Movies
What if you took the famous Wham song and make an entire film out of its signature line? Well, that's exactly what Feig and Thompson did here. Last Christmas is a simple Christmas romcom that stick closely to conventions, and tries to win people over with its a healthy dose of British charm. Kate is trying to make it as a singer, but her career is in a slump and her personal life isn't faring any better. Her luck changes when she meets Tom, a positive young man who sees the good in everything. He helps Kate to get her life back on track again, but when she starts to fall in love, Tom suddenly disappears. The film has a fun cast, with Golding and Clarke having plenty of onscreen chemistry. It's a bit weird to see Yeoh as a Christmas-loving aunt instead of an ass-kicking heroine, but quirky casting choices like that add to the fun. The film can get pretty cheesy (though what did you expect, look at the genre/title), but the cast is solid, the comedy is nice enough and the pacing is pleasant. Fine filler.Read all
Better than expected. I had little hopes for a Melissa McCarthy-led spy flick spoof directed by Paul Feig, but this one turned out to be quite fun. It's certainly not the most original of concepts, gladly plundering the James Bond franchise for ideas, but the cruder comedy and solid casting choices made a big difference. Susan Cooper work for the CIA, but she's never given any exciting jobs. Her main task is assisting agent Fine, who is constantly chasing bad guys and saving the world from destruction. But then Fine is killed and Cooper is ordered to track down the killer. With the help from some friends at the CIA, she tries to make the most of it. McCarthy is decent here, but it's the secondary roles that have the best jokes (Jason Statham and Miranda Hart in particular stand out). Feig had a solid to work with and there are some surprisingly fun chase scenes, the only problem is that two hours is a bit much for a simple spoof. A little extra cutting could've made Spy even better.Read all
A Simple Favor wants to be smart, tries to be smart but is so eager to please that it just falls flat. To make a film like this work the story needs to be more natural and the cues and clues can't be so on the nose. The actors do a decent job, but the rest is just plain mediocre and fails to entertain for the entire running time.
A simple buddy cop flick, with the token male leads replaced by two women. That's about all the originality you're getting here, the tone and structure of the film are exactly the same as a billion others, only the jokes are a bit more female-oriented. The result is expected, but not entirely terrible. Two loner cops, with opposite values, are assigned to each other to solve a case. Ashburn loves to follow the rules and relies on her IQ to solve cases, Mullins does whatever to crack a case open and uses her street smarts to get by. The two hate each other at first, but as they get close to the drug lord they're supposed to catch, they begin to appreciate each other's qualities. Most of the comedy comes from McCarthy, with Bullock being pretty apt at playing the boring cop. The jokes are never really that funny, and two hours is a bit much for the basic setup. The decent pacing and the commitment to the comedy make it a passable film, just keep your expectations to a minimum.Read all
A comedy squarely aimed at children. The kids are annoying, Lewis Black's performance is terrible and Feig's direction is uneventful. It's poor filler, the only fun comes from recognizing now famous actors in smaller parts and Brett Kelly reprising his Thurman Merman part from Bad Santa. That's just not enough though.