A Dog’s Purpose

We’ll leave controversy out of this review and talk only about the film.  If you’ve ever wondered what the purpose of life is and you love dogs, A Dog’s Purpose is the film for you.  It entwines the two in a curious story that’s filled with sweet and adorable.  Director Lasse Hallström (What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Chocolat, The 100-Foot Journey), takes on the issue of reincarnation and attempts to explain the afterlife through the life of Bailey, as he’s born, passes and is reborn again… and again.  His incarnations are Ellie, Tino and Waffles and every time he returns he can never shake the feeling that there’s something he’s missing, that he must have a purpose other than being best friend to his new owner… something but what?

The movie opens on Bailey having just been born.  The kids will smile with glee as the screen fills with puppies to fall in love with.  We’re in 1961.  Bailey is rescued by a youngster named Ethan.  His parents let him keep the dog so he takes him home and Ethan becomes Bailey’s boy.  The pooch goes onto a wonderful life of playing catch and being loved.  Through the years we have point of view camera angles from both Bailey and Ethan which are clever and fun to observe, especially the shot from inside of the sniffing dogs’ nostrils.  As boy’s do, Ethan grows up and gets a girlfriend but Bailey is still a very important part of his life.  Bailey never goes without and is as happy as a dog can be.  How we know this is because he tells us so.  He tells us through the voice of Josh Gad.  Often cast in comedic roles, Gad was frisky animating the voice of this perplexed pup as he was as Olaf in Frozen.  He’s also a good choice because not only is he capable with humor but he can easily adjust if a dramatic moment is needed.   

The script is written to entertain adults yet efforts were made to not go over the heads of youngsters who will be drawn to the film.  The filmmakers handle the dogs passing away in a very sensitive manner.  The young children shouldn’t be hurt or too deeply concerned since the dog always returns. Taking the kids to this might be a good way to approach the subject of death with them, without the real heartbreak you get from films such as Where the Red Fern Grows or Old Yeller which were heavy on the heart.  Instead of tears for days, see this, open up a question and answer session and just like that, it’s out of the way.  It’s made clear that death brings Bailey happiness as he returns and screams with joy that he’s back.  The new puppy we see each time is a happy visual that will blanket any feeling of shock if young viewers were feel any.

As you assumed there would be there’s a nice happy ending to the movie that I won’t share.  I assure you there’s a positive message for all.  Again, this is a good movie for families to watch and enjoy together but the twenty-something’s would most likely yawn their way through which is why I didn’t rate it higher.  There are a few silly moments that were a bit too contrived but the film is one to take the kids to see this weekend.  They’ll have a blast watching Bailey fulfill his purpose which is to lick the ones he loves and to be here now

Wilson RED BAND Trailer

Harrelson stars as Wilson, a lonely, neurotic and hilariously honest middle-aged misanthrope who reunites with his estranged wife (Laura Dern) and gets a shot at happiness when he learns he has a teenage daughter (Isabella Amara) he has never met. In his uniquely outrageous and slightly twisted way, he sets out to connect with her.

Cast: Woody Harrelson, Laura Dern, Judy Greer, Cheryl Hines and Isabella Amara
Directed by: Craig Johnson

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In Theaters March 24

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Paterson

“Paterson” is an absolute pleasure to witness.  One feels honored to be on this… ride.  I say this because it is about a bus driver whose story is delicate, even delectable.  It’s fascinating.  Jim Jarmusch turns a seemingly banal and simple life into a complex, contemplative introspective.  Paterson (Driver) drives a bus for the city of Paterson, N.J. but he’s also a poet.  His hero is William Carlos Williams and deep within he holds a dream to be as good as Williams yet never calls himself a poet, therefore stopping any disappointment that may come from negative criticism.

Paterson sees poetry in all things and one of the factors that has you treasure experiencing this life that Jarmusch has displayed for you is how you absorb Paterson’s poetry.  It’s not only spoken by him, whether in his thoughts as he cruises through traffic, or as he walks his dog Marvin (played charmingly by Nellie), but we also see it scrolling across the screen as he speaks in a composed and knowing tone.  It becomes visually embedded in our minds and we crave more.

His poems are perceptive, analytical at times, logical and illogical.  They’re both abstract and they’re ordinary but they’re sublime.  He writes these poems in a notebook, one he keeps to himself, careful they can never be seen.

