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Showing posts with the label josh gad

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (2017) - REVIEW

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Another year, another Disney live-action adaptation of one of their most beloved animated classics. This time, it's Beauty And The Beast 's turn with Emma Watson taking on the role of Belle and Dan Stevens as the Beast. It's been a hit-and-miss road for Disney with even its best remakes being just about average and still very much inferior to the originals. The Jungle Book may have killed at the box-office but it failed to capture the charm of the old film so this new outing, with the tons of CGI the trailers promised, looked like more of the same. The film opens with a ball taking place in the Prince's castle when an Enchantress in disguise shows up and puts a spell on him and everyone there. The expanded yet well-handled sequence leads us to more familiar territory as Belle is introduced and a big musical number follows. These first few minutes set the tone for things to come: some parts of the story are stretched longer, other parts are pretty much shot-for-sho

THE COMEDIANS - REVIEW

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In 2015, Billy Crystal and Josh Gad co-starred in The Comedians , a mockumentary series following the collaboration of two mismatched actors in a TV sketch comedy show and their love/hate relationship off-camera. Like a cross between Curb Your Enthusiasm , The Larry Sanders Show and Extras , The Comedians is instantly derivative in that it's your typical improv-heavy behind-the-scenes type of show where you see the two leads clash and deal with various awkward situations then talk to the camera about it. This is intercut with silly sketches from the show being portrayed in the series. Crystal and Gad may not be the obvious choice for a team, which might explain the low ratings, yet they quickly prove that they are a worthy comedy duo and the show is surprisingly effective. It's refreshing to see Billy Crystal enjoying himself playing a purposely more flawed character and Gad adds another level to his usual schtick by showing a lot of improvisational talent, great timing a

PIXELS - REVIEW

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What's that, Hollywood? You wanna make a movie about retro games which would include the likes of Pac-Man and Donkey Kong? I'm in! As long as you don't turn it into a dopey, half-assed Adam Sandler comedy or something! Hahaha. Oh... Yes, just when you thought your memories of Jack and Jill were finally fading forever, Adam Sandler and his Happy Madison troupe are back in cinemas (minus Rob Schneider, mercifully). This time, Sandler plays the ex-best Donkey Kong player around who is called upon to help stop some hugely unconvincing alien invasion with the help of some old friends. We're told the reason the aliens have taken the shape of old video games is because we once sent out game footage into space but the film leaves so many plot-holes wide open that pretty much everything past the first minute mark will make little to no logical sense so you might as well give up on that front straight away. And if that wasn't enough nonsense to buy, we're then t

FROZEN - REVIEW

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Two years after Disney tackled the tale of Rapunzel with Tangled , we now get Frozen , a slightly more Christmassy outing based on The Snow Queen. Another one word title, again in the past tense? Is it the same movie? Happily, it's not really, though there are obvious similarities. For one thing, we're back worrying about princesses and their problems involving unpredictable magical powers. This time, we follow two sisters, one of which, Anna, has the power to control snow, ice and just about anything Wintery and cold. This isn't a big deal until she accidentally hurts her little sister Elsa. After that, their (crappy) parents erase Elsa's memory with the help of a bunch of rock trolls and decide to keep both kids locked-up in the castle for ages. I have soooooo many problems with this whole plot so far I don't even know where to start but I'll just keep going so you can understand what doesn't really work about this movie and then I'll talk abo