SAUSAGE PARTY Review

By Dominick Ferrara V, Editor In Chief

After six years of trying, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have finally gotten to make one of their passion projects: the first R-rated computer-animated film made by a major studio. That film, SAUSAGE PARTY, pitched as an R-rated “Toy Story” with food, hit theaters last Friday, opening to an outstanding $33 million on a $19 million budget. However, was the film worthy of its opening weekend numbers, or does it flounder along with the majority of this summer’s comedies?

Rogen and Goldberg have crafted one of the most twisted and original films that I have ever seen, easily becoming the year’s best comedy, outside of the brilliant “Deadpool.”

Just like “Deadpool,” this film is not meant to be seen by children of any age, and is full of crude jokes and f-bombs galore. But the film does not limit itself to that, with drug references, ethnic and racial stereotypes galore, and one of the most insane endings in film history. At least the film is an equal opportunity offender, with nobody leaving the theater unscathed, no matter what their race, religion, or ethnicity is.

The voice acting in the film is exceptional, with the film’s two main leads, Rogen and Kristen Wiig, voicing a sausage and a hot dog bun, giving exceptional performances. Edward Norton is also hilarious as a Jewish bagel, as are Salma Hayek as a lesbian taco and Nick Kroll as a douche (literally).

While Kroll’s voice work is hilarious, the actual character of Douche is one of the film’s biggest weaknesses, as he is an extremely one-dimensional villain and never truly feels like a threat to the main characters, especially when there are bigger threats in the film.

For all of the film’s ridiculousness and insanity, the film is also an intelligent allegory for religion, as beliefs, gods, and other religious ideas come into play throughout the film, and are questioned by the main characters.

In conclusion, SAUSAGE PARTY is one of the best films of a lackluster summer, with big laughs, smart writing, and one of the craziest endings of all time. While the film’s villain is somewhat weak, the rest of the film is good enough to overcome that.

FINAL SCORE: 8/10

Have you seen SAUSAGE PARTY? If so, comment below, and let us know what you thought of the film.

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Willem Dafoe Joins DEATH NOTE

By Dominick Ferrara V, Editor-In-Chief

Fresh off shooting a role in the highly anticipated “Justice League,” Willem Dafoe has found his next project.

According to Mashable, Dafoe has closed a deal to join Adam Wingard’s adaptation of the popular Japanese manga DEATH NOTE.

Dafoe has signed on to voice Ryuk the Shinigami, the creature that created the titular book, and follows the film’s protagonist around as he uses the book’s power.

The film follows a high school student who comes across a supernatural notebook, realizing it holds within it a great power; if the owner inscribes someone’s name into it while picturing their face, he or she will die. Intoxicated with his new godlike abilities, the young man begins to kill those he deems unworthy of life.

Dafoe joins a cast that includes Nat Wolff, Margaret Qualley, Keith Stanfield, Paul Nakauchi, and Shea Whigham. 

The project was initially set up at Warner Bros, but was moved to Netflix, where the film will bow in 2017.

DEATH NOTE currently has no release date. 

Are you excited about Willem Dafoe joining the cast of DEATH NOTE? If so, comment below and let us know!

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Batman: The Killing Joke Review

By: TJ Blankenship, Senior Editor

BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE is a DC animated movie directed by Sam Liu and based on the best selling graphic novel of the same name by Alan Moore and illustrated by Brian Bolland. In BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE, Batman (Kevin Conroy) must save Commissioner Gordon (Ray Wise) from the Joker’s (Mark Hamill) twisted quest to drive him insane.

As an adaptation of a very popular graphic novel that is so beloved, fans had very high expectations for the film. and because of that it is very difficult to live up to the hype. However, I think that The Killing Joke was not only a well executed movie, but one of the best animated Batman movies created.

To start off, the things I liked. The voice acting is phenomenal, as is always the case when Conroy and Hamill reprise their roles as the Caped Crusader and the Clown Prince of Crime. Tara Strong was also great in her role as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl. Whenever these characters come onto the screen, you can hear their talent and it just feels so iconic. They know how to convey emotions, and you can certainly feel it anytime their characters speak.

The animation is good as well. While it isn’t as grand or beautiful like the artwork done in its comic counterpart, the animation flows together and gives a nostalgic feel of the old Batman: The Animated Series. However, while the animation is good, the big screen experience doesn’t add much to it. With some fluid and nice parts, there are still some really choppy scenes where the animation and artwork surprises you, and not in a good way. The movie was first set to be a straight to Blu-Ray/DVD release, and it can be seen.

The animation also takes scenes straight from the graphic novel, scenes that are word for word taken from the graphic novel, and the panels are very well recreated in this film. These scenes were very suspenseful, very tense, and very well done. These scene are fantastic and some of the best done in the movie.

From this point on, there will be spoilers in order to properly review the movie. If you would like to watch it without any spoilers, then I would suggest not reading any further.

As a lot of reviewers have put into their reviews, there is one part of the movie that they particularly dislike and that is the first 30 minutes of the movie. As it stands, the original story for The Killing Joke was too short for a feature film, so early plans for the movie called for some adaptations to the story to lengthen the runtime. One thing that fans and viewers need to understand, is that this is not just a story about Batman and the Joker and their relationship with one another. It’s also a story about Barbara Gordon.

