Saturday, July 23, 2016

Film: Star Trek Beyond








GENRE: Sci-Fi Adventure
RATING: PG-13 for violence
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 0 minutes
STARRING: Chris Pine (Into the Woods, This Means War)
Zachary Quinto (Heroes), Zoe Saldana (Avatar, Guardians of the Galaxy)
DIRECTOR: Justin Lin (Fast Five, Fast & Furious 6)
WRITERS: Simon Pegg (Hot Fuzz) & Doug Jung (Confidence)
PLOT: The USS Enterprise is in peril as aliens attack. The crew needs to be rescued and save the Federation, again.     

FULL DISCLOSURE: Loved JJ Abrams reboot a few years ago. Not a ‘Trekkie’ or whatever they prefer to call themselves now.

STORY STUFF: A pretty good story. I enjoyed the stakes involved and the pacing for the most part. I really liked that they paired off the different crew members and gave everyone a chance to shine. I wish that the villain’s motive was revealed sooner than it was; he just seemed pissed off for most the movie which did him no favours.  

ACTING STUFF: I have to hand it to the Enterprise crew, they have some awesome chemistry. They all work so well together. Kudos to JJ Abrams and the team for gathering this group together. Sofia Boutella (Kingsmen) is a great addition. Idris Elba (Pacific Rim) has a great voice for a baddie, but like was mentioned in the story stuff, just too much anger.  

ARTISTIC STUFF: While the ship flying and its attack were visually awesome, they have no regard for the environment. So many trees destroyed. I loved their use of a particular song near the end of the film. Fit perfectly for the scene and as a throwback to the 2009 film. Also enjoyed a couple other references to the first reboot (like a good third film in a trilogy should do).

VERDICT: Three and a half stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You enjoyed the previous two Star Treks.
UPCOMING REVIEWS: Jason Bourne, Suicide Squad

Friday, July 22, 2016

Film: Ghostbusters








GENRE: Sci-Fi Comedy
RATING: PG-13 for action and some crude humour
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 56 minutes
STARRING: Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids, Spy, The Heat)
Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids), Kate McKinnon (SNL, Finding Dory)
DIRECTOR: Paul Fieg (Spy, The Heat, Bridesmaids)
WRITERS: Fieg (Spy, Freaks & Geeks) & Katie Dippold (The Heat)
PLOT: A group of scientists work together to stop a supernatural threat to New York City.    

FULL DISCLOSURE: Went in with low expectations. Loved the original and even the sequel.

STORY STUFF: While the story follows many of the original’s beats, there are some fun differences. I enjoyed how they got together and how the city is trying to discredit them. You can tell they had a lot of fun throwing in many references to the original, including cast members. I think the film could have been a bit shorter and faster paced at times. Also the villain was pretty lame and underwritten, definitely no Vigo or Zuul. 

ACTING STUFF: McKinnon steals the show as Holtzmann. She is quirky and fun and brings loads of energy. Chris Hemsworth is also a riot as an incredibly dumb secretary. I actually thought McCarthy and Wiig could have brought more to the movie. McCarthy’s Chinese food complaints and Wiig’s crush on Hemsworth notwithstanding, I thought both of them could have been a lot funnier. It looked like they were taking things a little too seriously. I also enjoyed the many cameos throughout the film, especially Steve Higgins and Cecily Strong. I was surprised at the size of role for Bill Murray considering his avoidance of everything Ghostbusters for so long.  

ARTISTIC STUFF: The special effects are definitely a step up from the original. I hated the 3D aspects though, like having Leslie Jones’ necklace hanging outside the letterbox. The 3D was far too gimmicky and unnecessary.

VERDICT: Two and a half stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You want to see SNL actors stretch their character skills
UPCOMING REVIEWS: Star Trek Beyond

Friday, July 15, 2016

Film: The Secret Life of Pets








GENRE: Animated Comedy
RATING: PG for action and some rude humour
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 27 minutes
STARRING: Louie CK (Louie, Invention of Lying, American Hustle)
Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family), Kevin Hart (Central Intelligence)
DIRECTORS: Chris Renaud (Despicable Me, The Lorax)
Yarrow Cheney (newcomer)
WRITERS: Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio (Despicable Me)
Brian Lynch (Hop, Minions)
PLOT: A loyal dog gets a new roommate. They dislike each other, get caught by animal control and try to get back home.   

