The Jungle Book (2016)

Genre: Family

Directed by: Jon Favreau

Cast: Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Alba

Running time: 106 minutes

Mowgli is a little boy, or man cub, who was picked up by black panther Bagheera after his father was killed in the jungle. Raised as part of a pack of wolves, Mowgli’s presence eventually raised the ire of evil tiger Shere Khan, who promises to kill the man cub at the end of the drought. Mowgli decides to leave his pack to save them from some trouble with Shere Khan. He travels through the jungle to make his way to the man village, where he should find his true home, but he meets affable bear Baloo along the way and makes a friend of him.

Based on Rudyard Kipling’s works, this live-action/CGI version of The Jungle Book does not reinvent the wheel. It is the same old story, told in a very beautiful way. The story is as riveting as ever, with many lessons about life and the relationship between humans and animals, and the cinematography is absolutely spectacular. The visual effects are stunning here, it is breathtaking.

The filmmakers also managed to assemble a great cast of actors to voice the characters and they all did their job superbly. Young Neel Sethi was also very good as Mowgli.

Overall, The Jungle Book is a heartwarming story beautifully told with the help of modern technology, solid voice acting and great directing work.

Rating: «««««

Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979)

Genre: Comedy

Directed by: Jeff Margolis

Cast: Richard Pryor

Running time: 78 minutes

By the end of the 1970’s, comic Richard Pryor had been through many issues with the law due to his drug consumption and his usage of his gun collection, and he had been through some health scares, because of a heart attack, but, when he got on stage in Long Beach, California, in December 1978, the man was in top form.

For more than an hour, Pryor discussed the differences between white people and black people, drugs, guns, dogs, family and many other topics.

If you are offended by the n-word, even when used by an African American, steer away from this show. Pryor uses it so frequently that is soon becomes just another word. Considering the era this show was shot in, it is not that shocking.

Many critics and comics consider Richard Pryor: Live in Concert one of the seminal pieces of the art of comedy. It is indeed a very good show. Richard Pryor was a ball of energy coming straight at the crowd, without hesitation or physical restraint. His stuff here was a little “one-note” for me, but that one note was very strong.

Rating: ««««

Gabriel Iglesias: I'm Sorry for What I Said When I Was Hungry (2016)

Genre: Comedy

Directed by: Manny Rodriguez

Cast: Gabriel Iglesias

Running time: 80 minutes

Gabriel Iglesias AKA Fluffy was back at it again last year, in 2016, with another Netflix special titled I’m Sorry for What I Said When I Was Hungry. In this latest stand-up comedy show, filmed in Chicago, the American comic of Mexican heritage discusses his family, taco trucks, his culture, raising children and much more. My favorite bit remains the follow-up to the racist gift basket routine.

Iglesias is relatively clean in his comedy. Sure, there are a few cuss words here and there, but overall, he is much tamer than many others. Fluffy has a great knack for storytelling. His routine tends to get self-congratulatory at times, which annoys me a bit, but, all things considered, this is another comedy show that made me laugh real hard. Fluffy knows how to pull you into his stories and keep you entertained.

Rating: ««««

Eat, Pray, Love (2010)

Genre: Romantic Comedy / Drama

Directed by: Ryan Murphy

Cast: Julia Roberts, Javier Bardem, Billy Crudup, Richard Jenkins

Running time: 140 minutes

Recently divorced and feeling empty within a new relationship, Elizabeth Gilbert, portrayed by Julia Roberts, decides to take a year-long trip to Italy, India and Indonesia to find herself. This 2010 film is based on Elizabeth Gilbert’s memoirs, published in 2006.

Eat, Pray, Love (the movie) is very beautiful to look at. The scenery is often quite majestic. The eating part of the deal, in Italy, was very inviting, considering I am crazy about Italian food. Unfortunately, the rest of it did not resonate with me in any way.

Julia Roberts was pretty good in her role, and so was Richard Jenkins, but this film was painfully long and there was not enough substance to keep my interest. The story plodded along and felt as empty as the life that inspired the main character to go on that trip. A movie about the search for self through travels could have been pure magic, but it was not so in this case. What we got was a dragged out affair of emptiness and boredom.

Rating: ««

The Heat (2013)

Genre: Comedy

Directed by: Paul Feig

Cast: Sandra Bullock, Melissa McCarthy, Marlon Wayans

Running time: 117 minutes

Sarah Ashburn is an uptight and arrogant FBI Special Agent focused on results and her career. Shannon Mullins is a very effective Boston police officer, but she is crude, rude and rebellious. When the two are forced to work together on a case to bring down a major mobster, sparks are sure to fly.

I liked how the opening and closing credits of The Heat was a clear throwback to the old cop movies. The buddy cop genre has been done to death, with variable success, over the years. What this film lacked in terms of freshness, it made up for it with comedic timing and a good script.

Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy have a solid chemistry on screen and both manage to be very convincing in the respective polar opposite roles. McCarthy is funny and Bullock proves quite talented as the foil. Some of the lines were a little flat, but, overall, this is a very entertaining comedy, with lots of laughs, great physical humor and good action scenes.

Rating: ««««

Passchendaele (2008)

Genre: Drama

Directed by: Paul Gross

Cast: Paul Gross, Caroline Dhavernas, Gil Belows

Running time: 114 minutes

During the First World War, Michael Dunne comes back to Alberta, Canada, from the battle of Vimy Ridge an injured soldier. Diagnosed with neurasthenia, he takes a job at home in the recruitment office. He falls madly in love with Nurse Sarah Mann. When Sarah’s younger brother manages to get himself enlisted in the army in spite of his severe asthma, Michael decides to go back in action to protect him, and ends up taking part of the Battle of Passchendaele, in Belgium.

Paul Gross, who cowrote and directed this film, and who plays the lead role, was inspired by the story of his grandfather, a veteran of the First World War. I totally get what Gross was trying to accomplish, as far as homages are concerned, but the end result was not a very satisfying movie. The dialogues felt fake and forced, and the lines were delivered very woodenly by the cast. As for the sets, they made the whole thing look like a cheap Canadian TV series. The premise itself was interesting, but something was lost in the delivery.

In spite of the good intentions of the filmmakers, Passchendaele is a film that you could easily skip, unless something makes you care enough to suffer through its flaws.

Rating: ««

Looper (2012)

Genre: Science-fiction

Directed by: Rian Johnson

Cast: Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt

Running time: 118 minutes

Time travel was invented in the 2070’s and immediately outlawed. Modern technology being what it is, disposing of dead bodies from murders has become a difficult thing. So, a crime syndicate has found a solution to that problem by sending their victims 30 years in the past to be killed by men they call loopers. Once the time comes for the looper to retire, he kills his future self to close the loop, so to speak. Joe is one of those hired killers, and, when the time comes to kill his future self, the plan goes awry. A massive chase ensues.

I must admit that I found it difficult to get into this film at first. Science-fiction is not my favorite genre. But, by the end, Looper pulled me in. I finally got it. The acting was very good on everyone’s part. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was hard to recognize, as he was made to look like a younger Bruce Willis. Very good makeup job.

The story of Looper is complex, with multiple layers. I will make sure to watch at least a few more times down the line to get a full measure of it.

Rating: ««««

The Other Guys (2010)

Genre: Action / Comedy

Directed by: Adam McKay

Cast: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg

Running time: 116 minutes

Allen Gamble and Terry Hoitz are two police detectives at the bottom of the totem pole in their department, and nobody takes them seriously. When the two star detectives of the department are killed in a freak accident, the positions of top dogs are up for grabs. Forced to work with Gamble after accidently shooting New York Yankee Derek Jeter, Hoitz joins his partner in an investigation on a scaffolding permit violation, but they end up uncovering a much bigger case of fraud.

The Other Guys is a spoof of the buddy-cop genre. When taken as such, it is a pretty good film. Much of the acting is over-the-top and there is a lot of silliness going on, but that was the way it was meant to be.

Overall, some of the jokes in this film made me laugh out loud, while others missed the mark by a lot. Highlights for me were Michael Keaton as Captain Gene (a closet fan of TLC, it seems) and Will Ferrell’s character uttering the words “Hit the chopper” with a very different meaning in mind. The Other Guys is quite entertaining, even if it’s not perfect from top to bottom.

Rating: «««

Dirty Harry (1971)

Genre: Action / Thriller

Directed by: Don Siegel

Cast: Clint Eastwood, Andy Robinson, Harry Guardino

Running time: 102 minutes

Harry Callahan is a police inspector for the San Fransisco Police Department. They call him Dirty Harry because he always ends up with the dirtiest jobs and he rarely plays by the rules. When a serial killer who calls himself Scorpio starts leaving dead bodies and notes behind him, asking for money in exchange for an end to his reign of terror over the city, Callahan springs into action.

This is the first of the five installments in the Dirty Harry franchise. Here, we have Clint Eastwood in top form playing to his strengths, with guns, fights, blood and a few witty words from the protagonist.

