Special: The Suicide Squad, Luca, Breaking News In Yuba County Mini-Reviews

The Suicide Squad:

Synopsis: Welcome to hell--a.k.a. Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out--even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today's do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin and everyone's favorite psycho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese. Trekking through a jungle teeming with militant adversaries and guerrilla forces at every turn, the Squad is on a search-and-destroy mission with only Colonel Rick Flag on the ground to make them behave...and Amanda Waller's government techies in their ears, tracking their every movement. And as always, one wrong move and they're dead (whether at the hands of their opponents, a teammate, or Waller herself). If anyone's laying down bets, the smart money is against them--all of them.

My thoughts: I actually enojyed David Ayer's previous adaptation of the Suicide Squad to the big screen it had it's issues but was an enjoyable romp. James Gunn's turn in the directors chair brings back fan favourites Harley Quinn, Rick Flagg Jr and Captain Boomerang to pair with a new cast of characters lead by Bloodsport. Gunn did a fantastic job turning expectations on it's head throughout the film and giving us reason to care about these characters even more than this DC fanboy did before. R-Rated gore, language and even a nude man's penis shows that comic book movies can be anything you want it to be.

Final verdict: 5 bags of dicks for liberty out of 5.

Luca:

Synopsis: Set in a beautiful seaside town on the Italian Riviera, Disney and Pixar's original feature film "Luca" is a coming-of-age story about one young boy experiencing an unforgettable summer filled with gelato, pasta and endless scooter rides. Luca (voice of Jacob Tremblay) shares these adventures with his newfound best friend, Alberto (voice of Jack Dylan Grazer), but all the fun is threatened by a deeply-held secret: they are sea monsters from another world just below the water's surface.

My thoughts: Pixar gives us a beautiful picture with a story full of heart and hope. I feel like that can be copy and pasted into any of their pictures. Luca doesn't try nearly as hard as last year's Soul but executes it better. It shoots straight for your emotions, sometimes too much as it gets caught up in the attempt to make you feel something rather than just try to move the story forward. Overall a super fun Italian romp with sea monsters getting their land legs.

Final verdict: 4 stupido's out of 5.

Breaking News In Yuba County:

Synopsis: A woman takes advantage of her growing celebrity status when the police and the public think her dead husband is just missing.

My thoughts: This one is hard to pin down as it's a bit of a quirky comedy that knows it's quirky and throws itself into that fully. In the end though it seems to get lost in itself and ends up looking like a parody of a better movie. The script had some good dialogue and the performances by the ensemble was strong but this group of actresses deserved a better end product.

Final verdict: 3 ignored wives out of 5.

Special: 2020 In Review: Best Movies of 2020

70. Tesla

69. The Grudge

68. Artemis Fowl

67. The Last Days Of American Crime

66. Capone

65. The Turning

64. Miss Americana

63. Escape From Pretoria

62. Body Cam

61. Impractical Jokers: The Movie

60. Hubie Halloween

59. Dolittle

58. Fantasy Island

57. Bloodshot

56. The Midnight Sky

55. Batman: Death In The Family

54. Vampires Vs. The Bronx

53. The Willoughbys

52. Get Duked!

51. Trolls: World Tour

50. Coffee & Kareem

49. Greyhound

48. Project Power

47. Stargirl

46. Deathstroke: Knights & Dragons: The Movie

45. The Christmas Chronicles 2

44. Scoob!

43. The Speed Cubers

42. Spenser Confidential

41. The One And Only Ivan

40. Superman: Red Son

39. The New Mutants

38. Godmothered

37. The Call Of The Wild

36. Underwater

35. The Gentlemen

34. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

33. The Invisible Man

32. Bill & Ted Face The Music

31. Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made

30. My Spy

29. Soul

28. The Hunt

27. Mulan

26. Superman: Man Of Tomorrow

25. The Banker

24. Secret Society Of Second Born Royals

23. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge On The Run

22. Beastie Boys Story

21. Phineas And Ferb The Movie: Candace Against The Universe

20. The Lovebirds

19. 7500

18. The King Of Staten Island

17. Palm Springs

16. Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm

15. The Way Back

14. Extraction

13. Wonder Woman 1984

12. Bad Boys For Life

11. Safety

10. Netflix Vs. The World

9. Da 5 Bloods

8. Justice League Dark: Apokolips War

7. Freaky

6. Magic Camp

5. Becky

4. The Trial Of The Chicago 7

3. Sonic The Hedgehog

2. Onward

1. Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn

Special: Onward, Impractical Jokers: The Movie, Bad Boys For Life Mini-Reviews

Onward:

