Jul 10 2015

Minions

Since the dawn of time tiny yellow creatures known as Minions have walked the earth. Driven by a need to serve the most aggressive or mean spirited boss they can find, the Minions have traversed centuries helping in the evil quests of their superiors; now, after a rough stretch of failures and years of isolation the Minions are ready to re-enter the world. Minions Stuart, Kevin, and Bob are released to the world in search of a new big boss, Super villain Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock) might just be the the boss they’re looking for; but just how far will her plans of world domination actually materialize?minions Directed by Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda, this overreaching attempt at fleshing out a 90+ minute screenplay from about 20 minutes of actual plot misses many points on the way up as also the way down. And, sadly the comedic hits per minute count only manages to return on investment marginally; rather, a return to the same wellspring of ideas proves to work on only one aptitude level, low, mom and dad you’re bound to be less enthused with this one, young audiences on the other hand will eat this up. Pass. Minions is rated PG.


Jul 1 2015

Magic Mike XXL

Three years out of the stripper life, broken up with his girl, running his own furniture company Mike (Channing Tatum) is drawn back into the fold with the remaining Kings of Tampa. Their goal, to make one last road trip to Myrtle Beach for the stripper convention, prove they’re still kings, and, figure out what they’re going to do with the rest of their lives– a tall order that will take some special help from some old friends. And, what about the queens to these kings? magicmikexxl Heavily influenced by Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike (2012) Director Gregory Jacobs leans directly on Soderbergh as Cinematographer and Editor for this latest installment maintaining a continuity and feel to the previous film. Although, act one of XXL does seem to languish in character study and plot development and instead leaves more than enough room for pregnant pauses and awkward stares, get on with it already. Meanwhile, almost like a musical on Broadway, the film’s call for dancing, erotic or otherwise often feels forced or shoehorned into the script, ala the Step Up franchise…but then again, we’re here to see dancing so is that wrong? Speaking of the dancing, once again Hip Hop is on top and the work of Stephen Boss and Tatum along with Joe Manganiello is loaded with enough material to raise eyebrows, well played men…well played indeed. But seriously, a montage to set the whole thing up again? A montage? On the positive, Jada Pinkett Smith’s character, Rome, adds a new and interesting dynamic into the world of Male Entertainers, the eyes of a woman. All told, we’re not talking a balanced and nutritious meal, and the film does get off to a slow start, but once aloft, well, please stay safely buckled in for the ride. Date night? Magic Mike XXL is rated R.


Jul 1 2015

Terminator Genisys

John Connor (Jason Clarke), leader of the rebel resistance, sends his right hand man, Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) back in time to the year 1984 with the intention of training and protecting Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke), John’s mother. However, upon arrival, it would appear timelines have shifted, stopping Skynet will take a mind bending and time jumping effort by all players, will humanity ever stand a chance?terminatorGenisys Implausible time travel plot lines that collapse upon themselves from square one, check. Impossible thrills, chills, and spills, check. Chance for Arnold Schwarzenegger to recite some of his most famous lines ever, check. Humans fighting robot and technology enslavement again, check. Ah yes, we must be talking about the latest Terminator film in the Terminator franchise. Never a franchise known for it’s sharp prose or syntax, we’re not challenged this go round either; but, stepping beyond the norm, the possibility of love is a new addition, hackneyed as it is. Cheese Whiz scripting does little to improve the overall film here. Meanwhile, from an action, explosion, boom boom boom perspective, the film does manage to achieve all of its goals, everything does manage to blow up, if only films were screened in 4D with the heat of real Flame Feel to bring you closer to the explosion experience, now there’s a marketing idea, patent pending. To their credit, the CGI wizards that make this film wholly possible have managed to build upon the earlier and already established look of the previous films, plenty of hat tips to kill shots gone by. Still, the film registers on the forgettable scale pretty high, there’s just not enough “new” in this old idea. Matinee or rental? Maybe. Terminator Genisys is rated PG-13.