their father falls into a coma a kindly doctor informs them that sometimes people come out of comas if they have something to live for. Remembering that dad always wanted a grandson, the boys begin a quest to make a baby for dad.

Of course, being socially awkward, to put it kindly, the brothers fail the dating scene miserably. So, they turn to the website craigslist.com where they find Janine (Kristen Wiig), a kind woman willing to carry their child.... for 12, 000 dollars and no sex. Then it's off to the fertility clinic and nine months of waiting. Can dad last that long? Will either brother ever get it right with a woman? Will you give the slightest damn?

The first two questions I won't spoil, the last question however is a simple no. As directed by Bob Odenkirk, The Brothers Solomon plays like the bastard child of Knocked Up and Dumb & Dumber, only not funny or even as remotely interesting as those two very different comedies. Where Knocked Up bothered to create characters we cared about enough to laugh with, The Brothers Solomon simply has characters and if you can find a way to care about them you are a better man than I.

Dumb & Dumber is, at the very least, energetic in it's insipid way. The Brothers Solomon is a snoozer from beginning to end. Here is yet another 'comedy', like the recent ping pong movie Balls Of Fury, that believes that certain things just ARE funny because they're there. In Balls of Fury it was the lead character's love of Def Leppard. In The Brothers Solomon it's supposed to be funny that the filmmakers have assigned the song St. Elmo's Fire as the brothers unofficial theme song.

Oh and it's also funny that Lee Majors plays the boy's father. Not that Majors does or says anything remotely humorous. No. Just the fact that he is Lee Majors is apparently supposed to be funny. That's the joke. He used to be The Fall Guy (shrug). If you find that fact funny, then maybe this is the movie for you. I, for one, need something a little more than that.

I must admit that I did laugh once during The Brothers Solomon and my apologies to the filmmakers for spoiling their one funny moment here. When the brothers find out that dad is in the hospital they go flying out of their apartment for a race to the hospital. On the way, they stop to dispute a late video charge at a local video store. The line "Dad would have wanted us to dispute that late charge" cracked me up.

The only other minor pleasure I took away from The Brothers Solomon were cameos from some of my favorite TV performers. Sam Lloyd plays Ted Buckland on TV's best sitcom Scrubs and shows up here as a doctor. Also from Scrubs, one of the show's top bit players, Charles Chun who plays Dr. Wen on Scrubs and here plays Dr. Wang. Seeing Lloyd and Chun allowed me a few moments to lapse into dreams of my favorite Scrubs episodes as I waited out the 90 minute runtime of The Brothers Solomon.

Despite it all; I remain convinced of the talents of Bob Odenkirk. I have seen far too much good work from Odenkirk to write him off yet. A word of caution though Bob, another Let's Go To Prison or The Brothers Solomon and you are off the creative roll call. Get back together with your Melvin Goes to Dinner writing partner Michael Blieden, drop the budget, and make Melvin 2.

And stay away from Will Arnett. He's now starred in both Let's Go To Prison and The Brothers Solomon and had a small role in Hot Rod. Clearly, Mr. Arnett is movie poison.

Movie Review: Extract

Extract (2009) 

Directed by Mike Judge

Written by Mike Judge 

Starring Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, Ben Affleck, Mila Kunis, Dustin Milligan, Clifton Collins

Release Date September 4th, 2009 

Published September 3rd, 2009 

Writer-Director Mike Judge has a tremendous talent for creating memorable, well observed characters. From the moronic Beavis and Butthead to the best approximation of the American everyman on TV in King of the Hill to his put upon corporate drones in Office Space, Judge's talent for character is the glue that holds his work together.

For his latest effort, the dark comedy Extract, Judge has his talent for character working in abundance. It's unfortunate that his terrific characters are stranded in a meandering mess of plot that doesn't seem to know what to do with them.

Bateman is the star of Extract as Joel the owner of a company that makes sweeteners or Extract. Joel is married to Suzie (Kristen Wiig) but the spark has gone out of the marriage, they haven't had relations in over a month. Joel confesses this to his best friend Dean (Ben Affleck), a scraggly haired bartender at a sports bar. Dean suggests drugs.

First he offers a horse tranquilizer. When that succeeds in zonking Joel out he offers a bizarre solution to Joel's problems. You see, Joel is thinking of cheating on his wife. He has his eye on Cindy (Mila Kunis) a temp at the Extract company. However, he feels to guilty to cheat. Dean's ingenious plan is to get Suzie to cheat first thereby absolving Joel.

