Overcomer is well done in the respect of the quality of production. The acting, directing, writing and pacing was on par for a ‘faith-based’ film. I have absolutely no problem with this movie except this: who in the world thought Overcomer would be a catchy title? Almost any title would be better, like maybe, ‘Just Pray About It’, a phrase that was repeated ad infinitum during the movie.
The target audience will find this movie inspirational and uplifting. The Kendrick brothers certainly know how to reach out and touch their followers. Good for them.
Faith-based movies have a very specific audience. Those who want the message of their religion spread far and wide, and the Kendrick brothers figured out the best way to do that; at the movies. And it does seem to work.
Here at my home in Asheville, North Carolina, I know that when I’ve been assigned a faith-based movie to review, the theater will be packed. Again, good for the Kendrick brothers.
So after church Sunday, I recommend taking the family to enjoy Overcomer — despite the silly name.
Grade: B
About The Peetimes:Each Peetime gives you the same amount of time to break, so let your bladder decide.
RunPee Mom is our emotional bedrock. Without her, RunPee never would have lasted a decade as an app (which is since the dawn of time in internet years). She’s our biggest cheerleader and an unending source of unconditional love. She works cheerfully and tirelessly, seeing any movie we ask of her, writing interesting reviews, and being our…well…MOM. Her genres of choice: kiddie flicks, animated movies, emotional dramas, historical features, war films, diverse biographies, and even dense, diabolically plotted thrillers. She knows more about famous and infamous figures in history than said figures probably knew about themselves. She’s the Quiz Manager for the RunPee.com blog, and our resident movie celebrity/trivia expert. If you’ve taken a RunPee Quiz, you’ve most likely been given a virtual hug by RunPee Mom.
Absolutely: a fantastic movie. I am so happy to unreservedly award an A+ to Peanut Butter Falcon. I smiled the whole time. THIS is how to make a funny, heartwarming film that never overtly panders to maudlin sentimentality.
The laughs are earned, and aren’t always PG. I haven’t enjoyed a dramatic film the way I did here in…years. And you won’t need your tissue box. Thank God. It’s just a grand old time.
Coincidentally, I watched Forrest Gump last night for the first time in several decades. I loved it. But Gump, in spite of having amazingly many fortunate coincidental pop culture influences and riches, also experiences gut wrenching loss. Gump is both great…and difficult to rewatch.
The Peanut Butter Falcon spares you this kind of emotional heartstring manipulation. BBF is funny, it’s fun, and it’s very, very smart — and makes you wish for friendships like theirs. No matter how intelligent you are or aren’t, you can be genuine and lovable and real. You can be best buddies and have your own secret handshake, and make an ersatz family out of what life gives you.
Just see this movie
Like Tyler tells Zak — who thinks he’s a villain because his family abandoned him for being a ‘retard’ — it’s what’s in your heart that counts. (When Zak tells Tyler he’s a good guy, your heart will grow three times that day.)
There’s some beautiful lessons to be learned from Peanut Butter Falcon, and I highly recommend everyone — really, everyone — watch and enjoy this fine film. The audience laughed almost continually (as I did),and walked out very happy at the end.
Kudos to the actors, directors, and writers for giving us a late summer gift to watch in Peanut Butter Falcon.
PS: Easter Egg: There’s a Bubba’s gas station/convenience store. Nice nod to Forrest Gump. (Also, $1.19 a gallon for gas? WHAT? Get thee to North Carolina!)
Grade: A+
About The Peetimes:I’ve got 3 great Peetimes here. This is a very funny and emotionally uplifting movie, so I’ve chosen Peetimes that show mostly music montages (we love it when that happens). Pay attention to the times listed, so you don’t miss the great emotional moments that follow. I Recommend the 1st Peetime, if you can use it proactively.
There are no extra scenes during, or after, the end credits of The Peanut Butter Falcon. (What we mean by Anything Extra.)
Rated (PG-13) for thematic content, language throughout, some violence and smoking
Genres: drama, comedy, adventure
Co-Creator of RunPee, Chief of Operations, Content Director, and Managing Editor. RunPee Jilly likes galaxy-spanning sci fi, superhero sagas, fantasy films, YA dystopians, action thrillers, chick flicks, and zany comedies, in that order…and possesses an inspiringly small bladder. In fact, that little bladder sparked the creation of RunPee. (Good thing she’s learned to hold it.)
