Just like its writer/star Amy Schumer, this movie, about a commitment-phobic party animal named Amy who meets a great guy, is profane and envelope-pushing. Jodi, Jack, and I loved it. I first heard Schumer's comedy on the dirty comedy station Raw Dog on satellite radio, which I tune in to whenever I get a loaner car. You should definitely watch the three seasons (30 episodes) of Inside Amy Schumer, her Comedy Central series, and it's been renewed for a fourth.
Bill Hader (last blogged an hour ago for Inside Out) is a perfect foil for her as the love interest Aaron, and LeBron James, playing a version of himself, makes a great sidekick. Some of the more noteworthy other supporting players are Vanessa Bayer (107 episodes of Saturday Night Live) as Amy's friend and colleague, Tilda Swinton (most recently in Snowpiercer) as her hilariously blunt boss, Brie Larson (last in these pages for Don Jon) as Amy's down-to-earth sister Kim, Mike Birbiglia (after his cameo in Annie he had a series arc in Orange is the New Black) as Kim's dorky husband, Colin Quinn (89 of SNL and some other stuff) as Amy and Kim's father, and Ezra Miller (most recently in The Perks of being a Wallflower) as an intern. Since Hader's character is a sports doctor, there are plenty of real athletes, as well as quite a few celebrities, playing themselves,
Director Judd Apatow (last in these pages for This is 40) is the obvious choice for raunch, and he does well with Schumer's material.
Since we saw this six weeks ago, I don't remember much of the music, and the internet doesn't seem to remember that Jon Brion composed the soundtrack, only that there are lots of songs.
Rotten Tomatoes' critics are averaging 85% and its audiences 75, yet it has made lots of money, seventh of current releases in as many weeks, tripling its $35 million budget. Throw some money Amy's way, or wait for the small screen. But do see it if you can handle the filth.
Monday, August 31, 2015
Inside Out (2015)
Jack and I enjoyed this animated story of the anthropomorphic emotions inside a young girl's head when her parents move her across the country. Chris liked it so much he saw it three times so we saw it once, which was good. It is a strange concept and, as such, has been analyzed a great deal, including in this spoiler-filled article.
Starring Amy Poehler (profiled in They Came Together, which I didn't like) as Joy, Phyllis Smith (she has been in a movie, Bad Teacher, in addition to 187 episodes of The Office) as Sadness, Bill Hader (last blogged in The Skeleton Twins) as Fear, Lewis Black (he's done some movies, beginning with a tenth-billed role as Paul in Hannah and her Sisters (1986), and TV, but is best known as an acerbic comedian) as Anger, Mindy Kaling (after I mentioned her small part in No Strings Attached she got her own series, The Mindy Project, which is a big hit) as Disgust, Diane Lane (starting as a teenager in A Little Romance (1979), she's worked steadily and well on, among others, The Outsiders (1983), Rumble Fish (1983), The Cotton Club (1984), Chaplin (1992), Unfaithful (2002), Under the Tuscan Sun (2003), Fierce People (2005), Must Love Dogs (2005), Hollywoodland (2006), and, my personal favorite, A Walk on the Moon (1999)) and Kyle McLachlan (covered in Mao's Last Dancer) as the parents, Kaitlyn Dias (this is her second feature) as the girl Riley, and Richard Kind (most recently in these pages for Obvious Child) as her toy Bing Bong. There's a host of cameos, including Paula Poundstone, Frank Oz, Laraine Newman, and Flea (bassist of the band the Red Hot Chili Peppers).
Co-directors Pete Docter (last blogged in Up, for which he won his Oscar) and Ronaldo del Carmen (his first time directing a feature) are credited with the story; Docter, Meg LeFauve, and Josh Cooley (first time for the latter two) with the screenplay; and Poehler and Hader with additional dialogue--you can probably tell which parts, as Joy's dialogue does bear a certain resemblance to Leslie Knope's, Poehler's character on Parks and Recreation.
The sprightly soundtrack, which can be streamed from this link, is by Michael Giacchino, who also won his Oscar working with Docter on Up. After 11 weeks release Inside Out is second only to Jurassic World in current movies' earnings, which happens to have been Giacchino's last appearance in these pages.
Inside Out had been on the big screens for a while when we saw it over six weeks ago, but it's still raking in the dough. We didn't spring for the 3D version but we had fun, as did the critics, 98% of whom loved it on Rotten Tomatoes, and their audiences, at 90%.
