Tag: Comedy

REVIEW: ‘Despicable Me 4’ doesn’t offer full cinematic experience

“Despicable Me 3” went unseen and unreviewed at this site in 2017 because of a busy schedule. Considering there’s not an ongoing arc in the series, it doesn’t look like it’s a necessary watch.

That’s certainly apparent in “Despicable Me 4,” as the animated sequel gives the family an entirely new scenario to deal with, and there’s little mention of any unresolved matters from 3. So, in part four, Gru (Steve Carell), an Anti-Villain League agent, manages to put a former rival of his behind bars.

That rival, Maxime Le Mal (Will Ferrell), escapes prison and vows revenge. The villain’s action forces Gru, his wife Lucy (Kristen Wiig) their daughters and new-born baby to go into a sort of witness protection program. However, plenty of shenanigans still ensue.

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REVIEW: ‘Kinds of Kindness’ is a constantly fascinating anthology

The guy who made the new film “kinds of Kindness” is kind of a good director.

Obviously that’s not true, as Yorgos Lanthimos is a great director and once again shows off his abilities to make a bizarre, amusing and insightful picture. His latest film is an anthology with three stories full of dark comedy and absurd moments.

Each story features the same set of actors, but they’re all standalone tales and the cast play different characters.  That cast includes Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Hong Chau, and more.

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REVIEW: Raunchy script of ‘Babes’ is out of sync with dramedy vibe

Sometimes a film can have its heart completely in the right place, but still not be as enjoyable as one would hope. Such is the case with the new comedy “Babes.”

At the beginning of the film the audience is introduced to Eden (Ilana Glazer), a single woman who’s spending Thanksgiving with her pregnant friend Dawn (Michelle Buteau) at a movie theater, which is their tradition. It’s interrupted, though, when Dawn goes into labor.

While Dawn has experience being a mother, with this being her second child, Eden is on the opposite side as a single woman who doesn’t intend on being a parent. That is until she has a one-night stand and ends up getting pregnant herself. After some consideration, she decides to have the baby and become a single mother.

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REVIEW: ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ is a fumbling follow-up

It’s time to take the Ghostbusters off the contacts list, they don’t need to be called again.

Set after the 2021 film “Afterlife,” “Frozen Empire” takes place in New York City in the present day with Egon Spengler’s daughter Callie (Carrie Coon) hunting ghosts with her kids Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) and Trevor (Finn Wolfhard), as well as her boyfriend Gary (Paul Rudd). Though successful, the four have also gotten into trouble with NYC leadership for property damage.

They get off with a warning, but are forced to leave Phoebe, still a teen, out of ghost catching. Meanwhile, former Ghostbuster Ray (Dan Aykroyd) is presented with an old family heirloom with a powerful entity inside. As the film goes on, situations with the characters begin happening that may release the entity.

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REVIEW: Love story saps sharpness from ‘Society of Magical Negroes’

I feel like the organization in this movie was the JV version of The Brotherhood from “Undercover Brother.”

Justice Smith stars in this film as Aren, an artist who focuses on sculpture creations, mostly out of yarn. Unfortunately, Aren’s career hasn’t taken off, and his latest attempt at showing his work at a gallery ends in failure.

However, after the event, Aren meets a man named Roger (David Alan Grier), a member of the American Society of Magical Negroes who wants the struggling artist to join. The organization assigns African Americans to assist white people and make them more comfortable around people of color. Aren joins, but his first assignment gets complicated because of a love interest.

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REVIEW: Don’t take a ride with the ‘Drive-Away Dolls’

A person would think a film directed by one of the Coen brothers and featuring a talented cast would result in a good experience. Unfortunately, that’s not the case with “Drive-Away Dolls.”

Set in 1999, “Dolls” follows close friends Jamie (Margaret Qualley) and Marian (Viswanathan), who’re on a road trip from Philadelphia to Florida. The journey south was originally just supposed to be Marian’s trip, but Jamie decided to tag along after breaking up with her girlfriend Sukie (Beanie Feldstein).

What should be a simple road trip with a few pit stops, though, turns into something much more dangerous when it turns out the two women rented a car meant to be used by organized crime. Inside the car, the protagonists find a mysterious brief case and a big piece of criminal evidence.

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REVIEW: ‘Lisa Frankenstein’ is frankly not good at all

There’s an old meme out there that would describe any trashy romance as “still being better than ‘Twilight.’” That can’t be said about “Lisa Frankenstein.”

As one might guess, this film centers on a character named Lisa. A teenager, Lisa (Kathryn Newton) is a goth girl who is trying to move on with her life after her mother’s murder. In the present, she lives with her father, insufferable stepmother and her kind stepsister.

With her annoying stepmother at home and a lack of enjoyment at school, Lisa’s only joy comes from spending time at a small cemetery. That cemetery happens to be the  resting place of a Victorian era pianist, and, through a strike of magic lightning, that musician (Cole Sprouse) comes back to life, and seeks out Lisa.

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REVIEW: ‘Poor Things’ is positively weird and wonderful

When director Yorgos Lanthimos makes a film, you can usually expect it will make a person laugh, think and be taken aback. “Poor Things” is another example, and it’s also pretty damn good.

Willem Dafoe portrays scientist and surgeon Dr. Godwin Baxter in the film. Early on in the movie, we learn that the latest experiment by Dr. Baxter, a sort of Frankenstein-like mad scientist, was the resurrection of a young woman who had jumped off a bridge.

To do so, Baxter utilizes a brain that he recovered from the baby that the woman was pregnant with and calls the revived being Bella (Emma Stone). The experiment results in Bella getting a crash course in living, as her intelligence rapidly develops while she’s learning about life experiences and the world around her.

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REVIEW: Excessive depravity doesn’t salvage ‘Saltburn’

“Saltburn” is an appropriate title for this flick, because things get really salty, and then some.

Set in 2006, “Saltburn” opens at Oxford University where young student Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) is just beginning to attend on a scholarship. He initially struggles to fit in among many wealthier peers, but manages to eventually befriend another student, Felix (Jacob Elordi).

After forming a friendship, Felix invites Oliver to spend the summer at his family’s mansion, titled Saltburn. There, Oliver experiences parties, sex, drugs and all of the other things available to the rich. However, the setting becomes tense as Oliver begins showing darker tendencies.

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REVIEW: ‘American Fiction’ is astute and immensely funny

Truth is often stranger than fiction, but in “American Fiction,” the tale made-up by the protagonist is far more outlandish than his reality.

Jeffrey Wright stars as Thelonious Ellison in the film, although many just call him by his nickname, Monk. A writer and college professor, Monk finds himself in a bit of a career rut, with little interest coming from publishers in his new novel. At the same time, he sees other black writers getting a ton of success by writing stories about African American trauma and hardships.

Wanting to make a statement, Monk writes his own book in the same style, hoping that it will be taken as a satirical jab on the genre. Instead, it’s taken seriously and becomes a success. As he needs money because of a personal tragedy, Monk plays along.

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