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Night School

This was a classic, feel-good comedy for the whole family to enjoy. I was extremely excited about seeing this movie for quite some time. After it’s release, I have heard some incredibly mixed reviews. Some think it’s the funniest movie they have ever seen, and some think it was an absolute bust for Kevin Hart. Well I’m somewhere in between.

This movie has some incredibly funny moments and Kevin Hart is undoubtedly hilarious, as always. This story was cute, but it didn’t leave me wow’d by any means. With the hilarious previews, I was hoping this movie would be much more consistently funny and a better plot line than it was, but it did not live up to those expectations.

I think this movie is much better suited for younger teens and the less mature crowd. A lot of the comedy is toward that crowd– which of course, some will stick and make the older crowd die laughing, but even my 12 year-old sisters thought it was the best and funniest movie they have ever seen. I think this movie will definitely have better reviews from a younger crowd, even though it is rated PG-13.

PLOT Teddy, Kevin Hart, is a high-school drop out, but has an incredible job that allows him to make himself, seemingly, as an upper-class man. He has an extremely pretty high-class girlfriend, Lisa, played by Megalyn Echikunwoke. Teddy loses his job and needs to seem like he still has a lot of money, but he cannot get a new job without his GED. This whole story is about Teddy’s journey in going to night school at his old high school while trying to keep his lower-class, high school dropout self a secret from his long-term girlfriend, Lisa.

CAST If this movie didn’t have an outstanding cast, like it did, it would have been a bigger bust than it has been said that it was.

Kevin Hart as Teddy Walker– Come on now, can any Kevin Hart movie really be a bust? This movie is, of course, all about Kevin Hart.  He has his classic comedy and this movie was obviously written for him. If you are a Kevin Hart fan, you will definitely enjoy this movie more than the average movie-goer.

Tiffany Haddish as Carrie- I don’t know if any of you are Tiffany Haddish fans, but I have been a fan of Tiffany since her appearance in That’s So Raven as Charolette. Tiffany is the strict, kind, and hilarious night school teacher that helps whip Teddy into shape. Her back-and-fourth banter between herself and Kevin Hart is what brings the most hilarity to the movie. Everyone in this movie is scared of her, but in the funniest way. We get to see a lot of sides to the character, Carrie, and Tiffany Haddish fits the gig for every layer of her.

Taran Killam as Stewart- Another star that I have been a fan of for a long time, since he was on The Amanda Show. I love Taran Killam, especially his name. In this movie he plays a much different role, rather than his typical comedy, SNL type character. He plays the principal that seems to have a stick up his rear.  He has some very funny moments, but not in the same way as the other characters. I think Killam played this role very well considering how much it differed from his other famous roles.

Honorable Mentions: Rob Riggle as Mackenzie was a standout with his character’s dumb personality and goofiness. Romany Malco as Julian played a man paranoid about the illuminati and everyone around him, who was possibly the funniest character in this movie. Mary Lynn Rajskub as Theresa played a seemingly conservative mom that hated her life, but had an extremely edgy side to her. These three only  made the movie just THAT more funny than it already was with three strong, well-known leads.

I enjoyed myself at this movie, by no means was I bored or wishing the movie was over. I think this is a great film for the whole family to go enjoy together this fall. Don’t believe all of the reviews saying how horrible this movie was. It will make you laugh and it will make you have a good feeling when you leave the theatre. I mean, really, can you go wrong with a Kevin Hart movie night? I don’t think so.

RATING: 64%

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Small Foot

This was such a cute and fun movie, and was incredibly better than what was expected from the previews. It’s a fun movie with a great message for the whole family.

This movie reminded me of a mix between Frozen and The Lorax, which are both incredible films. I had no clue from the previews that this movie would fit in the musical theatre movie genre. I was fairly impressed with the soundtrack and the songs are pretty catchy, just like the Lorax.

STANDOUTS: First off, this movie is FILLED with an incredibly well-know cast, so this movie was already set up for success. With leading voices of:

  • Channing Tatum as Migo: As the main yeti in this movie, Tatum genuinely surprised me. I have never noticed Channing Tatum to be a successful voice actor, but he has done his small share of voice acting recently with The Book of Life, The Lego Movies, and the Simpsons. Who knew that Channing Tatum could sing? I don’t know if this was a known fact, but Channing Tatum is definitely a triple (counting voice actor, quadruple) threat with his acting, dancing, and now public talent of singing.
  • James Corden as Percy: As the main human in this movie, I don’t think there could have been a better actor to voice this part. We all knew Corden could sing, but he adds nothing but perfection to the creation of this movie.
  • Zendaya as Meechee: Zendaya has been the talk of the town for a couple years now, and I don’t doubt her presence in this movie gained a lot of attention from teens that would probably not have seen it otherwise. Her voice has always been so pure and fit the script in the perfect ways it should.

This movie also included stars such as: Common, Lebron James, Danny DeVito, my personal favorite, Gina Rodriguez, Ely Henry, and Yara Shahidi.

I don’t think this movie would have done as well in the box office without this cast to draw in the crowd, but this celebrity heavy cast did make for an extremely successful movie.

MESSAGE: This movie was full of really good messages for today’s time, with messages regarding greed and segregation. It was incredible how this film used yetis vs. humans to truly describe how humans treat each other based on how they look. That’s a really important message for today. SPOILER at the end of the movie the yetis and humans finally learn to live together in peace instead of being afraid of one another and I thought the movie could have, most definitely, ended before that and been well off, but it truly made my heart happy seeing them come together. SPOILER ENDED

I thought the idea of this movie was very clever, as the movie would have still worked if it were about humans featuring yetis, as other movies would have. But the thought and ideas behind this movie is what sets it apart from other animations. I loved the idea, I thought the movie was hilarious, and so did my mom. I’m not one to laugh at kid’s jokes or just anything thrown my way, it takes a lot to make me laugh, but this movie did, indeed make me laugh.

My absolute favorite parts about this film was the intricacy of the animation. As we have noticed in other movies and behind the scenes of movies such as Monster’s Inc, it is very difficult to animate hair to sway and move like it would in real life. This entire movie is about hairy yetis and this movie NAILS it! From standing still to running the hair on the yetis moves in the wind in such methodically thought out ways and it looks so aesthetically pleasing and PERFECT for this movie.

I loved the entire  movie from the cast to the music to the storyline to the ending, I loved it and if this movie was created by Disney, I feel like this movie would have been just as big of a hit as movies like Coco and Zootopia. I could definitely see the plush dolls and toys made. But since it is not a Disney film, I will just have to be content with how much I enjoyed the film and everyone in it. I highly recommend this movie for all ages, from the little ones to grown adults. It is definitely a family movie that the WHOLE FAMILY truly needs to see!

RATING: 80%

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Viral Beauty

“Marsha Day was looking for a date. She got a million subscribers instead.”

This movie is FILLED with mixed-emotions all around. It hits some uncomfortable topics, and DOES IT WELL! This movie was made perfectly at the right time; WE NEED THIS FILM! And I’ll tell you why…

PLOT SUMMARY: Marsha Day, played by Casey Killoran, posts a video on a dating website, looking for a high-end, ambitious, Ivy League grad, and of course, must be approved by her beloved cat, Mr. Kittsy . Once Perez Hilton, as himself, brings attention to her video, Marsha’s video goes viral, getting millions of views. There are, of course, contradicting views on Marsha, from supporters to online trolls bullying Marsha about her weight and how she looks, Marsha receives a ton of media coverage and is picked up by a management agency. Marsha is bound by her management to sponsorships and certain things to say in her web videos. Marsha meets a cute, Dartmouth grad, fitness trainer online named Will, played by Mark Junek, and they immediately hit it off. The rest of the story is about Marsha’s life once she got famous and how people across the world treat her differently.

ENDING (no spoilers): This ending is anything but what would be expected of a movie like this, but it’s exactly how it would’ve in the real world. The movie takes a complete 180 and I sat there wondering, is that really the end? It has an ending that really makes you re-evaluate your life and what’s truly important to you.

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This movie gets right to the point at the beginning of the movie, no dilly-dallying on unnecessary background. NO! This movie is FULL of content and continues to go go go until the credits start rolling.

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WHAT’S THE POINT? Viral beauty hits all of the REAL LIFE topics that we MUST start paying attention to in our world, as social media and money continue to become so important to people.  Let’s start with bullying, cyberbullying or the typical face to face bullying.

  • This is a problem, and this has been a problem since the beginning of time! When are people going to understand that ALL PEOPLE HAVE REAL FEELINGS?! Viral Beauty hits that point, that bullying is a problem, no matter how old you are! Marsha is a grown woman, and people all over the world were blatantly bullying her, physically and verbally abusing her when they saw her in person, and even telling her that she should die. But what this movie has done better than any other movie I’ve seen is that Marsha didn’t flinch. We can tell that Marsha gets upset at these comment, obviously who wouldn’t, but she doesn’t let it break her or stop her. In my opinion, Marsha was the winner in every argument that people online were giving her, because she DIDN’T RESPOND! She stayed strong throughout the movie, despite how much absolute hate she was getting.

Next let’s talk about social media, fame and money– what is an up and coming problem in society.

  • This movie is all about social media, obviously hints the name “Viral Beauty.” It emphasizes how much importance we have placed on our fame on social media in our society. We get so caught up in what everyone is doing on social media, judging and voicing our opinions about people online is a second nature that is a horrible habit! We watch people on social media and our first response is to judge them for what we don’t like rather than celebrating others for what we do like about them!
  • Next let’s talk about fame. There are a couple of cases in this movie that people let fame get to their head in more ways than one. W also get to see how people will do anything for fame, and that’s truly how society is today.
  • Then talking about money, we truly get to see the evilness of money throughout this film. As people in today’s society, we seem to put gaining money or being successful over truly being happy. Viral Beauty hits every point of that. Is it really worth it to have a lot of money if your not happy? I don’t know but Marsha sure seems to have an opinion for herself.

