The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent / *** (R)

 

Nick Cage: Nicolas Cage

Javi Gutierrez: Pedro Pascal

Vivian: Tiffany Haddish

Olivia: Sharon Horgan

Lucas Gutierrez: Paco León

Richard Fink: Neil Patrick Harris

Addy Cage: Lily Sheen

Gabriella: Alessandra Mastronardi

Carlos: Jacob Scipio

Martin: Ike Barinholtz

Nicky: Nicolas Kim Coppola

Lionsgate presents a film directed by Tom Gormican. Written by Gormican & Kevin Etten. Running time: 107 min. Rated R (for language throughout, some sexual references, drug use and violence).

Oh, how we love Nicolas Cage. He’s an actor about which I’ve never heard anyone say, “I hate that guy.” And I’ve heard people say that about many a great actor. We love him when he’s good, and we love him even more when he’s bad. We love his great movies, like Raising Arizona, Moonstruck, and his Oscar-winning performance in Leaving Las Vegas. We love him in over-the-top action films, like The Rock, Con Air, and Face/Off. We even like him in movies that we hate, like The Wicker Man, Drive Angry, and (count them) two whole Ghost Rider movies. This is probably because Cage has the ability to let all self-consciousness go as the role requires, which makes him the perfect subject for The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.

You might go into this movie thinking it was written specifically for Cage. Maybe it was. I don’t know. However, the filmmakers really could’ve chosen any aging Hollywood star who seems to have his best roles behind him. It is no surprise, though, that it was Cage who was willing to put himself out there as the subject of a film in which he plays a version of himself named Nick that is so desperate for a gig that he agrees to make a birthday appearance at an eccentric European billionaire’s party for $1 million. What Nick is unaware of is that despite the fact that Javi is a superfan of his, he is also suspected by the CIA to be the head of a major crime cartel. On his way to the gig, a CIA agent, Vivian, recruits Cage to help them gather intel and locate the kidnapped daughter of a politician being manipulated by the cartel.

With Cage perfectly cast in the lead role, it’s no surprise that he is surrounded by an amazing supporting cast. Hot of his success in quirky roles in Wonder Woman 1984 and the Disney+ television series The Mandalorian, Pedro Pascal plays the rather strange Javi in such a way it is hard to tell whether the CIA has mistakenly identified him as a vicious crime lord or he is just good at separating his fanatic love of all things Cage from his criminal calling. Tiffany Hadish and Ike Barinholtz are given the task of representing America’s possibly faulty world police as the CIA agents in charge of the rescue operation. Using Cage to achieve their goals is a questionable approach to say the least and the two squeeze a great deal of comedy out of that premise, but unfortunately, are under-utilized in the film’s plot as a whole. I definitely would’ve liked to have seen much more of both of these actors. 

British actress Sharon Horgan, who has had a great deal of success as a comedienne in her home country in television shows like Catastrophe and The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, plays Cage’s ex-wife, Olivia, who along with their daughter inadvertently gets mixed up in the strange plot that he finds himself. Olivia is fed up with Cage’s inability to be present as a father to their daughter, Addy (Lily Sheen). There is no correlation between Olivia and Addy and any of Cage’s real life family, but Horgan does a wonderful job balancing the scales of the ridiculousness of Cage’s life as a famous actor and helping to ground this heightened world with a sense of reality to make the audience believe these characters are real. Finally, Neil Patrick Harris is Cage’s aptly-named talent agent, Richard Fink. Although Harris plays the constantly pivoting character perfectly, I do wonder whether Fink might’ve been served better with a less famous actor in the role. I kept expecting that Harris was also playing a version of himself, rather than someone who wasn’t famous.

Cage even gets the chance to provide two versions of himself to the audience as he is often visited by a younger version of himself, seemingly modeled after his role in David Lynch’s Wild At Heart. The younger Cage goads the “real” Cage to take more risks and grab life by the balls, the way he’s rumored to have in his younger years in Hollywood. This is where the audience really gets to enjoy that over-the-top flair that Cage so often uses in some of his more questionable projects, like Vampire’s Kiss and Deadfall. 

The success of the movie really falls on the shoulders of both Cage and Pascal, however, as their budding friendship is key to both the plot of the film and its comedy. There is a wonderful scene when they’re being chased through a beautiful Tuscan village by men with guns not long after they’ve dropped some acid together. In a moment of respite, paranoia begins to set in with Pascal as he begins to think just about any random person on the street could be someone who wants to kill them. Cage is starting to get into his own eccentric groove at this point and the way their two performances compliment and conflict with each other is just comedic perfection.

