I haven’t had much room in my life to take on sitcoms (the exception being “New Girl”) but upon hearing the premise of this new series, I had to go out of my way to check it out. The story follows the recently deceased Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell) who wakes up in ‘The Good Place’ (which is essentially Heaven) and finds herself amongst extremely good, selfless people in a quirky paradise. The entire domain is run by a facilitator named Michael (Ted Danson) who wants nothing but the best for his new inhabitants. The rub here is that there was an administrative error and Eleanor shouldn’t be there. She isn’t what anyone would call a good person. She’s completely selfish and got by on Earth selling fake medication to the elderly and would rather follow Kendell Jenner on social media. So, since Eleanor is the ‘bad apple’, strange things continue to happen in the paradise. The only other person to know what’s really going on is Eleanor’s newfound friend (and would be soul mate), Chidi (played by William Jackson).
Chidi, being a former Ethics professor, reluctantly agrees to help Eleanor become ‘good’ again. This is the unique angle of the series. It creatively captures what it means to have a meaningful life by the selfless acts of others. Eleanor is despicable and she is to be hated (initially). She’s not a monster but she is completely apathetic and what many would label a jerk. There is, however, a glimmer of hope for her. If she can become ‘good’ and live amongst the inhabitants of the paradise then perhaps weird occurrences would cease to exist (Eleanor’s actions and thoughts have a negative effect on the Good Place).
I will have to say that the writing is excellent and the performances strong. I can’t help but continue to credit Ted Danson, who absolutely commands the screen. I mean, who doesn’t like Ted Danson? Look at the TV work he’s done thus far: “Cheers”, “Becker”, “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Bored to Death”. His work is incredibly effective here.
The series is created by Michael Schur (writer of “The Office”, “Parks and Recreation” and co-creator of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”). The first two episodes debuted on September 19th and will continue its run on Thursdays on NBC at 7:30c/8:30e. The next episode is set to air on September 22, 2016.
The Avengers 2: Age of Ultron – The box office smash sequel pits the Avengers against a one-dimensional villain. This has moments of awesome but mostly settles as a bloated super hero movie. Full review here.
October 6th
Magic Mike XXL – Channing Tatum and pals bare it all…again. McConaughey decided to focus on better movies and does not appear in this oversized sequel. Elizabeth Banks, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, and Jada Pinkett Smith co-star.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl – This is a movie about two aspiring, young filmmaker friends that end up making a film for a girl that has leukemia. They learn more about their friendship and the fragility of life. The cast includes Hugh “Wolverine” Jackman, Olivia Cooke, Nick Offerman (Parks & Recreation), Molly Shannon (SNL alum) and Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead, upcoming 2nd season of Daredevil).
Manglehorn – A dramedy about a locksmith (Al Pacino) that has trouble living in the present. Can we just get a The Devil’s Advocate sequel already?! Pacino seems to be wasting time on these cutesy movies that have a limited audience. Anyways, the movie focuses on how this locksmith mopes through life in a small Texas town and lives in his tragic, lovelorn past when he desperately needs to change his present. The movie is directed by David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express, Your Highness) and co-stars Holly Hunter.
Insidious: Chapter 3 – In this prequel, a girl tries to contact her late mother so she recruits a reluctant psychic with grave results. For some reason Dermot Mulroney is in this. Why? Rotten Tomatoes: 53%.
Road Hard – This comedy follows a character named Bruce Madsen, a successful actor/comedian, who decides to change things up and go back to his roots and perform in the comedy club circuit. Things don’t turn out as expected which forces Bruce (played by Adam Carolla) to reevaluate his career. This sounds like an auto-biographical snooze fest! Anyways, the movie co-stars David Koechner (Anchorman, Waiting).
Batkid Begins – This follows a five year-old boy, suffering from leukemia that gets a chance to be Batman for a day via the Make a Wish foundation.
10,000 Saints – A group of smugglers learn the hard price of growing up and the value of family in the backdrop of 1980s New York City. The cast includes Ethan Hawke (Boyhood, Gattaca) , Asa Butterfield (Ender’s Game, Hugo) , Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit), Emile Hirsch (The Girl Next Door), and Emily Mortimer. There may be a reason this was released direct to video.
