Irresistible review

Satirist and former host of the The Daily Show, is the writer and director of Irrestible. And he doesn't stray from his talent and expertise. As it is a comedy about politics in the twenty first century.

    Irresistible starts out in 2016. Democratic political operative Gary Zimmer (Steve Carrell) has just endured a crushing upset after he tried to get Hillary Clinton elected. Yeah, you remember. It feels like ions ago but Trump won. His Republican nemesis Faith Brewster (Rose Byrne) is obviously in much better position. Gary has become despondent.

 Gary is exposed to a viral video of Jack Hastings (Chris Cooper) a former Marine, who's seen standing up for immigrants in a town hall meeting of Deerlaken, Wisconsin. Jack's a farmer who lives with his Terminator daughter Diana (Mackenzie Davis). She's is an augmented soldier, back from the future to protect Sarah Connor. And the last two sentences about the Terminator is from Terminator:Dark Fate. You see Davis was in that one and the joke fails as nobody saw that film. Sorry. Anyway, Gary decides Jack would be a great Democratic candidate who could speak to the middle of America about liberal ideas. He goes to Deerlaken to recruit him. The first election for Jack would be the mayoral contest in DeerLaken.

 Steve Carrell, Rose Byrne and the whole cast have great comic timing. It helps that Director Stewart understands comedy. I've got to give a shout out to Chris Cooper. As in any role he understands the character and plays him perfectly. I'm thinking about a couple of films I have around the house and just marvel at those performances. The Bourne Identitiy. Seabiscuit.

 Knowing Jon Stewart, I was expecting a funnier version of The Candidate (1972) with broad laughs and something to say. And the movie does have something to say. It's also pleasant in the laugh department. But it's Stewart's writing that has a big flaw. The film has a huge plot twist which I won't give away here . And Stewart hints at it in a scene but it goes by so fast that you don't think of it. Look, the audience can love a surprise. But it is so huge or yuge as Trump would say that it is a shock to the audience. And I don't mean that it in a good way. The movie moves along and the plot twist comes out of left field or make that right field depending on your political orientation.

 When you're writing a screenplay, you should show not tell. There are exceptions. Exposition is one of them. And if you're going to do some giant plot twist, you should hint at it but not so subtle that it feels as if you didn't. This foreboding applies to comedy too. Irresistible does such a bad job at setting up the twist that if feels like it came from another movie. In fact, Stewart puts an end credit interview with a real political expert to explains the plausability of the plot twist. I won't name the expert to save the surprise. But yeah, you can see how huge the plot twist was. Stewart should have put another scene setting up the twist and also have an exposition scene explaining the mechanics of the twist. Trust me, we're not talking nuclear physics here. That exposition could be like Jack watching TV and a news story explains the device that will drive the twist.

  Irresistible is not irresistible. It's got some great jokes, not enough to be gut busting funny. And the plot twist is too much of a jolt for the audience to find believable. Wait for this one to reach cable. The grade is B.

Science Fiction Film of the Year for 2019

I looked back on the year of 2019 and it was crappy year for science fiction movies. But there was one movie that deserved the prestigious 😊Basement Blog Science Fiction Film of the Year. It won because it took risks. The movie is Avengers: Endgame. The risks it took was that the movie took a sharp left hand turn to comedy ala Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. (1986) That took the film out of your run of the mill superhero flick.

Crazy Rich Asians review

As a Chinese American, I'm glad that Crazy Rich Asians has the "rich" as part of its title. Because the lifestyles of these Asians is nothing like your average, normal Chinese American. it's like a fairy tale for Asians who yearn to be really rich. And by rich, I mean rich as in royalty rich.

Based on Kevin Kwan's novel of the same name, Crazy Rich Asians, is about the romance of Nick Young (Harry Golding) who's the heir of a Singapore real estate dynasty and "commoner" Rachel Chu (Constance Wu). She's an economics professor at New York University. Nick invites her to attend a friends wedding in Singapore and meet the family, including the head of the Young family, Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh) a kick ass secret agent for China... oops, that's the excellent James Bond movie, Tomorrow Never Dies. (1997) Her name in this movie is Eleanor. She's not too thrilled about her son romancing an American commoner. If you look at the conflict that I just described, you can guess where this film is going. No, I'm not talking about the James Bond movie of a narcissistic villain wanting to dominate the world.    Hold on.  Isn't that is what is happening in America now?  Okay, back to this film, I'm talking about the coming clash of classes between the wealthy Young family and Rachel's "working" woman.  Hold on.  She''s a college professor not a constuction worker.   Oy.  I forget, this is how the Chinese want to see themselves in a movie.  . 

