Stuber

This month America received some bad news:  MAD magazine is shutting down after many years of juvenile satire of current events.  Good news:  the movie Stuber is probably written by those former MAD magazine writers.


Kumail Nanjiani is Stu, an Uber driver in Los Angeles.  So his nickname is Stuber.  Desperate for extra income from his soul-crushing job, he takes another soul-crusher driving for Uber.

Dave Bautisa is Vic, an LAPD cop out to avenge the death of his partner at the hand of the evil Tedjo.  But, fun fact, he can't see to drive or shoot or anthing.  So he calls an Uber,  who is Stuber, and forces him to drive him around for One Crazy Night.  It's almost like they are chained together.  Stu keeps up the driving to protect his elusive 5 star rating.

If that sounds like Midnight Run or Heat, then you see where the MAD magazine writers come in.  It plays more like a parody of every buddy cop, 80s movie that you can think of.  To keep you in on the joke, every few minutes there is a reminder:  Sarah Conner, Dolph Lundgren, Cobra Kai, etc.

Kumail Nanjiani is the star of the show.  It'd probably be a better movie with just him.  Dave Bautista does the hack acting job of the former wrestler turned actor.  Dwayne Johnson and John Cena must have been too expensive for this modern update on a genre that didn't need updating.

* * * of 5

This is Where I Leave You (2014)

An ensemble cast about a family whose children have all grown up are forced to come together after the death of Dad and at the request of Mom (Jane Fonda) are to sit Shiva in mourning of their father.  The adults revert to familiar kid roles.  Hilarity ensues.  Starring Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Adam Driver, Corey Stoll. 

Based on the book by Jonathan Tropper

* * * *

To Catch a Thief (1955)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, it's got a lot of his favorite touches in it:  The older handsome man (Cary Grant), the younger femme fatale (Grace Kelly) and an location that become a character (here the French Riviera).

Cary Grant is John Robie "The Cat" a retired thief.  That's an interesting career!  Like a retired streetwalker, everyone seems aware of his past.  But when more thefts come up, he is forced to "find the real thief" in order to prove his and others innocence as well as to show that he "Can Still Do It".

Not a bad movie for its time.  The car chases were exciting and had some good aerial camera work.   An interesting ending as well.

In general the Hitchcock films which may have been cutting edge suspense and complex psychological motives for the time have lost some edge over the past half century.  They have their moments, though.

* * * of 5  Available on Amazon Prime for #free

July releases

July 12 - Stuber, starring Kumail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista

July 19 - The Lion King (live action) starring Beyonce

July 26 - Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, starring Brad Pitt, Leonardo Di Caprio, Margot Robbie

To Rome With Love (2012)

A spiritual successor to the well-done Midnight in Paris (2011) both directed by Woody Allen, it's a type of story dubbed "Magical Realism".  Otherwise know as a dreamlike state.

The real star of course is the Eternal City where all is shot on location.  Wonderful shots of the ruins, the Colosseum, the Spanish Steps and more that I probably don't recognize, since going to Rome is still on my list of things to do.  Starring Woody Allen, of course, along with some more marketable ensemble stars, Alec Baldwin, Jesse Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig (pre-Lady Bird), Ellen Page and Penelope Cruz.

It's a Love Actually type of plot with several intertwined stories that all resolve at the same time.  I particularly liked the imaginary friend played by Alec Baldwin helping out Jesse Eisenberg.  That storyline rang pretty true to me.

A fun time and an imaginative premise, even if some things turns out a little silly like the opera singer in the shower.

* * * * of 5

The Hangover (2009)

It's the 10 year anniversary of this classic film and it's now on Netflix for a while.  Win/win.  This movie ushered in a stream of R Rated comedies, but it is really more of a mystery movie about "Where's Doug?"  Three buddies, Doug, Stu and Phil along with the new brother in law to be Alan go to Las Vegas for a bachelor party.  But when they wake up the next day, they are missing Doug who they need to get back for the wedding and they can't remember any of the events of the last night.

So they have to piece things together:  A trashed hotel room, a baby, a tiger, a missing tooth, a missing car.  And it all comes together, eventually.

A huge box office succcess, spawning 2 terrible sequels.  But this original is a nicely crafted movie that gets you rooting for the otherwise unlikeable characters.

***** (highest 

Rush Hour (1998)

Continuing the string of 90s movies that I missed when I was busy raising children, we have Rush Hour, a fine continuation in the string of buddy cop movies with Odd Couple features (48 Hours, Lethal Weapon, Midnight Run).  Chris Tucker (Friday) and Jackie Chan in his first Hollywood big show are Carter and Lee.

When Soo-Jung the diplomat's daughter is kidnapped for ransom, her father brings over his man Lee (Chan) from Hong Kong.  But the local FBI was to put Lee on ice, so they enlist Carter from LAPD to babysit Lee.  They still manage to get involved in the investigation and find themselves at the grand finale.

Reminiscent of other good 90s action movies (Die Hard 1, 2, 3, 4, Lethal Weapon 1, 2, 3, 4) there's a lot of wisecracks, car chases, shooting and foreign bad guys.

Interestingly this movie was the impetus for the movie review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes.  Per my Wiki research:

Rush Hour was the primary catalyst for the creation of the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes. The site's founder Senh Duong, a Jackie Chan fan, was inspired to create the website after collecting all the reviews of Chan's Hong Kong action movies as they were being released in the United States. In anticipation for Rush Hour, Chan's first major Hollywood crossover, he coded the website in two weeks and the site went live shortly before the release of Rush Hour.^[9][10] The film holds a 60% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, with an average score of 6/10. The site's consensus reads: "A kick-ass addition to the cop-buddy film genre."