Boss Baby confuses critics, but amuses everyone else

Movie Title:  The Boss Baby

Grade:  B

Rating:  PG, 97 minutes

In a Nutshell:  With great animation and voice talent, this film has some confusing elements that baffle adults.  But let’s face it, it’s made for kids and they simply won’t care that a lot of the plot points don’t make sense.  They’re just going to laugh and move on to the next animated flick.

Uplifting theme: 

• “There’s plenty of love for everyone.” – Tim (Miles Christopher Bakshi)
• “Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re right.”  The Boss Baby spouts off a bunch of platitudes like that during one particular scene.
• Family is the most important thing.
• Imagination

Things I liked:

• Alec Baldwin was really fantastic.  He added to the skilled animation and the animation added to his performance. Outstanding blend. A recent news report explained that he got sober on Feb. 23, 1985 — but if he hadn’t, the “Boss Baby” star is confident he would have straightened out at some point. Baldwin, 58, detailed his experiences with substance abuse, addiction, and recovery in his new book: Nevertheless: A Memoir hitting shelves Tuesday.
• Tobey Maguire’s voice always makes for the perfect, reflective narrator who has become wise through time and experience.
• It’s cute in 3D, but not necessary.
• The animation and sound effects are so great that drool and farts have texture.  Another outstanding blend.
• The parents in the audience I sat with absolutely loved the assembly line scene at the beginning of the movie.  Adorable.
• I got a kick out of the Elvis scene, maybe because I live in Las Vegas.  When there are a bunch of Elvis, are they called “Elvi”?
• Some cute scene transitions.
• I loved the magical sound of the laughing baby whenever the Boss Baby would revert back to being a baby.  Is that from a YouTube video?
• I love how Dreamworks always takes important items from the movie and incorporates them into their logo at the beginning of the film.
• I used to be the National Marketing Director for a company.  I thought it was hilarious that the babies who didn’t laugh were the ones who went into management of the company.  Ha ha
• “Wake up halflings!” alarm clock which featured lines from The Lord of the Rings: Motion Picture Trilogy Blu-ray.  I just finished binge-watching that awesome trilogy again.  Such great movies.
• Poopies diaper brand.  Ha ha
• Some things really made me laugh out loud.  There are plenty of jokes and gags for parents to get a kick out of.
• Fans of Jimmy Kimmel Live! will enjoy hearing him voice the dad.

Things I didn’t like:

• It was clever to animate Tim’s imagination sequences differently than the main story line, but by the end of the movie, you’re not exactly sure if the whole thing was supposed to be Tim's imagination or real or what?
• Surely, some people at PETA are going to protest that Puppy Co. dangled puppies from the ceiling.  Funny visual though.
• Lots of anal gags and slapping.  The film has lame lines like “Fart! Poop! Doodie!” – Boss Baby
• The mother is pregnant, but….??? 

Interesting lines:

• “You can’t miss what you haven’t had.” – Boss Baby
• “Sometimes I rescued my parents; sometimes they rescued me.” – Tim

Funny lines:

• “Cookies are for closers.” – The Boss Baby
• “I don’t wear nautical.  And it’s not even Friday!” – Boss Baby
• “Well, isn’t that sanitary?” – Mom (Lisa Kudrow) as she looks at a ball pit made of puppies
•  “We can share!” – Tim

“You obviously didn’t go to business school.” – Boss Baby

• “I don’t have a quote for this!” – Boss Baby
• “Welcome ladies and gentlemen….and those in Coach.” – flight attendant announcement
• “So, you went to a community college, is it?” – Boss Baby
• “I’m going to write the perfect memo.  The perfect memo can change the world. ” – Boss Baby
• “If people knew where babies really come from, they’d never have any.  Same goes for hot dogs, by the way.” – Boss Baby

Tips for parents: 

• You see a lot of baby bums, but thankfully, the front “naughty bits” are blurred out, which is actually a funny visual.
• So, you probably shouldn’t give your son the middle names of Leslie.  Just sayin…
• Be prepared…your kids may ask you where babies really come from…

Adult jokes lost on kids because they’re based on the 1960’s—1970’s pop culture:

• Cassette tapes
• Six Million Dollar Man Season 6 5 TV show sound's bionic effects
• Julia Child - The French Chef on the TV
• Mary Poppins reference – By the way, did you know Disney is currently re-making Mary Poppins?  The musical nanny will be played by the lovely Emily Blunt.  Your head will explode when I tell you who’s going to play Dick Van Dyke’s role: Alexander Hamilton own Lin-Manuel Miranda!  An A-list joins the cast: Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, Angela Lansbury, Julie Walters, Ben Wishaw and even an appearance by 91 year old Dick Van Dyke!  It’s going to be awesome!  It’s supposed to hit theaters Christmas Day, December 25, 2018.
• Blackbird - The Beatles Album, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
• The Thor pose
• Cabbage Patch Kids 11" Drink N' Wet Newborn reference
• Tim eats an old version of TV dinners from the 1960’s made out of aluminum pans.

