Friday the 13th? Bring on the Horror Movie! "All the Boys Love Mandy Lane"

All the boys may love Mandy Lane, however, Mandy Lane does not feel the same way!

The Story:

Mandy Lane (Amber Heard) is the only kid in high school with a last name.  Her best friend Emmet (Michael Welch) is a dork.  She drags him along to a pool party with the class hunk, who promptly dies.  This causes a rift between Mandy Lane and Emmet as they drift apart and Mandy Lane makes new friends.  Now, her new friends want to have her over to a secluded ranch for a sleepover.  The three boys are all hoping to get with Mandy Lane, but there is something much more sinister waiting for them at the ranch.

Will Mandy Lane and her friends survive?

Oh Mandy Lane, it almost becomes comical having to type the first and last name of this character throughout the review, but I am trying to stay true to the vision of the movie.

I don't think she was ever just called Mandy.  Apparently that would cue up visions of Barry Mannilow.

This is the first film from director Johnathan Levine.  No real complaints, though some of his choices (blurred focus... the fight shooting directly into the sun...that's just wrong on so many levels) weren't my cup of tea.

However, he more than redeemed himself with Warm Bodies, so whatever I didn't like has been rectified. ;)

So just reading the brief story synopsis, you have probably already surmised who the killer is, and you'd definitely be right.

But... why?

The why might (or might not) actually surprise you.

Amber Heard does a fine job in the lead role of Mandy Lane.  She seems familiar enough, and checking her other movie credits, I've seen many movies that she's been in, but I don't think she's ever been "the star" so I guess that's why she seemed familiar, but not overly so.

The movie itself is closer to a thriller than a horror movie.  But that's just being nit-picky on my part.

Probably not enough kills to warrant the horror label, and the way most of the cast is dispatched, aside from the first victim, which is executed poorly (pun!) aren't typical of the genre.

Save your 90 minutes for something else.

Final Grade: C-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Sorry, a C horror movie doesn't stand a chance in this category.  This guy barely liked Mandy Lane.

Further Proof That Sequels Are Rarely As Good As The Original..."RED 2"

So close...

The Story:

Frank (Bruce Willis) is enjoying a quiet life with Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker) when Marvin (John Malkovich) comes calling.  He tries to warn them that danger is heading their way, but Frank wants to lay low and keep Sarah safe.  Oddly enough, Sarah is actually itching to see some action again, even though she is ill-prepared for it.  Then before you know it, trouble hits and the guys are on the run again, trying to figure out how to save the world and clear their names before they are killed.  This time however, it looks like Victoria (Helen Mirren) has been  hired by the British to make sure that Frank doesn't succeed.

Uh-oh!

I loved the first film.

One of my Best of the Year films, and one that I can watch at just about any time.

Was it the Morgan Freeman factor?  Hard to say.

They also had a much better 'bad guy' who was just doing his job, Karl Urban.

Here...

Not so much.

It's a muddled mess as they jaunt to Europe trying to evade nearly every government and assassin that is trying to take them down.

Including Frank's old flame, Katja (Catherine Zeta-Jones).

Here's a piece of advice for successful movies that want to franchise:

Don't hire Catherine Zeta-Jones for your sequel.

Ocean's Eleven rocked.
Ocean's Twelve...not so much.
Ocean's Thirteen thankfully regained much of the original swagger.

So I guess, that bodes well for Red 3!

:)

Instead, you've got Neal McDonough tracking the team, and he's great, but no Karl Urban.  Then you throw in an Asian assassin (Byung-hun Lee) plus everyone else after Frank...

And now you have to find time to squeeze in "The Package" (Anthony Hopkins).

They went with an "Everything But the Kitchen Sink" approach when they should have tried to dial it back a few notches.

Ah well, it wasn't a complete waste, but it was unable to capture the lightning in a  bottle of the first film.

Better luck next go round.

Final Grade: B- / C+ range.

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Like I said, it wasn't bad, it just wasn't as good as the first one.  I'm sure I'll get it though. : )

Can A Loser Like Bradley Cooper Discover "The Reality of Love" ?

Hey, I know that guy!

The Story:

Ryan Banks (Jason Priestley) is a nobody who becomes a somebody, quite by chance.  He grabs his best friend, Todd (Bradley Cooper) and drags him along for the ride.  But now Ryan's star is fading, and Todd has the brilliant plan to revitalize his career by having Ryan star in a reality show, "I Want to Marry Ryan Banks".  The best choice of the contestants is Charlie (Emma Caulfield), but when Todd realizes he has feelings for her, he's unsure of how to proceed with his best friend's feelings on the line.

