Movie Reviews - Booksmart

Director: Olivia Wilde
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 103 minutes
Year: 2019
Starring: Kaitlyn Dever, Beanie Feldstein, Jessica Williams, Jason Sudeikis, Lisa Kudrow, Will Forte, Diana Silvers, Billy Lourd

Description: On the eve of their high school graduation, two academic superstars and best friends realize they should have worked less and played more. Determined not to fall short of their peers, the girls try to cram four years of fun into one night.

Review: Molly and Amy are not popular at their high school, but they really don’t care about that. The two girls can be found in libraries in the weekends and never at their classmates’ parties. But that’s okay, because in the end they will be the ones going to prestige colleges. When Molly finds out that even their classmates, that don’t care about school at all and party all the time, also managed to get into those schools. And they have let high school pass by like that, without having all the fun. Their plan is to catch up on what they missed out on all those years, but they only have one night to do it in.
“Booksmart” is the directorial debut of Olivia Wilde and it’s an interesting choice for the actress to start with this kind of movie. The genre of high school comedy has, since “Superbad”, not brought us a lot of refreshing movies. And looking at just the plot, “Booksmart” looks like another one of these unforgettable films. But luckily for us, it’s a wonderful film that measures up to “Superbad”. “Booksmart” is clever, innovative, funny and a film with a lot of heart. We don’t only have Olivia Wilde to thank for that, but also the screenplay and cast.
To start with the first: the excellent writing brings dynamic between the two main characters and make it look natural and credible. The dialogues are smart, fast and hilarious. And it constantly avoids expectations and conventions.
The stars f the film are the duo Amy and Molly, portrayed by Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein. Their chemistry is strong, sympathetic and believable. It’s fun to take the trip with them on this crazy night.
Within the genre of the teen comedy, “Booksmart” is a true gem. A hilarious cast and great writing make sure for a film that will speak to a broader audience. An excellent debut for director Olivia Wilde.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

Movie Reviews - Downsizing

Director: Alexander Payne
Genre: Drama/ Comedy
Runtime: 135 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Matt Damon, Kristen Wiig, Christoph Waltz, Hong Chau, Udo Kier, Jason Sudeikis, Neil Patrick Harris, Laura Dern

Description: A social satire in which a man (Matt Damon) realizes he would have a better life if he were to shrink himself to five inches tall, allowing him to live in wealth and splendor.

Review: What would you do if you had the option to shrink, which means your money is worth so much more.
In Alexander Payne’s new movie, this is the question at the start of the film. Paul and Audrey are your every day couple, with not a lot to spend. They want more space and nice things, but that’s simply not possible with their payments. Paul sees a Norwegian professor in the news, who managed to shrink people. A great invention, because you would waist less and everything you have is worth more.
A couple of years after the experiment, ‘downsizing’ is a popular procedure. More people choose to be downsized, like friends of Paul and Audrey. They tell them how amazing it is and how it changed their lives in a good way. And especially because their money is worth more. Paul and Audrey are also thinking about downsizing. If they sell everything, they can live as a king and queen. It’s the solution for all their problems.
After the downsizing process in the film, the movie goes downhill. New plots unfold, which makes to story go in so many different directions. Payne loses focus and towards the end the story goes into another direction, which makes it feel endless. “Downsizing” has such an interesting starting point, but this all gets a little lost.
“Downsizing” is a bit of a mess, but there is still a lot to enjoy. De first half is fast paced, filled with humor and has really nice scenes. Matt Damon is really good and most supporting roles are well performed. At the end, you’re left with mixed feelings. I really love Alexander Payne’s work, but “Downsizing” is not one of my favorites.

Rating: 2,5 / 5

100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 33: Mother's Day

Director: Garry Marshall
Genre: Drama/ Comedy
Runtime: 118 minutes
Year: 2016
Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson, Jason Sudeikis, Julia Roberts, Britt Robertson, Timothy Olyphant, Shay Mitchell, Sarah Chalke, Jon Lovitz, Hector Elizondo, Larry Miller, Jack Whitehall

Description: Three generations come together in the week leading up to Mother's Day.

