Want to find out about a movie before you spend your hard-earned money on it? MovieReviewMaven will tell you the good, the bad, the ugly and the inspiring, so you can decide if it's right for you or your family.
In a Nutshell: Despite its terrible score on Rotten Tomatoes,
Melissa McCarthy is fantastic and offers an entertaining comedy that will
probably be enjoyed more by middle-aged moms than any other demographic.
Tips for
parents:
The film shows a couple who is divorcing and how it
affects the family.
gun
Discussion
of bra size
There
is a LOT of college partying going on.She is told, “You’re in college now and you need to learn how to
party through it.”
LOTS
of alcohol, drugs, and pre-marital relations.
Bad behavior
Dishonesty
Profanity
Uplifting theme:
The
importance of education
Make
your dreams come true
Don’t
give up on yourself.
Friendship:
Support your friends and family.
Mother/daughter
relationships.
Make
better choices
Things I liked:
I love
her enthusiasm for school.I’m a
nerd for that too.My kids always
thought I was so weird because I actually like school.I thought it was cute when she breathed
in the smell of a new textbook.I
used to always do that to.The
aroma of knowledge!
LIFE
OF THE PARTY was written by Melissa McCarthy and her husband Ben Falcone.
Christina
Aguilera!
Things I didn’t like:
It
doesn’t dig deep enough.
Funny lines:
‘I’m a
little snackish.” – mom(Yeah, me
too.)
“I’m
so worried about the math skills in this room.” – Mom
She
got me in the biscuits!” – Mom
Interesting lines:
“I
guess we’re still doing this –girls being mean to each other for no
apparent reason.” – mom
“Us ladies got to stick together.” - =
Christina Aguilera
In a Nutshell: Typical
teen romance.It feels like a Steven
Green novel and movie.
Uplifting theme:
“The
best part is having someone to share your adventures with.” – Katie (Bella Thorne)
Things I liked:
Bella
Thorne is so pretty and has such a large fan base that she will have many
more years to come in movies.With
practice, her acting could eventually be very good.
Patrick
Schwarzenegger is Bella Thorne’s love interest in the movies, but might be
less familiar to fans.He’s the
oldest son of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver.Nice heritage, eh?His acting is understated, but grows on
you throughout the movie.
Quinn
Shephard makes a great best friend in the movie and it was nice to see
funny-man Rob Riggle in a little bit more of a serious role, although his
comedic charm was well used.
I was
recently in Seattle, so it was fun to see some of the places where I went.
The
relationship
Things I didn’t like:
Have
you seen the movie “Forever”?Then
you have seen this movie.
Super clichéd
dialogue.
You
hear the word “lame” a lot, because it’s a teenager movie, after all.Lame.
Interesting lines:
“I’ve
wanted my whole life to feel.” – Katie
“There
are so many things I want to do.” – Katie
“I want
to be something more than a disease.” – Katie
“We’re
talking about a disease that affects one in a million people.” – female doctor (Suleka Mathew)
“We’re in luck, because she IS one
in a million.” – Jack
I
loved it when the dad is taking a picture of them and tells them, “A
little room for the Holy Ghost.”
Tips for
parents:
You learn about Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP), a severe
sensitivity to sun.It’s a real
disease, but is showed a bit inaccurately in the movie, although sleeping
all day and staying up all night IS pretty common among most
teenagers.
In a Nutshell: Warner
Brothers Pictures gives us an estrogen-filled spin-off of the OCEANS 11
franchise that is entertaining enough.I
admit that after the all-female cast of GHOSTBUSTERS was a flop that this one would
be too, but like the heist in the film, they pull it off.
Tips for
parents:
There is a LOT of crime.The beautiful women make it all look
cool and easy.
Uplifting theme:
Things I liked:
Sandra
Bulloch looks awesome, as always.When is she going to start aging?
