Movie Review: "Dom Hemingway" (2013)

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Movie: "Dom Hemingway"
Director: Richard Shepard
Year: 2013
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 33 minutes

Dom Hemingway (Jude Law) is an arrogant, violent, foul-mouthed, sex-crazed, all-around asshole who is finishing a 12 year stretch in prison. Upon his release, his first order of business is to beat the crap out of his late ex-wife's husband. From there, he meets his best friend Dickie Black (Richard E. Grant) at the local pub, who informs him that their boss Mr. Fontain (Demian Bichir) would like to show Dom his gratitude for not ratting on him, and has bought him a pair of prostitutes as a present. Dom takes the girls and goes on a quick cocaine, alcohol and sex bender before heading off to meet Mr. Fontain himself to receive the rest of what he is owed. After an unfortunate accident and Dom's reward is stolen, he heads back to London to seek help from his estranged daughter, Evelyn (Emilia Clarke), who obviously wants nothing to do with him. He hopes to find a way back into her good graces while also looking to scrounge up "work" as a safe cracker. 

The character of Dom Hemingway is a despicable one. He beats a man severely and takes a bite out of his face for having the audacity to marry his ex-wife. He also thinks very highly of himself as we gather from his poetic monologue about his penis that opens the film. There is only about a minute or two in the film where you feel any sympathy for Dom, but any emotion you feel for him fades quickly as it turns out he is just your typical screw-up who likes to think his problems are caused by bad luck rather than his own poor life choices. Hemingway is a wholly unlikable person and it's hard to get into a movie with such a jerk for a protagonist. Most anti-heroes have at least one redeeming quality, and we can't think of any that Hemingway had. Jude Law does an excellent job as the titular smarmy, greasy sleaze-ball, a complete 180 from his days where he was always playing a romantic heartthrob. Now older with thinning hair and less chiseled looks, Law is able to play this type of character with conviction and success. Unfortunately, this movie just isn't anything special to carry his good performance. Obviously, the film is meant to be a dark comedy and there is some humor in it in the form of oddball imagery (a strange monkey painting, for example), Dom's off-beat but funny soliloquies and some random exchanges between Law and Grant. In fact, the movie teeters on eccentric more often than not. It is successful in this aspect, but we're not sure if Dom's profanity laden rants are meant to be humorous or just to show what an unstable prick he is. Their is a lot of interesting camera work and the film is shot very well with some fantastically stylized sequences, but based on the trailer, this is a much different movie than what we thought we were going to see and want to watch that one instead. That, plus, it ends abruptly.

The movie as a whole didn't receive a lot of attention and to our knowledge, didn't get released in very many theaters. Many in the general public may not even know this movie exists, and we don't think that there's anything strong enough to warrant seeking it out. We really like dark comedies, and it's not bad, but it just wasn't our cup of tea.

My Rating: 6/10
BigJ's Rating: 6/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 59%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?
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One year ago, we were watching: "Ender's Game"

Movie Review: "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" (1994)

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Movie: "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective"
Director: Tom Shaydac
Year: 1994
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 1 hour, 26 minutes

After the Miami Dolphin’s mascot, a bottle-nosed dolphin named Snowflake, is stolen, the team is desperate to get him back. When the police don’t seem to be getting anywhere, the team's PR director Melissa Robinson (Courtney Cox) hires Ace Ventura (Jim Carrey), a pet detective, to find the missing mascot. This case might run deeper than previously thought when the Dolphin’s head of operations Robert Podacter (Troy Evans) ends up dead and the team's quarterback, Dan Marino, gets kidnapped. Ace must use his unconventional and zany methods to figure out this complex case and get Snowflake and Marino back in time for the Superbowl. 

This is the movie that made Jim Carrey who is today. Before this, he was just a cast member in "In Living Color" and did some smaller budget movies that really didn't go much of anywhere. His over-the-top, outrageous style of full-body comedy put him on the map and struck a chord with younger audiences who wanted to see more from him. Enter "Ace Venture: Pet Detective."

This film is full of obnoxious and silly quotable lines that are still (somewhat) referenced today. Whether he is literally talking out of his butt, impersonating celebrities, or acting like an escaped mental patient, this style of comedy at the hands of Jim Carrey was fresh and generally liked by audiences at the time. His facial expressions, voice changes and crazy hairstyles are so uniquely Carrey that without him, this movie would not have worked in any capacity. He carries the entire movie on his back, and how much a moviegoer likes this film is contingent directly upon how much they like Jim Carrey as an actor. The rest of the cast is just there to play the straight-man to Ace's buffoonery. Though an imbecile, Ace Ventura always seems to one-up the policemen who condescend him, and though his methods are unconventional and wacky, he is always one step ahead of the actual police. The plot of the movie is outrageous, but still manages to be sort of enjoyable with a relatively funny ending, though it has aged quite a bit in 20 years. It says something that Jim Carrey is still doing the same shtick two decades later and still impersonates the same people he did in this movie and expects it to be funny. What it is is tired, and going back and watching this movie again, unfortunately, shows just how tired it, and he, are now. Once-fresh humor is simply old and redundant no matter how you slice it. For those who grew up with it, though, this movie will probably hold a little nostalgia for them forever, but for people who are our niece and nephew's age, in two decades, they wonder why we laughed at this movie at all.

Jim Carrey, we know you're reading this, please stick to dramatic roles. Your days of talking to animals and wafting farts are over.

My Rating: 6/10
BigJ's Rating: 6.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 45%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?
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One year ago, we were watching: "Dallas Buyer's Club"

Movie Review: "Horrible Bosses 2" (2014)

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Movie: "Horrible Bosses 2"
Director: Sean Anders
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 48 minutes

After their past experiences with having horrible bosses, Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) and Dale (Charlie Day) have decided to venture out on their own. They have developed a prototype for a new gadget called The Shower Buddy, a shower head that is a soap/conditioner/shampoo dispenser all in one. After doing a local morning show segment, the trio is contacted by a catalog company that wishes to distribute their invention. They meet Bert Hanson (Christoph Waltz) and his son Rex (Chris Pine), who agree to place an order for 100,000 units and convince the would-be entrepreneurs to take out a $500,000 loan to meet the order and create Nick Kurt Dale Inc. Upon completion of production, Bert cancels his order with the intent to bankrupt Nick Kurt Dale Inc. and then plans to buy up their assets for pennies on the dollar. The three men, desperate to save their company, decide to kidnap Rex and hold him for ransom for the amount of money needed to pay off their start-up loan and prevent going out of business.  

Sure, "Horrible Bosses 2" is a bit of a rehash of the first film with a similar plot. Nick, Kurt, and Dale have, once again, found themselves needing to take desperate measures, this time in the form of kidnapping (or "kidnaping," in Kurt's case) and still fumble and bumble their way through that felony, too. But, we don't see comedies for compelling or original stories, well, not really. We go to them to laugh, plain and simple. In that aspect, this movie is at least moderately successful as we actually laughed quite a bit, even though we didn't think we would. A couple of the funniest parts are included in the trailer with some slight expansions and they still made us chuckle even during the movie knowing what was coming. Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day have the same chemistry as they did in the first film, though Bateman tries to be a bigger voice of reason this time around. As always, he uses his classic "serious face that turns into a smirk" over and over again in a deadpan fashion that clashes with the personas of his counterparts, yet makes him slightly more endearing, too. Sudeikis seems to be even more misogynistic and sex-crazed in this film than he did in the original. Now, he a line of cocaine short of turning into his old boss, played by Colin Farrell in the original, someone who he despised and hated for wanting to fire all the fat people in order to hire new, dumb hotties, which is exactly what Sudeikis does when he is part of his own company. Some people may call him smarmy, but we guess it works for him in this movie even though he's moderately offensive to women? Charlie Day is still Charlie Day, this time with more complaining about his wife and kids.

