Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on January 20th, 2020
To say that this film got the Nalyce stamp of approval would be an understatement. In fact, I have never seen her take to a film in the manner she did this one. In the past, I’ve seen her be bored or entertained, but with Abominable, she was fully engaged, conversing with the characters as if they were real. While distracting at times, it was good to see her connect with the content on this level. For me and my wife, it was the embodiment of a family experience, as we both found ourselves enjoying this tale of kindness and friendship. The characters are in their own way all searching for something; something to bring them whole whether it be a home or rediscovering themselves following a profound loss. Agents of SHIELD’s Chloe Bennet makes her feature film debut in this animated adventure tale about a young girl that discovers a Yeti on the roof of her building and endeavors to help it find its way home. Joining the cast is American Horror Story’s Sarah Paulson, as well as Eddie Izzard. As mentioned earlier Bennet plays Yi, a young girl who has become a self-imposed loner following the death of her father. Despite her family’s efforts, Yi prefers to be alone, filling her time by working to go on a trip across China. Meanwhile, a Yeti escapes from a secret compound owned by wealthy businessman, Mr. Burnish (Eddie Izzard). Mr. Burnish is determined to prove the existence of the Yeti species in order to overcome an embarrassment earlier in his life when he attempted to recount a previous encounter with the species. Employing renowned zoologist Dr. Zara (Paulson), Burnish uses his considerable resources to track the species across Shanghai.
Yi finds the Yeti on her rooftop, and upon discovering this its demeanor is nothing more than that of a child, decides to help the creature return to its home on Mount Everest. Joining her on this quest are her neighbors, Peng and his cousin Jin. Their journey is full of twists and turns as they are pursued by Burnish and his army. To evade the group, the trio (quartet if you include Everest, the name they give to the Yeti) will have to rely on each other as well as Everest’s mystical powers to survive the trek.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on January 20th, 2020
When we last saw the Mistress of Evil (which also happens to be the title for the sequel) she was more of a hero rather than a villain. However, the sequel sees her return to her previous status as the feared fairy that ruled the Moors. How quickly people forget her contributions. Though not traditionally scary, the film features plenty of magic and carnage courtesy of Jolie. Additionally, the film features the return of Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, and Harris Dickson as Aurora, Diaval, and Prince Philip. With the addition of Chiwetel Ejofor and Ed Skrein, as well as Michelle Pfeiffer as Queen Ingrith, Philip’s mother, who gives Maleficent a run for her money for the title of Mistress of Evil. In the five years that have passed since then the original film, Aurora has continued to reign as Queen of the Moors and is beloved by her subjects, and especially by Prince Phillip, who works up the courage to propose marriage. Aurora accepts, but then comes the hard part: telling their parents. For Phillip the difficulty comes from her mother, who feels that their people have a right to pillage the Moors and worries about losing her son to Aurora, who rules the land she would like to acquire. For Aurora, the difficulty is much more challenging, as she has the unfortunate task of telling her godmother, the protector of the Moors, Maleficent. Though initially opposed to the idea, Maleficent grants her permission. However, this is only the beginning of their troubles.
At a formal dinner to celebrate the union, heated words lead to a declaration of war between the two kingdoms, as well as a curse. As a result, a rift is formed between Maleficent and Aurora, who sides with her new family. Adding to the situation, Maleficent suddenly learns that she is not alone in this world, as she discovers more like her and her origins.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on December 29th, 2019
It’s been a while since a film has come along that has frustrated me as much as Adopt a Highway has. The film opens up with numerous sound bites that are discussing the “three strike law” from the Clinton era. This is pretty much used to set up a bit of a back story for Russ Millings (Ethan Hawke), a “victim” of this third-strike law that resulted in him serving 21 years for possession of an ounce of weed. With this kind of opening, I’d be expecting this to be a film that would delve into the unfairness of this law and how it affected many individuals, but instead, this film had other plans. The film takes on the journey Russ takes from his last day in prison to being thrust out into the free world again, but over the course of two decades, the world is nothing like it was before. Russ is in a unique situation where he went into prison in the late 90’s, and upon his release he’s now in the digital age. Basically he’s never had an email, nor has he had the chance to discover internet porn or YouTube. There is so much potential with this character, but at the same time, while watching this, I couldn’t get past his numerous bad decisions.
The first of his many bad decisions comes when he finds a baby in the dumpster behind the fast food restaurant where he works. With the baby there is a note that reveals the babies name is Ella. Conflicted about what to do, Russ decides to take the baby to his motel room, wanting to take care of it. If he found a dog or a cat, then I can understand him wanting to take care of it, but seriously, this guy thinks he can take care of a baby? At first it’s adorable seeing him make bad decisions with taking care of the baby, but very quickly we see how fragile this baby’s life is in his hands. Just as the film seems to have its footing and we think it’s going to be about Russ and his adventures with the baby, the film takes a sideways turn. This plot change could have worked if only the following story were just as interesting, but instead it’s a bit dull by comparison, and before you know it this film is already wrapping up, and you’re wondering, “That’s it?”
