Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on September 4th, 2013
This is just personal habit of mine, but whenever I’m done watching a comedy special that features more than one comedian, instinctively I arrange them all in my head from least to greatest: In the case of The Original Kings of Comedy: Bernie Mac, Cedric the Entertainer, Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley; Blue Collar Comedy Tour: Ron White, Larry the Cable Guy, Jeff Foxworthy, and Bill Engvall; and in the case of Women Who Kill: Amy Schumer, Marina Franklin, Nikki Glaser, and Rachel Feinstein.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on September 4th, 2013
The shoe is on the other foot in the Donald Faison and Eve Amurri Martino-led raunchy comedy, Stag. Curious enough, for being the supposed co-leads of the movie, the focus of the film is on them less than half of its duration; Stag is basically about the background characters. The only issue with that is the background characters aren't really all that interesting when you get right down to it.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on September 3rd, 2013
“Let me tell you what it’s going to be like. Irish girl, English jail. Every time you want to see your boy, every time he wants to see you, his grandma’s gonna have to load him onto the ferry and drive 400 miles. It’s gonna break his f***in heart.”
Which is stronger, the bonds of family loyalty or self-preservation? That is the question that is presented in Shadow Dancer, the espionage thriller starring Clive Owen and Andrea Riseborough. I had high hopes for this film when I picked it up; I was expecting an unpredictable and suspenseful thriller that I would not be able to take my eyes away from. What I got was…well let’s just say I had no trouble prying my eyes away.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on August 30th, 2013
“The bullies tried to make us feel small; in a weird way it did just the opposite. I wasn’t afraid anymore, and Howie wasn’t alone. God has a way of giving you what you need when times get tough.”
Traditions die hard, but not all traditions are good traditions. Such is the case in Standing Up, D.J. Caruso (I AM NUMBER FOUR) tale based on the novel The Goats by Brock Cole. The film focuses on a subject that has been receiving more and more attention as the problem continues to grow: bullying.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on August 27th, 2013
You can always tell a SyFy television movie right off the bat; they generally involve some type of scientific principle run amuck, they generally take place in a small out-of-the-way town, and they include at least one actor who has had moderate success on television or films. True to form, Super Storm (known as Mega Cyclone on IMDB) is the embodiment of all those things, and it tends to teeter between mediocre and mildly interesting as the story’s events unfold in unexpected ways revealing that no one is safe, especially the cast.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on August 23rd, 2013
Sigourney Weaver running for the presidency? Come on, I can’t be the only one who saw that coming. No, no just joking; Mrs. Weaver herself is not running for president, but she played someone who did on TV. I am of course referring to the USA Network miniseries Political Animals, where she stars as Elaine Barrish, the former First Lady and current Secretary of State. Filled with crisis after crisis, scandal after scandal, the six-part miniseries delves into the personal and professional lives of its characters, leaving no stone unturned and no secret untouched.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on August 21st, 2013
“Everything you've heard... about monsters, about nightmares, legends whispered around campfires. All the stories are true.”
Has anyone notice the fire sale that has been going on among film studios and young adult novels? Since Twilight neared its end (and before), the market is has become flooded in recent years with adaptation after adaptation, and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon, especially with announcements of plans to adapt novels like Divergent, Ender’s Game, and Vampire Academy; everyone is looking for the next big phenomenon to fill the void left by Twilight. If there was a series that could accomplish that goal, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones was the one that had my vote.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on August 21st, 2013
What an accurate title for this stand-up, “Whelmed But Not Overly.” The title of the stand-up resonates with me the most because it perfectly reflects my opinion of Nealon’s stand-up. I think that is reasonable to say that by now everyone has an idea of who Kevin Nealon is; you may not know him by name, but my guess is if he were to show up on your TV screen you’d go, “Hey I know him from somewhere.” For most, it would be that you recognize him from his tenure on Saturday Night Live, or as the corky resident funny man on the Showtime series Weeds, or perhaps in the background of a couple of your favorite Adam Sandler films.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on August 20th, 2013
When you read that Eli Roth is part of the production team, the first thing you probably think about is the potential gore that will be associated with the project, and Aftershock is no exception, but there was also an interesting twist with this disaster flick: the involvement of a director who’s most known for his work in the romantic comedy genre, Nicolas Lopez, who’s most notable for his Que Pena Tu (translation: F*** my (blank)) trilogy. He tries his hand at something new with this dark tale based in reality that highlights that the most frightening part of a natural disaster is not necessarily the disaster itself.
Posted in: The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on August 8th, 2013
The line between hilarious raunchy comedy and over-the-top raunchy comedy is very fine, and We’re the Millers tends to dance on both sides of it. In time such action will be revealed to be both a blessing and a curse, I suspect. With the young crowd, I believe the film will fall right into place with such movies as Horrible Bosses (a comedy which coincidently starred Aniston and Sudeikis) and to be more recent, This is the End. With more mature audiences, the raunchiness may prove to be slightly more than they were expecting to see. With me, I find myself on the side of the young.
