Movie #1025 .........................."Pitch Perfect 2"

Movie #1025 "Pitch Perfect 2" was an okay sequel to the wonderfully delightful first one.  But I know for a fact that you can follow this one even if you didn't see the first one (The three women who went with me did not see #1 and had no trouble following the plot) I heard that part of the criticism of this film  was that Anna Kendrick wasn't in the film all that much, but I don't agree at all with that assessment; she's just moving on and trying to follow a dream and that provides a conflict for the Bellas, and I actually liked that storyline even better than the World competition the Bellas need to compete in to get back their reputation which has been tainted in the opening scene of this film (pretty raunchy but funny incident that happens in front of the President and First Lady, supposedly).  One fun thing about this film is all the famous people who pop up in various places......it's like product placement , but with people.  That, and of course, the a cappella music, esp. the many many ways they insert their songs make the film a fun watch for me (and the people I brought as well). I also enjoyed the energy the performers bring to each of the songs (esp. the German group) , the staging, the choreography, and the office scenes with Kendrick's oddball boss.  It was nice to see the Bellas return, and I was anxious to see what Fat Amy was up to in this film, but I thought some of what she did fell a bit flat in comparison to the first one. But the commentators are even more politically incorrect in this one, but very funny.  I don't think we'll  be seeing another one of these movies  since they are all graduating by the end of this one, except for the freshman (Hailee Seinfeld (from True Grit) who, incidentally, is a breath of fresh air and a good addition to this sequel.  Overall,  I recommend this film  if you like lots of energy and music and you don't want to think a lot about a film at all --- just very entertaining!  









Pitch Perfect 22015PG-13   I'd give it 3 stars out of 5

Hoping to be the first American group ever to win a prestigious international a cappella competition, the Barden Bellas return in this song-filled sequel and come up against a rival group of European singers who are also determined to win.

Cast:

Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow, Anna Camp, Alexis Knapp, Hana Mae Lee, Hailee Steinfeld, Elizabeth Banks, Katey Sagal, Skylar Astin, Adam DeVine

Genre:

Comedy

Movie #1024 ........................"Avengers: Age of Ultron"

Movie #1024 "Avengers:  Age of Ultron" is not my type of film (action film with super heroes I know nothing about), but it did have several positives to lure me into seeing it, one big one being the director Whedon.  Another is the actors (esp. Downey, Jr, Johansson, and Ruffalo), and finally the first Avengers movie was pretty good.  I can say there was a lot MORE of MORE here, but it was not as good as the first one, esp. in the storyline.  I can sum up in three words all I need to put in this critique:    too.  much.  fighting.  That's pretty much it in a nutshell for me.  I have been on a rampage for a while now on wanting to see more movies that solve the world problems through brains instead of brawn.  The first Avengers film  gave me the impression that they were really trying to figure out how to defeat the bad guys, and they seemed to have a plan.  This one, Ruffalo and Downey Jr seem to work on a plan for about 10 seconds, but I don't remember it ever being told to any of the "heroes" nor to us, the audience.  In fact, the black widow is out of the picture for several minutes and misses any discussion on it, and yet just joins in and fights willy nilly, which is what most of the film is ---- fighting willy nilly.  If you want to just see one fight after another, with some funny humorous jabs here and there, see this.  Otherwise, take a good long walk in the sunshine for two hours and 20 minutes.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

2015 PG-13 

3.8

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Returning to action to stem another lethal threat to planet Earth, the cadre of superheroes from the original Avengers takes on the evil and all-powerful Ultron, who's determined to stamp out humankind.

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, more...

Movie #1023 ........................."Odd Couple II"

Movie #1023 "The Odd Couple II" --- until a week ago, I did not know this film existed.  Then, I accidentally came across it remote controlling through the channels and ended up on some new movie channel we have up in Wisconsin.  And I must say, we enjoyed this, and we were glad we came across it.  "The Odd Couple" has been always one of our guilty pleasures to watch, and it was fun to hear more Neil Simon lines again ----- ones we haven't heard before, but ones a lot like others. But there's some comfort in that, some security in knowing that there will be another joke after the one you just heard, even if you didn't like the previous one.  No one else is capable of writing so many jokes in so little time.....This set up is like "in-laws" and the misadventures just keep on coming --- like another Lemmon film "The Out of Towners" ("oh my god"), and in the hands of these two more than capable actors, you just might believe that most of it happens to them!  It's lots of fun, and if you come across it, it might just be fun for you to check it out!









The Odd Couple II1998PG-13  I would give this 3.8 out of 5 stars

Fussy neatnik Felix Unger (Jack Lemmon) and incorrigible slob Oscar Madison (Walter Matthau) haven't seen each other since they shared an apartment life three decades ago but they're reunited on a trip to the wedding of Oscar's son (Jonathan Silverman) and Felix's daughter (Lisa Waltz). A traumatic road trip full of misadventures ensues in this delightful tale about the classic mismatched characters.

Cast:

Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Christine Baranski, Jonathan Silverman, Bernard Hughes, Jean Smart, Lisa Waltz

Genre:

Slapstick, Comedy