Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill (2020)

Genre: Comedy

Directed by: Joe DeMaio

Starring: Jerry Seinfeld

Running time: 60 minutes

Live on the stage of the Beacon Theatre, in New York City, Jerry Seinfeld entertained the capacity crowd discussing such topics as cell phones and texting, getting married later in life, family life and much more. He was more active and physical on stage here that I have ever seen him before. The material was really good. A few weaker spots, but, overall, it was a tight set that had me laughing quite a bit.

Rating: ««««

Olivier Martineau (2017)

Genre: Franco / Comedy

Réalisateur: Olivier Martineau

Distribution: Olivier Martineau

Durée: 90 minutes

Dans son premier spectacle, l’humoriste québécois Olivier Martineau n’épargne personne. Il égratigne tout le monde, en grattant tous les travers de la société qui le laissent perplexe. Cela dit, il ne s’épargne pas lui-même non plus, jetant un regard moqueur sur ses propres bibittes.

J’ai retrouvé le DVD de ce spectacle dans mes affaires et je suis bien content de l’avoir regardé. C’est du solide d’un bout à l’autre, j’ai vraiment ri d’un bout à l’autre. J’aime beaucoup le style de Martineau. C’est rythmé et punché.

Rating: «««««

The Man with the Iron Fists (2012)

Genre: Action

Directed by: RZA

Starring: RZA, Russell Crowe, Cung Le, Lucy Liu, Dave Bautista

Running time: 111 minutes

A blacksmith that came to 19^th century China from elsewhere finds himself stuck in the middle of a violent war between various factions of warriors. It is a war he will have no choice but to participate in.

This film is an attempt at a tribute to kung fu movies. In spite of a loaded cast, it misses the mark in my book. The story is a mess, where you keep trying to guess who’s who and what is the point of it all. There are a few glimmer of hopes through it, but, alas, a good movie it does not make.

Rating: ««

Fabien Cloutier: Assume (2018)

Genre: Franco / Comedy

Réalisateur: Fabien Cloutier

Distribution: Fabien Cloutier

Durée: 90 minutes

Après avoir fait du théâtre et après avoir joué divers rôles à la télévision et au cinéma, l’auteur et comédien Fabien Cloutier a décidé d’écrire et de présenter un spectacle d’humour dans lequel il s’attarde aux petits travers de la société. Il avoue jugé certaines personnes et il décrit en long et en large ses manies de celles-ci. Au passage, il n’épargne personne.

J’ai bien apprécié ce spectacle, dans lequel Cloutier passe avec talent du coq-à-l’âge tout en gardant sa verve et sa parlure bien à lui. Le rythme est rapide, et tout au long, j’ai souvent ri de bon cœur. Il y a eu quelques moments plus faibles, mais, somme toute, c’était un très bon spectacle d’humour.

Rating: ««««

Death Race (2008)

Genre: Action / Thriller

Directed by: Paul W.S. Anderson

Starring: Jason Statham, Tyrese Gibson, Ian McShane

Running time: 111 minutes

Jensen Garner Ames is falsely convicted of the murder of his wife. He is sent to Terminal Island, a privatized prison where some prisoners are recruited to participate in a three days Death Race where the winner has a chance to be set free. Ames is forced by sadistic prison warden Claire Hennessey to take part in the race, assuming the identity of Frankenstein, a popular masked driver that was killed in a previous race.

This is a remake of Roger Corman’s Death Race 2000. It is an action pack explosion fest, typical of most of the movies starring Jason Statham. The story is compelling in the sense that it is easy to root for the hero and to despise the villains. The character traits are so caricatural, it is a little funny. The plot itself is pretty thin and many twists are not very logical, bur, with a good dose of suspension of disbelief, you can be entertained.

Rating: «««

Les Boys 2 (1998)

Genre: Franco / Comedy

Réalisateur: Louis Saia

Distribution: Marc Messier, Rémy Girard, Patrick Huard

Durée: 120 minutes

Après avoir enterré un des leurs, Léo Labine, décédé dans un accident de barbecue, Les Boys s’envolent pour Chamonix, en France, afin de participer à un tournoi international de hockey. Un grand choc culturel les attend de l’autre côté de l’Atlantique.

Même si une petite part de la magie du premier film s’est envolée avec cette suite, cette deuxième mouture de la série est tout de même très drôle. Elle contient son lot de moments marquants qui auront marqué la parlure d’ici.

Rating: ««««

Magic Mike (2012)

Genre: Comedy / Drama

Directed by: Steven Sodebergh

Starring: Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matt Bomer

Running time: 110 minutes

Mike Lane has big business aspirations, but, for now, he makes a living working odd jobs and stripping for a male strippers group in Florida. On a construction job, Mike meets Adam, a 19-years-old college dropout living with his sister. Mike brings Adam into his world, where the young man may easily lose control.

