Million Dollar Arm

***DISCLAIMER*** The following review is entirely my opinion. If you comment (which I encourage you to do) be respectful. If you don't agree with my opinion, that's fine. To each their own. These reviews are not meant to be statements of facts or endorsements, I am just sharing my opinions and my perspective when watching the film and is not meant to reflect how these films should be viewed. Finally, the reviews are given on a scale of 0-5. 0, of course, being unwatchable. 1, being terrible. 2, being not great. 3, being okay. 4, being great and 5, being epic! And if you enjoy these reviews feel free to share them and follow the blog or follow me on Twitter (@RevRonster) for links to my reviews and the occasional live-Tweet session of the movie I'm watching! Judging by my pitch...I'd say I have about a dollar fifty arm.

Million Dollar Arm ? 3 out of 5

If you follow my blog or know me personally, you probably know that I don?t really know much about sports.  I don?t watch the stuff and, to be honest, they sorta confuse and frighten me.  However, despite my complete lack of enthusiasm and total ignorance of all things sport, I do enjoy a great inspiration film about overcoming adversity and sporting as hard as one can sport.  Sometimes these films are amazing and fill me with pride for a competition that clearly goes over my head as to why it is so popular and, other times, they are just kinda?mediocre and have the same level of excitement I have when I?m forced to go to a sporting arena by friends/family and made to watch the sports match..

Of course, having Don Draper in the sports film didn't hurt me wanting to watch it.

He stood like that for an entire hour...and the movie shows
it in real time.

Million Dollar Arm tells the true story of famed MLB (which, thanks to Google, I found means Major League Baseball?which is a sport, I?ve heard) pitchers Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel.  While on the verge of hitting rock bottom, sports agent J.B. Bernstein (Jon Hamm) and his partner Aash (Aasif Mandvi) decide that they are going to discover the next great baseball pitcher by diving into the pool of cricket players (which, I?ve also heard, is another sport that was not named after the bug).  So, JB heads to where cricket is huge; India.  There, a reality show is done in order to find the right players who can pitch fast and accurate enough to be trained to play with the big dogs.  After what feels like an endeavor in the pointless, JB and a retired major league scout (Alan Arkin) finally find Rinku (Suraj Sharma) and Dinesh (Madhur Mittal) and take them to train under veteran pitching trainer Tom House (Bill Paxton).  However, as time grows closer for the boys to try out for Major League Baseball, they start to wonder if they are actually players JB believes in or if they were just some publicity gimmick meant to strengthen JB?s fledgling career.

With Alan Arkin in the film, you know you are going to laugh with every scene that
contains him.  It's a scientific fact.

Despite my complete lack of understanding when sports come into play, I won?t pass up a sports drama because they can be so damn inspiring.  Sure, they don?t inspire me to go to a Packers game or bother to learn the rules of basketball but they can make me swell with pride over the indomitable human spirit and its endless drive to compete, succeed, and do end-zone dancing.  Sadly, Million Dollar Arm isn?t that inspiring.

Even Aasif Mandvi is checking out Jon Hamm's awesomeness.

Someday, all jobs will be determined by a reality TV show
competition.

For the most part, this film (even though it is based on a true story) seems to follow the pattern of sports dramas to the very letter.  The drama, the characters, the unfolding plot all move in the exact sequence that you would predict it to move.  There are no real surprises here.  JB?s move from jerk go-getter businessman to compassionate area of support for the two pitchers is called from the moment the story gets going and the love story that feels completely tacked on (yes, I know it?s based on a true story and is there because it happened) all play out like it was some sort of Fill-in-the-Blanks sports drama script purchased from a script store and Disney just got a director and the actors needed.  This doesn?t necessarily make the film bad; it just makes it predictable and pretty clich?.  This does, however, make the drama and uplifting moments feel empty and devoid of any real punch.

He's dying to say that it's "Game Over" for Rinku and Dinesh's chances in Major
League Baseball.

He's about to do something sports related...look, I really
don't understand sports at all.

Aside from having a story that you can see coming a mile away, the film does have a tremendous cast.  Sure, all the characters are like the story and play out the way you expect them to but guys like Jon Hamm, Alan Arkin, Bill Paxton, Suraj Sharma, Madhur Mittal, and Aasif Mandvi all do their jobs and don?t look like they are going through the motions.  Heck, even with all its formulaic glory, the film still has some very amusing scenes with the characters of Rinku, Dinesh, and an eager character who desperately wants to coach baseball and becomes JB?s basic apprentice named Amit (played by Pitobash).  The only thing I didn?t care for in the cast was Lake Bell as the love interest Brenda.  Bell plays every emotion, whether it is happiness, joy, sadness, or even irritation, exactly the same.  She doesn?t really have that strong of a screen presence and comes off so bland that I couldn?t quite figure out what the character of JB saw in her?other than the fact that the romance angle had to happen because it happened in the real life story.

I never thought I would say this but it might have been better to get rid of the Brenda
character and add more sports.

