‘PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie’ Aims to Be Super

September 28, 2023

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews Leave a comment

Here they come to save the day (CREDIT: Spin Master Entertainment, Nickelodeon Movies, and Paramount Pictures)

Starring: Mckenna Grace, Taraji P. Henson, Marsai Martin, Christian Convery, Kim Kardashian, North West, Saint West, Chris Rock, James Marsden, Kristen Bell, Finn Lee-Epp, Ron Pardo, Lil Rel Howery, Serena Williams, Alan Kim, Brice Gonzalez, Luxton Handspiker, Christian Corrao, Callum Shoniker, Nylan Parthipan, Kim Roberts

Director: Cal Brunker

Running Time: 92 Minutes

Rating: PG for Dogs in Danger

Release Date: September 29, 2023 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: Those dang pooches have superpowers now! The long-running canine kids show is back for a second big screen adventure. The PAW Patrol is still faithfully providing all the emergency services for Adventure City, but this time around, a meteor arrives and makes them even mightier than usual (hence the subtitle). But wouldn’t you know it, there’s a meteor expert in town who wants those space rock powers for herself. So she teams up with the ex-mayor/PAW Patrol nemesis to poke those pooches where it hurts. Will they continue to display the sort of teamwork that makes the dream work and stop this dastardly duo?

What Made an Impression?: In this particular review, I am serving as a representative to all you childless adults out there to let you know if there’s any way you could ever possibly be interested in PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie. (If any kids or parents also happen to read this review, that’s fine, too.) I’ve certainly enjoyed my fair share of entertainment that has a more youthful audience in mind, and I do love dogs of all shapes and sizes. So if you, like me, can summon your inner mutt-loving child, chances are you’ll find The Mighty Movie to be… perfectly pleasant. This is a rather safe movie, in all senses of the word “safe” (with the notable exception of one scene in which one of the PAW Patrol crew gets stuck on a failing plane). It’s not going to drive you nuts, and the wild list of credits is certainly entertaining. It’s a slight net positive for the world, as far as I can tell.

Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie is Recommended If You Like: Loyalty, duty, mentorism

Grade: 3 out of 5 Meteors

Does ‘Flora and Son’ Deliver Flora and Fun?

September 26, 2023

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , Leave a comment

The Title Characters (CREDIT: Apple TV+)

Starring: Eve Hewson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Orén Kinlan, Jack Reynor

Director: John Carney

Running Time: 97 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: September 22, 2023 (Theaters)/September 29, 2023 (Apple TV+)

I really loved director John Carney’s last movie, 2016’s Sing Street, so the test for Flora and Son‘s success just had to be: would it make me want to run out of the theater and SING in the STREET? Not necessarily out loud, in my head would also count.

Alas, it was raining, so I was more focused on seeking cover. But when I got home, I immediately re-listened to “High Life,” the song from the last scene, so that was pretty much the next best reaction.

While I did quite enjoy the original songs, the scene that most affected me the most was Eve Hewson watching a vintage Joni Mitchell performance of “Both Sides, Now.” It made me cry! And then she started crying, too!

Grade: 4 High Lives out of 5 Dublin07s

‘It Lives Inside,’ Which is to Say: A Relentless Indian Demon Comes to High School

September 21, 2023

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

TFW It lives inside… (CREDIT: NEON/Screenshot)

Starring: Megan Suri, Neeru Bajwa, Mohana Krishnan, Vik Sahay, Betty Gabriel, Gage Marsh, Beatrice Kitsos

Director: Bishal Dutta

Running Time: 99 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Demonic Lacerations

Release Date: September 22, 2023 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: Samidha (Megan Suri) has been losing touch with her Indian heritage, but it hasn’t been losing touch with her. She’s drifted apart from her friend Tamira (Mohana Krishnan), who seems to have completely lost touch with reality. While holding tightly to a jar containing something foreboding, she desperately turns to Sam for help, while insisting that the spirits their family told them about when they were kids are actually real. Then she inexplicably disappears, leaving Sam to be beset by the same demon, known as a Pishach. It looks like she’s doomed to repeat the same fate as Tamira. But there’s some hope, as she has that example to learn from, and she can also seek support from a trusted teacher (Betty Gabriel), as well as her parents (Neeru Bajwa and Vik Sahay), if she can manage not to be completely estranged from them.