We are with Paterson for a week of his life.  He has a girlfriend, has a dog and is methodized, unlike girlfriend Laura (Farahani), who is all over the place.  A painter obsessed with the color black one minute, a baker the next; him a structured poet, her a musician… this week, anyway.  The relationship is sound as they balance each other, or so it would seem… perhaps not?  Do they love each other or are they just putting up with one another for convenience sake?  Upon reflection, you realize there’s much more going on than you first thought.  It can be slow in moments but the movie consumes you, more or less.  It is, simply put, poetic.  Once you’ve seen “Paterson” it will stick with you for quite some time.  The alpha male battle he has with Marvin, also the conflict within himself over what or who he is, is gripping to observe.  Driver does such a remarkable job of bringing levels to this character without nearly uttering a word that he seduces you.  I highly recommend you see this film.  You’ll never see Driver as Kylo Ren again.

Voice of Lightning McQueen In Disney / Pixar’s ‘Cars 3’ Named Grand Marshal For DAYTONA 500


Owen Wilson, Voice of Lightning McQueen in Disney•Pixar’s “Cars 3,”

 Named Grand Marshal for 59th Annual DAYTONA 500

       Popular Star to Deliver Starting Command for “The Great American Race”

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 19, 2017) – Actor Owen Wilson, the voice of the animated character Lightning McQueen in Disney•Pixar’s upcoming movie “Cars 3,” will serve as Grand Marshal for the 59th annual DAYTONA 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on Feb. 26 at Daytona International Speedway.

The DAYTONA 500, the season-opening race for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, will begin at 2 p.m. (TV – FOX, FOX Deportes; Radio – MRN Radio, SiriusXM) following Wilson delivering the famous “Drivers, start your engines” command to the 40-car field. In addition to giving the command, Wilson will ride in one of the Grand Marshal cars during pace laps prior to the green flag of the 200-lap, 500-mile race and attend the drivers meeting.

“Cars 3” opens nationwide on June 16. Wilson, who voiced Lightning McQueen in “Cars” (2006) and “Cars 2” (2011), is also known for starring roles in a variety of hit comedy films including “Wedding Crashers,” “Meet the Parents,” ”Zoolander” and “The Royal Tenenbaums.” Wilson stars in the upcoming “Wonder” and the Woody Harrelson-directed live film “Lost in London.”

“Owen Wilson is one of America’s most beloved comedic actors and his voice has brought Lightning McQueen to life for millions of movie-goers over the last 10 years,” said Daytona International Speedway President Chip Wile. “His star-power, and of course his personality, are perfect fits for ‘The Great American Race.’”

For more information on “Cars 3” visit http://disney.com/Cars3.

Wilson is the latest name on a long list of actors who have served as DAYTONA 500 Grand Marshals including Gerard Butler, Vince Vaughn, John Travolta, Ben Affleck, Nicolas Cage and Matthew McConaughey.

Tickets for the 2017 DAYTONA 500 and Speedweeks can be purchased online at www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP. Fans can also follow NASCAR on Twitter and stay up to speed on the latest news by using #DAYTONA500 and #SPEEDWEEKS. Stay connected with Daytona International Speedway on TwitterFacebookInstagramYouTube,Pinterest and Snapchat,and by downloading the Speedway’s mobile app, for the latest Speedway news throughout the season.

ABOUT “CARS 3”

Blindsided by a new generation of blazing-fast racers, the legendary Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) is suddenly pushed out of the sport he loves. To get back in the game, he will need the help of an eager young race technician, Cruz Ramirez (voice of Cristela Alonzo), with her own plan to win, plus inspiration from the late Fabulous Hudson Hornet and a few unexpected turns. Proving that #95 isn’t through yet will test the heart of a champion on Piston Cup Racing’s biggest stage! Directed by Brian Fee (storyboard artist “Cars,” “Cars 2“) and produced by Kevin Reher (“A Bug’s Life,” “La Luna” short), “Cars 3” cruises into theaters on June 16, 2017.

Get Ready. Get Set. Get NUTS! The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature

THE NUT JOB 2: NUTTY BY NATURE

Surly Squirrel (Will Arnett) and the gang are back.  We are once again in Oakton where the evil mayor has decided to bulldoze Liberty Park and build a dangerous amusement park in its place.  Surly and his ragtag group of animal friends band together to save their home, defeat the mayor, and take back the park.

THE NUT JOB 2 also features the voice talent of Katherine Heigl (The Nut Job), Jackie Chan (Kung Fu Panda 3), Peter Stormare (Penguins of Madagascar), Bobby Cannavale (Ant-Man), Isabela Moner (Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life), and Maya Rudolph (The Angry Birds Movie). 


Cast: Will Arnett, Katherine Heigl, Maya Rudolph, Bobby Moynihan, Gabriel Iglesias, Jeff Dunham, Bobby Cannavale, Isabela Moner, Sebastian Maniscalo, Peter Stormare and Jackie Chan.

