Ride Along 2 - DVD Review

RIDE ALONG 2 (PG-13) Starring Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, Olivia Munn, Benjamin Bratt, Ken Jeong, Bruce McGill and Sherri Shepherd.
Written by Phil Hay & Matt Manfredi.
Directed by Tim Story.

★½

Kevin Hart da real MVP. Even when the script is bad, the story is cliched, and the gags are lame, he will at least try his hardest to squeeze laughs out anyway. Sometimes his antics make you believe something funny is happening, but he couldn't do it here.

After the first movie, Ben (Hart) has joined the police force, and he and his soon-to-be brother-in-law James (Ice Cube) have a chance to investigate a case in Miami. It's pretty much the same plot as the first movie but in a new city. Worked for The Hangover 2, right? Heh.

This is a true example of paint-by-numbers, cover the plot-point bases sequel-making. Predictable plot, bloodless shoot-outs, and a cash-grab for everyone involved.

The Accountant #1, Kevin Hart #2 at box office

For the weekend of October 14-16, 2016, The Accountant was the easy #1. It had an intriguing marketing hook from the beginning, using Radiohead's "Everything in the Right Place" to focus on an OCD accountant who is also deadly. It opened slightly ahead of Argo and The Town, but reviews suggest it won't quite have the legs of those two films.

Kevin Hart's concert film opened about where it was expected.

Of the holdovers, I'm surprised The Birth of a Nation fell 61% in its second week. Maybe between the brutal subject matter and Nate Parker's controversial backstory, audiences weren't ready to go there.

Next week, I would expect Jack Reacher: Never Go Back to take the top spot.

Opens October 21
JACK REACHER: NEVER GO BACK with Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders and Aldis Hodge.
BOO! A MADEA HALLOWEEN with Tyler Perry, Cassi Davis and Andre Hall.
OUIJA: ORIGIN OF EVIL with Elizabeth Reaser, Doug Jones and Lin Shaye.
KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES with Zach Galifianakis, Jon Hamm and Isla Fisher.
I'M NOT ASHAMED with Masey McLain, Ben Davies and Cameron McKendry.

Central Intelligence - Movie Review

Starring Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Amy Ryan, Danielle Nicolet, Aaron Paul, Jason Bateman, Ryan Hansen and Thomas Ketschmann.
Written by Ike Barinholtz, David Stassen & Rawson Marshall Thurber.
Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber.

★★½

This movie is a little schizophrenic. On one hand, the chemistry between the two leads is enjoyable, and the characters are full of potential. On the other hand, it's really dumb. Dumb funny wins the day.

Kevin Hart plays Calvin Joyner, the most popular kid from high school who, on the eve of his 20-year high school reunion, is feeling like a flop. He's an accountant at a large firm, and he keeps missing out on promotions. He receives a Facebook friend request from "Bob Stone" and accepts, and suddenly Bob shows up. He's actually Robby Weirdich (Dwayne Johnson), a bullied kid Calvin was nice to once, but now he looks like The Rock.

Calvin slowly finds out that Bob is a CIA agent, but he also might be a rogue agent, as Bob's old boss (Amy Ryan) is trying to catch him or kill him.

There isn't much thought put in the central mystery, as the emphasis is on pairing Johnson and Hart together and just seeing what happens. There's a ton of potential in their pairing, and I wish this had been a smarter movie. It's from the writer/director of Dodgeball (which I liked), so it's more on that level, but Thurber has no idea how to stage the fights and action scenes, so the movie is best when it's not dealing with any of that.

Overall I was entertained. I'd see the sequel if they made one. I just hope they don't squander their potential.

About Last Night - Movie Review

Starring Kevin Hart, Michael Ealy, Regina Hall, Joy Bryant, Christopher McDonald, Joe La Truglio, Adam Rodriguez and Paula Patton.
Directed by Steve Pink.

★★½

I never saw the original movie with Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, James Belushi and Elizabeth Perkins. I do remember reading some of David Mamet's Sexual Perversity in Chicago, the original play on which it's based, but that was over 20 years ago, so I still went in not knowing much more than the average ticket-buyer would.

