Universal Pictures, Blumhouse Productions, IM Global,
Patrick Wilson, Ed Helms, Chris Pine, Jessica Alba, Ray Liotta, James Badge Dale, Brooklyn Decker, David Hasselhoff, Shaun Toub
Stretch (Patrick Wilson) is a limo driver with a gambling problem. He’s in real trouble if he doesn’t pay them back immediately. To assist him, he hijacks a really rich client who offers to pay off his bills if he can meet all the demands of this eccentric passenger. Meanwhile he’s been haunted by the ghost of his nemesis, perfect limo driver Karl who recently offed himself, but decided to hang around to torment Stretch.
This is an off the wall comedy that has its funny moments. Patrick Wilson is demented enough to play this troubled soul whose life is derailing around him and still try to pull it all together. There are some funny cameos here as celebrities, playing themselves, show up to make a little fun of their celebrity. The Hoff does a pretty good job of lampooning himself, in particular. All in all, though, the story is a bit on the silly side, and is a little bit over the top. The comedy is just not all together on target. Sometimes it is just a little bit over the top and a bit too frantic. As I said, it’s got its moments, and some of it is really good, so it wasn’t bad that I could catch this for free streaming, as the DVD is not even on Netflix yet, but I have a hard time recommending it as I know it could be a pretty big disappointment for many. It was a nice try, but just not enough for a recommendation.
Danny Trejo, Michelle Rodriguez, Mel Gibson, Amber Heard, SofÃa Vergara, Demián Bichir, Jessica Alba, Charlie Sheen, Antonio Banderas, Zoe Saldana, Vanessa Hudgens, Cuba Gooding Jr., Alexa PenaVega, Lady Gaga, William Sadler
Machete (Danny Trejo) and Sartana try to bring down a Mexican cartel but are interrupted when a group of bad guys show up, kill Sartana, and Machete is arrested for the murder. But the U.S. government breaks him out on the promise that he will take down a crazy billionaire revolutionary. This guy is trying to launch a weapon into space to gain control of the power and take down the U.S.
When the original Machete was made, they knew they had a fun movie on their hands, but they needed a bit more to the length, so they filmed a trailer and did a “Machete returns in:” and previewed the upcoming sequel “Machete Kills”. They didn’t really expect to make a sequel, but they really had to when they saw what happened to the first film. Machete is the baddest of bad guys, and a real hero. Much the the Bud Spencer/Terrence Hill “Trinity” films of the 70’s this is a nod to the Spaghetti Westerns of the 70’s which launched Clint Eastwood into superstardom. Machete is certainly a throwback to those days, but it’s got all the technique and special effects of the day and are really modern looking. Much like other parody movies, this one is a parody of many other films, but unlike most, it’s not only humor. Yes, everything is much larger than life, and there are some really funny moments, but it’s a good adventure story certainly comparable to the first. Machete is just plain fun. There’s a gaggle of stars here, and that is mostly because everybody wanted to be in it. It wasn’t hard to get stars to do cameos in this movie, as it had to be a lot of fun.
Blue Yonder Films, GRF Productions, Jon Shestack Productions,
Brendan Fraser, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jessica Alba, Jane Lynch, Craig Robinson, William Shatner, SofÃa Vergara, Rob Corddry, Ricky Gervais, Jonathan Morgan Heit, Chris Parnell, George Lopez, Steve Zahn
Far away in outer space is Planet Baab, where a population of blue aliens crave excitement and adventure. Their hero is Scorch Supernova (Brendan Fraser) who heads out into danger time after time, and is rescued by his nerdy brother Gary (Rob Corddry). But when Scorch decides to head out to the “dark planet” Planet Earth, Gary wants nothing to do with it. Earth has a history of ships that have gone in to explore and never returning, and no one has ever escaped the planet. Scorch insists to the brothers break up their team, and Scorch heads out on his only into a giant trap. Now Gary will have to head out to try to save Scorch or die trying.
This animated space adventure is a lot like many other of the same genre with either earthlings going into outer space to be captured by aliens or aliens coming to earth and getting trapped here. In fact, this is not far off a feature length “Marvin the Martian” cartoon from vintage Warner Bros. But it’s charming and funny, and does a few twists and turns that keep it interesting. In that respect, it’s a little like Men In Black where there is a whole world going on around us of which we normal humans are not even aware. It’s not highly cerebral, of course, but kids will love it, and this may be a pretty decent animated film that families can enjoy together. I didn’t pay to watch this film in the theater, as I was very willing to wait till it was out on DVD, but now that it is, I am glad I watched it. Though not the greatest animated film ever made, it’s certainly cute and funny enough to pass some time with the kids and enjoy the humor. I enjoyed this film.
