The Cinematic Review-verse

Poster of Is This Thing On?, starring Will Arnett and Laura Dern. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. Hello, Review-Verse fans. Earlier this month, I watched Will Arnett in Bradley Cooper's latest direction, Is This Thing On? . Arnett, who voiced a lot of characters in movies I grew up with, like Monsters vs Aliens , starred as Alex Novak, a husband divorced from his wife of 20 years, Tess, played by Laura Dern of Jurassic Park . Seeing Alex vent about his divorce at open mic nights at a comedy club reminded me of Woody Allen in Annie Hall .  And Dern's character dealt with the divorce by putting passion into some volleyball coaching and getting back into the dating scene.  I liked both Arnett and Dern's performances because they were doing something real-starting over with their social lives late into their adulting. There were fun jokes, there were sad moments, and kind of like Crazy, Stupid, Love, it doesn't explicitly show they call off the divorce and remarry, but it...

With numerous new characters and story ideas to expand its original concept, “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part” proved that everything is awesome again five years later. Through a catchy pop music soundtrack, consistent humor, and radiant animation, it was worth nearly two hours of watching. Following the cliffhanger from the first film, Bricksburg has transitioned into a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Only Emmett Brickowski (voiced by Chris Pratt) remains optimistic, much to girlfriend Lucy/Wyldstyle’s (voiced by Elizabeth Banks) chagrin. But Emmett must be ready to change his attitude when a new threat begins to wreak havoc and takes away his loved ones. Lucy (voiced by Elizabeth Banks) and Emmett Brickowski (voiced by Chris Pratt) having coffee at Apocalypseburg in 'The Lego Movie 2'. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. There to assist Emmett is adventurer Rex Dangervest (also voiced by Pratt). The inclusion of Rex into Emmet’s life reminded me of the adventures in “Guardians o...

Photo Courtesy of imdb.com The Lego Batman Movie deserves a 4/4 star rating. In this spinoff of The Lego Movie , Batman (voiced by Will Arnett) is still a major crime-fighter, but doesn't know how to be a part of a team or even a family. But, it takes a village, not just a Batman, to save Gotham City from the evil, creepy-smiling Joker (voiced by Zach Galifianakis). And maybe his butler, Alfred (Ralph Fiennes), adoptive son and sidekick Robin (Michael Cera), and Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson) can teach him a thing or two about not flying solo anymore. Combining elements of family, comedy, and taking down bad guys brick by brick, Batman truly HAS aged phenomenally! Can't wait for a sequel!