'You're The Worst' S02E03 "Born Dead"

It’s your typical “nice guy wears down oblivious girl” story, but “Born Dead” takes it to its logical conclusion as Paul brings his new girlfriend Amy to the party, by actually showing how that goes down in real life. 

Sure, Edgar and Lindsay kiss, but instead of her realizing the right guy was in front of her the whole time and running away into the sunset together, it’s presented here as what it is; a nice guy taking advantage of the vulnerability so very apparent in Lindsay, and the kiss resonates in a bad way. Luckily, Desmin Borges’ earnestness as Edgar means it’s not outright creepy, but had you been abandoned by your parents as a baby and been raised solely by wolves and romantic comedies, this exchange would make you go “Huh?” before you went back to hunting rabbits or something. (If wolves and romantic comedies have, in fact, raised you, thank you very much for reading this review. I’m not sure how you get Internet deep in wolf territory, but kudos to you.) This subversion of romantic tropes is where You’re the Worst really comes into its own, and its effect here is more of a blunt clubbing than a rapier-like evisceration.

On the other side, we see Gretchen’s innate reluctance to grow up, and a stronger insight into what makes Jimmy our surly, cynical protagonist. Jimmy is spurred on by a near crippling sense of loneliness and rejection (that hit ever so slightly close to home) – it’s elaborated on here as he recounts the story of “Shitty Jimmy” to an inexplicably emotional Vernon, and it explains a great deal why it took Becca’s initial rejection to get his creative juices really flowing. What has become apparent, though, is that Sullen-Writer Jimmy is completely at odds with Likeable-Human-Being Jimmy. In the end, it takes the aforementioned quote from Vernon to put him right, but for Gretchen, it takes a reminder of her past to spur her to look toward a future. Her friends show up, all right, but at past 30 years old, they’ve grown up and moved on from her. Except for one, who offers an insight into staying the same all your life. She ends up stealing Gretchen’s stereo, and it should provide the kick Gretchen needs to grow up a little. 

There’s no rush, however – You’re The Worst makes no excuses for any of its four central characters, and their open flaws are part of what makes the show and its comedy work. Part of that is down to Stephen Falk’s fantastic writing, too. What we’re seeing here is hopefully the beginning of the end pertaining to this Edgar and Lindsay storyline (though the kiss at the end makes me doubt it slightly), and the beginning of a development that allows Jimmy and Gretchen to move that much closer to being in an adult relationship with one another. 

Living together is only f*cked up if you stop getting f*cked up. Watch the TRAILER for the all new season of You're The Worst. SUBSCRIBE to FXX https://youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=FXXNetwork ABOUT YOU'RE THE WORST An original comedy from writer and executive producer Stephen Falk, You're The Worstputs a dark twist on the romantic comedy genre.

'You’re The Worst' S02E02 “Crevasses”

You’re The Worst continues to follow the fallout from the awesome season finale, and we see the first set of consequences from “Fists and Feet and Stuff” in “Crevasses”. Gretchen’s upset that Jimmy doesn’t seem to want to make room for her in their place together, making her live “in the crevasses”, which is where episode two gets its name. They take a trip to the mall, where Gretchen has multiple breakdowns buying basic stuff for her place after it emerges she has the inventory of a 19 year-old university student, culminating in a tirade that starts off as a rant against the patriarchy and the perils of visible panty lines, and ends with the phrase, “I’m an irresponsible monster who burned down her apartment with a vibrator”. 

Jimmy appears to take a backseat in this episode (and in the one after this) but what we’re seeing here is Jimmy and Gretchen in their natural habitats, and a little bit of an insight into why these two are truly considered the “worst”. In episode three, “Born Dead”, Gretchen holds a party to reconnect with her old friends, while Jimmy is forced to hang out with Vernon after an Instagram mishap. Vernon actually gives us our episode’s title, explaining the futility of human life without connection by explaining his still-birth. It’s a harrowing tale, but only the second-most harrowing one of the episode, as Paul describes the death of his friend’s wife in stuttering, visceral (though completely, sadistically hilarious) detail.