Interesting
commentary at how it seems ok to commit a crime against a celebrity and
fashion industry
Things I didn’t like:
Funny lines:
“Revenge.It’s a 2-fer.” – British guy
“There
are barely any hackers who aren’t hackers.” – blinde Brit I love
Interesting lines:
“A ‘him’ gets noticed and, for once,
we want to be ignored.” – Sandra Bulloch
In a Nutshell: I guess you could say that this movie
puts the sex back into the word “sexagenarian", although the majority of the leading ladies are in their 70's and 80's. Sex is the main focus of this movie which, honestly, disappointed me
because this talented cast could have done so much more. There are so many interesting topics that could have been explored to develop the characters better. The stellar cast includes four Oscar winners
and two nominees: Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen, Mary Steenburgen, Andy
Garcia, and Richard Dreyfus.
Designed for an older viewing crowd, the audience I sat with
laughed non-stop, while I mostly rolled my eyes.
Tips for
parents:
Some profanity, crude language, and 1 F-bomb.As Candice Bergan’s character says in
the movie, “Must you always be so crass?”Exactly.
TONS
of wine.Someone is drinking wine
or some other kind of alcohol in almost every single scene.
Lots
of sex out of wedlock and LOTS of talk about sex, often with
metaphors. Just so you know, the four women in the BOOK CLUB read all of the books in the Fifty Shades of Grey series, which is what triggers the focus. Sharon says, "I'm not sure this qualifies as a book." Exactly.
Uplifting theme:
“Reaching
millions of people doesn’t come close to reaching just one you love.” –
Arthur (Don Johnson)
“I
know I’m getting older, but I’m still learning and one of the things I’ve
learned is that I deserve to be happy.” – Diane (Diane Keaton)
Friendship
Self-esteem
Love and connection
The power of books!
Things I liked:
I
thought Candice Bergan’s character was the most enjoyable and
realistic.As a federal judge, I
thought it was cute that she named her cat after Supreme Court Justice
Ruth Bader Ginsberg. She's 72 in real life. By the way, have you heard her famous hit TV show Murphy Brown: Season 1 is coming back to TV? I used to love that show and am excited to see what they do with its revival.
The
food at the ladies’ Book Club gatherings always looked so good.
Jane Fonda is 80 and looks amazing. Have you seen her recent TV show Grace And Frankie Season 1 ? She's really great in it and looks stunning.
Keep watching the rolling credits at the end for a few more scenes.
Craig T. Nelson and Mary Steenburgen also played a married couple in the movie The Proposal. She is only 65, the youngest in the group. He's 74.
This was Bill Holderman’s directorial debut.Hopefully, he’ll bring more older actors and actresses to the Big Screen.As evidenced by the large audiences I saw for this film on opening day, there is definitely a market there. Jane Fonda revealed that studio bosses wanted younger stars to play the characters in this movie. Ageism is alive and well in Hollywood.
Things I didn’t like:
As
much as I adore Diane Keaton, and I do, she pretty much plays the same
character in all of her movies, including her clothing style with
scarves, hats, and pant suits.She
even wore an Annie Hall hat in the pool scene.It’s like she’s just playing herself in
movies. In fact, her character’s
name in this movie is Diane.Ha ha
There is such a huge age difference between Ed Begley Jr.'s character and Mircea Monroe's character that it was ridiculous.I know this is a comedy, but it was just
silly.
This
is a true rom-com Chick Flick where all of the men fall all over themselves to please
the women (except one).
Sometimes
it’s annoying when everyone in a movie has unlimited time and money to do whatever they want.
The
second half of the movie really dropped for me.
Andy
Garcia played Diane Keaton’s nephew in The Godfather, so I thought their
ages were unmatched in this film. In this movie, she says she was born
in1951.In real life, she was actually born in 1946 and is 72 years old. Andy Garcia is 62.
The
movie franchise of Fifty Shades of Grey is so pornographic and I’ve never
understood how those movies could ever make it to mainstream box
offices.Don Johnson, who is one of
the leading men in this movie, is the real-life father of Dakota who stars
in those sadistic sex movies.Gosh,
isn’t he proud?
