The Happytime Murders

At heart this is an 80s cop movie (think 48 Hours, Beverly Hills Cop, Lethal Weapon) as two mismatched partners, one white and female (Melissa McCarthy) one blue and a puppet (voiced by Bill Burrata).  The puppet Phil Phillips has lost his job on the force, but is called back into action when his brother, a former TV star on the Happytime Gang, is killed.  The Happytime cast is getting whacked one by one, and the two partners must team up again.

The R ratedness of the whole affair looks like a Hustler magazine cartoon, but kudos for going into the thick of it here.  The screenplay is surprisingly good and would have made a decent live action movie.  The tension underplaying the puppets v. the humans is a nice touch.

Good fun * * * of 5

RBG

Premiered at Sundance this year, we had the benefit of getting to watch on CNN tonight, albeit with commercials. 

The documentary story of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who has become an icon for her feminism, her liberal dissents, and generally a longtime defender of equal protection.  Who can really argue with that?

Interesting story about her early life, her longtime marriage to Martin Ginsburg, her appointment to the Federal Judiciary by President Carter as his desire to make the courts more inclusive.  He did succeed at that.  Hard to believe she has been on the US Supreme Court for 25 years.

Of course I enjoyed the part of the court fight involving Virginia Military Institute.  We just took that same sex school for granted back then.  But not Notorious RBG.

Sundance should grade harder.  I'll call this * * * * of 5

The Front Runner - the Gary Hart Story

Should be an interesting period piece from 1998 - 30 years ago!

 Directed by Jason Reitman who also did Up in the Air

 

LA Confidential (1997)

A modern attempt at film noir, it's a tale of 1950s Los Angeles police and a clash between the old way of favoritism and a more authoritarian "modern" approach.  Starring Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey, Kim Basinger as the femme fatale (Best Supporting Actress).  Owes a lots to Chinatown, which in my view is not that great of a movie to emulate.  Visually interesting, but lacks in dialogue and character development.




* * * of 5

Fall Movie Preview

A Star is Born - October 5

Venom  starring Tom Hardy  10/05

The Girl in the Spider's Web.  11.9  starring Claire Foy

Holiday movie preview

Second Act - JLo Rom Com directed by Peter Segal  November 21

Green Book - road trip in Segregated South - directed by Peter Farrelly  11.21

Mary Poppins Returns 12/19 starring Emily Blunt

Tag

Very similar to Game Night which came out earlier this year, it's about a group of adults who still act a little like kids with their games, presently the game of Tag.  This group has been playing an extended game of Tag for 30 years.  One person has never been tagged so the group gets together to gang up on him.

Casting was almost like choosing sides in a real kid's game.  In Game Night, we choose Jason Bateman for the nerdy leading man.  In Tag, Ed Helms.  For the wife/alpha female, Rachel McAdams in Game Night, Isla Fisher in Tag.  For the straw stirring the drink, Kyle Chandler in Game Night, Jeremy Renner in Tag.

Interesting cinematography, reminiscent of Scott Pilgrim versus the The World and Baby Driver both by Edgar Wright (and both kind of game playing plots as well).

And the mystery of who will win the game keep it interesting.

* * * of 5