He’s explaining it to Edgar, who in these last two episodes has made good on his pursuit of Lindsay. “Crevasses” involves him accompanying Lindsay to a bar, and acting as her wingman as she looks to get back on the saddle after Paul’s departure in episode one. Luckily, he runs into a gay fellow, who seemingly sets him on the right path, by setting him up with the bartender. It works for about half a day, before Lindsay pulls him back in by having him take pictures of her. Racy pictures, with an uncomfortable amount of barbecue sauce in uncomfortable places. 

Living together is only f*cked up if you stop getting f*cked up. Watch the TRAILER for the all new season of You're The Worst. SUBSCRIBE to FXX https://youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=FXXNetwork ABOUT YOU'RE THE WORST An original comedy from writer and executive producer Stephen Falk, You're The Worstputs a dark twist on the romantic comedy genre.

'You’re The Worst' S02E01 – "Sweater People": Jimmy and Gretchen Haven’t Quite Settled Down In Season Opener, But That Doesn’t Stop It Being Hilarious

After plenty of laughs, losses and pre-written heckles, FXX comedy You’re The Worst made a triumphant return to television in this week’s season opener, "Sweater People."

To recap, last season’s finale "Fists and Feet and Stuff" brought on all kinds of change for our protagonists (heroes may be a bit of a stretch); Lindsay (Kether Donohue) continued her downward spiral as long-suffering husband Paul (Allan McLeod) demanded a divorce, Edgar (Desmin Borges) moved back in with Jimmy (Chris Geere) after a brief and ultimately doomed attempt to show that he’d moved on (lovingly consummated by brutal sleeper hold), and an intense finale ended with Gretchen’s (Aya Cash) apartment burning down thanks to a rogue vibrator. Jimmy and Gretchen took this as the universe’s cue to move in together, and although neither will admit it, the final shot of the two with boxes in their hands and fading smiles on their faces show us that there was a fair bit of trepidation in their decision, and that not all things are going to be rosy for our toxic romantic couple. Also, Becca (Janet Varney) and Vernon (Todd Robert Anderson) are having a baby, and though those two really are the worst, it’s going to be interesting to see how their pregnancy plays out among the group (in particular with Lindsay) over the following season.

For now, though, it’s episode one, and it’s time to see how Jimmy and Gretchen are doing as a couple living together. You’re The Worst is at its most effective when we see Jimmy and Gretchen subvert romantic convention, whether that’s by bringing Chinese food and beer to a romantic movie date or by banging strangers in an attempt to one-up one another. It’s in full force here, as our two lovebirds try desperately to avoid relationship ennui by partying non-stop, escalating from drinking to cocaine to a “new synthetic thing - Belgian” that ends up with them stealing a Google Street View car and driving it into the woods.

You get the feeling that it’s due to fear more than immaturity (though they look almost identical in the right circumstances), and this is backed up by the fact that neither party are having a particularly good time. Jimmy is literally “pissing blood,” and Gretchen’s falling asleep at her job, and “sleepy bitches lose their right to use normal people phones,” according to Sam, who gives her a burner phone for her narcolepsy and swiftly slides hers into the garbage. Not that Gretchen would have minded much; ever since she moved to Jimmy’s she’s had awful reception, but a trip to the electronics store brings up suggestions of sharing a Family Plan with. A sentimental (if not slightly creepy) monologue by the sales person gives us an insight into the collective minds of Jimmy and Gretchen, as they high-tail it before the guy’s even turned around.

For whatever reason – Jimmy’s still smarting from his dalliance with Becca and Gretchen’s parents hint at deep insecurities within Cash’s character – the couple can’t bring themselves to be comfortable enough to actually be fully into this relationship, and though they don’t confront it fully, there’s a moment of understanding at the end, whether they share a goodnight kiss and settle into bed. Almost. They resort to only drinking clear liquor to chase away their nine hours of beauty sleep, but for these two, that’s a romantic gesture on par with the end of The Notebook. Despite moving in together, this relationship is going to need a lot more fleshing out, and the sight of Chris Geere’s Jimmy subtly placing a coaster underneath Gretchen’s mug indicates there’s a lot more conflict in the works as they both really get to know one another.

