Mountain Men

Cameron Labine, 2016

IMDB

3/5

The relationship between siblings can be complicated and volatile over the course of a lifetime. When we are children, we spend so much time together because we all live under the same roof and will take what we can get in terms of company. Whether we are sharing a bunk-bed with that particular sibling or they live across the hall, we have a live-in playmate that may have different interests but for the most part we overlook the difference at that age and will be flexible for the other person. Then we get older, we grow apart. Sometimes years go by before we see each other. Sometimes it takes more than the holidays to bring everyone together. Sometimes its a wedding or, in this particular story, a death in the family.

Toph (Tyler Labine) and Cooper (Chace Crawford) have lost touch over the years. Coop has built some success on his own, living in New York disconnected from the family. Toph is more of a burn-out, living in his hometown. He is quick to say he's a professional DJ but the only actual income he has is from selling weed to the local pot-heads. Their mother gets remarried shortly after their father's death. While at the wedding Toph manages to convince Coop to venture to the family cabin to evict a squatter rumored to be residing there.

The get stranded in the snow-covered mountains and have to rely on each other (and their fathers wisdom) to return to safety. Mountain Men manages to capture some of the nuances of brothers. Abrupt fighting. Preying on weakness. Bringing up embarrassing memories of childhood. Part of the built-in authenticity of the film is probably due to the fact that director Cameron Labine is real-life brother of star Tyler Labine (also the stand-out role in the film). Mountain Men succeeds because it focuses more on the brother dynamic and less on trying to be a purely unique film. It's a predictable movie, and that's okay. The chemistry between Labine and Crawford feels real and that's enough to make it an entertaining watch. Crawford's Coop character is clearly the more introverted type and it contrasts well with Toph's goofy but likeable personality. The funniest most memorable shot of the entire film is the sudden jump to the cabin burning down. That's something that I will be laughing about inside for some time. Mountain Men is a nice little film, a fun watch.

Welcome to Me

Shira Piven, 2015

IMDB

3/5

To sum it up, Welcome to Me is the story about a mentally-ill woman who suddenly wins the lottery and decides to invest her winnings into a Oprah-like show starring herself. Creative premise that certainly pokes fun at the self-help gurus with their positive energy talk and "Secret"-like life philosophies. It also very clearly pokes fun at mental illness though, sure to not be everyone's cup of tea. It creates a character in Wiig's Alice character that is basically a caricature of someone with borderline personality disorder. But enough levity to keep it in the comedic realm without becoming just sad. Kristen Wiig gets another acting credit in her filmography where she takes a bold step into a role that forces her to expose herself (literally), and show some real vulnerability as she also did in The Skeleton Twins.

The first act of the film shows her lonely life, consumed by her illness and her battling with her on again off again relationship with her medications. The ridiculousness only builds to her getting her ridiculous talk show, which sad to say, could actually happen in this age of Kardashian-consuming culture. But the whole theme gets a bit tired after we see many episodes of the show run, where there isn't a whole lot of material for her to run with other than destroying set pieces and screaming at actors playing characters of her childhood foes. But it's certainly interesting at times, certainly has a few laughs here and there, and not a big commitment with it's scant 87 minute run time. It's a proper vehicle for Wiig's dead-pan comedy style. Any fans of her will find something here to appreciate.

While We're Young

Noah Baumbach, 2015

IMDB

3/5

Noah Baumbach can easily be called a young Woody Allen. He often focuses on relationships between couples, set against the backdrop of New York. His films are very dialogue heavy, with a lot of cultural examination and introspective mania. The story mainly focuses on three couples at different phases in their lives. Marina and Fletcher, an early forties couple with a newborn (Maria Dizzia and Adam Horovitz). Cornelia and Josh, early forties couple with no children (Naomi Watts and Ben Stiller). Mid twenties hipster couple Jamie and Darby (Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried). Cornelia and Josh are feeling pressure from their peers upon seeing all of them procreating and living amidst the chaos of child-rearing. They feel refreshed when they meet Jamie and Darby, a young confident couple that seems to be so cool and sure of themselves. They are creative, optimistic, interested. Cornelia and Josh feel jaded and exhausted, and the young couple re-energizes them.

