Jumanji: The Next Level Delivers Some Laughs But Can't Quite Hit A High Score

The good news with Jumanji: The Next Level is that it's hard to dislike this Jake Kasdan directorial effort. How many comedy sequels can you say that about? Unfortunately, at the same time, it's also hard to really get wrapped up in this fourth entry in the Jumanji universe (yes, Jon Favreau's Zathura is apparently canon). It's not necessarily because the production is a big mess or that a singular element has gone horribly wrong in the scripting department. It's just the gags just aren't as spry as before, the adventure stuff still feels more perfunctory than it should, enough stuff comes up just short that it begins to add up after a while.

Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot Is Erratic And Messy But Also Frequently Affecting

Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot, the newest motion picture from director Gus Van Sant, looks to separate itself from conventional biopic dramas in a number of ways, most notably in its adoption of a non-linear form of storytelling to tell the tale of John Callahan (Joaquin Phoenix), a man dealing with alcoholism who loses the ability to walk after a horrific car accident. We flash forward and backward throughout Callahan's adult life as the feature covers numerous events in the man's adult life, most notably him adapting to the process of regularly attending an AA group led by Donnie Green (Jonah Hill) as well as Callahan discovering his talent for drawing humorous though frequently controversial cartoons.

A Zany Premise Goes To Waste In The Aimless Feature The Polka King

The Polka King is one of many movies that comes off as being heavily confused about what it wants to be. Basing itself off a true story that sounds too ludicrous to actually be true, it never seems 110% certain how it wants to handle telling this tale. Is it a ludicrous farce with a heavy emphasis on comedy? Is it a complex examination of the man who called himself The Polka King? Is it a full-on sympathy piece of that same man? What is The Polka King trying to do? I saw the whole movie several days ago and I still don't know, the whole project just feels so confused about what it's trying to do that it ends up doing not much of anything.

Huh, Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle Is Actually Solid Family Entertainment!

I'm not sure a Jumanji sequel (yes, this new Jumanji adventure is a follow-up, not a remake or reboot, to that 1995 family film that I haven't seen) was exactly necessary, but it's here as part of Sony/Columbia's ongoing attempt to exploit any potential franchise from their library of movies, and luckily, it's one of the better results to emerge from this initiative. It's not really memorable or all that inventive but it passes the time nicely and the actors in the lead roles are utilized quite well. Never would have thought the best aspect of a 2017 Jumanji follow-up would be the way it allows actors to really excel and show off their talents, but here we are!

Kung Fu Panda 3 Review

Perhaps few franchises have managed to be as surprising in their overall quality as the Kung Fu Panda saga, with the first film being a tonal departure for DreamWorks Animation, going for a more restrained tone (no pop culture references to be found here) and carrying a screenplay far more reliant on characterization than past features from the studio like Bee Movie and Shark Tale. Thanks to its massive box office, a sequel, Kung Fu Panda 2, occurred, and it too bucked convention by being far more than cashgrab sequel. Going darker in its story (the entire premise of this follow-up hinges on panda genocide) allowed for the character of Po (Jack Black) to not just retread his arc from the first film but rather grow in new areas (namely, in overcoming his traumatic past).

Goosebumps Review

Debuting in 1992, the 62 Goosebumps books written by R.L. Stine over a five year span were some of the most influential of all literature in that era, delivering thrills for younger readers to enormous sales numbers. After the original series concluded with Monster Blood IV (which seems to be a hard book to come by given the $25 price tag a used copy of the novel goes for on Amazon), the series endured into the 21st century with Goosebumps 2000 and Goosebumps HorrorLand keeping Stine and his scary creations alive and well in the pop culture consensus.

Goosebumps Virtual Reality Adventure Is Technologocially Advanced But Also Too Hyperactive For Its Own Good

Yesterday, I lost my virtual reality virginity after hearing about the technology for years on end. Having never tried these virtual reality headsets before (I have watched 360 degree videos on YouTube allowing for the impression of virtual reality) before, I decided the Goosebumps Virtual Reality Adventure (which can only be found in 13 theaters in the US and Canada) was the perfect way to dive into this realm of storytelling, which Hollywood is determined to utilize (Disney, Annapurna Pictures and 20th Century Fox have made deals to make content for various virtrual reality companies).

Fan-Casting The Sinister Six

One aspect of the Spider-Man movies that surprises me is how, even though we've had five films centered around the web-crawler, there's so many parts of the characters mythology we have yet to see in cinematic form. Black Cat, Sinister Six, Kraven The Hunter, Vulture, Mysterio....so many creations from the comics have yet to see the light of a film projector. Part of the blame for these characters staying on the wayside can be attributed  how The Amazing Spider-Man retread an enormous amount of storytelling ground from the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films, meaning time that could have been spent setting up new characters like The Chameleon and Silver Sable was spent going over the whole Uncle Ben fiasco again.

Can We Start Giving Superhero Movies Some Respect: Part Two: Electric Insult Boogaloo

Well hey! Like anything that's successful, here's a sequel to my earlier editorial surrounding the topic of giving superhero movies some respect. It's a subject that I'm not alone in advocating for, as someone very high up in the industry has spoken out in favor of giving superhero films some respect from people. What's triggered this kind of chitter chatter, and this editorial sequel, you ask?

Sex Tape Review

I Just Watched Sex Tape! (SEX!) It Wasn't That Goooo-ooood!!

I'm pretty the entire existence of Sex Tape came when Columbia Pictures executives were trying to pitch new projects for Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel to star in after the success of the 2011 comedy Bad Teacher. One of the ideas mentioned was "a comedy about a sex tape" and they worked backwards from that phrase to conjure up a story. That's my theory for this features origins, and I'm sticking to it. After all, this films slipshod quality does a fine job supporting my claims.

Kung Fu Panda Continues To Defy Expectations With Its Christmas Special

Here's another exciting entry in this Holiday themed column, 25 Days Of Christmas Pop Culture! From now until Christmas Eve, I'll be tackling one piece of Christmas pop culture! It could be a book, movie, TV special, song....so long as it's festive for this time of the year, it'll be checked out in this daily column!

Kung Fu Panda shouldn't work. On any level. But the entire endeavor made one crucial decision that changed everything; they got Jack Black to play the titular kung fu warrior. Black plays Po with undying eagerness that's always fun to watch, especially when his exuberance has to be used against tremendous antagonists. Even after two movies (the second of which hadn't come out when the subject of this review came out) that were excellent, a Christmas special should have simply a cash grab, not a reaffirmation of the franchises quality.

There's Another Night At The Museum Coming Out And Here's The First Miserable Trailer For It

I have a soft spot in my heart for the first two Night At The Museum movies. They're just clever and fun endeavors that contain some great actors (Amy Adams, Hank Azaria, Steve Coogan, Owen Wilson) yukking it up as recognizable characters from history. I actually thought 20th Century Fox was letting the franchise go after the second movie in 2009, which I thought a nice gesture on their part. Unfortunately, the franchise is back, and boy howdy does it look bad. Check out the trailer below and prepare for a rant of mammoth proportions.