THE LION KING

Voices of:  Keegan-Michael Key     Seth Rogen     Donald Glover     Chiwetel Ejiofor     James Earl Jones

John Kani     Billy Eichner     Alfre Woodard     Beyonce     Amy Sedaris     John Oliver     JD McCreary

     What hard lessons for a cub to learn, especially when malevolence is involved! Simba (McCreary as the young Simba) is so proud to be next in line for king, but is so young he doesn’t understand the responsibilities that are part of such an honor.  He sees it initially as more freedoms for him, without regard for others.  He’s impatient, and easily led astray by Uncle Scar (Ejiofor), going where he shouldn’t go and being susceptible to outright lies.  Fortunately, the pride looks out for him, the best they can, especially the hilarious mother hen, Zazu (Oliver), but sometimes, Simba is too much for him, even.  The story contains high risks and tragedies, and although adults are likely to be entertained, it may be a little too heavy for young children.  

     The filming is spectacular (VFX by Rob Legato, cinematography by Caleb Deschanel, production design by James Chinlund), and the varied pace gives the viewer times to simply soak up being in the wild with exotic animals.  Hans Zimmer’s score made up of mixed genres is a definite highlight, sometimes being background and sometimes center stage.

     The story (screenplay by Jeff Nathanson) is mostly captivatingly suspenseful, but has interludes showing community solidarity, loving family life, and Simba’s coming of age experiences and his relationship with his father Mufasa (Jones).  There is plenty of humor too, such as the warthog Pumbaa (Rogen) and his sidekick Timon (Eichner) providing funny “stand-up” routines while being protective of Simba (with an ulterior motive, of course).  

     Romance is supplied by Mufasa and Sarabi (Woodard) in their continuing loving relationship, and the preadolescent/young adult attraction between Simba (Glover) and Nala (Beyonce) when they’re teenager/young adults.  The latter has its humor in the preadolescent phase, when the two friends cannot fathom being married (Ewww!), but then later on clearly being attracted to one another.  

     The Lion King has good modeling for kids, as well, showing them what it means to have community solidarity, nurturance by the older for the younger, and the importance of truthfulness.  I also appreciated their illustrating to children that adults do lie sometimes, so all of them cannot be trusted.  

Hard lessons learned in the transition from cub to king.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

LONG SHOT

Charlize Theron     Seth Rogen     Bob Odenkirk     Andy Serkis

O’Shea Jackson, Jr.     June Diane Raphael    Alexander Skarsgard

     Do you ever wish you would have gone home after the first half of a movie?  That’s how I ended up feeling after seeing Long Shot.  The first part is really, really funny and clever with so many apt political aspersions (e.g., a President who is not going to run again because he aspires to a career in film) and the all-so-real character Fred Flarsky (Rogen), an intelligent nerd (ahem…journalist—but one with principles).  His emptying his pockets at a government security gate is priceless.  And check out that last name!

     Playing a regal Secretary of State with charismatic elegance, Theron as Charlotte Field delightfully out-plays all her rivals.  She is so astute a politician, one has to admire her skill in diplomacy, cloaked in a gorgeous appearance, as she plugs a project that she has been invested in since a budding activist in high school.

     An unlikely couple?  Well, yeah! This is what gives the comedy depth—a real-life situation.  She used to babysit him, and he has had a crush on her ever since.  It’s gratifying that, despite her charisma and political know-how, Charlotte is shown to have a solid grounding in principles of social concerns.  This is the making of what could be a gripping comedy with truth and heart.

     Unfortunately, the filmmakers are playing to what they perceive is the money-making audience, so drugs are introduced.  Ha-ha!  So funny!  But lo and behold!  These drugs are shown to be an aid in a high-level diplomatic negotiation.  (It’s only ever going to happen in a movie.)  

     From there, the filmmakers once again take the crowd-pleasing way out, and concoct an ending that—once again—could only happen in the movies.

