Yadda Yadda Yadda... "Jerry Before Seinfeld"

Jerry Before Seinfeld (2017)

TV-14

Starring Jerry Seinfeld

Directed by Michael Bonfiglio

The Story:

In 1975, Jerry Seinfeld began performing at The Comic Strip in New York City. In 1981, he got his big break and made it to The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Jerry Seinfeld comes back to the place where it all began and takes us on a trip down memory lane.

Jerry doing stand-up is where many of his older fans will remember him from, long before he became..."Seinfeld".

This hour-long stand up special has Jerry reliving some of his first comic routines along with new material.

In addition, there's some archival footage of Jerry's stand up routines along with home movies of Jerry growing up in New York.

Clearly the special is edited from a much longer night on stage, and that's a shame.

Some of the editing choices seem a bit odd and throw a bit of the timing of the special off, but overall, Jerry is as observant and funny as he's always been.

A Netflix Original, it's now available for streaming.

Final Grade: A-

Guilty As Charged..."American Vandal"

American Vandal (2017)

Starring Tyler Alvarez, Griffin Gluck, Jimmy Tatro, Camille Hyde, Eduardo Franco, Calum Worthy, Camille Ramsey, Karly Rothenberg

Created by Dan Perrault & Tony Yacenda

The Story:

Dylan Maxwell (Tatro) stands accused of a heinous act of vandalism: drawing dicks on 27 teacher's cars at the local high school. Now the school's morning show is out to discover whether Dylan is indeed guilty, or being framed.

This Netflix Original premiered this morning.

I posted the trailer the other day, and now halfway into the 3rd episode, it's every bit as compelling as the true crime documentaries that it's poking fun of.

Satire. Loving homage. Mockumentary.

However you want to classify it, they're taking the components of "Making a Murderer" or any other true crime series and making their storyline just as compelling.

But also, hilariously funny.

Each episode is a half hour, so it flies by much quicker than an hour-long drama.

But the cast is believable and again, the storyline works perfectly as a crime whodunit that keeps you captivated.

And at the end of each episode, they toss the next curve ball at the audience to make you go "no way!" and then you're hooked for the next episode.

Not sure how it's going to end, but with nearly half the series over...

A-

What If You Could Do "Absolutely Anything" ?

Absolutely Anything (2017)

Rated PG-13

Starring Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Rob Riggle, Robin Williams, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam

Directed by Terry Jones

The Story:

When a group of all-powerful space aliens (voiced by the members of Monty Python) target Earth for destruction, they give infinite power to one soul to determine whether or not Earth is worth saving. That potential savior of the planet? Neil (Pegg). Of course when one learns that they have pretty much omnipotent power, saving the planet is usually the last thing on your mind.

Apparently released a few years back in the UK, this film is finally available on this side of the pond.

Pegg, as usual, carries the film as the comedic everyman whose personal wish fulfillment ability could doom all of mankind to destruction, or potentially save it.

Always embracing the manic and literal decision of the wishes (or lack of) the Neil tosses off casually and never realizing the Spidey mantra of "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility". Instead, his wishes are self-centered and while he often means well, his casual delivery often causes things to happen literally, much to Neil's chagrin.

While not the greatest entry into Pegg's film catalog, it's still solid and he makes the whole affair completely watchable. Surrounded with a strong supporting cast, there are enough laughs throughout and enough heart to make this one worth your time.

The film is also notable for being the final performance of Robin Williams who voices Dennis, Neil's dog.

It's also likely Jones' last feature as he was diagnosed with Dementia after this film was released, so this is likely the last time the surviving members of Monty Python will have a chance to act together, even if it is only their voices.

Final Grade: C+

Seems Like Westworld To Me..."Vice"

Vice (2015)

Rated R

Starring Ambyr Childers, Thomas Jane, Bruce Willis

Directed by Brian A. Miller

The Story:

Welcome to Vice! The ultimate resort where anything goes, because all of the residents are robots. Fulfill your darkest fantasy. The only problem, Kelly (Childers) is starting to not completely reboot and remembering things that have happened to her before. Meanwhile, Roy (Jane) is a hard-boiled cop who thinks people acting out at Vice bleeds back to the real world and wants to shut the place down. This puts both of them in the crosshairs of Julian (Willis) who wants to shut them both down, permanently.

