Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016)

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is based off the true story of news reporter Kim Baker and her time spent in Afghanistan trying to report stories that would make people care about that war again.
            The movie begins with Kim (played by the fabulous and wonderful Tina Fey) working at a desk. She and several other employees who are not married and do not have children are asked to head over to report the war in Afghanistan. America does not really care about the Middle Eastern country anymore since they are all now focused on Iraq. This is something Kim has wanted to do. She feels stuck at her desk and wants to desperately do some field reporting.

            Afghanistan is a whirlwind of craziness. Kim is teamed up with a camera man and an Afghani reporter named Fahim. She also meets Scottish freelance photographer Iain McKelpie (Martin Freeman). All the danger is of course frightening for Kim when she first arrives but after a while she begins to thrive on it and want it especially after she finds out her boyfriend cheated on her.

            Kim winds up spending three years in Afghanistan. Some of her stories wind up making the news while others such as a school bombing do not. It is a rough three years spent in a war torn area and finally Kim realizes that it is time to finally head home.

            The cast of Whiskey Tango Foxtrot was really good. Whenever Tina Fey is in a movie or a TV you immediately expect whatever it is to be funny. This was a semi-serious movie it is not a straight up comedy. Fey was fantastic in what is for her a serious role. The woman has range an actress. Of course there were some funny moments but the rest was serious. I praise Fey for branching out and doing a damn good job at it. Martin Free usually bothers me and I wound up liking him in his role as a Scottish photographer. His paring with Fey worked very well. Margot Robbie and Alfred Molina were also in the movie. Robbie character was a sort of opponent for Fey’s character. They were friends for a while which was nice to see while it lasted. Molina’s character was hysterical. I am sure the character was a dramatization of the actual person but he was hilarious. All his scenes with Fey were so funny. Billy Bob Thorton shows up as a general. He did really impact the movie in any way.

            Whiskey Tango Foxtrot was pretty good. I am not a fan of stories that take place in the Middle East between the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. For me it is more like I am living through it I do not really want to see movies about it. Also I do not watch the news at all (yeah for being an informed adult) so the whole thing with Whiskey Tango Foxtrot because I adore Tina Fey so fucking much. I was excited to see her in a somewhat dramatic role and she was fantastic. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is worth seeing at least once. Wait for it to be available to rent or possibly on Netflix. 

Sisters (2015)

I do not have sisters. I am the only girl with three younger brothers. Nothing against sisters or girls but I have never wanted a sister. I do not know how to handle being a girl myself let alone living with another hormone infused bitch. It is nice to know I am the only one in the house besides my mom that has that bitch time. I have never had to share clothes or even a room. I have had it pretty good in my family being the only girl.

            I do have girl friends that I definitely consider being like sisters to me. I have one friend I have known since fourth grade and we definitely became like sisters over the years. That is the kind of friendship my two favorite actresses Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have. Fey and Poehler have known each other for a very long time and it is very evident when they are together that they are close like sisters. And how fitting it is for them to be in a movie titled Sisters where they actually get to play sisters.

            Kate (Fey) and Maura (Poehler) Ellis are sisters who are complete opposites. Kate is the rebellious, crazy, unserious one who likes to have a good time and party. Maura has always been the goody-two-shoes selflessly thinking of other people who never really had fun growing up. Maura gets a call from her parents that they are selling their old house down in Florida to move to an adult community. They want Maura and Kate to come down and clean out their old room.

            When they get down to the house Kate and Maura freak out because their parents had already sold the house and moved out they just needed them to come clean out their old rooms like they said. As they start going through their stuff Maura comments that she never had any fun she was always the one who drove everyone home and helped everyone out when they needed to puke. Kate gets the idea to throw one last crazy wild party at their house like she used when they were in high school. They call their party Ellis Island Revamped.

            Their house party gets a little out of hand like it is a high school party all over again. And also some tensions come out between the sisters and as usual they all get resolved by the end of the movie.

            Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are two of my idols. I remember watching them religiously on Saturday Night Live. I love how they do not give any shits with their comedy they are so unapologetic. I adore them as comedians and human beings. Usually it is Amy Poehler who plays the batshit crazy kind of trashy person and Tina Fey is the straight laced no nonsense one. In Sisters their usual roles got completely reversed and Tina Fey was fucking amazing! Seeing Tina Fey as the batshit crazy one was one of the highlights of my life. I was laughing so hard in every one of her scenes. It just so not her and that is what made Tina Fey playing this crazy person all the more hilarious. I was crying laughing every time the word “fuck” came out of her mouth. There was one scene at the end where she takes a selfie with a graffitied dick on the wall and I lost it. It may sound weird but I felt so unsettled watching Amy Poehler not be the crazy one. She was a bit of a wilder Leslie Knope but not by much. I love the character of Leslie Knope and Amy Poehler was perfection in role but I just always feel uncomfortable watching the character. That is how I felt with Maura but I still liked her because Amy Poehler is amazing.

