Wednesday 26 August 2020

Baby Mama (2008)

There's a twenty minute block in the middle of this which is really fun where Fey and Poehler are doing Odd Couple schtick. Steve Martin and SigourneyWeaver are gently funny in their small supporting roles too. Outside of that, though, it's all perfunctory romcom beats that all get dropped with ten minutes to spare for a quick happy ending - all the lying, the judgement and the mean words are suddenly forgotten. Also, Poehler's character is misjudged - apart from clearly being written for someone 15 years younger, she also starts as stupid "white trash" but at some point the film decides she is actually smart (though it still wants to have its cake, so it continues with the malapropisms and so on) and conveys this by having her match the hair and clothes of Fey's boring, stuffy character: apparently, intelligent = middle-upper-class.
Rating: Bad

Teen Titans Go! To the Movies (2018)

Really good! They tone down the wacky shouting-into-camera stuff from the show a bit while also making the movie about how annoying and goofy their take on Teen Titans is, as well as stuff like how Robin and sidekicks in general are lame, superhero movies taking over, video streaming etc. It's not like none of these jokes have ever been made before, but they're made well while drawing on a huge breadth of superhero and aesthetic references, and it's really well directed and acted.
Rating: Very Good

Thursday 13 August 2020

Tag (2018)

Gave up after an hour. It makes the worst decisions on every level, from storytelling to the mechanics of the conceit. None of the players actually seems to give a shit about the game instead staying in smug relaxation mode, it's overly cartoonish so none of their hi-jinks have any impact, it starts with one guy going to great lengths to tag another one then immediately defuses it by turning it into a logistical discussion and switching to 'four guys trying to tag one guy' for the rest of the runtime.

And it's just not funny at all.
Rating: Awful

Sunday 9 August 2020

The Good Dinosaur (2015)

Nice enough, and the lesser-dialogued sections are particularly pleasant, but it's content-light even at 85 or so minutes, and I wasn't a big fan of the design/characterisation of a lot of the secondary dinos - they felt very Ice Age and felt at odds with Arlo's family and Spot.
Rating: Bad

Onward (2020)

A wasted opportunity. It takes a full hour to get going, the visuals have no pizazz, it hits the emotional drama too hard and too often, the mother sub-plot is undercooked and the fantasy setting is a hat-on-a-hat that actively undermines the excitement of the rediscovery of magic. This could have been a fun, exciting two-hander screwball road trip, another Emperor's New Groove or Goofy Movie; instead it feels like a hotch-potch of storyboard room ideas that never coalesced into something as bold and fun as those movies.
Rating: Bad

Blockers (2018)

Charming, if rather predictable and a little lightweight. Strong performances and chemistry. I've not been fully convinced by John Cena previously, but he's really confident and funny here.
Rating: Good

Saturday 8 August 2020

The Change-Up (2011)

Fun, light-footed, balances raunch with heart well. Good performances.
Rating: Good

Get Hard (2015)

Surprisingly enjoyable, as long as you can get past the high number of prison rape jokes. Funny, pacy, inventive.
Rating: Good

Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)

Utterly uninspired. Sonic is an irritating mix/rip-off of Genie, Quicksilver and Scrappy-Doo. Jim Carrey is sealed off in small one-room sets or bluescreen cockpits for most of his screentime (perhaps he demanded that he not have to travel more than 5 miles from his house), the cultural references range from dated to extremely dated (the movie Speed, the existence of hipsters, dabbing), and even Robotnik's tech design is boring sleek minimalism.
About as much effort is put into the story and characterisation as into the tacky product placement - there's 'hedgehog who has to stay on the move to avoid anyone taking advantage of his powers, then for no good reason decides not to', 'cop who likes Olive Garden and wants to move to the big city then for no good reason decides not to', 'nice wife who likes Olive Garden', 'sister-in-law who hates the protagonist for no reason', 'army general who likes Olive Garden brings Robotnik in' and that's about it.
Rating: Awful

Wednesday 5 August 2020

How to Build a Girl (2019)

Starts off worryingly close to the standard 'girl finds herself, amongst wacky family members' Britcom format, but quickly moves into something with more soul and bite. Most effectively aimed at 14 year olds, and very tropey, but overall a charming, energetic 'don't fall for sneer-pressure' story.
Rating: Good

Tuesday 4 August 2020

Knives Out (2019)

An enjoyable murder mystery. Well-acted, looks nice. It has a fun tweak to the format, but otherwise is pretty standard. Some of the actors/characters are underused.
Rating: Good

Monday 3 August 2020

The Debt Collector (2018)

Really solid fight scenes and some fun mismatched-duo banter anchored by a couple of strong performances. It's a shame it doesn't stick with the day-in-the-life-of fun, as it drags a little once it gets into the larger plot, which finally fizzles out amongst some ham-fisted film school student frills.
Rating: Good

Sunday 2 August 2020

Bad Ass (2012)

The mix of sincerity and goofiness lend this some charm, and the fight scenes with the 67-year-old Trejo mowing his way through hulking gangbangers with ease are surprisingly solid, but in the end it doesn't manage to overcome its low budget, clunky script and some stilted performances.
Rating: Bad