Good Boys was awkwardly funny. Like really funny. I was worried I was going to pee from laughing so hard, and I can’t RunPee during movies, since I have to get the Peetimes for the rest of you.
There were moments I found myself chastising my inability to hold in my laughter. They pushed the envelope as far as one can be pushed. What I found the funniest was the situations that the boys were getting into was totally over their heads. Them being so young and naive, coupled with the situation, was priceless.
People are screaming over how wrong this movie is. They were scandalized because of the characters being tweens. Sure, it’s not every day you watch little ones swearing like sailors or learning to kiss on a sex doll. But is it any worse than watching criminals kill cops, or a homeless girl turn to prostitution?
There will always be something scandalous on the big screen; that’s what fills the seats. Good Boys is rated R for a reason, folks. Don’t take little Suzy or Johnny; you’re not gonna want to answer their questions afterwards.
The Actors: the Best Part of Good Boys
The actual boys were terrific little actors. Each of them brought just a little bit more spark to the movie. If I were basing my grade on them, it’s an A all the way. My grade faltered a bit due to some gaps in the continuity. There were enough to distract me from completely enjoying the movie.
Good Boys would make a great date night movie, just as long as neither of you are an uptight type. Walk in expecting to see some raunchy jokes, lots of sex toys, and a plot based on drugs.
#DontBringTheKids
Grade: C+
About The Peetimes: Good Boys is a really short movie, and they pack a lot of stuff into each scene, which makes finding Peetimes hard. I chose these 2 because they were easiest to sum up without losing a lot of punch. I’ll warn you though, there is humor in every scene, and I can’t duplicate that in a Peetime.
RunPee.com owes RunPee Sis a huge debt of gratitude. She sees any movie needed with no complaints and has done so for ten years (even basing Thanksgiving and Christmas family festivities around the seeing films). In 2015 Sis ran the entire RunPee enterprise herself, while RunPee Dan, Jilly and Mom went traipsing off to Europe. Sis is the spider in the web holding the RunPee family together — besides being a funny, well rounded person, and a joyous pleasure to be around. Her favorite films start and end with horror (which thank goodness she’s happy to see, since most of us don’t have the stomach for it) — but also likes silly comedies, sad dramas, and musicals of all types. If you’ve used a Peetime for a scary film, you probably have RunPee Sis to thank for it.
Favorite movie genre: Horror, horror, and more horror. The more disturbing, the better. Period.
Rather than Blinded by the Light being a semi biographical movie about Bruce Springsteen, it was more a movie about race, struggle, bigotry, and cultural survival. But more than that, it was a movie about a father and son who could only hope to bridge the generation gap that threatened to tear the family apart.
The awesome music of The Boss provided much needed breaks from the intensity of the emotions onscreen, but also gave the audience a chance to breathe after some of the stressful scenes between Javed…and basically the rest of the world.
So, if you’re a fan of Bruce Springsteen, you must see this movie. It’s a great date flick, and some of the lyrics of his songs were well placed for effect. I’m most pleased to give Blinded by the Light a solid A.
Grade: A
About The Peetimes:Blinded by the Light was so beautifully done that getting Peetimes was a challenge. Since it was mainly dialogue driven, trying to decide what was germane to the plot presented a bit of a dilemma. I did get 3 good Peetimes, 2 of which will give you extra half minutes.
RunPee Mom is our emotional bedrock. Without her, RunPee never would have lasted a decade as an app (which is since the dawn of time in internet years). She’s our biggest cheerleader and an unending source of unconditional love. She works cheerfully and tirelessly, seeing any movie we ask of her, writing interesting reviews, and being our…well…MOM. Her genres of choice: kiddie flicks, animated movies, emotional dramas, historical features, war films, diverse biographies, and even dense, diabolically plotted thrillers. She knows more about famous and infamous figures in history than said figures probably knew about themselves. She’s the Quiz Manager for the RunPee.com blog, and our resident movie celebrity/trivia expert. If you’ve taken a RunPee Quiz, you’ve most likely been given a virtual hug by RunPee Mom.
