Movie Review-Cenrtal Intellegence

 Central Intelligence is a new action/comedy pairing comedian Kevin Hart with action star Dwayne Johnson. The two are hilarious together with a serious “bro-mance” going on between the two former high school classmates. Johnson plays Bob Stone, a former overweight geek in high school who’s now a lean mean fighting machine and an operative for the C.I.A.

Hart’s character, Calvin Joyner, was voted “most likely to succeed” in high school but now, 20 years later he feels like he’s stuck in a rut, going nowhere, in his job as a forensic accountant. He did marry his high school sweetheart, Maggie (Danielle Nicolet). She is now a corporate attorney and things all come to a head when their big high school reunion comes up and Calvin decides he doesn’t want to go.

The story starts to spin out of control when his old high school classmate, Bob Stone, sends him a friend request on Face Book and then immediately sends him a direct message inviting him to meet for drinks. After meeting for drinks, and seeing Bob teach a few guys in the bar a lesson for bullying his diminutive friend, the two become inseparable (literally) as Calvin unknowingly and unwillingly gets involved in a C.I.A. mission of counter terrorism and espionage.

It’s all a laugh a minute and the chemistry between the two main characters is a perfect match of opposites in the big screen. Spoiler Alert: Calvin and Bob end up saving the world and the action and fun involved in doing so is non-stop. I also enjoyed the anti-bullying message that was delivered in a fun and subtle way through out the film. The movie is a fun time with a good message that doesn’t beat you over the head.

Central Intelligence is rated PG-13 for violence and harsh language. On my “Hollywood Popcorn Scale” I rate it a LARGE.

Hollywood Hernandez 

Movie Review-Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows is a nostalgic trip back to the 90’s. The new TMNT movie really captures the feel of the old original 90’s cartoon by capturing the campiness and the “anti-hero” appeal of the Ninja Turtles. Also adding to the nostalgia are the additions of some new (old) characters like Casey Jones (Stephen Amell) and Shredder’s Henchman Be Bop and Rock Steady. Tyler Perry is also along for the ride as the mad scientist Baxter Stockman and try as I may I cannot get the image of Madea out of my head for any of the time he is on the screen.

In “Out of the Shadows” the turtles have to face an alien named Krang (voiced by Brad Garrett) who wants to build a machine that can travel through different dimensions and assemble a weapon that can destroy the world. Shredder joins the evil Krang to help him assemble the weapon and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are the only ones who stand in their way.

Kids will like “Out of the Shadows” (my grandson loved it) and, if you grew up a turtles fan, you’ll probably like it as well. It’s a fun movie with plenty of laughs and action. It runs 112 minutes and is rated “PG-13” for some adult language.

On my “Hollywood Popcorn Scale” I rate Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows a LARGE.

  

Movie Review-X-Men: Apocalypse

In X-MEN: APOCALYPSE the X-Men battle the original and most powerful mutant ever, Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac). The movie is another X-Men prequel. After a brief introduction to the origin of the invincible Apocalypse he is set free after being entombed for hundreds of years. When he’s awakened he’s enraged to discover that his race is no longer treated as gods. 

 

With the help of some powerful mutants, including Magneto; who’s distraught after he faces a horrible personal tragedy and becomes obsessed with revenge on humans, Apocalypse sets out to destroy everything on earth and create a new world where he will reign as a god over all who survive. The X-Men, led by Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) and Professor X (James McAvoy) are all that stand between him and the destruction of the entire world.

 

In the movie The X-Men and Apocalypse are joined by some familiar characters from previous X-Men movies, but they show up as the younger versions of themselves. Most of them are still discovering how to use their special powers. The younger version of Storm, played by Alexandra Shipp (who played Aaliyah in the TV movie), was one of my favorites of the new/old characters. She plays the part well of a conflicted mutant who’s trying to control her newly found powers and decide if they should be used for good or evil. 

 

X-Men Apocalypse is filled with almost non-stop action. Although the movie is two hours and twenty two minutes long it never drags or hits any dull spots. It’s an epic battle from start to finish. Apocalypse is rated PG-13 for some sci-fi violence. I’d feel comfortable taking a child to see the movie who was at least 9 or 10. On my “Hollywood Popcorn Scale” X-Men Apocalypse rates a JUMBO. Also, be sure and stay until the end of the credits. There is a tease for the next X-Men movie where Mister Sinister is introduced.

Hollywood Hernandez

Movie Review-The Nice Guys

Let me start by letting you in on the joke…The Nice Guys is a movie about two low class private detectives who are anything but “nice”. The movie is set in the swinging 70’s and Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling play the two private eyes. They are unscrupulous bottom feeders who’ll do almost anything to make a buck. Jackson Healy (Crowe) is an enforcer who beats up and threatens people to make them leave someone alone and Holland March (Gosling) is a crooked P.I. who’s living his life from the inside of a bottle. These Guys aren’t nice.

However, they do try really hard to do the right thing when they catch a case involving a murdered porn star named Misty Mounds (Murielle Telio) and they both end up on the trail of a girl named Amelia (Margaret Qualley) who is supposed to be dead but her grandmother swears she’s seen her alive.

The Nice Guys is a sexual romp back to the 70’s filled with strippers, porn stars and plenty of drug use (ah, the good old days). Gosling and Crowe have a real “Laurel and Hardy vibe” going on between them. It’s just a funny situation to see these two, usually dramatic, actors play such bumbling clowns.

