Set It Up (2018)

So, the film I chose for today was in a way intentionally picked and that is because of how much I enjoy watching my celebrity crush Zoey Deutch (Flower, Zombieland: Double Tap). So, while I was cruising through Netflix, I saw that she starred in the 2018 romantic comedy Set It Up that sees her play Harper, an assistant to a ruthless sports writer. Glen Powell (Everybody Wanst Some!) plays Charlie, a sweet kid who aspires to be his asshole boss who works in thew same building as Harper. One day the two faithfully meet and decide that they are going to try and make their lives easier by setting up their bosses to date and while it's a fruitful mission it could prove to be a disaster as well, but that is the risk you take. The film also stars Lucy Liu (Kill Bill: Vol. 1) as Kirsten, Taye Diggs (House On Haunted Hill) as Rick, Joan Smalls (John Wick: Chapter 2) as Suze, Pete Davidson (The Dirt) as Duncan, Meredith Hagner (Ingrid Goes West) as Becca, Jon Rudnitsky (Big Hero 6: The Series) as Mike, Tituss Burgess (Dolemite Is My Name) as Creepy Tim, Jake Robinson (The Carrie Diaries) as Golf Guy, Aaron Costa Ganis (Jessica Jones) as Dan, and the film was directed by Claire Scanlon (The Last Man On Earth).

One thing I will say is that while I am not a huge fan of Pete Davidson (I hated him in The Dirt), I thought he did a pretty good job as a side character in this one. He is just there to add some comedic relief moments and while not totally hilarious, he served his purpose. The real stars of the film are exactly who the writer and director wanted them to be and that is Glen Powell and Zoey Deutch who carry the film all the way through and they deliver the goods because they kept me well entertained. One thing I will say is that you obviously know right from the first minute that while they are trying to set up their bosses, it's inevitable that they will eventually fall in love because it just written there all over the place. You just knew that Harper wasn't going to find the right guy and that Suze was not the right girl for Charlie, it was just a matter of time until we visited that and we did. At one point, you start rooting for that more than you're rooting for the bosses to continue to hook up. That is why Ia m saying that Powell and Deutch are the MVP's of the film and if you think about it that means the film was well structured when written because every character does his/her specific job which allows our duo to be MVP's. This is definitely a good date night film especially if you and your significant other are looking for something to watch. He is only in it a couple of times in the film, but Tituss Burgess';s role as Creepy Tim is gold. I am going to go ahead and give this one a grade somewhere between an B+/A- for a final grade.

The Dirt (2019)

With all of the biopics coming out in the world, who doesn't like a good one and I think we have a great one for you today. Back in 2001, the world's most notorious and decadent group to ever come out of the 1980's was none other than Mötley Crüe and the band dished on everything with their book The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band which was written by the band and Neil Strauss that helped spark a revolution in rock autobiographies that still dominates to this day. Then back when Mötley Crüe's retirement tour announcement came in 2013, we found out that Jeff Tremaine (Jackass) was going to direct the film adaptation of the book called The Dirt. The film stars Douglas Booth (Noah) as Nikki Sixx, Colson Baker (Machine Gun Kelly) as Tommy Lee, Iwan Rheon (Game Of Thrones) as Mick Mars, and Daniel Webber (Thumper) as Vince Neil, the charismatic lead singer as the film follows the journey of their humble beginnings all the way through triumph, tragedy, and rebirth as we navigate through the hairspray filled, spandex covered Sunset Strip via Netflix. The film also stars Pete Davidson (Set It Up) as Tom Zutant, Christian Gehring (The Brink) as David Lee Roth, David Costabile (Breaking Bad) as Doc McGhee, Tony Cavalero (The Duff) as Ozzy Osbourne, Max Milner as Razzle, Rebekah Graf (The Amityville Murders) as Heather Locklear, Vince Mattis (Halloween) as Frank Feranna Jr., and many more.

Anyone that asks me how the film was is going to wonder how the film was in comparison to another film by the name of Bohemian Rhapsody, but that just isn't fair in my book. They are two completely different bands with two completely different outcomes and Mötley Crüe certainly didn't allow them to hold back in this one with any of the ugly details. I definitely thought that was the key to how great this film was because while it does look like the most extravagant life, it shows you that deep down not everything is what it seems to be after a while. While that film did an amazing job as far as casting was concerned, I think the casting crew did an amazing job with the guys they found for this film because I believed that I was watching Mötley Crüe right in front of my eyes. One of the guys who deserves a lot of credit is Colson Baker who plays the wild man Tommy Lee and with the amount of experience he had in acting as compared to the others, he nailed it in my book from the beginning all the way to his look during Dr. Feelgood and beyond. Obviously, you can't fit everything that you read from a book into a film so a lot of stuff had to be cut out of the book like the fact that Nikki Sixx was dating Lita Ford during the Shout At The Devil days and they left out Tommy's relationship with Pamela Anderson from the film.

There are a lot of scenes and moments in the film that will just leave quite the impact on you and one of those scenes were the moments Vince had when his late daughter Skylar was sick with stomach cancer. Those were some emotionally tough scenes to watch because it was so real and so many people in the world can relate to the struggle. Another one of those scenes was the death of Nicholas Dingley a.k.a. Razzle of Hanoi Rocks who grew to be a very good friend of the band and his death was a huge turning point for the band that would effect them for years to come as you'll see and read about in the book. One of the things that was absolutely amazing was how they transformed the Sunset Strip and all of the clubs to look like it's heyday. The set designers deserve an Oscar for the work they put into this film recreating that as well as recreating all the amazing stage setups that Mötley Crüe had from their original club days all the way through. The costume designers also deserve an Oscar for the amazing job they did as they pulled it off and made me believe I was back in the 1980's. This film is a work of art that needs to be checked out by Mötley Crüe fans everywhere. I would definitely rank this film right up there with some of my favorite rock biopics ever and if you've never read the book, do yourself a favor and check it out. The acting is great, the cinematography was great, the editing was great, and the film just kicked ass. I am going to give The Dirt an A+ for a final grade because I also loved the Goodfellas style narrating that you get from each member.