@trinaboice 

Hotel Transylvania 2 preaches tolerance

Movie:   Hotel Transylvania 2

Rating:  PG, 1 hour 29 minutes

Grade:  B

In a Nutshell:   Colorful and silly, this family animation written by Adam Sandler takes a social stand on mixed marriages and tolerance.  Voice talents include a star-studded cast:  Adam Sandler, Mel Brooks, Steve Buscemi, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, David Spade, Megan Mullally, Keegan Michael Key, Fran Drescher, Molly Shannon, Chris Kattan, Dana Carvey, Rob Riggle, Nick Offerman, Jon Lovitz, and Andy Samberg.

Uplifting Theme:

·         Be yourself.  Let others be themselves too.

·         Mavis, the vampire who married a human, is on a mission for tolerance.  She says to her dad, Dracula, “Maybe you’ve let humans into your hotel, Dad, but you haven’t let them into your heart.”

Things I liked:

·         Considering it’s an Adam Sandler film, there is a surprisingly low number of body function jokes.

·         You’ll get it, even if you didn’t see the first one.

·         Dennis, the little boy, has the most adorable curly, red hair.   It served as a great gag throughout the movie as well.

·         The animation is clear, sharp, colorful and creative.
-     I admire how Adam Sandler keeps all of his old Saturday Night Live friends in work.
-     The movie reveals that Jonathan is from Santa Cruz, California, which  is the beach town near where I grew up.  Woo, beach boardwalk!

Things I didn’t like:

·         I only chuckled a few times.  Most of the laughs in the movie come from reactions to gags, pranks, and physical comedy.  The writing isn't that clever.

·         It ends with a clichéd dance party….not that it’s bad...it’s just predictable.

·         Mavis whines “Can we stop using the word ‘normal’?”  Apparently, we now live in a world where “normal” is bad and everything else is considered good.   

·         It demonstrates pretty well the entitled , younger generation that demands tolerance from everyone, yet doesn’t offer it very easily to others.

Funny lines:  

·         “From Prince of Darkness to King of Room Service…” – Vlad Dracula

·         “None of the parents better review this on Yelp.” – party performer

·         The young campers sing “Vampires will be friends forever…literally.”

·         “Michael, row your corpse ashore.” – Dracula

·         “I’m not a hippie; I’m a slacker.” – Jonathan

Things to look for:

·         Did you notice that all of the women in the movie have big hips and thighs?

·         Check out all of the things inside Blobbie in each scene he is in.

Tips for Parents:

·         Some of the monsters might be too scary for really young children.

·         Some fight scenes.

·         Some talk about “boobies”.

Missed the first one?  Check it out here:

The Cobbler features a shy Adam Sandler

Movie:    The Cobbler

PG-13, 1 hour 38 minutes

Grade:    D

In a Nutshell:    The Cobbler is a curious little film that hit the big screen in March 2015 and then landed on DVD 2 months later.  If you blinked, you missed it.  Guess how much money it made....$4 million?  $2 million?  Try $24,000.  Yikes.

While considered a complete dud, it's still a refreshing departure from Adam Sandler’s usual mix of crass and stupid; however, what could have been a charming fairy-tale gets muddled along the way.  

The premise is interesting: what would you do if you could transform yourself into other people’s lives?  Unfortunately, co-writers Thomas McCarthy and Paul Sado fail to dig deeper and we never get to really know the people whose shoes Adam Sandler’s character wears.

Uplifting Theme:

·         Sometimes walking in another man’s shoes is the only way to discover who you really are.

·         “It is a privilege to walk in another man’s shoes.” – Abraham

Things I liked:

·         The delightful Dustin Hoffman makes a welcome appearance.

·         “Method Man” gets a lot of screen time, and you’ll recognize Melonie Diaz from that sweet and quirky film Be Kind Rewind .

