Tis The Season..."Office Christmas Party"

Office Christmas Party (2016)

Rated R

Starring Jason Bateman, T.J. Miller, Olivia Munn, Jennifer Aniston, Kate McKinnon, Rob Corddry, Courtney B. Vance

Directed by Josh Gordon & Will Speck

The Story:

Carol Vanstone (Aniston) is going to shut down her brother's (Miller) branch of Zenotek to save the company money. Hoping to land a big client (Vance) and save his branch and the jobs of all of his employees, he grabs his right hand man (Bateman) and decides to throw an epic Christmas party like his dad used to do in order to have a Christmas miracle.

What could possibly go wrong?

There were a few surprises in store for me when I watched this movie.

The trailers, and the title, suggested some R-rated debauchery stupid comedy... and there are moments the film lives up...or down...to that stereotype.

Plus, it wasn't laugh out loud funny throughout, though there were several moments it hit the mark.

Instead, it stayed amusing and interesting throughout.

I was expecting Bateman to play the businessman who might lose the business because of an employee who goes too far in Miller.

With the roles reversed, and it's Miller in charge, and he's just a big goofball, and I mean that with all sincerity. I will watch T.J. Miller in just about anything he does, because he plays his parts so well and they are almost always the roles that steal the show.

As he leads the charge, it's Bateman who has to try and reign him in, while also realizing he's got to loosen up a bit if they have any chance of landing the client.

While the movie unfolds and the party gets a little crazier, you get sucked into the proceedings hoping that the movie ends well for the characters.

Yes, it is a bit of a Christmas miracle, because this is one of those "stupid comedies with a heart".

It's a great cast, and they're all making the most of their characters and situations.

I can't say I'd add it to the list of annual Christmas movies, it's a little too crude for that, but I'm glad I saw it, and I wouldn't be opposed to watching it again sometime down the road.

 Final Grade: B-

If Only It Were The End... "X-Men: Apocalypse"

X-Men Apocalypse (2016) 

Rated PG-13

Starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Oscar Isaac, Rose Byrne, Evan Peters, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Lucas Till, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Ben Hardy, Alexandra Shipp, Olivia Munn,

Directed by Bryan Singer

The Story:

En Sabah Nur/Apocalypse (Isaac) was the first mutant, he stole his powers from others like him and made himself powerful and immortal. Buried for centuries in Egypt, he is awakened in the 20th century and begins to find his new horsemen, including Magneto (Fassbender), Storm (Shipp), Angel (Hardy) and Psylocke (Munn).  It's up to Professor Xavier (McAvoy), Mystique (Lawrence) and Beast (Hoult) to recruit and lead a new team of X-Men, including Jean Grey (Turner), Cyclops (Sheridan) and Nightcrawler (Smit-McPhee) into battle to save the world

Boring.

No wait, this is a superhero movie...

Super-boring!

The one exception: the Quicksilver (Peters) scene. That's amazing stuff, and I could watch that anytime. I wish they would have done that in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but oh well, too late now.

I'm not trying to pick on Fox and say that the X-Men should move back to Disney so that we can have one cohesive universe...

But if they're listening, they should.

:)

But at least, unlike the Fantastic Four, they've been moderately successful with the movies, especially after rebooting with First Class and Days of Future Past.

I'm not sure what went wrong but I found myself consistently indifferent to this movie.

I wanted to like it, but it seemed to be in a constant state of "there's so much going on, yet nothing's really happening!" for nearly 2 1/2 hours!

So much potential, and instead it's like watching a franchise tread water until they can get to the next movie.

I'm afraid I have to say it, but when I look back on how much I enjoyed this to just about any other film in the X-Men experience, I'm unimpressed.

Plus, take into account how much I love this genre, and what the Marvel Cinematic Universe is doing, so much like Batman vs. Superman, I have to grade accordingly...

Final Grade: D+

Undercover Brothers..."Ride Along 2"

Ride Along 2 (2016)

Rated PG-13

Starring Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, Tika Sumpter, Benjamin Bratt, Olivia Munn, Ken Jeong,

Directed by Tim Story

The Story:

Ben (Hart) is getting married to Angela (Sumpter) soon, but before the wedding, he has to head to Florida with James (Cube) on assignment. There they begin to unravel a plot thanks to AJ (Jeong) that implicates a very wealthy businessman (Bratt) who the local police (Munn) refuse to believe could possibly be dirty.

In other words, if you enjoyed the first Ride Along, you should have just as good of a time, or better, on their latest trip.

I've enjoyed both films. They were good, but I'd like to see better by the time the 3rd one rolls around.

Ice Cube is great, as usual, and works really well with Kevin Hart.

Hart is an actor that has grown on me over the years, and I've enjoyed his performances more and more as I've watched him.

He's like a short Chris Tucker.

:)

Now put those two together in a movie, and let's see what happens.

Anyway, the movie is fun, the cast seems to have some genuine chemistry among them, and I'd happily return for the next ride if they're willing to make it.

That, or have these guys crossover with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in Bad Boys: The Ride Along and I'll be there opening night!

Final Grade: B-