Be Kind, Please Rewind

He Overpays Attention. He’s the…

Vidiot

Week of June 20, 2014

Details would be easier if they were obvious. First up…

 

The Lego Movie

The worst thing about a Lego movie is that you are eventually going to step on it in your bare feet one day.

Fortunately, this animated adventure comes in a digital format.

Dimwitted construction worker Emmet (Chris Pratt) is bonded with an item that can prevent Lord Business (Will Ferrell) from freezing the folks of Bricksburg in place.

Aiding him is a wizard (Morgan Freeman), a master-builder (Elizabeth Banks), Batman (Will Arnett) and other trademarked characters (Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, Nick Offerman).

In order to beat Lord Business though, Emmet must tap into his underutilized imagination.

Lampooning the very building blocks that inspired it - and the pop culture licenses it’s parent company holds - The Lego Movie is unlike any other: it’s uproarious irreverence is equaled only by its narrative’s relevance.

And in the end, Lego all goes to the same place: inside the couch.  Green Light

 

The Grand Budapest Hotel 

Instead of robes, hotels should offer guests complimentary HAZMAT suits.

Auspiciously, the accommodations at the alpine resort in this comedy are immaculate - because it’s mostly empty.

There are a few souls. Among them a writer (Jude Law) interested in the hotel’s history, and the owner, Zero (F. Murray Abraham), who’s happy to regale him with it over dinner.

In 1932, under the tutelage of the overly committed concierge, Monsieur Gustave (Ralph Fiennes), Zero (Tony Revolori) gains employment at the hotel.

When a deceased dowager (Tilda Swinton) bequeaths Gustave a valuable painting, it sets off a chain of events that lands him in prison.

From the quirky characters, to the pastel aesthetic and the subtle sophistication, this latest offering from director Wes Anderson has his idiosyncratic and affable fingerprints all over it.

Furthermore, the Bible is the only item in a hotel room likely to be covered in biological fluid.  Green Light

Joe

The upside to being a drifter is when the work dries up in one town you can kill your boss and move to another.

Unfortunately, the transients in this drama are killing locals and staying.

Gary (Tye Sheridan), a 15-year-old wanderer with an alcoholic father (Gary Poulter), lands a job for him and his dad poisoning dying trees with Joe (Nicolas Cage), an ex-con with a problem with authority.

While Gary is lauded for his effort and forms a bond with Joe, Gary’s father is fired.

In retaliation, he teams with Joe’s adversary (Ronnie Gene Blevins) to get revenge on both Joe and Gary.

Entrenched in the intensity of small-town grudges, Joe is a down-and-dirty mentor and mentee tale that showcases two powerful performances from its established star and its rising co-star.

Incidentally, the best mentors are the ones that can teach you to remove copper wiring from new homes.  Green Light

***Monkey Business Opportunity***

Dunston Checks In

The way to tell if a monkey has been in your hotel room is the feces that you had left on the bedside table is now on the wall.

However, the orangutan in this family-comedy is toilet trained better than most humans.

Kyle (Eric Lloyd), the son of the Majestic Hotel’s manager (Jason Alexander), befriends Dunston, an orangutan who has been trained to steal by his master, a jewel thief (Rupert Everett).

Mistaken for a critic by the hotel owner (Faye Dunaway), the pickpocket is permitted to go about his business unobstructed.

But when word gets out that a primate has checked into the establishment, the hotel’s 5-star rating and Kyle’s dad are threatened.

A madcap escapade embellished by slapstick shenanigans and puerile pranks, Dunston Checks In is as goofy as expected but surprisingly endearing and amiable.

Furthermore, it’s refreshing to finally find a non-decomposing ape in a hotel room.

He’s in his Primate. He’s the… 

Vidiot