Comedy

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)

Director:

Jake Kasdan

Starring:

Dwayne Johnson

Karen Gillian

Kevin Hart

Jack Black

Plot:

Four teenagers are sucked into a magical video game, and the only way they can escape is to work together to finish the game.

Review:

I liked the original Jumanji a lot growing up so when they announced this I wasn’t thrilled at the idea. After the first trailer, though, I was kind of excited. It was just different enough that I was able to watch without comparing it to the original.

The addition of the video game mechanics and the teenage tropes in different adult bodies was fun. The movie was light, entertaining, and amusing, sometimes that’s all you need.

4/5

A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

Director:

Charles Crichton

John Cleese

Starring:

Jamie Lee Curtis

John Cleese

Kevin Kline

Michael Palin

Plot:

In London, four very different people team up to commit armed robbery, then try to doublecross each other for the loot.

Review:

I swear I’ve watched this movie before, I know I have, but the only scene I remember was in the game Scene It. I didn’t even remember the ending.

Oh well, Jamie Lee Curtis is awesome in this, not only is she gorgeous but she’s the brains. She’s got all of them wrapped around her finger. I freaking loved the ending.

Four people pull a diamond heist, not a very elegant one, but that’s not the point. They have the diamonds and that’s when things really get started.

The movie is funny, but not often laugh out loud. I was expecting more slapstick and there were moments, but honestly if it wasn’t for Kevin Kline’s character it would have been an entirely different movie. He was deranged and weird, while everyone else was mostly normal.

It’s an older movie and a bit dated when it comes to airport security, but still fun.

3/5

The World’s End (2013)

The World’s End (2013)

Director:

Edgar Wright

Starring:

Simon Pegg

Nick Frost

Martin Freeman

Paddy Considine

Rosamund Pike

Eddie Marsan

Plot:

Five friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from twenty years earlier unwittingly become humanity’s only hope for survival.

Review:

Gary King, Simon Pegg, peaked in high school and he’s unable to move past it. He is stuck and decides to relive his glory days and get the boys back together. They have all moved on with their lives to varying degrees of success, but he’s able to get them all back together because they were bros.

The movie starts out with them doing a pub crawl, the golden mile, 12 pubs. Things quickly go crazy. Aliens, robots, bar brawls, lots of laughs ensue. It’s a hilarious movie, not my favorite of the cornetto trilogy, but it’s still really funny. Nick Frost is easily the best character.

The ending is probably the worst part. For some reason they did an epilogue and showed everyone’s life after the final decision was made and I didn’t like it. It wasn’t funny or fun it was kind of eh. The rest of the movie is great, though.

If you like Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz then you’ve got to see this.

4/5

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017-?)

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017-?)

Network:

Amazon

Creator:

Amy Sherman-Palladino

Starring:

Rachel Brosnahan

Alex Borstein

Michael Zegen

Plot:

A housewife in the 1950s decides to become a stand-up comic.

Review:

Midge, Rachel Brosnahan, is your standard 1950s upper middle class housewife. Her world revolves around her husband, Michael Zegen, and she does everything in her power to make his life as easy as possible. He wants to be a stand up comedian so she makes sure he gets the best times at a club by making the manager brisket. She takes notes of things she thinks is funny, she notes down any time the audience laughs at one of his, she does all kinds of research. The woman waits until he’s asleep then takes off her makeup, does her hair up, and puts cold cream on her face. She then wakes up before the alarm goes off and gets herself all pretty so that he doesn’t ever see her not at her best. It’s ridiculous the lengths she goes, she freaking measures all of her body parts so that she remains skinny.

Naturally, he can’t handle her perfection and cheats on her with his ditzy secretary. After he bombs a stand up set her tells her because apparently he just can’t stop from being an asshole. I hated this man, I wanted him to suffer, I wanted him to die alone on the streets naked and unloved. Spoilers, that didn’t happen.

Midge grows a bit as a person, not huge leaps and bounds, but she starts to see that there is more to life than being a housewife. She uses her stand up to be introspective, though, often she uses it to just unleash all of her pent up emotions which is probably not the best thing. It bites her in the ass a few times, and by the end of the season she had yet to learn.

The relationship between Midge and her manager Susie, Alex Borstein, is almost as interesting as the relationship with her husband, though, a lot less dramatic. Watching the two women figure each other out and start to become friends was a nice contrast to the rest of Midge’s life.

I found Midge to be an incredibly interesting character. I honestly would have wound up in jail if I’d been in front of that judge. I’m really curious to see what comes next, maybe I’ll get my wish and her husband will wind up castrated in a ditch. I don’t think that’s how they’re leaning, though. I think they might try to have him grow as a person or he could double down on his asshole tendencies, we’ll see. Also, I borderline ship her and her manager Susie, but I’ll have to see how that plays out before I make my final decision.

Great show, if you have Amazon prime definitely check it out.

4/5

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007)

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007)

Director:

Jake Kasdan

Starring:

John C. Reilly

Jenna Fischer

David Krumholtz

Kristen Wiig

Plot:

Singer Dewey Cox overcomes adversity to become a musical legend.

Review:

Recently I had the pleasure of a re-watch of Walk Hard. Even after several viewings this movie still makes me laugh.

The film starts with Dewey and his brother playing outside, through constant verbal and physical cues you know the brother is going to end up dying and the movie does not disappoint. He halves himself, a common occurrence on a farm that uses machetes I’m sure, and before he dies he tells Dewey he’ll have to be doubly good for the both of them. No pressure at all.

The movie follows Dewey as he starts in music and evolves as an artist. There are jabs at known musician stereotypes and tons of guest stars that make the whole thing hilarious. It’s also got a surprisingly entertaining sound track.

Seriously, if you haven’t watched Walk Hard by this point I highly recommend it.

5/5