Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

Genre: Science-fiction / Comedy
Directed by: Stephen Herek
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, George Carlin
Running time: 159 minutes

 

With the help of a mysterious man named Rufus, dim-witted high school students and aspiring musicians from San Dinas, California, Bill and Ted, travel through time to gather various major historical figures for a presentation to their history class.

While the special effects do look very dated, this is still a fun film. The two main cast members are so perfect for their roles, and it is always cool to see George Carlin in anything. Some little details were overlooked, like the fact that the guy playing Napoleon, is clearly not French. In spite of that, I love this movie, with the many good jokes and the various cultural references.

Rating: ««««

Katherine Levac: Grosse (2021)

Genre: Franco / Comedy
Réalisatrice: Chloé Robichaud
Distribution: Katherine Levac
Durée : 51 minutes

 Visiblement enceinte de jumeaux, l’humoriste franco-ontarienne Katherine Levac est montée sur scène devant un petit public afin d’offrir près d’une heure de matériel original en temps de pandémie. Dans ce spectacle, elle parle de sa grossesse, de son poids, de son orientation sexuelle, de sa conjointe, des banques de sperme et de tant d’autres sujets.

D’entrée de jeu, mes attentes étaient basses. Je dois dire que, ces dernières années, mon appréciation de Levac a diminué, après le boom de SNL Québec. Cela dit, elle avait du bon matériel ici. Il y avait des moments plus faibles, mais, somme toute, sans que ce soit génial, c’était divertissant.

Note: «««

Bill Burr: Live at Red Rocks (2022)

Genre: Comedy
Directed by: Mike Binder
Cast: Bill Burr
Running time: 82 minutes

 

Live on stage in Colorado, Bill Burr fills this latest comedy special with material about such topics as cancel culture and the cancellation of dead people, feminists and women’s sports, his family life and his anger issues.

Burr remains one of my favorite active stand-up comic. All the while tackling difficult topics, he does it with such brilliance that I marvel at the way he gets from point A to point B. I guess that it helps that I mostly agree with his views, but, to me, he is among the best of the trade right now.

 

Rating: «««««

Be Kind Rewind (2008)

Genre: Comedy
Directed by: Michel Gondry
Starring: Jack Black, Mos Def, Danny Glover
Running time: 98 minutes

 

Elroy Fletcher is an aging video store owner who is having a hard time keeping his small New Jersey business opened in spite of his claims that jazz pianist Fats Waller was born in that building. As he takes a business trip, he leaves his young employee, Mike, an aspiring movie director, in charge. When Mike’s friend, Jerry, accidently erases the content on all the VHS tapes in the store, the duo decides to shoot shorter homemade versions of the movies they erased.

Looking back at this particular movie around a decade and a half later, I must say that it hasn’t aged so well. It has its moments — few and far between —, but, overall, it is all very silly. Jack Black tries hard, but he is not given much to work with. Danny Glover brings a bit of gusto to the whole thing, but he’s not there enough to help. When it comes to Be Kind Rewind, I would say Be Smart Avoid.

Rating: ««

Elvis (2022)

Genre: Biographical / Musical
Directed by: Baz Lurhmann
Starring: Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge
Running time: 159 minutes

 

This very colorful biographical film chronicles the life of one of the most famous singers of all-time, Elvis Presley, with a particular focus on his complex relationship with manager Colonel Tom Parker.

First off, director Baz Lurhmann is clear to see here, yet again. The colours, the sets, the details; all is there. Austin Butler is really solid as Elvis. He brings him back to life. As for Tom Hanks, what can I say? He is a mater at work. The transformation he accomplished to become Tom Parker is the work of a true talented thespian.

Elvis is a touching film about a talented man who, in spite of all of his faults, had such a positive impact on so many people. By the end, you cannot help feel bad for how he was basically run right into the ground like a dead horse by an unscrupulous manager. I also appreciated how the film made such a big place for the Black musical community, that was such an influence on Presley.

Rating: «««««

Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

 Genre: Animated / Comedy
Directed by: Rich Moore
Starring: John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer
Running time: 99 minutes

 

Wreck-It Ralph, the villain from the arcade game Fix-It Felix Jr., is sick and tired of being a bad guy and of feeling ostracized by the other characters in his universe. Looking for a way to become a hero, Ralph leaves his world for another.

This is a very cute, animated film with a nice little morale. It also serves up a good portion of nostalgia and cultural references, so it is made to appeal to both adults and kids. Visually, it is really well done. All things considered, this is a fun movie.

