The Nice Guys (2016) draws very, very nice laughs

Photo Credit: The Nice Guys / Warner Bros. Pictures

With so little classic detective stories being made today, director Shane Black carved a niche with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang nearly ten years ago. Taking the classic detective story, Black arms his dry-humored scripts with great unlikely pairings to the buddy cop genre.

This time around, Black sets his investigative comedy in the late 1970s. Holland March (Ryan Gosling) is a drunk widow raising a teenage daughter Holly who runs into Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe), a hothead enforcer who packs a serious punch. Literally. As a trio, they try to solve a case of a missing girl which slowly unravels the L.A. porn industry.

Similar to Black's previous pairing of Robert Downey Jr and Val Kilmer, Black's casting of Gosling and Crowe seems entirely mismatched at first. Then over the course of the movie, their chemistry and timing prove itself. Gosling seems to be a really popular actor with younger crowds and old, but I hadn't found a specific role that really caught my attention. He appeals to me more off-screen than on, but here, he does a great job with most of the physical comedy while Crowe is more subtle, landing a few funny lines here and there. Together, they share great timing and ease as two bumbling guys who are simply in the wrong place, wrong time but ready to solve a crime.

Though the main Gosling/Crowe duo is engaging, Angourie Rice as Holly truly shines above the rest. As the highly inquisitive preteen jumping the gun and outsmarting the adults around her, Holly could've come across as forced. But instead, she is great at taking down the bad guys but doesn't lose her empathy. When the mystery continues to unwind and keep us guessing, she proves to be the sharpest one of the bunch and showcases a lot of heart a la classic fictional icon, Nancy Drew. Holly is easily one of my favorite characters of the year.

Black is a proven success, even a cult one, with these types of movies. The only potential downfall here is the foundation he's already established. There's nothing wrong with experimenting with old roots, but when the story and characters are really delved into, a lot of it feels almost identical to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. With the boost of another unlikely cast, he delivers another nice round of comedy and suspense, but the plot can feel a little deja vu and lose momentum towards the end. Even if the movie feels slightly repetitive, The Nice Guys is definitely entertaining and very, very nice.

Rating: ★★☆ Have you seen The Nice Guys? What are your thoughts?

Back Off Man, I'm a Feminist

The original Ghostbusters is one of me and my sister's favorite movies. It's right up there with other movies like Back to the Future that we watch, quote, and analyze all the time.

When news broke out about a Ghostbusters reboot, frankly we weren't surprised. Hollywood has been and will be remaking movies. Studios and producers are always up for revamping any kind of classic for a younger generation while also ignoring that the genre can be a tiresome idea.

Negative reception of the new version before the movie even reached theaters was, in fact, disappointing but again unsurprising. Unlike other re-imaginings that only get a whisper of unflattering reviews, Ghostbusters was put through the ringer of overwhelming misogyny.

Fanboys by the masses opposed the reboot to one of  'their' beloved favorites. Not just opposed the movie but absolutely vilified it and the cast. Their reaction reached new heights of erratic behavior: IMDb was flooded with one star reviews, conspiracies were created about Sony paying off reviewers, and made the new trailer the most disliked in YouTube history, dowsed the cast in vitriol backlash - to say the least.

While the unprovoked response was alarming, it was also not unexpected. Not when Renee Zellweger is criticized for aging, Blake Lively's Shallows is torture porn , profiles on actresses reveal critics' deep-seated sexualization and the list goes on.

It can't be denied that in film, books, and television we need other stories that don't focus solely or for a majority on the male's version of the hero's journey. Fiction is a reflection of the real world; it's universal and doesn't apply to just one kind of person.

When we go to the movies, we look for a good break from our regular lives, looking to escape, for a reflection of ourselves or where we are in life, to be entertained and/or enlightened. As a woman, I look for people who aren't there to be no-named sought after hotties whose only lines in a movie are to say No to a guy who won't take no for an answer and then inevitably gives in because he won't leave her alone.

As Viola Davis said upon her 2015 Emmy victory, "You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there..." Well we can't see movies with women if they aren't there.

