You Will Get The "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" Theme Song Stuck In Your Head

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015)  

TV-14

Starring Ellie Kemper, Tituss Burgess, Carol Kane, Jane Krakowski,

Created by Tina Fey & Robert Carlock

The Story:

15 years after being abducted into a Doomsday Cult, Kimmy Schmidt (Kemper) is freed, and decides that she doesn't want to exist by cashing in on the fame of being one of the bunker girls, but instead wants to start a new life for herself in New York City. But if she thought life in a bunker was weird, she ain't seen nothing yet!

My guess with most viewers, you're either going to enjoy this Netflix Original series, or you are probably going to run screaming in the other direction as fast as possible.

I'm not sure there's a middle ground here.

Even after the first episode, I pondered to myself, "what exactly have I just watched" ?

But the next episode comes on, and the strangeness invites itself in and lets you know that it's here to stay.

This is a world populated by strange characters, and the little girl that grew up in the bunker is far from the craziest person you'll meet.

Kimmy of course is a woman with the soul and mentality of a teenage girl. She's yet to fully grow up, but that's part of her charm.

There's her roomate, Titus (Burgess) who may be the greatest asset to the show. He's hilarious and winds up in some of the oddest predicaments that you could imagine.

Then we have their landlord, Lillian (Kane) who is a box of rocks short of having a box of rocks, but has a heart of mostly gold.

Finally, Jacqueline (Krakowski). the socialite who Kimmy begins nannying for but will go through some personal upheavals throughout the seasons.

That's a quick look at the players, and they are surrounded by even crazier guests, but the show always drives forward with smaller pieces that feed a larger story arc.

It's always wild, a little weird, but usually quite fun.

That's not to say it's perfect.

When we venture back and meet Kimmy's family during the trial...

Well, let's just say those were a few weird characters too many.

Season Two course-corrected a bit and introduced a recurring Tina Fey character that was fundamentally different from the one she played in the first season, and helped move Kimmy's storyline along.

What's going to happen in Season 3?

Hard to say, but they left off with an intriguing enough cliffhanger to keep us guessing.

Final Grade:  B

The Right Manny For The Job... "The Pacifier"

The Pacifier (2005)

Rated PG

Starring Vin Diesel, Lauren Graham, Faith Ford, Brittany Snow, Max Thieriot, Carol Kane, Morgan York, Kegan & Logan Hoover

Directed by Adam Shankman

The Story:

Navy SEAL Shane Wolf (Diesel) is reassigned to protect the family of a scientist who died.  While the mom (Ford) goes with the Navy to attempt to find out what her husband left behind, Shane must babysit the kids (Snow, Thieriot, York and Hoover).  Naturally, his way of doing things, and the way the kids think things should be done are at odds.  However, bad guys are lurking and if the kids and Shane don't kill each other first, the bad guys might take them all out.

It's Uncle Buck meets Under Siege.

Actually, that's a pretty good description.

Vin Diesel struck out into family friendly territory with The Pacifier.
Much like The Rock, Disney took an action star and tried to turn him into a family friendly movie star.

In both cases, it pretty much worked.

Now, you can dislike this film (or any of the Rock's) all you want, but Disney succeeded with what they set out to do.

That the Tooth Fairy and The Pacifier teamed up in Fast Five for one of the most successful movies in the Fast & Furious franchise?

Full circle.

:)

I like films like this that allow action stars to broaden their career into comedy.  It's one of the muscles they usually only get to flex with a quick one-liner or a sarcastic dispatching of a villain.

If you can pull off broad, family friendly slapstick and walk away with your career intact, you're going to be somebody.

It doesn't hurt if you've got the charisma of Vin Diesel or Dwayne Johnson though.

:)

Final Grade: B+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Harmless fun for the whole family.  The kids love it, and it's an enjoyable film to revisit every so often.

The Twelve Reviews of Christmas...Day Nine: "Scrooged"

Yule Love It!

The Story:

Frank Cross (Bill Murray) is the youngest TV executive in network history. He has big plans for a live performance of A Christmas Carol on Christmas Eve.  Ah, but when Frank is visited by the ghost of his former boss (John Forsythe), it's only a matter of time before his world is turned upside down as he lives his own version of Dickens' classic tale.

Will Frank learn a valuable life lesson, or is he doomed for all eternity?

Richard Donner directs yet another personal favorite of mine.  I tell you, he's possibly the most underrated movie director of the 80s/90s.

While Murray gets acclaim for his later dramatic roles, this is my favorite role that he has done in his career.  Yep, better than Caddyshack, Stripes and Ghostbusters, to name but three.

He's funny, but in reactionary ways only, which is a great skill for an actor to pull off.

That he seems to be having a nervous breakdown due to the ghosts adds to the comedy of the film.

Unlike versions of the ghosts, these 3 aren't exactly nice or sentimental with Frank.  In fact, Carol Kane as the Ghost of Christmas Present is downright brutal with Frank.

:)

Naturally, Frank learns that the life he could have had with Claire (Karen Allen) is his one big mistake, and that's why I don't consider Scrooged to be a straight adaptation of A Christmas Carol.

  Does it borrow, oh yes, liberally.

But here, Frank, unlike Scrooge, gets the chance to rectify that moment in his life where things went wrong, and win back the love of his life.

Great performances across the board, and if you don't like this movie...

You have no Christmas spirit.

;)

Available to stream instantly on Amazon if you have Prime membership.

Final Grade: A+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor:  It is owned already and is watched at least once every holiday season.  I'm thinking there will be an upgrade to Blu Ray to keep it lasting forever in the near future.

80s Flashback...For the First Time! "License to Drive"

Who's your favorite Corey?

The Story:

Les Anderson (Corey Haim) is 16 and ready to test for his driver's license.  His twin sister aces the exam, but Les isn't so lucky.  Having promised the hottest girl in school (Heather Graham) to take her out Saturday night, Les sits home, bummed.  A late night call asking if he's coming, and Les decides to sneak out in Grandpa's prized Cadillac.  What could possibly go wrong?

For those with rose-colored glasses, I'm about to trash one of your favorite films, since this was my first viewing of the movie.

Well okay, I'm not going to trash it, so much as I'm going to simply shrug my shoulders.

Meh.

It was okay.

There was nothing great about it, that's for sure.  Richard Masur and Carol Kane are pretty much wasted in their roles as the cool yet wacky parents.  They get to have some fun, but their screen time is limited.

I'm not even sure Dean (Corey Feldman) gets enough screen time as he barely pops up at the beginning, and then doesn't come back until the very end when Les is out driving for the night.  It taints the whole Two Coreys theory of awesomeness.


Okay, not really. : )

If you watched it when it came out, you may have loved it, but it's pretty lame, pretty tame, and really rather generic comedy all the way around.

Available to stream instantly on Netflix as of this writing.

Final Grade: C-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: If I want to watch the Corey's, it begins, and ends, with Lost Boys.  :)