Michael Bolton's Big, Sexy Valentine's Day Special

 Michael Bolton's Big, Sexy Valentine's Day Special (2017)

Starring Michael Bolton, Adam Scott, Sarah Silverman, Randall Park, Andy Samberg, Fred Armison, Michael Sheen, Chris Parnell, Maya Rudolph, Will Forte, Eric André, Sarah Shahi, Casey Wilson, Brooke Shields, Janeane Garofalo, Louie Anderson, Sinbad, Andy Richter, and Bob Saget

Directed by Akiva Shaffer and Scott Aukerman

Written by Scott Aukerman, Dave Ferguson, Mike Hanford, Tim Kalpakis, Joe Saunders, and Akiva Schaffer

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: C

The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience

 The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience (2019)

Starring Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, Maya Rudolph, and Jenny Slate

Directed by Mike Diva and Akiva Schaffer

Written by The Lonely Island

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: C-

Tour de Pharmacy

 Tour de Pharmacy (2017)

Starring Andy Samberg, Orlando Bloom, Freddie Highmore, Daveed Diggs, John Cena, Jeff Goldblum, Julia Ormond, Danny Glover, Dolph Lundgren, James Marsden, Will Forte, Maya Rudolph, Kevin Bacon, Nathan Fielder, and Lance Armstrong

Directed by Jake Szymanski

Written by Murray Miller

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

7 Days in Hell

 7 Days in Hell (2015)

Starring Andy Samberg, Kit Harrington, Mary Steenburgen, Karen Gillan, Lena Dunham, Will Forte, Michael Sheen, Fred Armison, Chris Evert, John McEnroe, and Serena Williams

Directed by Jake Szymanski

Written by Murray Miller

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B

Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers

 Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022)

Featuring the vocal talents of John Mulaney, Andy Samberg, Will Arnett, Eric Bana, Dennis Haysbert, Keegan Michael-Key, Tress MacNeille, Tim Robinson, Seth Rogen, and J.K. Simmons

Starring KiKi Layne

Directed by Akiva Shaffer

Written by Dan Gregor and Doug Mand

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Palm Springs

 Pam Springs (2020)

Starring Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, JK Simmons, and Peter Gallagher

Directed by Max Barbakow

Written by Andy Siara

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B

Movie Review - Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)

Starring Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, Akiva Schaffer, Sarah Silverman, Tim Meadows, Imogen Poots, and a slew of celebrity cameos

Directed by Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone

Told in a mock-documentary style, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping details the life of Conner Friel (Andy Samberg), the lead singer of the rap group The Style Boyz who shot to popularity over a decade ago.  However, following some internal fighting, The Style Boyz break up and Conner embarks on a solo career wherein he becomes an incredibly successful solo rap artist.  This mockumentary focuses on Conner getting set to release his second solo album and, needless to say, things don't go quite as planned.

The Lonely Island crew of Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer shot to popularity with their viral skits on Saturday Night Live nearly a decade ago and Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping certainly hews close to that style of raunchy, pop culture-based humor for which they became well-known.  Much like an episode of SNL, the film works in spurts.  When it's funny, it's oftentimes hilarious; but when it's not funny, it's oftentimes painful.  Even at a short 86 minutes, it's about 15 minutes too long, growing a bit repetitive as it meanders through its very basic plot.  Andy Samberg holds one's attention onscreen and some of the bit cameos are engaging, but it does overstay its welcome.  That said, I laughed out loud quite a bit -- more than I ever thought I would to be quite honest and in that regard Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is a success.  However, with a keener group of editors, it could've been even better.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - Celeste and Jesse Forever

Celeste and Jesse Forever (2013)

Starring Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, Chris Messina, Ari Graynor, Eric Christian Olsen, Will McCormack, Rebecca Dayan, Elijah Wood, and Emma Roberts

Directed by Lee Toland Krieger

I don't think Rashida Jones will ever become a leading lady movie star, but I've got to say that she's got a fan in me (and it's time to pick up season two of Parks and Recreation from where I left off a long time ago).  There's an easygoing effervescent charm that exudes from her coupled with a edgy sarcastic sassiness that combines into something I find utterly appealing and her starring role in Celeste and Jesse Forever (which she co-wrote) gives her a chance to shine.

Married couple Celeste (Jones) and Jesse (Andy Samberg) recently separated, but despite this life change, they still remain the best of friends, hanging out with each other whenever they have spare time.  Their friends (Ari Graynor and Eric Christian Olsen) find Celeste and Jesse's situation uncomfortable and odd -- how can they move on with their lives if they never are separate from one another?  To Celeste and Jesse themselves, they're simply the best of friends who have come to realize that they are better friends than lovers, but this revelation doesn't change the fact that they care very much about each other.  When Jesse ends up meeting a former one-night stand (Rebecca Dayan) and re-connecting with her, Celeste is thrown into a tailspin despite the fact that of the duo she was seemingly the one who was more amenable to moving on.

This is Rashida Jones' first crack at screenwriting and she crafts a well-rounded role for herself that fits her like a glove.  Andy Samberg also gives a solid performance that is a bit more subdued than we've come to expect from his Saturday Night Live-Lonely Planet persona and it's pleasant to see this side of him.  Unfortunately, when the film slips away from the titular characters, the script slips a little bit into some tired comedic tropes we've seen before.  We've got the pot smoking best friend (co-writer Will McCormack), the quirky co-worker (Elijah Wood), and even a Lady Gaga-ish pop star (Emma Roberts) -- none of whom add anything to plot and only weigh it down.

But with this debut screenplay giving her a debut starring performance, Rashida Jones is certainly a positive takeaway from this witty film.  Hopefully we'll see more from her in the future.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 3D (2009)

Featuring the voice talent of Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Andy Samberg, Bruce Campbell, and Mr. T
Directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller

Finally! An animated movie this year that deserves to be a part of the Best Animated Feature category at the Oscars this year.

Flint Lockwood (voiced by Bill Hader) longs to be an inventor. Although ridiculed by those in town and seemingly looked down upon by his father (James Caan), he invents a machine that will allow water to be transformed into any food. When the machine accidentally gets shot up into the sky, he fears that his hard work was for naught. However, when it starts raining food (hence the title), he soon is being hailed as a genius. Unfortunately, the machine begins to go on the fritz and the food falling from the sky gradually becomes bigger and bigger, wreaking havoc on Flint's hometown of Swallow Falls.

This flick was shockingly adult in its humor -- I only counted one "poop" joke (and that was about a monkey throwing its feces...it was kind of funny). Instead of the cheap kiddie humor, this movie relies on witty dialogue and wonderfully animated mannerisms in order to invoke laughter. The voice acting here is top notch, too. From Bill Hader and James Caan's father/son relationship to Anna Faris as the love interest to Bruce Campbell as the ever-increasing-in-size town mayor to Mr. T as the tremendously funny cop, everyone does a really amazing job.

Animation-wise, the film looks pretty darn good, too. Sony Pictures Animation brought us the pretty good Surf's Up and the fantastic Monster House in years past (we can forget about Open Season). They're quickly becoming an animation studio to watch. As an animation fan, it's interesting to have another newish company that can maybe rival Pixar (this year, Sony won the battle for sure over Pixar's overrated Up ). The only issue in terms of the animation is that the 3D is nonexistent. Once again, another film where you just have to wonder why the heck is this in 3D if there's nothing popping out at me?

The RyMickey Rating: B+