Special: The Last Blockbuster, Nomadland, Thunder Force Mini-Reviews

The Last Blockbuster:

Synopsis: The manager of the last Blockbuster video store struggles to keep the store open.

My thoughts: A love letter to video store culture which I can appreciate since I was a Blockbuster regular as a teenager in the age of DVD's and still rent as of today from my local mom and pop video store. As far as the history of Blockbuster and it's downfall it's mostly glossed over and just touched on key points not really as in depth as I'd like but luckily we have last year's "Netflix Vs. The World" that covers that in depth so if you want to get into the nitty gritty of the downfall of Blockbuster and how Netflix played a role (or did it?) check that out but this is still a sweet look at the culture that made video stores so cool and with the nostalgia angle the world is taking nowadays we can only hope one day we might have more Blockbusters.

Final verdict: 4 plastic cases out of 5.

Nomadland:

Synopsis: A woman embarks on a journey through the American West after losing everything during the recession.

My thoughts: Well deserving of the Oscar praise it received but Nomadland was not without it's issues. It's slow moving and has a very sad storyline throughout (sounds like I'm describing an Oscar movie huh?) but it's look into the van-dweller world is interesting and the real life nomads they used never felt out of place as director Chloe Zhao pulled a ton from these non actors and Frances McDormand does a wonderful job as we've come to expect. The film itself was well shot and the poster seen here was just one of many visually stunning scenes the cinematographer was able to shoot. The best thing I can say about this film is that it totally makes me want to watch a documentary about nomads now.

Final verdict: 3.5 jobs at Amazon out of 5.

Thunder Force:

Synopsis: Two childhood best friends reunite as an unlikely crime-fighting superhero duo when one invents a formula that gives ordinary people superpowers.

My thoughts: The laugh to joke ratio here was very low and the very few laughs it coerced out of me was of the `this is so cringe variety. Much like the other Ben Falcone - Melissa McCarthy pairings you can definitely skip this one.

Final verdict: 2.5 unfunny comedies out of 5.

Special: The Boss/My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2/Justice League Vs. Teen Titans Mini-Reviews

The Boss:

Academy Award (R)-nominated star Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids, The Heat, Tammy) headlines The Boss as a titan of industry who is sent to prison after she's caught for insider trading. When she emerges ready to rebrand herself as America's latest sweetheart, not everyone she screwed over is so quick to forgive and forget. McCarthy is joined in The Boss by an all-star cast led by Kristen Bell, Peter Dinklage and Kathy Bates. Directed by Ben Falcone (Tammy), the comedy is based on an original character created by McCarthy and written by McCarthy and Falcone alongside their Groundlings collaborator, Steve Mallory.

My thoughts? Although The Boss has it's moments it ultimately gets branded as "trying too hard" thanks to hits girl scout on girl scout over the top fight scene and strange spy spoof jokes. The cast is likable enough and had the script of been stronger Falcone might have been able to get more out of this stellar cast of comedic stars.

Final verdict: 3 out 5 Martha Stewart Parodies

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2:

Gold Circle Entertainment and HBO present a Playtone production of My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, the long-awaited follow-up to the highest-grossing romantic comedy of all time. Written by Academy Award (R) nominee Nia Vardalos, who stars alongside the entire returning cast of favorites, the film reveals a Portokalos family secret that will bring the beloved characters back together for an even bigger and Greeker wedding. Kirk Jones (Nanny McPhee, Waking Ned Devine) directs the next chapter of the film that will be once again produced by Rita Wilson and Playtone partners Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman.

My thoughts? Like The Boss, this sequel is not without it's flaws but if you're willing to look past them what you'll end up seeing is a warm hearted family tale filled with endearing characters. But in the grand scheme of things, this will be quickly forgotten just like the other long awaited comedy sequels we've gotten recently.

Final verdict: 3 out of 5 Opa's!

Justice League Vs. Teen Titans:

Robin botches a Justice League mission and is sent to work with the Teen Titans, who must do battle with Trigon after he threatens to take over the Justice League for world domination.