Casey Killoran, Marsha, truly plays her role to the T and is fantastic along with the rest of the cast doing an equally amazing job. This story was well written, phenomenally casted, and an incredibly interesting movie to watch. You’ll laugh, cry, and probably get a little upset somewhere in between. This movie- I would rate it as a PG13, it’s appropriate in my opinion for any mature teen. I think teens HAVE to see this movie to see how our real world is right now. This movie is so important and I enjoyed every minute watching it.

RATING: 71%

You can buy your tickets at either of these links, this movie is going to be released on October 19th

http://bit.ly/ViralBeautyFandango

bit.ly/ViralBeautyTickets

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Crazy Rich Asians

With this movie being #1 in the box office for so long, you would think that it has gotta be pretty dang good. And this movie is just that. Pretty dang good.

With rich culture and hilarious actors, this movie was unstoppable. This story is about Rachel Chu, played by Constance Wu, and Nick Young’s, played by Henry Golding, quickly growing relationship. He asks her to come to his hometown in Singapore. Little did she know, his family is the richest family in Singapore and her serious boyfriend of one year is LOADED.

PLOT SUMMARY: When the two are in Singapore, which is the large majority of the movie, Rachel tries to learn more about Nick’s culture and more about her own Asian culture. Considering Rachel grew up in America, although she can speak Mandarin, she is not like the rest of Nick’s family and struggles fitting in. With many tosses and turns of Nick’s mother, Eleanor Young, not approving of Rachel, Rachel being the talk of the city, basically everyone being against Rachel and Nick’s relationship, and Rachel having to continually try to fit into Nick’s culture and wealthy lifestyle, Rachel has a rough time.

SPOILER!! After Mrs. Young, played by Michelle Yeoh, rips Rachel to shreds and tells her the truth about Rachel’s family history: Rachel’s mother had an affair and moved to America to have Rachel, because Rachel was not her mother’s husband’s child.  Rachel was never told this and always believed her father had died before she was born. This broke Rachel.  Mrs. Young had hired detectives to find a reason that Nick shouldn’t marry Rachel, and she found it– the Young family could not be associated with a scandal like this! Rachel even declined Nick’s proposal that he gave in defiance of his mother.

SPOILER CONT!!  What I left out is how intelligent Rachel is. She is an economics professor at NYU. She beats Mrs. Young in a game of Mahjong while alluding to her intelligence in a speech that she gives Mrs. Young. Then, Nick proposes to Rachel again on the plane to America that he surprises her on… but wait… with his MOTHER’s FAMILY ENGAGEMENT RING! Then the two get engaged and have a Big Fat Young-Style Wedding!

SPOILER OVER

STANDOUTS: As the leads of this movie were nothing less than perfect for their roles, there were some unsung, big-name heroes that definitely contributed to the hilarity of the movie.

Awkwafina: Starring as Peik Lin Goh, Rachel’s old roomate, this character was made for the rising star, Awkwafina. Awkwafina has definitely made a name for herself in the year of 2018 cinema with Netflix film: Dude, and box office hits: Crazy Rich Asians and  Ocean’s 8. In this movie, her character is the comic relief in every scene she’s in and plays a big role in keeping Rachel sane during this journey. Awkwafina makes Peik the best friend we always wished we had and more than simply contributes to the comedy factor of this movie.

Ken Jeong: Starring as Peik’s father, Wye Mun Goh, did I mention that the entire Goh family is hilarious? From making fun of Rachel, to making fun of his daughter, to making fun of himself, Ken Jeong is just as funny as you would expect. Ken Jeong is known for his hilarity and his one-liners in this movie do not disappoint.

Harry Shum Jr.: One of my favorite actors, Harry Shum Jr., former star on the hit TV show “Glee”, got very little air time but somehow still seemed to manage to be toward the top of the credits. Playing Charlie Wu, Harry Shum Jr. only makes an appearance in the last minutes of the movie, but his smiling face in this movie filled my heart with joy although I wished he had a bigger role in this movie.

Honorable Mentions: Nico Santos as Oliver T’sien, Calvin Wong at P.T. Goh, and Jimmy O. Yang as Bernard Tai also were huge contributors to what a big hit this movie truly was.

This movie’s rating is PG-13 for suggestive content and language, but I would highly recommend this movie to any mature pre-teen or  teenager.

This movie will make you laugh, cry, and everything in between. In all honesty I wasn’t expecting much from this movie before its release in theaters when it gained much recognition. I was not disappointed and this movie exceeded my expectations. This is definitely a must see for the family.

RATING: 87%