When Rachel arrives in Singapore, she looks up a college buddy, Peik Lin Goh (Awkwafina) which sounds like in the movie "Piglet." Thank God for the internet because I would have called her Piglet. Yeah, major ABC moment. (American Born Chinese) Anyway, Peik Lin lives with her crazy rich family led by Wye Mun Goh played by Ken Jeong who thankfully doesn't do a full frontal nude scene like he did in The Hangover. (2009) That being said the Goh family steals the movie. They're wacky and fun. And Peik Lin might be super rich but she's every man or should I say every woman. The common person could relate to her wit, middle class sensibility even if she is super wealthy.  She's got a  hilarious demeanor. Peik Lin is Rachel's guide to the "royal" Young family because everybody in Asia has heard of the Young family except Rachel and us the audience.

It's a fact that there are very limited acting roles and stories for Asian actors in Hollywood films. It doesn't help when they whitewashes Asian stories. I'm looking at you 21 (2008) and Ghost in the Shell (2017) So, it is good to see another world, one that is based on Asian society. This film gets it right when they describe the color red as symbolizing good fortune to the Chinese or  the love of  eating especially dumplings. But what this film misses is that it's not a normal look at Chinese Americans or Chinese. Virtually all Chinese in China or America do not live the obscenely wealthy lifestyle of the Youngs. That economic royalty is a fantasy for Chinese. Hence, if you're not part of the world, you don't get what the real world feels like for Asians.
 
The screenplay by Peter Chiarelli and Adele Lim has some very funny moments but swings uncomfortably between comedy and drama.  This occurs when the film focuses on Nick's sister, Astrid (Gemma Chan) and her personal problems.  Perhaps this novel might have been better presented as a mini-series.  As for the directing,   Jon Chu certainly has an eye for film as his visuals are lovingly created to show the beauty of Singapore.  I'm sure this film will do well  in China as it generally has a positive view of Asians.

There is nothing new  in Crazy Rich Asians. The only thing new is this is a movie about obscenely rich Chinese who are basically economic royalty.  It's the Chinese fantasy.  Think of it this way.  It's Chinese Cinderella.  The grade is B.

The Happytime Murders review

Down these mean streets, this blogger and amateur movie critic must go who is neither mean but is a glutton for punishment. Because he believes that his handful of readers deserve to hear his film criticism. Yesterday, I had a few bucks in my pocket and I wandered  into my local cineplex. I had seen the preview to The Happytime Murders, a few months back. It featured Melissa McCarthy playing another slob and puppets. Yeah, you heard that right. Puppets. The concept of puppets in a R rated comedy piqued my interest the way a Playboy model and a cheeseburger makes Trump horny. You see I like originality even if it gets me into trouble. And trouble is my middle name. Okay, that's not my middle name. And I apologize to Raymond Chandler for this paragraph.

The Happytime Murders takes place in an alternative universe where puppets and humans co-exist. Puppets generally are discriminated against. Phil Phillips (Bill Barettta) is a puppet and a private eye. Before that he was a cop. Thrown off the force because he wouldn't shoot another puppet. He gets a client, Sandra White (Dorien Davies).   She was  a curvy red head puppet whose fuzzy curves would make your eyes go cross-eyed. Her ping pong ball eyes would signal to you  that a night with her would be memorable but you would pay for it the next morning.  Yeah, I would take her case for free if she let me... um, sorry about that. More apologies to Raymond Chandler. 

Back to the review. Anyway, she's being blackmailed. While investigating a lead, a cast member of a puppet-human sitcom called The Happytime Gang is killed. Detective Connie Edwards (Melissa McCarthy) is assigned to the case. She's the former partner of Phillips. He's added to case as a consultant.

Three great female comedians are in the cast. Melissa McCarthy. Maya Rudolph as Phillips secretary, Bubbles. And the lovely Elizabeth Banks as Jenny the human cast member of The Happytime Gang. And yeah this movie would qualify for passing the Bechdel Test of Radical Feminism which requires two women talking to each other and not about a man. Because we're dealing with ahem, puppets. I'm guessing none of these women are going to put The Happytime Murders on their resume. That's because this movie is terrible.

