Movie Review: Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B-

An uneven but sometimes hilarious comedy.

In this film, a young couple in conversation talks about who their celebrity sex passes (a celebrity they would be allowed to have sex with without it being considered cheating) would be, just for fun. The guy decides that he would have sex with Jennifer Aniston and our heroine, Gail Daughtry, decides she would have sex with John Hamm. When the guy actually ends up having sex with Jennifer Aniston, Gail decides she needs to find a way to have sex with John Hamm. 

This movie is full of proudly juvenile humor. The dumb and silly comedy comes fast and furious. As soon as one gag end, another one follows it immediately. With these constant gags throughout, naturally not all of them hit. In fact, as this film starts, it seems like it is going to be painfully unfunny. It is always hardest for a comedy to be funny, while it is setting up its story. Yet there are still constant gags in the story's set up and nearly all these jokes really fall flat. However, as the story gets going the movie gets funnier. This starts happening gradually with more and more gags working as the film went on. When it got to the last act, I was laughing out loud regularly. As much as the humor can really fall flat at times, when the movie is funny it is completely hilarious. That the humor gets better as the film goes on is heavily due to the cast of eccentric characters (especially John Slatery playing himself). As the movie's story becomes a sex joke filled retelling of Wizard of OZ, our main character meets more friends who join her for her journey. Zoey Deutch as the main character is very purposely over the top with her wide-eyed wonder and naive optimism. This type of character is frankly funnier, when given someone strong to play off of. When a strong supporting cast is given to this character, it is no wonder that she gets funnier. This main group of characters plays off each other so well and this is where the best humor often times comes from. When the humor drifts away from this group and on to other characters (the mail man as the narrator is painfully unfunny) and celebrity cameos, that is when it falls flat. 

While a lot of the humor doesn't work, this is still a comedy that made me laugh out loud multiple times.  

Cowboy Church #273

 Hello my friends and welcome back for another service of Cowboy Church. 

 Today's musical selection begins with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans singing In the Sweet By and By. This song came about because of a friendship between composer, Joseph Webster and poet, Dr. Sanford Fillmore Bennett. One day Webster was depressed and Dr. Bennett recognized this. Dr. Bennett asked his friend what was wrong. Webster replied, "Oh nothing. Everything will be alright by and by." These words brought up an idea in Bennett and he wrote down three verses and a chorus to this song as soon as he could. He handed it to his friend saying, “Here is your prescription, Joe.” Webster loved the lyrics and wrote music for them in practically no time at all. Dr. Bennett later said, “It was not over thirty minutes from the time I took my pen to write the words before two friends with Webster and myself were singing the hymn.” The hymn was first published in 1868 and went on to great fame since. This version of the song comes from Roy and Dale's 1973 gospel album, In the Sweet By and By.

This is followed by Jim and Jessie with Wait a Little Longer Please Jesus. 

Afterwards is Ricky Skaggs with Waiting at the Gate. This comes from his 1999 gospel album, Solider of the Cross.

Then comes The Sons of the San Joaquin singing The Boss Is Hangin' out a Rainbow. This is a cover of a Sons of the Pioneers song, and the sing was written by Bob Nolan, one of the founding members of that group and one of my favorite songwriters. This version of the song come from the Sons of the San Joaquin's 1992 album; A Cowboy Has to Sing. 

Next is Roy Drusky with a medley of Have a Little Talk With Jesus and Turn Your Radio On. 

Now comes  The Sons of the Pioneers with their 1937 recording of Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. This hymn began with a man named Anthony Showalter. As a fan of gospel music and an elder in a Presbyterian church, he held many "singing schools" at various churches in the south. One day he received two letters from former students who were struggling after their wives had passed. To respond to these letters, Showalter consulted scripture. He came across Deuteronomy 33:27, "The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." After reading this verse lyrics for a song chorus went through his head and he wrote down, "“Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms; Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.” After using this in the letters to his former students he sent this chorus to his friend hymnist, Elisha Hoffman. In the letter he also wrote, “Here is the chorus for a good hymn from Deuteronomy 33:27, but I can’t come up with the verses.” Hoffman then wrote the rest of the lyrics to which Showalter put to music. The hymn was published in 1887.

