So That's Where Babies Come From..."The Boss Baby"

The Boss Baby (2017)

Rated PG

Starring Alec Baldwin, Miles Bakshi, Jimmy Kimmel, Lisa Kudrow, Steve Buscemi, Tobey Maguire

Directed by Tom McGrath

The Story:

This is the story about how Tim (Bakshi) and his little brother (Baldwin) first met, and how they saved the world from not having anymore babies. At least as recounted by Tim (Maguire) now that he's much older.

Well, if you would have told me at the beginning of the year that 2 of my favorite animated films of 2017 would be studies on where babies come from, I would have called you crazy.

But here we are.

After the surprisingly touching Storks taught people how to be better parents, along comes Boss Baby with a lesson on what it takes to be a sibling.

Along with all the laughs, be prepared for an emotional moment or two as well.

This is nothing new of late, as Dreamworks Animation keeps killing it with their movies.

I know the rest of the world clamors for whatever Disney or Pixar is putting out next, but Dreamworks seems to be the most consistent maker of animated hits in our household.

Baldwin shines as Boss Baby, and he basically plays himself, or at least what audiences have come to perceive as Alec Baldwin, just as a tiny baby. Sure, it sounds crazy, but it works.

However, don't look past the role of Tim, which Dreamworks veteran Bakshi imbues with a lot of heart and soul. Graduating to a starring role versus just one of the kid characters he's played before, he holds his own with Baldwin and provides the emotional punch for the movie in the finale.

Apparently a sequel is heading our way. Not sure how they'll pull that off, but I'll be ready for it.

Final Grade: B+

Not Quite The Bite Of The First One..."Hotel Transylvania 2"

Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015)

Rated PG

Starring Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, Steve Buscemi, David Spade, Keegan-Michael Key, Asher Blinkoff, Mel Brooks

Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky

The Story:

Now that Mavis (Gomez) and Johnathan (Samberg) are married and have a little boy (Blinkoff), Dracula (Sandler) is hoping that he will turn into a vampire before he's 5 so that they will continue to live at the castle with him. It's looking unlikely though, and Mavis is beginning to ponder a life outside of the castle walls.

If you saw the trailer where Dracula lets his grandson fall from the very tall tower, then you know exactly what you're getting from this movie. Dracula wants to make sure his grandson is partially vampire, though everyone else has written him off as just another human.

So part 2 is essentially two road trip movies rolled into one as Dracula and the gang take the boy out on adventures while the happy couple look to see if Mavis can handle life out among the normals.

I really enjoyed the first one.

I also enjoyed the second one, maybe just a little less.

The jokes and characterizations for the first film were all new, so it was all a great new sense of fun.

This time around, you already know roughly what's going to happen, and there isn't a whole lot of surprise.

But don't take that as a negative.  Most sequels don't live up to the original.

The best bits are The Invisible Man (Spade) finding true love, and the genius casting of Vlad (Brooks) for the finale.

If you enjoyed the first film with your family, then this will be a cozy family reunion for you.

Final Grade: B-

Sole Man..."The Cobbler"

The Cobbler (2014)

Rated PG-13

Starring Adam Sandler, Method Man, Steve Buscemi, Dustin Hoffman, Ellen Barkin

Written and Directed by Tom McCarthy

The Story:

Max (Sandler) is an old-fashioned cobbler who runs the shop his dad (Hoffman) left him. It's a family tradition that goes back seemingly forever. One day, Max needs to fix some shoes in a hurry for a customer (Method Man), but his machine breaks. He heads down to the basement and uses the old hand stitcher. However, when Max slips on the shoes, he uncovers an amazing family secret!

Well, for those that claim there is nothing on Netflix that they haven't streamed or seen already, I would challenge you with this film.

Granted, as it stars Adam Sandler, 85% of film goers have already fled to the hills.

That's a shame, as he really plays the part subdued and effectively.

Whether it's his best performance in years, as the hyperbole that often gets shouted with films like this, it is the most non-Sandler performance in ages.

There are several laughs throughout the film as Sandler gets to inhabit the bodies of those whose shoes were fixed at his shop.

But, there's also a touch for the dramatic as well as Max deals with the legacy left to him by his father, and all that it implies.

There's also other parts of the story as well, but I don't want to spoil everything!

Available to stream on Netflix as of this writing.

Final Grade: B-

From Convict To "Champion", The Amazing Journey of Danny Trejo

Champion (2005)

N/R - Documentary

Starring Danny Trejo!

Directed by Joe Eckardt

The Story:

You know the face.
Now learn his story.

What a fascinating documentary about the life and times of Danny Trejo.

His troubled youth and stints in jail and how he turned his life around.

How did he break into the movies?

Drugs.

But as a counselor.  He received a phone call from someone on the set of Runaway Train (1985) and he was tempted by the drugs all around the set.

So Danny heads to the set, and sees all of the extras cast as prisoners and laughs.

Then they see him and think, hey, you'd make a great prisoner.

You think?!?

:)

So he's cast as an extra, but then someone on the set as an adviser remembers seeing Danny box in prison, and he gets moved up to a better paying gig if he's willing to teach Eric Roberts how to box for the film.

And the rest is history...

With additional interviews with other actors and directors who have worked with him, including Dennis Hopper, Robert Rodriguez, and Steve Buscemi, it's a worthwhile documentary about one of Hollywood's least likely stars.

Final Grade: B

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Great one time viewing, but no need to purchase.

Read This Review...Or the Bunny Gets It! "Con Air"

He's got the whole world...
In his hands!