Shane Blake is the movie’s director and co-writer. He was the hottest screen writer in Hollywood thirty years ago when he wrote the script for the first Lethal Weapon movie. The Nice Guys has that “Lethal Weapon feel”, but it’s not as good. However, there are plenty of laughs in this one hour and fifty six minute long movie.

The Nice Guys is rated a hard “R” for adult situations (nudity, strong language and drug use) and on my “Hollywood Popcorn Scale” I rate it a LARGE.

Hollywood Hernandez

Movie Review-Money Monster

Money Monster could easily be a story ripped from today’s headlines. George Clooney plays a TV talk show host on a news network that amazingly resembles CNBC and Julia Roberts plays his producer. When an investor, who lost all of his money on a stock Clooney’s character (Lee Gates) recommended, takes over the live broadcast at gunpoint the clock starts ticking on this drama to find out how a major corporation lost $800 million dollars of the investors money in one day.

The movie moves at a fast pace. We quickly discover that some “human involvement” was at work at the time the stock took a huge tumble and that the CEO of the company was not where he claimed to be on the company’s corporate jet. It all unravels “live on the air” while most of America has their eyes glued on the TV show Money Monster.

Clooney drives this movie. He’s on camera for most of the film and carries off the task of holding the audience for the entire story; both on camera for the TV viewers in the film and for the movie watchers in the theater. The movie also has a few funny moments that are a release for the intense drama on the big screen.

Money Monster runs for only one hour and thirty eight minutes. I liked that. The movie tells the story quickly and gets right to the payoff for the film. (I wish more movies were like that.)

Money Monster is rated “R” for strong language throughout the film and it also contains a few comical sexual references. It’s not an epic film, but Money Monster is a satisfying one. On my “Hollywood Popcorn Scale” I rate this movie a LARGE.

Hollywood Hernandez

Movie Review-Barbershop The Next Cut

 

It’s been more that ten years since our last visit to the barbershop and a lot has changed in that time. In Barbershop The Next Cut the once male sanctuary is now a co-ed shop. Regina King plays Angie, the female partner who now has her staff of ladies working in Calvin’s barbershop. Even Calvin has some newcomers on his team including Common and Lamorne Morris, however; Cedric the Entertainer as Eddie is still a mainstay at the shop and the main source of humor with his political incorrectness.

Again, in Barbershop 3, Calvin is considering selling the barbershop because of the violence in his South Side Chicago neighborhood. However this time things really hit close to home when his teenage son starts getting into trouble at school and begins to run with the neighborhood gang.

While the new Barbershop movie has plenty of laughs this new edition has a bit more heart and social consciousness. Perhaps it’s the addition of Malcolm D. Lee, who directed The Best Man movies, that gives the movie a little more heartfelt drama. Whatever the reason, I really enjoyed the movie.

 

The new character additions of J.B. Smoove, a hustler who rents out a space in Calvin’s shop, and Nicki Minaj as a full-time hairstylist and a part-time gold digger, really freshen up the place and breathe new life into the franchise. And of course, Ice Cube as Calvin, is the anchor of the movie.

I enjoyed Barbershop The Next Cut. I think you will too. Also be sure not to leave early. There’s a hilarious bonus scene at the end of the movie. The movie has a run time of 112 minutes and is rated PG-13. On my “Hollywood Popcorn Scale” I rate it a LARGE.

 

Hollywood Hernandez

 

Movie Review-Miles Ahead

For his directorial debut Don Cheadle chose a complicated and difficult subject when he chose to tackle a biopic about jazz legend Miles Davis. However, using the same theory that Miles used, being innovative and unconventional, Cheadle succeeds as a first time director. Miles Ahead, in which Cheadle also stars and co-wrote the script, is like one of Miles’ songs; he stays off the beaten to create a film which is innovative and free form (like Be Bop).

In the movie, rather than telling Miles’ story with a beginning, end and middle, Cheadle instead focuses on one particular incident in Miles’ life. The incident depicted is “inspired by true events.) The main story shows his interaction with a Rolling Stone writer, played by Ewan McGregor, and the hilarious story of him fighting with his record label over the ownership of his latest recordings. Cheadle then fills in the blanks using flashbacks of the trumpet player at different points in his life. We see his bouts with domestic violence, drug use and all of the dark places in Miles’ life, but we also learn about the beautiful dancer who was his muse and the love of his life. I appreciated the balance between his genius and his madness.

Although Miles Ahead is not just for jazz lovers; the music is amazing. All of the new “Miles Inspired music” is written by Robert Glasper. Glasper’s soundtrack is already an Oscar contender. BTW: Glasper revealed to me in an interview in 2015 that he was first approached by Cheadle about writing the soundtrack via Twitter.    

Cheadle transforms himself as Miles Davis. It’s his best performance in a movie since Hotel Rwanda and his performance is also Oscar worthy. It’s obvious that Miles Ahead was a labor of love for Cheadle and that he really wanted to get it right; and for the most part he succeeds. 

The movie has run time of 1 hour and 40 minutes and it’s rated “R” for domestic violence and harsh language. On my “Hollywood Popcorn Scale” Mile Ahead rates a JUMBO. It’s rolling out in limited release (it starts in Dallas on Friday 4/15) but do yourself a favor and look for it in your local theater.

Hollywood Hernandez