Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to make your bed. Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the uncom rom com “The Drama,” the outer space antics of “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” and the singular “Dead Lover.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit with Deb Hutton on NewsTalk 1010 to go over some of the week’s biggest entertainment stories and movies playing in theatres. We look at a new drama based on the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, the latest meme-worthy edition to the Australian National Film and Sound Archive, Keenan Thompson’s “Unfunny Bunny,” a new book for kids and I review “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” and the uncom rom com “The Drama.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
I join CTV NewsChannel’s Scott Hirsch to talk about the uncom rom com “The Drama,” the outer space antics of “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” and the singular “Dead Lover.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I review “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” for ctvnews.ca, the #1 digital news publisher in reach!
“I wasn’t expecting a kid-friendly “Super Mario’s “2001: A Space Odyssey,” but the film’s emphasis on eye candy and Easter eggs over detailed storytelling or character arcs lessens the movie’s impact…” Read the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” the sequel to 2023s billion dollar hit “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” Mario, Luigi, Peach, and others go on a journey across cosmic worlds.
CAST: Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, and Kevin Michael Richardson, Benny Safdie, Donald Glover, Issa Rae, Luis Guzmán, Brie Larson. Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic.
REVIEW:
Made with Nintendo fans in mind, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” is a visually spectacular, but chaotic theme park-style distraction for aficionados that’s light on story but heavy on action.
The last time around in 2023’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” the evil Koopa king Bowser’s (Jack Black) plan to marry Mushroom Kingdom ruler Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) was thwarted by mustachioed plumbers Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day).
Shrunken down to the size of a small toy by Peach and imprisoned in a jar by Toad (Keegan-Michael Key), Bowser’s reign of terror appears to be over until Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie), the power-hungry heir to the Koopa throne, kidnaps Princess Rosalina (Brie Larson) in a mission to save his father and restore his family’s power. “From the ashes of his father’s defeat rises a new conqueror,” he says. “The Bowser name shall be feared once more!”
To prevent the Bowsers from creating cosmic chaos, the brothers team with Princess Peach, Toad, and a green dinosaur named Yoshi (Donald Glover) on an intergalactic adventure to outwit, outsmart and outplay Bowser Jr.
A blast of colorful pop art adrenalin for Mario enthusiasts, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” blazes through its breakneck 95-minute runtime without ever taking its foot off the gas pedal. Packed with Easter Eggs, unexpected cameos, endless merchandizing opportunities and galactic scale nostalgia, it is so overstuffed there’s barely any room to tell an interesting story.
The previous film grossed $1.36 billion worldwide and is the highest-grossing film based on a video game ever, so a sequel was inevitable, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.
Even when the unnecessary additions are fun, as it is with the introduction of Fox McCloud (Glen Powell) from “Star Fox,” the superfluous stuff doesn’t add much to the overall effect. Less would have been more.
Pratt, as the titular character, leads a high-energy, all-star voice cast including Anya Taylor-Joy (Princess Peach), Charlie Day (Luigi) and Donald Glover (Yoshi) but it’s Jack Black and Benny Safdie as Bowser and Bowser Jr. who steal every scene they appear in.
They stand out in a sea of characters mouthing forgettable dialogue because the father and son duo are given most of the movie’s best lines and share a tender familial connection that brightens up their scenes.
Not that there’s anything dreary about “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.” It all pops. But when there are only peaks and no valleys in the storytelling, it becomes overstimulated; all bang and no buck.
Ultimately, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’s” maximalist approach creates something that feels like a sensory experience, ram packed with IP, rather than a proper movie. I wasn’t expecting a kid friendly “Super Mario’s 2001: A Space Odyssey,” but the film’s emphasis on eye candy and Easter Eggs over detailed storytelling or character arcs lessens the story’s impact.
It’s family entertainment, intended for younger gamers and nostalgic parents, but just because it’s aimed at the whole family doesn’t mean it can’t level up.
SYNOPSIS: In “Anaconda,” a new comedy starring Jack Black, Paul Rudd and Thandiwe Newton now playing in theatres, a group of lifelong friends get more than they bargained for when they act on their childhood dream of making a movie.
CAST: Paul Rudd, Jack Black, Steve Zahn, Thandiwe Newton, Daniela Melchior, and Selton Mello. Directed by Tom Gormican.
REVIEW: Is “Anaconda” a remake of the cheesy 1997 JLo action horror film, or is it an homage, a parody, or a “spiritual sequel” as Jack Black’s character calls the movie-within-the-movie? Truth is, it’s all those things.
Ronald (Paul Rudd) and Doug (Jack Black) were inspired to make movies after watching the 1997 cult film “Anaconda” over thirty times in theatres. Their homemade flick, a Bigfoot inspired monster movie called “Squatch” didn’t lead to bigger things, and now Doug makes wedding videos in his hometown while Ronald struggles to make a go of it as an actor in Los Angeles.
Reunited at Doug’s birthday, Ronald announces that he has the rights to “Anaconda.”
“What are you going to do with them?” asks Doug.
“Not me,” Ronald says. “Us.”
He convinces Doug and pals Kenny (Steve Zahn) and Claire (Thandiwe Newton) to remake the Jlo actioner “indie style” on location in the Amazon.
Once on site their lo-fi shoot spirals out of control as they get involved with Illegal gold miners, an off-kilter snake wrangler and a real anaconda the size of a dinosaur. We came out here to make Anaconda,” says Doug, “and now we’re in it.”
“Anaconda” is a silly but amiable and enjoyable story of following your dreams. Doug and Ronald are lovable losers, in a shared mid-life crisis, whose optimism is infectious, even when they’re being chased by a giant snake.
Most of the humour is character driven, from Black’s high-energy routine and Rudd’s immaculate timing to Zahn’s scene stealing stoner act and Newton’s up-for-anything Claire. They’re a fun ensemble that keeps the laughs coming, even when the movie leans into the horror dynamic in the film’s second half, which is a good thing given that the horror isn’t scary and the action is shot mostly in close-ups which narrows the focus in the big set pieces. But no matter, you’ll likely be laughing too much to mind.
As a comedy based on the unintentionally funny original film, “Anaconda” lovingly pokes fun at the original 1997 movie, while simultaneously celebrating its cheeseball charm.
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to make the bed! Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the gameplay of “Marty Supreme,” the slithery charms of “Anaconda” and the tuneful “Song Sung Blue.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: In “A Minecraft Movie,” a new fantasy-comedy based on the 2011 video game “Minecraft,” and now playing in theatres, four misfits are sucked through a portal into the Overworld, a strange, cubic wonderland where imagination is king. “In the Overworld anything you can dream about, you can create!” To escape, they team with Steve, an expert crafter who will help them reconnect with their imaginations and get back to the real world.
CAST: Jason Momoa, Jack Black, Danielle Brooks, Emma Myers, and Sebastian Hansen. Directed by Jared Hess.
REVIEW: The world of imagination that fuels the Overworld is very much present in “A Minecraft Movie.” It’s a standard action-adventure video game adaptation, colored with creativity and exuberant performances from Jason Momoa as Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison, Jack Black as Steve, a pioneer who treats the Overworld like his own personal sandbox, and Jennifer Coolidge as Marlene, an oversharing vice principal who says she stayed in a bad marriage for twenty years “for the dogs.”
All three let their freak flags fly. Especially Black, who seems a lock for Most Over-The-To Performance at this year’s Oscars. He plays Steve like a Tenacious D song come to life. Your enjoyment of the movie may be directly related to your tolerance for his antics, but I thought he was a hoot and perfectly understood the assignment.
The film’s conceit, borrowed from the game, allows for unfettered silliness, even if you’ve never played the game. Director Jared Hess, best known for 2004’s “Napoleon Dynamite,” brings his off-kilter sensibility to the material, creating an anything-goes universe populated by likeable oddballs.
It’s a deeply slaphappy movie that features a cube shaped orb, hot lava cooked chicken, and a real estate agent who runs a mobile zoo out of her car. It’s these little details that provide some solid laughs—for kids and adults alike—and keeps the fast-paced story humming along between the big action set pieces.
“A Minecraft Movie” wallows in its absurdity, but underneath the zany escapades are not so madcap messages about the importance of being true to oneself, and the importance of embracing imagination in the real world as well as the Overworld.
SYNOPSIS: “Borderlands,” a new sci fi action comedy based on the video game series of the same name, prompted me to write words you don’t often see in the same sentence: Cate Blanchett, action star. The two-time Academy Award winner plays ruthless bounty hunter Lilith in a post-apocalyptic world, hired by the powerful president of a giant corporation (Edgar Ramírez) to track down his kidnapped daughter Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt). The search leads her to the planet of Pandora, a wasteland at the edge of human civilization, home to monsters, “psychos” and a treasure trove of valuable alien technology.
CAST: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Edgar Ramírez, Ariana Greenblatt, Bobby Lee, Florian Munteanu, Gina Gershon, Jamie Lee Curtis. Directed by Eli Roth.
REVIEW: It’s hard to know exactly who “Borderlands” is aimed at. It shares the bright and bold aesthetic from the video games that inspired it, but the tone is radically different. The lewd and crude video game, rated M for mature audiences, features mature humor, strong language, gushes of blood and decapitation. The PG13 rated movie, directed by Eli Roth, maker of splatter movies like “Cabin Fever” and “Hostel,” smooths down the video game’s rough edges, leaving behind a movie that is neither fan service or something new.
Of course, Blanchett pulls off the action hero role. She’s Cate Blanchett and can do anything. She could play a doorknob and it would be the greatest doorknob in cinema history. It’s just too bad the script requires her to spout recycled action movie platitudes.
Kevin Hart inspires a sense of déjà vu in his portrayal of warrior Roland. He’s likable, and earns some of the film’s few laughs, but his performance here is interchangeable with almost every other character he’s ever played on screen.
Fan favorite CL4P-TP, better known as Claptrap, the chatty, uni-wheeled cycloptic robot featured in the video games, is part of the gang of characters. Voiced by Jack Black, he’s like an annoying little brother who never knows when to shut up, and, who poops bullets.
“Borderlands” aims to be a good time at the movies, but by trying to appeal to a wider audience it betrays the source material, and falls flat.