One only has to look at the success of Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the complex nature of Mad Max: Fury Road, or the incomparable success of Frozen as examples of the importance of roles for girls of all ages. And, Ghostbusters is no different. Seeing women playing scientists and ghostbusters will give women and young girls something to identity with and vicariously live through.

Opportunity and equality is what levels the playing field. 30% of speaking roles belong to women, so it shouldn't be a surprise when we ascend upon the hogged platform and set up our own mics for a fellow audience that is surely craning to listen.

Films with all-male casts get the star power and the "original story" but aren't touted specifically because they are men. Everything is just accepted as if it's law. They're just marketed and believed as bad-ass, funny, smart, action-packed, and capable as is - so why can't women enjoy the same?

When movies star anyone besides the typical male star, they are the special snowflakes of Hollywood that were created by osmosis. Movies shouldn't be compartmentalized into a girl's thing, and instead women have access to tell layered and entertaining universal experiences. Case in point, rumors about an Oceans' Eleven reboot have been circulating. Sandra Bullock and Jennifer Lawrence have been attached without any further confirmation of its development, except again that it will star an all-female cast. This gives me hope that a heist film with women might actually utilize actresses to play roles other than love interests.

Case in point: The 1960 original starring the Rat Pack (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, and Sammy Davis. Jr.), practically the only woman is Angie Dickinson as Sinatra's wife, who is given little to do in terms of the heist or her husband's cohorts. Likewise, Steven Soderbergh's 2001 remake limits roles for women as spouses with little agency such as Julia Roberts to George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones to Brad Pitt, and an independent and powerful right-hand woman (Ellen Barkin) who is tricked to beg Matt Damon for sex. It's embarrassing that nearly fifty years passed, and the results are the same: if the women were removed, the plots could go on as if business was usual.

The lack of depth a female character is not given isn't right. But we can't go back in time and change the original, and we shouldn't want to solely because they had male casts. Just like literature mavens have to contend with changes of their beloved books when they're adapted to movies, we must be able to separate remakes from originals. Rarely does the makers of the former want to eradicate the former; everything is just about expanding on the other and growing it. I's okay to watch a movie, know the era it originated from, the gender politics of this time and then, and be aware of the differences (if even rare ones).

Unlike the initial ugly reception of the Ghostbusters reboot, it would be great to see a heist film, or film in general with women that exclude the emphasis on gender but instead focus on the material, strength of it's script and direction, the talent (not looks, race, weight or age) of its cast. A movie like Ghostbusters is just the beginning. Certain critics, official and unofficial know how to do this, but not enough. (The surface hasn't even been scratched for movies with racial diversity, LGBTQ community, trans community, people with disabilities, etc.)

As a fan culture, a territory has been marked around 'the classics'. If anything happens to selected untouchable favorites, well, it's just forty years of darkness, earthquakes, volcanoes, the dead rising from the grave, human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria...Only it isn't. This reboot could've been something the pre-emptive haters enjoyed if they looked past themselves to give it a chance.

Women's contribution to film shouldn't be devalued and discriminated. Gender equality within entertainment, within the world, can be accomplished if we just make the right calls.

An Ode to DVDs + my recent haul

Last month when my sister and I discovered that the sole local DVD rental store was closing, the news was bittersweet. Many Christmases or afternoons while my mom shopped for groceries were spent at this store where hung out with the cashiers to talk about movies.

We'd be lying if we didn't see the signs that a massive clearance sale looming. Last year the shop divided its space into DVDs and (overpriced) pop culture merchandise. The move essentially cut the movie buff demographic in half. Who wanted to see all the dvds squished to the side for toys and gadgets you could buy next door at Wal-Mart? People sprinkled in to rent movies and attend midnight release parties, but not in droves like they used to.

It was weird to visit the store as it was closing down and seeing rows of DVDs marked down. (I can't lament too much about this: I saved like $200....) That's where this very rare dvd haul comes from.

In this awesome world of streaming whatever we want wherever we are, are DVDs officially going out of style? I guess, in a lot of ways, yes, especially for people who don't live like a cave person.

Similar stores like Blockbusters are extinct. Grocery stores have RedBoxes, so renting is still available but the physical location of hanging out with other geeks or parents taking their kids to pick out a special Friday night movie (a faded tradition my family had) has become a thing of the past.

