Joy Ride

My View: Joy Ride (2023)  R  Four friends go on a once-in-a-lifetime trip when one of them adds a quest to their trip to China to find her birth mother. Audrey (Ashley Park) is a successful businesswoman who wants to find her birth mother. Lolo (Sherry Cola) is her best friend since childhood, Kat (Stephanie Hsu) is their college friend who is now a massive TV star in China, and Deadeye (Sabrina Wu) is, well, Lolo’s very eccentric cousin. It’s going to be a life-changing trip if they survive it. Think of this film as a combination of The Hangover, Crazy Rich Asians (without the love story), and any Seth MacFarlane film. Written by Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and Teresa Hsiao, who were staff writers on the TV series Family Guy, the film is very raunchy, with lots of drug use (that requires a bit of reality suspension from viewers) and lots of jokes about sex. I did not enjoy this film, but the audience I saw the movie with had a blast, and several of my fellow critics thought the film was hilarious. I don’t have a problem with over-the-top comedy (heck, I loved both Borat movies), but I felt the jokes/comedy went for the easy joke too many times. The plot line, including where the foursome is kicked off a train in China, was a little far-fetched for me, not because they got caught with drugs, but because they were annoying. I will say I thoroughly enjoyed the performance of Sabrina Wu as the strange but lovable Deadeye, who stole a lot of scenes in the film just by being weird. You may thoroughly enjoy Joy Ride, but it wasn’t my cup of tea (pun intended).   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Joy Ride Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide. 

My View: Insidious: The Red Door (2023) PG-13  The Lamberts have fought evil for years. Now to put their demons to rest for once and all, Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Dalton, his college-age son (Ty Simpkins), must go back into The Further, deeper than ever before, and face their family’s secrets and all the evil that those secrets hold lurking behind the red door. The Insidious franchise has always been a weak horror group of films, starting with the first Insidious film back in 2010. We even had a movie in the series that starred Lin Shaye, a minor character in the first three films. This film returns to its roots, where Josh and Dalton get hypnotized to forget what happened in The Further. But just like a bad meal, those evil bad guys want to come out again and wreak some havoc. The film is directed by Patrick Wilson, which is very clear because Ty Simpkins, as the college-aged kid with severe memory problems, has to do most of the heavy lifting. The film is your typical ‘jump out of the dark’ scare-filled film that contributes almost nothing to the series other than we get the idea that father and son don’t get along because of their past hidden trauma. Rose Byrne, who did a lot of screaming in the first two films, doesn’t do much other than be a supportive divorced mom. There is a reason this film wasn’t screened for critics. It is worse than all the rest of the Insidious franchise of films, and that’s saying a lot My Rating: Cable  Insidious: The Red Door Website  Now playing in theatres nationwide.

My View: The Out-Laws (2023) R  Straight-laced bank manager Owen (Adam Devine) is about to marry the woman of his dreams in Parker (Nina Dobrev). When the infamous Ghost Bandits gang holds up his bank during his wedding week, Owen has a sneaking suspicion that his future in-laws (Ellen Barkin, Pierce Brosnan) could be the gang. Instead of in-laws, they could be The Out-Laws. Directed by Tyler Spindel, known for his dreadful films Father of the Year (2018), Deported (2020), and The Wrong Missy (2020), and produced by Adam Sandler, this film fails on just about every level. The plot is held together with baling wire and bubblegum, and quoting the immortal Roddy Piper, the film is ‘all out of bubblegum.’ The film is filled with unfunny jokes and an ending that makes no sense. I hope the paycheck for Barkin and Brosnan was huge because anybody who had to deliver lines like they had to without breaking down deserved it.   My Rating: You Would Have to Pay Me to See it Again The Out-Laws Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform.  

Indiefest: Biosphere (2022)  Biosphere is about Billy (Mark Duplass), who used to be the President of the United States, and Ray (Sterling K. Brown), Billy’s political advisor and his best friend since childhood. They are stuck in a Biosphere together, and by the way, they may be the last two people alive on Earth. What could go wrong? I really wanted to like this film as I am a fan of Mark Duplass and his movies/standup, but about halfway through this film, it takes a turn and falls apart. Up to that point, I was having fun with this concept of two guys stuck together that have been friends since childhood and know each other’s biggest secrets. The film feels a bit like it needs one or two more screenplay drafts to find its footing and that maybe there were too many idea cards on the writer’s wall. A single idea dominates the second half of the film (I won’t give away that plot point), and the film falls apart as it goes from being a comedy about two guys into some bizarre topics that it never recovers from, kind of like an improv skit that goes on too long.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Biosphere Website  Now playing in select theatres. 

My View: Wham! (2023) Wham! is a documentary about two best friends who formed a band and set out to conquer the world. In four years, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley took Wham! farther than their wildest dreams, dominating the pop scene for four years. However, good things sometimes only last as long as both members can control their egos. I never was a big Wham listener. They were way too pop oriented, with their early songs too close to disco for me. I think big fans of Wham will enjoy this film the most, narrated by Michael and Ridgeley, without any interviews with members of their band, including Shirlie Holliman and Pepsi DeMacque. I would have liked a few different views from these forgotten women of the group. Wham!, the movie, spends a great deal of time on the duo’s early years before they became Wham!, with George Michael going by his given name of Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou. The fascinating part of the film is that the duo were so young when they started the band and how quickly they went from playing small clubs to stadiums. Wham started as Andrew’s band, with Michael happy to be the singer, but as the band matured a bit, it was Michael’s talent for both singing and producing that made the band a worldwide hit. The film does quite a bit of telling the story of Michael having to stay in the closet to keep the band’s fans from finding out and how, for a while, Ridgeley was more in the news for his wild ways, taking some of the spotlight off of Michael. The film does a great job of also showing how Michael’s solo career started and how it eventually broke up the band, but with Andrew Ridgeley’s full support. Did I come away from the film as a fan? No, but it confirmed just how talented George Michael was and how his presence is missed to this day.   My Rating: Full Price  Wham! Movie Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform. 

Indiefest: The Lesson (2023) R  Young aspiring author Liam (Daryl McCormack) takes a job tutoring the son of a world-famous author J. M. Sinclair (Richard E. Grant). The job becomes complicated when Liam is asked to help with J. M.’s latest book. The Sinclair house holds many secrets, and some are about to emerge. The Lesson is one of those films destined to be part of my Forgotten Film series in ten years, as this isn’t a great film, but it has an outstanding performance by Richard E. Grant to make it worth watching. Grant, as a pompous writer who thinks the world revolves around his work, is brilliant and amazing. Grant revels in being a man who believes that he is the smartest person in the room and that your intellect can’t even be compared to his. He rules his home with an iron fist, making his wife, played by the equally impressive Julie Delpy, and his son (Stephen McMillan) bend to his every whim, whether it be music played during dinner or their opinions on any topics he brings up. The film has a tension that keeps on building for the first two-thirds of the film. Unfortunately, the film crashes a bit in the third act, with an ending that doesn’t meet the viewer’s expectations. I enjoyed Daryl McCormack’s performance as the cocksure young writer who gets to work with his idol only to discover what everyone knows. Never meet your heroes.   My Rating: Full Price  The Lesson Website  Now playing in select theatres. 

Forgotten Film: Lord of War (2005) R  Yuri (Nicolas Cage) is your ordinary, successful salesman, except that Yuri sells weapons to anyone that can pay. As Yuri says, “I’ve done business with every army but the Salvation Army.” Lord of War is a very dark comedy where Yuri gets the bad news that a major conflict is in peace talks and says he won’t deal with Osama Bin Laden because ‘he bounces his checks.’ This is a fun film (as any film about arms dealing can be) with an outstanding cast that includes Bridget Moynahan as Yuri’s girlfriend who thinks he is in the import business, Ethan Hawke as an Interpol agent out to stop Yuri and Jared Leto as Yuri’s brother who is always causing problems. Many people want Yuri dead, but more want what he sells, which makes Yuri tick.   My Rating: Full Price  Lord of War Info The film is available to rent or buy on Amazon, Apple Tv, and Google Play.

Weird Credits: From the credits of Joy Ride: Stitcher

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: Blue Beetle (2023) PG-13  Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña) is picked by an alien relic to be its symbiotic host, giving Jamie a suit of armor that capable of extraordinary but unpredictable powers. Jaime is about, no matter if he wants it or not, to become the superhero Blue Beetle. I think the world is ready for a full-on Latino superhero movie!  Blue Beetle Website  In theatres on Aug. 18th.

Until Next Week!