Here is an interesting article from http://www.debbieschlussel.com/ reviewing some of the movies that came out over the past weekend. This follows this post about some of the movies from last week and THIS POST about some movies that have been released over the past few years that you might have missed! This all follows this post about guidelines to choosing good movies to watch yourself!

Wknd Box Office: Entourage, Spy, Love & Mercy, Insidious: Chapter 3, Barely Lethal

By Debbie Schlussel



Well, the movies are getting slightly better with the new releases in theaters today:
* “Entourage“: For years, friends and acquaintances have asked me if I’ve seen “Entourage.” They’ve raved about what a great show it is. And I’ve always wondered about it but haven’t seen a single episode. If this awful movie bears any resemblance to the HBO show of the same name–and I’m told it’s exactly like the show–then, I haven’t missed a thing.
But the “Entourage” movie did at least one useful thing, at least for me. It helped bring to my mind this thought: that Hollywood liberals and Muslims have something in common. Both think that because America is a secular country, it must also be a hedonistic, depraved one without any morals. Muslims hate us for this. Hollywood makes sure we become this, as it constantly imposes its keep-pushing-all-acceptable-boundaries agenda on America via pop culture–to the point where there are few boundaries and envelopes left to push, if any. This movie is Exhibit A, though there’s nothing new here. And it was a whole lot more entertaining years ago when it was in “The Hangover.”
I fail to see what’s interesting about promoting and glorifying the hedonistic lifestyle of five conceited Hollywood jerks–star Vincent (Adrian Grenier), his parasitic, do-nothing entourage of two friends and a half-brother, and his agent, Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven). Gold, by the way, is modeled after real-life super agent, Ari Emanuel, brother of Obama’s Rahm.
Wait, you mean to tell me that Hollywood stars sleep around and are male whores? That they have paid-for friends who pander to them in exchange for free room and board at the mansion? That they have multiple topless women and fellow celebs at their parties? This is news? Alert the media, especially TMZ and US Magazine.
These guys are such lowlifes and so bereft of maturity and adulthood that the relative “good guy” and “reasonable” one of the bunch has slept with two women in less than 24 hours and then goes to the Lamaze class for his pregnant babymama ex-girlfriend. Classy. And everyone else in the movie is even worse. Vincent’s half-brother is shown on YouTube in a video he accidentally recorded and uploaded of himself masturbating as he watches someone else’s naked girlfriend. This is what passes for entertainment at mainstream movie theaters today.
I have to question any friends of mine who recommended I watch “Entourage.” And I have to question anyone who drops ten bucks plus to see this lowlife crap. I hated all the characters in this movie and wanted them to die a slow, torturous death. And I hate any movie that is so weak and hobbled, it needs endless cameos of celebrities as a crutch on which to lean.
Oh, and then there is the old, moldy Hollywood narrative of the evil, stupid, backward, rich Texas cowboys. You know, those big bad Red State guys from the South. Spare me. But, sadly, this movie didn’t spare us, rehearsing and repeating every single tired, negative stereotype of Southerners.
The “story”: Vincent’s agent, Ari, is now the chief of a studio. The studio wants Vincent to star in its big-budget, modern-day version of the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, called simply, “Hyde.” Genius! Even more “genuis”–we’re supposed to believe–is Vincent, who tells Ari that he will only star in it if he can also direct it. After some finagling, Ari gets Vincent the gig, but he’s run $15 million over budget and needs more money to finish it the way he wants to. But a father-and-son pair of Texas oil billionaire cowboys (Billy Bob Thornton and Haley Joel Osment) are funding the movie. And, of course, being Southerners, they are idiots with too much swagger and self-confidence, who don’t know anything about filmmaking but act as if they do. They want Vincent pulled off the project, his desperate half-brother cut out of the movie, and the entire movie redone. But Ari fights them. He thinks this movie is “brilliant,” even though it looks like rotten camel meat regurgitated by the ghost of Bin Laden.
And, believe me, I’m making this movie sound far better than it actually is. I found it slow and a bore on top of all of its immature frat boy theme.
The good news is that you need not have seen the TV show to figure out what is going on. Even better news is that this is still a free country, and you don’t have to see the movie, either.
FOUR MARXES PLUS ONE ISIS BEHEADING

Watch the trailer . . .