Sure, Dirty Harry is not a work of finesse and subtlety. Sure, it might offend some sensitive souls out there with the language (which is on occasion racially-charged) and the depiction of a rough kind of justice. That being said, this 1971 remains a great action film where it is quite easy to root for the main character against a villain trying to use to weaknesses of the system to get his way.

Clint Eastwood was greatly convincing in what he had to convey here. The verbiage was not extensive, but the lines they gave his character were solid. And, Eastwood knew how to deliver that sort of thing. That “Do you feel lucky, punk” spiel is now part of history. The support cast was also very good.

The Bay Area made for a beautiful backdrop for this action film, which has become an ageless classic over the years and which will still keep you on the edge of your seat, if you are watching it for the first time. If not, it is still worth watching again and again.

Rating: «««««

Hemlock Grove (2013-2015)

Hemlock Grove (2013-2015)

Genre: TV / Horror

Starring: Famke Janssen, Bill Skarsgard, Landon Liboiron

Number of seasons: 3

Based on the Brian McGreevy novel of the same name, this is a story of life the fictional town of Hemlock Grove, Pennsylvania, where many secrets are buried. Reigning at the top is the wealthy Godfrey family. The arrival of a new student, Peter Rumancek, and a series of mysterious brutal murders shake things up. Hemlock Grove is a story of vampires, werewolves and such things.

Considering the talented Eli Roth was involved as producer and the intriguing premise, I had some good hopes for this show. Unfortunately, it did not deliver. There were some interesting moments here and there, some cool visuals, but the acting was horrible and the story became a complete mess by the time the third season came around. Very disappointing. Good moral at the end, which is that the monsters are not always those that look scary, but this show can easily be skipped without worrying about missing much.

Rating: ««

Joe Rogan: Triggered (2016)

Genre: Comedy

Directed by: Anthony Giordano

Cast: Joe Rogan

Running time: 63 minutes

Last summer, Joe Rogan took the stage of The Fillmore (San Fransisco) by storm and took no prisoners has he launched into an hour long comedic assault on a crowd that seemed to enjoy every second of it.

In Triggered, Rogan discusses drugs, politics, raising children, Caitlyn Jenner, the Kardashians and the difference between men and women. The American comic does not skate around any issue and he does not stay on the surface; he delves right in, without a single fear of saying things the way he sees them. That is truly refreshing, in this era of political correctness. I particularly loved the way he exposed how we often sacrifice efficiency and quality in the name of equality.

The comedic style of Joe Rogan is right up my alley as a fan. It is edgy, it is raw, it is a little angry; it is roaringly funny. No punches are pulled, which is not surprising considering Rogan is also involved in the world of MMA. I’m sure it will not be everybody’s cup of tea, but, in my book, it deserves nothing but full marks.

Rating: «««««

Dinner for Schmucks (2010)

Genre: Comedy

Directed by: Jay Roach

Cast: Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Jermaine Clement, Zack Galifianakis

Running time: 114 minutes

Tim Conrad works as a mid-level executive in a financial firm and he is hoping to get a big promotion. On the verge of getting there, he is invited to take part in what is being called a Dinner for Winners. The point of the evening is for each person to bring a guest with a special talent to poke fun at them while pretending to find them interesting. Even if his girlfriend finds the whole idea mean and disgusting, Tim still wants to do it, considering the promotion he so desires hangs in the balance. When he accidently hits Barry Speck with his car, Tim finds the perfect loser for his dinner. Speck, an IRS employee, builds various dioramas while using stuffed dead mice as characters as a hobby. Unfortunately for Tim, as soon as Barry comes into his life, he brings chaos along with him.

Dinner for Schmucks is the American adaptation of the French film Le Dîner de Cons, directed by Francis Veber. Honestly, if you haven’t done so already, I would recommend you folks check the original instead of bothering with this version, which manages to suck most of the charm out of Le Dîner de Cons.

It is unfortunate, considering Paul Rudd, Zack Galifianakis and Steve Carell are talented actors. There were a few moments that made me smile or laugh, but, sadly, the magic simply did not operate over the whole thing, especially when you compare to the brilliant original film that inspired this adaptation. And, the Americanized ending felt fake and forced.

Rating: ««

Dana Carvey: Straight White Male, 60 (2016)

Genre: Comedy

Directed by: Marcus Raboy

Cast: Dana Carvey

Running time: 64 minutes

Saturday Night Live alumni Dana Carvey might be in his sixties, but the man most known for his great impressions and zany characters can still deliver a solid show on stage. That is exactly what Carvey did at the Wilbur Theatre, in Boston. The father of the Church Lady discussed politics, music, movies, children, aging and many other topics.