This episode gets its title from Lindsay, who’s doing okay after her divorce from Paul, living alone and… whatever “assing everything” means. She makes Gretchen vow to never become part of a boring couple as she allowed herself and Paul to become, making clear her dislike of “sweater people”. A visit from Paul, however, shows that the independent single girl was just a façade, as within two minutes of showing up at her house to deliver some subscription termination papers, the couple are upstairs in Lindsay’s bedroom, doing the business. Although she’s in her underwear, we see Lindsay slip on her sweater as she urged Gretchen not to, but Paul’s having none of it; he’s clearly moved on from Lindsay, who does not take this well. Another interesting loose thread from the end of season one was the potential feelings Edgar has for Lindsay, and he drops by with breakfast lasagna to find her in her garage, drinking apple cider in her wedding dress. So much for “assing everything”. An Edgar-Lindsay coupling would scream of “Pairing the Spares”, but Desmin Borges and Kether Donohue have enough on-screen chemistry that this wouldn’t be completely cringeworthy. A nice moment wherein Edgar helps Lindsay to pack away the rest of Paul’s stuff in an effort to move on is tainted slightly by the discovery and freezing of a used condom, but we’ll see what will be made of this sticky situation (pun intended). 

All in all, it’s nice to see the vision Stephen Falk has for You’re The Worst. The show has lost none of this caustic charm, while sowing seeds for greater story developments that I can’t wait to see. 

M. Night Shyamalan Returns to Form in Horror-Comedy 'The Visit'

Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and director M. Night Shyamalan became an overnight phenomenon following the debut of his third feature, The Sixth Sense. To this day, any and all advertisements for his movies will feature the words, “From the writer and director of The Sixth Sense.” Following up on it proved simple for Shyamalan, releasing two more films that received similar acclaim, Unbreakable in 2000 and Signs in 2002, yet in the 13 years that have passed, he has (arguably) not made nor been involved in a single film reaching anywhere near the success of those three. (The Village has its defenders, but I am not one of them).

That is, at least, until now.

Shyamalan’s latest work, The Visit, is a found-footage horror-comedy about two young children who go to meet their estranged grandparents on a weeklong trip. The film starts off in an interview with the Mom (Kathryn Hahn), who has not spoken to her parents in 15 year following a massive falling out due to her relationship with an older man. 10 years later, the man leaves her with their two children, Rebecca (Olivia De Jonge) and Tyler (Ed Oxenbould). Mom has a new boyfriend, and he decides to take her on a cruise, so, after a seemingly spontaneous invitation, the kids decide to make the trip to Nana (Deanna Dunagan) and Pop-pop’s (Peter McRobbie).

But there’s something a little off about grandma and grandpa. No one is allowed in the basement, nor out of their rooms after 9:30 PM. When the kids decide the break curfew, they find that grandma sleepwalks at night and vomits everywhere. She makes strange noises and claws at the walls. When the kids come clean to grandpa, he writes it off as her just being an old lady. 

Unfortunately, grandpa’s not a shining example of normalcy either. One day, taking the kids into town, he gets paranoid and attacks a stranger. The kids call their mother and explain what’s going on. Mom says they’re just old.

Figures.

There’s one scene that stands out among the rest in this movie in terms of both horror and humor and effortlessly blending them. The kids are playing hide and seek in the crawl space beneath the house. We switch between their POVs throughout, and as one is being terrorized, we may cut back to the other, who has no idea what is going on. It’s a great scene that really showcases the directorial skill of Shyamalan. 

The Visit's script is an absolute return to form for Shyamalan, delivering what is easily his best work since The Sixth Sense, complete with fittingly outstanding performances. Oxenbould is especially notable, for giving a believable and hilarious performance, while De Jonge pulls us in as a young aspiring filmmaker who wants to stay ethical and true to her creative vision. Dunagan, however, is the true star of the movie, putting in a captivating, haunting, and profoundly entertaining performance, with McRobbie's character being off-putting throughout, coming up with half-baked explanations for the strange goings-on at the house.

Pay no attention to the trailers for this one. Remember in 2012 when Drew Godard’s horror-comedy masterpiece The Cabin In The Woods was about to be released? Or Adam Wingard’s 2013 You're Next? The trailers we got made it seem as if they were straight-up slasher flicks. Going into the theaters to actually see them proved disappointing for many, as what they ended up getting were dark comedies. This is a very similar situation to the campaign for The Visit. The trailer tries to sell the movie as something that will terrify you, but the truth is you will be laughing a lot more than jumping.