Synopsis: In "Onward," teenage elf brothers Ian and Barley Lightfoot (voices of Tom Holland and Chris Pratt) get an unexpected opportunity to spend one more day with their late dad, embarking on an extraordinary quest aboard Barley's epic van Guinevere. Like any good quest, their journey is filled with magic spells, cryptic maps, impossible obstacles and unimaginable discoveries. But when the boys' fearless mom Laurel realizes her sons are missing, she teams up with a part-lion, part-bat, part-scorpion, former warrior -- aka The Manticore -- and heads off to find them. Perilous curses aside, this one magical day could mean more than any of them ever dreamed.

My thoughts: Pixar has done better but it's also done way worse. Onward is definitely formulaic but it's a great story about family, alienation and of course magic. Director, Dan Scanlon, pulls the best out of his impressive voice cast and the emotional punch at the end is a great way to leave off after a fun, action and laugh filled adventure.

Final verdict: 4.5 80's rock vans out of 5.

Impractical Jokers: The Movie

Synopsis: The film tells the story of a humiliating high school mishap from 1992 that sends the Impractical Jokers on the road, competing in hidden camera challenges for the chance to turn back the clock and redeem three of the four. The film stars The Tenderloins--Joe Gatto, James Murray, Brian Quinn and Sal Vulcano.

My thoughts: I am usually very harsh on this format, I thought doing Jackass movies was ridiculous as it was just an episode stretched out to 90 minutes and although Impractical Jokers gives us a plot line it is not a particularly good one and because of the plot you wonder if the challenges were fixed to fit into the plot. All that being said, I enjoy the show and the Tenderloins as a whole so although I won't hold this up differently than the show it was a good watch even if it barely made for a movie.

Final verdict: 3 80's pop stars out of 5.

Bad Boys For Life:

Synopsis: The Bad Boys Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) are back together for one last ride in the highly anticipated Bad Boys for Life.

My thoughts: Bad Boys For Life is completely over the top in all facets, but unlike most movies that have Michael Bay's fingerprints this one knows it and takes full advantage without going full Bay as he has luckily stepped away from the director's chair in this installment. Sure maybe it's mostly nostalgia that drove me to enjoy this movie, but I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Final verdict: 4 90's duo reunions out of 5.

Special: Captain America: Civil War/Finding Dory/The Conjuring 2 Mini-Reviews

Captain America: Civil War

Synopsis: With many people fearing the actions of super heroes, the government decides to push for the Hero Registration Act, a law that limits a hero's actions. This results in a division in The Avengers. Iron Man stands with this Act, claiming that their actions must be kept in check otherwise cities will continue to be destroyed, but Captain America feels that saving the world is daring enough and that they cannot rely on the government to protect the world. This escalates into an all-out war between Team Iron Man (Iron Man, Black Panther, Vision, Black Widow, War Machine, and Spiderman) and Team Captain America (Captain America, Bucky Barnes, Falcon, Sharon Carter, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and Ant Man) while a new villain emerges.

My thoughts: Not nearly the action-thriller The Winter Soldier was, but it provides more no holds barred action than the typical Marvel film (Avengers films excepted) but although this can be construed as Avengers-lite it is anything but, giving us the struggle of humanity we come to expect from the man-out-of-time films of Cap. Not the best Marvel-flick but still worthy of a spot on the mantle.

Final verdict: 5 new Avengers out of 5.

Finding Dory:

Synopsis: Dory is a wide-eyed, blue tang fish who suffers from memory loss every 10 seconds or so. The one thing she can remember is that she somehow became separated from her parents as a child. With help from her friends Nemo and Marlin, Dory embarks on an epic adventure to find them. Her journey brings her to the Marine Life Institute, a conservatory that houses diverse ocean species. Dory now knows that her family reunion will only happen if she can save mom and dad from captivity.

My thoughts: Not Pixar's finest film, though I'm admittedly not as fond of it's predecessor as most others. Dory is colourful and fun but although I wasn't invested emotionally in the characters or their problems as much as I usually am when Pixar makes a film. I feel like it was a step down from Nemo, and certainly a step down from last summer's Inside Out but it proves that Pixar can competently make sequels for films not named Toy Story.