With all of the instant access we have to movies these days, it's hard to remember a time when DVDs were in-style. Almost twenty years ago news broke out that these strange but awesome little discs were going to replace VHS tapes. It was a totally weird concept: discs? like a CD? how would we tape shows to them? WHAAATTT? That's not gonna last. Subsequently, Me and my sister spent that whole summer saving up for our own television, DVD player, and our first buys: The Mummy and Twister. DVDs were once the ultra-cool way of the future.

The massive transformation of VHS to DVDs soon ushered in other eras like Dial-Up to Wifi, CDs to Ipods, and VHS Players to DVR devices.

Some things never disappear. Vinyl records for the masses temporarily vanished but it's been coming back. People used to claim that books would be dead and replaced with kindles and ebooks, but literature is flourishing with bookworms. In fact Barnes and Noble sales have plummeted online but risen with physical stores. The community is as active as fandom culture with the conversation about what are you reading and what do you want to read growing exponentially.

But the future for movies looks more and more like it's going to be online in some form of streaming content; less dvds, less movie theaters, less of it in a physical sense. Which is ironic considering this I blog about movies that I, for the most part, watch on my tablet.

When everything is just tapped into online by a smartphone, tablet, or our televisions now, the tangible feelings I have towards movies are getting lost in the shuffle.

My sister and I made memories searching up and down the aisles for that one title we wanted to take home with us, or muddling through the subtle disappointment when some indie movie wasn't in stock and hoping for better luck next time.

Sometimes it's nice to have something physical of a movie similar to the popular ebooks and physical copies debate. Kindles are great to carry 100 books wherever we go, but physical copies are more intimate i.e. holding a book in our lap while sipping a cup of coffee or cuddling into bed.

I'm ALSO a person who, as much as she loves to stream Jessica Jones over and over, has thought: when is Netflix gonna release this on DVD? Not only do I have regular EPIC moments of brain-fartery, but I do get a little giddy popping a DVD in and getting comfy for a movie night, and that somehow feels different to me than streaming.

Amazon, and what's left of stores like Wal-Mart, Target, etc. will surely still stock DVDs as far as we can tell. Getting a movie shipped to my house is a great convenience, but makes the experience of being among other movie buffs a thing of the past. DVDs might not be going out of style just yet; they're just taking on another form that I'll guess I'll have to get on board with....soon.

P.S. The haul itself was pretty good. I bought a fair amount of movies I just wouldn't pay full-price for i.e. Leatherheads, Eat Pray Love, and Loser. I was so excited to get Gone Girl and have watched it....quite a few times. I think my sister and mom suspect there's something wrong with me.

Favorite Movies of 2016 (So Far!)

It's hard to believe half of the year is gone! A lot of great movies hit the theaters with a bang leaving an impression on fans and critics alike. Not to mention raking in the dough. With so many great films that have come out this year and many more to come, who will lead the box office for 2016?

I just couldn't help thinking about hitting the half-way mark and what were knock-out favorites of the these first sixth months. Looking back my picks, they include Critic Approved, Box Office Smash/Disaster, or well-loved by all. 

Which movies have been the most memorable, action-packed, heartwarming, and entertaining so far for you? It's tough to predict but what movies for the rest of the year will be definite crowd-pleasers, but Suicide Squad seems like a definite Yes? Yes.

What were your faves for 2016 so far? Feel free to share below!

Brooklyn

A young Irish girl Eilis immigrates to the United States, and her heart is divided between a new home of Brooklyn and her old roots. My heart goes out to this movie so much. Saorise's performance and the eye-popping gorgeous direction makes this one of my all-time favorites, not just 2016.

Yes, this came out sometime last year just in time for Oscar season (but I saw it in January, soooo), and it was definitely worth it's weight in gold. The movie garnered three nominations, including Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Actress. After award show season hype has wavered, there are certain movies whose Oscar bait becomes pretty obvious while others will just remain classics well into the future. Brooklyn is definitely the latter.