While We're Young starts off as more of a young vs old story, or at least a young AND old story. Growing older, becoming uncool. Being young, being inherently cool. Looking back, wondering where all of the years went. Being bold enough to wear that hat that all the young kids are wearing. There are some identifiable and really comedic moments early in the film when Josh is talking about all of the "cool" things that Jamie is doing, and you soon see a montage of Josh attempting to dress differently and step outside of his comfort zone. At one point Josh says of Jamie and Darby: "It's like their apartment is full of everything we once threw out, but it looks so good the way they have it."

Some of these moments probably transcend comedically to whatever perspective you are sharing with the characters. If you are married without a kid, you are probably identifying with Cornelia and Josh. If you are stuck in baby prison you are identifying with Marina and Fletcher. If you are a young hipster, you're probably not identifying with Jamie and Darby because that wouldn't be unitary and instead are probably identifying with the older generations attempting to pick up some on some of the trends of the millennial generation in terms of fashion or throwback technology. Baumbach decides to really double down on the hipster here, and double up on Adam Driver's Frances Ha hipster character Lev.

The problem with While We're Young is Baumbach's age breakdown is so energetic in the first half of the film, and the story really loses a lot of that energy in the second half of the film when the story primarily focuses on Jamie's documentary. Baumbach tries to go down another avenue to a statement on intellectual property theft and the sense of entitlement of the millennial generation and in the process sacrifices the excitement that fueled the beginning of the story. In the end While We're Young has a lot to say but doesn't feel as complete as some of Baumbach's other work such as Greenberg or The Squid and the Whale. 

Scrooged

Richard Donner, 1988

Can I Stream it?

3/5

On paper, Scrooged seems like a pretty good idea. Create modern version of the classic Christmas Story and add Bill Murray, and infuse it with some meta elements of making a staged classic Christmas Carol television special during the updated retelling. Sprinkle in some campy zombie makeup, give Murray the obligatory 80's mullet, and of course add Bobcat Goldthwait. And although it carves out its own little niche in the Christmas genre, there isn't a lot of warm fuzziness to Scrooged. You won't really come away with it with a good feeling like you will with some of the other versions of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol". Instead there's more of a prolonged icy blackness that mostly just subsides over the latter moments of the film. Perhaps its the gaudy contemporary aesthetic to the corporate atmosphere in much of the film. Murray's character does arch, but it's not a complete moral makeover like you would see in Groundhog Day. But to give him credit, he has only had a few days to gain a different perspective and not hundreds of years. In a sense it's probably because his character is just downright bitter. There's not a lot of nuance to Frank Cross the person. Instead, he's just a nasty man who by the end of the film has you convinced he has had a moment of clarity. But is it really that convincing that it will stick? In a sense it doesn't really matter. Because the journey is still entertaining, witty enough, dark enough when it needs to be, and cheery enough when it needs to be.  (with some good meta elements involved), dark enough when it needs to be, and cheery enough when it needs to be.

Funny Farm

George Roy Hill, 1988

Can I Stream it?

3/5

Andy Farmer (Chevy Chase) and his wife Elizabeth (Madolyn Smith) decide to get out of New York City and pursue a more peaceful life north in Vermont. But when they arrive in the town of Redbud, it's not the tranquil paradise that they imagined it would be. 

There was was once a period of time when Chevy Chase was a comedic force in Hollywood. Coming off of the success of such iconic films as Caddyshack, Fletch and a couple of the National Lampoon's Vacation films, he was one a few go-to comedic actors of the period (Bill Murray, Steve Martin, Dan Akroyd, John Candy among others). Chase's style is certainly distinct, and ultimately quite two dimensional. The oblivious but sentimental thirty-something. The guy who has some heart to invest in a situation but doesn't necessarily have the grace to see it follow through properly. Funny Farm is an under-appreciated film, and probably one of the best outlets for Chase's dry humor. Though undeniably flawed, there are certainly some memorable elements to the movie. Paying the town’s residents $50 a piece to emulate a Norman Rockwell painting so that they can turn over their cursed home and get the hell out of dodge. Excitedly going home with the new dog, hoping to further reinforce the country living they are so desperate to do - only to have the dog IMMEDIATELY run away. Realizing that the phone you had installed in the new home is a pay phone. It's forgivingly corny and worth a look around the holidays.

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Wes Anderson, 2014

Can I Stream it?