Jamie Foxx reprises his role once again as "MF" Jones, though we thought he would have a more substantial part in this movie compared to how much he was in it in actuality. Kevin Spacey, though in jail, is still brought back to this film to give advice to the three friends, who obviously have no idea what they are doing and seem to thrive on his negativity. He has a lot of epic lines uttered in the way only Kevin Spacey can, with a great mix of gravitas and terror. Newcomers Christoph Waltz and Chris Pine do well with what they are given. Waltz has a minor role here and provided a darker comedy, much like Spacey in both films. Where Spacey is more of an overt asshole, Waltz is much more two-faced and conniving, something we like to see him do in any genre. Chris Pine is your ultimate bro. He is idolized by Kurt and Dale for being rich, charming and handsome and also has tons of useless, cool shit to brag about, despite actually being a total self-centered prick and masochist with daddy issues. Pine was able to not be annoying in this movie and contributed to a lot of laugh out loud moments when paired with Nick, Kurt, and Dale.

Though there are a lot of funny moments throughout the film, mainly those that involve minor dialogue and glances, there are still sometimes where we feel like the filmmakers thought their jokes would be wildly successful and they just weren't. The entire demo of the Shower Buddy at the beginning of the movie during the morning show segment was so obvious that it hurt. It kind of had us worried that all of the film's humor would be blatant and forced. Another example is the entire joke about their company's name. If you say it fast enough, provided you pronounce it wrong, it can sound offensive, but it's really a stretch of a joke. Most of Jennifer Aniston's sexual advances are not subtle enough to be funny and come off as jarring and contrived. Overall, to us, there are more funny moments than those that flounder.

Though no one asked for this sequel, we got one anyway, and we enjoyed it quite a bit whether or not moviegoers and critics hate it. We may have even liked it better than the first, but please, don't make a third in 3 years.

My Rating: 7/10
BigJ's Rating: 7/10
IMDB's Rating: 7.0/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 36%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?
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One year ago, we were watching: "Premium Rush"

Movie Review: "American Arab" (2013)

Movie: "American Arab"
Director: Usama Alshaibi
Year: 2013
Rating: ---
Running Time: 1 hour, 3 minutes

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Usama Alshaibi documents his life and the life of other Arabs living in the United States. He examines the discrimination they have faced, especially post 9/11. 

The amount of discrimination many Arabs in America have faced is sickening. The fact that many media outlets perpetuate this hate only makes it worse. Usama Alshaibi moved to America from Iraq when he was a boy and never really fit in anywhere. He struggled throughout his adolescence with his identity and where he truly belonged in his community. This documentary expands upon this notion on a wider scale and gives many examples of how Americans usually cannot decipher the difference between most people from the Middle East; all of these people are generally lumped into one big group, designated "Arab." This happened to Alshaibi many times in his life. In a few instances, he was even berated, judged, looked at funny, and was once beaten up and called racial slurs during his beating all because his name was Usama (like the mastermind of 9/11). Americans often automatically assume that anyone who is from the Middle East is a Muslim, and this simply isn't true. There are a wide range of sects in the Muslim religion, as well as Middle Easterners who identify as Christian, as Catholic, and even atheist, which Alshaibi considers himself. Even the largest parts of the Muslim world are outside of the Middle East itself. This has only gotten worse post 9/11, and Alshaibi explores how everything changed for Muslim Americans after that tragic day. Racial profiling is even more rampant, especially at airports. There is even a section of this documentary that explores one woman's experience while trying to shop at a store; she was wearing her traditional headscarf inside the store and was attacked by another patron when they tried to rip it off her head. We don't blame all Christians or Catholics or Mormons for the acts of a few nutjobs, so why do we blame all people from the Middle East for 9/11? The double standard is outrageous. Alshaibi does a great job with his short run time in producing an informative and thought-compelling film using his own experiences as his inspiration.

My Rating: 8/10
BigJ's Rating: 8.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 5.8/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: ---
Do we recommend this movie: Yes!
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To learn more about this movie:
-Visit https://kartemquin.com/films/american-arab
-Like the "American Arab" Facebook page

Movie Review: "Horrible Bosses" (2011)

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Movie: "Horrible Bosses"
Director: Seth Gordon
Year: 2011
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 38 minutes

Nick (Jason Bateman) hates his boss, Dave Harken (Kevin Spacey), who works him like a dog, treats him horribly and makes empty promises about promotions. Dale (Charlie Day) hates his boss, Julia (Jennifer Aniston), who sexually harasses him constantly and has threatened to try to break up his relationship if he doesn't sleep with her. Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) loves his job and his boss, Jack Pellit (Donald Sutherland), well, that is until Jack passes away and his obnoxious coke-head son Bobby (Colin Farrell) takes over the company. Bobby wants Kurt to fire all the fat people and those with disabilities because he doesn't like looking at them, and only cares about bleeding as much money out of the company as he can as quickly as possible. These three friends have been pushed to their limit and have come up with the ultimate solution: they are all going to murder their bosses. 

Who hasn't had a boss they hate at some point in their life? Though we don't know if we've ever had a boss we hated so much we would want them dead, maybe there are people out there that have had thoughts such as this. For those people, this movie can play out like the ultimate revenge fantasy. At least that's what filmmakers were banking on, and you know what? They were probably right since this movie was successful enough to garner a sequel.

Each of the main characters is basically type-cast to their respected actors. Nick, played by Jason Bateman, is the same character we always see Bateman play ever since his stint as Michael Bluth on "Arrested Development." He is smart, sarcastic, usually hard working, and carries an air of superiority with him at all times. Dale is basically Charlie Day playing Charlie Day from "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," a little neurotic and kind of whiny, but down for anything, and Jason Sudeikis' Kurt is the slightly misogynistic man's man, making sex jokes and ready to sleep with any woman who says yes to him. Despite filling their standard roles, they do manage to garner a few laughs as they fumble and bumble their way through doing recon for their murder plan. Bateman, Day and Sudeikis do have wonderfully quirky chemistry together, and though some of the movie is rather stupid and feels forced, the majority of it is a fine, darkly themed comedy.

On the other end of the spectrum, we have the horrible bosses. These three big name actors take on more unique roles. Kevin Spacey plays the truly despicable Harken, who is downright cruel and sociopathic. He has no empathy and has no problem stepping on anyone to get what he wants. Spacey often plays the commanding, beefed up boss/man in charge role and always does so with a delicate mix of perfection and frightening. Aniston takes a step outside of her more typical good girl role and plays a sex crazed nymphomaniac pretty well, we thought. I got the sense that she took this film role so Brad Pitt could watch and see what he was missing because it's so out of her league. We also get the feeling that some men, as pointed out by Jason Sudeikis' character, may ask themselves, 'what's so wrong with receiving sexual advances from Jennifer Aniston?' You know, besides the fact that she's utterly insane. Colin Farrell takes on another role outside of his usually suave self. He looks completely different, sporting a bad comb-over and a slight potbelly. He plays a character who is basically the living manifestation of Axe body spray and does so convincingly and hilariously. Each of these characters are horrible in their own ways and are probably over-the-top enough to be humorous instead of just outright creeps.

