Lego Batman the movie

I definitely just saw an awesome movie. Watched Lego Batman movie with my 10 year old nephew and gotta say awesome. 

Not only were the visuals amazing (Batmobile and Batcave made my jaw drop) but the storyline and voices were spot on. 

The story is Batman and Superman have to team up to stop Lex Luthor and Joker whom have a Kryptonite gun and Lego desembler (can destroy all of Batman's gadgets). I'm not going to spoil the rest of the plot but it was awesome. 

Highly recommend if you like superheroes. Fun for kids and adults as well as could easily be the plot for the live action Justice League movie. 5 out of 5 stars!

R.I.P.D.

Did I see the same movie as the critics? 

Ryan Reynolds plays a recently deceased dirty cop who is given the choice to either go straight to Hell or work for Heaven as a cop who helps usher souls to Heaven. Jeff Bridges is his mentor whom died in 1800's and provides the funniest to this comic duo. He's very much his character from "True Grit."

This movie for me was 4 out of 5 stars. While I was watching it I didn't recall any movies similar. Other critics say it's like "Ghostbusters," but I don't see the comparisons. Say what you will, but this movie rocked. Mary-Louise Parker was funny as well.

My favorite part was rediscovering Ryan Reynolds. For a long time I felt he was like Keanu Reeves, no range. This movie he plays the "straight" man with few smiles but HUGE laughs for the audience next to Jeff Bridges. He has to play a conflicted character as you see why he's a dirty cop. He's also married to the love of his life. And he's a fish out of water not only learning how to deal with being dead but also being a Heaven cop. AND HIS BUTT!!!!! Everyone knows I am a butt person, but this camera was HOOKED on his butt. I was in Heaven.

Go see this one. You will laugh and get mad. Exactly what they want! Parts you'll even be grossed out. All in all very entertaining.

Grown Ups 2

So here is the official plot synopsis from Wikipedia "Three years after the events of Grown Ups, Lenny Feder (Adam Sandler) has relocated his family back to the small town where he and his friends (Kevin James, Chris Rock, and David Spade) grew up. This time around, the grown ups are the ones learning lessons from their kids on a day notoriously full of surprises, the last day of school. In the beginning, all of them still think that their children are still kids, however throughout the film they begin to accept that their children are growing up." Taylor Lautner, Milo Ventimiglia, and Patrick Schwarzenegger play foils for the grown ups as college students with chips on their shoulders. Hottie Alexander Ludwig plays David Spade's long lost son from a one-night stand. All the other original cast kids are back from the original a little older.

Now let me say I LOVED the first. it was hilarious. I would give that one 3 out of 5 stars if I was reviewing it now. This one gets 1 1/2 stars. It was pretty bad. I'm not trying to be harsh because I love stupid humor, but this is bad. Think of this movie like a baby doing something funny. So the baby makes you laugh, and it works you giggle. The baby keeps doing something that will make you laugh, but the funny wanes. That's exactly how I felt this movie was. It'd do ONE funny thing then continue because it knows the first thing is funny, but by the fifth "joke" you're worn out from the uncomfortableness you just witnessed.

What upset me most about this film is it had potential, but not explaining Rob Schneider's absence, the unrealistic silly gags (Alexander Ludwig gets off a train and holds up a crayon picture of David Spade next to David Spade and says "Yup looks just like you."), and there's a huge fight between grown men (Adam and company) against college kids (Taylor and company). On what planet would that be legal?

Frustrated and annoyed I have to say not sure why this movie was even made. The first one yes there really was no point it was adlibbed and basically stand up. This movie was just horrible with plot holes the size of the moon (a drunk/pill popping bus driver falls asleep so Adam Sandler drives the school bus - doesn't he need a special license? Employed by the school? Can ANYONE drive a local city bus?). Actually I change my mind it's getting only 1 star. Shame on them for taking 3 years to come up with this mess. What a waste of talent and money.