Posted in: The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on December 21st, 2019
This film proves that not all things need to be adapted for the silver screen. This re-imagining of this Broadway musical was best left on the stage. Now I am saying this having never seen the musical, but given the execution of this film, I am forced to make that the assumption that the musical has to be better than what I witnessed at the theater. Despite having a top-shelf cast that included Idris Elba, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Rebel Wilson, Jennifer Hudson, and Taylor Swift, the film fails to entertain. This isn’t just a biased opinion, either; my wife, who was very excited for the film, fell asleep at multiple points and was highly annoyed by the story. I have no idea what was initially hoped for this adaptation, but I am hard pressed to believe that it was this. As much as I want to put the film behind me, there is one song regarding a magician cat that is just staying with me, furthering my frustration. The film was already going to have a difficult time making its mark based on the fact that is going against a film that is basically guaranteed to win not only this week but also subsequent weekends at well. Given the cult status of the musical, I assume that the die-hards will make the trip to the theater, and I would be curious to speak with any of them and find out if they were as disappointed as I was.
One of my main issues with the film had to do with the ineffective way that the story was carried out. Out of the blue, a cat named Victoria (ballerina Francesca Haywood) is dumped in a seedy part of town, and then suddenly a bunch of other cats surround her, and next thing we know the singing commences. This is basically how the entire movie goes; very little dialog, and the cast’s main way of communicating is through song. This method was very difficult to follow, as I felt that no real information regarding the overall plot or information about the characters was adequately explained. It was very difficult to form a connection with any, essentially because I knew very little about any of them. In fact, we don’t learn anything about the film’s central character until half way through the movie.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on December 21st, 2019
"The near future. A time of both hope and conflict. Humanity looks to the stars for intelligent life and the promise of progress. To the stars..."
You know a movie’s bad when Brad Pitt isn’t enough to save it. However, where Ad Astra falls down is in execution of story rather than a failure on the part of Mr. Pitt. The premise was interesting: a son follows in the footsteps of his hero astronaut father to learn that his father, who was previously believed to be dead, may be responsible for catastrophic events plaguing the Earth. There is depth to the story, and the idea of human beings colonizing other planets was shown in a truly interesting and realistic manner, but instead of this being the forefront of the film, the story focuses primarily on a emotional journey that never pans out. The film also features a cast of superstars whose performances were little more than cameos. A waste of talent, if you ask me. I mean, why put together a cast that includes Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, Liv Tyler, and Ruth Negga, just to have their contributions be the length of a commercial. Yes, I know that was an exaggeration, but it just seems wasteful.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on December 21st, 2019
They don’t trust one another, but they need one another. One is idealistic and believes in the letter of the law, as well as the principle of there being no shortcuts to justice. The other is disillusioned, immoral, and corrupt, albeit effective and well-connected. Aldis Hodge, who has been having a good run since the end of Leverage back in 2012, and the well-established Kevin Bacon have great chemistry in City on a Hill. Their chemistry is the best thing to come out of the series that can at times become convoluted with all the subplots occurring in every episode. Loosely based on the events of the “Boston Miracle,” (also known as Operation Ceasefire), a police initiative implemented back in 1996 aimed at youth gun violence as a large scale problem, these two join forces to catch a group of armored truck robbers who are not afraid to kill to get what they want. Rounding out the cast are Jonathan Tucker, Mark O’Brien, Jill Hennessy, Sarah Shani, and many more. The show tends to meander and get bogged down with the additional storylines involving the supporting cast, but each episode provides a great interaction between Hodge and Bacon that makes the meandering worth enduring.
Hodge plays idealistic Assistant District Attorney Decourcy Ward. He is a straight-laced individual with aspirations of ascending beyond the District Attorney’s office; however, his unwillingness to compromise his morals does not earn him any friends and has on one than one occasion cost him. Speaking of not earning friends, this is where Ward is introduced to Jackie Rohr, a corrupt but connected FBI agent. When Ward won’t go easy on Rohr’s confidential informant, these two are put at odds, causing Rohr to get creative in order to get what he wants, embarrassing Ward in the process. Meanwhile a group of robbers attempt to heist an armored vehicle. The job doesn’t go as planned, and one of robbers’ faces is exposed to the guards. Concerned about being caught, the group is forced to kill the guards to avoid witnesses.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on December 17th, 2019
Well, I’m not fully sure how to put my experience with Killerman into words, but I will give it my best shot. The feeling that comes to mind is confused. It just seem to be a lot of different things thrown at me at once. Liam Hemsworth is introduced as Moe Diamond, a small-time money launderer partnering with the nephew of a powerful crime boss; the nephew chaffs under the thumb of his uncle, and it is very clear that he is the less intelligent one of the partnership. Moe is level-headed and appears to have an elegant system in place for laundering money through his jewelry business. The nephew, who goes by the name Skunk, played by Emery Cohen, is clearing only involved because of his connection to his uncle. Needless to say, I imagine you can see where this is going, I mean, we have only seen it dozens of times in other movies, but I’ll go ahead and repeat it for posterity: the uncle gives the boys the opportunity at a big-time score; the pair get wind of a too-good-to-be-true drug dealing opportunity, and decide to use the uncle’s cash to front the deal. As expected the deal really does turn out to be too good to be true, leading Moe and Skunk to be on the run from a dirty cop when they escape the deal with both the cash and the money. To the film’s credit, this is the extent of the movie’s predictability, as matters take an unexpected turn.