All of the actors in this film make this movie what it is and carry the entire plot and script, the good and the bad. On paper, this movie may have been a disaster if it weren't for the cast of this film. Even Jamie Foxx's 'Muthafucka Jones' is pretty funny and is probably our favorite character, despite his rather small role. We can't wait to see what they have done to him in the sequel, though we're not sure how the movie will be as a whole. This movie is not the funniest comedy out there, but it does try and definitely made us laugh out loud a handful of times.

My Rating: 6.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 6/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 69%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?
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One year ago, we were watching: "Trilogy of Terror"
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To buy this movie, click here!

Movie Review: "Noble Fir" (2014)

Movie: "Noble Fir"
Director: Joseph Arney & Christopher W. Graham
Year: 2014
Rating: ---
Running Time: 1 hour, 35 minutes

A man named Henry Dean (Richard E. Wilson) grieving the death of his wife distances himself from his family and friends, becoming increasingly more isolated and angry over time. He keeps busy doing his day to day work on the Christmas tree farm the he owns. 

Who knew a movie about Christmas trees could be so dull???

This was the first feature length film we saw when we got to the Big Bear Lake International Film Festival. While we were excited to being our experience, I wish we had picked a different film to watch first because this movie was soooooooooooooo slow and rather boring, even though it is only an hour and a half in length. Watching this movie first actually made BigJ and I worried about the rest of the film festival as a whole. We wondered silently and out loud, "are all the films going to be like this?" It is a character sketch of one man who is clearly grieving the loss of his wife, though it never overtly states this until at least halfway through the movie. Beyond his initial grief, Henry Dean is a boring man with what seems to be no interests outside his Christmas tree farm. There are some aspects of the film that are technically well done. For instance, when the film begins, unusually, it starts with a very long shot of Dean's back. We thought this was a weird choice for the filmmakers to make since we couldn't see the lead actor's face. Gradually, as he begins to open up somewhat, Dean is shown getting closer to the camera, and also begins to reveal more of his face and the front of his person as the movie progresses. We liked this aspect a lot, but the young makers of this movie forgot that the most important part of the film making process is ultimately entertaining your audience and being able to keep their attention. When there is little or no entertainment value, these technical aspects are rendered useless. There is very little dialogue in this film beyond grunts, groans and the sound of truck tires on the ground. It's so dull, you might be more entertained by watching a Christmas tree grow, which takes around 7-12 years, which is about how long it felt like we were in the theater.

One of the best parts of this film festival was often the Q&A after a film was finished. For movies that we enjoyed and were genuinely interested in, it was fun to see the filmmakers and actors who talked about their project with passion and pride. For this film, one we didn't really like at all and yet everyone else seemed to love, we were left feeling awkward and needed to resist the urge to ask why their film was so boring.

My Rating: 3/10
BigJ's Rating: 3/10
IMDB's Rating: 7.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: ---
Do we recommend this movie: No.
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To learn more about this movie:
-Visit http://www.noblefirthefilm.com/
-Like the "Noble Fir the Movie" Facebook page

Movie Review: "Off The Floor: The Rise of Contemporary Pole Dancing" (2013)

Movie: "Off the Floor: The Rise of Contemporary Pole Dancing"
Director: Katherine & Matthew Celia
Year: 2013
Rating: ---
Running Time: 1 hour, 24 minutes

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Jessica is a dancer living in Los Angeles. She has studied dance all of her life and even in college at UCLA. She recently fell in love with the art of pole dancing and hopes to revolutionize the style. She forms a dance troop called Jagged with the intent of combining modern dance and pole dancing into a choreographed show that can tell a story. What she hopes to accomplish is to change the stigma that pole dancing is strictly for strippers and nightclubs. She wants to legitimize it as a mainstream dance style, but this proves difficult because of these 'negative' associations. Jessica and Jagged hope to break this stereotype and show how beautiful poll dancing really can be.

We decided to watch this documentary during the Big Bear Lake International Film Festival on a whim. It was the last film we saw at the festival and one of the best, too. We and probably most others in the world have been conditioned to think of a "stripper" when you hear the phase "pole dancing." Usually, it involves scantily clad women AND men in seedy dive bars shakin' their naughty bits for money. That, or anti-feminism. We had no idea there was an entire subsection of dancing dedicated to using a pole as a form of expression, storytelling and art through choreographed dance. When we saw the women of Jagged first begin to dance on the pole, we were struck by how extremely impressive the moves looked and how it all flowed as one cohesive unit. There is such a high degree of athleticism involved in this dance form that we didn't even realize! One wrong move and BAM, you're on the floor and in pain. It obviously takes a lot of hard work and effort to not only perform, but to set up, to practice, and to choreograph, especially considering the majority of the women in the troupe are doing so out of passion while holding down daytime jobs at the same time. Men are rarely if ever involved in this particular troupe's event; the women themselves set-up and breakdown their own sets, plan their outfits and choreograph their own moves, everything is done in-house. On the rare occasion that they are able to secure a gig, most of the time, the women are unpaid and only train and dance because of their love of their art form. The negative association of pole dancing has cost them a lot, and this documentary even has a scene in the beginning of the film where Jessica, the founder of Jagged, calls around to try to find a venue so she can book her show, only to be hung up on as soon as pole dancing is mentioned. The dance troupe was even lucky enough to try out for two television reality competition shows, "America's Best Dance Crew" and "America's Got Talent," yet the stigma was so strong that the judges had a hard time disassociating Jagged's act from stripping. In fact, all the judges, one male judge in particular, focused on how their dancing aroused him, judging them less on their actual moves and more on how it made his penis feel.

This was an entertaining and eye-opening documentary on a subject very few people will have heard of outside of their own preconceived notions. Jessica is a self-made woman, an idealist and an entrepreneur who wants to enlighten others and break the mold about pole dancing. We watch her go from enthusiast to multiple dance studio owner over the course of a few short years. As her art form slowly gains acceptance, we hope that one day people will be able to perform this unnoticed and remarkable form of dance without taking off their clothes or joining a French Canadian cirque troupe to do it.

My Rating: 8/10
BigJ's Rating: 8/10
IMDB's Rating: ---
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: ---
Do we recommend this movie: Yes!
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To learn more about this movie:
-Visit www.offthefloormovie.com
-Like the "Off the Floor" Facebook page
-Follow @poledanceisart on Twitter

Movie Review: "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1" (2014)

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Movie: "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1"
Director: Francis Lawrence
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 2 hours, 3 minutes

After destroying the Quarter Quell Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is rescued by rebel forces from District 13 and taken there since District 12, her home, has been annihilated by the Capitol. Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore) want Katniss as the face of the impending rebellion against President Snow (Donald Sutherland) and the Capitol. Katniss agrees to be their Mockingjay, or, the symbol for hope, and in an effort to rally the other districts into overthrowing the Capitol with them, they make a series of Propo (propaganda) films that are illegally broadcast to the masses. Unfortunately, Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and the other Hunger Games participants were captured by President Snow and Peeta is being used as a weapon against the rebellion. Katniss' one condition to being the Mockingjay is that Peeta and the others be rescued and extracted from the Capitol at the earliest opportunity.

We continue to be impressed by the "Hunger Games" movie franchise, though "Catching Fire" is still, by far, our favorite of the series. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to read the last book before this movie came out, but I am going to do so soon because the movie pretty much rocked. Once again, the message of social injustice at the hands of the government is the center plot, and Katniss Everdeen is back to kick more ass and take more names, only this time, she is a little worse for the wear. With Peeta captured by the Capitol, Katniss is worried about his well being, especially since it turns out he is being used and broadcast on a massive scale to quash the rebellion and everything it stands for. Returning again is Jennifer Lawrence, who cries a lot in this movie. When she is not in her bat-suit, oh no, we mean her Mockingjay suit, her acting does seem a little forced, but she does give a very inspirational speech about halfway through the movie that is extremely emotionally moving. Our eyes widened with delight and excitement and wonderment! What a bitchin' speech! We can't wait for the second part of this movie so Katniss can return to her to angsty, anti-capitol ways (though this is shown a little bit in this movie here and there). I think that the majority of the crying was necessary for her character because she has been slowly falling in love with Peeta over the last two and a half movies; filmmakers: A) needed filler, and B) needed to show that she was emotionally broken by the last Games. Josh Hutcherson is not in the film a whole lot, and when he is, he is pandering Capitol propaganda, though it is clear he is being made to say these things and is being tortured as exhibited by his gaunt exterior. He has an intense scene towards the end of the film which makes us even more excited for part 2. Lesser Hemsworth just stands the entire movie looking dopey, IE: like Lesser Hemsworth, being all second fiddle and shit. Newcomer Alma Coin, played by Julianne Moore, never truly reveals her hand and we got the vibe that she wasn't being completely honest with her involvement in the rebellion. Moore does a good job in this role. Philip Seymour Hoffman is in most of the scenes in an advisory role, always talking and never quite being able to express his true thoughts. When the "in memory of" flashed across the screen at the end of the movie, I cried knowing this is one of the last movies where we will ever see him. :(

This is another movie in a long line of theatrical mini-series of sorts, where the final piece of the movie puzzle is broken into two (or sometimes even more) parts a la "Harry Potter," "Twilight," "The Hobbit," etc. This is only the beginning and middle of an adaptation that has been put into film form. It's not a complete story and has no real climax because of this. Sure, this particular movie does end nicely on a major plot point, but always on a cliffhanger. Do we hate that it is done this way? Yes, absolutely, for many reasons. 1) INSTANT GRATIFICATION. We don't want to wait one more damn year to see how this movie plays out in the end. 2) MONEY-GRUBBING WHORES. We can tell quite obviously that the studios want to squeeze every freakin' penny out of us poor saps knowing full well that we will pay every freakin' penny to see both parts of these films. 3) HAVING NOTHING LEFT. Hollywood is full of unoriginal ideas, prequels and sequels being the least of them. But, in an effort to, once again, make more money, they squeeze every freakin' penny out of and every freakin' word and every freakin' possibility out of these series since there are no. new. or. original. ideas. left. They know that these series are popular, so they milk them instead of creating new, inspired films.

As we mentioned above, there does seem to be a lot of chatter and filler in this movie, and besides a couple of key scenes, there's not much action here as most of this has been reserved for part 2. The film mainly focuses on the use of propaganda films by both sides, and because so much time goes into making these pieces, this does lead to some dragging in the middle of the movie. That being said, we still enjoyed it quite a bit and cannot wait for the second half.

My Rating: 8/10
BigJ's Rating: 8.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 7.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 68%
Do we recommend this movie: Yes!

Netflix Mail Day Movie Review: "Behind the Candelabra" (2013)

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Movie: "Behind the Candelabra"
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Year: 2013
Rating: TV-MA
Running Time: 1 hour, 58 minutes

The story behind Liberace (Michael Douglas) and his secret yet not so secret relationship between him and a young bi-sexual man named Scott Thorson (Matt Damon). Scott gets caught up in the lavish lifestyle and is regularly subjected to plastic surgeries at the request of his benefactor. Due to the surgeries, Scott develops a pain killer addiction, which contributes to his separation from Liberace and his eventual famous palimony lawsuit.  

This film does an excellent job bringing to light a time in our recent history in which homosexuals were treated as pariahs. All famous gay people were forced to remain in the closet or be ostracized by the general public, either way, both could be career ruining. Liberace is the epitome of a stereotypical gay man with a flamboyant dress style covered in sparkling rhinestones with an effeminate speech and mannerisms, yet no one questioned for a second his heterosexuality. This is just how oblivious people were back not so long ago. Liberace maintained his farce and insisted he was straight even until the day of his death. In fact, Liberace's publicist even hid his actual cause of death, attributing it to emphysema and heart disease rather than complications from AIDS.

Michael Douglas does an outstanding job channeling the spirit of Liberace and puts on a great performance, one of his best as of late. Douglas' conviction is admirable and his portrayal is worthy of such a prominent personality. His tan, leathery skin and outrageous outfits were brilliantly perfect for this role. We hesitate to use the word "transform," but we can't really see anyone else getting so involved and altered to fit the part as Douglas did. Matt Damon does a good job in his own right playing Liberace's young lover Scott Thorson. Talk about makeup work! Not only was Damon's face rather unrecognizable after the portrayal of Thornon's surgery, but it was scary to look at, too! And while we're on the subject of unrecognizable faces, ROB LOWE, HOLY CRAPOLA!! His face looked like it would have hurt if he had it in real life! When both Douglas and Damon were on screen together, their chemistry was rather undeniable as both friends and lovers. We as an audience are oddly transfixed with their love affair and their story, though Liberace was obviously a huge dick in his love life. Visually, the movie is stunning, and we expected no less from a movie about a man who was as colorful as Liberace was. There is plenty of vibrancy, lots of colors, and sequins and sparkles by the gallon. Though the film focuses on Liberace and his realtionship, the subject matter is rather dark as it explores the dark side of show business and all of the wealth, fame, plastic surgery and starf--king that come with it. It is a pretty good movie, especially for an HBO film.

My Rating: 7/10
BigJ's Rating: 7/10
IMDB's Rating: 7.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 95%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?
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One year ago, we were watching: "Unfinished Song"

Movie Review: "House at the End of the Street" (2012)

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Movie: "House at the End of the Street"
Director: Mark Tonderai
Year: 2012
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 1 hour, 41 minutes

Elissa (Jennifer Lawrence) moves from Chicago to a small town with her mother Sarah (Elizabeth Shue). They rent an affordable house on the edge of a state park. The house is affordable because the neighboring house was the site of a double murder where a young girl named Carrie Anne Jacobson (Eva Link) killed her parents. The house is still occupied by Ryan Jacobson (Max Thieriot), the son of the murdered couple. The town doesn't like him living there, but Elissa winds up meeting Jacob and becomes his friend. Ryan seems like a perfectly nice guy, but he may be hiding a terrible secret. 

Before Jennifer Lawrence was the Jennifer Lawrence she is today, she starred in this piece of crap movie.