Review: Mother’s Day is the day that we celebrate all the great mothers on the planet. They deserved their own film, but this is not really the tribute I was hoping for.
We follow several stories revolving around mothers a week before Mother’s Day. Jesse has to solve a fight with her mother, but also kept it a secret that she married an Indian man and together they have a son. Her sister also hides something, the fact that she is gay. Kristen is adopted and wants to meet her biological mom: career lady Miranda. Sandy has to share mother’s day with her ex-husband’s new wife, who is much younger than her. And Bradley and his daughters are still struggling after their wife/ mother’s death.
We had “New Year’s Eve” and “Valentine’s Day”, which weren’t all that great to begin with. “Mother’s Day” isn’t either. I liked Jennifer Aniston, but I always like her. But the rest of the cast is a bit bland. And that story of Jess was just oo ridiculous. She and her sister kept such a big secret, because their parents are pretty racist and not very open minded. And everything is forgiven and forgotten in literally one second. Not believable at all.
I don’t think “Mother’s Day” is film that would make a lot of mothers happy. It’s hardly funny, super cliché and predictable. Out of all the assemble films with multiple storylines, that eventually cross paths, there is only one film in this genre that wins. And it’s not by Garry Marshall (it’s “Love Actually”, in case you were wondering). So if you want to watch a film with your mom on mother’s day, don’t watch this.

Rating: 2/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 108: Drinking Buddies

Director: Joe Swanberg

Genre: Drama/ Romance

Runtime: 87 minutes

Year: 2013

Starring: Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick, Ron Livingston, Jason Sudeikis

Description: Luke (Jake Johnson) and Kate (Olivia Wilde) are coworkers at a brewery who spend their nights drinking and flirting heavily. One weekend away together with their significant others proves who really belongs together and who doesn't.

Review: Ever heard of the term ‘mumblecore’? No? It’s a movie with a low budget, cheap montage, improvisation by the actors and focus on the dialogue. “Drinking Buddies” is a movie that falls in the subgenre of the Indie flick.

Director Joe Swanberg is one of the founders of mumblecore. His movies are about the reflection of life. No special effects, because life itself is spectacular enough. “Drinking Buddies” is a bit different, because he had more budget. So he could have actors like Olivia Wilde and Anna Kendrick star in it.

“Drinking Buddies” follows Kate and Luke. They are co-workers at a beer brewery and are perfect for each other. One problem: they are both in a relationship. Luke is about to marry his girlfriend Jill, with whom he has been with for six years, and Kate is dating music producer Chris.

Wilde shines in this film and shows us she is a very good actress. She is charming, witty and sharp. Kendrick doesn’t show that though, the way she did in movies like “Pitch Perfect” and “50/ 50”. In those movies she really showed what she was made of. Ron Livingston and Jake Johnson are both very solid and likeable. All the characters are realistic, sympathetic and there is always one you can identify with.

The movie is sometimes a bit slow, just like in real life. I think if the pace was higher, more people would have loved this movie. I didn’t mind that by the way, this is my sort of movie. I like this mumblecore genre.

Rating: 4/ 5

Top 5 Thursday: Saturday Night Live Cast Members

“Saturday Night Live” is still the most popular sketch show in America and it has brought us some of today’s favourite comedians and actors. Here are my favourite SNL Cast member of all time.

5. Jason Sudeikis

I don’t know why, but he always stuck. He didn’t really cross any lines, but he was always present and hard to overlook somehow. I especially liked him in combination with Kristen Wiig.

 

4. Adam Sandler

Maybe not the best actor, but a great comedian. I especially loved him as Opera Man, where he sang the most ridiculous songs about even more ridiculous subjects.

 

3. Dan Aykroyd

Dan Aykroyd was a part of the cast in the first four seasons. His humor was intelligent, he could easily join the Monty Python crew. He was one of the Coneheads, the Blues Brothers and off course his perfect impersonation of Julia Child.

 

 

2. Will Ferrell

Will Ferrell is very versatile. He could play characters from George W. Bush, to Alex Trebek and Steve Butabi. And don’t forget the cheerleader and the cowbell guy.

 

 

 

1. Kristen Wiig

Kristen Wiig was one of the most vital females of SNL history. She could be glamorous, over the top and often very awkward. As the female A-hole and one of the Fingerlakes siters, but also very annoying and absurd characters like Penelope, Gilly and the Target lady. Who doesn’t love Kristen?

 

They Almost Made the Top 5: John Belushi, Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray, Steve Martin, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Chris Farley