OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY Review

What is there to say about a movie that knows exactly what it is and executes itself in competent fashion? Turns out, not too much really-especially when one is talking specifically about something as frivolous as Office Christmas Party. After watching this hour and forty-five minute comedy my friend and co-host at Initial Reaction summed up what we'd just experienced perfectly. Describing the "here for a good time" flick that actually ends up overstaying its welcome as a raunchier version of one of those holiday themed, multi-plotted, department store advertisements as directed by the late Garry Marshall, Office Christmas Party piles on the recognizable names and faces (Hey! There's Jennifer Aniston again!), juggles a handful of plotlines, and ultimately comes off as trying too hard to have some kind of genuine heart when we all know the only reason it actually exists is to cash in on certain weekends of the year when viewers seek reminders for how they should/would like to feel around the holidays. This wouldn't be so bad considering Office Christmas Party has a more than capable cast and isn't nearly as hokey as those aforementioned Marshall pictures, but the film ultimately tries to do too much with very little when it would have been fine had it simply allowed its talented comedic ensemble to feed off one another. While Marshall's films more or less turned a holiday of its choosing into a combination of Crash and any Hallmark movie ever Office Christmas Party at least has a driving plot that keeps the focus on only the characters involved in the central narrative and has each of them chasing and contributing to the same goal. There are no extraneous stories that have to strain to connect all the random characters together, but that doesn't mean every subplot should have been kept either. It is in its inability to restrain from both following one too many superfluous factors as well as devolving into something it clearly had no intention of being until it realized the credits had to roll at some point that Office Christmas Party suffers, but when it is having fun, making jokes, and letting the comedic talent it has enlisted to roam freely it's a consistently hilarious time that delivers on what its promotional campaign promised.

HOT TUB TIME MACHINE 2 Review

I don’t know if it’s because I’m older and maybe less impressionable, but while I found the original Hot Tub Time Machine to be humorous in its attempt at pure ridiculousness this sequel seems to be latching so hard to the absurdity of the first that it just falls flat on its face every single time it tries. I guess trying is maybe too kind of a word as it seems that is the last thing on the people behind this debacles mind as they contort and twist their way around one too many reasons why John Cusack isn’t back for this go around. I can’t say it really adds or takes away anything with Cusack not being present in the sequel, but more he was smart to stay away from it even if the truth is he wasn’t asked back at all. The funnier route to go would have been to publicly acknowledge how difficult the actor was to work with by having his friends in the film say how they never really liked him anyway and that he quit hanging out with them after they got back to the present and leave it at that. Instead, the script from Josh Heald, who also wrote the original and who has only penned one other film outside the hot tub franchise called Mardi Gras: Spring Break is doing nothing here but walking in circles and hoping the chemistry between the characters will be enough to elicit laughs from the audience. Instead, the friendships seem stale, the tone is beyond unenthusiastic and worst of all the movie just sits there with second rate components and characters who have no idea what they’re doing. This should be a sequel where, much like its predecessor, it exists simply to have a little fun or as an excuse to let off a little steam and laugh at something meaningless, but rather than simply go for emphasizing the camaraderie between the cast and letting these guys pre-defined senses of humor spill out over the presented outlandish scenarios both Heald and director Steve Pink bog them down in semantics of the plot and scenarios so forced we can't hardly buy into any of it being remotely funny despite the one thing anyone going into this should know is that it's all completely ridiculous. Ridiculous can be funny, but forcing laughs never is and that is Hot Tub Time Machine 2's greatest offense.

Trailer Roundup: SUPER BOWL XLIX

As Sunday draws closer we have begun to see early releases of not only commercials, but some of the movie spots that will be making their way into your living room this Sunday. Yesterday we got a glimpse of a few big releases including new looks at The Avengers, Terminator and The Divergent Series: Insurgent. Each of these promising some serious bang for your buck when they hit theaters. Revealing your entire spot has become common over the last few years and is understandable when you're spending $4.5 million for thirty seconds. We were able to get a quick peak at Brad Bird's Tomorrowland earlier this week, but you can catch the full spot from the broadcast now as well as the festive spot for Minions and the banned Hot Tub Time Machine 2 commercial that didn't air due to its content poking fun at deflategate. The first official trailer for Ted 2 dropped Thursday and now you can get a look at the big game spot featuring Tom Brady. Furious 7 also made a grand appearance and upped the ante for what we expect from this franchise by putting on display some insane stunts that hopefully don't give away the best parts of the movie. No surprise spot for Mission: Impossible 5, but there was that glimpse at Heroes Reborn that will be airing soon on NBC that I had no idea was even happening. Other trailers that aired include an enticing look at Jurassic World, Pitch Perfect 2, a game-incorporated Inside Out tease, this weeks Seventh Son and the Vince Vaughn comedy Unfinished Business. Check out all of the Super Bowl trailers below.

SEX TAPE Review

Once again we have reached a point in the summer movie season where we not only get what we expect this time of year, but where those expectations seem to be filled out of some sense of obligation rather than an organic idea. If you have been reading this site for any period of time you know I tend to be kind to comedies as I seem to have a soft spot for them and their actors; a wishful kinship if you will. That this kind of relationship exists makes it difficult when I know a movie isn't great (or even very good) but the fact I still found moments to laugh at forces me to want to give it more credit than it's due. Expectations likely play a role in this slight bit of sympathy for Sex Tape as anyone might tell you not much of them existed for this film. I always secretly hope that these raunchy, ridiculous comedies will be better than audiences and critics expect and will do their best to prove them wrong, especially those including anyone from the long lost its steam Frat Pack or Judd Apatow's gang of misfits. This latest collaboration with director Jake Kasdan (Orange County, Walk Hard) though has Jason Segel seeming more on auto-pilot than ever. Segel is a naturally funny guy and a better writer than he gets credit for as he is able to tap into those "that's so true" moments with such ease, but he is doing nothing more than his typical shtick here. The last time Kasdan and Segel met-up was the not-so-much better Bad Teacher, but Segel was used to such minimal effect there it felt like a bit of an inside joke that he could show up, do his thing and retreat into the background. Kasdan was having fun with the heightened reality of the premise and Cameron Diaz owned the titular role to the point it drew crowds given the comparison it was basically Bad Santa with a sexed-up Diaz. In Sex Tape, the trio attempt to deliver that same kind of raunch with a broad and outlandish premise, but the well runs dry about halfway through because it never takes off in the way it should or even could have.

First Red-Band Trailer for SEX TAPE

I was more of a fan of Bad Teacher than anyone around me and so I was anxious to at least see what the new film from director Jake Kasdan that also happened to feature Jason Segel and Cameron Diaz again was all about. Titled Sex Tape it was clear this was going to be a very raunchy sex comedy and if you're going to make a sex comedy at least swing for the fences, but if anything seems clear from the first trailer that dropped yesterday (not coincidentally on the night of the How I Met Your Mother series finale) it is that this all seems to be way too familiar and safe, which might not be cause for too much alarm if it was essentially an extended version of a commercial they premiered, but no, they went the route of the red-band and it still seems like there is much to be desired here. The good news here is that Diaz and Segel have some seemingly great chemistry and could life the one-note plot from the doldrums of comedy failures that seem to be implied by the convoluted reasoning behind all of their friends getting a peak at their sex life. I'm all for ridiculous premises and in a world where everyone shares everything and technology has surpassed us to the point a good many of us don't even realize what we're doing when using some of the gadgets and social media platforms, but the fact the most convincing thing they could come up with entailed giving away iPads as gifts comes off as just, well, outlandish. Making fun of the all mysterious cloud is a nice enough joke as that seems the global consesnsus, but I really hope this turns out to be better than its looking; Still, I love Orange County and Walk Hard grows on me more every time I watch it, so there is indeed hope here. Sex Tape also stars Rob Corddry, Ellie Kemper, Rob Lowe and opens on July 25th.

IN A WORLD... Home Video Review

It takes a lot to make something look effortless. Whether you're talking about beauty or comedy, two things that don't often share the same space, it is necessary to have a large amount of preparation or thought in order to perpetrate something genuine into a format where the atmosphere is all but that and still allow such a precise quality to shine through. It has always been said that comedy is much harder to understand, much harder to pin down and really get right than say, a serious drama. Comedy is purely subjective, to every single person that is witness to it and to be able to craft a piece of art that doesn't come off as pretentious in its intention or narcissistic in its execution is to somehow be able to convey your dislike of certain aspects of society without alienating what might make up your audience. Comedy is about being up-front and honest, about peeling back the obvious that we don't like to acknowledge and in that we not only find ways to relate to the subjects of a piece, but we come to find what side of the fence we land on in the perspective of the creator and how that person who is specific to a region, generation, or political party might take on the world and view the issues and how we might solve them, or in the case of comedies, why it is necessary to laugh at most things. In the case of In a World... the sole creator and architect is credited to Lake Bell, the actress you've probably seen a million times in smaller parts and supporting roles whose name escapes you. As the writer/director/star of the film she is able to take on not only the voice-over industry and the role that women play in it (or don't) as well as the ideas and observations about the legacy of parents and its impending pressure on their offspring that results in a lack of support as well as the dynamic of relationships and how it's the details of the companionship rather than the details of the person that make it work and ultimately worthwhile. There is admittedly a ton of stuff going on in the movie but Bell, at the head of her first feature, somehow manages to shepherd these ideas and situations into a cohesive piece of work that ends up feeling beautifully funny and yes, effortless.

