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-

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+

Thor: Ragnarok

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Starring Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban, Anthony Hopkins, and Mark Ruffalo

Directed by Taika Waititi

Written by Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle, and Christopher Yost

Summary (in 500 words or less):  Thor (Chris Hemsworth) returns to his home planet of Asgard and forces his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) to help find their father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) who was missing, but then found hiding in Norway.  Odin reveals that he is dying and that his death will unlock the prison cell that his firstborn daughter Hela (Cate Blanchett) has been kept in for years because of Odin's fear that his daughter was becoming too ambitious.  Upon Odin's death, Hela returns to Asgard and chaos begins to reign as she forces Thor and Loki off the planet.  Thor lands on  Sakaar, a weird planet full of space waste and home to massive gladiator-style battles by people captured by The Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum), one of whom happens to be the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) who had been missing ever since the events of "Captain America: Civil War."

• Right off the bat, I should just say that Thor: Ragnarok is my favorite Marvel movie yet.  Director Taika Waititi (along with the trio of screenwriters) have crafted a fun-filled humorous ride filled with solid action sequences that carry some gravitas and importance in the grand scheme of the Thor franchise storyline.
• The balance struck here by Waititi in terms of action and humor is what the Guardians movies wants to be, but hasn't yet achieved. 
• Considering how much I despised Thor: The Dark World, I admittedly wasn't expecting much here, but the change in tone to something a bit more light-hearted works amazing well.
• Despite the oftentimes more whimsical and humorous nature of the film, there's still some important stuff going on here.  The family dynamic between Thor, his sister Hela, and their brother Loki is some heavy stuff and carries heft in the grand scheme of Thor's story...all the while likely helping to set up storylines for the upcoming Avengers film.
• Kudos to the entire cast -- Chris Hemsworth gets to display his comedic chops (which are always impressive), Jeff Goldblum and Mark Ruffalo appear to be having a ton of fun, Tessa Thompson brings a strong female presence to the proceedings, and Cate Blanchett tears up the screen as the villainess.  SPOILER ALERT -- Here's hoping they can find some way to bring her back in future films because she lit up the screen whenever she appeared.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+

Movie Review - Le Week-End

Le Week-End (2014)

Starring Jim Broadbent, Lindsay Duncan, and Jeff Goldblum

Directed by Roger Michell

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

I'm not quite sure why I stuck this one out to the end.  Admittedly and to my chagrin, what I thought was going to be a light romantic comedy about a longtime married couple (Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan) turned out to be a rather glum look at a longtime married couple incessantly bickering with one another causing me to wonder how they'd stayed together for three decades and why in the world I was supposed to want to watch their marital spats play out onscreen.

Overly talky, every time I thought Nick and Meg were finally headed towards a reconciliation, someone would say something stupid and tick the other one off.  Perhaps this is the way things begin to look after you've been with someone for such a long time, but I found the whole thing incredibly uncomfortable and unenjoyable to watch.  I still think this is supposed to be a comedy, but I certainly never found myself laughing once.  Despite decent performances from Broadbent and Duncan who really do try and sell the material, Le Week-End is more triste than drôle.

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Movie Review - The Lost World: Jurassic Park

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

Starring Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore, Vince Vaughn, Pete Postlethwaite, Richard Schiff, Arliss Howard, Vanessa Lee Chester, Peter Stormare, and Richard Attenborough

Directed by Steven Spielberg

How can the same director and half of the screenwriting team of one of the best "popcorn" blockbuster movies of all time fail so miserably the second go-around as we venture back to the islands off the coast of Costa Rica again in The Lost World: Jurassic Park?  Quite frankly, there's hardly anything to recommend in this second segment of the Jurassic Park Quadrilogy.  Instead we get rehashed scenes, duplicated themes, and special effects that can't hold a candle to its predecessor. I didn't remember The Lost World being as bad as this when I watched it decades ago...but this is really awful stuff.

Since I created a list in my Jurassic Park review, let's continue that trend here as we discuss the many detriments of The Lost World:

