Claire's blog

[IMDB link]

RATINGS:
Claire: Netflix: 3.4/5 stars. IMDB: 7.4/10.
Carolyn: Netflix: 3.4/5 stars. IMDB: 7.4/10.
The native public rating for this movie is: Netflix: 3.2/5 stars, IMDB: 5.8/10.

CAROLYN’S THOUGHTS: This movie was not as good as the first one. It was still entertaining, but overall it was just middle of the road. Replace the frat boys from the original movie with sorority girls and a sequel is born.

CLAIRE’S THOUGHTS: Indeed, compared to original, this one is not memorable. And not simply because they substituted girls for boys, but because it simply wasn’t as funny or as good. It was still funny and good, but more of a above-generic comedy than the mind-blowing good time we had watching Neighbors 1.

PEOPLE:

Directed by Nicholas Stoller (Neighbors 1, Get Him To The Greek, Forgetting Sarah Marshall).
Written by Andrew J. Cohen (Neighbors 1) & Brendan O’Brien (Neighbors 1), Nicholas Stoller (Get Him To The Greek, Fun With Dick & Jane, Zoolander 2, The Five-Year Engagement, 3 eps of Undeclared), Evan Goldberg (Superbad, Pineapple Express, This Is The End, The Interview, The Night Before, The Green Hornet, Goon) & Seth Rogen (This Is The End, The Green Hornet, Pineapple Express, 5 eps of Undeclared, 1 ep of The Simpsons, The Interview).

Starring:
From the first movie:
Seth Rogen (Neighbors 1, Kung Fu Panda, The Green Hornet, Funny People, Observe And Report, Fanboys, Zack And Miri Make A Porno, Pineapple Express, Step Brothers, Knocked Up, The 40 Year Old Virgin, This Is The End, Anchorman, Young George Bluth in Arrested Development, 17 eps of Undeclared) as Mac Radner.
Rose Byrne (Neighbors 1, Moira MacTaggert in X-Men: First Class, Get Him To The Greek, 28 Weeks Later, I Give It A Year, The Internship, Star Wars: Episode II, 1 ep of Portlandia) as Kelly Radner.
Brian Huskey (Neighbors 1, Someone Marry Barry, Chet in Childrens Hospital, This Is The End, The Onion News Network, Step Brothers, Superbad, Fright Night, 5 eps of Bob’s Burgers) as Bill Wazowkowski.
Ike Barinholtz (Neighbors 1, Disaster Movie, MADtv, The Mindy Project, 6 eps of Eastbound & Down, 1 ep of NTSF:SD:SUV::, 1 ep of Childrens Hospital, 1 ep of Weeds, 1 ep of High School USA, 1 ep of Drunk History) as Jimmy, the divorced friend.
Carla Gallo (Neighbors 1, Undeclared, Get Him To The Greek, Funny People, I Love You Man, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Superbad, Carnivale) as Paula, the friend’s divorced wife.
Zac Efron (Neighbors 1, Anakin Skywalker in Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III, That Awkward Moment, 17 Again, The Lorax, High School Musical, 1 ep of Firefly) as Teddy Sanders, the douchy frat president.
Dave Franco (Neighbors 1, Fright Night, The Lego Movie, Warm Bodies, 21 Jump Street, Superbad, 2 eps of Young Justice) as Pete, the brainy frat dude.
Lisa Kudrow (Neighbors 1, Phoebe in Friends, Mad About You, Analyze This movies, Dr. Dolittle 2, Clockwatchers, Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, Web Therapy, 1 ep of American Dad, 1 ep of Father Of The Pride) as Dean Carol Gladstone.
Hannibal Buress (Neighbors 1, The Eric Andre Show, 8 eps of China IL, 2 eps of Lucas Bros. Moving Company, 1 ep of Delocated, 1 ep of Bob’s Burgers) as Officer Watkins.
Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Neighbors 1, McLovin from Superbad, How To Train Your Dragon, The To-Do List, This Is the End, Kick-Ass movies, Movie 43, Fright Night, Year One) as Scoonie.
Jerrod Carmichael (Lucas Bros Moving Co, Neighbors 1, 1 ep of Axe Cop) as Garf.

