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Drunk History
8.5
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TV Show
In each episode, an inebriated narrator, who is played by a comedian joined by host Derek Waters,...
funny comedy drunk history funny history
Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
7.8
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Movie Watch
-As Scott Lang balances being both a Super Hero and a father, Hope van Dyne and Dr. Hank Pym present...
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013)
6.9
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Movie Watch
Seven years after capturing the heart of co-anchor Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate),...
Sarah (7798 KP) rated The Big Short (2015) in Movies
Aug 28, 2017
Does well with a difficult subject
Considering how difficult and complex the subject of this film is, Adam McKay has done a very good job of making this both understandable and entertaining. Yes you do have to think watching this, but they do their best to explain things in a fun manner and it helps that the film is injected with quite a lot of humour. The cast are fantastic and it has a great script. My only criticism is that there are a few bits that are still difficult to understand, and at the end of the day, these guys are the bad guys who profited from the financial crash, and yet you almost find yourself rooting for them.
Lenard (726 KP) rated Vice (2018) in Movies
Mar 21, 2019
Adam McKay directs an anti-hagiography of former Vice President Dick Cheney from his alcoholic says as a Wyoming Lineman to his days revolutionizing the duties of Vice. The cinematic trickery that made The Big Short great are not as potent, such as the on-camera narrator with hidden knowledge and the mid-movie final credit sequence. However, in the beginning of the film is wrapped a very powerful theme. After Dick is arrested for a DUI, Lynne drops a little knowledge on him (a kind of anti-mansplaining) where she tells him how the world works against a strong powerful woman so he has to "step up" and be the man she can't be or she will drop him like a rabid coyote.
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
7.7
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Movie Watch
NASCAR stock car racing sensation Ricky Bobby is a national hero because of his "win at all costs"...
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006) in Movies
Jul 4, 2021
"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 - 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦."
Stupid people doing stupid things, a blistering lampoon of the 2000s brand of American exceptionalism mixed with the male ego. Every male performance in this is (intentionally) of one big man-child, delivering every sentence like a Kindergartener who has to pause to consciously think about each word before he says it - paired with open-mouth, leering looks of misunderstanding where you can physically see the gears shift around in their heads. Ferrell, Baron Cohen, and C. Reilly make a formidable trio of barking caricatures who chew up the scenery until there's nothing left in their collective warpaths. Like most McKay fare it suffers in the third act but everything prior is so goddamn funny, there's hardly ever a full minute that isn't filled with laughter. Few films wear their immaturity on their sleeves so proudly, gotta love it. And Cohen + Ferrell's shared kiss to Pat Benatar's "We Belong"? Come on, that was next level. Adam bro please ditch the surface-level political mock-ups and get another screenplay together with Ferrell, we need you back.
Stupid people doing stupid things, a blistering lampoon of the 2000s brand of American exceptionalism mixed with the male ego. Every male performance in this is (intentionally) of one big man-child, delivering every sentence like a Kindergartener who has to pause to consciously think about each word before he says it - paired with open-mouth, leering looks of misunderstanding where you can physically see the gears shift around in their heads. Ferrell, Baron Cohen, and C. Reilly make a formidable trio of barking caricatures who chew up the scenery until there's nothing left in their collective warpaths. Like most McKay fare it suffers in the third act but everything prior is so goddamn funny, there's hardly ever a full minute that isn't filled with laughter. Few films wear their immaturity on their sleeves so proudly, gotta love it. And Cohen + Ferrell's shared kiss to Pat Benatar's "We Belong"? Come on, that was next level. Adam bro please ditch the surface-level political mock-ups and get another screenplay together with Ferrell, we need you back.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Vice (2018) in Movies
Jan 31, 2019
Adam McKay's attempt to reinvent himself as a sort of non-documentarian version of Michael Moore is not so much a hatchet-job as a machete-job - no, make that a chainsaw-job - on the reputation of Dick Cheney, Vice-Prez under Dubya. Christian Bale vanishes under layers of make-up and the Cheney who emerges is a disturbing, totally unprincipled monster, consumed by the acquisition and use of power, responsible for (amongst other things) the invasion of Iraq and the rise of ISIS. Potentially quite heavy stuff going on, then, but McKay takes care to cheer things up (relatively speaking) by including big performances from Sam Rockwell and Steve Carell, along with a few Monty Python ideas repurposed for this movie.
Highly entertaining in a ghastly sort of way, and illuminating with respect to the twisted logic employed by the Bush administration and the role they played in facilitating the current civic nightmare engulfing the USA. Unlikely to appeal to the Republican base, for obvious reasons, but the film inevitably has some jokes to make about its own liberal bias, too, as well as being smart enough to allow Cheney the chance to justify himself, which he does in a disturbingly persuasive way. Still probably a bit too partisan for its own good, but still very impressive and a lot of fun; thought-provoking too.
