When Melissa McCarthy Is “The Boss”, Expect More Of The Same.
Like an sociopathic Suze Orman or a female Jordan Belfort,Melissa McCarthy stars as Michelle Darnell in ‘The Boss‘. The film, releasing April 8th, is the story of Michelle going from famed mogul to disgraced felon. After getting busted for insider trading, something she claims EVERYONE does, Darnell gets out of her white-collar prison with nothing but her former assistant’s address. That former assistant Claire played by Kristen Bell is working a horrible desk job & trying to raise her daughter as a single mother. The addition of antiheroine Michelle is not what she is expecting. They soon come up with a plan to get Michelle’s fortune back & make Claire’s life better.
While the physical comedy was plentiful, the story seemed to lack something. Elements seem heavily borrowed from other films. Most recently being ‘Get Hard‘ starring Will Ferrell, who also was a producer for this film. The shining star was obviously McCarthy’s performance as Michelle Darnell. She was a huge character holding together a weak story & decent supporting actors. McCarthy gives herself some of most outrageous material in the film.
Another compliment for the film has to be its instant quotability. Like any great comedy, you need those punchlines that will live on with fans after the film. One of my personal favorites is when Michelle told Claire her outfit made her look like “she grocery shops at CVS”.
Maybe it was the Stalin-inspired girl scout uniforms or the street brawl with rival troop ‘The Dandelions” but something about Michelle running her own girl scout business was fun. “Darnell’s Darlings” turned selling Claire’s mind-blowing brownies into a legit business but soon Michelle’s rival Renault (Peter Dinklage) wants in. The twist are obvious, the drama is predictable but McCarthy’s performance pushes it past those hurdles.
But what was up with all those turtlenecks? Such odd style choice for the character. I was impressed with how many different versions of the same outfit she seemingly owned.
McCarthy’s unstoppable performance as Michelle Darnell is something she’s worked on since her early comedy days. With her penning the script with husband/director Ben Falcone, this is far better than her recent films including ‘Spy‘ and ‘Tammy‘.
Will you be seeing ‘The Boss‘ when it’s released on Friday, April 8th? The film stars Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Bell, Peter Dinklage, and Ella Anderson.
Welcome to the Trailer Trasher. Don’t let the name fool you, I love movie trailers. Sometimes I like the trailers way more than the actual movies. But other times, movie trailers just flat suck and someone needs to call them on it.
What can make a trailer suck? Usually they either show too much or not enough. Or it looks just like every other trailer for every other movie in that genere (here’s looking at you, Michael Bay). Trailers should be original and leave you wanting more like Star Wars: The Force Awakens and not try to be too cute like Star Trek Into Darkness.
To kick things off– I’ll start with a trailer for a movie about a farting corpse which becomes a stranded man’s best friend. Things get weird after that.
I have no idea if this will be a good movie, but boy is this trailer something. It starts with Paul Dano as a castaway named Hank ready to hang himself when he sees the corpse of Daniel Radcliffe wash ashore. As Dano rushes to his new island-mate’s side… the corpse let’s one rip. If you think that’s strange, well hold on it gets more bizarre. Radcliffe’s corpse becomes the Wilson to Dano’s Tom Hanks, but only if Wilson could also double as a machine gun, jet ski, grappling hook, tree chopper and possibly explosives.
So, is Radcliffe really alive? Is it all just hallucinations caused by Hank’s starvation? Who’s the girl? And how does his cell phone stay charged on a deserted island? You’ll have to watch and see.
Originality
I’m torn here. On the surface this is your pretty standard “finding love in an unlikely place” blue print of a trailer. But then the content is so odd, so totally different that it completely distracts you from that same old formula. It’s tough to take that blueprint and make it feel original and I think this one does.
Look & Feel
If Castaway and Weekend at Bernie’s had a baby this would be it. The trailer leaves you thinking this is a buddy dramedy between a man and a corpse without a hint of necrophilia. It makes you care about their friendship to the point you can almost ignore the fact that one of them is a rotting corpse.
