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Movie Review – Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising – A Lot More Jokes That Hit The Right Notes than the Original

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I did not expect to like Neighbors 2 as much as I did. I’ll admit I enjoyed the first one, but I never felt it needed a sequel. In this case though, the sequel might be better than the original.

The movie starts a few years after the last one. Mac and Kelly are pregnant again and are focusing on raising daughter Stella. In the college close to their neighborhood, new student Morgan has just come from a strict household and is ready to party. While pledging a sorority, she learns that only Fraternities can have parties and sororities are barred from throwing any kind of celebration in their house. Angered and frustrated, Morgan teams up with new pals Beth and Nora to form their own sorority off campus. Their sorority so happens to reside in the same house right next to Mac and Kelly.

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I really liked how the sorority girls were portrayed in this movie. That’s a rare thing to say, because so few movies get it right, but this one does. They slip in a bit of social consciousness, making it a bit funnier and a bit smarter than the first. What I liked is the movie addressed inequality between the sexes without getting preachy about it.

Zac Efron returns, and not just as a walk on. Instead, he acts as Morgan’s party mentor, teaching her all the ins and outs of being a binge drinking, hard partying bro. At the same time, he’s dealing with his own issues, as he still has yet to grow up.  Morgan was also an enjoyable character, because she flouted how girls should act and didn’t apologize for it. She’s a bit more empathetic than Efron was in the original.

Lisa Kudrow, Kelsey Grammar and Dave Franco all had walk on cameos that didn’t feel superfluous, even though this movie was a clear cash grab. They made such a good choice in the cameos, using people with pitch perfect comedic timing, that it worked beautifully. For that, I’ll forgive the cash grab.

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Neighbors 2 has a lot more jokes that hit the right notes than the original. Adding Chloe Grace Mortez to the cast rounded out the laughs, because the girl has a gift for blue humor. She’s probably the funniest, truest to life character I’ve seen in a comedy of this nature, which is really what makes Neighbors 2 work so much more.

That being said, Seth Rogan really didn’t do it for me in this movie. He kind of faded into the background and got less laughs than the other characters. I felt like there were so many missed opportunities for better jokes and one liners. Honestly, it felt like he ad-libbed his script, but then didn’t have anything funny to say.

This time around, you’ll have a hard time deciding who to root for. A more empathetic villain makes this movie a bit better the second time around, and it packed in a lot more laughs as well. All in all, this, and the original are worth the watch.

WE GAVE IT: 3.5 Stars – Watch the Official Trailer and Official Movie Poster below!

4 stars

 

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Movie Review: Hardcore Henry – Fun and Thrilling…..For a Few Minutes, Then I Had To Leave

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When I say a movie is stunning, I’m usually talking about how the special effects, scenery, or a combination thereof, leave you speechless with their beauty. In the case of Hardcore Henry, the stunning I’m talking about is a bit more like being stung by a jellyfish. You’re numb and disoriented for hours afterwards.

The film begins with Henry waking up in a lab with no memory of who he is or how he got there. A beautiful, blonde scientist, Estelle (Haley Bennett), is attaching high-tech prosthetic limbs to his battered, tatted body — and she says she’s his wife. But he quickly realizes he’s in danger and must go on the run throughout Moscow from the various bad guys who are after him, including a diabolical albino with telekinetic powers (Danila Kozlovsky) and his army of cyborg henchmen. Luckily for Henry, though, he’s a killing machine — part man, part science experiment — which makes the vast majority of Hardcore Henry a non-stop bloodbath.

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Ok, so the movie’s direction is strange. Let’s start with that. It’s filmed by (not making this up) slapping a bunch of Go Pro cameras onto stunt men. The goal is to make the viewer feel like they’re doing everything Henry is, using a unique first person perspective. Honestly, it’s a bit like watching someone play a first person shooter video game.

Which is why after about 20 minutes, it becomes too jarring to continue watching. I can’t tell you if Henry ever gets to save his wife and stop the bad guys, because I had to leave the theater to puke due to motion sickness.

That’s probably the first thing you should know. If you’re one of those people who gets nauseous on long car trips, this is not the place you want to be unless you have bulimia. Don’t get me wrong. It’s fun and thrilling for a few minutes, but once the nausea sets in, it’s there for good.