4/5

Wes Anderson has some of the most recognizable features to his body of work: quirky sensibility, recurring actors (Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray are the recurring ones here), well-defined color patterns and arrangements, prominent score. In Budapest he revisits some familiar themes. Love separated by an age gap like in Rushmore. Ed Norton playing a person of authority, here as a police officer, tracking down a target as he did in Moonrise Kingdom as Scout Master Ward. There's the mentor / protege dynamic just like we saw in Rushmore between Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman's Max and Herman characters. And there's the dysfunctional family theme, as seen in The Royal Tenenbaums.

The multiple story threads are all built around a murder-mystery plot. When Madame D. is murdered, Gustave is framed for the murder by certain family members of Madame D who are angry that Gustave was included in her last will and testament. Most of the film is Gustave attempting to clear his name while also guarding the valuable "Boy with Apple" painting that was bequeathed to him. There isn't one bad shot in the film. Everything is perfectly framed. Everything is neatly packed in the distinctive Wes Anderson universe. The set design is most similar to his past work in The Life Aquatic with some obvious stage pieces but also some remarkable use of stop motion (the slalom pursuit down the snowy hill is one of the most memorable sequences in the film). It's some of Anderson's most gory & violent work (you don't expect dismemberment, and also manages to make the tired gunfight sequence artful), but it's also some of his most exciting. Anderson gets great use of Fiennes. It's easily some of Anderson's best work, and the somewhat-complicated story never becomes disorienting. 

Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead

Tommy Wirkola, 2014

Can I Stream it?

3/5

Picking up at the end of the first Dead Snow film, Martin (Vegar Hoel) manages to escape the small army of Nazi Zombies. But he soon finds himself in a hospital and subdued. He discovers that obtaining their gold wasn't the only thing that the Nazi's wanted. They also want to fulfill some missed opportunities from World War II.

You always hope that a sequel can take the original premise of it’s predecessor and build upon it. Dead Snow 2 certainly does this. While the simple story-line of the first film worked well, the sequel manages to elaborate on the premise. At times it's completely ridiculous. On paper, the plot is preposterous. But because it's put in the right hands, it works. It works because it never takes itself seriously. It ventures into the Shaun of the Dead zomedy realm, while also riffing on 1999's Idle Hands (possibly the first film to do so). It pokes fun at the American obsession with the zombie genre, and the sci-fi genre for that matter. Not afraid to employ such tropes as the bored cop looking for some action. The protagonist assembling a group of amateurs to take on the big big boss, the David vs. Goliath device. It doesn't hold back on the gore, being completely unforgiving to humans old and young. Wirkola gets quite creative with the carnage: zombie pets, organ extraction, siphoning gasoline through human intestines. It probably won't work on everyone, either. Some people likely expect more of a serious Walking Dead-like approach to the zombie genre. But films like this are great because they aren't afraid to venture out a bit, attempting to shift to something other than cold Dystopian horror. When the zombie movies stretch into the comedy realm its refreshing, serving as a palette cleanser of sorts. In fact, most of them are pretty good (Zombieland, the aforementioned Shaun of the Dead, Fido, My Boyfriend's Back, Warm Bodies to name a few). The general zombie genre is an over-saturated category of film with more bad than good. Dead Snow 2 manages to evolve from the ordinary, taking some risks that could have just as easily placed it in the campy realm but instead puts it right up there almost on the same level with Edgar Wright's 2004 zom-com.

The Trip

Michael Winterbottom, 2011

Can I Stream it?

2/5

Steve Coogan (playing himself) reaches out to friend Rob Brydon to see if he is interested in going on a foodie road trip with him after his girlfriend backs out. Soon the two find themselves sitting across from each other at various restaurants across the English countryside eating lavish meals while engaging in dueling impressions with each other.

