The Ridiculous Six Review

Netflix has been cranking out original material for a while now. They've produced and distributed their own television series a season at a time for subscribers to binge watch all at once. Most of them have been critically well received. Just recently Netflix released a movie also exclusively on their streaming service. The Ridiculous Six (2015) is an Adam Sandler movie, so it didn't perk my interest until I saw a headline stating that "Adam Sandler's 'Ridiculous Six' Is Making History for Netflix." That article made me think I should check it out. I now wish that I hadn't bothered.

In the Old West era, a calm man named Tommy Stockburn (Sandler) is raised by Native Americans, where he is named "White Knife", due to his tendency to use knives. He is soon going to marry his fiancé, Smoking Fox (Julia Jones). As the wedding day nears, Tommy is approached by his long lost father (Nick Nolte) who tells Tommy that he needs $50,000 or he'll die at the hands of his former gang. Tommy sets out on an ridiculous journey to find the money to save his biological father discovering on the way that his promiscuous father has fathered five half brothers each with different mothers. Wanting to help save their father, Tommy is joined by Chico (Terry Crews), Herm (Jorge Garcia), Lil' Pete (Taylor Lautner), Ramon (Rob Schneider), and Danny (Luke Wilson) all of whom have nothing in common other than a similar biological father. The six brothers become an outlaw gang called The Ridiculous Six, stealing money from other outlaws as they race against time to save dear old dad.

I am of the opinion that Adam Sandler has never made a good movie, and has relied almost exclusively on asinine, juvenile gags that primarily appeal to young teenage boys who themselves have incredibly juvenile sensibilities. If you have matured beyond the level of thirteen-year-old boy I can't imagine any Adam Sandler movie appealing to you at all.

Having said that, The Ridiculous Six is breaking Netflix records for watched movies. There is virtually an all star cast, some of whom are decent actors and comedians. The trailer made the movie look like it had potential. I'd been hearing from some outlets that "The Ridiculous Six was the most-watched Netflix title in history." The specific article I mentioned above said that this was erroneous reporting and clarified that the case was actually that "it’s the most streams ever in 30 days of release." That makes a lot more sense because this movie was absolutely terrible. Apparently, all of the thirteen-year-old boys from around the territories Netfix operates in are responsible for this statistic that was later so misconstrued.

The Ridiculous Six is considered a slapstick western comedy. Well, it certainly was a western, but it was too insultingly immature, tasteless, and stupid to be considered a comedy. I didn't crack a smile once during the entire two hour movie and kept looking at the remaining run time to see how much more of this drivel I had to endure. I tend not to like modern comedy films since they tend to mistake loud, annoying, and bombastic characters for funny characters and confuse crude jokes and innuendos for humor. The Ridiculous Six is a classic example of why I don't care for modern comedies. It lacks wit, comedic timing, irony, or even witty wordplay. More often than not, punch lines involve a donkey having explosive diarrhea, a middle aged woman mentioning the various places in a room that she has had sex, or onlookers misinterpreting something as fellatio. Granted, in the hands of someone who is actually funny, such scenarios could be delivered in such a way that could be witty enough to be humorous. Incidentally, this is Adam Sandler's writing and he has yet to prove to me he has ever had comedic talent at any point in his career.

There are a number of actors in The Ridiculous Six who have been in comedies that I enjoyed. There's a fairly solid cast here, including Steve Zahn, Danny Trejo, Steve Buscemi, David Spade, and Jon Lovitz to name a few. American rapper "Vanilla Ice" even appears for a small role as Mark Twain which is just as cringe worthy a thing as you might imagine. Interestingly, Adam Sandler isn't the usual loud, annoying, and bombastic character he usually plays. He's counter- typecast as a straight man and allows everyone else to deliver the funny material (such as it is). Sandler's lack of flailing around in a vain attempt to convince us he's funny makes this the best Adam Sandler movie I've seen to date. Furthermore, I've only seen Taylor Lautner in the Twilight film series where he (and everyone else) was just terrible. He's again counter-typecast here as a loud, obnoxious, halfwit hillbilly which wasn't nearly as irritating as his Twilight role. So, this is the best Taylor Lautner movie I've ever seen, too. That's not saying much, since The Ridiculous Six received a rare 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. Even Battlefield Earth, considered one of the worst movies of all time, got 3%.

