Ed's Review Dot Com

Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Pictures,

John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch, Alan Tudyk, Ed O’Neill, Taraji P. Henson, Susan Lucci, Jason Lee, Idina Menzel, Anika Noni Rose, Judy Reyes, Grant Show, Ana Ortiz, Ming-Na Wen, Rebecca Wisocky, Paige O’Hara, Linda Larkin, Mariana Klaveno, Daria Ramirez, Tom Irwin, Edy Ganem, Irene Bedard, Jodi Benson, Anthony Daniels, Gal Gadot, Kristen Bell, Mandy Moore, Kelly Macdonald, Auli’i Cravalho

Ralph (John C Reilly) and Vanellope are still best friends. Ralph enjoys life, living in the arcade, and enjoying the down time when the Arcade is closed, but loving the sunrise every morning and looking forward to going back to Fix-It Felix. But Vanellope is looking for a bit more. She’s getting tired of the same six courses and she already knows all the secrets of the game and wants a new challenge. There is something new in the arcade though as the owner Mr Litwak (Ed O’Neill) plugs in a WiFi router to connect his business to the Internet. When Vanellope’s game is broken, She and Ralph head out through the wifi to the internet to find the missing part. Naturally things go really wrong as they always seem to do. This Disney film is a sequel to Wreck-It Ralph.

I really enjoyed this movie, although a lot of people were left feeling that it was lacking something. The problem is that a lot of people have a great deal of nostalgia for the old games in the past. I too feel a longing for the old Arcade and miss the games of old. Times were simple then, and video games today are extremely complex and I have a tough time getting into most of them. Sometimes I long for the old days when Donkey Kong jumped over barrels and a little yellow circle ran though a maze eating dots. But the internet just doens’t have that kind of nostalgia as we feel from the 70’s arcade days. There are a number of really cute references to old obsolete web sites that have long been replaced and sent to the the bit cemetery in the back realms of the internet, but nothing that really strikes a chord with the younger folks. It doesn’t hold the same kind of place in our hearts. Another problem is that Disney has gone overboard with the political correct stuff, and most of the less successful movies of late are so preachy that they really turn people off. Looking back at films like Wall-E for example are a “humans are bad” to the max experience. This movie would have been a lot better if it had not been overly skewed to the “You’re a bad friend and I don’t want you anymore” side. This movie is more about how Ralph pissed off Vanellope and she retaliates by turned against him. The key message of this film is insecurity and toxic friendship. It shouldn’t be. If you have not seen the original, then this isn’t a bad movie at all but as a sequel to the original, it’s bound to let you down as it’s just not a sweet and charming as the original. I think it could have been, but it went off course into a place I wish it hadn’t. I enjoyed it a lot, but it didn’t wow me like the original did.

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Pantelion Films, 3Pas Studios,

Eugenio Derbez, Salma Hayek, Rob Lowe, Kristen Bell, Raquel Welch, Rob Corddry, Rob Riggle, Raphael Alejandro, Mckenna Grace, Rob Huebel, Linda Lavin, Michaela Watkins, Michael Cera

Maximo (Eugenio Derbez) figures out early in life that working is not for him. He wants to be a gigolo and have rich women take care of him. But when his wealthy widow, Millicent (Linda Lavin) throws him out when she falls for a younger guy, Maximo is out. With no where to go he sets off to his sister Sara (Salma Hayek) to move in with her. But he soon sets his eye on another catch, Celeste (Raquel Welch) but he’s going to have to work really hard because he has some competition, and he’s not getting any younger.

This is a light and breezy Latin comedy, but I didn’t find it overwhelmingly funny. Yeah, the jokes are there, but it feels like most of it are inside jokes and you’re not in on the jokes. I suspect Latin folks would really enjoy this, mostly because they probably know someone like Max and Sara and can really relate. It was okay, and I suspect it was entertaining enough. I didn’t really get into it a lot, and I can’t highly recommend this, but it’s not really that bad. Rent it if you want. There are a lot of surprise guest shots in the movie, and it’s kind of fun to see them and try to figure out who they are.

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Primate Pictures, RatPac-Dune Entertainment, Warner Bros.,

Michael Peña, Dax Shepard, Jessica McNamee, Adam Brody, Ryan Hansen, Justin Chatwin, Kristen Bell, Vincent D’Onofrio, Rosa Salazar, Maya Rudolph, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Richard T. Jones, Jane Kaczmarek, Adam Rodriguez, Vida Guerra

Ponch (Michael Pena) is an undercover FBI man looking for dirty cops in the California Highway Patrol. He’s partnered up with a brand new rookie Jon (Dax Shephard) who is the oldest rookie in CHP history. Jon is a former X-Games star, but his failing marriage to Karen (Kristin Bell) causes him to tryout as a policeman to try to win her back. But the corruption runs deep and they don’t know who they can trust as they try to locate the loot and the dirty cops behind the heist. This is based on the popular 80’s TV show CHiPs, and even features a cameo by the original Ponch, Erik Estrada.