I am unfamiliar with writer and director Tom Gormican’s previous film That Awkward Moment, but I did watch the television show he created, Ghosted. He seems to specialize in putting opposing characters into serious situations that he approaches from a comedic point of view. That is certainly the realm in which this film is operating but with a particularly meta bent due to the fact that Cage is playing a version of himself. What this film is particularly adept at is navigating the real conflicts and self-interests involved in such an endeavor. Cage is constantly conflicted because he feels he must work but his recent output has been artistically negligible. He wants to be a good dad, but is out of touch with any aspects of what that entails. And he wants to be a real life hero and help the CIA but has found what he feels to be a genuine friend in Javi. Surprisingly, this isn’t the one of the most Nicolas Cagey Nicolas Cage movies you’ll ever see, but it is one that knows exactly what it is and uses that knowledge to make it a better Nicolas Cage movie than a great deal of them out there.

The Bad Guys / *** (PG)

 

Featuring the voices of:

Wolf: Sam Rockwell

Snake: Marc Maron

Tarantula: Awkwafina

Shark: Craig Robinson

Piranha: Anthony Ramos

Professor Marmalade: Richard Ayoade

Diane Foxington: Zazie Beetz

Police Chief Misty Luggins: Alex Borstein

Tiffany Fluffit: Lilly Singh

Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation present a film directed by Pierre Perifel. Written by Etan Cohen and additional material by Yoni Brenner and Hilary Winston. Based on the books by Aaron Blabey. Running time: 100 min. Rated PG (for action and rude humor).

There’s this thing about acting. When you’re young, you want to play the hero, or more specifically the troubled hero. You want a challenge. You want to portray anguish. Even when you do want to play the “bad guy,” you want to play him from a perspective where he thinks he’s the good guy. But as you get older, and you’ve had your acting challenges. When you’ve challenged yourself and overcome those challenges. When you’ve pushed your skill and art to the edge. When you’ve hurt inside for a role. When you’ve done all that; well then, you just want to play the bad guy. You just want to chew some scenery and be bad. I suppose that’s kind of where the inspiration for a series of children’s books that focuses on the bad guys comes from.

Aaron Blabey started out as an actor. It wasn’t until much later in life that he found his calling as a children’s book writer with a project that was influenced by his own film favorites Reservoir Dogs and movies like Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s trilogy. That book series is The Bad Guys, which focuses on a group of criminal friends who struggle with their own desires to be good. He has yet to finish the twenty book series, but it provides him with all those acting desires; and the new Dreamworks Animation movie The Bad Guys is the culmination of those original acting dreams for Blabey.

The first feature from veteran animator Pierre Periful, The Bad Guys is essentially a buddy movie. We’re first introduced to Wolf and Snake, voiced respectively by Sam Rockwell and Marc Maron, having a birthday breakfast for Snake in a diner. Through genre appropriate narration by Wolf, we are invited into his criminal world. He introduces us to Sanke, the safecracker; Tarantula, the hacker; Shark, the unlikely master of disguise; and Piranha, the muscle. 

Wolf and Snake leave the diner, walk across the street and rob a bank. After the intros, the audience is treated to an extended chase sequence with cinematic stylization out of Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver. After evading the cops, the crew gets down to planning their next score. During the preparation for this heist, Wolf inadvertently saves the life of an old woman and comes out of it actually feeling good about doing good. The heist goes bad, however, and when the team is caught by the overzealous Police Chief Misty Mullins, Wolf hatches a plan to enter a second chance program run by Professor Marmalade to turn good. While he tells the team it’s just another con job to stay out of prison, Wolf secretly is beginning to enjoy acting good. Mayor Diane Foxington is skeptical of Wolf’s motives, but approves of the rehabilitation anyway.

The animation is spectacular. Perifel and his production designers use a 3-D animation that is highly stylized. Looking something between 3D painting and the sketch style of Blabey’s books, the animation sculpts much of the film’s outsider attitude. It also captures that California feeling of the golden sunny haze that embodies the movies of Michael Bay, Dominic Sena and John Woo. Yet the characters also have traditional 2D animation for the eyes, somehow blending perfectly with the Californian vibe and very original look of the rest of the images.

