VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: My Cousin Vinny (1992)

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: My Cousin Vinny (1992)

Clint: 4.3/5 stars, 8.2/10.
Carolyn: 3.4/5 stars, 7.6/10.
Native ratings: 3.8/5 stars Netflix, 7.5/10 IMDB.

A court procedural… comedy?! This was a zany movie about proving one’s innocence in court in a redneck town when the odds are stacked against you. There’s even a social commentary about how justice is only for the rich — The only reason Vinny is their lawyer is because they can’t afford a real one.

Joe Pescie & Marisa Tomei were great together–and then they never did a movie together again. Where’d their careers go?  Then again, we have Daniel from The Karate Kid, and  Herman Munster as the local redneck judge, so maybe this movie is for people with washed-up careers?  Thing is, Herman Munster was actually really good as a scary redneck judge.  He had some potential as a character actor, and it’s too bad it didn’t really seem to go anywhere beyond The Munsters.

Anyway… Cute story, a bit of 80s-esque gimmickyness and cheesiness. No regrets watching this one.

Carolyn’s thoughts: This was pretty funny, and it had some great moments.

 

Directed by Jonathan Lynn (Clue, 1 ep of Ferris Bueller).
Written by Dale Launer (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels).

Starring Joe Pesci (Lethal Weapon movies, Home Alone movies, Goodfellas, 8 Heads In A Duffel Bag, JFK) as Vinny Gambini.
Ralph Macchio (Daniel in The Karate Kid movies, The Outsiders, 1 ep of Robot Chicken) as Bill Gambini.
Marisa Tomei (War Inc., What Women Want, Four Rooms, Crazy Stupid Love, an extra in The Toxic Avenger 1, 1 ep of The Simpsons) as Mona Lisa Vito.
Mitchell Whitfield (Donatello in TMNT (2007), 6 eps of Friends, 1 ep of Duckman, 1 ep of Curb Your Enthusiasm) as Stan Rothenstein.
Fred Gwynne (Herman Munster in The Munsters, Car 54 Where Are You?, The Secret of My Succe$s, Fatal Attraction, The Boy Who Could Fly, Pet Sematary) as Judge Chamberlain Haller.
Lane Smith (Perry in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman, the original V series, The Last American Hero, 3 eps of King Of The Hill) as Jim Trotter III.
Austin Pendleton (Oz, Finding Nemo, Short Circuit) as John Gibbons.
Bruce McGill (Legally Blonde 2, Animal House, 10 eps of The Cleveland Show, 3 eps of Family Guy, 2 eps of Justice League, 2 eps of Quantum Leap, 1 ep of I Am Weasel, 1 ep of American Dad) as Sheriff Farley.

 

 

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104952/combined

 

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: The Hobbit 3: The Battle Of The Five Armies (2014) [extended version] [watched in 3-D]

[IMDB link]

Watched in 3-D with Carolyn, Nathan, Jess, & Emily.

RATINGS:
Clint: Netflix: 3/5 stars. IMDB: 7.4/10.
Carolyn: Netflix: 3/5 stars. IMDB: 7.4/10.
The native public rating for this movie is: Netflix: 4.0/5 stars, IMDB: 7.5/10.

This was the most disappointing movie of both Middle Earth franchises. It started out really good with Smaug… But once the Smaug situation resolved, it just turned into a war movie that wasn’t as exciting. I haven’t felt this bored by ultra-action since watching Sucker Punch — but Sucker Punch is actually a better movie. So much fighting. I think it would have helped if I had remembered the books more, but I purposefully stopped thinking about the books about 16 yrs ago when the first trilogy was announced. I seriously had to get on IMDB and read what the fuck happened, because we were in such a haze by the end of the movie, that we really felt like the award should have gone to us, for making it through it.

It wasn’t bad. It was just… An amusement park ride.

PEOPLE:

Directed by Peter Jackson (Lord Of The Rings movies, The Hobbit movies, Meet The Feebles, Bad Taste, Dead Alive, The Frighteners).
Written by Fran Walsh (Lord Of The Rings movies, The Hobbit movies, Meet The Feebles, Dead Alive, The Frighteners), Philippa Boyens (The Lord Of The Rings movies, The Hobbit movies), Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro (Pacific Rim, Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy movies, Mimic).

Ian McKellen as Gandalf.
Martin Freeman (The World’s End, Arthur Dent in The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, Shaun Of The Dead, What’s Your Number?, Hot Fuzz, 14 eps of The Office (UK)) as Bilbo.
Richard Armitage (Captain America: The First Avenger, uncredited in Star Wars Episode 1) as Thorin.
Ken Stott (The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian) as Balin.
Graham McTavish (Erik The Viking, Pandemic, Mikhail Novakovich in 7 eps of 24, Loki in 5 eps of The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Sebastian Shaw in 4 eps of Wolverine And The X-Men, 1 ep of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2010s)) as Dwalin.
William Kircher (1 ep of Xena: Warrior Princess) as Bifur.
Orlando Bloom (The Lord Of The Rings movies, Pirates Of The Caribbean movies, The Three Musketeers, Troy) as Legolas.
Cate Blanchett (The Lord Of The Rings movies, Hanna, How To Train Your Dragon 2, Ponyo, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, 2 eps of Family Guy) as Galadriel.
Benedict Cumberbatch (Kahn in Star Trek 12, 1 ep of The Simpsons) as Smaug / Necromancer.
Sylvester McCoy (The 7th Doctor in Doctor Who) as Radagast.
Luke Evans (Immortals 3D, The Three Musketeers, Clash Of The Titans remake, 1 ep of Robot Chicken) as Bard.
Billy Connolly (Fido, The Boondock Saints 1-2, Gulliver’s Travels, Indecent Proposal, Lemony Snicket’s, 1 ep of Third Rock From The Sun) as Dain.
James Nesbitt (The Hobbit movies) as Bofur.
Stephen Hunter (The Hobbit movies) as Bombur.
Dean O’Gorman (Young Hercules, 5 eps of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, 2 eps of ) as Fili.
Aidan Turner (The Hobbit movies) as Kili.
Hugo Weaving (Lord Of The Rings movies, Cloud Atlas, Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger, Megatron in the Transformers movies, V For Vendetta, The Matrix movies) as Elrond
John Callen (The Hobbit movies) as Oin.
Peter Hambleton (The Hobbit movies) as Gloin.
Jed Brophy (Lord Of The Rings movies, District 9, 1 ep of Xena: Warrior Princess) as Nori.
Mark Hadlow (Meet The Feebles, 1 ep of Xena: Warrior Princess) as Dori.
Evangeline Lilly (Ant-Man, The Hobbit movies, The Hurt Locker, Lost, The Long Weekend, 4 eps of Smallville) as Tauriel.
Lee Pace (Guardians Of The Galaxy, The Hobbit movies, Twilight: Breaking Dawn part 2, 1 ep of Robot Chicken) as Thranduil.
Christopher Lee (Saruman in the Lord Of The Rings movies, Death in The Color Of Magic, The Golden Compass, Count Dooku in Star Wars Episode 2 and Star Wars: The Clone Wars pilot movie, Alice In Wonderland, Corpse Bride, Sleepy Hollow, Gremlins 2, Police Academy 7) as Saruman.
Ian Holm (Lord Of The Rings movies, Brazil, The Day After Tomorrow, From Hell, Ratatouille, eXistenZ, The Fifth Element, Naked Lunch, Alien) as Old Bilbo.

 

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: The Hobbit 2: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: The Hobbit 2: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

Clint: 5/5 stars, 9/10.
Carolyn: 5/5 stars, 9/10.
Evan: 1.7/5 stars, 3.7/10.
Native ratings: 4.0/5 stars Netflix, 8.1/10 IMDB.

Watched in 3-D with TwoBeans, Amber, & Evan.

This was pretty goddamn kickass, and everything I could have wanted from a movie like this. I’m glad they’re doing these, and I’m glad they are as long as they are. Looking forward to the 3rd, as well as the day I can watch The Hobbit trilogy extended versions for all 3 movies.

Evan’s dissenting opinion: I might be biasedly comparing this to Game of Thrones now that I’ve been watching it, but DoS just seemed lackluster.
I found myself glad they “got rid of” some of the characters later in the flick. Seeing as how there were twins and
triplet dwarves with very similar names, I had trouble keeping track of all of them in the first Hobbit.

The CG stood out to me in the way very few other movies do…in that terrible, shitty awful kind of way. The lighting
on some of the sets was very apparent, thus making the set itself stand out more as fake. This coupled with the
very visible green screen usage knocked a bunch of marks from the quality. It seemed like the Smaug scene was
one of the only things they got right. That and the barrel scene because they seemed to put more effort into it.

Because it only had a couple things going for it, I won’t give it more than 1.7/3.7
My ratings rarely go that low, but the more I think about this flick the more I want to
rip it apart into tiny crappy pieces. :/

Directed by Peter Jackson (Lord Of The Rings movies, The Hobbit movies, Meet The Feebles, Bad Taste, Dead Alive, The Frighteners).
Written by Fran Walsh (Lord Of The Rings movies, The Hobbit movies, Meet The Feebles, Dead Alive, The Frighteners), Philippa Boyens (The Lord Of The Rings movies, The Hobbit movies), Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro (Pacific Rim, Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy movies, Mimic).
Ian McKellen as Gandalf.
Martin Freeman (The World’s End, Arthur Dent in The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, Shaun Of The Dead, What’s Your Number?, Hot Fuzz, 14 eps of The Office (UK)) as Bilbo.
Richard Armitage (Captain America: The First Avenger, uncredited in Star Wars Episode 1) as Thorin.
Ken Stott (The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian) as Balin.
Graham McTavish (Erik The Viking, Pandemic, Mikhail Novakovich in 7 eps of 24, Loki in 5 eps of The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Sebastian Shaw in 4 eps of Wolverine And The X-Men) as Dwalin.
William Kircher (1 ep of Xena) as Bifur.
Orlando Bloom (The Lord Of The Rings movies, Pirates Of The Caribbean movies, The Three Musketeers, Troy) as Legolas.
Cate Blanchett (The Lord Of The Rings movies, Hanna, How To Train Your Dragon 2, Ponyo, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, 2 eps of Family Guy) as Galadriel.
Benedict Cumberbatch (Kahn in Star Trek 12, 1 ep of The Simpsons) as Smaug / Necromancer.