Dark Places – From the author of Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn) comes a story about a woman (Libby) trying to run away from her tragic past and her brother, who she blames for murdering the rest of her family. She is then contacted by a group that specializes in unsolved cases. Libby (played by Charlize Theron) must decide if she wants to accept the past or truly find the killer responsible. This movie came and went in theaters. The movie co-stars Chloe Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass), Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road), and Christina Hendricks (Mad Men). It holds a 39% on Rotten Tomatoes. Proceed with caution!
Escobar: Paradise Lost – Nick and his brother move from Canada to Colombia during the 1980s to set up a surf shop. There, Nick falls for Maria, who happens to be the niece of Pablo Escobar. Things get worse from there as Nick is recruited to stash away Escobar’s assets before he serves a jail sentence. I’m slightly interested in this but I have to say that Narcoson Netflix deals primarily with Escobar’s rise/fall and that seems a lot more interesting. This film features Benicio Del Toro (Traffic, upcoming Sicario) as Escobar and co-stars Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games).
Final Girl – Veronica is new in town and becomes a target for a group of boys who hunt and kill women in the woods for sport. The tables are turned when Veronica is actually a trained assassin. Abigail Breslin (Ender’s Game, Maggie) stars alongside Wes Bentley (that creepy video recorder dude from American Beauty, bearded weirdo in The Hunger Games).
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief – This is a riveting documentary that chronicles the rise of the Church of Scientology and the followers and defectors that provide insight into the often shocking inner workings of the fastest growing church. Archival footage and interviews with current and former members (that include many Hollywood stars – Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Paul Haggis, etc.) make this a documentary worth catching. My full review is here.
People Places Things – Flight of the Concords alum, Jermaine Clement, stars in this comedy about a happily married professor with two kids that deals with the affair between his friend and his wife. He finds out that the single life with kids isn’t what he was expecting. I happen to enjoy Clement’s sense of humor and may give this a go.
Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! – Talk about beating a dead horse. That wasn’t a request. Ian Ziering (Beverly Hills 90210) and Tara Reid (American Pie) try to hold onto their careers in the popular, purposefully bad SyFy original movie. The outlandish, most once famous cast includes: Frankie Muniz, Bo Derek, David Hassehoff and Mark Cuban (as the President). You know what’s better than a purposefully bad movie? An unintentionally bad movie. See: The Room, Birdemic: Shock and Terror.
What We Did On Our Holiday – As Gordy nears his 75th Birthday, his son and his family decide to visit him in Scotland. Things go awry when his son’s kids are brutally honest and are unable to keep any secrets, which makes an already awkward family trip more awkward. The film stars David Tennant (Doctor Who), Billy Connolly, and Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl).
October 13th
San Andreas – Hey, what’s shakin’?! Well, the Rock of course! This is an epic destruction movie for people that enjoy flashy special effects and a sub-par story or…..they just go for the Rock. I don’t blame them. Believe it or not, the movie co-stars Carla Gugino (Watchmen) and Paul Giamatti (Sideways).
Tommorowland – This film probably had the most promise this summer but was an utter disappointment. The marketing was interesting and the director, Brad Bird, has had nothing but success with his earlier films: The Incredibles, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Iron Giant. Check out a full review here.
The Gallows – A group of high school students try to put on a play that failed twenty years earlier and resulted in the death of a student, Charlie. The event is meant to be cathartic for the town on the anniversary of Charlie’s death, but a group of students sabotage the production to help the lead actor avoid stage fright. The group’s actions have grave consequences as Charlie’s story isn’t finished. This story is actually more elaborate than more horror films but still sounds boring.
Dope – We follow a high school student named Butler (Blake Anderson) who tries to stay on the straight and narrow amongst a town (Inglewood, CA) that would rather get by on dealing drugs and making easy money. Butler has aspirations of going to Harvard and leaving the city behind but is tested one night at a party. Lenny Kravitz’s daughter, Zoe Kravitz, costars.
October 20th
Jurassic World – Doctor John Hammond’s future dinosaur world is realized twenty two years later in Jurassic World. Just as any company would do if public interest were waning, they need to innovate new ways to attract people across the world. Of course, if your company happens to be a giant dinosaur zoo, innovation can spell doom in the form of a genetically modified dinosaur, the Indominus Rex. The movie is a lot of fun if you don’t think too much about the story. Check out my full review here.The movie stars Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation, Guardians of the Galaxy), Bryce Dallas Howard (The Village), and Jake Johnson (New Girl, Let’s Be Cops).
