Dearest Blog: yesterday it was off to Marquee Cinemas, with a dear friend and approximately eight million kids, to see the weekend's blockbuster animated release, The Secret Life of Pets.
Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers.
The adventures of domesticated and non-domesticated animals in New York City.
Well, dear reader(s), first stating the obvious: If you have pets, you're gonna enjoy this movie a LOT more than if you don't.
The main storyline, about a pair of pups who have to find their way home after mistakenly being collared by animal control, is solid enough for the film's quick runtime, but the most fun bits by far are the devoted doggy sitting at the door awaiting his owner's return, or the disdaining cat knocking a lovingly-offered bowl of food across the room.
Kevin Hart, as a psychotic rabbit, completely steals the show from a uniformly great voice cast. Pets' art and animation are bright, colorful, and thorougly pedestrian, nothing state of the art here. The movie is pretty funny throughout and only occasionally so crass as to appeal exclusively to ten-year-old boys.
The Secret Life of Pets clocks in at 90 minutes, which includes a laugh-out-loud Minions short, and is rated PG for "action and some rude humor."
It won't give Dory a run for her money come Oscar time, but The Secret Life of Pets is a cute, fun story with all-ages appeal.
Of a possible nine Weasleys, The Secret Life of Pets gets six and a half.
Cast: Adam Devine, Zak Efron, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey
Plaza, Stephen Root
Release Date: Jul
08, 2016
Rated R for crude sexual content, language throughout,
drug use and some graphic nudity.
Runtime: 1 hr. 38 min.
Genres: Comedy
Review:
Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates is a breezy R rated
comedy that hits most of the right beat even if it doesn’t reinvent the
wheel.Its cast is loaded with excellent
comedic actors.Adam Devine and Zac
Efron’s on screen chemistry is readily apparent which really helps the film
along.Anna Kendrick and Aubrey
Plaza are just as funny even if
they aren’t quite believable as the characters.Kendrick in particular seems to have to a hard time taking to the role
but she’s still pretty funny through out the film.There aren’t many surprises throughout the
whole thing since it follows a pretty predictable path but you shouldn’t be expecting
some massive innovation in the genre.Still
it does it’s main job and makes you laugh during most of it’s economical run time.
It’s been two years since Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo) stopped himself from a
regrettable act of revenge on Purge Night. Now serving as head of security for
Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell), his mission is to protect her in a
run for president and survive the annual ritual that targets the poor and
innocent. But when a betrayal forces them onto the streets of D.C. on the one
night when no help is available, they must stay alive until dawn…or both be
sacrificed for their sins against the state.
Director: James DeMonaco
Cast: Frank Grillo, Elizabeth Mitchell, Edwin Hodge,
Mykelti Williamson, Joseph Julian Soria
Release Date: Jul
01, 2016
Rated R for Disturbing bloody violence and strong
language.
The Purge series has always had a kind of 70’s 80’s
exploitation vibe to it, reminiscent of classic John Carpenter.This series has always had a better concept
than execution.Even the sequel which
surpassed the original film in many ways is a flawed film.The Purge: Election Year is a mixed bag as
well.It’s got some heady ideas which
are thrown about in the least subtle way possible.There are a few moments were the film takes
an artistic slant for an exploitation film but it never really achieves a solid
flow.The cast of characters always play
more as types than living breathing characters.Sadly, Frank Grillo’s returning character is more of a secondary
character this go around, mainly due to the expanded roster of superfluous
characters.Some of the new characters
are interesting or fun but a handful seem redundant.Mykelti Williamson does the best work he can
with the clunky script and leaves the biggest impression.The Purge: Election Year wasn’t ever going to
be an Oscar worthy film but it still doesn’t excuse it’s overall
clumsiness.
Dearest Blog: yesterday it was off to Marquee Cinemas for a tale of the jungle and a tale of the concrete jungle: The Legend of Tarzan and The Purge: Election Year.
Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers.
First on my agenda: The Legend of Tarzan.
An English Lord raised in the jungle is forced to return there.
Tarzan is one of those stories I've always found exceedingly cheesy, even in its best incarnations. The latest big-screen adaptation is no different, but there's good fun to be had with its hilarious awfulness.
Wise moves on the part of Tarzan's filmmakers to: a.) not give Alexander Skarsgard too many lines, despite his being the titular legend; and b.) have Skarsgard spend most of the movie half-dressed. If The Legend of Tarzan is the poster child of summer popcorn movies, Skarsgard's stunning physique must be the (eye) candy that goes along with it. His accent is terrible and his performance worse than wooden, but...wait...what was I saying?
Co-star Margot Robbie is equally fetching, with an equally-sketchy accent. Robbie is handicapped by having to deliver some of the worst lines in a picture that's riddled with embarrassingly-bad dialogue, but she still fares better than double-Oscar winner Christoph Waltz, slumming it as a villain so broadly-drawn he might as well walk around twirling the ends of his moustache, and Samuel L. Jackson, shoehorned in as sidekick/comic relief.
I had a 3D showtime forced on me by the schedule (thanks for nothing, schedule!), and, with no basis for comparison, I'd guess 3D exacerbates the bad CGI. There's some pretty scenery, but overall things look pretty fake.
Top it all off with uniformly-unfunny cracks at humor and an old-school melodramatic score, and you've got a pretty underwhelming summer blockbuster.
The Legend of Tarzan clocks in at 109 minutes and is rated PG13 for "sequences of action and violence, some sensuality, and brief rude dialogue."
Legendary it is not, but, if you aren't too particular about where you spend your movie dollars, it's good for a laugh.
Of a possible nine Weasleys, The Legend of Tarzan gets four.
