Cindy Prascik's Reviews of Ricki & the Flash and Fantastic 4

Dearest Blog: This weekend, my local cinema happened to get all four new wide-releases, so I had the unusual luxury of choosing among all of them.

The presence of Sebastian Stan made Ricki & the Flash my must-see, and the schedule dictated Fantastic Four wrap up the double-bill.

Spoiler level here will be mild, limited to trailer reveals.

Following a couple weekends that gave me a couple of my favorite guys (Jake Gyllenhaal and Jeremy Renner) in a couple of pretty great movies (Southpaw and Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation), I suppose I was due for a letdown. Boy did I get it.

First on Saturday's agenda: Ricki & the Flash.

Having long ago left her family to follow dreams of rock stardom, a middle-aged woman returns home to comfort her newly-dumped daughter.

In the interest of full and fair disclosure, I'll admit I hate movies like Ricki & the Flash, and, were it not for Sebastian Stan's presence, I wouldn't have seen it for a million dollars. That being said, if it were a good movie, it would have won me over, and I'm sure my tone is already telling you, dear reader(s), it did not.

Ricki & the Flash is cliched and predictable. The characters are paper thin, not one has any depth or ever, once, does a single thing that isn't exactly what you'd have expected him/her to do. There are a few genuinely funny moments, but the "humor' is mostly awkward and occasionally vaguely racist in a way that's meant to flesh out a character but instead just left me mildly uncomfortable. Even the mostly-decent classic rock soundtrack is handicapped by ho-hum performances. Not being a "musical," per se, where the plot is actually advanced by the songs, the movie would have been better served by brief clips of the band onstage, rather than the excruciating full numbers to which we're repeatedly subjected.

Meryl Streep is a goddess, and if there's a movie fan out there who'll dispute that, well, it's not this one. She manages to bring *something* to Ricki, a character that's otherwise blandly unlikeable and uninteresting. She's especially effective portraying the depressing physical realities of middle age on a person who's mentally only ever going to be a teenager.

Once again, someone has grossly overestimated Streep's appeal as a singer, but her fantastic screen presence makes that easy enough to forgive. It's hard to watch Streep's real-life daughter Mamie Gummer wallow through the movie, and I couldn't honestly say whether the blame falls on actress or character, since Gummer is pretty hard to watch in everything.

The good news is the rest of the supporting cast is terrific, if underused. As Ricki's long-suffering guitarist and beau, Rick Springfield does well in the movie's most thankless role, though he strangely looks ready to burst into tears the entire time. Sebastian Stan is great in his two minutes of screen time, for the first time in his entire career, playing the NON-problematic son of a messed up family. Go Sebastian! Finally, Audra McDonald is as glorious as always as the woman who stepped in to clean up the mess Ricki left behind when she set off to become a rock star.

It has to be one of cinema's worst crimes against humanity to have McDonald, one of the world's greatest singers, appear in a movie about a singer, yet not sing a note. Even Stan and Gummer get to sing a few lines, for Pete's sake!!

Ricki & the Flash runs 101 minutes and is rated PG13 for "thematic material, brief drug content, sexuality, and language."

A shameful waste of a solid cast, of a possible nine Weasleys, Ricki & the Flash gets four.

Next on the docket, the most recent screen rendering of Fantastic 4.

In an experiment gone wrong, four young college students find themselves physically altered and must use their new powers to save the planet.

Sound familiar? I know, right?? If there's one thing I hope Hollywood has learned from Fantastic 4's dismal reception, it's that we, genre and general fans alike, are tired of origins stories. Everyone knows why Bruce Wayne and Peter Parker are so sad on Fathers' Day, JUST MOVE ON. While that's far from the only reason people aren't flocking to see this humdrum version of some fairly humdrum heroes, it's got to be one of them.

Dear reader(s), you may count me among those who didn't mind 2005's Fantastic 4, nor its 2007 sequel. They aren't special movies, but they're fun enough. The problem with the latest F4 is that it's no fun at all. It would be misleading to call the movie a slow starter, because that would imply that, at some point, it picks up. It is, in fact, a slow starter, a slow middler, and a slow finisher. The only way to mark the passage of time at all is to note the differences in Miles Teller's acne spots.