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In Theaters August 18th

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Debra Winger’s “The Lovers” Trailer

The Lovers is a refreshing, funny look at love, fidelity, and family, starring Debra Winger and Tracy Letts as a long-married and completely dispassionate husband and wife. Both are in the midst of serious affairs and are increasingly committed to their new partners.  But on the brink of officially calling it quits, a spark between them suddenly and unexpectedly reignites, leading them into an impulsive romance that forces them to navigate the hilarious complications of “cheating” on their respective lovers.  A mixture of humor and powerful emotion, the story is a uniquely honest take on modern marriage.

STARRING
Debra Winger, Tracy Letts,
Aidan Gillen, Melora Walters, Tyler Ross and Jessica Sula 

WRITTEN/DIRECTED BY
Azazel Jacobs

In Theaters May 5th

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Sing

No matter what an adult thinks of a film like “Sing”, it’s going to do well because of what it is.  It’s a not half bad movie made for kids that has cute and amusing animals singing their hearts out.  It’s colorful and silly and this, as we all know, is a combination that spells success.  There have been many animated films released in 2016 that have done incredibly well but this one is lucky it’s being released right before Christmas or it might not have done quite as well; it’s probably at the bottom of the list of the animated films this year.  However, that said, if you’re looking for frivolous, it’s still eager and zippy. 

“Sing” has a few problems with being a tad over the top too often which will annoy the parents of the kids sitting in the audience but the songs will ultimately win them back. The tunes played throughout the film are great and the chosen numbers sung by characters during the auditions near the beginning of the film are good and the way their presented are very creative.  I wish they could have gone on longer, as a matter of fact. 

The auditions I’m talking about are given because a koala bear, Buster Moon (McConaughey), the main character, needs money to keep his theatre afloat.  He loves the theatre and isn’t about to lose his.  Someone suggests to him that a singing competition is a good idea and he agrees that it should get his theatre back in good working order.  He decides to give a thousand dollar prize to the winner of the competition believing this will bring the customers back once again to his beat up and neglected old theatre.  As things do, something goes wrong when Miss Crawly, (played by Jennings who also wrote the film), Buster’s ancient and possible old age home bound secretary, is put in charge of the flyers.  She accidentally releases the flyers with a much, much larger sum promised as the prize.  That’s a mess.  Everyone in the city who can or thinks they can sing flocks to have a chance at being on stage in front of a large audience and winning the prize money. 

Here is where you meet the main characters and a few you wish you’d see again but, sadly, will not.  Some of the singers chosen are a gorilla named Johnny (Egerton), who has a gangster as a father but wants a crime free life and a mouse named Mike played by Seth McFarlane, who gets a chance to really show off his pipes, worth the price of admission alone.  Mike loves jazz and poker and is a bit squirrly for kids, to be honest.  There’s also an elephant named Meena (Kelly) who could be a heavyweight in the competition, as beautiful and powerful her voice is, but is paralyzed with stage fright; and a pig named Rosita (Witherspoon) who is burdened with a husband who doesn’t know she’s alive any more and twenty-five piglets to take care of but doesn’t see how they can stop her dreams from being fulfilled.  I’m sure you can see where this is headed.  Conquer your fears and quell any voice on the inside or outside that tries to crush the ambition and desire within you. 

If you like animated family films, I’d recommend taking the family to see this at a matinee.  The kids will have a good time, even if the messages get lost.  It does have dazzle at its core.  With the combination of fast action, cute animals and songs, especially with such talented stars singing them, the mix works.  However, as I stated at the beginning, you’ll take the kids and they’ll be happy you did but I’m of the opinion that Santa won’t be putting it under the tree so they can add it to their home DVD collection because it’s a one time watch at best.

Why Him?

In today’s world, and R-rated comedy means more vulgar words and juvenile ideas, and not much of any highly sophisticated adult-related concepts. Today’s ‘dumbed down’ culture demands more formula driven comedies, not the better ones from the old days (“Caddyshack”, Animal House”, “Blues Brothers”, “Stripes”). Sometimes even the formula style comedy can hit a few high notes and be something fun to watch. That is especially true when the leads are Bryan Cranston and James Franco.

“Why Him?” is the story of Ned Fleming (Bryan Cranston) the owner of a family-run printing business in Grand Rapids. Ned and his wife Barb (Megan Mullally) have a daughter Stephanie (Zoey Deutch) who is in California attending college. They also have a younger son named Scotty (Griffin Gluck). Ned and Barb learn that Stephanie has a boyfriend and he wants the whole family to come out and meet him.

