Movie Reviews

Zootopia

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Zootopia
  • IMDb: link

Zootopia

Part wacky buddy movie, part crime drama, part small town girl in the big city, there’s no shortage of themes in Disney’s latest animated feature Zootopia. Boasting three directors and more than a half-dozen writers, the various story elements pull the movie in numerous directions over its 108-minute running time. What the film lacks in a coherent vision it makes for in old-school animated fun.

Zootopia has two great strengths. The first is the world itself which is excellently designed and large enough to encompass far more stories than just the mystery we’re given here. The second is its leading lady in spunky new police officer Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) whose can-do attitude never falters, even when everyone around her scoffs at the idea of a bunny cop.

…

ZootopiaRead More »

Zootopia Read More »

Eddie the Eagle

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Eddie the Eagle
  • IMDb: link

Eddie the EagleIt’s fitting that at one point during Eddie the Eagle a sports announcer mentions the Jamaican bobsled team. Taking place during the same 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, the story of Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards (Taron Egerton) proves to be a fair companion piece to 1993’s Cool Runnings about outsiders making their mark and earning a place in a sport that wanted nothing to do with them.

In truth there aren’t that many sports stories. There’s the tale of the underdog making good (Rocky, Rudy, Major League), the comeback (Rocky III, Cinderella Man), a team coming together to overcome incredible odds (We Are Marshall, Hoosiers, Miracle), and an old athlete given a last chance at redemption (Rocky Balboa, The Wrestler). We like these stories because the characters are recognizable, their goals are understandable, and journeys are worth rooting for. Eddie the Eagle uses several of these themes in presenting Eddie’s story. The script by Sean Macaulay and Simon Kelton colors far less outside the lines than it’s protagonist ever did, but Edward’s story of a dreamer chasing the impossible simply works. It’s exactly the feel-good sports movie you expect it to be.

…

Eddie the EagleRead More »

Eddie the Eagle Read More »

Deadpool

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Deadpool
  • IMDb: link

DeadpoolFans of Deadpool rejoice, the Merc with a Mouth has made it to the big screen and has brought his raunchy hard R-rating humor with him. Not pulling any punches, director Tim Miller and screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick succeed in capturing the core of one of Marvel’s most insane smart-ass characters as 20th Century and Ryan Reynolds both redeem themselves for their previous (and regrettable) collaboration of the character in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Kicking ass and cracking wise, Deadpool continually breaks the fourth wall while killing many, many people and making comments about the movie, various characters (and the real-life actors who play them), and even Ryan Reynolds’ other super-hero movie. Along for the ride are Morena Baccarin as Wade Wilson’s stripper girlfriend Vanessa and T.J. Miller as Wade’s equally wise-cracking best bud Weasel. And Leslie Uggams provides a couple of cheap laughs as the Merc with a Mouth’s blind roommate. Deadpool comic readers should also watch out for Deadpool’s long-suffering comic-book sidekick Bob (Rob Hayter) who earns his own cameo.

…

DeadpoolRead More »

Deadpool Read More »

Where to Invade Next

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Where to Invade Next
  • IMDb: link

Where to Invade NextFor his first film in half a decade Michael Moore turns his attention to education, workers’ rights, and prison policies in a whirlwind tour around the world from France to Tunisia. Where to Invade Next captures the best, and worst, of Moore who presents a compelling argument that the United States may want to look at other countries’ solutions to problems that are being handled better abroad than at home. “Invading” the nations to steal their solutions, Moore hopes to bring them all back home.

At its best Where to Invade Next is a compelling look at solutions to serious problems. The documentary offers valid arguments for America to look to alternative solutions (many of which were first proposed by Americans themselves). At its worst, the film becomes more about Moore mugging for the camera than his argument. While those open to the ideas raised in the film are likely to come away with some smart questions about how the United States deals with prisoners, students, and workers, those with an already low tolerance for the filmmaker’s antics won’t need to look very hard for an excuse to turn a deaf ear and tune him out (or, more likely, ignore the film completely).

…

Where to Invade NextRead More »

Where to Invade Next Read More »

Hail, Caesar!

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Hail, Caesar!
  • IMDb: link

Hail, Caesar!With Hail, Caesar! the Coen Brothers take a few good-natured stabs at the golden age of movies while celebrating, and lampooning, the studio system of Hollywood during the early days of the Cold War. Providing a film where Channing Tatum gets to play Fred Astaire and Tilda Swinton does double-duty as twin gossip columnists, I wouldn’t go so far to call it a screwball comedy, but Hail, Caesar! certainly does have a few screws loose (in mostly the right places).

Josh Brolin stars as studio exec Eddie Mannix dodging offers to leave the studio for a more stable job while overseeing a big-budget spectacular about a Roman general’s encounter with Jesus Christ when his star (George Clooney) is kidnapped by a group of Hollywood writers who are all Communists (Fisher Stevens, Patrick Fischler, Tom Musgrave, David Krumholtz, Greg Baldwin, and Patrick Carroll).

Not all the film works. Far too much time is wasted on Mannix being wooed by an airline, and, while opening up intriguing ideas about outside-the-box solutions to problems, the subplot involving Scarlett Johansson as a single pregnant starlet fizzles. More successful is Alden Ehrenreich as a Western star struggling with his role in straightforward drama.

…

Hail, Caesar!Read More »

Hail, Caesar! Read More »