Captain America: Civil War

I couldn't stop raving about this one, and neither could critics and movie goers. A huge fork crashes smack down into Roger and the Avengers's road when Tony Stark and the United Nations want to enforce an accords which controls their missions.

Talk about the movie of the summer before the summer even officially kicked off. The Russo Brothers carries Captain America's final individual installment over the finishing line with a bang; an action-packed, feels-heavy bang. It's hard to even watch the first two Captain America movies without wanting to dive right into the third one again and again.

How To Be Single

Replacing the usual romantic comedy where two love-sick characters force themselves into finding true love because of Plot, How To Be Single attempts to do the opposite but doesn't succeed. Alice takes a break from her long-term relationship to try to find out who she is on her own. It's admirable (???) but she ends up taking ill-advice from other single people trying not to be single or mastering a life without romantic attachments, and the whole thing ends up being a mess.

LIKE A BIG HOT MESS, mostly because the movie doesn't click until the very end. That being said, I really like the cast and some of it is pretty funny. Surely, if the script was more polished, it could've been a bigger success and I could recommend this one more....but it's become one of those movies that I am regularly in the mood to watch and don't really know why.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Love. Adventure. Kick-Ass heroines. Maybe the world is over it's zombie-obsession, but the updated twist of Jane Austen's classic novel is so much fun!! Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy ward off their own pride and prejudice as the undead dominate the world.

 If there was one movie I wished didn't bomb at the box office and with critics this year, it's definitely Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. There was so much room for another installment and I can't imagine how the story would've awesomely moved forward. Myself, and some fans, will just have to enjoy this one on it's own. AND PRAY FOR A SEQUEL.

June Geeky Faves

June felt like a breeze - not just because it's been abnormally cool here in Florida but also just by how much time flew by. It's hard to believe we're embarking on July already; only two more months of summer before fall arrives.

Here is a little collection of things I did over the past few weeks and a few plans for July. What did you do last month? What are you looking forward to this month?

Saw Me Before You - My mom and I went to see Me Before You. Surprisingly, my mom ended up liking the movie more than I did. It wasn't particularly terrible or disappointing, and managed to hit all the right notes. Emilia and Sam shared great chemistry, and talk about great costumes for Louisa! Some of the director's interviews during the press tour kinda irked me, just in how she approached scrapping some of the more deeper un-rom-com qualities about the characters. I felt like she and the studios were so aimed at making the movie a Rom-Com Nicholas Sparks-esque spectacle of the summer, they missed out on making the movie more meaningful and engaging in a conversation with people with disabilities.

Saw Independence Day double feature: I had anticipated on seeing this in July but the double feature came along a lot earlier than expected. My sister and I had a great time seeing the first movie, but not so much with the new sequel. That review fully managed to get on the blog.

Swimming - Previous summers have been pretty saturated with offline business and family obstacles, so this is the first summer in a long time I can actually squeeze in swimming. It's been a blast so far. Almost every other (SUPER EARLY) morning I wake up so excited to just dip down to a local pool and almost have the entire joint to myself. The pool even has a radio playing oldies before I get there making it even more worth my while!

Started Monday Motivation on Instagram: Sharing my love of movie and pop culture quotes, I've been making Monday Motivations a weekly thing on Instagram. Feel free to come and join me!

Lost my copy of The Martian: My quest to read The Martian continues. Just when I was so amped up to get down to business with my copy, it disappeared - nowhere to be found. SOOOO. We're just gonna hold onto this goal until it pops up again. SIGH.

Start Everything Movie Wordsearch book: Something I didn't realize I had on my shelf until recently was a movie word search book. I'm a pretty big word-game nerd already, and adding movies as a theme just amped it up a ton of notches.

Plans for July: prepare for and attend GeekyCon (I'm attending as press, SWEET), attend midnight release party for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, get sorted on Pottermore for the Ilvermorny school, see Star Trek Beyond, catch up on a ton of movies!.

15 Epic Quotes from The Walking Dead

There's so many things I love about The Walking Dead, it was a challenge to find the best place to talking about my favorite things. For one, there are some pretty awesome quotes - some are thought-provoking, funny, or cap off a highly emotional moment.