Starring Amy Poehler (profiled in They Came Together, which I didn't like) as Joy, Phyllis Smith (she has been in a movie, Bad Teacher, in addition to 187 episodes of The Office) as Sadness, Bill Hader (last blogged in The Skeleton Twins) as Fear, Lewis Black (he's done some movies, beginning with a tenth-billed role as Paul in Hannah and her Sisters (1986), and TV, but is best known as an acerbic comedian) as Anger, Mindy Kaling (after I mentioned her small part in No Strings Attached she got her own series, The Mindy Project, which is a big hit) as Disgust, Diane Lane (starting as a teenager in A Little Romance (1979), she's worked steadily and well on, among others, The Outsiders (1983), Rumble Fish (1983), The Cotton Club (1984), Chaplin (1992), Unfaithful (2002), Under the Tuscan Sun (2003), Fierce People (2005), Must Love Dogs (2005), Hollywoodland (2006), and, my personal favorite, A Walk on the Moon (1999)) and Kyle McLachlan (covered in Mao's Last Dancer) as the parents, Kaitlyn Dias (this is her second feature) as the girl Riley, and Richard Kind (most recently in these pages for Obvious Child) as her toy Bing Bong. There's a host of cameos, including Paula Poundstone, Frank Oz, Laraine Newman, and Flea (bassist of the band the Red Hot Chili Peppers).
Co-directors Pete Docter (last blogged in Up, for which he won his Oscar) and Ronaldo del Carmen (his first time directing a feature) are credited with the story; Docter, Meg LeFauve, and Josh Cooley (first time for the latter two) with the screenplay; and Poehler and Hader with additional dialogue--you can probably tell which parts, as Joy's dialogue does bear a certain resemblance to Leslie Knope's, Poehler's character on Parks and Recreation.
The sprightly soundtrack, which can be streamed from this link, is by Michael Giacchino, who also won his Oscar working with Docter on Up. After 11 weeks release Inside Out is second only to Jurassic World in current movies' earnings, which happens to have been Giacchino's last appearance in these pages.
Inside Out had been on the big screens for a while when we saw it over six weeks ago, but it's still raking in the dough. We didn't spring for the 3D version but we had fun, as did the critics, 98% of whom loved it on Rotten Tomatoes, and their audiences, at 90%.
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
The End of the Tour (2015)
Jack and I really liked this tour de force by Jason Segal as author David Foster Wallace, whose five days with Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky and Lipsky's subsequent book is the basis of this movie. I haven't seen nor read any Wallace, but Segal's (last blogged for This is 40) performance is remarkable--one gets no glimpse of the comedian as he transforms into the complex writer. Jesse Eisenberg (most recently in Now You See Me, and there's a sequel in the works) doesn't do anything amazing as Lipsky, but he's still very good.
This is mostly a buddy/road trip picture ("the tour" is a book tour for Wallace's hugely successful novel Infinite Jest), but a few women show up in supporting roles, including Mamie Gummer (Meryl Streep's daughter, she's been in, among others, Taking Woodstock, all 13 episodes of Off the Map, Side Effects, seven episodes of The Good Wife, and Cake, though I didn't mention her in the linked ones and haven't yet written about her co-starring role in Ricki and the Flash), Mickey Sumner (Sting's daughter, last in Girl Most Likely), and Anna Chlumsky (after I covered her in In the Loop the former child actress has been in 38 episodes and counting of Veep).
Pulitzer Prize winning playwright (for Dinner with Friends) Donald Margulies wrote the screenplay, which was on the 2013 Blacklist (the year's top unproduced movie screenplays), and gave it to director James Ponsoldt (most recently made The Spectacular Now), one of his former students at Yale.
The prolific and talented Danny Elfman (most recently co-scored Avengers: Age of Ultron) provides a dreamy score (stream some of it here), which is supplemented by songs from Tindersticks, R.E.M., and more (songs).
Rotten Tomatoes' averages, at 92% critics and 89 audiences, are more in line with our opinions this time. We recommend it.
This is mostly a buddy/road trip picture ("the tour" is a book tour for Wallace's hugely successful novel Infinite Jest), but a few women show up in supporting roles, including Mamie Gummer (Meryl Streep's daughter, she's been in, among others, Taking Woodstock, all 13 episodes of Off the Map, Side Effects, seven episodes of The Good Wife, and Cake, though I didn't mention her in the linked ones and haven't yet written about her co-starring role in Ricki and the Flash), Mickey Sumner (Sting's daughter, last in Girl Most Likely), and Anna Chlumsky (after I covered her in In the Loop the former child actress has been in 38 episodes and counting of Veep).
Pulitzer Prize winning playwright (for Dinner with Friends) Donald Margulies wrote the screenplay, which was on the 2013 Blacklist (the year's top unproduced movie screenplays), and gave it to director James Ponsoldt (most recently made The Spectacular Now), one of his former students at Yale.