Paper Towns – A high school student, Quentin, has always pined for Margo his entire life and when she breaks into his house asking for his help in a revenge plot, he agrees. After their adventure, Margo has disappeared from their school but not without leaving clues for Quentin to follow that will end up changing how he really feels for her. This is based off the book of the same name by author John Green (who also wrote The Fault in Our Stars). The film stars up and comer, Cara Delevingne (upcoming Suicide Squad) and Nat Wolff. You’d have to drag me to see a movie like this. Quirky, romantic movies irritate me because they are highly unrealistic yet pretend they aren’t.
Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ – I don’t usually cover Japanese anime movies but I guess I’m always a little fond of the Dragon Ball Z tv show (when it aired on Cartoon Network back in the day). This details how big baddie, Frieza, is back after falling to Goku’s Super Saiyan years ago. Frieza is hell bent on revenge, even without an actual body. It’s up to Goku and Vegeta to work together. I’d probably save this for hung over Sunday mornings (before football of course).
The Vatican Tapes – Two Vatican priests are out to exorcise a woman believed to be possessed by the Anti-Christ. They must work to save her soul and for humanity…blah..blah…This uninspired movie stars Dougray Scott (MI: 2), Djimon Hounsou (Amistad) , and Michael Pena (Ant-Man). Rotten Tomatoes score: 13%.
Testament of Youth – Alicia Vikander (Ex-Machina) and Kit Harrington (Game of Thrones) star in this World War I drama. Vera Brittain (Vikander) postpones her studies to become a nurse as her loved ones, including Harrington head to war. Brittain later becomes a writer, feminist, and pacifist. The film doesn’t sound that interesting but is getting decent reviews. Rotten Tomatoes: 81%.
Z for Zachariah – This tale centers on a lone female survivor (Margot Robbie) of the apocalypse and the last two known men alive (Chiwetel Ejiofor and Chris Pine) who try to court for her affections. The three must find a way to work together in order to survive. So, it seems that this is about how two dudes wanna do it with Robbie. I don’t blame them. What if the movie casted Amy Schumer instead of Margot Robbie? I believe both men would rather roam the Earth looking for another lady.
I Spit on Your Grave 3: Vengeance is Mine – Jennifer is a girl that is just trying to overcome the torture she’s experienced and live a normal life. When one of Jennifer’s friends is murdered and those responsible escapes, she turns on revenge mode while the rest of the city erupts with rapists and serial killers. Pass!
The Wolfpack – This is a documentary that follows six brothers that live the majority of their lives in a New York apartment. They rely on movies in order to understand the real world. They all reenact scenes of their favorite movies. As the brothers get older, they desire interactions with the real world and everything begins to change when one of them runs away. Sounds like this may be worth checking out.
October 27th
Pixels – Adam Sandler is trying to fart on the box office again with this sad attempt at appealing to the thirty something group that relishes arcade games. The story involves how aliens receive golden age transmissions of video games being played, interpret the message as the real thing and declare war on Earth in the form of well-known classic games that include Donkey Kong and Pac Man. The President enlists his childhood friend, Sandler, to beat the aliens at their own game. He also enlists a rag tag group that includes Peter Dinklage, Josh Gad, and Kevin James. The film is directed by Chris Columbus (the 1st two Harry Potter movies).
Southpaw – Jake Gyllenhaal gains a ton of muscle to play a left handed boxer who must overcome the death of his wife. After much inner turmoil and with the fate of his relationship with his daughter at stake, he must climb out and be the best boxer he can be so he can be the best father he can be. The movie received mixed reviews but I wouldn’t mind renting this. I mean, it’s Gyllenhaal and after his performance in Nightcrawler, I expect a solid performance.
The Gift – A husband and wife (Simon and Robin) move into a new home and run into an old acquaintance, Gordo, of Simon’s from high school. The couple accepts a gift of wine and invites him to their house for dinner. Gordo begins to leave more gifts and starts to stalk Robin while she’s home alone. Simon tries to tell Gordo that he is not welcome only then to be threatened by a 25 year old secret about Simon. The movie stars Jason Bateman (Arrested Development), Rebecca Hall (The Town) and Joel Edgerton (The Great Gatsby, Exodus: Gods and Kings). The film is also the directorial debut of Joel Edgerton. I really wanted to see this film but had scheduling conflicts. The film has a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. I’ll be sure to rent this.
Max – This is supposed to be an uplifting family drama/adventure that centers around a military dog named Max. After Max’s handler, Kyle, is killed, he is then returned to Kyle’s family and ends up helping them heal from their loss. Thomas Haden Church (Sideways), Lauren Graham (Bad Santa), and Robbie Amell (Flash) star.
