Sunday, May 29, 2016

The Do-Over (2016), Home (2015)

Hey Memorial Day Weekend Double Feature Review!  Or, something like that.

I originally started this blog to whine and bitch, and then kept it going to do horror movie reviews, and I'm going to get back to those pretty soon.  But, every once in a while, when you're feeling like you could use a romantic comedy or a feel-good happy ending, you need to change up the pace a little.  Or, maybe I'm just getting old and sappy.  It's been known to happen.  Tonight we have two movies on Netflix up for review, what I like to call feel-good movies, because when they're over, you either feel-good, or you're a heartless psychopath who needs psychiatric help.  They may not be the best movies ever made, and they're not going to change anyone's lives, but they're entertainment you can waste an hour and a half on when it's ninety freakin' degrees out and you're sweating your goddamn balls off.

I'm going to start with The Do-Over, a Netflix original movie they just finished like, last week, or something.  Starring Adam Sandler and David Spade, The Do-Over is essentially about a loser (played by David Spade) who's done nothing at all with his life since High School.  While attending a high school reunion (and don't ask me why a loser would attend a high school reunion, it seems to me that people do that kind of thing to recapture their glory days, which, if you're a loser, high school probably wasn't your best time, anyway...  wow, no wonder I never attended any of my high school reunions...  that explains so much), the loser runs into an old buddy (Adam Sandler) and they stay up half the night chatting about the good times they had in high school.  Drunk and high, the loser confesses that he wishes he had his life to do over, and, well, without giving too much way, his buddy finds a way to make it happen.

Okay, I read fark.com, and every other news story lately is why nobody likes adam sandler anymore.  I grant he's not exactly a stand-up comedian anymore, and probably wasn't a good one to start with, but if nothing else, the guy's a veteran actor.  Toss David Spade into the mix (who I think is especially funny when he has someone to play off of), and you got a shot at some decent source material.  I don't know how well these two get along, but I can see a whole series of buddy movies playing out here.  Buddy cop movies, buddy...  uh....  some... other kind of movies...  uh...  Yeah, okay I don't know what other sort of buddy movies there are.  You caught me.

My point is, the movie wasn't bad.  I had some moments where I chuckled, and Luis Guzman is always hilarious, I don't care what movie he's in, or how serious his lines are.  I chuckle just seeing him on TV.  Good supporting cast, a few funny moments, not exactly a hilariously funny movie, but you end up feeling pretty good at the end.  I liked it.  I doubt I'd watch it again, BUT, if Sandler and Spade want to make a sequel, or team up for more buddy movies, I think that might go over well.  The Do-Over is recently available on netflix, if you want to check it out, and decide for yourself.  Maybe I was just really depressed, drunk, and needed a pick-me-up, who knows.

Home (2015) is an animated feature, also on Netflix.  I'm not a huge fan of cartoons (I have so many anime I want to watch, and it seems like I just don't ever have the time), especially the more recent ones, but I do enjoy them from time to time.  Home is about a race of aliens who invade Earth, and how one oddball alien befriends an oddball human and how the two of them become friends.  It's kind of sappy, but I rather identified with "Oh," the oddball alien.  He's a perennial misfit who finally figures out what he's good at, and that makes him different from everyone else, which also makes him someone I can readily identify with.  Let's face it, if you're reading a book or watching a movie, and you can't find anyone in the story to identify with, it's hard to place yourself in the story, and really get into enjoying it.  I managed to identify with Oh, so I could enjoy this tale of an oddball alien.

The story itself wasn't too bad, the voice acting was decent (Steve Martin and Rihanna, of all people), and again, the movie makes you feel good at the end.  Rewatchability is again, probably zero, I mean, once you've seen it, you've seen it.  Why watch it twice?  It's a cartoon.  You've enjoyed it once, now move on with your life, and go find a good horror flick to enjoy, am I right?  You're damn right, I'm right.  Horror movies are rewatchable.  Cartoons?  Not so much.  Unless they're horror cartoons.  Then, it's okay.

So, feeling down this memorial day weekend?  Remembering all those heroes who gave their lives so you could enjoy the freedom of being able to vote for Donald Trump?  If that doesn't make you sad, I'm not sure what will.  Watch some feel-good movies on Netflix, get hammered, and eat obscene amounts of food, because let's face it, as my sister once told me...  "It doesn't matter if you have seconds or thirds, because come tomorrow, you're still going to be fat."  Words of wisdom, right there.  Words of wisdom.  No wonder I call this blog Scrolls of Wisdom!  :-o

Happy Memorial Day weekend, everybody!  Well...  Everyone who's actually having a Memorial day weekend, this weekend.  If you're not, shit, just enjoy the beginning of summer in the northern hemisphere, or the... beginning of winter in the...  southern one.  Yea.  Hmmmm.  Seasons R Cray-cray, and that's the extent of my knowledge of slang.

Til next time, hopefully sooner than several months from now.

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