What Made an Impression?: Coming-of-Age Metaphor: Don’t we all feel like we’re being pursued by an immortal demon during our teenage years? Maybe not everyone would describe that transitional period with that precise description, but there’s a reason why this stage of life is so perennially ripe for metaphor. There had yet to be a mainstream American film featuring Hindu demons to get that point across (at least not that I’m aware of), so writer/director Bishal Dutta went ahead and corrected that little oversight. It was a fresh call, and I’m sure I’m not the only horror fan who will appreciate the invigoration.

Good Grub: Ultimately, It Lives Inside contends that the best way to keep a Pishach at bay is a strongly bonded community, particularly one that regularly makes time for actually sitting down for dinner. Throughout the film, Sam’s mom Poorna constantly chastises her for not showing up on the days when they gather with friends and family to celebrate their culture. It’s a straightforward, unsurprising espousal of values, but it definitely hits its target. And it’s all underscored by a message that a family that eats together will survive together. You can practically see the demon-fighting powers during the culinary close-ups. Overall, It Lives Inside keeps its ambitions tight and focused, as it pulls off its simple, small-scale goals.

It Lives Inside is Recommended If You Like: Learning how to be a better child to your parent, or a better parent to your child

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Pishachs

A Blue in Venice, A Haunting in Beetle

September 18, 2023

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

CREDIT: DC, Screenshot/20th Century Studios, Screenshot

Blue Beetle:

Starring: Xolo Maridueña, Adriana Barraza, Damián Alcázar, Raoul Max Trujillo, Susan Sarandon, George Lopez, Elpidia Carrillo, Bruna Marquezine, Belissa Escobedo, Harvey Guillén, Becky G

Director: Ángel Manuel Soto

Running Time: 127 Minutes

Rating: PG-13

Release Date: August 18, 2023 (Theaters)

More

‘Dumb Money’ is Smart Storytelling

September 13, 2023

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

So Dumb (CREDIT: Sony Pictures/Screenshot)

Starring: Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, Seth Rogen, Shailene Woodley, America Ferrera, Nick Offerman, Anthony Ramos, Sebastian Stan, Dane DeHaan, Myha’la Harold, Rushi Kota, Talia Ryder

Director: Craig Gillespie

Running Time: 104 Minutes

Rating: R for Dumb Profanity and Cheeky Nudity

Release Date: September 15, 2023 (Limited Theaters)/September 29, 2023 (Expands Wide)

What’s It About?: STONKS! I could attempt to continue to write the rest of this review of Dumb Money in the lingua franca of the r/WallStreetBets subreddit, but alas, I’m probably not well-versed in it enough to produce something coherent. So I’ll instead keep it generally prosaic. Back in 2020 and early 2021, r/WallStreetBets was the social media hub for something rather strange happening in the stock market. Based on the advice of a chicken tender-obsessed financial analyst named Keith Gill (Paul Dano), a whole cadre of amateur traders decide to go all in on the retail chain GameStop. Meanwhile, Wall Street types like Gabe Plotkin (Seth Rogen) and Kenneth Griffin (Nick Offerman) are fairly confident that they should do exactly the opposite by short selling GameStop stock, what with the general decline of in-person retail video game sales. But the meme-fueled enthusiasm of working class folks like a nurse (America Ferrera), a couple of college classmates (Myha’la Harold and Talia Ryder), and even a GameStop cashier (Anthony Ramos) ensures that Opposite Day will be arriving very soon.