Well, you know when you have a movie where Jason Priestly is on the bill ahead of Bradley Cooper, it's old (2004) and it was probably made for TV (ABC Family: I Want to Marry Ryan Banks).

Correct on both counts!

Yes, before Bradley Cooper was BRADLEY COOPER, he was working his way up the Hollywood ladder.

That includes a stop at ABC Family for a romantic comedy that is never laugh out loud funny, but remains amusing throughout.

Naturally, you can see what's coming miles before the rest of the cast actually get there, but that's okay.  It's one of the conceits of the genre, and I'm fine with it.

Usually when they tinker with the classic romantic comedy formula, that's when something goes horribly wrong and the movie becomes unwatchable!

Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. Boy loses girl. Boy gets girl. Happy Ending.

This one follows that formula mostly with a slight wrinkle or two from the reality show to keep the viewers on edge.



Will Charlie choose love, or money?

When all of America is rooting for those two to be together, does poor Todd stand a chance?

I will admit though, Ryan is supposed to be a bit slimy with the ladies, but Priestley does a great job of balancing the fact that he's supposed to be both adored by the ladies and a bit of a playboy at the same time, and never goes too far either direction to make him too sappy or too mean.

In fact, I was genuinely surprised at how the movie wrapped up the storyline, and they lifted what would have been a C/C+ range movie of the week to...

Final Grade: B-.. maybe even solid B

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Cute and harmless, I could watch it again with no problems.

Looking For A New Job? Sign Up For "The Internship"

Not sure what the film is about?

Google it!

The Story:

Billy (Vince Vaughn) and Nick (Owen Wilson) are two salesmen whose company has folded.  Not sure what to do with their next step in life, Billy gets an idea to try for an internship at Google.  If selected, they will receive full-time jobs when it's all over.  The only problem, these guys are old, slow and not tech-savvy.  However, they could be just the outside-of-the-box thinkers that Google is looking for.

There are some movies you just dread going into.  There's no way it's going to be any good/funny.

This was that movie for me.

Reteaming with Owen Wilson for the first time since Wedding Crashers in 2005, I've got to admit, the two make a great team.

Vince Vaughn plays...well, himself.

And considering he also wrote the story, well, who knows how to write Vince Vaughn dialogue better than Vince Vaughn?

Nobody!

He's got the slick salesman routine down to a science.

Which means, this is going to be much like every other Vince Vaughn performance: you'll either love it, or hate it.

Me?

I love the guy.

He's a hustler, with a heart.

Wilson gets the romantic lead portion of the story, so it's kind of nice that they were able to pull off the fish out of water and a romance, but it all wasn't centered on one character.

By allowing the two storylines to work side by side, nothing feels as forced as comedies or romantic comedies often do.

I mean, to have a guy fighting to land a job and a girl all at the same time, the imagination gets stretched a bit thin on that plot.

But by dividing and conquering the plot, it works, and works really well.

Naturally, the guys have a lot to learn, but they've also got a bit to offer the younger kids that they are teamed with as well.

The movie is both rated and unrated.  I watched the rated version, and I don't think the storyline would be served any better by adding gratuitous nudity to the mix.

At the end of the day, it turned out to be a pretty good movie.

And a great commercial to make you want to work for Google!

Final Grade: B-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor:  I could watch it again, but not in any hurry to own it.

Kill Someone and Your Name is "Mud"

Ah, the life of a hobo...

The Story:

Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (Jacob Lofland) are two 14 year olds living near the Mississippi River in Arkansas.  They discover a boat suspended in the trees on an island and are going to make it their boat.  Until it turns out it's already been claimed by a drifter named Mud (Matthew McConaughey) who enlists the duo in helping him fix the boat so he can escape some bounty hunters with the love of his life (Reese Witherspoon).

Hmm.

I'm not sure what to think about this one.

It's not bad, per se.

It's also not great.

I've heard critics rave that it was the best Matthew McConaughey performance in years, until his next one comes out.  The problem with that theory, is that I've almost always enjoyed his movies, so he's always had a good performance.  Sometimes he's the best part of some movies.

I'm not sure if that's the case here, he certainly does a good job, but so does the entire cast.

The problem, it is a slow paced movie that builds towards the end.

And when movies clock in over 2 hours... most people don't want to invest that much time in them.

This one, I did watch through the whole film, and while tempted to speed it up, I let it run.  I did tinker with a  few things while watching, but this is a movie you don't have to have your eyes on the screen at all times to know what's going on.

Written and directed by Jeff Nichols, I don't know if this, or Take Shelter would be considered his "big breakthrough" film.  Certainly I heard more about that one, but having watched the last half of that movie...

