This blog covers Movies, TV, and other Geeky things...... Movie Reviews (over 3,400 movies rated so far) Countdowns of my top movies by year.... and much more.
The gang is back to tackle another 1980's Classic. This time around it is Caddyshack. Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Rodney Dangerfield. This film is a comedy goldmine and we had a blast chatting about it.
Ride Along was about exactly what you expect itwould be. It was a good comedy with both Ice Cube as the hardened cop and Kevin Hart as the nervous (soon to be rookie) that is dating his sister. Both actors did a good job playing the same type of characters they are used to playing. As a buddy cop film the movie works and the two actors have a good contentious chemistry. I enjoyed both actors performances and thought the movie had some good funny scenes. Ice Cube's character basically takes Kevin Hart on a Ride Along to try and scare him away from being a cop and proposing to his sister. He sets a bunch of crazy situations where Kevin Hart's character will fail--while still trying to investigate some big undercover case he has been working on.
Where the movie fails a bit is in how totally predictable the plot was. You can see the supposed twist coming from a mile and a half away. This movie came out the same year as Let's Be Cops --which had a fresh and new take on a cop movie. By comparison this movies big scenes just weren't big enough and funny enough.
My advice is if you like Ice Cube and Kevin Hart you will enjoy this film--since they are exactly the characters you would expect them to be....just don't expect anything special as far as the story goes.
I wasn't expecting much from this movie when the trailer first came out, but still wanted to see it. So many recent comedy movies have let me down, but I actually found myself laughing at some of the stupidity in this comedy.
The film stars Adam Devine (Andy on 3 seasons of Modern Family) and Zac Efron (from some Ab factory that my wife approves of). They play two brothers that are liquor distributors that are all about the partying. Their little sister is getting married and their Dad (played by the always great Stephen Root --the boss from News Radio) lays down the law and tells these two hard partying idiots to get their shit together. So the two brothers must show up to their sister's Hawaiian with actual respectable dates to avoid ruining yet another family gathering.
The setup for the film is good. The two idiot brothers take to social media to find their dates (not a bright idea). The results are predictable. Watching them interview girls that answer their ad for a free trip to Hawaii was entertaining. At this point I realized I was going to enjoy this film more than I originally thought. Then Aubrey Plaza and Anna Kendrick show up posing as respectable girls --when in truth they are even more of a train wreck than the brothers.
The humor is crude and the language is very adult --but I still found the film fun. There are numerous humorous segments and a lot of decent laughs. This isn't an intelligent film.... The main characters basically have the intelligence level of movies like Stepbrothers or A Night at the Roxbury and Dumb and Dumber. I briefly took a look at the reviews on IMDB before writing about the movie and was shocked at how much pretty much 90% of the reviewer absolutely hated it. If you like dumb humor give it a shot if you don't like your main characters to be morons ---you may want to pass on it.
Central Intelligence is a good buddy cop adventure starring Kevin Hart (playing himself as always) and Dwayne the Rock Johnson. The plot is silly and The Rock's character (despite being kick ass is odd throughout the film, which was a strange choice. They almost lead you to believe he is faking how his character is a first---but it turns out that isn't the case.
A 20 year reunion is approaching and an old class mate know back in the day as Geeky Outsider named Fat Rob contacts Kevin Hart's character who was the ultimate athlete student back in the day for a drink. The flashback to The Rock singing in Fat makeup is probably the best part of the flick. I think and entire movie with Fat Rock would have made a better film Anyway.....Fat Rob is now kick ass Rock a CIA Agent gone Rogue and unknowingly enlists the help of his old classmate. The two end up embroiled in CIA Espionage situation situation. The movie has some good action sequences and chemistry between The Rock and Kevin Hart clicks. The movie had some funny moments. The Rock even in a odd character role) can make any action movie enjoyable.
(Spoilers)
The weak point of the movie was the attempt to try and convince the viewer that The Rock may be the bad guy after all....This red herring just never works and as much as they try the viewer never really buys into this angle. The Rock is too likeable in the the film for the viewer to want to buy into that and so the tension you are supposed to feel in certain scenes isn't really there. I loved the references to Sixteen Candles which is supposedly The Rock's characters favorite flick.