Blatant brand merchandising always annoys me.This movie had tons, including Zillow, Bumble, Buca de Beppo,
Brooks Brothers, Mercedes, and more.
Diane
Keaton’s character never says “goodbye” when she talks on the
telephone.Do you know people in
real life who do that?So annoying.
I wanted to see more of Richard Dreyfuss and Wallace Shawn. They're both so awesome.
Funny lines:
“The
last time she went on a date, she got pregnant.” – Sharon (Candice Bergen)
“I don’t think that’s going to
happen this time.” - Vivian (Jane Fonda) * "They say that memory is the second thing to go." - Arthur (Don Johnson) "What's the first?" - Vivian "I don't remember." - Arthur
In a Nutshell: Marvel
is on a roll.The X-Force team assembles
under the guidance of the most disrespectful, irreverent superhero ever, Deadpool, played
expertly by Ryan Reynolds.
As Ryan Reynolds says in the movie, “The Academy’s watching.” The sequel is definitely bigger....is it better than the first? Umm....probably not. Did it make me laugh? Definitely.
Tips for
parents:
Deadpool says in the beginning, “Believe it or not,
Deadpool 2 is a family movie.”Nope.Not true.This is a true rated R movie.If you set filters on VidAngel to delete profanity, violence and gore, this would be a 20 minute movie.
Crude language and TONS of F-bombs.I hate it when kids swear especially, which Julian Dennison does as Russell.
Scoutmaster
pervert joke. Ouch. I have 4 sons.
Lots
of severed limbs and brutal, gory deaths.
Lesbians
You
see a bottomless little kid’s junk full Winnie the Pooh style and a man’s naked rear end.
Super
high body count, destruction, violence, crude gestures.
Guns.
Some
fun music, but other songs with very crude lyrics.
Uplifting theme:
“We
all need that sense of belonging.We all need a genuine sense of home.” – Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds)
“Kids –
they give us a chance to be better than we are…better than we use to be.” –
Vanessa (the beautiful Morena Baccarin)
Family
Sacrifice
for others
“Pain
teaches us who we are.” – Blind Al (Leslie Uggams)
“No
child is hopeless.” - Blind Al
Things I liked:
The
trailer was hilarious. I loved the crack about Superman’s mustache in the
trailer, referring to when DC had to use CGI to remove Henry Cavill's mustache in the movie Justice League.
I got
a kick out of the opening credits. Most of the time, we just ignore them, but read them this time!
This is
the year of Josh Brolin as the evil villain. He voices a fantastic Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War
Great
action sequences.As Deadpool says,
“Big CGI fight coming up.” Yep, LOTS of them.
Tons
of fun jokes and visual gags, all lightning fast.You’ll have to see the movie again in
order to catch everything.
We
learn a lot more about Wade Wilson, making his character development more
deep and grounded.
You’re
going to get a kick out of some new twists.
Keep
watching after the credits for a couple more fun scenes, but there’s nothing
at the very, very end of the music.
The Logan music box in the very beginning scene got the audience I sat with to immediately start laughing. There is a running gag about Logan during the entire movie. So funny. For example, both films played the same music during the death scenes.Ha ha
Tony
Robbins.Love that guy.
Wade
and his girlfriend watch the movie YentlI always loved that movie and the music.Deadpool points out that the song, “Papa,
can you hear me?” is the same tune as Frozen’s “Do you want to build a
snowman?” I never noticed that!
X-Men –
trainee!Ha ha
I like
Dub Step too.Ha ha
Several
Canadian jokes. A lot of locations in Vancouver were actually used in the movie.
At the
end of the movie, it says that 15,000 jobs were created to make the movie. The stunt work was amazing. Sadly a stunt woman, Joi Harris, died while filming one of the stunts on a motorcycle. Production stopped for two days.