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Also, its incredibly violent. This is a rated R movie that I’m surprised didn’t earn itself and NC-17. I mean, Henry’s pretty much a half cyborg killing machine and you spend the movie in his body, watching his every move. What do you think happens?

The storyline is kind of cyberpunk, in that it’s got a Mad Max oddness to it. It’s strange looking, and made all the more strange by seeing it first person. I can’t say much as to the acting of the lead, because I never met the guy.

The movie relies on its gimmick to carry it, and I can see where it might be popular among those who enjoy video games of the first person shooter variety, but it just wasn’t me. The jarring camera action, and heavy bloodshed made it something I didn’t really want to see from first person. I can’t say it’s worth the watch, because I couldn’t even finish it but I can see its appeal for some audiences. Mainly, I think this was just really good marketing for Go Pro.
WE GAVE IT: 2 Stars – Watch the Official Trailer and Official Movie Poster below!

2 Stars

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Movie Review: Zootopia – Earns Every Bit of the Critics Praise

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It’s very rare that you see a movie that manages to universally please critics the way the Zootopia has. I have to say I’m a bit surprised, as Disney’s latest effort earned its praise.

Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin), a bunny, grows up on a carrot farm with her conventional parents and 225 bunny brothers and sisters. Showing large reserves of empathy and kindness, she springs into action when a bully turns aggressive in a schoolyard. Judy’s mother and father are taken aback when she decides to leave for the city to become a cop. At the police academy, this tiny rookie has trouble with physical prowess exercises but through her immense will power and wit eventually graduates at the top of her class. Eager to hit the streets and do her law-and-order thing, Judy is disappointed when Bogo (Idris Elba), police chief, orders her to hand out parking tickets. Still wanting to prove that she is better than any other rookie on the force, she writes 200 tickets before noon. Eventually, Judy gets the chance to shine when she’s allowed to investigate the mystery of a missing otter, with the help of conniving fox Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman).

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The unique storyline is both adorable and complex enough to create something new and fresh. This is not a premise I’ve seen before, that I can say for sure. Despite that, it works. It’s clever and cute and smart enough for adults to enjoy too.

The message is subtle, especially for a Disney film, in that it makes Judy’s abilities not about her strength or athleticism but instead her cleverness and determination. It’s a good message for kids that they don’t try to nail us over the head with.

Of course, it’s Disney so the computer generated animation is flawlessly executed and adorable. In that department, Disney rarely strikes out. It’s worth seeing in 3D, as it’s a good looking film with lots of creative and imaginative scenery.

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The creativity comes into play with the creation of Zootopia, the mammal centric city where predatory instincts are gone and animals live like humans. You can see a spark of Disney’s old school imaginative style in this film.

Also, it’s smart enough for adults to enjoy too. The screenplay writers threw in a few clever quips just for mom and dad, making this an animated feature that the whole family can enjoy.

This is a clear hit and a clear winner for Disney. This animated film has the intelligence to keep adults audiences watching, with all the same appeal of Disney for the kids, so they can also cash in on the merchandising. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that a film starring a bunny came out so close to Easter.

But Disney’s goal of world domination through movie revenues aside, this is a fantastic film that is sure to be fun for the whole family. I’d call this one an absolutely worth the watch, regardless  if you have children or not.

WE GIVE IT: 4.5 STARS!

four and a half stars

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Movie Review: 50 Shades of Black – Too Messy, Too Disorganized and Just Plain Not Funny Enough

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Don’t get me wrong, 50 Shades of Grey is a movie that was ripe for parody. The problem is the original material is already so bad, it was a parody of itself. But Marlin Wayans tried, and wound up with a movie that was too messy, too disorganized and just plain not funny enough to be an enjoyable parody.

I think one of the big problems was Wayans had ADD. He seems unable to just contain a parody to one movie, the way a parody should be contained. Instead, he felt the need to shove in stuff from Magic Mike, Whiplash…and Zero Dark Thirty? Come on, I know it’s parody, but pick a movie, or at the very least, a GENRE and stick with it.

The movie is exactly what you’d expect from a Wayans movie; tons of dick jokes, homophobia, homo erotica and more than a few gross out gags. I’m sure teen boys will find that stuff great.

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But what annoyed me the most was there was actually some clever, original stuff thrown in there, from Hannah’s butt implants, to Black reading aloud from the actual book in a mocking tone, to Hannah whipping Christian, declaring “this is for Kerry Washington in Django Unchained, and Lupita Nyong’o in 12 Years a Slave …” there were a few moments that actually made me laugh out loud.

