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-

Luca

 Luca (2021)

Featuring the vocal talents of Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Emma Berman, Saverio Raymondo, Marco Barricelli, Maya Rudolph, and Jim Gaffigan

Directed by Enrico Casarosa

Written by Jesse Andrews and Mike Jones

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

A Very Murray Christmas

 A Very Murray Christmas (2015)

Starring Bill Murray, Paul Shaffer, Michael Cera, George Clooney, Miley Cyrus, Dimitri Dimitrov, David Johansen, Rashida Jones, Jenny Lewis, Amy Poehler, Chris Rock, Maya Rudolph, Jason Schwartzman, and Julie White

Directed by Sofia Coppola

Written by Bill Murray, Sofia Coppola, and Mitch Glazer

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B-

The Happytime Murders

The Happytime Murders (2018)

Starring Melissa McCarthy, Bill Barretta, Maya Rudolph, Joel McHale, and Elizabeth Banks

Directed by Brian Henson

Written by Todd Berger

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B 

Life of the Party

Life of the Party (2018)

Starring Melissa McCarthy, Molly Gordon, Gillian Jacobs, Jessie Ennis, Adria Arjona, Luke Benward, Heidi Gardner, Maya Rudolph, Matt Walsh, Julie Bowen, Stephen Root, Jacki Weaver, and Debby Ryan

Directed by Ben Falcone

Written by Ben Falcone and Melissa McCarthy

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019)

Featuring the vocal talents of Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Tiffany Haddish, Stephanie Beatriz, Charlie Day, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Maya Rudolph, and Will Ferrell

Directed by Mike Mitchell

Written by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  D+

Movie Review - Sisters

Sisters (2015)

Starring Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Ike Barinholz, Maya Rudolph, John Leguizamo, Bobby Moynihan, James Brolin, and Dianne Wiest

Directed by Jason Moore

Every review of Sisters that I read seemed to indicate that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler deserved a better film than what was placed in front of them when it came to this flick, but, if I'm being quite honest, I'm not sure they do.  I say that not nastily, but simply to indicate that Fey and Poehler are known and acclaimed (quite deservedly) for the their work on the small screen.  Not every tv star (and certainly not every Saturday Night Live alum) is worthy of a big screen career.  And there's nothing wrong with that.  Perhaps in time I'll be proven wrong when it comes to Fey and Poehler's cinematic ventures, but Sisters is not doing the very funny duo any favors.

Drawn out for an interminably long duration, Sisters gives us Maura and Kate Ellis (Poehler and Fey) -- two sisters who return to their childhood home in Orlando after they've discovered that their aging parents (James Brolin and Dianne Wiest) have just sold it so they can move into a retirement community condo.  Angry that their parents would do such a thing without consulting them, Maura and Kate decide to live it up one last time in the house and throw a party for all their high school friends like they did in the old days.  This leads to fellow SNL and variety show actors and actresses hooting and hollering it up in sketch-like scenes that do little to forward the actual plot of the film.  (Not that the film had much of a plot to start...)

There are laughs to be had in Sisters -- and, in fact, there are moments that sustained extended laughter for me which is never easy to do particularly when you watch a movie alone in your home -- but the bigger comedic bits aren't the least bit intrinsic to the plot.  Rather than add to the story, they make you feel as if you're watching an SNL-type show where only a few of bits are actually humorous and then you get angry at yourself for wasting so much time watching it.  [Therein is the reason I refuse to watch SNL anymore.]  The script by Paula Pell (an SNL writer herself) is a sketch in search of a full-length plot and it never gets there.