Steve Coogan is a rather confusing actor. He seems to get a lot of acting work, seems to pop up quite often in the comedy genre, but it’s a bit perplexing as to why. He doesn’t necessarily have a large personality, not a lot of on screen charisma. He is very typically British, possessing a rather dry sense of humor. People seem to either be into Coogan, or just not. Before you see The Trip, you must evaluate your current opinion of Coogan. If you are lukewarm on him, are you ready to sit at a table with him for 90 minutes? Are you ready to be stuck in a car with him, in a hotel room with him? Because he isn’t going to put a whole lot out there. His overall demeanor is very much like the gloomy skies they find themselves traveling in. Perhaps that is what’s a bit challenging with him. In this film, which is a sort of meta & reflective look at his own acting career, his cell phone is constantly ringing (when he has decent reception) offering him roles that he doesn't feel so enthusiastic about. His career challenges are coupled with a broken heart caused by a breakup with girlfriend Mischa. But it’s hard to get on board with Coogan. He just doesn’t really seem like very enjoyable person to be around. It’s even a bit surprising that more charismatic/outgoing/extroverted friend Rob is on board for a road trip with old buddy Steve. Rob is away from his family, children. It’s nice to have a break, but it’s not like it’s all that exciting for him. Perhaps it just comes down to long-standing loyalty. One of the more inconceivable elements of the film is the constant gravitational pull that Coogan seems to have with women. How are they attracted to a man that is constantly sulking? Is it the name recognition? Or is it just a English thing? Overall the film is basically tolerable, with some nice food porn and a great Michael Caine impression by Rob Brydon.

School of Rock

Richard Linklater, 2003

Can I Stream It?

4/5

After getting kicked out of his band, Dewey Finn (Jack Black) is desparate for some form of income especially with his roommate's girlfriend Patty (Sarah Silverman) putting pressure on him to contribute rent money. When he intercepts a call from the local school trying to reach his roommate Ned (Mike White) for a substitution position, he decides to dupe the school into thinking he is Ned and takes the position himself.

If you are not a fan of Jack Black's, School of Rock is probably a no go for you. It's Jack Black at his very Jack Black-est, demanding attention from everyone in close range. Lot's of sudden jerking movements, and loudness. But it's hard to picture anyone other than Jack Black playing the part of Dewey Finn. While his ADHD behavior can grow tiring, there is an endearing quality that fits well -especially in the role of a school teacher. Instructed to follow a standard curriculum, he abandons this quite quickly for his own brand of anti-authoritarian expression. Using Rock and Roll as a platform for his own satisfaction but also playing to his strengths, he inadvertently shows the kids how to open up and express themselves in an environment that they've grown imprisoned with. Living up to the high expectations of their parents, they assume that their parents will push their own wishes on them and they will simply follow. But Dewey comes in and shakes it all up. The film could also be considered Linklater's love letter to music, very much like Almost Famous was to Cameron Crowe. The two films are similar in a way. Both push the idea of young innocents wrapped up in their love of music, to the point where it becomes an all-consuming thing inside of a traditionally strict environment. But bearing the warning that the film may not hit the mark with Black haters, perhaps there are some aspects of it that may be able to make their way into your heart if you were one before. Maybe you can come away liking Black at least a little bit more. If this film doesn't do that, nothing will.

The Darjeeling Limited

Wes Anderson, 2007

Can I Stream It?

2/5

Three brothers unite on a train in India a year after they lost their father in an attempt to reconnect and have a bonding experience together.

Like all of Wes Anderson's work, the film is easy on the eyes. But despite it's visual perks, it doesn't have a lot going for it. Ironically even though the colorful train is bound to the steel rails, the picture feels quite aimless and all over the place. Their mission together feels quite detached, as if they are mostly on a train killing time by smoking cigarettes and drinking native concoctions that are delivered to their personal sleeper cart. The attempt at multiple story threads (on-board romance, break up grief, family animosity) doesn't really stick. It feels like Anderson really wanted to make a movie in picturesque India. He was so excited that he quickly boarded the plane with Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray and forgot half of the script at home. It's understandable, because the best attributes about the film are probably some of the many amazing shots he managed to get. Heads sticking out of the train window as it passes through the night. The group passing through a bustling marketplace. Various angles of the interior cabin with the aging colorful decor sticking to the walls. It's an Anderson piece that requires more gazing than thinking. Even though it feels like a confused film it does seem to make sense that Anderson would want a picture like this in his library. It fits in well in that respect. You can take in the set pieces with the (very underrated classic rock band) Kinks playing in the background, which at the end of the day really isn't the worst thing to endure.

Chef

Jon Favreau, 2014

Can I Stream it?

3/5

Celebrity Chef Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) has become jaded with the stale menu on his restaurant's menu. When restaurant owner Riva (Dustin Hoffman) refuses to let him change things up, he decides to leave and attempt to pursue his own interests which lead him to starting up a Cuban Food truck.