Which is why it was so annoying to see the majority of it tied up in those stupid, adolescent jokes. Every now and then, the movie will slip in a gem and remind you of what parody is supposed to be. This movie has the set up, and the potential to be hilarious, but instead, it looks like this was a phone in job, aimed at an undiscerning all male—and teenage—audience.

Remember back when Wayans used to make good parodies? Like the first Scary Movie, and…and…yeah, that was about it. He should do that again. Not another Scary Movie, I mean. Please God, no. He should take one movie, stick to the script and make it funny, rather than use the script as an excuse to tie in unrelated movies and jokes.

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Just having Morgan Freeman read the book on tape over a black screen would have been funnier than this.

The literary market is already chock full of spoofs on 50 Shades of Grey. I think adapting any single one of those novels that followed the true parody formula, would have been better. This feels like a slapdash attempt to fill a filler movie with more filler.

Because that’s what 50 Shades of Grey was, sex scenes with filler story in between those sex scenes. It feels like it was just written on the fly, like I’m watching an improve sketch. Improv was over in the 90’s. It’s time to move on.

I wanted to like 50 Shades of Black, simply because I didn’t like the book (or the movie) and was hoping I’d see it really get skewered, with the mean spirited humor you’d find in a Celebrity Roast. Instead, what I got was humor the style of a celebrity roast…where none of the good guests show up and The Situation is hosting.

As a result, I have to say not worth the watch.

WE GAVE IT: 2 Stars – Watch the Official Trailer and Official Movie Poster below!

2 Stars

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Movie Review: The Boy – An Elevated Horror Flick with a Chilling Premise and a Few Gimmicks

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The Boy is a big movie for Lauren Cohen, in that she’s trying to transition from TV to movies. In that, I think she made a good choice in going with this relatively sedate, more mature horror movie. While it’s a middle of the road effort, it was a good opportunity for Cohen to show her movie star skills.

Greta (Cohan) is a young American woman who takes a job as a nanny in a remote English village, only to discover that the family’s 8-year-old is a life-sized doll that the parents care for just like a real boy, as a way to cope with the death of their actual son 20 years prior. After violating a list of strict rules, a series of disturbing and inexplicable events bring Greta’s worst nightmares to reality.

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While it sounds silly, it’s actually a pretty chilling premise. To anyone old enough to remember when Norman Bate’s mother is revealed to be a corpse in a rocking chair, this movie has that kind of feel to it. Despite a premise that might sound silly, it’s actually quite sophisticated. This is no Chucky.

A lot of the credit is due to Cohen, who was poised to elevate this movie. She’s no scream queen, but instead reacts in a real, dimensional way as the tension builds. Her reactions are more realistic than most horror heroines and she stays composed throughout. She is the real stand out star in this.

The problem is with a movie that presents itself as sophisticated, I expect more psychological scares than I do jump scares. Jump scares are for kids watching Paranormal Activity 45…or whatever sequel they’re up to now. They don’t belong in a movie like this.

Cohen makes this movie far more credible and far more dramatic than it deserves to be. Without her, this would have been a silly, forgettable effort. With her, it’s elevated to a higher level. Despite the fact that she’s clearly used to excellent writing, she’s an actress who knows how to work with bad writing and I imagine that we’ll see a lot more of her in years to come…though I highly doubt The Boy will get a sequel.

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It’s a quiet movie, in that there are only a handful of speaking parts and for the most part, the movie is about Greta and the doll. During those times, Greta is the person who drives the tension. She’s the one that makes you build up for the big scare.

There are a few clichés to be seen in this one, like the chilling sound of children laughing, or a very unsettling mirror reflection, but they’re not terribly done, making older material seem a bit fresher.

All in all, it’s a middle of the road effort. If you’re dying for something scary, you could do worse than this. While it’s heavy on jump scares, it’s an elevated horror flick that might make you willing to overlook that tired gimmick. If that’s the case, this is worth the watch.

WE GAVE IT : 3 STARS! Watch the Official Trailer and See the Official Movie Poster below

stars

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Movie Review: Dirty Grandpa – This Literally Might Be The Unfunniest Film of the Year.

