Day 358: Why Him? (2016)

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.

Day 227: Vacation (2015)

I had been putting off today’s film for quite some time because I don’t believe in the idea of releasing a sequel or reboot of a franchise that was popular thirty years before. Nevertheless, for today I decided to check out 2015’s Vacation which follows in the footsteps of National Lampoon’s Vacation. This time around, Rusty (Ed Helms) is an adult with his own family which includes his wife Debbie (Christina Applegate) and his kids James (Skyler Gisondo) and Kevin (Steele Stebbins). Things are pretty bland for him as he works for a crap airline and things at home just look like they need some sprucing up. So, he decides to take his family across country to Wally World like his father did thirty years before. The film also stars Chris Hemsworth (Thor) as Stone Crandall, Leslie Mann (Knocked Up) as Audrey Crandall, Charlie Day (It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia) as Chad, Catherine Missal (Natural Selection) as Adena, Ron Livingston (Office Space) as Ethan, Keegan-Michael Key (Keanu) as Jack Peterson, Regina Hall (Scary Movie) as Nancy Peterson, Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead) as Trucker, Chevy Chase (National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation) as Clark Griswold, Beverly D’Angelo (National Lampoon’s European Vacation) as Ellen Griswold, and the film was directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein who both made their feature length directing debut with this film.

I am going to start off saying that I wasn’t completely let down by the film because it was a good film, but a little too late for it. The film just didn’t have anything that made me laugh my butt off like the original films did. It was like they tried a little too hard to be as goofy and oblivious as the original film, but just couldn’t hit the mark. I really like Ed Helms as an actor, but I thought it was Stu from The Hangover out there the whole time while he is supposed to be Rusty Griswold who I don’t remember being that clueless. The best part of the film in my opinion was the relationship between the two brothers because those gave some great moments in the film and I can’t speak highly enough of Chris Hemsworth. I think once he is done being Thor, he seriously needs to continue his career in comedy. They tried to be like the original without really being the original even teasing you with some scenes that were similar to the original. For example, there is the scene where beautiful supermodel and actress Hannah Davis is driving in a Ferrari which is similar to the scene in the original with Christie Brinkley driving in the Ferrari with different end results to make it new. That was a cool nod, but let’s move on. I loved the scene though with the four cops (Nick Kroll, Tim Heidecker, Kaitlin Olson, and Michael Peña) who were from four different states that couldn’t stop arguing with each other. That was fresh and different, but here is why this film fails in comparison to the original. John Hughes was the master at writing and he wrote the original film and Harold Ramis knew comedy and he directed it. It’s hard to live up to those names, but at least they tried. I am going to give Vacation a grade somewhere between a C+/B- and only because Holiday Road was in the film. 

Day 121: Keanu (2016)

Has there ever been a time that when you first saw a poster of a car with a bulletproof vest on that it didn’t make you curious as to what the heck the film was about? That is the exact feeling I had when I first the poster for Keanu displayed at my local theater chain. The film stars Jordan Peele (Key And Peele) as slacker Rell Williams, a man who was just dumped by his girlfriend and is hating life. That is until an adorable kitten shows up at his doorstep and gives him a whole new outlook and lease on life. One day while out his cousin Clarence (Keegan-Michael Key), he comes home to find his apartment broken into and Keanu is missing. Now with his cat missing, he will stop at nothing to find his dear sweet friend and bring him back home safely even if it means mixing it up with a gang. The film also stars Method Man (How High) as Cheddar, Tiffany Haddish (Meet The Spartans) as Hi-C, Darrell Britt-Gibson (Squatters) as Trunk, Jason Mitchell (Straight Outta Compton) as Bud, Jamar Malachi Neighbors (Underbelly Blues) as Stitches, Luis Guzman (Carlito’s Way) as Bacon, Will Forte (MacGruber) as Hulka, Nia Long (Friday) as Hannah, and the film was directed by Peter Atencio.

I can’t begin to tell you how pleasantly surprised I was at how awesome of a movie this was. I was going into it thinking that this could be complete crap, but I left still laughing at some of the scenes I had just witnessed in the film. This is a perfect example of a nerd comedy where we are laughing with them with the pop culture references and their take on racial weirdness. If you loved what they did on their show Key and Peele, then there is no reason why you wouldn’t love this film. One of the examples of the racial weirdness would be the part when Peele tells Key that he sounds like Richard Pryor making fun of white people and Key tells Peele that he sounds like John Ritter. That is until they fall into the criminal world where they pretend to act like tough African American Gangsters. Oh and Key’s character is obsessed with George Michaels which doesn’t get anymore white than that. Although, I loved the scene where Key is going through a trip ad he’s in a George Michaels video. One of the highlights of the film is Kenau, I mean let’s not lie he is so adorable. There is a special cameo in this film that I won’t mention who, but I think you can figure it out. I was so happy to see Jason Mitchell who in my opinion had the breakout performance in Straight Outta Compton as Eazy-E does a terrific job as Bud in this film. I was a big fan of the film and think this is one that you should check out. I am going to give the comedy an A- for a final grade because they take their style of sketch comedy and they made it work as a film.

