With a title like Dumb Money, which references a Wall Street slang term for a group of individual and non-institutional investors and their money, one has to ask if “insane” is talking about a dollar amount or a measurement of wisdom or choices. Well, you’re going to need that shiny quarter to flip. A thoroughly entertained viewer will be finger-pointing insanity occurring, in some shape or form, at nearly every turn of this off-the-cuff, firebrand movie.
Read MoreThe phrase “nuns behaving badly” sounds like a bad porno title or a silly hashtag. Alas, that’s the low-hanging fruit and chicanery afoot in The Little Hours. Tracing inspiration to a yarn from one of Giovanni Boccaccio’s collected 14th century novellas in The Decameron, the new ensemble film from Jeff Baena wraps it religious habit up with wit, erotica, and practical jokes from Italian prose translated into a modern vernacular.
Read MoreThe soon-to-be 73-year-old Sam Elliott is a goddamn national treasure and no one can convince me otherwise. Most folks go straight for the man’s imposing baritone voice or his sweet ‘stache. I go for his swagger and resolve. What makes Sam’s signature timbre memorable is the determination behind it, not its sound. The purpose makes the presence. Written especially for him by writer-director Brett Haley, The Hero is a sublime epistle to the silver screen specter cast by Sam Elliott.
Read MoreThe new animated musical “Sing” from Illumination Entertainment bills itself as containing more than 85 memorable tracks from legendary performing artists and one new original song collaboration from Ariana Grande and Stevie Wonder. When you divide the 110 minutes of the film by 86 songs, that averages out roughly to one song every 78 seconds. A mashup like that plays well as a recurring Jimmy Fallon/Justin Timberlake bit on late-night television, but it’s exhausting and tiresome when stretched to nearly two hours.
Read MoreBy tackling the subject of cancer and doing so in the guise of a quirky high school comedy, "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" stands out as proof that a movie can be earnest and humorous at the same time. It can be understated in one moment and then completely outgoing the next. It is a film that can feel facetious and yet still be profound. It takes the modern high school setting that is deliberately riddled with innate tropes, stereotypes, and cliches and masterfully steers around every single one of them to offer you something smart, touching, and, most of all, original. That is no small feat and something to stand up and celebrate.
Read MoreDisclaimer: I pulled this trick out a few years ago in comparing “The Expendables” with “The Expendables 2” where, because of the incredibly repetitive scenarios between the original and the sequel, I literally wrote on top of the first review for the review of the second movie. After seeing “22 Jump Street,” a movie that intentionally aims to copy its first effort, I knew this was a good chance to have a little editor’s fun again. Follow the strike-throughs below for edits and the bold writing for new language inserts. Other than that, the review for the first film might as well be the review for the second film. It’s that similar.
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