When it comes to comedy sequels, they rarely, if ever, surpass the original. One simply cannot reinvent the wheel, one can merely add a few new jokes and some colorful characters to it. Truer words have never been spoken when it comes to Zoolander No. 2, a sequel that took 15 years to make. Paramount Pictures and writer/director/producer and star Ben Stiller seriously couldn’t come up with a better followup to the adventures of a dimwitted male model which was a very clever satire on the fashion world. 15 years and they came up with a slightly amusing yet contrived and forced spy adventure with plenty of broad humor and corny zingers. Sure, it works (here and there) but the only saving graces are the interactions between some of the characters, most notably scenes with Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig, two seasoned comedians and former SNL cast mates. The moments between Stiller and Owen Wilson are okay but it just feels like we’ve gone down this runway before.
Category Archives: Review
Soundtrack Review: 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
Remote Control Productions is a company run by film music genius Hans Zimmer and employed there, are some of the greatest musical minds working today. This group of composers and musicians currently supplies Hollywood productions with many of their scores. Lorne Balfe is one such individual and in recent years, he has contributed a good amount of said scores. He has worked on Batman Begins, the Kung Fu Panda films, and Sherlock Holmes, just to name a few. His latest effort is 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, a gritty actioner based on real events and directed by action “auteur” Michael Bay. The score is not only hard-hitting at times for a militaristic thriller but it contains tender moments that perfectly capture the effect war has on one’s mental wellbeing.
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Deadpool
When a superhero film is rated R, you know you’re in for quite a ride. For the past decade, Marvel and DC have churned out their products with the PG-13 rating firmly stamped on them. This is to ensure that parents will take their kids to the theater, thus spending more and feeding the Hollywood blockbuster machine a little more every couple of months. The new Marvel action spectacle Deadpool shifts this way of marketing in a way never seen before. Rated R, it is a violent, profane, and occasionally sexual rollercoaster ride that will leave audiences breathless, ADULT audiences. Yes, Deadpool is a superhero/crimefighter but he is not your friendly neighborhood superhero. Created by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza and played brilliantly by Ryan Reynolds, he is an antihero who, with a bizarre yet thoroughly enjoyable sense of humor, will slice and shoot his way throughout the film’s brisk 108-minute runtime and will leave you with a big grin well after the end credits.
Touched with Fire
There is a significant link between mental illness and creativity. The human brain is a fascinating machine and can generate works of art that are profound and utterly beautiful. Vincent van Gogh is one such artist who possessed bipolar disorder and his creative works are some of the most well-known and appreciated today. The new film Touched with Fire explores this relationship and does so in a way that is not only smart but unique and simply out of this world. Katie Holmes and Luke Kirby star here and their chemistry onscreen is really something to marvel at. Few films this day and age delve into something so sensitive as mental illness but this film does so in a way that audiences will not only enjoy and walk away having learned a little something.
Hail Caesar!
Joel and Ethan Coen (collectively known as the Coen Brothers) are two of the finest living filmmakers working today. Since the 1980s, these auteurs have made their mark on cinema history by supplying audiences with dark comedies and dramas that are not only entertaining but thought-provoking and very smart. Their style is unmatched by any other writer or director and they almost always hit the mark with expert detail and exquisite precision. From 1984’s Blood Simple up until 2013’s Inside Llewyn Davis, they definitely know what they’re doing and each film is brilliant evidence of that. Unfortunately however, their latest effort, the tongue-in-cheek period comedy Hail Caesar! doesn’t live up to the hype and is one of the Coen Brothers’ weaker efforts. It tries hard and does contain very humorous bits of comedy sprinkled throughout but is a lackluster film at best and not one the Coen Brothers’ better entries.
Kung Fu Panda 3
When a film franchise comes out with a third installment, one gets a sense that that franchise knows what they’re doing and that they are definitely in the business of making money, not high art. Since 2008, the Kung Fu Panda films have repackaged Shrek in a tasty Chinese coating and passed it off as original animated entertainment and DreamWorks Animation actually did get it right. Jack Black serves as voice actor superstar, accompanied by a who’s who of modern day supportive acting talent. Kung Fu Panda 3 continues to follow the adventures of spiritually-misguided Po, a panda who, through the power of kung fu, teamwork, and friendship sees deeper and realizes his true potential. This is the third film, so expect strong similarities between this installment and the previous two however that’s not saying this is a mediocre film because it really is rather fun and lively, not to mention funny and brimming with strong technical achievements.
Soundtrack Review: Kung Fu Panda 3
In 1995, eclectic film composer Hans Zimmer won an Academy Award for his sensational score to The Lion King. This accolade then saw a new generation of film music and pushed the German maestro into not only fame and fortune in the movie business but made him a household name and saw the birth of new talents which served as proteges of Zimmer and his production company Media Ventures, now known as Remote Control Productions. Zimmer co-composed the first two Kung Fu Panda scores with student and flourishing composer John Powell, albums which contain not just powerful Chinese musical cues but pieces of music that evoke moments of adrenaline-induced action and gorgeous choir. Kung Fu Panda 3 continues to stir deep feelings of inspiration, power, and togetherness and the album is one of Zimmer’s best animated efforts yet, of which there are quite a few (The Lion King, The Prince of Egypt, the Madagascar franchise, Megamind, Rango, The Road to El Dorado, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, The Simpsons Movie, etc.) One can even say Zimmer has become the “new” John Williams.
Batman: Bad Blood
The DC Comics animated universe is something that has thrived for quite some time now. You can trace it back to its true beginnings in 1992 when Batman: The Animated Series made waves on television and established the style and tone of DC’s most interesting and enduring superheroes: Batman. Since then, numerous series and animated films have come, all paying tribute to the Caped Crusader, his legacy, and the 70-year history he has delighted fans and cemented the Dark Knight’s name in pop culture. Batman: Bad Blood is another of the character’s great stories and it has just been released digitally on January 20th, 2016 and will grace Blu-ray and DVD shelves on February 2nd.
Soundtrack Review: The Wiz Live!
The Wiz is one of entertainment’s greatest and most beloved treasures. Not often does a musical come along that takes a classic story and gives it a spin that is both energetic and incredibly fun but this one does. 1974 saw the first performance of The Wiz and over the years, it has developed a strong cult following, including a popular film in 1978. With an all black cast which included music legends Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, it is an extremely fun adventure and the soundtrack is something to marvel at as well. In 2015, NBC brought The Wiz back over three decades later, and audiences have recently been treated to a live performance that will linger in your memory for quite some time afterward. The source material and most of the music remains the same and once again, we are taken on one heck of a journey.
The Revenant
Survival is a theme that almost always makes for riveting and quality cinema. Man and nature and the journey to ensure one’s longevity is something we can all find interesting and in the new western thriller The Revenant, audiences are presented with just that. Following up with his critically acclaimed Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu goes much deeper with a story that is not only told in a visually stunning way but will resonate with you long after you leave the movie theater.
Unger the Radar 