Musical

Teen Titans Go! To the Movies

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  • Title: Teen Titans Go! To the Movies
  • wiki: link

Teen Titans Go! To the Movies movie reviewSince the show’s introduction back in 2013, Teen Titans Go! has met with mixed reaction from fans. Some love the madcap feel of the short adventures while other felt DC strayed too far from the earlier (more serious take) found on the first Teen Titans animated series. Even if the show’s writing has been somewhat inconsistent, I’ve enjoyed my share of Teen Titans Go! and my only real question was whether or not its slapstick style could work stretched out over a feature film? You bet your ass it can.

Full of DC fan references and inside jokes (such as Nicolas Cage playing Superman), the film is a nerdtastic delight.

The movie throws us into a world (not unlike our own) full of super-hero movies. Robin (Scott Menville), the selfish leader of the Teen Titans, desperately wants to join the ranks of Batman, Aquaman, Superman, and the rest of DC’s top heroes who have all earned their own movies. Alas, no one takes the sidekick or his misfit team seriously. The solution? Find an arch-nemesis and convince a studio exec (Kristen Bell) that the Titans are worthy of a movie.

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Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
  • IMDb: link

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again movie reviewBoth sequel and prequel to 2008’s Mamma Mia!, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again returns most of the core cast for another romcom plot set to the music of ABBA. Since we saw her last, Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) has managed to breathe new life in the dream of her recently departed mother (Meryl Streep) and is working towards the grand opening of the hotel. The return of her mother’s best friends (Christine Baranski and Julie Walters) helps lessen the pressure of her estranged relationship to Sky (Dominic Cooper) and the absences of two of her three fathers on the eve of the big day.

There are some improvements here as co-writer and director Ol Parker limits the singing roles for some actors who struggled in the first film while allowing other actors to carry the bulk of the musical numbers. The flashback plot to Donna’s original trip to Greece allows the casting of younger versions of all the characters in actors who are a bit more comfortable belting out the songs when called upon. Lily James is the stand-out as the younger Donna as the other actors look to have been primarily cast first for their physical likeness, second for their singing ability, and (unfortuantely) last for their ability to act.

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Still Pitchy, and Far From Perfect

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Pitch Perfect 3
  • IMDb: link

Pitch Perfect 3 movie reviewScreenwriters Kay Cannon and Mike White bend over backwards the third time around to find a plausible reason to reunite the Barden Bellas for a final chance to sing and compete for glory. Given the glut of game shows which are music-based it would seem pretty easy to do. However, Pitch Perfect 3 goes old school and instead sends our ladies overseas to perform on a USO tour for American servicemen abroad. And, because everything in this series has to be about competition, the Bellas are pitted against the other bands competing for an opening act spot for prestigious musician DJ Khaled (playing himself).

Most of the cast return including the talented Becca Anna Kendrick, the awkward and all-the-sudden less-sexually-confused Chloe (Brittany Snow), the competitive Aubrey (Anna Camp), the younger Emily (Hailee Steinfeld), the odd Lilly (Hana Mae Lee), and the annoying Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) who gets her own bizarre subplot involving a long-lost father (John Lithgow) and gangsters… for the micro-audience of those waiting to see Rebel Wilson as a ninja? Elizabeth Banks and John Michael Higgins also reprise their roles as commentators, this time tracking the group overseas for a documentary which would seem to have a very narrow target audience as well.

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The Not Very Interesting Showman

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Greatest Showman
  • IMDb: link

The Greatest Showman movie reviewI never thought I would see Hugh Jackman upstaged by Zac Efron. Jackman stars as the flawed but good-natured conman and showman P.T. Barnum, whose dreams and drive will lead the unemployed clerk into creating the world’s first circus. Director Michael Gracey‘s elaborate musical has several problems, including (but no limited to) the film is far less epic than intended, most of the musical numbers are forgettable, plot issues are immediately solved with minimal effort (sometimes even off camera), and its main character is the least interesting thing about the entire project. Other than that, it’s an okay show.

Jackman’s Barnum is a bland lead compelled to rise above his station and prove his worth. Despite the infectious dream he shares, and the family he creates, he’s often a selfish and unlikable character. The cast of supporting characters include Michelle Williams as Barnum’s wife, Rebecca Ferguson as Barnum’s first legitimate act, Efron as Barnum’s business associate and Zendaya as the trapeze artist he falls for, and a collection of oddities, freaks, and exhibits which Barnum fills his circus including Keala Settle and Sam Humphrey.

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Mayhem of the Music Meister!

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Batman: The Brave and the Bold – Mayhem of the Music Meister!
  • wiki: link

“Was the singing really necessary?”

Batman: The Brave and the Bold - Mayhem of the Music Meister! TV review

Given the character’s recent appearance on The Flash, it only seemed fitting that this week’s Throwback Thursday look back to the first appearance of the Music Meister (Neil Patrick Harris) on Batman: The Brave and the Bold. With an ability to hyptonize both heroes and villains through song, the Music Meister shows up during a fight between Black Canary (Grey DeLisle), Green Arrow (James Arnold Taylor), Aquaman (John DiMaggio), Black Manta (Kevin Michael Richardson), Gorilla Grodd (DiMaggio), and Clock King (Dee Bradley Baker) to mesmerize both sides and steal a satellite to increase his power to control the entire world. Using some Bat-Ear-Plugs, Batman (Diedrich Bader) manages to stay outside the villain’s influence, but he’ll need help to take down the musical maestro.

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