Movies
An enjoyable Christmas film. Might've been sponsored by Nintendo, although the ending seems to suggest otherwise. The film is a bit too centered around reliving late-80s cultural phenomena and the ending is incredibly sappy (comes with the territory of course), the comedy on the other hand is pleasant enough. When Jake's daughter keeps whining about getting a phone for Christmas, he tells her the story about how much he wanted a NES when he was younger. Jake's parents didn't want to give him a game console, so he and his friends had to come up with another way to fund the purchase. The kids are well-cast, Zahn is pretty funny, and it's nice enough reliving the NES craze for 90 minutes (even though my parents just bought me one when I asked for it). The film does lose a little steam during the second half and some references are a bit too blatant. Simple but amusing Christmas fare.Read all
A basic romantic comedy that does things by the book, but manages itself pretty well within the accepted boundaries of the genre. The cast is decent, the gags are fun and the romance is acceptable. There's nothing particularly outstanding about this film, but it's amusing filler that holds its own.
A rather basic cop buddy comedy. Stuber is a film that doesn't really set out to elevate or reinvent the genre, instead it tries to offer comfort and entertainment by giving people exactly what they expect. Whether it succeeds depends greatly on how much you can appreciate the chemistry between the two leads. For me it certainly wasn't the best genre effort, but it's far from the worst. Stu is a guy stuck in a rut. He has a lame job, tries to earn an extra buck as an Uber driver and he's being friend zoned by the girl he loves. His life is about to change when a half-blind cop seizes his vehicle and summons him to drive him around as he tries to find the criminals who murdered his partner. Nothing out of the ordinary there. Bautista and Nanjiani are a decent enough duo, but there's no real spark between them. They stick to conventional humor and reactions, which isn't enough to make this film stand out from its peers. Neither is the plot or the direction, but at least the pacing is solid and it never gets slow or dull. Just simple genre fare that delivers exactly what it promises from the outset. Read all
