The Way, Way Back

The Way, Way Back

Sycamore Pictures etc.

July 26, 2013

Dramedy
DVD
C-

Bumped up a notch or two for the always marvelous Allison Janney.  Nat Faxon and Jim Rash co-wrote and co-directed.

Get Smart

Get Smart

Warner Bros.

June 20, 2008

Action, Comedy
DVD
D

I walked out of this in the theater, maybe at a point slightly beyond the quarter hour I gave this today.  It badly misunderstands the original TV series (which was itself admittedly hit or miss), most significantly in that Max is not supposed to be clued in to his own ineptitude, and so casting Carell in the lead is a bad idea.  Also, I can see why they might not want to have 99 hero-worship Max, but they haven't found a good "modern" take on her character (played by also miscast Hathaway).  Furthermore, every joke fell flat, when it wasn't mildly offensive.  At least this time it didn't cost me any money to watch the movie. 

Peter Segal directed.

Despicable Me 2

Despicable Me 2
Universal
July 3, 2013
Animation, Comedy, Sci-Fi
DVD
D+

I enjoyed the first movie but this one (which I can't honestly remember if I saw before), while not despicable, has a lot of predictable, unfunny humor.  Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud co-directed.

Battle of the Sexes

Battle of the Sexes
Fox Searchlight
September 2, 2017
Historical Drama, Sports Drama
DVD
B

Although I don't like sports, or sports movies, in general, I do like this one, and not just because tennis is one of the less boring sports.  Stone and Carell do well portraying real figures who changed the way America saw women, and tennis, and women who play tennis.  This is definitely a drama, but the script by Simon Beaufoy is also at times very funny, and not just Carell's shtick as Bobby Riggs.  There are some good supporting performances as well, most notably Natalie Morales as Rosie Casals.  This is additionally of course an LGBTQ movie, with Billie Jean King's sexual awakening handled tastefully.  The '70s music is incorporated smoothly, and I like the sets and costumes.  And yet, I don't love this movie, even on the second viewing (it's one of the few films I saw in the theater in '17), but it is definitely one of the brighter spots in this project so far.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Walt Disney
October 10, 2014
Children's, Comedy
DVD
B-

Well, I was not expecting this to be the first modern movie I'd like on this blog, but I found it a satisfying although not great family film,  Yes, it's a family film that mentions butts and penises and there's a scene with a trio of "Australian cowboy" strippers, but it is about the "super Coopers" realizing that as long as they have each other, they can get through the worst days.  Also, I like that the child actors were better than in many other movies I've seen.

Note that Van Dyke plays himself, and it's one of the likably dated things about the movie that parents are scandalized that he reads a book about "taking a dump" rather than "taking a jump" (inexplicable mass typo), when after all, Everyone Poops was published in Japan in 1977, and '93 in the West.

This is based on the much more wholesome 1972 Judith Viorst book, with a younger-than-12 protagonist.  Miguel Arteta directed.