Back To The Future..."Insurgent"

Insurgent (2015)

Rated PG-13

Starring Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Jai Courtney, Miles Teller

Directed by Robert Schwentke

The Story:

Tris (Woodley) and Four (James) continue their fight for survival and to overthrow the current leadership that won't stop until the Divergents are wiped off the face of the earth. 

Did you see Divergent?

Then Insurgent picks up almost exactly where the other one left off as the further adventures of a dystopian future unspool before you.

Treachery.
Lies.
Betrayal.

And that's just Miles Teller's character throughout the series thus far!

The funny thing, the more of these I watch, the more they all begin to blend together.

Wait, there's a mysterious wall? Wasn't that the Maze Runner?

The secret to this society is revealed? That was done in one movie, The Giver. It's taken this franchise 2 films to do it.

I'm sure there's some similarity in The Hunger Games as well, but I've yet to dip my toes into that franchise.

I'm sure there's another part coming, but everything is really wrapped up rather nicely, so I'm not sure how much incentive I have to come back for a part 3.

Final Grade: C

High School Is Brutal... "Barely Lethal"

Barely Lethal (2015)

Rated PG-13

Starring Hailee Steinfeld, Samuel L. Jackson, Jessica Alba, Rachael Harris,

Directed by Kyle Newman

The Story:

Megan (Steinfeld) was raised at an Academy for wayward girls where their instructor Hardman (Jackson) teaches them everything they need to know about becoming assassins.  However, it's not an easy life, and Megan wonders about the childhood she missed out on. On a mission to take down evil-doer Victoria Knox (Alba), Megan finds herself with a way out. She applies to be a foreign exchange student in America, but with all of her training, nothing prepared her for the pitfalls of high school!

A movie that spans all genres to give you an action-adventure-coming-of-age-high-school-spy-romantic-comedy-family-friendly viewing experience.

Whew!

That's a lot of hyphens!

The problem, that's almost too much, and too many different subplots to juggle and cram into one 90 minute adventure.

But they try, and for the most part, it's a cute little movie that indeed can be enjoyed by the whole family.

Nothing that will reinvent any of the genres mentioned above, but nothing that makes you think you wasted an hour and a half of your life.

It's a great cast giving their best effort and having fun while doing so.

Hard to beat that.

I watched on disc from Netflix, but this film is also available to stream instantly on Amazon Prime.

Final Grade: C+

Going To Prison? Better "Get Hard" First!

Get Hard (2015)

Rated R

Starring Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart, Craig T. Nelson, Alison Brie

Directed by Etan Cohen

The Story:

James (Ferrell) is a well-to-do stock broker who has it all: the girl (Brie) he's going to marry who's dad (Nelson) is the boss where James works. However, when James is accused of fraud and sentenced to the harshest sentence possible, he decides he needs to spend the month prior to going to jail getting ready for life in the big house.  So he hires Darnell (Hart) who will train him to 'Get Hard' for life in prison. This is merely the assumption by James because Darnell is black, therefore, statistically speaking, he must have done time.

So there you go.

Statistically speaking, this movie should be uproariously funny, however, it doesn't quite click on all cylinders from start to finish.

I still enjoyed it, and Ferrell and Hart make a pretty good duo and they both elicit their fair share of funny moments.

Sometimes movies like this are difficult to pull off with two great funny actors as the duo. One often has to play the straight man to allow the other to pull off the comedy bit.

The movie allows for both to trade off to get the laugh in one scene and play it straight in the next.

For the most part, it works and was fun, but with a bit more time and effort the results could have been epic.

Final Grade: C+/B- range.

A Sentiment Shared By Many... "I Hate Christian Laettner"

I Hate Christian Laettner (2015)

Starring Christian Laettner, And Everyone Who Hate(s)/(ed) Him

The Story:

There are 2 types of College Basketball fans: those that go to Duke University, and those that hate everything about Duke University. Just as they were becoming a decent basketball team and Mike Krzyzewski was about to become THE coach of legend, there came a good looking, talented white player with a bit of an attitude named Christian Laettner.

He became the poster child of Duke, and he became the reason the entire basketball universe hated Duke especially, and Laettner specifically.

While I don't follow NCAA Basketball much anymore, back then, I tuned in with great enthusiasm to watch March Madness as the teams played their hearts out, and 63 teams left with shattered dreams, broken egos and puddles of tears flowing on the hardwood.

I, much like everyone else outside of Duke, didn't really care for Christian Laettner.  There was just something about him that rubs you the wrong way.

You can't quite put your finger on it, but it's just there.

When that spoiled brat joined the original Olympic Dream Team?  Hoooo Boy... I still remember how angry that made me.  Clyde Drexler had just barely made the team, and they hand a spot to this Golden Boy from college?  Grrr....

So when I saw this title on Netflix, it made me chuckle and think back 2 decades earlier and I thought, yeah, I sure did.

So did ESPN deliver on their latest installment in the exceptional 30 for 30 franchise?  Absolutely.

The best part, Laettner is at the center of this documentary, and he takes it all in stride.  He knows he was hated.  He knows he's STILL hated, and I think secretly, he loves it.

He may not have racked up a Hall of Fame career in the NBA, thanks mostly to being stuck on lousy teams moreso than anything he did or did not do personally, his college stats reveal a shocking truth:

Christian Laettner is, was, and will likely always be, the greatest college basketball player.

