Swanner and Judd talk about The Worst of 2017.
Monthly Archives: December 2017
Podcast: SJ 177: Jumanji; Downsizing; Pitch Perfect 3; The Best of 2017
Swanner and Judd talk about Jumanji; Downsizing; Pitch Perfect 3; The Best of 2017.
Pitch Perfect 3
Swanner: After being apart from each other after graduating college, with most of the girls down on their luck, the Bellas decide to join a USO tour and sing together one last time. Once they arrive in Spain, they find out that DJ Khaled is fronting the tour and looking to make one of the acts his new opener, with a chance at a recording contract. All the girls are back together in this third and final installment.
Judd: I was wondering how screenwriter Kay Cannon was going to figure out getting the girls back together. I figured it was going to be a fundraiser for the new Bellas, and they were going to save the town while they were at it. But no, Cannon went bigger than that and had the girls fighting an international criminal (John Lithgow) who also happens to be Fat Amy’s father. It was aca-over the top.
Swanner: I thought it was more about giving everyone a European vacation while filming the movie but the whole thing was filmed in Georgia. It’s the magic of Hollywood. So, the storyline is kind of aca-ful but it’s still funny and the musical number are really good as always. They did focus on Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson more than the rest of the Bellas but I was expecting that. Once again the funniest folks were Gail and John, Elisabeth Banks & John Michael Higgins, the a cappella critics who always offer a hilarious critic of the girls.
Judd: Awful script? Oh please! The only things missing were Ted McGinley and Fat Amy jumping a shark. Neither would have been out of place in this train wreck of a script. Did I enjoy the movie? Sort of. Would I ever see it again? No way. I think it could have been so much better if Cannon would have amped up the absurdity, and director, Trish Sie, would have given the audience a little wink and a nod to recognize that the whole concept was off the rails.
Swanner: They could have also done a Christmas movie where Fat Amy gets visited by three ghost, or finds that she really has had a wonderful life…outside of her gangster father of course. The Christmas soundtrack album would have sold millions. Any of those would have been better, so will this go to my digital library, no. I know I’ll have to watch it again so Sean can see what disappointment looks like but, after that, I’ll never watch it again.
Swanner: 2 stars
Judd: 2 stars
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
Swanner: If you remember, at the end of the original Jumanji, the board game was last seen on a beach in the sand. Well, Alex picked it up and took it home. Disappointed it was a board game, Jumanji was put on the shelf. The one thing Jumanji did best was to conform to it’s surroundings. Realizing Alex liked video games, Jumanji morphed into a video game, but instead of the game coming to you, you go into the game. Before you go into the game you need to pick a character, and once you do, you become that character in the game…think Miss Scarlett or Professor Plum from Clue.
20 years later, 4 teenagers on detention find the video game and are taken to the land of Jumanji. In Jumanji, you have to complete the game before you can leave the game. I must say, the twist of updating the game really works for the film. Once the four teenagers get to Jumanji, they become their characters who are played by Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, and Karen Gillan. Director, Jake Kasdan, keeps the film moving with high speed as one would expect from a good video game. Writers Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Scott Rosenberg, and Jeff Pinkner keep it funny by mostly keeping it real, knowing the way video games work and play.
I didn’t think they would be able to pull off such a good sequel. I honestly thought this was just going to be a reboot of the story. I loved that the actors got to play against type. Johnson playing a nerd, Jack Black playing a 17 year old beauty queen, and Kevin Hart playing a loud, short…well, most of them played against type. Nick Jonas and Bobby Cannavale round out the familiar faces on screen. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle will put a smile on your face and make a wonderful distraction through this holiday season.
Swanner: 3 1/2 stars
The Greatest Showman
Swanner: Loosely based on the life of P.T. Barnum, The Greatest Showman is an original musical that celebrates the birth of show business, and tells of a visionary who rose from a homeless orphan to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation. I went in thinking I was going to get something similar to Moulin Rouge, which would have been fine, but what I got was something much more.
First time director Michael Gracey, along with writers Jenny Bicks, and Bill Condon bring this beautiful story to the big screen. Add to that amazing songs from Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who last year won the Tony (Dear Evan Hansen) and the Oscar (La La Land), make this true story into a full fledged musical extravaganza. The film score left me breathless with it’s powerful anthems, but still produced some lovely ballads about family and friendship.
The cast, lead by Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Zendaya, and Rebecca Ferguson are all fantastic with their strong voices and musical experience, but it’s the freaks that truly make this film sing. The actors playing the unwanted give this film the heart to make us want to see the egomaniac Barnum succeed because his success is theirs. Production design, cinematography, choreography, and costumes are all flawless. This could very well be my favorite film of the year.
Swanner : 4 stars
Downsizing
You never know what you’re going to get walking into an Alexander Payne movie. His movies are either brilliant or rubbish – or, at the very least, extremely divisive. The writer/director that brought us Sideways, The Descendants, and Nebraska, brings us his newest film Downsizing, starring Matt Damon, Christoph Waltz, Hong Chau, and Kristen Wiig. Damon plays Paul Safranek, an occupational therapist who decides to shrink himself down to five inches tall in order to save the planet and live a better life. “Smalls” consume less, allowing them to live in opulence at bargain basement prices, while producing much less waste.
The synopsis is the basic gist of the movie, and also what’s prominently told in the trailers, but the movie is hardly about that. I went into the movie expecting a smart comedy, it is Payne after all, about a couple that loses themselves and their identities after shrinking down and living in a tiny utopia. Wiig is in the movie for about 20 minutes, and the rest of the movie is spent with Damon rediscovering himself as a divorcee in a new town, with an enterprising European neighbor (Waltz), and a Vietnamese refugee (Chau) who was shrunk down against her will by the Vietnamese government. This is not to say I was disappointed with the movie I watched, but some of the audience walked out when they realized it wasn’t going to be a version of Tiny Bridesmaids.
