PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN Review

From the opening second of Emerald Fennell's feature directorial debut that sears itself into your eardrums with Charli XCX's "Boys" it's abundantly clear we're in for a hell of a treat that is as pop-fueled and brightly colored as that introductory music track. Even as the music conjures images of pristine bodies dancing around pool parties that feature the color palette of a highlighter collection, Fennell immediately emasculates and disarms every male viewer that might already be dismissing her film by displaying what hapless, awkward grunts the majority of us look like when trying to appeal to the opposite sex in an alluring fashion. After immediately establishing the style in which she will relay her message Fennell's camera next wades in slow motion through a sea of nine to fivers scavenging for drinks that might hand them enough courage to approach vulnerable girls as the writer/director next establishes the key to Promising Young Woman: tone. Drawn from the anger of double standards and the (large amount of) satire contained in the line of thought that men could ever be more mature than women in any sense Fennell's screenplay - aided by a tour de force (and I don't use that phrase lightly) performance from Carey Mulligan - is as scathing as it is smart and as wild as it can be funny. It's almost contradictory how much there is to smile about while taking in the film given the serious nature of the topics being addressed, but Fennell finds such a satisfying way of conveying the revenge fantasy elements that it's next to impossible to not want to stand up and cheer every time Mulligan's Cassie leaves the room after delivering a gut punch of a one-liner to the creep she just taught a lesson. Fennell has style for days, obviously, along with what were probably notebooks full of stories about encounters she and her friends have had with men who seemed decent enough, but would still try to take advantage if the opportunity presented itself yet it is the way in which she is able to distill the daily indignities women routinely endure that ultimately reconciles the message with the mode. Promising Young Woman may be constructed to feel like an epic revenge fantasy and a sometimes sweet romantic comedy, but the situations depicted are unfortunately not as far-fetched as the calculated aesthetic would lead one to believe. To this extent, Fennell isn't interested in making a genre film as much as she is courting how cunning, meticulous, and self-aware one must be in order to exact revenge in the ways Cassie does here; she isn't trying to wipe the slate clean, she's looking to re-configure the establishment of that slate one piece at a time. In the immortal words of Paris Hilton, "That's hot" has never been more sincerely stated (or accurate) than when applied to Promising Young Woman.

THE EMOJI MOVIE Review

This may come as a shock to many of you, but The Emoji Movie is not good. In fact, it's really bad. Bad in the way that it doesn't even try much of the time. Bad in the way that it is intended to be a funny children's film with a message about championing individuality and being yourself, but even that tried and true formula falls flat. Did I say it was supposed to be funny? It's not funny. It tries, it has obvious attempts at humor, but it's not funny. Worse, it has a talented and typically hilarious group of people providing the voices for much of these humanoid expressions that exist in a world that doesn't make much sense in the first place. Let's start over as this would be the initial issue that only leads to more of these problems that spawn from the fact this is a movie based on emoji's. It would probably be big of me to say that this movie isn't bad simply because it is a movie based on emoji's, but it is. It represents everything wrong with the studio system from the perspective of attempting a cash grab without any measure of creativity or thought put into the actual work. There are no signs of life within this thing other than our protagonist going through the motions of feeling like an outcast, being brave enough to break out of his shell, and discover that it's okay to be different. That's all well and good, but you as well as your kids have seen this countless times before and The Emoji Movie brings nothing new to it with the fact it's emoji's going through these (e)motions only making it that much more grating. Worse even, it's beyond transparent that writer/director Tony Leondis (2008's terrible Igor as well as a few other animated shorts) and his two co-writers Eric Siegel (a TV veteran) and Mike White (Mike White!) could care less about the movie they are working on. No doubt receiving an assignment from head honcho's at Sony Animation that they needed something aimed at the kids after their one-two punch for teens and adults with Spider-Man: Homecoming and Baby Driver the studio latched on to current trends via The LEGO Movie and Wreck-it Ralph and demanded a movie based on those faces kids were using to communicate with on their phones. Leondis, Siegel, and White mix in a little Toy Story as well with hopes of no one noticing and yet The Emoji Movie is so distractingly bad that it doesn't become an issue of the movie being based around characters who are emoticons, but more the fact the whole thing never breaks through that barrier of convincing us why it's necessary.  

