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Flash Movie Review: Inside Out 2
SOMETHING WAS GROWING ON MY FACE. A look in the mirror did not help me see it, but I could feel it if I pressed the skin in the middle of my forehead. I did not have to wait long before it made its presence known on my face; I had a pimple. Not wanting to go into details because I was so traumatized at an early age, let me just say it looked like a snow-capped mountain surrounded by a red colored moat. I was horrified, right smack in the middle of my forehead. Every day I had to go to school with this mark on my face, I was anxious throughout the day, worried about what anyone would say about it, let alone the snide comments. It was not like it was the only thing going on at the time. There was the issue about my voice cracking and the fact that I was one of the first boys to suddenly grow facial hair. Though, I thought it would be cool if I could get a five o’clock shadow on my face. What I was not expecting was that growing hair on my body meant I needed to use deodorant. There were so many changes going on with me, I was a walking bundle of nerves. AS THE TIME PASSED AND MY beard developed further, another cruel trick was in store for me. Not only did I have to deal with teenage acne, but the hair growing over the lower half of my face was coming in thick, coarse, and curly that would spiral around and go back into my face, causing these red welts to pop up all over my neck. I tried shaving the hairs as soon as I could see them, but there were so many, coming in so fast, that there was no way I could keep up. It was decided I should go to a skin doctor for help. At my appointment, the doctor determined these reddish welts were flat warts and created a schedule where I would have to come in bi-monthly to have them burnt off. So now I had the joy of going to school with these dark red scabs on my neck where the doctor had used a cauterizing needle to burn off the warts. The only good thing and I mean only good thing was I was excused from PE swimming. This lasted a few months until I was told to switch to a straight razor and was able to get a closer shave. Imagine how I must have felt when in college the doctor I saw told me they were never warts, just in-grown hairs. I must tell you adolescence was tough which is why I could understand what the main character was going through in this animated, adventure comedy. WHEN A YOUNG GIRL BEGINS HER teenage years, she is hit with a whole new set of emotions that interfere with not only her ice hockey dreams, but with her life. With Amy Poehler (Wine Country, The House) voicing Joy, Maya Hawke (Do Revenge, Stranger Things-TV) voicing Anxiety, Kensington Tallman (Summer Camp, Home Sweet Rome!) voicing Riley, Liza Lapira (21, The Equalizer-TV) voicing Disgust and Tony Hale (Quiz Lady, Woman of the Hour) voicing Fear; this sequel lived up to the first movie. I thought the script was well done, doing a beautiful job of conveying the angst teenagers go through in a touching and comical way, as the cast certainly did their part in making that happen. The animation was just like the previous film, very imaginative, and I thought the pacing kept things moving along nicely. This was a fun movie watching experience, in a crowded theater, that brought back memories for me. There was an extra scene during the ending credits.
3 ½ stars
Flash Movie Review: Your Place or Mine
THERE WAS ALWAYS THAT AWKWARD MOMENT when I would introduce one of my best friends to my date. You see, a couple of my closest friends are female; one of them was my girlfriend in elementary school. Because I have had such a long history with my closest friends, they mince no words in voicing an opinion and for that, I am grateful. Some of the people I have dated never made it to the “meeting the best friend” stage; but others had, and a few did so with trepidation. I understood their concerns because it was rare for me not to talk about my best friends early in the relationship. It was never difficult for them to figure out what an important part these friends play in my life, and I could understand their concerns because if I was in their place, I would probably feel the same way. I never considered meeting my friends as a test; it was more about me having strong enough feelings towards this person that I wanted my best friends to see for themselves. Some dates, I found out later, felt threatened on some level. If I was able to perceive it, I would try to start a conversation with them to understand why. What became apparent to me among those that felt threatened was they all seemed to lack a certain level of confidence. At some point soon after meeting these dates they would drift away from maintaining their relationship with me. WHENEVER I MET FOR THE FIRST time my date’s friends, I always kept a mindset that I knew I was going to be judged but I never gave it a thought. I could only be myself; if my date needed reassurances or criticisms from their friends I was okay with it. However, if they acted on their friends’ comments then I knew the two of us were not meant to be together. There were never any hard feelings. The thing I found interesting was the fact that I was in a minority, because not many of the people I dated had close friends of the opposite sex. My way of thinking was, why wouldn’t they want to have that opportunity to see things through the eyes of someone different. Not that I ever made a big deal about it; it was just a curiosity I have always had inside of me. Because of my close friends, I feel I have a better appreciation or understanding of the things that make a relationship stronger. Of course, the fundamental action in any relationship is the ability to communicate; one must be able to express their feelings. This is good advice even for the characters in this romantic comedy. WHEN LONG TERM FRIENDS SWAP THEIR homes for a short period of time to help one of them in a pinch, they discover things they never knew about each other, even after all the years they have been friends. With Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line, Home Again) as Debbie Dunn, Ashton Kutcher (No Strings Attached, That ‘70s Show-TV) as Peter Coleman, Zoe Chao (Downhill, Strangers-TV) as Minka, Jesse Williams (The Cabin in the Woods, Grey’s Anatomy-TV) as Theo Martin and Wesley Kimmel (The Hater, Jimmy Kimmel Live!-TV) as Jack; this film’s strength was having Reese and Ashton in it. However, for a rom com, they had little chemistry between them. The script was quite generic and predictable, unfortunately. I thought the idea behind the story was different, but there really was no emotional connections, let alone the odd roles left for the supporting cast. This was such a weird mix of scenarios, that I fell into a mindless state. Each of the main actors alone could have been better if they had the right script, though Ashton has not lost his ability to say something with just a look of his face or actions. When left with the choice of one of their places, you would be better off booking a room somewhere else.
1 ¾ stars
moviejoltz 