As far as Fey and Poehler go, the latter fares a tiny bit better than the former, but both aren't given much with which to work.  Perhaps one of these days, the two actresses will be given a movie part really worthy for their obvious comedic talent, but Sisters does not deliver in that department.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Big Hero 6

Big Hero 6 (2014)

Featuring the voice talents of Ryan Potter, Scott Adsit, Daniel Henney, T.J. Miller, Jamie Chung, Damon Wayans Jr., Genesis Rodriguez, Alan Tudyk, Maya Rudolph, and James Cromwell 

Directed by Don Hall and Chris Williams

Big Hero 6 is Walt Disney Animation's first collaboration with Marvel and while the film looks visually appealing and definitely has its successful moments, it falls into the same trap as most Marvel movies in that the film's final half abandons the importance of story and feels like action sequence atop action sequence.  Quite frankly, one of these days I'll get around to continuing my Disney Discussion and I think I'll save a more thorough summary until that point, however, the general gist of the plot is that young braniac Hiro (voiced by Ryan Potter) becomes unlikely friends with a robot named Baymax (Scott Adsit) created by his brother Tadashi (Daniel Henney).  As the two bond, Hiro and Baymax uncover a plot by a sinister masked man to utilize some of Hiro's own robotic creations to commit dastardly deeds.

Eschewing the typical fairy tale stories or romances that usually inhabit Disney's animated fare, Big Hero 6 definitely has a different tone especially considering that the film's final half is completely one big battle between Hiro and his group of clever and humorous friends against the masked man whose reveal is supposed to be surprising but is completely obvious to anyone older than ten years old.  Unfortunately, the film isn't subtle in any aspect.  During the opening moments in which better written Disney movies would excel at exposition, Big Hero 6 very bluntly and laughably spells things out for us stating Hiro and Tadashi's back story.  While it sets a bad tone right off the bat, things perk up quite well during the remainder of the film's first and second acts.  Some nice voice acting from all parties -- the lack of "big name" stars is a definite plus -- and animation that is certainly a caliber above average aid Big Hero 6 in overcoming some of its denouement's problems, but it still falls into the 2014 animated credo of "We Must Have a Disappointing Finale" with nary a single release last year ending on a successful note.

I'll hold off on a more in depth analysis for now except to say that the fact that Big Hero 6 won the Best Animated feature Oscar really reveals what a disappointing year 2014 was for what is typically one of my favorite genres.  While I wouldn't hate another Marvel-Disney animated collaboration (and the film is certainly set up for multiple sequels), I hope that a better script creates a more subtle atmosphere for its cast of characters.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - Inherent Vice

Inherent Vice (2014)

Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Katherine Waterston, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Benicio Del Toro, Joanna Newsom, Jena Malone, Eric Roberts, Maya Rudolph, and Martin Short 

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

What in the hell was in the critics' water when they deemed Inherent Vice worthy of a 73% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes?  Just because a film is directed by an esteemed director doesn't make it worthy of such a ranking.  Just because a film is well acted doesn't make it worthy of such a ranking.  Just because a film looks good and has better than average production values doesn't make it worthy of such a ranking.  A film still has to be enjoyable in a sense that the viewer must remain captivated by any of those aforementioned criteria mentioned or by its story.  Unfortunately, the directing, acting, and production values aren't enough to keep Inherent Vice afloat and, boy, is its story one of the worst and least captivating tales I've seen woven in a film in 2014.

There was talk of the story here being incoherent and frustrating, but I found the general gist of the plot fairly easy to comprehend.  A drug-addled private eye named Doc Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) is drafted by his former lover Shasta Fay (Katherine Waterston) to determine the seriousness of Shasta's current lover's wife and her lover's desire to put her husband (and, remember, Shasta's current lover) into a loony bin and take all of his money.  It should be noted that if the previous sentence has thrown you for a loop, Inherent Vice probably isn't for you.  Then again, Inherent Vice really isn't for anyone.  The biggest issue with director and screenwriter Paul Thomas Anderson's flick is that it takes an already convoluted premise and branches off on so many tangents that admittedly are related, but fail to resonate or prove meaningful in the slightest.  Characters come in for single scenes, drop some other name for Doc to investigate, and then leave and never come back.  This pattern gets repetitive and old rather quickly and makes the nearly 150-minute run time feels like an eternity.

What saves Inherent Vice from the very bottom dregs of the RyMickey Rating system is that fact that the film looks good and contains acting that is certainly above average.  Unfortunately, I still found myself twiddling my thumbs, waiting for this never-ending story to conclude.  Unable to latch on to any of the film's characters or their plights, I found myself adrift here and completely unimpressed.

