The sequel to 2014’s Paddington brings back the cast for another adventure this time swapping out Nicole Kidman for Hugh Grant as the film’s villain. The trope of the obviously innocent hero being convicted for a crime no one believes he committed is one of my least favorite, but Paddington 2 makes it work by tapping into the same earnestness and heartfelt nature of the original film.
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On Valentine’s Day, the main storyline involves Matt (Tim Allen) visiting his wife’s grave and making a new friend (Nancy Travis). While the episode doesn’t set up Travis as a romantic interest, the interactions between them (first at the mausoleum and then at the pharmacy) does build on Matt learning how to move on after his wife’s death. Sadly, neither of the B-stories have much to offer in terms of Riley (Kat Dennings) fretting over a dance video which is really just an excuse for Dennings and Seann William Scott to dance badly, and Georgia (Barrett Margolis) getting sick when left alone with Carter (Maxwell Simkins), both feel very much lazy paint-by-number sitcom filler.
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Shifting Gears – Valentine’s Read More »
The first Paddington film in eight years takes Paddington (Ben Whishaw) and the Brown family out of London and into the jungles of Peru. Flipping the fish-out-of-water concept of the series on its head, the third film in the franchise returns Paddington to the jungle while pushing the Brown family, who all choose to accompany him, into unfamiliar surroundings allowing them to react to the strange new world.
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“Jimmy” is something of a misfire for Shifting Gears which introduces Lucas Neff as Riley’s (Kat Dennings) husband Jimmy. It’s always tricky when introducing an ex after never showing us an example of the couple together. The show never really sells Riley and Jimmy as a couple who would have stayed together for years other than that Riley appears weak in the knees for the man’s musical talent (which we don’t see a single example of on-screen). Nothing here does anything positive for the Riley character. Arriving in time for Carter’s (Maxwell Simkins) birthday, the premise of the episode moves from Jimmy attempting to win back Riley to instead win back his son’s love. Once transitioning to that aspect, which is something even Matt (Tim Allen) can get behind, the episode works better. However, overall it’s quite hit-and-miss.
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There’s a concept at the heart of You’re Cordially Invited which could have produced an okay film. This is not that film. Through the first, of many, contrivances, two families book the same small wedding venue on the same weekend. Oddly, it’s neither the bride nor groom of either side as the main characters but the father (Will Ferrell) of one of the brides (Geraldine Viswanathan) and the sister (Reese Witherspoon) of the other bride (Meredith Hagner).
While at first agreeing to work together to make the best of a bad situation and share the venue, conflicts arise (mostly through more contrivances rather than reasonable actions by any character) leading to each actively trying to destroy the other wedding (but in mostly lame ways as anything truly bad that happens is always accidental).
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