Comedy

It’s All Downhill From Here

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

Downhill movie reviewIt’s surprising to me that a film co-written and co-directed by Jim Rash could turn out to be such a joyless exercise in futility. Along with Nat Faxon, Rash attempts to remake the Swedish dramedy Force Majeure for American audiences. Something obviously got lost in the translation.

Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus star as Pete and Billie, a married spending a ski vacation in the Alps with their two sons. The family witnesses a controlled avalanche that terrifies them, but actually never put the members of the family in any real danger. Pete running away to save himself creates tension among the group, especially when he fails to acknowledge or apologize for his actions.

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Dolemite is My Name

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  • Title: Dolemite is My Name
  • IMDb: link

Dolemite is My Name movie reviewEddie Murphy stars as entertainer Rudy Ray Moore who reinvents his dated struggling stage show to find new success by assuming the role of a character named Dolemite on stage (inspired by stories told on the streets in the 1970s about a foul-mouthed pimp who wouldn’t take shit from anyone). The success of the character would lead to three racy comedy albums, which larger studios feared to touch due to their explicit nature, and even feature films.

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Klaus

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  • Title: Klaus
  • IMDb: link

Klaus reviewKlaus offers a fun, if a bit predictable, holiday tale that explains various aspects of the Santa Claus mythology when a spoiled postman (Jason Schwartzman) is shipped off to the edge of the world and enlists the help of a hermit named Klaus (J.K. Simmons) to provide toys to the children of Smeerensburg where two rival families have been at odds for generations. While Jesper’s (Schwartzman) motives are originally selfish in terms of bumping up the post office’s numbers to earn a trip back home to the good life, his actions lead to a dramatic change in the town’s children, and eventually their parents.

The pair’s attempt to deliver presents sets the precedent of Santa coming through the chimney, lumps of coal, and a sleigh pulled by reindeer. Klaus works well as a holiday film where both our selfish protagonist and the bizarre city he finds himself exiled to discover the meaning of Christmas. Even the lonely Klaus is helped by Jesper’s schemes, although the story flounders a bit in the final act where Jesper’s motives behind the town’s changes are put into light prior to the inevitable conclusion to the story. Klaus is currently available on Netflix.

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Jojo Rabbit

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Jojo Rabbit
  • IMDb: link

Jojo Rabbit movie reviewAn irreverent comedy centered around a Nazi 10 year-old (Roman Griffin Davis) whose imaginary friend is Adolf Hitler isn’t going to appeal to everyone. Writer/director Taika Waititi (who also stars as the Fuhrer) crafts an odd little film about a devout, although not very good, Nazi who completely believes in the propaganda he’s been fed since birth about Jews and the military dominance of the father land despite those around him seeing the writing on the wall that the end of the war is vast approaching.

Waititi, who adapted the story from Christine Leunens’ novel Caging Skies, gets the most out of his young star while surrounding him with an impressive supporting cast who understand the vibe the director is going for in the film. Scarlett Johansson is terrific as JoJo’s mother who is hiding more than a few secrets from her young Nazi son. Sam Rockwell, as a demoted Nazi officer now forced to work with children, sets the tone of the film early on in his presentation to a Hitler Youth training camp. Jojo’s misadventures at the camp do nothing to make him question his belief in the Nazi Party but meeting a girl named Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie) leads to several questions.

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The Secret Life of Pets 2

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  • Title: The Secret Life of Pets 2
  • IMDb: link

The Secret Life of Pets 2 Blu-ray reviewA sequel to the 2016 film that showcased what pets get up to when their owners aren’t around, The Secret Life of Pets 2 offers three separate storylines featuring the characters from the first film along with a few new faces. The neurotic Max (Patton Oswalt) learns to relax about the child of his owner, the would-be hero Snowball (Kevin Hart) goes on a mission to save a tiger from the circus, and the flighty Gidget (Jenny Slate) enlists the help of Chloe (Lake Bell) to recover a toy from a cat woman’s home. Each provides some humorous moments here and there, but the stories are only loosely connected (as if a trio of TV-specials were combined into a single film).

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