Highly entertaining in a ghastly sort of way, and illuminating with respect to the twisted logic employed by the Bush administration and the role they played in facilitating the current civic nightmare engulfing the USA. Unlikely to appeal to the Republican base, for obvious reasons, but the film inevitably has some jokes to make about its own liberal bias, too, as well as being smart enough to allow Cheney the chance to justify himself, which he does in a disturbingly persuasive way. Still probably a bit too partisan for its own good, but still very impressive and a lot of fun; thought-provoking too.
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Don't Look Up (2021) in Movies
Jan 9, 2022
A Brilliant Satire
Satire is a tricky thing to get right, there is a balance between humor and pathos that must be struck in order to drive home the point.
The Netflix Original Satire, DON’T LOOK UP, Directed by Adam McKay (THE BIG SHORT) finds the right line, beautifully.
A send-up of the Climate Change debate (but also, a condemnation of the reaction to the current Global Virus), DON’T LOOK UP has a who’s who of performers that are at the top of their game and delivers a top-notch entertainment that also makes you think.
The plot of the film is simple enough - a PhD Student (Jennifer Lawrence) discovers a “planet killing” comet that is on a collision course with Earth and, joined by her Professor (Leonardo DiCaprio), tries to get the “powers-that-be” to listen to the threat.
DiCaprio (in essence, in the Anthony Fauci role) is superb as the Professor that tries to convince the Politicians about the Science of the threat. His frustration at hitting the brick wall of “political spin” crescendos in an absurdly bravura performance.
Meryl Streep is brilliant (of course) as the President who is more interested in how this situation affects her, politically, than how it affects the populace. She is joined by a sychophantic Jonah Hill (as her son and Chief of Staff). Hill has never been better and understands the nature of this character and mines it for comedic gold.
Cate Blanchette and Tyler Perry are also strong as the Cable News Anchors who are more interested in keeping the conversation “light and fun” and they actually have good “co-anchor” chemistry with each other.
Timothee Chalamet, Mark Rylance, Rob Morgan, Ron Perlman and, yes, Ariana Grande are also strong in smaller, almost cameo, roles.
But the standout star of this film is Jennifer Lawrence as PhD student Kate DiBiasky, the person who discovers the comet (and for whom the comet is named). It is easy to forget just how strong of a performer that Lawrence is but she goes toe-to-toe with Streep/DiCaprio/Blanchette et al and more than holds her own. Her character/performance is the backbone - and conscience - that holds this film together.
Of course, credit for all of this must go to Writer/Director Adam McKay who showed in THE BIG SHORT that he is more than “the comedy Director” of such films like ANCHORMAN and he puts that ability to work, strongly, in this film. He clearly had a vision of what he wanted to put across in this film and straddles the line between humor and seriousness in such a way that no matter what side of the “Global Change” and “Global Pandemic” crisis you are on, you will think that this film skewers you and favors the other side.
Which is the sign of a terrific satire.
Letter Grade: A-
8 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
The Netflix Original Satire, DON’T LOOK UP, Directed by Adam McKay (THE BIG SHORT) finds the right line, beautifully.
A send-up of the Climate Change debate (but also, a condemnation of the reaction to the current Global Virus), DON’T LOOK UP has a who’s who of performers that are at the top of their game and delivers a top-notch entertainment that also makes you think.
The plot of the film is simple enough - a PhD Student (Jennifer Lawrence) discovers a “planet killing” comet that is on a collision course with Earth and, joined by her Professor (Leonardo DiCaprio), tries to get the “powers-that-be” to listen to the threat.
DiCaprio (in essence, in the Anthony Fauci role) is superb as the Professor that tries to convince the Politicians about the Science of the threat. His frustration at hitting the brick wall of “political spin” crescendos in an absurdly bravura performance.
Meryl Streep is brilliant (of course) as the President who is more interested in how this situation affects her, politically, than how it affects the populace. She is joined by a sychophantic Jonah Hill (as her son and Chief of Staff). Hill has never been better and understands the nature of this character and mines it for comedic gold.
Cate Blanchette and Tyler Perry are also strong as the Cable News Anchors who are more interested in keeping the conversation “light and fun” and they actually have good “co-anchor” chemistry with each other.
Timothee Chalamet, Mark Rylance, Rob Morgan, Ron Perlman and, yes, Ariana Grande are also strong in smaller, almost cameo, roles.
But the standout star of this film is Jennifer Lawrence as PhD student Kate DiBiasky, the person who discovers the comet (and for whom the comet is named). It is easy to forget just how strong of a performer that Lawrence is but she goes toe-to-toe with Streep/DiCaprio/Blanchette et al and more than holds her own. Her character/performance is the backbone - and conscience - that holds this film together.
Of course, credit for all of this must go to Writer/Director Adam McKay who showed in THE BIG SHORT that he is more than “the comedy Director” of such films like ANCHORMAN and he puts that ability to work, strongly, in this film. He clearly had a vision of what he wanted to put across in this film and straddles the line between humor and seriousness in such a way that no matter what side of the “Global Change” and “Global Pandemic” crisis you are on, you will think that this film skewers you and favors the other side.
Which is the sign of a terrific satire.
Letter Grade: A-
8 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)