 

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1170358/combined

 

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: American Hustle (2013)

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: American Hustle (2013)

Clint’s thoughts: It was interesting, but alas, it was just another movie where a bunch of people with competing angles try to deal with crime in the way that suits that individual. In the end, I don’t think this lived up to all the hype. I’m pretty tired of these kinds of movies, and want to watch them less often.

Carolyn’s thoughts: I think it was interesting, but I agree that it didn’t live up to the hype, but I did enjoy how it narrated the different perspectives of the characters…

Directed by David O. Russell (I Heart Huckabees).
Written by Eric Warren Singer (1 ep of Aeon Flux) and David O. Russell (I Heart Huckabees).

Christian Bale (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Terminator Salvation, Howl in the English version of Howl’s Moving Castle, Equilibrium, American Psycho) as Irving Rosenfeld.
Bradley Cooper (The Hangover movies, Limitless, The A-Team, All About Steve, He’s Just Not That Into You, Wet Hot American Summer, Stella Shorts, Wedding Crashers, 6 eps of Nip/Tuck) as Richie DiMaso.
Amy Adams (Lois Lane in Man Of Steel, Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby, Psycho Beach Party, Cruel Intentions 2, 3 eps of The Office, 3 eps of King Of The Hill, 1 ep of Smallville) as Sydney Prosser.
Jeremy Renner (The Bourne Legacy, 28 Weeks Later, The Hurt Locker, National Lampoon’s Senior Trip, uncredited in Thor) as Mayor Carmine Polito.
Jennifer Lawrence (Hunger Games movies, Mystique in X-Men: First Class movies) as Rosalyn Rosenfeld.
Louis C.K. (5 eps of Home Movies, 4 eps of Dr. Katz) as Stoddard Thorsen.
Jack Huston (Twilight 3, 1 ep of Tron: Uprising) as Pete Musane.
Michael Pena (Observe And Report, Turbo, 2 eps of American Dad, 1 ep of Andy Richter Controls The Universe) as Paco Hernandez / Sheik Abdullah.
Shea Whigham (Wristcutters: A Love Story) as Carl Elway.
Colleen Camp (Tackleberry’s wife in Police Academy 2 and 4, Four Christmases, Last Action Hero, Sliver, Wayne’s World, Clue, Apocalypse Now, Speed 2, Plump Fiction, 3 eps of Roseanne) as Brenda. I forget who she is in this movie, but it’s interesting that she was in the Police Academy movies.

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1800241/combined

 

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: G.B.F. aka Gay Best Friend (2013)

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: G.B.F. aka Gay Best Friend (2013)

Clint: 4.4/5 stars, 8/10.
Carolyn: 4.4/5 stars, 8/10.
Native ratings: 3.8/5 stars Netflix, 6.0/10 IMDB.

Watch it for awkward-mom Megan Mullally trying to bond with her gay son!

From the makers of Jawbreakers, which was itself a poor Man’s Heathers (which is a great compliment), comes… Another movie about the crazy games high schoolers play, and all the complex interactions of everyone’s personal angle in the agenda of their social life.

Carolyn: This was pretty entertaining, and it was funny, but it probably could have been more funny.  But it was enjoyable.

Clint: Yes, this almost made it to 5-star comedy territory.

While both Heathers and Jawbreakers were both about some Mean Girls popularizing another girl AND an accidental death, this movie took a similar attitude in writing, and applied it to being gay and coming out… But without any death or violence. (A nobody still gets popularized, though.)

This is about the games of popular teenage girls will play in order to fight over the school’s first-ever “out” gay person, who is immediately treated like an asset to be paraded around to vaunt the so-called “tolerance” that these popular girls never actually had in the first place (or the second) (or the third).
It’s interesting.

And it’s unique — Outside of Gregg Araki movies, we’re not really seeing a lot of movies with gay main characters lately.

And it’s funny. It’s billed as comedy, not comedy romance. That doesn’t mean no romance; it simply means it’s a real comedy here, not a romantic comedy. And it’s not a marketing lie.

And it’s over the top — right at home with Gregg Araki movies (and Heathers), actually, in terms of ridiculous dialogue. People just don’t talk like that! But lots of movies have people who speak completely unrealistically. It’s part of the charm of the medium.
Directed by Darren Stein (Jawbreaker, also the writer of Jawbreaker, but he didn’t write this one.).
Written by George Northy.
Michael J. Willett as Tanner Daniels.
Paul Iacono (2 eps of Human Giant) as Brent Van Camp.
Sasha Pieterse (teenage girl in X-Men: First Class, 5 eps of Heroes, 96 eps of Pretty Little Liars) as Fawcett Brooks, the main popular girl.
Andrea Bowen (3 eps of King Of The Hill, 1 ep of Batman: The Brave And The Bold) as ‘Shley Osgoode, the Mormon.
Xosha Roquemore (19 eps of The Mindy Project) as Caprice Winters, the sassy black chick.
Molly Tarlov (48 eps of Awkward) as Sophie Aster, the former friend.
Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter movies) as McKenzie Pryce. Clint recognized her. I thought she was in something else we watched and Clint recognized her then, too, but now I don’t see her in anything else on IMDB. … Uh, no Carolyn–That was someone else.
Megan Mullally (Childrens Hospital, Axe Cop, Out There, Will & Grace, Monkeybone, Date & Switch, Smashed, Once Bitten, 8 eps of Bob’s Burgers) as Mrs. Van Camp.
Natasha Lyonne (Detroit Rock City, American Pie movies, Scary Movie 2, But I’m A Cheerleader, Girl Most Likely, 1 ep of NTSF:SD:SUV::, 1 ep of Weeds) as Mrs. Hogel, the crazy cat lady school teacher.
Jonathan Silverman (The Single Guy, The Hungover Games, Snatched, Weekend At Bernie’s, Caddyshack 2, Stealing Home, The Hungover Games, 1 ep of Caroline In The City) as Mr. Daniels.
Rebecca Gayheart (Jawbreaker, Scream 2, Urban Legend, Santa’s Slay, 8 eps of Beverly Hills 90210, 3 eps of Nip/Tuck) as Mrs. Daniels.
Horatio Sanz (Saturday Night Live, Wreck-It Ralph, The Dictator, Step Brothers, Year One, Road Trip, 3 eps of Gravity Falls, 3 eps of Upright Citizen’s Brigade) as Principal Crowe.

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2429074/combined

 

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Knights Of Badassdom (2013)

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Knights Of Badassdom (2013)

Clint: 5/5 stars, 9/10.
Carolyn: 5/5 stars, 9.4/10.
Native ratings: 3.2/5 stars Netflix, 6.0/10 IMDB.

So I love GWAR, and Oderus Urungus (RIP) is a star in this show Holliston, which was enough for me to watch it. Holliston is a sitcom aimed at horror fans, and the 2 main characters are themselves writer-directors. We’ve now seen 2 movies from each director. Both directors each released a 5-star movie (this movie, and Adam Green’s Frozen) and a 3-star movie (Wrong Turn 2, also by Lynch, and Hatchet 1, by Green). So that’s the convoluted story of how I decided to watch this movie

And damn. I didn’t expect it to be comedy-horror; I was just thinking it was comedy. This is basically Unicorn City meets Tood And The Book Of Pure Evil.  This is way better than Unicorn City. It takes the same concept, but adds an *actual* supernatural angle… Which is really hilarious, because what the fuck do LARPers know about battling a real demon?  (Ahem…What do any of us know?)

Anyway – Nerds, gamers, D&D-players, fanboys, metalheads, potheads — This movie’s for you. Hilarious and epic. A much-needed pure comedy, existing in a world full of romantic comedies. If you like this, you REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY need to go and watch the horror-comedy-stoner-metal series Todd And The Book Of Pure Evil.
Directed by Joe Lynch (Holliston, Wrong Turn 2).

Written by Matt Wall & Kevin Dreyfuss.

Starring:
Ryan Kwanten (True Blood, 181 eps of Home And Away) as Joe, the main guy.
Steve Zahn (Diary Of A Wimpy Kid movies, Reality Bites, The Object Of My Affection, Chicken Little, You’ve Got Mail) as Eric, the cleric friend.
Peter Dinklage (Nip/Tuck, both Death At A Funeral movies, Elf, A Case Of You, Game Of Thrones, will be in X-Men: Days Of Future Past) as Hung, the warrior friend.
Brian Posehn as Gilberto.
Summer Glau (River from Firefly, Supergirl in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, 1 ep of NTSF:SD:SUV::) as Gwen, the hot chick.
Brett Gipson (uncredited in Transylmania, 1 ep of The Office) as Gunther.
W. Earl Brown (Being John Malkovich, There’s Something About Mary, Scream, Vanilla Sky, Deep Impact, New Nightmare, 1 ep of Six Feet Under, 1 ep of Caroline In The City, 1 ep of Seinfeld) as Randy, the paintball redneck who got the book on his face.
Michael Gladis (Eagleheart, 1 ep of Xavier: Renegade Angel, 40 eps of Mad Men) as King Diamond.
Margarita Levieva (Adventureland, 23 eps of Revenge) as Beth, the ex-girlfriend.
Jimmi Simpson (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, The Invention of Lying, Date Night, 15 eps of Late Show With David Letterman, 3 eps of 24, 2 eps of Carnivale) as Ronnie Kwok, the gamemaster.

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1545660/combined

 

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Afternoon Delight (2013)

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Afternoon Delight (2013)

Clint: 3/5 stars, 7/10.
Carolyn: 3/5 stars, 7/10.
Native ratings: 2.8/5 stars Netflix, 5.9/10 IMDB.

This was an interesting movie about a couple with a bad sex life + overall boring life. They go to a strip club to liven things up, and the mother (Kathryn Hahn, apparently a better actor than I’d thought) ends up having the stripper (Juno Temple, a personal favorite) live in their house. The stripper is a sex positive individual (duh), getting them into uncomfortable situations that are only uncomfortable because most people ear prudes.

