Movie Catching Up, Part Three

And now to begin the home stretch of my movie catching up!

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Star Trek Beyond is the latest installment of the recent reboot. The Enterprise is heading for a starbase to restock supplies; meanwhile, Captain Kirk is having doubts as to whether he wants to continue on the ship's five-year mission. The ship is dispatched to respond to a rescue signal when it is ambushed by a villain named Krall. Despite some decent action sequences it seems like a flimsy plot. I've read a couple comments that compare it to a TV series episode. I don't think I would go that far but it seems like a standard plot for Star Trek.

Probably the most notable thing about it isn't part of the plot but the revelation that Sulu has a husband and family. It's a nod to the openly gay George Takei, the original Sulu, but he was not pleased, because he wanted a new gay character, not changing the orientation of one of the established ones. My grade: C.

War Dogs is based on a true story  (with embellishments, I'm sure), David (Miles Teller) is laboring away in 2005 as a massage therapist as well as a failed venture to sell high-quality bedsheets to nursing homes. At a funeral he reconnects with a high school friend, Efraim (Jonah Hill), who offers David a job at his new venture, buying arms and reselling them to the US Government during the Iraq War. David's learns his girlfriend is pregnant. The couple are both anti-war but David takes the job anyway. lying to her about his "business trips" (soon the guys are in the Middle East running guns to fill their orders) and his sudden income increase.

Both leads are appealing, though Hill often finishes a sentence with a laugh that's painful to hear. The "lying to girlfriend" angle is stale and the plot seems too far-fetched for a "true " story. My grade: C-plus.

And then there's Sausage Party, an animated movie for adults (very deserving of the R rating) which actually has an interesting premise. Inside a supermarket, all the products for sale worship people as their gods. They believe when they're "chosen" (i.e. purchased) they go to the "great beyond." Some items, though, are nonbelievers, non-perishables who claim to have returned from the great beyond and seen the horrible truth.

A sausage named Frank (Seth Rogen) and his girlfriend Brenda, a hot dog bun (Kristen Wiig) are happy to be chosen despite being warned by a nonbeliever. A mishap causes their packages to be left behind, unfortunately. Frank decides to journey to the liquor aisle because a bottle of liquor named Firewater is said to be an expert about the reality of the great beyond.

Oh, did I mention that Firewater is a Native American?

And here's the problem. Whatever statements the filmmakers (cowritten and coproduced by Rogen) are making -- about religion and beliefs and how they can divide us -- are completely overwhelmed by the "humor." Stereotypical humor (see: Firewater; a lesbian taco, and bickering bagel and lavash). Scatological humor. Sexual humor (ha ha, look at the giant orgy! Look at the douche, name of Douche, unload his product into the...I've said enough.) I think I actually laughed out loud twice, and that doesn't cut the mustard. My grade: D-minus.

That's all the movies I've seen in the theater. But I'm not done. I recently watched some movies On Demand and I've decided to write about those as well. Stay tuned!

Quick Review: Ghostbusters

I have to say I was a bit concerned with the social media and other commentary regarding Ghostbusters, the latest franchise reboot, being a bad idea because the Ghostbusters are now women. After all these years Hollywood is still unfair to women, whether it's the type of roles and scripts they're offered or their pay compared to male actors. So I made sure I saw it during opening weekend, and the box office report says it earned $46 million.

And it deserves it, because despite a bit of a slow start to set things up, it's quite funny. The new 'busters (Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones) work well together, and Chris Hemsworth gets to ham it up as their receptionist, hired despite being dumb as a post but pretty to look at. The plot involves a scheme to open a portal to release malevolent spirits and bring on the apocalypse. There's a post-credits scene to set up a sequel, and though I tend to frown on them I want one in this case. If nothing else, it may help shut up the sexist Twitter trolls...no, they're like the cockroaches that will survive nuclear holocaust. My grade: B-plus.

P.S. Classic title song >>>>> New theme song.

Quick Review: Despicable Me 2

Often, when I really love a movie, I hope that no sequel arrives. So often those sequels disappoint. Thus, I was worried about Despicable Me 2. How could they come up with another story involving supervillain-turned-doting dad Gru (voice of Steve Carell), his three little girls and his seemingly endless supply of Minions? Would they turn Gru evil again? Find a reason for him to be separated from his daughters? Thankfully, there's a workable story which avoids both of those obvious misfires. Gru is recruited by the Anti-Villain League to help stop a different criminal's fiendish plot, teaming up with one of their agents (Kristen Wiig). There isn't as much interaction between Gru and the girls, as this time Gru's personal growth, if you will, comes from his getting back into the world of...dating. Also, the Minion activity is upped, which some adults may find tiresome. But I'm a big kid at heart. My grade: A-minus.

(Speaking of the Minions, I bought a DVD of the first movie because it had a coupon for some Fandango cash, and look who was inside?)

Quick Review: Bridesmaids

I'll make this simple: "Bridesmaids" is the best movie I've seen so far this year. Some have compared it to "The Hangover" but those comparisons aren't very valid. (For one thing, "The Hangover" left me thoroughly not entertained.) There's some R-rated raunch but it's not overwhelming. The story is as much concerned with the inner struggle of Annie (Kristen Wiig, brilliant) as it is with the wild situations the bridesmaids get into. She's middle-aged, in a dead-end sales job after her cake shop went under, in a dead-end relationship with a man who's only in it for the sex (Jon Hamm, hot), living with two strange roommates in an apartment, and now her best friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph) is engaged and asks her to be the maid of honor. Annie is trying to put together a bridal shower on a budget while another bridesmaid (Rose Byrne), a newer and wealthier friend of Lillian's, is ready to swoop in to take over the maid of honor's duties, which strains Annie even more. All of this doesn't help when a new, charming, decent guy (Chris O'Dowd, also hot) comes into Annie's life. There are both belly laughs and insightful, sensitive moments, both happy and sad. My grade: A-minus.

Quick Review: Paul

Another example of a movie that started out slowly and then grew on me as it went on is "Paul." It starts out with Graeme and Clive (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, who've done this before in "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz") coming from Britain to the US to attend the San Diego Comic-Con, and then take a road trip in a rented RV to sites of famous alien encounters such as Area 51. On the trip they have a run in with a couple of homophobic rednecks -- the running joke is that everyone thinks they're a couple -- at a diner (Jane Lynch makes a great waitress),  and then witness a car crash where they meet Paul, a real live alien...well, animated, with Seth Rogen's voice. Paul is escaping from the government agency that's been keeping him around since 1947, when his ship crashed on Earth, and needs help getting to the rendezvous point where he's to be picked up by a rescue ship. At a trailer park they meet Ruth (Kristen Wiig) who runs the place along with her father. They're devout Christians to the point where they don't believe in evolution -- or aliens. This is a problem when Ruth sees Paul, and Graeme and Clive end up taking Ruth along for the ride lest she alert the authorities. The beginning, with all the comic-book stuff and the rednecks, was too obvious and cliched, and the running gag about Graeme and Clive being a couple irritated me. But it's well-acted, and as the movie got into the chase aspect (Jason Bateman, as the lead agent trying to track down Paul, and Sigourney Weaver, as his superior, are excellent), and as Ruth, now questioning everything she believed since she now knows aliens are real, starts to let loose, the humor begins to shine. Lots of nods to sci-fi of all kinds, especially Steven Spielberg (who has a cameo). My grade: B.