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Review: ‘Finding Dory’

After an initial viewing, it doesn’t appear that there is anything “wrong” with the newest movie from Pixar and Disney, “Finding Dory,” the sequel to the smash hit “Finding Nemo” that no one was really asking for, and yet here it is, and you know what? It is pretty damn good, which of course we should be expecting from these fine artists, who have now spent decades crafting finely made and expertly tuned feature length movies, many of which seemed ridiculous at the outset, only to end up being deeply moving and effective pieces of art. If this were coming from another studio, it would feel like a cash grab, but since this is from Pixar, it is more of a chance to revisit some beloved characters and introduce new ones and tell a solid story with some familiar pieces and some new pieces.

There are a couple of similarities between “Finding Dory” and its predecessor. In the first movie, Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), the blue tang fish with short term memory loss, helps the clown fish Marlon (Albert Brooks) find his missing son Nemo. This time around, Marlon and Nemo agree to help Dory find her parents, whom she got separated from at a young age and naturally forget them over time. But she remembers them suddenly and wants to go find them, and it is important to note that this movie isn’t called “Finding Dory’s Parents” because really the story is all about Dory finding out who she is and really gaining a sense of self worth as she uncovers her past, and they manage to get quite an emotional journey out of this set up.Continue Reading …

Netflix pick for 6/13/16 – ‘Adult Beginners’

“Adult Beginners” is a tight little comedy about adults in their thirties still trying to figure out exactly how to be adults. Still doing things like sneaking off to smoke some weed, balking at basic responsibilities, and generally fumbling around with romantic interests, this is a movie about people who know they have to be the grown ups in the room and kind of hate doing it but go through with it anyway because that’s what they are supposed to do and lo and behold who woulda thunk it this kind of responsible, adult-like behavior can actually lead to a pretty satisfactory outcome. Surprising only in its maturity in how it tackles these themes, while there is little to separate this from similar “adult coming of age” type dramadies, “Adult Beginners” is still a very satisfying watch.

Jake (Nick Kroll) finds himself broke and friendless when his brand new company immediately goes up in flames, taking his and his investors’ money with it. He has to move in with his pregnant sister (Rose Byrne), her husband (Bobby Cannavale) and their 3-year old kid, and in order to make a few extra bucks, he agrees to be a nanny for his sister while he tries to figure out what to do next with his life. What ends up happening is he spends longer than planned living with them, and he gets involved a little in their lives, and of course things gets upset and problems arise, which leads to be funny mix ups and sad developments between characters in almost equal measure.Continue Reading …

#179 – Han Crespo

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In episode 179, Chris Crespo puts on a one man show.

Chris reviews Warcraft and Now You See Me 2.

The Netflix Instant Pick of the Week is Adult Beginners.

Billy D reviews a random Brooklyn film festival as well as some random Canadian horror film from 2010.

The Crespodisco features two songs from the Warcraft original soundtrack.

Listener reviews of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, Popstar, Warcraft, Anomalisa, and more!

Review: ‘Warcraft’

“Warcraft,” an adaptation of the hugely popular “World of Warcraft” video game series, is a big budget high fantasy movie that doesn’t have too much separating itself from other tales of men versus monsters with some magic thrown in for good measure. You can go through the fantasy movie template and check off the appropriate boxes – a battle versus good and evil, a giant winged beast, a world destroying MacGuffin, two armies charging at each other in an open field, it is all here, done up in a serviceable enough way to be entertaining but not bringing enough to the table to be compelling. Existing in that middle ground where ambivalence resides, the movie is packed with too much in two hours to be boring, but isn’t different or interesting enough to be truly interesting, “Warcraft” is a decent if inconsequential couple of hours.

Worth noting, for some reason this title has been shortened for its release here in the U.S., because in most markets around the world this film is called “Warcraft: The Beginning” and that is much more telling of what to expect from this movie. Because this is 100% a set up for more movies, itself a movie without a real ending, instead just setting up most characters and foreshadowing their futures, to be explored in possible sequels. And in this regard, this particular film is surely successful, as they did present an open ended story which they hope people will be wanting to revisit.Continue Reading …

Netflix pick for 6/6/2016 – ‘Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan’

As heard in episode 178 of Cinema Crespodiso.

“Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” is the Star Trek movie that non-fans can easily watch and enjoy. Of all the Star Trek movies and TV shows, this is the most popular and easily accessible of them all. This 1982 movie is a sequel to the first “Star Trek” movie and plot-wise actually works as a direct sequel to one particular episode of the original television show, which aired 15 years prior in 1967, so in theory it should be a tough movie for non-fans to just jump right into, a particularly tough nut to crack for people not familiar with these characters or their backstories, or the world in which they live. Without seeing that one TV episode, how can anyone know who this Khan character is and why we should care at all about his wrath? How could this movie possibly withstand the test of time but being so specifically tied into something that relatively few people would have seen at the time this movie came out, let alone now, almost 35 years later?

It accomplishes this feat by, quite simply, being extremely entertaining. William Shatner is in now top form as Admiral Kirk, Leonard Nimoy is his reliable Spock-y self as Captain Spock, and Ricardo Montalbán makes an absolute meal out of his role as the titular villain, Khan Singh, a genetically enhanced being who leads his small group of loyal warriors in a vengeance quest against Kirk and the rest of his crew. Revenge is a helluva motivator and for decades it has been used to propel plots forward, and here is no exception. Khan is on a mission of righteous retribution against the heroes of the movie and it all makes for some great, pulpy drama.Continue Reading …

#178 – Drewster Khanburn

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In episode 178, Chris Crespo and Drewster Cogburn are joined by returning guest Nikki Willson.

Chris and Drewster review The Lobster and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.

The Netflix Instant Pick of the Week is Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Dr. Drew gives his two cents on people who vote for Trump.

Billy D reviews The Ones Below.

The Crespodisco features a song featured in The Lobster, Beethoven’s Six String Quartets Op. 18 / 2nd movement.

Review: ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows’

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows” is here to proclaim very loudly and garishly that the insane phenomenon that started out life as a satirical comic series for teens and adults and has become a decades long franchise of multiple television shows, feature length movies and action figures is still here and intends to stick around for another few decades. And considering that the folks who watched the original animated TV show in the late 1980’s now have young kids of their own which they are bringing to this movie, it is conceivable that these mutated turtle teenage brothers proficient in ninjitsu will be around as long as there is money to be made in kids’ entertainment.

And surely this stuff has to be entertaining enough for the kids, and rest assured that most people who make movies and television shows for children has little respect for them and their still evolving tastes (and to be fair, children do indeed have terrible cultural taste), so they let the dumb jokes fly and stuff as much loud action and antics into a movie with a barely there plot and there is your recipe for a blockbuster aimed to 10 year olds.Continue Reading …

Review: ‘The Lobster’

“The Lobster” is a dark satire and a bleak romantic comedy, a movie designed to both make you laugh at the absurdities of life and also bemoan the depths of despair possible within basic human existence. Alternating between funny and sad in such a way that the two become nearly indistinguishable, this is an interesting and unique movie that will delight some and repel others, depending on whether or not you are on board with what this movie has to say.

In the world of “The Lobster,” marriage is compulsory and single people are given 45 days to find their soulmate or else they get turned into the animal of their choice and let loose in the wild. We start the movie with David (Colin Farrell), freshly single when his wife leaves him for someone else, and he is immediately sent to The Hotel, where the single folk start their Find Your Soulmate challenge. At this Hotel he meets other single people, and the first half of the movie is about them all adjusting to the weird rules of The Hotel and trying to match up with some of the other unfortunate loners checked in with them. There is also a band of loners who escaped The Hotel and live in the woods, militantly preparing for something kind of vague, and David gets wrapped up with them as well.Continue Reading …

Netflix pick for 5/30/16 – ‘The Right Stuff’

As heard in episode 177 of Cinema Crespodiso.

“The Right Stuff” is an epic adaptation of the novel of the same name, which detailed the beginning of the US Government space program and how it all really started with military test pilots trying to beat the demon in the sky by being the first to break the sound barrier, and how these are the same men ready, willing and able to be the first person to be strapped to a rocket and launched into outer space. This movie is over three hours long because it needs every minute of it, providing both great character profiles of the men involved in this program and also showing how the space program evolved and what everyone went through to make it happen. It is a crazy story populated with interesting people and this movie nails all of it and turns that novel into a sprawling and impressive piece of epic entertainment.Continue Reading …