Quick Movie Review: Sisters (2015)

Amy Poehler and Tina Fey have always had great chemistry. We know this. Put them in anything to make it work? They try this. It's usually hit or miss. I've always been on the fence about the two. And I was hesitant to see Sisters this soon out the gate, but I wanted to go to the movies tonight and it was the only thing playing.

The film follows two 40-something-year-old sisters (Fey and Poehler) on the brink of their parents selling their childhood home. With the sadness of losing all the memories they've compiled during their youth, the sisters plan to throw one last party at the house in spite of their parents. They invite all of their old high school classmates and the party turns into a wild rager as the two plan to get crazy.

I admit, however, it gets pretty funny. It's my type of humor. And after watching Daddy's Home, I needed a solid comedy. It doesn't pull any punches and takes plenty of risks. But it also feels like they display every single idea that was on the drawing board. Literally, this movie is jam packed with so many concepts. It has a very "trying stuff out" feel to it, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's just, at times it gets odd and tends to shift the tone around--another side effect from the full-drawing-board strategy. But in a nearly 2-hour comedy with a not-so-hefty premise, they have tons of room to trim the fat.

But perhaps the film's biggest pitfall is that Fey and Poehler always seem to keep almost laughing at themselves. Like they know the cameras are on. They're having too much fun just being together and joking around. Sure, comedy can be obviously unrealistic, but you still want the characters in the movie to believe what they're saying and doing. You want them to commit to their jokes as though THEY'RE being serious.

The premise is a little weak and the characters' motives are tenuous, but there's a certain '80s nostalgia that's underlying the whole deal. Not a whole lot happens, but it never loses momentum while keeping your attention throughout.

Twizard Rating: 73

Quick Movie Review: Wet Hot American Summer (2001)

Satire films are difficult to review. Do we judge them simply based on how well-written the jokes are? Or how good the story is? Already, they have to be given a handicap because there are some aspects of ordinary film that, by nature, they usually don't possess--like character depth or a traditional narrative.

But on top of it all, they're supposed to be funny. And while this one may not be laugh-out-loud for everyone, it definitely has its moments. The style of humor is consistent. It never tries to be something it's not. And for those who enjoy its irreverence, they will get a lot out of this one.

Wet Hot American Summer takes place on the last day of camp, during the summer of 1981. But instead of it being about the campers, it's about the counselors and how they all try to make the best of their final 24 hours.

With a cast that reads off more like a very odd Garry Marshall holiday-themed film, one would think that this was the comedy event of the year (consisting of Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Bradley Cooper, Molly Shannon, Elizabeth Banks, Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Michael Ian Black, A.D. Miles, et al). But unfortunately, most of the talents went underutilized and nobody gets nearly enough screen time.

And despite this being a summer camp themed movie, there are not a lot of archetypes. The characters are all pretty much the same type of stupid, with not much varying in personalities.

There are some really clever bits, but it's mostly just a massive compilation of jokes without any real overarching linearity. It resembles some sort of modern-day Airplane! but even Airplane! had us invested in how it would end.

But oddly enough, the movie's best moments all involve the kids in some way--although the film is meant to be about the counselors. And the highlight is the penultimate scene at the End of Summer Talent Show, where we are treated to an MC that echoes a demented Henny Youngman.

As much as I laughed, I was hoping this movie would be something a little different. With not a lot of good coming-of-age summer camp movies out there to choose from, Wet Hot American Summer misses an opportunity to really touch upon the nostalgia of going to camp. There are some really great scenes and story arcs that it doesn't capitalize on.  As a former camper-turned-counselor, a lot of my own memories from growing up happened at camp, and I just wish that the filmmakers weren't so concerned with making it a satire. It's not like there's some overindulgence of these type of films for a satire to be warranted. It has the ingredients of a really great, meaningful film, but sacrifices this for the sake of irreverent jokes--albeit a few, I admit, I laughed at.

Twizard Rating: 68

Quick Movie Review: Inside Out (2015)

Pixar may have outdone themselves conceptually with Inside Out--which isn't necessarily a good thing. While I definitely appreciate its uniqueness, it's quite heavy for a kids movie. Sure, your children will be into the bright colors and anthropomorphizing their feelings, but everything else will go WAY over their heads. In fact, I personally was feeling anxiety trying to comprehend its involved concepts. With such a deep premise, it leaves itself open for a lot of over-analysis. Sometimes simplicity is underrated.