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Movie Review - The Way Way Back

The Way Way Back (2013)

Starring Liam James, Sam Rockwell, Toni Collette, Steve Carell, AnnaSophia Robb, Allison Janney, Maya Rudolph, Rob Corddry, Amanda Peet, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash

Directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash

Fourteen year-old Duncan (Liam James) isn't too happy to be spending his summer at the New York state beach house of his mom's boyfriend Trent (Steve Carell).  First off, Trent's a bit of a dick who says and does whatever he can to try and motivate the sullen and mopey Duncan to better himself.  Second, Duncan would rather just spend time with his dad than with his mom Pam (Toni Collette).  Nevertheless, his summer plans are set and he's forced to pal around with Trent's buddies Kip and Joan (Rob Corddry and Amanda Peet) and Trent's next door neighbor Betty (Allison Janney), all of whom look to alcohol and pot as a means to relive their youth on a seemingly daily basis.  Betty, however, has a daughter named Susanna (AnnaSophia Robb) who just so happens to be Duncan's age, but the shy Duncan can't seem to fathom why any girl would care to communicate with him.

So, with his summer home life a wreck, Duncan bikes around the beach town and comes across the Water Wizz water park which he sneaks into one day before being caught by the park's owner Owen (Sam Rockwell).  Owen recognizes that Duncan seems to be a bit down on his luck and offers him a job at the water park which ends up being a life-changing, personality-enhancing experience for the teen.

The Way Way Back is a movie that, in retrospect, seems a little unrealistic in terms of its characters.  Everyone's a little too quirky or a little too humorous to be rooted in reality.  However, writer-directors Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (in their directing debuts) balance the oddness of comedic characters like Owen and Betty with the genuineness of Duncan, Trent, and Pam, creating a film that had me laughing when I was supposed to be laughing and feeling sympathy when I was supposed to be feeling sympathy.  That may seem like it should be a given, but weighing both sides of that coin isn't always an  easy task for directors -- especially first-timers.

Admittedly, the directors get better performances from their actors that fall onto the comedic side of the tale, especially a scene-stealing one from Allison Janney who had me laughing at (I think) every single line she delivered as Betty, the kooky neighbor who rarely is seen without a drink in her hand.  Sam Rockwell is also slick, smooth, and sarcastically dry humored as Owen, a character who ends up bridging both the comedic and dramatic sides of the story quite well.  This isn't to say that Liam James, Steve Carell, and Toni Collette disappoint in any way, but the film's funnier moments worked a bit better than its dramatic ones.

Overall, The Way Way Back isn't revolutionary or particularly inventive, but it's a rather sweet, funny coming-of-age tale that's enjoyable for the whole family to watch together.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - Friends with Kids

Friends with Kids (2012)

Starring Adam Scott, Jennifer Westfeldt, Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Chris O'Dowd, Megan Fox, and Edward Burns

Directed by Jennifer Westfeldt

After an incredibly promising opening act, Friends with Kids unfortunately takes a wrong turn about thirty minutes in and the very game cast is shoehorned into a slightly more adult version of a tv sitcom.  In and of itself, that's not necessarily a bad critique, but I found myself unable to buy into the premise being presented and that's ultimately an unacceptable notion in a movie like this.

With their two sets of single friends partnering up, marrying, and having kids, thirtysomethings and best friends Julie (Jennifer Westfeldt) and Jason (Adam Scott) find themselves itching to be parents.  The only problem is that they aren't finding that special someone with whom to spend the rest of their lives.  It also doesn't help that their married friends Ben and Missy (Jon Hamm and Kristen Wiig) and Leslie and Alex (Maya Rudolph and Chris O'Dowd) don't seem to be incredibly happy anymore.  The kids have added loads of stress to their lives and all the spark seems to have diminished from their formerly loving relationships with one another.  This gives Julie and Jason the "ingenious" idea of having a kid together without dating one another.  They'll have sex only to get pregnant and walk away from each other with their friendship still intact.  In the end, they'll both have a kid (which is something they want) and they'll be able to share the joys of parenthood without the inevitable breakdown that occurs to married folks who produce offspring.

