Review: Dungeons & Dragons:Honor Among Thieves

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
PG-13  ‧ Adventure/Fantasy  ‧ 2 Hours 20 Minutes

Written by John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein & Michael Gilio

Directed by John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein

THE CAST

Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Rege-Jean Page, Hugh Grant, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Choloe Coleman, Daisy Head

THE STORY

(In their own words). A charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers embark on an epic quest to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people.

Michelle Rodriguez plays Holga and Chris Pine plays Edgin in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves from Paramount Pictures and eOne.

THE BEST


The BEST things about the film

  1. The Story – It’s a really fun and exciting story.
  2. The Ensemble – The actors really do a great job of giving the sense that these are people who know each other really well. It feels like long-time friendships and a clear loving bond between them all. They do wonderful jobs acting off of one another helping move along the script.
  3. The Humor – I found the film really funny. Played perfectly even within the ridiculous character situations they were put in. They consistently played the truth of the moment and brought on the laughter. 
Justice Smith plays Simon, Rege-Jean Page plays Xenk, Michelle Rodriguez plays Holga and Chris Pine plays Edgin in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves from Paramount Pictures and eOne.

THE WORST

The WORST things about the Film

  1. There are a couple of predictable elements in the film, but I am largely forgiving of them as they seemed to be inevitable things that had to happen in this type of story. 
Daisy Head plays Sofina in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves from Paramount Pictures and eOne.

THE COMMENTS

This Dungeons & Dragons film is everything I could have hoped for in an adventure film.  It was fresh, funny, moved along quickly, the acting was really good, the ensemble really played really well off of each other. 

One of the first questions I get from people about the film is “Will I like it if I’ve never played Dungeons & Dragons before?” The answer is yes. I’ve only played it myself a couple of times, despite being a well-known nerd amongst my peers. So I did not notice most of the in-world references they made, but I never felt like I was missing anything, I didn’t even realize I missed little things until I talked to some of my guests at the screening. For our press screening I brought with me three people who in their own life play Dungeons & Dragons as Dungeon Masters, and they filled me in on a bunch of the little “inside baseball” jokes or references I didn’t catch. So, I will say that your experience will be even richer if you’ve played it before, but it’s still an amazingly entertaining movie without that knowledge.

Michelle Rodriguez plays Holga, Justice Smith plays Simon and Chris Pine plays Edgin in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves from Paramount Pictures and eOne.

THE LESSON

The love that is with you is more important than the love that you look back on. 

IS IT REWATCHABLE

Yes, I can’t wait to see it again. 

THE FINAL WORD

This film is the most fun I’ve had in the theater this year. It is a fast-paced, fun adventure, worthy of the Dungeons & Dragons moniker. Chris Pine leads a stellar ensemble with poise, humor, and foundation of love and friendship for this band of thieves. You do not have to have ever played D&D to enjoy this film, but if you have, you will really enjoy the insider nods to that world. This film has everything I could hope for from an adventure film. I was very much a skeptic that they would ever make a good film in this franchise and I am more than happy to be proven wrong. More action adventure films should be this well-made. 

Sophia Lillis plays Doric in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves from Paramount Pictures and eOne.

THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It. 

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves gets a Love It.

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Review: Rye Lane

Rye Lane(2023)
PG-13  ‧ Romantic Comedy ‧ 1 Hours 22 Minutes

Written by Nathan Byron and Tom Melia 

Directed by Raine Allen-Miller 

THE CAST

Vivian Oparah and David Jonsson

THE STORY

David Jonsson and Vivian Oparah in RYE LANE. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.

(In their own words). Yas (Vivian Oparah) and Dom (David Jonsson), two twenty-somethings both reeling from bad break-ups, connect over the course of an eventful day in South London – helping each other deal with their nightmare exes, and potentially restoring their faith in romance.

THE BEST

Vivian Oparah and David Jonsson in RYE LANE. Photo by Chris Harris. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.


