Mediocre Movie Club Movie Reviews

Tour de Pharmacy

7/22/2017

B+
3.48

A raunchy satire of a drug-fueled Tour de France.

Directed by Jake Szymanski
Starring Andy Samberg, Freddie Highmore, and Daveed Diggs
Initial Review by Shane Setnor

In order for a joke to be funny, there has to be some sort of underlying truth as the foundation of the joke. We’ve talked a lot about Adam Sandler quite a bit in this group since he’s the comedian we grew up with. Sandler’s work suffers oftentimes because there is no foundation of truth underneath him. I love Billy Madison, but objectively it’s a goofy and silly movie rather than one that is funny. You look at Happy Gilmore, a more successful comedy, and you can see why it’s rated better. It’s playfully mocking the perception of the seriousness of golf. It has a foundation to stand on rather than just being a man-child who has a clown nearly die at his pool party.

Tour de Pharmacy is built upon a foundation of something that exists. It relies on something true. It’s a mockumentary that takes on the seriousness of sports documentaries, the rampant and obvious drug abuse in cycling, and the ridiculousness of cycling around France for a month. (I love that they seriously use the HBO Sports logo in the beginning and never bother explaining that this is a joke.)

8 Comments

Winter's Bone

6/16/2017

4 Comments

B+
3.20

A young woman in the meth-infested Ozarks has to find her father before the courts seize her family's home.

Directed by Debra Granik
Starring Jennifer Lawrence and John Hawkes
Initial Review by Shane Setnor

Everyone likes looking at a picture of themselves. It starts when we’re young, right? In the 80’s and 90’s, Polaroids were like magic and you couldn’t wave them fast enough to see how good the picture was. I remember being enthralled with the wizardry of watching myself on the TV as my uncle was filming us at Christmas in the 80’s. Today, people actually die trying to get pictures of themselves. Toddlers demand to see instant results of the picture or video on your phone. There’s just something inherently satisfying about seeing ourselves. Maybe it’s an ego thing or maybe it’s just curiosity, but it’s always a powerful draw.

4 Comments

World's Greatest Dad

2/23/2017

11 Comments

B+
3.25

A mild-mannered dad parents his misogynist douchebag of a son.

Directed by Bobcat Goldthwait
Starring Robin Williams and Daryl Sabara
Initial Review by Shane Setnor

“You guys didn't like Kyle. That's okay. I didn't either. I loved him. He was my son. But he was also a douchebag.”

During my junior year of high school my friend and classmate, Brandon, shot himself in the head in his ex-girlfriend’s backyard. This was the first time someone I knew (outside of a grandparent) had died. I had no idea how to react or what to do. I just worked the rest of my shift at a local Subway in dismay.

That day, my buddy and my brother picked me up from my shift, I told them about what Brandon did. (This was before texting and everyone having cell phones, so sometimes it took days for news to spread. Crazy.) For some reason, I felt myself smiling as I was telling them. I have no idea why I reacted this way. I knew the moment was big and I was supposed to be solemn, but I think I was overwhelmed by the enormity of the situation.

11 Comments

Tucker and Dale vs Evil

10/26/2016

38 Comments

B-
2.57

College students mistake two sloppy rustics for murderous hillbilles.

Directed by Eli Craig
Starring Tyler Labine and Alan Tudyk
Initial Review by Shane Setnor

In sports, two-thirds is a pretty good number to hit. If you’re an MLB coach and your team wins two-thirds of its games, welcome to the HOF. If you’re an NBA player and you hit two-thirds of your shots, welcome to the HOF. If you’re Mike Vick and you only kill two-thirds of your dogs in your dog-fighting ring, welcome to the dog-fighting HOF, which I believe is located across the street from PETA for trolling purposes.

But succeeding in only two-thirds of a movie just isn’t going to cut it. Now, you can get away with only two-thirds of a movie being good and end up with a solid score if you hide the crappy third in the middle. But, like when you’re waiting tables, the beginning and end is where you make your money. You can’t start or finish poorly.

38 Comments

Amadeus

6/28/2016

25 Comments

A-
3.83

Composer Salieri is wracked with envy when confronted with the superior talent of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Directed by Milos Foreman
Starring F. Murray Abraham and Tom Hulce
Initial Review by Shane Setnor

This movie avoids the dreaded normal 80's taint and holds up after 30 years.

It's an easy A.

Please listen below for audio review for a brief discussion on the movie, the pretentiousness of music people and natural talent in regards to being great or near-great. (Example: Michael Jordan is great. Lebron James is near-great.)

Or just comment and tell me I'm an idiot.

amadeus_final.mp3
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25 Comments

<<Previous

Tour de Pharmacy

B+
3.48

Winter's Bone

B+
3.20

World's Greatest Dad

B+
3.25

Tucker and Dale vs Evil

B-
2.57

Amadeus

Authors

Categories

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Tour de Pharmacy

B+​3.48

Winter's Bone

B+​3.20

World's Greatest Dad

B+​3.25

Tucker and Dale vs Evil

B-​2.57

Amadeus﻿

Authors

Categories

Archives

B+
3.48

B+
3.20

B+
3.25

B-
2.57

Amadeus