The Conjuring 2 (2016) James Wan – Horror Movie Review

June 11, 2016 ~ Vince Leo

The story starts in 1976, with an introductory nod to the case that made the Warrens most famous, in Amityville, the source of a best-selling book and a whole slew of horror movies. allegedly based on true stories. Their reputation spreads to other parts of the world, as the church sends the Warrens to Enfield , a borough of north London, where they set about investigating the home of Peggy Hodgson, a poor single mother, and her four children, whose youngest girl, Janet, is frequently being harassed by what she considers to be malevolent spirit in the form of Bill Wilkins, an old man who died in the home and who forcefully declares his current ownership from beyond the grave. Loud noises, moving furniture, eerie voices, and ugly apparitions increasingly disturb the family until they’re at wit’s end. Meanwhile, the Warrens are plagued by the vision of a hideous demon in the visage of a scary Catholic nun that is haunting their dreams, while Lorraine contemplates a respite from their demon-busing activities after she sees the grisly death of her husband, Ed, in one of these visions.

Casual Encounters (2016) Taran Killam – Movie Review

June 11, 2016 ~ Vince Leo

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Taran Killam stars as Justin, who we meet at the beginning of the film waking up to hear his girlfriend of five years’ voice on a popular national shock-jock radio show breaking up with him after revealing she had a threesome to get back at him for forgetting their anniversary. It seems everyone he knows has heard it, and rib him mercilessly before they encourage him to get back out there and forget her by diving headfirst into casual sex. With the help of his horn-dog telecom company office friends Sammy and Louis, Justin signs up for a one-night-stand site called “Casual Encounters”. However, Justin is unprepared for the kinds of women out there looking for a quick hook-up, from those who grossly lie about their appearance, to those with devious, even dangerous, sexual appetites. Meanwhile, off-site, he becomes closer friends with his attractive co-worker Laura, though his run-ins with the women with whom he’s had casual encounters may come back to haunt him.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Out of the Shadows Movie Review

June 7, 2016 ~ Vince Leo

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In this entry, the dreaded nemesis of humanity, Shedder (Tee) is broken out of prison by kooky-but-brilliant scientist Baxter Stockman (Perry), who has been entrusted to invent an ultra-powerful transporter device that will allow for travel between dimensions. Also on board is the maniacal alien Krang, who is part giant robot, part evil living brain, who sets about getting Shredder to use some strange, mutating ooze to make an army of super soldiers out of the Foot Clan, starting with the dimwitted but burly thugs Bebop (Williams) and Rock Steady (WWE’s Sheamus), who immediately turn into a Rhino-man and Warthog-man, respectively. Krang’s wild scheme involves gaining the otherworldly pieces together to form a gargantuan spaceship, the Technodrome, which is so powerful that he can usurp the entire planet of Earth with it once assembled.
Leading the resistance yet again are the titular quartet of Turtles, along with ally news reporter April O’Neil (Fox), spirited hockey-loving cop Casey Jones (“Arrow” star Amell), and Vern Fenwick (Arnett), the smarmy cameraman who got credit for saving New York from Shredder and gang the last time around because the Turtles weren’t ‘ready for the world’. Meanwhile, the Turtlesare conflicted about what to do about the mysterious ooze, as it not only has the power to turn humans into creatures, but also to turn the Turtles into humans, which could mean an end to them feeling like pariahs in a world where they’re seen as monsters, despite their determination to be New York City’s protectors.

Maggie’s Plan (2015) Greta Gerwig – Movie Review

June 6, 2016 ~ Vince Leo

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Greta Gerwig plays liberal arts college advisor Maggie Hardin, 30-something in age, neurotic in stage, feeling her biological clock is ticking in thunderous tones, thinking it best to go the route of artificial insemination, given her history with men seems to be little more than a bunch of relationships that fail before the six-month period. Through a clerical mishap at the school she works in, she’s introduced to adjunct ficto-critical anthropology professor John Harding, who immediately becomes colleagues and even fast friends with her, then more. Trouble is, he’s married with two kids. Flash forward about three years and Maggie has the child she’s dreamed of having in daughter Lily, and a husband in John, who left his more successful anthropology professor wife Georgette and two kids to pursue a life with Maggie, she’s no longer sure she wants to be with. Unable to leave things in an untidy state by just walking away from the marriage, Maggie’s titular plan is to try to manipulate the romantic reunion of John with Georgette so that they can all come away with how things should have been.v

Popstar (2016) Andy Samberg, Lonely Island – Movie Review

June 5, 2016 ~ Vince Leo

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Andy Samberg stars as Conner, the most popular member of a Beastie Boys-esque hit rap trio known as the Style Boyz, know known under his stage name, Conner4Real. He retained the services of the other Style Boyz member, Owen, who produced the music, as his current DJ (just for show — he plays the music set from his old iPod), even though it’s pretty much all for show these days, as ultra-narcissistic Conner has chosen to go with a whole slate of popular producers (over a 100!) for his sophomore solo album, “ConnQuest”, which ends up being a critical disaster. This puts a damper on his upcoming world tour, which relies on Conner bringing in an up-and-comer for an opening act to help fill out half-empty arenas, the wildly erratic Hunter the Hungry, who ends up stealing the show most of the time. Meanwhile, the Style Boy, Lawrence, that wrote most of their lyrics without much credit and has bitterly chosen to leave the game altogether, chooses farm life in rural Colorado and avoiding the spotlight, unlike Conner, doesn’t want to do anything unless it is watched by his millions of followers in social media.

