It is so crazy to think that after today there are only eight days left in the whole year so choosing the right movies to close out the year is the key. That is why I chose today’s film in Why Him? because I was suspecting that it could be comedy of the year. All Ned Fleming (Bryan Cranston) cares about in life is his family and his company, but one of those things is threatened when he discovers that his daughter Stephanie (Zoey Deutch)is dating internet billionaire and wild boy Laird Mayhew (James Franco). He would normally think it was a phase, but when his family is invited out to his house, he discovers that Laird wants to propose to her. So, he’ll do whatever it takes to convince her why he is not the one for her. The film also stars Cedric the Entertainer (The Soul Man) as Lou Dunne, Megan Mullally (Hotel Transylvania 2) as Barb Fleming, Griffin Gluck (Batman Vs Robin) as Scotty Fleming, Zack Pearlman (Hot Bot) as Kevin Dingle, Keegan-Michael Key (Vacation) as Gustav, Kaley Cuoco (The Big Bang Theory) as Justine, Casey Wilson (Gone Girl) as Missy Pederman, Andrew Rannells (The Intern) as Blaine Pederman, Adam Devine (Mike And Dave Need Wedding Dates) as Tyson Modell, and the film was directed by John Hamburg (I Love You, Man).
Now I said int he above paragraph that I thought that this could potentially be comedy of the year and I definitely meant that after watching the film. From beginning to end, this film offers you so many funny moments that are just laugh out loud funny. Franco, Cranston, and Keegan-Michael Key offer up a lot of hilarious moments through out the film. One of my favorite moments in the film definitely have to be Cranston on the toilet as Key tries to walk him through the paperless process. Key was absolutely brilliant in the film and definitely deserves MVP recognition for his performance. He will now be in two different films in the year end awards for comedy of the year (Keanu being the other). Zoey Deutch looked beautiful in the film and played an important role in the film setting up those moments, but she also provided us with the drama moments which are important in a comedy. She is after all the center of attention between two men fighting for her as it Cranston vs Franco. A lot of critics are probably going to dog this kind of a film because it’s not up to their standards as far as films are concerned, but use your own opinion. I am a huge fan of James Franco, Zoey Deutch, and Keegan-Michael Key which is why I made the decision to see the film. I opened my mind and I laughed a ton at what they threw at me. This is definitely one of my favorite comedies of the year that also featured a cool cameo from a kick ass rock band, but I’ll let you watch it to figure out who. I am going to give the film an A for a final grade.
If there was ever a concept for a movie that sounded absolutely ridiculous then today’s film would definitely be that. The film that I chose for today is none other than the new animated film Sausage Party. All a piece of food, beverage, or product at a supermarket ever dreams about is being chosen so that they can go to the other side with the customers. What they don’t realize is the horrors that await them and one sausage by the name of Frank (Seth Rogen) tries to warn them as he too looks for the truth about his existence. The film also stars Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street) as Carl, Kristen Wiig (Despicable Me 2) as Brenda, Paul Rudd (Ant-Man) as Darren, Edward Norton (Birdman Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)) as Sammy, Danny McBride (Eastbound and Down) as Honey Mustard, Craig Robinson (Hot Tub Time Machine) as Grits, Nick Kroll (The League) as Douche, Bill Hader (Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs) as Firewater, James Franco (This Is The End) as Druggie, Selma Hayek (Desperado) as Teresa, Michael Cera (Scott Pilgrim Vs The World) as Barry, David Krumholtz (Slums Of Beverly Hills) as Lavash, and the film was directed by Greg Tiernan (Thomas And Friends) and Conrad Vernon (Monsters Vs Aliens).
Spoiler Alert: There may be information contained in this Article that could potentially spoil the plot of the film so continue with caution or do not read any further if you do not want to know.While Sausage Party could either be the stupidest idea in the world that is just funny as hell or it could be the dumbest idea and movie. While I thought that it was definitely one of the funniest movies of the year, it definitely was a propaganda film for Seth Rogen and Co. The film is propaganda for Rogen and co to basically say FU to religion, sexual stereotypes, and more. The whole film, they believe that the God is allowing them to be chosen to go to the other side which is supposed to be glorious, but Frank ends up discovering that it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be and that there isn’t a God after all in his opinion. He treats the rest of the food like their all cattle because they refuse to go against their beliefs. Then there’s the innuendos like Sammy the Jewish bagel trying to get along with Lavash who is obviously middle eastern because he believes that Heaven contains 72 bottles of virgin oil. Then there is something special at the end that is his FU to people that are tolerant to people who choose to live a different lifestyle sexually. One of my favorite characters in the film by far is Douche who tells you like it is and drinks other products to get “juiced” up. One of my favorite scenes with him is when we see a pic of a women’s camel toe and he is describing to everybody how awesome it’s going to be to be inside her. Yes the film is VERY SEXUAL so be prepared for that and NO this is not a film you bring your young child to. Besides all the propaganda, I really loved the film and that is why I am going to give it an A- for a final grade. The propaganda and politically incorrect jokes is actually makes it funny in my opinion.
