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-

The Polka King

The Polka King (2018)

Starring Jack Black, Jenny Slate, Jason Schwartzman, J.B. Smoove, Vanessa Bayer, and Jacki Weaver

Directed by Maya Forbes

Written by Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B-

Venom

Venom (2018)

Starring Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Scott Haze, Reid Scott, and Jenny Slate

Directed by Ruben Fleischer

Written by Jeff Pinkner, Scott Rosenberg, and Kelly Marcel

Summary (in 500 words or less):  Investigative reporter Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) is overtaken by an alien lifeform while he is visiting the bioengineering corporation Life Foundation run by billionaire Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed) which causes him to take on the alter ego of Venom -- a nasty creature that has designs on taking over the earth for his kind.

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  D+

Movie Review - The Secret Life of Pets

The Secret Life of Pets (2016)

Featuring the vocal talents of Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell, and Albert Brooks 

Directed by Chris Renaud and Yarrow Cheney

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

There's nothing inherently wrong with the animated The Secret Life of Pets, but this Illumination Entertainment picture (from the company that brought us the mind-bogglingly popular and also mind-numbing Despicable Me franchise) doesn't excite in any way -- visually, vocally, plot-wise.  In the end, it just sort of sits there, creating amusing-enough background noise, but not involving the viewer in any way.

In full disclosure, I'm not a "pet person" so the plot about what happens when owners leave their pets home alone for the day doesn't ingratiate itself to me at all.  Human Katie (Ellie Kemper) and her dog Max (Louis C.K.) have a nice life together in their small apartment in New York City.  Things are going swell for Max, but then Katie decides to adopt another dog -- a big ole mutt named Duke (Eric Stonestreet) -- which sets off a tension-filled fight for dominance between the two canines.  This leads to a romp through the Big Apple with silly story tangents that fail to really create a cohesively engaging story.

Much like other Illumination Animation pictures, the visuals look decent, but never exquisitely intricate or cleverly designed.  The basic nature carries over to the vocal talent which takes a cadre of comedians who give solid performances, but nothing exciting.  The lack of anything truly riveting is a staple of this studio's animated pics and until they up the ante, they'll just be middle-of-the-road like The Secret Life of Pets.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - Zootopia

Zootopia (2016)

Featuring the vocal talents of Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Jenny Slate, Nate Torrence, Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake, Tommy Chong, J.K. Simmons, Alan Tudyk, Shakira, Maurice LaMarche, and Octavia Spencer

Directed by Byron Howard and Rich Moore

Amusing and creative, Zootopia is an engaging animated film with clever gags, solid animation, and quality voice acting.  While some critics deemed this Disney's best animated film in decades, I'm not willing to go there.  However, once you get past the rather lengthy exposition at the film's outset, its story becomes quite engaging and easily is able to win over its audience of both kids and adults alike.

Zootopia takes us a world that is completely made up of anthropomorphic animals where the concept of predators and prey don't exist; rather everyone coexists peacefully.  As the flick begins, Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) has just moved to the big titular city from the small rural town of Bunnyburrow with the aspirations to become the first rabbit police officer in the Zootopia Police Department.  While she eventually succeeds at achieving her dream, she's given very little respect by her superiors -- including water buffalo police chief Bogo (Idris Elba) -- and is tasked with being a lowly traffic cop.  In the course of her mundane duties, Judy runs across sly fox Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) who she feels in conducting some type of shady business, but she can't quite put her finger on it.  Back at the police station one afternoon, a concerned Mrs. Otterton (Octavia Spencer) pleads with Chief Bogo to search for her missing husband, but when Bogo seemingly pushes Mrs. Otterton aside, Judy jumps at the opportunity to work on a real case.  Bogo, seeing this as an opportunity to get rid of the overly ambitious Judy, tells the rabbit she has 48 hours to find Mrs. Otterton's husband Emmitt or else she must give up her position as a cop.  Desperate to keep her job and prove her worth, Judy tracks down Nick and bribes him into helping her.  The duo travels through the many landscapes of Zootopia and discover a nefarious plot that is turning the now peaceful predators into vicious animals again.

If that seems like a bit of a lengthy summarization, that's because I feel like it is...and that's the biggest problem I had with Zootopia.  The film just takes too long to get rolling -- too much exposition at the start and not enough verve to keep my interest.  Fortunately, once Judy and Nick head out on their mission to track down Emmitt Otterton, things begin to pick up and the film becomes filled with clever jokes and clever humanization of animals.  While the film's script doesn't really lend itself to those heart-wrenching or emotionally uplifting moments we've found in Pixar's films, it still ends up successfully balancing its comedic and dramatic moments in the film's final two acts.

