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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Spy (2015) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
Ever since Bridesmaids Melissa McCarthy’s film career and popularity has been growing. The success of The Heat made McCarthy the “hot” new Hollywood comic. Though this success has McCarthy in danger of oversaturation with films that feel like mostly unfunny adlib session connected around loosely uninteresting plots like Identity Theft or Tammy. Luckily, Spy is not one of these films.
McCarthy once again teams up with Director/Writer Paul Feig (Bridesmaids/The Heat) and the chemistry of their previous success shows.
To be clear, this film is not the greatest comedy ever, but the fact that there is a clear script and the story knows where it is headed helps keep the experience enjoyable throughout at it progresses. McCarthy is on point as a support agent who becomes field agent to find a nuclear weapon and catch the person responsible for the death of her agent/partner. This film makes fun of all the typical spy film tropes through the fact that our best agent is a large unassuming woman who keeps finding herself in the typical spy situations. She solves each of these situations in her own way which is nice and often hilarious to see.
Additionally, the rest of the cast offer up hilarious delivery across the board, including but not limited to Jason Statham. There are several scenes where Statham steals the show. It is great to see him play a super spy, a character we always see him play, but in a ridiculous over the top hilarious way. It was fun to watch and his chemistry with McCarthy is great. Additionally, Rose Byrne (Neighbors) plays well across from McCarthy as a villain who is sexy, dangerous bitch, who we cannot help like none the less. Her comedy timing works well with McCarthy and the two are great together on screen.
If you are looking to escape the summer heat and you are looking for a laugh, don’t skip out on Spy. So far it is the best of the comedy of the year and it is worth checking out, if not in the theater, then when it is out for home distribution.
McCarthy once again teams up with Director/Writer Paul Feig (Bridesmaids/The Heat) and the chemistry of their previous success shows.
To be clear, this film is not the greatest comedy ever, but the fact that there is a clear script and the story knows where it is headed helps keep the experience enjoyable throughout at it progresses. McCarthy is on point as a support agent who becomes field agent to find a nuclear weapon and catch the person responsible for the death of her agent/partner. This film makes fun of all the typical spy film tropes through the fact that our best agent is a large unassuming woman who keeps finding herself in the typical spy situations. She solves each of these situations in her own way which is nice and often hilarious to see.
Additionally, the rest of the cast offer up hilarious delivery across the board, including but not limited to Jason Statham. There are several scenes where Statham steals the show. It is great to see him play a super spy, a character we always see him play, but in a ridiculous over the top hilarious way. It was fun to watch and his chemistry with McCarthy is great. Additionally, Rose Byrne (Neighbors) plays well across from McCarthy as a villain who is sexy, dangerous bitch, who we cannot help like none the less. Her comedy timing works well with McCarthy and the two are great together on screen.
If you are looking to escape the summer heat and you are looking for a laugh, don’t skip out on Spy. So far it is the best of the comedy of the year and it is worth checking out, if not in the theater, then when it is out for home distribution.
Born to Run
8.0
Rate It
Book
"Writing about yourself is a funny business...But in a project like this, the writer has made one...
Don't Come Crying Home: A Boy's Life in Dr Barnardo's Homes
Book
At age two, one December day in 1943, Eric is handed over to a stranger, the Reverend Brightman. The...
My (Underground) American Dream: My True Story as an Undocumented Immigrant Who Became a Wall Street Executive
Book
What does an undocumented immigrant look like? What kind of family must she come from? How could she...
The Pope of Palm Beach
7.0
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Book
From Florida's king of mayhem--"compulsively irreverent and shockingly funny" (Boston Globe) New...
mystery comedy
The Shelbourne Ultimatum
Book
After his brush with death Ross O'Carroll-Kelly - schools rugby legend, award-winning author and...