Ultimately, because the stripper fucks people, and because people react so negatively to sex that isn’t in their defined societal parameters — Her character gets fucked over, and blamed for everything she caused. But it was in fact everyone’s attitudes that created these problems in the first place.

And that’s my summary of the whole movie: “So she fucked some people. So what?!”

To quote the IMDB thread at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2312890/board/nest/226117425:

“What started off as a film saying something interesting about people from different walks of life and demographics forming true friendships… turned into, ‘Don’t let slutty girls in your house’. Blech.”

And that’s the flaw. Juno Temple got the shit end of the stick, and it was not good. But the movie was interesting, regardless.

Minor complaint: The writer of this movie was a writer for HBO’s Six Feet Under, and directly plagarized his OWN plot device from (attending a session as a “watcher”) from Six Feet Under for use as a plot device in this movie. To be self-derivative makes it look like straws were being grasped for.

Medium complaint: Was hoping for more of a comedy.

Major complaint: Kathryn Hahn was CLEARLY attracted to Juno Temple. That they did not have sex in this movie is a grave disservice to cinema.

Carolyn’s thoughts: This was an interesting movie, and the dynamics were strange. The unhappy depressed wife who can barely care about her son or her friends or even her husband gets her mind opened by an outing to a strip club. She kept saying she wanted to help the stripper, but there were undertones that she just wanted to help herself. Then she fucked over the stripper because she didn’t want her friend to steal her nanny (I’m a nanny-stealer) and she got weirded out by how sex-positive the stripper was.

Written & directed by Jill Soloway (writer of 7 eps of Six Feet Under, 3 eps of Baby Blues, 2 eps of The Oblongs).

Kathryn Hahn (Wanderlust, The Dictator, Step Brothers, Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy, Wake Up Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie, Ab Fab, How to Lose A Guy In 10 Days, The Hungover Games, The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty, 1 ep of Bob’s Burgers, 1 ep of NTSF:SD:SUV::, 1 ep of Robot Chicken, 1 ep of Childrens Hospital, 1 ep of American Dad) as Rachel.
Juno Temple (The Dark Knight Rises, Kaboom, Small Apartments, Mr. Nobody, St. Trinian’s, The Three Musketeers, Year One) as McKenna.
Josh Radnor (200 Cigarettes, Not Another Teen Movie, How I Met Your Mother, 2 eps of Family Guy, 1 ep of Six Feet Under) as Jeff.
Jane Lynch (A.C.O.D., Wreck-It Ralph, The Three Stooges, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Glee, Shrek Forever After, 15 eps of The L Word, 3 eps of Neighbors From Hell, 2 eps of Arrested Development, 2 eps of Father Of The Pride, 2 eps of The Cleveland Show, 1 ep of The Spectacular Spider-Man, 1 ep of The Simpsons, 1 ep of News Radio) as Lenore.
Jessica St. Clair (Wanderlust, The Dictator, It’s Complicated, She’s Out Of My League, 3 eps of Weeds, 2 eps of The Life And Times Of Tim, 1 ep of The Office, 1 ep of Curb Your Enthusiasm) as Stephanie.
Michaela Watkins (In A World, Wanderlust, 15 eps of Saturday Night Live, 1 ep of NTSF:SD:SUV::, 1 ep of Robot Chicken, 1 ep of Childrens Hospital, 1 ep of Curb Your Enthusiasm, 1 ep of Mad, 1 ep of Malcolm In The Middle) as Jennie.
Josh Stamberg (Kate & Leopold, The Time Machine (2002), 2 eps of Six Feet Under, 1 ep of Arrested Development) as Matt.
John Kapelos (The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, uncredited in Legally Blonde, 1 ep of Frasier, 1 ep of Seinfeld, 1 ep of Quantum Leap, 1 ep of Lois & Clark, 1 ep of The X-Files) as Jack.
Keegan-Michael Key (Hell Baby, Wanderlust, Just Go With It, Due Date, MADtv, 2 eps of Childrens Hospital, 1 ep of Bob’s Burgers) as Bo.
Annie Mumolo (This Is 40, 1 ep of American Dad, 1 ep of Father Of The Pride) as Amanda.
Suzy Nakamura (Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Deep Impact, Evan Almighty, uncredited in The 40-Year Old Virgin, uncredited in This Is 40, 5 eps of Curb Your Enthusiasm) as Meredith.
Noah Harpster (Disaster Movie) as Craig.
Eugene Cordero (2 eps of The Life And Times Of Tim, 1 ep of Curb Your Enthusiasm, 1 ep of The Office, 1 ep of Human Giant, 1 ep of Arrested Development, 1 ep of Newsreaders) as Bobby.

 

 

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2312890/combined

 

VIDEO: MOVIE: REVIEW: Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013)

VIDEO: MOVIE: REVIEW;Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013)

Clint: 5/5 stars, 9/10.
Carolyn: 5/5 stars, 9/10.
Native ratings: 3.3/5 stars Netflix, 6.7/10 IMDB.

Carolyn’s thoughts:  The franchise is still hilarious.  This was funny all the way through.  It had some commentary on the state of the media also.

Clint: Yes, it’s quite strange that such an absurd franchise can have such poignant commentary on the state of mainstream media. Seriously: There is no fucking point to watching news on the TV nowadays. You may as well be watching Will Ferrell, for all the relevancy of what they talk about. They find a story to distract people, then replay it over and over and over. Watching TV news now actually makes you less informed. And it’s sad that a ridiculous franchise like this actually has a point to make.

Anyway… This was hilarious, as expected.

 

Directed by Adam McKay (Step Brothers, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Anchorman 1 and Wake Up Ron Burgundy).
Written by Will Ferrell (Step Brothers, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Anchorman 1 and Wake Up Ron Burgundy) & Adam McKay (Step Brothers, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Saturday Night Live, Anchorman 1 and Wake Up Ron Burgundy).

Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy.
Steve Carell as Brick Tamland.
Paul Rudd as Brian Fantana.
David Koechner (The Office, 4 episodes of the 2011 Beavis & Butt-head, 12 episodes of American Dad, Final Destination 5, Sex Drive, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Thank You For Smoking, The 40 Year Old Virgin, The Dukes Of Hazzard, Small Apartments) as Champ Kind.
Christina Applegate as Veronica Corningstone.
Dylan Baker (Fido, Dr. Curt Connors in the recent Spider-Man movies, Solondz’s Happiness, The Cell, Kinsey, Requiem For A Dream, Planes,Trains & Automobiles) as Freddie Shapp.
Meagan Good (Don Jon, Saw 5) as Linda Jackson.
James Marsden (Anchorman: The Legend Continues, Small Apartments, the son in Robot & Frank, Sex Drive, Cyclops in the X-Men movies, Death At A Funeral (2010), Sex Drive) as Jack Lime.
Greg Kinnear as Gary.
Kristen Wiig (Young Lucille Bluth in Arrested Development, Date Night, Adventureland, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Knocked Up, The Brothers Solomon, How To Train Your Dragon, Saturday Night Live, Despicable Me, Girl Most Likely, 2 eps of The Simpsons, 1 ep of Drunk History) as Chani Lastname.
Fred Willard as Ed Harken.
Chris Parnell (Cyril in Archer, Rick & Morty, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, The Dictator, Turbo, Saturday Night Live, 3 eps of Gravity Falls, 2 eps of The Problem Solverz, 2 eps of Drunk History) as Garth.
Harrison Ford as Mack Tannen, Veronica’s boss.
June Diane Raphael as (NTSF:SD:SUV::, Anchorman 2, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Year One, Girl Most Likely, Ass Backwards, 3 eps of American Dad, 1 ep of Drunk History) Chani’s Boss
Kirsten Dunst as El Trousias Maiden of the Clouds.
Jim Carrey as CBC News Anchor (uncredited).
Tina Fey as Entertainment Tonight Reporter (uncredited).
Amy Poehler as Entertainment Tonight Reporter (uncredited).
John C. Reilly as The Ghost of Stonewall Jackson (uncredited).
Lori Beth Sikes as Tina (uncredited).
Matthew Stanton as Skinny Guy (uncredited).
Vince Vaughn as Wes Mantooth (uncredited).
Kanye West as MTV Host (uncredited).

 

 

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1229340/combined

 

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: A Case Of You (2013)

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: A Case Of You (2013)

Clio: 3.4/5 stars, 7.4/10.
Carolyn: 3/5 stars, 7/10.
Native ratings: 2.7/5 stars Netflix, 5.6/10 IMDB.

It’s like one of those NBC episodes where someone invents a lie, and then just digs himself into a deeper and deeper hole with it. Plots based on lies annoy me, but then, they are realistic, and it is reality itself that is the true source of annoyance.

So anyway… This is a movie about a shy guy finally trying to get the girl — by stalking her facebook page and trying to become HER ideal man. The ultimate poser. You can imagine how such a lie would get you into bad situations.

And it all happens.

They also have a slight meta-angle, whree the main character is writing a book based on his experiences in the movie. I felt like they could have done more with this, and it was perhaps a bit forced… But I’m still glad they did it. It at least gave a chance for Vince Vaughn to exist.

And then… The movie got super-romantic at the end. I’m kind of surprised it turned out the way it did.

Carolyn’s thoughts:  This wasn’t that special, but it was a nice story.  There were some funny moments.  Peter Dinklage was hilarious.  I totally didn’t recognize Brendan Fraser as Birdie’s ex-boyfriend.  It was cute.  It definitely had that NBC “relies on lies” feel.
Directed by Kat Coiro.
Written by Justin Long, Keir O’Donnell & Christian Long (Justin’s brother).