Bad Moms was a good movie...not a great movie. It was typical of many modern day comedies in that all the really good stuff made it into the trailer. The trailer was excellent and the cast for this film gave it so much potential, but the film as a whole didn't live up to the promise of the trailer. It was similar to Daddy's Home with Will Ferrell in that the trailer promised much more than the movie delivered.
The Cast
The cast was stellar. Mila Kunis stars as Amy and does a great job as the mom that has finally had enough of trying to be he perfect mom. It also starred Kristen Bell (one of my favorites) and Kathryn Hahn (who shines in a suppporting role) . Christina Applegate plays Gwendolyn the dictator style head of the PTA that is basically the nemesis of the film.
The Story (Spoilers)
The story was decent. It basically follows the adventures of a mom who is pushed to her limit in attempting to be the best mom dong everything. Her husband doesn't appreciate her and she finds him sex chatting with some other girl and kicks him out of the house. Her boss doesn't appreciate her and her kids take her for granted. She is rushing around trying to do everything and arrives late to the PTA meeting about the bake sale and when the head of the PTA tries to punish her for being late --she rebels. She decides that it is okay to be a Bad Mom every once in awhile. She joins up with a couple other struggling moms and they start to have some wild adventures. The problem is the wild adventures weren't wild enough.
The group of girls try to take over the PTA by Mila's character running for president and after throwing a wild Mom party start to win over the other moms. Gwendolyn retaliates by using her power to get Amy's daughter kicked off the soccer team by framing the daughter by putting weed in her locker. Amy hits rock bottom as her kids rebel and go to stay with the loser dad and she loses her job. The film then has a too simplistic conclusion. Amy goes from crying on her couch and not wanting to go to the Election to showing up and giving a big speech and winning everyone over. Everyone gets an unrealistic happy ending that doesn't seem earned by the characters. This ending was
In Summary
Bad Moms was a decent comedy that had moments. I loved the cast of talented actresses, but the film under delivered on the promise of its trailer. It should have been a wilder ride.
Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg reunite on screen in Daddy's Home. The duo had great chemistry in the buddy cop picture The Other Guys back in 2010 so it was a no brainer to reunite the two actors.. This time around Will Ferrell plays Brad a stepfather that is trying to earn his stepkids love and respect. He has worked hard to earn that respect when all of a sudden Mark Wahlberg (the dad that bailed on them) shows up again. He is the opposite of Will's doughy Ned Flanders type of dad. Mark's character is a motor cycle riding badass with a mysterious past. His return sets up a battle for the kids affection which is where the comedy of the film comes from.
I'm a huge Will Ferrell fan and feel that he can elevate even the dumbest SNL sketch. Will Ferrell definitely had some great moments in the film as his character freaks out and tries to one up his rival. One of his best moments may have been when he throws Christmas for the kids in the middle of the year. This was a good film--but like many modern comedies it wasn't particularly memorable. It had funny moments and a decent story---but the best scenes were of course in the trailer. I just left the film feeling that the battle between the two rivals should have been bigger and better. Their battle was subtle at best --when the trailer promotes it as being more epic. I would probably have given it a 6 out of 10---if not for the Will Ferrell factor which elevates it to a 7 out of 10.
If you are a Seth Rogen fan than you are probably going to like this movie. He basically plays the exact same character that he plays in all his other films. His characters have the range of a toaster with one setting. Maybe all his movies take place in a shared universe where he was cloned. He is the stoner that now has a kid and his party days are in his past and yet he still wishes he was cool. Instead the necessities of life are slowly turning him into the old guy that wants to yell at the kids to get off his lawn. The silly plot of the movie is that the house next door to Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne has been sold and a wild party crazy frat has moved in. They try to make piece with the frat when they move in but end up having to call the cops on them after a party keeps them and their baby up all night. This doesn't go over well and it turns into a War or Roses situation with their new crazy neighbors. The vengeful between the frat and the couple are the entire plot of the movie. If you have seen the trailer (see below) that is exactly what you get in the movie. The couple and the frat play pranks on each other that slowly escalate into all out war. One of the best examples is when the frat puts air bags in his chairs at home and work.
I found this debauchery entertaining as Seth Rogen and his wife struggle to the battle Zac Efron frat boys. The humor is raunchy and immature, but again it is a Seth Rogen movie. For fans of this film it will be getting a sequel--that will probably be more of the same expect in the next one they join with Zac Efron to battle a Sorority.