This is a crazy hard movie to give a rating to. I enjoyed it, but didn’t love it. I was engaged with the story from beginning to end, but wasn’t moved by the resolution.
The characters were well defined and the actors did a great job — every one of them. Obviously, Cate Blanchett is amazing as always, but a shout out has to be given to Kristen Wiig for her nuanced performance of Audrey. And Emma Nelson, the young girl who played Bee, shows great promise.
My problem with the movie lies in the character of Bernadette; namely that she was projected as an elite architect. The problems Bernadette faces aren’t unique, and aren’t limited to only the most talented individuals in the world.
By presenting her and her husband as highly accomplished, former prep-school-attending, wealthy individuals makes it hard for the audience to relate. She could have just as easily been presented an average architect. It isn’t about the talent — it’s about the drive to create: two things that are independent of each other.
In my college days I was an avid, but average, basketball player. I could have earned a master’s degree in physics had I traded in my gym time for lab time. But I loved basketball, and can confidently say I got as much enjoyment and self fulfillment out of playing as any elite basketball player.
An interesting choice the creators took is in giving us Bernadette’s backstory via documentary format. Exposition about a character’s past can be difficult to handle. If it’s too subtle, viewers might miss clues and become lost, wondering why a character is acting in such-and-such a manner. If it’s too obvious, it becomes heavy-handed and feels like a cheat. The documentary was creatively integrated into the story, and split up organically into two separate viewings. Kudos to the writers.
Perhaps this motivated the writers’ choice to create Bernadette as an elite architect, worthy of a documentary, so they could use this form of exposition. Personally, I’d say their choice wasn’t worth making Bernadette unrelatable, but that’s only my opinion.
Maybe I’m the only one who cares about these things. You tell me. Do you think the story would have been better if Bernadette were more relatable?
Grade: C+
About The Peetimes:I would recommend the 2nd Peetime. It takes place in the middle of some serious stuff, but during the Peetime nothing much happens. The first Peetime is okay, but not as good as the 2nd.
There are extra scenes during, or after, the end credits of Where’d You Go, Bernadette. (What we mean by Anything Extra.)
Rated (PG-13) for some strong language and drug material
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Mystery
Creator and developer of the RunPee app. When something doesn’t work right in the app it’s pretty much his fault. 🙂
Aspiring author. Would like to finish his “Zombie Revelations” trilogy if he could break away for working on RunPee and the cottage he’s building for RunPee Mom.
I can’t even begin to tell you just how bad this movie is.
Basically, the undersea premise could have been a grand adventure — an Indiana Jones type film with blind albino cave sharks, patrolling an ancient submerged city, full of secrets and buried treasure.
Instead, it’s just dumb. Boring. Mindless and stupefying. The main redeeming feature: it was short. Why did movie this happen? Who thought this was a good idea? WHY WHY WHY WTF…arg.
Yeah. I think it’s the worst flick I’ve seen in years. (And I watch a lot of movies for RunPee.)
I’ll make an effort to review this rotten film in more detail tomorrow (maybe), but with any luck it won’t matter, since you won’t see it anyway.
Seriously. PASS.
Grade: D-
About The Peetimes:This is a short movie with a lot of action. I have 1 good Peetimes early on, and 1 good for Emergencies later. Since there’s nothing during the credits, you can run out as soon as the credits roll.
There are no extra scenes during, or after, the end credits of 47 Meters Down: Uncaged. (What we mean by Anything Extra.)
Rated (PG-13) for creature related violence and terror, some bloody images and brief rude gestures
Genres: Adventure, Drama, Horror
Co-Creator of RunPee, Chief of Operations, Content Director, and Managing Editor. RunPee Jilly likes galaxy-spanning sci fi, superhero sagas, fantasy films, YA dystopians, action thrillers, chick flicks, and zany comedies, in that order…and possesses an inspiringly small bladder. In fact, that little bladder sparked the creation of RunPee. (Good thing she’s learned to hold it.)
I loved this movie. It was full of emotions and love and laughs; it really has a little bit of everything.