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When paired correctly Zac Efron can be an excellent comic actor. When paired correctly Robert De Niro can be a great dramatic actor and a great comic actor. When paired together, it seems some kind of weird chemical reaction happens that makes these two stars just a little bit irritating and a whole lot of disturbing.

The premise is this. Jason Kelly [Zac Efron] is one week away from marrying his boss’s uber-controlling daughter, putting him on the fast track for a partnership at the law firm he works at. However, when the straight-laced Jason is tricked into driving his foul-mouthed grandfather, Dick [Robert De Niro], to Daytona for spring break, his pending nuptials are suddenly in jeopardy. This is a wacky road trip/buddy movie that winds up feeling awkward simply due to the mismatched cast.

Road trip comedies, provided they are hilarious and have the right casting, don’t have to be complex or intelligent. They can be really stupid and really thin, but still be enjoyable. Consider movies like “The Sure Thing,” “Little Miss Sunshine” and “National Lampoon’s Vacation.” None of the plots are particularly complex, but they work because of the actors and because of the dialog.

What didn’t make them work was endless dick jokes.

It was like the writers went out of their way to make every single character as repellant as possible. Every last one of them has some deep seated, controversial issues, whether they’re selling drugs to kids or trying to molest aging pensioners.

Efron clearly made an effort to give his character heart and sympathy. It’s one of his first times playing the straight man in a buddy comedy and I felt like he gave it his all. Surprisingly, where it fell apart was De Niro. De Niro is an excellent actor, as long as he’s playing ‘straight’. The responsible mobsters, the overbearing father, the strict mentor, these are all roles he shines in. The ‘kooky grandpa’ role is not one of them. There’s just something so uncomfortable about watching De Niro trying to get laid.

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I’m not a fan of movies that depend on being crude to be funny, because crude isn’t always funny. Sometimes it’s just crude. See Andrew Dice Clay as an example. I have to say, if this is writer John Phillips best effort, I have little hope for the upcoming Bad Santa 2.

In a movie like this, it’s important to like the characters. While Efron works to be likeable, De Niro is that creepy old dude in the bar, standing in the corner, watching girls young enough to be his granddaughter dance, while he drools slightly. He’s not funny. He’s just gross. Honestly, if I met this character in real life, I probably would have maced him while blowing my rape whistle.

This literally might be the unfunniest film of the year. A script devoid of humor, and leads that come across as unlikable, make this movie one that’s sure to earn a Golden Raspberry nomination. This is not even remotely worth the watch. In fact, it’s one I wish I could unwatch.

We Gave it: 1 Star: Official Movie Trailer and Movie Poster Below

1 star

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Movie Review: Daddy’s Home – Hannibal Buress Single Handedly Saves this Film From Disaster

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I once tried chocolate covered bacon. While you wouldn’t expect it to work, weirdly, it did. While I wouldn’t live on it solely, I’d eat it again.

And that’s exactly how I feel about the pairing of Mark Wahlberg and Will Farrell. I enjoyed them in The Other Guys, so will admit it was a strange mix, and decided to give them a second shot on this one. Unfortunately, much like chocolate covered bacon, you can have too much of a good thing.

Farrell plays stepdad Brad, who is starting to get along with his new step kids. That is until Dusty (Mark Wahlberg) re-enters the picture intent on taking back his family. The two try to one up each other, while the long suffering wife just looks on in the thankless roll of ‘generic supportive female’.

The movie doesn’t capture the hijinks of The Other Guys as it lacks bite in the script. There’s no shock or laugh out loud moments. Instead the movie is all predictable punchlines and jokes that go on just a hair too long.

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The only thing I liked about this movie was Hannibal Buress, the lesser known comic who is most known for the Bill Cosby rape joke that started the flood of lawsuits to follow. In this, he was a hilariously inept handyman who decides to just hang out all the time and insert himself into the two main characters’ fights, often stealing the show himself. His small but significant roll is one of the best parts of the film.

His character is so clever, I feel like maybe he pulled the pen from the writer’s hand and rewrote his own part. His clever character doesn’t seem to fit in with the generic, “good enough” writing style of all the other characters.  My assumption is that his role was highly improvised.

I enjoy Will Farrell, but it has to be in the right roll. He’s been playing characters so long that even when writers try to make him real, he feels clichéd and boring. In this film, he’s nothing special and certainly not memorable. Mark Wahlberg is equally weak. Both men play stereotypes while trying to get laughs, but the whole effort feels forced.