* “Spy“: I’ll start with the good news on this one: it has most of what the recent James Bond movies are missing: very funny jokes, hilarious lines, and really cool gadgets. But then there’s the bad news–also what the recent James Bond movies are missing, that we don’t want: fat chicks and lesbionic-looking ones. And that’s the problem here: the star of this movie is the morbidly obese Melissa McCarthy. And her whole act, as I’ve noted on this site before, is “I’m morbidly obese. Now laugh.” Also, while there are no fat chick jokes in the entire movie, McCarthy has the moves of Ronda Rousey and the speed of Usain Bolt, because all morbidly obese people have that physical prowess. Right?
Also, the movie is filled with four-letter words and dumb sexual jokes that aren’t funny. Plus, the plot relies on that old, tired “evil Russians are nuke buyers” storyline. Because Muslims would never ever be evil nor would they attempt to acquire nukes. Right? At least not in post-9/11-we-must-kowtow-to-the-religion-of-terrorists Hollywood scripts.
That said, the movie is very, very funny, and I laughed a lot. It’s also very entertaining, until about 3/4ths of the way in, when it gets old and tired and has gone on too long. The story and plot are engrossing, and it harkens back–but only a very tiny, little bit–to the old “Get Smart” TV series from the ’60s (though Maxwell Smart and Agent 99 were far more glamorous and not vulgar).
The story: McCarthy is a CIA agent who graduated at the top of her class in agent school. But she’s stuck at a desk in the basement of CIA headquarters in Langley, where she watches from a satellite as her partner (and romantic crush) Jude Law does all the spy stuff abroad. She directs him and lets him know where and when the bad guys are coming. Plus she directs drones and missiles to take them out.
But Law is killed during a mission, and all of the CIA agents’ covers and identities have been blown. So McCarthy is drafted into action to help stop a wealthy, evil arms dealer (Rose Byrne) from selling a nuclear weapon to the bad guys. Thwarting her in the mission is rogue CIA agent Jason Statham, who is very funny in this novel comedy turn for him. Helping McCarthy out is her lesbionic friend and fellow agent, who has a British accent (funny how so many CIA agents in the movie have British accents).
If you are over 55 and/or a prude, this movie is probably not for you, so don’t complain to me if you take your wife or whomever to see it and don’t like it. But I enjoyed it and laughed a lot, despite the few shortcomings I mentioned above. Though many of the jokes fall flat, most of it is hilarious.
TWO REAGANS

Watch the trailer . . .

* “Love & Mercy“: This biopic follows the life of the musical genius behind “The Beach Boys,” Brian Wilson. Full disclosure: I did legal work for my friend, Mike Kowalski, who was the drummer for the group after the death of Dennis Wilson, and so I know a number of the characters in the movie, though I never met Brian Wilson. (Mike is no longer with the band.)
I enjoyed this movie, as it is well done artistically, the acting is very good, and, from my own knowledge of the story, it’s quite accurate. But you have to remember as you watch it that the movie is told from the point of view of Brian Wilson and his second wife Melinda Ledbetter-Wilson, and it’s their story. I liked the way the movie was shot, and though that actor Paul Dano (who is always very good) was brilliant in this as the younger Brian Wilson. John Cusack is pretty good as the older Wilson, too. And, per usual, I love seeing the period cars and clothes (in this case, those of the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s).
The movie shows us Wilson’s absolute genius and perfectionism in writing songs and their music, particularly for the critically acclaimed “Pet Sound Sessions” album, which includes several of the group’s hit songs like “Good Vibrations” and “G-d Only Knows.” But the album didn’t sell well at the time and was eclipsed–the movie doesn’t let you know this part–by a Beatles album. We see the caustic relationship between Wilson and his abusive father/manager. We also see the beginnings of Wilson’s mental illness. Interspersed with those scenes are others of the later abuse of Wilson by his psychotherapist and self-appointed guardian, Eugene Landy. Wison meets former model and car salesman, Melinda Ledbetter, and she tries to rescue him from all of this. The one thing the movie doesn’t tell us: why a gorgeous model (played in this by Elizabeth Banks) would fall for a mentally ill, weird, creepy, older guy . . . until she hears he’s from “The Beach Boys.” Doesn’t that sorta kinda make her a gold digger rather than a heroine?
The movie isn’t entirely depressing, and the ending is uplifting and positive. But there is quite a bit of melodrama and argument in the movie. So, if you are looking for a happy escape at theaters, this probably isn’t it, though there are some happy moments mixed in. But it’s a well done movie and an entertaining window into the life of a pop star and brilliant musician. It’s trite but true: the rock star life isn’t a bed of roses.
TWO-AND-A-HALF REAGANS

Watch the trailer . . .

