In a world full of dower grittiness, it is nice sometimes to sit back, crack a cold one, and just enjoy some fun, and God knows in 2019we needed it. So today, I take a moment to champion those films that brought the fun, whether through upbeat action, one laugh after another, or that silliness that brings a smile to your face.
So without further ado, these are films that brought the fun in 2019. Be warned that there may be some slight spoilers ahead for the films in question. Also, you can click on the banners for the full review.
TL;DR – Unfortunately this is a film that mostly falls flat in-between shout outs to Olive Garden. Score – 3 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene
Review –
For a long time, there has been a drive to find a great adaptation of a video game, and on the whole, the best we have gotten is mediocre. Well, today we look at a film that is trying to break through that history and alas it does not quite get there even though it is clear that all the cast is giving their all.
So to set the scene, in a magical kingdom far away, there was a young blur bouncing across the green world with in-built loop-d-loops. His power is almost limitless, but that comes with danger and one day that danger comes home to roost. As they are attacked, Sonic’s (Ben Schwartz) adopted mother Longclaw (Donna Jay Fulks) helps him flee by giving him rings that allow him to jump from world to world keeping ahead of the kidnappers. Well, many years later, one of those jumps leads him landing on Earth where he watched the residents of Green Hills, Montana like the local sheriff Thomas Michael “Tom” Wachowski (James Marsden) go about their lives. All is good, until one day when he accidentally sets off an EMP, drawing danger in the form of Dr Robotnik (Jim Carrey) right to his door.
TL;DR – A fun episode with a returning great guest star but a lacklustre b-plot
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
Like most half-an-hour comedy shows Brooklyn Nine-Nine usually has an A and a B plot that different character appears in and maybe come together in the end. However, sometimes one of the plot points just works so much better than the other that it can’t help but overshine it. Well, this might be the problem we have today.
So to set the scene, Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) and Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero) decided last week that they were not going to hold off having a baby and that they would start trying right away. Well, things are progressing but everything gets turned on its head when Pimemento (Jason Mantzoukas) burst into the precinct stating that someone is trying to kill him, but then he can’t remember more than 24 hours ago and that 24 hours is from 5 months in the past. Now we will be looking at the episode as a whole so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – An episode that looks to both the past and the future at the same time.
Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
Well if there is one thing better than having a new episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, well it is having two new episodes back-to-back and today that is just what we get. We’ve already looked at Manhunter, so now let take some time to explore Captain Kim, both the character Captain Kim (Nicole Bilderback) but also the episode.
So, to set the scene, with Captain Holt (Andre Braugher) no longer a captain after his year-long demotion, the Nine-Nine needs a new captain and no one is really happy about that. Well, that’s not a problem, sure the captain is probably a spy planted there to make their lives a misery, but then they have dealt with this before … well, maybe not quite this before. Now we will be looking at the episode as a whole so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – A great welcome back and set up for the rest of the season
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review – Sometimes there is a joy in just getting to sit down with old friends and chat and laugh and enjoy your time together. Well occasionally you can have TV shows that can feel just the same way and for me, one of those shows is Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Over the years there have been so many close calls, that any new episode is a moment of joy and today we get to look at the first episode of a seventh season, two more than I thought we would get.
So, to set the scene, in Sicko/Suicide Squad at the end of last season, the Nine-nine squad was successful in thwarting the evil police commissioner, but it came at a price. Captain Holt (Andre Braugher) had to step down as captain after letting slip that he never did his one-year mandatory time as a uniform beat-cop. All of a sudden, the power roles have been reversed and it is Jake (Andy Samberg) giving Holt the orders, and well that goes about as well as you expect it too. Now we will be looking at the episode as a whole so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – A very ambitious film and while it does not quite reach the lofty goals it sets for itself, I give it credit for trying when so many others don’t bother.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene
Review –
I have seen films that have embraced absurdism before, I have seen films that have explored World War Two before, I have never seen an absurdist film about World War Two before, well that is until today. This is a film that honestly I would have loved to be in the pitch meeting for because I have no idea how the hell it got greenlit even though I am glad that it did.
