Theater Review: Monsters University

For the first time that I can remember, I was actually late to a film. I read the times wrong and I showed up for the wrong showing. Luckily, I don't believe we missed much - but still, I definitely hate missing anything. Heck, I don't even like missing previews.

Anyway, onto the film.

Monsters University is the Pixar release of the year. It's sort of been a rough going for Pixar the past few years since the amazing Toy Story 3.

In 2011, they released Cars 2 which I can totally understand why. A lot of critics and adults seem to hate the Cars films, but kids love them. It's probably the most kid-centric of the Pixar films. My son loves them both and I have seen it a ton of times - I don't hate them. In fact, I still enjoy them. But, it isn't the best of the Pixar bunch.

Last year they released Brave, which was a pretty decent, fun film. But, even it wasn't quite up to the standards that we have come to expect from Pixar. It did win the Oscar, but I don't think it deserved it. Disney's own Wreck-It Ralph was a much better film than Brave, in my opinion.

So, we head back in time. Literally.

We return to the world of monsters that we loved in Monters, Inc. and our fiends Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sully (John Goodman).

But, we already know their story at Monsters, Inc. - so we are brought back in time for this prequel, to the time that Mike and Sully meet at Monsters University.

Mike is the quintessential over-achiever - and he has to be. He is going to try and become a scarer - and quite frankly he isn't scary. So, he studies and studies to get good grades and try to stand out.

Sully, meanwhile, is a legacy. And, he doesn't study at all - he parties and plays tricks on people, the perfect frat boy.

At first, of course, Mike and Sully despise each other. And, during a test, they are cornered by Dean Abigail Hardscrabble (Helen Mirren) to pass the test, and both fail and are kicked out of the scaring program.

Heartbroken, Mike makes a deal with the Dean - if he wins the annual Scare Games he can get back into the scare program. Unfortunately, he must be in a Fraternity - and must have at least six members. So, he has to do it with Oozma Kappa - a Fraternity of castoffs - Don Carlton (Joel Murray), Squishy Squibbles (Peter Sohn), Art (Charlie Day) and Terry/Teri Perry (Dave Foley/Sean Hayes).

He also has another issue, including himself Oozma Kappa only has five members - as Terry/Terri only count as one. That is until Sully himself gets wind of the deal and looks to join - against Mike's wishes, he must allow his enemy in so that he can fulfill his dreams.

A pretty fun and decent origins story of Sully and Mike's current relationship that we see in Monsters, Inc. I feel it was better than the Cars sequel and even Brave - but doesn't live up to the Toy Story sequels, and probably not even the original Monsters, Inc.

It was cool to see some of the other monsters that we see in the original in the background throughout the film. And, we get the return of Randall (Steve Buscemi), who apparently started out as Mike's roommate, and not such a bad guy.

The new characters, other than the Oozma Kappa gang, really didn't stand out. I loved Oozma Kappa though. Art was hilarious and the other members each bring something fun to the table.

The film is still carried by Mike and Sully, however, and Goodman and Crystal work so well together, which is why this film works again. And, you get to see how the two are such a good team in the future, as together they work much better than when they are apart.

Grade:

Community: Season Three

Let me first start out by saying that I am so incredibly happy/excited that Community was picked up for a fourth, albeit just 13 episodes, season.

Though it was banished to the Friday night schedule part of me has hope that the large amount of fans, much like Fringe that was also sent to Friday and has stayed there for a handful of seasons, will follow it there (and maybe even pickup a few more now that it's out of Big Bang Theory's shadow) and not only force NBC to give it a few more seasons, but also pickup the back nine episodes for season four. One can only hope.

Plus, there is the added Chevy Chase/Dan Harmon feud that, in my opinion, made NBC let Harmon go as showrunner. The new showrunners are supposed to make it more appealing to a wider audience - which I hope doesn't mean the show I love will cease to exist the way it truly should. I think Chase has done a great job on Community but out of the cast, he may be the lone member that could be let go and the show would still remain the same as it always was. I guess we shall see how things look in the fall.

Now, season three. We had to wait until March to finally get more Community and I definitely wore out my Hulu Plus watching the previous seasons during that lost time.

I actually feel like the show got off to a rocky start. Sure, it was still funny and better than most shows on television, but it was lacking from what I come to expect from Community. I was excited for the guest stars, John Goodman and Michael K. Williams. But, even those came in with a whimper and didn't truly take off until the final part of the season.

