The Lego Movie: Everything Is Awesome!!!

After completely missing it in theaters, I finally watched The Lego Movie last week. And it was as delightful as I had been promised. It was also the weirdest, most meta movie I had seen in a while. It is unabashedly tongue-in-cheek throughout and satirizes the standard tropes of animated movies while making numerous pop cultural references to everything from Lord of the Rings to Batman. If there's a Lego version of a famous movie character, it shows up in this movie and comes in for a fair share of mockery.

The movie's "hero" is Emmet, a construction worker who always follows the instructions and thinks "everything is awesome," as declared by the most popular song playing on the radio. When he inadvertently stumbles across the "Piece of Resistance," he uncovers a secret plot by Lord Business, an evil tycoon who has been trying to take over the Lego realms by stifling creativity and insisting that everything be constructed according to the instructions. The entire movie is a commentary on people who think Lego should only be used to follow the instructions laid out in the kit, versus people who want to play and create something new. It is incredibly clever storytelling that might soar right over the heads of younger children if it wasn't for a strange moment at the end of the movie that makes this subtle commentary hilariously overt.

The voice actors are brilliant in this movie, led by Chris Pratt, who imbues Emmet with all the likable goofiness that he brings to his characters in other movies or TV. His co-stars include the hilarious Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett as an exceedingly dark and broody Batman, Morgan Freeman playing a Gandalf-esque wizard in a send-up of his usual voiceover roles as God or some wise old man, and a host of other wonderful comedians and actors who keep the proceedings upbeat and entertaining.

The visuals are also stunning. The animation team has rendered every single thing in Lego, constricting themselves only to movements that Lego pieces can perform, or brick pieces you would find in a regular Lego kit. Even a sequence involving a vast ocean has waves rendered in Lego and it is an amazing feat of ingenuity. Every frame makes it apparent that a great deal of thought and love has gone into both the story and look of this movie.

The Lego Movie is a wonderful film that showcases how supposed "children's movies" have turned into hugely entertaining blockbusters with meta-commentary for adults. This film doesn't even stay meta and completely bares its premise, in a move which was certainly one of the more intriguing things I'd seen all year. So watch the movie and let me know what you think of the bizarre twist at the end. I barely played with Lego as a kid, but this movie certainly showed me what I had been missing.

Arrow: Small Screen Superhero

After Veronica Mars was cancelled and I gave up on Gossip Girl after Season 2, I largely ignored the CW. I assumed it was a network for angsty teen soap operas that could never interest me. But a few months ago, my friend Rose alerted me to Arrow, a superhero series based on the DC Comics hero, Green Arrow. Admittedly I'd never heard of the character, but I do enjoy my superhero movies, and Rose's recommendation was enough for me to start binging on Season 1 on Netflix.

After Episode 1, I was hooked. The pilot episode of Arrow is a perfect example of how to start a series. It's full of intrigue and drama, and packed with shocking reveals that hint at how much more there is to explore in this world. Our hero is Oliver Queen (the chiseled Stephen Amell), a wealthy playboy who has just returned home to Starling City after being shipwrecked on a Chinese island for five years. His father died in that shipwreck and Oliver returns as a much darker, somber man. Things happened to him in that island, which are gradually revealed in flashbacks over the course of the season, but the key thing is that his father gave him a mission to rout out the corrupt citizens who had failed Starling City. To perform that mission, Oliver sets up an underground lair in a nightclub, dons a hooded costume, and prowls the city with a bow and arrow, delivering vigilante justice.

Of course, there's a romantic subplot with his old girlfriend, Laurel (Katie Cassidy), who may have had a thing with his best friend, Tommy (Colin Donnell), and there's plenty of family drama with his secretive mother and stepfather, and his angsty teenage sister. The entire first season follows a story arc about the Undertaking, a shadowy plot that slowly takes shape as Oliver investigates the circumstances around his father's death and his personal vendetta. Everything culminates in an explosive season finale that seriously impressed me with its scope and the extensive planning that must have gone into setting up this arc over 23 episodes. The writers are not messing around, and this show is clearly crafted with a great deal of care and attention to detail. 