The prolific and talented Danny Elfman (most recently co-scored Avengers: Age of Ultron) provides a dreamy score (stream some of it here), which is supplemented by songs from Tindersticks, R.E.M., and more (songs).
Rotten Tomatoes' averages, at 92% critics and 89 audiences, are more in line with our opinions this time. We recommend it.
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared (Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann - 2013)
I liked very much this charming, off-kilter comedy about a naïve yet wily centenarian whose past and present misadventures belie his advanced age, inserting him, á la Forrest Gump, into history. With a voiceover dubbed into English (at least for our subtitled version), the movie follows Allan, who likes to blow things up, from his birth past his notable birthday. Swedish comedian Robert Gustafsson (now 50), who figures he spent three weeks of the shoot in makeup, has the body language down pat for his older role and switches for the flashbacks.
Director/co-writer Felix Herngren (new to me, he's a TV, movie, and commercial director, writer, producer, and actor, and after this movie he worked on the writing team for all 13 episodes of The Comedians and the producing team of Welcome to Sweden) and co-writer Hans Ingemansson adapted the worldwide best-selling novel of the same name by Jonas Jonasson.
Director/co-writer Felix Herngren (new to me, he's a TV, movie, and commercial director, writer, producer, and actor, and after this movie he worked on the writing team for all 13 episodes of The Comedians and the producing team of Welcome to Sweden) and co-writer Hans Ingemansson adapted the worldwide best-selling novel of the same name by Jonas Jonasson.
The circus music by Matti Bye (sample here and here) made me think of the soundtrack to Curb Your Enthusiasm.
It's ridiculous that the averages on Rotten Tomatoes are only 67 for critics and 69 for audiences. No sense of humor. Humph. Especially for something that may have the longest title ever. For those keeping track, Jack had no opinion because he couldn't join me that day.
Monday, July 20, 2015
Jurassic World (2015)
Amy, Nick, Jack and I enjoyed this sequel to the 1993-1997-2001 series in which a beautiful workaholic manager and a handsome scientist try to save her nephews and everyone else when all hell breaks loose at the dinosaur theme park. Lots of action, a high body count, some laughs, high tech special effects, and plain old corn are par for the course for a Steven Spielberg-driven project (he directed the first two and his Amblin Entertainment put out all four, with more on the drawing board).
Bryce Dallas Howard (last blogged in 50/50) is suitably Type A as park manager Claire who can run like the wind in her Jimmy Choos and Chris Pratt (most recently in Guardians of the Galaxy) should have been given more comedy but is getting better and better at this leading man stuff. Irrfan Khan (last in The Lunchbox) moves away from his stereotypical poverty roles and this time plays the wealthy owner in a gorgeously tailored suit. BD Wong (covered in Focus) reprises his role of Dr. Wu from the 1993 movie, and who better than Vincent D'Onofrio (most recently in The Judge) as the angry and reckless head of security? Jake Johnson (last blogged in Safety Not Guaranteed) and Lauren Lapkus (small part as a prison guard in season 2 of Orange is the New Black) have some good moments as computer geeks and it's nice to see Omar Sy moving to this side of the pond from his French roles (most recently The Untouchables), here as a guard.
This movie was our annual splashy pre-fireworks date, so, while we were stuck in traffic downtown, I read to Jack some of the trivia (there's a lot and we didn't get through it all, so I can't properly warn you about spoilers). We liked knowing beforehand that Jimmy Buffet is the guy holding two margaritas in the Margaritaville restaurant, the little boy hugging the giraffe is Howard's own son, and that Jimmy Fallon reads the safety instructions on the Universal Studios tram tours. I appreciated that Howard's all-white wardrobe is an homage to the white suits worn by Richard Attenborough, who had her role in the original. Jack liked that Pratt got to keep the motorcycle.
The director/co-writer this time is Colin Trevorrow, in his second feature gig after the afore-mentioned Safety Not Guaranteed, a small independent movie with little in common with this one other than Jake Johnson, a science fiction theme (albeit low-budget), and writer Derek Connolly. The husband-wife team of Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (Rise of the Plant of the Apes) are also credited as co-writers and for the story. And of course, the late Michael Crichton wrote the 1990 novel on which all of this is based.
Cinematographer John Schwartzman (profiled in Saving Mr. Banks) shot the lovely and scary pictures, while prolific and admired composer Michael Giacchino (last scored Tomorrowland) provides the soundtrack, which I found surprisingly unmoving for someone of his talent. Listen for yourself.