One crazy thing about this film is that Brian Henson of yes, The Henson Company is behind it. You know the guys behind Sesame Street and The Muppets. I'm guessing that one day, the guys at the company got stoned and wondered what it would be like if they filmed Kermit the Frog really having sex with Miss Piggy. Frankly, that does sound funny. Maybe Big Bird can do an X- rated scene with the Cookie Monster? Yeah, I'm sure Disney and PBS might have a thing to say about that. However, somebody thought that puppet sex, puppet porn and puppet "drug" abuse was funny.

That's the problem with this movie. The premise of real characters from the Muppets having explicit sex is subversive and funny because it's relatable. There are very few jokes about what's happening in society now, and nothing that a human can relate to. A generic puppet having an orgasm is not funny because people can't relate to it. A generic puppet having his head blown off in an explosion of feathers doesn't make one laugh. If I was drunk, I might have laughed.   And one shouldn't get drunk to see a comedy so the jokes work better. There are reasons in comedy screenplays you may want to have more than one writer. Because jokes are a subjective and writers can bounce things off each other to see what jokes work. This screenplay had one writer who I won't name because I'm guessing he's going to deny he had to do with this. The Happytime Murders relates to nothing but a nod to private detective movies and even that genre was parodied better in Deadmen Don't Wear Plaid (1982). This movie might have done better if it really went all NC-17 but alas it chickens out by avoiding some easy laughs with explicit adult puppet material.  It's  left with puppets dropping the F- bomb.

Speaking of puppets dropping the F-bomb. That maybe the only redeeming quality of this movie. You see The Happtime Murders was partly financed by the H Brothers, a Chinese company. Hey the Chinese may censor images of Winnie the Pooh for President Jinping but puppets dropping the F-bomb and having sex is okay. Freedom, baby. God bless America.

The Happytime Murders trashes one of my favorite movie genres, the private detective story. It's unfunny. And only recommended if you have a thing for puppet sex. The grade is D.

Christopher Robin review

I'm wondering if any Disney executives saw the movie Hook. (1991) That was one of director Stephen Spielberg's misfires. It was about a middle aged Peter Pan who's absorbed in his work in the real world and not in caring about the lives of his children. Pan does eventually return to his childhood fantasy world but it's over the top. Hook was a bomb with the critics. The new live action film of A. A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh , Christopher Robin, follows a similar plot. So, one wonders why this would be a good idea with the beloved children's story.

Christopher Robin starts out with the young Robin saying goodbye to his beloved toy animal friends because he is about to go to boarding school. And you know his buddies. There's the bouncy Tigger (Jim Cummings) , everybody's favorite depressed donkey Eeyore (Brad Garrett), Rabbit (Peter Capaldi) and of course, the lovable stuffed bear, Winnie the Pooh. (Jim Cummings) Yeah, there are more but frankly I forgot about the rest.

We flash forward where Robin (Ewan McGregor) becomes an adult. Meets the lovely Evelyn (Hayley Atwell) who later works for S.H.E.I.L. D. She exposes the Robin to gamma rays where he becomes a big blue furry superhero known is Furman... Um, the stuff about Furman doesn't happen. But Atwell was Agent Carter in Captain American and the short lived TV show about Carter. Okay back to the plot. Anyway, Evelyn becomes pregnant while Christopher goes off to fight World War II. He comes back to meet his daughter who is a young child, Madeline (Bronte Carmichael) and goes to work for Winslow Luggage Company. And yeah like Hook, Robin is too busy with his work to pay much attention to his daughter. Robin's company has now asked him to make drastic cuts that he's supposed to do over a weekend. Evelyn and Madeline go off to the Robin's old home in Sussex where Robin as a boy would access The Hundred Acre Wood where the animals exist. Pooh finds his friends missing and decides to reach Robin by going through the magic tree that was a link between the real world and the Hundred Acre Wood. However, Pooh somehow ends up in London where Robin is at. Hold on. Shouldn't the magic tree lead to the one in Sussex? Oh, bother. Anyway, Robin decides to return Pooh back to his home which is in Sussex or you know where the magic tree is.

Pooh being an English story and with a cast of British actors, there's plenty of maintaining an even strain. The cast is subdued and going over the top doesn't happen even when getting exposed to living stuffed animals. Now this creates gentle performances. McGregor is very likable as the adult Robin who's weighed down by responsibility. Hayley Atwell's Evelyn is a loving mother who wants to see more joy from her child. The voice actors of the stuffed animals are all good too. But we needed more Tigger who was always wonderful at just being happy.

The problem with this film is the story and the style. Unlike the aforementioned Hook, the screenplay goes out of the way of not emphasizing the fantasy. The real world of London and fantasy world of The Hundred Are Wood are very much separated. And when the animals go to the real world, their reactions are subdued by the real world. Director Marc Forster keeps everything a shade of mild. I mean the colors of the film are drab. And yeah I get it. Post war London is not a very colorful place. But even the living stuffed animals are drained of color. Red and blue hues are given short shrift.  The movie lacks magic.    Hello?   Living stuffed animals with personalities.  Oh,  bother.  Thankfully, creator A.A. Milne's stuffed animals are not denied the center stage when they delightfully wreck havoc on the humans.

There are better family movies than Christopher Robin that came out this summer. Ant-Man and the Wasp is one of them. Christopher Robin is a warm albeit colorless film. The grade is B.

Mission: Impossible- Fallout review

About half way through the movie Mission: Impossible- Fallout, you will discover one of its big mysteries. But the great thing about it is that you'll doubt if you have the complete answer to the plot. This being a film written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie who wrote The Usual Suspects (1995), one can expect a twist or two. But M:I-Fallout is much more than a spy movie with red herrings. It's a great action movie.

Mission: Impossible- Fallout takes place after the events in Mission:Impossible-Rogue Nation (2015) so it's a sequel. The IMF (Impossible Mission Force) comprised of Ethan Hunt (Tom Crusie), Benji (Simon Pegg) and Luther (Ving Rhames) is in Belfast to recover plutonium cores. The Apostles aka The Syndicate are also there to purchase them for a client. The mission goes awry and Ethan sacrifices the recovery to save his team. The CIA led by Sloane (Angela Bassett) tasks the IMF team to recover the cores in Paris. However, she demands that Superman... um, Walker (Henry Cavill) accompany them. They must find out who the buyer of the cores is, a guy by the name of Keyser Soze. Er.. that's The Usual Suspects. Sorry. They must find out who the buyer is and get the cores back. They fail and the world gets incinerated leading to a planet of apes. Okay, the last sentence doesn't happen.

Rebecca Ferguson returns from Rogue Nation as former MI6 spy Ilsa Faust. She's adept at martial arts, high speed motorcycle chases and really good with a gun. She's also sophisticated, sexy and beautiful. She's got a great English accent and lovely voice which I could listen to all day. I hope she gets an Oscar nomination. Oh, and Tom Cruise is in the movie too. Okay, I have to discuss Tom Cruise. In reality, Cruise is 55! And he's ageless. His stunt work is remarkable and considering he hurt his leg during the filming of a foot chase scene, one should never doubt his dedication. That scene is in the movie as Ethan limps away. With this movie and last year's American Made, it's quite a roll for him. We'll just forget about The Mummy. Anyway, Rebecca Ferguson is going to appear along with Captain Picard.. I mean Patrick Stewart in The Kid Who Would Be King. in 2019. Dear Academy, for your consideration, nominate Ms. Ferguson. Just saying. Okay, back to the review.

M:i-Fallout is why you go to the theater to watch movies. Director McQuarrie shoots everything big. I mean virtually all of his shots are epic. This is one big world. And the beauty of his direction is that most of it is well lit. He avoids shooting most of the action scenes in the dark. The audience sees all the action. Fight scenes are well planned. The editing makes sense. There's no confusion in action set pieces. And they are epic. The special effects mesh with the live action. The effect of all this is that it looks real and exciting. I mean, did Tom Cruise make a HALO parachute jump? Probably not but it looks like he did. Just like it looks like he's driving a motorcycle in a high speed chase through Paris traffic. Of course, you got your running Cruise scene and he's probably lost a step but that jump where he hurt himself is death defying. There's also a helicopter chase scene which had me sitting straight up. Seriously, this film makes every James Bond movie look tame.

All kidding aside. While it's great to see Rebecca Ferguson in the movie, there's not much stuff for the women to do here. Michelle Monaghan returns as Ethan's wife, Julia from M:I III (200^) and M:I-Ghost Protocol (2011). I don't want to give it away but her scenes seem forced and perhaps here to set up some changes for the next film. Let me put it this way. The IMF needs women.