 

            The rest of the cast was brilliant. Maya Rudolph and Rachel Dratch are two of Fey and Poehler’s close friends so of course they were in it and of course I loved seeing them in it. Kate McKinnon and Bobby Moynihan are in it. Ike Barinholtz plays Poehler’s love interest and he was not over the top annoying I liked him. John Cena has possibly one of the best cameos in a movie. Kate was trying to get with his character and those scenes were hilarious because he just stood there while she tried her best.

            Sisters is everything I could have hope for, for Tina Fey and Amy Poehler to make. All their humor is there. It is raunchy and silly and crazy and totally hilarious from start to finish. I was dying for them to make a movie that was rated R so they can be as raunchy and outrageous as they wanted and Sisters delivered! I can only hope that if I had a sister that we could have a relationship like Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s friendship and Kate and Maura. Definitely go see Sisters as soon as you can it is one of the best laughs you will have. 

This Is Where I Leave You (2014)

“It's hard to see people from your past when your present is so cataclysmically screwed up.”

            No matter “put together”, “good” or “nice” your family may be they are screwed up in some odd way. My family is a bunch of nutcases. My parents are still together and have been for thirty-three years. There is me and three younger brothers. We all care deeply for one another. We’re always there for each other. For some reason everyone loves my family. We are good people but my goodness if they lived with us! They would most likely have us all committed! We also, as individuals, have a lot of issues. I suffer from ADHD, depression and anxiety which was nicely passed down by my father who has the same issues. My one brother is an unholy mess and he just makes problems bigger than they are. We are dysfunctional but we all make do with each other.

            Watching This is Where I Leave You made me think of the relationships I have with each of my brothers. We are not as dysfunctional as the Altman family in the room. At least we know how to be somewhat civil to each other and we would never go months not seeing each other. Their relationships with each other I found to be endearing and at times very relatable.

            The story centers around Judd Altman (Jason Bateman) the second brother in a family of four. Judd thought he had a good life working as a radio producer with a beautiful faithful wife. He comes home from work one day to find his wife and his radio personality boss in bed together. A few months later Judd is still unemployed and is now living in a small apartment. He gets a call from his sister Wendy (Tina Fey) that their father has died. Judd heads back home for the funeral. His mother (Jane Fonda) tells them all that one of their father’s last wishes was that they would all sit Shiva for him so they could be a family again. None of the Altman children are very happy especially since they have not been in the same room together in a long time and now they have to be together for seven days.

            The story is not completely new because over the course of the seven days the family finds things out about each other, all their good and bad qualities come out, all their issues are brought out into the open, there are scenes where they have a good time together and also confide in one another. Judd even manages to find a nice girl from his childhood and is stunned to find she never left their small town.           

            Very typical story but what sets it apart from others is the acting and there are actually some surprises. So much praise goes to Tina Fey. The woman really does have a range. She was perfect as Wendy. The characters Fey plays usually have to hold their own and because of this she is sarcastic and sometimes bitter. That is exactly what Wendy was only she had to hold her own because she has three brothers and a few other things in her life made her bitter. I know perfectly well what it is like to have to hold your own with three brothers and it is not easy. Fey had some of the best scenes in the movie. All her scenes with Jason Bateman were fantastic. Bateman is such a good actor. I do not think he gets enough credit. Judd is character that shows up in movies and stories all the time but Bateman added something different to Judd. I am not sure what it was but what he did add made the character different and actually enjoyable. Rose Byrne plays the girl who stayed in their hometown. Byrne could act out the alphabet and she would be genius. She has such great range as an actress. She is pretty yet she can play the perfect dorky, odd character like the girl in this movie was or he can be awesome and fierce like her character in Damages. Kathryn Hahn is in the movie as Judd’s sister-in-law. Love all her performances too. Like Bateman and even like Byrne, Hahn is not given enough credit for how good an actress she is. Jane Fonda was bearable. Her character is actually one of the most surprising scenes in the whole movie and it is funny and like what the hell just happened. Corey Stoll and Adam Driver round out the Altman children. Cory Stoll played the older brother so he was like the authority figure in the family with the dad gone (he will always be Ernset Hemmingway to me and I will forever want to hear him say “Who wants to fight” no matter what he is in). He, Driver, and Bateman have a great scene together. Driver I am not really fond of. I cannot pin point what it is about him that I do not like. His character was a bit of an ass but that was not really it.

            My favorite line in this movie is when Wendy picks up Judd from the hospital. His ex-boss showed up there too (for reasons I cannot give away). Judd was going to walk away but Wendy decided to punch the guy out. When she gets in the car she tells Judd and Phillip (Driver) “You guys may be idiots but you’re my idiots.” I cannot even tell you how this has become a my mantra for my brothers ha ha.

            This is Where I Leave You was a great movie. From beginning to end I enjoyed it. I liked all the characters and the acting was fantastic. The story could be a bit predictable but then there are a few curves and surprises. The ending was I thought was very good. If you get a chance definitely see This is Where I Leave You especially if you come from a family with a few kids like me. 

