‘Whip It’ Equals Skip It

Don’t waste cash on this Fox Searchlight Pictures comedy/drama that marks Drew Barrymore’s debut as director. This sports movie starring Ellen Page as a young roller derby queen has the teen angst and issues of an after-school special.

Let’s take a brief look at the plot and then uncover the good, the bad, and the ugly about this Flower Films production.

A Meaty Movie Experience

If you prefer the shorter audio version edited from the radio, take a listen.

Audio Review:

Here’s a movie that will give you something to chew on: It’s the new animated film Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

In a coastal Atlantic fishing town called Swallow Falls, where life is dull and Baby Brent sardines are the daily sustenance, one budding scientist named Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader, Saturday Night Live) dreams of bringing life back to his dreary town by inventing something that will bring him fame, fortune, and local approval.

But so far all his crazy gadgets – spray-on shoes, de-balding formula, a walking television, and a monkey thought translator – have made Flint the laughingstock of the neighborhood and caused nothing but trouble for him. Flint’s failed antics have earned him the ire of rule-conscious policeman Earl Devereaux (Mr. T, The A-Team); the disapproval of his technophobic father, Tim (James Caan, Sonny Corleone in The Godfather), who believes Flint should quit dreaming and take a job at the family-owned bait and tackle shop; and the mocking taunts of nemesis ‘Baby’ Brent McHale (Andy Samberg, I Love You, Man and SNL) who is the face on every can of sardines.

Doin’ Church with Tyler Perry

On Friday, September 18, I chatted with friend and radio personality Liz Lane from Positive Hit Radio The Current about Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All By Myself.

I was talking specifically about how in this particular Lionsgate comedy/drama the audience gets a wonderful taste of church, complete with excellent music from real-life Pastor Marvin Winans and stellar recording artist Gladys Knight. Plus, their is a hope-filled message from the pulpit. It’s enough to make you want to raise your hands in praise, wave a hanky, and say, “Preach it!” That’s exactly how I felt. And believe me, I wasn’t alone in my sentiments in the packed theatre on opening night.

Listen to this short, edited audio clip of our conversation, taken when taping for the radio broadcast. This is not the final on-air version, but I hope you will enjoy it anyway.

And be sure to check out Liz Lane’s “Heart of Praise” show Sunday’s from 8 a.m – 11 a.m.

Audio Commentary:

— Laura J. Bagby

Being Bad Fares Well on Screen

From writer/director/actor Tyler Perry, the Lionsgate comedy/drama I Can Do Bad All By Myself centers on the fractured life of a nightclub singer called April (Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and her difficult journey back to faith, love, and family.

April is living a selfish, dysfunctional life, letting her ailing mother raise her sister’s three kids Jennifer (Hope Olaide Wilson), Manny (Kwesi Boakye), and Byron (Frederick Siglar) while April spends her days abusing alcohol, sleeping all day, and having an affair with Randy (Brian White), a cold-hearted married man.

April’s lonely life is suddenly interrupted when Madea (Tyler Perry) brings by her troublesome niece and nephews and the local church – represented by churchgoer Wilma (Gladys Knight) and Pastor Brian (Marvin Winans) – sends over a handsome, out-of-work stranger with carpentry skills called Sandino (Adam Rodriguez, CSI: Miami), who hopes to get room and board in exchange for a job.

Quick Thoughts on ‘All About Steve’

I just saw a matinee for the new 20th Century Fox comedy All About Steve, starring Sandra Bullock and Bradley Cooper, with a respectful nod to Thomas Haden Church. I am actually writing the official review for Blue Ridge Christian News, so I can’t share all my thoughts with you just yet.

But I will say that I did think the film was generally funny, and I liked the overarching message, which is the fact that what you think you are looking for externally is really something you need to find within yourself. You can’t look to the outside world for internal validation. That’s what Bullock’s character, Mary Horowitz, was trying to do in her crazy chase of handsome camera man, Steve (Cooper).

Spy Pigs: The ‘Force’ is With You

The FBI has a new pet project. And who better to be the next guinea pigs on a government-funded secret ops mission than… well… real, live guinea pigs?