Intrigue
Despite appearing to offer something totally new, ultimately I fear the best scenes from this movie are in this trailer. I won’t go see this in the theater, but I think I’ll give it a watch when it’s on HBO or something if only to see how Daniel Radcliffe pulls off the role of a corpse (insert acting joke here).
Wrestlemania has come and gone and while it is the WWE’s biggest event of the year, the real fun happens the night after. Unofficially known as Snarkamania, the crowd at RAW the night after is typically a most vocal, opinionated, and generally unruly crowd and it makes for some great TV.
Quick And Dirty Wrestlemania Recap
A better than average show and much better than last year’s. Highlighted by a fantastic match for the newly christened WWE Women’s Championship and a ridiculous Hell In A Cell Match.
Look at this new Women’s Title. LOOK AT IT. photo: WWE
Divas No More
In a long overdue move, the WWE has retired the ‘Divas Title‘, that awful purple butterfly belt, and the term ‘Divas’ for their female performers. In a short ceremony during Wrestlemania, WWE Hall Of Famer Lita presented the new WWE Women’s Championship and announced that their female performers will now be known as ‘Superstars’, just like their male counterparts. An amazing triple threat match with Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, and current champion Charlotte, all making their Wrestlemania debut was one of the highlights of the show. Charlotte would retain, but a new era has arrived for women’s wrestling in the WWE.
Shane McMahon Is A Crazy Person
Shane McMahon, son of WWE owner Vince McMahon, returned to the WWE after a decade long absence. He wanted control of Monday Night RAW and stated he would bring RAW into a new era. Vince McMahon would grant that wish if Shane could do one thing. Defeat The Undertaker in ‘Hell In A Cell’ on the grandest stage. Shane accepted that challenge.
Say what you will about professional wrestling being “fake”. That is a 46 year old man who hasn’t performed in a WWE ring for close to 10 years taking a 20 + foot leap onto…nothing. Hell In A Cell matches shorten careers. As much of a spectacle as it is, it takes a toll and performances like this display it like few other things can. Undertaker was victorious, but as the saying goes, he won the battle but Shane won the war.
Reigns Gets Booed, Crowd Gets Muted
The very predictable main event ended with Roman Reigns victorious over Triple H with a very predictable crowd reaction. The WWE decided to cut down a substantial portion of the crowd reaction, which was probably not the best decision. The real winner here was Triple H’s garish entrance, which included his wife Stephanie McMahon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDjh-8IB_jw
This entrance is more over than Roman Reigns. Just look at that hair.
Snarkamania Is Here
Totally negating what he said barely a month ago, Vince McMahon is going to give a barely walking Shane a chance to run RAW into the ground and the crowd absolutely LOVES it. Roman Reigns gets absolutely savaged by the audience, but he goes a bit of a different path, stating he’s not a good guy or a bad guy, but THE GUY and that he will be a fighting champion. Chris Jericho, A. J. Styles, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn all want a piece so we get a Fatal 4 Way at the end of the night, but more on that later.
The Realest Guys In The Room Are Here
Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady are one of NXT’s longest tenured talents. Working in the WWE developmental system since 2012 and carving out a niche as a wildly popular and unorthodox tag team, Enzo and Big Cass had the RAW crowd eating out of their palms, and against longtime veterans The Dudley Boyz. Enzo and Cass will be WWE Tag Team Champs, it’s just a matter of time, and if you don’t believe that, you’re S A W F T.
NXT’s Coming Out Party
Enzo and Cass weren’t the only NXT talents to make their debut on RAW last night. Apollo Crews, who wrestled on the independent circuit as Uhaa Nation, and Baron Corbin would also make an impact with their first appearances on Monday Night Raw. Apollo Crews has the capability to be a HUGE star for the WWE. He has the power, agility, and looks to be a champion and a title for him will come sooner than later. Corbin is a big and powerful talent with a chip on his shoulder and something to prove. Both men are welcome additions to the main roster
A ‘Phenomenal’ Main Event
A. J. Styles photo: WWE
The main event for RAW was to be a Fatal Four Way to name a number one contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Chris Jericho, A. J. Styles, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn were slated to compete. Owens would attack Zayn during RAW, thus making it a triple threat but that was not to be. Shane McMahon would declare the four way match would continue with a new competitor. Crowd favorite Cesaro would make his return from injury, the crowd would explode and a frenetic match would commence. This was easily one of the better RAW main events in a long time, and that is all credit to the competitors in the ring. Every one of these men has had massive success elsewhere, Jericho most notably in WCW and WWE, and having a stage like RAW to showcase that to a larger audience is only a good thing. The match would conclude with A. J. Styles pinning Jericho and The Phenomenal One is now the #1 contender for Roman Reigns’ WWE Title.
It is a great time to be a wrestling fan and The Turnbuckle Bandwagon will be here to bring you all of the excitement that it has to offer.
The ‘Merc With The Mouth’ Deadpool Is Back For More Mayhem
As rumors swirl that Ryan Reynolds officially signed his contract to star in ‘Deadpool 2‘, it was announced that the film may start filming as soon as this fall. Following the first film’s impressive box-office success, ranking in $700 million globally, the creators are looking to up the ante even more. The ‘Deadpool‘ sequel has already been announced to feature comic book icon Cable from X-Men.
The “highest-grossing rated-R movie of all time” was all the studios needed to back another film. But the audiences just needed the wonderful acting of Reynolds as the titular Deadpool to sell them on a second entry. Critics agreed as the film sits at a 83% on Rotten Tomatoes; far higher than the 29% of this year’s other superhero film ‘Batman v Superman‘. Ryan Reynolds proved he was able to handle the weight on this franchise after carrying the first film and its marketing. His dedication payed off and audiences will be happy to see him return.
How excited are you for ‘Deadpool 2′!? The film is slated for a 2018 theatrical release date. I’m sure Wade Wilson would want you to celebrate with a chimichanga right about now…
Zootopia’s Socially Conscious Message Is Box Office Gold!
When I finished with the press screening of ‘Zootopia‘, I knew this would be an important moment for Disney. At the time of writing, the film is the highest grossing film of the year so far. I had no idea it would make that much of an impact.
If you haven’t seen the film by now, the story goes as follows: Judy Hopps is a rabbit raised on a small carrot farm. She has big dreams of being coming a police officer is the big city of Zootopia. Everyone tells her “no” but she never lets up. Hopps finally makes it to the police force when she has to overcome her biggest obstacle yet. She teams up with sly-fox Nick Wilde to uncover a convoluted plot of crime & scandal. This isn’t your typical Disney Animation movie…
The critics and audience have appreciated how Disney handled this story; the overtones of political scandals & racism haven’t scared away viewers from the film. As the movie happily sits with a 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, ‘Zootopia‘ hopes to keep ranking in at the box office. Can it pass Disney/Pixar’s recent film ‘Inside Out‘? Could it even make it to $1 Billion like ‘Frozen‘ did?
I hope so.
The “second-biggest Walt Disney Animation Studios release of all-time” is a title the film worked hard for. The film isn’t all about the message. ‘Zootopia‘ has some of the most stunning visuals of all time. Each animal in the film has so much detail; from the tiny hairs to their unique personalities, the creators did masterful work bringing them to life visually. Also the acting featuring Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, and Jenny Slate has to be noted. The actors helped bring these huge characters to life just as much as the story & animation did.
The future of the film looks strong. While no official word of a sequel as been announced, the box office numbers are certainly helping those odds. Directors Byron Howard and Rich Moorehave have also shared their interest in doing a sequel. There is still way more stories to tell in the wonderful world of ‘Zootopia‘ and I hope to see Officer Judy Hopps on another case!