Starring:
Justin Long (Unsupervised, Youth In Revolt, Funny People, Zack And Miri Make A Porno, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story) as Sam.
Evan Rachel Wood (S1m0ne, 1 ep of Robot Chicken) as Birdie.
Peter Dinklage (Nip/Tuck, both Death At A Funeral movies, Elf, Game Of Thrones, will be in X-Men: Days Of Future Past) as Gerard, the hilariously-weird barista.
Vince Vaughn as Alan, the annoying publicist.
Co-Writer Keir O’Donnell (Miss Nobody, Wedding Crashers) as Eliot, the roommate.
Busy Philipps (White Chicks, The Smokers, He’s Just Not That Into You, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, 2 eps of Undeclared, 1 ep of Arrested Development, 1 ep of American Dad) as Ashley, the roommate’s girlfriend.
Jenn Harris (Better Living Through Chemistry) as Jackie, Birdie’s improv friend.
Sam Rockwell (Zaphod Beeblebrox in The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy (2005), Iron Man 2, Galaxy Quest, Seven Psychopaths, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1, Better Living Through Chemistry, Heist) as Gary. Was he the publicist’s partner?
Brendan Fraser (The Mummy movies, Journey To The Center Of The Earth, Bedazzled, 2 eps of King Of The Hill) as Tony, Birdie’s ex-boyfriend. Seriously? We didn’t recognize him.

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1817081/combined

 

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Better Living Through Chemistry (2014)

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Better Living Through Chemistry (2014)

Clio: 3/5 stars, 7/10.
Carolyn: 3/5 stars, 7/10.
Native ratings: 3.1/5 stars Netflix, 6.3/10 IMDB.

Clio’s thoughts:  Not quite the outright comedy I’d hoped, but definitely funny, fucked up, drug-fueled, romantic, and with some nice eye candy (Olivia Wilde). The movie is a delayed coming-of-age story for adults in the “arrested development” of being trapped in a bad life, and needing to grow out of it.

Fucked up situations all around, with drug-use ultimately driving the comedy AND the plot. And the plot drove the character development by forcing the character to grow.

For a movie that is basically “romantic comedy plus drugs”, this actually fared pretty well, and had lots of interesting aspects. No regrets watching this, even if it wasn’t great. The cast (Sam Rockwell, Olivia Wilde, Michelle Monaghan, Ray Liotta) helped make this good.  This is a really good first movie from a first-time director and writer.

Carolyn’s thoughts: This was pretty quirky.  It wasn’t as funny as we were hoping, but it was enjoyable.  It really shows how life can get out of control pretty fast.

Written & directed by Geoff Moore & David Posamentier.

Sam Rockwell (Zaphod Beeblebrox in The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy (2005), Iron Man 2, Galaxy Quest, Seven Psychopaths, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1, A Case Of You, Heist) as Doug Varney.
Olivia Wilde (Tron 2, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, The Change-Up, Drinking Buddies, Year One, 1 ep of Tron: Uprising, 1 ep of Portlandia, 1 ep of American Dad) as Elizabeth Roberts.
Michelle Monaghan (Justice League: War, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, The Bourne Supremacy, Constantine, Mission Impossible 3, 1 ep of American Dad) as Kara Varney.
Jane Fonda as Jane Fonda.
Ray Liotta (Observe & Report, The Details, Youth In Revolt, Hannibal, Good Fellas, La Linea, 1 ep of Family Guy, 1 ep of NTSF:SD:SUV::) as Jack Roberts.
Norbert Leo Butz (Dan In Real Life) as Agent Andrew Carp.
Ben Schwartz (Mystery Team, 3 eps of Starveillance, 2 eps of Bob’s Burgers, 1 ep of Robot Chicken, 1 ep of Arrested Development, 1 ep of Tron: Uprising) as Noah.
Ken Howard (A.C.O.D., 13 eps of Dynasty, 2 eps of Curb Your Enthusiasm, 1 ep of Batman-TAS, 1 ep of The Office) as Walter Bishop.
Jenn Harris (A Case Of You) as Janet.
Harrison Holzer as Ethan Varney.
Peter Jacobson (Transformers movie, 2 eps of Hope & Faith) as Dr. Roth.
Sonnie Brown (Don Jon) as Principal Song-Carmichael.
Ken Arnold (Men In Black 3, uncredited in Cecil B. DeMented) as Ed.

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1609479/combined

 

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Big Man On Campus (1989)

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Big Man On Campus (1989)

Clio: 3.4/5 stars, 7.4/10.
Carolyn: 3.4/5 stars, 7.4/10.
Native ratings:  6.0/10 IMDB. Doesn’t seem to exist on Netflix, which is weird.

I thought it’d be funnier… But it *was* funny.

Wait… Leading-lady Cathy was Jan (Melora Hardin) from The Office?  WTF?!? I totally didn’t recognize her! She’s all soft and curly and young instead of hard and stark and mature. I think I prefer her mature…More unique.

Carolyn:  I also thought it would be funnier, but it did have its laugh-out-loud moments.  It was entertaining enough, but all the positive reviews on IMDB made me have higher expectations.  It had a 6.0 rating on IMDB, which is pretty high for a comedy.

Clio: Yes. A native 6.0 is a bit misleading. That would generally map to an 8.4-9.6/10 given our personal rating distribution. Instead this was only a 7.4.  However, we knew going in that this would be a gimmicky 80’s comedy, which often means dated and lacking a modern edge.  So while the IMDB seemed misleadingly high, it still surpassed our expectations despite not being THAT great.

Worth seeing. Nice that the Hunchback Of Notre Dame can be done as a comedy…

Directed by Jeremy Kagan (The Journey Of Natty Gann, 1 ep of Ally McBeal).
Written by Allan Katz (6 eps of Rhoda, 4 eps of Blossom, 2 eps of M.A.S.H., 1 ep of Roseanne).

Allan Katz (this is the only thing he’s starred in, except for a movie that is in post-production dated 2013 that he is writing,starring, and directing) as Bob Maloogaloogaloogaloogalooga (Hunchback).
Corey Parker (How I Got Into College, Friday The 13th 5, 5 eps of Will & Grace, 1 ep of Duckman) as Alex. He’s like a Paul Reiser-wannabe in a Mathew Broderick-wannabe body. Not a good combo.
Melora Hardin (Jan in The Office???!?!?!?!?!? totally didn’t recognize her!, 17 Again, Thank You For Smoking, 2 eps of Quantum Leap, 1 ep of Family Guy, 1 ep of Friends, 1 ep of Lois & Clark) as Cathy.
Cindy Williams (Shirley in Laverne & Shirley?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?, Steel Magnolias, 1 ep of Lois & Clark, 1 ep of Hope & Gloria) as Diane Girard, the female psychologist.
Gerrit Graham (Franklin Sherman in The Critic, Police Academy 6, 6 eps of Parker Lewis Can’t Lose, 4 eps of Gargoyles, 1 ep of The Tick-TAS) as Stanley Hoyle.
Jessica Harper (Minority Report, 19 eps of It’s Gary Shandling’s Show) as Dr. Fisk, the evil psychologist.
Tom Skerritt (Alien, Top Gun, Picket Fences, Poltergeist 3) as Dr. Webster.
John Finnegan (Mars Attacks!, Last Action Hero, Vegas Vacation, JFK, An American Tale) as Judge Ferguson.
Bill Morey (18 eps of G.I. Joe, 11 eps of Dallas, 2 eps of Mork & Mindy, 1 ep of Working, 1 ep of Full House, 1 ep of Designing Women) as Dean Crawford.

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096925/combined

 

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: A.C.O.D. (2013) [“adult child of divorce”]

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: A.C.O.D. (2013) [“adult child of divorce”]

Clio: 4.6/5 stars, 8.3/10.
Carolyn: 4.6/5 stars, 8/10.
Native ratings: 2.9/5 stars Netflix, 5.7/10 IMDB.

Carolyn: This turned out to be better than we were expecting.  I thought the premise sounded like it could be entertaining, and I wasn’t disappointed.

Clio: Indeed… I was resisting this movie quite a bit, as I’m so fucking sick of other peoples’ divorces. I was sick of it when I was a fucking kid, and I’m more sick of it now, as now I get to deal with others’ drama directly. So I figured it wouldn’t be as funny as I’d hoped because of that. I also figured that since Carolyn & I have been together for decades, as has/had our parents… That some of this simply might not resonate through me due to a lack of personal experience.  I also figured that since it was all about families… Well, I’m not really much of a family guy, and families in movies can be annoying.

I’m pleased to report I was wrong on all counts. This took awkwardness to an enjoyable level. People dug themselves into holes; deeper and deeper. Adam Scott’s face makes my fist want to hit it repeatedly, and it didn’t ruin the movie. His fucking, scrunched-up trollface didn’t ruin the movie. It worked for portraying a neurotic child of divorce. Who had a book written about him. A best-selling book. Yea… This movie really deals with repressed childhood anger, and that indeed resonated with me.

But most of all? I laughed a lot, which was the purpose for watching a comedy movie. Yay. The end.

Directed by Stu Zicherman.
Written by Ben Karlin (4 eps of Space Ghost Coast To Coast, The Daily Show) & Stu Zicherman (Elektra).

