For Your Consideration

 For Your Consideration (2006)

Starring Bob Balaban, Jennifer Coolidge, Ricky Gervais, Christopher Guest, Rachel Harris, John Michael Higgins, Michael Hitchcock, Don Lake, Eugene Levy, Jane Lynch, Michael McKean, Christopher Moynihan, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, Harry Shearer, and Fred Willard 

Directed by Christopher Guest

Written by Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: D

A Mighty Wind

A Mighty Wind (2003)

Starring Bob Balaban, Christopher Guest, John Michael Higgins, Eugene Levy, Jane Lynch, Michael McKean, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, Harry Shearer, and Fred Willard

Directed by Christopher Guest 

Written by Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B

Best in Show

Best in Show (2000)

Starring Jennifer Coolidge, Christopher Guest, John Michael Higgins, Michael Hitchcock, Eugene Levy, Jane Lynch, Michael McKean, Catherine O'Hara, and Fred Willard

Directed by Christopher Guest

Written by Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy 

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  A-

Movie Review - Pitch Perfect

Pitch Perfect (2012)

Starring Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Skylar Astin, Anna Camp, Rebel Wilson, John Michael Higgins, and Elizabeth Banks

Directed by Jason Moore

I walked into Pitch Perfect hoping that it would do for a capella singing what Bring It On did for high school cheerleading -- a romp that pokes fun, but ultimately respects the extracurricular activity.  Unfortunately, while the collegiate-set musical comedy has some laughs (and is respectful of the music-based singing phenomenon), they're too few and far between and despite a nice performance from Anna Kendrick, there's a disappointing and bland story that never provides anything other than a "been there-done that" vibe.

We've got all the typical cliches we've come to know when it comes to a movie like this.  New girl in school -- in this case Kendrick's freshman Beca -- arrives on the scene and is "different" from others her age (we know this because she wears black nail polish and thinks everyone is too cookie cutter).  She meets the various stereotypes and then ends up joining an a capella group mainly because her father is worried that she's not fitting in.  Group competes in several competitions across the country leading up to "The Big One" in NYC in which Beca's group goes up against another a capella group from her same college which just so happens to feature the guy (Skylar Astin) who has been trying to get her to date him throughout the movie.

There's nothing new and exciting in the story and despite some laugh out loud moments, the story fails this movie in the end.  Granted, I realize I'm not the target audience for this -- some of the songs that I probably should have known were I a sixteen-year old girl whizzed in one ear and then right out the other without any recognition -- but the movie should've done something a little bit different in order to make it stand out from the typical teen flicks.

As mentioned above, Anna Kendrick is pretty darn good...definitely as good as you can get for a film like this and she's certainly a lovely singer.  [And it helps that she's easy on the eyes, but that's neither here nor there.]  In fact, the acting (and the singing), for the most part, is not too shabby.  However, this is only the second movie in which I've seen Rebel Wilson and her comedic schtick is already on my last nerve.  She provided some laughs, but her fifteen minutes of fame have reached their limit at this point unless she can change it up.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - The Ugly Truth (2009)

Starring Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler, Bree Turner, John Michael Higgins, and Cheryl Hines
Written by Nicole Eastman, Karen McCullah Lutz, and Kirsten Smith
Directed by Robert Luketic

***SPOILERS AHEAD...THEN AGAIN, IT'S NOT LIKE YOU CAN'T GUESS THE ENDING OF THIS ONE.***

A friend has a theory that women like to watch movies with characters crazier than them because it can make them feel better about themselves -- an "I'm better than her and if she can get a man, I can get a man" kind of mentality. While I haven't seen as many flicks as him this year, I think he may be on to something with that theory.

The same thing happens here -- Katherine Heigl plays Abby, a morning news show producer, who is ridiculously out-of-touch with men. The film starts out with her on a date that is so unbelievable it just set her character off on the wrong track. Anyway, the morning news show is floundering in the ratings and her boss hires misogynistic "relationship expert" Mike (Gerard Butler) to host a segment called "The Ugly Truth" on the show. Abby's unhappy because she thinks Mike's a jerk, but in order to show Abby that he knows what he's talking about, he helps the unlucky-in-love Abby snag a man. Abby falls in love with the guy, Mike get jealous...there's witty repartee leading to sexual tension between them...you don't need to be a genius to know what's going to happen.

And that's the problem with the flick. In the end, it follows every romantic comedy cliché in the book. There was no surprise...I was really hoping it wasn't going to end the way it did, but I should've known better. And Heigl's character is a mess. She's a smart executive, yet has no social skills while on a date, admitting to doing a background check and ridiculing her date for ordering bottled water instead of tap water? That was the one of the opening scenes with Heigl's character and it just set me off on the wrong foot with her.

However, despite my issues with the main character, everyone surrounding her is top notch. Gerard Butler is really funny. He's given some deliciously dirty, nasty, and inappropriate lines to spew and he does it perfectly. Add in a cute performance from Bree Turner as Abby's assistant, and two absolutely winning roles from Cheryl Hines and John Michael Higgins as the sexually frustrated morning show news anchors (who also happen to be married), and it's a shame that the main character couldn't have been more convincing. Still, it's these four actors mentioned in this paragraph that elevate this movie and make it much better than it deserves to be.

Unfortunately, what really brings the movie down the most is that I can't understand in the slightest why Abby and Mike would end up together in the end. What does she find attractive in him? I mean, I guess it's that he can love her for who she really is (that's what the movie wants us to think, anyway), but, without a doubt, he's a prick.

If I learned anything from this movie, it's that I'm too damn nice. I need to wrestle with chicks in jello in order to find true love, I guess...

The RyMickey Rating: C-

Movie Review - Fired Up (2009)

Starring Nicholas D'Agosto, Eric Christian Olson, John Michael Higgins, and Philip Baker Hall
Written by Freedom Jones
Directed by Will Gluck

So, about ten minutes in, I already wanted to ring one of the main character's necks. Then, he overhears a series of dialogue that, quite possibly, could be the worst lines I've heard in a movie so far this year.

"You know how Martin Luther King had a dream? Well, I do, too -- to kick ass at cheer camp. And if that makes me shallow, then fine. Call me and Dr. King shallow."

"That doesn't make you shallow. That makes you real."

Those lines were followed shortly by the aforementioned douchebag main character saying "I love every bone in your body...especially mine," and I was ready to bail.

Then, somehow, I started to laugh. I don't understand why, but this movie began to elicit a few moderate chuckles and one or two actual loud laughs.

So, despite the fact that Eric Christian Olsen who plays the "cocky asshole ladies' man" (their words in the film...not mine) was nearly unwatchable at times as he and his football playing "bro" invade a cheer camp for three weeks to get with the ladies instead of going to their own football camp, there were enough laughs to not cause this movie to be a complete and utter failure. (Run-on sentence there, or what?)

Side Note: This film actually had one of the funniest (and ridiculously blatant) product placements I've seen in recent years. Good going, Staples!

Side Note 2: Favorite Line - Sure, right...mediocrity deserves applause. Why don't we go find a Ford Focus and applaud around it? (Have no idea if that makes any sense out of context, but it made me laugh quite a bit.)

The RyMickey Rating: D+