Sharknado

Ian Ziering plays Fin (I'm not making this up) a separated bar owner who's wife Tara Reid and two kids (son and daughter) must survive LA during a tornado that propels sharks from the sea.

(long pause)

Just let that marinate for a moment.

(long pause)

It's ACTUALLY not that bad. I know, I know. My 10 year old nephew was THOROUGHLY confused by this...rightly so. But the thing is a movie called Sharknado isn't meant to make sense. That's what I told him. After that he enjoyed it. And that's how you have to approach this.

The acting isn't that bad; the writing clearly is...but that's the point. This is a movie meant to be a B-movie classic. YET I've seen it twice. It has resurrected Ian Ziering's career. He's not only good as the lead but the man is 49 and looks AMAZING! He looks better than he did at 20 on "Beverly Hills, 90210" to be honest. I'd always been a Brandon Walsh fan, but suddenly Steve Sanders is my fave...YUM! 

Ooops sorry the movie. So I give the movie honestly 3 stars out of 5. It was entertaining and fun. Tara Reid was pretty decent so I'm sure she'll be cast in more. I say go to OnDemand during this hot weather, sit back, and enjoy this two hour...experience!

Turbo

Ryan Reynolds voices the character of "Theo" a snail obsessed with race car driving. His brother voiced by Paul Giamatti tries grounding him by telling him reality "
You're a snail, not a car." Still Theo sticks to his dream of being fast. A chance encounter with Nitrous speeds him up. Soon he is not only ready to make his dreams come true, but that of others.

I don't want to give away the plot too much, but this is an AMAZING movie with an incredible message: Dream incredibly big and never give up on that dream. This inspired me as I personally want to be a writer/actor. My friends and family are supportive of course, but some gave me the "realistic" speech. Still I am pressing on.

I give this movie 20 out of 5 stars. Loved everything about it! Could watch it again; and praying there's a sequel. This is one of those movies that adults take kids to and EVERYONE benefits! Amazing can't be said enough about this movie! I'm predicting it'll be nominated and even win Best Animated Film at next year's Academy Awards.

The Bad plus the Good

So I saw some bad movies and some good. Let's start with the bad:

First up was "House at the End of the Street" with Oscar Winner Jennifer Lawrence and Oscar Nominee Elisabeth Shue. Jennifer plays high schooler Elissa whom moves to the perfect house which is situated next door to a house that a double murder took place 4 years prior. There's a discovery that a college age boy lives there by himself as his sister killed their parents. Sounds interesting enough? The uninteresting part is why she did it and the entire backstory. It's as though some writer didn't like the original way the story was going and changed it but then had to commit to it. SO BAD. Out of 5 stars it gets 2 for the amazing acting alone. 

Second bad movie was "Brave" where in the animated world you feed your mother food and she becomes a bear. The whole point of the story is this Irish Princess doesn't want an arranged marriage. The mom turning into a bear via trickery from a witch yeah I don't get the connection to this girl. I understand it won the Oscar for Animated Feature, but I'm thinking there was nothing else worthy out that year cuz I didn't get it. It turned a profit at the box office, but not like Pixar's other movies. Maybe it's called Brave because Pixar was Brave enough to release this mess. 2 stars out of 5 for animation and acting.

And the final bad movie I saw was "Justice League: Doom." The usual voices that were popular to the animated series were present. Especially the iconic Kevin Conroy as Batman/Bruce Wayne (He is the actor to first decide to use two distinctive voices for Batman and Bruce Wayne on the 90's Emmy Winning cartoon). The story starts off with a bank robbery that involves all the Justice League, but has nothing to do with the rest of the story. Then the story of how villains band together against the Justice League is just soo thin; it even repeats itself by using the image of multiple villains. This movie was so bad I kept falling asleep through it. Had to watch it 3 times to finally finish it. There's even this weird "Kill Bill Vol 2" moment in the movie for Batman (that's all I will give away). The villains are laughable not dangerous. 2 stars out of 5 again due to the animation being amazing, but the plot being atrocious.