Jason Bateman is perfect casting as Nick with the slick fox emanating Bateman's smart-alecky persona.  Ginnifer Goodwin is spot-on sweet as Judy, a character that could grow irksome in her perfectionism, but doesn't thanks to the vocals provided by the actress.  Nice turns also come from Don Lake and Bonnie Hunt (one of my favorite comediennes) as Judy's parents, the aforementioned Elba as the tough-as-nails police chief, and Jenny Slate as a tiny sheep playing assistant to the mayor of Zootopia.

The animators and screenwriters prove to be clever in their homages to other films and to human existence itself.  Puns abound, but never feel too in-your-face or over-the-top which is a good thing because these plays on words/plays on human culture could've gotten old quickly.  Instead, they add atmosphere to the animal environment.  In the end, Zootopia is a worthy entrant to the Disney animated canon, but it doesn't quite match the levels of the company's best.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - The Longest Week

The Longest Week (2014)

Starring Jason Bateman, Olivia Wilde, Billy Crudup, Jenny Slate, and Tony Roberts

Directed by Peter Glanz

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

Throughout a large chunk of debut director-screenwriter Peter Glanz's comedy The Longest Week, I found myself with the embryonic beginnings of a smirky smile, but it never really came to fruition even once.  The pieces were sort of there for success -- Glanz borrows heavily in stylization from 2000s era Wes Anderson and in writing from 1970s era Woody Allen -- but nothing ever quite fits into place enough to elicit laughs or other emotions.

A love triangle, The Longest Week tells the tale of ladies' man Conrad Valmont (Jason Bateman) who after years of living on his rich parents' dime is kicked out of his ritzy New York City apartment when they suddenly plan on getting divorced.  Conrad heads over to the abode of his friend Dylan (Billy Crudup), but on the subway ride meets Beatrice (Olivia Wilde) and instantly falls for her.  Later that evening at an art show, Conrad discovers that Beatrice is Dylan's new girlfriend which creates a conundrum for Conrad as to whether to pursue his newfound infatuation.

Despite adequate attempts to breathe life into the script by the trio of aforementioned actors, The Longest Week simply doesn't quite land in the way that the writer-director wants.  While I do think there's a clever absurdity there in the eye and the pen of Peter Glanz, he doesn't achieve it in his debut.  While I'd certainly take a look at his next feature, The Longest Week disappoints.

The RyMickey Rating:  D+

Movie Review - Obvious Child

Obvious Child (2014)

Starring Jenny Slate, Jake Lacy, Gaby Hoffmann, Gabe Liedman, Richard Kind, Polly Draper, and David Cross

Directed by Gillian Robespierre  

***This film is currently streaming on Amazon Prime***

Quite frankly, more so than probably any other movie released in 2014, Obvious Child was not made for me.  I'm not one that can find humor in a young stand-up comic going on stage and doing a set where she tries to derive humor from the fact that she's getting an abortion the next day.  I won't sit here and say I was offended (because I wasn't because quite frankly very little Hollywood does could offend me nowadays), but I did find the film a bit disturbing in the way it attempts to bring humor to such a situation.

Jenny Slate is Donna, a twenty something gal who, after being dumped by her long-time boyfriend, has a one night stand with Max (Jake Lacy) which results in her getting pregnant.  Without a steady job (her stand-up comedy side gigs don't bring in much income) and having just been told that her cheap apartment is being taken away from her, there's no second guessing as to what Jenny is going to do -- an abortion is to be had.

I give writer-director Gillian Robespierre credit for having the cojones to make a film so bluntly pro-abortion, but from a comedy standpoint, the humor didn't fly for me here.  I laughed out loud once or twice and Slate actually has a presence that's oddly charming in a rough-around-the-edges kind of way, but the subject matter here is such a turn-off to me that I doubt I was ever going to enjoy this one.  When I watch movies, I try my best to separate my political and moral views from what I'm watching onscreen and I think I'm damn good at it.  However, I can't find humor in the subject of abortion.  It's simply not going to fly with me.  Seeing a mother and daughter waxing fondly over the mother's tale about an abortion she had in the sixties is nothing short of unsettling for me when placed in a humorous context.

Once again, credit for being ballsy enough to appeal to the liberal mindset with this one (and the media naturally fawned over it upon its release), but this one just didn't fly with me when it comes to the comedic boundaries it's pushing.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-