The Wedding Ringer

Wedding comedies are a niche genre. They are written for women because every woman loves watching other women try and fail to pull off the perfect wedding. The Wedding Ringer is set out to be the "wedding comedy for men". It misses it's mark though by recycling overused comedy tropes and neglecting its female characters.

Doug (Josh Gad) is an unassuming nerd who, to his surprise, has landed a blonde bombshell fiancé in the form of Gretchen (Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting). Doug needs a best man and seven groomsman to match Gretchen's wedding party. However, he has no friends or family, and in his desperation to give Gretchen her perfect wedding since she is the "perfect girl", he hires Jimmy (Kevin Hart). Jimmy is a professional wedding ringer who will pretend to be your best friend, your best man, and will have some of his friends tag along to be your groomsman.

Kevin Hart is a superstar. He lights up every scene with his charm and lightning fast wit, as Jimmy the best man you don't actually have. He really brings the funny to the film. Not the gross-out boy humor that everyone else is doing, but the smart, witty, and often heartwarming humor that shows why he is one of the most sought after comedic actors of today. Josh Gad is a very easy guy to root for with his nerdy glasses and disheveled curly hair. He's just like every other sap trying to win over the Gretchens of the world. However, there is nothing extraordinary about Doug. He is so run of the mill that when you start to see Jimmy developing a real friendship with him it seems a little strange. Why is Doug different than the dozens of other men Jimmy has been fake best friends with? There is no answer.

The Wedding Ringer seems to be trying to cash in on the kind of humor and antics of previous films like 2011's juggernaut, Bridesmaids. What made that movie work was the fact that it was women behaving differently than we had seen them behave before. Men being gross and rude is normal; it's not new or exciting. Also, a misogynist joke is exactly that. All the "be a man" and "don't be such a girl" is lazy comedy writing. We've seen this movie before- every single other buddy comedy ever made. Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting's Gretchen is the one-note hot girl, her sister Alison (Olivia Thirlby) is the one-note chill hot girl, and Jimmy's secretary, Doris (Jennifer Lewis), is the one-note advice-giving older woman. Altogether, these women would make up one real human woman. The real world is populated by both men and women, but in The Wedding Ringer only the men are fully realized multi dimensional characters.

Hart and Gad have easy and fun chemistry, and it is fun to watch them friend-fall for one another. There are some heartwarming and funny moments for these two buds, but that doesn't make up for all that The Wedding Ringer is lacking to make it a really great comedy.

Jupiter Ascending

I love "Jupiter Ascending". I've seen it once and I'm going to go see it again.

It had my heart pounding and my blood racing. On the Hershkowitz meter where 1 sucks and 10 is great, this movie is a creative, brilliant, imaginative and original nine.

Others have commented on the stunning visual design of this movie. I urge you to go see it on the big screen. This is what the Wachowski siblings do best. The colors and imagery are unbelievably wonderful. 

The special effects are well rendered and definitely not cheesy. The sight of Channing Tatum skateboarding through air is fantastic. There's a great spaceship fight over the city of Chicago that had my heart racing, and ended with a giggle. Go see for yourself!

The music is by Michael Giacchino. If you don't recognize that name, you should. He composed the soundtrack for Star Trek, Ratatouille and Up!, among others. He's a great composer. Lots of orchestra and chorus accompany this fantastic space opera movie.

And space opera it is indeed. The Wachowski siblings are nothing if not visual and they pay stylistic homage to all of the best works in the space opera genre including but not limited to: 

- The Foundation by Asimov (The great central planet Trantor. Or was it Vogon)

- Dune by Herbert (The great house of Abrasax! Really ☺) 

- GravityAlfonso Cuarón (Floating around in space)

-The Lost fleet series by Jack Campbell (Portals and Hyperspace)

- Startide Rising by David Brin (We are not alone)

- Etc., etc.

Boy is this movie exciting. It got my heart racing and my blood pounding. It also had funny moments and touching moments. I thought the scenes with Mila Kunis and her family were very effective and moving. 

The actors did a very credible job holding space on screen in the middle of this full on full-blown space opera action movie. And Sean Bean doesn't die☺

Lots of Channing Tatum with his shirt off and Mila Kunis in skimpy outfits aren't hard to watch.

The Wachowski siblings wrote the screenplay and it has gotten a lot of criticism. I think people don't understand it. In my mind, it's not much different from a Star Wars movie. It's a fairytale and an adventure story and it works. 

I love 3-D and I think it is used very well here. I love it when that fourth wall fades away and I'm flying through outer space. That's a very personal and subjective opinion. I know other people hate 3D. The movie has been released in both 2D and 3D. I'll probably see in in 2D when I see it again this weekend.

