A big week for home viewing. So I will start with the best of the four.
KEANU
Directed by Peter Atencio
Screenplay by Jordan Peele and Alex Rubens
Starring Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key
Rell has lost his girl. Now, has lost his cat. Rell and his best friend Clarence will stop at nothing to get his cat Keanu back.
Damn that cat is cute.
I saw that this film is not getting great reviews. I disagree with them. After you see the trailer or the commercials you go for comedy and action. I think it delivers.
Damn That cat is cute.
This film at times is laugh out loud funny. Even the whole idea is so ridiculous, fighting gangsters for a kitten, is so far out there it is funny. Then you throw in two gentleman who try to be street and gangster like and clearly are not. That is funny. As you see in the trailer, the Wham/George Michael scene is funny, however there is another scene that had me laughing out loud (As always no spoiler review). In fact George Michael is a running joke through out the film. They throw in some action pretty much for us to see the main characters reactions. That works also.
What also works is there are a lot of small parts played by the "gangsters" here that are hilarious because they are all in. They are often as funny as Key and Peele.
Damn that cat is cute.
Negatives? The plot is very thin, and at one hour and thirty five minutes it oddly seems long. Again, it has to be the thin plot. There is only so many funny/ridiculous gunfights I can watch without getting bored and after awhile it ceases to be funny. It almost seems like a plot from their TV show they they stretched out too long.
Damn that cat is cute.
4 stars out of 5 for Keanu. It delivers what it promises. Just a little long.
Did I note that cat is cute.
MOTHERS DAY
Directed by Gary Marshall
Screenplay by Tom Hines; Lily Hollander; Anya Konchoff; and Mathew Walker
Starring: Everybody in Hollywood
Jennifer Aniston, Sandy, is a single mom dealing with her exhusband's new younger wife while raising 2 boys.
Kate Hudson, Jessee, is dealing with the visit of her prejudice parents.
Jason Sudeikis,Bradley, is a single father raising 2 girls and dealing with the death of his wife.
Juliet Roberts, Miranda, is a home shopping network host who meets her daughter, Brit Robertson's Kristen, who she gave up for adoption.
Coming off the sad death of Gary Marshall comes the last wide release of his.
I liked Gary Marshall's Valentines Day. Did not love it but I liked it. New Years Eve was unwatchable. So now Mothers Day. Mothers Day is not good but not bad. It just lays there, and does not do much.
Casting: This film has a star studded cast that all look like they rather be in a dentist chair than in this movie. I know they all love Gary Marshall, who does not, but if you don't want to be all in, do not be in. I felt like I was watching a bunch of actors sleep walking. The best performance was by Britt Robertson but she is barely in the film. Plus, they put sooo much makeup on this pretty girl, to make her look older I guess, she is almost unrecognizable.
As for the script? It comes across as a serviceable ABC Friday night sitcom. However...I hate calling it "sitcom like' because I honestly did not laugh once. It is bogged down with too many story lines and because of that it lacks character development and lazy story lines that all tie up "Blah, at the end. One story line involving Kate Hudson seems so dated it is hard to watch. I almost wanted to know where Jack Tripper and Mr Roper was (For the youth that is a Three's Company reference).
After all that that trashing, there is nothing really crude or bad,so it works as a lite safe film. 1 1/2 stars out of 5 for Mothers Day.
Note: You see two kids cart wheeling in a wedding scene. That is the debut of Hazel and Henry Moder the children of Juliet Roberts.
This is the 18th film that Hector Elizondo has been in that Gary Marshal directed.
THE LOBSTER
Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
Screenplay byYorgos Lanthimos and Efthymis Fillippou
Starring: Colin Farrell; Rachel Weiz; and Lea Seydoux
In a future society, being single is frowned upon. To a point that, if you are single, you get sent away to some.....hotel..or resort to find a match. However if you do not find a match within a certain time you get turned into an animal of your choice.
Did you see that trailer????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Funny !!!!! Quirky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well then you are fooled. This film is like a Hunger Games however not pitting the war between haves and the hungry. This is pitting the couples against the singles.
The difference? Remember, and I think people forget, that the Hunger Games films were based on YA novels. Not this film!! This film shows you the violence. Even the singles are violent against each other in an awful fashion
This film is so hard to watch.
- Hunting single people with darts
-Killing animals that are suppose to be former people and you see them all bloody
-Sewing peoples mouths shut, and other areas!!
-Because you have to be a perfect match ...like if you have a limp they have to have a limp...which means you get the pleasure of watching people severely damaging themselves to find a match so they will not be turned into an animal
-how about blinding people
You cannot tell that from the trailer can you?
I understand critics like this film (I saw that one critic called it the best film of the year) because they want to seem smart and see the deeper meaning (I have said from the beginning, here you get real reviews. I am not here to show you how smart I am. I am here to give my opinion and help you decide if you should spend money on a film). I get the deeper meaning: Societies influences on people to become a couple and how they, unknowingly or knowingly look down on being single in society. I get it. However...this movie is hard to watch, is upsetting and I had to close my eyes many times.
A great performance by Farrell cannot make this film watchable. 1 1/2 stars out of 5, and that 1 1/2 is just for Farrell, for this just hard to watch ugly film.You know my rules when I started this thing:
Was I entertained? You are sick if you were entertained by this. I mean the ending??? I get it...for love...I do not need to see it or pay to see it.
Did I learn from this? No.
THE BRONZE
Directed by Bryan Buckley
Screenplay by Melissa and Winston Rauch
Starring Melissa Rauch; Gary Cole; Haley Lu Richardson; Thomas Middleditch; and Sebastian Stan
Melissa Rauch plays Hope who wins a bronze medal in gymnastics. Years later she is a foul mouthed former star who lives with her father, still wears her USA Sweats and thinks she should not have to pay for anything in the small town she grew up in.
The story surprised me a bit. The film is lead by this fantastic performance by Rauch. Yes her character Hope is unlikable, however you watch and see she hurts. She gives a look like all this anger is just a wall. You know where this story is going. Still it is interesting film following a young star who is a has been in her teens. Where does she go from there?
Now Rauch and her husband produced this film and they did a great job of casting:
Gary Cole as the kind loving dad.This is a different role for Cole. No dry humor here. He is kind and plays Melissa's punching bag sort of.
Haley Lu Richardson as Maggie, the young up and coming gymnast, is fantastic in her role. She is a star in the making.
Thomas Middleditch, as the keeper of the gym, is soooo sweet and soft playing the yin to Melissa's yang.
Again, you see where this is going. And in Hope's last speech to Maggie, you see how far Hope has come.
Vulgarity, with an odd sex scene, that adds some laughs. The film works. It is not great but I thought it was good. 3 stars out of 5 for The Bronze.
Rauch is not the Rauch you see on Big Bang that is for sure.
From the shadows as always thanks for your time.
No comments:
Post a Comment