Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates

First Hit:  This film was continually filled with very funny scenes that made sense – Enjoyable.

This is one of those films I anticipated not liking very much.

Physical comedy at this level can be pressed to the point that it becomes not funny. However, this film was different. Dave (Zac Efron) and Mike (Adam Devine) play brothers who do everything together. They are party boys and the scenes of their past antics as shown in the screen, have fun intentions but ended up being disastrous and funny.

What makes this film work is the boys' relationship to each other and that each bizarre sequence is well thought out and leads to another elevated scene.

The premise of the film is that their sister Jeanie (Sugar Lyn Beard) is getting married and their parents don’t want Mike and Dave to wreck their sister’s wedding with their antics. To make them change their ways, the parents tell them they are not allowed at the wedding unless they have respectable wedding dates. They get dates however they are not just happenstance like Dave and Mike believe.

Alice (Anna Kendrick) and Tatiana (Aubrey Plaza) are out of work because they show up to work drunk, are loud and obnoxious and only want to drink and have fun. Each has a different reason for their behavior and together they are almost as bad as Dave and Mike.

The girls see the guys on a TV program promoting a Craigslist ad to take dates, all expenses paid, to Hawaii for their sister’s wedding. Tatiana comes up with a plan to meet the guys and lie their way into this free trip. For them it was a vacation. The film then takes us to Hawaii and the fireworks of these four people’s antics begin. However, in the end they might make steps forward in their lives.

Efron was perfect for this role. He’s found a niche of being handsome, smart and dumb enough to be both funny and serious in this role. Devine presses his comedy a bit more than I like; however, it works well in this film. Kendrick continues to surprise me at her ability to stretch her persona. Here she compulsively lies and it really works. Plaza is very strong in this role. She’s all out and does a great job of being all out. Beard is wonderful as the sister. Andrew Jay Cohen and Brendan O’Brian wrote a script full of great and funny scenes. Jake Szymanski did a wonderful job of getting laughs out of this funny script. He kept the flow going and there isn’t a dull moment or a time where I found myself saying, this is too much; it was just funny.

Overall:  This film surprised me at how it kept moving and kept itself on track in a fun way.

Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words

First Hit:  Riveting documentary about a music man who followed his own path and beliefs.

At the beginning of the film, Frank makes a statement that went something like this:  There are so many people who only know me from my first few records and concerts. The fact is they don’t know me or my music at all. I’m one of those people who are in this category although I have never claimed I knew much about him.

I saw Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention at two locations in 1967, the Anaheim Convention Center and the LA Sports Arena. I was both shocked and engaged by the music and the show that was part of his performance.

It was the original rock performance art and show. It was truly a unique show. Although, I'd occasionally check in by buying an album or listening to a track from a record, but to his point I never saw him perform again and he was never a "must listen". However, I knew that he was a genius and this film confirms it.

The movie consists of interviews and clips of Frank and his band. Chronologically this film shows how Frank walked his own path and never compromised on what he wanted to develop and deliver.

There is one point in the film we see him sitting and listening to an English philharmonic orchestra and conductor he hired to play one of his classical compositions. An interviewer asks him if this is the best use of this high level orchestra? He responds by saying, I saved my money, I’m the one that is paying for all this because I want to hear what I wrote. No one else has any money invested in this except me. Therefore it is my right to have this orchestra play what I want them to play because I'm paying for it.

With this statement, I began to better understand his path and his love for music as he defined it. He loved creating music and because he worked at it 16 hours a day, he had a right to hear it in any way he wanted. It was his life.

Zappa was his enigmatic intelligent self. Thorsten Schutte did a brilliant job of stringing together previous interviews, film clips, and music segments.

Overall:  This was a wonderful film about a brilliant man.

Our Kind of Traitor

First Hit:  Really nice build up for first half,  just sustains the intensity through the back half, but ends quite nicely.

My wife mentioned to me that she thought “Our Kind of Traitor” is a lackluster title for a film and I agree.

There are a couple of stories going on in this film:  First we have and see a Perry and Gail (Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts respectively) struggling as a married couple. And second we have a Russian laced espionage thriller. How do these two stories meet? Struggling as a couple, Perry and Gail are on holiday in Morocco to try to bring some romance back into their ten-year relationship.

They are very different people; Perry is a poetic professor at a prestigious university and Gail is a workaholic lawyer who makes a lot of money. In a Moroccan restaurant, Gail gets a work call and has to leave so Perry gets propositioned by a gregarious Russian named Dima (Stellan Skarsgard) to join his party for a drink. Dima takes a liking to Perry and invites him to a late night party followed by an early morning tennis match. Their friendship grows and Dima asks Perry to deliver a thumb drive to MI6 in London when he returns home.

