Film: Long Shot

GENRE: Rom-Com

RATING: R for sexual content, language and drug use
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 5 minute

STARRING: Charlize Theron (Tully, Young Adult, Atomic Blonde)

Seth Rogen (Knocked Up), June Diane Raphael (Disaster Artist)

DIRECTOR: Jonathan Levine (50/50, Snatched, Warm Bodies)

WRITERS: Dan Sterling (The Interview) & Liz Hannah (The Post)

PLOT: An unlikely romance between a female secretary of state running for president and a shlubby journalist who she used to babysit.  

FULL DISCLOSURE: My expectations were not that high.  

STORY STUFF: The premise worked surprisingly well for me as I got on board pretty quickly. There are a lot of laughs throughout and some very touching moments. With the gong show of politics these days, this situation is surprisingly believable. The two hours go by pretty fast.

ACTING STUFF: Rogen is his funny but charming self. I’m glad he wasn’t made into an idiot but had strong beliefs and played up the nervousness. Theron shocked me with how relaxed she seemed in this genre. She played both extremes very well. O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Straight Outta Compton) also does a great job as Rogen’s loyal friend. Unfortunately, some of the supporting cast needed grounding. Andy Serkis (LOTR) goes too cartoonish as a big bad media tycoon. The two administrative assistants are also not anything to write home about.

ARTISTIC STUFF: I love the 90’s nostalgia thrown into this film. Boyz II Men and Roxette feature heavily and I love every minute of it. During a climactic running to meet each other scene, they should have used another 90’s song instead of jumping further back to 1963’s “Then He Kissed Me”. Also, while it was definitely intentional and funny, Rogen’s wardrobe was hideous and made my eyes hurt.   

VERDICT: Four stars out of five

SEE IT IF: You enjoy the Seth Rogen’s less raunchy stuff and rom-coms.

UPCOMING REVIEWS: John Wick 3; Aladdin

Film: Avengers Endgame

GENRE: Action Adventure

RATING: PG-13 for violence and some language
RUNTIME: 3 hours and 1 minute

STARRING: Robert Downey Jr (Iron Man, Sherlock Holmes, Chaplin)

Chris Evans (Captain America, Snowpiercer), Chris Hemsworth (Thor)

DIRECTORS: Anthony & Joe Russo (Captain Americas, Infinity War)

WRITERS: Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely (Captain Americas)

PLOT: The Avengers avenge the fallen Avengers.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I’d been looking forward to this since Infinity War.   

STORY STUFF: The three hours fly by (like Lord of the Rings). There’s a lot of story and a lot of characters to cover, but the directors, writers and Marvel are pros. The story seemed to be divided into three one-hour long acts, each with its own bells and whistles and emotional gut-punches. That’s all I’ll say to keep from spoilers.

ACTING STUFF: Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans give powerhouse performances as the backbone to the film and the series in general. It’s fun to see them have fun in their roles, inspire others with impassioned speeches and make us all cry with emotional moments galore. (The Russos have a soft spot for Captain America in particular, since it’s ‘their’ franchise.) Don’t get me wrong, the others are also on the top of their game. Kudos all around.

ARTISTIC STUFF: Special effects are awesome as usual. The music affected me more this time around. The blending of all these superhero theme songs are impressive and makes my heart full. I was also impressed with the way they honor the original Avengers in the end credits. So classy (reminding me of the Stan Lee intro for Captain Marvel). Brought a tear to my eye.  

VERDICT: Five stars out of five

SEE IT IF: You don’t want to miss out on what everyone’s talking about.

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Long Shot