"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

Watching This Is One Of "A Million Ways To Die In The West"

A Million Ways To Die In The West (2014)

Rated R

Starring  Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson, Amanda Seyfried, Neil Patrick Harris, Giovanni Ribisi, Sarah Silverman

Written and Directed by Seth MacFarlane

The Story:

Albert (MacFarlane) is living the dream in the Old West until his girl (Seyfried) dumps him. Alone and sad, he bounces back when he runs into Anna (Theron) and becomes smitten. Ah, but Anna has a secret, and he's about to ride into town and show Albert that death by gunfight is at least one of a million ways to die in the west.

MacFarlane loves unleashing himself in R rated movies where he doesn't have to abide by any rating restrictions.

Which is a shame really.

I've seen a few episodes of Family Guy and I've laughed at parts, but otherwise, not a show I can bear watching repeatedly.

Much the same for his movies.

There are a few parts that are genuinely funny, but they get bogged down in the incessant "hey, let's push the boundaries, we have an R rating!"

Not to get on a soapbox, but I'm already up here...

If the joke has to work within the confines of an R rating, then it's likely not funny.

If you can remove the offending language/prop or whatever, and it's still funny, then the joke is a good one.

Case in point, the giant ice block that kills the guy in the street.

We all saw that scene in the trailer.

It's funny.  Morbid, but funny.

Amping the joke up with a ton of blood almost distracts from the humor of the situation.

A big SQUISH sound, and the horrified reactions are the joke.

And therein lies my main problem with the majority of this movie.

The setup is there, but it gets mangled in the delivery.

Which is a shame, because he's assembled a great cast that pretty much has very little to do.

Unlike Fury, where I gave the film a C and realized I should have put it in the D range, I will not make the same mistake again.

Final Grade: C-   D+

Congratulations, you're in the running for Turkey of the Year.

:)

The Buddy Comedy Redux... "Ted"

Naughty little bear...


The Story:

John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) makes a wish when he's a little boy that his little bear, Ted (Seth Macfarlane), could be his bestest friend forever.  And magically, it happens.  Ted becomes famous for a bit, but fame for a stuffed talking bear is fleeting, and 20+ years later, both are still not growing up, much to the dismay of John's girlfriend (Mila Kunis).

Your mileage may vary...

Chalk me up as not a Seth Macfarlane fan.  Nope, I don't watch Family Guy, or any of the other funny cartoons aimed at grown ups.  Yes, I've seen some before, yes, they can be both hysterical, and awful, sometimes at the same time.

Now instead of being animated, it's a live action buddy comedy with a CGI bear.

It is funny, but again, many of the jokes/situations simply try too hard to push the envelope and really go nowhere for me.  It's like the joke is funny... so let's add another and try and make it funnier...and another...and let's keep pushing...

And at that point, you've lost me for humor and are going for cheap laughs.

I'm willing to laugh, but I'm not cheap.

Nor am I easy.

: )

The funnier moments were all centered around John.  Mark Wahlberg plays great in comic roles, and I think a lot of people forget that as he often gets typecast in the action flicks.

In the end, it's a really charming story buried under crude humor, for the sake of being crude.

That kills any hope of being enjoyed around these parts.

In other words, I'm not sticking my hand in a steaming pile of crap to attempt to find a jewel.  I'll take your word that it's there.


Final Grade: C+

Would I Own It: Nope, but I'm sure a lot of folks will disagree with me.