     This production has so much talent in its filmmaking and acting components (director Jonathan Levine, Theron, Rogen, Odenkirk, Serkis, Skarsgard, e.g.), and not many would have expected that Theron and Rogen could have achieved such a convincing connection.  But it’s a shame the easy way out was chosen, rather than a riskier, bold, and insightful approach that would shine a light on our current world.

     In the end—such potential squandered on crowd-pleasing turns is very sad.

A fine comedy with potential to make a bold statement chooses the soft way out.

Grade:  C-                                    By Donna R. Copeland

THE DISASTER ARTIST

James Franco     Seth Rogen     Dave Franco     Josh Hutcherson     Alison Brie     Zac Efron

      What a quintessential James Franco production!  Is there anyone else who could take a cult film like The Room, duplicate parts of it, and then make it his own?  Beyond that, it rings so many bells as you watch it, beginning with its star, Tommy Wiseau (J. Franco), an oddball character who makes you smile and turn away at the same time.  A clown-like figure, he lives in his own world, and has enough resources that he can pull everyone around him into his reality, and is genuinely hurt when they start backing off.  It’s a bit sad, too, that everyone stays with him so long as they’re getting a paycheck.  But he retains one loyal friend.

     The story is about the making of a film called “The Room”, which is written, directed, produced, and acted in by Tommy.  (Keep in mind, The Room is an actual film that tanked, but later became a cult classic.)  This story is based on a memoir written by one of the film’s protagonists, Greg Sistero.  So The Disaster Artist is a bit about Gregg (D. Franco), who is an aspiring actor who lives with his mother.  He manages to strike up a conversation with a classmate he admires in his acting class, hoping to get his advice.  Tommy surprises him by instantly taking a liking to him and inviting him to room together in Los Angeles where he has an apartment.  Neither has much luck in scoring roles, so Tommy decides he’ll write his own script, casting the two of them as characters.

     The rest of the story is about the freewheeling production of the movie, with Tommy being the most unpredictable factor.  It remains a mystery as to how he has the money to finance the film, or even where he is from or how old he is.  In addition to James and his brother Dave, the cast includes Seth Rogen, Josh Hutcherson, Alison Brie, Zac Efron, Kristen Bell, Megan Mulally, and others, with cameos by Brian Cranston, Adam Scott, and Judd Apatow. 

     Despite James Franco’s talented acting here, this is something of a “nothing” movie that will leave many viewers cold; although, granted, many find it a hoot and have thoroughly enjoyed it.  I’m in the former camp; although I enjoyed the performances, it seems pretty senseless to me.

The remake of a cult movie that is intended to be funny, but isn’t very.

Grade:  C+                                    By Donna R. Copeland

NEIGHBORS 2: SORORITY RISING

Seth Rogen     Rose Byrne     Chloe Grace Moretz     Dave Franco     Selena Gomez

       Neighbors 2 is essentially the same as Neighbors (2014), except that gender stereotypes are even more pronounced, although the filmmakers try to promote women and gays in a more positive light toward the end, as if to make up for earlier scenes.  In earlier scenes women are shown as giggly, squeaking, sobbing uncontrollably at a sad show on television, and on and on.  They’re depicted as dumb (e.g., not knowing what ‘escrow’ is, not recognizing the implication of water breaking in a pregnancy, and immediately accepting of a man who appears authoritative to them and promises rescue).  Note that all the writers are male, so expect this to be a male fantasy with a few curbs just to be politically correct.

         Granted, men are portrayed as dumb and bumbling too (clueless about parenting, unable to pull off a heist) and prejudiced against gay men, but they’re also the ones with ideas and computational abilities.  Actually, the film for the most part is accepting of gays by portraying them more or less realistically.  I wish they had been as open-minded toward women.

        The first Neighbors chronicled the trauma of a young couple with a baby who is unlucky enough to have a fraternity move in next door (loud partying, mainly).  Things got partially resolved, and now that the couple is expecting another child, they want to sell their house and move somewhere else.  The problem is that just when they are getting close to finalizing the sale, a sorority moves in next door, which makes matters worse (Dontcha know—women are always worse than men!). 