Fortunately, the movie opens with a couple of murders, which is a good start for any horror, suspense or thriller. Unfortunately, for the next long hour and 37 minutes, we are treated to the polar opposite of what any horror, suspense or thriller is supposed to be: a creepy, angsty, borderline rape-y teenage melodrama overwrought with forbidden love, complaints and a surprise twist that audiences can see coming from a mile away if they just use their brain. Elissa constantly bitches at her mother for not being there for her, and her mother is overprotective, trying to make up for being absent in Elissa's younger years. They bicker back and forth. Sarah sets specific rules even though she's always at work and not around to make sure Elissa abides by them, and Elissa always breaks her mother's rules, yada yada yada, this might as well be "Twilight." One of her mother's rules is not to get too close to Ryan, the boy next door who just happens to be the brother of a murderer, because her mom is a judgmental bitch. But really, what mother wants her kid growing up to marry someone involved with a murder? Oh, that's right, Charles Manson is getting married and you're still single. Try explaining that this Thanksgiving. #SorryNotSorry

Elissa has a hard time adjusting to her new surrounding right away. Yawn, boring, more stupid, unnecessary plot points. She becomes friends with *~super hottie~* Tyler, played by Nolan Gerard Funk, who ends up making sexual advances towards her that border on rape. Vomit. Remind us again why this is necessary in 2014, let alone ever? In an effort to branch out, Elissa extends a hand to her ~*forbidden fruit and super hottie neighbor,*~ obviously breaking her mother's wishes, and gets closer to Ryan. Their romance and infatuation is gross and creepy. This slow moving, plodding romance leads an ultimate ridiculous twist and a final showdown that is hardly worth sitting through the rest of this garbage to witness. There's something to be said for a really shitty town cop, and local policeman Bill Weaver (Gil Bellows) is completely fucking useless and terrible at his job. Honestly, what's the point of even wasting the town's valuable tax dollars on such a moron? There is no originality with any of the characters or even with the plot itself. It's poorly acted, especially the part Elizabeth Shue plays. Good lord, where did they dig her up to get her to be in this movie? She hasn't been relevant since the 90's. I guess she and Jennifer Lawrence look alike, a little? Even Lawrence, America's (present day) Sweetheart, is sub-par here and cannot save this movie from itself.

COME ON, PEOPLE! Next to nothing exciting or thrilling happens in this movie beyond the first 3 minutes of the film. There has to be more creativity in the horror/thriller/suspense genres than this. Is this the future? Shitty rich kids with even shittier parents who only care about their property values diminishing because someone was murdered in the house next door and ostracizing the brother who lived through it all? Kids and adults who hang out in posh pools acting like douchebags, smoking, drinking, partying and gambling under the guise of doing community service? Seriously, no parents in the world are that stupid...right?? Horrible movie, borderline disgraceful to the genres it represents.

My Rating: 2.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 2.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 5.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 10%
Do we recommend this movie: AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!
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One year ago, we were watching: "Thor: The Dark World"

Movie Review: "Rosewater" (2014)

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Movie: "Rosewater"
Director: Jon Stewart
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 43 minutes

Maziar Bahari (Gael Garcia Bernal) is an Iranian born journalist working for Newsweek Magazine who has been tasked with covering the 2009 presidential election in Iran. After a landslide victory for incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, widespread reports of election fixing are reported, which helps to fuel the Green Revolution in Iran. After filming one of these protests that turned violent, Bahari is arrested by the Iranian police and accused of being a spy working for the American government. Maziar Bahari is held in solitary confinement and interrogated daily. The evidence against him stemmed from an interview with comedian Jason Jones joking about being a spy from "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."

This film was definitely a passion project for writer and director Jon Stewart as we're sure he feels somewhat responsible for Bahari's incarceration since to his own show was used as evidence against him. We are huge fans of "The Daily Show" pretty much love all things Jon Stewart, but this movie is not without its flaws. It is an important story to tell and we are glad we got to hear it, though there are definitely some notable drawbacks to the film itself. While this is certainly a noble effort for first-time director Stewart with an interesting story that needed to be told, the entire thing is dragged down a couple of pegs due to its seemingly poor pacing. For a movie less than 2 hours long, it feels much longer. We understand that Bahari was in solitary confinement in prison for over 4 months in real life, but the audience shouldn't feel like they have been a theater for that long. Stewart, however, does an excellent and informative job in relaying what happened. He was also able to capture what goes on inside Iran rather splendidly, something that most of the Western cultures know little or nothing about, though this poor pacing and what BigJ feels was a lack of a real emotional spark makes this movie just okay. I disagree to a certain extent on emotional spark part, since I did shed a few tears at one point during the film, not just for what Bahari faced for simply trying to do his job, but for knowing that these things still go on in only just Iran, but around the world as well. It's crazy how we in America take our freedoms for granted, and though Bahari was living in London at the time, he was still a target and was ultimately used as a pawn in political propaganda in order to control the information that got out to the citizens of Iran. The one thing that Stewart was able to capture the best was the use of social media and the internet is not only the Green Revolution but in Bahari's eventual release from prison as well. Social media and the internet have made it far more difficult for these tyrannical governments to constrain their people and to control what information is true or not. Many of these government rely on lies and misinformation in an effort to manipulate the mindset of its citizens.

It's all serious, though, and the film manages to have a couple of moments of laughter amidst the chaos and confinement. It is also interesting to note that Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal was chosen to play Maziar Bahari, especially since they look nothing alike. This doesn't distract from the great job he does with his performance, but his accent was a little off at times. Kim Bodnia, who played the interrogator who smelled of Rosewater, drew a distinct line between seething hatred for Bahari and simply doing what he needed to do to carry out his duty, personal morality aside. He gives another great performance. The movie really was filmed in Jordan and Jon Stewart took time off from his TV show to shoot the movie as close to Iran as he could get, something many filmmakers just don't do anymore. Every piece of this crazy puzzle seemed to fit together, though its lack of good pacing was very noticeable. The cinematography was excellent, the direction was valiant and what it had to say about social media being used as a tool for good are all reasons that make this movie one you should watch if you're interested.

My Rating: 7/10
BigJ's Rating: 6/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 75%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?
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One year ago, we were watching: "Free Birds"

Netflix Mail Day Movie Review: "7 Faces of Dr. Lao" (1964)

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Movie: "7 Faces of Dr. Lao"
Director: George Pal
Year: 1964
Rating: NR
Running Time: 1 hour, 43 minutes

Abalone is a small town in Arizona on the verge of being bought up by a wealthy rancher named Clifford Stark (Arthur O'Connell). The local newspaper owner, Edward Cunningham (John Ericson), is trying to convince everyone not to sell to Stark. Right before the community was going to vote to sell the town to Stark, The Circus of Dr. Lao (Tony Randall) comes to Abolalone. Dr. Lao's circus holds strange wonders like the Abominable snowman, Apollonius of Tyana, Medusa, Merlin, Pan, and the Loch Ness Monster. The towns people go into the circus for a simple good time, but they may leave forever changed by the wonders they encounter.

When the film starts and we first saw Dr. Lao, especially once hearing him speak, our eyes widened and we were worried this would be "Breakfast at Tiffany's" all over again: a white actor in Asian makeup doing a comic book caricature of an Asian man for comedic purposes.  As the movie moves on, Lao changes his accent from one situation to the next. We quickly learn Lao only uses the over-the-top accent because that is what is expected of him in certain situations. The film is probably best classified as a comedy, but it does have its fair share of dark elements. In particular, the scene with Apollonius of Tyan reading a bleak future for a woman who comes to get her fortune told in especially grim. Also, the scene with Pan the God of Joy is quite artistically intense and sensual. Most of the comedy comes from the stereotypes that run throughout the film, whether it be when Dr. Lao is doing his ridiculously stereotypical Asian accent or one of the other stereotypical country bumpkins and drunks acting a fool. The character of Merlin is also primarily in the film for comic relief. The makeup is actually very well done, for then and for now. Though Tony Randall plays multiple roles in the film, including Dr. Lao and almost all of his attractions, he is hardly recognizable from one role to the next. The only attractions not played by Randall are created through stop-motion animation, and even one of the stop-motion creatures is voiced by Randall. Overall, the movie is enjoyable and quite the technical achievement in makeup for its day, even though the Abominable snowman is obviously wearing a fun fur suit with a clearly visible zipper seam.