The boyfriend is Laird Mayhew (James Franco) who is a multi-millionaire slacker dude who made a mint creating an online video gaming company. He is friendly and totally outgoing, but is lacking in many social graces. He is loud, rude, vulgar, and is heavily tattooed.  Laird is an online gaming genius and a business wiz, but he lacks any type of social filter and he blurts out everything he thinks about at every second. When Ned and Laird meet – well — it does not go over well.

 

Laird is planning on asking Stephanie to marry him, and his idea is to make sure Ned is OK with that. Ned is not OK with that, and he wants to find anything that he can to use against Laird. Laird has Stephanie in his corner, and slowly he gets more help from Scotty and Barb. Laird has a full-time assistant/estate director named Gustav (Keegan-Michael Key) and with his help, Laird is able to win over everyone, except for Ned.

So it is a back-and-forth between Ned and Laird, all concerning Stephanie and a marriage proposal. There are quite a few funny moments, but there are even more periods of slack so-called comedy. When a major plot point takes place on a toilet, well, things could turn out crappy. And an artificial intelligence device called ‘Justine’ that Laird invents has the voice of Kaley Cuoco (of “The Big Bang Theory”) and makes jokes about how her voice sounds just like the girl from “The Big Bang Theory”.

Bryan Cranston is a joy to watch, but he gets stuck in the grouchy curmudgeon role. He gets to play off the slacker goofball that is James Franco, and Franco gets his role just right. There is not a whole lot of growth or development in either character, because the main function for each is be annoyed with the other one.

Megan Mullally does OK with the mom role, and Zoey Deutch as Stephanie proves that she has a mind of her own. Griffin Gluck is kind of stuck to the side.  Keegan-Michael Key has a bizarre Slavic accent and a character that does not really do that much of anything. There are a lot of loose ends and odd things in this movie. Such as a ‘work of art’ that is a stuffed moose in a glass enclosure full of moose urine…

And as Chekov once famously said “If you show a glass box of moose urine in Act One, you must later see that used in Act Three”. Wait, did he say a ‘glass box of moose urine’ or did he say a ‘gun’? Either way, you can see that “Why Him?” is loud and occasionally funny vulgar comedy. It is much more enjoyable if you have a thing for toilets and moose urine, so that might narrow the audience a little bit.

The Emoji Movie Teaser Trailer

The Emoji Movie unlocks the never-before-seen secret world inside your smartphone. Hidden within the messaging app is Textopolis, a bustling city where all your favorite emojis live, hoping to be selected by the phone’s user. In this world, each emoji has only one facial expression – except for Gene (T.J. Miller), an exuberant emoji who was born without a filter and is bursting with multiple expressions. Determined to become “normal” like the other emojis, Gene enlists the help of his handy best friend Hi-5 (James Corden) and the notorious code breaker emoji Jailbreak (Ilana Glazer). Together, they embark on an epic “app-venture” through the apps on the phone, each its own wild and fun world, to find the Code that will fix Gene. But when a greater danger threatens the phone, the fate of all emojis depends on these three unlikely friends who must save their world before it’s deleted forever. Directed by Tony Leondis. Written by Tony Leondis & Eric Siegel and Mike White. Produced by Michelle Raimo Kouyate.

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In Theaters August 4, 2017

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Rock Dog Official Trailer

For the Tibetan Mastiffs living on Snow Mountain, a dog’s life has a simple riff: Guard a peaceful village of wool-making sheep from the thuggish wolf Linnux (Lewis Black) and his rabid pack. To avoid distractions, Mastiff leader Khampa (J.K. Simmons) forbids all music from the mountain. But when Khampa’s son Bodi (Luke Wilson) discovers a radio dropped by a passing airplane, it takes just a few guitar licks for his fate to be sealed: Bodi wants to be a rock ‘n’ roll star. Yet that means defying his father’s wishes, heading to the city, and locating the legendary – and reclusive – musician Angus Scattergood (Eddie Izzard), who needs to write a new song and fast.
If Bodi can put a band together, help Angus with his song, and defeat the wolves’ plot to take Snow Mountain, his life will be in tune. Bodi will become what he’s always dreamed of being: More than a dog … more than a Rock God… he’ll be a ROCK DOG!

Cast: JK Simmons, Luke Wilson, Eddie Izzard, Lewis Black, Kenan Thompson, Mae Whitman, Jorge Garcia with Matt Dillon, and Sam Elliot as Fleetwood Yak

Directed By: Ash Brannon

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In Theaters February 24th

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