• Let's just begin with the obvious "gymnastics" foreshadowing at the beginning of the film that then wreaks havoc during a pivotal scene in the movie's climax.  Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), the only returning character to hold a pivotal role in this sequel, has a daughter Kelly (Vanessa Lee Chester) whom we discover at the beginning has been let go of her gymnastics team for not being good enough apparently.  When she stows away and arrives on the island with her father, we're well aware that her "lack" of gymnastics skills is going to come into play at some point.  For the whole film, Kelly is a character that is given next to nothing to do, hardly ever being put in peril.  However, at an integral point in the film's climax, Kelly, her father, and fellow scientist and current love interest of Ian, Sarah Harding (Julianne Moore), are trapped in some type of facility with a bunch of beams and high walkways.  Of course, Kelly's gymnastics will come into play here as she jumps around the facility like some acrobatic mini Flying Wallenda brother.  Utterly preposterous and painful to watch.
• Similar to the first film, our main characters are placed into peril while in a vehicle, but this time, it's just ludicrous.  As Ian, Sarah, and videographer Nick (Vince Vaughn) fall over the edge of a cliff in a trailer, scenes of shattering glass and falling debris aren't perilous, but rather ridiculous.  This purportedly tense moment wreaks of unbelievability and the resolution to this scene is nonsensically laughable.
• What the heck is up with the subplot of what are essentially poachers (played by Pete Postlethwaite and Arliss Howard amongst other) coming to the island?  All these characters are is quite literally dead weight as we await for a T-Rex to chomp them to bits.  They play no part other than Stereotypical "Bad Guy" which the first film didn't need at all in order to succeed.
• The special effects here look so much worse than the original.  How they downgraded to dinosaurs that look less realistic than the original is unfathomable to me.  The use of less puppetry and more computer-driven graphics doesn't do the film any favors and the overall result is a huge letdown from the original's stellar effects.

It certainly doesn't help matters that the finale with a T-Rex wreaking havoc on San Francisco is so excessively irrational that The Lost World ends on a horrible note, but that would've really made no difference anyway.  Obviously, my affinity for Jurassic Park taints my opinion of The Lost World: Jurassic Park, but it's not even that the sequel is inferior, it's just that it attempts to carbon copy the original at every turn and fails miserably.  

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Join in tomorrow as we explore more of the Jurassic Park Quadrilogy:

Tomorrow: Jurassic Park III

Saturday:  Jurassic World

Previously:  Jurassic Park

The Personal Canon - Jurassic Park

The Personal Canon is a recurring column discussing my favorite movies of all time.  While they may not necessarily be "A" rated, they are the movies that, for some reason or another, hold a special place in my filmgoing experience.

Jurassic Park (1993)

Starring Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Joseph Mazzello, Ariana Richards, and Samuel L. Jackson

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Join in over the next four days for a look at the Jurassic Park Quadrilogy:
Today:  Jurassic Park
Thursday:  The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Friday:  Jurassic Park III
Saturday:  Jurassic World

This is how you make a movie that is innately special effects-driven work.  More than twenty years later, Jurassic Park still works its magic and I was quite happy to be able to see it once again on the big screen (even if the 3D, though admirably done, wasn't really necessary).  Editor's Note:  I watched Jurassic Park in its theatrical re-release two years ago, but for some reason failed to complete this review.  With the impending Jurassic World release, I decided to revisit the film (and its sequels) on dvd again.  This review is mix of the theatrical release draft I created and new work.

Everyone knows the plot -- billionaire entrepreneur John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) invites a trio of scientists (Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum) and his grandchildren (Joseph Mazzello, Ariana Richards) to a remote Central American island off the coast of Costa Rica where his researchers have created a slew of dinosaurs that Hammond plans to show off in a theme park-like setting.  Michael Crichton has taken a seemingly ridiculous plot and created something (along with co-screenwriter David Koepp) that comes off as totally believable and fathomable.  Rather than have the science come off as silly, it seems legitimate and this intelligent base for a big-budget blockbuster action flick can't help but resonate.  

The early 90s were a pivotal time in my movie-going life with Beauty and the Beast coming onto the scene in 1991 and then the influential year of 1993 which featured both Jurassic Park and The Fugitive -- two movies that absolutely enthralled me as an eager film-loving thirteen year-old.  (And that's not even including Schindler's List, Philadelphia, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Sleepless in Seattle [another Personal Canon film])  Admittedly, Jurassic Park was probably the film that put Steven Spielberg on the film map for me.  Here, the director takes just the right amount of time to set up the story before turning everything upside down.  Surprisingly, both aspects of the plot -- the exposition and the payoff -- work incredibly well with neither feeling like they wear out their welcome or are cut short by the other.

There are so many really great moments here --

• The first moment the scientists see the giant dinos and that iconic John Williams music just swells.  This is also the first moment that we see the dinos as well and considering this film was made more than two decades ago, the special effects look absolutely fantastic.  There are moments in this movie that I feel like the effects look better than most of what is out there today.
• The entire sequence of the T-Rex wreaking havoc on the two tour vehicles.  From the moment when that cup of water starts to shake to the giant reptile eating the guy on the toilet (Spielberg also has a eye for uncomfortable comedy) to the two kids being panicked in the car -- it's all great stuff.
• Although I dislike the very end of the showdown with the velociraptors, the kitchen scene with the two grandkids is stellar stuff.
• Even the scientific set-up with the animated DNA strand is amusingly done.  This should be boring expository stuff and it still is amazingly interesting.  