Final verdict: 4 shells out of 5.

The Conjuring 2:

Synopsis: In 1977, paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren travel to London, England, where single mother Peggy Hodgson believes that something evil is in her home. When Peggy's youngest daughter starts showing signs of demonic possession, Ed and Lorraine attempt to help the besieged girl, only to find themselves targeted by the malicious spirits.

My thoughts: Wasn't a huge lover of the first film and expected about the same, but just like director James Wan's Insidious franchise, he made me a believer with the 2nd installment. You usually don't see horror movies running 2 hours but The Conjuring 2 did and it's paced fantastically and had me on the edge of my seat throughout and even had a series of good scares placed perfectly for maximum effect. The acting came off a little campy, though this is a horror film. It's unfortunate Wan didn't stick with his "less is more" style as the budget of $40 million was twice as high as his previous high for a horror flick (The Conjuring and Dead Silence) and seriously dwarfs the combined $16.5 million spent on the 3 Insidious films combined (though he didn't direct the third installment).

Final verdict: 4 supernatural spirits out of 5

Special: Top 10 Pixar Franchises

Hey everybody! This week I finished up the Pixar franchise by watching "Brave" couple that with last week's review of Inside Out and that film's first weekend at #1 at the domestic box office what better time than now to count down the Top 10 Pixar franchises. Just an FYI there are currently 11, Cars is not on this list... Now you know, let's talk the other ten now.

10. Wall-E

I realize I'm in the minority here but really what does Wall-E bring that the other Pixar films don't? Okay I get it, space is pretty but all Pixar locales are pretty so it doesn't get bonus points for space being pretty. The plot doesn't offer much, the whole silent narrative is fun for about 30 minutes than it gets a little annoying. Wall-E is not a bad movie, but it's bad when you compare it to it's Pixar contemporaries.

9. Ratatouille

Okay remember when I said all Pixar locales are pretty? Well Ratatouille is probably the worst, mind you it all takes place in a restaurant/apartment/sewer so they don't have a lot to work with. I love Brad Bird and I always will but his writing here was brutal. The pacing was all over the place he gave us like 4 climax points and not one of them actually delivered. The voice acting and the character animation was the saving grace here as this was the first time that Pixar really nailed the human component in their films.

8. Brave

As previously mentioned this was the last Pixar movie I needed to watch to make this list and I have finally done it... Like Ratatouille the animation is beautiful, our heroines flowing red hair was a sight to see, but the story lacked. I feel like Disney went to Pixar and said "We need these movies to be more Disney formulaic if we're going to work together... Oh and make a Princess movie dammit!"

7. Inside Out

The newest Pixar movie! It was a tough sell with very little information leaking out until a few months before release. Now that it's out it's a typical Pixar movie, by that I mean it's good but it's tough to tell how well it will age. It's undoubtedly original, incredibly smart but lacks great animation apart from it's boisterous colours. Seeing it in 3D brought very little to the party and the adult aimed humour was few and far between. Luckily the story kept us intrigued.

6. Monsters Inc./U

Monsters Inc. is easily a top 5 Pixar movie, unfortunately University knocks the Monsters franchise back a few steps. University was hurt by it's 3D which again gave us nothing and it's probably the most visually... Bleh. But the stellar voice acting is on display here and apart from Toy Story it'd be hard to top this series acting but something had to give and the climax in University was disappointing by Pixar standards and we'll hope for better in any future Monsters movies.

5. Up

Can you name the very first Pixar film, and only 1 of 3 animated films to ever be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars? You guessed it, it's Up. The story of an old man who takes an unforgettable journey with a young boy that just wanted to earn scouting badges. The fact that this film, which I can not think of a single bad thing to say about, is number 5 speaks to the incredible depth of Pixar's films. It'll make you laugh, it'll make you cry, it'll make you want to see how many balloons you have to tie to your house so that you too can embark on the journey of a lifetime.

4. Finding Nemo

Nemo, like Up does a lot of things really really well, but unfortunately there are a select few Pixar movies that do those same things just a little bit better. It'd still be impossible to say that Nemo isn't a master piece of film making. The beautifully animated ocean, the hilarious dialogue the exciting climax and the lessons we learnt leave Finding Nemo at the number four spot for now, but if the upcoming sequel could come close to it's predecessor Nemo should have no problem jumping into the top three.