Mission: Impossible- Fallout is perhaps best of the series. It's only rivaled by the first Mission Impossible's spy games. The film is one remarkable action movie. Thrilling. It's so good that you will not forget the excitement. It's a must see at a theater. The grade is A.

Colbert hilariously nails Giuliani's argument that collusion is not a crime

Last night, Stephen Colbert on The Late Show went after his boss CBS CEO Les Moonves, and conservative President Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani's new defense. "Well if we colluded with Russians, it's not a crime." Yes my fellow Americans we've reached that point. There's evidence that the Trump campaign colluded with Russians. And I'm not just talking about the Trump Tower meeting. Great stuff. Enjoy.

Colbert's hilarious takes on Strzok hearing

Yesterday's hearing by the House Judiciary Committee was a spectacle. You see it was all about the conservative Republicans trying to present a defense for President Trump. It all centered around FBI agent Peter Strzok who texted some negative things about Trump in 2016 to his lover, FBI attorney Lisa Page. The worst being that they would stop Trump once he got the Republican nomination. So that you know, there was no evidence of Strzok along with a "deep state" to try to scuttle Trump. In fact, the FBI diligently kept the Russia investigation secret so it would not affect the election. But the Republicans wanted to show that the current Mueller probe is tainted as Strzok worked on it.

Well, the conservative Republicans went crazy. And I kid not. One Republican congressman who's a dentist bragged about who he knew body language. We need America's best satirist to comment on it. Here's Stephen Colbert's riotous piece.

Ant-Man and the Wasp review

This is the first time in film history that a mid-credits scene has ruined a movie. I'm talking about the mid-credits scene in Ant-Man and the Wasp. The question is whether the scene fatally kills the film.

Ant-Man and the Wasp takes place after the events of the first movie, Ant-Man (2015) and Avengers: The Age of Ultron (2015) or was that Captain America: Civil War (2016)?.In the first, Ant-Man, Dr. Hank Pym's (Michael Douglas) wife Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer) has disappeared into the quantum realm, which is what happens when you go subatomic in one of Pym's shrinkage suits. Pym's daughter, Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and Pym find a way to rescue her. Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) was placed on house arrest for the events in those two movies that are not Ant-Man. His involvement in Civil Wars, has led to an estrangement between Scott and Hope who had a budding romance. So, he spends his days playing with his delightful daughter, Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson).

Okay, still with me? The Pyms have perfected their technology to shrink and enlarge objects at will. So, their lab which is an office building can be shrink to the size of a hat box. Well, inside the lab is the machine that can send a rescue mission. Since Scott has a psychic or quantum connection to Janet because he went into the quantum realm, the Pyms "recruit" him again for help. However, it's the lab which is the MacGuffin in this plot. Two other people want it. The greedy Burch (Walter Goggins). Goggins better watch his career or else hes going to be playing bad guys for the rest of his life. The other is the mysterious Ghost. (Hannah John-Kamen)

The cast does excellent work sincerely spitting out the technobabble along with very funny lines. It's not all comedy. Douglas, Lilly and Ruddd sell the emotions of loss so well that it's hard to keep a dry eye. I like the chemistry of Rudd-Lilly. Rudd is perfectly cast as the everyman Scott. Michael Pena as Scott's ex-con buddy Luis returns and  nearly steals the show with his clumsy charm.

The first Ant-Man had great writing. And this film also has great writing even though it was written by an army of writers. Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Paul Rudd, Andrew Barrer, and Gabriel Ferrari produce a hilarious and heartfelt script. The first movie made Luis irrelevant story telling a funny gag. The writers bring that bit back in an inventive way. I laughed hard as Michael Pena delivers the gag. Not all is laughter and tears. While I wish the writers could explain all the quantum entanglement stuff, it is interesting if not accurate. Plus, the resolution of the plot thread regarding one character was lazy. Still, the screenplay had a cool mix of the comic book Ant-Man and the movie, The Incredible Shrinking Man. (1957)

Peyton Reed who directed the first Ant-Man returns and  again  delivers  a virtuoso performance. He uses his chops directing comedies such as Down With Love (2003) to stage the jokes and timing. He also has an outstanding ability to stage gigantic action set pieces. His shots all make sense, letting visuals tell the story and relay the excitement rather than using camera and editing gymnastics. Kudos to the special effects for making Hot Wheels turn into hot cars. Seeing a a Pez Dispenser turn huge  was cool.