If you have not been a fan of Seth Rogen's films than I would say avoid it.
I was
really excited when they announced a new Vacation movie. The original Vacation and Christmas Vacation are two of my favorite films. I was glad to hear that it is wasn’t
going to be a reboot –but instead a sequel featuring Rusty the son from the
original movie taking his own family on an adventure. The original
Vacation movie is an absolute classic. Christmas Vacation is a must see
Holiday gem. Even Vegas Vacation has grown on me as an entertaining watch. (European Vacation NOT SO MUCH) So
I can’t help but look at the new one as a comparison to the original. The new
version of Vacation stars Ed Helms as Rusty Griswald and Christina
Applegate as his wife . Both actors did a solid job and Chevy Chase was onboard in a
small role.
Vacation 2015 7 out of 10
The problem for me is that I do love the original so much. The original from 1983 is basically on a comedy movie pedestal for me along with movies like
the Holy Grail and Airplane as one of my favorite comedies ever. So although I
enjoyed the new movie there really weren’t any scenes that were truly memorable
like in the original. When the original comes on TV I find myself
watching pretty much quoting every scene. I can’t imagine doing that with
this movie.
Vacation 1983 10 out of 10
The 1983 National Lampoon’s
Vacation starring Chevy Chase and Beverly DeAngelo is the perfect family road
trip gone wrong. Chevy was at his absolute best as Clark Griswald and it is one
of those movies where I smile during every scene while watching it.There are so many classic moments.The visit to Cousin Eddie’s……The dog behind
the car…….Aunt Edna dying and putting her on the roof.The “This is a quest for Fun” speech.And of course the iconicChristie Brinkley in the pool scene (she
still looks amazing today).
All of these
obstacles in the way of a father’s quest to give his family a Vacation they
will remember.Anyone who has had a
wacky family vacation knows exactly what this film taps into.The original
Vacation has inspired many movies over the years. The only movie that really
came close in capturingwas We’re the
Millers which I thought was a clever twist on the Vacation movies with a fake
family pretending to be a Griswald type family. The current
Vacation tried to be edgy and adult and just didn’t really capture the magic of
the original. It had some fun scenes like the dip in Griswald Springs and the Chris Hemsworth scene. I still found it an enjoyable film and I’m
probably just being too hard on it when comparing it to the original . This movie just had a lot to live up to.It seemed like the best scenes in this new
version were either already in the trailers.
When the trailers for this movie starring Vince Vaughn and Owen
Wilson came out I kind of dismissed it as a possible rental and then quickly
forget about it.The plot seemed silly
at first glance.Two old sales guys lose their jobs and decide to become Google Interns?I didn’t
sound like a must see movie.
Well Sunday morning it happened to be on TV and was only
about 5 minutes in so me and my wife started watching it and actually ended up
really liking it.Vince Vaughn and Owen
Wilson are dong there same old routine in this movie, it is almost like they are just playing
themselves.Sometime it works and
sometimes it doesn’t –this movie it worked.Vince Vaughn wrote the movie and he crafted it to take advantage of his
and Owen’s talents.What seemed like an
uninspired premise –turned into a funny version of a rag tag group of
nerds(Revenge of the Nerds Style)
overcoming huge odds.Sure it was far-fetched
–but it was just funny.Owen Wilson and
Vince Vaughn work well together in this flick like a well-oiled comedy machine—like
a Stan and Ollie or Abbott and Bud.You
can tell that they enjoy working together.Their comedy chemistry just works so well in this movie.
One of my favorite little scenes is the scene where Vince
Vaughn goes to pay for his food at the Google offices and is told it is
free.He goes into a long silly Vince
Vaughn still rambling and ends up taking a whole bunch of more food –just because
it was free.
If you like either of these actors and dismissed this movie
at first –because it just didn’t sound interesting enough –give it a try.If you aren’t a Vince Vaughn fan you probably
won’t like it.