The Meddler (2015) Susan Sarandon – Movie Review

June 3, 2016 ~ Vince Leo

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Widowed Marnie Minervini lives in the Los Angeles area, a New Jersey transplant, to be near her daughter Lori, who has moved there to pursue her career as a screenwriter. That’s much to Lori’s chagrin, as Marnie, without her husband or any friends in the area, is lonely and doting, calling and texting her daughter constantly, to the point where most of her attempts have started to go ignored, resulting in lengthy voicemail messages about nothing much in particular. As a result, Marnie has gone to other means to try to find someone to talk to, perhaps even to supplant her grief, babysitting for her daughter’s friends (even doing wedding planning, using the sizable amount of cash left by her husband’s life insurance), the Apple genius who helps her with her phone questions, a mute and bed-ridden elderly woman she runs into in the hospital, and Zipper, a retired local cop who raises chickens up in Topanga that could be a love interest, if Marnie could ever convince herself that her late husband could ever be replaced in her heart.

Love & Friendship (2016) Kate Beckinsale – Movie Review

June 1, 2016 ~ Vince Leo

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Set in late 18th Century England, Kate Beckinsale plays recently widowed and unquestionably un-wealthy Lady Susan Vernon, visiting (or, more accurately, mooching off of) her brother-in-law Charles and his wife Catherine with eyes use her prodigious skill in flirtation on Catherine’s handsome younger brother Reginald, who is a man of some means. Lady Susan also aims to get her teenage daughter Frederica hitched as well, setting her sights on Sir James Martin, a man who is also of great wealth, albeit without a lick of intelligence, but he does take a liking to the girl enough to continue to pursue her despite her reticence at his “silliness.” Difficulties abound, as Lady Susan has a few entanglements of her own in the form of Lord Manwaring, who is married to another woman, and a few others near the situation have their suspicions that Susan’s intentions are less than honorable all around, even though her crafty and manipulative ways keep her from being pinned down for sure.

The Do-Over (2016) Sandler, Spade – Movie Review

May 30, 2016 ~ Vince Leo

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The film starts off at a 25th high-school reunion where Charlie meets up with an old friend named Max, who seems to have far exceeded his initially dismal expectations in life in almost every respect by being the kind of “Action Jackson” globe-hopping alpha male every boy dreams of becoming. Max sees Charlie is in a loveless marriage to his philandering high-school crush, raising two kids that humiliate him at every turn, is employed at a dead-end job managing an in-supermarket bank outlet, and lives a life that is in a perpetual state of stagnation — he even drives the same car he’s had since high school, and it was a lemon even then. After convincing Charlie to some out to his yacht for a weekend of fun and sun while his wife’s away, Max ends up hatching a plan to fake their deaths and assume stolen new identities with some big shots who were living the high life in Puerto Rico before their untimely demise. However, with the new identities comes had guys out to get the men they’re assuming to be, leading Max and Charlie to fight for their second lives.

A Bigger Splash (2015) Tilda Swinton – Movie Reviews

May 30, 2016 ~ Vince Leo

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Tilda Swinton stars as Marianne Lane, a Bowie-esque,world renown rock star who is on vacation with Paul, her documentarian boyfriend of six years, on Pantelleria, a small, secluded Mediterranean island off between the coasts of Sicily and Tunisia. Marianne is there for some R&R from her most recent tour, in recovery from surgery on her throat that she is hoping will be successful so that she can resume her singing career. Their “alone time” is soon ended by the arrival of her rambunctious previous lover and legendary music producer Harry Hawkes, along with the grown daughter Harry has only recently discovered, Penelope, ostensibly as a friendly visit, but it soon becomes apparent that they’re seeking to cause division in the relationship for their own ends.

Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) Johnny Depp – Review

May 28, 2016 ~ Vince Leo

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The story picks up as Alice has come home to London for a spell after traveling the world as the captain of her own ship. However, she comes to find that her ex, Hamish, is using financial leverage that pressures her to stop adventuring by handing over the ship and taking up a job as a clerk at his shipping company in order to pay for the family home that Alice’s mother had signed over to him. Unable to deal with the stress at hand, Alice finds a portal in the large mirror above her fireplace which returns her to Underland, where she’s immediately greeted by her fantasy friends. It’s not all a happy reunion, as she soon discovers that the Mad Hatter has taken ill, learning that his thought-deceased family may still be alive, but he’s unable to locate them. To save her friend, Alice visits the realm where Time, in human form (played by Sacha Baron Cohen in a German accent that channels Werner Herzog if he were trying to do an impression of Christoph Waltz), has a free-floating vehicle called the Chronosphere, which will allow Alice to go back in time to make things right for Hatter and his kin. Along the way, she also discovers more information about the dreaded Red Queen’s early years, who, once again, stands in the way of Alice’s success.