Awkwafina is really proving herself as a very worthy actress. I’ve seen her in many different types of roles now and she has rocked everyone of them.
I’m not usually a fan of movies where subtitles are so prominent, but this one flowed in such a way that I was able to keep up, and it didn’t feel like I was missing the onscreen action.
I’d recommend this one. It was fun stepping outside of my customs and traditions, and watching how other people live their lives with their customs and traditions.
That’s another reason this movie was so awesome: Billi is feeling both sides. She spent a majority of her life in the states, but she hasn’t forgot how her life was in China.
Grade: A
About The Peetimes:This was a tough movie to do. It’s almost entirely in Chinese, so there’s a lot of subtitle reading going on. I strongly urge you to use the 1st Peetime — the 2nd Peetime is a glimpse inside the father and uncle’s way of thinking. It’s a pretty powerful scene, but honestly, the whole movie is.
RunPee.com owes RunPee Sis a huge debt of gratitude. She sees any movie needed with no complaints and has done so for ten years (even basing Thanksgiving and Christmas family festivities around the seeing films). In 2015 Sis ran the entire RunPee enterprise herself, while RunPee Dan, Jilly and Mom went traipsing off to Europe. Sis is the spider in the web holding the RunPee family together — besides being a funny, well rounded person, and a joyous pleasure to be around. Her favorite films start and end with horror (which thank goodness she’s happy to see, since most of us don’t have the stomach for it) — but also likes silly comedies, sad dramas, and musicals of all types. If you’ve used a Peetime for a scary film, you probably have RunPee Sis to thank for it.
Favorite movie genre: Horror, horror, and more horror. The more disturbing, the better. Period.
Boyhood. What an amazing feat of cinematic genius.
Where’d You Go, Bernadette opens this week. While it’s not Richard Linklater’s first commercial film (Bad News Bears, School of Rock), it does appear to be wholly unlike anything else he’s ever done.
I’ve been following Linklater for a while and he’s one of my favorite filmmakers. Below is a list of my favorite Linklater movies. (Note: This is not The Essential Richard Linklater. Because then I’d have to include Dazed and Confused. Sorry, that one’s just overrated to me.)
Boyhood
Linklater pulled off one of the most amazing feats in cinema history with this one. We get to watch a boy grow up over the course of the film. And he’s played by the same actor at every age! Linklater had the patience to shoot the scenes once a year or once every few years throughout Ellar Coltrane’s life.
The fact that he was able to do this with the same cast over a period of twelve years without the world finding out is amazing. (And without anyone dying, quitting, etc.) This movie was such a beautiful surprise when it came out and remains a gift to the world.
The Before Trilogy
In 1995, Linklater made one of the essential 90s romances, Before Sunrise. It features Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy killing time together and falling in love, before having to part ways. If that was all he’d ever made, it would stand alone as a beautiful, unique, romantic film.
Instead, he made a sequel nearly a decade later called Before Sunset where the two meet up again in Paris while Hawke is on a book tour. They are each spoken for, but the spark is still there. Again, if these two bookends were all there is to the story, it would be enough.
But then the artists reunited to make Before Midnight. The final film in the trilogy deals with love and family at midlife, and all the complications that come with them.
Slacker
Slacker was Linklater’s debut film. It’s a meandering piece where the camera follows an odd assortment of characters through a Texas town, moving from one interaction to the next, never returning to any of the storylines. It probably sits somewhere at the intersection of Robert Altman and David Lynch. One of the film’s most famous moments involves a woman being arrested as someone passes by, musing, “I know her. She was in my ethics class.”
Waking Life
Waking Life is a documentary where the film cells were painted over/animated. It features Wiley Wiggins trying to determine if he is awake or in a dream state as he encounters various talking heads. It’s a visually beautiful film that is philosophical and haunting.
School of Rock
This is probably Linklater’s most accessible film. A substitute teacher turns a classroom full of children into a rock band to try to win a local Battle of the Bands competition. Jack Black gives one of his best performances without going over the top. Writer Mike White who also cameos delivers a great story. So great in fact, that Andrew Lloyd Weber turned it into a stage musical. It works surprisingly well. This is a great feel-good movie.