Spring Break is supposed to be a time when college kids absolutely let go of their inhibitions and they let it all loose. No matter what it is, they just let go and have fun, but there are four girls who are about to have a different kind of spring break. In the film Spring Breakers, four college girlfriends Faith (Selena Gomez), Candy (Vanessa Hudgens), Brit (Ashley Benson), and Cotty (Rachel Korine) head down to Florida for a spring break that they will never forget. The girls want to get away from school for once, but they have no money to do so. So, they hold up a restaurant in order to fund their trip, but once they get there things get out of control especially when they run into a drug dealing gangster named Alien (James Franco). The film also stars Gucci Mane (Confessions of a Thug) as Archie, Heather Morris (Fired Up!) as Bess, Ash Lendzion (Ex In The City) as Forest, Former WWE/TNA wrestler Jeff Jarrett as Youth Pastor, Emma Holzer (What Maisie Knew) as Heather, Russell Stuart (The Good Wife) as DJ, Thurman and Sidney Sewell (DGK: Parental Advisory) as The ATL Twins, and the film was directed by Harmony Korine (Kids).
This is definitely a very interesting film and I certainly mean interesting. The film goes from being an MTV special on Spring Break (like the kind we got in the 90’s) to a gangster story for the rest of the film. It was kind of a weird story to say the least because if you left for five or ten minutes, you would be left confused as to where the story went. The beginning of the film is like straight out of girls gone wild meets MTV Spring break like I said before and then it transforms into Scarface, but the girls are absolutely bad ass. The true highlight of the film though is James Franco only because he plays a bad ass gangster/rapper and it’s really convincing. When I saw that the director of the movie Harmony Korine was involved with the film Kids, I could see it right away with the look and feel of this film. It’s hard to describe the style, but the tones are very dark while also being very bright as certain colors are emphasized more than others. It’s a documentary style kind of look to the film and I love it cause it’s different. I’m still trying to figure out what robbing people and being gangster has to do with Spring Break, but I guess it’s that anything can happen in what Korine calls a beach noir film. I am going to give the film a grade somewhere between C+/B-. I think more towards the C+ range than the other.
James Franco (Pineapple Express) is slowly becoming one of my favorite actors because he has down a little bit of everything in his career. I am also enjoying his team ups with guys like Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill. That is why I chose to watch the film True Story which stars Franco and Hill together in a film that is based on a true story. Michael Finkel (Hill) is a well respected journalist for the New York Times, but after some untruths are uncovered in a recent article, he is fired from his job. He then learns that a man named Christian Longo (Franco) who has been convicted of murder used his identity while he was on the run from the law in Mexico. Curious as to why he did it, Finkel soon starts a correspondence with him in hopes of getting his story out to the public, but things and facts may not seem to appear right with Longo. The film also stars Felicity Jones (The Theory Of Everything) as Jill Barker, Maria Dizzia (Margin Call) as Mary Jane Longo, Ethan Suplee (Chasing Amy) as Pat Frato, Robert John Burke (RoboCop 3) as Greg Ganley, Gretchen Mol (Boardwalk Empire) as Karen Hannen, and the film was directed by Rupert Goold.
I am sincerely super impressed with James Franco which is why I said he is becoming one of my favorite actors. Here is why I enjoyed him in this film and it’s because he is so charming that he fools you like his character fools the public (look him up, he is a real person so I am not spoiling anything). To go along with charming, he is also very witty and convincing which is just downright dangerous because he had me believing that there was a chance he could be innocent. I don’t blame Michael Finkel for taking this on because I probably would have been a sucker for it as well. See that is what I loved about this film and why I would suggest this one to anyone that is a fan of him and even a fan of Jonah Hill. This must have been a difficult thing to live with for Michael who was already facing his own personal trial for what happened over at the New York Times so he was vulnerable. I loved the cinematography to the film as well because the photography matched the overall tone of the film and the story. It was a dark film to begin with so not a lot of happy colors and more dark imagery like the photos of the wife and kids. If you want to find out what is true or not about the film, then visit the website 
There is nothing I love more in this world than Seth Rogen (Pineapple Express) and comedies that he is involved in. So, naturally when I saw that The Night Before was available to rent, I definitely jumped on the opportunity to watch it. Issac (Rogen) and Chris (Anthony Mackie) have been spending the last ten Christmases with their friend Ethan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) ever since his parents passed away. The only problem is that things change and people grow up, but Ethan hasn’t it while the other two have moved on. Now, it’s the last Christmas the three friends are ever going to spend together and they’re going to be spending it at a ball that they’ve been trying to get into for the last ten years, but will they make it in one piece? The film also stars Jillian Bell (22 Jump Street) as Betsy, Lizzy Caplan (Hot Tub Time Machine) as Diana, Heléne Yorke (Masters Of Sex) as Cindy, Mindy Kaling (Inside Out) as Sarah, Michael Shannon (Man Of Steel) as Mr. Green, Ilana Glazer (Broad City) as Rebecca Grinch, James Franco (Pineapple Express) as James Franco, Tracy Morgan (Cop Out) as the Narrator, and the film was written and directed by Jonathan Levine (50/50).