And, the final part of the season was epic just like the first two seasons.

One of the great things about Community is that it can do these 'themed' shows that are so amazing, yet still use them in the course of the overall show.

"Basic Lupine Urology" was an episode that revolved entirely around Law and Order. The study groups yam is killed and because Annie can't see herself getting a grade lower than an A she gets the others to find out how the yam was killed. In this episode we finally get that great Michael K. Williams guestspot.

The final three episodes of the season that all aired over an hour and a half on the same night were possibly the greatest of the season.

The first was another great 'theme' episode entitled "Digital Estate Planning" and almost the entire episode takes place in an 8-bit video game. Breaking Bad's badguy Giancarlo Esposito steps in as Pierce's dad's assistant who will hand over the Hawthorne Wipes fortune to Pierce, if he is the first to defeat the video game.

In the final two episodes we get resolution on Chang taking over the school and the Greendale Seven being expelled. We also receive a visit from alternate timeline Evil Abed.

The final of the three episodes almost wraps up the season as if this would be the final show of the series. And it sort of touches you that way as well. But, now that the show has finally gotten the pickup it deserved, perhaps the flashes that we see at the conclusion of this episode will be intertwined in the story lines of season four.

#sixseasonsandamovie

PS- I have to admit that I am definitely Team Annie (if I were a teenage girl and actually used terms like that), but I definitely had the gaga eyes for Britta when she was dressed in goth. I don't know why, but it worked.

HOT: Punchline

This is one Tom Hanks film that I know I had never seen before. Not even a little bit. For some reason this is a film that I had never come across on a cable channel or anything.

Punchline stars Sally Field as Lilah Krytsick, a stay-at-home mother who has a taste in her mouth to become a stand up comedian.

She heads out a few nights to a comedy club where she encounters Steven Gold (Hanks), who is the top comedian at the club - but also has a few skeletons in his closet. Gold is supposed to be in medical school, at least that is what his father believes.

Gold believes he can make it big as a comedian, and leaves med school in his rear view mirror.

Only issue is, despite Gold's talent, every chance he has at making it big he chokes for some reason.

Krytsick, however, is struggling to find her niche as a comedian - and she tries to befriend Gold and learn from him. Though at first he wanted nothing to do with her he eventually becomes friends with Krytsick and helps her hone her jokes - and it works.

Krytsick is also feeling the pressure, but not in making it big, she is getting flack from her family most notably her husband, John (John Goodman). He doesn't understand why she needs to head out and leave her family. He believes her place is in the home and should be helping him entertain his clients.

I can sort of see how this isn't on television a lot for me to see, but it was a decent watch.

It was sort of nice to see the backstage happenings of comedians, and how far they need to go just to get a laugh.

Also, a few now-known actors/comedians were co-stars in the films, such as Damon Wayans and Taylor Negron.

Great film? No. But overall a decent film.

Grade:

Speed Racer

I don't know what all the complaining was about.

The only thing I have to say about Speed Racer is that I didn't get to see it in all of its 3-D glory - I am sure that would have been a wild ride.

What were people expecting? Had they never actually seen an episode of the television series?

This was amazingly done - sure it was cheesy, but so was the show.

It also must have hit pretty close to home for NASCAR. I just kept thinking, 'someone isn't going to be happy about this' during the whole Royalton/Speed scenes.

Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) is all about racing. It's in his blood. It's what his family is all about.

His father, Pops (John Goodman), runs his own racing company, which Speed races for sans sponsorship.

After Speed becomes a pretty big racer, the sponsors are literally knocking at his door - he finally agrees to give one a chance and tours his company. After realizing he doesn't want to join the Royalton name, E.P. Arnold Royalton (Roger Allam) starts to ruin him and his families' business.

In order to get out from under his grasp, Speed must join with Racer X (Matthew Fox) and help Taejo Togokahn (Rain) win the Caso Cristo race - the same race that claimed his brother, Rex (Scott Proctor).

With the help of his girlfriend, Trixie (Christina Ricci) and eventually his family, Speed helps Togokahn win the race - and later gets the chance to race in the Grand Prix, a lifelong dream.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. It also helps that it had Ricci, whom I have had a major thing for since she was little Wednesday Addams way back in the day. But, for it to be panned a disaster is way out of line. This isn't an epic tale - it's pure entertainment. And I was more than entertained.

I am still pissed I missed out on the 3-D though - that would have been insane.

Grade: