New Line Cinema, Principato-Young Entertainment,

Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Tiffany Haddish, Method Man, Jason Mitchell, Luis Guzmán, Nia Long, Will Forte, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Jamar Malachi Neighbors, Benedict Cumberbatch

Rell Williams (Jordan Peele) is really sad, and his world is crashing down. His friend Clarence (Keegan-Michael Key) would like to help out, but when a little kitten arrives at his door, Rell finds new purpose in life and bounces back. But a week later the poor little kitten is stolen, and so Rell and Clarence head out to recover the cat. But it isn’t going to be easy as they have to impersonate gangsters and thugs as they deal with the drug lords and crooks that run the city to try to get their kitten back.

I must admit I was waiting a long time for this to come out on video, and I was rather disappointed when it came time to pop it in the DVD. For some reason I expected more out of this. Now, I remember these guys from the MadTV days when I watched it religiously every week. I used to Tivo SNL and watch MadTV first! (Yeah, there is a new MadTV on this season, and it just isn’t funny). I enjoyed their characters, although this movie kind of felt like a very, very long version of their “Jinx” skits where somebody does or says something bad, and the guys have to go through extreme measures to break the jinx. They were very funny, but always went on WAY too long. This is kind of the same thing. I found myself wishing this would just be over and something else funny would come on. They are finding a new audience on their new TV show, and I must admit I have never seen that one, not even once, so there may be something going on there that I just don’t get. I really think these guys are very talented comedians, but they didn’t put it to good use with these characters. They spend the whole movie switching between making extreme funny faces and faking terror or fear, and talking like tough gang members about to “pop a cap in yo’ ass”. Perhaps there is a taste for this, like what I felt for The Three Stooges back in the day, but I found this extremely silly. I realize that comedy often is made by going to the extreme, but this so far that it’s like Borat without the clever bits. I found it just dragged on and on and did not strike me as very funny at all. I am sure there is a market for these guys, and I wish them well in future endeavors, but I think this one missed by a mile. Sometimes sketch comedy doesn’t stretch out to a full feature without getting too thin.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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** Seasons of Love

Game 7 Films, Good Shepard Productions, Move Mountain Productions,

Taraji P. Henson, Cleo Anthony, Shannon Kane, Method Man, Letoya Luckett, Robert Christopher Riley, Elizabeth Ho, Ana Isabelle, Richard Portnow, Gladys Knight


Kyla (Letoya Luckett) meets Amir (Cleo Anthony)and the hit things off right away. Amir runs a club with his Mom (Gladys Knight) and Pop (Richard Portnow). Things are going great when suddenly Amir’s father passes away which throws him for a loop. Around the same time Kyla’s ex shows up and is willing to do anything to get her back again. Suddenly Kyla and Amir find themselves living separate lives and both are dreadfully unhappy. Can they work through their issues and find real happiness.

Though this is advertised as a Christmas film, it isn’t really. It starts at Christmas and it finishes at Christmas a year later, but we get a look at all the seasons. It’s a pretty decent little movie with some interesting characters. It was especially nice to see Gladys Knight. She did a great job, and was a pleasure to watch. The romance element, of course, is the key to the movie, but there are lots of other problems and emotions. We’re put through the wringer with some heartfelt tragedies here. Things wrap up nicely and we’re back to a festive holiday season again. I thought this film was nicely put together, and was enjoyable to watch. It was nice to see a good romance story done with the mostly African-American cast. Many films like this fall into the silly slapstick trap, or else go to the urban ghetto tragedy stuff. This is a mainstream story with understandable problems and trials that are familiar to all people, regardless of their ethnic origin or background. It was a good story and the skin colors of the different actors made no difference at all either way. I thought this was really handled nicely.

[Here is the Lifetime page for this film]

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Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Lucasfilm, Partnership Pictures,

Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard, Nate Parker, David Oyelowo, Ne-Yo, Elijah Kelley, Bryan Cranston, Tristan Wilds, Lee Tergesen, Method Man, Andre Royo

Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding star in this biographical documentary about the famous WWII Tuskeegee Airmen, part of the 332nd Fighter Group, and all black World War II unit that were the best escort pilots in the service of their country. Known as Red Tails, they fought the Nazis in Europe while they fought racism at home. This true story covers the fight they had to gain respect in a time when black men really didn’t get to be a part of the real military, but were assigned to less significant roles. These brave heroes fought the for the right to fight like the real ace pilots they were.