Adam Scott (Step Brothers, Knocked Up, Parks And Recreation, 2 eps of Six Feet Under, 1 ep of Robot Chicken, 1 ep of Childrens Hospital, 1 ep of NTSF:SD:SUV::, 1 ep of Drunk History) as Carter.
Richard Jenkins (the dead dad from Six Feet Under, Fun With Dick And Jane, The Cabin In The Woods, Let Me In, The Broken, How I Got Into College, Wolf, Me,Myself & Irene, Step Brothers, Turbo, Stealing Home) as Hugh.
Catherine O’Hara (The Nightmare Before Christmas, Home Alone movies, Frankenweenie, Where The Wild Things Are, Lemony Snicket’s A Series Of Unfortunate Events, Dick Tracy, SCTV, 4 eps of Six Feet Under, 1 ep of Curb Your Enthusiasm) as Melissa.
Amy Poehler (Blades Of Glory, Shrek 3, Mean Girls, Wet Hot American Summer, Saturday Night Live, Horton Hears A Who!, Parks And Recreation, Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, 5 eps of Arrested Development, 3 eps of Undeclared, 2 eps of Wonder Showzen, 2 eps of The Simpsons, 1 ep of Napoleon Dynamite-TAS) as Sondra.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, Death Proof, Grindhouse, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Smashed, Final Destination 3) as Lauren.
Clark Duke (Hot Tub Time Machine movies, Kick-Ass movies, The Croods, Superbad, 19 eps of The Office, 5 eps of Robot Chicken, 1 ep of Childrens Hospital) as Trey.
Ken Howard (13 eps of Dynasty, 2 eps of Curb Your Enthusiasm, 1 ep of Batman-TAS, 1 ep of The Office) as Gary.
Valerie Tian (Percy Jackson 1, Jennifer’s Body, Fantastic 4: Rise Of The Silver Surfer, Juno) as Kieko.
Sarah Burns (I Love You Man, 8 eps of Drunk History) as Margo.
Jessica Alba (Dark Angel, Machete movies, Fantastic Four movies, The Ten, Idle Hands, Little Fockers, 1 ep of The Office) as Michelle.
Jane Lynch (Afternoon Delight, Wreck-It Ralph, The Three Stooges, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Glee, Shrek Forever After, 15 eps of The L Word, 3 eps of Neighbors From Hell, 2 eps of Arrested Development, 2 eps of Father Of The Pride, 2 eps of The Cleveland Show, 1 ep of The Spectacular Spider-Man, 1 ep of The Simpsons, 1 ep of News Radio) as Dr. Judith.
Jamie Renell (The Change-Up) as Tyler.
Vickie Eng (The Change-Up) as Mrs. Kobayashi.

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1311060/combined

 

VIDEO: MOVIES/COMICS: REVIEW: R.I.P.D. (2013)

VIDEO: MOVIES/COMICS: REVIEW: R.I.P.D. (2013)

Clio: 5/5 stars, 8.6/10.
Carolyn: 5/5 stars, 9/10.
Native ratings: 3.2/5 stars Netflix, 5.6/10 IMDB.

Mike Judge was a voice? Weird.

Anyway, this was Men In Black, but with Ghosts instead of Aliens.  That REALLY sums it up. COMPLETELY. NOT MUCH MORE NEEDS TO BE SAID.  Every aspect of the MIB forumula was used here. Same formula, different values.

And it’s a good formula. We love it. We’ve watched all 4 movies, and all 65 episodes of the animated series — which was awesome, and went right under most peoples’ radar.

So given that we like this formula, we obviously found it VERY entertaining. This was a fun movie, and 3-D made it more fun. The cast was great. The special effects were great. There was comedy, action, a plot. The characters were interesting.

So, while seeming quite derivative, this was sitll a win.

Based on a comic, which is popular nowadays. (Was MIB a comic? Was the comic inspired by MIB?)

Directed by Robert Schwentke (Red, The Time Traveler’s Wife).
Written by Phil Hay (Aeon Flux, Clash Of The Titans (2010)), Matt Manfredi (Aeon Flux, Clash Of The Titans (2010)) & David Dobkin (Jack The Giant Slayer).

Starring
Jeff Bridges (The Big Lebowski, the original Tron movie and the new Tron movies, The Men Who Stare At Goats, Iron Man, How To Lose Friends & Alienate People, Tideland) as Roy.
Ryan Reynolds (Adventureland, Hal Jordan in Green Lantern, Wade Wilson in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Van Wilder, The Proposal, The Change-Up, Turbo, The Croods, Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle, The Amityville Horror, Waiting) as Nick.
Kevin Bacon as Hayes.
Mary-Louise Parker (Nancy Botwin from Weeds, Red movies, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Fried Green Tomatoes) as Proctor.
Stephanie Szostak (Iron Man 3, Dinner For Schmucks, 1 ep of The Sopranos) as Julia.
James Hong (Mr. Ping in the Kung Fu Panda movies, Jackie Chan Adventures, Hot To Trot, 2 eps of Avatar: The Last Airbender, 2 eps of Archer, 2 eps of Bonanza, 1 ep of Home Improvement) as Nick’s Avatar.
Marisa Miller as Roy’s Avatar.
Robert Knepper (Percy Jackson 2, Transporter 3, Carnivale) as Stanley Nawicki.
Mike O’Malley (Deep Impact, 28 Days, 43 eps of Glee, 3 eps of Baby Blues, 1 ep of Axe Cop) as Elliot.
Devin Ratray (Side Effects, Home Alone 2) as Pulaski.
Larry Joe Campbell (Pacific Rim, 5 eps of Weeds, 1 ep of Friends) as Officer Murphy.
Piper Mackenzie Harris (1 ep of Newsreaders) as Nick’s New Avatar.
Toby Huss (Kahn Souphanousinphone, Sr. in King Of The Hill, Carnivale, Bad Milo, Bedazzled, 4 eps of The Venture Bros., 4 eps of Harvey Birdman, 2 eps of Beavis & Butt-head (2011), 1 ep of NTSF:SD:SUV, 1 ep of Childrens Hospital, 1 ep of Adventure Time, 2 eps of Kung Fu Panda, 1 ep of Brickleberry) as Various Deado (voice).

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790736/combined

 

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Police Academy 7: Mission To Moscow (1994)

[IMDB link]

RATINGS:
Clio: Netflix: 3/5 stars. IMDB: 7/10.
Carolyn: Netflix: 3/5 stars. IMDB: 7/10.
The native public rating for this movie is: Netflix: 2.9/5 stars, IMDB: 3.1/10.

CLIO’S THOUGHTS: I don’t know if it’s the long break we took in between 1-6 and 7, but I felt like this one was an improvement. It’s largely lauded as the worst of the series; the dud that killed it. But in fact, I think it was just too soon. It was overload. There was too much. It was possibly already too late before this movie came out.

But watching it after a long break? (We watched 1-6 in two weeks or so, many months ago.) I think that improved the experience.

Anyway, this one felt less formulaic! It’s definitely not the worst of the franchise! Yeah, there were a lot of bad/fall-flat jokes, especially in the beginning… But ultimately, it broke the formula a bit, and was a more interesting movie than the last few. Harris actually becomes useful! And works on the same team as the people he worked against in 1-6. He’s still a jerk, but a useful one, now. He’s not quite as bumbling; he simply has no respect. The comedy is still there, though this movie is slightly more serious. And that’s okay. We needed some change.

Plus, they are in RUSSIA!! It looks suspiciously like America, but with more moustaches and hats and fur coats.

Plus, some of the cast: See Cornfed from Duckman before he was Cornfed, Ron Perlman before he was Hellboy, and Christopher Lee before he was Count Duku[la]!!

Anyway… I see no reason to write off this final installment the way so many do. I think they were looking for redemption where none was to be found. It is what it is, and was actually slightly more enjoyable to us than both Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach and Police Academy 6: City Under Siege.

CAROLYN’S THOUGHTS: This did seem to be less formulaic than the others. It was entertaining, and it seemed to have its own feel, yet still felt like a Police Academy movie.

PEOPLE:

Directed by Alan Metter (Back To School).
Written by Randolph Davis (1 ep of Tales From The Crypt) and Michele S. Chodos.

Starring:
From the previous movies:
David Graf (Police Academy 1-7, 1 ep of Dream On, 1 ep of Ferris Bueller, 1 ep of Night Court, 1 ep of MASH, 1 ep of Family Matters) as Tackleberry.
Michael Winslow (Police Academy 1-7 and the series, Spaceballs, Gremlins, 3 eps of The Love Boat, 1 ep of Family Guy, 1 ep of Robot Chicken) as Larvell Jones.
George Gaynes (Police Academy 1-7, Henry in Punky Brewster, Wag The Dog, 1 ep of Sliders) as Commandant Lassard.
G.W. Bailey (Police Academy 1,4-7 Short Circuit, Mannequin, 14 eps of MASH, 1 ep of Soap, 1 ep of Nip/Tuck) as Lt. Harris.
Leslie Easterbrook (Police Academy 1,3-7, The Devil’s Rejects, Laverne & Shirley, 2 eps of Batman-TAS, 1 ep of The Love Boat) as Sgt. Callahan, the hot blonde.

New people:
Christopher Lee (Saruman in the Lord Of The Rings movies, Death in The Color Of Magic, The Golden Compass, Count Dooku in Star Wars Episode 2 and Star Wars: The Clone Wars pilot movie, Alice In Wonderland, Corpse Bride, Sleepy Hollow, Gremlins 2) as Commandant Rakov, the leader of the Russian police force.
Ron Perlman (Hellboy, City Of Lost Children, Pacific Rim, Percy Jackson 2, Alien 4, Titan A.E.) as Constantine Konali, the Russian bad guy.
Claire Forlani (Mall Rats) as Katrina, the Russian translator.
Charlie Schlatter (Ferris Bueller in the Ferris Bueller TV series, G.I. Joe: Renegades, 3 eps of The Batman, 1 ep of Jackie Chan Adventures, 1 ep of The Life & Times Of Tim, 1 ep of The Boondocks) as Cadet Connors, obligatory good-looking kid in order to be able to have a love interest.
Gregg Berger (Cornfed from Duckman, Odie from Garfield & Friends and The Garfield Show (2008), Kay from Men In Black:TAS, Grimlock in The Transformers, The Angry Beavers, Toxic Crusaders, Mysterio in Spider-Man-TAS (1990s), 6 eps of Life With Louie, 5 eps of Rugrats, 4 eps of The Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy, 4 eps of Batman Beyond, 2 eps of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, 2 eps of Batman: The Brave And The Bold) as Lt. Talinsky, Russian policeman.

 

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989)

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989)

Clio: 3/5 stars, 6/10.
Carolyn: 3/5 stars, 6/10.
Native ratings: 3.1/5 stars Netflix, 3.9/10 IMDB.

Hank (the cop) from Breaking Bad AND Chloe from Smallville are both in this movie, though almost nobody (including us) will notice this.

Carolyn’s thoughts: This was more like The Pink Panther about a theft gang on a stealing spree. The team are brought in to help Captain Harris catch the thieves, and then Commandant Lassard is framed so they try to clear his name. Still going.