When I saw this film, there were children in the audience. We all laughed and were loving the movie. A bunch of them left as soon as the movie ended with the beginning of the end credits. If you are a Marvel movie fan, you know many ties there are mid-credit and end credit scenes. This one had two. Don't worry. I won't give it away with any details. But the mid-credits scene killed the joy out of those who stayed. First, you would have to seen this year's Avengers; Infinity War to understand it. Second, it turned a joyful, complete film into a teaser  for the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War, Part Two. I feel like wringing the neck of Mickey Mouse. Disney, Marvel, your greed is not good. Apologies to  Michael Douglas.

I loved Ant-Man and The Wasp.  .  It was hilarious , exciting and emotional.  It is also a family movie.  The mid-credits scene was a big mistake  but does not take away from fun you will have seeing this film.  Just leave as soon as the credits roll.   The grade is A Minus.

Colbert destroys Trump's immigrant family separation policy

After saying he couldn't stop his own monstrous plan to separate immigrant children from their parents, conservative President Trump signed an executive order which attempts to stop it. Wow. Trump caused the problem and is now trying to take credit for stopping it. We need America's satirist Stephen Colbert, to help us deal with this. Here's his hilarious monologue from The Late Show. Enjoy.

Thank you Stephen Colbert for comedy during the dark days of Trump

Stephen Colbert is America's greatest satirist. Today, we have a government led by conservative President Trump that rips immigrant children away from their parents. Colbert does a funny monologue that helps America get through this.

A cinematic reply to DHS Secretary Nielsen's defense of separating children from parents

Department of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen tweeted out a whopper of a lie. She said that "We do not have a policy of separating families at the border. Period." Congressman Ted Lieu pointed out that Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Stephen Miller "gleefully" announced it and there's the fact that more than two thousand children have been separated from their parents at the border. (Huffington Post.)

Then yesterday, she addressed the White House press corp. Nielsen told more lies. For example, she states that separating children from their mothers is to stop the gang MS-13. Now, what two year old is a member of MS-13? She told more lies like blaming Congress for conservative President Trump's policy. In the below video, MSNBC's Mika Brzenzsinki destroys Nielsen's lies.



She's told lies for Trump before. Remember when Trump called African countries "shi#hole" nations? A term which was not immediately denied by Trump. And that Trump wanted more people to immigrate from Norway. At a Senate hearing, Nielsen protected Trump rather than America. She stated that she did not recall the term though people were using tough language. (Politico) Sen. Leahy (D-Vt) asked if she knew that Norway was predominately populated by white people, Nielsen replied, “I actually do not know that, sir, but I imagine that is the case." Really? Ms. Nielsen, your name is Danish, which is a Nordic country and Norway is also a Nordic country. Either you are a badly educated idiot or lying for Trump.

DHS Secretary Nielsen, you are defending an inhumane policy that is causing children to suffer. We need a child to reply to your defense of this administration's cruel actions. Here's a line from a little girl in the movie Demolition Man. (1993) "Fu.k you lady."
(Video below)

De Niro was right as Trump separates children from parents, "F..k Trump."

First, let's get this straight. The government's action to forcibly remove immigrant children from their parents is a Trump policy. It is not a Democrat law. Blaming the Democrats is a lie. Vanity Fair. It's a plan to deter immigrants who are seeking asylum from coming to America and to force the Democrats to cave on funding for Trump's wall. So, President Trump is using children as hostages.

This policy to remove children from their parents is vile and deceitful. Former Republican First Lady Laura Bush called Trump's policy "cruel" and "immoral." (CNN) My response to Trump's cruelty comes from actor Robert De Niro who at this year's Tony Awards said this. "F..k Trump."  (Video below.)  Amen. Oh, by the way Trump cusses and publicly  used the "F" word so, we can use it too. (Time Magazine) And remember my fellow Americans. Vote liberal Democrat if you want to live.

Conan O' Brien brilliantly parodies Trump fake movie trailer

At the summit between conservative President Trump and dictator of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, Trump showed him a fake movie trailer that depicts the questions of what direction Kim Jong Un would take regarding his nuclear weapons program. (Business Insider) It was cheesy to say the least. Yesterday, Conan O' Brien on TBS produced a parody version of that video. Only this version is if Kim Jong Un produced one for Trump.
Hilarious. Check it out below.

