twocents2

I snuck into this theater expecting a nice, nostalgic hour and a half with Bob Odenkirk and Christopher Lloyd as father and son. That was terrific. Lloyd is a warm, funny actor who I am delighted to see still working. N2 has shades of National Lampoon in it. But the father is a straight up killer. We see a lot more of him in family mode than in the first film. The same joke of him barely missing the garbage truck in the morning is here, I suppose as a reward to the fans of N1. I enjoyed about half of this thrown together mess. The confined quarters bus scene in N1 is now staged in an elevator. Connie Nielsen grounds the film nicely as his realtor wife. Mafia kingpin Sharon Stone was horrible casting. Her acting was frankly embarrassing. Colin Hanks is on hand as a corrupt sheriff. Not a memorable role, but a payday nonetheless. This whole endeavor has the stench of a payday movie. It's okay to catch if it's free as part of a monthly plan or if you manage to sneak in. But what a putrid affair to endure.

I enjoyed my mellow matinee on the arm. I had never seen the original, so everything was fresh. This is very much a chick flick. The men are all plot devices to further the story. It is fun the watch the chemistry between Anna (Lindsay Lohan) and Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis). Anna is a former teen punk rocker. She quit because she was pregnant. Tess is a therapist with a podcast and new book coming out. Anna now manages Ella (Maitreya Ramakrishnan), who just broke up with her bf but has to do an LA concert, where everyone conveniently convenes at the end. The exposition was fun. A run in with Madame Jen (Vanessa Bayer) jumpstarts the soul swapping. Tess is now trapped in Anna's frenemy Lily (Sophia Hammons)'s body. Anna's daughter Harper (Julia Butters) and Lily had a huge fight in their ninth grade chemistry lab. Both single parents were summoned to the principal's office, hit it off and plan to wed. Lily's dad is chef Eric (Manny Jacinto). Lily is trapped in Tess' body. JLC has a lot of fun with that. Anna becomes Harper and vice versa. Anna's old flame (Chad Michael Murray) is brought in for more complications. It's a lot of fun. But you waste a lot of brain power keeping all the switching characters straight. It's 14 minutes longer than the original due to such added shenanigans. We even have Eric's parents flying in from Manila for the wedding, which is temporarily cancelled. But this is Hollywood. I enjoyed myself, even if there were only two other people in the theater. Curtis is a delight. Lohan wasn't always up to the craziness, but she did enough. Butters (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) continues to establish her career. Hammons does well. Bayer is funny. Jacinto was fine. Mark Hamill as Tess' husband was warm and sympathetic. This is just a fun summer movie that makes patrons happy.

I was puzzled that this film was still in a theater in July 2025, ten months after its TIFF debut. It did win what seems to be an Oscar precursor there, but it got zero traction in theaters. Thirteen at my matinee, and I don't count. It won't hit $10M. I didn't think that I would want to know anything about Chuck Krantz, a nondescript accountant. But I'm glad I invested the time.

It's told in reverse order by a huge ensemble cast and feels very much like Stephen King. Writer/director Mike Flanagan adapted his story. The East and West coasts are crumbling and burning. The world in general is undergoing an apocalypse. You know because nobody has cell phone service. TVs show the crisis worldwide, then they go in emergency signal mode or you just see Chuck ads. Stoic divorced schoolteacher Marty (Chewitel Ejiofor) eats pizza and drinks whiskey to numb the pain. His ex, nurse Felicia (Karen Gillan) calls him and they platonically reconnect because misery loves company. On his way over, he meets a kind mortician (Sam Yarborough). In the second act, we finally meet Chuck. He's in town, which looks like a studio set, for a business conference. On his way to the hotel, he meets a Juilliard dropout drummer busking, starts dancing, and ropes in a redhead bookstore worker (Annalise Basso) who just got dumped by text. They have a charming three minute or so dance on the street, which fills the busker's hat. The third act has a young boy Chuck (Benjamin Pajak). His grandmother (Mia Sara) taught him a bunch of dances. He joins a dance and twirlers club at school with a pretty older girl. The teacher, Miss Rohrbacher (Samantha Sloyan) was fun. They dance wonderfully at a school dance. The horror element involves grandfather Albie (Mark Hamill). There was something to enjoy in each act, though the film's quality kept diminishing. It was about five or ten minutes too long, but I loved the existential tone. The dance sequences were so gratifying to watch after the first act's disasters. Tom Hiddleston anchored the film well enough, even though this is not a traditional lead role.