Inside Out shows us inside 11-year-old Riley's mind. Her emotions--Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust--help her make decisions and act upon the world around her. The film takes a look inside a child's mind and gives them the true benefit of the doubt.

The story begins at Riley's birth when, in a control room inside her mind, the emotions are learning their role as her conscience. However, when Riley gets older and life starts to change, the emotions panic and have to learn a lot about themselves as well.

At the beginning I became claustrophobic inside the control room of Riley's mind. But I do have to say that the anxiety of the first half was the worst part of this movie. The second half ventured outside the main headquarters and was much smoother. It played very much in line with Pixar's finding-your-way-home modus operandi used in many of their films.

But the uneven narrative isn't the only thing that doesn't work well. While there are some similarities to Toy Story, the comparison doesn't favor this film. The dialogue isn't as finely tuned and some jokes fall flat. I grew tired of some of the puns. It's not far enough separated from our world for the puns to feel creative enough.

Also, the characters aren't as lovable. While you do have Joy (Amy Poehler), who is a happy-go-lucky caretaker of Riley, the nature of the others makes them more annoying. It's not enough to say that I only like Joy, but that I don't really like the other emotion characters either. Disgust (Mindy Kaling) feels like an unnecessary 5th character. They would have been better off with just four--Joy, Sadness, Anger, and Fear. Disgust is more of a hybrid emotion. If they're going to have Disgust, why not also have Pride or Anxiety or Humbleness? But of course I'm more critical because it's a Pixar film. If it were made by Blue Sky or Dreamworks I would have probably set the bar lower in the first place.

It's awesome when we finally get to see the world outside of the control room. The mock-movie set where Riley's dreams are produced is brilliant; along with the cellar of the subconscious, where all of her deepest fears get locked up. Another highlight is the presence of Riley's former imaginary friend, Bing Bong, who cries candy.

Honestly I really do like the film though. It's filled with great themes and messages for younger people. It teaches us that sometimes we have to look inside of ourselves for the answers. And without sadness we might not get to experience all of the joy.

What I find interesting is the depth expressed of a character who isn't even seen a whole lot (Riley).

It's refreshing to see a movie--especially an animated one--that's not cliche in its premise. The second half of the film is better than most movies' entire 3 act structure. I just wish that the first half of this one had been more enjoyable.

Like I said, I did like the film. It's just that it may be at the bottom of my Pixar list with Cars 2--but that's not a bad list to be on in the first place.

Twizard Rating: 93
 

Quick Movie Review: They Came Together

It's very obvious what this film is trying to do. As a romantic comedy satire, it's like a highbrow Leslie Nielsen movie. The cast is great and overall it's for a more pretentious audience. Nielsen's films were just simply for laughs, but this one wants to have a deeper message--and I think gets its point across well.

But in comedies we like to find some comfort knowing that they style of humor won't be all over the board. We want consistency and reliability. Some jokes were amazingly funny and some were simply there to gross us out. And those of the latter variety created a jarring inconsistency in the tone and made the humor unpredictable. They didn't fit, and there weren't enough of them in there to make the film a true gross-out comedy either. Therefore the erraticism of those jokes make us feel even more uncomfortable than the actual jokes themselves. And any of them could have been easily fixed by not making them go on for as long. And if this film's purpose was to have a deeper message, these jokes pop up every once in awhile and make the film less highbrow than what it's aiming for and actually turns into a Scary Movie type of film.

However, throughout all the irreverence and ridiculousness, you're strangely still invested in these characters. And in the end the message is sincere in that not all of these rom-coms feature seemingly perfect endings, while we never see what happens afterwards. Will they stay together or drift apart? We get too blinded by our emotions to think about it usually. Romeo and Juliet seem perfectly in love, but if they hadn't died maybe they would have ended up realizing that they weren't soul mates after all. 

I like this film for everything except for the few inconsistent jokes. I'll try to see past that.

Twizard Rating: 80