The ABC's of Death

The ABC's of Death - 129 min - Not Rated

This was recommended to me bay a person who found out I was a movie reviewer. It is a great idea 26 directors have a letter to build a short around.  Well only three are note worthy you can see them as links inside my review on Web Wombat. 

Ted 2

Ted 2 - 115min - R

Ted 2....Oh boy. Seth MacFarlane is beating the Ted drum again. Someone take that thing away from him. So many times I have seen movies that were gems and when a sequel comes out it is missing its muchness. Watching makes me cringe at the sad, hollow sound of them banging the same drum over and over.

I didn't get a chance to see Ted and thought about skipping the sequel because I have been doing that a lot lately seeing things out of order however my blog is titled "What is Showing Next" for a reason, so I did. This felt like a pale attempt at a movie. The film got absolutely no laughs from me and the rest of the audience were only mildly amused with a few pity chuckles here or there. It's almost like the filmmakers had a few funny jokes, and they built the story around the jokes. It also felt like a cable episodic television show. The set up and the jokes were almost vignettes among themselves parading as a movie.

Seth McFarlane is a brilliant man and I know that he does the lowest common denominator humor so he can pay for things like Cosmos (which was brilliant) but he can and should do better than banging out sequels. Ted did well because it was something new and different he has the chops to make new and interesting material. You can see the same comedic timing that McFarlane is so good at, but it was still not enough to make this better.

I do want to go back and watch the original because if nothing else this film has made me interested enough in the characters to see the original. There was a good concept here. I just think they lost their way. I am intrigued to know how this bong-smoking teddy bear got its start. There are some jokes that are way offside, but McFarlane seems to have a bus pass to the topics that are at times too crass to be seen on screen.

I understand the appeal of this kind of movie I can see that this kind of humor works for a lot of people. When I go and watch it I have to take my cues from the audience and in this case they have given this movie a resounding yawn.

I want to take a look at the numbers for returns on comedy sequels and see if I can make a case for abolishing them except in the cases where there is an over-arching story arc that they are trying to tell.  Those obviously need them, but there beautiful one-offs that need to be left alone. Hold on.... I was thing of a different move there I am not saying Ted was a gem. I was thinking of The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. That movie was perfect and also didn't need a sequel.  I am going to watch Ted and get back to you if it’s worth your time.

Raunchy comedies have a hard time making a sequel that can match the first one. When you scrape the bottom of the humor barrel for jokes you don’t have much to work with. You can’t elevate the material because it loses the audience.  All you can do is rearrange the same level of jokes you had in the first one or change the location you tell the same jokes in.

Am I wrong? 

The Skeleton Twins

The Skeleton Twins - 93 Min - R

I wanted to see this in the theater but din't get a chance.  This is a great film. and you should add it to your lists.  See my review on Web Wombat.

Spy

Spy - 120min - R

I have been a Melissa McCarthy fan for a while. I absolutely love her but her movies are a different story. Even in her worst film I have found her performances to be good. In Spy, she has found her vehicle. This movie is outstanding. It gives her a believable edge and makes this plus size superstar into an action heroine without playing the action for laughs. They address her size but it's never the brunt of the joke unless its calling out the absurdity of the stereotypes. She kicks ass and I hope that they make more of these because this is a franchise I would want to see more of.

Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) is a support person in the CIA office and she supports handsome and debonaire but also douchey James Bond-type field agent, Bradley Fine (Jude Law). She performed well in training but was pulled in by the charms of agent Fine to stay behind the scenes and help him. She harbors a crush on Fine and when he gets killed she is forced into the field to find his killer.

The filmmakers could have gone for the easy joke and made McCarthy's body type the main joke in this film but they don't. They do address the absurdity of underestimating her range with each cover story being a cat lady who is a retired lunch lady or the divorced mother of three kids who has won a trip to Europe. The mission takes a turn and she needs to step up her game and persona and becomes just as influential and beautiful as her dashing counterparts. After spending the first part of the mission in frumpy old lady cloths she has to infiltrate a casino so she goes to the store and dresses the part and she looks stunning. Wearing a stunning evening gown she waltzes into the casino and carries on the mission.

Jason Statham plays Rick Ford, a field agent who is completely a loose cannon. He plays the baboonish, bully chauvinist pig really well. He adds just enough tension to the scenes with McCarthy to cause her problems without ruining the mission. His motivation is to find Fine's killer but goes against what HQ says and makes it his personal mission to solve this case before McCarthy can. As a comedic tool (I mean that in both senses of the word), he does an outstanding job of making those pig headed ideas seem as absurd as they are in real life. And it's nice to see Statham have light fun with a role.

The Director (Paul Feig) has again proven he has great sense of comedic timing and the ability to tell a great story. He is an experienced actor in his own right. I think it translates well to getting the best performances from his team. This one and Bridesmaids are some stand out films for him as a director.

The trailers do this movie a disservice. They play up some of the obvious body image jokes that are only a small portion of this film. I have said this before that the team who makes the trailers are trying to get people in the door. It's a shame that the film seems so shallow from the trailers because there is so much more going on here.

Is there a performer that you absolutely love and continue to love even if they are in some stinker films?