·         It’s always a pleasure to see Steve Buscemi.

·         Ellen Barkin is always at her best when she plays hardball.

·         Orange Is the New Black: Season 1 fans will get to see Dascha Polanco for about 3 minutes.

·         The ending is fun, but completely nonsensical.  Don't even try to figure it out.

Things I didn’t like:

·         It’s odd that a successful director like McCarthy could create such an uneven mess.

·         So many of the scenes are shot from boring, non-creative angles.

·         Droopy Jewish chords play in the background throughout the entire first half of the movie.

·         Max continues to make such dumb mistakes.  That’s super frustrating for me to watch.

Interesting lines:

·         “Who do we have to worry about? – Max

“Dry cleaners.  They’re not nice fellows and they’re very powerful.” - Abraham

Tips for Parents:

·         Kids will be curious about this film because it has Adam Sandler Sandler in it.  They might be entertained by it, but it’s definitely not what they’re expecting.

·         Some mild profanity and someone flips the bird.

Grown Ups 2 is a waste of your money and time

Well, I hate to disappoint you, but Grown Ups 2 isn’t going to win any Oscar’s.  Big surprise, right?  While the first installment of Adam Sandler and his buddies pretending to be responsible parents was a fun, goofy flick, this return will bore and disgust you.  The script appears to have been written on a cocktail napkin while Sandler and his actor pals were all drunk out of their minds.

The all-star comedy cast shows that Saturday Night Live bonds last for many years.  I’m glad they’re all having fun and making millions together, but their humor really should be a little bit more grown up by now, don’t you think?  The film is full of crude jokes about barfs, farts, and every body part imaginable.  Fake boobs and coarse, exaggerated antics fill the screen, along with inane dialogue and gags that dwell too long.

Adam Sandler’s character, Lenny Feder, moves back to where he grew up with all of his buddies played by Chris Rock, Kevin James, and David Spade.  Other favorites in the cast include Salma Hayek Pinault, Maya Rudolph, Steve Buscemi, Colin Quinn, Jon Lovitz, Shaquille O’Neal and, of course, Rob Schneider.  Twilight lovers will cringe when they see Taylor Lautner playing a dumb, mean frat boy with lines that include such gems as “farthead.”

 

Adam Sandler attempts to recapture his youth by spewing out the most juvenile plot while insulting his audience.  It’s vulgar and definitely NOT funny.  Are all of the stars in the movie afraid to tell Sandler how bad this movie really is or do they simply not care?

PG-13 for being stupid and offensive, in addition to all of the other reasons.

Grade = F

Mike and Sully go to lovable Monster's University

I imagined the director and producers of Monster’s Inc sitting around a board room table, trying to come up with a plot for the next installment of the Pixar’s lovable monster flick.  During the brainstorm, someone in the room must have said “Monsters scare you….Scare U” and suddenly the college template was framed for the newly released prequel.

How the one-eyed Mike Guzowski and furry “kitty” giant, James Sullivan (Sully), first met in college is a ragtag underdog story that includes party monsters in frat houses, a rousing alma mater fight song with spunky cheerleaders, jocks, boring Ferris Bueller-esque professors, and inspiring competition between students who want to win the annual Scare Games.  The campus is full of all the clichéd groups you ever saw during your undergrad years, complete with an emo Goth goul and dragon-winged, centipede-bodied dean who is easily the scariest monster in the entire school.  You know you had a dean like that.

Randy Newman’s theme song gets you in the mood for some magical monster animation from beginning to end.  And by the way, be sure to stick around at the end of the rolling credits for the final touch.  I love it when movies reward their diehard fans who want just a little bit more and are willing to stay in their seats until the bitter end.  

The cast includes the exceptional voice talents of Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Helen Mirren, Sean Hayes, Bonnie Hunt, and Jennifer Tilly.  Mike and Sully are fleshed out with back-story details that leave us loving them even more.  Can you say “Merchandising Jackpot!”?

One of my sons is currently an animation student in college, so I always love to hear his opinion on the artistry and CGI in films.  He gave Monster’s University two big thumbs up and bows to Pixar’s talent and creativity.  Fingers crossed my son can get a job with Pixar when he graduates next spring!

The film doesn’t rely on the fans’ love of the first movie; it introduces new characters you’ll fall in love with, as well as new dimensions to the Monsters’ world that are sure to create new areas in theme parks.

It’s an adorable movie that the entire family will enjoy.


Grade:   A-