Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on June 4th, 2018
“Look, all funny guys are damaged.”
It's no secret that some of the greatest and most memorable stand-up comics of all time — Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor and Robin Williams, to name a few — were as troubled as they were talented. Of course, turning their inner turmoil into comedy was a big part of what made them legends. Showtime's I'm Dying Up Here is a dramedy about a group of struggling Los Angeles comics in the 1970s. But the show is at its worst when it takes the art of stand-up comedy way too seriously.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 20th, 2018
"Welcome to game night".
Everybody loves playing games. OK, most people like playing games. Friends have been getting together for game nights since there have been games. From the couples’ bridge days of the 1950's to poker night with the guys, most of us have gotten together to play some kind of a game with friends. The thing about games is that they're frivolous. Playing games with some buddies is a good excuse to kill a few hours, maybe have a few drinks. You're not solving the world's problems, and it's usually just a simple night of entertainment. The same can be said for New Line Cinema's Game Night starring Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, and Kyle Chandler. It's not an important film, and it isn't going to go down in the books as a timeless classic. It's a chance to get together with a few of our own friends and spend about 100 minutes or so having a few laughs and taking a break from all of those problems we're not solving. It wouldn't hurt to pick up an extra-large tub of popcorn. Yeah, it'll kill you, but then you won't have so many of those problems, right?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 23rd, 2018
As I was working on this review, I came across a term that might just turn out to be a new pet-peeve. I am referring to the term or phrase, "Dated". This term is often used with movies that could have only existed and made in that time period. It gets used even more when it involves a comedy, especially one with jokes or concepts that could only occur in a certain decade. What's worse is that it is almost never used in a positive light, it solely exists to be negative and demeaning. Well, perhaps I can slowly change the connotation of that reference as I explore Doctor Detroit on Blu-Ray. Is it dated? Perhaps, but unlike other dated comedies of the 80's, it is wonderfully so.
A little Devo hits our speakers, hey it's the theme from Doctor Detroit. Except we are in Chicago. Professor Clifford Skridlow (played by Dan Aykroyd) is power walking down the street through everything in his path. It doesn't matter if it is a kissing couple, children playing or even speeding cars. He stops (and power walks in place) next to a swanky car driven by Diavolo (played by T.K. Carter). In the back is Smooth Walker (played by Howard Hesseman) and his four ladies of the night.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on April 20th, 2018
“Wonder what he's been smoking.”
When it comes to Cheech and Chong, you hardly have to wonder. What better way to celebrate 420 today than by revisiting Cheech and Chong's Up in Smoke, the OG stoner comedy? The film is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, which Paramount has commemorated with this new edition. But how well does this high-larious comedy classic hold up in 2018?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on April 10th, 2018
When you are about to sit down for a comedy with Ed Helms and Owen Wilson, you pretty much know what you’re getting yourself into. Sometimes you just want to watch a movie for a few good laughs; then when it’s over, you return to your day-to-day routine. When it comes to Father Figures, the problem is that the film from the get-go is trying to get you to believe that Helms and Wilson could possibly be fraternal twins. Yeah, we’ve seen this before with the film Twins, only this time around we have a film about brothers attempting to overcome their differences as they work together to find their real father. When you have Glenn Close, Christopher Walken, and J.K. Simmons filling out your cast, the potential for a solid drama with great performances could be expected. Unfortunately, it seems everyone here for the most part showed up to the set to phone it in, and the film suffers for it.
Things get started when Peter (Helms) and Kyle (Wilson) meet up at their mother’s wedding. Peter is a successful yet lonely proctologist, while Kyle is the life of the party, making money off of residuals for having his likeness on a bottle. It doesn’t take much to get the joke that despite being twins, these guys couldn’t be any more different. As an odd twist of fate would have it, while watching an episode of Law & Order Special Victims Unit, Peter sees a character in the show that looks a lot like his dad. When he confronts his mother (Glenn Close) about this, she reluctantly confesses that she had lied, and that their real father is none other than Terry Bradshaw. This in turn has the brothers setting off on a trip together to confront and meet their dad for the first time. Since this is a movie, things obviously don’t go as planned.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on April 4th, 2018
When The Sandlot first came out 25 years ago, I connected to the coming-of-age baseball story as strongly as Babe Ruth connected with one of his titanic, 400-foot homers. I grew up in baseball-obsessed Puerto Rico and I happened to be the exact same age as dorky protagonist Scotty Smalls. I’ve kept in touch with the film over the years, but Fox’s new 25th Anniversary Blu-ray re-release of The Sandlot was a great excuse to watch it from start to finish.
