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Shmee Watches A Trainwreck!

trainwreck

Trainwreck has everything going for it: An in demand rising star, Amy Schumer; A top comedic director, Judd Apatow, and a producer that has overseen some major comedy hits, Barry Mendel.  So it is no surprise that this movie was a financial success.  However, the movie ended up being uneven.

Trainwreck is about Amy Townsend (Amy Schumer) who has problems committing to relationships, partially because of her parents divorce.  He father (Colin Quinn) even has her and her sister (Brie Larson) chant “monogamy isn’t realistic”.  Amy simply goes from party to party and guy to guy until she meets sports doctor Aaron Conners (Bill Hader).  Can she change her philandering ways?

The story works overall, and it is a great setup for Amy Schumer to play off of, but the problem is that Trainwreck can’t quite decided if it wants to be an over-the-top raunch-fest, or a more serious dramedy, so the pace of the film swings pretty wildly.  It either needed to be more crass, or less.  This is a common complaint these days with Judd Apatow, and I appreciate that he is trying to elevate the ‘R’ rated comedy, but he is going to have to try harder, or find different script writers.

Luckily Amy Schumer’s great performance keeps this movie watchable.  She is definitely more at home with the wild antics than the drama, but she was able to do both aplomb.  I also have to give a hand to Tilda Swinton as Amy’s boss at a magazine in her least Tilda Swinton role ever.  I didn’t even know it was her until my wife pointed it out.  The rest of the cast is made up of SNL cast members and other known comedic talent, so they all do a wonderful job.

It is a shame this movie couldn’t quite pick a gear.  The cast would have been up for it either way.  Still, as it is Trainwreck is a watchable film if you are in the mood for an ‘R’ rated flick.  I just think it could have been better.

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(sobbing)…The Soup Is Over!..(wailing)

the-soup

After 11 and 1/2 years The Soup has been canceled.  I know this to be true, I have watched the final episode.  It wasn’t the best episode they have ever produced, but it was a good send off.  It featured a cavalcade of Joel McHale’s favorite celebrity guests, and his 11 favorite clips.  Not to mention several snippets of famous bits they have done over the years.  We have seen those clips and bits several times before, but it was nice to see them one more time.

I found it humorous E! took The Soup’s departure as an opportunity to start the advertising campaign for their new reality show featuring fitness guru Jillian Michaels.  It was the least self-aware act of promotion I have ever seen.

In the end The Soup was canceled because some suits thought they could do better (or maybe cheaper?) at 10PM on Friday nights.  I hope they are wrong, and that the time slot is cursed as a viewer void and a money pit for decades to come.  I know for me, they have gotten rid of the last good thing on their channel, and there is nothing for me to go back for.

TV is now worse because they have gotten rid of the mirror that showed us the ridiculous stuff that we were watching, and laughed at it with us.  To Joel and Co., thanks for memories and the great TV.  Twelve seasons of any show is a major accomplishment, and I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.  That includes you Mankini <sobbing><whispers>..that includes you Mankini.

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I Have Edited And Published Blade And Feather To Amazon!

Blade-and-Feather

Well after a year and a half of lollygagging, I have gone and re-edited Blade and Feather, and then self-published it.  You can view/buy it here.  Though since you are one of the few people that reads my blog, you can also download the free PDF copy here.  That’s right you can either pay for it, or get it for free!  Your choice!  Though if you tell people about it, if you would be ever so kind as to please point them to the Amazon page, I would appreciate it.

I hope you like it!  Even if you don’t, thanks for reading it.  It was a fun process, and I hope to write a follow-up at some point.  We need to see what kind of trouble Shmee and Hoots get in to next.

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Star Wars: The Force Awakens Takes Us Back To A Galaxy Far, Far Away!

Star-wars-the-force-awakens

With the letdown of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, and after years of excitement and anticipation, the bases were loaded for J.J. Abrams.  All he had to do was not strikeout, and he did better than that.  It wasn’t quite a grand-slam, but it was at least a bases clearing triple, and it is hard to be upset about that.  For all of you that don’t understand baseball, what I am saying is that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is amazingly good!

I usually give some sort of blurb about the plot of the movie with this paragraph, but this is a Star Wars film, so you should kind of know what you are in for.  If you haven’t seen a Star Wars movie yet, this is not a good place to start because a lot of Star Wars people do a lot of Star Wars stuff, and if you are like me and wanted a lot of Star Wars Stuff, you are in luck because The Force Awakens is lousy (as in, has a lot of) with it!

Which is one of the reasons this movie wasn’t quite a grand-slam, it may have had a few too many nods to the original trilogy.  The other nitpicks would be that a few of the computer animated characters looked a little off, and that some of the dialog was a little info-dumpy.  Like I said, those are all nitpicks in an otherwise great movie, and they do not ruin the experience at all.

The old cast was enchanting, and looked like they were thoroughly enjoying themselves.  Yes, even grumpy old Harrison Ford looked happy to be Han Solo again.  It was wonderful to see original gang back on screen.  The new cast was excellent as well:  J.J. really got the perfect people to fill all the roles.  I can’t wait to see them in movies for years to come.

The special effects in The Force Awakens were fantastic, and the use of practical (real) effects really helped this movie feel like one of the originals.  You can tell the difference when they build a real ship versus just having someone sit on a green box.  Unfortunately like I mentioned earlier, those practical effects and set pieces did make some of the CGI stand out more, and not in a good way.  Still, overall they did a great job.

Even if Star Wars: The Force Awakens was terrible, it still would have been one of the biggest hits of the year, but I am elated to report that it is an event movie worth watching, and a must see in theaters.  J.J and his gang revived a classic franchise for a new generation, and I can’t wait to see what happens next in my favorite galaxy far, far away!

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The Potterverse Is Showing The Hungerverse How To Do Prequels!

Mockingjay-Part2

With the success of the Hunger Games movies it is no wonder that Lionsgate would want to do more films, but the problem is that according to Variety they are going to make movies that no one wants to see.  They want to make prequels featuring arenas, so they can have more of the titular ‘Hunger Games’.  The issue is that for 73 years those games just featured kids killing each other, and then if they did win they were used and tormented by the capital.  Not great.  I mean they would be making the American version of Battle Royal, which could be interesting, but that is not a wide audience pleaser.  The only way around that would be to make movies featuring victors we have met like Finnick or Haymitch, so that way we would know that they eventually end up leading the resistance, but that movie is even worse because we know that they will win their contest, and we already know how their lives turn out.

Meanwhile the people behind Harry Potter have released this:

A prequel that I am excited about.  Why?  It has almost nothing to do with Harry Potter.  They only thing we know for sure is that Newt Scamander is good at finding Fantastic Beasts and writing about them.  All he has to do for continuity sake is write a book, and if they don’t want to be shackled down by that, they can say that he already wrote it.  It is prefect: we get to go back to the Harry Potter universe we know and love, and we get to see something totally new.  No Dark Lord and no Boy Who Lived.  They haven’t even been born yet!  Well maybe Voldemort is around, but he would still be going by Tom Riddle, and he would be an ocean away.

What I am saying is, if you are going to do a prequel, you have to still give the audience a new story, and one they can feel good about.  Not random kids murdering each other.  I hope for fans of the Hunger Games series that Lionsgate figures that out before making their new movie.  Until then I will be eagerly awaiting Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them!