What Made an Impression?: Cutting Through the Malarkey: If you feel that the financial markets are a rigged game, it’s probably because their rules are too intricate and incomprehensible to anyone who can’t afford to spend hours poring over them every day. So it’s a bit of a minor miracle that Dumb Money is so easy to understand despite all that. It certainly helps that it’s based on a story that was widely covered by the media. And the underlying concepts are straightforward enough that you don’t have to sweat the details. But maybe we’ve also become more financially literate as a society since the days of Occupy Wall Street and the other populist movements that followed in its wake, along with the democratizing rise of the Robinhood stock trading app, which plays a major role in this story. But also, it comes down to simple storytelling skills: the characters are compelling, so it’s easier to pay attention to what’s going on.
A Busy Pandemic: Recent history is a major part of popular cinema, and if that trend is going to continue, then we can’t ignore the COVID-19 of it all. As this story takes place during the height of the pre-vaccinated pandemic, there are a lot of face masks. That was a time of heightened anxiety, but it was also a time of doing whatever the hell else was part of your life, whether that meant surreptitiously texting in class, trying not to curse in front of your kids, or even trying to run that sub-4:00 mile you could never quite pull off in college. Buying stocks that become worth millions of dollars isn’t cool, you know what is cool? Making billion dollars’ worth of memories that you’ll cherish forever.
What’s Behind the Screen?: Context is king. Dumb Money relies on a fair amount of pre-existing news footage, as well as clips of real politicians from Congressional hearings. This mix of documentary and dramatization equals illumination. The events of this story initially played out behind Zoom screens and Internet-speak, and now we get some juicy peeks into how those scenes might have played out in the flesh. They’re filled with the high-stakes foibles of humanity, offering an irresistible mix of voyeurism but also sympathy, as well as savagery but also a dollop of optimism. If the Almighty Dollar remains king, we’ll all remain dumb for it, but hopefully we can still blast through the status quo a bit in the meantime.

Dumb Money is Recommended If You Like: The Social Network, The Big Short, Memes

Grade: 4.5 out of 5 STONKS

‘The Nun II’: You Ain’t Gettin’ Nun

September 9, 2023

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Where’s Nunno? (CREDIT: Warner Bros. Pictures/Screenshot)

Starring: Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet, Storm Reid, Anna Popplewell, Bonnie Aarons, Katelyn Rose Downey, Suzanne Bertish

Director: Michael Chaves

Running Time: 110 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: September 8, 2023 (Theaters)

I think The Nun should team up with Pistachio Disguisey from The Master of Disguise. Sure she’s got some other skills besides blending into things, particularly telekinesis. But those feats of fancy aren’t all that special compared to her camouflage capers. Maybe her next adventure should be some sort of Where’s Waldo?-style puzzler.

Grade: A Little More Than Nun of the Fun

‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3’ Actually Heads to Greece – Should We Join Them?

September 7, 2023

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Is “selfie” a Greek Word? (CREDIT: Yannis Drakoulidis/Focus Features)

Starring: Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Louis Mandylor, Elena Kampouris, Lainie Kazan, Andrea Martin, Maria Vacratsis, Melina Kotselou, Elias Kacavas, Gia Carides, Joey Fatone, Gerry Mendicino, Stephanie Nur

Director: Nia Vardalos

Running Time: 92 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for A Quick Trip to a Nude Beach and a Lack of Familial Boundaries

Release Date: September 8, 2023 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: Toula Portokalos (Nia Vardalos) still has a wacky Greek family, but they’re not quite as boisterous as they used to be. Her dad Gus has passed away, her mom Maria (Lainie Kazan) is starting to get a little senile, and the once-regular family dinners are now few and far between. But they need to properly honor Gus’ legacy, so it’s time to head back to the homeland to make good on his final wish and deliver a journal to some of his childhood friends. Ergo, it’s time for pretty much the entire Greek population of Chicago to crowd onto a plane and enjoy several days of the sunny, low-key Mediterranean lifestyle.

What Made an Impression?: Low-Stress Love Stories: In case you’re worried about whether or not Gus’ journal is successfully delivered, well, I won’t spoil it completely. But I will say that it’s not an especially difficult task, and a rather simple MacGuffin to build an entire plot around. Which is one way of saying that there are other things going on to fill up an hour and a half, like the awkward courtship between Toula and Ian’s (John Corbett) college-age daughter Paris (Elena Kampouris) and some guy she ghosted named Aristotle (Elias Kacavas). Aristotle is along for the trip ostensibly as Aunt Voula’s (Andrea Martin) assistant, but we can all easily see through that thin cover of matchmaking. Anyway, Paris and Aristotle quickly become sweet on each other with minimal conflict. There’s some business about her failing in school, but that’s basically solved just as easily through sheer gumption. Another love story pops up as well and  gets a bit of side eye because one of the characters is a refugee. But that also becomes not a big deal just as quickly. Maybe after all the rigamarole about Ian not being Greek, the family just decided to immediately accept any and all notions of love.
It’s All Greeks to Greeks: The Portokalos family has a habit of pointing out that certain words and bits of culture are – believe it or not – thoroughly and utterly Greek. And they’ve certainly got a point, as the Hellenistic period did indeed influence much of the Western world for the next couple millennia. But when they’re actually physically in Greece, those comments hit a little differently. Which is to say: everybody knows all that already! Anyway, it’s a gag that’s worth a few chuckles.
Just Let Them Say Funny Things: So My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 is low-stress, mostly plotless, and more or less an advertisement for the Greek tourism industry. But it still has some funny people doing some funny things, and it shows sparks of life when they’re allowed to make some mildly ribald comments. Andrea Martin in particular is as dynamite as ever, and she develops a charming rapport with Melina Kotselou, who’s apparently playing the mayor of the village. (It sort of makes sense in context.) Anyway, we could have used more of that odd couple combo. Otherwise, this is a sequel that’s just coasting by on the goodwill of its fanbase.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 is Recommended If You Like: Greek completism

Grade: 2.5 out of 5 Journals

‘Bottoms’ is a Queer, Bloody, and Fantastical Journey Through High School

August 24, 2023

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Bottoms on top? (CREDIT: ORION Pictures)

Starring: Rachel Sennott, Ayo Edebiri, Havana Rose Liu, Kaia Gerber, Nicholas Galitzine, Dagmara Domińczyk, Marshawn Lynch, Ruby Cruz

Director: Emma Seligman

Running Time: 92 Minutes

Rating: R for A Fair Bit of Sexuality and Some Absurd Violence

Release Date: August 25, 2023 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: There’s no way around it: PJ (Rachel Sennott) and Josie (Ayo Edebiri) are the outcasts of all outcasts at Huntington High School. You might call them bottoms even. (The title of their movie certainly does.) They’re both gay, but that’s not the problem. Their classmates are pretty enlightened when it comes to sexual orientation, but they’re a little less so when it comes to people who are untalented and don’t care much about football. So PJ and Josie try to reverse their fortunes by starting a fight club/self-defense class/feminine support group as a front to hook up with the hottest girls in school. Will their secret be found out? Or will everyone else be more focused on the looming big game with the rival school?

What Made an Impression?: The Point is Beside the Point: The queerness that’s central to Bottoms‘ premise is always front and center, but it’s not the most fundamental aspect. At its core, this is a story about acceptance. Josie and PJ could just as easily be scheming on a plot to land some platonic friends, and you would hardly have to change any aspect of the script to make that happen. That’s a win for both representation and storytelling. This is a movie that is perfectly comfortable being matter-of-fact and upfront about its identity and then simply moving on to the rest of the good stuff.
Queer in Other Ways: Of course, there’s another definition of “queer” besides the LGBTQ+ sense. It’s a synonym for “weird” and “bizarre,” or even “outlandish.” And let’s be clear: Bottoms is strange-queer even more than it is gay-queer. If you get a bunch of funny people together, of course things are going to be off-kilter. But if you were expecting a somewhat realistic depiction of the high school experience, then you need to reset your expectations ASAP. This is a romp that is campy, gratuitous, and absurd aplenty. Every character feels like a facsimile of a human being, rather than an actual person, and the rules of life are accordingly askew.
Seriously, I Don’t Know What the Hell I Just Watched: I’m hesitant to recommend Bottoms with my full soul, because while I admire its bravado, I could never quite figure out its base reality. Random and outlandish behavior is the status quo, so I found myself thinking “OMG WTF” much more often than I was cracking up. That’s a better state of mind than nothing at all, but not as pleasurable as possible. If you want to get kooky, Bottoms has plenty of kooky. And maybe it’s just best not to ask why.