This movie is scary when it’s supposed to be, and it’s funny when it’s supposed to be. The Visit is M. Night Shyamalan’s first step toward a massive comeback. Here’s hoping he can keep it up.

'Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation' Continues Series' Incredible Resurgence

If there’s one thing that Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol proved, it was that it’s never too late to inject some life into your Hollywood franchise even with three installments already on the books. While the adventures of IMF agent Ethan Hunt had always been loads of fun, it was Brad Bird’s absolute joyride that was the first to make the jump from good to great. And if there’s one thing that Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation could be faulted for is that it does feel quite similar to its wildly successful predecessor.

The thing always most striking to me about the Mission: Impossible franchise was its ability to have remarkably different visual and narrative styles but still retain enough similarities to make the series feel coherent. Each new Mission was an experiment in how a new director could infuse their unique visual style with Tom Cruise’s love of practical stunts and decadent spy setpieces (a concept explored in this wonderful video essay by Sean Witzke) And while writer/director Christopher McQuarrie may not continue this sort of radical visual experimentation, Rogue Nation still offers plenty of fun allusions to film history and plenty of incredible action sequences that are among the high points of the entire series.

Rogue Nation finds the invincible Ethan Hunt on the trail of a vague network of underground terrorists known as “The Syndicate,” a group using the same amount of stealth and skill as the IMF but instead using it to spread chaos. At its head is the mysterious Solomon Lane, played with hissing menace by Sean Harris in the best villainous role of the series since Philip Seymour Hoffman’s terrifying turn in the third Mission. So to combat that threat, Hunt has to reunite the old team once again, including the hysterical Simon Pegg as Benji (finally given plenty to do in Rogue Nation, his third outing), as well as Ving Rhames’ Luther and Jeremy Renner’s Brandt.

As fun as it is to see the old faces again, the real star here is the new arrival of Rebecca Ferguson, who plays the illusive Ilsa Faust, a seemingly rogue MI6 agent practiced at the art of deception. In a refreshing change of pace from many modern roles for women in action blockbusters, Faust is given free reign to be interesting, layered and, above all, kickass. Sexy but never defined by her sexuality, the movie takes the time to let her develop nuance and make a memorable addition to Ethan Hunt’s accomplices he’s acquired over the years. (And, as an aside, having her named Ilsa and placing the action in Casablanca is a reference too lovely not to grin at.)   

Just as important as the team in a Mission: Impossible movie is the increasingly madcap action sequences Ethan Hunt has to put himself through, and thankfully Rogue Nation doesn’t disappoint. From the get-go Cruise is hanging off the side of a giant cargo plane 5,000 feet in the air, and it’s clear that neither he nor McQuarrie are interested at all in scaling back the excitement or invention that makes the action of this series just so much fun. And while a heist sequence has always been par for the course in this series, it hardly gets more nail-biting than the way Rogue Nation places it underwater and gives the ticking clock even more urgency.

Cruise gives every ounce of his physicality into the role of Hunt once again and has to be considered the West’s only answer to the union of stunt and star that is Jackie Chan. Cruise is still taking hits and taking them hard in a way that makes the abundance of martial arts in this movie feel more physical and realistic. He’s still rolling off motorcycles, flipping cars and taking very ill-advised jumps because he is Ethan Hunt, and he’s the only man who can do what he does. Thematically, it’s so rewarding because he is at his most interesting when he’s at his lowest point, and the more Cruise ages the more interesting it is to see him get up again after each fall.

But if the film had to be boiled down into a single sublime sequence it would have to be the night at the opera that introduces Hunt to the true threat of the Syndicate as well as Faust’s involvement in it. In a very overt and masterful homage to Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much, Hunt has to foil an assassination attempt on the Austrian chancellor while scaling the backstage catwalks amid the crescendos of the Vienna opera. Shot by the incomparable Robert Elswit and with some really tight editing from Eddie Hamilton, it’s the wonderfully orchestrated high point in a movie full of amazing setpieces.

While Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel in a series that has benefitted greatly from big risks, it does take some of the best elements from the previous entries and distill them into a supremely entertaining whole. By combining the twisty espionage of De Palma’s first, the kinetic action of John Woo’s second, the sadistic villain in Abrams’ third, and the themes of Ethan Hunt’s aging first explored by Brad Bird in Ghost Protocol, Rogue Nation delivers another wholly satisfying entry into a franchise that continues to intrigue and excite with every turn. Just try not to smile the entire time.

