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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: I can see the pitch now. “What if we took Pixar’s Toy Story but replaced toys with pets?” Uninspired, safe and very little for anyone over the age of 14 especially if you don’t own a pet.

If The Secret Life of Pets were a term paper, it would be one of those mid-semester ones written haphazardly with the focus on getting by with at least a C because you want to go out instead of putting in the extra effort to score an A. It almost might get you expelled for plagiarism. The movie will be a hit with kids as there’s plenty to enjoy for younger audiences. They won’t care that it’s a complete rip-off of Toy Story. For adults with pets, it’ll probably have enough to remind you of dear ol’ Tippy that they’ll forgive the lack of a substantial plot or any real emotional tugs. For everyone else, The Secret Life of Pets is likely to leave you feeling like something was missing.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: If you manage to not pay too much attention to the plot, there are laughs to be had. Don’t expect anything special or unique from the story and instead try to enjoy the sketch-like segments that interrupt the simple plot.

Sometimes you have to work with a movie to find enjoyment. Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates is one of those movies. It has a lot going against it. Some of the funniest parts of the movie are featured in the trailer. The comedy also feels rather derivative as it skims the pond scum from some funnier films. It doesn’t rip them off directly but you’ll feel like you’ve been there before. Despite those strikes, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates finds a way to be entertaining even with some noticeable blemishes.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: Most are saying this is the best of the trilogy. Thank goodness I didn’t have to suffer through the first two!

Call me a sucker. I did everything I could to avoid the first two installments of The Purge as neither looked to be more than something to satisfy the average horror fan’s bloodlust hidden in a commentary on America’s future. With all of the talk of how much of an improvement The Purge: Election Year was on its predecessors, I decided to throw caution to the wind (and better judgment) and see a movie that has little appeal to my sensibilities.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: So The Legend of Tarzan wasn’t that bad BUT did we really need another Tarzan story???

Here’s a challenge: Watch The Legend of Tarzan, wait 3 months and try to recall the movie. My guess is you won’t remember anything about it. Here it is about 14 hours since viewing the umpteenth reboot of the Tarzan tale and I can’t remember anything more than a few parts featuring Samuel L. Jackson who plays George Washington Williams.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: We always knew they were coming back with a sequel but after two decades we were kind of hoping they decided against it. What a bore!

As much as I hated the first Independence Day, there was a general campiness and enthusiasm present that elevate the film from bad to shoulder shruggingly okay. It’s actually the reason that super serious speech by Bill Pullman makes my eyes roll while some have the gumption to call it the greatest speech in movie history. (You’re all delusional. Every one of you!) That speech would have worked better in Independence Day: Resurgence.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: It feels like you walked up to the cinematic bar and asked the bartender for an Old Fashioned. A classic le Carre spy thriller with great performances especially Stellan Skarsgard.

Sometimes films transfer us back to a different time in many ways. At first, I thought Our Kind of Traitor transferred me back 15-20 years because I ran into someone I used to work with at Blockbuster Video who was also taking in the latest John la Carre novel adapted for the big screen. However, once the film started, Our Kind of Traitor felt like something from a different decade. As Stellan Skarsgard masterfully played a Russian money launderer ready to turn against the Russian Mafia who seeks out the help of Perry (Ewan McGregor), an average British citizen on holiday with his wife (Naomie Harris) to get damning evidence into the hands of the British government, Our Kind of Traitor delivers a cinematic experience reserved for another time in history.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: What. The. Hell? (And why was it actually pretty awesome?)

Within minutes of the viewing experience that is Swiss Army Man, you’re well aware that you’re in for something completely different. How different? Well, flatulence, masturbation, drinking the spit of a corpse who, oh by the way, talks and feces all play a major role in the storytelling. And that’s the best I can do without any major spoilers.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: Spielberg is a master behind the camera and now, for the second film in a row, Mark Rylance is his secret weapon. It might be big budget kid’s fare but darn if it isn’t entertaining and wonderfully acted.

In the hands of Steven Spielberg, you can expect good things. The 1982 children’s story The BFG is the latest to get the Spielberg touch. The Roald Dahl children’s story which features a young girl who befriends a big, friendly giant and whisks away to Giant Country and Dream Country before the young girl, Sophie (Ruby Barnhill) comes up with a plan to help the BFG (a CGI-enhanced Mark Rylance) rid himself of his bigger brethren who both pick on BFG and happen to munch on children in their spare time. The story itself is purely juvenile with discussions of snozzcumbers (a foul-tasting vegetable grown in Giant Country), frobscottle (a bubbly concoction), whiz poppers (the flatulence caused by drinking frobscottle) and a number of other uniquely pronounced words specific to the BFG’s bungling of them.Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: Aristotle said, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” Aristotle didn’t see Free State of Jones which has some great parts but falls short as a great movie.

For my money, Free State of Jones was the most promising film of the summer. At one point, my expectations were set way too high. Fortunately, before seeing it, the first batch of reviews were mixed and brought down my expectations a little. You can’t blame me for getting excited though. Matthew McConaughey almost always delivers a strong performance (and does again in Free State of Jones).  Writer/director Gary Ross also delivers more hits than misses and when he misses — The Flintstones, Mr. Baseball — no one is too surprised nor are the stakes particularly high. Read More →

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In: 2016, Hot Take

Hot Take: Despite the all-star cast, Get A Job fails to be funny. It’s kind of important for a comedy to be funny, don’t you think?

Get A Job is about as lazy and predictable as they come. It’s a lot like How to Be Single in the way it is structured. You could say it is to employment what How to Be Single is to dating. The only problem is How to Be Single was actually funny. Get A Job has very few moments that even bring a smile to your face let alone make you laugh.Read More →