Today's musical selection ends with Porter Wagoner and The Blackwood Brothers with I See a Bridge. This comes from their 1966 gospel album, The Grand Old Gospel. 

Now for the 17th episode of The Lone Ranger TV show. 

Now for a message from the Reverand Billy Graham.

Psalm 51

For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

1 Have mercy on me, O God,

    according to your unfailing love;

according to your great compassion

    blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash away all my iniquity

    and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions,

    and my sin is always before me.

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned

    and done what is evil in your sight;

so you are right in your verdict

    and justified when you judge.

5 Surely I was sinful at birth,

    sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;

    you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;

    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

8 Let me hear joy and gladness;

    let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

9 Hide your face from my sins

    and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,

    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me from your presence

    or take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation

    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

    so that sinners will turn back to you.

14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,

    you who are God my Savior,

    and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

15 Open my lips, Lord,

    and my mouth will declare your praise.

16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;

    you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;

    a broken and contrite heart

    you, God, will not despise.

18 May it please you to prosper Zion,

    to build up the walls of Jerusalem.

19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,

    in burnt offerings offered whole;

    then bulls will be offered on your altar.

 

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for another service of Cowboy Church. Happy trails to you until we meet again. 

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #286

 Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again, it is time for some classic cartoons. 

Today's cartoon selection starts with the Noveltoons short, The Old Shell Game (1948). This is the first solo cartoon for the character Wolfie, who had previously only worked with Blackie Sheep. He proves to be just as inept at catching turtles as he is at catching sheep. 

Next comes Donald Duck in Officer Duck (1939). This is the first time that Donald went up against Mickey Mouse's nemesis Pete in one of the duck's solo cartoons. It was far from the last as during World War 2, the two would be paired together in a series of shorts with Pete as Donald's long-suffering sergeant in the army. A good portion of animation for the character Pete was done by Norm Ferguson and John Lounsberry. Released to theaters on October 11, 1939, this was the last Donald Duck cartoon of the 1930's.  

Now for Bugs Bunny in Bushy Hare (1950). 

Anyone familiar with the Columbia Krazy Kat cartoons knows they bear little to no rebalance to the George Herriman comic strip on which they were supposedly based. Krazy was turned into a Mickey Mouse clone and the supporting characters disappeared completely. There was however one exception to this and that was the cartoon, Lil' Ainjil (1936). This film does a surprisingly good job at capturing the feel of the classic comic strip. This is especially true of the background art, which had the same distinct look that appeared in the comic strip. The cartoon also features other characters from the strip including Ignatz Mouse, Offissa Pup and Mrs. Kwack. Much of the story also revolves around the idea of Krazy enjoying Ignatz hitting him/her with bricks. Cartoon buffs may recognize Offissa Pup's voice as that of Billy Costello, the first voice of Popeye.  Interestingly with how this cartoon was so different from any other in the Columbia cartoon series a review in The Film Daily called it "The usual troubles of Officer Pup while trying to keep Ignatz Mouse from socking Krazy Kat with bricks." The same review called this film "Just fair." This is not a perfect cartoon, but it is quite fun to see how this series could have been had it been more faithful to the strip.

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Next is the Fleischer Stone Age cartoon, The Fulla Bluff Man (1940). 

Now for one of my favorite early Mickey Mouse cartoons, The Karnival Kid (1929). This movie is famous for featuring Mickey Mouse's first spoken words. Though Mickey's earlier shorts had been sound pictures, they mostly revolved around music instead of dialogue. Though Walt Disney was excited about moving in this direction, his distributor, Pat Powers was not. Powers felt that an English-speaking mouse would have less appeal in countries where English is not the common language. To be fair the mouse does not receive a great deal of dialogue in this movie. His first words are the immortal, "Hot Dogs! Hot Dogs!" (in a scene animated by future Donald Duck director, Jack King). The voice is not the familiar high pitch falsetto, but a plainer undistinguished voice. I do not know who provided this voice. Carl Stalling speak about the early voices of the mouse in a 1969 interview, “all the animators were taking a shot at it, those who wanted to.” Of course, later on Walt himself would become the voice of Mickey. The cartoon features some men who would soon have a great input on Disney's animated films. Ben Sharpsteen (supervising director on the Disney features Pinocchio (1940) and Dumbo (1941)) animates the opening shots of the fairgrounds, the monkey playing all the instruments and the barker (a fore-runner of Kat-Nip from the Mickey Mouse comic strip) pulling Mickey's nose. Burt Gillet (who would direct the most popular Silly Symphony, Three Little Pigs (1933)) animates the scene with the merry-go-round, Mickey playing the hot dogs like musical instruments, the emergence of Minnie and Mickey tipping his ears to her ("The Big Mooseketeer" Roy Williams stated that this scene inspired the Mickey Mouse ears that all of TV's The Mickey Mouse Club wore). Les Clark (one of Walt's nine old men and one of the greatest Mickey Mouse animators) receives very little footage in the cartoon. He animates Mickey catching a runaway hot dog and giving it a spanking, Mickey briefly strumming the guitar and the final shot of the movie. Les Clark's ending was originally going to be longer with Mickey riding the bed like a horse. The legendary Ub Iwerks (who co-created Mickey with Walt) animates the two cats' duet. Despite the forward-looking ideas in this cartoon borrowed a major gag from a previous Disney short. Mickey chasing and spanking the hot dog was originally done by Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in All Wet (1927). 

Up next is the Noveltoons cartoon, Space Kid (1966). 

Now let us close with a song. 

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry.

Resources Used

Donald Duck: The Ultimate History by J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein

Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History by J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein

https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/mickey-mouse-in-the-karnival-kid-1928/

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

 

Movie Review: Jackass: Best and Last

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B

Crude, juvenile, stupid and a heck of a lot of fun. 

The last film for these lovable overgrown frat boys is a mixture of footage from the previous movies as well as the TV show and new stunts filmed for this movie. These stunts both old and new appeal perfectly to the immature middle schoolers in all of us. Some of them are so crazy, we wonder how these guys could have possibly lived through the last 26 years. Others are full of pure gross out humor that works because these guys are so dedicated to the bits that it is hard not to get caught up in their immaturity. The best bits are often a delightful mixture of pure gross out comedy and dangerous stunts. There are also some practical jokes on others as they go out. I admit I find these less funny or entertaining than the dangerous or gross-out bits. However, the theater was laughing very hard along with these practical jokes, so I am in the minority there. 

However, what really makes this movie and this franchise as a whole work is the loveable people performing these stunts. Often times the banter between them is funnier than the stunts themselves. We have really grown to love and care about these guys over the course of these five movies and the TV series that began it all. It is almost sad to say goodbye to these people who have grown to feel like friends to us. They themselves actually get pretty emotional about this themselves. In-between the old clips and the new stunts are scenes with them reminiscing about the last 26 years. There is a real sweetness to these scenes where we see just how much these guys love and care about each other. One doesn't expect to feel touched watching a movie where a guy sits in a porta potty which is flung into the air by a giant slingshot and finds himself covered in crap, but here we are. It is hard for a movie where a good portion of it is simply a clip show to stand out. However, these scenes give it a bit of a unique feel. 

A strong ending to this franchise. 

     

Movie Review: Supergirl

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

An excellent superhero adventure. 

The film's story (based on Supergirl's comic book story, Woman of Tomorrow) may not offer anything particularly new or groundbreaking for the superhero genre. However, this does not stop the story from being very well told. The heart of this story rests heavily in the title character. In many ways she is very different from her cousin Superman. She is much more cynical and hides her pain behind a lot of partying and an outwardly apathetic demeanor. Yet none of this can hide that like her cousin, she is deep down a very good person. When it comes to doing the right thing, she can't help herself. It is hard not to love a character like this. Her outward demeanor makes her come off as very cool, while her good heart makes her easily to care about emotionally. The scenes dealing with her backstory are very well done. These emotionally effective scenes make us fully understand why this character is the way she is. Also endearing this character to us is Milly Alcock's fantastic performance (she brings a real charisma to this character) as well as her relationship with the young girl (played by Eve Ridley) she goes on this journey with. How Kara (Supergirl's real name) cares for this young girl really captures the heart of this character. She may get annoyed or exasperated with the young girl and even loses her temper at times. However, when push comes to shove Kara always has the girl's back. 

As well as a great lead character, this movie also features some very good comedy and action scenes. The comedy is often very funny, while (unlike some recent superhero movies) never distracting from the drama or the characters' arcs. This is because all of the humor flows naturally from the story and characters. Jason Momoa as Lobo gets many of the film's greatest laughs. The action scenes are fantastic. They are very exciting and well-paced. The use of rock music on the soundtrack is also a great asset as it perfectly fits the main character and the tone of the movie. 

What keeps this movie from getting a higher grade is the villain. This is a very bland, generic and forgettable villain with nothing to make him stand out from so many similar movie villains.

A delight for superhero fans.   

All-New Super Friends Hour: Rampage (1977)

 

This is the final segment of the final episode of The All-New Super Friends Hour, unlike most other Super Friends formats, this one had hour long episodes that were made up of various shorter cartoons. The first segment would be an adventure staring two members (or three in some cases as Batman and Robin would often team with another Super Friend) of the Super Friends. The second would be a morality play staring the Wonder Twins. The third would be a typical half hour Super Friends adventure. The fourth and last segment would feature one of the main Super Friends (or two in the case of Batman and Robin) teaming up with a special DC Comics guest. 

In this cartoon Superman and Green Lantern team up to save the day when a wild elephant is loose in India.  

This is a fun cartoon. Superman and Green Lantern have to save the day without harming the elephants making saving the day feel like a real challenge. The elephants have a great design, and the background art of India is very eye pleasing. The climatic action scene is done quite well. There is some of that very corny superhero dialogue that I love. While there may not be anything new here there is still enough to enjoy. 

Yoshi and the Mysterious Book (2026)

 

A delightfully charming video game. 

After having been around for decades, it is amazing that the Mario franchise can still do something new. Yet this new Yoshi spin-off game is something completely new. I have never played a platformer that has felt like this before. Rather than your typical straightforward platforming stages, this is a game that encourages you to explore these levels and the learn about the creatures in them. The premise is that you are helping an anthropomorphic encyclopedia learn all it can about various creatures in its pages. Each creature has its own stage and the point of each of these stages is to learn all you can about these creatures. As someone who simply loves exploring the world around him, a video game that encourages you to explore the video game world in the same way is automatically appealing to me. To simply move at your own pace as you move around this world creates a very charming and relaxing game to play. I found this game a perfect way to unwind after a workday myself. The game even lets you use your own creativity giving you the opportunity to name the creatures you meet. 

It of course helps that the world you explore is delightful. The artwork is fantastic and many of the environments and creatures are very creative and fun.   

With its often very easy difficulty, this game is heavily aimed at younger Nintendo players. I have no problem with this and feel this is a perfect game to make for kids. After all it is always a wonderful idea to encourage creativity, exploration and curiosity when making something aimed at kids. Heck even most grown-ups could use more of each of these. 

The only problem I have with this game is with the mixture of often very easy difficulty and its short length, you finish the game, before you know it. 

A delight for kids and kids at heart.