Sean’s movie thoughts

I did finish Thunder Force. It is bad. I did not find many of the jokes funny and I thought some of the pop culture references seemed stale or out of date. (Maybe if I liked the film more I would not mention this.)The prologue was okay, if a little long, but a major plot point established in the prologue makes no sense.  This is Ben Falcone’s fifth film as a director. He also wrote it. I have heard he is a talented actor, maybe he should stick to that. It is kind of telling that he is not directing any project that his wife is not headlining. I thought some scenes or jokes ran long.  This is not as bad as Vacation 2015. That is not saying much though. Ocativa Spencer did not save this movie.  See this  https://slate.com/culture/2021/04/thunder-force-netflix-melissa-mccarthy-ben-falcone-movies.htm  article if you want another opinion.

  https://www.slashfilm.com/superintelligence-review/ I have not seen the movie. I am not sure if I will but the headline of this review says “Maybe Melissa McCarthy should stop letting Ben Falcone direct her movies”, which I kind of said in a previous article.  Another critic said in his review that the movies that Falcone directs are the least interesting movies she makes.  I don’t know either Melissa McCarthy or Ben Falcone. I am am amateur film commentator, I don’t go to ndustry events or press screenings. This is not personal. It is not like Ben Falcone called me a failed screenwriter after a critical review and I resent him, and now I cannot be fair towards his work. That would be more interesting to be honest. I guess I am unsure why Melissa McCarthy seems okay with not making the most of her stardom. Is whatever level of trust or comfort in working with Falcone while making these movies really worth the results? She must think it is. I hear Falcone is a good actor...

 To say someone is wasting his or her talent is a harsh thing to say. However I think Melissa McCarthy is not taking full advantage of her talent. The movies she makes with her husband Ben Falcone directing aren't dreck but in most cases they are worse than her movies directed by other people. Her movie the Happy Time Murders might be dreck and it is not directed by her husband. It might be the exception that proves the rule.  I guess there is a comfort level or level of trust in working with your husband. There might be a reason why he is not getting hired to direct movies or co-write movies without you in a starring role.  Maybe it is just me but I would give up some level of comfort or trust to work with other directors and maybe get better results.  Maybe she is happy with the movie she makes with Falcon. Maybe she sees progress being made with each film and thinks the experience of making movies with Falcone directing is very good. I remember hearing Life of the...

Melissa McCarthy has a new movie coming out in August called the Kitchen. It is a crime thriller and Tiffany Haddish co-stars. Unless the trailer I saw is really misleading, it is not a spoof or a parody of crime thrillers. (If the movie is a spoof, then this is the most misleading trailer since the trailer for Adventureland that made it look much more zany and madcap than it was.) Maybe the movie will be really good and successful, so McCarthy and Haddish will get more dramatic roles. That could be nice. Apparently this movie is based on a Vertigo comic. (Vertigo is an imprint of DC comics that includes more crime comics and more non-superhero comics.) If McCarthy moves into more dramatic roles, perhaps she will make fewer comedies like Life of the Party or the Boss or the Happytime Murders. That might be a good thing.

Life of the Party is not a terrible movie. It is bad though. I am going to try to explain why it is bad without comparing it to Back to School. (I might love Back to School, so those comparisons are unfair even if those films have certain plot similarities.) Melissa McCarthy plays a divorced woman who goes back to college, the same college her daughter is attending. I think Life of the Party could benefit from a stronger central plot. Or perhaps the movie needs larger stakes. The movie does not feel urgent or compelling. It is low key. It is very much a showcase for Melissa McCarthy and there is nothing wrong with that. It does mean that the rest of the cast is there to support her. Sort of like the rest of the cast is there to support Jim Carrey in some of his movies. This film is bad but not terrible. There are some nice moments here and there. It is long (maybe if it were a bit shorter it might be a little better), there is not a strong plot, and I think McCarthy can make bett...

I re-watched Stan and Ollie. It holds up. It is a little sad though. I am still not sure how true to life it is. John C. Reilly good reviews for his performance here which was nice after the bad reviews  he got for Holmes and Watson. Melissa McCarthy is making another movie with her husband Ben Falcone. They will co-write the movie and he will direct.  I guess it is nice to work with your spouse but from what I’ve seen and read the movies they co-write and he directs are worse than her other movies. She most likely has a different perspective on her career than I do. I did not go to see Dumbo. I was not interested. I have seen the animated movie.

Back to School is a classic with Rodney Dangerfeild playing a rich man named Thornton Mellon, who goes back to college and reconnects with his son. It is his best movie. It is driven by a subplot about a professor who doesn’t think Thorton belongs in college and Thornton’s belief that the professor is naive. Life of the Party, which wisely does not use the classic song of the same name, is not as good as Back to School. (That is a sad song.) I could be biased, I really liked Rodney as a comedian and as an actor. I have seen the movie several times over the years, I could be overlooking its faults. Melissa McCarthy stars as a woman who goes back to college after a divorce. Her ex-husband seems in a rush to get married to another woman. McCarthy’s character  has some misadventures adjusting to life on campus, including dating a guy half her age and dealing with mean girls, but the plot isn’t as strong as Back to School. Also I feel like I know who Thornton Mellon was and I don’...