So to set the scene, in the midst of WW2 and living in Nazi Germany we find a young boy called Johannes “Jojo” Betzler (Roman Griffin Davis). In the aftermath of his sister dying and his father being away “fighting on the Italian front”, he spends his days at a Deutsches Jungvolk Hitler Youth training camp with his friend Yorki (Archie Yates) run by a very nonplussed Wehrmacht Captain Klenzendorf (Sam Rockwell). When recovering from an accident involving a grenade Jojo discovers that his mother Rosie (Scarlett Johansson) has been hiding a Jewish girl called Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie) in their attic, which brings Jojo into a moral quandary not helped by the suggestions from his good friend Hitler (Taika Waititi).
TL;DR – It is like this film bottled charm because it was gloriously charming from start to finish.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene
Review –
Tradition v change. It is one of the great struggles of the world and it is
something that many of us have had to live through, consequences and all. There
are a lot of films that explore this divide, do I follow the traditions of my
family, or do I find my own path. Well, today we explore a film that dives
right into this debate with gusto.
So to set the scene, Mordechai Wolkenbruch (Joel Basman) who everyone calls
Motti is an orthodox Jew livening in Switzerland. He works in his Dad’s (Udo
Samel) insurance company, helps out in his Mum’s (Inge Maux) op-shop, and
studies economics at university. He is looking for the right person but his mum
keeps setting him up on shidduchs (pre-arranged meetings to facilitate
marriage). The only problem is that he might have fallen for a shiksa, a
non-Jewish woman called Laura (Noémie Schmidt) at university. Now I am going to
preface this review with a little proviso that I am not Jewish, so I am not the
best guide to know if this is a true depiction of these crashing worlds. So I
do apologise if I have missed anything if it gets it wrong.
TL;DR – It is the moment when
the loss and pain catch up with everyone.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
We continue our march to the final ever episode of The Good Place with a real threat looming over us. No one is
improving and time is not infinite. It is in these moments of pressure in the
past where the series has really excelled but will it work this time around.
So to set the scene, after our two-part season opener A
Girl from Arizona, things had started to move into place. But every
step forward was also a step back. They got rid of the demon in disguise, but
then Chidi (William Jackson Harper) got brought more into the fold at the
further expense of Eleanor’s (Kristen Bell) happiness. As well as this, after
some struggles Janet (D’Arcy Carden) decided to break up with Jason (Manny
Jacinto), leaving more of the group fractured. Just a reminder that we will be looking at the
episode at the whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – This might be the
most joyous, charming, and a little bit absurd series I have seen in a very
long time.
Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
Comedy is one of those genres that is so difficult to get right. Sure it is not
hard to make people laugh uncomfortably at gross-out jokes and the like. But
for something to be truly funny you have to care about the characters involved.
This is how shows like Brooklyn Nine-Nine,
The Good Place, Parks and Rec, and Futurama
(to name but a few) work. Today I get to look at a show that did all of that
and more, but it did it in only 8 minutes.
So to set the scene, we open in Western Sydney in a carpark of the local
doughnut stand Double Dee’s. Bonita (Monica Kumar) and her friends are getting
ready to go out to the city when a mixup at the shop leaves her doughnuts with
Sokhey (Sophea Op). Hoping on over to her car to sort it all out she gets left
behind by her friends and decides to wait there while her Uber is coming. Which
is the point when Nashrah (Tasnim Hossain) gets kicked out of her learner
driver lesson and then there was three.
TL;DR – A great start to
propel the season forward.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
Well, it is time for all good thing to come to an end, in this case today we
are looking at the beginning of the end as we explore the first episode of The Good Place’s fourth and final
season. As much as there is sadness, there is also a certain joy that at least
the show will get to go out on their own terms. Indeed, from what everyone has
said it was a creative decision to end the show at this point and I will always
respect that. Well let’s dive into the weird and quirky world of the ever
after.
So to set the scene, in the Season Three finale Pandemonium,
The Judge (Maya Rudolph) gave everyone a chance to show that the point system
is broken by creating a new neighbourhood to test it out with new people.
However, The Bad Place, devious as ever, did not pick the worst people in the
world, just the worst people for the team, including Chidi’s (William Jackson
Harper) ex Simone (Kirby Howell-Baptiste). Knowing that he could not remain
impartial Chidi has his mind wiped of everything including his love for Eleanor
(Kristen Bell). Now they have one chance to show that everything is wrong and
it is not going to be easy. Just a reminder that we will be looking at the
episode at the whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.
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