Robert De Niro drops "F' bomb on Trump

I was going to warn the audience of bad language in this post because there's going to be a video of actor Robert De Niro dropping the "F" bomb. But since conservative Republican President Trump has done it in public (Huffington Post), I say there's no problem. Sauce for the goose.

Well, yesterday Trump embarrassed America at the G7 by insulting our friends like Canada. (Reuters) So thank God for one of America's greatest actors, Robert De Niro. At last night's Tony Awards, De Niro wonderfully said what many decent Americans have been thinking. "F...k Trump." Amen. Call evil for what it is.

And my fellow Americans. Vote liberal Democrat if you want to live.

Stephen Colbert on Trump's claim that he can pardon himself

Conservative Republicans President Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani have made some fascist claims. Giuliani indicated that Trump could shoot former FBI director and witness James Comey without legal repercussions. (Huffington Post) And Trump on Monday said he could pardon himself.

Un-American and frightening stuff. We need the country's satirist to comment on this. Here's Stephen Colbert from The Late Show. And remember, my fellow Americans. Vote liberal Democrat if you want to live.

Guilty Pleasures: Lovesick (1983)

There are a bunch of productions named Lovesick. This guilty pleasure is the 1983 film Lovesick. It's a romantic comedy about psychiatrist Saul Benjamin (Dudley Moore) who falls in love with his patient Chloe Allen. (Elizabeth McGovern) During the affair, Benjamin is visited by the ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi... um make that the ghost of Freud. (Alec Guinness fresh off playing Kenobi in Return of the Jedi ) By the way, certain feelings for a patient or a patient's feelings for their psychoanalyst is known as transference. And Freud is the father of psychoanalysis. Anyway, look for early appearances of Christine Baranski (The Big Bang Theory, The Good Fight ) and David Strathairn. (Lincoln) The talented cast also includes legendary director John Huston, Ron Silver, Wallace Shawn and Alan King. Wow.

The film also features another great score by French composer Philippe Sarde. The music is lush, impressionistic in that French way, and just plain beautiful.  Mix that in with the gorgeous New York cinematography by Gerry Fisher, witty dialogue and you've got a warm romantic comedy. Lovesick, the 1983,  film is one of my guilty pleasures.

This trailer for Lovesick (1983) has some of Philippe Sarde's wonderful score.

Guilty Pleasures: The Manhattan Project

The Manhattan Project is a 1986 movie about a brilliant high school student Paul Stephens (Christopher Collet) who builds a portable atomic bomb to protest a top secret government facility that has been researching a new type of nucclear fuel. He enlists the help of his girlfriend Jenny Anderman (Cynthia Nixon) for his civil protest. Nixon and the idea of a high school student trying to change their world makes this film relevant. As we see high school students today try to get governments to enact gun law changes and Nixon's liberal candidacy for governor of New York.

Written and directed by Marshall Brickman (Sleeper, Annie Hall, Manhattan), it's a funny and good thriller. It's also got an energetic score by French composer Philippe Sarde. The Manhattan Project is another of my guilty pleasures.

Deadpool 2 review

So it's Saturday and I turn to watch some impeachment news on MSNBC and what do I get? The Royal Wedding. Okay, the choice is watch a real life fairy tale romance about a prince and the beautiful bride or go see a comedy that makes jokes about mutilation. I chose to see cinematic body parts thrown at me. I went to see Deadpool 2.

Deadpool 2 begins with a series of mercenary assassinations by Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) and his failure to complete one job leads to tragic consequences. A depressed Deadpool kills himself by bombing himself. Probably the funniest scene of a guy having his head and hand blown up from his body in cinematic history. You did know that Deadpool can heal himself? Well, if you didn't this movie would be over in the first ten minutes. And no, I'm not going to explain Marvel's X-Men and their mutant powers. Go download the first movie. Legally, of course.

Anyway, Colossus (Stefan Kopicic) picks up the pieces, i.e. Deadpool's body parts and takes him back to the X-Men academy. Yeah, this time Fox gave enough money to build the set for the school. Hey, as the joke goes, the first R rated Deadpool made more money than Jesus, the R rated The Passion of Christ. So, Fox better shell out the dough. After putting him back together, Colossus convinces Deadpool to become an X-Man.