The more I dug around each season, a ton more memorable lines popped up and were very difficult to exclude (I'm looking at you Abraham, Glenn, and Dale!). This list could've gone on forever! You might notice that one character is missing from this list, and that's Rick Grimes. There is really too many to choose from or narrow it down, so he is going to get his very own list.

I hope you enjoy this week's Walking Dead Wednesday! Feel free to share in the comments: What are your favorite quotes?

Independence Day Double Feature

My sister and I have a special place in our hearts for cheesetastic blockbusters. A few years ago when an Independence Day re-release was cancelled, our dreams were severely dashed. There are a lot of movies from the past we'd love to see on the big screen, and Independence Day was one of our top picks. When a sequel was in the making, our hopes came alive again and we were so excited when a double feature was announced by AMC Theaters. Our excitement for the first film was palpable to say the least, while the sequel less so (reboots are just blah, in general).

The following thoughts on Independence Day and Independence Day: Resurgence contains spoilers. Read at your own risk!

Katy's Fauxchella with TickPick

Summer has officially arrived! 'Tis the season to go to music festivals! With the sun shining and blue skies above, it's an awesome time to jam to our favorite bands or new performers. Perhaps one of the most famous music festivals is Coachella. It's notorious for it's appearances by celebrities as regular music fans like us. Though this year's concert has already passed, there's always next year to think about not only what the concert will have in store, but also my dream concert. Gina at TickPick teamed up with me on a collaboration of my dream music Faux-chella festival.

Tickpick's designers customized this awesome poster with my imagined headliners. My music tastes vary all over the place from swing and the 1940s to classic rock. Having attended an amazing concert by Florence and the Machine last month, she was certainly at the top of my list. A solid rock vibe are taking over my playlists these days.

These are the bands I picked: Alabama Shakes, Elle King, BØRNS, Florence and the Machine, The Lumineers, Fitz and The Tantrums. I've included each band and my favorite tracks that would be awesome to hear.

Alabama Shakes - Don't Wanna Fight

Lead singer Brittany Howard's sound and her band first blew me away as apart of the Silver Lining's Playbook soundtrack back in 2012. Their style and especially her vocals are ridiculously soulful. Don't Wanna Fight is just one of several tracks of of their most recent album Sound and Color that I love listening to over and over again. Check them out - don't fight me on this. They're awesome.

Elle King - Ex's and Ohs

King's Ex's and Oh's has become a big radio hit as well as her other song America's Sweetheart. What can I say? Her voice just freaking kills it. Though Alabama Shakes' ruminations about relationships and life are a bit more soulful but nevertheless honest, I love how King is bringing back exciting, bad-ass (female) anthems to rock again.

Borns - Electric Love

I don't really remember how or when I first came across Borns, but it's been one of my favorite discoveries as of recently. This band isn't like the first two on this list, which might add some spunk to a concert of my dreams. Like King, Borns has a very cool eighties-esque sound and one of the coolest songs around right now.

Florence and the Machine - Ship to Wreck

This selection was a bit of a cheat since I just saw her live and can't get over her concerts. Her ability to perform is like mixing Janis Joplin and Queen - she is that good. Smaller stages really do her a disservice because at full voice and barefooted, Florence can't be tamed. She runs around the stage and unleashes an amazing energy. She gives an unbelievable concert, so she would no doubt be a good addition to my dream Fauxchella.

The Lumineers - Ophelia

Similar to Alabama Shakes, The Lumineers caught some big air play with their hit song from Silver Linings Playbook called Ho Hey. It's no doubt a great song and very catchy. Some of their more recent songs like Ophelia are great follow-ups to the shout-along feel that initially made them such a big hit.

Fitz and the Tantrums - The Walker

Fitz and the Tantrums is just such a groovy band. I love how they sound very rockish but also have a pop vibe to them. As the lyrics goes, The Walker just makes me want to break out and dance. One of their other best songs is definitely the totally groovy Moneygrabber. The music video has a very old-fashioned sixties feel while also remaining hip and modern rock. Basically, I would give them (and every artist on this list) all of money to see them in person!