Million Dollar Arm isn?t the worst sports film I?ve seen but it?s far from the best.  A lot of drama and heart fall flat due to the predictable nature of the story and the fact that it is trying to oversell the drama and heart doesn?t help things.  However, the film still has its moments of fun and the cast is very enjoyable.  

"And now it disappeared..."

"I thought you were suppose to be pumping us up for this tryout?"

Minions

***DISCLAIMER*** The following review is entirely my opinion. If you comment (which I encourage you to do) be respectful. If you don't agree with my opinion (or other commenters), that's fine. To each their own. These reviews are not meant to be statements of facts or endorsements, I am just sharing my opinions and my perspective when watching the film and is not meant to reflect how these films should be viewed. Finally, the reviews are given on a scale of 0-5. 0, of course, being unwatchable. 1, being terrible. 2, being not great. 3, being okay. 4, being great and 5, being epic! And if you enjoy these reviews feel free to share them and follow the blog or follow me on Twitter (@RevRonster) for links to my reviews and the occasional live-Tweet session of the movie I'm watching!  Banana?

Minions ? 4 out of 5

I really dig the Despicable Me films and one of those obvious reasons the film is so endearing is those little dudes who look like they are sentient pills from Dr. Mario; the Minions. There?s no denying they are adorable and that adorable factor leads into some really humorous territory. They quickly became the most famous part of an animated film that was extremely well put together and tells a great and touching story of a supervillain who becomes a father. It?s no shock they got their own spin-off because those little show-stealers deserve it.

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Aside from the show, they've also stolen my heart.

Before they loyally served Gru, the Minions were always on the watch for the best bad guy they could find. From when they were single-celled organisms to when they evolved to serve fish-like creatures to the point they walked upright and marched out of the oceans as the beings we recognize and love, they were always looking to serve the baddest they could find. However, over the centuries, they eventually found themselves alone and became horribly depressed. With morale at an all-time low, three Minions; Kevin, Stuart and Bob, step up to try and get employment with the toughest supervillain they can find. They find it in the first female villain history has ever seen; Scarlett Overkill (Sandra Bullock). Scarlett dreams of taking over England and she has her tech-savvy husband Herb (Jon Hamm) gear up Kevin, Stuart, and Bob in order to achieve those dreams but the Minions bumble it up and now they must fight against the villain they were once hoping to serve.

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Right now, there is almost assuredly a blog from a Men's Rights Activist saying
Scarlett Overkill's place is in the kitchen or some other similarly small-minded nonsense.

There was little doubt that I was going to have fun watching Minions. I mean they would have to really mess things up for this film to not work and would probably have to resort to the Minions talking about why 9/11 was an inside job in order to really destroy all the potential the film had. Thankfully, the Minions didn?t venture into that territory and the film settled on the working formula of having the little yellow guys screaming, speaking gibberish, running around like madmen and screwing up everything they touch.

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Fun Fact:  They are all urinating into the water in this shot.  All of them.

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I don't know if I wanted more of this character because
he was fun or because he was voiced by Michael
Keaton...actually it's because he was voiced by
Keaton.

If there was a downside to the film it would have to be that characters like Scarlett Overkill and the Michael Keaton voiced Walter Nelson?a criminal the Minions run across on their journey to find Overkill. Neither feel as utilized as they could have been. The story really knew how to utilize Scarlett?s husband Herb and he felt like he was giving just enough screen time to bring in some great gags and add to the story but a majority of the non-Minion characters didn?t feel as used properly. Overkill feels like a complete let down in both the fact Bullock?s performance feels a little underwhelming and the fact her character just doesn?t feel that strong. The character isn?t terrible and never takes away from the story but it always feels like she could have been more. For example, the story keeps telling you she?s this awesome villain but the film never really takes the time to really show you?especially when she becomes an enemy to the Minions and isn?t really shown to be much of a threat.

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That hair looks thick enough to act as a motorcycle helmet.

This one complaint aside, the film is still a lot of fun and is very funny. The jokes are satisfying, the animation is fantastic, and the voice work is pretty good. The element that I really enjoyed and never predicted to experience in the film was the killer soundtrack. A majority of the story in Minions takes place in the late 60s and in glory old England. Some of the best rock tracks that have stood the test of time were created during that decade and some choice tracks make up the soundtrack for the Minions? adventure. It was a nice change of pace from the cheesy bubble gum pop in the Despicable Me movies.

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Ha ha...those Minions sure love bananas. 
And why not?  They're a good source of potassium.

Minions doesn?t try to reinvent the wheel with this spin-off and just tells a simple story of where they came from and what they did before they helped Gru steal the moon and become little goofy guys that stole our hearts. The film has some minor issues that keep it from being as unique and as memorable as the original films they came from but the movie is never flat out bad and it never gets repetitive and boring. The film had the real potential to wear out its welcome due to the reality that a larger helping of Minions could cause an overdose but their story is one that is charming, fun and adorable. Overall, just an entertaining and fun movie.