Next up: The Purge: Election Year.
Having narrowly avoided taking regrettable actions an an earlier Purge, Leo Barnes works security for a US Senator determined to end the annual crime spree.
Dear reader(s): I'm pleased to report another Purge sequel lives up to a promise the original didn't half make.
Frank Grillo is commanding in the lead, a role tailor-made for his tough demeanor and rugged good looks. The abundance of screen time for Grillo is more than welcome after his being so criminally underused in the latest Captain America outing, too!
Election Year is intense, leaving viewers holding their breath and crossing their fingers as the "good guys" try to survive the night. The movie lightens its grim topic with a graveyard humor that mostly hits the mark, and it is beautifully filmed, making stunning visuals of brutal violence and terrifying masks and costumes. That's the good news.
The bad news: Elizabeth Mitchell is ridiculous as the do-good Senator and Presidential candidate, and the Mom jeans and oversized glasses don't remotely provide her any gravitas.
As a wise comedian once said: "I didn't go to Harvard; I went to Lens Crafters!" Election Year is a movie fashioned with a hammer rather than a chisel, and characters of color fare worst in the Stereotype Sweepstakes, despite the movie's sincere attempt to comment on race and station in the ol' US of A. It's easy to see why today's America better relates to the "us and them" themes of Election Year than to the chest-thumping patriotism of last week's notable box office flop, Independence Day: Resurgence.
The Purge: Election Year runs 105 minutes and is rated R for "disturbing bloody violence and strong language."
Its social commentary is clumsy, but The Purge: Election Year is a tense thriller that's perfectly suited to today's cynical audiences.
Of a possible nine Weasleys, The Purge: Election Year gets seven and a half.
Fangirl points: Kyle Secor a.k.a. Homicide's Detective Tim Bayliss!
Dearest Blog: Today it was off to Marquee Cinemas for Independence Day: Resurgence and The Free State of Jones.
Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing that hasn't been divulged by the trailers.
First up: Independence Day: Resurgence.
Two decades after the first Independence Day invasion, aliens prove they can't take a hint.
Well, dear reader(s), if you thought this reboot was unnecessary before, just wait 'til you see it!
Resurgence features some pretty imposing disaster effects, and, if you're a fan of the first one, there are plenty of familiar faces to indulge your nostalgia, but unfortunately, the movie doesn't have much else going for it.
Resurgence gets off to a slow start and, despite the fact there's plenty of action, it never really seems to pick up. Wooden performances exacerbate clunky dialogue, emotional moments are worse than contrived, and the "one world, one people" message is so heavy-handed I kept expecting everyone to sit in a circle and sing Kumbaya.
If I'd rolled my eyes any harder, I'd be writing this review out the back of my head.
Independence Day: Resurgence runs 120 minutes and is rated PG13 for "sequences of sci-fi action and destruction, and for some language."
Independence Day: Resurgence is a silly, unnecessary exercise in bad science fiction.
Of a possible nine Weasleys, Independence Day: Resurgence gets four.
Next on the agenda: Free State of Jones.
Tired of poor people dying to keep rich people rich, a Confederate deserter declares his indpendence.
Movie lovers: would you believe me if I told you Free State of Jones is the *less* preachy of the weekend's two new epics?
I know, right??
While it does run overlong and is in no hurry to get anywhere, Free State of Jones never seems to drag. Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Mahershala Ali headline a stellar cast that makes a pretty average drama seem much better.
The film is gruesome and hard to watch at times, but it boasts extraordinary production design and a lovely score by Nicholas Britell. It also serves as an important and timely reminder that being horrible to others is a lousy idea that invariably lands a person on the wrong side of history.
Free State of Jones clocks in at 139 minutes and is rated R for "brutal battle scenes and disturbing graphic images."
It'll be long forgotten come awards time, but Free State of Jones is a pretty solid historical drama that's worth your movie dollar.
Of a possible nine Weasleys, Free State of Jones gets six and a half.
Roland Emmerich returns to the helm for this long-awaited sequel to the 1996
blockbuster Roland Emmerich. Fearful of another attack, the nations of Earth
have teamed up against their common enemy -- the extraterrestrials who brought
humanity to the brink of extinction. Using recovered alien technology to
bolster their defenses, the alliance braces itself for another invasion. Jeff
Goldblum and Bill Pullman reprise their roles from the original film, while Liam
Hemsworth, Jessie Usher, and Maika Monroe are among the new additions to the
cast. ~ Daniel Gelb, Rovi
Director: Roland Emmerich
Cast: Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Judd
Hirsch, Vivica A. Fox
Release Date: Jun
24, 2016
Rated PG-13 for sequences of Sci-Fi Action, Destruction
and Some Language
Runtime: 2 hr. 0 min.
Genres: Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Review:
Independence Day: Resurgence is a massive summer
blockbuster that’s as dumb as it is loud.The good thing about it is that the film never really feels like a chore
and rarely bores throughout.It’s a
silly film and that will affect people’s enjoyment of it.The spectacle is impressive but less
impressive than it was 20 years ago when it seemed groundbreaking.The comedy is about as broad as humanly
possible, as if one of the six writers on the project wanted to make sure they
recycled as many jokes as possible while trying not to offend.We get a run through of returning characters
and some are killed off unceremoniously while other still play vital
roles.The first act also, makes it a
point to let the audience know that Will Smith’s character had died in the 20
years since the original film, explaining away Smith absence.Sadly, the new characters aren’t terribly
engaging or interesting but the film does throw in a African Warlord and a high
speed school bus vs. giant alien chase because why not.Independence Day: Resurgence isn’t going to
set the world on fire like the original but it’s surprisingly light disaster
film that’s eager to please.
