Between Two Ferns: The Movie Is Slight But Does Deliver Enjoyable Awkward Comedy

In doing research for this review, I stumbled upon something pretty nifty about the Between Two Ferns web-series on Funny or Die starring Zach Galifianakis that Between Two Ferns: The Movie is based on. Between Two Ferns actually predates the release of Galifianakis' big break in The Hangover! I had always thought his role in that feature had paved the way for him to headline a comedy series but in actuality, Between Two Ferns premiered about a year-and-a-half prior to the Todd Phillips directorial effort that would change the career of Galifianakis forever. Well over a decade after its premiere, Between Two Ferns makes the transition to the world of feature-film narratives with Between Two Ferns: The Movie.

Missing Link Is Mostly Agreeable But It's Also A Step Down From Past LAIKA Films

Missing Link is a very traditional sort of family movie, a stark contrast to many animated American family movies that pride themselves on constant wink-winks and self-referential nods to the audience. That's not the angle Missing Link wants to go down, no siree, instead, it's a classical globe-trotting adventure story with flashes of a Western and an old-timey slapstick comedy (think Laurel & Hardy) thrown in for good measure. All of these old Hollywood influences result in writer/director Chris Butler making a movie that tries to stick to just the basics, but it does that job too well, resulting in a film that far too often registers as passably agreeable rather than exceptionally memorable.

A Wrinkle In Time Tends to Stumble But It Also Tends To Inspire Mightily

The best part about A Wrinkle In Time is that it certainly maintains the weirdness of the source material it's adapting. Those worried that Madeleine L'Engle's original novel would be translated to the silver screen with all of it's more unusual tendencies ironed out can relax, director Ava DuVernay's adaptation of this book certainly does not reduce L'Engle's work to being a Hunger Games or Harry Potter knock-off. In the process of adapting such an unorthodox piece of literature, you get a movie that has a far bolder vision than your run-of-the-mill live-action family movie and thoroughly successful elements to its name while also having its fair share of stumbles along the way.

Tulip Fever Never Blooms Into Something Really Interesting

And now to try to jot down the convoluted premise of Tulip Fever, a Herculean task if there was ever one. So, this lady by the name of Sophia (Alicia Vikander), living in the 17th century in Denmark, has been sold as a wife to Cornelis Sandvoort (Christoph Waltz). Cornelis is obsessed with bearing a son after he lost his wife and two children to differing tragic circumstances. One day, Cornelis calls upon the services of a painter to paint a portrait of himself and his wife. The artist is a young man named Jan Van Loos (Dane DeHaan) and after a few painting sessions, he and Sophia, unbeknownst to Cornelis, quickly fall in love.

"DARKNESS!" and "NO PARENTS!!" Inform The Incredibly Fun LEGO Batman Movie

With The LEGO Batman Movie, we've now had eleven theatrically released movies starring Batman (the number goes up to twelve if ya wanna count Batman: The Killing Joke, which received a limited two-night long theatrical run last summer). Considering the characters been romping around in comics for nearly eight whole decades now, you can imagine there's plenty of fodder in the universe of Batman for way more than just eleven movies, but a large portion of his mythos has been swept aside in recent theatrical film depictions of the character, namely the presence of the Bat-Family, which consists of characters like Robin and Bat-Girl.

I Spy, With My Little Eye, A Subpar Comedy Entitled Keeping Up With The Joneses

With James Bond and Jason Bourne being more popular than ever in the 21st century, not to mention Austin Powers becoming a pop culture phenomenon in the last few years of the 20th century, spies have been prime fodder for American comedies in the past decade or so. But man, the last five years have put the pedal to the metal when it comes to spy comedies, ranging from family comedies (Cars 2, Despicable Me 2 and Penguins Of Madagascar), action-comedies (The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Kingsman: The Secret Service) and general comedies (Spy, Central Intelligence and The Brothers Grimsby all come out in a 54 week span). And now there's Keeping Up With The Joneses, whose greatest accomplishment is ensuring that The Brothers Grimsby isn't the worst spy comedy of 2016.

Get Hard Review

It's A Hard Knock Life, For Us Viewers

Will Ferrell's a great comedic mind, there's truly no denying. Anchorman and The Other Guys are two of my favorite comedies, while his various appearances on late night talk shows (namely on Conan) are always a hoot, thanks to his remarkable ability to keep a straight face no matter the situation, even when he's carrying a bird named Professor Feathers on his shoulder. In his newest movie, Get Hard, Ferrell manages to get a few moments of humor, though those bits and pieces of effective comedy just aren't enough to salvage this dire film.

Up In The Air Review (Classic Write-Up)

An Air-Raising Adventure

I've always liked George Clooney, but watching Up In The Air for the first time this evening allowed me a chance to realize what exactly makes me gravitate towards the guy. Here's a shocking twist: Clooney has charm, charisma, good looks, a dapper personality and a persona that exudes confidence. But he uses those aspects of his personalities in his films not in roles covered in poorly executed storytelling tropes, but to uncover the vulnerabilities of the characters he portrays, and that's never more true than in this 2009 Jason Reitman feature.