Not An April Fool's Day Prank... "Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse"

This review is dedicated to all the Dads (and Moms) who have little girls who like Barbie.
 
Barbie: Life In The Dreamhouse (2012)

The Story:

Barbie lives in her Malibu dream house with her sisters Skipper, Stacie and Chelsea.  They are joined by some of Barbie's closest friends, and of course, Ken.  Filmed as a sort of reality doll show, the hijinks are often and the commentary is hilarious.

A show I never should have seen.

A show I shouldn't even know exists.

A show I definitely shouldn't be reviewing.

And yet, here I am.

:)

Sometimes when a kid watches the same show over and over and over and over and over and over an over and over and over and over...
Or at least it feels that way....

You want them to try something new.

So a flip or two through Netflix, and this show pops up as available for streaming.

There are 4 episodes, each filled with several 4-5 minute episodes for about a 20 minute run-time.

What could possibly go wrong?

Amazingly, nothing.
Or everything.

The show is FUNNY!!

Hysterically so, and one that I catch myself stopping to listen to if it's on as I'm passing through the house and the kids are watching it.

Whether it's Ken and his crazy inventions or the vain twins Raquelle and Ryan (he's absolutely hysterical), there's always something brewing in Barbie's life worth laughing over.

Genius work when they re-introduced Midge to Barbie's life. She arrives, black and white ala Pleasantville, and she is stuck in the past with her slang and actions until she receives a makeover.


Again, this rating has nothing to do with the "holiday" of April Fool's Day.

This show is flat-out fun.

Some of the episodes are available to stream instantly on Netflix as of this writing.

Sadly, I'm waiting for more episodes to be uploaded!

:)

Final Grade: B+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I don't know that I'd rush out to buy it, but I'm enjoying watching them.

Farewell To March... "Shall We Dance?"

Shall We Dance (2004)

Rated PG-13 for language

Starring Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci

Directed by Peter Chelsom

The Story:

John Clark (Gere) is a lawyer who has found that something is missing in his life.  He loves his wife (Sarandon) and family, but he's not quite happy.  On the ride home one night, he sees Paulina (Lopez) at a dance studio and impulsively rushes over to take dance lessons.  He winds up with a different teacher (Anita Gillette) but still, something about dance seems to make John...happy.  So he continues to practice, but keeps his new secret from his wife which sets off a chain of misunderstanding that threatens his homelife.

Not a bad flick at all.

It's a tough sell though...is it a romantic comedy? A Dramedy?

It's charming and humourous throughout.

It straddles a fine line because John isn't happy in life, but he's not cheating on his wife, though it's possible that was his intention when he first got off the train.

Instead, he finds that dance is that passion he never knew he was missing.

Add in the always sensational performance from Stanley Tucci as a co-worker who also secretly enjoys to dance, and you've got a pretty enjoyable flick .

Final Grade: B/B- range

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I would have no problem letting this play again...not sure I would need to buy it though.

Greed Is Good. "The Wolf Of Wall Street" Is Not

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
Rated R for Excessive language, nudity and drug use

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio

Directed by Martin Scorsese

The Story:

Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio) is a stock broker.  This film chronicles his rise to riches, and his fall due to corruption.

Color me not-interested.

The movie opens with excess after excess flying off the screen.

Based on the true story of Jordan Belfort, DiCaprio does nothing to make me want to endure 3 hours of watching this sleazy con-artist go from rags to riches, to richer still.

This is not to say that this movie isn't probably good or entertaining.  Scorsese and DiCaprio seem to have developed some magical chemistry together.

But when I'm five minutes into a film, and the main character is snorting cocaine off a the butt of a hooker...

Yeah, I'm in for a long 3 hours, or I can cut my losses and realize that this brand of entertainment is just not for me.


So off it went, and I don't feel like I really missed anything.

Final Grade: D

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Of all the things I think I could accomplish in my  life in a 3 hour span... attempting to watch this movie again...ever...does not make the list.

The Sound Nobody Made Rushing To The Theater For This One..."Zoom"

Zoom (2006)
Rated PG

Starring Tim Allen, Courteney Cox, Chevy Chase, Kate Mara, Spencer Breslin, Ryan Newman, Michael Cassidy, Rip Torn

Directed by Peter Hewitt

The Story:

Jack (Allen) used to be a superhero, Captain Zoom, years ago.  However he gave up the gig when his team was destroyed fighting a super-villain, who just happened to be Jack's brother.  Years later, his brother is coming back from the dead, and the government wants to create a new team of heroes, so they round up some kids (Mara, Breslin, Newman and Cassidy) and under the watchful eyes of Dr. Grant (Chase) and Holloway (Cox), they will  become the planet's best hope for survival.  The project leader (Torn) wants to bring Zoom back into the fold to help train the kids.  Will they be ready to save the day?