Tons of fun Easter eggs. For example, Deadpool refers to Cable, played by Josh Brolin, as "One Eyed Willy", which was a character in the 1985 movie The Goonies which starred Josh Brolin.
Tons of movie, song, and pop culture references. One of the movie posters shows Deadpool in a Flashdance pose on a chair with bullets raining down on him. He definitely takes a beating in this film.
Things I didn’t like:
This is the first Marvel film to NOT give Stan Lee a cameo performance! Drats! I always look forward to those little moments. Instead, you can see him in a quick picture montage. Definitely not as good.
Sometimes trailers are deceiving. In an earlier trailer for DEADPOOL 2, Deadpool says, "Pump the hate brakes, Thanos," referencing Josh Brolin's role as Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, but in the actual movie, he's talking to two lesbians and he says, "Pump the hate brakes, Fox and Friends."
I don't read the comic books, but Domino's character and alliances are much different there than in this movie, as well as her color and eye circle. It certainly didn't bother me, but some fans might be annoyed. Zazie Beetz did a fantastic job.
SPOILER: Have you seen The Terminator? Yeah, that's this plot.
Funny lines:
“Forgive
me for being late.I was busy
gathering all the gluten in the world so it can not NOT hurt us.” –
Deadpool
“That
is why the man bun is just the Millennial mullet.” – Deadpool
“So
dark.Are you sure you’re not from
the DC Universe?” – Deadpool
“Mission
accomplished?” – Dopinder (Karan Soni)
“Well, in a George W. sort of way.”
– Deadpool
“Every
family film starts with a vicious murder…Bambi. Lion King. Saw 7.” –
Deadpool
“It’s
time to get back on LinkedIn.” – Weasel (T.J. Miller)
Vanisher….ha
ha IMDB shows his face listed as Brad Pitt! The studio actually wanted Brad Pitt to play Cable, but he had to decline that role due to scheduling conflicts.
“Never
underestimate a man with a mustache.” – Deadpool
I was in the Las Vegas airport recently and saw a sign on
the bathroom door stall that gave an emergency phone number for women who were
trapped in human trafficking. The number
is 1-8888-3737-888.That’s a fantastic
idea and easy number to remember, but I wonder how many girls who get kidnapped
happen to have a cell phone on them.Right?
At the end of the movie, it says, “It is estimated there are
1.9 million women being trafficked in the United States.Worldwide, 21 million victims of human
trafficking generate illegal profits each year of 150 billion dollars.”For more information about this despicable
crime, go to www.polarisproject.org
or www.endslaverynow.org
I applaud writer/director Deon Taylor for trying to create a
movie that puts the spotlight on an important issue, but the film itself has
some serious flaws.One of my biggest
gripes about this movie is that it attempts to criticize human traffickers who
exploit women, yet the movie itself spends a LOT of time sexualizing Paula
Patton.
Tips for
parents:
Profanity
and lots of F-bombs.
Pre-marital
relations
Lots
of cleavage and skimpy clothes.You
see a woman’s naked backside.The
rest of the time, she has a hard time keeping her shirt strap on.
Crude
gestures
Violence
with blood splatters
Parents, talk to your daughters about how to be safe and avoid being a victim.
Uplifting theme:
Be
aware of your surroundings
Think
smart
Things I liked:
It was
suspenseful a few times, although there were some fake jumps and scares
that annoyed me.
Paula
Patton didn’t use a stunt double.
I
think this was the first time I have ever seen Missi Pyle in a dramatic
role.Good for her.Did you know she’s also a great
singer?She always wanted to be in
a rock band, which she did for a number of years.
In a Nutshell: It has
been many years since I saw the original Gary Marshall movie Overboard starring Kurt
Russell and Goldie Hawn, but I remember thinking it was a charming Rom-com. The good news is that there is some charm to this remake, but the bad news is that it's not a great movie.
There is a funny running gag about Mexican soap operas.Now that I think of it, the movie kind of
feels like a goofy 1980’s Mexican soap opera.