* “Insidious: Chapter 3“: After seeing so many “scary” and horror films, I’ve seen it all. And so I’m jaded and rarely scared. But this one scared me, and I screamed a few times, even when I knew something scary was about to happen. And the movie isn’t gory or violent. It does best what the best horror movies do: they scare you psychologically and don’t need blood and the grotesque to frighten you. I also loved the way the movie mocked hipsters and reality shows. Another cool thing about this movie: the hero is an old lady (Lin Shaye). You rarely see tough senior citizen chicks like the cool, classy, endearing psychic in this movie.
The story: a teen girl in high school (Stefanie Scott) is trying to seek out the spirit of her recently deceased mother. She goes to a psychic, an old woman, who tells her not to seek out her mother’s spirit alone. The psychic says that if she tries to call her mother from the dead, evil spirits will come in their place and do bad things. The psychic also says she cannot help the girl because the psychic is retired. Yup, a first in the world: a psychic who turns away money and tells the truth. Hey, it’s the movies.
But the girl doesn’t listen, and she tries to contact her mother. An evil spirit invades her life and is trying to kill her. The demon invades and haunts the apartment building where the teen girl and her father and brother live. They repeatedly try to get the retired psychic to help them. The psychic finally faces her fears, comes out of retirement, and helps the girl fight off the demons. She also fights off the depression she’s faced after her husband, the love of her life, died under very disturbing circumstances.
Mixed into all of this are two reality show hipster “ghost busters” who have a popular online show “cleaning” haunted houses. The teen girl’s brother is a fan, and gets them to come to the apartment to try to track and fight off the demons. And that’s where some things get funny and funky.
This is actually a much better movie than can be told in a review. It’s not very predictable, and it’s also quite funny, in addition to being very scary. It’s enjoyable, fast-paced, and well done for a scary movie with all unknowns, but for Dermot Mulroney, who plays the girl’s dad.
And, again, not only is it very scary, but it is the old-fashioned kind of scary: where the plot and story scare you by playing mind tricks instead of weakly leaning on blood, guts, and gore.
TWO REAGANS

Watch the trailer . . .

* “Barely Lethal“: More like, “Barely Worth Watching.” Or actually, not at all. This “teen angst” movie is incredibly dumb and somewhat slow and boring. It has an interesting angle, but plays it as stupidly as possible. And it’s yet another unfunny, sophomoric “comedy.”
Hailee Steinfeld plays an orphan who attends a secret agent/assassin spy school for kids. She’s tired of the life and wants a normal existence as a teen high school student. So, she escapes and starts a new life as a Canadian exchange student at an American high school. She has the usual onscreen romantic problems with guys, typical of teen angst movies: she goes for the hot guy and when really the nice guy is for her. And she is bullied by the cool kids. But when she beats up all attackers and a video of this goes viral on YouTube, she’s suddenly popular. But the people from the assassin school (including headmaster Samuel L. Jackson), as well as villain Jessica Alba, are trying to get her.
Sounds much better than it actually is. Totally lame and a waste of time, even for the target demo. The only truism in this movie: like many contemporary parents in America, the “parents” in this movie are all complete idiots. But that ain’t news and certainly not enough to make you sit through this junk heap.
ONE MARX

Watch the trailer . . .

Here is an interesting article from http://www.debbieschlussel.com/ reviewing some of the movies that came out over the past weekend. This follows this post about some of the movies from last week and THIS POST about some movies that have been released over the past few years that you might have missed! This all follows this post about guidelines to choosing good movies to watch yourself!