Have you had the chance to see ‘Zootopia‘ yet? Let me know what you think of the film in the comments below!
Disney released a new trailer for ‘The BFG,’ combining the talents of Roald Dahl and Steven Spielberg.
Directed by Spielberg, Disney’s “The BFG” tells the imaginative story of a young girl and the Giant who introduces her to the wonders and perils of Giant Country. The BFG (Mark Rylance), while a giant himself, is a Big Friendly Giant and nothing like the other inhabitants of Giant Country. Standing 24-feet tall with enormous ears and a keen sense of smell, he is endearingly dim-witted and keeps to himself for the most part. Giants like Bloodbottler (Bill Hader) and Fleshlumpeater (Jemaine Clement) on the other hand, are twice as big and at least twice as scary and have been known to eat humans, while the BFG prefers Snozzcumber and Frobscottle. Upon her arrival in Giant Country, Sophie, a precocious 10-year-old girl from London, is initially frightened of the mysterious giant who has brought her to his cave, but soon comes to realize that the BFG is actually quite gentle and charming, and, having never met a giant before, has many questions. The BFG brings Sophie to Dream Country where he collects dreams and sends them to children, teaching her all about the magic and mystery of dreams. Having both been on their own in the world up until now, their affection for one another quickly grows, but Sophie’s presence in Giant Country has attracted the unwanted attention of the other giants, who have become increasingly more bothersome. Sophie and the BFG soon depart for London to see the Queen (Penelope Wilton) and warn her of the precarious giant situation, but they must first convince the Queen and her maid, Mary (Rebecca Hall), that giants do indeed exist. Together, they come up with a plan to get rid of the giants once and for all.
The BFG stars Ruby Barnhill, Rebecca Hall, Bill Hader, Jemaine Clement, and Bridge of Spies‘ Mark Rylance as the giant. The film will be released July 1.
This entire premise of the series is to pair up two different characters and watch them have fun and emotional adventures connecting in ways they may not have in the show or the main comic series. Surprisingly this wasn’t nearly as cute and charming as you’d think it would be. The cartoon has shown Pinkie is a distant relative of the Apple Family so when she gets paired up with Granny Smith, you’d think it would result in a story of bonding or one where Pinkie finds out how different Granny Smith is from her own grandmother. Instead, the story shows Granny getting hurt and Pinkie has to help her do all her errands. Despite how crotchety Granny acts, Pinkie doesn’t get discouraged and keeps her usual level of cheerfulness. It’s an okay story but if the team wanted to they could have told a much more deeper one, especially since writer Christina Rice has shown she can write more emotional stories in the main series. If she wanted to she could have gone all out and wrote a story which would have made everyone who read it contact their grandparents in tears apologizing for not calling more. Humor seems to be lacking a bit in this issue. It seems devoid of the usual bits of pop culture references the comics have become known for. There was the perfect setup for a Driving Miss Daisy Joke as Pinkie is wearing chauffer hat but they never do a “I’m trying to drive you Grandma” joke. A bit of missed opportunity.
The art is pretty good as well. The story relies mostly on close up shots so there is not a lot of opportunity for splash pages or detailed backgrounds. Still, the characters look on point and there is a lot of good color work in the pages thanks to Lauren Perry
Overall My Little Pony: Friends Forever #27 is a satisfactory read. Still if the story had tried to be a bit deeper with the emotions it could have been a must read for fans of Pinkie Pie.
The problem with many Power Rangers comics over the years is the creative teams not knowing how to tell a good story with the characters. Both Hamilton and Marvel Comics employed the usual formal from the show of defeating the monster of the week. Boom! Studios is trying something completely different and has found a way to make these comics a must read for fans of the franchise. They have discovered the missing piece to the puzzle which was to show the most human side of the characters.
Picking up after the previous issue, the team is still figuring out how to deal with the fact Tommy the Green Ranger is no longer their enemy and is now on their team. While in the original show this point was glossed over and the other five accepted him right out, this series is showing how awkward it would be to work with a former enemy. Billy feels inadequate next to the new arrival as he has always been more a thinker than a fighter and confides in Trini about it. Of course, this conversation takes place while servicing the Dragonzord which adds a nice bit of atmosphere to the issue.
Tommy continues to be the main focus of the issue as he has to fight off Scorpina and Rita Repulsa’s mind tricks. She’s attempting to bring him back to the dark side, but Tommy is doing all he can not to give in. Unfortunately, the strain might be more than he can handle.
The art is fantastic. Deciding to treat the Putty Patrollers as if they were actual living putty allows for some very destructive scenes of action. The different special effects of weapons colliding and when the Rangers teleporting are very illuminating thanks to Illustrations by Hendry Prasetya and Matt Herms on colors.
There is also backup comedy story with Bulk and Skull holding a disguised Putty they found hostage. It’s a fun little backup, but the main selling point is still the main story. Of course, it’s only two page, so it doesn’t distract from the main issue.
This series is proving to be more than a retelling and more than a simply cash into the franchise. Instead, it seems like it’s going to try its best to tackle the aspects of the show which some fans thought didn’t get the attention they deserved. It’s a good idea, and one can only hope writer Kyle Higgins has more stories planned out for the future.
The Walking Dead season six finale might be one of the most controversial finales in recent memory. The question that’s has everyone speculating is who exactly was it that suffered at the hands of Negan and his bat Lucille. Well, it seems that we won’t have to till October to find out thanks to some quick thinking people on the internet. One fan of the show slowed down the last ten seconds of the leaked audio and by doing this you can clearly hear who’ s at the receiving end of Negan’s brutality. What do you think? Take a listen.
While we do realize that this could be easily created in Pro Tools, it’s hard not to acknowledge the striking similarities between what you are hearing and what transpired in the finale. What do you guys think? Who do you think died last night during the finale?
Sending The Internet Into A Frenzy, Walking Dead “Trolls” Their Fans
If you went on Twitter this morning, ‘The Walking Dead‘ fanbase has been in an uproar after last night’s season 6 finale. The show ended this season with their biggest cliffhanger to date; the introduction of Negan & the murder of one of our favorites. We know it won’t be Carl or Rick Grimes due to Negan’s line of “If anyone talks, cut the boy’s other eye out and feed it to his father”. That instantly let the audience know that both of them won’t be meeting Lucille but WHO WAS IT!?
Well, we won’t find out until the Season 7 premiere in October. The creators of the show left us with so many questions for the next season but very little answers.
And that’s perfectly alright.
Rarely do filmmakers & artist leave mystery around what they create; fans now want an definitive answer immediately and the creators give them that. But look what happens when you leave them hanging…we saw it with ‘The Force Awakens‘ and now we see it with ‘Walking Dead‘, the mystery allows more people to talk about it and allow the moment to go viral.
It was rumored for weeks now that the season finale would end with Negan swinging his barbed-wire covered baseball and cutting to black before we saw who he kills. The rumor came true and sent the audience into a tizzy. Fans of the comic books have a good idea of who will die but with this cliffhanger, their assumed answer is still left up in the air. Viewers will no doubt be tuning in during the first episode of Season 7 even if they would have shown who was killed so this was a great of making them even crazier during the near 8 month long break.
This is also the perfect time for the creators behind ‘The Walking Dead‘ to “troll” the fans even more. During filming of the new season, how perfect would it be if they kept cast members around on set even if they weren’t filming? If any set photos leak, you can combat that by not showing any missing cast members. In the era of spoilers and rabid fans, I think that any chance to create something with this much mystery & hype is magical.
How did Walking Dead’s finalemake you feel? Was this cliffhanger too much for you? The only thing we know is we have a long wait ahead of us.