Time to jump back into the hot tub for a little drinking and time travel. John Cusack (one of the main characters from the first film) skipped out on the sequel.....(maybe he read the script). I'm joking it really wasn't that bad (unless you listen to the critics and the box office, since this sequel failed to recoup its budget). I remember seeing the first movie (Because of the title alone) and liking, but not loving it. There were really good elements to the first film --but a lot of potential that wasn't realized. In the sequel we pick up the action with the guys having totally different lives --after the events of the first film. They have basically taken advantage of their time travel adventure and created their own Back to the Future 2 version of Biff Tannen's world. They have exploited their journey to invent things and songs for wealth and fame. I love anything time travel and enjoyed the films many references to other time travel films. The film tries to hard to be "The Hangover" of time travel movies - but still provided some entertainment along it's path of debauchery. I especially enjoyed the scenes with Craig Robinson singing the songs he stole from the future (like when he sings the Lisa Loeb song).
In this adventure the plot takes the gang to the future to try and find out who came back in time to shoot Lou's dick off (Yes that is the story). Once in the future Lou just wants to go and check out what the stip clubs of the future are like --until he starts flickering out of existence --which sets them on a mission to stop the guy who shot him in the dick in the past. The movie had some funny moments in the future and a silly plot that eventually makes some since. Don't think to hard or deeply about this film just have fun with it.
It took me awhile to get around to seeing The Dictator starring Sasha Baron Cohen of Borat fame, but I truly enjoyed it once I did. We life in a overly sensitive, politically correct society. A Society where everybody thinks they have been bullied and everyone is offended and hurt by everything that is said. If anybody says anything we don't like these days the lynch mob social media demands an apology. Our current world suppresses freedom of speech in favor of the victim mentality. This movie was a refreshing breath of fresh air where jokes were allowed to be jokes for the sake of being funny (whether they offended someone or not). It is totally politically incorrect and makes no apologies for its jokes in a world where comedians have to apologize daily for their material. The Dictator follows the story of a Saddam Hussein type leader from a make believe Middle Eastern country as he makes his way to America to give a speech at the United Nations. He is double crossed by his underlings and is mistaken for an average immigrant. It is like Coming to America if Eddie Murphy's character had been an asshole.
The movie takes aim and makes fun of everything and anything. It proves that you can make fun of even the most taboo and serious subjects. I'm sure the average person would be extremely offended by certain scenes and subject matter in this movie. There were certain scenes that even made me uncomfortable, but that is fine because we should be uncomfortable every once in awhile. I personally think that we should be able to laugh and joke about serious subjects. Laughter is meant to heal. Laughter is meant to give us a break from the crap that happens around us. I think Sasha Baron Cohen did an excellent job in making uncomfortable subjects funny in this film. I would recommend this you anyone that loved Borat or Bruno and anyone that has a thick enough skin to not be offended easily. If you are easily offended -- then this isn't the movie for you. If not enjoy one of the few moments when you aren't stuck in the political correct bubble that society is cramming us into.
I loved the original Dumb and Dumber. I was looking foward to a sequel---but it just felt like they waited too long to do it. For some reason this Dumb and Dumber Sequel --just seemed dumber.
The original movie never got a sequel because Jim Carrey was too big at the time. He had too many projects in the works and was getting 20 million a movie and didn't need to be in a sequel. Well 20 years later Jim Carrey isn't in as high a demand and so the studios figured ---the time was right to do a sequel.
Well I guess they were wrong. My wife turned to me while watching the movie and said "This is just stupid".... and as much as I wanted to argue with her -I couldn't. It just wasn't the same even though it was exactly the same. Maybe that was the problem?? It was exactly the same...there was nothing new or nothing worth discovering with these characters and there return to the big screen.
It was too little too late. The jokes fell flat and there were only a few moments where I even cracked a smile while watching it.
It felt like I was watching a bunch of bad outakes from the original film. The stuff that would have been cut out of the first film. Or maybe I've just matured and don't find this dumb humor funny any more (No that can't be it ). I really can't explain why I didn't like it. The type of jokes were literally the same. The Plot of the movie was pretty much the same. It was like watching a remake that is so much the same that there is absolutely nothing new to get out of it.
Dumb and Dumber 2 was just that Dumber and unecessary.
My opinion --watch the Trailer which has all of the best scenes and skip the movie.