Favreau writes, directs and stars in this film which is a story of a guy taking a risk in a new business blended with some sentimental family elements. Carl is a very proud Chef who has grown insecure with his abilities, especially after getting ripped apart by online blogger Ramsey Michel (Oliver Platt). His vulnerability breaks him, bringing him to his rock bottom after an explosive tirade that inevitably goes viral on social media. But Carl isn't a one-dimensional hot-head; there are many layers to him. He's still licking his wounds from the divorce of his beautiful (and out of his league) Cuban wife Inez (Sophia Vergara). He is having trouble bonding with his son Percy (Emjay Anthony), who is also hurt by the separation. He is basically broke, or close to it, living in a run-down apartment that is probably worth less than the high-end cooking equipment that he uses on a regular basis.

With these elements in play, there are a lot of directions the film could go in where it could fall apart. But it doesn't, and credit is due to Favreau for holding it together. With compelling performances, good direction and snappy editing, he manages to create a heartwarming piece that keeps you rooting for Carl to become a beloved culinary all-star once again. The film examines social media's impact on American culture through the blogosphere, at times using visual elements like pretty tweets flying across the screen (similar to the texting effects used in House of Cards). Not to say there aren't a few faults. When Carl storms out of his restaurant after Riva tells him he needs to cook whats on the menu and nothing else, he returns to his apartment where he goes off on a cooking spree. He puts together a lavish array of seemingly delicious and artful items. He cooks his heart out. You think: okay, he's going to tell that blogger to get his ass down to his apartment and force feed him. But he doesn't, and he appears to only cook the meal for himself. Of course if Ramsey came to the apartment and ate up, he would likely be put Carl in high regard again and movie over... but it was a weird how it played out. Favreau probably wanted the audience to really get on board with Carl's abilities to cook great food, but they were pretty evident already. Like, we knew that after the first scene. Or when he spent all of that time perfecting the grilled cheese sandwich for Percy. Later in the film Martin (played by perfectly-cast John Leguizamo) is pushed into taking a photo of Carl and a South Beach bike-cop. Martin shows you that he is the only person in America that has never used a touch-screen phone before, and is puzzled as to how to snap the picture. Those things are easy to let go, though. The good easily outweighs the bad. Favreau's culinary piece is charming, original, enjoyable. It seems like it was probably a fun film to make. Everyone must have left the set everyday with a full belly.

Neighbors

Nicholas Stoller, 2014

Can I Stream It?

3/5

Mac (Seth Rogen) and Kelly (Rose Byrne) are excited to move into a quaint residential neighborhood with their baby girl. But everything soon changes when a fraternity, led by Teddy Sanders (Zac Effron) moves into the house next to theirs and they realize that they are going to be living next to a party-house.

Somewhere between Animal House, Dennis the Menace and 1981's Neighbors (a forgotten comedy featuring John Belushi and Dan Akroyd) lies 2014's Neighbors, written by Andrew J. Cohen and Brendan O'Brien (Funny People, 40 Year Old Virgin) and directed by Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall). Seth Rogen brings his typical stoner humor to his Mac role but this time throws a baby girl in his arms almost as if Ben Stone (Knocked Up) moved away, ditched Katherine Heigl and picked up the lovely (and let's face it, significantly more tolerable) Rose Byrne. Not a bad swap. Byrne provides a good dynamic with the Mac character, two people who are desperately trying to hold onto some elements of their early twenties without completely submitting to inevitably boring parenthood. When they discover that there is a fraternity moving next door, their first impulse is to somehow relate to them in some way which they soon discover is virtually impossible. A reminder that those days are over, and sometimes you don't realize how distant they are until they are literally right in front of you as if you are staring at a reflection of your former self. What follows is a slapsticky battle of the neighbors that for the most part is funny, although there is surely some fat that could be trimmed. But the highlights: the many simultaneously talking DeNiro's, the airbag deployments, the many insecurities/panicking involving their baby outnumber the not-so-funny moments. Rose Byrne is actually proving to be one of the better comedic actresses working today, almost like a reincarnated version of Cameron Diaz from the Something about Mary days.

With so many garbage comedies being churned out these days the bar has been lowered greatly. Typically you sit through overused premises, bad acting, momentary laughs. Neighbors manages to tap into some unused veins in the comedy genre.

The World's End

Edgar Wright, 2013

Can I Stream It?

3/5

Gary King (Simon Pegg) rounds up a group of his old mates and returns to their hometown in an attempt to complete a pub crawl that they failed to accomplish when they were much younger. But they only manage to get a couple of pints down when they realize that the residents of their old town don't appear to be the same as they remembered.