          What follows is the same kind of one-upmanship that we saw in the first Neighbors, with ridiculous ideas turning slapstick bad.  The only time I really laughed was when a young person not knowing about landlines pulled the “old people’s” phone off the wall, not realizing it was attached. 

         Neighbors 2 is an excellent example of a film not needing a sequel, but filmmakers see the $$$ and do it anyway.  They recycle the same plot and jokes trying to refit it to be more politically correct (although they still don’t seem to be aware that the word “frat” is not really accepted in Greek communities at universities).  I didn’t hear too many laughs in the screening I attended with around 200 people.  Maybe it’s not so funny after all?

The not-funny-again sequel to the 2014 Neighbors.

Grade:  D                        By Donna R. Copeland

STEVE JOBS

Michael Fassbender     Kate Winslet     Seth Rogen     Jeff Daniels     Makenzie Moss

          Living/working with a genius is no easy task, as is made very clear in the film Steve Jobs.  Aaron Sorkin wrote the screenplay based on Walter Isaacson’s book with the same title.  From the way the dialog is written in the film, it clearly reflects Sorkin’s style of rapid-fire conversation and arguments that speed by too fast to give them any thought.  In fact, that is much of the film, with Steve (Fassbender) having no-holds-barred repetitive arguments with his closest associate, Joanna (Winslet), his daughter Lisa and her mother Chrisann, his creative partner Wozniak (Rogen), board chair Sculley (Daniels), and many, many others.  Sorkin’s mark is also in snappy one-liners:  “The very nature of people is something to be overcome.”  “Things don’t become so because you say so.”  And the best, spoken by the grown-up Lisa about the new iMac “looking like the inside of Judy Jetson’s Easy Bake Oven.”

          From the beginning, we get the impression that for Jobs, it’s all about him.  He has a maddening way of responding to an assertion with an argument a few degrees off the topic.  To his credit, however, he apparently developed some insight into himself and made some positive changes across time.

          The film covers only the period of time when he and his team are launching the first Macintosh product (1984) up to the introduction of the iMac (1998).  In between, Steve was fired by his board and started new companies, but then rejoined Apple later.  Time is marked by switching back and forth between three product launches and Jobs’ relationship with his daughter, whom he initially denied until he saw an aspect of himself in her (her facility with a computer at age 5).  This back-and-forth between personal and professional at the nerve-wracking times of launches was not a good choice on the part of the filmmakers; it’s too frenetic.

          Fassbender seamlessly captures the character he plays, and I was most impressed with his skill in showing Jobs at his most sensitive, when someone (usually Joanna, but also Sculley) gives him a perspective on himself that he is ripe for or touches him emotionally, as when his young daughter Lisa (Moss) spontaneously gives him a hug.  He grows silent, withdraws into himself, and almost—but not quite—sheds a tear.  Other times, when someone is railing against him, his face is completely impassive. 

          Winslet is critical in helping carry this film and we admire her art and skill, as well as her character Joanna (a composite of three women), who was probably key in holding Jobs together and keeping him grounded.  She was just what he needed in smarts, friendship, emotional support, and basic values, which he sometimes seemed to lack.  Jeff Daniels and Seth Rogen in supporting roles epitomize the professional struggles Jobs had with his colleagues, and clearly illustrate the ambivalence that was characteristic of all of his relationships shown in the film.

          I found the film very interesting.  Despite having some motivation to read Isaacson’s well-received book, a New York Times best seller, I actually never did.  Hopefully, the film is a good rendition of it, showing a truly remarkable man who played a significant role in bringing so many people to the technological age we’re in, but who had his share of human faults.  Amazon says he “revolutionized six industries:  personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.”  Wow!

A tale of Apple well told.

Grade:  B+                        By Donna R. Copeland