Ali A (82 KP) rated Black Buck in Books
Jan 5, 2021
Black Buck follows the story of Darren Vender, an unambitious twenty-two-year-old, Darren lives in a Bed-Stuy brownstone with his mother. He’s happy with his Mom, his long term girlfriend, Soraya, his best friend Jason, and Mr. Rawlings, the man who’s lived on the first floor of his house since before he was born. Darren is even content with just being a shift manager at Starbucks. But his Mom wants nothing more than for Darren to live up to his potential. So when Rhett Daniels, the CEO of Sumwun, New York’s newest tech startup, invites Darren to join the elite team on the thirty-sixth floor, Darren agrees.
Quickly finding out he’s the only Black person in the company and after enduring a “hell week” of training, Darren gets the new name “Buck”, and turns himself into an impressive salesman who becomes unrecognizable to his friends and family. But after a tragic event back home, Buck feels like he hit rock bottom and he begins to make plans to help young people of color make their way into the sales force and it forever changes the game.
This is Mateo Askaripour’s debut novel and what a talent he is! He definitely takes you on a journey that is wild and crazy. This book deals with a lot, the narrator, Buck, puts it all out on the table for the readers to read and experience: racism, gentrification, white privilege, classism, etc.
The story is told with small “notes” from Buck, who is talking to you from a later time. The little notes really make the novel unique and sometimes even funny. There are many characters and many events that keep the story going and growing. You know it’s all somehow going to blow up, because there are so many ways it could, but how it does is the shock.
This book was not what I expected at all and for that I am glad. I will for sure be keeping Mateo Askaripour on my radar for anything he releases in the future.
*Thank you Bookishfirst and HMH Publishing for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
Quickly finding out he’s the only Black person in the company and after enduring a “hell week” of training, Darren gets the new name “Buck”, and turns himself into an impressive salesman who becomes unrecognizable to his friends and family. But after a tragic event back home, Buck feels like he hit rock bottom and he begins to make plans to help young people of color make their way into the sales force and it forever changes the game.
This is Mateo Askaripour’s debut novel and what a talent he is! He definitely takes you on a journey that is wild and crazy. This book deals with a lot, the narrator, Buck, puts it all out on the table for the readers to read and experience: racism, gentrification, white privilege, classism, etc.
The story is told with small “notes” from Buck, who is talking to you from a later time. The little notes really make the novel unique and sometimes even funny. There are many characters and many events that keep the story going and growing. You know it’s all somehow going to blow up, because there are so many ways it could, but how it does is the shock.
This book was not what I expected at all and for that I am glad. I will for sure be keeping Mateo Askaripour on my radar for anything he releases in the future.
*Thank you Bookishfirst and HMH Publishing for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Iron Man 3 (2013) in Movies
Sep 27, 2020
Full disclosure - I hated Iron Man 3 upon release. As a kid, growing up and reading Marvel comics, I was so excited to finally see The Mandarin bought to life, with Ben Kingsley of all people in the role. So when the Mandarin twist hit just over halfway through the runtime, it annoyed me so much that I just couldn't enjoy the rest of the film.
Fast forward a few years and I can just about look past it and find the positives in this threequel.
There's a lot less Iron Man this time around, and a lot more Tony Stark. This isn't an issue though as luckily Robert Downey Jr. is reliable as ever further proving why Iron Man has become the face of Marvel Studios.
There's also a lot of emphasis on his relationship with Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow), which is a great aspect of this movie. It really drills home how human Tony's story is, even with all the crazy tech flying around.
An issue I do have with Iron Man 3 is the villains however. Marvel Studios are still balls deep in the habit of having boring bad guys at this point, and Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) is unfortunately another underwhelming antagonist to add to the pile (although I can appreciate that Shane Black didn't resort to another evil-person-in-an-Iron-Man/hero-suit, an issue that seems to plague these movies).
I like Guy Pearce generally, and he's doing his best to ham it up, but it just lands flat and severely de-rails the film as a whole.
Ben Kingsley is great as usual. It's not his fault that the writers fucked with The Mandarin so much, and he works wonders with what he's given.
Iron Man 3 does boast some decent set pieces. Tony's home being blown to shit is a highlight, and the finale is pretty fun and aestheticly fan pleasing with the House Party Protocol. The CGI is near flawless, even 7 years later.
Overall then, not the worst of the bunch but certainly not in the top 50% (for me anyway) but still an important part of the overarching MCU narrative.
Fast forward a few years and I can just about look past it and find the positives in this threequel.
There's a lot less Iron Man this time around, and a lot more Tony Stark. This isn't an issue though as luckily Robert Downey Jr. is reliable as ever further proving why Iron Man has become the face of Marvel Studios.
There's also a lot of emphasis on his relationship with Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow), which is a great aspect of this movie. It really drills home how human Tony's story is, even with all the crazy tech flying around.
An issue I do have with Iron Man 3 is the villains however. Marvel Studios are still balls deep in the habit of having boring bad guys at this point, and Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) is unfortunately another underwhelming antagonist to add to the pile (although I can appreciate that Shane Black didn't resort to another evil-person-in-an-Iron-Man/hero-suit, an issue that seems to plague these movies).
I like Guy Pearce generally, and he's doing his best to ham it up, but it just lands flat and severely de-rails the film as a whole.
Ben Kingsley is great as usual. It's not his fault that the writers fucked with The Mandarin so much, and he works wonders with what he's given.
Iron Man 3 does boast some decent set pieces. Tony's home being blown to shit is a highlight, and the finale is pretty fun and aestheticly fan pleasing with the House Party Protocol. The CGI is near flawless, even 7 years later.
Overall then, not the worst of the bunch but certainly not in the top 50% (for me anyway) but still an important part of the overarching MCU narrative.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated The Edge of Seventeen (2016) in Movies
Jul 12, 2019
Growing up is hard to do especially when your seventeen. When something bad happens it is easy to feel like it’s the end of the world. That’s why “The Edge of Seventeen” is such a great coming of age story with relatable characters.
The film opens with Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld), a uniquely dressed junior in high school who in a rush plops down in front of her English teacher (Woody Harrelson) to forewarn him of her impending suicide. While he is frustrated with her barging in and interrupting his lunch he shares that he was just in the process of writing his own suicide note and thus a sort of friendship is born. We are then flashed back into the past to Nadine’s childhood.
There we meet Nadine’s older brother (Blake Jenner) the “favorite” child at least in their scattered brained mothers (Kyra Sedgwick) eyes. We also meet her best and only friend Krista. After a night of partying Nadine ends up finding Krista in bed with her brother. Feeling like she has been betrayed by her bestie, she gives Krista an ultimatum.
Either she chooses their friendship or her out of control hormones for her brother. Her brother wins yet again and this is where she is forced to find herself in all of the mess that is happening. This however can’t be done without the adorkable boy helping her along the way.
While I am an only child, I found myself relating to Nadine so much. She is portrayed in such a way that is not becoming as annoying as teenagers often are portrayed or as her teacher (Harrleson) may think she is. Steinfeld has done this perfectly with this role.
She has been in a couple of films since her breakthrough roll as Mattie Ross but I think this one might be my favorite film she has done so far. Harrelson continues to impress with his performance as her teacher and I think in the end they help each other out. The film reminds me of an eighties John Hugh’s flick except for millennials. I definitely recommend seeing this film for a good laugh and to bring yourself back to those good old high school days.
The film opens with Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld), a uniquely dressed junior in high school who in a rush plops down in front of her English teacher (Woody Harrelson) to forewarn him of her impending suicide. While he is frustrated with her barging in and interrupting his lunch he shares that he was just in the process of writing his own suicide note and thus a sort of friendship is born. We are then flashed back into the past to Nadine’s childhood.
There we meet Nadine’s older brother (Blake Jenner) the “favorite” child at least in their scattered brained mothers (Kyra Sedgwick) eyes. We also meet her best and only friend Krista. After a night of partying Nadine ends up finding Krista in bed with her brother. Feeling like she has been betrayed by her bestie, she gives Krista an ultimatum.
Either she chooses their friendship or her out of control hormones for her brother. Her brother wins yet again and this is where she is forced to find herself in all of the mess that is happening. This however can’t be done without the adorkable boy helping her along the way.
