Category Archives: Movies

2016 Movie Reviews

‘The Jungle Book’ movie review: Never finds a balance

As Disney continues to adapt every single one of their animated classics into big budget, live action adventures, they’re going to be hit and miss. “Cinderella” was ok. “Maleficent” was meh. “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” had it’s moments but was mostly a misstep.

“The Jungle Book”, the tale of the orphan Mowgli, and his adventures in the jungle with Bagheera and Balooo, his battles with Kaa and Shere Kahn, is just kind of one big WTF.

Mowgli (Neel Sethi) with Baloo (voiced by Bill Murray) in Disney's Jungle Book
Mowgli (Neel Sethi) with Baloo (voiced by Bill Murray) in Disney’s Jungle Book

There’s really no other way of putting it.

Everyone is raving about the way it looks. I’m going to have to take their word for it. Yeah, I saw it…but I saw it in 3D. Unless they saw a cleaner version than I did…the 3D does more harm than good here, which seems to be par for the course for Disney’s live action.

That being said, the artistic design of the film is amazing. It is entirely CGi, meaning the only thing that is real is little Mowgli. The jungle looks amazing and the animal designs are pretty sweet. It’s just the damn 3D makes it too dark and blurry to really enjoy it.

Is it for kids? That seems to be the debate. The movie establishes a pretty dark mood early on and struggles in the second act when characters like Baloo (Bill Murray) and King Louie (Christopher Walken)  are introduced. It gets kinda funny, then weird, then scary again. It’s kind of all over the place, not really sure if it wants to scare you or make you laugh.

Full The Jungle Book movie review

Rating: 6/10

Release date: April 15, 2016

Directed by: Jon Favreau

Written by: Justin Marks

Starring: Neel Sethi, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong’o, Scarlett Johansson, and Bill Murray

MPAA rating: Rated PG for some sequences of scary action and peril

Running time: 1 hour 45 mins.

2016 Movie Reviews

‘Everybody Wants Some’ movie review: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it

I love movies like “Everybody Wants Some”. They’re fun. They entertain. They don’t try too hard to push emotional buttons if it isn’t necessary. And when you’re done, you feel good, but not burdened to find a deeper meaning.

 

Left to right: Glen Powell plays Finnegan, Wyatt Russell plays Willoughby, Blake Jenner plays Jake, James Quinton Johnson plays Dale Douglas and Temple Baker plays Plummer in Everybody Wants Some by Paramount Pictures and Annapurna Pictures.
Left to right: Glen Powell plays Finnegan, Wyatt Russell plays Willoughby, Blake Jenner plays Jake, James Quinton Johnson plays Dale Douglas and Temple Baker plays Plummer in Everybody Wants Some by Paramount Pictures and Annapurna Pictures.

Welcome back, Richard Linklater. We weren’t sure if you could get back into that old “Dazed and Confused” vibe after snagging your first Academy Award (Best Director last year for “Boyhood”), but you did and it was so much fun to take a dip into the past with you. This movie is being referred to as a “spiritual sequel” to Dazed. What does that mean? It just means it taps into that laid back, vibe, baby.

“Everybody Wants Some” takes us back to 1980 — not quite the 80’s but it ain’t the 70’s no more, either. We follow a small college baseball team in Texas for a weekend before classes begin. It’s all about these guys getting to know each other, drinking beer and chasing women. Some are dealing with the transition from high school to college, while others are making plans for life after baseball.

It’s conflict-free, but that’s a good thing here. It makes for a nice, enjoyable movie with plenty of laughs, memorable characters and a killer soundtrack.

Full Everybody Wants Some!! movie review

Check out my interview with the stars of Everybody Wants Some, Wyatt Russell, Glen Powell, and Quinton Johnson, who all play fantastic characters in the movie.

Rating: 7/10

Release date: April 15, 2016

Written and directed by: Richard Linklater

Starring: Blake Jenner, Zoey Deutch, Wyatt Russell, Quinton Johnson, and Glen Powell

Running time: 1 hr. 57 mins.

MPAA rating: R for language throughout, sexual content, drug use and some nudity

Movie Trailers

‘Rogue One’ trailer sets tone for expanded ‘Star Wars’ movie universe

Star Wars: Rogue One teaser trailer

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away….we all kind of assumed the “Star Wars” saga ended with 2005’s “Revenge of the Sith”, the third prequel from George Lucas, detailing the fall to the dark side by Anakin Skywalker. Based on the quality of that flick, most fans thought it was for the best.

Then Marvel struck financial gold by developing a cinematic universe with individual stories seamlessly interweaving throughout larger stories. Then Disney bought Lucasfilm and locked George Lucas out, promising to produce movies for “the fans”.

Felicity Jones takes the lead in "Rogue One" and sets out to steal plans to destroy Darth Vader's Death Star. (Lucasfilm)
Felicity Jones takes the lead in “Rogue One” and sets out to steal plans to destroy Darth Vader’s Death Star. (Lucasfilm)

Last December, we got “The Force Awakens”, Episode VII in a new trilogy following the Skywalker family and their battle against the evil Sith and the dark side of the force. But that is only the beginning. Disney is not only planning a new trilogy (Episode VIII in 2017, Episode IX in 2019), but they are expanding into telling individual, isolated stories — i.e. non-Skywalker tales.

These solo movies are being called, for lack of a more creative term: “A Star Wars story…”.

First up is “Rogue One” directed by Gareth Edwards (“Godzilla”). Set just prior to the events of “A New Hope”, the first non-trilogy movie will take us back to show us the the daring and dangerous mission that went into securing the Death Star plans for the Rebel Alliance.

The tone for the trailer is a much darker tone that we’ve seen in the saga, indicating we are getting something closer to a full blown military war movie than the simple sci-fi fairy tales we’ve seen in the past. But don’t fret, Lord Vader is expected to make an appearance.

“Rogue One” will hit theatres on December 16th, 2016 and stars Felicity Jones, Mads Mikkelsen, Ben Mendelsohn, Alan Tudyk, Forest Whitaker, and Donnie Yen.

Rogue One, A Star Wars Story — Property of Disney and Lucasfilm