The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990-1996)

Genre: TV / Comedy
Starring: Will Smith, James Avery, Janet Hubert, Alfonso Ribeiro

Number of seasons: 6

Will Smith (the character) is a street smart kid from West Philadelphia who gets in trouble at home, so his mom sends him to live with his wealthy aunt and uncle. in Bel-Air, California. Aunt Viv and Uncle Phil have three kids of their own, and the differences between Will and his three cousins clash humorously as they learn to live together.

Watching the reunion special made me feel like revisiting this favorite show of mine from my teenage years. I have seen those episodes over and over, but it was sweet to revisit. Lots of laughs, some touching moments, great cameos and some classic moments that have endured the test of time and are now part of popular culture. Even the ending of the show was well done, and that is a feat in itself. I absolutely love this show.

 

Rating: «««««

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

 Genre: Superhero
Directed by: Anthony and Joe Russo
Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans 

Running Time: 149 minutes

 

The Avengers and The Guardians of the Galaxy team up together to try to prevent Thanos from collecting the six Infinity Stones that would make him all powerful and kill half of the population of the universe.

While this film is well done visually, and some of the liners made me laugh, it was simply too much. Too many characters and storylines thrown together. It felt like an attempt to throw everything at the wall to see what would stick. And, man, did Bruce Banner’s character was annoying in this one. He came off so wimpy, as himself and as Hulk.

Rating: ««

Casual (2015-2018)

Genre: TV / Drama / Comedy
Starring: Michaela Watkins, Tommy Dewey, Tara Lynne Barr 

Number of seasons: 4

 

As the show starts, Valerie, a successful but recently divorced therapist, and her rebellious teenage daughter Laura, move in with Valerie’s younger brother Alex, the co-founder of a dating website. Still plagued by a complicated childhood, Valerie and Alex have a hard time moving on in life.

This is a very interesting and well written show with well developed complex characters. There were a few times where the story felt rushed to reach a conclusion, but overall it was very compelling. Good acting work from the main cast, and from the support cast.

 Rating: ««««

Rush Hour (1998)

 Genre: Action / Comedy
Directed by: Bret Rattner
Cast: Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Tzi Ma
Running Time: 98 minutes

 

After the young daughter of a Chinese diplomat is kidnapped in Los Angeles and held for ransom, the FBI hires LAPD detective James Carter to “babysit” inspector Yan Naing Lee, a friend of the diplomat’s family coming from Hong Kong to investigate the matter, in the hope of keeping him out of the way.

This action comedy is a very entertaining buddy cop movie where two cops totally different from one another learn to work together. The formula is old, but this film managed to make it fresh enough to make you want to watch. The chemistry between Chan and Tucker was clear and evident. A lot of fun.

Rating: ««««

The War with Grandpa (2020)

 Genre: Comedy
Directed by: Tim Hill
Cast: Robert De Niro, Uma Thurman, Rob Riggle 

Running Time: 94 minutes

 

Ed Marino is an aging widower who moves in with his daughter’s family after getting in trouble at a grocery store. He takes his grandson’s room. Not happy about that, the boy declares war on his grandpa, and things escalate quickly.

This is a very light comedy that should have been so much better considering the cast involved. I mean, on top of De Niro and Thurman, there are cameos by the likes of Christopher Walken, Cheech Marin and Jane Seymour. There are quite a few moments of laughter throughout, but the whole piece felt uneven, uninspired and misguided. It was also heavy on moralising at the end. In terms of subtlety, it was anything but.

In spite of the evident flaws, I will give a passing grade for the ensemble cast and the entertaining bits and pieces.

Rating: «««

Picasso Trigger (1988)

Genre: Action
Directed by: Andy Sidaris
Cast: Steve Bond, Dona Speir, Hope Marie Carlton 

Running Time: 99 minutes

 

A crime lord seeks revenge on the agents that killed his brother by starting a massive hunt around the world to kill them all. After a few of them are killed, the remaining agents gang up together the stop the evil man in his quest.

A fellow cinephile mentioned the Andy Sidaris films to me, and I went out looking for the first I could find. As expected, it is cheesy sexploitation at its best. Pointless nudity, dumb storyline, cheesy action, lame fight scenes and all. But it is still entertaining to witness, in its badness.

