Reel Entropy

Melissa McCarthy is quickly becoming the next Adam Sandler

Posted on April 15, 2016 by reelentropy

In a movie full of sight gags, one of the worst wigs in cinematic history is apparently meant to be taken seriously. Photos courtesy Universal Pictures.

Find a religious text, put your hand on it and read this out loud:

“Melissa McCarthy isn’t funny. She never was funny. Unless her films undergo dramatic changes, she never will be funny.

“I will never pay money to see one of her movies again.

“If I am exposed, by happenstance, to one of her movies, I will not laugh at the scenes centering around her bodily functions, nor will I laugh at the scenes that center on excessive profanity, nor will I laugh at the scenes in which she uses her sexuality as a grossout gag. None of these are actual jokes, and none of them are funny. I wouldn’t laugh at a person on the street doing any of these things, so I will not laugh when McCarthy does it.

“I remain open to laughing at her movies if they ever have a scene with actual humor, but I recognize that this is exceedingly unlikely.”

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Posted in Entropy | Tagged #adam sandler, #bridesmaids, #improv, #iron man, #kristen bell, #not funny, #peter dinklage, #tammy, #the boss, #who's line is it anyway, Melissa McCarthy | Leave a comment

Spoiler alert: He was dead the whole time

Posted on April 13, 2016 by reelentropy

The ironic part of evangelical filmmaking is they promote far less discussion about religion than regular movies with religious themes, of which there have been a bevy this year. Hail, Caesar!, The Witch, 10 Cloverfield Lane and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice are all mainstream movies that require intense religious introspection, and that trend looks to continue with X-Men: Apocalypse in late May. Photos courtesy Pure Flix Entertainment.

One of the primary functions of movies, and art in general, is to preserve the culture from which they developed. Human philosophy has evolved rapidly over the years, and movies provide a clear record of ideologies that have fallen out of viability with seminal films like Birth of a Nation, Terminator 2 and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1. Following this great tradition of reflection on broken ideals is Pure Flix Entertainment’s biting satire God’s Not Dead 2: Electric Boogaloo.

In the movie, persecution becomes prosecution when high school history teacher Grace Wesley (Melissa Joan Hart), who’s name was picked at random out of a hat, is sued by the aetheist parents of Brooke Thawley (Hayley Orrantia) for quoting scripture in class in answer to Thawley’s question. Thawley’s parents are being used by aetheist lawyer Pete Kane (Ray Wise) and his hair-based satanic powers. Wesley is represented by ACLU appointed lawyer Tom Endler (Jesse Metcalfe), even though he isn’t Christian. Inept heathen that he is, Kane makes a mistake in the jury-selection process, allowing a man of God, Reverend Dave (Pure Flix co-founder David A.R. White) onto the jury.

Despite clearly having the case in hand because of this, Endler and Wesley are ravaged by Kane’s suave character assassination, and are forced to shift tactics mid-trial and call several real-world apologists to the stand to forensically prove that Jesus of Nazareth existed, despite repeated arguments that this case is actually about faith.

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Posted in Entropy | Tagged #10 cloverfield lane, #apocalypse, #batman v superman, #birth of a nation, #breaking dawn, #cloverfield, #Dawn of Justice, #electric boogaloo, #going down to electric avenue, #hail caesar, #judgment day, #pureflix, #red lobster, #Terminator, #the witch, #twilight, #X-Men, God's not Dead | 1 Comment

Krisha expertly crafted and powerful, not recommended

Posted on April 6, 2016 by reelentropy

Photos courtesy A24.

Last year’s SXSW Grand Jury and Audience Award winner has made its way to theaters. It’s a damn good movie, but not a particularly enjoyable one.

Krisha looks in on a family’s Thanksgiving afternoon and evening. The evening is made particularly special by the title character (Krisha Fairchild) returning to the family after a long absence. Krisha tries to connect with her son, Trey (Trey Edward Shults, who also writes and directs), whom her emotional and substance abuse problems drove her to abandon for her sister, Robyn (Robyn Fairchild) to raise and care for. The tension of Krisha’s past transgressions proves too much for her and the family.

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Posted in Entropy | Tagged #A24, #aspect ratio, #birdman, #citizen kane, #drive, #krisha, #sxsw, #the matrix, #the social network, #wolf of wall street | Leave a comment

On Darkseid and the actual value of Easter eggs in movies

Posted on April 3, 2016 by reelentropy

Dream sequences are the worst. Photos courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.

There’s an idea that’s been developing for the past few years in comedy around reference humor or call-out humor. Comedians — or film or television — will, in place of a joke, simply call out a title and hope that’s enough to make viewers laugh. This is often confused with meta-humor because it exists on the same spectrum, but doesn’t go so far as to make an actual joke. The best recent example is Deadpool, which has several jokes on this spectrum, some of which work and some of which don’t. To familiarize yourself with the concept, you can watch it again with the question in mind, “Did that pop-culture reference actually say something about pop-culture, or just remind me that it exists?”

The Easter eggs in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice aren’t jokes, but they operate in much the same way. The movie references several iconic stories and teases future movie storylines, but doesn’t actually play those stories out.

Since Batman v Superman opened last weekend to several March box office records and critical derision, several articles have come out talking about all the Easter eggs in the movie indicating that Darkseid’s coming will be the primary crossover storyline of DC’s movie series.

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Posted in White Noise | Tagged #Batfleck, #Batman, #batman v superman, #Ben Affleck, #civil war, #dane cook, #darkseid, #Dawn of Justice, #DC, #deadpool, #ezra miller, #henry cavill, #jesse eisenberg, #lex luthor, #memes, #sad batman, #steppenwolf, #superman, #zack snyder, Captain America, Marvel | Leave a comment

UAV movie drones on, goes nowhere

Posted on March 30, 2016 by reelentropy

Photos courtesy Entertainment One.

Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul’s movie career goes on hold today, as his new series The Path, which he also produces, premiers on Hulu. For anyone wondering why such a charismatic, talented and popular actor has been pushed back to the small screen in three short years, the answer is his only starring roles have been Need for Speed and his new modern warfare dud, Eye in the Sky.

Paul plays Steve Watts, an Air Force pilot assigned to handle the unmanned aerial vehicle watching over an operation to capture two of the FBI’s most wanted, helmed by British intelligence officer Katherine Powell (Helen Mirren). The objective goes from capture to kill when on-the-ground surveillance discovers two suicide bombers suiting up. Powell and overseeing officer Frank Benson (Alan Rickman) want Watts to execute the terrorists with the UAV’s missiles before they can leave the compound, but there’s a little girl in the blast radius. Powell and Benson fight Watts over the ethical implications of killing her to save countless others.

For about five minutes. Most of the movie is them jumping through hoops to get legal clearance from government officials played by far lesser actors.

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Posted in Entropy | Tagged #aaron paul, #alan rickman, #Breaking Bad, #eye in the sky, #helen mirren, #hulu, #michael o'keefe, #need for speed, #poop jokes, #richard mccabe, #rip, #the hateful eight, #the hateful three, #the path, #usaf | Leave a comment

Reel Entropy

Melissa McCarthy is quickly becoming the next Adam Sandler

Spoiler alert: He was dead the whole time

On Darkseid and the actual value of Easter eggs in movies

UAV movie drones on, goes nowhere

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