Bryce Dallas Howard (last blogged in 50/50) is suitably Type A as park manager Claire who can run like the wind in her Jimmy Choos and Chris Pratt (most recently in Guardians of the Galaxy) should have been given more comedy but is getting better and better at this leading man stuff. Irrfan Khan (last in The Lunchbox) moves away from his stereotypical poverty roles and this time plays the wealthy owner in a gorgeously tailored suit. BD Wong (covered in Focus) reprises his role of Dr. Wu from the 1993 movie, and who better than Vincent D'Onofrio (most recently in The Judge) as the angry and reckless head of security? Jake Johnson (last blogged in Safety Not Guaranteed) and Lauren Lapkus (small part as a prison guard in season 2 of Orange is the New Black) have some good moments as computer geeks and it's nice to see Omar Sy moving to this side of the pond from his French roles (most recently The Untouchables), here as a guard.
This movie was our annual splashy pre-fireworks date, so, while we were stuck in traffic downtown, I read to Jack some of the trivia (there's a lot and we didn't get through it all, so I can't properly warn you about spoilers). We liked knowing beforehand that Jimmy Buffet is the guy holding two margaritas in the Margaritaville restaurant, the little boy hugging the giraffe is Howard's own son, and that Jimmy Fallon reads the safety instructions on the Universal Studios tram tours. I appreciated that Howard's all-white wardrobe is an homage to the white suits worn by Richard Attenborough, who had her role in the original. Jack liked that Pratt got to keep the motorcycle.
The director/co-writer this time is Colin Trevorrow, in his second feature gig after the afore-mentioned Safety Not Guaranteed, a small independent movie with little in common with this one other than Jake Johnson, a science fiction theme (albeit low-budget), and writer Derek Connolly. The husband-wife team of Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (Rise of the Plant of the Apes) are also credited as co-writers and for the story. And of course, the late Michael Crichton wrote the 1990 novel on which all of this is based.
Cinematographer John Schwartzman (profiled in Saving Mr. Banks) shot the lovely and scary pictures, while prolific and admired composer Michael Giacchino (last scored Tomorrowland) provides the soundtrack, which I found surprisingly unmoving for someone of his talent. Listen for yourself.
You already know if you're going to like this, regardless of Rotten Tomatoes' critics (71%), audiences (82), or us. Just think carefully about which kids you bring because we found it quite violent and occasionally terrifying. PG-13 is probably about right.
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Rule #17 for movies and television
Someone who knocks on a hotel room door is not housekeeping nor room service, even if he or she pretends to be. Thanks to Jodi for the suggestion. See this link for the complete list.
Magic Mike XXL (2015)
Seeing this movie, as we did, in a packed house of rowdy women is the best way to enjoy this lightly plotted beef-fest about strippers making a comeback. Jack was a good sport (I saw one other man) and said he did enjoy the music (here's a list). Jodi formed a moms' movie club for her and her friends to get away while their husbands stay home with the kids and we joined her two and half weeks ago for a preview screening. I just read the first sentence above to Jack and he added that "lightly plotted" is generous.
The 2012 original Magic Mike wasn't bad, directed as it was by Steven Soderbergh (last linked to previous work in Haywire, although Side Effects came out after and was in the same post as the old Magic Mike). Soderbergh did shoot and edit both, and Reid Carolin wrote both, but directing duties this time went to Gregory Jacobs (new to me).
The guys all return, led by Channing Tatum (last blogged in Foxcatcher), and are surprisingly humorless, though Tatum smirks a fair amount. A few new characters join the cast but, really, this isn't good.
As the trailers were playing, one woman yelled, "Bring on the men!" The gals around us hooted and hollered as the studs gyrated, so it was kind of low-brow fun, but now, I think, the hootin' and hollerin' will have died down, so save your money. You can read these spoilers instead if you like. Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are more generous than we, averaging 64% and 68% respectively. It was sixth at the box office last weekend, with 21 new screens added, so some people are clearly happy with it. Jodi's movie club now includes husbands and friends and caters to brows both high and low.
The 2012 original Magic Mike wasn't bad, directed as it was by Steven Soderbergh (last linked to previous work in Haywire, although Side Effects came out after and was in the same post as the old Magic Mike). Soderbergh did shoot and edit both, and Reid Carolin wrote both, but directing duties this time went to Gregory Jacobs (new to me).
The guys all return, led by Channing Tatum (last blogged in Foxcatcher), and are surprisingly humorless, though Tatum smirks a fair amount. A few new characters join the cast but, really, this isn't good.
As the trailers were playing, one woman yelled, "Bring on the men!" The gals around us hooted and hollered as the studs gyrated, so it was kind of low-brow fun, but now, I think, the hootin' and hollerin' will have died down, so save your money. You can read these spoilers instead if you like. Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are more generous than we, averaging 64% and 68% respectively. It was sixth at the box office last weekend, with 21 new screens added, so some people are clearly happy with it. Jodi's movie club now includes husbands and friends and caters to brows both high and low.
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