As a lot of people think, the first 30 minutes are out of place, and were only there to pad the runtime of the movie. However, this isn’t necessarily true. According to Scott Niswander from NerdSync, the first 30 minutes of the movie are loosely based on an old Batgirl special comic that was published specifically to set up the story of The Killing Joke. The Killing Joke, or at least the graphic novel version, “took years to finish, mostly due to Brian Bolland being a slow and very detailed artist, and during that time, the higher-ups in DC knew that Moore was planning on crippling Batgirl and were fine with this decision, but they needed to finish her current storylines to make sure there weren’t any loose ends in her story arc.” The first act of this movie was not there to pad the runtime of The Killing Joke, it was there to have Barbara Gordon be a more detailed character so her character was more fleshed out and explained.

Now, while I don’t have a problem with the first act of the film, it feels disjointed from the rest of the movie. It doesn’t feel as cohesive or connected to the rest of the movie as it should be, which explains why audience members were so confused and disappointed in it. You can even see the fade out/fade in technique where that scene flows into the second act, the part where The Killing Joke really begins.

Overall, The Killing Joke was an amazing and beautiful movie. It was entertaining, suspenseful and creepy, just as this film should have been. In my opinion, there is no reason why this movie should have been less than perfect. While its problems are very apparent, the positives outweigh the negatives, and it has definitely been the best Batman movie to be released this year.

Final Score: 8.5/10

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Star Trek: Beyond Review

By: Jonah Lewis, Managing Editor

Less than two weeks ago, Paramount looked to continue its iconic “Star Trek” franchise with the third installment in the latest “Trek” saga, STAR TREK: BEYOND. Unlike the previous two films in the rebooted franchise, JJ Abrams is not in the director’s chair, replaced by Justin Lin. While the first film was critically acclaimed, “Star Trek: Into Darkness” caused some controversy and has grown to be disliked by fans of the franchise. Can STAR TREK: BEYOND live up to the reboot’s original promise, or will it be as boring as when Captain Kirk went searching for whales? 

In STAR TREK: BEYOND, we follow the crew of the USS Enterprise, lead by Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto), as they continue their five year mission to explore uncharted “frontier” space in order document new life forms and civilizations for the United Federation of Planets. After an extended time in space the USS enters a dangerous nebula in order to assist a science team trapped there and quickly come face to face with the Federations newest and possible greatest enemy yet. 

Star Trek: Beyond does its job as an entertaining sci-fi adventure well and keeps you on the edge of your seat. It grips your attention at the very beginning of the movie and you will enjoy every minute of the pulse-pounding action. The film also has an air of mystery to it as Kirk and his crew work with their new ally to uncover just who this new enemy of the Federation is and what he is planning. 

STAR TREK: BEYOND is also a fantastic big screen experience, with outstanding visual effects and sound design that engulf throughout the entire film. Everything from the sets to the CGI environments and character designs look amazing. No matter what it is, be it the vastness of space or an alien planet it is rendered beautifully and makes you want to continue watching to see what comes next. 

As action packed and breath-taking as it was Star Trek: Beyond had some major problems as well, in plot structure and series continuity. Star Trek: Beyond is the third movie to be released in the modern telling of Star Trek but, for some reason, the movie makes no references to the previous two films. Kirk shows no increase in anger, strength, or healing time despite being injected with Khan’s super blood at the end of “Star Trek: Into Darkness.” Kirk’s love interest from “Into Darkness,” Carol (Alice Eve),  is nowhere to be found, despite joining the crew of the Enterprise at the end of the previous film. In fact, the only characters besides Kirk who carry over from film to film are his main crewmates on the USS Enterprise. In my opinion, the Star Trek movies tend to function more as standalone films instead of a united and cohesive trilogy.

While Star Trek: Beyond may not have much in common with the other movies plot wise, it still follows the same cookie-cutter formula that the filmmakers have used since day one. This is disappointing, as I would have liked if Lin had taken the franchise in a different direction than in the past. Per the series usual layout, the movie begins on some planet while Kirk runs away from something, he then gets on the enterprise with his crew and eventually runs into an enemy that only they can defeat to save the known universe from untold destruction. Kirk will then always trash, his ship, the enterprise and get marooned on another planet. He will then fight to escape and get in an epic space battle and defeat the villain. Justin Lin had a chance to take Star Trek: Beyond in a new direction but sadly he neglects that. It almost seems as if he was afraid his movie wouldn’t do as good as JJ Abrams’ if he deviated from the set formula. 

That said, Star Trek: Beyond on its own is a fun entertaining action movie. The Star Trek franchise is one of my favorites within the genre, and despite what I have said about the film’s series continuity and plot structure, it is still very entertaining. If you enjoyed the last two Star Trek movies and are hoping for a good sci-fi adventure, then you will find that in Star Trek: Beyond. However, don’t expect anything new or innovative in terms of the story or plot structure. In my opinion Star Trek: Beyond is definitely worth watching and is sure to be one of the year’s biggest hits. 

FINAL SCORE: 6.5/10

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Channing Tatum, Jillian Bell To Star In SPLASH Remake

By Dominick Ferrara V

Just over 30 years after Ron Howard’s classic comedy SPLASH hit the big screen, the film is set to be remade for a new audience.

According to Deadline, Disney is moving forward with a remake of SPLASH, with “22 Jump Street” costars Channing Tatum and Jillian Bell set to play the film’s leads.

In a twist, Tatum will play a merman who saves Bell’s character as a child, and later falls in love with Bell when they meet again as adults. The original film featured Daryl Hannah as the mermaid, and Tom Hanks as the lead human character.

Bell reportedly came up with the pitch, and Marja-Lewis Ryan (“Liked”) has signed on to write the script. 

While there is no director on the project, Ron Howard, the original’s director, will produce alongside Brian Grazer.

SPLASH does not have a release date.

Are you excited for the remake of SPLASH? Comment below and let us know!

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