Admission (2013)

“You all want to know the secret formula for getting in. To do your job well, an admissions officer must be on the receiving end of an entire nation's application panic, endure the frustration of all the parents who just realized there isn't room for every organically-fed, well-tutored offspring. Of course everyone thinks we're sadists, that we like saying no. We are in this job for one reason, to say yes.”

           

            When I was applying for college nine years ago (damn I just made myself feel really old!) I did not go into panic mode like some of my friends. I wanted go my community college (which was voted one of the top five community colleges in the country) for two years then transfer to a university. I mostly wanted to go to community college first because I could have cared less about scoring high on the SATs. Plus, I was not ready to leave home. Then seven years ago I applied for Montclair State University and fortunately without a problem I got into that school. Even graduate school I got into the school I wanted without issue. I never went nuts applying for schools. Well, I will say I was little nervous that my application was light because I was bum I did not do any extracurricular activities or any sports but apparently that does not matter to any of the schools I went/go to.

            In the movie Admission thousands of students apply to get into Princeton University. Princeton is an Ivy League school and all the smartest kids in the nation apply every year. It is up to the admissions office to go through every application and choose exceptional students that will add to Princeton’s legacy and reputation. Working in the admissions office is Portia Nathan (Tina Fey). She has been at Princeton as an employee for sixteen years. She does her job well and seems to enjoy it. She even has a boyfriend who is a professor on campus.

            One day the Dean of Admissions announces that he is retiring and that Portia is one of the people in the running for his job. In order to get more admissions applications Portia travels to a new school called Quest that is run by a man named John Pressman (Paul Rudd). The school is like an alternative high school where the students are not kept in an actual classroom and are encouraged to think and speak freely. After her presentation John tells Portia he knows her from when they were at Dartmouth together and needs to talk to her about something but she keeps brushing him off.

            The visit to the school and meeting John and his brightest and unconventional student Jeremiah, Portia’s life is thrown for a complete loop both personally and professionally. John tells her he thinks that Jeremiah is her son she had in college and gave up. Portia does everything she can to make sure that Jeremiah gets into Princeton like he wants even though he was not a stellar student.

            I loved Tina Fey and Paul Rudd in this movie together. They made an interesting couple. When I think of them I think of their comedies, I think of Liz Lemon and I think of Rudd being in Our Idiot Brother as a stoner. I believe that their comedy helped them to be somewhat serious in this movie because you can see they are both a bit awkward being dramatic (or at least it looked like they were awkward to me). I give Tina Fey a lot of credit because she always does silly comedies and then to do a somewhat serious role where she has to show emotion she did fantastic. I wish she would make more movies like this. Paul Rudd is just awesome he gets better and better every movie I see him in.

            Lily Tomlin plays Portia’s feminist mother. She is hilarious from her first scene to the last. I would not mind seeing her play Fey’s mother in something else.

            One of my grad school teachers works at Princeton in the archives. He told the class that when Admission was filming on the campus Tina Fey would take a break from filming and say hello to the people waiting and sign some autographs. One of his friends brought his young son and the son met Tina Fey. After that the son said he wants to go to Princeton and the father told him “You know Tina Fey isn’t always here” and the son paused then said again “I want to go to Princeton”. Ha ha.

            Admission is a very good movie. The story is sort of predictable and sort of not. You think you know where some of the plot is going and then it goes somewhere else. The acting is very good and the story is different. Highly suggest seeing Admission, especially if you are currently applying to colleges.

 

Megamind



“All men must choose between two paths. Good is the path of honor, friends and family. Evil... well, it's just cooler”

            Megamind is one of the best animated, what to call it… action movie? Super hero movie? Comedy movie? Well is it all four genres with a little twist.

            Will Ferrell excellently plays the “evil” Megamind bent on destroying Metro City and its superhero Metroman. When he finally gets rid of Metroman once and for all he takes over the city. A while later he becomes board having no one to fight with so he decides to create a new super hero called Tighten. Only things do not go over so smoothly for the new hero so with the help of feisty and sassy TV reporter Roxanne Ritchie Megamind changes sides and helps to rid the city of Tighten.

            This was a really great spin on super hero movies. I enjoyed Megamind from beginning to end. Will Ferrell always goes a bit over the top in his movies but it worked here very well. Megamind likes to be a bad guy who makes very theatrical introductions and is very dramatic. Tina Fey is as always nothing short of a snarky, sarcastic, biting genius when it comes to comedy and was utterly perfect as Roxanne. She had so many lines that I could picture Liz Lemmon saying on 30 Rock haha. David Cross always has be laughing in whatever he happens to be in. He was the voice of Megamind’s assistant Minion who is part fish part gorilla and part robot. Jonah Hill as usual plays the awkward nerd Hal who turns into Tighten. Hal has a massive crush on Roxanne and thinks that by becoming a super hero she will like him but nothing in life goes exactly as planned even in animated movies. Brad Pit… who wouldn’t want to see him as a super hero even if it was just his voice.

            Megamind is a really entertaining and very different super hero story. I liked the twist and turns the story threw. Megamind is a character that you root for and cannot help but love. This movie will keep you hooked and happy and hoping more movies- not just animated- come out this in the future.