'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.' Is Sleek Spy Fun

Set during the chic, sleek Sixties at the height of the Cold War, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. marks the first return of indie-British-turned-Hollywood director Guy Ritchie since his big budget adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes franchise. Based on the 1960s television series of the same name, U.N.C.L.E. follows American secret agent Napoleon Solo (Man of Steel’s Henry Cavill) and his Russian counterpart Ilya Kuryakin (The Social Network’s Armie Hammer) as they have to put aside their countries’ differences to protect the lovely Gabby Teller (Ex Machina’s Alicia Vikander) and try to find her missing father who may be hiding nuclear secrets key to both sides of the Cold War.
 
            Combining three of the hottest tickets in Hollywood at the moment in its three lead roles, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is a whizz-fizz of a spy thriller, disappearing in a puff of smoke almost as soon as it enters your brain. It’s a rush of beautiful people in beautiful locations with plenty of charm to spare, even if there isn’t an entirely substantive reason for the whole shebang. And while all three leads acquit themselves quite admirably, trading quips and barbs with ease, the film really shines when its focus turns on the rapport of Cavill and Hammer, with Cavill being U.N.C.L.E.’s true standout. The brilliantly cheeky homoerotcism of the whole affair is a nice little play on the buddy cop formula, and I have to admit, the film does get a lot more fun when you imagine Cavill and Hammer are in fact in love with each other.

While the set pieces feel relatively smaller in scale compared to most summer blockbuster fare, the fun lies more in how Ritchie infuses them with his trademark sense of black humor and just enjoying the rapport that is built between Cavill and Hammer.  Whether it’s the tables turning on the Nazi torture scientist or the delightful boat sequence where Cavill decides to have some lunch, the small scale is overcome by the unique execution.
 
As an adaptation of a Sixties spy television series, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. succeeds in translating that kind of tone and charm into big screen laughs and thrills, even if it never reaches the dizzying heights that made a series like Mission: Impossible certified box-office gold. That being said, it's easy to tell that in less playful hands this material could’ve scraped the bottom of the Bond barrel, but luckily coasts by on the merit of snappy one-liners and a sexy cast instead.

'Paper Towns' Doesn't Quite Live up to What John Green Had Mapped Out

When Paper Towns came out many people flocked to the theaters with a pack of tissues in hand expecting to see a movie similar to The Fault in Our Stars, but this film is not a tear-jerking teenage melodrama quite like Green’s previous work. Behind the plot of a missing girl and a boy’s determination to find her is a genuine true-to-life story about a group of kids who don’t have it all figured out, but they sure as hell are trying. After selling millions of copies, the novel debuted as #5 on The New York Times Bestsellers List. But did the film reach its full potential?

A paper town is not a real place but rather a nonexistent location put on a map by its creator to protect against copyright infringement – if the town is found on another map they would know it was copied. In the author’s note of the novel John Green says it is the idea of “creating something that other people want to make real,” which largely sums up leading (though absent for most of the film) lady Margo Roth Spiegelman’s driving force of motivation in life. Margo (played by model and St. Vincent’s girlfriend, Cara Delevingne) is the It-Girl at Jefferson High School, with a hundred stories winding the rumor mill about her many adventures on the East Coast. As well as being the most popular girl at school, she also lives across the street from awkward and straight-edged Quentin (Nat Wolff), the film's leading man. Quentin’s initial monologue explains the many miracles of life and his belief that everyone is entitled to at least one of these miracles during their lifetime. Endearingly, Quentin considers living near Margo to be his.

The two were childhood friends before their lives took different paths and drifted away from each other, so when Margo crawls through his bedroom window a few weeks before graduation and convinces him to join her for a night of revenge, he can hardly refuse her persistent charms. She persuades him to perform epic pranks including vandalism and breaking and entering – basically the most eventful night young Quentin has ever had. “That’s the way you should feel your whole life!” Margo lectures Quentin.  His head spinning with excitement, he goes to bed unaware that his childhood crush would go missing the very next day, gone to exile herself in an attempt to make her very own paper town real. 

Aided with the clues Margo left behind, he sets out on an cross-country adventure with his best friends, Ben (Austin Abrams) and Radar (Justice Smith), traveling 1200-miles to upstate new york to find Margo and her new, fictional place of residence, risking the possibility of missing prom.

Prom? What started out as a promising tale of self-discovery disappointed me when they made the stakes so mundanely low, ultimately condemning Paper Towns to be a typical teen flick. It contains all the elements of an average teen movie: Kids sneaking out, cool kids conspiring with nerds, a complete lack of adult supervision, a wild party, and, of course, a Senior Prom in jeopardy. With the only real risk being the possibility of missing prom as opposed to graduation itself as it was in the original text, screenplay adaptors Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber did not give Paper Towns much room to grow. 

Another example of exaggerated low-stakes is the overly dramatic scene during the road trip at the gas station. With only six minutes to fill the car with gas, buy some food and grab a change of clothes, the trio of teens, now joined by Radar’s girlfriend Angela (Jaz Sinclair) and Margo’s best friend Lacey (Halston Sage), sprint out the convenience store and pile into the car with Quentin doing a cute little spin over the hood. I understand the need to represent a time crunch, but the scene comes off as being overemphasized.

Though not solely the fault of Shreier who does try to take advantage of slower scenes in between for character development, the cast still feels paper-thin. Quentin starts out as a work-obsessed geek who is loyal to rules and restrictions and ends the movie with hope for the future, marveling in the revelation that Margo was never more than a girl (“What a treacherous thing it is to believe a person is more than a person”). This is a revelation he would not have come to terms with if not for Manic Pixie Dream Girl, Margo Roth Spiegelman. 

According to film critic Nathan Rabin, a Manic Pixie Dream Girl (MPDG) is a cute and quirky, female romantic lead  “that exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures.” Here lies the neat and tidy description of Margo’s role in Paper Towns. The problem with characters like Margo is that she only exists as a means to aid the young white male on his own road to discovery.  Paper Towns’ story arc inched along until it eventually dropped off at the discovery of Margo, and seeing as we never find out what she intends to do with her life (let alone where she lives), one can’t help but feel the filmmakers simply used the trope of a confused young girl as an easy plot-device. But hey, as Margo said, “Everything is uglier up close.”

One can appreciate Paper Towns with nostalgia for high school days, but with that being said, I would have enjoyed the film a lot more if I was still fifteen years old. By leaving out so much of the novel, Shreier’s adaptation failed to fully realize the inspiring, coming-of-age story John Green had mapped out.

Tiny Hero Makes Big Screen Debut in 'Ant-Man'

Ant-Man is a refreshing new spin on a totally lame superhero. When I heard they were making an Ant-Man movie I hopped on the phone with my buddy and we jabbed at it all night. Really? Another superhero movie? And it's Ant-Man? I assumed they would have dragged any other superhero off the Marvel line up before they chose him for a film. But when I sat down with my overpriced 3D glasses and bucket of Sprite, I came to realize that my money was well spent.

As opposed to its competitor, DC, Marvel has always taken a more scientific approach with its heroes, making them more realistic. In this case, we have Dr. Pym (Michael Douglass), who created the Pym Particle, a chemical substance that powers the Ant-Man suit and allows the wearer the ability to shrink and grow on a whim. Worried that this power could fall into the wrong hands when Darren Cross (Corey Stoll), Dr. Pym’s former protégé, threatens to re-create the Ant-Man suit and sell it to the highest bidder, Pym enlists Scott Lang (Michael Rudd) to take on the heroic role as the new Ant-Man. So we have a rich man with a robotic suit that empowers him superhero abilities. Sound familiar?

Fortunately, Peyton Reed was able to direct the quirky film with a slightly different direction than the average Marvel film, thanks to the clever writing of Edgar Wright. Plenty of fun-sized puns are planted throughout the film, with Wright playing on Ant-Man’s abilities with hidden puns like Cassie’s nickname ‘Peanut,’ as well as sending in Michael Peña as comic relief singing “It’s A Small World” during the heist.