I feel entertainment press manipulated me into watching The Ridiculous Six through misrepresenting statistics and facts about it. It's yet another markedly not-funny movie from Adam Sandler. It's every bit as lazily offensive as its cast and concept would suggest. The writing was bad. The acting was decent for what it was, including some noteworthy counter-typecasting. This comedy movie was completely devoid of humor; the jokes are often juvenile and gross, unsophisticated and insensitive. I am of the opinion that juvenility, grossness, or insensitivity shouldn't by any means be outright removed from the comic tool kit; the way these comic tools are used here just isn't good at all. This movie just isn't good by any metric. The Ridiculous Six is standard couch fare for Adam Sandler fanatics and must-avoid viewing for film enthusiasts of every other persuasion.

The Good Dinosaur Review

I, for one, think it's highly interesting that Pixar has released two feature films in the same year. That's a gutsy move when you consider the fact that the two movies will therefore be in competition against each other for Best Animated Feature for the upcoming Oscars. This second Pixar movie, The Good Dinosaur (2015), ended up being above average. It hasn't quite lifted the movie studio out of their slump of mediocrity, but it is a step in the right direction.

Luckily for the young apatosaurus named Arlo, his parents (Jeffrey Wright & Frances McDormand) and his two siblings, the mighty dinosaurs were not wiped out 65 million years ago. When a rainstorm washes poor Arlo (Raymond Ochoa) downriver, he ends up bruised, battered and miles away from home. Good fortune shines on the frightened dino when he meets a Neanderthal boy whom Arlo names Spot (Jack Bright) who offers Arlo help and friendship. Together, the unlikely duo embark on an epic adventure to reunite Arlo with his beloved family.

I wasn't sure what I was getting into with The Good Dinosaur. The trailer mostly boasted Pixar's usual stellar animation, but didn't give us much of a hint at the story. This is usually a bad sign. The last thing I was expecting was a prehistoric western. The Good Dinosaur is structured like a western, but doesn't make it's character so human-acting that it's obviously a western. Arlo's family works on a farm growing crops to keep themselves fed during colder seasons, but they don't have farm equipment per say; they kind of work the fields tilling the ground with their nose, build a silo out of rocks and mud, and they live in a cave; it is still the stone age, after all. Arlo is a farm boy who gets lost after a storm and meets what is functionally a stray dog and the two help each other out as they face the wilderness together. They meet a psychotic cult of pterodactyls who worship bad weather and lead by Thunderclap (Steve Zahn). They also meet Butch (Sam Elliott) and his family of cowboy tyrannosaurus whose "ranch" is full of prehistoric longhorns. Arlo and Spot help fight off a pack of cattle rustling velociraptors. Along the way Arlo learns the meaning of courage on his way home. The story of The Good Dinosaur is a prehistoric frontier survival saga and something of a vision quest. That alone is a neat concept which was expertly executed.

Most kids movies are fast paced, but surprisingly The Good Dinosaur is slower, almost poky in its non-frantic pace. Many Pixar movies hold dearly the values of manic verbal humor and elaborate chase sequences, but The Good Dinosaur favors some very straightforward and classy storytelling which also heralds back to old western movies. There is a profound charm and beauty to the wordless stretches in the movie. Moments like these are when the humor is predominantly physical and the striking prehistoric scenery takes precedence. I could see some viewers (possibly even kids) being put off by this more relaxed pace and the simplicity of the direct story, but I found the straightforwardness and the more leisurely paced film to be refreshing. This isn't to say that The Good Dinosaur is boring or even slow; it just doesn't move at a manic pace nor is it a complex tale. It still boasts some emotional heft to it, even with simple characters like Arlo who is basically defined by little more than how he recoils from and then confronts his crippling fears. Like most Pixar films, it caused me to tear up on more than on occasion.

Pixar has always set an unprecedented high standard for their animation, and this one was no different. The prehistoric background - mountains, valleys, forests, and rivers - are animated with such realism it practically looks like it was shot with a video camera rather than animated on a computer. Yet the characters are given cartoonish proportions and movements which gives the movie an almost surreal quality. The characters are still highly detailed and beautifully animated. Everything from the gentle bob of an animal's breathing to the fluid shifts in Spot's facial expressions was clearly, lovingly rendered. There are even incredibly designed scenes (which I won't detail here for the sake of avoiding spoilers) that make the sky itself resemble shark-infested waters. The animation is positively amazing and is sure to impress and awe.

