Blu Tuesday: Neighbors 2 and More

Every Tuesday, I review the newest Blu-ray releases and let you know whether they’re worth buying, renting or skipping, along with a breakdown of the included extras. If you see something you like, click on the cover art to purchase the Blu-ray from Amazon, and be sure to share each week’s column on social media with your friends.

“Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising”

WHAT: When a progressive, hard-partying sorority (led by Chloe Grace Moretz) moves in next door and threatens to derail the impending sale of their house, Mac (Seth Rogen) and Kelly (Rose Byrne) join forces with their former adversary, Teddy (Zac Efron), to take them down.

WHY: Though 2014’s “Neighbors” was a box office hit, there weren’t many people clamoring for a sequel, mainly because it didn’t feel like there was anywhere else to go with the story. That didn’t stop Universal from green-lighting this blatant cash grab, however, resulting in a sloppy, pseudo-feminist rehash of the original that follows the same beats without many of the laughs. Not only is it more unbelievable than its predecessor (nothing that happens in this film is even remotely realistic), but unlike the Delta Psi guys played by Zac Efron and Dave Franco, the sorority girls aren’t very likeable; in fact, they’re straight-up idiots with almost no redeeming qualities. Unfortunately, that extends to many of the returning characters as well. Despite his fun turn as the villain in the first movie, Efron is wasted as the emotionally stunted sidekick, while Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne seem to be on auto-pilot. There are a few giggles here and there, but for the most part, “Neighbors 2” is a giant waste of talent and, more importantly, your time.

EXTRAS: In addition to an audio commentary by director Nicholas Stoller and producer James Weaver, there’s a making-of featurette, a behind-the-scenes look at filming the tailgate sequence, deleted scenes, alternate takes, a gag reel and more.

FINAL VERDICT: SKIP

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Movie Review: “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows”

Starring
Megan Fox, Stephen Amell, Will Arnett, Laura Linney, Alan Ritchson, Noel Fisher, Jeremy Howard, Pete Ploszek, Tyler Perry, Brian Tee, Gary Anthony Williams, Sheamus, Brad Garrett
Director
Dave Green

Contrary to the harshly negative reviews that it received, Jonathan Liebesman’s 2014 reboot of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” wasn’t that bad. The product of a misguided adaptation that was course-corrected with extensive reshoots, the film doesn’t hold up as well on repeat viewings, but it’s still a better-than-average franchise-starter that got enough things right to warrant a sequel. Though “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows” isn’t necessarily better or worse, you have to hand it to the filmmakers for actually listening to the fans, because the new movie is such a nostalgia-fueled throwback to the original animated series (the holy grail for adult fans) that it atones for many of the first film’s blunders.

One year after stopping The Shredder from unleashing a deadly virus on New York City – an achievement that news cameraman Vern Fenwick (Will Arnett) has gladly taken credit for to protect the real heroes’ identities – Leonardo (Pete Ploszek), Raphael (Alan Ritchson), Donatello (Jeremy Howard) and Michelangelo (Noel Fisher) continue to watch over the city from the shadows. But when Shredder (Brian Tee) escapes police custody and teams up with mad scientist Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry) to open a portal to Dimension X, thereby allowing the nefarious, brain-like alien General Krang (voiced by Brad Garrett) to invade Earth with his world-destroying war machine the Technodrome, April O’Neil (Megan Fox) calls in the Turtles for help. This time around, however, Shredder has enlisted a pair of dimwitted mutant henchmen named Bebop and Rocksteady (Gary Anthony Williams and WWE wrestler Sheamus, respectively) to do his dirty work for him.

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Blu Tuesday: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and More

Every Tuesday, I review the newest Blu-ray releases and let you know whether they’re worth buying, renting or skipping, along with a breakdown of the included extras. If you see something you like, click on the cover art to purchase the Blu-ray from Amazon, and be sure to share each week’s column on Facebook and Twitter with your friends.

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”

WHAT: New York City is being terrorized by a criminal organization called the Foot Clan under the command of a shadowy figure known as The Shredder (Tohoru Masamune). But there’s a group of vigilantes silently serving as the city’s protectors, and ambitious news reporter April O’Neil (Megan Fox) is determined to uncover their identities… only to find that the mystery men aren’t men at all, but rather oversized mutant turtles skilled in the art of ninjitsu.

WHY: Jonathan Liebesman’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” reboot isn’t nearly the disaster that many people feared. In fact, it’s actually quite entertaining at times provided you check your brain at the door and don’t mind that the film is basically feeding off the fumes of your childhood. The movie has its share of problems – from its assembly-by-committee script, to the generic action sequences – but the four actors who play the Turtles make up for some of those shortcomings by really capturing their spirit and brotherly camaraderie. The visual effects wizardry that’s been applied to their mo-cap performances is top-notch as well, proving once again why this technology is incredibly useful in not only creating more realistic CG characters, but giving them a human element that could never be achieved by men in rubber suits. There are some fun in-jokes for adult fans who grew up watching the Turtles as kids, but “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” is essentially a live-action cartoon and should be judged accordingly. It’s far from a great film, but it also doesn’t try to be anything more than what it is, and if that means going easier on the film, then so be it, because that’s a perfectly acceptable cost of a little nostalgia.

EXTRAS: There are five featurettes covering a range of topics, including the digital evolution of the Turtles, the technical aspects of 3D, scoring the film and more.

FINAL VERDICT: RENT

“This Is Where I Leave You”

WHAT: When their father passes away, four siblings (Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Corey Stoll and Adam Driver) return to their childhood home to fulfill his dying wish by sitting shiva. Forced to live under the same roof for a week with their loquacious mother (Jane Fonda), each child must deal with their respective personal problems and the ghosts of their past.

WHY: Adapted by Jonathan Tropper from his book of the same name, “This Is Where I Leave You” represents an interesting change of pace for Shawn Levy, who’s best known for big blockbusters like the “Night at the Museum” films. But while it’s always great to see a director explore new territory, Levy seems to be a little out of his comfort zone with this family dramedy, never quite sure how to handle the more serious moments when there’s always another joke right around the corner. It was smart to cast actors that could handle both comedy and drama, but sadly, the material wastes a lot of their talents. Though Jason Bateman is solid as the middle brother, Tina Fey is miscast as his protective sister, Corey Stoll’s eldest brother barely registers as a three-dimensional character, and Jane Fonda’s mother is given giant breast implants… and not much else. Adam Driver and Rose Byrne are the only two bright spots, but even their characters are majorly underserved. To be fair, movies like this are a difficult balancing act, and even more so with such a large cast of characters, but despite Levy’s best efforts, “This Is Where I Leave You” falls disappointingly flat.

EXTRAS: In addition to a pair of production featurettes, there are outtakes of Ben Schwartz as Rabbi Boner and some deleted scenes.

FINAL VERDICT: RENT

“Magic in the Moonlight”

WHAT: World-renowned magician Wei Ling Soo has a bag of tricks, but his biggest trick of all is that it’s just a ruse – the terribly racist stage persona of grumpy Englishman Stanley Crawford (Colin Firth), who despises charlatans that give his profession a bad name. So when longtime friend Howard Burkan (Simon McBurney) asks for his assistance in debunking a young spiritualist named Sophie Baker (Emma Stone), whom he believes is scamming the heir of the wealthy Catledge family, Stanley heads to their mansion to catch Sophie red-handed.

WHY: Woody Allen has made some real stinkers over the course of his 50-year career, and though “Magic in the Moonlight” isn’t quite bad enough to be included among the director’s absolute worst films, it’s not very good either. While Allen has proven that he’s still capable of delivering a good movie on occasion, he seems more concerned with maintaining his yearly output no matter what the cost, and that quantity-over-quality way of thinking only underlines the many problems with his latest comedy. At the top of that list is the complete lack of romantic chemistry between Colin Firth and Emma Stone, which proves to be detrimental, since so much of the film depends on their playful interactions. Both actors are usually very charming, but they look hopelessly lost in their roles due to a half-baked script that goes around in circles. Everything about this movie seems like it was rushed, from the stupid title, to the horrible poster, to the uninspired direction by Allen, who fails to provide an engaging story beyond the initial premise. “Magic in the Moonlight” doesn’t make you believe in magic, or love, or anything, really, although maybe that’s just the cynic in me, eager to expose the film as the fraud that it is, because the whole thing feels less like a genuine Woody Allen comedy than a pale imitation.

EXTRAS: The Blu-ray includes a making-of featurette and footage from the premiere.

FINAL VERDICT: SKIP

  

Movie Review: “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”

Starring
Megan Fox, Will Arnett, William Fichtner, Alan Ritchson, Noel Fisher, Jeremy Howard, Pete Ploszek, Tony Shaloub
Director
Jonathan Liebesman

Jonathan Liebesman’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” reboot has been the subject of much debate ever since it was announced, with fake script leaks and silly rumors inducing panic among the property’s fanbase (not to mention providing ammunition to a legion of snarky Internet commenters), most of which proved to be patently untrue. That’s not to say that the finished product is going to make everyone happy, but it also isn’t nearly the disaster that many feared it would be with Michael Bay involved. In fact, it’s actually quite entertaining at times provided you check your brain at the door and don’t mind that the film is basically feeding off the fumes of your childhood. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” delivers a slightly different take on the series – something that’s occurred with every rendition – and though it gets some things wrong along the way, it gets just as much right.

The general plot is pretty much the same. New York City is being terrorized by a criminal organization called the Foot Clan under the command of a shadowy figure known only as The Shredder (Tohoru Masamune). But there’s a group of vigilantes silently serving as the city’s protectors, and ambitious news reporter April O’Neil (Megan Fox) is determined to uncover their identities… only to find that the mystery men aren’t men at all, but rather oversized mutant turtles skilled in the art of ninjitsu. Raised by their sensei Splinter (voiced by Tony Shalhoub), the four turtles – Leonardo (Pete Ploszek), Raphael (Alan Ritchson), Donatello (Jeremy Howard) and Michelangelo (Noel Fisher) – were created in a test lab by a pair of scientists, Eric Sachs (William Fichtner) and April’s late father, who believed that they perished in a fire before the mutagen they were injected with transformed them. But when Sachs, now a powerful businessman secretly working alongside The Shredder, learns of their existence, the Turtles’ sewer home is attacked, forcing them to come out of hiding and take the fight to the bad guys.

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Coming Soon: A Moviegoer’s Guide to August

august

This has been one of the worst summer movie seasons in recent memory, and while it would take something really special to turn it all around, there are a few new releases this August that could at least make it a little less forgettable, including Marvel Studio’s most ambitious film to date, new installments of “The Expendables” and “Sin City,” and the return of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to the big screen.

“GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY”

Who: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel
What: When space adventurer Peter Quill steals an orb coveted by a treacherous villain, he must find a way to rally a quartet of ragtag rivals to save the universe.
When: August 1st
Why: A few months ago, most people had never even heard of “Guardians of the Galaxy,” but that’s quickly changed following the launch of the film’s marketing campaign, which suggests that director James Gunn (perhaps Marvel Studio’s biggest risk yet) has absolutely nailed the offbeat tone of the comic book. This has been on my must-see list ever since it was announced, and that excitement has only grown with each new reveal, from the casting of Chris Pratt in the lead role, to landing Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper to voice the movie’s CGI characters, to the strong buzz emerging from early screenings that have pegged it as one of the studio’s best films to date. In other words: get ready to be pleasantly surprised.

“GET ON UP”

Who: Chadwick Boseman, David Andrew Nash, Nelsan Ellis and Viola Davis
What: A chronicle of James Brown’s rise from extreme poverty to become one of the most influential musicians in history.
When: August 1st
Why: The music biopic is one of the most formulaic subgenres. They’re essentially all the same – a rags to riches story where the subject overcomes some kind of personal demon, usually drug addiction) – and Taylor Tate’s “Get on Up” doesn’t appear to buck that trend. The fact that the script was written by Jez and John-Henry Butterworth (the sibling duo responsible for the excellent “Edge of Tomorrow”) instills some hope that it won’t be a complete waste of time, but James Brown’s life doesn’t really interest me, and the decision to cast Chadwick Boseman as the Godfather of Soul feels a little weird after playing another black icon so recently in “42.” What’s next for the actor? Movies about Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jesse Owens?

“TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES”

Who: Megan Fox, Will Arnett, William Fichtner, Johnny Knoxville and Tony Shalhoub
What: Four mutant warriors fight to save their city from an evil kingpin.
When: August 8th
Why: There’s plenty of reason to be concerned about the new “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” film – after all, we’ve seen what producer Michael Bay did to the “Transformers” franchise and director Jonathan Liebesman doesn’t have a very good track record – but the kid in me still can’t wait to see the Turtles back in action on the big screen, even if they don’t exactly look like the ones from my childhood. In fact, they look downright ugly with those oversized frog lips, leading me to wonder how that design ever made it out of the concept stage. The decision to cast a Caucasian actor as Shredder is also a bit worrying, as is Megan Fox’s involvement, but maybe, just maybe, it won’t be so bad.

“INTO THE STORM”

Who: Sarah Wayne Callies, Richard Armitage, Jeremy Sumpter and Matt Walsh
What: A group of high school students document the events and aftermath of a devastating tornado.
When: August 8th
Why: It’s been nearly 20 years since “Twister” was released in theaters and it still looks better than this CG-fueled disaster flick, which doesn’t appear to be particularly interested in its human characters at all. Instead, director Steven Quale has gone the Michael Bay route by making it all about the destruction, and while that will likely result in some cool effects shots and action sequences, the movie itself looks about as empty as the calories in a bag of theater popcorn. I wouldn’t expect any less from the director of “Final Destination 5” and the writer of “Step Up All In,” but it’s hard not to feel bad for the actors involved, especially Richard Armitage, because he deserves better than this kind of SyFy summer schlock.