Clocking in at 2 hours and 15 minutes, the movie has plenty of time to cover all the topics Payne felt necessary. The movie speaks of the pitfalls of consumerism, trying to create a new life in an unfamiliar town, exploitation of the poor and working class, and ultimately the downfall and redemption of civilization. While I was never bored, and thoroughly enjoyed the film, there were several times I asked myself, “Where the hell is this thing going?” The end of the film feels abrupt, not Cohen Bros abrupt, but the film finishes with nothing more to say. The point is made, and adding a “Hollywood ending” would have only made the whole journey feel less than genuine.
Judd: 3 ½ stars
Podcast: SJ 176: American Housewife; Modern Family; Fresh Off the Boat; Blackish; The Grand Tour; Darkest Hour; Ferdinand; Star Wars; Wonder Wheel
Swanner and Judd talk about American Housewife; Modern Family; Fresh Off the Boat; Blackish; The Grand Tour; Darkest Hour; Ferdinand; Star Wars; Wonder Wheel.
Wonder Wheel
Swanner: Woody Allen’s new film takes place in a two bedroom apartment in 1950’s Coney Island. The story centers around 5 characters: a carousel carney Humpty (Jim Belushi), his adult daughter, Carolina (Juno Temple), his new wife, Jenny (Kate Winslet) and her lover, Mickey (Justin Timberlake), and Jenny’s firebug son, Ritchie (Jack Gore). Written very much like a play, we first meet Carolina, (who is on the run from her gangster ex-husband) who has come to her estranged father looking for sanctuary. Jenny is very supportive of having Carolina stay with them till she realizes she’s losing Mickey to her stepdaughter.
Allen, who wrote and directed the film, creates a tragic story of a family on the edge of implosion. The film makes reference to Eugene O’Neill, and this feels very much like something O’Neill would have written. The mother going mad while her abusive husband fawns over his daughter, constantly confessing their secrets to each other. Staged mostly in their apartment, with walls and doors made of glass so no one really has privacy, Allen brings out some big performances.
Winslet is outstanding as we watch her slip into madness. Belushi gives a surprisingly dramatic performance, making Humpty someone to fear. Juno Temple adds such a simple innocence to the film, even if her character is really just a gangster’s moll. Timberlake, who also serves as our narrator, plays Mickey a bit understated, considering the over the top performances of the rest of the cast. Cinematographer, Vittorio Storaro, spies on the characters, taking us with him like an eavesdropper, brilliantly lighting scenes to mirror the emotions of the characters. I have to admit I was hoping for a bit more humor in the film because Allen usually isn’t this dark. It’s not one of Allen’s best movies, but certainly is not one of his worst.
Swanner: 2 1/2 stars
Ferdinand
Swanner: The film starts with Ferdinand as a young bull who, after his father does not return from his bullfight, escapes to find himself a better life. Ferdinand finds a new family and is living happily till an incident sends him back to the place he escaped from. Set in Spain, where bullfighting is a cultural event, it’s a bit hard to see this as a story-line for a children’s film, but it does tackle the subject matter gracefully and it shouldn’t be too frightening for most kids.
Much like Coco, it was nice to see a cast of Latin characters giving us a chance to learn more about a culture some Americans won’t know anything about. Director Carlos Saldanha, along with six screenwriters, give a solid story-line, with likable characters that all learn a lesson in the end. The voice actors are quite good as well with John Cena, Jeremy Sisto, Raul Esparza, Bobby Cannavale, and Kate Mckinnon who was outstanding. The film is also bright and beautiful because Ferdinand loves flowers and butterflies which gives animators lots to work with.
As I mentioned before, bullfighting is a strange element to center a children’s story around. They’ve made it a bit scary but a happy ending is guaranteed. As a child I was taken to a bullfight and, as one would expect, it affects me still today. I don’t think anyone watching Ferdinand will have the same response I did, but if your kids are going to be traumatized by Ferdinand’s father not returning, or learning what happens to the bulls when they are no longer needed, then maybe it’s a bit too adult for your child. All in all, Ferdinand is funny and great too look at with an ending to send you home smiling.
Swanner: 3 stars
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Swanner: As a fan of movies, nothing is more satisfying than an audience, breathless with excitement over the opening of a film. No other franchise creates that kind of excitement like the Star Wars series does. I remember standing in a line for the 4:30 pm showing of Return of the Jedi for four hours, and still sitting 5 rows from the screen. I knew it was going to be a once in a lifetime experience, to see the movie for the first time with a fan crazed audience. Seeing The Last Jedi was no let down.
When we last were in a galaxy far far away, Kylo Ren had killed his father, Han Solo, and Rey had found Luke Skywalker. This film starts up where that film ended. The cast is terrific and it really gives hope that the series will continue on no matter what happens. Rian Johnson wrote and directed the film with the mastery of all of the great directors. Know your story, know your audience, and always give them hope that good will ultimately win. Something Ridley Scott has forgotten with the Alien series.
As you can tell, I’m not giving any spoilers in this review. I’ll just let you know that if you’re a fan of these films, you’ll have a great time. As you leave the theater, you’ll probably be buying tickets for another showtime, if they are available, and laughing and crying in the car on the way home. While in the theater, you’ll cheer your favorites, jeer the villains, and always remember the first time you saw The Last Jedi. Star Wars has become an American Institution that parents pass down to their children, and their children will do the same.
Swanner 4 Stars
Swanner & Judd Film Reviews 