Trev's Movie Dump: November - December 2016

Central Intelligence

Comedies are a fickle thing. Sometimes I think they're really only funny in the right environment. Central Intelligence should likely be watched with friends in a relaxed environment with a few drinks in hand... not on a plane by myself enduring turbulence 30,000 feet above the Rocky Mountains.

That said, the film was alright. Johnson and Heart's good-enough chemistry helped to keep my attention and distract me (slightly) from the thought of the plane plummeting out of the sky. I will say, there is a shocking amount of celebrity cameos in this film. Wasn't expecting that in a non-franchise film. But, hey, they were there. 

This would be a good afternoon movie. Maybe on a day where you're home sick and just want something to help pass the time, but I wouldn't clear your schedule to see this film. 

Sausage Party

Speaking of comedies... I really enjoyed this guy. An absurd film about all the food at the grocery store believing in the faith that when their purchased by humans, they will enter the great beyond and find nirvana or whatever. Sure enough, our main hero soon learns this to all be a false and that the great beyond is really just food being eaten. 

The absurdity of this movie just did it for me. It kind of had that South Park delinquent wit that I'm really attracted to. Whether that's shown from the fact that the only human who can talk to the food is a guy on acid, or the grand finale where we just have a giant food orgy (sort of reminds me of the puppet sex in Team America where you could show everything without ever showing the real thing... if that makes any sense). 

As I said before, comedies are a fickle thing. And this one worked for me. The only time things departed was at the very, very end when the food finds out that they're actually characters in a movie. It got all meta for no reason at all. 

The B.F.G.

I've got a lot of love for the Roald Dahl books -- despite it being years since I last read one -- but this film... what a waste of time.

Now, I'm sure most movie lovers poke their heads up when they hear of another Spielberg movie coming out. (I know I do.) And while I might not see each and every one, I do see most. This film, though, I could have missed. 

First off, it was aesthetically unnerving with its weird CGI-lacquer sheen on everything merging images from the real world with images from a magic/fake world. I don't know why, but that style immediately turns me off. The other part of the film that pushed me away was the story. It was very clearly a kid's story. However, I love watching kid's programming. Sometimes I think it's better than half of the other shit that's out there. But I usually attribute that to the fact that the kid's story I respond to have heart and really play upon my emotions. This film did none of that. 

Mostly it seemed to rely upon special effects and fart jokes. And while fast jokes may have a been a part of the original novel, it left a rotten-egg smelling impression on me in this adapted version. 

Now You See Me 2

I oddly enjoyed this soulless sequel to a movie I barely remember. I think I'm just attracted to the idea of magician-Rodin Hoods -- those that steal from the corrupt 1%... only with MAGIC! Don't get me wrong, this is not a movie I'm recommending. It's just a film I found oddly satisfying and an easy watch. 

But this in category with Central Intelligence. A film to watch when you just need to pass the time and there's nothing better on TV. 

Doctor Strange

Marvel really knows how to make the movie-going experience into an eye-bursting spectacle.  Doctor Strange is easy to love at first glance. I mean, it's essentially Inception with magic and superheroes. To be blunt, I am a sucker for superhero films. I just am. That doesn't mean I give a free pass to everything (looking at you Batman vs. Superman and Suicide Squad), but I just get wrapped up in the spectacle of someone becoming more than they ever thought they could be. 

This film doesn't stand at the front of Marvel's line of films, but it doesn't stand at the back either. It's firmly in the middle. An excellent addition to the MCU (a great collections of films as it were), but doesn't do anything to raise the bar on what they've been offering.

007: From Russia With Love

Zoë and I tried to get back into all the Bond movies. I've seen about 90% of them. And while I do believe I've seen From Russia With Love, I didn't remember it for the life of me. So, he's seeing it for the second time, for the first time.

As one of the Bond films that gets among the highest praise, I was expecting great things. Clearly I put my expectations too high. Even when trying to keep in mind how dated the movie was, it still felt slow and lazy. The story is basically, the villains devising a plan where "we'll bring down Bond by making him fall in love with our secret Russian double-agent." Not a terrible premise, but the story just meanders about for so long it was hard to really be pulled into it. 

I bet if another Bond fan were to read this, they would freak out that I'm missing some main points on what really makes this film stand out from the rest. But maybe if I had more nostalgia to the franchise it could help build a better connection to it all these years later. Sadly, this film threw be off my pace to devour the rest of the films in the franchise. 

Side note: take a look at the first appearance of Q. The gadgets were far less appealing back in the day. Seriously... bullets and gold hidden in the briefcase. I would have loved to see Bond try to cash in those gold coins at the airport if he was a jam to flee the country or something. 

The Jungle Book

Disney has killed it this year. Four out of the top five grossing films for the year of 2016, Disney owns the top four slots... with #4 being The Jungle Book. This is the second movie in Disney's mission to re-make their animated classics into live-action films (the first being Cinderella -- which I did not see.) This film not only cleaned up at the box office, but received tons of critical praise. 

I, however, was not a fan. The film just felt bland to me. First off, we have that problem I mentioned the BFG suffered from -- that uncomfortable CGI sheen that I am not a fan of. Also, the story and acting seemed all over the place. I kind of feel like Disney just went after big celebrity names to do all the voice work of the animals instead of truly getting the best person for the job. The only two roles that I really like was Idris Elba's work as the Sheer Khan and, of course, Bill Murray as the delightful Baloo. However, they also had Christopher Walken singing and King Louie. You would have though after Walken's work on Peter Pan Live! people would have understood the dude can't sing. But, they gave him that famous song, "I wanna be like you!" And he totally fucks it up for me. Sigh...

Anywho, not a fan of this film and I'm already hearing the possibility for a sequel. Not surprising. The money's there. And that's all the proof studio's need to greenlight another souless remake.