Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, the second full length feature film from director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon is the anti John Hughes coming of age high school story. It has a quirky sensibility about it and some truly hilarious moments. It doesn't take itself seriously at all and it does everything in can to relay that to you the viewer. For that and a few other reasons I give Me and Earl and the Dying Girl three and a half buckets of Killer Korn.













I haven't seen Alfonso's previous other film, The Town the Dreaded Sundown but I have seen some of his TV work and maybe you have too. He's directed eight episodes of Glee and while there is no singing and dancing in Dying Girl, it is about high school so I would say this subject matter is well within his wheelhouse. Based on the book of the same title by Jesse Andrews, Dying Girl pretty much gives all the suspense and drama away in said title. What makes this wannabee Wes Anderson film so entertaining and worth watching are the performances. Greg, played by Thomas Mann is forced into being friends with the dying girl Rachel, played by Olivia Cooke. Greg's best friend is Earl, played by relative newcomer RJ Cyler. Connie Britton plays Greg's mom, Molly Shannon is exquisite as Denise, Rachel's lonely and heartbroken mother. Nick Offerman plays Greg's droll dad,  Jon Bernthal plays the rebellious but caring english teacher Mr. McCarthy and Katherine C. Hughes plays Madison, the untouchable girl in Greg's muddled mind.

The cast is perfect as far as the story goes and the performances are pitch perfect. When Greg's mother finds out that her friend Denise's daughter Rachel has cancer she immediately guilts her son into going over to their house to hang out. Greg has finally figured out high school as a senior and sees himself breezing through his last year as long as he can stay "invisible". That plan goes to shit when Rachel is diagnosed. He really only knows Rachel in passing and would normally not be caught dead speaking to her. Not because he thinks he's too good for her but because that would make him visible, and visibility makes you a target in high school. At least according to Greg's philosophy which is why he never eats lunch in the cafeteria. He instead chooses to eat with Earl in Mr. McCarthy's office. Greg eventually befriends Rachel and their relationship is doomed from the start (so says the movie). Soon Earl is introduced into the mix and suddenly everyone at school knows about Greg and Rachel's friendship, invisibility be damned. Greg reveals to Rachel that he and Earl are auteurs of about forty plus really bad movie remakes. When comes from that is movie gold.

As I said earlier, Dying Girl is the anti John Hughes high school movie. No disrespect to Hughes but he would have taken this story where Alfonso refused to go, even making fun of the predictable nature of movies produced these days. Instead it stays the course of real friendship and even though you are lied to throughout the film, you forgive it because you know what's going to happen no matter how much you hope for something different. Visually again, it's style is very reminiscent of Wes Anderson and with music by Brian Eno and Nico Muhly it's well suited for the odd nature of the movie. Dying Girl is part high school comedy, part tearjerker, and completely life affirming. In my opinion it is worth the price of admission so I recommend Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, and I'll see you at the theater.

Dope

Dope, the latest movie from writer/directer Rick Famuyiwa is a hilarious tale of three high school seniors. They live in Inglewood surrounded by gangs, and these three don't quite fit into their surroundings. They're throwbacks who get their fashion sense from the mid 90's, ride dirt bikes, skateboards, play in a punk band, and get good grades. In other words, they're geeks. Just that alone makes this movie one to see, but what you get is so much more, and for that I am giving Dope three buckets of Killer Korn.











Dope is not flawless, but the execution is brilliant. It's the story of high school senior Malcolm, played hilariously by Shameik Moore and his two friends Diggy, played by Kiersey Clemons, and Jib, played by Tony Revolori. They spend their days trying not to get beaten up while getting good grades, their afternoons trying to avoid the Crips and the Bloods (Jib would like someone to create an app that would re-route you in order to help one avoid gang activity,), and their nights jerking off (at least in Malcolm's case). Rick did an excellent job of capturing the awkwardness of that age with his writing, and Shameik brought all that discomfort and angst wonderfully to the screen. Malcolm is a seventeen year old trying to figure out how to get into Harvard when he's told he should lower his expectations and "get real". He's in love with a girl who is involved with a gang member that puts Malcolm and his two friends in situations that could get them killed. What unfolds after that is pure genius.

Dope is told in such a frenetic way with flashbacks, leaps of imaginations, and violence that it can sometimes be difficult to keep track of all that's going on. A true representation of teenage years. The dialogue crackled (Be prepared for a lot of N-word usage.), and when something couldn't be talked out, facial expressions worked even better. Malcolm's in love with Nakia, played by Zoe Kravitz, she's the fly, light skin, long braid and bright red lipstick wearing girl that fit the mold of all the gang movies from the 90's. She's somewhat involved with Dom, played by rapper Rakim Myers aka A$ap Rocky. Dom works for Austin Jacoby, played by the incredibly talented Roger Guenveur Smith and after a drug deal get's interrupted, Malcolm ends up working for him as well. The funny/ironic part of that relationship is something I won't divulge, but how it all works out will have your head spinning.

Dope's soundtrack is just that, DOPE! Comprised of classic 90's hip hop featuring everyone from Tribe Called Quest to Digable Planets to Public Enemy to Naughty By Nature to Digital Underground. The soundtrack will definitely take you back. Narrated by the velvet tones of Oscar winner Forest Whitaker adds to the hilarity of the movie, and some scenes will bring tears to your eyes. There is a turning point in Malcolm's life that makes the movie solid, and the ending will have you applauding and nodding your head in approval. As I said, Dope is not without its flaws (too frenetically paced at times, unresolved story lines, hollow secondary characters) but you can forgive the flaws because Rick always brings it back to what matters the most, the growth and friendship between Malcolm, Diggy, and Jib. With Sean "Puffy" Combs, Pharrell Williams, and Forrest Whitaker all listed as producers, Dope shows that when powerful Black men come together they can make magic happen. Let's hope Dope is just the beginning of something special. I loved everything about this movie, and if you give it a chance, you might as well. Dope is worth seeing, and I'll see you at the theater.

Jurassic World

Jurassic World, the second full length movie from writer/director Colin Trevorrow is a bland excuse for a summer movie. If this movie were not called Jurassic World or produced by Steven Spielberg, I doubt anyone would see it. Because of the weak execution of this $150 million budgeted film I can only bring myself to give it one bucket of Killer Korn.












Only in the mythical, magical, fairytale land known as Hollywood can a man go from doing one full length feature film entitled Safety Not Guaranteed, a film that only grossed $4 million dollars, to being handed a check for $150 million dollars and be put in charge of the next leg of the Jurassic Park franchise. I didn't see Safety and after watching Jurassic World, I have no desire to. Jurassic World was a predictable, tepid film with muddled dialogue and ridiculous stretches of the imagination. Now don't get me wrong, on the shits and giggles scale this movie rates decently despite the plot holes, but I need more than mere shits and giggles to think a movie is good, especially a movie I have to pay to see. This movie wasn't worth the money in my opinion.

Starring the talentless Chris Pratt as the dinosaur whisperer/wrangler Owen who works at Jurassic World, all he does throughout the movie is squint and recite trite dialogue. Bryce Dallas Howard shows up in her first film since 2012 as Claire, the ice queen in charge of the park who seemed to forget that dinosaurs were somewhat intelligent creatures. Vincent D'Onofrio plays the idiot Hoskins, the man in charge of Jurassic World's private security and has grand plans for the Raptors. Ty Simpkins and Nick Robinson play the obligatory kids Gray and Zach respectfully, Irrfan Khan plays billionaire Simon Misrani, the man who owns the park, and BD Wong reprising his role from the original film as Dr. Henry Wu. Wu creates a dinosaur that can outsmart humans, communicate with other dinosaurs, and kills for sport. Claire and company wanted to up the wow factor for fans of the park and that was done with the Indominus Rex. A hybrid dinosaur that is part Raptor and Tyrannosaurus and has the ability to hide from the human eye AND thermal detection (exactly, not a good idea).

I was not impressed at all by Jurassic World, nor was I surprised by anything either. The best part of the film was the end and even that forced you to suspend your intelligence (not that watching man made dinosaurs fight in a theme park hasn't already made you do that). I expected more and I expected better (Spielberg's name was attached after all) but I was sorely disappointed when the credits rolled. The score by Michael Giacchino was uninspiring to put it mildly. He's done far better scores in his day and this one will definitely not win him another Oscar. Oscar nominated cinematographer John Schwartzman did a good job of capturing the live action against a green screen backdrop so no complaints there but overall the movie Jurassic World isn't worth the price of admission. I suggest you skip it and skip if hard. I'll see you at the theater.

entourage

entourage, the latest film from writer/director Doug Ellin is one of those movies that didn't have to be made. In fact I am still scratching my head as to why it was. I knew of no one clamoring for an entourage movie so I'm leaning towards cash grab. There was nothing at all profound about the film but since there was never anything profound about the show that was no surprise. That being said I give this pile of dung one bucket of Killer Korn.

Making a movie based on a TV show is always a complicated situation. Those behind it have to hope for two things to happen, 1- that the fans of the show are willing to pay to see a movie that they once saw for virtually pennies and 2- those that never watched the show will put their ten plus dollars down for a ticket. It's a tricky proposition to say the least and one that has rarely ever paid off. So I don't know what made the producers of the show think that a thirty million dollar movie of entourage was going to be a successful box office venture but they did and here I am, reviewing this shit. There is nothing to this movie that you haven't seen before if you watched the show. 

Turtle, played by Jerry Ferrara is still driving even though they want you to buy his mini-mogul, millionaire status. Eric, played by Kevin Connolly is still the simpering emotional basket case, baby sitter/manager of movie star Vincent Chase played by Adrian Grenier. Ari Gold, played by the talented Jeremy Piven is no longer representing Vincent as his agent, he is now the head of a studio who's life depends on Vincent's latest movie (nothing new there). That leaves the still looking for a role, amazingly stupid manchild Johnny Drama, played by Kevin Dillon. If you were wondering if this movie would stray from the TV show in anyway don't worry, it doesn't.

And that's the main problem with this movie. There is NO growth in any of these fictional characters so if you didn't watch the show or like it, don't let your curiosity entice you to go. If you did watch and liked/loved what you saw then by all means get down to your nearest cineplex. My issue with the show was I grew tired of these four white boys fucking their way through LA while continuing to get lucky in the movie business. That is continued in the movie which is nothing but another episode of the show. Entourage is fluff and for that, this could have been aired on HBO as a two hour movie instead of making you buy a ticket to see it (hence why I'm leaning towards cash grab). Vincent wants to direct his latest movie Hyde and needs more money to complete the already over budget $100 million dollar project from Ari. Ari has to beg, cajole, charm, and threaten his way to getting that money and loses his job in the process. Sounds familiar? If you watched ANY episode of the show then I'm sure it does. 

Entourage is a movie worth skipping. If you want to see the boys live that lavish Hollywood lifestyle and see all the hot women they run through then sign up for HBOGo and re-watch every single episode again for pennies. Don't spend money to buy a ticket to watch another episode just because it's in a movie theater, it's pointless. It's predictable and saddled with an ending that you see coming from a mile and a half away. Skip it and see something else. If you do go see it, don't say you weren't warned.