Watched this one with the wife over the weekend, and I must say that it is not a bad movie. Beyond the obvious offer of flesh for the ladies and for the men into that kind of thing, there is a smart and compelling story about the impact a world of debauchery can have on one’s life. Since the new thing in Hollywood seems to be to remake films with all female casts, I think this one should definitely be considered for that.

Rating: ««««

Les Boys (1997)

Les Boys (1997)

Genre: Franco / Comedy

Réalisateur: Louis Saia

Distribution: Marc Messier, Rémy Girard, Patrick Huard

Durée: 107 minutes

Les Boys sont une équipe de hockey dans une ligue de garage. Leur entraîneur, Stan, se voit contraint de mettre sa brasserie en jeu dans une partie de hockey contre une équipe rassemblée par Méo, à qui Stan doit une forte somme perdue au poker.

J’adore ce film, qui peut compter sur une distribution très talentueuse pour livrer une comédie simple mais bien ficelée à l’écran. Cette œuvre aura marquer le cinéma québécois avec une série de moments et de répliques savoureuses que les gens continuent à se remémorer plus de deux décennies plus tard. La trame sonore n’est pas piquée des vers non plus.

Rating: «««««

Sebastian Maniscalco: Why Would You Do That? (2016)

Genre: Comedy

Directed by: Joe DeMaio

Starring: Sebastian Maniscalco

Running time: 63 minutes

Live from the Beacon Theatre, Sebastian Maniscalco delivers his usual energetic set, loaded with mimicry and facial expressions. He discusses such topics as family, annoying neighbors and Whole Foods. Maniscalco is a little too expressive in his delivery for my particular taste, where he punctuates every punch line with tons of movements, but his material is very solid.

Rating: ««««

Salt (2010)

Genre: Action / Thriller

Directed by: Phillip Noyce

Starring: Angelina Jolie, Live Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor

Running time: 104 minutes

After being held hostage and finally being released, CIA operative Evelyn Salt is being suspected to be a Russian spy. So she goes on the run in an ultimate quest to clear her name.

This is a fun action/thriller film with lots of action and a good dose of fight. The plot is a little silly and predictable, but that is to be expected with this type of film. It was entertaining for what it was meant to be.

Rating: «««

Good Will Hunting (1997)

Genre: Drama / Author’s Favorites

Directed by: Gus Van Sant

Starring: Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck

Running time: 126 minutes

Will Hunting is a self-taught genius from South Boston with a difficult childhood who works as a janitor at MIT and spends his evenings drinking with friends and getting into fights. After Will solves a complicated math question left on a board in a hall at MIT, Professor Lambeau tries to get him on the right track by working with him and having him see a psychiatrist to work through his issues.

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck wrote this film together. Thanks to a riveting storyline and some brilliant acting, this is a beautiful gem of a film. I have seen it again and again and I still love it. Watching it now makes me miss Robin Williams so much. With the right material, he could be so brilliant.

Rating: «««««

Cracked Up: The Darrell Hammond Story (2018)

Genre: Documentary

Directed by: Michelle Esrick

Starring: Darrell Hammond

Running time: 95 minutes

Darrell Hammond is known around the world as a long-time Saturday Night Live cast member and as an extraordinary impersonator. But his traumatic childhood has led him to a variety of self-destructive behaviors and to years of therapy. Out of that came a book, conferences, a stage show and now a movie.

This was such an interesting film about a man about whom I knew too little. I have always appreciated the man’s knack for impersonations, but I found it compelling to learn about the man himself. What a story! Now, I want to read his book.

Rating: «««««

The Ugly Truth (2009)

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Directed by: Robert Luketic

Starring: Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler, Eric Winter

Running time: 93 minutes

Abby Richter is the producer of a morning television show in Sacramento, Calfornia. In an effort to boost the ratings, her bosses hire Mike Chadway to bring his local TV show “The Ugly Truth” as a part of the morning broadcast on their station. Mike’s cynicism about relationship clashes from the get-go with Abby’s view of things.

This is your run-of-the-mill romantic comedy where two people that are totally opposites start to fall for each other. In terms of freshness, this is nothing new. It is not without charm. The two main actors do their best and are believable in their respective roles. This is an okay film if you want something light.

Rating: «««

Chris D'Elia: No Pain (2020)

Genre: Comedy

Directed by: Matt D’Elia

Starring: Chris D’Elia

Running time: 55 minutes

Chris D’Elia took the stage in Minneapolis to discuss his life as a white male, his experience growling at babies and dolphins, among other topics. I had a hard time embarking in D’Elia’s stylings. All the way through, I chuckled once or twice, but I don’t think it ever really made me laugh. Nothing remotely memorable; no real pain, but no real gain either.

