Can Love Conquer All? "The Big Sick"

The Big Sick (2017)

Rated R

Starring Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano, Anupam Kher, Zenobia Shroff

Directed by Michael Showalter

The Story:

Kumail (Nanjiani) is a stand up comedian. He meets Emily (Kazan) one night after his performance. The two hit it off, and the next thing you know, they are seemingly in love. But life and conflicting cultural expectations interfere, and soon Emily is in a coma with a mysterious ailment, and Kumail realizes he may lose the one thing in life he's always wanted, before he even realized that's what he needed.

Well, let me start by saying that I wasn't paying attention to the poster for this film or its tag line: An Awkward True Story.

So when it got to the end of the film, like a sucker punch of emotion, the ending brought home how sweet and sincere this film really is.

An Amazon Studios original film, while I watched it on disc through Netflix, it is now finally available to stream on Amazon for those with Prime membership.

Kumail's trials aren't isolated to his relationship with Emily either.

He also has to deal with Emily's parents (Hunter & Romano) who are initially not that impressed that he's even at the hospital when they arrive, but her perseveres in his devotion to Emily and his willingness to accept not being in his comfort zone around her parents.

Then there is dealing with his own family (Kher & Shroff) at home and their desire for him to marry within his culture.

A wonderful cast, a beautiful story, and Kumail more than easily carries the majority of the film on his shoulders.

Highly recommended if you haven't seen it already.

Final Grade: A-

It's Been A Decade, Still Waiting For A Sequel To "The Incredibles"

The Incredibles (2004)

Rated PG for slightly scary stuff... if you're like a baby or something! ;)

Starring Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Spencer Fox, Samuel L. Jackson, Jason Lee

Directed & Written by Brad Bird

The Story:

Mr. Incredible (Nelson) and Elastigirl (Hunter) were two of America's best superheroes.  However, the times have changed, and all of the old heroes have gone into "retirement" at the behest of the government.  Trying to live a normal life, they started a family, but Mr. Incredible has the itch to get back into the game.  When given a chance to relive some of the old glory days, he takes a chance, but is captured by Syndrome (Lee) a wannabe sidekick with delusions of grandeur.  It's up to the family to save their dad, and the day.  Can they do it?

With the release of this film, it was easily, for me, considered the best superhero movie ever.

If Marvel Studios hadn't hit a home run with Iron Man, I would have maintained that the best way to bring the heroes to life would be to follow Pixar's lead and craft well written stories that allow for the dynamics of animation to best convey the stories of superheroes.

But, Marvel made miracles happen, and the rest is history.

Meanwhile, The Incredibles now celebrates a decade of being one of Pixar's finest films.

It also cements the fact that Brad Bird is arguably the best writer/director of animated films of this generation.

The Iron Giant
The Incredibles
Ratatouille

All written and directed by him.

Probably John Lassetter is the only one more successful, but Bird was doing it prior to his arrival at Pixar, and he's also made the jump to live action films with Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol which was a very highly entertaining entry in that franchise.

The voice cast is spot on in this film, from the kids to every character throughout the film.  The dialogue and plot just pulls you in and holds you until the very end.

Plus, before he was Nick Fury, Samuel L. Jackson was FroZone!

:)

Excellent, all the way around.

Final Grade: A+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Own it, love it.  Looking forward to the announced sequel (about time!)