Ever.

Period.

Beginning and end of argument.

There's really nobody else even close to the caliber of what he did with his team in the annals of college basketball before, during or since his time on the court.

Yes people, we witnessed history, and loved booing every minute of it.

Laettner?  He soaked it up like any good villain does, and simply did his job.

By the end of the documentary, you make still hate Christian Laettner, but that hatred may be toned down just a tad.

Maybe.

: )

Currently streaming on Netflix as of this writing.

Final Grade: B+

What If Robocop and Short Circuit Had A Baby? "Chappie"

Chappie (2015)

Rated R

Starring Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Hugh Jackman, Sigourney Weaver

Written and Directed by Neil Blomkamp

The Story:

Deon Wilson (Patel) takes a destroyed peace-keeping robot and imbues it with personality. Enter Chappie (Copley) who is like a child and has to be taught everything. The problem, he's taught some bad things by some questionable people. But in that machine somewhere is some heart, which is more than can be said for contractor Vincent Moore (Jackman) who wants to take his version of the the robot peacekeeper to the streets, no matter the cost.

Seriously.

I swear, the title of my review had to be Blomkamp's pitch to the studios.

Or at least some hybrid Robocop/Short Circuit mashup.

If you don't see similarities, it's because you haven't seen either of the other movies.

Both of which were made in the 80s, and made way better, both in terms of acting, directing, writing, and very likely, special effects.

This is another 2 hour (2 HOUR!) Blomkamp snoozer that is long on boredom and short on everything else.

When I stack this with Elysium which I was generous with my C- review, and the never-reviewed because I fell asleep trying to watch District 9...

Well, I have no faith in him as a writer or director anymore.

So the next time I see his name on a project, I will likely leave it out of, or put at the bottom of my queue to be watched when I've seen everything else ever made.

By the time the movie even got remotely exciting, it was the last part of the movie as Jackman was firing up his E.D. 209

I kid you not.

Way too little, much too late. And embarrassingly derivative.

If he was hoping to match the charming success of Real Steel, he misjudged badly.

Final Grade: D+

I'm A Sucker For Movies Like "Touchback"

Touchback (2011)

Rated PG-13

Starring Brian Presley, Kurt Russell, Melanie Lynskey, Christine Lahti, Marc Blucas, Sarah Wright

Written and Directed by Don Handfield

The Story:

Scott (Presley) was a lock for college football greatness and possibly beyond. It all came crashing down 15 years earlier on the last play of a the championship game when his leg was shattered. Now, struggling to make ends meet as a farmer, he's refusing to acknowledge what used to be because of how painful it is. He then makes the realization that he's worth more to his wife (Lynsky) and children dead than alive, and decides to take fate into his own hands. However, he awakens to find himself with another shot at making his life different, 15 years earlier. All he has to do is not get hurt in the game and his future is set.

Of course he then begins to realize that his new future may not include his wife and he sets out on a course to win her over before the big game.

Add equal parts It's A Wonderful Life, The Family Man and Mr. Destiny with a touch of football, and you've got Touchback.

As I mention in the title, I'm a sucker for these kinds of movies.

No matter how bad your life may seem, for the friends and family around you, you're pretty darn awesome and they wouldn't want their lives to not have you in it.

That's a pretty good message, and I'm glad that filmmakers pick up this theme and run with it every so often.

I'm rarely disappointed in their efforts, and this movie proves to be no exception.

While fame and prosperity sound great on paper, to do so at the cost of love makes the trade-off seem pretty steep.

Needless to say, I had a pretty good time with the film, and it's officially in the running for best of the year honors.

Not bad at all.

Final Grade: B+

Vampires Finally Reveal "What We Do In The Shadows"

What We Do In The Shadows (2014)

Rated R

Starring Jermaine Clement, Taika Waititi, Johnny Brugh, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, Stu Rutherford

Written and Directed by Clement & Waititi

The Story:

Vladislav (Clement), Viago (Waititi) and Deacon (Brugh) are flatmates in New Zealand. They also happen to be vampires. After promising not to harm the camera crew that films them, they agree to let humankind take a peek behind the curtain and see what it's like to be a vampire. Sure, they're immortal, but not having mirrors really wreaks havoc on one's fashion sense. Then there are the endless arguments about chores. Plus, don't get them started on their dislike of werewolves. The dynamic of the group changes when they turn a local (Macuer) and he begins to disrupt the status quo of the group entirely.

This Is Veinal Tap.

A mockumentary that treats the subject both respectfully and with a sense of fun, after all, these are vampires in New Zealand!

The special effects are not bad at all, and it's easy to forget that this film was probably shot on a shoestring budget, compared to just about anything shot in North America.

Where I normally pick on a director and writer who are one and the same because they often don't know when to change something, these two obviously put a lot of effort and time into their film to make sure that there was very little waste or boredom in the film.

I won't go too much more into the plot other than this:

In a nutshell, if you like horror, horror comedy, mockumentaries or movies filmed in New Zealand, this one will be right up your alley.

Plus, the inevitable conflict between vampires and werewolves is ultimately more satisfying than anything you may have seen in Twilight.

Final Grade: B