Ah, the simpler times.

Super hero movies before the arrival of Iron Man.

:)

This, coupled with Sky High, made for a cute, family friendly superhero escape in the wake of The Incredibles.

Overall, the movie is still cute and fun nearly a decade later.

The acting is good, the storyline is okay.

I think the movie tried too hard to squeeze in gags for the sake of having a comedy moment.

Yes, I'm thinking of the sequence of Chase in the test chamber specifically.

The best gags in the movie happened organically, instead of forced.

A nice time capsule of life before the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Final Grade: C+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I do already own it, but it doesn't see much viewing time, as this is the first time in 8 years. :)

"When Calls The Heart" Is One Unwieldly Movie Title For A Friday Review

When Calls the Heart (2013)

Hallmark Channel Movie

Starring: Maggie Grace, Stephen Amell, Daniel Sharman, Poppy Drayton

Directed by Michael Landon Jr.

The Story:

It's turn of the century Canada, and Elizabeth (Drayton) is going to accept a position as a teacher, much like her Aunt (Grace) did years earlier.  When she discovers her aunt's journal, she learns of a potential love (Amell) and it sets off questions in her head and heart of whether or not she is ready to leave her family behind and head out into the wild.

Based on author Janette Oke's bestseller, Landon brings his father's touch to the small screen for a Hallmark Channel movie of the week.

Except, unlike his father's Little House on the Prairie series, this tale is only half interesting.

Or more precise, there is apparently so little story to each, the need to mash the Aunt's journal with Elizabeth's own are the driving ingredients to this story.

The acting is fine, and the period piece looks great.

It's just, there isn't a whole lot to the story.

Most unsatisfying, the movie simply ends.

After 90 minutes of partial investment of these characters, you have an idea of how the movie should end, but it doesn't.

It just stops.

: /

Ah well...

With a little further digging, it appears that this was to set up a tv series.

Fair enough.  Sneaky...

Final Grade: C-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Not when I have the whole Little House on the Prairie series already available at a moment's notice.

All The Praise For This Show Is... "Justified"

Justified (2010)

TV-MA for language

Starring Timothy Olyphant, Walter Goggins, Nick Searcy, Joelle Carter, Jacob Pitts, Erica Tazel

The Story:

US Marshal Raylan Givens (Olyphant) is reassigned from Miami to his home state of Kentucky following a shooting where he warned a man that he had 24 hours to leave town or else.  Well, he didn't leave, then pulled a gun on the Marshal.  The shooting was...

Justified.

But back home, Givens is immediately immersed in issues by the Crowder clan, led by old friend Boyd (Goggins) and it appears that Givens is going to have to keep his gun handy if he wants to survive his trip home.

Ah, a series I always wanted to watch but never did.

Saw that it was streaming on Amazon Prime, so I gave it a whirl.

The pilot episode was pretty good, so I kept going.

Through the course of the next dozen episodes, new developments happened to progress the story forward, but always adding new layers to what had happened before.

By the conclusion of the season, a lot of characters are no longer standing in Kentucky, and I'm looking forward to see what happens next.

Always been a fan of Olyphant, and am enjoying his take as a no-nonsense lawman.  An Goggins is an excellent foil as the man that Raylan wonders just how much he can trust before it blows up in his face.

Great stuff!

Final Grade: B+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Doubtful that I need to buy it, and watching it once should be good.  Good show though!

Someone End The Pain... "A Single Shot"

A Single Shot (2013)

Rated R for violence and language

Starring Sam Rockwell, William H. Macy, Jason Isaacs

Directed by David M. Rosenthal

The Story:

John (Rockwell) is out hunting for an elusive deer, takes a shot and a girl lies dead.  He drags the body to hide it, and runs across some cash from backwoods criminals (Isaacs).  Naturally, John takes the money, and so begins a game of high stakes tension building as the bad guys come to get their money back.

A single shot... if I drank, I would have used several of those to try and get through this movie.

Slow.
Quiet.
Rambling.

None of those words are meant in a good way.

I love Rockwell.
I love Macy.
I love Isaacs.

I put the movie on fast forward eventually to see if I would ever get anything out of it... but no.

A dreadful waste of talent.  The sound on the movie was so low, half of the conversations are muted or unintelligible.

Plus, the movie stretches out to nearly 2 hours... 

of boredom!

Save yourself.


Final Grade: D-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Only as a cure for insomnia.