Game Night Review

Synopsis
Max (Jason Bateman) and Annie (Rachel McAdams) host a weekly game night with their friends. When Max’s brother (Kyle Chandler) offers to host game night, the group finds themselves solving a murder mystery like they never expected.

Review
When I first saw the trailer for Game Night and saw it starred Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, and Lamorne Morris (aka New Girl’s Winston (aka my favorite character)), and the ridiculous premise, I was sold. I like comedies and I like movies that take a regular event, like a weekly, friendly gathering to play board games, and turns it on its head. And I have to say, I was not disappointed.

Sometimes in films with larger casts, some characters might be eclipsed or feel unnecessary. However, in this movie, no one character ever really outshined another. Every character felt unique, bringing something different to the film both in terms of comedy and character arc. In comedies, characters can feel the same. Again, not here. Big props to the casting director who brought this group of actors and actresses together. Everyone worked well together as couples and as a large group. It reminds me a little of Ocean’s Eleven where the cast just works so well together and has great on-screen chemistry, elevating the movie further than the script could alone.

Speaking of the script, the script was tighter than it is in most comedies. It was funny when it needed to be, focused on the action when it was supposed to, and let the character moments take front and center when necessary. It balanced all aspects of the film, never feeling rushed nor drawn out. To go with what I said above, every character had their place, each couple had their own arc besides the main story arc, and at running at just above an hour and a half, they all felt complete.

As great as the script was, the cast was even better. I’m a big fan of Jason Bateman and and even bigger fan of Rachel McAdams. The two of them are absolute magic together. Not surprising, Lamorne Morris was one of my favorites in the film. He brings the same sense of humor that makes his character of Winston in New Girl so lovable. Besides them, I didn’t know much of the rest of the cast going into the movie but I thought they all were great. Billy Magnussen as the not-quite-as-smart one in the group might have been my favorite of those I was less familiar with.

I thought Game Night was GREAT 😀 From the very beginning, this film had me laughing and it never stopped. Every character had their place in the story and the entire cast worked great together, in their pairs and in the overall group. And the tight script only elevates the great cast. It may be early in the year but I foresee this being one of my favorite comedies of 2018.

Trailer

Cast & Crew
John Francis Daley – Director
Jonathan Goldstein – Director
Mark Perez – Writer
Cliff Martinez – Composer

Jason Bateman – Max
Rachel McAdams – Annie
Kyle Chandler – Brooks
Sharon Horgan – Sarah
Billy Magnussen – Ryan
Lamorne Morris – Kevin
Kylie Bunbury – Michelle
Jesse Plemons – Gary
Michael C. Hall – The Bulgarian
Danny Huston – Donald Anderton
Chelsea Peretti – Glenda
Camille Chen – Dr. Chin
Zerrick Williams – Val
RF Daley – Tats
John Francis Daley – Carter
Michael Cyril Creighton – Bill
Brooke Jaye Taylor – Linda
Jonathan Goldstein – Dan

Movie Quote of the Week – 6/10/16

Answer to MWL 6/8/16: Pepper Brooks (Jason Bateman) – Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

Cotton McKnight: Well, I – I don’t know what to tell you, but – yes – no – I’m being told that Average Joe’s does not have enough players and will be forfeiting the championship match.
Pepper Brooks: It’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for them.

Thanks for everyone’s submission and one big, red rubber ball to the following people for answering correctly:

Kim (By Hook or By Book)
Thoughts All Sorts (Thoughts All Sorts)
Cindy (Cindy Bruchman)
Tom (Digital Shortbread)

Zootopia Review

Synopsis
Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin (voice)) is a small bunny with big dreams of becoming the first bunny police officer of Zootopia. When she makes it onto the force, she is assigned parking ticket duty. Aspiring for bigger things, she takes a missing mammal case, which is leads to a much bigger conspiracy.

Review
I would consider myself a Disney fanatic. However, I will admit that Zootopia wasn’t very high on my things to see. I would have seen it in theaters for sure, but not opening night if my buddies weren’t going (yes, I’m just now getting to this, but I’ve been preoccupied lately). I’m glad they asked me to tag along because missing this film would have been a very big mistake. Zootopia is one of Disney’s best movies to be released in years, and that’s saying a lot considering their quality lately.

Every Disney movie has some sort of message incorporated into the story. Zootopia has two: don’t be afraid to follow your dreams and don’t judge someone on what they look like. The former is pretty typical Disney. The latter is a little different. When making movies dealing with racism, filmmakers have to be careful not to make the message heavy-handed or too preachy. That never happens in this film. It is brought across in a way is easy for the younger audience to understand but it can still be appreciated by the older audience. Both messages weave together flawlessly.

Anthropomorphic animals are nothing new, especially from Disney, but the world is more fully developed than anything before. There are different regions for the different environments, such as the rain forest or arctic, there are different sizes for things like doors, vehicles, and food. Everything is well thought out and done in a way that makes sense. It’s a unique set up that isn’t really seen in other movies.

To go along with the different environments, the animation is very colorful. The jungle environment has deep greens that make the vivid flowers stand out; the city itself is very vibrant, really popping. As Judy is traversing the city, the film has the perfect opportunity to show of how amazing computer animation has come since Toy Story. The inhabitants of Zootopia are just as rich as the city they inhabit. I loved many of the character designs. Seeing so many animals brought to life, walking around on two legs and living in a civilized manner was very fun to watch.

Not since The Lego Movie have I laugh that hard or as much at an animated movie. It had a high laughs-per-minute count. Jason Bateman may have had helped that quite a bit since he is most often in comedy films but it had some clever writing, too. There were many pop culture references, like The Godfather and Breaking Bad, that are sure to please fans of those franchises as well.

I think what really had me hooked on this movie, though, was that it is a buddy cop movie at its core. Although one of them isn’t technically a cop, Judy and Nick were working together to solve a case, so that is pretty much the same thing, right? Like all good buddy movies, Judy and Nick have very different personalities which make them such a good pair.

I thought Zootopia was GREAT :-D. Between the character design, design of the city itself, and the vibrant colors, this movie has some of the best animation to date (I feel like I’ve been saying that a lot lately…). Not only are the characters well fleshed out but the city of Zootopia is as well. However, what really sets it above other films is how it deals with a delicate topic like racism with such finesse and tenderness. I can’t think of any other movie that can compare to Zootopia, and Disney once again hit it out of the park.

Trailer

Cast & Crew
Byron Howard – Director / Story
Rich Moore – Director / Story
Jared Bush – Co-Director / Story / Screenplay
Phil Johnston – Story / Screenplay
Michael Giacchino – Composer

Ginnifer Goodwin – Judy Hopps (voice)
Jason Bateman – Nick Wilde (voice)
Idris Elba – Chief Bogo (voice)
Jenny Slate – Bellwether (voice)
Nate Torrence – Clawhauser (voice)
Bonnie Hunt – Bonnie Hopps (voice)
Don Lake – Stu Hopps (voice)
Tommy Chong – Yax (voice)
JK Simmons – Mayor Lionheart (voice)
Octavia Spencer – Mrs. Otterton (voice)
Alan Tadyk – Duke Weaselton (voice)
Shakira – Gazelle (voice)
Raymond S. Persi – Flash (voice)
Maurice LaMarche – Mr. Big (voice)

Lightning Review: Couples Retreat

Synopsis
When Jason and Cynthia (Jason Bateman and Kristen Bell) decide to go to a couples resort to strengthen their marriage, they invite their couple friends Dave and Ronnie (Vince Vaughn and Malin Akerman), Joey and Lucy (Jon Favreau and Kristin Davis), and Shane and Trudy (Faizon Love and Kali Hawk).

Review
I’m torn about how I feel about Couples Retreat. On the one hand, I laughed quite a bit and many of the gags were funny. Most of the cast all had several good moments throughout the film. The yoga scene was one of the funniest scenes of the entire movie, if not because of Carlos Ponce’s Salvadore. He absolutely nailed the part. But on the other hand, I didn’t particularly care for the story. There are the stereotypical couples you would expect from this kind of film: the cheating couple, the couple trying to save their relationship, the new couple, and the couple who thinks their relationship is working fine. There isn’t much to draw me towards the characters. Part of the problem for me is Dave and Ronnie’s relationship doesn’t feel like it has much growth compared to the other couples’. Also, I don’t like how Shane’s part of the story was resolved. I’m not sure if “clean” is the right word for it, but it wasn’t I was expecting. Despite a less than engaging story, I strangely found myself enjoying Couples Retreat, probably more than I should have.