The Story:

Ex-Ranger Cameron Poe (Nicolas Cage) gets sent to prison for killing a man in self-defense.  He does his time, and when it's time to go home, he decides to hop a flight on Con-Air, a prison transport.  But not just any transport, this one is moving the worst of the worst, and they just decided to break free.  If Poe has any hope of getting home to see his wife and daughter, he's going to have to save the day.

If I say "popcorn movie", this is the movie that could easily be in the dictionary as the definition.

It's loud.
It's crazy.
It's fun.

In fact, while Cage is playing his best cajun-accented hero, he gets support from some of the best villains ever assembled:

John Malkovich. Danny Trejo. Ving Rhames. Steve Buscemi.

They're chewing up the scenery, and making Poe's life miserable.

Realizing that he has a sense of duty to a friend onboard, as well as a female marshal who will likely be killed if he leaves her alone, Poe passes up an opportunity to leave the plane and plots to save the day from inside the plane.

Luckily, he's got some help on the ground in the form of John Cusack who races to help Poe get to safety.

The movie is fast-paced, written by Scott Rosenberg who also helped Cusack with High Fidelity and went back for Cage once more with Gone in 60 Seconds.

Given that this was the first time Simon West sat in the director's chair, he knocked it out of the park.  He could never have made another movie, and I would have considered him a great one-hit wonder. 

West sort of disappeared, but came roaring back in the last few years with The Mechanic and Expendables 2 last year. 

Welcome back to the Popcorn Movie genre Mr. West, you've been missed!

Yes, I can pop this movie in, anytime and just lose myself in 2 hours of pure adrenaline fun.

It's not a perfect movie...

But it's perfectly fun!

Final Grade: A

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I own it. I love it. I have seen it so many times, I've lost count! :)

It May Not Live Up to the Adjective, But "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone" is Far From a Dud

Abracadabra!

The Story:

Popular Vegas Magicians Burt (Stevel Carell) and his partner Anton (Steve Buscemi) have enjoyed a decade at the top working for Doug Munny (James Gandolfini).  But they haven't changed their act in years, and a popular new street magician (Jim Carrey) is usurping Burt's popularity.  Soon, Burt finds himself dirt poor and alone.  However, getting back to his magic roots with a chance meeting with his idol (Alan Arkin) may give Burt a new lease on life.

The best thing about movies that bomb at the box office, is the reviews are so scathingly bad, you can't help but have the bar lowered when you watch it, that more times than not, the movie is going to way overachieve in every conceivable way.

Want proof?
Look no further than this film.

Is it as funny as the last time Carell and Carrey teamed up (Bruce Almighty)? Nope.  This one isn't as well written, but there are plenty of amusing gags sprinkled throughout the film.

The magic tricks are actually pretty cool, but then I've always been a fan of sleight of hand.

I also like that Burt and Anton performed the old-fashioned tricks, while Carrey tackled the edgy tricks that have become popular.  I know which one I prefer to see, and it works for this film as well.

Burt even gets a love interest, Jane (Olivia Wilde) which plays up the usual comic romance of boy meets girl, girl can't stand the guy, the two end up together eventually.

So no, it's not as bad as you may have feared.

It's a perfect background movie for our house... something you can play in the background that's agreeable, but doesn't demand your attention if you're working on a project of have the need to leave the room for food or a bathroom break.


And no, it doesn't even come close to being one of the worst movies of the year.

Final Grade: B-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I'd watch it again, sure.  If the price is right, I'd add it to the library.

Welcome to the "Hotel Transylvania"

How far would you go to keep your child safe from harm?


The Story:

Count Dracula (Adam Sandler) is raising his baby girl all alone.  He wants to make sure that the humans can never harm his precious little girl.  He goes to great lengths to build the safest, most secure castle of all time to keep his sweetheart safe.  But on the eve of her 118th birthday, all of the monsters have come to the castle to attend the annual party that he throws.  The Invisible Man (David Spade) the Wolfman (Steve Buscemi) and his family as well as Frankenstein (Kevin James) and many others drop by to pay their best wishes to Mavis (Selena Gomez).  Her biggest wish is to go out and see the world and see what life is really like out there.  Can humans be as awful as her dad makes them out to be?  Her mom did fall in love with Dracula after all.  So when a human (Andy Samberg) stumbles onto the castle, his very existence threatens the very fabric of all that Dracula has held dear for the last century.


The fact that it's an animated film will scare off most people unless they have kids, then they will wonder, "is it safe for kids?"

The answer to that is: Yes, unless your kid is scared of cartoon monsters.

That Adam Sandler is in it will likely scare off the rest.

Fair enough, he's not everyone's cup of tea.

However, as my loyal audience of readers and my family know, I love Adam Sandler.  I will give just about every movie he does a fair chance, and more often than not, I've enjoyed the films in question.

This one is one of the more enjoyable ones.


Remember the review for "That's My Boy" where I said that Sandler was trying to prove that he could still do R Rated material with the best of them, but that he really tried to hard?

This is the opposite.  He confines himself to PG family humor, and the effect is a heart-warming crowd-pleaser that works.

Why?

It's a love story.

Forget that, it's actually several love stories, rolled into one.

You have the love of a father for his daughter.
You have the love of a husband for his wife.
You have the love of a daughter for her father, yet wanting to grow up and be seen as an adult.
Then you have a love story of boy meeting girl...

And finding out the girl of your dreams is a vampire.

But it works.  It's fun, filled with sight gags and verbal puns galore.

Enjoyed the film, and combine this one with ParaNorman, and I've got a good Halloween double feature of kids films to enjoy this upcoming Halloween season.


Final Grade: B+
Worth Adding to the DVD Collection: Absolutely