The Good Dinosaur delivers some incredibly beautiful animation and worthy story. Even if it doesn't quite live up to Pixar's lofty standards, it still ends up being a charming, family-friendly movie. There are echoes of The Lion King, Bambi, and many other timeless Disney classics in this simple coming-of-age story. It is a good movie, but pitted against the previous Pixar movie from this year I'd place my bet on Inside Out for Best Animated Feature. The Good Dinosaur is worth seeing in theaters, and probably worth owning on Blu-Ray eventually. Dinosaur-loving kids will likely love this movie to pieces.

Can you think of another "metaphorical western?" Something that isn't literally a western sort of genre, but has a lot of similarities to it? Comment below and let me know!

Knights of Badassdom Movie Review

One of my coworkers recently discovered what a geek and movie buff I am, and she insisted that I watch Knights of Badassdom (2013). I'd seen the trailer some time back and had a small interest in seeing the movie. She let me borrow her copy and I did got a kick out of it, though the weird humor is only going to appeal to a small demographic.

Joe (Ryan Kwanten) is completely disconsolate after his girlfriend Beth (Margarita Levieva) dumps him. In an attempt to break him out of his funk, Joe's geeky buddies Eric (Steve Zahn) and Hung (Peter Dinklage) drag  Joe out to the woods to join them in a large scale Dungeons & Dragons-style Live Action Role Playing (LARP) game. Trouble arises when a prop spell book that Eric purchased on the internet ends up being a genuine tome of grimoire. While pretending to raise Joe's character from death, they unwittingly conjure up a blood-lusting succubus from hell that takes on the appearance of Joe's ex-girlfriend. Joe, Erik, and Hung are joined by fellow LARPers Gwen (Summer Glau) and Gunther (Brett Gipson) to stop the demon. Unfortunately, all they have to fight with are Styrofoam prop weapons.

This cast is brilliant. The movie itself is a celebration of geeky enthusiasm, so the geek icons that appear in Knights of Badassdom make it all the more fun. Ryan Kwanten is known for playing Jason Stackhouse in HBO's hit series True Blood. Peter Dinklage is a fan favorite as Tyrion Lannister in HBO's Game of Thrones series. And Summer Glau is well known for her role as River Tam in the Firefly series and as Cameron Phillips in Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles. While these characters don't necessarily reference the roles that made them geek icons, the fact that they are all together will certainly excite geek viewers.

The weird humor is only going to appeal to a specific demographic. It's absolutely geek-style humor. In the scene where the three friends first meet Gwen and Gunther, Erik quips, " And Guinevere the fearless, who's plus-three ass of perfection should keep the memory of she who should not be mentioned at bay." referring to Beth the ex-girlfriend. Gwen responds to this with, " Plus-three? Clearly you underestimate my endowments." There is another scene where other LARPers are speaking in articulate Old English while subtitles appear below translating the dialogue into complaints about his wife making him clean out the garage. The dialogue is witty and funny; most of the jokes will be the most funny to people who play Role Playing Games or who know people who do. The humor seeks to point a finger at the LARP community and laugh at their strange hobby every bit as much as it makes self-referential in-jokes that only LARPers would likely understand.

This is a Horror-Comedy movie, and it clings to horror tropes like an alien facehugger to John Hurt. Clearly none of the characters in Knights of Badassdom passed Horror Movie survival 101; the monster will get you if you have sex, drink, or go off on your own and be different. For a comedy, I would have expected this to be done with some irony, much like Cabin in the Woods did, but it fell short and just ended up being a gross run-of-the-mill slasher sort of movie. The deaths were silly but gross; it looked as fake as any low budget movie gore would, but still was gross.

Knights of Badassdom was kind of fun. The story was hard to take very seriously, even for a comedy. The humor was hit or miss, but when it hit it was funny; more so if you've ever played Dungeons and Dragons. The cast was lots of fun, I understand that the main cast went through Live Action Role Playing sessions before filming and Peter Dinklage was declared the most successful out of everyone. That would probably have been more fun to watch than this movie was. Knights of Badassdom reminded me of a grittier, more crude, and very violent version of Unicorn City. Unicorn City is squeaky clean, family friendly movie that features lots of geek humor while Knights of Badassdom is a crude and bloody romp that features a lot of geek humor that is intended for more mature audiences. Both have their merit and I'm glad I saw them, but neither of them is worth more than one viewing.

If you were to make a geek-fest movie, what collection of geek icon actors would you use? The more mismatched the better! Comment below and tell me about it!