The BEST things about the film

  1. Moment of Brilliance – The karaoke scene in this film where Yas and Dom sing Salt And Peppa’s Shoop together….is probably my single favorite scene of the last year. It’s an absolutely adorable scene that makes the movie for me. 
  2. The Creativity – This film elevates a seemingly simple romcom to a work of art through a bold color pallet, fun cinematography, and very clever writing. Interesting movies are less about the story they are telling and more about how they tell the story. This story is told in a very creative and wonderful way. 
  3. The humor – It’s a very funny romcom. The writing is clever, the actors delivery honest and fun performances that fit into this comedic world.
  4. Black Excellence – I don’t even want to talk about it because it really doesn’t have much to do with the film…but I feel like I would be remiss to not mention all the Black excellence in this film. This is a Black love story. It is full of wonderfully written Black characters, written by at least one Black Writer, Nathan Byron. To be honest, I couldn’t figure out if Tom Melia was Black as well (it’s very hard to find pictures of writers). The director, Raine Allen-Miller, is Black and is making an outstanding feature debut with this film. From head to toe, this film is pouring with Black excellence. 

THE WORST

David Jonsson and Vivian Oparah in RYE LANE. Photo by Chris Harris. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.

The WORST things about the film

  1. While it is a super creative film, it does fall into the traps of many romcoms in making a clumsy ending wrap up the story. 

THE COMMENTS

While it is a romantic comedy, a big part of me want to tell you that this is a film about healing. I was once told that a breakup is kind of like a death. There is normally grieving from at least one party and it can be really difficult to learn how to move forward from after this change in your life. I think this film does a great job of exploring how these characters try to cope after a break up. 

THE LESSON

Breakups are hard. How you react to a breakup doesn’t necessarily define you as a person.

IS IT REWATCHABLE

Yes

THE FINAL WORD

David Jonsson and Vivian Oparah in RYE LANE. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.

Rye Lane is a very special film. It is a very creative, British romantic comedy film that takes us through the lives of two people trying to process their recent breakups. The film features some wonderful writing, cinematography, and acting. It contains possibly my single favorite scene of the last year or so. Featuring a mostly Black cast, this film shows some wonderful promise from first time director Raine Allen-Miller. 

THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It. 

Rye Lane gets a very strong Like It. 

WHERE TO WATCH

Streaming exclusively on Hulu

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Review: Shazam! Fury Of The Gods

Shazam! Fury Of The Gods (2023)
PG-13  ‧ Action/Adventure ‧ 2 Hours 10 Minutes

Written by Henry Gayden, Chris Morgan

Directed by David F. Sandberg

THE CAST

Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Rachel Zegler, Adam Brody, Ross Butler, Meagan Good, Lucy Liu, Djimon Hounsou and Helen Mirren

THE STORY

(In their own words) Bestowed with the powers of the gods, Billy Batson and his fellow foster kids are still learning how to juggle teenage life with their adult superhero alter egos. When a vengeful trio of ancient gods arrives on Earth in search of the magic stolen from them long ago, Shazam and his allies get thrust into a battle for their superpowers, their lives, and the fate of the world.

THE BEST


The BEST things about the film

  1. The comedy. It is a very funny film. For the majority of the film, the comedy is played really well. By that I mean the acting is played with purposeful intention with complete seriousness by the actors. The situation is funny and funnier because of how truthful and earnestly the actors are going at it. What doesn’t work for comedy is when the actors are “playing for laughs.” 90% of this film, they do the superhero comedy right. Honestly, there are a lot of ways they handle humor that I think Marvel could learn from. They let serious moments be serious, and comedy be comical. 
  2. Pacing. The film really moves quickly and keeps you fully engaged. 
  3. The actors. There are some top-notch actors in this film. Helen Mirren as a villain is just a wonderful treat. Make the best actors the villains because it just raises the stakes so much. 
  4. Story. The story really is interesting. They managed to keep it feeling a bit fresh for a superhero film because it is just different enough in tone. I really think it helps that they are leaning into the comedy aspect rather than just making it a super serious film that breaks up serious moments with a random joke (cough, MCU, cough).

THE WORST

The WORST things about the Film

  1. The overacting for laughs. As mentioned above, 90% of the film, the comedy is done right. But when it is done badly, it’s really hard to watch and I can’t stand the actor the moment they do it. At times it makes it feel like the actors are in different universes. The director has to be consistent and decide if the film is gonna have a slapstick over-the-top Nickelodeon kids’ comedy or it’s gonna be a good comedy.
  2. The ending. I am not really too pleased about how they make the moment at the end happen. I could write an essay about what is wrong with just the ending.
  3. Cringy age difference for love interests. I don’t want to get too into it and spoil things, but I will definitely talk about this in a discussion episode. 
  4. Too many characters. With all of the foster family kids superheroes now, there just isn’t enough time to really care about each of them. I think if they are going to continue this franchise, it might run better on the small screen as a series so we can get invested in all the characters. 

THE COMMENTS

The sequel to any film is really a challenge. Origin stories are usually always more interesting because there’s a lot of fun in watching characters discover who they are becoming. This sequel does a really good job in continuing the energy as Billy Batson is now comfortable with his powers but trying to figure out where he fits in the world as a superhero. He is at a crossroads of looking at graduating high school and not knowing if he can be with his superhero family much longer. The beauty of using teenage characters as superheroes is they are trying to figure out so much more than just their superpowers. They don’t even know who they are as a person and the powers and new responsibility just add to their personal chaos. 

THE LESSON

True power comes from working together. 

IS IT REWATCHABLE?

Yes. Very fun film. 

THE FINAL WORD

Lightning may have struck twice for this superhero sequel. They lean in strong on the comedy and it works 90% of the time. This franchise has probably done the best job of creating a comical world to play in. Really strong actors as our villains with Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu playing the daughters of Atlas really elevate the film. Shazam also manages to be one of the better sequels in the DC world. They manage to keep some of the naivety that origin stories typically have and bring it into the sequel. A benefit of having teenagers as the superheroes.
This isn’t a groundbreaking superhero film, let’s be clear on that. But it does have surprises, a level of freshness, and an extreme level of fun.  

THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It. 

Shazam! Fury Of The Gods gets a Like It.

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Review: Champions

Champions (2023)
PG-13  ‧ Comedy ‧ 2 Hours 3 Minutes
Written by Bobby Farrelly
Directed by Mark Rizzo

THE CAST

  • Woody Harrelson as Marcus, a disgraced G-league basketball coach
  • Kaitlin Olson as Alex, Johnny’s sister and Marcus’ love interest
  • Matt Cook as Sonny, an assistant coach
  • Ernie Hudson as Phil Perretti, a fellow coach and Marcus’ friend
  • Cheech Marin as Julio, the manager of the rec center where the Friends practic
  • Mike Smith as Attorney McGurk
  • Scott Van Pelt as himself
  • Jalen Rose as himself

THE STORY

(In their own words) A former minor-league basketball coach receives a court order to manage a team of players with intellectual disabilities. Despite his doubts, he soon realizes that together they can go further than they ever imagined.

THE BEST
The BEST things about the film;

  1. All of the intellectually disabled actors are played actors with those disabilities and they do a fantastic job. 
  2. This movie made me smile the entire time. It was just such an enjoyable movie to watch. Touching, poignant, funny…it really hit all the right notes for me. 
  3. Woody Harrelson does a wonderful job acting and working with all of the actors/players and brings a level of prestige to a film.

THE WORST

The WORST things about the Film;

  1. The writing isn’t the best. It borders on an after-school special level. It’s not intolerable, but that is I believe in large part due to the actors bringing more to the script than is there.
  2. While mostly really respectful to the  actors with the disabilities, there was one female character where I didn’t think the jokes worked because the humor may have been more directed at her than with her. 

THE COMMENTS

  1. This is an English-language remake of the 2018 Spanish film Campeones directed by Javier.
  2. This is a film that is elevated by the actors. The script itself is a bit predictable, mildly preachy, and razor this with its premise believability. But the actors elevate this out of what it could have been. 
  3. My biggest fear about the film would be the misuse of the intellectually disabled actors and would be them making a lot of jokes at their expense. But that isn’t what happened. The film is very respectful. 
  4. I think casting Woody Harrelson in the coach position was perfect because of my knowledge of him as a person made me feel okay watching it. I assumed that he wouldn’t do a film that made fun of the players. Also, in my personal universe the film would take place in the same universe as White Men Can’t Jump.

THE LESSON

Being a champion has nothing to do with outcome, it’s a way of living. 

IS IT REWATCHABLE

Absolutely.

THE FINAL WORD

Watching Champions is giving yourself an opportunity to smile for two hours. Heartwarming story and performances that elevate the script made it a solid sports-comedy film. The actors in the players in the film are in real life part of the intellectually disabled community and it was fantastic to see them have an opportunity to show a story with respectful portrayals and fully developed characters.  Give yourself an opportunity to be happy and see this film. 

THE VERDICT
My 3L system gives me the choice to Love It, Like It, or Lose It. 

Champions gets a Like It. 

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