The fight scenes probably go on for a bit longer than I like but I can say the same about most of the movies made today including mega-hits like Ironman and The Avengers.

Jupiter Ascending is a heart stopping popcorn munching spectacular 9.

Go see it!

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water

Here is The review of  The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water

If you were born in the mid-to-late nineties, "Spongebob Squarepants" was likely top priority whenever you were fortunate enough to have TV time or the Television all to yourself. Even as I approach my twenties, and my taste in films and TV shows has gotten, what I'd like to believe, is a lot more sophisticated, certain childhood shows are still towards the top of my priority list, and it's rare I don't go a week without watching a few episodes of shows like "Arthur," "The Berenstain Bears," or "Spongebob Squarepants." Even as I sat in a dark room of about fifteen young children as the oldest person in that theater alone to watch "The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water" , as soon as the film opens and I heard that infectious and memorable theme song to "Spongebob," a cheery, indelible grin was stuck on my face and maintained itself for a good portion of the film.                    If nothing else, "The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water" has the ability to shatter cynicism as soon as it begins, and carries through with a charming sense of silliness that we've all expected from its aquatic cast. I remember one of the first DVD collections of the show was called "Nautical Nonsense," and what a perfect summation of "Spongebob" to anyone who hasn't seen or heard of the program (if there are people). The film opens with live-action footage of a pirate named Burger-Beard (Antonio Banderas), who discovers a book that tells the story of Spongebob and his friends, all of whom living under the sea in Bikini Bottom, and that anything written in the book immediately becomes truth. We are plunged underwater to zero in on all the action, where we see the Krusty Krab, owned by Mr. Krabs (voiced by Clancy Brown) and the place of Spongebob's (voiced by Tom Kenny) employment, is thriving, while Sheldon J. Plankton's (voiced by Mr. Lawrence) restaurant across the street, Chum Bucket, is just as empty as it ever was. This results in a bitter war between the two restaurants, through the use of condiments and fast-food, which is surprisingly fun and sets the film's zealous, incredibly chaotic tone right away. Plankton has always tried to get the secret formula for the Krusty Krab's delicacy known as the Krabby Patty, and just when he has the bottle that contains it, fighting Spongebob for it, the formula disappears right before their eyes. The disappearance of the Krabby Patty secret formula causes an entire breakdown of social order (why the sandwich can't be made even after the recipe is lost, despite Spongebob being employed at the restaurant for almost two decades is beyond me, but moreover). As a result, Spongebob and Plankton form a team in order to try and work together to obtain the formula, while the entire town of Bikini Bottom embraces leather clothes and completely crumbles from the lack any kind of order in the community. Discard any preconceived notion as to how random and senseless you assumed the show "Spongebob Squarepants" to be, as this film is much more random and scattershot than anything related to the character you've seen before. The film, for starters, is a cross between traditional animation and live-action combined with CGI, which, thankfully, is a gimmick that's underused, despite what the trailers convey (it only takes up about twenty minutes of a ninety-three minute runtime). The film, however, is one of the most psychedelic things I have witnessed in theaters; a complete visual hodgepodge and auditory cacophony of madness and randomness. Consider the scene where Spongebob and Plankton embrace time-traveling in order to obtain the formula and stumble into a plethora of different dimensions, one where they meet a live-action Dolphin named Bubbles, who is ordered to assure Jupiter and Saturn do not collide. Even the songs in the film, unlike in the original, 2004 film, are built off entirely random verses and harmonies, and this is one of the biggest issues with "The Spongebob Movie" as a whole. Its lack of narrative cohesion and the fact that it purposefully muddles itself, often mistaking random senselessness for humor. The film is more reminiscent of those "hip" animated programs like "Adventure Time" and "Regular Show," which, again, utilize the randomness that seems to amuse the best of this and the last generation over actual storytelling. "Spongebob" has never been an entirely linear cartoon, but earlier episodes stuck to some sort of plot and etched in jokes and gags that were related to the plot. This film often squanders that principle, and if something is funny, it's usually because of the idea that if you throw enough things at the wall, eventually something will stick. Give "The Spongebob Movie" credit for completely embracing its silly idea, exhausting every possibility to be completely asinine in every way. I have a feeling young children will like it the best, but the reaction amongst tweens will be decidedly mixed. While the characters and their personalities haven't changed a great deal, this feels like a totally different "Spongebob" than what I grew up with. Whether it's because I've grown up or the show has really underwent some kind of stylistic change is a question I'm still deciding on at this time.