The action on Arrow is expertly choreographed and Stephen Amell's body is a wonder to behold. I do not think he is the best actor on TV, but he is certainly the fittest one. He is constantly having conversations while doing insane exercises and is clearly working hard to embody the physicality of this demanding role. Since his character is merely regarded as a vigilante and has no magical powers, Amell is adept at making Oliver seem so startlingly skilled that he  is worthy of the superhero label. His co-stars also pull their weight and there's a fun mix of dramatic and comedic chops on display to round out the cast and keep each episode interesting. This is certainly a show that could benefit from shorter seasons - the middle episodes do lag somewhat and contain more filler in order to meet that 23-episode quota. But overall, the show delivers solid material that is refreshing, surprising, and entertaining.

Arrow is a show that's made for binge watching. So many episodes end with a cliffhanger that compel you to keep watching. And if the middle episodes start to wear on you, you can just skip ahead to where the action gets interesting again. I've heard great things about Season 2, which just ended in May and apparently featured yet another explosive finale. I don't know when it will be released on Netflix, but I can guarantee I will be following Oliver Queen's latest adventures. I suggest you follow suit.

24: Live Another Day: Jack's Back!

24 was one of the very first shows I binge watched in college when I got a Netflix account. (This was back when Netflix only sent you DVDs and you impatiently had to wait for the mailman to bring you the next installment of episodes - oh 2005.) I devoured the first season in a week but launched right into the fourth season premiere without catching up on any of the intervening seasons as I had my friend, Rose, to explain who any new characters were. And I watched that show until the end, never quite re-discovering the initial excitement of watching Season 1, but still managing to be surprised and entertained.

That is precisely how I now feel about 24: Live Another Day, the twelve-episode miniseries reboot that began airing on Fox on May 5. Nine episodes in, it feels like 24 never went off the air, and it's a bit startling how old-fashioned the show seems in comparison to the innovative dramas that have come forth since then. The pace doesn't feel brisk enough, the dialogue's choppy, it's a bit repetitive and languid. But then suddenly, a whole lot will happen in two minutes, and you'll wonder, "where the hell did that come from?"

The premise is that Jack Bauer is in London, trying to save the US President, James Heller (the father of on-again, off-again love interest, Audrey), from terrorists. Instead of being Russian or Middle Eastern, the terrorist ringleader is actually an Englishwoman. Technically she's avenging the death of her Middle Eastern terrorist husband, but still, it's a slightly new twist. Chloe O'Brian is working for some undercover WikiLeaks-esque group but gets recruited by Jack to help out with the assassination plot against Heller. And of course, there's a mole in the CIA, who is up to no good.

It's hilarious how predictable this show is. The plot twists follow the same formulae, the characters are all slotted into their usual roles, and you want to giggle every time Jack has to say, "Damn it, Chloe!" Yet, just when I thought they were never going to clamber out of this rut, the last two episodes have truly surprised me. They're racking up the death toll and killing people off with impunity, and I am genuinely keen on seeing how this all gets wrapped up. Plus, any show that has Stephen Fry playing the British Prime Minister has to be worth watching.

24: Live Another Day is not necessarily quality television, but it's comfort food for the dismal summer hiatus. It is also a nostalgic reminder of the bygone days of TV drama when we were content to watch the same story play out season after season. It looks like the writers are trying to inject the franchise with some cable-level twists and drama, but overall, it's the same old Jack Bauer, saving the day once again.

Neighbors: Equal Opportunity Goofballs

Neighbors' greatest claim to fame is its ability to make both halves of the leading couple equally dumb. Rather than make the husband the lovable goof and the wife the nagging, responsible shrew, Neighbors asserts that young couples can easily consist of two idiots who haven't a clue how to run their new life of responsibilities.

Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne play Mac and Kelly Radner, loved-up young parents to newborn daughter Stella. After a night when they legitimately contemplate taking Stella to a rave only to collapse in exhaustion from the effort it takes to pack up materials to take a baby out anywhere, they start to realize that their lives really have changed. Then a frat moves in next door. Led by the charismatic, oft-shirtless Teddy Sanders (Zac Efron), at first it looks like the frat won't be a problem. Teddy seems keen to mollify the neighbors and Mac and Kelly are fooled into thinking they could be the "cool young couple" that smokes weed with the college kids at reasonable hours and then gets them to keep quiet at night so their baby can sleep. Of course, things don't work out that way.