Ultimately, the story is about a rift in the friendship between Wolf and Snake, as Snake lives to be a criminal, while Wolf might be finding he likes the idea of being a good guy a little too much for Snake’s liking. This buddy story is not without its twists and turns, with a heist plot and a couple of misdirections that are sophisticated for a kids movie and could easily work for adult fare. Many of the characters aren’t exactly what they seem, and for however much these guys like being bad, there are deeper levels to who they are than the stereotypes they seem to embody at first. It’s really a great film for introducing kids to the multiple layers of drama that make for the best storytelling.

My youngest son recently finished a reading challenge where The Bad Guys books provided the majority of his reading hours. Ironically, the kids who reached their goals were then allowed to throw pies in the faces of their school’s Principal (his mother, btw) and Resource Officer. There’s nothing like throwing a pie in the face of your school’s police officer and your very own mother to make you feel like one of the bad guys.

The Bad Guys is currently playing exclusively in theaters.

The Lost City / ***½ (PG-13)

Loretta/Angela: Sandra Bullock

Alan/Dash: Channing Tatum

Abigail Fairfax: Daniel Radcliffe

Beth Hatten: Da’Vine Joy Randolph

Jack Trainer: Brad Pitt

Paramount Pictures presents a film directed by Aaron Nee & Adam Nee. Written by Oran Uziel and Dana Fox and Adam Nee & Aaron Nee from a story by Seth Gordon. Running time: 112 min. Rated PG-13 (for violence and some bloody images, suggestive material, partial nudity and language).

If the new adventure comedy The Lost City tells us anything, it is that we have missed the physical comedy of Sandra Bullock. This movie is many things. It’s clearly an homage to the now classic comedy adventure Romancing the Stone, taking many of its story cues and improving upon some of that film’s more dated aspects. It’s a reminder of Channing Tatum’s talents in making fun of his own buff physical appearance. It’s a chance for Brad Pitt and Daniel Radcliffe to shed some of the iconic status of their own public perception. It’s a fun time. It’s a laugh factory. But mostly, it’s a chance for Sandra Bullock to shine again in the type of role that made her famous.

The movie opens in a tomb. Our heroes, Angela & Dash (Bullock & Tatum), are tied up on the floor, surrounded by snakes with a villain monologuing at them. After questioning the plausibility of the situation, Angela says, “Delete!” and the snakes disappear. She says, “Delete!” again and the monologuing villain disappears. She says, “Delete!” again and we find Angela sitting at a computer in an apartment looking frustrated. Turns out she is actually Loretta, a romance novelist and recluse since the death of her archaeologist husband. Her own archaeological dreams were sidetracked by her surprise success writing a romance novel series focusing more on the sexual exploits than the archaeological adventures of Angela and Dash. 

At this point–and frankly, when all is said and done–The Lost City is essentially a loose remake of the 1983 Stone. Loretta’s agent, Beth Hatten–a force of nature in the form of De’Vine Joy Randolph–begs her reclusive client for the final chapters of her new book as the book tour looms. When Beth finally gets Loretta out of her cocoon of wine and bubble baths, the first stop on the tour involves a Q & A with Loretta and her forever cover model, Alan (Tatum), who needs to be reminded he isn’t really Dash. Loretta makes it clear to Dash and all her fans that the fantasy is over just before she’s kidnapped.

Daniel Radcliffe continues his journey successfully distancing himself from his most famous role as a titular wizard with his portrayal of Abigail Fairfax. “It’s a gender neutral name!” Fairfax is the second in line to a large family fortune wishing to make his name finding a rare artifact, since he was publicly passed up to run the family business. He has kidnapped Loretta because he believes her new book holds the key to where the artifact might be located. Radcliffe does a wonderful job keeping you guessing for the first third of the film as to whether he is tooth-nashingly evil or just has no idea as to how to properly deal with people. He plays well against his good boy image.

Alan, who clearly has feelings for Loretta, is determined to be more than just a cover model and sets out to rescue the real life version of his fictional love. He enlists the help of a professional rescuer, a mercenary played by Brad Pitt. Like Radcliffe, Pitt uses his own public image to build a solid comedic performance. His hero for hire is amiable enough to let Alan tag along on the rescue and the whole adventure just takes off from there.

Like its predecessor, Stone, The Lost City masterfully merges comedy with its adventure premise, relying heavily on the personalities of its cast of characters to anchor its laughs. All five of the leads have big laugh moments, but this is clearly Bullock’s and Tatum’s party. Even on that front, the script leans more heavily toward Bullock in a far more progressive leading performance for a female than Stone’s sometimes cringe-inducing treatment of its female protagonist from its male protagonist. Although Loretta is the one being rescued, Alan is never in control of her fate. She is never dependent on him, and she is the driver of every aspect of the plot, never the tool of it. Meanwhile, Tatum is more than willing to play a muscle-bound damsel in distress.

Like last year’s Jungle Cruise, The Lost City is a welcome escape of pure fun without the modern heaviness that comes with today’s typical blockbuster fare. This one is even more hilarious, however, thanks to the deftness of Bullock’s physical comedy. There aren’t really any serious moments here, except for one that gets glossed over until it’s finally dealt with in the closing moments for an unexpected laugh. I really can’t express how wonderful the comedic performances are in this movie. If ever we need to laugh and fantasize it is now, and The Lost City is here to deliver.

The Lost City is currently playing in theaters and streaming exclusively on Paramount +.

Super Troopers 2 / **½ (R)

Fox Searchlight

Mac: Steve Lemme

Rabbit: Erik Stolhanske

Thorny: Jay Chandrasekhar

Foster: Paul Soter

Farva: Kevin Heffernan

Captain O’Hagan: Brian Cox

Genevieve Aubois: Emmanuelle Chriqui

Guy LeFranc: Rob Lowe

Mountie Podien: Hayes MacArthur

Mountie Bellefuille: Tyler Labine

Mountie Archambault: Will Sasso

Governor Jessman: Lynda Carter

Fox Searchlight Pictures presents a film directed by Jay Chandrasekhar. Written by Broken Lizard. Running time: 100 min. Rated R (for crude sexual content and language throughout, drug material and some graphic nudity).

For those of you waiting for the return of the dysfunctional group of Vermont State Troopers that brought the comedic crew of Broken Lizard into the modern lexicon, the wait is finally over. And what a wait it was. In fact until April 20^th was close enough for everyone to start making social media memes alluding to getting high but never outright saying it, I’d forgotten all together that the planned follow up to the 2001 cult comedy hit Super Troopers was even coming. In fact, it’s been almost ten years since the comedy troupes’ last feature all together.

I was a fan of their work, and it feels like I should add “back in the day” to that statement. I thought Super Troopers was some kind of stupid comedy genius, and I was a huge fan of their 2006 movie Beerfest as well. Club Dread (2004) and The Slammin’ Salmon (2009) didn’t have quite the cleverness of the other two though. I’ve missed their conversational comedic style and hope it won’t be as long before they come out with more original work. Unfortunately, there does seem to be a slight staleness to the Super Troopers universe.

Ghostbusters / **½ (PG-13)

Erin Gilbert: Kristin Wiig

Abby Yates: Melissa McCarthy

Jillian Holtzman: Kate McKinnon

Patty Tolan: Leslie Jones

Rowan North: Neil Casey

Kevin: Chris Hemsworth

Columbia Pictures presents a film directed by Paul Feig. Written by Kate Dippold & Feig. Based on the 1984 movie by Ivan Reitman, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. Running time: 116 min. Rated PG-13 (for supernatural action and some crude humor).

The new reboot of the “Ghostbusters” franchise comes with a load of baggage, mostly having to do with the quite progressive idea of recasting the lead characters as women instead of men. I’ve never seen a beloved franchise so maligned by advance anti-buzz as this film. I’m a big believer in seeing the movie before forming an opinion about it. I guess it goes to show you how little progress we’ve made in this country in terms of equality that so many people have an issue with female heroes. People even criticized the editing of the first trailer as a negative point to avoid the fact that they were upset that their franchise had lost a Y chromosome. I’ve never seen the editing of a trailer criticized before. First trailers are usually poorly edited because they’re trying to tell a story before all the filming and effects have been completed.

Anyway, I think it is wonderful that this franchise was taken over by women. It is a great step forward to see women depicted as heroes while remaining women, instead of becoming over-sexualized props for the men they accompany. The main cast is wonderful. The Ghostbusters are just as iconic portrayed here by Kristin Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon. They’re funny. They’re capable. They aren’t “real” because they exist in a fantasy, special effects laden universe of the paranormal; but they are women, with thoughts and actions unique to them and not existing in the service of men or even necessarily the plot of the movie. The new Ghostbusters are a shining example of where women in mainstream entertainment should be.

Spy / ***½ (R)

Susan Cooper: Melissa McCarthy

Rayna Boyanov: Rose Byrne

Rick Ford: Jason Statham

Nancy B. Artingstall: Miranda Hart

Sergio De Luca: Bobby Cannavale

Aldo: Peter Serafinowicz

Karen Walker: Morena Baccarin

Elaine Crocker: Allison Janney

Bradley Fine: Jude Law

20^th Century Fox presents a film written and directed by Paul Feig. Running time: 120 min. Rated R (for language throughout, violence, and some sexual content include brief graphic nudity).

Daniel Craig will have one more movie as James Bond left on his contract after the new Bond film “Spectre” is released this fall. After Bond 25, should Craig or the Bond producers decide to go in different directions, it will be time once again to consider a new Bond. Jude Law might very well be in the running, as I believe he was when Craig was cast in the role. He’s handsome, charming, has a dreamy smile, and yet he can be deftly serious and people are willing to let it slide when he uses a woman or two to get what he wants. These are all traits of his character, Bradley Fine, in the new movie “Spy”. The catch is that although Fine is a successful spy for the CIA, he is not the spy of which the title refers.

No, comedic character actress Melissa McCarthy plays the spy of the film’s title. You see the movie is a send up of a sort of spy flicks like the James Bond series. Even more so the movie is an overt criticism of the ideology and clichés of the spy genre and of Hollywood in general. McCarthy is plump and short and funny and everything that a serious action movie heroine is not. And yet, considering all of that, I would hesitate to call “Spy” a spoof of the super spy genre. The opening credit sequence and song could very well pass for an actual James Bond credit sequence. Director Paul Feig and McCarthy approach the movie with a sincerity that would make it an almost plausible spy action/comedy thriller if it weren’t so openly criticizing its own inspirations.

Pitch Perfect 2 / *** (PG-13)

Beca: Anna Kendrick

Fat Amy: Rebel Wilson

Emily: Hailee Steinfeld

Chloe: Brittany Snow

Jesse: Skylar Astin

Bumper: Adam DeVine

Kommissar: Birgitte Hjort Sørensen

Pieter Krämer: Flula Borg

John: John Michael Higgins

Gail: Elizabeth Banks

Universal Pictures presents a film directed by Elizabeth Banks. Written by Kay Cannon. Running time: 115 min. Rated PG-13 (for innuendo and language).

So when “Pitch Perfect” was released in theaters in 2012, I’m guessing I wasn’t alone in thinking, “Yeah, a movie about a cappella singing competitions? I’ll catch it at home if it gets good reviews.” The movie only made a little over $5 million on its opening weekend. Not exactly breaking the box office. Then people started talking about it, and word of mouth was that it was worth the admission price. By the end of the year it had netted over $68 million at the U.S. box office and was a huge hit on home video formats. A $5 million opening weekend isn’t supposed to do that.

With its snappy dialogue, great musical numbers and the introduction of Rebel Wilson as a fresh face in comedy, a “Pitch Perfect” sequel became inevitable. So here it is three years later, the girls who make up the musical group The Bellas are three years older, and the audience gets pretty much the same treatment for their encore. That’s what we’re paying for, so that isn’t a complaint. As a critic, it leaves little to discuss beyond the plot, but I enjoyed myself, so I’ll give it another whirl too.

Criterion Thoughts—The 39 Steps (1935) ***½

UR, 85 min.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Writers: Charles Bennett, Ian Hay, John Buchan (novel)

Starring: Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Lucie Mannheim, Godfrey Tearle, Peggy Ashcroft, John Laurie, Helen Haye, Frank Cellier, Wylie Watson

Alfred Hitchcock’s “The 39 Steps” plays as a movie trying to break out of the constraints of its times. It is an example of how Hitchcock needed the power and scope of Hollywood to jump the cinematic art forward in just the way he did after his marriage with Tinsletown. It is a movie that bursts at its cinematic seams for greater production value and a leap forward in storytelling for the format.

As is often the case with Hitch, he unsettles his audience with his opening images. A man buys a ticket at a box office and the next few shots are those of feet. Even the purchase of the ticket fails to show us a face or even a torso of the man we are following into a theater. Without seeing any faces and with a sequence of feet walking this way and that, we are immediately placed into the mindset of a sort of chase going on. And yet, we have no notion of who is being chased, or why, or who is doing the chasing. The inside of the theater is a scene of a degree of chaos.

Home / ** (PG)

Featuring the voices of:

Oh: Jim Parsons

Gratuity ‘Tip’ Tucci: Rihanna

Captain Smek: Steve Martin

Lucy: Jennifer Lopez

Kyle: Matt Jones

DreamWorks Animation presents a film directed by Tim Johnson. Written by Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember. Based on the book “The True Meaning of Smekday” by Adam Rex. Running time: 94 min. Rated PG (for mild action and some rude humor).