Having always seen Dana Carvey as a comedian that is anything but edgy, I was expecting a show that was frozen in time performed by a man relying on his past successes. I was pleasantly surprised. This show was very fresh and set nicely in 2016. The comedian dared to go into such topics as Trump and Cosby, though he remained on the surface, never getting too wet.

Still, over the course of 64 minutes, I found myself laughing out loud many times. The bit about Lennon and McCartney having a talk between heaven and earth about what the world has come to, with Carvey doing both voices, was a favorite of mine. On the other hand, the Scarface bit was weaker, in my opinion. Overall, this was a very solid comedy special that is well worth watching.

Rating: ««««

Date Movie (2006)

Genre: Comedy

Directed by: Aaron Seltzer

Cast: Alyson Hannigan, Adam Campbell, Jennifer Campbell

Running time: 101 minutes

Julia Jones is a lonely obese woman looking for love. Working at her parent’s restaurant, she serves coffee to a beautiful man and she is smitten with him, but, when her back is turned, he disappears. Desperate and feeling ugly, she sees a consultant, Hitch, who convinces her to go through a physical transformation, Pimp My Ride style, and then be a contestant on The Extreme Bachelor. The Bachelor is the same guy she saw at the restaurant, and they fall in love. But, when the families get together, all hell breaks loose.

Date Movie is one of many spoof films put together to poke fun at various cinema genres. Here, as you will probably guess, we are talking about romantic comedies. Among the movies being spoofed in this 2006 comedy are: My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Hitch, Meet the Parents, Meet the Fockers, Napoleon Dynamite and Wedding Crashers.

Unfortunately, there is nothing really memorable about Date Movie. A decent cast of talented comic actors was assembled, but the material they were given was absolutely putrid. There is a way to make toilet humor funny, but the makers of this film sure did not find it. Skip this one, folks, unless you are starved for punishment.

Rating: «

The Fluffy Movie (2014)

Genre: Comedy

Directed by: Manny Rodriguez

Cast: Gabriel Iglesias AKA Fluffy, Ron White, Tommy Chong

Running time: 101 minutes

The Fluffy Movie starts off with a short film depicting the birth and youth of Gabriel Iglesias (Fluffy), with the help of various actors portraying the young Fluffy and the people in his life. Then, we move on to Iglesias’ act on stage, filmed over the course of two shows, in 2014, in San Jose.

In this comedy show, titled Unity Through Laughter, Iglesias discusses weight loss, kids, technology and family. His bits on the old Nintendo and on finally meeting his father after 30 years were great. As a fellow big man, I found the material on the issue of weight interesting, though it started feeling more like motivational speaking than comedy at times. In the mini-movie that preceded the comedy show, I popped huge for the Hot Rod t-shirt, the presence of Tommy Chong and the reference to Eddie Murphy’s Raw.

Fluffy is a very good storyteller. He has a big positive edge to his material, which sometimes may come off as preachy and motivational, but, overall, there is a lot material to make one laugh here. In spite of a few weaker points, The Fluffy Movie offers a solid comedy show.

Rating: ««««

1:54 (2016)

Genre: Franco / Drama

Réalisateur: Yan England

Distribution: Antoine Olivier Pilon, Sophie Nélisse, Lou-Pascal Tremblay

Running time: 106 minutes

Tim est un bon élève qui a un talent naturel pour la course à pied, mais il a lâché ce sport depuis le décès de sa mère. Maintenant âgé de 16 ans, il est victime d’intimidation du même jeune homme depuis des années et il décide de se mesurer à son bourreau au 800m, avec le but ultime de lui ravir la première place. Toutefois, son adversaire n’a pas l’intention de se laisser faire et il est même prêt à exploiter l’homosexualité cachée de Tim pour arriver à ses fins.

Le scénario et la réalisation de ce film sont quelque peu gros; le spectateur peut clairement voir les ficelles et savoir où le réalisateur veut l’amener. Il y a également de gros raccourcis qui sont pris, surtout dans le développement du personnage interprété par Sophie Nélisse, qui aurait clairement gagné à être étoffé.

Cela étant dit, le message de ce film, qui porte sur l’intimidation, en est un de grande importance. Ce fléau existe depuis belle lurette, mais il prend de l’ampleur depuis l’avènement des réseaux sociaux. J’ose à peine imaginer comment l’intimidation que j’ai subie aurait pu être amplifiée si je la vivais aujourd’hui. Cette œuvre cinématographique coup-de-poing, quoiqu’imparfaite, doit être vue par jeunes et moins jeunes. Un film dur qui vous restera en tête longtemps.

Rating: ««««