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This is not The Other Guys. In that movie, the unique combination worked because the script had the right amount of edge. In this one, it just feels boring, though it is mercifully short. But it’s certainly no one’s best work to date…with the exception of Hannibal Buress. That guy was the flower that grew out of the pot of dirt.

For Hannibal Buress alone, I’ll give this one a worth the watch. The movie isn’t so much painful as it’s just not that funny. As a result, if you’re looking for laugh out loud humor, I highly recommend you fast forward to all the Hannibal Buress parts. As far as I’m concerned, he made this movie.

But this is one where the Wahlberg/ Farrell comedy team just didn’t work. It’s a predictable story with a lot of predictable humor that very few people will find funny. It just not interesting enough to be laughable.

WE GAVE IT : 3 STARS! Watch the Official Trailer and See the Official Movie Poster below

stars

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Movie Review: Joy (2015) – A Movie That is More Annoying Than Inspiring

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Great, another story about a struggling mother trying to make it in the business world. God knows we can’t have enough of those. Just the other night I was watching Lifetime (I was too drunk to change the channel) and only saw the storyline of Joy about 8 times in 12 hours.

But hey, I guess if you can get Jennifer Lawrence, you don’t have to put it on Lifetime, right? Wrong. My deep, and slightly Sapphic love of Jennifer Lawrence aside, I really did not find this movie watchable. It’s melodrama really made it only suitable for Lifetime.

Our heroine is Joy Mangano (Jennifer Lawrence) a chick who apparently peddles mops for a living. She supports her big, dysfunctional family including her mom Terry (Virginia Madsen), mom’s ex-husband Rudy (Robert Diner) Rudy’s girlfriend (Isabelle Rosalina) and a bunch of other people I can’t be bothered to name.

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So the whole thing is narrated by Joy’s grandmother, which gets particularly jarring at the midpoint, when she dies but continues narrating anyway and is about Joy beating all the odds and…selling mops.

No joke, with all the dramatic speeches made about mops, you would have expected them to friggen cure cancer. They don’t. They’re just mops. But hey, she gets those magic mops on TV and bam, they’re a hit.

Then, in the blink of an eye, she goes bankrupt…and I laughed and laughed.

Let me say this to start off. I do not admire those who make millions by peddling crap on the Home Shopping Network. I think those jerks are preying on the most vulnerable in our society by selling them junk they don’t need, because they’re so lonely they’ll pay to talk to someone on the phone. It bothers me and I don’t like seeing it glorified here.

It’s a tried and true, overly sentimentalized story about a woman overcoming obstacles to earn her rightful place as a billionaire…peddling crap to old people on public access tv. I found it more annoying than I did inspiring.

I will say that I felt Lawrence made every effort to make her character work, I just found all of the ‘land of opportunity’ speeches to be a bit too on the nose and irritating. So many times I wanted to scream at the screen “it’s just a mop!”

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It’s amazing to me that that a director who made Silver Linings Playbook, who partnered Lawrence with Bradley Cooer yet again, could have failed so badly, but this one fell flat for me. I just didn’t get why this woman was important. I didn’t get why the mop was so damn important.

I have a vacuum.

In short, I found this film a bit too silly and desperate to be real. Much like the melodramatic soap operas Joy’s mother loved so deeply, I didn’t buy the plotline. Much like I’m not willing to buy anything from the real Joy Mangano, I’m not buying this story based on her life.

Sorry Jennifer Lawrence. No hard feelings.

WE GAVE IT: 2 Stars – Watch the Official Trailer and Official Movie Poster below!

2 Stars

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Movie Review: Krampus (2015) – Buried Under The Clutter Is A Watchable Movie.

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Krampus is an unusual Christmas movie, with a horror flair. While not entirely unwatchable, it suffers from amateurish direction and overdone CGI work.

The premise is this. A dysfunctional family’s constant fighting causes the youngest child, Max (Emjay Anthony) to lose his Christmas spirit. As a result, a deadly demon, Krampus, attacks the family with a ton of holiday themed monsters. The family members, including mom (Toni Collette), dad (Adam Scott), sister (Stefania LaVie Owen) and Max need to work together to survive the holidays.

So it’s a unique crossover premise. The last pure horror Christmas movie I saw was Silent Night, Deadly Night, and if that’s the only thing to compare Krampus to, then Krampus deserves an academy award. But as a fantasy/horror, stacked up against other offerings, it fails.