“Home” is a perfectly entertaining movie for children of a certain age. It lacks—as more and more CGI animation efforts do these days—that vigor to press the animation boundaries once shattered by Pixar. I suppose DreamWorks Animation has always been the poor man’s Pixar, but its ambition seems to falter more with every successive effort. “Home” is just the most recent in the diminishing vibrancy of family centric CGI animation.

Television Thoughts—Cougar Town (2009-2015)

TV-14, 6 seasons, 102 22-min. episodes

Creators: Kevin Biegel, Bill Lawrence

Directors: John Putch, Michael McDonald, Courtney Cox, Bill Lawrence, Gail Mancuso, Bruce Leddy, Chris Koch, Michael Spiller, Josh Hopkins, Jamie Babbit, Lee Shallat Chemel, Phil Traill, Ken Wittingham, Millicent Shelton, Randall Winston, Sam Jones, Brian Van Holt, Busy Philipps, Courtney Rowe

Writers: Kevin Biegel, Bill Lawrence, Melody Derloshon, Blake McCormick, Peter Saji, Mary Fitzgerald, Jessica Goldstein, Chrissy Pietrosh, Sean Lavery, Ryan Koh, Sam Laybourne, Sanjay Shah, Kate Purdy, Brad Morris, Emily R. Wilson, Michael McDonald, Gregg Mettler, Linda Videtti Figueiredo, Mara Brock Akil, Rachel Specter, Audrey Wauchope, Michael Lisbe, Nate Reger, Aaron Ho, Austen Faggen, Justin Halpern, Patrick Schumacker, Jen D’Angelo, Eric Ernst

Starring: Courtney Cox, Christa Miller, Busy Philipps, Dan Byrd, Josh Hopkins, Ian Gomez, Brian Van Holt, Bob Clendenin

Guest starring: Carolyn Hennesy, Ken Jenkins, Lamarcus Tinker, Sawyer Ever, Ryan Devlin, Spencer Locke, Brad Morris, Barry Bostwick, Collette Wolfe, Briga Heelan, Edwin Hodge, Nicole Sullivan, Shawn Parihk, Nick Zano, Scott Foley, Sarah Chalke, Sheryl Crow, Maria Thayer, Ryan Biegel, Lou Diamond Phillips, Yasmin Deliz, Michael McDonald, Shirley Jones, David Arquette, Jennifer Aniston, Cindy Crawford, Rachel Harris, Beverly D’Angelo, Susan Blakely, Matthew Perry, Paula Newsome, Alan Ruck, Lisa Kudrow, Nia Vardalos, Ahmed Best, Michelle Williams

Last Tuesday I had to hold back tears. One of my most beloved television shows came to an end. I wasn’t brought to the edge of tears because of the emotionally jarring conclusions for the characters’ to their story, however. No, their story’s end was just as ridiculous as just about any episode’s worth. No, I was nearly brought to tears because there just isn’t any other television series like it out there. The closest to it might be “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”, but that one probably has higher aspirations.

Chappie / **½ (R)

Chappie: Sharlto Copley

Deon Wilson: Dev Patel

Ninja: Ninja

Yolandi: Yo-Landi Visser

Yankie America: Jose Pablo Cantillo

Vincent Moore: Hugh Jackman

Michelle Bradley: Sigourney Weaver

Hippo: Brandon Auret

Columbia Pictures presents a film directed by Neill Blomkamp. Written by Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell. Running time: 120 min. Rated R (for violence, language and brief nudity).

I’ve always been of the belief that expectation is an enemy of art. It closes off the mind to possibilities the artist may have envisioned that the viewer may not if they’re anticipating something else. As such, I’ve become pretty good at turning off the grand expectations movie studios are so insistent on instilling in their audiences through trailers and the buzz movie media outlets provide before a movie’s release. It’s not that I don’t pay attention to these things, because I am a fan first and a critic second; but once I’m there in the dark awaiting the start of a movie I let it all go and simply take in the movie.

That being said, I’d like to talk about the expectations behind the new science fiction movie “Chappie” a little before I delve into my expectationless opinion of it. This is the third movie by South African sci-fi wunderkind Neill Blomkamp. His debut film “District 9” was a summer sleeper hit and a rare science fiction Best Picture Oscar nominee. His follow-up “Elysium” was not as special—although I felt it was enjoyable—and recently Blomkamp has revealed some disappointments he had with that project.

