Tag Archives: Peter Dinklage

The Boss

Melissa McCarthy is a likable, funny woman. Unfortunately, not all of her movies are likable and funny. The Boss is hard to like and not particularly funny. And while storylines for comedies are often dumb, this one is particularly so.

Michelle Darnell (McCarthy) is a self-made financial success who screwed over a lot of people on her way up the ladder. One of them is former boyfriend Renault (Peter Dinklage) who leads investigators to nab her for insider trading.

After her jail time, she crashes with her former assistant Claire (Kristen Bell) and Claire’s daughter Rachel (Ella Anderson). Michelle tags along to a Dandelion meeting (a Girl Scouts sort of group) and takes over. When Claire agrees to mass produce brownies, Michelle recruits Dandelions to jump ship and help sell the brownies.

The street fight between the Dandelions and the Darnell’s Darlings is a funny highlight, well-staged by director Ben Falcone (McCarthy’s real life husband). But the rest of the film leaves much to be desired.

Michelle takes the production of the brownies to a much larger scale and sells the company to Renault. Later, she and Claire attempt to steal back the brownie recipe from Renault, leading to the film’s resolution.

The Boss is a mess. Not nearly as funny as it should be. And while crude humor is fine with me if it’s funny, crude humor for the sake of shocking an audience, as in The Boss, is embarrassing. And I was disappointed that appearances by the usually strong Kristen Schaal and Kathy Bates’s were essentially wasted.

Unless you’re a member of the Melissa McCarthy fan club and you thought Tammy was a decent film, take a pass on The Boss.

McCarthy’s got talent and charm and she can make you laugh until you cry. But those big laughs and tears will have to wait for another Melissa McCarthy movie.

 

 

 

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Pixels

 

Pixels is based on a ridiculous premise but is executed surprisingly well.

Here’s the setup: One of those capsules filled with samples of our culture was sent into space in 1982. The capsule was recovered by aliens. They mistook the recording of kids playing video games to be an act of aggression. They respond by attacking earth by replicating classic games of the 80s. (I’ve been told that the TV show Futurama had an episode which presented a similar scenario.)

Sam Brenner (Adam Sandler) was a talented gamer in the 80’s but now installs electronics systems. His childhood friend Cooper (Kevin James), who is now President of the United States, calls him to plan a response. No, you don’t need to reread the previous sentence: Kevin James plays the president.

Sandler and James’ characters are not as idiotic and obnoxious as the ones they usually portray. Not to say this is highbrow comedy.

Another childhood chum, Ludlow (Josh Gad), still as nerdy now as he ever was, jumps into the battle to help take down the aliens and their various game forms.

The aliens communicate with earth via a clever series of videos featuring 80s celebrities. Not unlike the hilarious Bad Lipreading videos that have become internet hits, the segments with 80s celebs (including Ronald Reagan, Mr. Rourke and Tattoo from Fantasy Island and Daryl Hall and John Oates, among others) tell our heroes where the next attacks will occur.

For the battle royale climax, another 80s gamer who helps the cause is Eddie (Peter Dinklage), now a prisoner, who trades his gaming skills for a presidential pardon and celebrity sexual favors.

One of Sam’s customers, Violet (Michelle Monaghan), turns out to be a military advisor who is deeply involved with the alien crisis. She’s also there to provide a romantic interest for Sam.

Pixels is perfect for the current generation of gamers, as well as for Gen-Xers who played Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Galaga and other arcade favorites back in the day.

Pixels is silly, light amusement that provides some laughs and has many cool effects. I think it would be fun to pay for your admission with a pocket full of quarters—not unlike the coins you might carry to the arcade—but I’m not sure the kid in the ticket booth would appreciate the joke.

 

 

 

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X-Men: DayS of Future Past

Remember when Nixon killed the Sentinel program that would’ve rid the world of mutants? No? I guess that got lost amongst coverage of Watergate, Vietnam, etc.

Time travel is such a gimmicky plot device. But without it, we wouldn’t have X-Men: Days of Future Past, a film with incredibly good special effects. X-Men: Days of Future Past has its flaws, but I’m guessing most X-Men fans will forgive director Bryan Singer for those sins (as well as for his alleged personal sins).

After robotic Sentinels threaten to wipe out all mutants—even those with strong supernatural abilities—as well as normal humans, desperate measures must be taken. Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) sends Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) back to 1973 derail the program.

Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) guides Logan in his time travel, conjuring up memories of Inception. After arriving back in the day and gracing the screen with his naked backside, Logan meets up with Xavier’s younger self (James McAvoy). They work to spring the younger Magneto (Michael Fassbender) from his prison beneath the Pentagon.

The facts that McAvoy does not look a bit like Patrick Stewart and Fassbender only vaguely resembles the present day Magneto (Ian McKellan) must be overlooked. Also, if the Sentinel program had been authorized in 1973, wouldn’t it have decimated the mutant population way before now?

Meanwhile, Dr. Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage) pushes to have the US produce Sentinels to eliminate the world’s mutants. In a ceremony on the White House lawn, Tricky Dick is about to give thumbs up to the program. When Magneto uses his powers to move RFK Stadium and set it down surrounding the White House, the ceremony is halted and the climactic battle ensues. (Apparently, RFK was moved back in time for the Redskins’ 1973 season.)

While certain of the mutants get limited screen time, here are key players among those featured. As Mystique/Raven, Jennifer Lawrence shows that she is without a doubt the most versatile actor/actress in movies today. And as Hank/Beast, Nicholas Hoult shows his fine acting range. As Peter/Quicksilver, Evan Peters thrills with incredible speed (and a sense of humor).

Also worth mentioning is the mutant Blink, if only because of the actress’s wonderful name, Bingbing Fan. President Nixon is played by Mark Comacho, who actually resembles the Trickster, but is a bit heavier.

With a good balance of exposition/character development versus battles/awesome effects, X-Men: Days of Future Past, adds another winner to the Marvel movie list. Grab your 3-D glasses and get in line now!

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