The Human Centipede III: The Final Sequence – The outrageous idea of a singular digestive system through multiple people is expanded upon in this latest installment from the Dutch filmmaker, Tom Six. This time, they are attempting to utilize 500 people (which are being sewn together a$$ to mouth) to create the largest, singular digestive system the world has ever known. The creepy actor from the original film, Dieter Laser, reprises his role as the crazed doctor. The movie even co-stars Eric Roberts (Best of the Best, The Dark Knight). Not for the easily grossed out.
It’s been over 20 years since the classic original Jurassic Park film graced screens. After those forgettable, ill-conceived sequels (Lost World, Jurassic Park III), the idea of dinosaurs in big budget movies went away. After 14 years, it was time to prime up another dinosaur film. In doing so, director Colin Trevorrow wanted to pay homage to the original while basically neglecting any mention of those ‘other Jurassic Park movies’.
That’s where we essentially are with Jurassic World. Dr. Hammond’s work lives on as the Jurassic World serves as a giant amusement park where thousands of tourists venture to. The key to the story this time around is making dinosaurs more exciting by creating genetically modified dinosaurs so that public interest doesn’t wane. As if the dinosaurs themselves aren’t enough for anyone!
The story begins with a prissy park operation manager named Beth (played by Bryce Dallas Howard) that doesn’t seem to really care that her nephews, Zach and Gray, are there to visit her at Jurassic World and would rather pawn them off on her assistant as she’s just too busy. Beth is then urged to recruit an old flame that trains velociraptors to ensure that a genetically modified dinosaur, Indominus Rex, is secure in its habitat. This old flame is Owen Grady, played by Chris Pratt with an on and off again southern accent. As you can probably imagine, the sh*t hits the fan and this new genetically modified dinosaur causes havoc.
The film may be a little bumpy in the first half but eventually gets into a nice stride where most of the action takes place. The pterodactyls scene and the final fight scenes are straight up bonkers and were easily the best in the film. There is even a nice call out to the original film as Zach and Gary (Nick Robinson of The Kings of Summer, Ty Simpkins of Iron Man 3) discover the old facility and jump start the old Jurassic Park Toyota Land Cruiser. The film makes it a point that no one is as excited for the regular dinosaurs anymore. There’s a ‘been there done that’ mentality that embodies all of the characters until they introduce genetic modifications. The idea behind Indominus Rex is ultra-consumerism and excess and how this is detrimental. The director, Colin Trevorrow, stated that “we’re surrounded by wonder and yet we want more, and we want it bigger, faster, louder, better”(International Business Times).
There are some plot holes and cheese but what seemed to really hinder the film were the one-dimensional characters at the center of the film, particularly Owen and Beth (Pratt and Howard). Owen is your Indiana Jones-esque badass that pines after Beth even though she tries to not give him the time of day. Beth appears mostly one-dimensional as she never really questions the threat of the dinosaurs until the Indominus Rex escapes. She also runs in high heels the whole movie! What the hell?! Beth and Owen’s romance is extremely stereotypical as is Vincent D’Onofrio’s character with an ulterior motive but who really cares? I mean, this movie is about the dinosaurs! So, this is forgivable.
The performances were solid but sometimes felt cheesy because the writing is off-kilter and made to relish more in the fun and not the serious like, “holy sh*t that dinosaur is gonna eat us”! No one really takes time to reflect and state the obvious – “Twelve people were just ripped to shreds by the zoo animals we thought we could control”. They’d rather react in shock briefly and then get in on another perfectly timed joke. I should state that the aim isn’t to particularly terrify but to also have fun. With that said, there were also a lot of supporting actors that joined in on the fun including Omar Sy (X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Intouchables), Irrfan Khan (In Treatment, Slumdog Millionaire), Jake Johnson (Safety Not Guaranteed, New Girl), and Jude Greer (that lady from those Sprint commercials, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes).
I should say that the sets and special effects were all top notch. The action scenes were well choreographed and helped build the suspense. The music was composed by Michael Giacchino and nicely gives way to the bigger scope of the first film, even including John Williams’ theme.
In a nutshell, Jurassic World is a fun popcorn movie that succeeds if you don’t think too much about the story. Focus your attention on the world that is created and the thrilling dinosaur scenes. It certainly is the 2nd best in the series thus far. Yes, there will likely be sequels, especially with the anticipated box office business it’ll do this weekend.
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