The movie is dark, not so much in tone as in appearance, and at times it's difficult to tell what's going on at all. Jamie Bell, a fine actor (for my money, the best of the principal cast) is completely wasted, and, of those who get decent screentime, only Michael B. Jordan manages to be even half-watchable. Teller and Kate Mara are phoning it in, clearly as bored with the proceedings as the few of us who have bothered seeing the movie this weekend. The CGI ranges from just okay to laughably bad, inexcusable for a would-be summer blockbuster. It's not hard to see why Hollywood left this one in the landfill of August releases.

Fantastic 4 clocks in at 100 minutes and is rated PG13 for "sci-fi action violence, and language."

Trust me when I tell you, "fantastic" is not the "F" word you'll be saying if you waste your hard-earned dollars on this.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Fantastic 4 gets three.

Until next time..

 Rick Springfield: Four decades of being hot enough to make mediocre movies worth the price of admission!

MOVIE REVIEW: FANTASTIC FOUR

Brilliant scientist Reed Richards builds a device that allows users to teleport to an alternate dimension, but an experiment involving it goes wrong and leaves him and his three teammates with unusual superpowers. The quartet are then forced to work together to battle an enemy from their past. This reboot of the iconic Marvel superhero team stars Miles Teller as Richards (who becomes Mr. Fantastic, able to bend and stretch his body into impossible shapes), Michael B. Jordan as Johnny Storm (aka the Human Torch, whose body can erupt in flames), Kate Mara as Sue Storm (aka the Invisible Woman -- no explanation needed), and Jamie Bell as Ben Grimm (who is transformed into the rock monster known as The Thing). Directed by Josh Trank. ~ Jack Rodgers, Rovi

Director: Josh Trank

Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell, Toby Kebbell

Release Date: Aug 07, 2015

Rated PG-13 for Sci-Fi Action Violence and Language

Runtime: 1 hr. 40 min.

Genres: Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Review:

There were two famously troubled productions hitting the screen this summer.  Antman ended up surprising mostly everyone including myself but the reboot of Fantastic Four fails in every way that film succeeded.  A morose joyless experience from start to finish, Josh Trank’s film hits all the typical origin story beats but never brings anything new to the table.  It’s ultimately a plodding mess of a film that never coalesces into anything nearing fun or entertaining.  It’s a shame because there’s a capable cast of actors on hand.  Unfortunately, they don’t share a shred of chemistry together.  Each of them delivers their lines with a robotic sense of inevitably and disinterest.  Perhaps if the script wasn’t a hackneyed retread of things we’ve all seen before they’d be more interested in their performances.  At a little over an hour and half, the film drags on to it’s inevitable conclusion which doesn’t deliver much satisfaction either since the villain is about as silly looking as they come.  Your mind might start to wander, even making wonder if those original FF4 films were really that bad right before you remember that The Incredibles is still the best FF4 film around.

D

MOVIE REVIEW: MISSION IMPOSSIBLE ROGUE NATION

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his teammates reunite for this pulse-pounding sequel, in which they attempt to take down a secret international organization known as the Syndicate--highly skilled ex-IMF agents who are intent on bringing down their former outfit. Christopher McQuarrie directs this new entry in the Mission Impossible franchise, with Jeremy Renner, Alec Baldwin, and Simon Pegg co-staring. ~ Daniel Gelb, Rovi

Director: Christopher McQuarrie 

Cast: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Alec Baldwin.

Release Date: Jul 31, 2015

Rated PG-13 Sequences of Action & Violence and Brief Partial Nudity

Runtime: 2 hr. 11 min.

Genres: Action/Adventure, Family

Review:

Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation is probably the best action film of the summer.  It’s one of the most well round action films in recent memory.  Christopher McQuarrie ably directs set piece after set piece each larger and more extravagant than the last.  It’s quite a feat when the big set piece that’s been playing on all the trailers is just the start of the film.  At its center is Tom Cruise.  I constantly have to remind myself that Cruise is 53 years old because he’s just so impressive in his action films.  Say what you will about his personal life but the man makes for a perfect movie star in everyway imaginable.  He’s at his best here hitting all the right beats and even throwing in some comedic bits here and there.  The supporting cast is strong if under utilized.  Rebecca Ferguson makes for a surprisingly believable agent.  She’s able to go toe to toe with Cruise in the action department and her and Cruise have a solid rapport together.  Simon Pegg and Cruise have great chemistry together with Pegg nailing the comic relief portion of the film.  .  Jeremy Renner gets the short end of the stick though as he’s sidelined for the better part of the film.  Renner has a substantial role but it’s really just lots of standing around looking at screens or talking to people on the phone.  His action sequences are zero in this entry.  Ving Rhames is pretty much in the same boat but to a lesser extent.  The plot is a tad convoluted but never really that important to the proceedings since they made Sean Harris looks about as nefarious as humanly possible with the only thing missing being a shot of him punching kittens.  The film is a lot of fun all around but it could have been trimmed by a good ten or fifteen minutes at the very least.

