Mike's Movie Tips

1.5/4 Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph, Joel McHale, Elizabeth Banks, and the voice of Bill Barretta Rated R for Strong Crude and Sexual Content and Language Throughout, and Some Drug Material I'm getting really tired of movies that are largely improvised.  Improv doesn't lend itself well to plot and narrative structure, and while the jokes might be hilarious to the cast and crew on the movie set, it rarely translates to the audience.  It's the "you had to have been there" thing.  Only the "thing" doesn't end. "The Happytime Murders" is a raunchy look at the Muppets. No doubt due to legal reasons, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and the rest of Jim Henson's gang don't appear, but if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck...well, you know the rest. A blue Muppet named Phil (Barretta) was once a respected member of the police force.  He and his human partner Connie Edwards (McCarthy) were unstoppable.  Then a hostag...

2/4 Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Iko Uwais, Lauren Cohen, John Malkovich, Ronda Rousey Rated R for Strong Violence and Language Throughout "Mile 22" is an action-packed adrenaline cocktail that shoots itself in the foot with its tone.  This is a dark, depressing and brutal film, and while that's fine, "Mile 22" is far too absurd and too badly made for this to pay off.  This movie simply isn't very fun. The premise is simple.  A last resort team of special operatives led by the volcanic James Silva (Wahlberg) is tasked with transporting a double agent named Li Noor (Uwais) to a plane 22 miles away.  A large amount of radioactive cesium has gone missing, and Li knows where it is.  He's willing to give it up if they grant him safe passage and asylum to the US.  There are a few complications.  First, everyone wants Li Noor dead (duh).  Second, the information with the location of the cesium is hidden behind a computer program that is counting down...

3.5/4 Starring: Demian Bichir, Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet, Bonnie Aarons Rated R for Terror, Violence, and Disturbing/Bloody Images Fun fact about me: religious-oriented horror scares the crap out of me (save for "The Exorcist," which has not aged well).  I remember reading a local Chicago legend about a group of ghost monks that scared the crap out of me (that was not a fun night, as I recall).  And despite not having seen it since its release, Valek the demon nun from " The Conjuring 2 " haunts my nightmares.  So when they announced the inevitable spin-off of that character, I greeted it with excitement and apprehension. "The Nun" is an example of true horror.  There is a palpable sense of dread and terror that permeates through virtually every frame of this movie.  The jump scenes are not just someone being surprised at a person standing behind them.  They are legitimate, violent shocks.  "The Nun" relies more on atmosphere and care...

3/4 Starring: John Cho, Debra Messing, Joseph Lee, Michelle La Rated PG-13 for Thematic Elements, Some Drug and Sexual References, and for Language "searching" is a rare breed in movies these days: a mystery.  Hollywood has become so obsessed with superheroes, special effects, and the need to be bigger than the last entry that any movie that can be made for less than $100 million isn't worth anyone's time.  That's a broad characterization, but my point is that a mystery like "searching" doesn't come around very often.  And when they're made well, it's appreciated.  It's not flawless, but when compared to last year's stinker "The Snowman," there's no contest. David Kim (Cho) is a widowed dad who is close to his daughter Margot (La).  But when she leaves a study group one night and doesn't come home, he grows worried.  Soon he realizes that his daughter isn't just truant but is in fact a missing person.  To...

1/4 Starring: Larry Bishop, Michael Madsen, Eric Balfour, Vinnie Jones, Leonor Varela, Dennis Hopper, David Carradine Rated R for Strong Violence, Sexual Content including Graphic Nudity and Dialogue, Language and Drug Use Five reasons why "Hell Ride" sucks... 1.  It is completely incoherent.  "Hell Ride" took about two minutes to lose me, and it had so little value at that point that I didn't bother trying to figure out what was going on.  Or even who was who.  Both the plot and the characters seemed to change on a whim.  As far as I could tell, this is a revenge story between two biker gangs regarding a decades old murder, but there's also a treasure hunt and interpersonal squabbling.  Alliances seem to shift with the needs of the plot. 2.  The acting is awful.  Larry Bishop tries to do an exploitation flick version of Jack Sparrow , but the only thing interesting about him is his eyes.  Michael Madsen looks like he'd rather be an...

3.5/4 Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Rob Morrow, John Turturro, David Paymer, Paul Scofield, Hank Azaria, Christopher McDonald Rated PG-13 for Some Strong Language It's easy to be cynical about reality TV and game shows.  Many are rigged and more than a few don't even bother to hide it.  However, in the 1950's when television was relatively new, it was a more innocent time.  People had not yet begun to understand how ratings were king and manipulating anything was fair game in an attempt to make them climb higher. Herbert Stempel (Turturro) is the king of the game show "Twenty One."  Week after week, the trivia savant dominates the game and wins big money.  However, ratings have started to plateau so one of the producers, Dan Enright (Paymer), asks Herb to get a question wrong so that he can be replaced with Charles Van Doren (Fiennes), a handsome WASPy intellectual with an impeccable family reputation.  Herb agrees, but when he's thrown out to the street...

1.5/4 Starring: Christopher Reid, Christopher Martin, Martin Laurence, Tisha Campbell-Martin, A.J. Johnson, Paul Anthony, Robin Harris Rated R (probably for Language and Sexual Humor) Genre flicks carry the weight of expectations of the audience.  For example, a slasher film is, almost by definition, full of blood, gore and gratuitous sex and nudity.  An audience member for a slasher movie demands them, and no good entry would even think to skip out on them.  Which brings us to "House Party."  By definition, it should contain as much off-color humor, raunchiness and general insanity as the running time will allow.  So when I tell you that the bawdiest element of this movie is a clogged toilet, you'll understand why I felt cheated. Play (Martin) is going to be alone tonight as his parents are out of town.  What's a high schooler to do?  Throw a party, of course.  Everyone is showing up, come hell or high water.  His best friend Kid (Re...