Holiday Box Office: Tammy, Earth to Echo, Begin Again, Deliver Us From Evil, Ida, Snowpiercer

By Debbie Schlussel
Most of these movies opened on Wednesday, earlier than usual because of the Independence Day holiday, but I was exhausted and didn’t get these up in time before now, so my apologies (if you already wasted valuable time/dollars on the crappy stuff because you didn’t get to read my reviews first, my bad). I’ve already posted my review of “America.” Here are my reviews of the others (only two of which I liked):

* “Tammy“: Have you ever been to a “Lesbian Fourth of July” party? That’s the “highlight”–or rather, lowlight–of this on-screen piece of bleep. In fact, the only decent, normal, wise people in this movie are lesbians. Happy Birthday, America! More on that later. But suffice it to say, this movie is clearly the fantasy of either an uber-hater of America or an extreme chubby chaser.
Um, I’m confused. Whenever I mock the morbidly obese and how society pimps on these “plus sized” women as “beautiful,” I’m roundly attacked. And, yet, I’m supposed to laugh at a talentless hack–Melissa McCarthy–whose entire act is: “Look at me, I’m huge. Now, Laugh!” Here’s a tip: being morbidly obese isn’t funny. It’s just disgusting. And not fun to watch. Yes, there are actors and comedians who are both fat and funny, such as the late John Candy to whom McCarthy has been compared recently. But I could watch his movies over and over because he was actually funny and a good actor. McCarthy is neither. Candy’s hefty weight was merely an accessory the way blonde hair was Marilyn Monroe’s accessory (or an adopted Black baby is Charlize Theron’s, Sandra Bullock’s, Angelina Jolie’s, and Madonna’s accessory). And let’s get something straight: McCarthy is no John Candy. Not even close. He was entertaining, campy, and funny. She’s annoying, schlubby, and groanworthy I laughed maybe five times at the most while watching this dreck.
Being a fat slob isn’t funny in and of itself. And that’s all McCarthy has going for her. This movie is Exhibit A. Or maybe a repeat of Exhibit A, because even though she claims she and her husband, Ben Falcone, wrote it (Falcone also directs this dungheap), it’s a plagiarized effort that is merely a cheap repeat of a previous McCarthy effort, “Identity Thief” (read my review), which was bad, but not nearly as bad as this. In that movie, McCarthy is an annoying loser on a silly road trip and does stupid things, including hitting on men and engaging in robbery. In the end, she ends up in federal prison. In this movie, McCarthy is an annoying loser on a silly road trip and does stupid things, including hitting on men and engaging in robbery. In the end, she ends up in federal prison. Come on, fat chick, come up with something new.
Absolutely everyone in this movie is loathsome, except–surprise!–lesbians. If you’re a person with anything resembling a brain and reason, you hate every single person in this movie because they are simply despicable or completely idiotic beings who barely resemble functioning humans. McCarthy is a fat loser who works at a fast food restaurant. When she gets to work late after her car hit a deer (or was it a moose?), she is fired by her boss (Falcone), so she puts her hair and body all over the food on her way out. When she gets home, she finds her husband has been cheating on her, so she leaves and goes on an inexplicable road trip with her sex-crazed grandmother (Susan Sarandon) to see Niagara Falls.
On the way, McCarthy crashes a jet ski, robs a fast food joint, and mercilessly hits on a farmer who isn’t interested in her. Her grandmother’s “greatest” achievement is having slept with one of the Allman Brothers. Then, she gets drunk, hits on a farmer at a bar and sleeps with him in her hotel room, while she forces McCarthy to sleep on the ground outside the room. After “granny” arrested and jailed with illegal drugs in her possession, McCarthy robs a fast food joint to get the bail money. And ultimately, they end up at their rich lesbian cousin’s mansion, where they participate in a lesbian Fourth of July party. The lesbians–again, and of course–are the only decent, sensible people in this flick. They are nice and have compassion. And they are smart. Oh, and they try to talk some common sense and pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps/life-is-hard truth to power to McCarthy.
If I were the ISIS public relations manager, I would skip the recruitment videos of old and just show my intended recruits this movie of slovenly, lazy, ugly, sex-crazed, drug-and-alcohol-abusing Americans. It ought to do the trick.
Save your ten-plus bucks for something else. America has contributed more than enough money to the fabric fund for Melissa McCarthy’s next Academy Awards tent gown and accompany Cross-Your-Heart hammock bra and Golden Gate Bridge-sized thong underwear.
FOUR MARXES PLUS FOUR OBAMAS PLUS FOUR BIN LADENS



