Everybody Wants Some

Dudehood.

2016 is shaping up to be an awesome year for 1980s movies. With Sing Street and this unofficial sequel to Dazed and Confused, filmmakers are letting the good times roll on film — and it’s contagious.

Director Richard Linklater (Slacker, Dazed and Confused, Before Sunrise, Boyhood) is never one to tell a story with a plot, but it never seems to matter with his masterpieces as conversations drive the story. That’s also true with this comedy about a college baseball team during that playful purgatory time between arriving at college and classes starting.

The year is 1980 and that fact is obvious in every electric scene. Blake Jenner (Glee), Tyler Hoechin, Wyatt Russell, Ryan Guzman, Zoey Dutch, Will Brittain and Glen Powell star, and it’s a charismatic ensemble. Dazed introduced Matthew McConaughey, Parker Posey and  Ben Affleck to the world. I expect we’ll see more from the cast of this one too.

Simply put: Aimless and awesome — just like all the fun parts of college.

Award potential: Unlikely to be remembered in awards season; it’s no Boyhood in scope or difficutly. However, I expect we’ll see these young actors in future award-caliber films.

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks.  

Sing Street

Simply irresistible

This much is true: writer-director John Carney (Once, Begin Again) knows how to tell an endearing story through music. And when he goes back to the eighties, the result is totally awesome.

Sing Street is a let’s-start-a-band film set in 1985 Dublin, the decade of Duran Duran, Hall and Oates, Spandau Ballet and the Cure. The premise is simple: teenager Conor (Ferdia Walsh Peeolo) and some wild boys from the Synge Street neighborhood start a band to get a girl’s attention and stir up the neighborhood in the process.

Carney has crafted a feel good film that utilizes the notorious new wave era and the power of music to spin an unforgettable coming-of-age tale where a kid makes his dreams come true. It’s one of the best ten bucks you’ll spend this year.

Simply put: Just like heaven. Sing Street hits all the right notes.

Award potential: Drive It Like You Stole It could easily become the third consecutive song from a Carney movie to be nominated for an Oscar.

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks.   

Mike And Dave Need Wedding Dates

Shock and awe-ful.

Something About Mary (1998) shocked us into laugher in 1998 and was followed by a new wave of comedy: American Pie (1999), Wedding Crashers (2005), Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), The Hangover (2009), Ted (2012) and more. Today, it feels like every other month there is a movie that wants to be the next comedy to out-gross or out-shock us. But watching these films fail for two hours is such a waste of moviegoer time. This week we have Mike and Ted Need Wedding Dates, and it is shock and awe-ful.

I wasn't counting on this to be the comedy of the decade, but with Adam DeVine, Anna Kendrick and Aubrey Plaza in the troop, playing attendees at a Hawaiian wedding, I thought we might have the next Forgetting Sarah Marshall to enjoy this summer. My best guess as to why none of this worked is that we've seen SO many similar films now and our social feeds are filled with primo comedy bites every day that this formula needs to be buried. 

Making the film even more sufferable is the stiff Zac Efron as lead. I don't know why this guy is cast in so many comic roles without being able to sell a single comic scene. 

The end credits of this film, with outtakes from Adam DeVine, give me hope that Devine's big moment in film could still come. I wish Mike and Dave had a hint of what I saw there.

Simply put: Mike and Ted need something funny to do more than they need wedding dates.
 
Award potential: None.
 
The ten buck review: Not worth ten bucks.

Money Monster

Don’t invest.
Lee Gates (George Clooney) is one of those loud financial TV show hosts you can find on cable on Friday nights and producer Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts) is his Holly Hunter. The story begins when an irate investor takes the entire crew hostage —while on air. It’s a classic thriller premise with the intrigue of the financial world as a bonus. Except that it’s zero parts Die Hard, zero parts The Big Short and all parts ridiculous.

During the course of the hostage situation, a massive Wall Street breach (that had never been discovered previously) is unearthed and proven over phone conversations between the producer/hostage and a VP at the financial institution in question. It would be hard to find a plot this stupid on TV.

At the end of the film, the American public somehow has an outpouring of common man sympathy to the gunman. This is the terrorist who they just learned about within that very same hour. I think it was supposed to be a statement about Wall Street versus humanity, but I just cheered because the overlong 98-minute movie was finally ending.

I don’t know why Clooney and Roberts signed up for this contrived script, except that the first half reads like a play. I blame the rest on the lackluster directing talents of Jodi Foster (Little Man Tate, Home for the Holidays, The Beaver).