And this is where the whole movie falls apart.  What could have been an interesting (although not altogether unique) look at the differences between married couples and single people in their mid-thirties turns into some sophomoric premise that no two intelligent and sophisticated people would ever engage in -- and Julie and Jason are just way too smart to agree to this crazy concept.  Maybe if Jennifer Westfeldt (who directed and wrote the film) and Adam Scott were playing doofuses, I could jump on the bandwagon, but they're smart, witty, and successful folks who I never once thought would sign on to this crazy idea.  In the end, when the whole thing wraps up exactly the way you'd expect it to, I found myself rolling my eyes rather than feeling altogether satisfied.

Ultimately, it's a real shame that Westfeldt decides to take the film down this nutty path because I do think she's got a talent for writing witty and believable dialog and I found her direction quite adept for this being her first time behind the camera.  She manages to get really wonderful performances from Maya Rudolph, Kristen Wiig, Chris O'Dowd, the aforementioned Adam Scott, and her real-life longtime beau Jon Hamm while crafting a confident yet neurotic role for herself to tackle.  But it's all for naught in the end because the premise is just too kooky to be believed.

Yes, I laughed quite a bit and I enjoyed myself overall, but Friends with Kids could've been so much better than its finished product.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids (2011)

Starring Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper, Chris O'Dowd, and Jill Clayburgh

Directed by Paul Feig

Somehow, Bridesmaids contains all the well-known aspects of your typical Hollywood rom-coms (including that ever-so-popular favorite of female-centric flicks -- the need to dance at film's end), but twists them in such a way that they feel new, refreshing, and sometimes raunchily dirty.  Still, at the center of the flick -- and what makes it work as well as it does -- is heart.  And, corny as that may sound, in spite of the dirty jokes (or perhaps even because of the contrast they provide), the surprising amount of warmth is what makes this hilarious comedy a huge success.

When her best friend since childhood Lilian (Maya Rudolph) tells her she's engaged, thirtysomething Annie (Kristen Wiig) is quite happy for her...however, it also sets into motion thoughts that thanks to the facts that her bakery business has shut down and that she's yet to settle down in a meaningful relationship she's somehow failed in her life.  Still, Annie takes on the task of being maid of honor with gusto only to find herself in a somewhat self-imposed competition with Helen (Rose Byrne), the wife of Lilian's husband's boss.  Helen has gobs of money and, unknown to Annie up until this point, has apparently formed a wonderful friendship with Lilian over the past year.

This rivalry with Helen is where Bridesmaids gets both its humor and its heart as a skittishly nervous Annie does what she can in order to constantly try and one-up everything Helen puts in her way.  The film succeeds because Annie's insecurities feel real and natural and Kristen Wiig (who also is credited as co-writer) excels at presenting both the comedy and Annie's sense of angst and worry that she is in danger of losing her best friend.  Wiig sometimes takes things over-the-top on Saturday Night Live, but the humor in Bridesmaids arises from the growth and development of the characters and her Annie is a joy with whom to spend two hours.  Yes, Wiig carries over some of her typical SNL mannerisms, but she gives herself a substantial character to wrap her idiosyncrasies around as opposed to just a two-dimensional person from a six-minute skit.  Plain and simple, the movie works because Wiig makes Annie a character who is entirely believable as both the funny easygoing gal and the panicked maid of honor desperate to maintain her relationship with her best friend.

Wiig is joined by a very funny group of ladies making up the bridal party including the Emmy-winning Melissa McCarthy who got quite a bit of buzz (and is even being bandied about as a possible Oscar nominee) for her role as the uncouth Megan.  While McCarthy is hilarious, my initial reaction is that Rose Byrne has maybe the most difficult role here yet still manages to mine the character for all the comedy it can provide.  Byrne's Helen starts off as the stereotypical rich bitch (which provides many a laugh), but Wiig and her co-writer Annie Mumolo give Helen a bit of a backstory that changes our view of her character by film's end in a pleasant and totally believable way.  Also great is Maya Rudolph who I always liked on SNL.  It's wonderful to see her given a role that, while maybe not the most developed in the film, places her at the center of the action.

Like typical Judd Apatow-produced comedies (as this one is), there are moments where the film feels like it runs a tiny bit too long, but those moments never last long.  I haven't belly-laughed this much in a movie in a long time.  Perhaps even more important, though, and what makes Bridesmaids work is that the incredibly successful adult humor is evenly matched with a warm sentimentality that never feels cloying or preachy.

The RyMickey Rating:  A-

Movie Review - Away We Go (2009)

Starring John Krasinksi, Maya Rudolph, Allison Janney, Jim Gaffigan, Catherine O'Hara, Jeff Daniels, and Maggie Gyllenhaal
Written by Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida
Directed by Sam Mendes

I've said before that I admit that indie films have to work harder for me to like them for the simple reason that I don't like films that shout "I'm hip and edgy" which many low budget flicks scream to me. Your film can be "hip" or "edgy," but not obnoxiously so.

The weird thing about Away We Go is that despite that folk-pop soundtrack, and that thrift store-style "hip" costuming, and certain requisite indie camera shots (like following a couple down a moving airport sidewalk...saw that in Garden State and several movies after that, Mr. Mendes), the film is anything but edgy. It's not filled with Juno-esque dialogue (thank God), but it is filled with quirky characters who make the film completely lose any "realness," and who, in turn, make the film fall from good to below average.

Burt and Verona (Krasinski and Rudolph) are a loving couple, making a living (barely), who are expecting a baby in three months. Once they are given the news that Burt's parents (O'Hara and Daniels) are leaving the country, the couple decides to visit friends and relatives to try and find a place to settle down so that their newborn baby will be around a loving familial community. Through the episodic pacing of the film, we travel to Arizona and meet Verona's zany friend Lily (Janney) and her downtrodden hubby, Lowell (Gaffigan). Soon, we travel to the midwest and meet Burt's friend, LN (Gyllenhaal), a weirdo liberal professor. These three characters Burt and Verona meet up with, in particular, were the sole reasons the film fell apart. Yes, they provided laughter, but they were awful caricatures of stereotypical people. Gyllenhaal's LN, in particular, was horrendously bad. Her flowing arm movements and her flowing clothing and the flowing random verbiage ("Peace! Love! Have sex in front of your kids...It's natural!") that spewed from her mouth were all ridiculous. Yes, she was funny (as was Janney and Daniels and O'Hara), but she was completley a "character" and not a "real person." (Oddly enough, I felt that in screenwriter Dave Eggers' book -- A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius -- that the problem was in his inability to get me to care for the side peripheral characters...similar problem here.)

The supporting cast issue is unfortunate because Krasinski and Rudolph both are as real as it gets. Both of these actors, neither of which are "stars" by any means, really had me glued to the screen. There wasn't a doubt in my mind when I was watching this flick that these two characters really loved each other. One scene that I loved was when Burt and Verona visited their friends, Tom and Munch (Chris Messina and Melanie Lynsky), in Montreal. Tom and Munch are the proud parents of a brood of adopted kids, but one evening, Tom emotionally reveals to Burt that Munch has had five miscarriages and doesn't understand why such a loving mother would be unable to have kids of her own. The look on Burt's face after hearing the story really got to me -- and showed me what a good actor Krasinski can be. Similarly, Rudolph (who was definitely a favorite of mine on Saturday Night Live) has a scene in bed with Krasinski where Burt tells Verona that he loves her and she starts to cry. It felt so right on and real. There were many more scenes like these that worked wonderfully.

I loved nearly every scene with Burt and Verona, so it was such a shame that nearly every side character (with the exception of the absolutely touching and beautifully portrayed aforementioned Montreal couple) seemed so fake. Overall, Sam Mendes' new effort couldn't match up to his modern-day masterpiece, Revolutionary Road, despite the fact that the two leads were great.

The RyMickey Rating: C