Rating: ««

Assassination of a High School President (2008)

Genre: Comedy

Directed by: Brett Simon

Starring: Reece Thompson, Bruce Willis, Mischa Barton

Running time: 93 minutes

Robert Funke is a high school sophomore who dreams of being taken seriously as an aspiring journalist, with the hope of moving on to Northwesten University’s summer journalism program. When his article about a scandal involving the high school president gets published in the school paper, it creates a chain reaction with many ramifications.

This neo-noir comedy did not do much for me. I found the plot and the characters mostly uninteresting. I stayed all the way through. The twist at the end was well done, but it still did not make what came before a good movie in my book.

Rating: ««

The Platform (2009)

Genre: Horror / Thriller

Directed by: Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia

Starring: Ivan Massagué, Antonia San Juan, Zorion Eguileor

Running time: 94 minutes

This Spanish film is set in a tower-style vertical self-management center, with two persons on every floor. Every month, people are put to sleep and moved randomly to a different floor. Every day, a platform comes from the top with loads of food on it and moves from floor to floor. People on the lower levels only have what was left by the people above them, creating hunger and chaos on the lower floors.

I had to see this film, that was lauded in articles as one of the scariest thing seen in recent years. While I did not find it scary, it sure was well done. It is a disturbing look at the classes of people in our society. The filmmakers tried a little too hard towards the end to wax a little poetic, but, all things considered, this is one movie that will stick with me for a while.

Rating: ««««

2 Days in New York (2012)

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Directed by: Julie Delpy

Starring: Chris Rock, Julie Delpy, Albert Delpy

Running time: 96 minutes

In this sequel to 2 Days in Paris, Marion is a French woman living a quiet life in New York City with her son and her new boyfriend Mingus. Their life is turned upside down when they are visited by Marion’s father, her sister and her sister’s boyfriend. It is a culture shock that is bound to leave a mark.

This is a very sweet romantic comedy. Some of the stuff is a little over-the-top, but it all feels very sincere. I have seen people like that, in France and elsewhere. And most people can relate to how it is to meet the in-laws for the first time.

Rating: ««««

Girl On The Third Floor (2019)

Genre: Horror

Directed by: Travis Stevens

Starring: CM Punk, Trieste Kelly Dunn, Tony Kay

Running time: 93 minutes

Don Koch is a former lawyer with many a flaw and he is trying to find a new lease on life by moving into an old house in the suburbs of Chicago with his pregnant wife. Before his wife moves in, Don wants to make all the renovations himself, but he soon finds out that his new home has a past too and some remnants of that past are still hanging around.

I was pleasantly surprised by this one. Former pro wrestler and UFC fighter Phil “CM Punk” Brooks did a good job as the lead character here, considering it was his first experience in a movie. Travis Stevens wrote and directed this film. It is not a perfect offering by any means, but it was very efficient. This one kept me interested, and that was a nice last shot that I never saw coming.

Rating: ««««

The Expendables 3 (2014)

Genre: Action

Directed by: Patrick Hughes

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Antonio Banderas

Running time: 126 minutes

After The Expendables come in conflict with arms dealer Conrad Stonebanks, a co-founder of the group now set on destroying them and a man who was thought to be dead, group leader Barney Ross decides to let go of his team and surround himself with a new gang of people he is not attached to to go for a mission he sees as very deadly for all involved.

Of the three Expendables movies so far, this was my favorite, in large part due to the presence of Mel Gibson as the bad guy Conrad Stonebanks. It was nice to see him again and he did a good job of it. Antonio Banderas was another entertaining presence. There were other additions to the cast, such as Wesley Snipes and Ronda Rousey.

Still not great cinema in any sense of the term, this was still entertaining. It was formulaic and clichéd, but it was fun.

Rating: «««

Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull (2008)

Genre: Action

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Starring: Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen, Shia LaBeouf

Running time: 122 minutes

In this fourth installment of the franchise, Indiana Jones, his former lover Marion Ravenwood and her son Mutt Williams are trying to find a telepathic crystal skull all the while contending with a group of Soviet agents led by Irina Spalko.

Overall, this is a fun action film. Most of the cast does a good job and the plot is interesting. A few plot twists did not make much sense, but, all things considered, I was quite entertained. The on-screen chemistry between Ford, Allen and LaBeouf was quite good, it made for a fun film. It was a nice touch from Spielberg not to go overboard with CGI, considering the technology had evolved since the third installment, so as to remain consistent with the rest of the franchise.

Rating: «««

The Expendables 2 (2012)

Genre: Action

Directed by: Simon West

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li

Running time: 103 minutes

The group of elite mercenaries known as The Expendables are back in action and now they have to counter a French rival mercenary, Jean Vilain, who killed one of their own and is threatening the whole world with deadly weapons.

This is your run-of-the-mill action film, with a fast pace, lots of explosions and lots of fights. This film can count on the usual ensemble cast, along with such guests as Bruce Willis and Jean-Claude Van Damme. It is predictable, but it offers a good dose of decent entertainment.

Rating: «««