I will aid that failure has nothing to do with the cast. Honestly, with such a heavy comic cast, I was expecting to not buy the premise, but they really did make me buy it. I think their work was well done.

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The problems came with the editing, and direction, and overdone CGI. The movie doesn’t have even pacing. One minute it’s building up, and then the next, it’s exploding with an attack from just about every Christmas based monster you can think of, from evil trolls to gingerbread men. At that point, it’s near impossible to know where to look. There’s way too much going on at once. It comes off as disjointed over scary and fails to deliver on fear.

It’s cluttered to the point where it feels like the director has ADHA. I could practically hear him screaming “more gingerbread men, more monsters, more, more, more…screw it, add the Easter bunny!”

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I will say it was a clever idea. The story is based off of folklore and I’m surprised no one did it before. It started off as a movie with lofty ambitions, that easily could be franchised. It just feels like there was too much crammed into the premise, despite the fact that the storyline is relatively simple.

One thing that really brought this movie off to such a strong lead is its competition. Other than Victor Frankenstein, there’s really no other movie in the same competitive niche, so the release date was perfectly timed. If I had to choose between Krampus and Victor Frankenstein, I’d totally go with Krampus.

The score was well done, featuring some Christmas favorites that add a bit of a festive flair, while not going too heavy on the Jingle Bells. It was an understated, but appropriate score for the movie. Even the CGI was visually stunning, it was just poorly timed. Too much going on at once really pulled the pin out of a movie that could have been great.

Buried under the clutter is a watchable movie. It’s just that you’ll likely have a hard time to knowing where to look when the action scenes start. That being said, it’s still worth checking out. Take a chance and take out the family. At the very least, it will put them in a Christmas mood.

WE GAVE IT : 3 STARS! Watch the Official Trailer and See the Official Movie Poster below

stars

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Movie Review: Creed (2015) – The Best Rocky Film Yet

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The day before Thanksgiving saw some great new releases, and coming out on top is the critically acclaimed Creed, based on the prior Rocky franchise. I’ll admit to being prejudiced, as I loved Rocky, but have to say, that this one pretty much beat out all the others, as far as I’m concerned.

Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) is the son of Apollo Creed, Rocky’s former rival and eventual friend. His father is dead but Adonis still wants to connect with him, so off he goes to Philadelphia, where we meet a contentedly retired Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) who is running his own Italian restaurant. Then, the champ comes out of retirement, this time to coach the hopeful newcomer into filling his deceased father’s shoes.

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Despite the fact that this movie comes 39 years after the release of the original, it still has a nostalgic feel that helps fans of the original identify with the film. It’s your standard movie, where the underdog makes good, but it still works. Classics are classics for a reason, after all.

Jordan plays the plucky newcomer quite well, and brings a level of depth to a character that was at risk of becoming cliché. The training montages, love interests and fight scenes don’t feel like clichés. They feel comfortable and enjoyable. While you can see the punches coming from miles away, it’s still a great, and enjoyable effort.

That’s because they also managed to make this contemporary. They didn’t just regurgitate the same old stuff, but instead created a new and exciting movie about a character we can genuinely care about. The movie isn’t dependent on nostalgia, and Creed is a standalone rather than a sequel, but I could see another franchise come out of this.

One thing I like about this movie is that it didn’t go with the inner-city cliché. In the beginning of this. Adonis is actually a white collar worker who believes there’s something more. He doesn’t go to Philadelphia because it’s his last resort. It’s an attempt to find some common ground with a father he never knew.

download 08DEC2015

It’s clear that the director has some affection for the Rocky franchise. He references the great, and the corniest moments of Rocky without being apologetic. He’s not filming this as some kind of tongue in cheek parody. Instead, it’s an homage to the original and a great work all its own.

Stallone is in his best part in decades, and kind of reminded me of Clint Eastwood in Million Dollar Baby. He has a kind of fragile air of mortality over a steely core that makes him seem incredibly authentic and believable. He really does shine in this movie.

This is absolutely worth the watch. If you haven’t taken the opportunity to see it, you’re missing out. You don’t need to have watched any of the prior Rocky movies, but it is helpful just to get an idea of the original Apollo Creed, who was easily one of the best characters in this series.
WE GAVE IT: 5 STARS! Watch the Official Trailer and See the Official Movie Poster below

5 Stars

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