Speaking of Michael Peña, he gave a fantastic performance as the happy-go-lucky Louis, Scott Lang’s old cellmate and partner in crime. I appreciated the fact that Louis was not the stereotypical Latino ex-con; though Louis’ lingo and slang could be considered stereotypical, his behavior and actions weren’t (when he proposes the first heist of the film to Lang, for example, he mentions a tip he got from a friend while at a wine tasting). These genius Wright-written add-ons give Louis a depth of character that exceeds the typical image of Hispanic men painted by mainstream cinema, creating somewhat of a sophisticated associate for Lang, rather than just a goofy sidekick.

Ant-Man's real breadwinner, however, is the unique set of fight scenes that can only be created with an insect-sized man. No other superhero movie can rightfully boast about their inventive battles inside a child's bedroom, let alone the crazy awesome macro photography used to capture bite-sized combat sequences on a toy train track. The hard work of hundreds of visual effects artists did not go unnoticed during the hilarious fight scene with the Avenger, Falcon (Anthony Mackie). Using his abilities to shrink and grow it appeared as if Ant-Man was disappearing and reappearing to the human eye.

Without a threat of the world ending looming over them, the stakes were seemingly low, though this is refreshing compared to the city-crushing blockbusters we’re used to when it comes to Marvel. It’s almost as if even the stakes themselves were a joke about being small.

'Jurassic World' is Rousing Summer Fun

With the original becoming one of the most successful and influential blockbusters of all time, the Jurassic Park franchise seemed as extinct as the dinosaurs it brought back to life after a string of truly disappointing sequels that were all horrific attempts to recapture the Spielberg-ian magic that sparked the original.

So with all of the remakes and sequels abounding these days, the idea of another "soft reboot" of the dinosaur park adventure could certainly seem like little more than a cynical cash grab, designed to be yet another blockbuster that keeps pushing the envelope in terms of mayhem. However, Jurassic World proves both that there's still some magic left in the dinosaurs we saw 22 years ago and that these creatures can still inspire awe and excitement in the hearts of all moviegoers.

Jurassic World transports us back to a completely revamped Isla Sorna, this time a functioning and beautiful theme park with all of the shows and attractions that John Hammond imagined all those years ago. It’s the culmination of the promise of the original film and it’s breathtaking to see the park many of us could only dream about, even if we already know that something has to go wrong in order for this new movie to exist.

Knowing that its audience is aware of the incoming disaster, Jurassic World becomes a meta-commentary on the movie itself by posing the idea that people will get bored by the dinosaurs unless they become bigger, badder, and scarier. Not only does this new “Indominus Rex” exist to draw in more ticket-buyers at the theme park, but it also puts the butts in seats for the movie itself.

Subscribe to TRAILERS: http://bit.ly/sxaw6h Subscribe to COMING SOON: http://bit.ly/H2vZUn Like us on FACEBOOK: http://goo.gl/dHs73 Follow us on TWITTER: http://bit.ly/1ghOWmt Jurassic World Official Movie Clip #1 - Alive (2015) - Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard Movie HD Twenty-two years after the events of Jurassic Park, Isla Nublar now features a fully functioning dinosaur theme park, Jurassic World, as originally envisioned by John Hammond.

The movie revolves around Owen (Chris Pratt), an ex-Navy guy brought in to study dinosaur behavior and train Velociraptors; Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard), an uptight corporate b-word (probably the film’s most offensive character in terms of portrayals of gender); and her two nephews Zach and Gray, who have been shipped off to the theme park while their parents sort out their divorce. None of them are remotely deep characters, but it’s never really important, simply because they are vehicles to make us care about what’s happening, and I would argue the same is true for the original Jurassic Park. As long as the audience cares just enough about them, the movie doesn’t lose their attention.

So while the cast of human characters at the center of the movie feels a little thinly sketched, and many of the expository dialogue scenes at the beginning inspire more eye-rolls than anything else, it all feels in service of telling a really entertaining blockbuster story. Even if they feel flat they’re inherently likable, and as much as some scenes evoked chuckles, Jurassic World plays everything out with such earnestness it always comes off as harmless and even charming.

The silly scenes at the beginning—specifically Owen’s first exchange with Claire at his “bungalow” and his first scene discussing the weaponization of Velociraptors with Vincent D’Onofrio’s Hoskins—are balanced out by things like the thrilling chase in the gyrosphere, which rivals the T-Rex jeep scene in the original in terms of the sheer terror it inspires. Any nitpicks you could have with the film’s logic are steamrolled by spectacle, so it feels ultimately pointless to debate about its sexism or use of product placement (neither of which bothered me too much but are valid points).