Day 119: Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015)

For today I chose a film from Adam Sandler (Happy Gilmore) because the first film in the Hotel Transylvania series was very good despite what people may be saying about his career. When I saw that Netflix had Hotel Transylvania 2 available to watch, I took the shot and it’s todays’ film. The film starts off with Mavis (Selena Gomez) and Jonathan (Andy Samberg) getting married and that follows with them having their first child Dennis (Asher Blinkoff). Dracula (Sandler) is having a hard time with the idea that his new grandson could be a human and not a monster. It’s gotten to the point that Mavis and Johnny are thinking about moving away to give Dennis a normal upbringing. Not liking the idea of that, Dracula has Johnny take Mavis on vacation in an attempt to see if he can bring the monster out of Johnny. The film also stars Kevin James (King Of Queens) as Frank, Steve Buscemi (Reservoir Dogs) as Wayne, David Spade (Tommy Boy) as Griffin, Keegan-Michael Key (Let’s Be Cops) as Murray, Fran Drescher (The Nanny) as Eunice, Molly Shannon (Superstar) as Wanda, Nick Offerman (Parks & Recreation) as Grandpa Mike, Megan Mullally (Will & Grace) as Grandma Linda, Mel Brooks (Spaceballs) as Vlad, and the film was directed by Genndy Tartakovsky.

While I loved the first film, I have to say that I enjoyed this one, but not as much as the first. This film had it’s funny moments, but not as much as the first film did. The funniest character in this film was definitely Blobby who provided enough laughs even though he doesn’t really say much. I honesty believe that is why they had him in the film as much as he was. The first film dealt with Mavis wanting to date a human and this film had them struggling with the idea that their son could be human. That is the one thing I have to give the film credit for is that it was well written film and it may show that Sander has something left in the tank. I loved the edition of Mel Brooks as Vlad and certainly the nod to Interview With The Vampire with the costume Johnny wears at a party.  The only thing I had a problem with is that he switches his stance very quickly on how he feels about humans even though this is a guy who has hated humans for a very long time. I just feel that this is something that should have been developed over a film, but nonetheless it was a good film. I am excited to hear that there is going to be a third film in the series because it’ll be cool to see where they take it now. Alright so it’s time to give the film a final grade and with careful thought, I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade.

Day 52: Freaks Of Nature (2015)

I was going through my local Redbox trying to find a film to watch when I stumbled upon one that caught my eye based on the poster. The film is called Freaks Of Nature and it’s a horror comedy that was released back in October. In the town of Dillford, humans, zombies, and vampires all live in some form of harmony together. They work together, live near each other, and go to school together so it sort of seems normal. That is until one unfaithful day when the Aliens all of a sudden decide to show up. The aliens bring chaos and unnerving thoughts that send everyone in a downward spiral. That is until three teens, a human named Dag (Nicholas Braun), a zombie named Ned (Josh Fadem), and a vampire named Petra (Mackenzie Davis) have to team up to try and save their town from not only the aliens, but from each other as well. The film also stars Denis Leary (Rescue Me) as Rick, Ed Westwick (J. Edgar) as Milan, Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical) as Lorelei, Keegan-Michael Key (Let’s Be Cops) as Mr. Keller, Bob Odenkirk (Breaking Bad) as Shooter Parker, Joan Cusack (High Fidelity) as Peg Parker, Chris Zylka (Piranha 3DD) as Chaz Jr., Ian Roberts (Get Hard) as Chaz Sr., Mae Whitman (Independence Day) as Jenna Zombie, Patton Oswalt (King Of Queens) as Stuart Miller, and the film was directed by Robbie Pickering.

If you are afraid of how cheesy this film could be, well don’t bee because I really liked it. I feel like horror comedies are the new thing in Hollywood with how good Scouts Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse proved to be. Freaks Of Nature is sort of a spoof movie without actually being one if that makes any sense to you. It kind of pokes fun at the vampire genre with some of the vampires looking like they came straight out of Twilight or how the aliens look as if they came out of The War Of The Worlds. I’m not going to give it away completely, but there is also an homage paid to Teen Wolf contained within the film and when you see it you’ll know what I am talking about. Vanessa Hudgens is and always has been super hot and she definitely is in this film as the sexy Lorelei, the object of Dag’s affection until he meets his one true love that takes him time to discover. There were only a couple of times I thought to myself that the film was getting a little cheesy, but not enough to deem this a Cheeseball Cinema worthy film because it was that good. It has all the comedy you could want with some horror like chase scenes and suspense with the aliens as well. The acting was very good and the cinematography was good too.Wait till you see what happens to the alien at the end, it looks like he is that creature from Basket Case. It was a fun film to watch and defintely worth your time if you enjoy horror comedies knowing that they are just that “Horror Comedies”. With that being said, I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade.