30 Day Movie Challenge: Day 15- Top Five (2014)

I thought today would have been an easy challenge choice to make for the 30 Day Movie Challenge, but there were way too many choices for a comedy film. We are half way through the month so it's smooth sailing which is why I went with my first choice which was 2014's Top Five which was written, directed, and stars Chris Rock (Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back). Rock stars as Andre Allen, a comedian who has hit a serious brick wall in his life and so with his fiance forcing him to air their love life and marriage as part of reality TV, he decides he wants to make serious films. The only problem is whether or not anyone else will take the fallen comedian seriously anymore? The film also stars Rosario Dawson (Jay and Silent Bob Reboot) as Chelsea Brown, J.B. Smoove (Spider-Man: Far From Home) as Silk, Gabrielle Union (10 Things I Hate About You) as Erica Long, Romany Malco (The 40 Year Old Virgin) as Benny Barnes, Hayley Marie Norman (Fired Up!) as Tammy, Cedric The Entertainer (A Haunted House) as Jazzy Dee, Michael Che (Saturday Night Live) as Paul, Sherri Shepherd (One For The Money) as Vanessa, Jay Pharoah (Ride Along) as Mike, Tracy Morgan (Accidental Love) as Fred, Hassan Johnson (The Devil's Own) as Craig, Leslie Jones (Ghostbusters) as Lisa, with cameos from Kevin Hart (Jumanji: The Next Level), Adam Sandler (Uncut Gems), Jerry Seinfeld (Seinfeld), Whoopi Goldberg (Eddie), Taraji P. Henson (Empire), Gabourey Sidibe (Precious), DMX, Luis Guzmán (Carlito's Way), Tichina Arnold (Martin), and so many more.

The film was pretty interesting and I am not exactly sure if this is 100% based on just Chris Rock's career or if it's a combination of several comedians because I get an Eddie Murphy vibe with it and quite possible a Dave Chappelle vibe too, but again I am not sure. You can definitely see some comparisons in both of their careers where Chris was on top of the world only to be not as popular as before and only to be remembered for one role which is why I think that's Eddie Murphy and Beverly Hills Cop or Chris Tucker even with Rush Hour. I even thought it was funny to see Adam Sandler do a cameo in this film considering this is the funnier version of Funny People. There are a lot of great funny moments in the film, but they come at certain spots and the film focuses more on the relationship Rock has with Dawson's character and the whole time you are just waiting for that moment where he chooses to go with the right girl. The best part is that they end the film in a way that you have to assume that is what happened next and I liked that a lot because we didn;t actually need to see it. One of my favorite parts too is when he visits some family and it's all the SNL currents who may also be alums at this point, but it was great to see Chris include them as well in the film. In the film, Dawson picks her top 5 and so I will as well with Ice Cube, DMX, Snoop Dogg, Wu Tang Clan, and Nas being my top 5. Alright, I am going to go ahead and give the film an B+ for a final grade. 

Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019)

If you are like me and you're a child of the 90's then you were most definitely a fan of Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith) who brought laughter and joy to our hearts with classic titles like Clerks, Mallrats, Dogma, Chasing Amy, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and even Clerks 2. Well when I heard they were coming out with another film entitled Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, I had to see and I have it for you guys today. Jay and Silent Bob manage to get themselves in trouble right from the get go when they operated an illegal pot shop. Without even realizing, they sold their names to Saban Films and they were no longer allowed to use them plus they were rebooting the Bluntman and Chronic film. So, Jay and Silent Bob decide that it's time to head back to Hollywood to stop alongside a daughter Jay didn't know he had and her friends. The film stars Fred Armisen (The Little Hours) as Merkin, Aparna Brielle (Grimm) as Jihad, Shannon Elizabeth (American Pie) as Justice,  Rosario Dawson (Zombieland: Double Tap) as Reggie, Treshelle Edmond (House) as Soapy, Alice Wen (Entourage) as Shan Yu, Harley Quinn Smith (Tusk) as Milly, and cameos by Smith film alums James Van Der Beek, Jason Biggs, Jennifer Schwalbach Smith, Ben Affleck as Holden McNeil, Jason Lee as Broadie Bruce, Brian O'Halloran as Dante Hicks, Matt Damon as Loki, Joey Lauren Adams as Alyssa Jones, and cameos by Method Man, Redman, Tommy Chong, Keith Coogan, Diedrich Bader,  David Dastmalchian, Dan Fogler, Chris Jericho, Chris Hemsworth, Val Kilmer, Kate Micucci, and so many more.

