Movie Review For June 26, 2015: TED 2, MAX, and ME, AND EARL, AND THE DYING GIRL

TED 2
Rated: R
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Amanda Seyfried, Seth MacFarlane
Plot: Ted's civil rights are under attack by people saying he is nothing more than property, but Ted's friends are their to help in their own special way.
Trailer

Clint Says: Don't even bother, unless you love raunchy, juvenile humor.

TED 2 is full of stupid, juvenile, and raunchy humor. It has a ridiculous plot, the story is thin and the characters are all one-dimensional idiots.

That said, this movie is stupidly funny. I missed the dialogue of a good five minutes of this film because the audience was laughing so hard we couldn't hear it. There are three scenes in particular that are easily three of the funniest scenes I have ever seen on the big screen.

A special "thank you" needs to go out to Amanda Seyfried for playing along with a great gag in the movie that is spectacularly funny.

I really can't recommend this movie on any level other than comedy, at that it excels. In all other areas of film it fails miserably.  But if all you are looking for is a night of dirty jokes this movie will be more than enough.




MAX
Rated: PG
Stars: Thomas Hayden Church, Josh Wiggins, Luke Kleintank
Plot: A military dog is given to the family of his military trainer after the trainer dies
Trailer

Clint Says: Wait for the DVD

This is one of those movies that could have been so much better if it had been PG-13. I understand what they wanted to do and the audience they wanted to reach and for that I am thankful, but this movie depended on quite a bit of action and suspense that had to be watered down significantly in order to keep the PG rating.

This feels more like a made-for-TV special than a big screen feature film. The acting is mediocre at best, and sometimes it is truly cringe-worthy. The story feels forced and contrived, and the drama, conflict, and suspense are hardly there.

While the film is good for almost all ages, there is nothing in this movie that makes it worth seeing in the theater. Wait for the DVD. You won't miss anything at all and you'll save a few bucks as well.




ME, AND EARL, AND THE DYING GIRL
Rated: PG-13
Stars: Thomas Mann, Olivia Cooke, RJ Cyler
Plot: Two friends that make movies together try to make one for another friend with Leukemia
Trailer

Clint Says: Drop everything and go see this movie now

This may be my favorite film of the year so far. I wouldn't be surprised or unhappy if it ended up on my Top 10 list for 2015.

It is quirky, awkward, authentic, incredibly funny and despairingly sad. It's like THE FAULT IN OUR STARS and NAPOLEON DYNAMITE mashed into one film with a little bit of DIARY OF A WIMPY KID thrown in for good measure.

The three main characters are perfectly cast and the chemistry between them all is beautiful. It's striking to see how well three completely different people can come together in such a harmonious way.

Grab a friend, grab some tissues and go see this movie as soon as possible. But make sure you leave some extra free time after the movie to talk about it with your friends because you will HAVE to talk about this film after you see it.

DVD Review For October 7, 2014

A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST
Rated: R
Stars: Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson
Plot: A meek farmer must stand up to a rough cowboy to fight for the woman he loves
Trailer

Clint Says: Don't even bother

If you are in the mood for a completely mindless, boring, useless flick full of juvenile humor this film will still disappoint you. I can't stress enough how bad this movie is. Seth MacFarlane wrote, directed, produced and starred in it, and apparently he didn't have anyone around him willing to tell him "no".

MacFarlane must have compromising pictures of Liam Neeson and Charlize Theron or they owe him a huge debt. Those are the only plausible explanations as to why they would be in a horrific train-wreck of a movie like this.

On the plus side, I will admit that there are a couple of good laughs in this flick, but only a couple. And having to sit through almost two hours of clichéd crap for two or three laughs is painful at best.

The best thing about A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST is that it is so bad there is zero chance we will have to see Seth MacFarlane screwing up the OSCARS again.

EDGE OF TOMORROW

Rated: PG-13

Stars: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt
Plot: A soldier finds himself repeating the same day, a day the aliens destroyed humanity. But he uses his special ability to get trained in a way to destroy the enemy.
Trailer

Clint Says: Rent this DVD this week

If you like sci-fi action flicks EDGE OF TOMORROW will completely satisfy your craving. It has aliens, explosions, cool weapons, people that don't get what's happening, a pretty boy that has no clue how to do anything and a super-awesome, kick butt woman that has to turn the pretty boy into a hardened soldier so he can save the world.

I found the movie to be mostly original in its story, with the exception of the one-alien-to-rule-them-all thing that so many sci-fi movies use as a crutch to make sure the humans can finally win. But aside from that it was an enjoyable action flick with a 50 FIRST DATES style love story thrown in to give the audience a little break from the action.

I would recommend seeing this on as big a TV screen as possible with the best sound available. So if that means finding someone with an awesome man cave, start planning now.



MILLION DOLLAR ARM
Rated: PG
Stars: John Hamm, Suraj Sharma, Madhur Mittal
Plot: A down-on-his-luck sports agent tries to right his career by creating a reality show in India to find cricket players and turn them into Major League Baseball pitchers.
Trailer

Clint Says: It's worth watching once

MILLION DOLLAR ARM is a fine film. It has an interesting story and beautiful imagery that is worth seeing, but it's not worth spending the money to own the DVD.

This film is family-friendly, so if you are looking for a movie for the crew you won't be disappointed in this.

John Hamm gives a fine performance and Alan Arkin is a show stealer as usual. It's a great feel-good, inspirational story that is worth seeing once.

Movie Review for May 30, 2014

MALEFICENT
Rated PG
Stars: Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning
Plot: The untold story of how Maleficent came to be and the story behind the story of Sleeping Beauty is finally revealed.
Trailer

Clint Says: Drop everything and go see this movie now

Unlike many film critics, I am a sucker for a good Disney flick, so walking in to see MALEFICENT I had high hopes that it would live up to the incredible trailers and that the story they chose for her would be worthy of a film of this magnitude. My high hopes were met with an astoundingly epic movie that was suspenseful, charming, and funny.

Kudos to the special effects team. If they aren't nominated for an OSCAR there is something wrong in Hollywood. The creatures' texture and movement is as close to real as I have ever seen in a movie. Their attention to detail was so precise that you almost feel like you can reach out and touch the scenery.

Angelina Jolie puts the entire cast and crew on her back and carries them all to the finish. She is Maleficent, and if you aren't completely enamored with her by the end of the film we probably need to break up. As for the secondary characters (read: everybody but Angelina), they do a fine job of supporting Jolie without getting in the way of her stellar performance.

My only beef with this film are two gaping plot holes near the end that are obvious enough that even casual movie-goers will most-likely notice them. Aside from that though, MALEFICENT may be the best movie of the year so far. (An award it will lose next week).




A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST
Rated: R
Stars: Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron. Liam Neeson
Plot: A meek farmer must stand up to a rough cowboy to fight for the woman he loves.
Trailer

Clint Says: Don't even bother

If you are in the mood for a completely mindless, boring, useless flick full of juvenile humor this film will still disappoint you. I can't stress enough how bad this movie is. Seth MacFarlane wrote, directed, produced and starred in it, and apparently he didn't have anyone around him willing to tell him "no".

MacFarlane must have compromising pictures of Liam Neeson and Charlize Theron or they owe him a huge debt. Those are the only plausible explanations as to why they would be in a horrific train-wreck of a movie like this.

On the plus side, I will admit that there are a couple of good laughs in this flick, but only a couple. And having to sit through almost two hours of clichéd crap for two or three laughs is painful at best.

The best thing about A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST is that it is so bad there is zero chance we will have to see Seth MacFarlane screwing up the OSCARS again.