Sometimes you can put a bunch of talented comedians and get a movie that just doesn't work. This isn't an example of that. The Watch was very watchable. It was a good solid comedy movie with a strong cast of comedians. Ben Stiller is he controlling OCD type that starts the group. Vince Vaughn plays a less cocky version of his normal self and Jonah Hill as a total weirdo. Ben Stiller's character decides to start a neighborhood watch after his coworker is killed at Walmart. A group of guys join his watch, all for their own reasons and make up a good comedic team that while trying to investigate the murder stumble across an alien invasion. The onscreen chemistry of the characters works well and the comedy and action of the movie are well balanced. I especially thought that Vince Vaughn (who has a Bill Murray like ---Sometimes great ---sometimes annoying thing going for him) was great. The movie had some quality comedy sequences in a plot that was well paced. The funniest segment is when they capture a "Dead" alien and take a bunch of super weird pictures with it. The special effects were also solid in this film and the aliens were more menacing than one would expect in a comedy like this.
The Other Woman starring Cameron Diaz was yet another disappointing modern comedy that had a lot of potential. Cameron's character is dating this guy that she thinks is perfect until she decides to surprise him by showing up to his house that is outside of New York. She shows up to the house to give him this sexy surprise and runs into his wife instead (played perfectly by the often funny Leslie Mann). The wife basically befriends her character and they set out to get revenge on the husband which is where the film falls apart. It could have been a great 9 to 5 type of revenge story in the light of Horrible Bosses---but instead sputters as the woman basically sit around and talk and then befriend yet another mistress (played by Kate Upton) which adds nothing to the film other than the scene of her running on the beach. They never really get a satisfying revenge as we are instead given boring and played out revenge tactics like pills in his drink that make him have unfortunate bowel movements. The comedy moments in the film were lackluster and predictable. I thought from the previews that the film would be more interesting and its lack of creativity in coming up with a satisfying revenge for the this cheater was disappointing. Another -- " Could of, would of, should have been better comedy".
I really don't get what they were going for with this movie?
Are you looking for a wacky, zany bird watching movie---well this isn't that.
I guess the only reason I ended up watching it is because of Steve Martin (one of my favorite comedians) and Owen Wilson (who is usually pretty good). When I noticed it on TV I hit the DVR button and figured I'd give it a look. Despite being a movie about bird watching it had a lineup of big name comedians in it (even if Jack Black is one of those names----he ranks in several of the worst movies I've seen in the last decade).
The movie itself was actually a decent. It just wasn't what you would expect. It wasn't really a comedy at all. It was more a love letter to the joy of bird watching and a look at how this obsession could have a toll on the lives of the families of those involved in the hobby. It is fine if you want to make a movie about bird watching----just don't cast three comedians in what really isn't a comedy and expect it to be a success. I'm not surprised that this movie tanked at the box office and it isn't something I would watch again. It just really left me confused how a straight - non comedy bird watching movie got made in the first place. It is just really false advertising.
Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis are typical married men with struggling marriages. The sex isn't happening so much anymore and they are caught eyeing other women in front of their wives. The guys are overheard talking about how much they would pay to have a fling with no consequences during a poker game, their wives played by the beautiful Christina Applegate and Jenna Fischer let them have one week hall passes from their marriage.
The haves figure the hopeless fellows will just come crawling back within a few days when they figure out how good they actually have it. One week where they can go wild and basically have a free pass to do whatever they want. I was expecting the movie to be a wilder crazier comedy than it was--but was pleasantly surprise at the route the plot took instead. The movie actually had a really good plot and the funnier moments came from the lack of any game that the guys had on their week long hall pass, of course I don't know why anyone would want a hall pass if they were with Christina Applegate or Jenna Fischer. For example one of the best scenes was the first day of the guys hall pass when their jealous married buddies come along to watch them pick up chicks at an Applebee's and they end up just eating a ton of food and going home early instead.
Best Quote from that scene.
Friend: "Are you sure Applebee's is the best place to meet hot women?"
Rick: "You thinking Olive Garden?"
The movie was funny and yet subdued and intelligent in its choices. It was definitely a pleasant surprise and definitely a comedy I recommend. I found myself actually cheering for Owen Wilson when he decides not to hook up with the insanely sexy and beautiful Nikki Whelan (a Blond Australian actress that would make most men with they had a hall pass) which is a credit to the film and its story.