The frat soon launches a series of loud, raucous parties that make life a living hell for the Radners, and after they call the police for a noise complaint, things quickly spiral out of control. It's the "adults" versus the college kids and things get hilariously ugly as the retaliations escalate. And the whole time, neither Mac nor Kelly can be the smart one. They are equally clueless about how to deal with this situation and it is wonderful to watch them fumble through the situation, trying to act like sensible parents instead of the irresponsible college kids they were just a few years ago. 

Neighbors is a clever, well-acted comedy that has laughs, gross-out moments of "ohmigoodness did they really do that?" and warmth. It's a fun, breezy movie that should assuage the fears of any young parent. If you feel like you don't know what you're doing, just watch Neighbors. You'll be glad to find that you're not quite as ridiculous as this couple.

Edge of Tomorrow: The True Summer Blockbuster

If you're reading this, stop and go to the theater to watch Edge of Tomorrow.

Still reading? Fine, guess I have to sell you on it some more. If you have dismissed this movie because the trailers make it look like another lumbering Tom Cruise sci-fi flick, I beg of you, give it another chance. Because this movie is so much more than that. It is inventive, witty, tense, thrilling, romantic, fun, fast-paced, and fabulous. And I am begging you to see it because it had a mediocre opening weekend, which means that studios might decide that audiences don't care for such movies and will continue to make the same rote summer movies instead. I saw it on the second week of its release at my local multiplex and it was already downgraded to the tiny 100-seat theater, with limited show times and barely any audience. But those of us who watched the movie left happy, completely delighted by the two-hour spectacle we had just witnessed.

Based on the Japanese light novel All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, Edge of Tomorrow is set sometime in the future when the world is in the midst of an invasion by aliens called Mimics. Tom Cruise plays Major William Cage, a cowardly PR spokesperson for the United Defense Forces (UDF) who are valiantly battling the aliens. He is forced into battle and inadvertently obtains the Mimics' power to reset time. This is how the Mimics have been winning all their battles - if things go wrong, they can reset the day and anticipate the UDF's every move, thereby always emerging victorious and rapidly taking over the world. But now Cage has this power and every time he is killed in battle, he just wakes up 24 hours earlier. At first he is unable to make any difference in his day, since his fellow soldiers just think he is crazy. Then he runs into Sergeant Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt), a famous soldier who led the only successful battle against the Mimics. She recognizes what has happened to Cage, because it happened to her earlier. She lost the power, but now she is determined to train Cage so that he can help her find the Mimics' power source and destroy them once and for all.

The brilliance of this movie lies in the editing. The repetitive nature of Cage's predicament could lead to extremely dull storytelling, but instead, the scenes are cut together in a way that is both wonderfully witty and also accelerates the pace of the movie. Director Doug Liman knows how to balance action, humor, and drama perfectly and you are always on the edge of your seat or chuckling as Rita shoots Cage again because he got injured during training and she needs to reset the day. Emily Blunt is an absolute powerhouse in this movie, holding her own next to Tom Cruise and teaching him how to be a hero while she battles Mimics and saves the world repeatedly. They make a great team and it's wonderful to watch their relationship evolve as Cage learns more about Rita but every day she is just meeting him for the first time.

Edge of Tomorrow has everything you want in a summer blockbuster. An original story, great action, impeccable visuals (the Mimics are magnificent to behold), humor, and thrills. It starts off slow because there's a lot to explain about this world, these aliens, and our cowardly "hero," but once the Groundhog Day shenanigans commence, you won't be able to keep your eyes off the screen. And when the movie ends, you'll be slightly disappointed, because you could easily have watched it for an hour more. That is the power of a truly great film and that is why you need to watch it right away.  

The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Why Is He Back?

If spring is the season for romance, summer is the season for superheroes. Enter The Amazing Spider-Man 2, another entry in the rebooted franchise that no one was clamoring for. Spidey and his girlfriend Gwen Stacy are back to battle baddies and conduct their confusing romance, in a sea of villains, special effects and oddly dated dialogue.