They took a different approach with this movie, not really following the story of the tv series, but rather making a comedy satirical parody of the TV show which was a little unintentionally funny in the first place. This one is strictly tongue in cheek and doesn’t even try to take itself seriously. Maybe that wasn’t a bad idea since the history of TV shows turned into feature films has been mostly dreadful. This one didn’t take itself too seriously and was actually really funny. They could go for jokes mocking the original series and beef it up with crazy R rated humor which differentiates it from the TV show. Michael and Dax have fun mocking their characters, and both are cartoonishly over the top performances. The supporting cast is really good too and help them a lot to bring humor to the story. And best of all it’s only a teensy bit over an hour and a half so it doesn’t drag out the joke too far. All in all, I think it was a nice homage to the original TV series done, as I stated, tongue in cheek, but with TLC as well. It wasn’t a bad break from serious movies, and was more like one of the many parody movies with Leslie Nielsen or maybe Charlie Sheen. It wasn’t bad, and worth the time I spent on it.

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Warner Bros. Digital Distribution, Spondoolie Productions, Rob Thomas Productions,

Kristen Bell, Jason Dohring, Enrico Colantoni, Chris Lowell, Percy Daggs III, Tina Majorino

Years have passed and Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) has given up, at her Father’s insistence, the role of junior detective. She’s returned home for her high school reunion when her ex, Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring) is arrested for a crime by the local police. Veronica knows she has to help him, and the cops seem to think it’s an open and shut case, so she jumps back into her familiar “private eye” mode and sets out to prove he’s innocent, whatever the cost.

Apparently Veronica Mars was a short lived TV series that built up a large collection of cult followers. This movie is obviously made for them, and I think they appreciate it very much. As for me, I’ve seen lots of the kid detective movies and TV shows from Pamela Sue Martin as Nancy Drew through the newer versions and all the way through the Spy Kids movies which are fun for kids but hard for grown ups to swallow. This is a rather ho-hum story. There’s not much going on, and what does if pretty bland. Kristen Bell, though a pretty actress, didn’t give me any sense of urgency or danger here. I can appreciate her efforts to right the wrong and free her ex boyfriend, but so what? There’s lots of people in trouble out there, and it’s natural to believe in and want to help people who you know and are friends. I assume that much too much effort went in to paying homage to the original TV show, which I admittedly have never seen, and there wasn’t enough left for story and plot. I would say, if you’re a big Veronica fan, for heaven’s sake, go out and watch this. Why haven’t you seen it yet? However if you’re looking for a private eye mystery story with a lot of meat, this isn’t it. I didn’t feel like it was really worth the effort if you’re not into the characters.

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C Plus Pictures, La Pistola, Attic Light Films,

Kristen Bell, Mamie Gummer, Martin Starr, Alex Shaffer, Amy Madigan, Joshua Harto, David Lambert

Leigh (Kristen Bell) was her school valedictorian and had a job in the city as a reporter, but she’s not happy. She decided to throw in the towel and move back home with her parents. She doesn’t fit in very well, and it causes a lot of friction, but she takes her old job as a lifeguard at the pool, and starts up a relationship with a young boy that threatens to blow the whole family, and perhaps the whole town apart.

Leigh is afraid to grow up. It’s that simple. Being born female, she has the option of blowing off her career and her adult life and returning to her childhood. It’s clear her family is not too happy about her returning home, but she really doesn’t care. The fact that she starts hanging out with teenagers and trying to relive her childhood days is also a bit off putting. I couldn’t find any sympathy for this character, nor could I deal with her behavior. She needs to grow up. This is one of those movies that seems to just show us the everyday life of some characters without any resolution or judgement of any kind. Sometimes we like our movies to have a point. This really doesn’t. It’s just what it is. I agree with others that Kristen Bell nailed the character, but for what purpose? The time spent watching this could have been just as well spent watching the clothes spin around in the dryer. I didn’t absolutely hate this, but I didn’t care for it very much. To be honest, I really disliked Leigh, and felt like she deserved what she got, and much more. There are days when we’d all like to chuck it in and go back home again, but we don’t do it. We have mortgages and bills and taxes and families to care for, so we keep on getting up and going to work. This is life, and this romanticizing going back to relive your childhood is not very attractive. Leigh needs to grow up.

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