In fact, things that seemed so ridiculous in the trailer, such as Owen driving a motorcycle alongside four Velociraptors, are actually quite exciting and never over-the-top. So while the climactic dino fight at the end may feel like fan service for the most part, that doesn’t stop it from being sheer prehistoric bliss.

Jurassic World is populist filmmaking in the thrilling vein of the original. All of the character moments feel earned, and the dinosaur action scenes are thrilling without ever becoming Michael Bay-style overkill. Living up to the expectations of a movie as beloved asJurassic Park is never easy, but Colin Trevorrow and his team did quite an admirable job. It’s easily the best of the Jurassic sequels because it does something we weren’t sure was possible: make the dinos magical again.

Jurassic World - Official Trailer (HD) The Park is Open - June 12 http://www.jurassicworldmovie.com/ Steven Spielberg returns to executive produce the long-awaited next installment of his groundbreaking Jurassic Park series, Jurassic World. Colin Trevorrow directs the epic action-adventure based on the novel "Jurassic Park" by Michael Crichton.

'Mad Max: Fury Road' is Maniacal Inferno

I'd say it's a great sign you've enjoyed the climax of a movie if your gut reaction is to scream at the screen with your heart pounding a thousand times per second.

And I'd also say it's a huge testament to the power of cinema that the image of Mad Max swinging on a pole thirty feet in the air as a tanker explodes behind him will be forever seared in my brain and will never cease to bring a smile to my face.

In fact there are countless unforgettably powerful frames like that one and it's absolutely incredible to feel like we are now truly seeing the Mad Max that George Miller wanted to make. It's a movie where you can feel so much heart and passion behind the camera that every frame feels just full of unbridled filmmaking glee.

From the first frame it's clear that this is a new breed of Mad Max film. While retaining that wonderful post-apocalypse fantasy Miller built over 30 years ago, the 70 year old must have starting huffing nitroglycerin because Fury Road has an electric pace unlike anything ever seen in the series before.

Miller continues his gasoline-doused fairy tale by centering on Max Rockatansky's capture by the cultists that worship the brutish and menacing Immortan Joe, played by the Toecutter himself (Hugh Keays-Byrne) in incredible form. Immortan Joe treats objects like women, man and Miller gives us a little taste of girl power as Charlize Theron’s Imperator Furiousa and her band of kickass women decide to take the power back and blow some shit up along with Max's help.

It develops into a rollicking chase film that takes no prisoners, full of fire and bloodshed and setpiece after brilliant setpiece, concluding with a climactic showdown that even kinda puts The Road Warrior's ending to shame (it hurt to type that). Seriously the finale of this movie is something to be cherished as a once in a lifetime experience that I doubt you'll ever forget. It brought tears to my eyes and I couldn't even believe it was real.

And while bringing the original director back can be a bit tricky and could've been a move more motivated by nostalgia, Fury Road proves without a doubt that it's Miller's taste for fire and blood that makes the Mad Max films really zing. He must have been cooking up crazy idea after crazy idea over these 30 years and Fury Road is an imagination unleashed. From every car morphed into a hulking beast, every misshapen and disgusting denizen of the Wasteland and every deftly orchestrated explosion it's clear that George Miller thought modern audiences needed to see his new vision of Mad Max. And oh how right he was.

I could totally have seen a younger director taking the reins on this project but still being weighed down by the pressure to "pay homage" and this would have been yet another reboot that fizzled and died. Instead George Miller made off with about 150 million of Warner Brothers' money and came back with a dizzying passion project bathed in sound and fury.

While the originals will always have their low-budget charm and incredible stuntwork that stands the test of time, Fury Road embraces the innovations of digital technology to create a Mad Max adventure unlike anything we could have imagined. It’s a beautifully colored and expertly choreographed testament to the idea that practical stunts and digital effects should be used side by side in order to tell the most rollicking story possible.

Miller's fantasy becomes transcendental, defying us to pry ourselves away and come down to earth. It's an action movie for the ages: one that will be studied as a paragon of the genre, just like its 30 year old predecessors.

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