There isn't much to say about this movie's plot. It follows the genre guidelines pretty stringently - Peter Parker, a.k.a. Spider-Man (Andrew Garfield), is swinging around town, catching low-life criminals and being a vigilante hero. Enter Electro (Jamie Foxx), a brand new villain created as a result of the ever bumbling scientists at OsCorp (seriously, can't those people keep any of their employees away from their top-secret lab experiments?) Peter has to tackle this villain while also dealing with his on-again off-again relationship with Gwen (Emma Stone), who is thankfully a more proactive girlfriend who likes to help out with these adventures instead of standing helplessly on the sidelines. There are additional characters who hint at what's to come but don't do much in this movie except add to its distracted story line. And Peter tries to unravel the mystery of what his parents did and why he was abandoned as a child, but that potentially interesting plot thread just meanders away as the screenwriters apparently gave up on giving this movie any substance at all.

The trouble with the Spider-Man movie franchise is that it is owned by Sony instead of Marvel. Both studios are obviously in it to make money, but Marvel at least tries to come up with creatively satisfying stories in addition to blockbuster action. Sony has no such scruples. They seem to think fight sequences and explosions are all that's needed to make a successful superhero movie. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone are wonderful casting choices who
always crackle on screen in their romantic scenes. But anything that involves the actual plot of this overstuffed blockbuster is simply tiresome. There end up being three villains (two too many), none of whom are remotely compelling. And the last half hour of this film has a bizarre tonal shift that ensures you will leave the theater completely dissatisfied.

I don't have superhero fatigue but after watching The Amazing Spider-Man 2, I certainly have Spider-Man fatigue. It is visually stunning but ultimately exhausting, and pales in comparison to the wit and creativity of Marvel's recent offerings. Just put Garfield and Stone in a romcom and spare us the webbed histrionics. 

Last Week Tonight: All the News That's Fit for HBO

John Oliver did a magnificent job last summer when he had to take over hosting duties of The Daily Show while Jon Stewart was off making a movie in the Middle East. HBO took notice and gave Oliver his own weekly news show. Five episodes in, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is proving to be an essential show, satirically summarizing the week's news with a gloriously global perspective. 

Before I get too serious about the news reporting on this show, let me acknowledge that this is first and foremost a comedy program. It is ridiculous and silly, and due to being on HBO, prone to strong language and startling bursts of nudity. It's the Daily Show on crack and it's wonderful. But because John Oliver is English, he is also approaching the news from the BBC perspective. That means equal emphasis on news from around the world, not just America.

This was most obvious in the premiere when he devoted a segment to the Indian elections. Not only did he provide a hilarious yet informative recap of the parties vying for power, he also called out the pitiful coverage of this topic in the American news. He was unable to find a single substantive discussion of the Indian election on any 24-hour news channel; apparently the 2016 race to the US Presidency was a far more engaging topic on cable news than the fact that one-sixth of the world's population was about to elect a new leader. 

Last Week Tonight also refuses to shy away from difficult topics. Oliver tackled the complexities of the death penalty with a great deal of intelligence and thoughtfulness, ending with a video of tiny hamsters eating burritos, because why not? Last night, he worked through the net neutrality debate, a topic I had vaguely followed on Twitter without much insight. In ten minutes, I was primed and informed, aware of the debate, reasons for and against, and told where to voice my concerns. It was information I had sporadically received from multiple sources but was now presented in an accessible and convenient format that made instant sense. 

In our increasingly fragmented news landscape, there's always a great need for a source that provides insightful reports about key topics affecting America but also goes out of its way to introduce viewers to world news. Last Week Tonight does a fantastic "Other Countries' Presidents of the USA" segment that mocks the leaders of major nations across the globe and provides much-needed context of how other countries have their own incompetent politicians. After last night's introduction to Australia's PM, Tony Abbott, I feel like the Republican Party has found a kindred spirit from across the Pacific.

There are many great satirical news shows but Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is an indispensable addition. Tailored for our media-saturated age, each episode is a witty, thoughtfully-crafted half hour that will broaden your horizons every week.