In this first Digital 3-D movie from producer Jerry Bruckheimer, a federally funded crew of animal secret agents known as “G-Force,” trained by Ben (Zack Galifianakis) and his assistant, Marcie (Kelli Garner), has just been tasked with stopping power-hungry businessman Leonard Saber (Bill Nighy) from implementing his mission of world domination. The goal of G-Force is to locate and destroy Saber’s computer program called Saber Sense (also known as Clusterstorm) before Saber gets the chance to activate microchips in his worldwide line of household appliances and turn them into sinister killing machines.

Sandler’s New Low: ‘Funny People’

I attempted a viewing of Adam Sandler’s Funny People today but had to leave the theatre within the first 30 minutes because it was an assault on my values. I had hoped to get a proper review of this new release that just came out at the box office on July 31st, but staying in my seat voluntarily watch

ing and hearing the kind of filth spewing from the screen wasn’t an option for me.

The basic premise answers this question: If you get a second chance on life, would you be a better person? I think it’s a sensational concept, all about changing for the better. Sandler plays a famous comedian (hmm…is this autobiographical?) called George Simmons who finds out he has a very aggressive form of leukemia. He handles the news by deciding to do even more crude stand-up comedy and enlist a fan and budding comedian, Ira Wright (Seth Rogen), to help write funny, crass material. Ira and George become friends who eventually help each other out: George helps Ira step into the career of stand-up comedy; Ira helps George deal with his terminal illness. But when George’s illness goes into remission and he gets a second chance on life and love, George begins to evaluate how he has been living.

Perhaps this Judd Apatow film does get better and even cleaner if you stay for the rest. I truly hope so, but honestly I doubt it. I heard more references to male body parts, sexual acts, and potty-mouthed cursing in the first quarter of the film than I cared to ever hear.

I left the movie feeling really depressed. Ironic when the title of this comedy is about people that are supposed to make me laugh.

— Laura J. Bagby

Male Gender Issues Abound in ‘Ice Age 3’

Recently, I chatted with Positive Hit Radio The Current’s Liz Lane about Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs on the local radio.

I was really hoping to give a good recommendation on this PG animated film, but I found myself more annoyed than entertained.

What really got me was the portrayal of many of the male characters in the film, who often seemed bumbling, cowardly, indecisive, and passive. And one character in particular, a sloth named Sid, the epitome of the nurturing male, made me want to stand up and say, “Dude, be a man!” What a sad look at how our society these days views men: incapable, troubled, and insecure. It surely doesn’t inspire the male gender to be strong and fearless, now does it?

Listen to my conversation with Liz on the radio about these frustrating issues in Ice Age 3…

Audio Commentary:

The above audio clip is not the original on-air version from The Current FM. It has been edited for this blog.

— Laura J. Bagby

‘Night at the Museum 2’ Delights

It’s always a risk that sequels will never truly live up to the success of the original theatrical release. But if opening weekend box office receipts are any testimony to a film’s success, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, hit a nerve back in May with moviegoers everywhere. The movie more than doubled the profits earned from the original 2006 Night at the Museum. Now, more than a month later, it’s still ranking in the top ten box office releases to date.

So what, exactly, is it about the adventures and antics of these nighttime-activated, historical characters that captures audience delight? In a phrase: good, clean humor and imagination. And that combination makes for family friendly fare, indeed.

‘The Proposal’: An Engaging Comedy

Beautiful but hard-nosed editor Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) is about to get shipped back to Canada at the height of her career at Colden Books when she gets the brilliant idea of wedding her hardworking, faithful male assistant, Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds), so she can stay in country.

But there is just one problem. Margaret’s immigration office, Mr. Gilbertson (Denis O’Hare), is bent on proving the wedding is a sham and threatens a stiff prison sentence for Andrew and instant deportation for Margaret should the engagement prove fraudulent as he suspects.

Despite the obstacles, the couple decides to continue the farce as planned by telling the engagement news at the 90^th birthday celebration of Andrew’s Grandma Annie (played by Betty White).