Hail To The King..."Kong: Skull Island"

Kong: Skull Island (2017)

Rated PG-13

Starring Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, John C. Reilly, John Goodman, Corey Hawkins, John Ortiz,

Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts

The Story:

With the Vietnam War ending, a team of scientists are using a military escort to a previously uncharted territory in the South Pacific before the Russians discover them on satellite. They will encounter things the likes of which no one has ever seen before...and lived to tell about it.

Loki (Hiddleston), Captain Marvel (Larson) and Nick Fury (Jackson) head to a deserted island...

Whoops, wrong cinematic universe.

Say what you will about reboots, cinematic universes and whatnot...

When they work, they are amazing, and when they don't, they are often colossal failures.

For me, the relaunch of (King) Kong may very well be my favorite iteration of the giant ape to appear on screen.

I know, blasphemy for the 30s original, but this is simply a technically superior storyline.

Or at least one with a much more satisfying ending.

I hate to give too much away for those that haven't seen it, but I never particularly cared for the whole "beauty and the beast" notion that has been a constant in the films.

Nor have I ever enjoyed the cage him up and take him to New York plot device.

Skull Island erases both of those shortfalls and gives as as plausible of a storyline for Kong, how he exists, why he exists and why he's never been found before.

That a sequel will invariably come from this is a good thing.

I just hope they realize they've set the bar fairly high for themselves, and unlike another giant monster franchise, I hope they can continue putting out a quality product.

Vogt-Roberts nailed it as only his 2nd feature (the excellent Kings of Summer - still streaming for those with Prime) and first blockbuster/franchise tent-pole right out of the gate. Hope he's brought back along with whatever cast may have survived their first encounter with Kong.

Count me as a huge fan of this one.

Final Grade: B+

"Sing" Was A Bit Pitchy, Dawg.

Sing (2016)

Rated PG

Starring Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Seth MacFarlane, Scarlett Johansson, John C. Reilly, Taron Egerton, Tori Kelly,

Directed by Christophe Lourdelet and Garth Jennings

The Story:

Buster (McConaughey) plans a singing competition to keep his struggling theater alive. But when a typo changes his $1000 prize into much, much more, hundreds of critters are there to audition the next day. The show truly must go on, but what will happen to the singers that are chosen when they discover the prize isn't nearly all it's cracked up to be?

From Illumination Entertainment, the folks that brought us Despicable Me, and have been coasting on that success ever since...

;)

Comes Sing. Anthropomorphic animals that decide to have a talent contest to save an old theater from going out of business.

It sounds cute and harmless, and it pretty much is just that.

It's also very bland.

To the credit of the movie, it actually gets better by the 2nd act, once all of the characters are established and their storylines start to build towards the finale.

The vocal cast was fine, both in dialogue and singing.

It's weird that McConaughey was the lead character, as his usual Texas twang is nowhere to be found in Buster at all.

Or if it was, I sure didn't hear it.

It's fine enough for kids, but it's definitely not on my list of favorite animated films of the year.

Maybe someday they'll make the cut, but with more sequels to Despicable Me, Minions and a Sing 2 on the horizon, I somehow doubt it's coming any time soon.

Final Grade: C

Love Conquers All... "Life After Beth"

Life After Beth (2014)

Rated R

Starring Aubrey Plaza, Dane DeHaan, John C. Reilly, Molly Shannon, Anna Kendrick, Paul Reiser

Written and Directed by Jeff Baena

The Story:

Beth Slocum (Plaza) is alone hiking in the woods. The next thing we see is a wake with her family (Reilly & Shannon) grieving alongside her boyfriend, Zach (DeHaan). However, a few days later, Beth returns and her parents are overjoyed at the miracle of her return. When Zach finds out, he thinks that telling Beth the truth is in her best interest, but her parents and Beth's erratic memory make that a less than viable solution.

Zach's got his work cut out for him if he wants to keep his relationship with Beth from dying... again!

However, wishing your girlfriend was not dead becomes problematic when she returns as a walking, talking... zombie.

If that wasn't problematic enough, she may not be the only one.

This one is a slow-starter, and continues a slow burn towards the conclusion.

Baena does offer an interesting twist to the zombie mythos in his presentation of the undead.

Not nearly as family-friendly as Warm Bodies, but it could have been, easily.

A few lines of dialogue and this could have been a fun-entry to watch annually this time of year.


Final Grade: C

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Maybe in a few years I'll catch it on cable, but not quite good enough to add to the collection.

These "Bears" Could Use Some Foraging Advice From Yogi

Bears (2014)

Rated G

Narrated by John C. Reilly

Directed by Alastaire Fothergill and Keith Scholey

The Story:

In the latest DisneyNature documentary, John C. Reilly narrates the adventures of an Alaskan brown bear over the course of a year as she protects and raises her two newborn cubs.

If you've seen any of the other DisneyNature documentaries, you know what to expect.

Reilly does his best narrating a story with gorgeous scenery, but many of the lines fall flat, or deliver eye-rolling groans of "who writes this stuff?"

However, they're making these for the kids, so I guess you have to take what you're given.

The film chronicles the life of Skye, the mother bear as she raises her two cubs Scout and Amber.  She must work hard to keep the cubs alive and safe from other bears who would like nothing better than eating her babies for a snack while they wait for the salmon to arrive.

The scenery is nothing short of amazing.

At a little over an hour, it's not too taxing on you either.


Final Grade: C, maybe a C+ on a good day.

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I'd have to pass on watching this one again. Cute once, but that was plenty.

"Super" May Have Been An Exaggeration This Year... "Super Bowl XLVIII"

Oh Super Bowl...

How you vex me as I write this.

I'm taking notes as the game plays, so I hope my chaotic rambling isn't too chaotic, or rambling for your taste.

My first thoughts about this matchup...

How Is This Possible?

I'm old enough to remember a time when a game between the Broncos and the Seahawks meant an AFC West slugfest.

I feel like Marty McFly... How can Denver and Seattle be in a Super Bowl against each other?

God Bless realignment...

So as we sit back and celebrate the new World Champions...of a sport played solely in North America... it's a chance when all NFL fans hope for a good game, fans of the two remaining teams trash talk a lot online, and everyone else tunes in for the commercials.

So how was it?

Are You Serious?!?

The opening snap for a Safety... ah yes, it's now all uphill, or down, depends on perspective for the Broncos.

I'm thinking if I would have been a bundle on that in Vegas, I'd be rich! ;)

The first commercial that I enjoyed airs during the first quarter.

Darn You Shawn!

This is the Turbo Tax commercial where the Super Bowl for non-fans of Denver and Seattle is compared to watching another guy take your girlfriend to prom.  Hysterical, and I love John C. Reilly's narration.

Back into the second quarter and  a Manning interception, and I'm beginning to think that Eli has suited up by mistake for the Broncos!

More commercial goodness:

Battle of the Network Stars!

Radio Shack's Goodbye to the 80s is filled with retro goodness.

Oh, and a Transformers sequel that has zero Shia LeBeouf and apparently much, much less giant robot fighting in darkness.  I might actually enjoy this installment.

15-0... I'm hoping the Broncos can do something, anything, positive at this point.

My standing rule for Super Bowls: I just want a competitive game.

Blowouts are only fun if it's your team doing the blowing out.

Oh goody... a terrible pick by Manning... and I'm reminded that I really don't want the Seahawks to win because I dislike Pete Carroll.

:)

22-0 and I'm seriously considering turning this nonsense off.

Okay, the Volkswagen commercial with German engineers getting wings is actually pretty funny.  I'll stick around a bit longer.

Birdy!

Back from commercial and... a fumble??!!

Shoot me now.

Manning is good, but he's going to need a miracle to come back from this hole.

Yay...Amazing Spider-Man 2 looks great!  Hopefully the "too many villains" doesn't crush the franchise like has happened for other super hero movies.

It's now the 2 minute warning... the Broncos are driving, if they can at least make this 22-7 at halftime, we've still got a game!

But no...

Oh, a Seinfeld mini-reunion.  That's cute, but when I realize that it's up to Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers to save the Super Bowl...

Yeah, we're in trouble!

Thought of the moment:

Where does the crowd on the field come from?  Do they buy special tickets just to come to the halftime show?  Free tickets?  Shuffle down from the stands?


I'm actually curious.

Gold Jacket Or No Jacket?

Nice to see that Kiedis and Flea dressed up for the show... ;)

Nice shout out from the troops for She's So Beautiful.

This was way better than the Black Eyed Peas show, that's for sure!


Mythbusters was pretty cool... but I'm not switching back to Comcast.

Ever.

Jerry Ricecake? Comedy gold!

The 2nd half begins....with a runback for a touchdown.

The score is now 87-0.  No, that's not a typo. ;)

I'm not sure what Coach Fox said to the Broncos at halftime, but I'm pretty sure that letting them score quick so we can get the ball back was not it.

Not even close.

And at the end of 3 Quarters, the Broncos finally scored, and I decided I had seen enough, and jumped in the car and drove back to MUSC to visit with my baby boy instead!

That was the best part of the Big Game!

:)

Congratulations to the Seahawks.

Also, Peyton's legacy is not tarnished with this loss.  He's a great quarterback, one of the best to ever play the position.

That's his legacy.

Hopefully next year's game lives up to the hype.

Or is at least competitive.

Super Bowl Final Grade: D+
Super Bowl Commercials: C-
Super Bowl Visit With My Son: A+

:)

Movie of the Week: "Wreck It Ralph"

Who knew being bad could be so good?           

The Story:

Ralph (John C. Reilly) is the bad guy in a videogame.  He spends his days wrecking a building only to have the hero fix everything and win gold medals and the accolades of the city.  This goes on for 30 years, and Ralph is tired of his lonely life.  He wants to win a medal and be... liked.  So he leaves his game, gets his medal... and then things get...

Complicated.

Just as Toy Story showed years ago, that there is life for your toys when you are not around, Wreck-It Ralph shows what happens to the games in an arcade when the lights go out and the people go home.

These characters interact with one another and then when the lights go back on, they head back to their games, and life as they know it.

For most characters, this is great.  But for the villains...

Well, attending Bad-Anon meetings is a first step in realizing that they do indeed have a purpose in life.  Someone has got to be bad, so they might as well be the best bad-guy they can be.

Complications arise when Ralph gets out and heads to a first person shooter game to win his medal. He escapes with the gold, and an alien bug that will infect any game once it gets free.  When Ralph crashes in Sugar Rush, he meets a driver (Sarah Silverman) with a glitch, and a burning desire to be a racer even though the other racers scoff at her.

The two bond, unaware that the bug is multiplying, the very game is in danger, and that Calhoun (Jane Lynch) from the shooter game and Felix (Jack McBrayer) are hot on their trail to get Ralph out of there and save the day.

Bad guys don't win medals though, and they never, ever save the day.

Can Ralph overcome those two obstacles and prove otherwise, or is the whole game destined to crash?

This story was simply too much fun, and for anyone that's played video games ...ever... you'll see some version of a game that you've played once, twice or a thousand times over the years.

The voicework is great, and the stars do not outshine their characters.  Okay, maybe Jane Lynch, simply because she is almost becoming an over-the-top caricature of herself...

But otherwise, it all works.

And yes, I want to play Sugar Rush.  That game looks like Mario Kart... with even cooler weaponry!
: )


And talking to my little Academy Voters... they all agree on one thing:

Brave stole the Oscar this year.

Tsk tsk.


The one upside, the Oscar winning short Paperman is on this disc.


You know those internet memes "..still a better love story than Twilight" ?

Yeah, that's just the tip of the iceberg of cool things you could say about it, and hopefully it can be found on YouTube again now that the Oscars are over.


Final Grade: A

Would I Own It:  Put this on the list, I'm in!