Of course, you can see, making Deadpool an X-Man, is going to be a disaster. Deadpool is anything but a traditional superhero. Think the reverse of Captain America. This idea is like having a reality show, con-man, narcissist, and serial liar become President. How's that working, America? His first mission is to subdue a young mutant Firefist (Julian Dennison) Deadpool ends up killing an innocent man while convinced that Firefist has been abused. Both are sent to a mutant jail. Meanwhile, Cable (Josh Brolin) from the future has come back in time to kill Firefist. Deadpool forms a superhero team to protect Firefist.

The cast is excellent. The main characters are given their time in the spotlight. They have funny things to say and engage in some cool action scenes. Female characters are underused but this is a movie about Deadpool and the introduction of Cable. Get over it pc police. Ryan Reynolds who helped write the script is the perfect Deadpool with the ability to deftly deliver jokes as the loopy main character. Josh Brolin's Cable also turns in a fine performance. as the terminator from the future with plenty of motivation to fulfill his mission.

I do have one problem with the casting that goes all out political correct. I'm talking about having Afircan American actress Zazie Beetz as Domino. Let's be clear. In the comics she is white. And I mean really white. I'm saying chalk white with a black patch of skin over her eye. (WatchMojo.com video on the history of Domino below.)


And it's not that Beetz had the greatest audition in the history of acting. The producers of Deadpool 2 were looking for a black or latin women to play Domino who is white. Hollywood Reporter. Now, think about the outrage if a fictional black character where cast with a white person. Say cast Star Wars' Lando Calrissian with a white man. People would be screaming. And it's not like Domino comes from an era where racism was the norm. She made her debut in 1992 not in the fifties. The hypocrisy is so thick you can cut it with a knife.

And you conservative trolls don't say I'm coming to your position on race. I'm still a politically incorrect liberal. Diversity in cinema should be handled this way. If the part does not call for a white actor, then consider casting someone of color. Regardless, how is Beetz as Domino? Let's check her out in this trailer with colorful language that Trump uses.


She's sleek, sexy and I can't take my eyes off of her. Never mind about the casting of Zazie Beetz. Must see what movies Elizabeth Debicki is doing. (Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2)

Back to the review. Writers Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick and star Ryan Reynolds do something really interesting with this film There's a point where Deadpool says to the audience that the movie is a family flick. And he's right. Amazingly, Deadpool 2 is a family movie and a romance. The difference is that it's a family movie with chopped off limbs and R rated jokes. Some of those jokes are the usual Deadpool way of breaking the fourth wall. And there are references to cinema from Yentl to Robocop. Most of the time the jokes are hits. Having Reynolds work on the script worried me though after seeing him in R.I.P.D. (2013) Thankfully, the writers stick to the movie being a comedy.

I like Director David Leitch's (Atomic Blond) work. He has a refreshing take on action scenes by showing full bodies in motion rather than let the editor chop up the film with fast cutting. That being said, there's a little too much fast cutting here. I'm guessing that it would be too sickening to focus on limbs flying off and people getting their bones broke in compound fractures. Still Letich stages the jokes as well as he does an action scene. They work.

A quick thing about the songs in the movie. They also are eclectic. They run the gamut from Dolly Parton's 9 to 5 to Yentl's Papa Can You Hear Me? ! And the use of a-ha's ballad version of their Take on Me had me crying. It was so romantic. I'm serious. So Deadpool 2 is a chick flick? Nah, action junkies. This is a movie with cyborgs, explosions and big guns. One more thing about Take on Me. The up temp eighties technopop version is the definitive one. (Classic music video below.) And you drunk white guys in the bar. Quit trying to sing the high notes.


Deadpool 2 is one funny superhero movie. I want to see it again to catch all the jokes. Of course, stay for the credits. I laughed the hardest during the mid-credits scene. And Ryan Reynolds. I really want to see Green Lantern rebooted. The grade is A.

Stephen Colbert: Trump explicitly sells out America to the Chinese

Conservative President Trump's corruption is so brazen that it is frightening. He's currently trying to help a Chinese telecommunications company called ZTE to recover from current American sanctions. And there could be multiple reasons for doing so. Get China's help with North Korea so Trump will look good. Nobel Peace Prize for the blonde fascist. Or its payback for China bankrolling an Indonesian theme park that has given Trump licensing fees. (My blog post.) We need America's satirist, Stephen Colbert to make us laugh. Check out his video from The Late Show.