Bottoms is Recommended If You Like: Heathers, Assassination Nation, MacGruber, Cocaine Bear, The fight scenes from Anchorman and Anchorman 2

Grade: 3 out of 5 Golden Ferrets

My Second Voyage with The Meg, My First Voyage with the Demeter

August 22, 2023

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Meg 2: Dracula Boogaloo (CREDIT: Warner Bros. Pictures/Screenshot; Rainer Bajo/Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment)

Meg 2: The Trench:

Starring: Jason Statham, Wu Jing, Shuya Sophia Cai, Cliff Curtis, Melissanthi Mahut, Page Kennedy, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Skyler Samuels, Sienna Guillory, Whoopie Van Raam, Kiran Sonia Sawar, Felix Mayr

Director: Ben Wheatley

Running Time: 116 Minutes

Rating: PG-13

Release Date: August 4, 2023 (Theaters)

The Last Voyage of the Demeter:

Starring: Corey Hawkins, Aisling Franciosi, Liam Cunningham, David Dastmalchian, Javier Botet, Woody Norman

Director: André Øvredal

Running Time: 119 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: August 11, 2023 (Theaters)

More

The Doggies of ‘Strays’ Are on the Dirtiest and Sweetest Mission of the Year

August 17, 2023

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , 1 Comment

Here Be Strays (CREDIT: Universal Studios)

Starring: Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, Isla Fisher, Randall Park, Will Forte

Director: Josh Greenbaum

Running Time: 93 Minutes

Rating: R for Thoroughly Scatological and Sexual Humor, and Some Canine Revenge Violence

Release Date: August 18, 2023 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: Dog is famously man’s best friend. But someone forgot to explain that to Doug, the frequently masturbating, irresponsible loner played by Will Forte in Strays. He has a Border Terrier named Reggie (voiced by Will Ferrell), but that’s only to spite his most recent ex-girlfriend, who was actually the one who chose to adopt the pup in the first place. Soon enough, Doug realizes that Reggie’s cramping his style a bit too much, so he tries to get rid of him with a miles-long version of fetch. Reggie thinks it’s all a game until streetwise stray Boston Terrier Bug (Jamie Foxx) sets him straight. The two of them then team up with therapy Great Dane Hunter (Randall Park) and sniffer supreme Australian Shepherd Maggie (Isla Fisher) for the ultimate revenge mission: they’re going to take away the thing that Doug cares the most about in the world by biting off a certain part of his anatomy that dangles between his legs.

What Made an Impression?: An Explicit Dog’s Life: I didn’t make any exact calculations while watching, but I would estimate that about 75% of the jokes and gags in Strays are scatological or sexual in nature. That makes sense, as dogs sure do poop and pee and hump a lot. That’s true of a lot of mammals, after all! But dogs tend to be especially shameless about it. So director Josh Greenbaum and screenwriter Dan Perrault wisely take a matter-of-fact approach to the crudeness. Depending on your tolerance level for potty humor, you might find yourself averting or rolling your eyes at certain moments. But Strays stays true to its canine worldview through and through, and it deserves respect for that.
Guileless and Openhearted: It’s essential that Strays‘ main pooch be as fundamentally trusting as Reggie is. Even when he realizes how awful Doug has been to him, it doesn’t change his entire conception of existence. Instead, he still believes that the world is absolutely full of wonder, and if anything, his time with his new friends convinces him of that truth even more. Life off the leash could terrify a more skittish dog, but Reggie rolls along with pretty much anything. If you introduce him to the couch you’ve been humping, he’ll treat it as an honor to meet someone so important. If you tell him that he should tell the lawn gnome he’s humping that he’s its daddy, he’ll do his best to make the introduction to his long-lost son less awkward. It’s always welcome to have a fresh bundle of joy on your team.
Treat Your Pet Right: In its most ambitious moments, Strays grasps for profundity in exploring the emotional dynamics of toxic relationships. And it’s mostly successful. Despite his desire for vengeance, there’s also an undercurrent implying that Reggie can’t quite quit Doug. And his explanation for why that is sounds a lot like the sort that you might hear from people who have been abused in human-human relationships. Reggie has internalized the lesson that he deserves Doug’s neglect because he’s been a bad dog all along, and it’s heartbreaking to witness that realization. While Strays has been advertised a gross-but-sweet raucous comedy, it turns out that it’s actually most assured in its handling of canine psychology.

Strays is Recommended If You Like: Talking dog movies like Homeward Bound and A Dog’s Purpose but wish they had more poop and dick jokes

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Humps

Older Entries Newer Entries