As Joel is still whacked on drugs, Dean calls Brad (Dustin Milligan) a good looking doofus who will seduce Susie in the guise of cleaning the pool at Joel's home. Meanwhile, Joel has problems at the factory as well as an industrial accident cost an employee, Step (Clifton Collins) a testicle. He set to sue the company and blow a deal to sell the company to a major corporation.

Cindy is a key to both stories but in ways that never really connect plot wise. There is a whole lot going on in Extract but Mike Judge just isn't certain what he wants to do with it all. He's aware, it seems, that his characters are funny, they really are, but they are funny without a purpose.

The plot is like a spinning top that after 90 minutes finally loses momentum and simply ceases to move. After running out of funny things for his characters to say and do, Judge simply ends the movie and on a note that really has zero to do with anything that happens in the rest of the movie.

I will give you just a hint, the end involves Joel's irksome neighbor played by comic suppporting all star David Koechner. That Koechner is brilliantly funny in the role is without question. Why his seemingly unrelated character figures into the film's ending is an utter mystery, I think even to Mr. Judge.

Extract ends with a bizarre black comic whimper that fails to payoff even the modest arcs that set up early on. Still, because of Mike Judge's talent for great characters and a stellar cast, I am recommending Extract. Just don't be surprised if at the end you are left wanting.

Movie Review: Adventureland

Adventureland (2009) 

Directed by Greg Mottola 

Written by Greg Mottola 

Starring Kristen Stewart, Jesse Eisenberg, Ryan Reynolds, Bill Hader, Matt Bush, Kristen Wiig, 

Release Date April 3rd, 2009 

Published April 2nd, 2009 

When one thinks of Superbad, the hit 2007 comedy from director Greg Mottola, the first word that comes to mind is not thoughtful. That word however, provides a strong description of Greg Mottola's two other directorial efforts. The Daytrippers, the film that brought Mottola to the attention of Hollywood decision makers, was a thoughtful and gentle comic road trip. Now comes Adventureland which, like Daytrippers, is thoughtful as well as gentle nostalgic, sentimental and romantic in its offbeat way.

Jesse Eisenberg stars in Adventureland as Brennen a soon to be New York college student who was  planning for a trip to Europe for the entire the summer before college. That was before his dad lost his job and Brennen lost his funding. Now, even college in New York is in question unless Brennan can start raising money on his own.

Being more of a thinker than a laborer, Brennen finds there is not much out there in the unskilled labor market. Thankfully, an old friend, Frigo (Matt Bush), is able to land him a gig at a local amusement park, Adventureland. Brennen will be in the games section where every contest is rigged and no one, NO ONE is allowed to win a big ass panda. These are the rules laid down by the park manager Bobby (Bill Hader) and his wife Paulette (Kristen Wiig).

With only the goal of making money on his mind, Brennen is shocked when he meets Em (Kristen Stewart) a thoughtful outcast not unlike himself. The two spark some romantic chemistry quickly but there are any number of complications that will keep them apart, not the least of which is Brennen's virgin status and Em's shall we say 'experience'. This isn't so much a boundary as a truth. You will find throughout this wonderful movie that truth is a default setting for these characters no matter how complicated that truth is.

Click here for my review

Movie Review: Whip It

Whip It (2009) 

Directed by Drew Barrymore 

Written by Shauna Cross

Starring Elliot Page, Kristen Wiig, Marcia Gay Harden, Drew Barrymore, Juliette Lewis 

Release Date October 9th, 2009 

Published October 8th, 2009 

As a kid I watched Roller Derby on Saturday nights. I never quite understood how the game was played but I loved the violence, the speed and the quirky humor. But the one thing that really stood out for me were the women. It was a mixed league where guys did a round then the ladies. I remember these women, some were giants and some were tiny and quick. It fostered in me a love of tough chicks. Whip It is a movie about the women I admired on Saturday nights. The bruisers and the speedsters. Beyond their toughness, director Drew Barrymore finds heart, humor and love while never losing that violent, attractive toughness that some call Grrl Power. Whateve they call it, I love it.

Elliot Page is the star of Whip It as Bliss Cavender. Trapped in a tiny Texas town where her overbearing mother (Marcia Gay Harden) forces her to compete in teen pageants, Bliss longs for something more. What that something more is, Bliss doesn't know yet. It finally becomes clear to her when, on a shopping trip to Austin, she spies girls on roller skates handing out flyers for Roller Derby.

