Category Archives: Comedy

Movie Review: My Dead Friend Zoe

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From a search on the internet “Between 2005 and 2018, the VA estimated over 89,000 veteran suicides, including those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

For anyone with PTSD, due to any traumatic experience, it is almost impossible to explain what it is like. The inability to stop the constant pictures in your mind, replaying a horrible incident or injustice, leading in too many cases to insanity or for too many war veterans, suicide. Considering the large number of war suicides of recent war veterans, it has been obvious for many years that this country has not been taking care of the mental health of its veterans.

The new movie “My Dead Friend Zoe” is about two Afghanistan war veterans, Merit, played by Sonequa Martin-Green, and Zoe, played by Natalie Morales who become very close friends. Most of this movie is about the time after the war, with Merit traveling around to visit her grandfather Dale, played by Ed Harris, and attending PTSD meetings run by a therapist Dr. Cole, played by Morgan Freeman.

Merit is always traveling with her best friend Zoe, even though she died sometime earlier as Zoe is inside Merit’s imagination during this entire story. Merit is unable to resolve the fact that Zoe has died. Throughout this story, with the use of many flashbacks, we find out what happened to Zoe and why.

The acting throughout this entire production is first-rate, as well as the story, which is about friendship, loss, war, and PTSD. The Rotten Tomatoes rating for this movie is a very high 95%, and I agree with this rating and recommend this film.

Netflix Movie Review: Kinda Pregnant

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Standup comedian, actor, screenwriter, and director Amy Schumer has worked in the movie industry for many years. In her book, The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo”, Schumer describes the incredible dues she has paid trying to be a stand-up comedian. Schumer’s dues are similar to the dues paid by Kevin Hart, described in his book “I Can’t Make This Up: Life Lessons” . Very few people would have the staying power to attempt to be a stand-up comedian in the United States, considering so many years of extreme hardship. The traveling, the low pay, the bombing, rude crowds, and ultimately the years when nothing happens – always close to being either very poor or homeless.

For the few who hit it big, like Kevin Hart and Amy Schumer, the rewards, fame, and money can be amazing, with Amy Schumer worth 45 million and Kevin Hart, 450 million. In recent years Schumer has been concentrating on her HULU Series “Life and Beth”, which was a very good series rated 89% on Rotten Tomatoes and less on her stand-up career.

Schumer has now written 4 movies, with the outstanding “Trainwreck”, (2015), “Snatched” (2017), and “I Feel Pretty” (2018), which were not nearly as funny as Trainwreck with a few laugh-out-loud moments. It has been seven years since Schumer has written another comedy screenplay, with her latest movie “Kinda Pregnant”. This time this new movie is only released on Netflix.

I thought Kinda Pregnant was not as good as Trainwreck, but had many very funny moments, with a premise about a jilted woman lying to the world about being pregnant, a rather far-fetched and risky but funny idea. The ridiculously low 17% Rotten Tomatoes rating for this film is just about the most incorrect I have ever seen for a comedy movie, almost as if the critics have no idea what a funny movie is, or perhaps have a problem with Amy Schumer. Despite Schumer’s success, one can only imagine the shock that she experienced after reading the bad reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, considering the time and effort spent to create what is in fact a funny comedy movie.

This movie stars Schumer as Lainy Newton and Will Forte as Josh Lewis, who Lainy becomes involved with later in the story after her long-term boyfriend Dave played by Damon Wayans admits he would rather have a threesome, than ask her to marry him – setting up the entire premise of this story.

I thought this film was a high 85% and had many very funny moments, so rare in too many comedy movies in recent years. In this case, the critics on Rotten Tomatoes have never been more wrong and I give Kinda Pregnant a solid recommendation.

Apple TV Series Review: Shrinking

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The Apple TV series “Shrinking” is brilliant with unusual, funny, and sometimes crazy dialogue. People in real life never talk this way, but the good thing about dialogue like this is that it will hold your attention throughout each hour of this series.

The cast of Shrinking starts with Harrison Ford, in his first-ever television series, playing a character that seems a lot like the person he is on talk shows. Somewhat quiet, moody, funny, and sarcastic. Harrison plays Dr. Paul Rhoades who works as a published Therapist in the Pasadena California area where he shares the same office complex with two other Therapists – Jimmy Laird, played by Jason Segel, and Gaby played by Jessica Williams. This idea of several doctors sharing the same office complex and dealing with so many patients and personal problems is the backdrop of this extremely entertaining two seasons with the last episode #12 of season 2, recently released on Apple TV.

Unfortunately, Jimmy lost his wife at the start of this series in a car accident and Paul has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Jimmy frequently has conflicts with his daughter Alice that also include problems as a direct result of his wife dying in a car accident. There are also several conflicts with Jimmy’s two neighbors Liz played by Christa Miller and Derek played by Ted McGinley that are very often funny despite the real life issues that they all face.

The best part of this series is the character Sean played by Luke Tennie. Sean has several psychological problems after his experiences in the war in Afghanistan including getting into fights and lashing out in anger. At first Sean is patient of Jimmy and their friendship grows during Sean’s many sessions leading to Sean living in Jimmy’s pool house. Paul does not approve of Jimmy and Sean’s friendship, because it violates a fundamental rule of doctors and patients, and because of this, Paul takes over Sean’s therapy sessions.

Several other characters are also standouts in this series, including Brian, played by Michael Urie, who is gay and sometimes works as Jimmy’s lawyer. His presence generates many scenes of humor throughout this series and Louis played by Brett Goldstein, who was the the drunk driver who killed Jimmy’s wife. After a great deal of conflict between Jimmy and his daughter Alice, Louis slowly becomes a friend of the family despite the extremely tragic circumstances.

From what I have seen that is currently on Apple TV, this series is the best and most entertaining.

The Rotten Tomatoes reviews are an extremely high 97% for this series and I agree with this rating and highly recommend Shrinking.