One of the ultimate rules going into any of these films is that if you can't find the humor in it then you were never meant to watch Jay and Silent Bob. This film was a constant trip down memory lane with all of the cameos in the film and they covered every single one of those films that I mentioned above. One of my favorite cameos and it's only because I had such a huge crush on her as a kid was seeing Joey Lauren Adams who was in Mallrats and Chasing Amy and it was like shutting a door because now you've been given a glimpse into where all of them are at in this day and age. The only plus side at the moment is that we are supposedly getting a third Clerks film and apparently thanks to the success of this one, we are getting Twilight Of The Mallrats (Mallrats 2). I also loved Matt Damon's cameo as Loki in the film because he put a nice comedic twist on what Loki has been up to and it was great. The writing for the film was terrific because they never took themselves too seriously and they even poked fun at all the things fans had complained about in the past as well as the way Hollywood works and that was the fun in it all. The cinematography was great, the comic con scenes were great, and the acting for the most part was good. I liked that Harley Quinn Smith was given more of the floor to try and shine in the film and in the end I enjoyed her performance. I didn't think it was Oscar worthy, but neither is anything in this film. Like I said before, if you are a fan of any of his films, then you need to do yourself a favor and check this one out. I am going to give the film an B for a final grade.

Zombieland: Double Tap (2019)

Last week, we talked about waiting a while to do a sequel to a film(s) that are considered sacred to fans of the film and how it can be risky. In 2009, zombie films were pretty standard and we saw countless people try to reinvent the genre because it was getting sort of stagnate. Ruben Fleischer (Venom) decided that he would reinvent the zombie genre by steering it more into the comedy realm with his mega blockbuster Zombieland and the film introduced us to the fab four Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), Wichita (Emma Stone), and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). Ten years later and the gang is back for Zombieland: Double Tap which sees Fleischer back behind the helm. This time around, the gang has been surviving in the White House, but Little Rock is a little bit older now and she wants to find someone for herself so she takes off. The gang has no choice, but to chase her down, but a new threat of zombies has arisen and are deadlier than ever. The film also stars Zoey Deutch (Everybody Wants Some!) as Madison, Avan Jogia (Shaft) as Berkeley, Rosario Dawson (Kids) as Nevada, Luke Wilson (Old School) as Albuquerque, and Thomas Middleditch (Godzilla: King Of The Monsters) as Flagstaff. 

As I said before, it is such a huge risk to take a beloved first film and give it a sequel ten years later especially when fans had been asking for it before. One thing I will say is that I don' think the wait hurt at all because this was actually a really good film. I definitely do not think that it is better than the original, but it had me laughing at a bunch of different moments especially with the scene stealing Zoey Deutch who plays the brainless Madison. The interactions that she has with Woody and Emma are just absolute gold and I could not stop laughing which is the best sign that someone enjoys the film. I definitely liked the fact that they evolved the zombies as well because it only makes sense that they would learn to different things and adapt since it has been ten years since this whole mess started. The introduction of the T-800 zombies, the Hawkings, and the ninja zombie were great and I loved the fact that they would include the zombie kill of the year in the film cause some of those were great. The other great thing was the inevitable which was introducing an alternate universe Tallahassee and Columbus which was Luke Wilson and Thomas Middleditch. That just made for great screen time and I definitely enjoyed it. The whole adventure is awesome and the pay off at the end is amazing and to be honest I wouldn't mind a third film or even a TV series. They could do so much with a television series, but we'll save that for another discussion. Like I said before the first film is the best one, but this one does it's job and does it well. That is why I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.