Overnight Films, Troublemaker Studios, Dune Entertainment III
Danny Trejo, Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Steven Seagal, Michelle Rodriguez, Jeff Fahey, Cheech Marin, Don Johnson, Lindsay Lohan, Tom Savini
Machete Cortez (Danny Trejo) is a complex guy. He’s much, much more than he appears to be, but a corrupt organization hired him to assassinate the senator. But as he’s about to take the shot, he notices that he’s in the scope of a second shooter gunning for him. The ones who hired him send out orders to kill him, but that’s much easier said than done. Jessica Alba is Sartana Rivera, an ICE agent who is torn between her people and her job. Cheech Marin is Padre Cortez, Machete’s brother who is now a priest and has taken a vow of non-violence. But he’s definitely Machete’s brother! This film also stars lots of other characters played by Robert De Niro (the senator), Steven Seagal (drug kingpin extraordinaire), Lindsay Lohan, (sexy model), and even Don Johnson (who humorously is presented in the titles as “Introducing…..Don Johnson”).
This is a “Grindhouse” film. I’m not a big fan of these types of films, but as the genre goes, this is pretty decent. It’s got tons of blood and guts and and is very over the top violent. There’s plenty of nudity too from people you wouldn’t normally expect perhaps. But all in all it’s got somewhat of a story behind it. It’s about power, illegal immigration, and a plan to control the border. Since it’s Grindhouse, it’s cheesy with lots of comedy in the dialog. It’s obviously not designed to be Shakespeare. This is just what it is, however this one has a slew of decent actors making fun of the whole concept. Well, maybe that is a little too hard, but the whole thing seems obviously tongue-in-cheek which is what we would expect. But it’s not cheaply made. It’s got really decent acting and sets. And with as many stars as are in this film, they can just about kill anyone and it doesn’t matter. And a lot of people die. I am not a big fan of this movie, but as I’ve said, it’s one of the better in the genre, so don’t be afraid if you enjoy this type of movie to go for it. It’s not all as bad as many other reviewers have stated.
Robert DeNiro, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Dustin Hoffman, Ericka Jensen, Barbara Streisand, Blythe Danner, Teri Polo, Jessica Alba, Laura Dern, Kevin Hart, Daisy Tahan, Colin Baiocchi, Thomas McCarthy, Harvey Keitel
Greg (Ben Stiller) and Pam (Teri Polo) are ready to celebrate the twins 5th birthday. They want the whole family to gather for the event. Greg and Pam are planning a move to a new home, and the plan is to hold the party with a bounce house and all in the back yard of the new house. But contractor Randy (Harvey Keitel) is dragging his feet and everything else he can drag. Plus Dad Focker (Dustin Hoffman) is in Spain on some kind of mid life crisis learning how to dance the Salsa. Meanwhile, Teri’s father, Jack Byrnes (Robert DeNiro) who was also a fan of Doctor Bob (Thomas McCarthy) since he was so much better than Greg, but Dr. Bob has cheated on Teri’s sister and now is divorced leaving Greg in line to manage the family. Meanwhile, Greg and Teri are trying to get the twins into a very expensive private school called “The Early Human School” run by Prudence (Laura Dern). The only thing that could mess things up worse is if Kevin (Owen Wilson) (who just loves Teri, his ex) would show up, and of course he does. The final straw is a sexy drug rep name Andi Garcia played by Jessica Alba who seems intent on seducing Greg.
Little Fockers is the third in the series. It’s much better than the last one (Meet the Fockers), but not near as good as the first (Meet the Parents). That first entry falls into the category of one of the funniest movies of all times! The characters were really well developed and played off each other wonderfully. With characters so well developed, the only thing that could really go wrong is if they have nothing to do. I think that’s what happened here. After the third movie with the “circle of trust” and Jack misinterpreting what Greg is doing, and Greg’s parents being over sexed and crude, and so on, it’s the same recycled jokes. That is the problem with this film. It’s like a comedy series that has already run it’s course and run out of new jokes. Most everything here has been used before. But still it’s very funny, as always, and these are the same characters we know from before. It’s like going home again in a way. Owen Wilson has a slightly longer part this time around, and we get to know him a little better. Jessica Alba is a good add, as we haven’t seen Greg tempted before. Greg is supposed to be the one to carry on the Byrnes family crest as “the Godfocker”, and immediately he gets stressed and starts losing it and proving he’s not worthy.  It’s comfortable around this time, and I think a good deal better than the last go round. If you don’t want to see it in the theater, watch it on DVD when it comes out. It should make the move to small screen very well.  Oh, and one last thing. Take note of the PG-13 rating very carefully. Though nothing is shown, there are quite a few crude and rude jokes and gags that, although not shown, may be tough to explain to a small kid. I was unhappy to see a lot of 8-10 year olds in the theater which made me very uncomfortable for them.
