Dumb and Dumber To Review

Directors: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly
Writers: Sean Anders (screenplay), Mike Cerrone, 4 more credits
Stars: Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, Rob Riggle

Synopsis:
It's been 20 years and Harry Dunn has found something out - he has a daughter! Lloyd Christmas, his equally dim witted friend, takes one look at a picture of her, develops a crush, and insists the two track her down. What ensues when Harry finally agrees is a bizarre encounter with an old lady and more hilarity because of their sheer stupidity.

Review:
It seems that there are a lot of great movies that don't need to have a sequel, yet somehow they are given one. Dumb And Dumber To can be put on the list of bad sequels.

Did the Farrlley Bros merely use this to cash in on the cult classic? Maybe, and I mean, who wouldn't?

Where do I start. There is NO DIRECTION in this movie. There is hardly any substance into the plot. The acting was really bad, and I am gonna call out Jeff Daniels specifically. We all know Jim Carey is a comedic actor.... that's it. We aren't expecting any Oscar worthy performances from him. Now Jeff Daniels is a notable actor who has done almost every genre. He also just won an Emmy for Best Lead Actor In A Drama Series for "The Newsroom". This was a different Harry Dunn in this movie. It was awful.

Lloyd says in the beginning "Comedy is all about timing", and it's ironic because the timing was miscued for 75% of the movie. The movie drags along for quite awhile. It becomes very dull, and there was a 20-25 minute period where nobody in the theater laughed. THAT IS NOT GOOD IF YOU'RE WATCHING A COMEDY.

Were there some funny moment? Yes. Was it nice to see Harry and Lloyd? Of course! But I gotta say that this movie may kill Carey's/ Farrelly Bros career. This movie basically felt like it was made 18-15 years too late. It was very outdated.

Those who grade this higher than a 5 must have missed out on the original... because this was garbage. Very sad and disappointed. Don't waste your time.

Star Rating:
2.5 Stars

Big Hero 6 Review

Directors: Don Hall, Chris Williams
Writers: Don Hall (story), Jordan Roberts (story)
Stars: Ryan Potter, Scott Adsit, Jamie Chung

Synopsis:
Set in a fictional futuristic hybrid metropolis called San Fransokyo (a portmanteau of San Francisco and Tokyo), a young robotics prodigy named Hiro Hamada and his robot Baymax uncover a criminal plot and pull together a team of inexperienced crime-fighters, including Wasabi, Honey Lemon, Go Go Tomago, and Fred to solve the mystery surrounding the crimes caused by the masked supervillain, Yokai.

Review:
Judging animated films is significantly more difficult for me than other films because there is this inherent sense that animated films are made for children, as opposed to for adults. And that in reviewing animated films, standards should be different. Now while I do think that it does make sense for animated films to follow different criteria, I also think that at its core all films should have the same standards for quality based on some fundamental aspects of storytelling.

Don't worry! This movie definitely lives up to the standard Frozen set last year. Marvel and Disney do a great job at creating a movie that's both heartwarming and action packed. This movie reminds me of all the great Marvel movies, all the great Disney movies, and How to Train a Your Dragon all combined into one. With the heart of Frozen (not the Frozen one), this movie tells the tale of 2 brothers...sound familiar? The characters were charming, funny, and lovable all at the same time, especially Baymax. The animation in this movie was just gorgeous especially the underwater scene. Congrats to the whole Disney and Marvel team on a great follow up to your masterpiece! Oh and make sure you wait after the credits for an extra scene. I mean it is a Marvel movie too right? 

Star Rating: 4 Stars

The ABCs of Death 2 Review

Directors: Rodney Ascher, Julian Barratt, 28 more credits
Writers: Robert Boocheck (segment), Alejandro Brugués, 19 more credits
Stars: Tristan Risk, Martina García, Béatrice Dalle

Synopsis:
A is for Amateur (directed by E.L. Katz)
A hitman's meticulously planned hit doesn't go quite as planned.

B is for Badger (directed by Julian Barratt)
A wildlife documentary goes awry when the team encounters a giant badger.