Jurassic Park really is a fantastic flick and one that truly stands the test of time.  It's an incredibly fun roller coaster ride that Steven Spielberg crafted here and it's one of the best "popcorn" movies of all time.

The RyMickey Rating:  A

Movie Review - The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

Starring Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Matheiu Amalric, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, Jude Law, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Saoirse Ronan, Jason Schwartzman, Léa Seydoux, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, Owen Wilson, and Tony Revolori

Directed by Wes Anderson

Director and screenwriter Wes Anderson's films are always easy to pick out by their colorful visual style, exquisite production design, sardonic, quirky humor, and the presence of Bill Murray, but with the exception of Fantastic Mr. Fox, I always tend to feel that Anderson can't quite craft a great story around his admittedly unique style.  While The Grand Budapest Hotel is one of his better efforts, I still find myself waiting for one of his live action flicks to really grab me and pull me in with its story.

Told in a flashback within a flashback, the film focuses on Monsieur Gustave H (Ralph Fiennes), the concierge at the prestigious Grand Budapest Hotel in the fictional Republic of Zubrowka in 1932.  While Gustave runs the hotel with precision, he's also well known amongst the elderly lady crowd for providing something a little bit extra during their stay.  (That "extra" would be sex...in case I was too vague.)  One such lady -- Madame Céline Villeneuve Desgoffe und Taxis (Tilda Swinton in a ton of make-up) -- has fallen in love with Gustave and while he admittedly reciprocates the feeling to her, he has too many other "duties" in the hotel to fully give himself to her.  However, after she leaves to travel back to her home, Gustave receives word that Madame D has been killed and that he must attend the reading of the will for she has left something to him.  Upon arrival, Gustave learns that Madame D has bequeathed the terribly expensive painting "Boy with Apple" to him much to the chagrin of his relatives.  Not only that, but Madame D was murdered and her sons and daughters are pointing to Gustave as the main culprit.

There are so many great things about The Grand Budapest Hotel that it pains me to not love it more.  Ralph Fiennes is fantastic as Gustave.  The dry humor and wit that exudes from every line reading and every movement from Fiennes is an enviable feat and he really is the unsung hero from the piece.  The rest of the supporting cast is pitch perfect as well with a very nice turn in particular from newcomer Tony Revolori as Gustave's lobby boy/right hand man.  Fiennes is a strong presence in the film and Revolori holds his own, providing his own bit of humor from his reactions to the oddness going on around him.  The cast itself certainly gets the tone of things from Wes Anderson himself who, as a director, has a way of creating humor simply from his direction -- the pan of a camera may be all that's needed in order to elicit a chuckle.  As I watched, I realized that not too many directors have this ability and Anderson understands how to utilize the lens itself in order to create humor.  And the production design -- top notch, melding old school and new school designs with ease, creating a storybook-like world that completely brings us into the fake land of Zubrowka.

But it's that darn story that doesn't quite elevate things.  For about an hour, I was onboard, but the thing peters out towards the end as it shifts from focusing on Gustave to focusing on Gustave's escape plan from those trying to pin him for murder.  I can't say that I want an emotional connection in Anderson's films -- that's not what I'm looking for from his pictures.  But there seems to be some fundamental piece of the puzzle missing in his live action flicks for me that fail to click with my mind on some level as the film progresses.  Perhaps it's just that I tire of the quirkiness after about an hour and I'm left with some pretty basic storytelling in nearly all his films.

Still, The Grand Budapest Hotel is a good flick -- certainly one of Anderson's better films -- with fantastic production values and great acting, but it's just missing that last bit of pizzazz from its screenplay.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - The Switch

The Switch (2010)

Starring Jason Bateman, Jennifer Aniston, Thomas Robinson, Patrick Wilson, Juliette Lewis, and Jeff Goldblum

Directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck

If I were to tell you that the synopsis of a movie was that a woman decides to artificially inseminate herself only to have the sperm from the supposed dreamboat donor be replaced by her pessimistic male best friend, you'd assume that the film was a wacky comedy perhaps in the vein of a Farrelly Brothers flick.  Oddly enough, The Switch has that exact premise, and, while it has its humorous moments, it's surprisingly touching and sweet -- something I wasn't expecting in the slightest.

Worried about the aging process, Kassie (Jennifer Aniston) is determined to have a child before it's too late.  Not finding the man of her dreams on the dating circuit, Kassie eventually meets the married and handsome Roland (Patrick Wilson), a nice guy college professor who agrees to donate his sperm to Kassie since he and his wife have hit hard financial times.  This whole process greatly upsets Kassie's best friend Wally (Jason Bateman) who has always harbored a crush for Kassie.  Nevertheless, Kassie throws a party at which Roland will leave his donation, followed by Kassie hopefully impregnating herself.  A drunk Wally comes across Roland's sperm in the bathroom and accidentally drops the "deposit" down the sink.  Not wanting to ruin Kassie's night, in an intoxicated haze, Wally decides to replace Roland's sperm with his own.  Needless to say, Kassie gets pregnant (by what she believes to be Roland's sperm) and moves out of New York City to be closer to her parents in the Midwest.