My Rating: 6/10
BigJ's Rating: 7.5/10
IMDB's Rating: 7.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 66%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?
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One year ago, we were watching: "Escape Plan"

Movie Review: "Runaway Bride" (1999)

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Movie: "Runaway Bride"
Director: Garry Marshall
Year: 1999
Rating: PG
Running Time: 1 hour, 56 minutes

Ike Graham (Richard Gere) is a columnist working for the USA Today. After meeting a drunk in a bar, he writes an article based on the man's story of a runaway bride named Maggie Carpenter (Julia Roberts). Maggie has a habit of leaving her would-be husbands standing at the alter time and time again. When Maggie reads the scathing article accusing her of being a man-eater, she writes an angry letter to the editor of the paper threatening a lawsuit. This costs Ike his job. On the advice of his former coworker and friend Fisher (Hector Elizondo), Ike goes to the small town of Hale to confront Maggie, to talk to her family and friends, and to get the real story of why Maggie runs at the alter in an effort to redeem himself and show that article wasn't wholly inaccurate.  

Despite being directed by Garry Marshall and staring Richard Gere, Julia Roberts, Hector Elizondo with a bit role from Larry Miller, and along with having a scene where Gere allows Roberts to buy any dress in the store she wants, this film is in no way related to or a sequel of "Pretty Woman." The plot is just as predictable, though, as we see the end coming within the first few minutes of the film. Before we even started the movie, actually, we both called the ending right off the bat. Boy meets girl. They meet under bad circumstances and hate each other because of a misunderstanding. Boy and girl are forced to be with one another for extended length of time. They bicker and it's supposed to be funny and cute but just comes off as annoying and trite. Boy and girl learn about each other, like each other, and eventually fall in love. There is a hefty dose of syrupy sap, which is referenced in both the happy and sad montages, both of which are equally cliche. We don't really feel like Julia Roberts and Richard Gere had the same amount of chemistry that they did in "Pretty Woman," and even then, it was not that much to begin with. Women fawn over this rom-com and we can't understand why because there are many, many other better romance movies in the world. It feels like this is the exact opposite of what a rom-com should be: dry, boring, lacking affection between characters, a basic story with bit characters that are better than the main characters. It doesn't really stand the test of time and will eventually be forgotten altogether, just as we have forgotten it already.

My Rating: 4/10
BigJ's Rating: 4/10
IMDB's Rating: 5.4/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 46%
Do we recommend this movie: No.
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One year ago, we were watching: "Sixteen Candles"

Movie Review: "Whiplash" (2014)

Movie: "Whiplash"
Director: Damien Chazelle
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 47 minutes

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An aspiring young drummer named Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller) is in his first year at the Shaffer Conservatory in New York, the best music school in the country. Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) runs the Studio Band, the toughest program in the school, and tries to drive his students to be absolute best. He is always looking for new members and Andrew becomes his latest addition. Andrew has the desire to be the best, but Fletcher's program isn't what he expected. In an effort to bring the best out of his students, he berates, insults and demoralizes them to their breaking point and sometimes beyond. 

This movie is the literal definition of blood, sweat and tears, along with the drive, motivation, passion, pain, tension, anger and frustration that comes from wanting to be the best. The plot is your basic initiative and drive versus want and need story, just in a musical setting as opposed to something else (usually, this subject is explored through a sports theme). For being a drama about drumming, we sure were on the edge of our seats the entire time! This movie is so compelling and is certainly enthralling. We want Andrew, someone who has been pushed to the side his entire life, to finally be the best at something so he can prove everyone in his life wrong, but we also don't know if he can handle the beating it will take to get there.

The acting is top notch and absolutely exceptional. J.K. Simmons' face might be recognizable, but his demeanor sure isn't. We didn't really know he had it in him to be such a demanding hard-ass. You wouldn't know it from the Farmer's Insurance advertisements, but the guy is RIPPED. His stature, his posture, his entire essence, really, are commanding and intimidating. Fletcher is a no nonsense type of instructor who demands perfection and will accept no less. He switches from calm and understanding to raging lunatic in an instant, and each time he says something sweetly or as a normal person would, you wonder how long it will take until he starts shouting obscenities again. Fletcher has all the mannerisms of a drill sergeant, and yet he is just a humble band leader. Just as a drill sergeant would keep his salute and form tight in the presence of an officer, Simmons' arm and hand are taut and rigid when he's getting ready to conduct. Simmons' performance has been likened to that of R. Lee Ermey's in "Full Metal Jacket" and we can absolutely understand that comparison. He remarks in one scene in the film that "there are no two words in the English language more harmful than good job," and this epitomizes Fletcher as a character. Nothing is better or more necessary than being pushed to perfection.

Miles Teller continues to impress us with another immerse role as Andrew. The final drum scene in the movie is worth the price of admission all on its own. We didn't blink the entire time he was on stage banging away at his symbols. It was intense, dominating, and compelling, and the tension is caused was frenetic. There's so much emotion behind the scene that it is palpable to the audience. As we mentioned above, we want Andrew to come into his own as an artist, but feel for what he has to go through to get to be the best. According to IMDb, Teller has played the drums since he was 15, but really did get blisters and bleed during filming. He was also slapped by J.K. Simmons in one scene early on in the film, which just shows how far he was willing to go for this role. Simmons is Teller's biggest supporter and also his arch nemesis. Each and every time they are together, the hairs on the back of our necks would stand up straight...their chemistry was profound and brilliantly captured.

The cinematography and imagery in this movie is absolutely outstanding as well. Beyond the fact that the camera obviously focuses on Miles Teller or J.K. Simmons when they are on screen, audiences get to see the entire band from side to side many times during the film, mostly on cue with the music. It is deliberate, and the camera angles and cuts that are made are just stellar. As we mentioned above, there is no lack of blood, sweat, and tears, which turned out to be mostly real, and the imagery is almost burned into your brain to show just how serious Andrew really is at wanting to succeed at being a drummer. The attention to detail is great and much of the film focuses on the little things like drops of blood and beads of sweat dripping across symbols and snares. Every part of this movie makes you feel something. Beyond the music, which is fantastic, there are lots of noticeable noises and acts associated with a band that were left in the film: releasing, dripping spit from valves, the inhalation of a breath before playing a note, feedback from an amplifier, toe tapping...and we swear we could smell the resin in the air. This movie is the ultimate immersive experience, and you wouldn't know it just by looking at it.

You do not need to be a fan of jazz music to find this movie interesting. It's more about the sacrifices one man is willing to make in the pursuit of greatness. This film is definitely one you must see!!!

