The Chair

 The Chair (2021)

Starring Sandra Oh, Jay Duplass, Bob Balaban, Nana Mensah, Everly Carganilla, David Morse, and Holland Taylor

Directed by Daniel Gray Longino

Created by Amanda Peet and Annie Julia Wyman

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  C

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

Waiting for Guffman

Waiting for Guffman (1997)

Starring Lewis Arquette, Bob Balaban, Christopher Guest, Matt Keesler, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, and Fred Willard

Directed by Christopher Guest

Written by Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B

Isle of Dogs

Isle of Dogs (2018)

Featuring the vocal talents of Bryan Cranston, Koyu Rankin, Edward Norton, Bob Balaban, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Liev Schreiber, Kunichi Nomura, Greta Gerwig, Frances McDorman, Scarlett Johansson, Harvey Keitel, F. Murray Abraham, Yoko Ono, Courtney B. Vance, and Tilda Swinton

Directed by Wes Anderson

Written by Wes Anderson

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - Mascots

Mascots (2016)

Starring Jane Lynch, Parker Posey, Christopher Guest, Fred Willard, Ed Begley, Jr., Zach Woods, Sarah Baker, Michael Hitchcock, John Michael Higgins, Tom Bennett, Christopher Moynihan, Susan Yeagley, Chris O'Dowd, Bob Balaban, and Jennifer Coolidge

Directed by Christopher Guest

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

Writer-director Christopher Guest's mockumentary Best in Show which took the audience behind the scenes of a low-rent dog show is one of the best comedies of all time.  A ballsy statement, I'm aware, and one that may not be shared by all, but it's a movie that I find myself cracking up with whenever I put it on.  In a similar vein, his latest film Mascots takes its viewers to the annual Mascot Championships where his interviews with a wacky cast of characters unveil the mask behind some unique college and sport team mascots fighting for the top prize at the event.

Told in a fake documentary style -- the genre of all Guest's films -- Mascots has its moments and is certainly watchable, but it doesn't compare to the genius that is Best in Show (then again, the rest of Guest's films don't compare to that genius either).  Guest allows large chunks of his acting ensemble to simply improvise and while that does provide some clever moments, it also fills the film with a lot of nothing in terms of character development.  Despite only being 95 minutes long, the flick feels much longer with too much focus placed on the mascot bits at the final competition rather than creating well-rounded and interestingly quirky characters.

I'm overly critical here because I know Guest and his ensemble (many of whom were in Best in Show) can do better.  I did laugh during Mascots -- quite a bit actually -- but I wanted more from the film.  The humor came a bit too sporadically for me to truly be able to recommend this one.  Best in Show, however -- get yourself a copy today!

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - The Monuments Men

The Monuments Men (2014)

Starring George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Hugh Bonneville, and Bob Balaban

Directed by George Clooney

Director George Clooney's The Monuments Men definitely feels like a throwback to the days when "Hogan's Heroes" was on tv.  That show went straight for the comedic aspects of WWII, but The Monuments Men attempts to mix comedy and drama and Clooney and his fellow screenwriter don't quite mesh the two together.  Unfortunately, this creates a film that never finds its footing, feeling slightly off balance all the way throughout with the comedic aspects never quite being funny enough and the dramatic aspects never quite mustering up the emotion they likely should.

Clooney's trademark charm is evident throughout the film -- and not just in his acting.  The film itself feels deeply rooted in 1960s cinema, a time when things were perhaps more innocent.  Yes, The Monuments Men is a war movie, but this is no Saving Private Ryan in terms of blood, guts, and action.  Instead, the film focuses on a band of merry older men with backgrounds in art who are brought together to retrieve important European sculptures, paintings, and other artistic media that Hitler's Nazi army took upon their take-overs of various countries.  These men -- played by Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Hugh Bonneville, and Bob Balaban -- have no military experience yet are thrown head-first into some war-torn parts of Europe where the Nazi regime -- although now retreating as the war comes to an end -- has not quite abandoned.

Unfortunately, Clooney's desire to create a more lighthearted romp with the serious subject matter doesn't work in the film's favor.  While I understand the drive behind the film and Clooney's inclination to imbue comedy into this tragic war, the humor waters down the serious moments whenever they pop up.  Rather than feel an emotional connection to several tragic occurrences that happen in the film, the relationship the audience has with the characters isn't there in the way that it should be which is a big detriment in the film's serious moments.  Perhaps a more deft director could have righted the ship, but Clooney doesn't quite have the chops yet.  I certainly appreciate the charming vibe he brought to the piece, but The Monuments Men simply doesn't balance itself out on the scale between humor and seriousness and this off-kilter nature is its downfall.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - Girl Most Likely

Girl Most Likely (2013)

Starring Kristen Wiig, Annette Bening, Christopher Fitzgerald, Matt Dillon, Darren Criss, and Bob Balaban

Directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

I watched the first hour of Girl Most Likely and then had to stop to head out of the house.  Three days later, I realized that I hadn't finished the film, but over the course of those three days, I hadn't thought about it once.  It's not that Girl Most Likely is bad -- I found myself laughing quite a bit and the performances were pretty darn solid -- but its story doesn't exactly feel special by any means making the whole film almost forgettable.

Kristen Wiig is Imogene who, at the film's onset, is living in New York City with her rich, haughty boyfriend.  After attending a posh soiree, her boyfriend tells her that he's moving on and breaking up with her.  Devastated, Imogene becomes depressed, loses her job, and spends day after day in her fancy apartment until she comes up with the crazy notion that if she pretends to commit suicide, her boyfriend may feel sympathy for her return to her side.  Fun stuff, right?  Unfortunately, her plan backfires and she ends up in a mental hospital.  After a night or two, the doctors determine that she can be released to a family member who will agree to watch over her.  While Imogene assumes it will be her (ex-)boyfriend, her estranged mother Zelda (Annette Bening) arrives to take her back to her childhood home in Ocean City, New Jersey.  [In an odd coincidence, the reason I had to leave the house during my initial viewing of Girl Most Likely is because I was going to Ocean City, New Jersey.]  Unfortunately for Imogene, Zelda cares more about her own well-being than her daughter -- a notion that hasn't changed since Imogene's youth and one of the reasons Imogene ran to New York City at her first opportunity.  With Imogene trying to come to terms with her past and her present, she finds herself attempting to determine what kind of person she really wants to be.

Despite the seriousness of how the film starts out, Girl Most Likely does find humor amidst the pathos of its main character quite a bit in the film's first half.  Kristen Wiig isn't reinventing the wheel in terms of a character here -- her delivery of jokes in movies is always peppered with a quiet staccato verbalization of words which I find funny, but not exactly original from film to film -- but she certainly is agreeable to watch.  The introduction of Annette Bening's Zelda is almost too stereotypical of the Jersey Shore persona that we've come to know in recent years thanks to Snookie and The Situation, but Bening milks it for all its worth and, despite the over-the-top nature of the character, quite honestly delivers a really strong comedic performance.

Unfortunately, the film falters a bit once Imogene finds herself plunking down in New Jersey.  Subplots about her brother Ralph's (Christopher Fitzgerald) nervous nature, the tenant (Darren Criss) living in her childhood room, and Zelda's CIA boyfriend nicknamed "the Bouche" (Matt Dillon) all fall flat and fail to elevate the character of Imogene despite the fact that they are clearly aiming to do so.  Girl Most Likely had promise, but the dark comedic nature at the film's start dissipates rather quickly which proves to be a bit of a disappointment.  Still, considering this is streaming on Netflix, it's certainly something to consider watching.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+