I want to start this paragraph out by saying that this film reminds me of why I loved Seth Rogen movies in the first place. Seth Rogen on drugs equals some of the funniest moments of a film because he plays it so well. When he is freaking out on shrooms in the film is some of the funniest material and his interaction with James Franco is priceless. This film could seriously be the new Christmas classic that we have all been looking for since Home Alone or Die Hard, and Big which are both mentioned in the film (almost like an homage). The film even manages to fit in some Scrooge kind of stuff with Michael Shannon playing essentially the ghost of Christmas past, present, and future all in the form of a drug dealing Great Gatsby. Believe me, it will all make sense to you once you watch the film for yourself. One of the funniest scenes in the whole film is the church scene with Seth Rogen, couldn’t stop laughing it was so funny and what a great choice to play his wife in the film in Jillian Bell who is pretty funny in the film. Listen, you know exactly what you are getting from a Seth Rogen comedy, there is nothing smart about it other than that it’s just funny. You have to naturally have a sense of humor to love comedies like this and I have to say that this should’ve been a hit at the box office. The addition of Mackie and Levitt were icing on the cake ad the chemistry between the three was there and it just felt natural. The film is available online and in Redbox so check it out if you need some good laughs. I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.
Instead of doing Super Sunday on the other blog, I am bringing it here for a film that I sort of boycotted back when it was first released (I’ll explain my reasoning below). Spider-Man 3 was the third and last installment of the Sam Raimi (Evil Dead)/Tobey Maguire Spider-Man series. Things appear to be going quite well for Spider-Man (Maguire) as all the residents of New York love and appreciate him and he has the girl of his dreams in Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). That all begins to change when a strange black entity from another world appears and bonds with Parker. It starts to drive certain urges in Spider-Man that we are not used to seeing from him as he battles new villains and some new problems because of it. The film also stars Topher Grace (That 70’s Show) as Eddie Brock, James Franco (Pineapple Express) as Harry Osborn, Thomas Haden Church (Daddy’s Home) as Sandman, Bryce Dallas Howard (50/50) as Gwen Stacy, Rosemary Harris (Spider-Man) as May Parker, J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) as J. Jameson, James Cromwell (The Green Mile) as Captain Stacy, Dylan Baker (Trick ‘r Treat) as Dr. Curt Conners, and Elizabeth Banks (Zack & Miri Make A Porno) as Miss Brant.
The reason I avoided this film to be perfectly honest back in 2007 was that I was frankly sick of Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man and I did not agree with the casting choice of Topher Grace as Eddie Brock a.k.a. Venom. Topher Grace just wasn’t my first choice to play a bad ass villain, but nevertheless they went with him and I decided to check it out today. While this is definitely not the best film of the Sam Raimi three, it’s definitely not the best of all the Spider-Man movies that have come out including the two Amazing Spider-Man films. The film was just all over the place and there is this one sequence that was just unnecessary and it’s when Parker is walking down New York like he’s John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. That had to be the cheesiest moment of the whole film, but there are some redeeming values in the film. I wasn’t completely disappointed with the way Venom looked and Topher Grace was OK. I was impressed with him through most of the film when he was just that annoying Eddie Brock trying to top Peter Parker at The Daily Bugle. I loved the film’s choice for Gwen Stacy in Bryce Dallas Howard as she brings beauty to the role and the battle scene towards the end was pretty good as well. One thing they messed up on was the film seemed to abandon the subplot between Parker and Osborn who has basically ruined Parker’s life. After he regains his memory, he goes on a hellbent mission to destroy Parker, but after a little tussle in the lab, it’s over just like that? There’s also one more problem towards the end that I had, but I won’t give that away. So, let’s just say it has something to do with the Sandman. It’s definitely a film that could have been so much more than it was, but Raimi dropped the ball on this one. I am giving the film an C+ for a final grade.
365moviesin365dayschallenge 