A big thanks to TickPick for reaching out to me for this project. It was a lot of fun and definitely got me letting loose to some awesome beats for the summer. If you're going to pick up tickets, check out TickPick's official website information about concerts and the NFL.

What about you guys - who would you love to rock out to?

Shall We Dance? (1996) sweeps self-expression of its feet

Photo Credit: Shall We Dance / Toho

A middle-aged businessman Shohei Sugiyama is riding the train home one day from work. He's successful and has a loving family, but something is unsettled. He's resigned to spending his life paying off the house he just bought. As a business-person in Japan, life is centered on working and going home long enough to sleep, wake up and go back to work again. Hobbies, especially ones of self-expression in public is rare, if not entirely prohibited and frowned upon.

Looking up from the train window one evening, Sugiyama notices a woman Mai Kishikawa standing at a window of a dance studio. With every passing commute, he slowly gains the courage to go up to that studio with the intention of approaching the mystery lady for a coffee or something more, we're not quite sure. Intuitively aware of his intentions and facing her own issues with dance as a failed ballroom competitor, she adverts his advances but Sugiyama ends up taking dance lessons anyways with her fellow teachers.

At first, it's easy to believe that the movie will enter another Middle Age Man Has An Affair territory. But Sugiyama's attempt to meet or engage with Kishikawa grows into another kind of relationship: one to express himself in a society that doesn't necessarily recognize individuality.

In Japanese culture, it is considered embarrassing to participate in Western ballroom dance. Something as simple as public affection is considered scandalous, but the intimate proximity of the Tango and Waltz is infinitely more taboo. The outside world forces Sugiyama to hide his dance lessons not only from his wife but also friends and colleagues. For a while, his immediate world is not ready to meet up with his hobby, but he also can't forfeit a passion that gives his mind and body a connection to another source of focus besides work.

Dance is more than the steps. Feel the music and dance for sheer joy.

Director Masayuki Suo's Shall We Dance? gives viewers a peek into how intimacy plays a role at large and letting it unravel during Sugiyama's late-night lessons. The studio itself is an underground of meet-ups, yet an exuberant test of wills to release their worries and a certain sense of repression. Aside from Sugiyama, other pupils find a way to nurture self-confidence through dance, and it's hard not to feel swept away by all of them. He offers so much vigor and enthusiasm through the personalities Sugiyama encounters and becomes friends with, you feel like you're in on their little secret which grows more and more complicated.

It's difficult to shine a light on the performances in general because they are all outstanding. However, Kōji Yakusho in particular, as Sugiyama, gives a beautiful performance. Even though his character steps out of bounds of what society expects from him, ultimately his and his family's notions about connection change. He carries the movie with such an enigmatic grace. It's hard not to just fall in love with him by cueing in on his emotions and thoughts, and wanting to see him succeed on the dance floor.

While the story might not seem as different as many others, Suo's film about going against the grain is truly touching. Dance is a universal language and so is the drive or want to tend to parts of ourselves we didn't know needed fulfillment. His film is slow and steady filled with romance and charm. At the Japanese equivalent of 'Academy Awards' it won every award it was eligible to win: fourteen, in fact, including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director. Shall We Dance? Yes, lets.

Rating: ★★★ Have you seen Shall We Dance? What are your thoughts?

5 Ideas To Get Out of A Streaming Slump

Maybe it's the summer heat down here in Florida, or I'm just in a really bad movie rut. Because I am having a really difficult time watching any kind of movie. And, nothing feels less inspiring as a movie buff or blogger than to watch a dozen movies and come away feeling BLAH about them all.

Sure, we all don't like a movie here and there. Typically, even when I watch a flick that isn't an instant fave or something I'd watch again, I still try to find something redeemable.

After watching a string of movies that just weren't any good, where I just felt like I wasted my time, where I couldn't find something that made me go Well it was all right because this actor's performance stood out or at least this scene made me laugh, doubts arise when I go to watching something new: what if I just don't end up liking it? or it gives me nothing new to think/write/talk about?

Basically, my curiosity or excitement to watch movies has dried up for the time being. I know I want to watch something but I just don't know where to start. I wanted to fix how I or others can get back on the film wagon. These are five ideas on how to get out of a streaming slump. Good luck!