C is for Capital Punishment (directed by Julian Gilbey)
A man is violently executed for a crime he didn't commit.

D is for Deloused (directed by Robert Morgan)
A stop-motion animated short about a large bug that helps an executed man get revenge on his killers.

E is for Equilibrium (directed by Alejandro Brugués)
Two castaways have their friendship tested when a beautiful woman washes ashore.

F is for Falling (directed by Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado)
An Israeli woman is caught in a tree by her parachute and is found by a hostile Palestinian boy.

G is for Grandad (directed by Jim Hosking)
A young man discovers his grandfather has been sleeping under his bed.

H is for Head Games (directed by Bill Plympton)
A man and woman kiss, which turns into a surreal power struggle.

I is for Invincible (directed by Erik Matti)
A family tries to kill the matriarch for her inheritance.

J is for Jesus (directed by Dennison Ramalho)
A young man is violently martyred for being a homosexual.

K is for Knell (directed by Kristina Buozyte and Bruno Samper)
A woman experiences the effects of a black liquid that turns people into killers.

L is for Legacy (directed by Lancelot Imasuen)
A ritual sacrifice goes wrong.

M is for Masticate (directed by Robert Boocheck)
A man runs down a street in slow motion, attempts to eat someone, and is shot by police. It's revealed that he did bath salts 34 minutes earlier.

N is for Nexus (directed by Larry Fessenden)
A man hurries to meet his girlfriend on Halloween.

O is for Ochlocracy (mob rule) (directed by Hajime Ohata)
A woman is sentenced to death by a courtroom full of zombies.

P is for P-P-P-P SCARY! (directed by Todd Rohal)
An homage to black and white comedy in which three prisoners encounter a strange man and a baby.

Q is for Questionnaire (directed by Rodney Ascher)
A man takes an intelligence test on the street, juxtaposed with footage of the man's brain being transferred to a gorilla.

R is for Roulette (directed by Marven Kren)
Two men and a woman play Russian roulette while hidden in a basement.

S is for Split (directed by Juan Martinez Moreno)
A woman is attacked in her home while on the phone with her husband.

T is for Torture Porn (directed by Jen and Sylvia Soska)
A woman is treated misogynistically at an audition, but when asked to strip, reveals tentacles where her vagina should be.

U is for Utopia (directed by Vincenzo Natali)
An unattractive man is singled out in a mall full of seemingly perfect people and publicly executed.

V is for Vacation (directed by Jerome Sable)
Two men are killed by a prostitute they hired while on the phone with one man's girlfriend.

W is for Wish (directed by Steven Kostanski)
Two kids wish themselves into a fantasy world, only to be violently taken prisoner by the villain.

X is for Xylophone (directed by Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo)
A babysitter (Béatrice Dalle) is emotionally affected by a child's xylophone playing.

Y is for Youth (directed by Soichi Umezawa)
A young girl violently fantasizes about the deaths of her abusive family.

Z is for Zygote (directed by Chris Nash)
A pregnant woman has been staving off birth for 13 years and living with a 13-year-old inside her stomach.

In a post-credits scene, Laurence R. Harvey attempts to masturbate while watching the T segment, but stops saying "How am I supposed to wank to that?"

Review:
The concept of The ABCs of Death is very good and it opens up many possibilities. Gathering 26 directors, giving them a letter, and giving them creative freedom to do what they want involving the subject of death. The first movie was interesting, but very uneven in terms of the shorts on display with most of them very mediocre or bad. This sequel does fare a little better, but it still suffers from the uneven balance between good and bad shorts.

Good: I still really like the concept of the anthology and the chance for many talented directors to display their skills. There are quite a few shorts that display a lot of fun and creativity like the letter A, B, C, J, N, O, R, S, and Z being the standouts.

Bad: The other shorts were either going for the gross factor and becoming numb in terms of the shocks or they ended up being mediocre in its execution.

Overall, it is an uneven anthology, but there are some shorts that make it worth a watch if you love horror.

Star Rating: 3 Stars