Category: Movies

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Shmee Goes To The Movies With The Teen Titans!

‘Teens Titans Go!’ has always had strained relationship with nerds.  On one hand their jokes at the expense of the DC Universe have always been brilliant.  They somehow know how to point and laugh at everything wrong with DC’s properties, while also celebrating what makes them great.  On the other hand there are a lot of poop jokes.  Not to mention the cartoon that came before it ‘Teen Titans’ was a pretty great take on the source material, so it being replaced by a bunch of goofs making fart jokes was a tough pill to swallow, and ‘Teen Titans Go!’ revels rubbing it in those fans faces.  I enjoy the show immensely, and I thought ‘Teen Titans Go! To the Movies’ did a great job of taking something built for a fifteen minute format and turning it in to an hour and half movie.

In the movie, the Teen Titans are upset that no one takes them seriously.  Even though they rarely fight crime and spend more time practicing their songs than their combat.  The only way to be taken seriously, much like the real world, is to get a movie made about you, so the Titans are off to Hollywood to get a picture made about them.

Just like the TV show, ‘Teen Titans Go! To the Movies’ is meta joke layered on top of meta joke with a poop punch line, so the more you know about the greater DC Universe, the more you will like, or hate, the movie.  However, my daughter who is four and who knows nothing about the Challengers of the Unknown loved the movie.  She sang along to their catchy tunes, and laughed at their toilet humor.  In other words, you don’t need to know everything DC to enjoy this movie, it just helps.

Considering DC already has a cartoon movie franchise that satirizes themselves, a ‘Teen Titans Go!’ movie was always odd proposition.  However, I am glad they made it, and it justifies its length by telling a fun story and never feeling like Star Trek: Insurrection.  I think you should do yourself a favor and check out ‘Teen Titans Go! To the Movies’!  Even if it is just for the songs and the Challengers of the Unknown.

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The Kids Aren’t Alright In DC Universe’s Titans!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5dIwGAYcWk&t

So DC Universe dropped their first trailer for Titans which is going to headline their new streaming channel, and wow, it is a departure from what the Titans are known for these days.  The kids are killing people and using the F-Word.  Right in the trailer!  I mean if this is what they thought was safe to show us, I wonder what they are holding back.  I guess if we become subscribers we will know this fall, but this was a rough introduction.

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Shmee Is Happy To Be Mister Rogers’ Neighbor!

‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor?’ is just the kind of movie we need today.  It follows the life of a man who believed that if we just treat each other with kindness and learned to properly deal with our feelings that the world will be a better place.  This man of course was Fred Rogers, and he delivered his message to children through his prolific show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

If you are looking for an in depth portrayal of Fred Rogers life, you may be a little disappointed with ‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor?’.  It mainly deals with his career, and it primarily gets its information from the people who loved him most.  However, I am not sure how many people there could be that didn’t love him, so to get an opposing viewpoint would probably be difficult.

The main question this film is asking is: “Was Fred Rogers the same loving man in real life that he was on TV for several generations of kids?”  And the answer is unequivocally, yes.  Which is reassuring.  It is nice to watch a movie that is simply about a good man, who set out to do good, and did it.  It makes me wish he was around today.

There is not a lot to review with ‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor?’.  If you want to know more about the man who wore zip-up sweaters and sang songs about emotions, it is the film for you.  Even if you didn’t like or watch Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, it is still worth learning about a man wanted share love and help children grow, without an ulterior motive.  To let us all know that we are special, and worthy of love and respect, just the way we are, and that so is every one else.  We are all neighbors.

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Shmee Hangs Out With Ant-Man And The Wasp!

After the success of 2015’s Ant-Man there was never a question that there would be a sequel, and here it is, Ant-Man and the Wasp.  After Avengers: Infinity War and even Black Panther, Ant-Man and the Wasp is a much smaller movie, with way smaller stakes.  Which is a nice change of pace.  It is a fun little comedy in the middle of the rest of the MCU’s epic goings on.

It has been two years since Captain America: Civil War, but before Infinity War, and for his part in that little skirmish Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is under house arrest.  Unfortunately he didn’t tell Hope van Dyne-Pym (Evangeline Lilly) or Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) about his little trip to Germany, and since it gets them in trouble with the law as well, they are not supper happy with him, but when Scott has a dream about Hope’s mom Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) they will all be forced back together to try and save her from the Quantum-Zone (don’t ask me why Marvel hyphenated it).

Like I said in the opening, the stakes are very small.  At worst a woman that everyone thought was dead, would stay probably dead.  Not a great outcome sure, but compared to worlds ending or countries being taken over, it doesn’t rank very high on an average superhero’s emergency list.  The plot also uses a lot of coincidences to drive itself forward.  Now is the time a black market tech salesmen comes after Hank and Hope, and now is also the time that Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) and her issues emerge.  Not to mention none of this can wait three days for Scott’s sentence to be over? Sure.  Thankfully the ride is enjoyable enough to gloss over all that stuff.

The cast is excellent.  We all knew Rudd was good from the last movie, but this time Lilly gets a little more time to shine, which is nice, and I am always on board for more Michelle Pfeiffer, but I think she was too young looking for the age they wanted her to be, so they did some pretty distractingly bad aging makeup.  She is Michelle Pfeiffer don’t mess with that!

After Infinity War it was nice to watch something more scaled back.  To watch a little story in the MCU before things get crazy again, and if the after credits scene for Ant-Man and the Wasp is anything to go by, things are going to get nuts.  If you have liked the average Marvel superhero movie, you will like Ant-Man and the Wasp.  If not, this wasn’t a game changer.  Just a fun little mid-summer popcorn flick to pass the time until the MCU comes unglued next year.

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Shmee Fights Crime With The Parrs In Incredibles 2!

We had to wait fourteen years for a sequel to The Incredibles, meanwhile we got three Cars movies.  How is that fair?  Especially when Incredibles 2 is so amazing and the Cars movies are so mediocre.  Oh well, it is finally here, and you should go see it.  It more than lives up to the original, and it manages to expand the Incredibles storyline in meaningful ways.

Unlike most Pixar sequels which take place years after first film, Incredibles 2 picks up exactly where the first film left off.  With the Parrs (The Incredibles) fighting the Underminer.  Sadly things do not go as planned, and the Parrs are once again on the outs with local law enforcement.  Luckily for them Winston Deavor (Bob Odenkirk) has a plan to make “Supers” legal again, and that plan is to show the world how great Superheroes are.  All his plans hinge on the very marketable Elastigirl (Holly Hunter).  Much to the chagrin of Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson).

While at first the setup for this seems lazy: Mr. Incredible stays at home and is an unprepared and jealous father, while Elastigirl goes out and finds new purpose in life with her career, but Incredibles 2 is able to start there and move in to deeper and more touching territory.  Mr. Parr does have issues, but he doesn’t give up, and he works on being a better dad.  Mrs. Parr is able to remember the joy of helping and saving the day.  At the same time proving why she is a top tier “super” and not just some sidekick.  The kids?  They are just great kids with normal kid problems.  Except for Jack-Jack, who has all sorts of fun issue causing powers.

Apparently Brad Bird didn’t spend the last fourteen years just ignoring The Incredibles, he was finding a story worth telling, and it worked.  While I didn’t like waiting a decade and a half, I am pleased with the results.  Let’s just hope we don’t have to wait another fourteen years for Incredibles 3.  I don’t know if I can make it through Cars 4-6.