Trailer for ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY

Ever since realizing Hollywood made more than just family friendly entertainment I have yearned to return to a world where I am surrounded by the likes of fun, innocent family fare that reminds me of my childhood and it is always reassuring to know that the children of the current generation are receiving their fair share of memorable movies that might put them in a sense of nostalgia when they get older and discover the brutal action films or raunchy comedies. I only bring all of this up because today we have the first trailer for Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day which has been adapted from a short story by Judith Viorst and it looks to perfectly fit into this aforementioned canon. Centered around our young titular character (Ed Oxenbould) who is experiencing one of the worst days ever his troubles only become amplified when the rest of his family (who typically have the best of luck it seems) begin having horrible experiences as well. The comedy looks light and cheesy and this definitely seems to be in the vein of live-action Disney flicks where the kids are able to understand and grasp the life lessons being taught more so than the adults and bring a resounding sense of peace to the family unit when faced with troubling circumstances, but it also looks as if it could be surprisingly entertaining if not interesting for older audiences, mainly due to the caliber of talent on screen. I'm pretty much game to see anything that features Steve Carell and so I'm intrigued by what he saw in the screenplay or if it was simply his relationship with director Miguel Arteta (Cedar Rapids, Youth in Revolt, The Good Girl) that led him to take on the project. The film also stars Jennifer Garner, Bella Thorne, Dylan Minnette, Megan Mullally and opens October 10th.

AMERICAN REUNION Review

When the first "American Pie" came out I was too young to even think about sneaking into it. Of course it became such a milestone of the late 90's and such a staple for the youth of that generation that once I was old enough I had to see what all the fuss was about. By the time the third installment came around in 2003 I was barely matching where the characters were in the first film and so I had a little marathon to build up to the release of "American Wedding" to finally become acquainted with these characters and see one of their romps on the big screen. Though I have always found the series to be kind of a second rate production to what has become my favorite kind of comedy and none of the actors give off a standout quality that makes them great comedic actors (William-Scott being the exception here) and that is evident by the kind of work they were given and how much success they saw after the first movie became a hit. Needless to say, for most of them this franchise is their bread and butter and so they have no problem returning for another slice. While this really had no right to be any good, it needed to be because the series had been slipping since the first one as comedies tend to do, but at least there is always a good amount of heart in these films and in seeing these characters back together completely for the first time in 13 years adds a good amount nostalgia to the project and distracts us from the fact that much of the story is rehashed gags from all of the previous films that have simply been applied to their current situation of a high school reunion. I liked the film though, it does in the end have so much heart and a consistent amount of laughs that it is hard to hate what the makers are trying to do here. In the grand scheme of things they succeed in bringing a fresh perspective to a series that could have fizzled out long ago.

From Left: Jim (Jason Biggs) Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas),
Oz (Chris Klein), and Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas).

This time the guys behind the "Harold & Kumar" series have taken the helm and have constructed a story that clearly revolves around the high school reunion but have layered it with enough quality time dedicated to each character, and more importantly have developed the characters in ways that we truly believe their current predicaments. Jim (Jason Biggs) and wife Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) have been having a bit of a slump in the bedroom since the birth of their son, while Jim's dad (the always wonderful Eugene Levy) is having a hard time adjusting to life since his wife passed. Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) has moved on, married and become a stay at home husband while Oz (Chris Klein) has become a successful sportscaster who dates models and also had a starring role on a "Dancing with the Stars" like reality show. Their high school loves Vicky (Tara Reid) and Heather (Mena Suvari) have pursued their careers and seem to have become nothing short of successful as Heather brings her heart surgeon beau to the reunion. As for Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) he hasn't really been heard from and Stifler (Sean William Scott) well, he is still pretty much Stifler and hasn't made it anywhere in the world except for serving as an office temp. The story obviously centers around these core characters but no need to worry, writer and directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg have rounded up pretty much anyone who ever appeared in one of these movies with Shannon Elizabeth, Natasha Lyonne, Chris "the Sherminator" Owen, and even both MILF guys making appearances. This all meshes surprisingly well and is laid out in a brisk hour and fifty minutes that simply feels like getting back together with old friends and having a good laugh even if most of the fun comes from reminiscing rather than making any new memories.