Reading the above, I can absolutely understand why no one would want to watch The Switch.  It just sounds stupidly godawful.  However, about thirty minutes in, the movie jumps ahead in time by seven years and finds Kassie returning to NYC with her six year-old son Sebastian (Thomas Robinson), and it is at this point that the movie turns over a new leaf.  It becomes a rather heartfelt film about Wally trying to become a better man so that he can be a better example for his best friend's son (for, you see, at this point, even Wally can't remember what he did that fateful night).  Wally sees a lot of himself in Sebastian and despite his best efforts, Wally grows to love the kid.

I realize that now I'm just making the movie out to sound all mushy and sentimental -- and it is -- but, in the end, it's a much better film than its first act makes it out to be.  Bateman is actually quite good once he moves past his character's first act bitterness and Aniston is perfectly acceptable (although she could do this role in her sleep).  That said, part of the reason the film succeeds so well in its final hour is because of young Thomas Robinson who plays Sebastian as a perfectly believable neurotic miniature doppelganger of Bateman's Wally.  Once his character makes an appearance, the movie's tone changes into something that works really well, settling into a tale that's strong on the heart that its first act is decidedly lacking.

So when you look at the poster above, look less at the disgusted look Jason Bateman is giving at Patrick Wilson's Cup O' Sperm and instead look at the byline that tells you that this film is brought to you by the people behind Juno and Little Miss Sunshine.  In the end, it's more like those two flicks than any of the ads would have led you to believe.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - Morning Glory

Morning Glory (2010)

Starring Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton, Patrick Wilson, and Jeff Goldblum

Directed by Roger Michell

I can't deny that the simple presence of Rachel McAdams onscreen makes me kind of giddy.  She's effervescent and completely natural...and so goshdarn cute.  Ms. McAdams alone makes the romantic comedy Morning Glory a lot better than it deserves to be.  Yes, there were some (I'd even go so far as to say several) laugh-out-loud moments, but as a whole, the story just falls into that "been there, seen that before" category which ultimately holds the film back from being an all-out success.

McAdams is Becky Fuller, an executive producer on a New Jersey local morning news show.  When she is let go because of budget cuts, she manages to land a job in New York City and the exec producer of broadcast net IBS's national morning show Daybreak.  Wallowing in last place, Becky has big plans to shake things the show up.  While she likes bubbly host Colleen Peck (Diane Keaton), Becky feels that Colleen needs a nice partner to bounce things off of.  Becky discovers that revered news anchor Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford) is contracted with IBS, but since he was forced out of the anchor position a few years ago, he has simply been earning a paycheck not doing a thing.  Becky manages to convince Mike to join Daybreak, but the curmudgeonly Mike doesn't quite fit the bill wanting to tell hard news stories rather than do the fluff pieces often seen in morning news shows' second hours.  As these stories often go, Becky must convince Mike to lighten up...and it's not a real surprise as to whether she succeeds or not.

What lifts this film up is the performance of the winning Rachel McAdams and the droll Diane Keaton.  Whenever either of these two ladies are onscreen, the film shines.  McAdams, in particular, is someone I want to be the Next Big Movie Star.  While it doesn't seem like it's going to happen (why aren't her flicks ever really successful?), she's a complete joy to watch (and not too bad to ogle over either).

The film falters a bit when it focuses on the men.  Harrison Ford plays the grouchy Mike adequately, but it all felt very cookie cutter, one-note, and caricaturish to me.  Along the same lines, Patrick Wilson plays Rachel McAdams' new beau with zippo charisma and energy.  Granted, his role is written so poorly that he's given nothing to do, but I didn't buy their relationship one bit and the problem lies moreso with Wilson than McAdams.

And its that underwritten boyfriend role that epitomizes what's wrong with Morning Glory.  There's just not much of anything there.  Yes, the ladies of the cast cull what they can out of the lack of story, but in the end, this film brings nothing new to the table at all, feeling like a retread of other generic romantic comedies we've seen before.  It also doesn't help that director Roger Michell (who directed the rather enjoyable Notting Hill) films everything so incredibly generically, too, peppered with moments of odd zooms that stood out to me like a sore thumb.

Despite these qualms, I laughed...quite a lot actually.  There are moments in the film that work really well and that is due to both McAdams and Keaton.  Together they elevate this movie to a bit more than the average rating it deserves.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+