It starts out fine, where we meet Bernie (Kevin Hart) and Danny (Michael Ealy) talking about Bernie's recent sexual conquest, and we also hear the other side from Joan (Regina Hall) telling Debbie (Joy Bryant) her side of the story. It looks like we're going to build on the he-said, she-said aspect of hook-ups. That gets abandoned as the story shifts more into the relationship between Danny and Debbie, the bland couple. Bernie and Joan become the peripheral, off-again/on-again, more entertaining couple.

I'm glad I'm not single. Is this really the order people go in nowadays?
1. Have sex.
2. Move in together.
3. Say "I love you."
4. Kids and/or marriage are still years away.

There are plenty of laughs in the movie, mostly thanks to Bernie and Joan. I wish the ups and downs of Danny and Debbie's relationship didn't feel so forced. And there's something funny going on with movies these days where they're leaving out key pieces of character development. The Monuments Men was a good example of that, and now here's this movie. About a third through, we learn Danny hates his job and wants to pursue his dream. But he never says what that dream is. We see him getting turned down at some job interviews, but we have no idea what kind of job he's applying for. What's his dream? The movie never says, as he later finds a new source of happiness.

I don't mind that I saw it, but it's probably more of a Redbox movie than a pay-full-price affair.

Weekend Box Office - Feb 14-16, 2014

Once again, The LEGO Movie ruled all at the box office, but that didn't mean other titles couldn't find some breathing room.

The three 1980's remakes had varying levels of success. Sony tried for counter-programming by opening RoboCop on the weekend of Valentine's Day, to middling success. Fortunately it's one of those movies made for its foreign appeal. It's already made $69 million overseas.

The much cheaper About Last Night remake (that turned Jim Belushi into Kevin Hart) further cemented the idea that Hart is a star. Endless Love had a big Friday but dropped off drastically on Saturday.

Winter's Tale had a confusing trailer and received terrible reviews, and there's no such thing as a successful live-action movie where Colin Farrell gets top billing (his biggest hit was Total Recall's $58 million, which had a $125 million budget).

Weekend Box Office - 2/2/14

For the weekend of January 31-February 2, Ride Along has managed to stay on top for the third week in a row.  As we speak, Kevin Hart is furiously being edited into 300: Rise of An Empire, and he will now be Electro's sidekick in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Not really, but he seems ready to take that Melissa McCarthy step into stardom. The next Chris Tucker is here.

As far as new releases go, audiences didn't care about Zac Efron's Awkward Moment or to see how Kate Winslet celebrated Labor Day.

I think The Lego Movie is set up to open huge this Friday, and The Monuments Men will be a strong #2.  Vampire Academy will bomb.  Then next week we have three 1980's remakes opening. About Last Night (starring Kevin Hart) should have the biggest opening, RoboCop will open flat, and I can't really tell if anyone's intrigued by Endless Love. Never saw the 1981 original with Brooke Shields (and young Tom Cruise and James Spader in small parts), and the preview looks pretty generic now.

Seven of the top seventeen movies this weekend are nominated for Best Picture of 2013.

Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain - DVD Review

Starring Kevin Hart. Directed by Leslie Small.

★★½

Dude, we don't need some narrative prologue. We know we're watching a concert movie. But my guess is he didn't have an 75-minute set. He had a 55-minute set so we get some extra stuff to pad out the time to 74 minutes so it can be called a movie. After he establishes that his concerts sell out all over the world, and that his fans all over the world think he's amazing, he finally settles into what we think we came to see - his concert at Madison Square Garden.

Hart as a stand-up comedian has an undeniable energy, even if his material's hit or miss. He's at his best when he's trying to explain the different ways he tried to avoid getting caught cheating on his now ex-wife, and there's also a good story in there where he went horseback riding. Fans will like it; haters will not be converted.

Ride Along is #1

Kevin Hart is the next Chris Tucker.

Critics may have lambasted it, but audiences didn't care.  Ride Along is an unqualified hit. Between this and the 21 Jump Street series, Ice Cube is keeping himself relevant in movies as well.

The Nut Job looks awful, but families who rejected Walking with Dinosaurs and already saw Frozen had to see something.  Meanwhile, Chris Pine still hasn't happened as a movie star yet, try though Paramount might. I wonder if they would have been better off calling it Tom Clancy's Shadow Recruit.

Award buzz has really helped American Hustle. Despite losing some screens, it still managed to improve on its box office from the week before.