Now onto the good:

First up is "Batman: Under the Red Hood." I DID NOT like the voices. Although I am partial to Kevin Conroy as Batman/Bruce Wayne I was not put off by it. The only voice that threw me way off was John DiMaggio as The Joker. The plot is that prior to becoming the Joker Jack Napier wore a Red Hood, but chased by Batman and fell into a vat of acid changing his face into what we see as the Joker today. Someone has picked up Joker's Red Hood and is infiltrating the streets of Gotham as the new Crime Boss. This movie is very much in the vein of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. I'd give it 5 out of 5 stars. The twists and turns were amazing along with the animation.

And finishing my Batman obsession would be "Batman: Year One" based on Frank Miller's comic. This starts from the beginning as Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham and tries cleaning up the streets. It details how he came up with Batman, how he found the Batcaves, how he got his gadgets, and how he becomes a beacon of hope. It's DARK though; even darker than Nolan's movies (for example we see James Gordon in boxers and nearly naked; as well as Selina Kyle being a short haired prostitute). I loved it and cannot wait for Year Two. 4 out of 5 stars as it wasn't perfect for me but it was damn close.

Next up "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns" thru Netflix.

The Lone Ranger

 

Let me first say A for effort. Oscar Nominated Johnny Depp as a Native American and "tall drink of water" Armie Hammer as the hero directed by Oscar Winner Gore Verbinski whom directed 3 "Pirates of the Caribbean" films, "The Ring," and "Rango" (for which he won the Oscar for Animated film) produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. Plus James Badge Dale, Oscar Nominated Helena Bodnam Carter, and Oscar Nominated Tom Wilkinson. How could you lose right? Well this should be called "The Out of Range."

Based on the radio serial turned TV series now film the movie follows John Reid, a District Attorney, set in late 1800's US. The movie running time is 2 hours and 30 minutes. Half hour from being "Titanic!" UGH! WAY TOO LONG! The acting is ok at best. The screenplay in three words: TEAR. AH. BULL! I've never been so embarrassed for a movie production since "Spy Hard."

The story starts as a kid talks to a statue that inexplicably in a traveling circus that happens to be Johnny Depp's Tonto. YUP! Oh that's just the start of the movie. This is neither a comedy, drama, or dramedy. It's a Western trying to be hip. We all know what happens when you TRY right?

Worse than the script and acting was the guy giving commentary behind me. That's not the movie's fault, but 2.5 hours of audio commentary that isn't on a DVD sooks!

Sorry Depp & Hammer, but I kinda wish I didn't see this. Had this been maybe 1.5 I may have been ok with it, but it was too long, too jumbled, and just trying too hard. 1 out of 5 stars.

The Anna Nicole Story

Above is a shot of E!'s "The Anna Nicole Show" because this was the best pic I could find LOL 

But to the review Lifetime aired her life story starring Agnes Bruckner as "Anna Nicole Smith" and Adam Goldberg as "Howard K. Stern." This movie for me was very good, but if you want to watch it completely first go to E! or OnDemand and watch E!'s special on "Anna Nicole" THEN watch this movie. You will see a more complete story. The Lifetime movie does unapologetically fill in blanks, but they miss some things (like how Anna lost her weight which E! special explains). It does tell the tabloid stories and explains ALOT about her. I walked away thinking she was more like Marilyn Monroe (the dumb blond to the world, but the very smart blond behind the scenes). Ironically enough they both died of same lethal drug combo.

No one was a bad guy nor did Anna look bad, it was just honest. Even J. Howard Marshall's son didn't come off like a villain. 4 out of 5 stars. I don't want to give anything away, but definitely worth watching both and I loved Agnes' acting. Ps if you are a Jason Kennedy fan he's heavily featured in the