* “Earth to Echo“: It’s pleasantly surprising to see a charming young teen kids movie that doesn’t involve sex, four-letter-words, or violence. And that’s why I liked this. While it is not nearly as good as “E.T.” or “Goonies” or “Gremlins”–the ’80s kids movies of which this movie reminded me–the movie is close enough to those to make it entertaining and engrossing for kids and families. It lacks the magic of the ’80s flicks I mentioned, but it’s good enough and it’s wholesome. It’s a young buddy movie involving rescuing an alien from menacing government agents.
The story: several young teen boys live in a middle-class California neighborhood that’s slated for demolition to make room for a highway. Their families are all moving away to new and separate lives. And on their last night together, the boys hope for and get an adventure before saying good-bye to each other. They are drawn, through strange occurrences on their cellphones and other cues, to a remote area where they discover a small device that turns out to be a stray alien from outer space, whom the government is looking for. They are soon chased by government agents as they attempt to help the alien find his spaceship and go back to his life.
It is fine and cute for kids and the kind of movie that Disney used to make.
TWO REAGANS



* “Begin Again“: I enjoyed this movie a lot, but for the giant, unsightly shots of Keira Knightley’s horrible teeth (a great advertisement for what the UK’s horrible ObamaCare style dental “care” does to one’s mouth; imagine what ObamaCare will do to your body). Get some braces, girl. If you like contemporary music and drama, you’ll probably like this movie, too. It’s by the makers of “Once,” another music-intense film I enjoyed.
On the other hand, Yasiin Bey a/k/a “Mos Def” co-stars in this movie. Bey, a devout Muslim, is a big fan of Gitmo’s Al-Qaeda terrorists who murder Americans and want to murder more, so you might wanna keep that in mind in deciding whether or not to see this.
The story: Mark Ruffalo is a down-and-out record executive in New York City. An alcoholic, he spends his last dollars at a bar, where he discovers Knightley, a fabulous singer, and begs her to let him produce her music. But Knightley is on her way home back to England because she’s been dumped by her boyfriend, played by far-lefty Adam Levine. Levine, a rock star, is a complete jerk, egomaniacal narcissist, and cheater. In other words, Levine is playing himself. Knightley has written many of his hit songs but gets no credit for anything. Soon, she is helping Ruffalo’s estranged teen daughter get some self-respect and dignity by dressing and acting less slutty. And Knightley is helping Ruffalo regain his life as they produce her new album using the sounds of New York’s everyday street life. Singer CeeLo has a brief, co-starring role but doesn’t really add much to the film.
I really enjoyed the singing and music in this movie (I’ll probably buy a couple of songs for my iPod), and the acting is very good, too. The movie is entertaining as is the story, even if it is somewhat predictable. And I liked the film’s message about authenticity versus the artificial and cosmetic that often infects that which is commercial. It also hits on the importance of a strong father-daughter relationship. The movie flies by and leaves you wanting more. It ends at just the right point and on the right note. (Although it is rated “R,” mostly because of language issues, if I had teens, I would probably let them see this if we could find a way not to support Yasiin Bey a/k/a Mos Def.)
THREE REAGANS