Rating
3/5

Favorite Quote
Dave: Is his junk out?
Ronnie: Yup.
Dave: Is his junk literally out of his pants?
Lucy: Yup.
Dave: Now it’s a party.

Trailer

Cast & Crew
Peter Billingsley – Director
Jon Favreau – Writer
Vince Vaughn – Writer
Dana Fox – Writer
A.R. Rahman – Composer

Vince Vaughn – Dave
Malin Akerman – Ronnie
Jason Bateman – Jason
Kristen Bell – Cynthia
Jon Favreau – Joey
Kristin Davis – Lucy
Faizon Love – Shane
Kali Hawk – Trudy
Peter Serafinowicz – Sctanley
Jean Reno – Marcel
Carlos Ponce – Salvadore
Tasha Smith – Jennifer
Temuera Morrison – Briggs
Jonna Walsh – Lacey
Gattlin Griffith – Robert
Colin Baiocchi – Kevin
Vernon Vaughn – Grandpa Jim

Horrible Bosses Review

Synopsis
Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis), and Dale (Charlie Day) hatch a plan to kill their bosses when they each push the three friends too far.

Review
Sometimes I will watch a movie simply based on the cast. I usually like slap-stick comedies like Horrible Bosses, but what really drew me towards the film was the cast. Having Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day play off each other was a great decision. Then adding in Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston, Collin Farrell and Jamie Foxx is just icing on the cake.

The three main cast members each have their own unique comedic styles. Bateman, Sudeikis, and Day are able to bounce off each other to side-splitting effect. Their timing and deliveries are nearly flawless. Some of the best moments come when these three are together. Foxx is only in a handful of scenes with the guys. He never outshines any of them, but he does well not to be eclipsed by them either. I think if his part would have been bigger it would have been too much, so he maintains a good balance with the three leads.

Each of the three bosses are horrible for different reasons. Harken (Spacey) is condescending toward Nick (Bateman), Harris (Aniston) sexually harasses Dale (Day), and Pallitt is self-centered and doesn’t care about his employees, especially Kurt (Sudeikis). Farrell’s performance surprised me the most because I haven’t seen him in a comedy before. Spacey easily pulls of the intimidating corporate president with ease. I have been a fan of Aniston for a while, but after watching her in R-rated comedies such as this and We’re the Millers, she is becoming one of my favorite comedic actresses.

Although the cast is great, the script is equally hilarious. It is equal parts crude and humorous. There are so many memorable quotes they can easily be quoted for days. At times the script can be vulgar but it never becomes obnoxiously so. There are also moments of sincerity but not so much that it becomes hypocritical. It manages a fine balance between the two.

Horrible Bosses manages to work on so many levels. The awesome cast and fantastic script, not to mention some great cameos, make this film a stand-out comedy.

Rating
4/5

Favorite Quote
Det. Hagan: “Do you want to explain why you were going 61 in a 25 zone? One block from the victim’s house just moments after he was shot dead?”
Nick: “I was drag racing. I’m a drag racer.”
Det. Samson: “You were drag racing? In a prius?”
Nick: “…I don’t win a lot.”

Trailer

Cast & Crew
Seth Gordon – Director
Michael Markowitz – Screenplay
John Francis Daley – Screenplay
Johnathan M. Goldstein – Screenplay
Micahel Markowitz – Story
Christopher Lennertz – Composer

Jason Bateman – Nick Hendricks
Jason Sudeikis – Kurt Buckman
Charlie Day – Dale Arbus
Jennifer Aniston – Dr. Julia Harris, DDS
Kevin Spacey – Dave Harken
Colin Farrell – Bobby Pellitt
Jamie Foxx – Dean ‘MF’ Jones
Donald Sutherland – Jack Pellitt
PJ Byrne – Kenny Sommerfeld
Brian George – Atmanand (Voice)
Julie Bowen – Rhonda Harken
Wendell Pierce – Detective Hagan
Ron White – Detective Samson