Enlisting the help of her best friend Pash (Elia Shawkat), Bliss attends the match and it's love at first sight. When she hears about tryouts for her new favorite team, the Hurl Scouts, she pulls out her Barbie roller skates and hops aboard a senior shuttle to Austin and begins a secret life under her new name "Babe Ruthless".

All the roller girls have nicknames. There is Smashley Simpson (Barrymore), Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig), Bloody Holly (Zoe Bell) and Rosa Sparks (Eve) on the Hurl Scouts. On the other teams there is Eva Destruction (Ari Graynor) and the leagues top roller Iron Maven (Juliette Lewis). The names are part of the fun and bonding that give the film it's quirky heart.

Naturally, there is also romance in Bliss's new life as she meets and falls for a boy, a rocker played by newcomer Landon Pigg. While the romance blossoms and Bliss becomes a star there is inevitably trouble on the horizon. A requirement of this plot is her parents finding out and Bliss being separated from all that she loves. How Director Barrymore plays these scenes I will let you see for your self. I will say that while she cannot escape convention, Barrymore shows more skill with the expected scenes than a lot of mainstream directors who grow lazy in the face of convention.

The cast of Whip It is pitch perfect. Lead by the star turn of Elliot Page, leaving Juno behind growing into a movie. Alia Shawkat is a terrific comic foil with whom Page has great chemistry. The scene stealer however, is Kristen Wiig as Maggie, the heart of her team and just the right person to guide Bliss. Ms. Barrymore gives herself a remarkable role as well, one that requires her to put aside any and all star ego and just give in to pure excess. It's a very funny performance. Juliette Lewis makes a good villain, vulnerable but with the strength to kick the ass of anyone who takes notice of that vulnerability.

Marcia Gay Harden has not been this good since her Oscar winning role in Pollack. Her role is conventionally villainous but she short circuits that with humor and a painful longing that makes her sympathetic even as she is standing in the way of all of the fun. Paired with Daniel Stern as Bliss's sports addicted father, Harden is the perfect combination or harridan and heart.

Whip It is too predictable to go from a good movie to a great one but for what it is, it's a terrifically realized comedy with heart and humor and best of all characters we quickly come to love and care about. My memories of Saturday Night Roller Derby on cable are fuzzy now but I hope that behind the scenes things are something resembling this movie. I still love tough chicks.

Movie Review Paul

Paul (2011) 

Directed by Greg Mottola 

Written by Simon Pegg, Nick Frost

Starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen, Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader 

Release Date March 18th, 2011

March 17th, 2011 

"Paul" is the "Citizen Kane" of nerd humor, the movie all other nerd movies will be compared to for years to come. "Paul" stars beloved geeks (I use the term Geeks with love) Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as a pair of sci-fi loving Brits on holiday at Comic-Con who decide to road trip to their favorite alien hot spots. Along the way they meet a real alien named Paul (Seth Rogan) who takes them on an exciting and very funny adventure.

Paul was directed by Greg Mottola whose nerd credentials include "Superbad" and the cult romance "Adventureland." Mottola infuses "Paul" with unexpected heart and sensitivity that coexists surprisingly well with uproarious R-rated gags. The script comes from stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost whose geek humor knowledge is seemingly limitless. You will have to see "Paul" twice to capture all of the nerd references packed tightly into the 104 minute runtime.

The geek chic extends to the supporting cast including Jason Bateman from the cult TV series "Arrested Development," Joe Lo Truglio from the cult comedy troupe "The State" and Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader who bring SNL's loyal fan base to the film. Finally, "Paul" ends with a cameo that the trailer spoils but I will not. Let's just call it a shocking and gory appearance by a geek goddess and leave it at that.

"Paul" is an uproarious R-rated comedy that manages to be funny and sweet without lapsing into cloying or pandering. Much of the film's surprising maturity comes from the voice of Seth Rogen who brings his typical foul mouth shtick to the film but also a newfound warmth and tenderness to his voice. Rogen offers a reassuring vocal performance that grounds "Paul" within its wacky alien universe of geek references and broad physical humor.

Paul is one of the funniest movies you will see in 2011, and even though it is early in the year, it will remain one of the funniest movies of 2011. "Paul" is a brilliantly funny sci-fi comedy that never fails to be outlandish and raunchy and sweet at once. Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and the voice of Seth Rogen are a terrific comic trio and with all of the geek cred they bring to the film you have the makings of a cult classic to which all other nerd movies will be compared.