Clio: Yup. Still going. These Police Academy movies get really unremarkable, but at least this one had a sort of mystery plot to it that the others didn’t have. That helped stave off the rate of decay of the franchise a bit…

Directed by Peter Bonerz (29 eps of Home Improvement, 12 eps of Friends, 11 eps of Wings, 9 eps of Alf, 3 eps of Just Shoot Me, 3 eps of Joey, 2 eps of Newsradio, 2 eps of Shit My Dad Says).
Written by Stephen Curwick (Police Academy 5-6, 5 eps of Family Ties, 2 eps of Growing Pains, 1 ep of Who’s The Boss?).

Starring
From the previous movies:
Bubba Smith (Police Academy 1-6, 1 ep of Married With Children, 1 ep of Sabrina The Teenage Witch, 1 ep of Family Matters) as Moses Hightower.
David Graf (Police Academy 1-7, 1 ep of Dream On, 1 ep of Ferris Bueller, 1 ep of Night Court, 1 ep of MASH, 1 ep of Family Matters) as Tackleberry.
Michael Winslow (Police Academy 1-7 and the series, Spaceballs, Gremlins, 3 eps of The Love Boat, 1 ep of Family Guy, 1 ep of Robot Chicken) as Larvell Jones.
Leslie Easterbrook (Police Academy 1,3-7, The Devil’s Rejects, Laverne & Shirley, 2 eps of Batman-TAS, 1 ep of The Love Boat) as Sgt. Callahan, the hot blonde.
George Gaynes (Police Academy 1-7, Henry in Punky Brewster, Wag The Dog, 1 ep of Sliders) as Commandant Lassard.
George R. Robertson (Police Academy 1-6, National Lampoon’s Senior Trip, JFK) as Chief Hurnst.
Marion Ramsey (Police Academy 1-6, 1 ep of Tim And Eric Awesome Show Great Job!, 1 ep of Robot Chicken) as Laverne Hooks, the quiet one.
G.W. Bailey (Police Academy 1,4-7 Short Circuit, Mannequin, 14 eps of MASH, 1 ep of Soap, 1 ep of Nip/Tuck) as Lt. Harris.
Lance Kinsey (Police Academy 2-6, Loaded Weapon 1) as Proctor.

From the last movie:
Matt McCoy (Police Academy 5-6, 4 eps of Carnivale, 2 eps of Seinfeld, 1 ep of Six Feet Under) as Nick, Lassard’s nephew, pretty much Mahoney’s replacement.

New people:
Allison Mack (Chloe Sullivan from Smallville) as Little Girl. This was her film debut.
Dean Norris (Hank the cop/brother-in-law from Breaking Bad) as cop in gym. Not even credited. No, we didn’t notice him.
Kenneth Mars (Triton in The Little Mermaid, The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again, 26 eps of Malcolm In The Middle, 9 eps of Pirates Of Darkwater, 4 eps of Life With Louie, 2 eps of Batman-TAS, 1 ep of Lois & Clark, 1 ep of The Real Adventures Of Jonny Quest, 1 ep of The Angry Beavers) as The Mayor / The Mastermind
Brian Seeman (2 eps of Sabrina The Teenage Witch, 1 ep of Murphy Brown) as Flash
Darwyn Swalve (Barton Fink, Summer School, 1 ep of The A Team) as Ox
Beans Morocco (Bob The Janitor in Police Academy 5, New Nightmare, Once Bitten, 6 eps of Growing Pains, 2 eps of Mork & Mindy, 2 eps of Laverne & Shirley, 1 ep of Soap, 1 ep of Dream On, 1 ep of Mad About You, 1 ep of Caroline In The City, 1 ep of Murphy Brown) as Bank President

From previous movies:
Bruce Mahler (Police Academy 1-3,6, Fridays, 3 eps of Seinfeld, uncredited in Loaded Weapon 1, uncredited in Dick Tracy) as Doug Fackler.
Billie Bird (Police Academy 4,6, 2 eps of The Wonder Years, 1 ep of Cheers, 1 ep of Max Headroom, 1 ep of Murphy Brown, 1 ep of Who’s The Boss) as Mrs. Feldman. She played Mrs. Feldman in Police Academy 4. I guess it was a different character altogether, but I didn’t remember to notice her.
Arthur Batanides (Police Academy 2-4,6, 5 eps of Happy Days, 4 eps of The Dick Van Dyke Show, 3 eps of The Odd Couple, 2 eps of Wonder Woman, 1 ep of Star Trek) as Old Man Kirkland.

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098105/combined

 

Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach (1988)

Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach (1988)

Carolyn’s thoughts: They tried to mix it up a bit by changing the setting and putting them into Miami Beach.  Still the same formula, but entertaining enough.  No mention of what happened to Mahoney.

Claire’s thoughts: Exactly. They’re still doing it… But they’ve lost Steve Guttenberg for good. Strangely… I didn’t really notice. With or without him, it’s pretty much “same shit, different instance”. It works. It’s still working. It’s good that they made this. It’s good that we watched it. But it’s not very special. It’s another episode of The Simpsons at this point. I’m fine with that, but the only reason to watch Police Academy 5 is that you watched Police Academy 1 through 4.

Directed by Alan Myerson (12 eps of Laverne & Shirley, 8 eps of The Larry Sanders Show, 5 eps of Newsradio, The Single Guy, 2 eps of Friends, 2 eps of Ned And Stacey).
Written by Stephen Curwick (Police Academy 5-6, 5 eps of Family Ties, 2 eps of Growing Pains, 1 ep of Who’s The Boss?).

Starring
From the previous movies:
Bubba Smith (Police Academy 1-6, 1 ep of Married With Children, 1 ep of Sabrina The Teenage Witch, 1 ep of Family Matters) as Moses Hightower.
David Graf (Police Academy 1-7, 1 ep of Dream On, 1 ep of Ferris Bueller, 1 ep of Night Court, 1 ep of MASH, 1 ep of Family Matters) as Tackleberry.
Michael Winslow (Police Academy 1-7 and the series, Spaceballs, Gremlins, 3 eps of The Love Boat, 1 ep of Family Guy, 1 ep of Robot Chicken) as Larvell Jones.
Leslie Easterbrook (Police Academy 1,3-7, The Devil’s Rejects, Laverne & Shirley, 2 eps of Batman-TAS, 1 ep of The Love Boat) as Sgt. Callahan, the hot blonde.
George Gaynes (Police Academy 1-7, Henry in Punky Brewster, Wag The Dog, 1 ep of Sliders) as Commandant Lassard.
George R. Robertson (Police Academy 1-6, National Lampoon’s Senior Trip, JFK) as Chief Hurnst.
Marion Ramsey (Police Academy 1-6, 1 ep of Tim And Eric Awesome Show Great Job!, 1 ep of Robot Chicken) as Laverne Hooks, the quiet one.
G.W. Bailey (Police Academy 1,4-7 Short Circuit, Mannequin, 14 eps of MASH, 1 ep of Soap, 1 ep of Nip/Tuck) as Lt. Harris.
Lance Kinsey (Police Academy 2-6, Loaded Weapon 1) as Proctor.

From the last movie:
Tab Thacker (Police Academy 4-5) as House, the fat cadet.

New people:
Matt McCoy (Police Academy 5-6, 4 eps of Carnivale, 2 eps of Seinfeld, 1 ep of Six Feet Under) as Nick, Lassard’s nephew, pretty much Mahoney’s replacement.
Janet Jones (A League Of Their Own) as Kate, Nick’s female police officer love interest.
Rene Auberjonois (Star Trek: Deep Space 9, Pirates Of Darkwater, Benson, 4 eps of Avatar: The Last Airbender, 4 eps of Justice League, 2 eps of Young Justice, 1 ep of Men In Black-TAS, 1 ep of Family Guy) as Tony, the main bad guy.
Archie Hahn (John Tucker Must Die, Gremlins 2) as Mouse, a henchman.
James Hampton (Teen Wolf series, 3 eps of Full House, 2 eps of Punky Brewster, 1 ep of Hope & Gloria, 1 ep of Valerie) as Mayor of Miami.

Missing from this movie, but will be returning:
Bruce Mahler (Police Academy 1-3,6, Fridays, 3 eps of Seinfeld, uncredited in Loaded Weapon 1, uncredited in Dick Tracy) as Doug Fackler.
Arthur Batanides (Police Academy 2-4,6, 5 eps of Happy Days, 4 eps of The Dick Van Dyke Show, 3 eps of The Odd Couple, 2 eps of Wonder Woman, 1 ep of Star Trek) as Old Man Kirkland.
Billie Bird (Police Academy 4,6, 2 eps of The Wonder Years, 1 ep of Cheers, 1 ep of Max Headroom, 1 ep of Murphy Brown, 1 ep of Who’s The Boss) as Mrs. Feldman. IMDB says she plays Mrs. Stanwyck in Police Academy 6. Same character, different name, or different character altogether? Hmmm.

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095882/combined

 

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987)

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987)

Claire: 3.2/5 stars, 7/10.
Carolyn: 3/5 stars, 7/10.
Native ratings: 3.2/5 stars Netflix, 4.6/10 IMDB.

Carolyn’s thoughts:  This had a similar scattered feel that the first movie had, but it seemed to have an even looser plot than the other movies.  Basically, this is just the first movie, but with civilians learning to be cops, but not actually get to be cops.  These are definitely starting to wear out their welcome.  This is the last one with Mahoney (Steve Guttenberg) in it.

Claire: Yup, it’s all getting to be a blur. This one’s still absolutely comparable with the first 3, but it’s starting to feel like episodes of a TV series, what with the repetitions, fomulaicness, catch-phrases, etc.

Directed by Jim Drake (Night Court, SCTV, Dave’s World, 5 eps of Who’s The Boss, 5 eps of Newhart, 1 ep of Valerie).
Written by Gene Quintano (Police Academy 2-4, Loaded Weapon 1).

Starring:

From the previous movies:
Steve Guttenberg (Police Academy 1-4, 3 Men And A Baby movies, Cocoon, Short Circuit) as Carey Mahoney.
Bubba Smith (Police Academy 1-6, 1 ep of Married With Children, 1 ep of Sabrina The Teenage Witch, 1 ep of Family Matters) as Moses Hightower.
David Graf (Police Academy 1-7, 1 ep of Dream On, 1 ep of Ferris Bueller, 1 ep of Night Court, 1 ep of MASH, 1 ep of Family Matters) as Tackleberry.
Michael Winslow (Police Academy 1-7 and the series, Spaceballs, Gremlins, 3 eps of The Love Boat, 1 ep of Family Guy, 1 ep of Robot Chicken) as Larvell Jones.
George Gaynes (Police Academy 1-7, Henry in Punky Brewster, Wag The Dog, 1 ep of Sliders) as Commandant Lassard.
George R. Robertson (Police Academy 1-6, National Lampoon’s Senior Trip, JFK) as Chief Hurnst.
Marion Ramsey (Police Academy 1-6, 1 ep of Tim And Eric Awesome Show Great Job!, 1 ep of Robot Chicken) as Laverne Hooks, the quiet one.
Bobcat Goldthwait as Zed.
Colleen Camp (Police Academy 2,4, Four Christmases, Last Action Hero, Sliver, Wayne’s World, Clue, Apocalypse Now, Speed 2, Plump Fiction, 3 eps of Roseanne) as Kirkland.
Jackie Joseph (Police Academy 2,4, Gremlins, 8 eps of Josie & The Pussycats, 3 eps of The Dick Van Dyke Show, 1 ep of Full House, 1 ep of Designing Women, 1 ep of Newhart) as Mrs. Kirkland.
Tim Kazurinsky (Police Academy 2-4, Plump Fiction, Hot To Trot, 2 eps of Curb Your Enthusiasm) as Sweetchuck.
Lance Kinsey (Police Academy 2-6, Loaded Weapon 1) as Proctor.
Andrew Paris (Police Academy 2-4, 3 eps of Happy Days) as Bud Kirkland.
Arthur Batanides (Police Academy 2-4,6, 5 eps of Happy Days, 4 eps of The Dick Van Dyke Show, 3 eps of The Odd Couple, 2 eps of Wonder Woman, 1 ep of Star Trek) as Old Man Kirkland.
Leslie Easterbrook (Police Academy 1,3-7, The Devil’s Rejects, Laverne & Shirley, 2 eps of Batman-TAS, 1 ep of The Love Boat) as Sgt. Callahan, the hot blonde.
Scott Thomson (Police Academy 1,3-4, Twister, Ghoulies, 1 ep of Parker Lewis Can’t Lose) as Chad Copeland.
Brian Tochi (Police Academy 3-4, Leonardo in all three Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies, Revenge Of The Nerds 3, 10 eps of Johnny Bravo, 4 eps of Avatar: The Last Airbender, 2 eps of The Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy, 1 ep of Family Guy, 1 ep of Samurai Jack) as Cadet Nogata.

New people:
Sharon Stone as Claire Mattson. So young.
Derek McGrath (Mr. Mom, 4 eps of Cheers, 2 eps of Star Trek: Voyager, 2 eps of Family Matters, 1 ep of Married With Children) as Butterworth.
Billie Bird (Police Academy 4,6, 2 eps of The Wonder Years, 1 ep of Cheers, 1 ep of Max Headroom, 1 ep of Murphy Brown, 1 ep of Who’s The Boss) as Mrs. Feldman. IMDB says she plays Mrs. Stanwyck in Police Academy 6. Same character, different name, or different character altogether? Hmmm.
David Spade as Kyle. This was his first role?!?!?!?!
Brian Backer (Fast Times At Ridgemont High, The Money Pit, 1 ep of Growing Pains) as Arnie, Kyle’s friend.
Tab Thacker (Police Academy 4,5) as House, the fat cadet.
Corinne Bohrer (Joysticks, 2 eps of Herman’s Head, 1 ep of Friends, 1 ep of Dream On, 1 ep of Ned & Stacey, 1 ep of Will & Grace) as Laura, Zed’s love interest.
Randall ‘Tex’ Cobb (Raising Arizona, Naked Gun 33 1/3, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, 1 ep of Married With Children) as Zack.
Michael McManus (The Kentucky Fried Movie, 4 eps of Night Court, 2 eps of It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, 1 ep of Married With Children, 1 ep of Mr. Belvedere, 1 ep of Doogie Howser MD, 1 ep of Coach) as Todd.
Jack Creley (Videodrome, Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb, 1 ep of Friday The 13th: The Series) as Judge.
Tony Hawk as a skateboarder. (IMDB trivia says he was fired from being David Spade’s skateboarding double because he was too tall, so apparently, he was just a guy skating with them.)

Missing from this movie, but will be returning:
Bruce Mahler (Police Academy 1-3,6, Fridays, 3 eps of Seinfeld, uncredited in Loaded Weapon 1, uncredited in Dick Tracy) as Doug Fackler.

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093756/combined

 

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986)

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986)

Claire: 3.4/5 stars, 7/10.
Carolyn: 3.4/5 stars, 7/10.
Native ratings: 3.2/5 stars Netflix, 5.0/10 IMDB.

Claire’s thoughts: A good thing was more new characters, and old character in new roles. Bobcat Goldthwait made a hilariously-weird street thug, and now he gets to be a hilariously-weird cop.  Getting to use a character in two roles strikes me as both brilliant AND lazy, which are both hallmarks of good low-budget filmmaking.

Unfortunately, at this point, the franchise is becoming a bit formulaic and repetitive.   Some of the jokes are the same jokes.. Again.   And the jokes just aren’t that funny (in 2014, when I’m writing this) to bear repeating 3 times. Maybe they were in 1986, but they aren’t in 2014.

Carolyn’s thoughts:  This one wasn’t as good as the first 2, but it was still entertaining.

Directed by Jerry Paris (Police Academy 2-3, 238 eps of Happy Days, 18 eps of The Odd Couple, 3 eps of The Munsters, 3 eps of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, 1 ep of Laverne & Shirley).
Written by Gene Quintano (Police Academy 2-4, Loaded Weapon 1).

Starring
From the previous movies:
Steve Guttenberg (Police Academy 1-4, 3 Men And A Baby movies, Cocoon, Short Circuit) as Carey Mahoney.
Bubba Smith (Police Academy 1-6, 1 ep of Married With Children, 1 ep of Sabrina The Teenage Witch, 1 ep of Family Matters) as Moses Hightower.
David Graf (Police Academy 1-7, 1 ep of Dream On, 1 ep of Ferris Bueller, 1 ep of Night Court, 1 ep of MASH, 1 ep of Family Matters) as Tackleberry.
Michael Winslow (Police Academy 1-7 and the series, Spaceballs, Gremlins, 3 eps of The Love Boat, 1 ep of Family Guy, 1 ep of Robot Chicken) as Larvell Jones.
Bruce Mahler (Police Academy 1-3,6, Fridays, 3 eps of Seinfeld, uncredited in Loaded Weapon 1, uncredited in Dick Tracy) as Doug Fackler.
George Gaynes (Police Academy 1-7, Henry in Punky Brewster, Wag The Dog, 1 ep of Sliders) as Commandant Lassard.
George R. Robertson (Police Academy 1-6, National Lampoon’s Senior Trip, JFK) as Chief Hurnst.
Marion Ramsey (Police Academy 1-6, 1 ep of Tim And Eric Awesome Show Great Job!, 1 ep of Robot Chicken) as Laverne Hooks, the quiet one.

Returning from the second movie:
Art Metrano (Police Academy 2-3, 5 eps of Bewitched, 2 eps of Fantasy Island, 1 ep of Herman’s Head, 1 ep of 21 Jump Street, 1 ep of Punky Brewster) as Lt. Mauser.
Bobcat Goldthwait as Zed.
Tim Kazurinsky (Police Academy 2-4, Plump Fiction, Hot To Trot, 2 eps of Curb Your Enthusiasm) as Sweetchuck.
Lance Kinsey (Police Academy 2-6, Loaded Weapon 1) as Proctor.
Andrew Paris (Police Academy 2-4, 3 eps of Happy Days) as Bud Kirkland.
Arthur Batanides (Police Academy 2-4,6, 5 eps of Happy Days, 4 eps of The Dick Van Dyke Show, 3 eps of The Odd Couple, 2 eps of Wonder Woman, 1 ep of Star Trek) as Old Man Kirkland.

Returning from the first movie:
Leslie Easterbrook (Police Academy 1,3-7, The Devil’s Rejects, Laverne & Shirley, 2 eps of Batman-TAS, 1 ep of The Love Boat) as Sgt. Callahan, the hot blonde.
Debralee Scott (Police Academy 1,3, Mary Hartman Mary Hartman, 6 eps of Welcome Back Kotter, 1 ep of The Love Boat) as Mrs. Fackler.
Scott Thomson (Police Academy 1,3-4, Twister, Ghoulies, 1 ep of Parker Lewis Can’t Lose) as Chad Copeland.
Brant von Hoffman (Police Academy 1,3, 1 ep of Arrested Development, 1 ep of Laverne & Shirley) as Kyle Blankes.
Georgina Spelvin (Police Academy, porn star) as The Hooker.

new people:
Shawn Weatherly (19 eps of Baywatch, 1 ep of Dukes Of Hazzard, 1 ep of Happy Days) as Cadet Adams.
Ed Nelson (6 eps of Gunsmoke, 1 ep of Dynasty, 1 ep of CHiPS) as Governor Neilson.
Brian Tochi (Police Academy 3-4, Leonardo in all three Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies, Revenge Of The Nerds 3, 10 eps of Johnny Bravo, 4 eps of Avatar: The Last Airbender, 2 eps of The Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy, 1 ep of Family Guy, 1 ep of Samurai Jack) as Cadet Nogata.
David Huband (Wrong Turn, 2 eps of Puppets Who Kill) as Cadet Hedges.

Missing from this movie, but will be returning:
Colleen Camp (Police Academy 2,4, Four Christmases, Last Action Hero, Sliver, Wayne’s World, Clue, Apocalypse Now, Speed 2, Plump Fiction, 3 eps of Roseanne) as Kirkland.
Jackie Joseph (Police Academy 2,4, Gremlins, 8 eps of Josie & The Pussycats, 3 eps of The Dick Van Dyke Show, 1 ep of Full House, 1 ep of Designing Women, 1 ep of Newhart) as Mrs. Kirkland.

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091777/combined

 

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985)

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985)

Claire: 3.6/5 stars, 7/10.
Carolyn: 4/5 stars, 8/10.
Native ratings: 3.2/5 stars Netflix, 5.5/10 IMDB.

Carolyn’s thoughts:  I think I liked this ever so slightly better than the first one, but I couldn’t pinpoint why.  Maybe it was because it didn’t seem as scattered, and there was more of an underlining plot to follow.  Bobcat Goldthwait is so weird!

Claire thoughts: I actually feel like I didn’t quite like it as much. I guess the novelty of #1 wears off by #2. And I have to watch 5 more of these?!?  When I think back, it’s an enjoyable and entertaining movie, as much as #1. I just didn’t seem to get quite as much out of it.

Directed by Jerry Paris (Police Academy 2-3, 238 eps of Happy Days, 18 eps of The Odd Couple, 3 eps of The Munsters, 3 eps of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, 1 ep of Laverne & Shirley).
Written by Barry W. Blaustein (Police Academy 2-5, The Nutty Professor movies, 41 eps of Saturday Night Live) & David Sheffield (Police Academy 2-5, The Nutty Professor movies, 53 eps of Saturday Night Live).

Starring
From the first movie:
Steve Guttenberg (Police Academy 1-4, 3 Men And A Baby movies, Cocoon, Short Circuit) as Carey Mahoney.
Bubba Smith (Police Academy 1-6, 1 ep of Married With Children, 1 ep of Sabrina The Teenage Witch, 1 ep of Family Matters) as Moses Hightower.
David Graf (Police Academy 1-7, 1 ep of Dream On, 1 ep of Ferris Bueller, 1 ep of Night Court, 1 ep of MASH, 1 ep of Family Matters) as Tackleberry.
Michael Winslow (Police Academy 1-7 and the series, Spaceballs, Gremlins, 3 eps of The Love Boat, 1 ep of Family Guy, 1 ep of Robot Chicken) as Larvell Jones.
Bruce Mahler (Police Academy 1-3,6, Fridays, 3 eps of Seinfeld, uncredited in Loaded Weapon 1, uncredited in Dick Tracy) as Doug Fackler.
George Gaynes (Police Academy 1-7, Henry in Punky Brewster, Wag The Dog, 1 ep of Sliders) as Commandant Lassard.
George R. Robertson (Police Academy 1-6, National Lampoon’s Senior Trip, JFK) as Chief Hurnst.
Marion Ramsey (Police Academy 1-6, 1 ep of Tim And Eric Awesome Show Great Job!, 1 ep of Robot Chicken) as Laverne Hooks, the quiet one.

New people:

Colleen Camp (Police Academy 2,4, Four Christmases, Last Action Hero, Sliver, Wayne’s World, Clue, Apocalypse Now, Speed 2, Plump Fiction, 3 eps of Roseanne) as Kirkland, Tackleberry’s love interest.
Howard Hesseman (Gridlock’d, Halloween 2 (2009), WKRP In Cincinnati, 7 eps of Soap, 3 eps of That 70’s Show) as Pete Lassard.
Art Metrano (Police Academy 2-3, 5 eps of Bewitched, 2 eps of Fantasy Island, 1 ep of Herman’s Head, 1 ep of 21 Jump Street, 1 ep of Punky Brewster) as Lt. Mauser.
Bobcat Goldthwait as Zed.
Julie Brown (Plump Fiction, Clueless and the Clueless TV series, 6 eps of Animaniacs, 2 eps of Batman-TAS, 2 eps of Laverne & Shirley, 1 ep of Six Feet Under) as Chloe. She was supposed to be a love interest, but her scenes were cut off. And TOTALLY UNRECOGNIZABLE from usual – she has short brunette hair instead of her lovely, long, red hair she ended up with when she became an MTV personality. I believe in middle school I decided that if there was an afterlife, I would spend much of it in her cleavage.
Peter Van Norden (The Naked Gun 2 1/2, 1 ep of Caroline In The City, 1 ep of Family Matters) as Vinnie Schtulman.
Tim Kazurinsky (Police Academy 2-4, Plump Fiction, Hot To Trot, 2 eps of Curb Your Enthusiasm) as Merchant.
Ed Herlihy (Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure) as Dooley.
Sandy Ward (Airplane 2, 11 eps of Malcolm In The Middle, 2 eps of Seinfeld, 1 ep of Lois & Clark, 1 ep of Dream On) as Sistrunk.
Lance Kinsey (Police Academy 2-6, Loaded Weapon 1) as Proctor.
Arthur Batanides (Police Academy 2-4,6, 5 eps of Happy Days, 4 eps of The Dick Van Dyke Show, 3 eps of The Odd Couple, 2 eps of Wonder Woman, 1 ep of Star Trek) as Old Man Kirkland.
Jackie Joseph (Police Academy 2,4, Gremlins, 8 eps of Josie & The Pussycats, 3 eps of The Dick Van Dyke Show, 1 ep of Full House, 1 ep of Designing Women, 1 ep of Newhart) as Mrs. Kirkland.
Andrew Paris (Police Academy 2-4, 3 eps of Happy Days) as Bud Kirkland.

People who are missing from this movie, but will return in later movies:
Leslie Easterbrook (Police Academy 1,3-7, The Devil’s Rejects, Laverne & Shirley, 2 eps of Batman-TAS, 1 ep of The Love Boat) as Sgt. Callahan, the hot blonde. Thank god. These movies just aren’t the same without her tits.
Debralee Scott (Police Academy 1,3, Mary Hartman Mary Hartman, 6 eps of Welcome Back Kotter, 1 ep of The Love Boat) as Mrs. Fackler.
Scott Thomson (Police Academy 1,3-4, Twister, Ghoulies, 1 ep of Parker Lewis Can’t Lose) as Chad Copeland.
Brant von Hoffman (Police Academy 1,3, 1 ep of Arrested Development, 1 ep of Laverne & Shirley) as Kyle Blankes.

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089822/combined

 

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Police Academy 1 (1984)

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Police Academy 1 (1984)

Claire: 4/5 stars, 8/10.
Carolyn: 4/5 stars, 7/10.
Native ratings: 3.5/5 stars Netflix, 6.6/10 IMDB.

They should use Michael Winslow more. But I guess he’ll be back in the other movies.  Wait…That was Kim Catrall??

That was fun. Reminds me of Stripes, but with police instead of military, and funnier.  I grew up on these movies, but I haven’t seen one in over 20 years. All 7 movies finally being available in HD means it’s time to watch them again, and remember what the fuss was about.

Pretty damn funny! Not a cinematic masterpiece, but we both laughed out loud. A lot. The movie was outrageous and out of touch back then, but now it’s even more strange. A relic. And damn, 30 years ago was definitely more homophobic. The movie was a truly a product of its time.

But anyway… The only thing I actually remember from watching this when I was younger… Is the bossy blonde academy instructor, and her tits. DEFINITELY worth returning to.

I’d really forgotten about all these quirky characters. They should make an adult cartoon about these guys.

Carolyn’s thoughts:  This was entertaining and fun.  A little fast-paced, and a little bit scattered, but it got us laughing out loud several times.  I didn’t remember much from when I saw this as a kid.

Directed by Hugh Wilson (2 eps of WKRP In Cincinnati).
Written by Neal Israel (Real Genius, Look Who’s Talking Too), Pat Proft (Scary Movie 3-5, Naked Gun movies, Hot Shots movies, The Star Wars Holiday Special), and Hugh Wilson (33 eps of WKRP In Cincinnati).

Steve Guttenberg (3 Men And A Baby movies, Cocoon, Short Circuit) as Carey Mahoney.
Kim Cattrall (Dee in Producing Parker, Samantha in Sex And The City, Star Trek 6, Porky’s, Big Trouble In Little China, Mannequin, 2 eps of The Simpsons, 1 ep of Duckman, 1 ep of Dream On, 1 ep of Rugrats) as Karen Thompson.
G.W. Bailey (Short Circuit, Mannequin, 14 eps of MASH, 1 ep of Soap, 1 ep of Nip/Tuck) as Lt. Harris.
Bubba Smith (1 ep of Married With Children, 1 ep of Sabrina The Teenage Witch, 1 ep of Family Matters) as Moses Hightower.
Donovan Scott (Back To The Future 3, 1 ep of Eagleheart) as Leslie Barbara.
George Gaynes (Henry in Punky Brewster, Wag The Dog, 1 ep of Sliders) as Commandant Lassard.
Andrew Rubin (2 eps of The Odd Couple) as George Martin.
David Graf (1 ep of Dream On, 1 ep of Ferris Bueller, 1 ep of Night Court, 1 ep of MASH, 1 ep of Family Matters) as Tackleberry.
Leslie Easterbrook (The Devil’s Rejects, Laverne & Shirley, 2 eps of Batman-TAS, 1 ep of The Love Boat) as Sgt. Callahan, the hot blonde.
Michael Winslow (Spaceballs, Gremlins, 3 eps of The Love Boat, 1 ep of Family Guy, 1 ep of Robot Chicken) as Larvell Jones.
Debralee Scott (Mary Hartman Mary Hartman, 6 eps of Welcome Back Kotter, 1 ep of The Love Boat) as Mrs. Fackler, who jumped on the car.
Bruce Mahler (Fridays, 3 eps of Seinfeld, uncredited in Loaded Weapon 1, uncredited in Dick Tracy) as Doug Fackler.
Ted Ross (Stealing Home, 1 ep of Benson, 1 ep of The Cosby Show, 1 ep of The Jeffersons) as Captain Reed.
Scott Thomson (Twister, Ghoulies, 1 ep of Parker Lewis Can’t Lose) as Chad Copeland.
Brant von Hoffman (1 ep of Arrested Development, 1 ep of Laverne & Shirley) as Kyle Blankes.
Marion Ramsey (1 ep of Tim And Eric Awesome Show Great Job!, 1 ep of Robot Chicken) as Laverne Hooks, the quiet one.
George R. Robertson (National Lampoon’s Senior Trip, JFK) as Chief Hurnst.

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087928/combined