My Rating: 10/10
BigJ's Rating: 9/10
IMDB's Rating: 8.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 97%
Do we recommend this movie: ABSOLUTELY YES!!!
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One year ago, we were watching: "About Time"

Movie Review: "Dumb and Dumber To" (2014)

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Movie: "Dumb and Dumber To"
Director: Bobby and Peter Farrelly
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 1 hour, 50 minutes

Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) has spent the last 20 years catatonic in a nursing home. His friend Harry (Jeff Daniels) has visited him every week for the last two decades. When Harry informs Lloyd that this will be his last week visiting due to an illness that will take him out of commission, Lloyd breaks out of his catatonic state and yells "Gotcha!," as he has been faking the whole time. Harry then tells Lloyd about his illness and that he needs a kidney transplant. They decide to ask Harry's parents to donate a kidney to save him but are shocked to find that Harry is adopted and that the Chinese couple before him is not his biological parents, meaning they won't be a donor match. Since Harry hadn't been home in over 20 years, he had some old mail, including a postcard from his old girlfriend Fraida Felcher (Kathleen Turner), informing him that she was pregnant and she needed to see him. This means Harry might be a father, which means a possible kidney match. They come to learn Fraida gave her daughter up for adoption, so they set out on another road trip, this time to find Harry's estranged daughter and hopefully a new kidney. 

We are very much aware that humor is subjective from person to person. The thing about comedy movies and movie critics together is that most critics don't take well to comedies because they are stuffy "shirts" who want to pick them apart based on things that aren't the laugh factor. The bottom line is that humor, no matter what, has to actually be funny in order to be considered comedy. Is that not the basic criterion for any joke to be considered a joke? Critics need to ease up a little bit when it comes to comedies, because most of the time, they aren't fans and sometimes, unfoundedly so.

Regardless of your subjective humor and whether or not we just happen to be a couple of people who review movies, this movie is straight-up not funny. At all. Hardly anyone at our movie theater laughed, and we didn't even laugh once. NOT ONCE. ZERO TIMES. In almost 2 hours. Can you imagine what that must be like for people who love watching funny movies? To not laugh is to not breathe. Not only was it not funny, but it made us angry, too.

It's hard to say that this film was a disappointing failure 20 years in the making because filmmakers waited so long to produce a sequel for the masses. Even if they had waited only 10 years, it probably would have been 10 years too long. When we first heard that "Dumb and Dumber" was getting a sequel after such a long time, we were a little concerned, to say the least. When we actually saw the trailer, it didn't ease that concern one freaking bit. The trailer looked dreadful. It had been so long since the first film, we wondered why bother releasing a sequel at all, and as we mentioned before, it seems like it was a money grab on the part of not just Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, but the Farrelly brothers as well. And yet, they pushed on through the skepticism, and even after the dismal knockoff prequel, there is no way their sequel could be as bad as that, right? We decided to watch the original "Dumb and Dumber" again recently and it still made us laugh, so at least we have fond memories of that, we guess. We entered the theater with tepid expectations and an open mind in the hopes it would come even a little, just a little close to the original...Unfortunately, all of those hopes were quickly dashed, and as we mentioned above, in the 1 hour and 50-minute runtime, including the after credit scene, we laughed a grand total of ZERO! times. Joke after joke fell flat and the entire movie as a whole was eye-rolling, groan-worthy, and often disgusting as opposed to being funny. There are no "but at least there was that one-moment" moments. It's all terrible. BigJ mentioned to me about halfway through the film that my reactions to what we were watching were funnier than the actual movie itself.

Besides a recycled plot, rehashed one-liners from the original movie and stupid running gags throughout (IE: pushing people into bushes = comedy?????), Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels were terrible in this movie. They are playing parodies of Harry and Lloyd rather than just playing Harry and Lloyd. Part of the reason why the first film worked at all relied so heavily on the comedic timing and delivery of these two actors. There is no comedic timing and no good delivery as far as the eye can see in this sequel. In the first film, the duo were stupid and oblivious, but nowhere near as stupid and oblivious as they are here. They are dumbed-down so much that you wonder how they function or even feed themselves. It's less silly-stupid and more "these people cannot possibly function alone in the real world" stupid. Lloyd has been turned into an even bigger, meaner asshole with Harry as his now even dumber sidekick. There was a little bit of an innocence to the duo in the original, which was has been completely erased here in lieu of absurdity, calculated meanness, and dumbassery. Beyond the slew of basic, menial, moronic fart/poop/pee/butthole/dick/hand trapped in dusty old lady vagina jokes, some of the humor in this movie is downright offensive, and what's not offensive is just fucking empty. It's basically 2 hours worth of unfulfilled potential and a massive letdown for those who actually wanted a sequel. The supporting cast isn't much better. The only person who ever got us close to cracking a smile the entire time was Rob Riggle with a stellar camouflage body paint.

Not all the blame falls on the actors here. It's not like they had anything decent to work with and it's not like the writing was top-notch to being with. Gone are the days when Jim Carrey was the 20 million dollar man and Jeff Daniels actually acted with integrity. The Farrelly brothers should be ashamed of themselves, not just for this movie, but for the many, many, many pieces of shit they have made in their lifetime. After hefty expectations from die-hard fans, this is simply another movie that can be added to the seemingly never-ending pile of filthy for no point, unoriginal and rehashed, poorly acted stink bomb cash-grab movies. This is a fucking disaster, and we've seen "Left Behind" this year. It's really no wonder why Bill Murray wanted to be hidden behind a meth-making mask because I wouldn't want to be associated with this train-wreck either. Genuinely one of the worst movies we have seen in our lifetime.

My Rating: 1/10 (1 point for Rob Riggle)
BigJ's Rating: 1/10
IMDB's Rating: 5.8/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 27%
Do we recommend this movie: AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!

Movie Review: "Dear White People" (2014)

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Movie: "Dear White People"
Director: Justin Simien and Adriana Serrano
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 48 minutes

Winchester is prestigious Ivy League university that has come under some recent scrutiny due to a hip-hop themed Halloween party where white students were encouraged to show up in blackface. Flashback five weeks to how it all began. Sam White (Tessa Thompson) is a biracial student who has her own radio cast she calls "Dear White People," which is racially charged program that intends to enlighten people to the black state of mind. Colandrea 'Coco' Conners (Teyonah Parris) is from the south side of Chicago, but would prefer to distance herself from being associated with 'the hood' and hopes to garner some fame through a reality TV show, but is not combative enough to fit the bill. Troy Fairbanks (Brandon P Bell) is a poli-sci major and son of the Dean of Students. He is heavily involved in student politics and tends to do whatever his father asks, but is taken aback when he loses the house presidency to his ex-girlfriend, Sam White. Finally, Lionel Higgins (Tyler James Williams) is a gay black man who is into sci-fi and Mumford and Sons and is struggling to find his place at Winchester. He occasionally submits articles to the school paper and one day is approached by the editor to write a profile on black students on campus since none of the 100% white staff could write it without sounding racist. Actions by all these students in the upcoming weeks help play a hand in the school's recent controversy. 

This film is really, really good! We hadn't heard a whole lot about it leading up to seeing it, so we jumped the gun one day and decided to watch it. To our surprise, for a 9 pm Monday night showtime, there were a lot of people in the audience. It is a socially and politically driven satire about the lives of black students and the discrimination and racism that goes on in universities and colleges across the nation. Pretty much every Halloween, or at least once a year like clockwork, we hear stories about how people who thought it was a good idea to throw a "blackface party," or a "gangster" party, or a "cholo" party. Seriously? Still? People who say racism is dead in this country have no idea what they are talking about. By approaching the subject in a humorous manner, "Dear White People" manages to send a very powerful and important message without being overly preachy. Both sides of the racial coin are debated throughout the film in a satirical style, though the issues presented are very much realistic. This humor allows the film to display how racism is still very much alive and well, especially in areas that are made up of mostly white people. From the back-handed compliments given to black students ("oh wow, you're so articulate!"), to restrictions black students put on themselves (adjusting their "blackness" based on who is in the room), the film analyzes all aspects of the racial equation. It was a bold endeavor to undertake, but this film is beautifully executed and hilarious to boot. It's snarky, touchy, and poignant all at the same time. 