Wright and Pegg team up once again in this quirky take on the alien invasion genre. Instead of the Pegg / Frost duo fighting off zombies, they find themselves dodging blue-blooded robotic aliens with shape-shifting abilities who are trying to perform a covert takeover of the rural town person by person. Gary's priorities are skewed. He seems to be more inclined to make sure that they all complete the crawl this time around instead of worrying about his friends and family's well-being. This is very much frustrating to the rest of the group, who reluctantly joined him on this mission which pulled them away from their long-standing responsibilities. They have all grown older, found a significant other, found a nice career. Gary is stuck in the past, suddenly resurfacing as the friend who wants to pull them back into their old habits. Gary clearly has his own issues that he hasn't dealt with properly, mostly having to do with his inability to grow up and become a responsible adult.

Wright's invasion piece doesn't necessarily have all of the charm as some of his previous work. But there are some really amusing comedic moments as well as some well-executed action sequences. The most enjoyable element is probably when the group takes on groups of the aliens, grabbing whatever set pieces they can to use as a weapon against them. The film very much feels like a hybrid of Shaun of the Dead and Wright's video-game-romantic-action picture Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. It feels like it takes a while for Gary to assemble the group and the action to pick up. The World's End would have been better served had Wright trimmed up some of the introductory fare and attempted to get the film down to the 90 minute mark.

The Internship

Shawn Levy, 2013

Can I Stream It?

2/5

Somewhere in a movie studio office there is a giant wheel. It resembles the luminous assembly featured on daytime Game Show The Price is Right. Except this one is a Vince Vaughn / Owen Wilson movie wheel. When studio heads are looking for a quick comedy piece to churn out, they spin it and they are forced to green-light whatever premise it lands on.

It's already been used to conjure up a movie about two guys who crash weddings to score with women. Another time it was used to do a modern remake of Starsky and Hutch. Then there was that time it was used to make that movie about the two being a part of a neighborhood watch team (The Watch). This time the wheel was spun and it landed on two guys get fired from  job and get hired as Google interns. Given their on and off history together and compared to some of the bad-on-paper ideas that have been thrown out there this one actually doesn't seem too bad. That is until the movie starts rolling. The end-result applies some of the manipulative tendencies of a bad Adam Sandler film. Was that redundant? But in a way it's the best Adam Sandler movie he didn't make. Like a dumbed-down Social Network, it attempts to run on the fumes of the Vaughn / Wilson dynamic, even though there can't be much left in the tank. At least you get to see quite a bit of the beautiful Rose Byrne.

Awful Nice

Todd Sklar, 2014

Can I Stream It?

3/5

Brothers Jim (James Pumphrey) and Dave (Alex Rennie) reunite at their father's funeral and learn that they have both inherited the family lake house located in Americana-riddled Branson Missouri. Jim is hoping to turn over the property to local slimy businessman Jon Charbineau (Christopher Meloni), get paid, and return home to his wife and child. He reluctantly lets Dave accompany him on the trip to Branson and they soon find that the property is not in any condition to be sold that quickly.

The modern slapstick comedy has quite the mountain to climb to achieve any kind of notable status. For every There's Something About Mary, there are twenty bad ones that are probably starring Rob Schneider. Usually it's just a bad story with bad acting with overused premises. But sometimes one can pass through by not trying go over the top and not attempt to break any kind of new ground. Awful Nice succeeds in being a 90 minute junk food comedy session that doesn't require any real heavy thinking. The simple premise pits two highly competitive brothers against each other and lets them duke it out. It wouldn't work if there wasn't some real chemistry between the two, fortunately there is. Their sibling rivalry feels very real, as if they were actual brothers and were improvising their brutal exchanges through the entire picture. From chugging contests, to arm-wrestling, to all-out physical brawls, it's the battles between the two that keeps you engaged. Of course the picture is not absent of any imperfections. Christopher Meloni's attempt at being an Elmer Fudd-sounding crook doesn't really hit the mark. In fact you never really buy into his character and just write him off as Meloni with a hair piece on. He's no Les Grossman to say the least. The Russian crime family that controls the service industry in the city of Branson feels like an unnecessary distraction at times. And there's probably one too many montages of the two brothers engaging in many senseless activities. But when they are busting on each other, the confrontations feel fresh and should pull a few laughs out of you. How can you not laugh at a grown man taking Doggie heartworm pills hoping to get high?