I absolutely hated it.  Terrible ending.

So naturally, I wasn't in any hurry to jump into this one.

Thankfully, this was much better.

I'll give Nichols credit, he can assemble a great cast from top to bottom.

The main problem, he's got a lot of great actors, all with 5 minutes of screen time.

Reese Witherspoon?  Ladies, if you were hoping for a romantic entanglement between the two, you're going to be disappointed.  The part could have, and likely should have, been played by any female actress.  Give an unknown or lesser-known a shot.

Michael Shannon, Nichols' go to guy... if he had more than 5 minutes on-screen, that's being generous.

Thankfully, Sam Shepard fares better as the mysterious stranger who loves Mud like a son, and has to make some tough love decisions.

Really, the movie is a tour-de-force for the 2 kids who do a great job being at the center of the movie.  This is their "Stand by Me" moment, and if they want to stick around in Hollywood, their feet are firmly in the door at this point.

So there you go.

It's a drama, and unless you're a Drama named "Shawshank Redemption" you'll likely only get so much praise around these parts. ;)

I will give kudos for the 3rd Act creating a genuine "Jump Moment" normally reserved for horror movies. 

Wasn't expecting it, well done.

Final Grade: C+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Nope, not a high demand for dramas, especially really long ones.

This Will Get You In The Spirit..."A Charlie Brown Christmas"

Christmas Time is here...

The Story:

Straight from the comic pages of the newspaper, the Peanuts gang came to television in their first (and best) animated special in 1965.

Nearly 50 years later, is it a dated relic or a timeless piece of holiday awesomeness?

I think you already know the answer to this one.

:)

Aside from being a variety of Charles Schulz's strips strung together, there is an overarching storyline that has Charlie Brown looking for some acceptance during the holiday season.  Naturally, his arch-nemesis Lucy will use him by roping him into being the director of the Christmas play.

Naturally, in true Charlie Brown fashion, he makes a mistake, is ridiculed for it, and feels mortified.

Thankfully, the gang all realizes that maybe Charlie Brown was on to something, especially after Linus' stirring rendition of what Christmas is really all about.

Maybe at the end of the day, they all learned a little something?

Hmm... watching the other specials...  apparently not. ;)

Plus, for those that feel that Christmas is too commercial, starts earlier every year, etc. etc... Schulz said it first back in the 60s, so it's nothing new.

Also central to the story, the remarkable Vince Guaraldi who composed some stellar Christmas tunes to score the special.  Many of those are ingrained in our consciousness, so you accept the jazzy score as part of Christmas.

It's also nice that several of the selections get airplay on the radio this time of year, that's how good the songs were.

It's not Christmas time without this one.

Final Grade: A+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor:  It gets watched at least once a year, and yes, I do own it.

Nobody Spends The Holidays Alone..."Unaccompanied Minors"

Nobody deserves to spend Christmas stuck in an airport.

Nobody.

 

The Story:

5 "Unaccompanied Minors" are snowed in at an airport on their way home for Christmas.  They sneak away from the room where all of the others are being held, and so the adventure begins!  They must outwit and outsmart the airport security and the airport director (Lewis Black) once they discover that all of the other minors, including one little sister, are back safely at the hotel.

An unconventional Christmas movie that owes quite a bit to Home Alone and the John Hughes school of storytelling.

That's a good thing.

The movie also shows the importance of family, especially during the holidays.  Plus, that those families may not always be traditional, and sometimes you might have to make your own family along the way.

Directed by Paul Feig, this is my favorite movie that he's directed.  As I've mentioned, I was underwhelmed with Bridesmaids and The Heat, but I think that has more to do with the scripts than with the director.

The 5 kids are all really good actors that I've seen pop up in a few other things in the years that have passed. 

The name stars of the movie, Lewis Black plays an excellent villain for the movie.  He's exasperated and evil, but like all good Scrooges, he's got a heart buried under the cold exterior.

Joining him as his right hand man is Wilmer Valderrama who gets beaten up for a bit before realizing that following orders is not in his best interest.

Finally, the always reliable Rob Corddry is hilarious as the parent of two of the children.  He drives to the airport to save his kids, and is hilarious in all of his scenes.

Released in 2006, I didn't get around to seeing this one until 2 or 3 years ago.  Searching Netflix for Christmas movies that we hadn't seen yet, this came and was an instant hit with the family. 

I found a copy for sale, and the rest is history.

Final Grade: A

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Already own it, and it gets watched at least once during the holidays... and sometimes outside of the holiday season!