My thoughts? I'm not sure why I was so surprised that this movie was not anything like it's title seeing as the DCAU original movies have been doing this for a while (e.g. Batman: Assault On Arkham was a Suicide Squad movie). The only real fighting between the two group is a shouting match and then some fighting of demon versions of the League. It's a fun enough romp with the great action we've come to expect from the DCAU original movies. Most importantly this movie is a bit of a rebound after the mishandling of The court Of Owls storyline (Batman Vs. Robin), the disappointing Batman: Bad Blood and the WTF were they thinking? Justice League: Gods And Monsters. Should be a great primer to The Killing Joke.

Final verdict: 4 out of 5 superhero team-ups (though I reserve the right to up it to a 5 after a 2nd viewing)

Special: Tammy Review

Tammy is having a really bad day. She's totalled her clunker car after hitting a deer (deer's hit back FYI), gotten fired from her thankless job at a greasy burger joint and, instead of finding comfort at home, finds her husband getting comfortable with the neighbour in her own house. It's time for her to leave town, something her mother calls her pattern, she always has a fit, leaves vowing to not return only to return the very next day. The one hold up in her plan this time? She's broke and without wheels. The worse news is her grandma, Pearl, is her only option-with a car, cash, and an itch to leave town and see Niagara Falls. Not exactly the escape Tammy had in mind. But on the road, with grandma riding shot gun, it may be just what Tammy needs.

Tammy stars Melissa McCarthy as the titular character whose life is in ruins after the events described above. Driving around with her diabetes ridden, alcoholic grandmother, played by Susan Sarandon, isn't helping her case very much despite the fact she's supplying the wheels and over $6,000 in cash. Along the journey Tammy and her grandma Pearl discover they may not be as different as they thought they were at the beginning of their journey as they find love, life and advice to make them better people. Typical comedy right???

Wrong. Tammy is not only unfunny... It borders on "Not even trying to be funny" territory. I can tell you while watching Tammy the amount of times I laughed can be counted on one hand., and not one of those times was the laughter consistent it was pretty much chuckles. That's what this movie should be classified as a road trip chuckler. Although this movie is unfunny it doesn't necessarily fail. Most people would expect a Melissa McCarthy movie to be funny or at least try to be so I can understand people being disappointed with the final product (2.5/10 score on Metacritic right now) but what it lacks in laughter it makes up with heart.

The beginning of the movie was very uneven... I'm not sure if husband and wife writing duo of McCarthy and Ben Falcone are new to the whole writing thing, for what it's worth neither of them have any prior screenwriting credits, but it is incredibly rocky, the shabby editing doesn't help with this problem either. It does eventually even out near the end but it's like that old adage "It's not the destination that's important, it's the adventure along the way" and the adventure to the end result was rough.

Melissa McCarthy continues to be a viable screen presence, even if the lovable fat loser shtick is getting stale quickly. The supporting cast is equally impressive as we tend to not see Sarandon is this kind of role but she buys in 100% and is engaging throughout. Love interest Marc Duplass plays Bobby, given the scripting issues he doesn't get given a whole lot but is able to stack up against McCarthy and Sarandon with ease. Kathy Bates and Sandra Oh have won enough awards to know they can act, but make them a lesbian couple and they are easily the best parts of Tammy, perhaps only because they are the moral centre point and appear only when the script starts to smooth out, but I doubt it. Its just great casting and even better acting. It's unfortunate they couldn't have, you know, actual writers and a director (Falcone again) who has been around the block before.

In the end Tammy is unfortunately billed as a comedy despite not being funny which of course will lead to disappointment, especially given McCarthy's stature as the funniest woman in the world. The cast is great but due to the inexperienced writing and directing the film suffers and shabby post production makes those points more visible than they may have been if it had better editing. The uneven nature of the movie will annoy the film aficionados out there, but may not be apparent to the casual movie goers but in the end the movie finds it's way, no matter how awkward it is, and stops trying to use desperate attempts at humour that fail and embraces it's human element. I give Tammy 3 Fast Food Robberies out of 5.