FULL DISCLOSURE: I trusted the folks behind Despicable Me.

STORY STUFF: The story was not that great. The ‘trying to find your way back home’ plotline just didn’t do it for me. I did enjoy the initial owners leaving and their pets do awesome things, but this was already shown in the trailer, so no surprises there. There was cuteness all around but not many big laughs to be had.

ACTING STUFF: I did enjoy having Louie CK be the voice of the protagonist, Max. He has a great voice for the character and also embodies New York in general. But it is Jenny Slate (Zootopia, SNL) who steals the show as Gidget, a sweet furball with a crush on Max. Hart plays Snowball the rabbit but just ends up yelling too much; he is way too over the top in this role.

ARTISTIC STUFF: I loved the animation of New York. I love New York in general so I love seeing the sights and sounds of the city. The thing that bothered me most about this film is that many of the scenes were just chaotic for chaotic sake. Car chases and cat attacks were just too busy for me to care what was going on. These people should watch some more Pixar to see how to do it properly.   

VERDICT: Two and a half stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You’re a dog (or cat) person I guess.
UPCOMING REVIEWS: Ghostbusters

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

2016 Emmy Dream Nominations







The votes for the Emmy Award nominations are in and the announcement happens tomorrow. Looking over the very long ballot, these would be my dream nominations for the upcoming Emmys. Many of these are long shots but its fun to dream.

Lead Actor in a Drama Series
·         Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson [Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.]
·         Freddie Highmore as Norman Bates [Bates Motel]
·         Damian Lewis as Bobby ‘Axe’ Axelrod [Billions]
·         Rami Malek as Elliot [Mr. Robot]
·         Jake McDorman as Brian Finch [Limitless]
·         Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill [Better Call Saul]

Lead Actress in a Drama Series
·         Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter [Agent Carter]
·         Elizabeth Henstridge as Jemma Simmons [Agents of S.H.I.E.l.D.]
·         Tatiana Maslany as Sarah & her 5 clones [Orphan Black]
·         Rose McIver as Olivia Moore [iZombie]
·         Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones [Jessica Jones]
·         Robin Wright as Claire Underwood [House of Cards]

Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
·         Aziz Ansari as Dev [Master of None]
·         Jake Johnson as Nick [New Girl]
·         Thomas Lennon as Felix Unger [The Odd Couple]
·         Thomas Middleditch as Richard [Silicon Valley]
·         Andy Samberg as Det. Jake Peralta [Brooklyn Nine-Nine]
·         Fred Savage as Stewart Sanderson [The Grinder]

Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
·         Zooey Deschanel as Jessica Day [New Girl]
·         Rashida Jones as Angie Tribeca [Angie Tribeca]
·         Mindy Kaling as Dr. Mindy Lahiri [The Mindy Project]
·         Ellie Kemper as Kimmy Schmidt [Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt]
·         Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Selina Meyer [Veep]
·         Amy Schumer as Amy [Inside Amy Schumer]

Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
·         Bryan Cranston as Lyndon B Johnson [All the Way]
·         Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes [Sherlock]
·         Colin Farrell as Ray Velcoro [True Detective]
·         Cuba Gooding Jr. as OJ Simpson [The People vs OJ Simpson]
·         Tom Hiddleston as Jonathan Pine [The Night Manager]
·         Courtney B Vance as Johnnie Cochran [The People vs OJ Simpson]

Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
·         Kirsten Dunst as Peggy Blumquist [Fargo]
·         Rachel McAdams as Det. Ani Bezzerides [True Detective]
·         Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark [The People vs OJ Simpson]
·         Kerry Washington as Anita Hill [Confirmation]
·         Kristen Wiig as Sarah Benson [A Deadly Adoption]
·         Kristen Wiig as Dolores DeWinter [The Spoils Before Dying]

Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
·         Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut [Better Call Saul]
·         James D’Arcy as Edwin Jarvis [Agent Carter]
·         Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister [Game of Thrones]
·         Cory Michael Smith as Edward Nygma [Gotham]
·         David Tennant as Kilgrave [Jessica Jones]
·         Martin Wallstrom as Tyrell [Mr. Robot]

Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
·         Uzo Aduba as ‘Crazy Eyes’ Warren [Orange is the New Black]
·         Amy Brenneman as ‘Taystee’ Jefferson [Orange is the New Black]
·         Sarah Rafferty as Donna Paulsen [Suits]
·         Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler [Better Call Saul]
·         Maggie Siff as Wendy Rhoades [Billions]
·         Darby Stanchfield as Abby Whelan [Scandal]

Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
·         Andre Braugher as Cpt. Ray Holt [Brooklyn Nine-Nine]
·         Ty Burrell as Phil Dunphy [Modern Family]
·         Bobby Moynihan as Various Characters [SNL]
·         Kumail Nanjiani as Dinesh [Silicon Valley]
·         Paul Rudd as Andy [Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp]
·         Martin Starr as Gilfoyle [Silicon Valley]

Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
·         Stephanie Beatriz as Det. Rosa Diaz [Brooklyn Nine-Nine]
·         Mayim Bialik as Amy Farrah Fowler [The Big Bang Theory]
·         Aidy Bryant as Various characters [SNL]
·         Kate McKinnon as Various Characters [SNL]
·         Amanda Peet as Tina Morris [Togetherness]
·         Cecily Strong as Various Characters [SNL]

Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
·         Sterling K Brown as Christopher Darden [The People vs OJ Simpson]
·         Ted Danson as Hank Larsson [Fargo]
·         Hugh Laurie as Richard Roper [The Night Manager]
·         Nick Offerman as Karl Weathers [Fargo]
·         David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian [People vs OJ Simpson]
·         Bokeem Woodbine as Mike Milligan [Fargo]

Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
·         Not enough choices for dream nominations

Writing for a Drama Series
·         Forever [Bates Motel]
·         Klick [Better Call Saul]
·         Battle of the Bastards [Game of Thrones]
·         The Litvinov Ruse [Homeland]
·         No Way Out [The Walking Dead]
·         Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster [The X-Files]

Writing for a Comedy Series
·         The Opening Night Excitation [The Big Bang Theory]
·         The Nine-Eight [Brooklyn Nine-Nine]
·         One-Eighty [House of Lies]
·         Parents [Master of None]
·         Phil’s Sexy, Sexy House [Modern Family]
·         The Uptick [Silicon Valley]

Drama Series
·         The Americans
·         Better Call Saul
·         Game of Thrones
·         iZombie
·         Marvel’s Jessica Jones
·         Mr. Robot

Comedy Series
·         Brooklyn Nine-Nine
·         The Grinder
·         The Last Man on Earth
·         Master of None
·         New Girl
·         Silicon Valley

Limited Series
·         Fargo
·         The Night Manager
·         The People vs OJ Simpson
·         The Spoils Before Dying
·         True Detective

The nominations are announced on July 14th.

Monday, July 04, 2016

Film: Central Intelligence








GENRE: Action, Comedy
RATING: PG-13 for violence, language & some nudity
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 47 minutes
STARRING: Dwayne Johnson (Furious 7, Pain & Gain, WWE)
Kevin Hart (Ride Along, Get Hard), Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone)
DIRECTOR: Rawson Marshall Thurber (Dodgeball, We’re the Millers)
WRITERS: Ike Barinholtz & David Stassen (Mindy Project)
Thurber (Dodgeball)
PLOT: A former fat kid (now a secret agent) works with the former cool kid (now accountant) on an important case. Hilarity and action ensues.  

FULL DISCLOSURE: I went in with pretty low expectations

STORY STUFF: There are funny scenes throughout but the storyline was terrible. It was predictable and boring. And even the funny scenes could have been funnier.  

ACTING STUFF: Johnson & Hart have some fun chemistry together, but I was actually hoping that Hart would have had more funny things to say. There was more potential that could have been used. I enjoyed a few of the cameos in the film. Also liked seeing Ryan Hansen (Veronica Mars) getting some work.

ARTISTIC STUFF: Not much to report here. Some good song choices. Didn’t like the fanny pack.  

VERDICT: Two and a half stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You really like Kevin Hart
UPCOMING REVIEWS: Secret Lives of Pets