While I am an only child, I found myself relating to Nadine so much. She is portrayed in such a way that is not becoming as annoying as teenagers often are portrayed or as her teacher (Harrleson) may think she is. Steinfeld has done this perfectly with this role.
She has been in a couple of films since her breakthrough roll as Mattie Ross but I think this one might be my favorite film she has done so far. Harrelson continues to impress with his performance as her teacher and I think in the end they help each other out. The film reminds me of an eighties John Hugh’s flick except for millennials. I definitely recommend seeing this film for a good laugh and to bring yourself back to those good old high school days.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Judy (2019) in Movies
Oct 2, 2019
Judy, is the biopic based on the stage play “End of the Rainbow” which chronicles Judy Garland’s five week run in 1968 London, at The Talk of the Town Nightclub. Ms. Garland, one of the victims of the old Hollywood studio treatments that contributed to her tragic upbringing.
The ever malleable Renee Zellweger embodies Judy Garland throughout this film. Ms. Garland’s physical affectations are translated to the screen so much that we are transported , convinced that she is Judy. Yet, there are a couple of moments where the mask slips and we see Ms. Zellweger instead .
The film begins with Judy working, doing a show at an event and being paid very much less than she has in the past. She is uninsurable, unreliable and absolutely inconsistent. Her lifelong habits have taken most of who she was and she keeps getting up every time to keep fighting.
She also has custody of her two kids, Lorna and Joe Luft. She does not have a place to call home to provide a stable environment for the children. Their father Sid Luft is challenging custody and Judy has provided enough fodder to have custody of her children revert to their father. Her intent is to be a good mother, as opposed to the parent she had growing up.
Flashbacks are cut in throughout the movie, showing her on the set of the Wizard of Oz with Louis B. Mayer, at a movie set where they film a choreographed birthday party for Judy.
We are shown how terribly manipulative and cruel the studio system was towards the actresses back then. The pills, starvation, demands, and gaslighting had created the person that was Judy.
The movie is about the tragedy that was Judy Garland’s life. However, there are many points of light in her life and we are shown that in the movie. Judy is definitely a film blanketed with the shadows of sadness from her life.
The transition of Zellweger to Judy who explained had a distracting flaw that I struggled with. Ms. Zellweger has a pleasant voice, but she is not Ms. Garland who’s lovely voice with rich timbre is beautifully unique.
Very dramatic film, such a transformative performance by Renee Zellweger.
The ever malleable Renee Zellweger embodies Judy Garland throughout this film. Ms. Garland’s physical affectations are translated to the screen so much that we are transported , convinced that she is Judy. Yet, there are a couple of moments where the mask slips and we see Ms. Zellweger instead .
The film begins with Judy working, doing a show at an event and being paid very much less than she has in the past. She is uninsurable, unreliable and absolutely inconsistent. Her lifelong habits have taken most of who she was and she keeps getting up every time to keep fighting.
She also has custody of her two kids, Lorna and Joe Luft. She does not have a place to call home to provide a stable environment for the children. Their father Sid Luft is challenging custody and Judy has provided enough fodder to have custody of her children revert to their father. Her intent is to be a good mother, as opposed to the parent she had growing up.
Flashbacks are cut in throughout the movie, showing her on the set of the Wizard of Oz with Louis B. Mayer, at a movie set where they film a choreographed birthday party for Judy.
We are shown how terribly manipulative and cruel the studio system was towards the actresses back then. The pills, starvation, demands, and gaslighting had created the person that was Judy.
The movie is about the tragedy that was Judy Garland’s life. However, there are many points of light in her life and we are shown that in the movie. Judy is definitely a film blanketed with the shadows of sadness from her life.
The transition of Zellweger to Judy who explained had a distracting flaw that I struggled with. Ms. Zellweger has a pleasant voice, but she is not Ms. Garland who’s lovely voice with rich timbre is beautifully unique.
Very dramatic film, such a transformative performance by Renee Zellweger.