“LET’S BE COPS”

Who: Jake Johnson, Damon Wayans Jr., Nina Dobrev, Rob Riggle and Andy Garcia
What: Two pals dress as police officers for a costume party and become neighborhood sensations, getting tangled in a real life web of mobsters and dirty detectives.
When: August 13th
Why: Writer/director Luke Greenfield must be a fan of the Fox series “New Girl,” because in casting Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans Jr. opposite each another in this buddy comedy, it feels like a spinoff featuring their characters from the show. The movie doesn’t seem very different from the other films in the genre apart from its premise, and while that formula worked for David Gordon Green’s “Pineapple Express,” that was mainly as a result of some excellent chemistry between the two leads. Johnson and Wayans Jr. have proven that they can be really funny when sharing a scene, but whether or not they can keep it up for 90 minutes will determine whether “Let’s Be Cops” is a surprise hit or just another flop.

“THE EXPENDABLES 3”

Who: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Wesley Snipes, Antonio Banderas, Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford
What: Barney and his team come into conflict with ruthless arms dealer Conrad Stonebanks, the Expendables’ co-founder, who is determined to destroy the team.
When: August 15th
Why: At this point in the “Expendables” franchise, you pretty much know what to expect. It usually involves a ridiculous plot, some cheesy dialogue and a cool action scene or two, but the real draw continues to be seeing how many former action stars Sylvester Stallone can cram into a single film. Though none of the new recruits beat the nostalgia factor of the Chuck Norris cameo from the last sequel, the addition of Antonio Banderas, Wesley Snipes, Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford makes “The Expendables 3” pound for pound the most intriguing installment yet. The absence of Bruce Willis stings a little, as does the exclusion of Steven Seagal, but for those who like their movies big, dumb and fun, you won’t find a better guilty pleasure this summer.

“THE GIVER”

Who: Brenton Thwaites, Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep and Katie Holmes
What: In a seemingly perfect community without differences or choice, a young boy is chosen to learn from an elderly man about the pain and pleasure of the real world.
When: August 15th
Why: It’s been a while since I read the Lois Lowry novel on which the film is based, but from what little I do remember, it’s understandable why some fans have voiced their outrage about this big screen adaptation. Though the more futuristic stuff isn’t too distracting considering Hollywood’s current obsession with dystopian sci-fi films like “The Hunger Games,” the decision to cast a 24-year-old actor in the lead role (playing a 16-year-old instead of the 12-year-old that appears in the book) feels wrong for a number of reasons. With that said, it has a great supporting cast that includes Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep and Alexander Skarsgard, so surely it can’t be as bad as people fear. And if it is, well, you can always read the book.

“SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR”

Who: Jessica Alba, Mickey Rourke, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Josh Brolin and Eva Green
What: The town’s most hard-boiled citizens cross paths with some of its more reviled inhabitants.
When: August 22nd
Why: It’s been nine years since the first “Sin City” captured audiences with its innovative storytelling, but this long-awaited sequel is at least five years too late, with many fans giving up hope of another installment when Robert Rodriguez decided his time was better spent directing garbage like “Shorts,” “Spy Kids 4” and the “Machete” films. My excitement for the project has decreased over the years, and even more so after seeing the first few trailers, which feel stagnant and stale compared to how far cinema has come in the time since the original. The cast is pretty great, especially with newcomers like Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Josh Brolin added to the mix, but it’s going to take more than that for Rodriguez to win me over again.

“IF I STAY”

Who: Chloe Grace Moretz, Mireille Enos, Jamie Blackley and Stacey Keach
What: After a car accident puts her in a coma, Mia Hall has an out-of-body experience where she must decide whether to wake up and live a different life than she imagined.
When: August 22nd
Why: It seems like there’s an adaption of some young adult novel being released every month, and August’s entry comes courtesy of author Gayle Forman. But while her novel may follow many of the typical conventions of the teenage romance genre, “If I Stay” at least wins some points for originality with the whole paranormal angle. It’s not the first time that gimmick has been employed, of course, but it’s a cool twist that should work in its favor as long as it doesn’t delve too deep into melodrama. Chloe Grace Moretz has proven time and again that she’s one of the best young talents in Hollywood, and it’s nice to see her branching out in something a little different than usual, even if the movie isn’t exactly my cup of tea.