I hope I didn't make it sound too interesting... because it wasn't.

It was sooooooo boring.

I've yet to watch the re-imagining of Westworld on cable, but I have brief memories of the movie from the 70s.

My guess is they wanted to cash in before the new series came out.

I hope the series is more interesting.

Then again, I can't imagine it being any worse.

Willis and Jane cashing their direct to DVD checks, neither one mustering much effort to care, so I'm not going to either.

Currently streaming on Netflix if you're up for the challenge.

Final Grade:  F

Even More Sinister Than A Stephen King Novel..."I.T."

I.T. (2016)

Not Rated

Starring Pierce Brosnan, Anna Friel, Stefanie Scott, Jason Barry

Directed by John Moore

The Story:

Mike Regan (Brosnan) is a successful entrepreneur who is about to take his business (think Uber...for aircraft!) public. He has a loving wife and daughter (Friel & Scott) and a state of the art home. But when Mike invites the new I.T. guy, Patrick (Barry) over to fix a few bugs at the house, Patrick suddenly thinks he's Mike's new best friend and then gets a bit offended when he gets the cold shoulder.

Don't screw with the I.T. department, Mike!!!

This thriller is not as thrilling as it wanted to be, but it does try.

Mostly by falling on the more-than-capable shoulders of Brosnan to carry the film, Brosnan keeps the audiences sympathy as the likable millionaire who's trying to become a billionaire by taking his firm public.

Yet when Patrick interferes, he runs the risk of losing everything he's worked for, including his very family.

The ground for Patrick's motivations is really that he's just that obnoxious that he would take any slight as a personal insult, and do whatever he can to make that person's life hell.

Hmm...

I know some people like Patrick.

:)

Otherwise, Mike doesn't seem to have any skeletons in his closet or anything that would deserve the cruel fate that comes his way, other than hurting the feelings of a sociopath.

So word of warning: be nice to the I.T. folks, and don't ever invite them to come fix your smart home.
Currently streaming on Netflix as of this writing.

Final Grade: C+

Ladies and Gentlemen..."The Beatles: Eight Days A Week-The Touring Years"

The Beatles: Eight Days A Week-The Touring Years (2016)

Not Rated

Starring John, Paul, George & Ringo

Directed by Ron Howard

The Story:

It's 1963 and some British band called The Beatles is about to take off on the greatest meteoric rise in music history.

This is their story.

Ron Howard's engaging documentary compiles footage of the band from 1963-1966.

At that point, the band stopped the breakneck pace of touring and simply released albums after that.

The movie concludes with footage of their final rooftop concert in 1969.

There is archival footage from the Beatles discussing these crazy years on the road, as well as current takes from Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.

Along with that, there are some celebrity fans who discuss what life was like growing up during the height of Beatlemania.

Definitely worth a viewing if you're a fan.

And possibly if you're not a fan (tsk tsk) you might see what all the fuss was about.

 Final Grade: A-

I Wish Someone Had "Snatched" This Out Of My Mailbox

Snatched (2017)

Rated R

Starring Amy Schurmer, Goldie Hawn, Ike Barinholtz, Wanda Sykes, Joan Cusack, Bashir Salahuddin, Christopher Meloni

Directed by Jonathan Levine

The Story:

Emily (Schurmer) is dumped by her boyfriend just before she is about to embark on an exotic vacation to Ecuador. So she takes her mom (Hawn) instead. Wouldn't you know it though, they end up getting kidnapped and taken to Colombia. Hilarity and hijinks ensue as they attempt to escape and head to the American embassy.

Minus the part about hilarity.

Wow, was this painful.

Though, lately, that's how I've found most of Schurmer's movies.

Oftentimes amusing with an occasional zinger or two, but otherwise utterly forgettable.

Hollywood insists on trying to make her a star.

With the material I keep seeing, I'll keep resisting.

Hawn gives it her best, as does the woefully wasted Sykes and Cusack as two forgettable characters who really have nothing to do except provide semi-comic exposition foreshadowing.

The best part of the movie is the annoying brother (Barinholtz) and his attempt to free his family by annoying the FBI (Salahuddin). Those bits were funny.

By the time Schurmer is having a tapeworm removed (yes, seriously...) this movie has gone so far off the rails, it's watching a trainwreck at that point.

Final Grade: D-     F