Film: Sully

GENRE: Biography Drama

RATING: PG-13 for brief language
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 35 minutes

STARRING: Tom Hanks (Bridge of Spies, Captain Phillips)

Aaron Eckhart (Thank You for Smoking), Mike O’Malley (Glee)

DIRECTOR: Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby, American Sniper)

WRITER: Todd Komarnicki (Perfect Stranger)

PLOT: The story of a pilot who saved all his passengers by landing on the Hudson River.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I like Tom Hanks movies.

STORY STUFF: Based on a true story, the events that unfolded were incredible. Eastwood does a great job showing the landing from various points of view and spending as much time as possible with the human factors. The non-linear storytelling also helps us stay engaged. There a couple of early Sully flashbacks that I think needed a bit more or maybe more learning experiences from later in life. What I really liked was that this film was uplifting and made me appreciate humanity, instead of all these doom and gloom films lately.     

ACTING STUFF: Tom Hanks is always a treat to watch. Sully is not an action hero, he is a quiet and reflective individual who did an amazing thing that he just considers part of his job. Hanks plays the quiet stoicism and internal emotion beautifully. Eckhart also does a fine job as his wing man in this film.

ARTISTIC STUFF: Eastwood does not add too many bells and whistles. This is a straightforward film, which is pretty refreshing.

VERDICT: Four stars out of five

SEE IT IF: You like Tom Hanks and want to witness true heroism.
UPCOMING REVIEWS: Fall Television Preview

Film: Jason Bourne

GENRE: Action

RATING: PG-13 for violence and brief language
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 3 minutes

STARRING: Matt Damon (Bourne series, The Martian, The Departed)

Tommy Lee Jones (The Fugitive), Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina)

DIRECTOR: Paul Greengrass (Bourne Supremacy & Ultimatum)

WRITERS: Greengrass (United 93) & Christopher Rouse (newcomer)

PLOT: Bourne tries to uncover even more about his past, this time there is a connection to his father.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I really enjoyed the Bourne trilogy. The Renner one was pretty good too if I remember.  

STORY STUFF: The story is becoming a little too predictable with this series. Bourne tries to uncover something from his past, people try to follow him but he manages to elude them, he interacts with females and they mostly just look serious instead of saying stuff, there’s a very destructive and unbelievable car chase and vengeance is usually taken once he finds out the truth. Then he disappears again. But even with all this formulaic writing, it’s still a fun time at the movies.   

ACTING STUFF: Lots of serious looks from everyone. Damon looks a lot older as Bourne now, but still pulls it off. Tommy Lee Jones is always a treat to watch with his trademark gruffness. Vikander is a nice addition and it was nice to see Julia Stiles again (I think she had more lines in this one than her almost mute performance in Ultimatum.)  I was surprised to see Riz Ahmed as a silicon valley mogul as I have just been watching him in HBO’s awesome The Night Of, where I’m still not sure if he is a murderer or not.

ARTISTIC STUFF: Loads of action sequences. It’s Greengrass, so the camera shakes a lot. I was surprised that they were able to shoot a big car chase on the Las Vegas strip. Not much else to mention.

VERDICT: Three stars out of five

SEE IT IF: You like the Bourne franchise.

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Fall Movie & Television Previews

Film: Sausage Party

GENRE: Animated Adult Comedy

RATING: R for incredibly crude sexual content
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 29 minutes

STARRING: Seth Rogen (Knocked Up, The Interview, Neighbors)

Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids), Michael Cera (Arrested Development)

DIRECTORS: Greg Tiernan (Thomas & Friends)

Conrad Vernon (Shrek 2, Monsters vs Aliens)

WRITERS: Kyle Hunter & Ariel Shaffir (The Night Before)

Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg (Superbad, This is the End)

PLOT: Supermarket food learn what really happens to them when they are chosen to leave the store.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I made a deal to see this film if it was over 75% on Rotten Tomatoes. It scored an 82%

STORY STUFF: Amazingly enough, the story had something to say about religion. I didn’t agree with the conclusion but I found it interesting that it was explored. There is a lot of cleverness in the film, especially with product names and attitudes. Those things made me laugh the most. I would even say it is on par with Pixar cleverness. The villain didn’t work for me though, and no, I’m not referring to the people who eat the food.

ACTING STUFF: You can tell that the actors lending their voices are having lots of fun. I’m sure Edward Norton was giddy doing his Woody Allen impression as a bagel. Almost all the characters in this film have moments to shine, which is nice to see. 

ARTISTIC STUFF: The animation is well done and fits alongside other animated films. There are some very creative character designs. And while the dialogue is full of vulgarity and sexual content, it’s really one of the last scenes that will make your jaw drop to the floor in its brazen bawdiness. (I’m sure if it wasn’t food, it would have been NC-17.)

VERDICT: Three stars out of five

SEE IT IF: You wish Pixar has more sex and swearing.

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Jason Bourne

Film: Suicide Squad

GENRE: Action Adventure

RATING: PG-13 for violence and language
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 3 minutes

STARRING: Margot Robbie (Wolf of Wall Street, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot)

Will Smith (Bad Boys, MiB), Joel Kinnaman (The Killing, Robocop)

DIRECTOR: David Ayer (Fury, End of Watch)

WRITER: Ayer (Training Day, The Fast and the Furious)

PLOT: Supervillains can reduce their sentences by helping defeat an even bigger bad guy. Mistrust, violence and laughter ensues.     

FULL DISCLOSURE: Even though I originally was looking forward to this, I kept my expectations low after all the negative critic reviews.

STORY STUFF: The first half of the film is pretty good. They do a good job introducing the ‘heroes’ and setting up the squad. Then everything falls apart with gaping plot holes and a terrible big bad (and no, it’s not the Joker). However, I liked the squad and would watch a sequel if they could come up with the better villain/objective.   

ACTING STUFF: Margot Robbie is fantastic. She holds the whole film together. She in energetic, funny, sexy and fun. Jared Leto’s Joker will of course get compared to Heath Ledger, but I think he had a fun twist on it by making him actually crazy. I was a little sad that Will Smith’s Deadshot had a bit of a moral compass; I was hoping he could just be an evil badass for once. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to like or dislike Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller. I disliked her.  

ARTISTIC STUFF: While the final fight scene is a total mess and an earlier rescue mission is disjointed, the character introductions are masterful. My favourite aspect would have to be their song choices. Put ultra-dramatic score music under the squad getting ready and it flops, but put it to Eminem’s ‘Without Me’ and it is awesome. And here I thought Star Trek Beyond was going to win best song choice in a summer film (that’s not an actual award btw.)

VERDICT: Three stars out of five

SEE IT IF: You want to ogle Margot Robbie or prefer villains to heroes

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Jason Bourne

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

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

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

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 14^th.

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