Silicon Valley (Season 1)

Mike Judge, 2014

Can I Stream It?

5/5

The pairing of HBO and the mind of Mike Judge kind of feels long overdue. One of greatest comedy writers of this generation, Judge is one who finds the funny in our modern human masses. In Office Space he explored the soul-drenching robotic routine of the corporate Cubicle universe. In Idiocracy he brilliantly laid out America's doomed future. Silicon Valley is semi-autobiographical, from Judge's own days of working in Santa Clara at startup video card company Parallax graphics. His short time there obviously equipped him with some lasting impressions, results that would come out twenty-seven years later in the form of a brilliant comedy. Silicon Valley feels like an Office Space meets The Social Network satirical piece. With clear nods to the Steve Jobs Apple-cult/culture and the bitter battles between the hungry tech giants, the series blends witty writing with a compelling David vs. Goliath story-line. It possesses all of the proper Palo Alto vernacular, all-while living out the Raman noodle to Liquid Shrimp geek dream. One morning you can be looking at empty Red Bull cans sitting in front of you in your tiny apartment. But you can quickly cash in on a sudden fluky but profitable concept and be sitting in an over-sized mansion the next with Kid Rock providing background sound for your beer-pong games.

The writing is so sharp, but the series also deserves praise for it's fitting casting decisions. Thomas Middleditch brings the right amount of awkward twitchiness to his Richard character. The reluctant leader of startup Pied Piper, he excels in programming but falls very short in the social skills. Richard is someone who could have easily been buried in the I.T. department of the aforementioned Judge classic Office Space. His compression algorithm app is also developed by ball-busting buddies Gilfoyle and Dinesh, once again making great casting decisions by having Martin Starr and Kumail Nanjiani playing the respective roles. The series also employs the comedic abilities of T.J. Miller, who plays a sort of creepy older brother to the group. Not really equipped with the same coding abilities but much better in social settings, he has more of a hanger-on role with Pied Piper but never falls short of being hilarious... strange beard and all. Fortunately it didn't take long for HBO to renew Silicon Valley to renew the series for another season. Every week it leaves you wanting more. In a way it feels surreal that we are already lampooning our own high-tech world. But there is no better person to do it than Mike Judge.

The Heat

Paul Feig, 2013

Can I Stream It?

2/5

FBI Agent Ashburn (Sandra Bullock) gets relocated to Boston where she is unintentionally paired with tough native street-cop Mullins (Melissa McCarthy). Using Ashburn's book-smarts and Mullins' street-smarts, they hope to work together to take down a local drug-dealer.

The Heat delivers the typical buddy cop comedy channeled through two opposite women, one a goody two-shoes overachiever and one a brash and butch Boston native. Making the decision to pair up America's sweetheart with the brash McCarthy certainly makes sense. Bullock has made a career of blending in light-hearted films with more drama-oriented ones. Some are good, most are not. But she has shown, at least in a couple of her most recent films Gravity and The Blind Side that she evolving to some extent as an actress. So when she got a call for The Heat she probably just figured it would be fun to step back again and work in the comedy world with McCarthy, who is probably the funniest female actress working at the moment. During the film, you certainly get a clear sense that they are having fun working together. So why doesn't it work here? Because even though you employ two veteran comedic actresses, you still need good writing. That's just not present here. In fact, the laughs are swinging a solid .285 batting average. The Boston stereotypes, as shown with Mullins' family, are hackneyed and tired at this point. Yes, some people from the City of Boston talk funny. Yes, some of them are rough around the edges. We get it. And by Mullins' 20th fuck, even the vulgarity grows a bit wearing. The Heat does provide a few intermittent chuckles here and there, but it's starving for some punch-up.

Airheads

Michael Lehmanm, 1994

Can I Stream It?

3/5

Three struggling musicians sneak into a Los Angeles radio station hoping to have their demo played on the air. Dismissed by the program manager, they impulsively decide to take the station employees hostage.