Criterion Thoughts—2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967) ***

NR, 87 min.

Director: Jean-Luc Godard

Writers: Jean-Luc Godard, Catherine Vimenet (based on the articles “La Prostitution dans les grands ensembles”)

Starring: Marina Vlady, Roger Montsoret, Anny Duperey, Joseph Gehrard, Raoul Lévy, Jean Narboni

I’ll admit it. Even being the cineaste I am, there are some gaping holes in my cinematic experience. Jean-Luc Godard is one of them. I’m not completely unknowledgeable. I’ve seen “Breathless” and his strange and somewhat annoying version of science fiction “Alphaville”. I fear I reveal myself by declaring “Alphaville” annoying, but at times it is surely trying to be. So this will be a rather inexperienced look at a man who is seen as one of the masters of cinema.

Penny Thoughts ‘15—Dazed & Confused (1993) ****

R, 102 min.

Director/Writer: Richard Linklater

Starring: Jason London, Joey Lauren Adams, Milla Jovovich, Shawn Andrews, Rory Cochrane, Adam Goldberg, Anthony Rapp, Sasha Jenson, Marissa Ribisi, Deena Martin, Michelle Bruke, Cole Hauser, Christine Harnos, Wiley Wiggins, Mark Vandermuelen, Esteban Powell, Jeremy Fox, Ben Affleck, Jason O. Smith, Christin Hinojosa, Parker Posey, Matthew McConaughey, Catherine Morris, Nicky Katt, Parker Brooks, Rick Moser, Terry Mross, Richard Dillard, Fred Lerner, David Blackwell

I recently decided to start a vinyl record collection. It all came about from an article (that has since been lost in the vastness of the web) about collecting music. I was an avid music collector throughout high school and college. I collected cassettes and then reluctantly moved on to CDs as they were beginning to change the music soundscape. I remember the debates about analog and digital recording and mastering. Who remembers when CDs would sport a letter code of three letters consisting of ‘A’ and ‘D’ to distinguish which part of the production process was done analog or digitally? ADD, or DDD or different variations of such.

Penny Thoughts ‘15—Louie, season 3 (2012) ****

TV-MA, 13 21-min. episodes

Creator: Louis C.K.

Directors: Louis C.K., Liz Plonka

Writers: Louis C.K., Pamela Adlon

Starring: Louis C.K.

Guest starring: Gaby Hoffman, Susan Kalechi Watson, Gary Wilmes, Melissa Leo, Allan Havey, Hadley Delaney, Ursula Parker, Larisa Polonsky, Miguel Gomez, Parker Posey, Maria Bamford, Casey Seimaszko, Robin Williams, Sarah Silverman, Marc Maron, Maria Dizzia, Michael C. Creighton, F. Murray Abraham, Rick Crom, Nick Di Paolo, Jim Norton, William Stephenson, Chloë Sevigny, Roderick Hill, Yul Vazquez, Jay Leno, Garry Marshall, Edward Gelbinovich, David Lynch, Chris Rock, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Jerry Seinfeld, Todd Barry, Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler

I know, I know, I know. I’m way behind here. The amazing thing is that I love this series and I started it just about two weeks after the first episode of the first season premiered, so I’ve been going through it very slowly.  This is, however, one of the best shows on television. Here’s why:

Romance Thoughts ‘15—Obvious Child (2014) ***½

R, 84 min.

Director: Gillian Robespierre

Writers: Gillian Robespierre (also short film), Karen Maine (also short film), Elisabeth Holm, Anna Bean (short film)

Starring: Jenny Slate, Jake Lacey, Gaby Hoffman, Gabe Liedman, Richard Kind, Polly Draper, David Cross

Sick of those formula driven romances? “Obvious Child” provides a fresh alternative to those highly predictable rom coms while remaining truly romantic and pretty consitently funny throughout. It’s a little more serious than your average rom com fare because it deals with realistic people and some subject matter that is decidedly unromantic, but it hits home as a positive romance with roots in the reality of relationships that we’re used to dealing with in an actual love affair.

Penny Thoughts ‘15—Frank (2014) ***½

R. 95 min.

Director: Leonard Abrahamson

Writers: Jon Ronson, Peter Straughan

Starring: Domhnall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Scoot McNairy, François Civil, Clara Azar, Michael Fassbender

OK. So, tonight is the Grammy’s. “Frank” is a movie about a band that would most likely never win a Grammy or even be invited, for that matter. But, let’s give it a whirl anyway.