Rating: ««««

River's Edge (1986)

Genre: Drama
Directed by: Tim Hunter
Starring: Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves, Ione, Skye Lee, Daniel Roebuck
Running time: 99 minutes

 

A group of aimless teenagers living in California must come to term with death and the weight of their own conscience after they find out one of their friends killed his girlfriend in a fit of rage and is now bragging about it.

River’s Edge is a complex film with deep analysis of a very heavy situation that have a major impact on the lives of young people. It pushes you to wonder where you would stand in such a predicament.

The acting here was quite solid, with some actors that were not that well known there. And then, you had Dennis Hopper bringing experience and his own brand of madness to the deal. The story almost lost me at one point, but, in the end, it got where it needed to go.

Rating: ««««

Field of Dreams (1989)

Genre: Fantasy / Drama
Directed by: Phil Alden Robinson
Starring: Kevin Costner, Ray Liotta, James Earl Jones
Running time: 107 minutes

 

Based on the W.P. Kinsella novel titled Shoeless Joe, Field of Dreams tells the story of Ray Kinsella, a man living on his farm with his wife and their young daughter. A voice he hears on his farm urges him to transform part of his cornfield into a baseball field. Once built, the baseball field attracts the ghosts of various deceased members of the Chicago White Socks, including Shoeless Joe Jackson, who are back to play after being banned from the game in the 1920’s.

I had not seen this particular film in years, and I am glad that I revisited it. Sure, it is sentimental and the whole premise seems so weird, but the finished product is so good for the soul. All of the cast was solid, and the story is so brilliantly told. I was hooked from beginning to end even if I knew how it all went.

Rating: «««««

Law Abiding Citizen (2009)

Genre: Action / Thriller
Directed by: F. Gary Gray
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Gerard Butler, Bruce McGill
Running time: 118 minutes

 

Ten years after being forced to witness home invaders kill his wife and his young daughter and seeing the justice system fail in truly punishing the guilty party, engineer Clyde Shelton comes back to seek his own vigilante brand of justice on everybody involved in the case and on the system as a whole.

Sure, the story is far-fetched. Sure, the violence is extreme. But, the magic of this movie to me relies on the great performances offered by Foxx and Butler. This film made me question where I stood on some issues and how I would react in similar circumstances. The ending pissed me off when I first saw the film. This time around, I got it a little more, though I still did not really love it.

Rating: ««««

What Drives Us (2021)

Genre: Documentary
Directed by: Dave Grohl
Starring: The Edge, Flear, Ben Harper, Lars Ulrich
Running time: 88 minutes

 

Singer and musician Dave Grohl met with various people he knows in the music business to discuss life on the road as a rock star, with a particular interest in the widespread use, by bands around the world, of the van to transport its members and their equipment to go from gig to gig.

I love to hear musicians talk about their craft and their life on the road. Rock n’ roll stories have always fascinated me. And this particular documentary has provided me with plenty of that. As such, I absolutely loved it.

Rating: «««««

Gaz Bar Blues (2003)

 Genre: Franco / Drama
Réalisateur: Louis Bélanger
Distribution: Serge Thériault, Gilles Renaud, Sébastien Delorme, Danny Gilmore
Durée : 115 minutes

 

François Brochu est un homme que la vie a rendu vieux avant son temps. Veuf et atteint de Parkinson, il tente tant bien que mal d’opérer une station-service avec ses trois fils. Même si la station-service est le point de rencontre d’un lot de flâneurs, l’entreprise peine à survivre en raison de la situation économique du quartier et de la concurrence des autres stations-services du coin. En plus, les deux plus vieux fils de François Brochu ont peu d’intérêt pour ce travail.

Le travail de la distribution ici est fabuleux, mais le jeu de Serge Thériault est particulièrement remarquable. Il réussit ici à nous faire oublier qu’il a joué du comique toute sa vie. Il est si convaincant en François Brochu, il en est touchant. Que de réalisme. L’histoire est bien ficelée, et on y croit. Pour avoir vécu à divers endroits, je sais que ces types de personnes existent. Il y en a partout.

Histoire touchante, bonne réalisation et bon jeu d’acteurs de tout le monde. J’adore ce film.

Note: «««««

Easy Money (1983)

Genre: Comedy
Directed by: James Signorelli
Starring: Rodney Dangerfield, Joe Pesci, Geraldine Fitzgerald
Running time: 96 minutes

 

Monty Capuletti lives a life of drinking, gambling, irresponsibility and overindulgence. As a condition to inherit his mother-in-law’s money and business, Monty must change his ways and become a better man.

This is a vehicle for the Rodney Dangerfield brand of shenanigans. As such, it is actually quite entertaining, albeit a little silly. It most likely would not work with anybody else in the lead role. It was also nice to see a young Joe Pesci here, along with a much younger Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Rating: «««

Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (2001)

Genre: Comedy / Action
Directed by: Simon Wincer
Cast: Paul Hogan, Linda Kozlowski, Jere Burns
Time: 88 minutes

 

Mick “Crocodile” Dundee and Sue Charlton are now living together in the Australian Outback with their young son. When Sue’s father offers her to become the bureau chef of his newspaper in Los Angeles, the whole family crosses the Pacific to go to LA. Sue picks up on the investigation into a film studio that was started by her predecessor, and, soon enough, Mick decides to get involved the messy ordeal.

This second sequel was not necessary at all. The fish-out-of-water hijinks of the Australian bushman in a different environment was stale at that point. It just felt like a dumb rehash of the same jokes with a small, tiny twist on them. A few moments made me smile or chuckle, but they were very few. The story was pointless. It was basically an excuse to go through the motions. And Jonathan Banks with a shitty accent. Wow.

Rating: ««

Shameless - UK (2004-2013)

Genre: TV / Comedy / Drama
Starring: David Threlfall, Anne-Marie Duff, Annabelle Apsion, Maggie O’Neill
Number of seasons: 11

 

As the show starts, we focus on the dysfunctional Gallagher family, a working class family from a fictional estate in Manchester, England. The patriarch, Frank Gallagher, does more drinking than working, and his eldest kid, Fiona, takes care of the younger ones since the mother left home. As the seasons go on, the focus is slowly shifted to the Maguires, a family of criminals that move in next door to the Gallaghers.

This show started strong, but, as time went on, characters left and new ones came. The new characters were not always as strong and interesting as the original ones. There was a clear lack of focus, with too many characters. It became hard to follow, so I sort of lost interest as it went on. At least, it ended strong, with some of the original people coming back for the last episode. They probably should have cut on the number of seasons and focused the story more. When it was about the Gallaghers, it was really interesting. Some of the Maguire stuff was too. But, the rest was meh at best.

 
Rating: «««

The Goonies (1985)

Genre: Comedy
Directed by: Richard Donner
Cast: Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Jeff Cohen, Corey Feldman
Running Time: 114 minutes

 

A group of kids living in the Goon Docks area of Astoria, Oregon, go on an adventure to find the long lost fortune of a 17-th century pirate in an effort to save their homes from foreclosure. In the process, they encounter the Fratellis, a family of criminals involved in nefarious projects.

This was a major film in my youth. I am just of the right age to have been its target audience back in the day. Looking at it today, it has aged quite a bit. The acting is not the best, even though many of the cast members went on to bigger and better things. It is quite cheesy and silly, but a lot of fun nonetheless. Visually, it still holds up today. Overall, this was a nice trip down memory lane.

Rating: «««

Bill Burr Presents: Friends Who Kill (2022)

Genre: TV / Comedy
Director: Ryan Polito
Cast: Bill Burr, Dave Atell, Jimmy Carr, Jeff Ross
Running Time: 73 minutes

 

Here is a comedy show where famous funny man Bill Burr shares the stage with some of his favorite comedians. Burr warms up the crowd with some material of his own, and then he introduces one act after the other. This should have been called Friends Who Bomb. Man, even the established names, like Jimmy Carr, Dave Atell and Jeff Ross, did not go over well. I tend to think it just was not the right crowd for it, as Burr himself got a few groans from the public. But, some of the material by the up-and-comers was far from solid. Overall, I was expecting so much more from this show. A few good jokes, but not much more,

Rating: ««

Pearl Jam - Live in Seattle August 8, 2018 (2018)

Genre: Musical
Cast: Eddie Vedder, Mike McCready, Matt Cameron
Running Time: 186 minutes

 

This live concert saw Pearl Jam go back home to Seattle, at Safeco Field, to put on a show to raise awareness towards the issue of homelessness. For more than three hours, the band led by Eddie Vedder performed a huge setlist of their own songs and a few covers. It was a solid and energetic performance. I loved how the show started in black and white and then turned to color. It was so smooth, it just happened naturally as I was lost in the music. Awesome show.

Rating: «««««