Everybody Wants Some
This movie is about the members of a college baseball team bonding together at the start of the school year in the 1980s. It’s sort of an older cousin to Dazed and Confused. The main character, Jake (Blake Jenner), is figuring out who he wants to be. This comedy was the first movie I watched after my grandfather’s death and I remember it lifting my spirits with its goofy charm.
It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock’n’roll. It’s also a long wait to go to the bathroom if you’re gonna white knuckle it until the end credits.
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The Art of Racing in the Rain is yet another animal flick to tug at your heart strings. Are you a dog lover? If you answer yes, then this movie will not only tug at your heart strings, but will rip them out of your chest and wrap them around your windpipe.
One man in my theater was sobbing so hard, he was having a difficult time breathing. It kinda scared me for a second, but my eyes quickly went back to the screen.
The production quality of the movie was good and I have absolutely nothing negative to say about ‘Art’. I read the book when it first came out, being a big fan of Garth Steine. I realized then that if it were made into a movie, Kleenex stock would rise dramatically. The movie followed the book very well.
A lot of critics have panned it for the saccharine dialog, but hey, Hollywood loves ‘Sweet & Low’. Why is saccharine a bad thing? Everybody needs a good cry every once in a while. (It cleans out the tear ducts.)
The movie is about a dog who wants to die because he once saw on television that when a dog dies he returns to Earth as a human. More than anything, Enzo wanted to race in the rain someday. I enjoyed Kevin Costner as the voice of Enzo. Maybe Kevin will return to Earth as a dog.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering; did I cry? No. Why, you ask? Besides being just a bit hard-hearted [according to any one of my four husbands], I have an uncanny ability to separate reality from fiction.
Grade: B+
About The Peetimes:This movie was evenly paced, making it easy to get 2 good Peetimes. Both give you 4 minutes to break, so let your bladder decided.
There are no extra scenes during, or after, the end credits of The Art of Racing in the Rain. (What we mean by Anything Extra.)
Rated (PG) for thematic material
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Tear-Jerker
RunPee Mom is our emotional bedrock. Without her, RunPee never would have lasted a decade as an app (which is since the dawn of time in internet years). She’s our biggest cheerleader and an unending source of unconditional love. She works cheerfully and tirelessly, seeing any movie we ask of her, writing interesting reviews, and being our…well…MOM. Her genres of choice: kiddie flicks, animated movies, emotional dramas, historical features, war films, diverse biographies, and even dense, diabolically plotted thrillers. She knows more about famous and infamous figures in history than said figures probably knew about themselves. She’s the Quiz Manager for the RunPee.com blog, and our resident movie celebrity/trivia expert. If you’ve taken a RunPee Quiz, you’ve most likely been given a virtual hug by RunPee Mom.
Andrea Berloff did a fantastic job writing and directing the Kitchen. There are no wasted scenes in this tightly edited film. Everything follows from one step to the next. The characters are very well defined, and evolve during the movie for obvious reasons.
The three actors — Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, and Elisabeth Moss — headlining this movie were fantastic. Each totally sold their characters as fearful timid women to begin with, that became powerful confident women later…and in McCarthy’s case oscillated back and forth a few times, all with good reason.
The plot isn’t as predictable as the trailers might suggest. There’s a few enjoyable twists and turns I didn’t expect.
Grade: A
About The Peetimes:This movie is very well edited. There were lots of Peetime options early in the movie to select from, but were all very short. I recommend the 2nd Peetime. It’s near the middle of the movie and doesn’t have much dialog. The 3rd Peetime is for Emergencies only. There’s a big plot development, but it’s the only describable scene in the last 3rd of the movie to pick from.
Creator and developer of the RunPee app. When something doesn’t work right in the app it’s pretty much his fault. 🙂
Aspiring author. Would like to finish his “Zombie Revelations” trilogy if he could break away for working on RunPee and the cottage he’s building for RunPee Mom.
Overcomer is well done in the respect of the quality of production. The acting, directing, writing and pacing was on par for a ‘faith-based’ film. I have absolutely no problem with this movie except this: who in the world thought Overcomer would be a catchy title? Almost any title would be better, like maybe, ‘Just Pray About It’, a phrase that was repeated ad infinitum during the movie.