As head money launderer for the Russians, Dima suspects he and his family will be killed soon after a bank deal transpires in London. Gail thinks Perry is not doing a smart thing by going through with the delivery but despite her opinion, he follows through.

The tale heats up after they deliver the thumb drive to MI6 Agent Hector (Damian Lewis) but starts to fall off in intensity as the cat and mouse game begins to drag on. However, in the end, Dima wants to save his family, Perry and Gail may get closer, and Hector wants to put a nail in the coffin of his former boss whom he suspects as selling his soul and being a traitor.

McGregor was perfect because he portrayed the intelligence, compassion and integrity this role required. Watts was wonderful as the smart, quick witted wife while in the end wholly supporting her husband’s actions. Skarsgard was sublime. His intensity, deep boisterous growls, and single-minded objective made him the right man for this role. Lewis was adroitly a great choice as the MI6 agent, who was willing to move outside the box to follow his revenge. Hossein Amini wrote a good screenplay from the John le Carre novel. And despite the strong start and mediocre back half, Susanna White’s direction, in the end, brought the whole thing together rather well.

Overall:  One of the better film versions of a John le Carre story.

The Legend of Tarzan

First Hit:  Although entertaining, action packed, and occasionally thoughtful, the mostly poor CGI, scattered continuity, and unrealistic abilities, made watching this version of the mythical hero mediocre.

As John Clayton/Tarzan, Alexander Skarsgard has the perfectly chiseled body. The lack of spoken dialogue added to his being convincing that he was raised by apes, but when he spoke, I questioned this belief.

The CGI apes were well created, but many of the CGI background scenes were obviously manufactured, poorly done. I was impressed at how well Margot Robbie portrayed a very strong Jane Clayton (Tarzan’s wife). Her story was interesting and engaging.

Overall: King Leopold II of Belgium controlled the heart of the Congo, unless he can harvest the resources, he cannot continue to rule the area because it is costing his government money. He wants to harvest a particular area that has diamonds but it is controlled by a native group who will only give up the diamonds by getting a chance to kill Tarzan.

Tarzan is convinced to go back to Africa because whites are enslaving the natives. Convincing him to go to Africa is a US Government agent George Washington Williams (Samuel L. Jackson). The slave issue is real, but being used by Leopold’s agent in Africa Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz) to get Tarzan to Africa to be set up to be killed. The scenes in the African village where Jane grew up were emblematic of the best parts of this film.

Skarsgard did a good job of being Tarzan. His perfect body and athleticism was engaging. Robbie was one of the best parts of the film. Her clear firmness of belief, especially in scenes with Waltz was strongly appealing. Jackson’s character provided humor and reason for the story line. Waltz is a great villain and shows why in this role as well.  His intensity through his face and eyes transcend most peoples'. Adam Cozad and Craig Brewer wrote this overly complex screenplay that dragged at times. David Yates directed this and although entertaining will soon be forgotten.

Overall:  Not a film that will go down as very good.

The BFG 3D

First Hit:  Spielberg knows how to craft a fantastic visual film experience through a wonderful story.

There is no doubt that Steven Spielberg is an ultimate craftsman. The detail in each scene is both amazingly complete and helps the audience’s mind embrace the story without question.

That the BFG (Mark Rylance) was slightly pigeon-toed as was Sophie (Ruby Barnhill) is an example. Then, watch Sophie’s cat move, the detail and realism is perfect. Look at items in the BFG's home - so precise while adding to the sense and feel of it being his real home.

However, the crowning achievement of Spielberg's ability is the performance he gets out of Barnhill. Just as he did with Drew Barrymore in ET, he coaxes thoughtful, honest childlike thinking, age appropriate dialog and incredible realism.

I was hard pressed to believe that many of her lines were scripted, they were so perfectly spoken and her facial expressions so mesmerizing, I bought her belief hook, line, and sinker.

Although I thought the film dragged a bit in the middle and was taking longer than needed to unfold this story; it kept me engaged, laughing, and wondering where it was going in a great and wonderful way.

Barnhill was fantastic and sublime as Sophie, a girl who believed in the BFG and his goodness. Rylance was wonderful as the BFG. His version of clumsy witty movement and behavior was extraordinary. Penelope Wilton was wonderful as The Queen of England. Rebecca Hall as Mary, The Queens right hand person, was very strong as well. Melissa Mathison wrote a wonderful screenplay filled with insight, struggle, and joy. Spielberg is a master and proves it once again.

Overall:  This was a wonderfully entertaining film that glowed for hours afterwards