This is not a perfect movie by any means. If you want to pick it apart you surely can find lots of things to complain about. Cliche ridden, with a very mediocre score, and with some really corny scenes, it’s not overly exciting. I think if they really failed on this script it was because they are trying too hard to tell a story that needs to be told. This is a lot like the old documentaries we used to see and not like the big budget WWII fighting ace films that came along a lot later. I think the actors gave it a commendable try, but the script wasn’t quite crisp or fresh enough to make this a great little film. But it was, as I said, probably a story that needed to be told. The feeling I got was similar to the religious broadcasting that they used to put on TV in Sunday Mornings in the 50’s and 60’s. It was a requirement to keep their license for the stations to broadcast so many public service hours every week, and the relegated these to Sunday morning and very late at night (think “Sermonette”). They did it because they had to, and it was a good thing to do, but they didn’t really put their heart and soul into it. It was sort of just done in order to get it out of the way. That’s how this film felt to me. I think it’s well worth the time watching it as a rental, but it won’t be really exciting unless you are really a WWII buff and already know the story. Still, I’m glad I saw it, and it was worth the effort. I give it a lukewarm recommendation at best.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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Michael De Luca Productions, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation,

Jonah Hill, Max Records, Ari Graynor, J.B. Smoove, Sam Rockwell, Landry Bender, Kevin Hernandez, Kylie Bunbury, Method Man, D.W. Moffett, Dreama Walker, Jessica Hecht, Alex Wolff

Noah Griffith (Jonah Hill) is a bit of a screw-up. He’s been kicked out of college and is sitting around home. Mom finally has had it and insists he takes a babysitting job for the 3 neighbor kids. Noah is not in the mood, but finally agrees, only to get a booty call from a girl he has been trying to score with for some time. There is a problem though. He has to make a stop first to pick up a “package” for her, and has to leave for the party right now. So Noah naturally decides to take the kids along for the ride when things quickly spin out of control when dangerous drug lords are out to kill him, and end up chasing the kids and him all over town.

A lot of this film is really silly, just as you would expect it to be. But at the same time it has a lot of jokes that I haven’t quite seen before, and it is pretty funny. Jonah has this character down now, but he has a lot of help in this film. One of the kids is Rodrigo (Kevin Hernandez) who was adopted by this lily white family, and has a really bad attitude and loves explosives! He’s a riot sometimes. The bad guys are funny too with J.B.Smoove playing Julio, the first mate of the drug lord who is a riot sometimes. He does a great job in a role that could have been custom built for Arsenio Hall! The story moves along at breakneck speed with a good many laughs and lots of gross outs. This is just what you would expect from a film in this genre. It’s not for everyone, so beware of the crude humor, but if you like this kind of film, you could do much worse in the crack up department. I had fun with this.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

Below is the Red Band (R-Rated) Trailer for this movie

 

 

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One-Twenty Inc.

Wood Harris, Zoe Saldana, Brian J. White, Marla Gibbs, Jasmine Guy, Method Man, Edward Asner

Harvard Medical School grad Ray Howard (Brian White) is in Florida completing his internship when he meets Dr. Sidney Zachary (Wood Harris) a serious physician who is a part time stand up comedian. Ray is a bit of a proud fellow, quite a womanizer, and one of those guys who think they are very special. Dr. Z makes an attempt to teach Ray how to be a decent doctor while hiding a terrible secret.

This film is billed as a romantic comedy, which I guess is somewhat fair, but it really is a story about the trials and tribulations, or torture of the interns in a hospital. Some of the funniest bits are between the mean head doctor and his henchman, and the young interns that are terrified of him. I felt like I was peering into the medical profession and sharing an inside joke that all doctors know about the pranks and embarrassments that all new doctors have to go through to become accepted. It’s really a doctor story.

There are many clever moments in the story, and it is touching. But it’s not extremely outstanding in my opinion. If you’re interested in the medical field, then there is a lot of info packed in with the hospital humor, but as a romantic comedy, there’s not much to sink your teeth into here. Some of the stand-up routines that Dr. Z gives at the comedy club are very good, and will make you laugh, but don’t expect a classic “Sleepless in Seattle” type movie. This is not it. It’s more like an episode of Scrubs.

I rate this in the middle, not great, and not awful, but just mediocre. As I said, if you’re inside the medical field, this will be a hoot, otherwise, I’m sure you can do better.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

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