Stifler (Sean William Scott) is up to his usual antics.

While I expected a certain degree of the set-ups to be familiar here, Hurwitz and Schlossberg have pretty much continued the pattern of the core films in the series (I like to believe those straight to DVD entries don't exist) by putting Jim into horribly embarrassing situations that could only ever happen in the movies. Making Stifler the cause of pretty much all of them is a given while the other guys look on in sympathy while each dealing with their own romantic complications. This is all well and good and mostly understandable as this overall feels like more of a homage but the key is that it is done in such a way that these characters have at least become what we'd expect their adult versions to be. They have to come home to face their old self's and in turn face the idea that what they aspired to be when the world was much bigger hasn't really materialized in their actual lives. The first "American Pie" likely feels like a lifetime ago to these guys and in reuniting and getting a shot to reassess these characters it no doubt gave each of them a glimpse of how far they've come, and at least they all seem genuinely excited to be there, participating in something that defined their youth. That is the charm of the movie, that is what makes it a success because if we didn't know these guys, if we had no connection with them at all this wouldn't mean nearly as much. This also proves that if you are not a fan of the other films or if you haven't seen them then this will hold little relevance to you and you will likely be out of the loop on most of the jokes. It has its moments though and once again blends the raunch and tender moments with just the right amount of care.

Stifler's mom (Jennifer Coolidge) and Jim's dad (Eugene
Levy) get to know one another.

 For those that have been with the franchise since its early days though this will likely just be a treat to see the characters so many years later as you don't get the opportunity very often and the cast delivers on the persona's that made them stars. Biggs is still more than willing to do anything for a laugh including shoving his junk behind a glass lid. William Scott has had his character defined since that first film and has only perfected even more with each film. Even here, where you might think the Stifmeister might have settled down, alas it is from apparent from his first appearance on screen lets us know that everyone else may have gotten older, but Stifler is here to stay. This isn't a shortcoming on the writer's part, everyone knows that guy who hasn't grown up, Stifler is simply the epitome of that and William Scott plays it to the hilt. After skipping out on "American Wedding" Chris Klein returns and even gives a line that acknowledges him missing out on Jim's wedding (a personal thank you to the writers from me) but more importantly Klein gets a few great moments that show is talent for subtle humor. While Thomas Ian Nicholas and Eddie Kaye Thomas are probably just thankful for the paycheck the writers were also in not resorting back to Finch and Stifler's mom while keeping Tara Reid's scenes to a minimum. The real show stoppers though are Eugene Levy and Jennifer Coolidge providing some of the more gut busting moments throughout. As old pros of the series they still know how to get it done best. For those with an uptight sense of humor go ahead and stay home again, and while this never reaches Apatow territory, it is a lovely, funny little movie that reminds us all why we loved these characters in the first place. I'll leave it at that, knowing why I enjoyed it so much and knowing there's nothing wrong with a little bit of nostalgia.

    

AMERICAN REUNION Review

When the first "American Pie" came out I was too young to even think about sneaking into it. Of course it became such a milestone of the late 90's and such a staple for the youth of that generation that once I was old enough I had to see what all the fuss was about. By the time the third installment came around in 2003 I was barely matching where the characters were in the first film and so I had a little marathon to build up to the release of "American Wedding" to finally become acquainted with these characters and see one of their romps on the big screen. Though I have always found the series to be kind of a second rate production to what has become my favorite kind of comedy and none of the actors give off a standout quality that makes them great comedic actors (William-Scott being the exception here) and that is evident by the kind of work they were given and how much success they saw after the first movie became a hit. Needless to say, for most of them this franchise is their bread and butter and so they have no problem returning for another slice. While this really had no right to be any good, it needed to be because the series had been slipping since the first one as comedies tend to do, but at least there is always a good amount of heart in these films and in seeing these characters back together completely for the first time in 13 years adds a good amount nostalgia to the project and distracts us from the fact that much of the story is rehashed gags from all of the previous films that have simply been applied to their current situation of a high school reunion. I liked the film though, it does in the end have so much heart and a consistent amount of laughs that it is hard to hate what the makers are trying to do here. In the grand scheme of things they succeed in bringing a fresh perspective to a series that could have fizzled out long ago.