Tips for
parents:
Eugenio Derbez pulls part of his shorts down to reveal
a tattoo on his butt cheek.
There
is a LOT of Spanish spoken, so there are a LOT of subtitles.If you speak Spanish, you’ll hear some
profanity.
The
plot of the movie is that the protagonist and her children lie to a rich
man to take advantage of his amnesia, as well as get a little revenge. Not exactly the kind of example we want to set for our kids.
Girls
in bikinis.
Some
profanity in English and Spanish.
Alcohol.
There
is some discussion about what the word “pervert” means, so your young kids
are probably going to ask you about it.
You
see an unmarried couple in bed together.
Uplifting theme:
Follow
your dream
Motherhood
Poetic
justice
“Life’s
short and you don’t want to live with regrets.” -(Anna Faris)
Things I liked:
Eugenio
Derbez is always delightful.I
first saw him in How To Be A Latin Lover.He’s super popular in Mexico. I can see why.
Anna
Faris is probably best known for her roles in the Scary Movie franchise.Unlike her ex-husband Chris
Pratt, she tends to choose movie scripts that end up bombing at the box
office.She’s extremely likable and capable,
although her plastic surgery is a bit distracting.I’m not talking about her breast
implants, but it looks like she had something done to her lips. I keep staring at her face to see if I could figure out what she had done.
Keep
watching when the rolling credits run at the end of the movie.
My
twin sister teaches nursing students, so I thought it was cute that Anna Faris' character listened to nursing audio
books in the car to help her prepare for her big test. Every summer, my sister takes nursing students to various Third World countries to offer free health clinics. The program is run through International Service Learning. I got to go with her one year as a Spanish translator when she went to Colombia. It was awesome and I highly recommend it to anyone in the health industry who is up for a meaningful adventure abroad!
There
is a cuteJaws reference when you see the name tag “Brody” on a guy during a conversation about sharks.Ha ha
In a
movie filled with wacky gags and slapstick humor, I thought it was
insightful to include a short, yet deep scene where some men talked about
how they felt like they were just a paycheck to their wives.
The
youngest daughter, played by Payton Lepinski, is so adorable.I’d like
to see her in more films.
It’s
always good to see Eva Longoria.
Director and writer Rob Greenberg was trying to bring
something fresh to the remake by switching the gender roles and adding a
Latino element to the story.
Things I didn’t like:
The
chemistry between Eugenio Derbez and Anna Farisisn’t
very convincing.Of course, Goldie
Hawn and Kurt Russell were an actual couple when they filmed the original
Overboard, so their chemistry was undeniable.
Eugenio
wears a lot of Seattle Seahawks t-shirts in the movie, but the location is supposedly
somewhere along the Oregon coast.I
was just in Seattle last weekend, by the way.It was my very first time there and I
was so impressed!My husband and I
enjoyed perfect weather with blue skies and had so much fun going on
tours, seeing the sites, and discovering cool restaurants.I highly recommend the “Underground
Tour”, “Free Walking Tours”, and Amazon headquarters tour! What a cool city.
Interesting lines:
“I don’t
have time for fun.” – Kate (Anna Faris)
“Then you’re not doing it right.” –
Theresa (Eva Longoria)
“Land
of the free, not land of the free lunch.” – Bobby (Mel Rodriguez)
“Mos
of us only know the world we’re born into.” - Colin (John Hannah)
series, which is what triggers the focus. Sharon says, "I'm not sure this qualifies as a book." Exactly.
? She's really great in it and looks stunning.
. She is only 65, the youngest in the group. He's 74.
hat in the pool scene.
, so I thought their
ages were unmatched in this film. 
.
which starred Josh Brolin.
pose on a chair with bullets raining down on him. He definitely takes a beating in this film.
? Yeah, that's this plot.
.
starring Kurt
Russell and Goldie Hawn, but I remember thinking it was a charming Rom-com.
.
franchise.
will get a kick out of seeing Mel Rodriguez.