THE WAY, WAY BACK Review

Writers Nat Faxon and Jim Rash who penned The Descendants together in 2011 have teamed up once again to both write and direct their first feature which has come to be known as The Way, Way Back. I was slightly disappointed it's taken this long for the film to reach my neck of the woods as I've heard nothing but great things and completely adored their aforementioned collaboration (The Descendants was my second favorite film of 2011). It isn't easy to tell early on what the appeal of the film might be. It is slow to start and almost irritating the way in which each character is so adherent to the dominating characteristics given to them by the script. Whether it be Steve Carell's prickly dirtbag Trent or our protagonist Duncan (Liam James) who not only doesn't stand up to his moms new boyfriend, but doesn't seem willing to try and talk or develop relationships with those who have no ulterior motives. He somehow manages to come across several people willing to open up to him and start a conversation, but it's clear he is simply an awkward kid in his early teenage years reeling from the realization of what a divorce brings with it and is finding it hard to fit in with people who seem to be anything but other objects who will do nothing but eventually let him down as his parents have done. The key to understanding what The Way, Way Back is hoping to achieve is to feel some kind of empathy with Duncan. Like George Clooney's Matt King in The Descendants Duncan is coming to terms with a kind of tragedy and trying to learn from it, eventually discovering that he's been missing out on a lot in life and that it's now time to make up for lost time and go on from this point with a different perspective with hopes of being who he wants to be and not what others necessarily expect from him. It is a classic coming-of-age story we've seen countless times before, but seeing as each and every single person goes through this process (to some degree) it is a story we can all latch onto. How well the story is executed is what makes trying to capture nostalgia on screen successful or not and The Way, Way Back just happens to be very well executed.

PAIN & GAIN Review

I've never been on the Michael Bay bashing train and certainly don't plan to start now as his latest, "smaller" film is likely the most interesting piece of work he will ever put to film. Interesting being the key word here as the story Bay has chosen to recount is one of the most outlandish and absurd truths that has also likely even been put to film. I have been highly anticipating Pain & Gain if not for the chance to see the now solidified movie star of Mark Wahlberg make his next move as well as watching Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson continue to skyrocket towards superstar status, but for the opportunity to see Bay stretch his visual (and maybe even storytelling) muscles with something other than big CGI robots. It has been nearly six years since the first Transformers film and in the time that Bay has delivered two sequels he has also had the growing ambition for this kind of passion project and that comes through in the execution and style with which Pain & Gain is delivered. There have already been some pretty heavy accusations and criticisms of the film thrown out and while I can understand where some of these are coming from in regards to the family of the deceased feeling this is making light of their family members deaths, the film certainly isn't glorifying the main characters and if anything, the source of the comedy comes from how stupid and incompetent these lead protagonists are in their dim-witted schemes. There are plenty of words being thrown around like homophobic or misogynistic to describe the director and his film yet it has always been clear the world these characters lived in was a world of strippers and bodybuilders who'd do anything for their physique yet likely oppose anything even the least bit gay. Those complaints are rendered mute by the fact those attributes are what create the atmosphere and the actions of the characters are so off-putting and the story so strange that it is also becomes extremely engaging.

WARM BODIES Review

I've never been one to love the zombie genre and I certainly haven't yet bought into the recent zombie and vampire craze but Warm Bodies might have converted me, at least partially. I was intrigued by this project from the beginning, by its director, its cast, and the way it was going to convey its story. Despite obviously cashing in on the recent rush of these films centering around the undead this one subverts the genre by allowing us a different perspective on the usual story of people running, hoping not to get bit by those already infected from their fellow human beings who've been transformed into the lifeless, soulless zombies that are not the enemy in Warm Bodies, but the protagonists.  There is certainly no lack of invention here as that director, Jonathan Levine (The Wackness, 50/50) who allows the quaintly paced story to unfold with the right amount of smart quips and dialogue as well as strong character development so that when the slightly cheesy, but inevitable conclusion does come around it doesn’t feel quite as cheesy or inevitable as you imagined it might be when you first sat down for the film. This was the first movie of the year I was genuinely excited to see and though I had good to strong expectations it still managed to meet almost all of them as I appreciated the films refreshing take on an extremely tired genre and the directors willingness to not let his film devolve into typical horror movie clichés, and even better, the romantic comedy conundrum of drawing on those romantic moments from overly familiar situations but instead lets his original take on the zombie tale influence an original tale of sweet love.

First Trailer for Michael Bay's PAIN AND GAIN

There are hoards upon hoards of cinema lovers that absolutely despise Michael Bay and all that he stands for. Personally, I think the guy has a great eye even if that eye sometimes picks from obvious sources. Still, what director doesn't do this? Bay's choices are just picked more extensively due to the serious level of hate the guy receives. That aside, he still pulls in a ridiculous amount of box office on the majority of his films. Even before the Transformers franchise the guy made Armageddon, The Bad Boys films, and Pearl Harbor. Granted the quality of these films can be easily disputed but their popularity cannot. In making his first non-robot film since 2005's The Island Bay has tapped a bizarre true story based on a series of 1999 articles written by Pete Collins, a reporter for the Miami New Times. The story centers on two bodybuilders who engage in a campaign of kidnapping, extortion and murder in Florida. This was described as Michael Bay's "small film" and I guess that rings true when applied to such a director but there is nothing about this trailer that makes it feel at all small (the films budget is a reported $22 million). There is a fine element of black comedy going on here and there is no mistaking the visual style of Bay. All in all I am really excited to see this film and hope it will knock some of the naysayers off the filmmakers back. I know this isn't exactly a complete turn around for the guy, but hey, there are only two explosions in the trailer. The film stars Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie, Rob Corddry, Ed Harris, Rebel Wilson, John Tuturro and hits theaters April 26, 2013.