There is a lot of fine acting all around in this movie. The performances given by both Tessa Thompson, who plays Sam, an angry biracial student who has seen enough racism to fill two lifetimes, and Tyler James Williams, who plays Lionel, a gay black student wandering aimlessly both in college and in life and faced discrimination for his sexual orientation from even black students at his high school, are both quite powerful. The issue with these two students specifically is that they both don't fit into one particular neatly labeled package. Sam is both black and white who wants to further the cause of social justice for black people, but is also in love with a white man. Lionel is both gay and black, and a nerd on top of all that, so he faced discrimination from every angle and never really found his proper place. Life is all about boxes and the labels society puts on them and finding where we fit. You're either gay OR straight, black OR white OR Mexican, Christian OR atheist, Republican OR democrat...you're never just you. You can't be both without facing some sort of backlash. There's a label for every belief, every race, every class, everything and when people question those beliefs and labels, that's when change starts to happen, and people fear change. All these labels do are highlight our difference rather than showcasing our similarities.

In my travels on the interwebsz, I have seen those who say "you're racist if you don't like this movie" AND "you're racist if you like this movie." We say a hearty "screw off" to all the people fighting about it. Can't we just like it for what it is, a well-written, well acted, excellent piece of cinema with a solid message and interesting point of view with lots of tongue-in-cheek satirical humor? All in all, we really enjoyed it and would like to watch it again when it comes out on DVD.

My Rating: 8/10
BigJ's Rating: 8/10
IMDB's Rating: 6.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 91%
Do we recommend this movie: Yes!
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One year ago, we were watching: "The Omen"

Movie Review: "Dumb and Dumber" (1994)

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Movie: "Dumb and Dumber"
Director: Peter & Bobby Farrelly
Year: 1994
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 1 hour, 47 minutes

Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) is a limo driver and a total idiot. Lloyd drives a woman named Mary Swanson (Lauren Holly) to the airport for her trip to Aspen. Mary leaves her briefcase by the airport escalator and Lloyd retrieves the briefcase but is unable to get it to her before take-off. What Lloyd doesn't know is the briefcase was full of ransom money for Mary's kidnapped husband. Now, the kidnappers think Lloyd is involved and are after him. Lloyd is infatuated with Mary and wants to take the briefcase to her in Aspen and convinces his equally moronic roomate Harry (Jeff Daniels) to drive him there. Lloyd and Harry leave on a cross-country road trip from Rhode Island to Aspen to return the briefcase, all the while being pursued by a pair of murderous kidnappers.  

To be honest, we were sort of excited when we heard a sequel to this movie was being made......18 years ago.

There is quite a bit of topical humor pertinent to the early 90's in this movie. There is a parody of the "Pretty Woman" montage that could be considered timeless, but was much more fresh in the early 90's than in 2014. This may have lost some of its impact 20 years later. Whether situational or not, the humor found here is the typical Farrelly brothers over-the-top slapstick, stupid, kind of dirty and raunchy humor, just toned down for a PG-13 rating. This doesn't mean that there aren't a lot of poop and pee jokes, because there are. Jim Carrey does his typical Jim Carrey thing with flailing body parts, outrageous faces and movements, and silly noises, though both he and Jeff Daniels play their idiot roles convincingly well and they way they play off of each other is kind of brilliant. The humor that does work is due to the delivery of Carrey and Daniels, though there are only a few brief breaks from the overall stupidity. Carrey and Daniels manage to have a little bit of charm through their idiocy and oblivious nature, but a lot of times that charm is quickly erased by an explosive diarrhea scene. It helps that there is an overlying plot about the kidnappers chasing them to Aspen, but extra characters only means more people to talk to about doody. Mike Starr, who plays one of the kidnappers, has some good comedic moments as well, but his comedy is much more of a straight-man style than a raucous riot.

The humor isn't the only thing that feels dated in this film, and we're left scratching our heads as to why they would make a sequel 20 years later for reasons other than money, but we digress and will look forward to it with open arms??? It should be noted, though, that this movie is extremely quotable even today, so at least not everything is outdated. Despite its overall stupidity and raunchy nature, it still manages to make me giggle and to make BigJ laugh out loud here and there. It is tolerable for Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels' chemistry alone, so there might be a little hope left for the sequel. Who knows, only time, and us this weekend, will tell!

My Rating: 6.5/10
BigJ's Rating: 7/10
IMDB's Rating: 7.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 65%
Do we recommend this movie: Sure, why not?
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One year ago, we were watching: "Last Vegas"

Movie Review: "Laggies" (2014)

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Movie: "Laggies"
Director: Lynn Shelton
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 39 minutes

Megan (Keira Knightley) is a 28-year-old woman with a masters degree who has been with the same boyfriend, Anthony (Mark Webber), and the same group of friends since high school. She is at a point in her life where she is unsure about her future, yet everyone is pressuring her to pick a career and settle down. Circumstances in her life lead Megan to want to take some time to herself to reflect. She makes up an excuse to leave home and winds up staying with a teenager named Annika (Chloë Grace Moretz), who Megan met a couple nights earlier after buying alcohol for her and her friends. Annika's father Craig (Sam Rockwell) is unsure about letting a woman in her 20's hang out with his teenage daughter, but after a short interrogation, he lets her stay. During the week, Megan becomes close to both Annika and Craig and starts to think it is time for some big changes in her life.

Movie Review: "Big Hero 6" (2014)

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Movie: "Big Hero 6"
Director: Don Hall and Chris Williams
Rating: PG
Running Time: 1 hour, 48 minutes

A child prodigy in robotic engineering named Hiro (Ryan Potter) has been using his talents to build battle robots and gamble on bot fighting. After getting arrested, his brother Tadashi (Daniel Henney) manages to convince Hiro to apply at his university after showing him the science lab where students develop new technologies. In order to get into the school, Hiro must impress Professor Callaghan (James Cromwell), who is head of the science department, at the annual science fair hosted by the university. For his project, Hiro creates tiny microbots that can be telepathically controlled by wearing a special headband and can combine to make solid metal structures, transportation and much more.  Callaghan is extremely impressed by the microbots, as is an industrialist named Alistair Krei (Alan Tudyk). Krei offers to buy the microbots, but Hiro declines. Shortly after, a fire breaks out at the school, and in an attempt to save Professor Callaghan, Tadashi is killed. This drives Hiro into a depression and when he accidentally hurts his foot, it activates a medical robot his brother was working on called Baymax (Scott Adsit), who, in an effort to help Hiro cope, stumbles upon the truth behind the fire and a mysterious masked man who set it to steal Hiro's microbots. Hiro, along with Tadashi's classmates, Go Go (Jamie Chung), Honey Lemon (Genesis Rodriguez), Wasabi (Damon Wayans Jr.) and Fred (T.J. Miller), use their smarts and engineering skills to develop special suits that give the wearer superpowers in order to combat this mysterious masked man and the stolen microbots.