So, there’s this kid who dreams of being a musician. He works his cubicle job during the day and waits in his room for inspiration to write songs whenever he’s not at work. I don’t think that’s really how it works, and from the fact that most of the songs he’s inspired to write are actually other songs that he’s heard from popular bands, well… I’m guessing I’m right.

Penny Thoughts ‘15—Groundhog Day (1993) ***½

PG, 101 min.

Director: Harold Ramis

Writers: Danny Rubin, Harold Ramis

Starring: Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliott, Stephen Tobolowsky, Brian Doyle-Murray, Marita Geraghty, Angela Paton

So the time has come once again for us all to have our annual existential comedy experience and relive the same day over and over until we get it right. Perhaps we could all use the unexplained peril of Bill Murray’s self-centered hero from one of the unlikeliest of cinematic comedy successes of all time. “Groundhog Day” was released in February of 1993 to a Valentine’s Day crowd most likely expecting nothing more than another romantic comedy that seemed slightly off target release date wise considering it was the wrong holiday by a couple weeks. Instead they got a comedy with a brain that really wanted to tackle the deep issues that lay at the core of its otherwise silly premise.

Penny Thoughts ‘15—Galavant, season 1 (2015) ***½

TV-14, 8 23-min. episodes

Creator: Dan Fogelman

Directors: Chris Koch, John Fortenberry, James Griffiths

Writers: Dan Fogelman, Alan Menken (music), Glenn Slater (lyrics), Kirker Butler, John Hoberg, Casey Johnson, Kat Likkel, Kristin Newman, Scott Weinger, David Windsor

Starring: Joshua Sasse, Karen David, Timothy Omundson, Mallory Jansen, Vinnie Jones, Luke Youngblood, Darren Evans, Ben Presley, Stanley Townsend, Genevieve Allenbury

Guest starring: Tim Plester, Sophie McShera, Rutger Hauer, Faith Prince, Weird ‘Al’ Yankovic, Hugh Bonneville, Michael Brandon, Michael Jibson, Rory Wilton, Ricky Gervais, John Stamos, Kenneth Collard, Anthony Head

I can’t tell you how happy I am that ABC was willing to take a risk like this on network television. A few years ago, who could’ve imagined a half-hour comedy musical set in medieval times in which the characters make fun of themselves, musicals, network television and all sorts of stereotypes? I think streaming services have a lot to do with the networks putting risks like this one out there.

A Million Ways To Die in the West (2014) **

Albert: Seth McFarlane

Anna: Charlize Theron

Louise: Amanda Seyfried

Clinch: Liam Neeson

Edward: Giovanni Ribisi

Foy: Neil Patrick Harris

Ruth: Sarah Silverman

Universal Pictures presents a film directed by Seth McFarlane. Written by McFarlane & Alec Sulkin & Wellesley Wild. Running time: 116 min. Rated R (for strong crude and sexual content, language throughout, some violence and drug material).

I read a misguided article about acting recently that took the stance that many Oscar nominated performances thought to be great were somehow holding back and playing it safe. A much wiser friend of mine, and excellent actor in his own right, debunked this fool’s theories with a simple truth about the art of acting. He essentially said that what is required for a good performance is that the performer find some sort of truth in the material. This is really the case with all art. Including the entire effort of a film. Even good slapstick comedy is anchored in truth.

Inherent Vice / **** (R)

Larry “Doc” Sportello: Joaquin Phoenix

Lt. Det. Christian F. “Bigfoot” Bjornsen: Josh Brolin

Shasta Fay Hepworth: Katherine Waterston

Coy Harlingen: Owen Wilson

Deputy D.A. Penny Kimball: Reese Witherspoon

Saunxho Smilax, Esq: Benicio del Toro

Hope Harlingen: Jena Malone

Jade: Hong Chau

Sortilége: Joanna Newsom

Dr. Rudy Blatnoyd, D.D.S.: Martin Short

Warner Bros. Pictures presents a film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Based on the novel by Thomas Pynchon. Running time: 148 min. Rated R (for drug use throughout, sexual content, graphic nudity, language and some violence).

There is a misconception going around about Paul Thomas Anderson’s new movie “Inherent Vice” that it is somehow similar to The Coen Brothers’ “The Big Lebowski”. While both comedies center on a drug-addled character caught up in a noir plot the runs vastly out of their control, this is where the similarities between the two end. A better comparison for “Inherent Vice” might be to watching Roman Polanski’s “Chinatown” as if you the audience were heavily sedated on barbiturates.