A-

Cindy Prascik's Review of Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

Dearest Blog: Thanks to an early dismissal yesterday, I was able to get out to see Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation on opening day.

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers.

After the IMF is disbanded and its agents forced to report to the CIA, Ethan Hunt's crew has to go off-book to battle the evil Syndicate.

There are two things regular reader(s) already know I'm going to say about Mission: Impossible - Rouge Nation. Number one: it's a great movie you should go see right away, then go see it again and again. Number two: NOT ENOUGH JEREMY RENNER! There, that's that out of the way.

Rogue Nation kicks off with a spectacular action sequence that perfectly sets the tone for an edge-of-your-seat couple hours. Crazy stunts galore and great fight choreography are exciting to watch and keep the movie moving at a good pace. The plot is well-crafted, and beautiful locations compliment the story nicely. Tom Cruise is the very definition of A-List, a star who carries the movie without ever seeming to steal screen time from the rest of a pretty decent ensemble. Cruise again performed many of his own stunts, including that crazy plane thing you've undoubtedly seen in all the trailers and ads by now.

Not just the action hero, not just the handsome leading man, Cruise is also a pretty funny guy, though most comic-relief duties rightfully fall to the brilliant Simon Pegg. Now that it's clear Ethan Hunt isn't going anywhere, it seems the filmmakers aren't quite sure what to do with William Brant, so--though Jeremy Renner probably doesn't have any less screen time than the other supporting cast--he doesn't seem to have much to do. (Renner is in a similar, unfortunate situation with the Bourne franchise.) It's fair to say no movie was ever worse for having Sean Harris or Tom Hollander, either. If I had one teensy complaint about Rogue Nation, it's the usual: it would have been pretty simple to trim this to a two-hour runtime, and the movie would have been sharper and more enjoyable for it.

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation runs 131 minutes and is rated PG13 for "sequences of action and violence, and brief partial nudity."

A straight-up awesome blockbuster and easily the best movie of the summer, of a possible nine Weasleys, Mission: Impossible - Rouge Nation gets eight and a half.

(And you can bet that'd be nine if it only had more Renner!)

Until next time...

Dear Filmmakers: It is VERY important that you find more screentime for Jeremy Renner. Please and thank you.

Cindy Prascik's Reviews of Southpaw & Pixels

Dearest Blog: The weekend's bad news: The cinema schedule was impossibly awkward, forcing me to stretch my new-release double-bill over two days. The good news: The crappy timing allowed me to sneak in a second screening of Spy yesterday, and extra Statham isn't exactly a hardship.

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers.

On Friday's agenda, the Kurt Sutter-penned boxing drama Southpaw.

A former world champion boxer has to rebuild his life after his wife's murder sends him into a downward spiral.

If I had to describe Southpaw in one word, it would be "intense." I don't think Sutter is a great writer, but he is an exciting writer, and it's to his credit that I was a nervous wreck for the duration of the movie, despite being relatively certain I knew how it'd play out. (In the interest of remaining unspoilery, I won't say whether or not I was correct in that assumption.)

Southpaw's boxing scenes are extremely real, and sometimes difficult to watch. The personal drama is equally so. Performances are superb in roles large and small, and Jake Gyllenhaal is amazing in the lead. Gyllenhaal is frustrating and sympathetic, inspiring and heartbreaking, and ridiculously fit, handling all his own boxing chores in the interest of realism. (My movie popcorn and soda have never, ever made me feel more guilty!) July is hardly a hotbed of awards contenders, but hopefully folks won't forget Gyllenhaal's incredible performance when awards season rolls around.