Rating: ««

The Last Blockbuster (2020)

Genre: Documentary
Directed by: Taylor Morden
Cast: Sandi Harding, Kevin Smith, Adam Brody 

Running Time: 86 minutes

 

This documentary film details the rise and fall of the Blockbuster video rental business, that had 9,000 stores around the world at one point. Now there is one left, in Bend, Oregon, that remains open to customers, even through the pandemic.

This was a compelling documentary that made me quite nostalgic for the long gone days of actually going to a specific location to rent movies. It was cool to hear from people involved in the Blockbuster business and from other cinephiles such as myself.

The filmmakers did try a little too hard at times to be funny, with varying degrees of success, but, overall, my nostalgia for the subject matter and the information shared here was enough to make me enjoy this film.

Rating: ««««

Beverly Hills Cop 3 (1994)

 Genre: Action / Comedy
Directed by: John Landis
Cast: Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, Hector Elizondo
Running Time: 104 minutes

 

Axel Foley goes back to Beverly Hills after his boss, in Detroit, gets killed by a gang of criminals. Axel’s investigation in the matter leads him to Wonder World, an amusement park in Los Angeles.

This third and final installment in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise felt like a true rehash. The story was uninspired, with so many nonsensical plot twists, and so was the acting. The filmmakers were relying heavily on that idea of: “Oh shucks, there goes that rebel Axel Foley getting himself in trouble again”. Unfortunately, Eddie Murphy’s character had lost most of its edge here. He was just going through the motions.

A few brief moments made me smile, but the comedic part was not very funny and the action was underwhelming.

Rating: ««

The Accidental Tourist (1988)

Genre: Drama
Directed by: Lawrence Kasdan
Cast: William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Geena Davis 

Running Time: 121 minutes

 

Macon Leary writes travel guides destined for reluctant business travelers, trying to tell them how to avoid the discomforts of being away from home. The loss of his young son has caused him to shut down emotionally and has put his marriage to Sarah on the rocks. Meeting Muriel Pritchett, in an animal hospital, is a breath of fresh air in the dreariness of Macon’s life.

This film is based on the novel of the same name, by Anne Tyler. It is strong on character development. The characters are deeply flawed, but you slowly learn to feel for them. The acting is quite good. It took me a while to catch out to Geena Davis’ character. She seemed over-the-top, but, in the end, that big contrast was needed. A very good character study well worth the effort.

Rating: ««««

The Karate Kid (2010)

Genre: Drama
Directed by: Harald Zwart
Cast: Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan, Taraji P. Henson 

Running Time: 140 minutes

 

Dre Parker is a 12-year old boy moving from Detroit to Beijing with his widowed mom, who is starting a new job in China. In this new location, Dre soon gets bullied by local boys, who are making his life miserable. With the help of mysterious repairman Mr. Han, Dre will learn the art of karate in the hope of sticking up for himself and taking part in a tournament.

This remake/modern update is not without merit, through it lacks the lasting power of the 1984 original. Jaden Smith does a fine job, and so does Jackie Chan, though he doesn’t deliver the same magical teacher figure charisma that Pat Morita did back in the day with Mr. Myagi.

Though this movie is quite long, it also lacks some of the special moments that made such a lasting success out of the original.

Overall, this is a fine, albeit slightly underwhelming, movie.

Rating: «««

Beverly Hills Cop 2 (1987)

 Genre: Action / Comedy
Directed by: Tony Scott
Cast: Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, Brigitte Nielsen 

Running Time: 103 minutes

 

Axel Foley travels back from Detroit to Beverly Hills to help solve a case after his friend, Captain Andrew Bogomil, gets shot and severely wounded by a gang of bank robbers/arms dealers.

While not as fresh and good as the original, this sequel is still a fun action/comedy flick with loads of chases and some laughs. Murphy was still strong enough, in the role of Axel Foley, to carry a thin plot.

Rating: «««

Rebelle (2012)

 Genre: Franco / Drama
Réalisation: Kim Nguyen
Distribution: Rachel Mwanza, Serge Kanyinda, Alain Lino Eli Bastien 

Durée: 90 minutes

 

En temps de guerre civile, Komona, une jeune africaine de 12 ans, est forcée d’assassiner ses parents et elle est ensuite amenée par un groupe de rebelles, qui font d’elle une enfant-soldat.

Ce film dramatique canadien est d’une puissance extrême. Avec l’aide d’une distribution fort talentueuse, le réalisateur, qui est aussi le scénariste, nous raconte une histoire percutante et choquante sans jamais tomber dans l’exploitation du sujet. C’est un fort film qui me restera en tête pour un sacré bout.

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