From the second movie:
Chloe Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass movies, Let Me In, (500) Days Of Summer, The Amityville Horror, Movie 43, 1 ep of American Dad) as Shelby, the main girl.
Kiersey Clemons as Beth, Shelby’s new friend.
Beanie Feldstein as Nora, Shelby’s new friend.
Clara Mamet as Maranda.
Awkwafina as Christine.
Selena Gomez (Spring Breakers, Horton Hears a Who!, Spy Kids 3, Barney & Friends, Wizards Of Waverly Place, Behaving Badly) as Phi Lamda President, president of the competing sorority. (more…)

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Neighbors aka Bad Neighbors (2014)

Claire: 4/5 stars, 8/10.
Carolyn: 4/5 stars, 8/10.
Native ratings: 3.7/5 stars Netflix, 6.9/10 IMDB.

From the director of Get Him To The Greek and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, we expected that this movie would be highly entertaining, and it was.  While not quite being 5-star material, it was still chock full of laugh-out-loud jokes and situations.

It had potential to be a great party movie, but it was a little weird, becase Seth and his wife are trying to “grow up” because they have a baby now. So us “Apatow generation” comedy viewers are once again being forced to face the fact that we ourselves are aging.  Seems that the marketing machine targetted at our demographic is growing with us, in order to ensure that we remain a captive audience. And we do, because this shit is funny.  But still…part of the “message” is lost on Carolyn & I, since we don’t want children — or even comprehend the idea of why anyone would.

Definitely a good drinking movie — whether you’re in your early 20s, or late 30s. And a great cast. Talented people all around. Not necessarily the most memorable or unique movie, but it’s a formula that works, and it’s nice to go into a movie knowing what to expect and have it actually be accurate for once. Good times.

Hannibal from The Eric Andrew Show was great as a police officer. I didn’t even notice Natasha Leggero (Callie from Ugly Americans, Ethel from Brickleberry) as a prostitute.
Directed by Nicholas Stoller (Get Him To The Greek, Forgetting Sarah Marshall).
Written by Andrew J. Cohen & Brendan O’Brien.

Starring Seth Rogen (Kung Fu Panda, The Green Hornet, Funny People, Observe And Report, Fanboys, Zack And Miri Make A Porno, Pineapple Express, Step Brothers, Knocked Up, The 40 Year Old Virgin, This Is The End, Anchorman, Young George Bluth in Arrested Development, 17 eps of Undeclared) as Mac Radner.
Rose Byrne (Moira MacTaggert in X-Men: First Class, Get Him To The Greek, 28 Weeks Later, I Give It A Year, The Internship, Star Wars: Episode II, 1 ep of Portlandia) as Kelly Radner.
Brian Huskey (Someone Marry Barry, Chet in Childrens Hospital, This Is The End, The Onion News Network, Step Brothers, Superbad, Fright Night, 5 eps of Bob’s Burgers) as Bill Wazowkowski.
Ike Barinholtz (Disaster Movie, MADtv, The Mindy Project, 6 eps of Eastbound & Down, 1 ep of NTSF:SD:SUV::, 1 ep of Childrens Hospital, 1 ep of Weeds, 1 ep of High School USA, 1 ep of Drunk History) as Jimmy, the divorced friend.
Carla Gallo (Undeclared, Get Him To The Greek, Funny People, I Love You Man, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Superbad, Carnivale) as Paula, the friend’s divorced wife.
Zac Efron (Anakin Skywalker in Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III, That Awkward Moment, 17 Again, The Lorax, High School Musical, 1 ep of Firefly) as Teddy Sanders, the douchy frat president.
Dave Franco (Fright Night, The Lego Movie, Warm Bodies, 21 Jump Street, Superbad, 2 eps of Young Justice) as Pete, the brainy frat dude.
Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe in Friends, Mad About You, Analyze This movies, Dr. Dolittle 2, Clockwatchers, Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, Web Therapy, 1 ep of American Dad, 1 ep of Father Of The Pride) as Dean Carol Gladstone.
Hannibal Buress (The Eric Andre Show, 8 eps of China IL, 2 eps of Lucas Bros. Moving Company, 1 ep of Delocated, 1 ep of Bob’s Burgers) as Officer Watkins.
Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin from Superbad, How To Train Your Dragon, The To-Do List, This Is the End, Kick-Ass movies, Movie 43, Fright Night, Year One) as Scoonie.

