Film: Inside Out 2

 

GENRE: Animation
RATING: PG for some thematic elements
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 36 minutes
PLATFORM: Movie Theatre
STARRING: Amy Poehler (Parks & Recreation, SNL, The House, Sisters)
Maya Hawke (Stranger Things); Kensington Tallman (Drama Club)
DIRECTOR: Kelsey Mann (newcomer)
WRITERS: Meg LeFauve (Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur, Captain Marvel);
Dave Holstein (Weeds, Kidding); Kelsey Mann (The Good Dinosaur)
PLOT: Riley is now a teenager and dealing with friends and hockey.  

FULL DISCLOSURE: Loved the first Inside Out for its sheer cleverness.

STORY STUFF: While not as good as the first one, this sequel is pretty clever and full of great stuff. Riley is now thirteen which means a few new emotions join the gang like Anxiety, Envy and Embarrassment (although I was plenty embarrassed before I was thirteen). There are a number of fun interactions when each emotion gets a chance at the helm. This film seemed to have more Riley storylines this time around. I will admit that I got a little welled up near the end of the film but Pixar is so good at the manipulation. I’m not sure if really young kids will get all the references but it sure is fun for adults who can reflect on those times. Without wanting to spoil anything, I’ll just say that my highlight was the sarcasm.

ACTING STUFF: Poehler is always great as Joy. I love that Lewis Black and Phyllis Smith (The Office) returned as Anger and Sadness. I was sad to not hear Bill Hader and Mindy Kaling doing Fear and Disgust – they were so great. Tony Hale (Veep) is okay as Fear but Liza Lapira’s Disgust doesn’t have the same edge Kaling brings. I enjoyed Hawke’s Anxiety voice. It was nice having Ayo Edebiri (The Bear) join as Envy but I didn’t feel the part was that great as I didn’t see Envy doing all that much in this story.     

ARTISTIC STUFF: I’ll credit the creativity and cleverness again. The different parts of Riley’s brain are so well thought out. The characters are wonderfully animated; Ennui’s head design is perfection and the texture of the emotions’ skin and hair is so artistically done. All the animation is incredible. I didn’t find the short post-credit sequence worth it though.

VERDICT: Four and half stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You like Pixar and have seen the first one.
UPCOMING REVIEW:  Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

Film: Bad Boys: Ride or Die

 

GENRE: Action Comedy
RATING: R for strong violence and language
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 55 minutes
PLATFORM: Movie Theatre
STARRING: Will Smith (Men in Black, I Am Legend, I Robot, King Richard)
Martin Lawrence (Nothing to Lose, Big Momma’s House, National Security)
DIRECTORS: Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah (Bad Boys for Life)
WRITERS: Chris Bremner (Bad Boys for Life, The Man from Toronto);
Will Beall (Aquaman, Justice League)
PLOT: Mike and Marcus find themselves wanted men when they stick up for their dead boss.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I have enjoyed the franchise thus far.

STORY STUFF: All I expect from a Bad Boys film is fun comradery between Smith and Lawrence, a bunch of cool gunplay, Miami scenery, a Michael Bay rising arc shot and the horrible singing of the theme song; this film checks all those boxes. The storyline is pretty far-fetched with a number of incredibly questionable choices but it was still a fun ride for the most part. My biggest complaint was that they should use the sniper to do the sniping instead of the guy having panic attacks. Oh, and one of the bad guys is so obvious from the start they could have saved a whole lot of time just shooting him right away.

ACTING STUFF: Smith and Lawrence are fun to watch even as they are getting older and little chunkier. Reggie (Dennis Greene who has only acted in the last two Bad Boys films) gets to shine this time around! You might want to rewatch the third film so you can also be reacquainted with people like Keppy, Dorn, Rita and Amando. I loved Rhea Seehorn in Better Call Saul but she has a pretty thankless role in this film. Not a fan of the cliché main bad guy either.      

ARTISTIC STUFF: I found that the directors wanted to have a lot of fun with the camera at times. There are first-person-shooter stuff, near death experience stuff, and strange angles to help keep us focused during all the gunplay. The soundtrack is pretty good. I especially liked the Run DMC sample during one of the shoot outs.

VERDICT: Four stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You’ve seen the other ones.
UPCOMING REVIEW:  Inside Out 2

Film: Unfrosted

 

GENRE: Comedy
RATING: PG-13 for some suggestive language
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 37 minutes
PLATFORM: Netflix
STARRING: Jerry Seinfeld (Seinfeld, Bee Movie, Comedians in Cars…)
Jim Gaffigan (Hotel Transylvania 3); Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids, Spy)
DIRECTOR: Jerry Seinfeld (newcomer)
WRITERS: Seinfeld & Spike Fereseten & Andy Robin (Seinfeld, Bee Movie)
PLOT: Kellogg’s and Post compete to create the Pop-Tart

FULL DISCLOSURE: This looked silly but I liked the trailer.

STORY STUFF: Okay that was some silly stuff. If you are looking for a historical account of the making of the Pop-Tart, this is not it. I knew that going in, so I wasn’t disappointed. This was a story that allowed a bunch of comedians to get together and have some fun riffing on breakfast; and we all know how obsessed Seinfeld is with breakfast products. This was a fun project that came out of isolation during Co-Vid. I wouldn’t say it was hilarious. There are some very fun moments but there is also a lot of mugging for the camera and flights of fancy. I’m happy with the run time and it was some decent escapism.

ACTING STUFF: Everyone is just hamming it up with plenty of broad performances. I did enjoy the kids that are featured in this tale. Bill Burr as JFK was fun stuff. I also enjoyed Snap, Crackle and Pop. I am getting tired of seeing Hugh Grant doing these bizarre roles for the paycheck. He’s not the romantic lead he once used to be. There is a fun, guess-that-comedian aspect to the cameos in this film, if you know comedians that is.   

ARTISTIC STUFF: II enjoyed the over-the-top Leave it to Beaver fifties white wash that covers this film. The production design is a lot of fun. Seinfeld has some great fun with a few of his shots including the Pop-Tart as Apollo 13.

VERDICT: Two and half stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You wanna see pastel colors and watch a 97-minute live cartoon.
UPCOMING REVIEW:  Bad Boys 4