3. A Bug's Life

Definitely the most overlooked film in Pixar's catalogue as it is also one of their oldest. Their second picture put into production followed a colony of insects on an amazing journey. Most pundits say it didn't age well and maybe they're right? But the fact of the matter is for me this was my childhood. This film opened my eyes to what animation could do and I am forever grateful to it for that and I still enjoy popping in the Blu-Ray to this day.

2. The Incredibles

Did I mention how much I love Brad Bird? The Incredibles is storytelling at it's finest. Sure it's an animated flick but regardless of medium this is a masterpiece, all the locations have a familiar feel despite being completely different from one and other. The cast, main and supporting alike do a great job with the material they are given and what we end up with is a highly original concept executed to perfection.

1. Toy Story

Yeah... Shocker I know. The last animated movie to be nominated for Best Picture was Toy Story 3, it's really a shame the original didn't given how groundbreaking it was back in 1995 but you know they had to nominate Babe and Sense & Sensibility apparently. Not that I'm bitter. Toy Story has been consistently great over the 3 films and here's hoping for more... The trilogy ended well with a nice little bow but there are still portions to build off of and if any series deserves more entries in this time where we sequel and reboot everything it's absolutely Toy Story.

Special: Inside Out/Ted 2/Spy Mini-Reviews

Inside Out:

Growing up can be a bumpy road, and it's no exception for Riley, who is uprooted from her Midwest life when her father starts a new job in San Francisco. Like all of us, Riley is guided by her emotions - Joy (Amy Poehler), Fear (Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling) and Sadness (Phyllis Smith). The emotions live in Headquarters, the control center inside Riley's mind, where they help advise her through everyday life. As Riley and her emotions struggle to adjust to a new life in San Francisco, turmoil ensues in Headquarters. Although Joy, Riley's main and most important emotion, tries to keep things positive, the emotions conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house and school.

My thoughts? The exploration of the human mind of a 12 year old girl lead by her eccentric and colourful emotions was a lot more fun than I expected it to be. I was fortunate enough to know about the "sadness" this movie entailed, and no I don't mean Riley's somber emotion, I mean the emotional punch of the movie, so when it happened it was expected and it hot me less than Up, Toy Story 3 or How To Train Your Dragon 2. Overall it was one of Pixar's better films in my eyes as the animation and voice-acting was top notch to go along with an original, albeit difficult, story to tell. Inside Out is a complex piece of art that will appeal to both children and adults alike, in other words it's typical Pixar.

Final verdict: 4 out of 5 emotions.

Ted 2:

Newlywed couple Ted and Tami-Lynn want to have a baby, but in order to qualify to be a parent, Ted will have to prove he's a person in a court of law.

My thoughts? Like it's predecessor Ted 2 is absurd and hilarious most of the time. There are points when it reaches too far and crosses a line it shouldn't but in the end we forgive it. What it lacked that it's predecessor nailed was it's ability to take this bonkers scenario and have the audience want to invest emotionally into the characters. When it does eventually try to flip the switch in the third act it's not a smooth transition and it leaves us feeling disconnected and worst of all we are no longer laughing. Luckily they throw in a thunder buddy reference for the first time in the film and all is forgiven. I'd be amiss to say that Ted was a great movie but I'd be lying if I said I never laughed during it's nearly 2 hour runtime.

Final verdict: Barely 4 out of 5 bongs.

Spy:

Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) is an unassuming, deskbound CIA analyst, and the unsung hero behind the Agency's most dangerous missions. But when her partner (Jude Law) falls off the grid and another top agent (Jason Statham) is compromised, she volunteers to go deep undercover to infiltrate the world of a deadly arms dealer, and prevent a global disaster.

My thoughts? I'm not really a McCarthy fan, outside of her brilliant role in Hangover III I'd have to say my favourite film has been The Heat, a movie I'd probably grade a 3. But I'm happy to say Spy won me over, sure she's still playing essentially the same role but this time she brings style and a slew of on-point co-stars to the party. Statham hasn't done anything to write home about recently but this role reminds me of the old Ritchie flicks that made me like him in the first place. Law is as charming as ever and Byrne plays the bad guy role so well, surprising since we never get to see her do that. The script is paced well and the director never misses a shot.

Final verdict: 4 out of 5 intelligence agencies.