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2004420/combined

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: The Lone Ranger (2013)

Claire: 4.4/5 stars, 8/10.
Carolyn: 4.4/5 stars, 8/10.
Native ratings: 3.2/5 stars Netflix, /10 IMDB.

Carolyn’s thoughts: Fun movie!  I had low expectations because I was like “Lone Ranger? Meh.”  I didn’t remember much from the series that I watched when I was a kid, and didn’t think much of it.  But this movie delivered plenty of fun action and some good comedy splashed in.  I enjoyed it!  Johnny Depp is awesome as usual.

Claire’s thoughts: There was a series? I guess there was, huh? Much like Ninja Turtles, this is something that was around last millennium, but which I’ve never really exprienced until the 2010s. Unlike Caroly, I had no low expectations. I figured explicitly because Johnny Depp worked hard on this — that I’d most likely really like it.  Other peoples’ complaints I filed under the “every remake/sequel has a bunch of fucking whiners attached to it”, and ignored. They only served to make me more interested in seeing it: The more complaints there are, the more there is something they are trying to stop, the more I want to know what that is.

This was fucking hilarious. It was a great adventure movie. I have no regrets. I’d recommend this to anyone who can sit thorugh a 2.5-hour movie.  It’s length really helped mak eit better!

And no, Tonto wasn’t racist. The fucking idians kicked him out because they thought he was crazy. They cover this in the movie! He acted completely different than the rest of them. And there’s an explanation, too. People whining that his depiction was racist couldn’t possibly have seen the movie, are fucking idiots, and should be shot. There. I said it.

Directed by Gore Verbinski (Pirates Of The Caribbean 1-3, Mousehunt).
Written by Justin Haythe (Snitch), Ted Elliott (Pirates Of The Caribbean 1-6, National Treasure 2, Aladdin, Shrek, The Mask Of Zorro, The Legend Of Zorro (2005)) & Terry Rossio (Pirates Of The Caribbean 1-5, National Treasure 2, Aladdin, Shrek, The Mask Of Zorro, The Legend Of Zorro (2005)).

Starring Johnny Depp as Tonto.
Helena Bonham Carter as Red Harrington.
Armie Hammer (Mirror Mirror, The Social Network, 1 ep of American Dad, 1 ep of The Simpsons, 1 ep of Arrested Development) as John Reid (Lone Ranger).
William Fichtner (Date Night, The Dark Knight, Wrong, Drive Angry, Ken Rosenberg in Grand Theft Auto, Blades Of Glory, Equilibrium, Endsville, Armageddon, Black Hawk Down, Go, Strange Days, The Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)) as Butch Cavendish.
Tom Wilkinson (Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, The Green Hornet) as Latham Cole.
James Badge Dale (World War Z, Iron Man 3, Chase Edmunds in 24 (Kim Bauer’s secret boyfriend who was Jack’s partner in the 3rd season)) as Dan Reid, John’s brother.
Ruth Wilson as Rebecca Reid, Dan’s wife.
Mason Cook (The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Spy Kids 4) as Will, the little boy who old Tonto is telling the story to.
JD Cullum (1 ep of Weeds, 1 ep of Frasier, 1 ep of 24) as Wendell.

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1210819/combined