* “Deliver Us From Evil“: After seeing so many far better scary movies, this one doesn’t cut it and often made me laugh when it was intended to make me scream in fright. Although there are two or three scary incidents, the rest of the movie is a long, slow bore. The one redeeming thing about this movie is its message that faith in religion is important. But that isn’t enough to justify paying for and sitting through this.
Eric Bana plays real life New York cop, Ralph Sarchie, who is a lapsed Catholic who no longer believes in any religion. He and his detective partner, Joel McHale, are investigating three men who are possessed by the devil. The men served together in Iraq, where they encountered a tomb that released evil spirits which made them extremely violent and murderous. As I watched this, that plot point bothered me because it irked me that Americans who served in the Armed Forces are portrayed as possessed, violent, and evil. So evil that one of them de-guts and crucifies a cat (and we are shown this disgusting display, vividly). Do ya think Hollywood would ever do a movie about possessed Muslims who kill people and disembowel/crucify cats? Nope. I guess evil spirits in Iraqi tombs only take over the bodies of us evil infidels. Right?
The extreme violence, gruesomeness, and tons of blood in this movie didn’t scare me in the least. They were failed in-your-face attempts to shock–textbook moves in a horror movie that just isn’t that scary.
A hot, leather-jacket-wearing priest who is on the case and stares at women’s butts doesn’t make the movie any more interesting or exciting, either. Nor does the storyline involving the evil spirits menacing Detective Sarchie’s daughter and wife. It’s just trumped up, one-dimensional melodrama.
As a red-blooded American girl, I’d be in denial if I ignored that Eric Bana, with lots of tight, short-sleeved shirts showing off his bulging muscles, looks very good and was a sufficient serving of eye candy amidst the dullness (if I forget that he referred to me and some others as terrorist “hijackers” because we trashed his “Munich” would-be star turn). Nice house. But nobody’s home in this movie.
If you’re seeking a well done scary film, this ain’t it. Even if you are only seeking cheap, quick thrills, this isn’t it, either. There’s nothing thrilling, quick, or, at ten-bucks-plus, cheap, about this.
HALF A REAGAN



* “Ida“: Leave it to the extremely anti-Semitic Poles to turn the Holocaust tragedy into a way to portray Jews as evil, slutty, and Communist murderers. That’s what this boring Polish-made movie does.
In Polish, with English subtitles, it’s the story of Ida, a young woman who was raised in a convent and is training to become a nun in the early 1960s. She learns she has an aunt and that she and the aunt are Jews. She also learns that her family perished in the Holocaust. But those are tiny details compared to the fact that her Jewish aunt is a Communist judge, Comrade Wanda, who sentenced many non-Communists and freedom-seekers to execution. Oh, and did I mention that she’s an alcoholic and a slut? But, don’t worry, she realizes that she’s a bad person and jumps out a window.
Soon, her niece is dropping the nun habit and getting into bed with men she just met, too. Then, she realizes that being a Communist slutty Jewess ain’t the life for her. So it’s back to the nunnery for the calm, decent life of a Polish Catholic. Yep, those Jooooos suck!
My relatives cooked in the ovens for this? Apparently.
There are real-life stories of Polish Jewish kids raised as Catholics to survive the Holocaust such as that of Miriam Ferber of the Detroit area. Ferber, raised by Polish Catholics, was finally told by her adoptive parents that she was a Jew. She became a practicing Jew, created and raised a thriving Jewish family, and today, her kids (with whom I went to school) own and run HoMedics (which brings you all of the great massage stuff you see as gifts for Christmas). Her story would have made a great movie.
Instead, we get this trash. Before seeing this, I never imagined an 82-minute movie could seem like 820.
FOUR MARXES PLUS FOUR OBAMAS PLUS FOUR BIN LADENS



* “Snowpiercer“: Horrible and barbaric, not to mention long, slow, and boring. Um, do we really need another stupid class warfare movie? Unfortunately, the makers of this piece of garbage certainly thought so. Come on, Hollywood, come up with something new, even if it gets in the way of your stock narrative about the rich (the rich other than you, that is). This awful class envy flick is costumed as “science fiction,” but that’s a ruse for a two-hours-plus Marxist rant. What it is, is long, boring, and repetitive, too.
Set in the future, the Earth has frozen over, and the only survivors are on a train that circles the world endlessly. The train has sections for the poor who got to ride for free and the wealthy who paid for the privilege. The poor are in a slum section in the back of the train and live in horrible conditions. They are treated like garbage by those who run the train and are forced to eat human limbs. They are also forced to eat “protein bars,” which are made out of insects and waste. And when they disobey those who run the train, they are forced to put their limbs through a hole outside the train until the limbs freeze and are then broken off by the the minions of the wealthy who run the train. Eventually, the poor revolt and get to the front of the train after much death and destruction. And then the train gets blown up and skids off the tracks in the end, so most of them die.
And the point of this movie is . . . ? I’m not sure, other than to separate you from ten bucks plus and more than two hours of your life. And to both sicken you from its barbarism and violence and put you to sleep from its dullness.
Absolutely terrible.
FOUR MARXES PLUS FOUR OBAMAS