The 1990's are a period in time where we can look back. We can look back and picture the divisive Brendan Fraser, who seemed to be in every movie at the box office. We can look back and see Steve Buscemi being underemployed way too often. We can look back and see Adam Sandler in his comedic prime. Airheads certainly employs these three features. The story of the not-so-bright every-men Lone Rangers just trying to get their fifteen minutes of fame is the equivalent of the modern struggling musician trying to make their Youtube video go viral. But this is back when FM radio stations meant something. When hearing Nirvana on your crappy car speakers was actually exciting and not wearisome.

It's certainly a flawed picture. At times it feels dated; with its racial humor, emphasis on the grunge scene. There's some pretty awful acting (Amy Locane, Michael Richards, David Arquette). The premise is far-fetched. There are just some downright unbelievable, comical aspects to it. The gun falls on the floor from the overhead vent and seems to shoot off for about twenty seconds with nobody holding the trigger. The LAPD somehow within minutes is able to helicopter in an entire stage, completely assembled. But to the films credit, there are actually multiple ongoing threads going: the struggling band, the inner conflicts between the radio station on the verge of flipping formats, the pissing contest between the two police departments. Maybe its just another 90's guilty pleasure, joining the likes of Encino Man and Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead.

Trading Places

John Landis, 1983

Can I Stream It?

3/5

A bet made between two commodities investor brothers (Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche) strips rich executive Louis Winthorpe (Dan Akroyd) of his lavish wealthy livelihood and cleverly places it in the hands of bum Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) to prove that if a destitute man is given opportunities he will/will not succeed.

Trading Places puts you in a time machine and brings you back to the 1980's. The coke-fueled, horribly clothed, occasionally racist (black-face and all) 1980's. The nostalgia is delivered early on when you get thrown into a dance party where the once-funny and once-edgy Eddie Murphy is trying to keep his new digs in order. The film feels dated, there's no denying that. The biggest example of this is shown when you are smack in the middle of what feels like an antiquated stock exchange with handwritten orders flying through the air and enormous computer screens taking up space. There is an absence of any remarkable cinematography at work. Some of the slapstick comedy is distracting. But it does deliver an original story with some brains behind it. It also delivers some pretty good performances by Akroyd, Murphy and a very young (and it feels weird saying it, beautiful) Jamie Lee Curtis. The whole premise of rich whitey growing complacent and bored in their own wealth, making a one dollar bet on a man's utter demise is completely diabolical but also completely engaging. You sit patiently waiting for the Duke brothers to get their comeuppance. The whole rags to riches / riches to rags dichotomy plays out a bit too swiftly. Billy Ray morphs into the successful executive overnight, and Louis deteriorates into a complete degenerate just as rapidly. Perhaps it's difficult to really showcase a more colorful arch when you only have 119 minutes to work with, and you need to carry the story along. The bottom line is it all falls into place, and the satisfying ending is probably the highlight of the entire film.

The Great Outdoors

Howard Deutch, 1988

Can I Stream It?

2/5

Chet Ripley (John Candy) is looking forward to spending some quality time with his family on their vacation in rural Wisconsin when his in-laws Roman (Dan Akroyd) and Kate (Annette Benning) suddenly show up expecting to join in on the fun.

The Great Outdoors is probably one of those films that you put on thinking you've never seen it before, and when it hits a couple of the key scenes you realize that you've seen it. The Old 96'er steakhouse scene. The bat loose in the house scene. Or perhaps the quintessential 80's romance scenes are enough to jog the memory. The point is, those comical scenes stand out in what's ultimately a rather forgettable film. While John Hughes has plenty of notable writing credits over the course of his career (Home Alone, Ferris Bueler's Day Off, The Breakfast Club), not all of them are winners (Curly Sue, Beethoven, Career Opportunities). The presence of two of the great Canadian imports Dan Akroyd and John Candy are certainly enough to pull you in. What's interesting with both of them is they do what they typically do, and as long as that's within the proper framework it's fine. Akroyd is always the fast-talking chubby(ish) robotically-toned force who relies on and shifts in accent and facial expression rather than slapstick comedy. Candy typically uses more physical comedy and is more limited as an actor, but is certainly more of a warm force on screen. There's a familiarity with him, a sentimentality. Whenever you see John Candy on screen it reminds you of how much you miss him. The Great Outdoors certainly has it's flaws. Distracting edits, poor set design, weak story, too much bear, too much raccoon subtitling. Why did they have to talk so much? At times the very heavy animal presence is as wearisome as watching bears pick through the garbage heap like they do in the film. Perhaps their was a SAG quota for animal trainers' working hours in 1988.