Simply put: Don’t invest your time or money in this; it’s a bear.
 
Award potential: None.
 
The ten buck review: Not worth ten bucks.

X-Men: Apocalypse

Over X-tended. Mildly X-citing.
 
X-Men: First Class (2011) winningly reset the Marvel hero franchise in 1962, as college friends Charles (Professor X) and Erik (Magneto) began to learn about their mutant powers — and how the world views them. James McAvoy (X) and Michael Fassbender (Magneto) elevated each of their roles to create an excellent hero film that neither X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) nor this year’s X-Men: Apocalypse have been able to improve upon.
 
What we get from director Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, The original X-Men series, Superman Returns) is X-cessive new characters, X-hausting backstory layers and X-tensive FX. We could have done without any of those extras, but at least we get a compelling 1980’s cold war story. One that finds enough new threads in the familiar save-the-world story to pass the time.
 
A joke within the movie, as the young mutants leave a 1983 showing of Return of Jedi, is that the “third one is always the worst.” I’m not sure if this was a self-deprecating joke or a swipe at the unwatchable X-men: The Last Stand (2006). However, both apply.
 
This is not a great film, but it’s not Batman v. Superman either. McAvoy, Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence (Raven) and a surprise guest make this film entertaining enough for a trip to the theater for some popcorn and a few disposable thrills. I had hoped for more.
 
Simply put: A third-tier, third installment with just enough fun to keep me invested in the series. And the Quicksilver bit is getting old — fast.
 
Award potential: None.
 
The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks (barely).

Five rainy day finds on Amazon Prime

If you have Amazon Prime because you wanted to save shipping costs on your Christmas tree stand, but aren’t taking advantage of the free movies and shows, here’s a few prime, rainy day suggestions to help you get another ten bucks’ worth.

Doctor Thorne (2016)
Julian Fellowes, creator of Downton Abbey and Oscar winner for the Gosford Park screenplay, has created a three-part series about Victorian aristocrats who become penniless and petticoat-less. Tom Hollander (The Night Manager) and Stefani Martini star  (Available on Prime starting today, May 20.)

Love & Mercy (2015)
God only knows why this film and its performances didn’t make it to the past Oscar season. This exceptional film examines the voyage of Brian Wilson, the singer, songwriter and leader of The Beach Boys. Paul Dano and John Cusack play Wilson at different ages. Plan to re-listen to the Pet Sounds album immediately after watching. (Available on Amazon Prime June 3.)

The Way Way Back (2013) 
Even more summerific than a Beach Boys film, The Way Way Back is the best coming-of-age movie ever set in a water park. It is way, way perfect and I make a point to watch it every summer. (Available on Amazon for $3.99.)

The Americans (Seasons 1-3)
The Hollywood Reporter recently called The Americans the best series on television,” and the consensus is that each season from one to three has surprisingly gotten better. How often do you hear that? I’m starting season four currently, but there’s still time to add some cold war to your hot summer. (Seasons 1-3 available on Amazon Prime.)

Mr. Robot (Season 1)
“Are you a one or a zero?” If you’re not watching Mr. Robot, I know which one you are.
(Available on Amazon Prime June 13.)

The ten buck review: All are ten-buck worthy.

The Nice Guys

Nice and funny.

The Nice Guys is an action-filled buddy comedy from Kiss Kiss Bang Bang writer director (and Lethal Weapon series screenwriter) Shane Black. Safe to say, he’s the guy you want to write and direct a film that pairs Russell Crowe with Ryan Gosling as mismatched private eyes.

Both actors excel at turning their leading man gravitas badge in for Abbott and Costello-inspired slapstick and comedic banter. Gosling is on a roll, following comic turns in The Big Short (2015) and Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011), and Crowe hasn’t been this funny since he attempted to sing in Les Miserables (2012).

A slapstick violence film? This could have been terrible; it is not. I found it to be a refreshing break from all those recent buddy comedies that have Farrell, Rudd or Wahlberg as lead. Unfortunately, the classic noir story is a trite one. I’ve seen many “girl gone missing” stories play out better on TV shows “and stuff.”

For anyone who wanted a follow up to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), this is almost that clever. (Robert Downey Jr. just makes everything a little better, doesn’t he?)

Simply put: Not great, but nice. Nice and funny.

Award potential: Kim Bassinger, who won an Oscar for her role in L.A. Confidential (1997) with Crowe, is now more likely to win unintended laughs for her rusty, puzzling performance.

The ten buck review: Worth ten bucks.