While escaping their pursuers, the pair has a very bad accident, resulting in Moe developing amnesia. I know I said predictive stuff was over, but this aspect does have an interesting twist. Normally, when presenting this kind of plot, the rest of the film is spent delving into the protagonist attempting to solve the mystery of who he really is. Killerman deviates from that trend, because we have a buddy to explain to Moe exactly who he is. That aside, he still goes through the expected emotions of confusion attached to a self-identity crisis. Though his circumstance is quite tragic, I was never able to form any kind of investment into this character. He was just too unhinged for me. He was initially interesting; he was clever and clearly had some loyal friends, but there was always something about his personality that was shrouded in mystery.
Posted in: The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on December 17th, 2019
“Welcome back to Jumanji!”
It would seem that welcoming the audience back to the jungle is in order. Now here is a sequel that when I heard it was being made, all I could do was shake my head. I just couldn’t fathom a reason for a sequel to be made. The film was already a continuation of the previous installment. I also couldn’t fathom a worthwhile story being told. And if it wasn’t for the hard work of Jack Black, who basically made the movie, I believe that my opinion would not have been changed otherwise. After barely escaping the game the first time, the group finds themselves drawn back into the world of Jumanji in order to save one of their own. However, the stakes are higher, as not only is the gang venturing into brand new territory; they are hampered due to being saddled with two new players in the form of franchise newcomers Danny DeVito and Danny Glover. The previews did not do the film justice, as it truly turned out to be far better than I was initially anticipating. It does get a bit long-winded, but for the most part it is a good, fun, and funny return to the established universe.
Posted in: The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on December 1st, 2019
Dark Waters is an alarming, based-on-true-events thriller that will have you more than little worried about your cookware. Mark Ruffalo plays Robert Bilott, an attorney who is drawn into a conspiracy involving a chemical conglomerate that resulted in hundreds of unexplained deaths. Anne Hathaway is his wife, who has to endure her husband’s over-twenty-year obsession with bringing down this company, all while trying to hold their family together. As I said, this was truly illuminating movie based on the 2016 New York Times article, “The lawyer who became Dupont’s worst nightmare.” The idea that something like this could happen for so long without any real consequences makes this story worth telling. Robert Bilott is a corporate defense attorney and partner at his firm. He is married with a baby, and he seems to have his life and career trajectory well in hand. That is, until an acquaintance of his grandmother shows up at his office unannounced, demanding his help suing a chemical company for the deaths of his cows. Robert initially wants nothing to do with the situation and is unconvinced that there is even a case to be made until he travels Parkersburg, VA and sees the devastation firsthand. Soon he finds himself caught up in a long-running conspiracy with life-threatening consequences and the involvement of one of the worlds largest companies that has been making billions as a result.
I didn’t know what to expect going into this movie, but I was floored by the revelations of it. I must confess that I had no idea that something like this was going on, and I am eternally grateful to this film for opening my eyes. What is more shocking is the fact that it took well over twenty years for DuPont to be brought to some kind of justice. In my opinion, the penalty should have been far worse, but that is just a byproduct of the world we live in. Moving on, the film can drag in some areas, but for the most part I was entertained throughout.
Posted in: The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on December 1st, 2019
Who killed renowned novelist Harlan Thrombey? Was it the dutiful son? Was it the rebellious grandson? Was it the sweet caretaker? The answer to this question is actually far more complicated than I expected, as Knives Out delivers a very engaging and extremely entertaining murder mystery in time for the Thanksgiving weekend. This story is chock-full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the ending credits. This Rian Johnson-helmed film is worth a trip to the theater because of its excellent plot and all-star cast that includes Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer, Michael Shannon, and many more. Harlan Thrombey is cleaning house on his birthday, looking to stop indulging his spoiled and entitled children and grandchildren. After years of catering to their every whim, he has decided that he will no longer bankroll their lifestyles. Well, that sounds like a motive for murder if I ever heard one, and that is just what happens when his body is discovered the day after his birthday. Initially suspected to be suicide, the knives come out when renowned private detective Beniot Blanc arrives and announces that he suspects foul play.
With the suspicions of murder in the air, as well as the substantial estate left behind by Harlan, the family wastes no time turning on one another. Caught up in the family drama as well as the murder investigation, caretaker Marta Cabrera is quickly in over her head with the biggest surprise to come. Family secrets will be revealed, and you won’t be believe who the killer is.