An adult version of Scotty Smalls recounts the story of his most memorable summer. As a fifth grader, Scotty (Tom Guiry) moved to a new town with his mom (Karen Allen) and stepdad (Denis Leary) just before the end of the school year. Scotty’s mom wants her sweet, nerdy son to actually get into a little bit of trouble during the summer, so he falls in with a group of kids who play baseball in a raggedy patch of grass called The Sandlot. The only problem is Scotty doesn’t even know how to throw a baseball. Fortunately, Scotty is taken in by Benny (Mike Vitar), the group’s leader and the best baseball player by far. During that one remarkable summer, the kids encounter a dream girl, arrogant Little Leaguers and a legendary canine menace known as The Beast, which swallows up any baseball that finds its way into his yard.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on March 24th, 2018
“I respect that you love your group, but it’s time for you to move on.”
The first Pitch Perfect movie arrived in Fall 2012 as a goofy, energetic, underdog surprise that charmed audiences with its funny jabs at (and genuine affection for) a capella music. But as the trilogy (allegedly) comes to a close a little more than five years later, the only quality that this popular, profitable franchise managed to retain from that previous sentence was “goofy.” The saucy tagline for this movie is “Last Call Pitches,” and everyone involved seems ready to hang up their pitch pipes.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on March 16th, 2018
“I was just trying not to offend you and yet I wound up offending you, which is quite ironic.”
Six long years passed between the last Curb Your Enthusiasm episode in 2011 and the show's season 9 premiere last fall. And yet it only takes about two minutes for Larry David — the curmudgeonly comic genius who stars as an exaggerated(?) version of himself on the long-running HBO sitcom — to utter the words above after inadvertently offending his latest unsuspecting victim. In other words, even though portions of this season feel creakier than past years, it is absolutely great to have Curb back!
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on March 15th, 2018
Girlfriends was a sitcom that ran from 2000 to 2008 back when The CW was known as UPN. It will also probably surprise people to learn that the series was executive produced by Kelsey Grammar, as the show is quite different from Frasier. Girlfriends was not the best comedy around, but it was a very important one for several reasons; every so often it tackled real world issues such as HIV, mental illness, miscarriages, and same-sex relationships. The series, as the title suggests, also featured a predominantly female-oriented cast.
The show followed the perspective of Joan (Tracee Ellis Ross), the den mother of the group and a successful lawyer working to find love. Rounding out the cast was Maya (Golden Brooks), the only one of the group who was married; unlike the others she is more working class, serving as Joan’s assistant at the law firm. That’s something that often causes her to clash with Toni (Jill Marie Jones), Joan’s childhood friend who comes from humble beginnings but is determined to marry into financial security. Lynn (Persia White) is the more carefree one of the group, though it is easy to be carefree when you rely on others for food and shelter. At the beginning of the series, she is forced to finally stop prolonging her education and begin her life. The central male figure for the series is the girls’ only guy friend, William Dent (Reginald C. Hayes), a fellow lawyer at Joan’s firm who brings a dry wit and interjects when the ladies begin to rant against the opposite sex. But he is also quick to lend a hand or protect them in any way that he can.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 22nd, 2018
"Maybe we could use a dad's night out."
Let me begin this review by stating that I did not see the first Daddy's Home film. There are pros and cons to that situation. I'm not really in a good position to judge the film's value or quality as a sequel, and I wasn't familiar with any of these characters when I started to watch the film. It does, however put me in a good place to evaluate this film on its own merits. Is it the kind of sequel that functions as a standalone film, or will you be lost from the start with no chance to catch up? I'm happy to say that I never felt like I was at a disadvantage. Yeah, there were moments where I felt like I wasn't part of the inside joke, but those moments are actually quite rare. I was able to enjoy this one just fine. The relationships were a bit confusing when it came to which kid really belonged to which parents, and some of that I never completely sorted out. The performances allowed me to get at what kind of characters the leads were from the beginning. I might have been the new "in-law" invited to this family's holidays for the first time, but that doesn't mean I didn't manage to have a lot of fun along the way.