Southpaw is marked by Sutter's characteristic violence, family angst, and anger issues. The movie is predictable and broadly drawn at times, but it moves at a good clip and has no problem holding your attention right up to the last minute. By the end I was so wound up I was talking to the screen just like I would while watching a real sporting event. (Thank goodness for almost-empty weekday theatres!)
Southpaw runs 123 minutes and is rated R for "language throughout, and some violence."

You don't have to love boxing to love Southpaw; it's a straight-up great film.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Southpaw gets eight.

On the docket for Saturday, Adam Sandler's comedy/adventure Pixels.

Aliens mistake video of an arcade competition for a threat, and attack Earth in the form of 80s video-game characters.

I make a point of not reading reviews before I write mine, but, being online as much as I am, I couldn't miss the fact that a lot of people think Pixels really stinks. I'm here to ask those folks, in the immortal words of the Slowskys, "Why don't you like fun?"

I do not like Adam Sandler, not even a little bit. On occasion I like a movie despite Adam Sandler, but never because of Adam Sandler. I continue to give Adam Sandler chances to win me over, because I felt the same way about Ben Stiller before Tropic Thunder, and I figure everyone deserves a second, tenth, or 250th chance, right?

I won't pretend Pixels should sweep the Academy Awards or anything. Much as I enjoyed it, I even understand a little bit why critics are bashing it, though I'd bet some of them didn't bother watching it before doing so. I'm pretty sure you lose your Official Critics' Card if you say anything nice about a movie starring Adam Sandler. For the rest of us, though, Pixels has more than a few things going for it.

As with many Sandler vehicles, the nostalgia is laid on thick and heavy. If you're in the 40-60 age range, you're almost guaranteed to love the movie based solely on the musical selections and pop-culture references. The first half of Pixels is consistently laugh-out-loud funny. The second half is more action heavy, and, if the laughs taper off a bit, they're replaced with truly marvelous special effects. Due to time constraints, I saw Pixels in 2D, but you can bet I'm seeing it again in 3D as soon as humanly possible, and I have no doubt it's going to be worth it.

The look of this film is TOP-NOTCH. Pixels isn't going to change your mind about its cast; you'll enjoy the actors you already like, and continue to be annoyed by the ones you don't. To Sandler's credit, he only does one (1) of his trademark stupid voices the whole time, making him at least 95% less irritating to me than he normally is.

Pixels clocks in at a quick 105 minutes and is rated PG13 for "some language and suggestive comments."

It's possible Pixels won't connect with people of a certain age, but young kids are sure to love the action and eye-popping effects as much as we older folks do the tunes and 80s jokes.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Pixels gets seven.

Until next time...

MOVIE REVIEW: SOUTHPAW

Jake Gyllenhaal stars as troubled boxer Billy Hope in this high-stakes drama from director Antoine Fuqua and Sons of Anarachy creator Kurt Sutter. At the height of his fame and success, Hope is convinced by his loving wife Maureen (Rachel McAdams) to retire from the sport in order to spend more time with the couple's daughter Leila (Oona Laurence). On the night of his retirement announcement, a rival boxer calls out Hope and an altercation breaks out, killing Maureen. Hope's self-destructive behavior worsens, and Leila is taken away by child services. In order to redeem his life and get his daughter back, Hope must return to boxing under the tutelage of hardened trainer Titus "Tick" Willis (Forest Whitaker). ~ Daniel Gelb, Rovi

Director: Antoine Fuqua

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Forest Whitaker, Rachel McAdams, Curtis Jackson, Rita Ora

Release Date: Jul 24, 2015

Rated: R for some Violence and Language Throughout

Runtime: 2 hr. 3 min.

Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Suspense/Thriller

Review:

Southpaw can best be described as reverse Rocky.  Billy Hopes riches to rags to riches never really feels fresh just predictable.  Antoine Fuqua’s film mines better boxing films for material so the films plot feels inevitable instead of engaging.  Thankfully Jake Gyllenhaal delivers an engaging performance that carries the film on multiple levels.  His body is transformed into a believable junior middle weight boxer and the boxing sequences are some of the most realistic ever put on screen.  His intensity is ever present and makes the entire thing watch able.  Forest Whitaker joins the film about halfway through its runtime and it’s all the better for it.  Gyllenhaal and Whitaker make for an interesting pair even as the film rolls towards a predictable finale.  Southpaw isn’t the worse or best boxing film I’ve ever seen but it’s a solid mid range melodrama.

B-